Los Angeles must rezone to accommodate an additional quarter-million new homes by mid-October after state housing regulators rejected the city’s long-term plan for growth.
If city leaders do not fix the housing plan or complete the rezoning by the new deadline, they could lose access to billions of dollars in affordable housing grants, officials with the state Department of Housing and Community Development said in a letter this week.
— LA Times
Los Angeles County had previously planned to add exactly 10% of the new mandate in the form of housing specifically for the homeless by the year 2025. It has also given some additional leeway to homeowners wishing to install ADUs, which can play a crucial role in meeting the state’s pressing... View full entry
To kick off 2022, Niall Patrick Walsh published A Guide to Employee-Owned Architecture Firms, based on conversations with "Those Who Have Made the Change". b3tadine[sutures] was struck "in light of SHoP and their union-busting efforts, this really puts esops in a poor light." Can you believe that... View full entry
As casualties mount in Vladimir Putin's war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine, the prominent Moscow-based Strelka Institute for Media Architecture and Design has issued a statement condemning the loss of life and announcing that it has suspended all academic activities until further... View full entry
Ice believed to have fallen more than 1,400 feet from a Midtown condo crushed the roof and smashed the windshield of Deneice O’Connor’s car as she drove up Sixth Ave., the shaken motorist said Saturday. “It just crashed down on me. I immediately thought a body had fallen on my car,” O’Connor, 35, told the Daily News. — Daily News
The ice is believed to have fallen from the SHoP Architects-designed 111 W. 57th Street supertall, one of the world's thinnest skyscrapers and tallest residential buildings in the Western Hemisphere. It is a prominent fixture along “Billionaires’ Row”. Police have also reported that... View full entry
The University of Texas at Austin’s School of Architecture has received a $1 million donation honoring John S. Chase, the first Black graduate of the school and the first Black licensed architect in the state of Texas. The donation has been provided by Tony Chase and his wife Dr. Dina Alsowayel... View full entry
The Tau Sigma Delta Honor Society in Architecture and Allied Arts along with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) have announced Craig Hodgetts and Hsinming Fung of hplusf design lab as the recipients of the 2022 Tau Sigma Delta (TSD) Gold Medal. The recognition is... View full entry
North Korea has started work on a sprawling 10,000-apartment residential project as the country embarks on a housing drive in its capital, Pyongyang.
Though few design details have been disclosed, digital renderings of the development show towers rising on both sides of a leafy boulevard in an area of the capital called Hwasong. A larger skyscraper, which appears to be at least 40 stories tall, is also depicted in the plans.
— CNN
North Korea says it is on track to develop some 50,000 new residences in the capital in phases within the next 2-3 years. The rogue state has faced considerable housing shortages in the past and now looks to rebound from two years of economically-stifled developmental setbacks to create a "new... View full entry
The job ad, posted by design company Zulufish, sought Part 1 and 2 architecture graduates ‘or equivalent’ to work full-time for up to four months without salary.
The post was highlighted on social media by Future Architects Front (FAF), a campaign group seeking to end exploitation in architecture, which described it as showing ‘comical levels of exploitation’.
— AJ
The firm later withdrew the posting after a current of social media backlash brought on by the organization in spite of its having received a “sickening”-ly high level of responses from applicants. The advertisement called for a full-time schedule in a placement that provided only £75 per... View full entry
On Thursday, USC announced that it had finalized the sale of the home to Richard E. Weintraub, president and CEO of the Weintraub Real Estate Group, a Los Angeles developer who has worked with historic properties in the past. (He and fellow developer Tom Gilmore helped bring the old St. Vibiana Cathedral in downtown L.A. back to life as a restaurant and events center.) — LA TImes
The home hit the market in July and has undergone extensive restorations in order to repair structural damage caused by the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. The need for additional repairs was reportedly behind the agreement reached between the school and Weintraub, which negotiated a reduction of the... View full entry
The important next step in Columbia University’s aggressive campus expansion project has been inaugurated this week with the opening of its new Columbia Business School, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with FXCollaborative, in northern Manhattan. The... View full entry
When Mayor Eric Adams named a commissioner last week to oversee New York’s parks department, he spoke of how important the city’s green spaces were for recreation and contemplation, especially during the pandemic. But he also acknowledged having no particular agenda or master plan for the more than 30,000 acres of parkland under his control. — The New York Times
In response, all five of New York’s borough presidents have come together calling for Mayor Adams to plant a million new trees by 2030, reviving former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Million Trees NYC initiative. In addition, they also asked Adams to honor his campaign pledge to allocate 1 percent... View full entry
In January, Liberland unveiled its most dazzling and arguably most convincing proposal yet. Working with Patrik Schumacher of Zaha Hadid Architects, Jedlička portrayed his country as a futuristic crypto paradise through a fully realized city in the metaverse. Picture a national assembly hall, a buzzy NFT bazaar, office towers—all done in Hadid’s trademark swooping, swoon-worthy architectural style. — Quartz
ZHA principal Patrik Schumacher has been personally spearheading the metaverse version of a disputed quasi Freestate called the Free Republic of Liberland since shortly after it was founded in 2015 by the self-styled libertarian Czech politician Vít Jedlička. Liberland City Hall. Image... View full entry
The American Institute of Architects is elevating 88 member-architects to its College of Fellows in recognition of significant contributions to the architecture profession and society. Eligible candidates must have had at least ten years of AIA membership and demonstrated influence in... View full entry
California-based Azure Printed Homes has announced intentions to construct 14 prefabricated 3D printed homes using recycled plastic. The homes will form part of a new housing development in Ridgecrest, California, led by Oasis Development. The project will build on Azure’s existing production of... View full entry
As part of the organization's ongoing mission to recognize excellence and innovation in the ever-important area of socially transformative architecture, the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada has announced the shortlist for the 2022 edition of its biannual International Prize.Now in its fourth... View full entry
