For more than three decades, Clive Wilkinson has been among the most sought-after office designers in the world. He has planned spaces for the likes of Microsoft, Disney, Intuit and other companies seeking unorthodox approaches to work life.
But he now has regrets about what is perhaps his most famous work: Googleplex, the tech giant's posh headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.
— NPR
Wilkinson’s statements offer a rebuke to the Silicon Valley culture he played a role in pioneering and now deems to be "fundamentally unhealthy." The $1 billion office complex in Mountain View, California designed by STUDIOS Architecture with interiors by Wilkinson is serviced by a... View full entry
An initiative in Brighton aimed at helping protect the bee population could do more harm than good, scientists have warned. The council in Brighton has passed a planning condition that means any new building more than five metres high will have to include swift boxes and special bricks with holes known as bee bricks. They will provide nesting and hibernating space for solitary bees. — The Guardian
The mandate was first proposed in 2019 and then attached to all planning permissions after April 1, 2020. As reported by The Guardian, scientists warn that this move may not result in a notable difference for biodiversity, with some arguing that it could actually harm bees if the holes aren’t... View full entry
A new landmark on the European cultural scene is now on view in Hungary. Sou Fujimoto’s House of Music has now officially opened in the country’s capital city after almost six years of construction. The 97,000-square-foot performance venue is the centerpiece of the Liget Budapest Project, a... View full entry
For Archinect's latest weekly highlight of featured employers, we have selected four architecture and interior design firms with current job openings in New York City, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. For even more opportunities, visit the Archinect job board and browse our active community of... View full entry
The Central Park Conservancy, the Yale School of the Environment, and the New York City-based Natural Areas Conservancy have teamed up to launch a new initiative and climate partnership to study the impacts of climate change on urban parks. Called the Central Park Climate Lab, the program’s... View full entry
This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service announced a $50 billion plan to fight wildfires. The goal is, in fact, to reduce wildfires. But one of the side effects may be a huge infusion of ecologically harvested wood into the supply chain for building materials. For architects, this firefighting tool could also be a new source of carbon-sequestering wood for sustainable building projects. — Fast Company
The timber industry is currently under tremendous strain to meet demands as suppliers face labor shortages that have triggered high prices for their clients, who are increasingly looking to build bigger and taller buildings using what is considered to be a more sustainable material. The... View full entry
Finland’s capital is one step closer to announcing the designer of its next great urban development project. The City of Helsinki has revealed nine shortlisted candidates for the redevelopment of Makasiiniranta in the city’s South Harbor. Proposals from groups led by Foster+Partners, White... View full entry
The Softwood Lumber Board and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) have announced the winners of the 2022 Timber Education Prize. The selected courses will be taught in architecture schools across North America in the coming years and provide an excellent insight... View full entry
Dewan Architects + Engineers have unveiled Babel 4.0, a project which the firm with headquarters in the UAE describes as “the first architecturally-inspired NFT from the Middle East.” A reinterpretation of the mythical Tower of Babel, the project speculates on the role of architects and... View full entry
In March 2020, Los Angeles’ public-transit agency, Metro, stopped collecting fares on its buses as a COVID-19 safety precaution. For the next 22 months, Metro waived fares for anyone who wanted to keep riding its buses, anywhere they wanted to go (as long as they wore a mask, of course). And people did keep riding. — Curbed
A spokesperson from the agency estimates that from April 2020 to December 2021 there were approximately 281 million fare-free rides, reaching about 80 percent of pre-pandemic ridership, making it the largest free-transit experiment in U.S. history. Fare collection, however, restarted last week and... View full entry
Editor's Note: Details of this article have been updated as of January 24, 2022. The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union has announced its search for a new leader after current dean Nader Tehrani, who was appointed in 2015, shared his leave and completion of tenure as... View full entry
Canadian commercial real estate company Cadillac Fairview (CF) has announced a $77 million revitalization of the CF Toronto Eaton Centre. The project will see a $60 million refurbishment of its iconic galleria skylight roof. According to CF’s announcement: “The existing glass will be... View full entry
Minecraft lovers may soon be able to wander around a virtual Albany.
A voluntary group of builders associated with Build the Earth Northeast USA is building the city and other parts of the Capital Region into the game.
— Albany Times Union
The organization is made up of thousands of volunteer gamers who have produced successful virtual versions of other cities distributed across regional networks. Building in the hugely popular MMOG has seen a renaissance of late thanks to a mod intervention which produced construction techniques... View full entry
"Candela believed the campus buildings and the spaces between them were equally important. He described the campus master plans as “a small city of interconnected geometric masses and urban plazas,” and composed the buildings around structural systems of towering columns and cantilevers, connected by covered walkways." — Society of Architectural Historians
Cuban American architect Hilario Candela passed away this week at the age of 87 due to complications with Covid-19. With his partner, Peter Spillis, who passed last year in March, the duo were pioneers in the development of Miami's architectural scene with their eponymous firm Spillis &... View full entry
The German Design Council has announced its list of honorees for the tenth version of the annual German Design Awards. For the past decade, the Council has handed out awards in the three different main categories of Product Design, Communications Design, and Architecture. Projects of either... View full entry