Will New York’s new jails be places where visiting families feel welcome? Will the jails provide space for police officers and medical staff to train together? For detainees to confer with lawyers? For therapeutic assistance and recreation?
Outside as well as inside, will they be scaled to their surroundings, will the city be open to other sites and will the buildings architecturally represent, as borough landmarks, our civic ideals and values?
— The New York Times
Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic for The New York Times, provides an spirited overview of the ongoing developments in New York City regarding the planned decommissioning and relocation of the prison facilities located on Rikers Island. The large-scale infrastructure and architecture practice... View full entry
Here are a few suggestions from Archinect Outpost. Order today for delivery before Christmas! GLOBAL ARCHITECT CARD A perfect gift for any architect that loves to travel. The Global Architect Card is an essential item for the traveling architecture enthusiast. With a lightweight steel body that... View full entry
In order to reflect upon the year, let us start at the beginning. Although January 2019 was a rocky month for the U.S. amid the government shutting down, that didn't stop the architecture community from staying busy during the month. From defining a thesis, architecture sales, pondering over... View full entry
Nearly thirty years after the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed, accessibility for disabled people both online and in public space remains severely insufficient. New York artist Shannon Finnegan and design historian Aimi Hamraie, who currently resides in Nashville, held a video chat on October 9 to discuss their respective artistic, activist, and historical takes on disability justice. — Art in America
Aimi Hamraie's 2017 book Building Access: Universal Design and the Politics of Disability explores the question of who counts as "everyone" according to architects of the Universal Design movement. Finnegan's artworks include pieces such as "Museum Benches," benches that are inscribed with... View full entry
In London, where it is often difficult, if not nearly impossible, to build new ground-up residences, many architectural firms specialize in helping families give their "traditional"-looking homes contemporary updates. Initiatives like New London Architecture (NLA)'s annual "Don't Move... View full entry
In a recently released video, Williams donned a pair of jeans, workboats, a hardhat and went to work on Salt Marsh Elementary School in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica. Williams, who has won a total of 39 Tennis Grand Slams – including Doubles titles, has also built grade schools in Uganda, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. Williams built the Marsh Elementary through a partnership with the nonprofit Helping Hands Jamaica, while the schools in Africa were in conjunction with Build Africa. — Black Press USA
The work is part of the mission of Williams' Serena Williams Fund and her other charitable efforts, which include the Serena Williams Venture, an organization that seeks to incest in companies that embrace diverse leadership, individual empowerment, creativity, and opportunity, reports Black... View full entry
NOMAArchitect and equity and inclusion advocate Gabrielle Bullock has been named as the recipient of the 2020 Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The award, which has been given out since 1972, according to the AIA website, “distinguishes an architect... View full entry
Austin-based Mark Odom Studio has completed a complete renovation on an iconic Austin office building located at 2001 North Lamar Blvd. The single-story 3,000-square-foot building was built back in 1960 by architects Pendley & Day. With the renovation, Mark Odom Studio set out to restore the... View full entry
The height of the new jail towers was later slashed from 45 storeys to a maximum of 29, but the damage had been done. The images of these brutish concrete silos symbolised a rack’em and stack’em approach, attracting criticism from both prison reform advocates and the communities in which these fortified slabs were to be planted. — The Guardian
Writing in The Guardian, critic Oliver Wainwright examines competing visions for the future of New York City’s prisons. Earlier this year, AECOM was selected to envision a dispersed carceral archipelago for the city that would take the place of the sordid Rikers Island prison. The plan has... View full entry
Located in a bustling area of the city, historic San Francisco landmark #204, The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been repurposed into a multi-functional architectural complex. Intended to be a launchpad for young startups to live, work, socialize, and develop with like-minded people... View full entry
Led by Bence Turányi, T2a Architects have finally realized their adaptive-reuse housing block project, called Jazz Lofts. Back in 2005 father-and-son team Gabor and Bence Turányi were commissioned to restore an abandoned 19th-century mill, but after the economic crash in the... View full entry
The 6th Street Bridge team of 170 includes 15 women — the most on any commercial project in Los Angeles and nearly double the Department of Labor’s participation goal of 6.9% female crew members. — The Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times reports on the relatively high proportion of women construction workers helping to build the Michael Maltzan Architecture-designed 6th Street Bridge in Los Angeles. The bridge is being constructed via a joint venture between Skanska and Stacy and Witbeck. Skanska... View full entry
When thinking of an outhouse, the initial images that come to mind may not be as intriguing or luxe as the outhouse designed by Australian-based studio Madelein Blanchfield Architects. Don't be fooled by their disappearing outhouse structure that blends seamlessly with the lush landscapes of... View full entry
Spanish architect and educator Andrés Jaque has been selected as the Chief Curator of the 13th Shanghai Biennale that is slated to take place starting on November 13, 2020. Jaque is currently the Director of the Advanced Architectural Design Program at Columbia University's Graduate... View full entry
Shanghai Disney Resort today announced that the main construction for the its highly anticipated Zootopia-themed expansion had begun. It will be the first-ever Disney park worldwide to construct a park inspired by the 2016 animated film of the same name. The new expansion will sit adjacent to... View full entry
