A groundbreaking ceremony has just taken place for the Monument to Freedom and Unity, in central Berlin. The 50m-long (164ft) bowl will move gently up and down when enough people stand on it, and it should be completed by the end of next year.
In a guide to the design, architects Milla & Partner, who won a competition called "Citizens in Motion", say "freedom and unity aren't static conditions, they require participation and interaction".
— BBC
The monument, nicknamed "unity seesaw" by Berliners, is conceived as an enormous bowl-shaped kinetic platform that invites people to interact with each other. Image courtesy of Milla & Partner Stuttgart-based practice Milla & Partner in collaboration with choreographer Sasha Waltz created the... View full entry
With the COVID-19 quarantine period entering its third month in the United States, Archinect is seeking input from the design community regarding how the crisis has impacted issues of mental health. Archinect has covered mental and workplace health issues extensively in the past and... View full entry
A Roman mosaic floor has been discovered under a vineyard in northern Italy after decades of searching.
Surveyors in the commune of Negrar di Valpolicella north of Verona published images of the well-preserved tiles buried under metres of earth.
According to officials, scholars first found evidence of a Roman villa there more than a century ago.
— BBC
A note posted on the Facebook page of Negrar di Valpolicella, the Northern Italian town where the historic mosaic was discovered, stated: "After countless decades of failed attempts, part of the pavement and foundations of the Roman Villa located north of the capital, discovered by scholars over a... View full entry
According to Smithsonian Magazine, a recently discovered set of Gustave Eiffel’s original schematic drawings for Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s statue have been found and show the development of his innovative design. California map dealer Barry Lawrence Ruderman purchased a folder of... View full entry
The Architects Declare movement has spread across the globe as over 20 countries have joined the fight to address climate change and biodiversity issues. The United States has announced its pledge to join. With 92 signatures collected from U.S.-based architecture practices like Perkins... View full entry
This is the fourth part of Archinect Sessions six-part series of conversations we've had with architects, designers, and others in the industry. The discussions address the challenges experienced navigating these uncertain times, from the stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus, to... View full entry
“It’s a fundamental human need to physically experience and celebrate events and experiences together, and we’re trying to provide options for everyone where they can be safely socially distant and socially present at the same time.” — The Miami Herald
The Covid-19 pandemic which continues to bring changes to our daily lives is causing one football franchise to rethink a classic from the 1950's: The Drive-In Movie Theater. The function of your standard cineplex today is not conducive to maintaining the various social distancing policies... View full entry
The new 265,000 square-foot Lowell Justice Center courthouse in Massachusetts designed by Finegold Alexander Architects has opened to the public. The $146 million facility houses Superior, District, Housing, Juvenile, Probate, and Family Court facilities, including 17 courtrooms... View full entry
Beijing-based NEXT architects, the Dutch Institute for heritage and marketing (IVEM), Smartland Architects, Total Design and a group of local artists have crafted a revitalization plan for the historic village of Dafang in China's Jiangxi Province. As part of an effort to... View full entry
Today we share the third part of Archinect Sessions six-part series of conversations we've had with architects, designers, and others in the industry. The discussions address the challenges experienced navigating these uncertain times, from the stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus, to the... View full entry
University of California, Berkeley College of Environmental Design (CED) Professor Emeritus Raymond Lifchez has donated $2.5 million to the college in order to create a new endowed teaching position focused on universal design. Previously on Archinect: "Unpacking The Spatial Implications Of... View full entry
With the renovation and expansion of the Rothko Chapel campus in Houston nearing completion, project organizers have announced that the sacred art space will reopen to the public in September. The renovation is being designed by New York City-based Architecture Research Office and includes a... View full entry
Today, the art museum provides several functions. Wealthy collectors lend works they own for exhibitions, increasing the value of their holdings while allowing them to avoid taxes. Museums are also semi-public repositories for objects of cultural value and education initiatives. Nothing that costs $25 to enter can really be considered public. — SSENSE
Dana Kopel, archive editor at the New Museum in New York City, ruminates on the significance of museums in contemporary society as sites of labor and work, conditions that have been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kopel writes, "The museum is a place: a situated and permanent space... View full entry
The 17th International Architecture Exhibition for the Venice Biennale has been postponed for a second time due to the Coronavirus pandemic and is now rescheduled to take place May 22nd to November 21, 2021. The exhibition, titled How Will We Live Together? and curated... View full entry
“Our entire profession is geared toward the values and demands and needs of human beings,” [...] “But all over the world, these huge mechanical entities are now appearing. They are typically enormous, typically rectangular, typically hermetic.” [...] “We need to conceive of architecture that accommodates machines and robots, maybe as a priority,” Koolhaas says. “And that then investigates how robots and human rights might coexist in a single building.” — Time
Rem Koolhaas his thoughts on how architecture as a discipline might change in the post-COVID-19 era, as social distancing, automation, and anti-urban attitudes begin to take hold. Koolhaas tells TIME's Belinda Luscombe, “It would be opportunistic if I said either, I told you so, or... View full entry