Staples Center is getting a new name for Christmas: Crypto.com Arena. The downtown Los Angeles venue — home of the Lakers, Clippers, Kings and Sparks — will wear the new name for 20 years under a deal between the Singapore cryptocurrency exchange and AEG, the owner and operator of the arena, both parties announced Tuesday. Crypto.com paid more than $700 million for the naming rights, according to sources familiar with the terms, making it one of the biggest naming deals in sports history. — Los Angeles Times
The arena’s new logo will debut on December 25th, and all of the Staples Center signage will be replaced by June 2022. The partnership between AEG and Crypto.com may see the integration of cryptocurrency and online payment into the arena. A 3,300-square-foot section at the entrance of the arena... View full entry
An excellent example of the New Formalist style is now available for the relatively low price of $4.3 million. Local news outlets are reporting the recent addition of Minoru Yamasaki’s Michigan State Medical Society to the real estate market in East Lansing. Image courtesy Michigan State... View full entry
MVRDV has designed a playful, mixed-use apartment building shaped like the letter O. Located in the German city of Mannheim’s Franklin Mitte neighborhood, the building is one of four letter-shaped apartment complexes that together spell out the word HOME. The 15-story building mixes... View full entry
One of America’s premier folk art institutions is getting a major expansion for the first time thanks to a newly-unveiled design from Rogers Partners. The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art opened in 1980 and is dedicated to outsider and folk art. Orange Show traces its origins to... View full entry
After six years of design and research at MIT, a pair of autonomous boats have been launched into the canals of Amsterdam. Roboat, a research project undertaken by the MIT Senseable City Lab and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute), seeks to encourage a... View full entry
Demand for architectural design services has grown for the ninth consecutive month, according to the latest economic report released by the American Institute of Architects. The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) for October remained at an elevated, positive score of 54.3, softening only slightly... View full entry
An ambitious new athletic facility for the University of Washington’s men’s and women’s basketball programs has got the ball rolling thanks to a design from Gensler. The newly-approved Basketball Training & Operations Facility and Health & High Performance Center is seen as an enhancement of... View full entry
This post is brought to you by Architecture at Zero The American Institute of Architects, California (AIACA) announces the launch of the tenth annual Architecture at Zero competition focused on decarbonization, equity, and resilience in building design. The annual competition is open for... View full entry
Two projects have been named to RIBA’s influential House of the Year award shortlist. Private residences from Tonkin Liu and Alison Brooks Architects made the first cut for what will likely become a list of seven, according to the institute. Tonkin Liu’s amazing conversion of a decades-old... View full entry
Marina Tabassum has been named the 2021 recipient of the prestigious Soane Medal honoring her lifework and innovation in the field. The Marina Tabassum Architects founder is the fourth recipient of the medal joining Denise Scott Brown, Rafael Moneo, and Kenneth Frampton on a list of past... View full entry
A floating solar farm that’s equivalent to about 70 soccer fields in size has begun generating power in Thailand, reflecting the country’s push to achieve carbon neutral status by 2050. — Bloomberg
Located at the Sirindhorn Dam, which is about 410 miles east of Bangkok, the facility is the world’s largest hybrid solar-hydropower system. It combines two methods of electricity generation, with 145,000 solar panels generating power from the sun during that day, while three turbines convert... View full entry
The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design has announced the overall winners of the American Architecture Awards 2021, with over 130 projects recognized. Described as the nation’s highest public award for new architecture and urban planning, the list recognizes the best new... View full entry
Higher prices and longer wait times do not appear to be turning buyers away from the nation’s homebuilders. With demand still surging, homebuilder confidence in the market for single-family homes rose more than expected in November, to the highest level since last May — CNBC
According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), builder sentiment in the market for newly-built single-family homes moved three points higher to 83 in November. Readings above 50 indicate that more builders view conditions as good than... View full entry
In Meerstad, a neighborhood in the Dutch city of Groningen, De Zwarte Hond is designing a multi-use supermarket made entirely of wood. Called the SuperHub, the project is labeled as a sustainable and flexible building that is also a host to a variety of social functions. Meerstad... View full entry
Highly popular due to their location and vibrant amenities, urban neighborhoods around the country have seen a boom in new apartments in the last five years. In fact, the top 20 most active neighborhoods — led by Downtown Los Angeles — have delivered a staggering 80,000 brand new rental units. — RentCafe
Downtown Los Angeles’ 10,136 new dwellings were followed by a distant second Midtown Atlanta, which had 5,936, and the formerly working-class Hunters Point neighborhood in far western Queens, which trailed Atlanta by a few hundred at 5,423. Los Angeles is currently looking to add more than... View full entry
