Baumann was forced to resign as director of the Cooper Hewitt [...] following an investigation by the Smithsonian’s inspector general into potential problems regarding the procurement of [a wedding] dress and the wedding space.
Her resignation was made public on Feb. 7, without explanation [...]. Two people with knowledge of the Smithsonian’s decision making [...]said that the investigation had turned up evidence of an appearance of a conflict of interest.
— The New York Times
Robin Pogrebin of The New York Times delves into the circumstances surrounding the abrupt resignation of Caroline Baumann, the director of the Cooper Hewit Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City. The museum is partially funded by the federal government and for that reason is... View full entry
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles. (Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles.)... View full entry
The Office of Metropolitan Architecture's (OMA) much-anticipated exhibition, Countryside, The Future, is set to open next week at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. The exhibition, according to the museum website, explores "radical changes in the rural, remote, and wild... View full entry
Perhaps the biggest risk is that the appeal of natural-sounding solutions can delude us into thinking we’re taking more meaningful action than we really are. It “invites people to view tree planting as a substitute” for the sweeping changes required to prevent greenhouse-gas emissions from reaching the atmosphere in the first place, says Jane Flegal, a member of the adjunct faculty at Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society. — MIT Technology Review
James Temple, writing in the MIT Technology Review outlines the argument against viewing tree-planting as a climate crisis silver bullet. While planting trees might seem like a quick and easy way of helping to abate the climate crisis, Temple explains, increasingly, researchers are finding that... View full entry
Located in the city of Jiangyin, China, the new Brearley Architects + Urbanists (BAU)-designed greenway captures the local push toward more sustainable transport and builds on the formal qualities of the nearby Yangtze River. Through geographical mimicry, the formal manifestation of the... View full entry
We get it. It can get a little overwhelming keeping up with the dozens of new architecture competitions launching worldwide on any given week — let alone having to stay on top of the multiple deadlines for each and every one. That's why Bustler is here to help! At the end... View full entry
The latest installment of The New York Times' 1619 Project takes a look at the largely erased built legacy of slavery in America. The article visits a collection of sites that had to be uncovered more or less through original research, as little documentation and few historical markers... View full entry
Just look at the American Hotel (sold in 2001 and then again in 2013). It is still "preserved," but entirely gentrified. What happens when the suitcase full of money and sleek renderings by a famous architect show up, when demolition is someone's foregone conclusion? This is Los Angeles after all.
Starting with a scene of a fictional computer game called Demolition, Anthony Carfello's investigative article for "Georgia" goes behind the scenes of much touted and celebrated developments taking a place in downtown LA's artsy parts. It is like a guide book to gentrification, demolishment and... View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter/Spring 2020 A new school term means it's time for Archinect's latest edition of Get Lectured, an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back... View full entry
The new Inuit Art Centre (IAC) at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Winnipeg, Canada designed by Los Angeles-based architects Michael Maltzan Architecture is set to open its doors later this year. A statement published on the Winnipeg Art Gallery website states that the space is "constructed to house... View full entry
Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, the world’s wealthiest person, has purchased a Beverly Hills mansion known as the Warner Estate from media mogul David Geffen for $165 million, a source familiar with the deal said on Wednesday. — Reuters
The hefty price tag of the new abode for Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sánchez is believed to be the highest amount ever paid for a home in the Los Angeles area — even beating the recent record-setting transaction of Bel Air's Chartwell mansion which sold for a meager $150 million. The... View full entry
On this episode of Archinect Sessions, we’re sharing a conversation I had with Alysa Nahmias, the director and producer of the documentary film “The New Bauhaus.” We recorded this conversation last month, poolside, a few hours before the film premiered to a packed house in the Annenberg... View full entry
Increasing automation in the construction industry could displace or replace as much as 49% of the America’s blue-collar construction workforce (2.7 million workers) and eliminate nearly 500,000 non-construction jobs by 2057, according to a new study by the Midwest Economic Policy Institute (MEPI) and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. — Midwest Economic Policy Institute
As a part of their study, Midwest Economic Policy Institute (MEPI) and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers highlighted a "decades-long decline of blue-collar labor as a total share of construction costs and the growing share of capital— which includes machinery, equipment... View full entry
Treasuries now make up more than half of the world’s haven assets, double the share they accounted for during the global financial crisis, according to Eurizon SLJ Capital. That complicates matters when the spread between long- and short-term yields inverts: what used to be a reliable American recession indicator is instead an barometer of investors diving for cover worldwide. — Yahoo! Finance
One of the top three recession indicators economists look at to gauge the health of the American economy—the relationship between the various return rates on United States Treasury Bonds—is becoming less a useful metric for those analysts due to the influence of global economic trends... View full entry
In the last 25 years, the design-build delivery method has caught on with not just contractors but also government officials, customers and jurisdictions across the country. The method is now allowed on at least some types of public projects in all but two states, Iowa and North Dakota. — Construction Dive
According to Construction Dive, Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) studies have shown that design-build costs are about 6.1% less than traditional design-bid-build, with a delivery speed of around 33.5% faster. Cities like New York have introduced legislation that give design-build... View full entry