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The artist, architect, and environmentalist Maya Lin is set to release her inaugural generative art project. Titled Ghost Forest Seedlings, and produced by Pace Verso with Web3 art innovators E.A.T_WORKS, the work will be released on September 18 to align with Climate Week NYC. Ghost Forest... View full entry
New York City officials announced plans on Thursday to ease the conversion of office buildings to housing and to open manufacturing areas south of Times Square to new residential development, as part of a broader push to reinvent the struggling business district in Midtown Manhattan and address the city’s housing crisis. — The New York Times
The news comes after the revelation last week that a total of zero new housing starts were approved in Manhattan in the month of July. The Adams administration previously announced its desire to create 40,000 new residential units through the adaptive reuse of office buildings. The rezoned area... View full entry
The borough of Manhattan, home to 1.7 million people, approved no new units of housing last month and just 10 buildings with 279 units in total were approved last month in the other four boroughs combined. City leaders are raising the alarm about the anemic pace of development. — Business Insider
The lack of new housing starts mirrors a nationwide dip that was recorded at 24% for the month of June, according to the latest Dodge Construction Network report. Manhattan has seen ruinous housing cost increases since the pandemic abated, irking those in power who feel the need to end a citywide... View full entry
A comprehensive new study linking the implementation of bird-friendly glass technology to the improvement of wildlife safety has been released by the American Bird Conservancy, offering architects what they say is a first-of-its-kind primer on an issue that still lags in the design of buildings... View full entry
Following our previous look at an opening for a Public Interest Design (PID) Fellowship at the University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit Collaborative Design Center, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an opportunity on Archinect Jobs for a Project Manager at the... View full entry
A $36 million restoration of Eero Saarinen’s 1964 corporate headquarters for CBS in Manhattan has been announced by New York-based Harbor Group International, LLC (HGI) ahead of the project’s expected completion early this fall. The architect’s lone skyscraper design, an ominous 38-story... View full entry
Outdoor dining along New York City streets, one of the rare pandemic-era accommodations that proved popular, is set to become permanent — but in a way that could drive many restaurant owners to take down their streetside sheds for good. — The New York Times
A New York City Council bill introduced in February that will make outdoor dining structures in roadways permanent through a licensing system was passed last week. The move aims to preserve the popular program while being able to exert more control over it. One stipulation is that roadway... View full entry
A bellwether overhaul of the aging Emery Roth & Sons-designed 55 Broad Street office tower in Lower Manhattan will be undertaken by CetraRuddy in what is billed as one of the New York market’s largest office-to-residential conversion projects in recent memory. The project for developers... View full entry
Progress on the 5 World Trade Center (5WTC) project by KPF moves forward after a press conference announcement on July 27 from New York Governor Kathy Hochul. In an effort to build more affordable housing in Lower Manhattan, the news reported by The Real Deal states that the... View full entry
The Pratt Center for Community Development has appointed Alexa Kasdan as its new executive director, effective September 1, 2023. Kasdan will bring to the role “two decades of experience in participatory research and policy advocacy to the role, along with the ability to leverage strong... View full entry
These conversions seem like a win-win: turning a plethora of barely used office space into desperately needed urban housing.
But converting offices into apartments is easier said than done. And while it's easy to imagine the process behind conversions, like adding in walls and plumbing, it gets complicated.
— NPR
Various cities across the United States have been turning to office-to-residential conversions as a way to address declining city cores that have yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. As noted by NPR, San Francisco is making way for these conversions by adjusting current building codes and getting rid... View full entry
New Jersey took a significant step Friday as it seeks to block New York’s congestion pricing plan with a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
Gov. Phil Murphy, standing behind a podium that read “FIGHTING AN UNFAIR CONGESTION TAX,” said at a morning press conference that he hopes the lawsuit triggers an environmental impact statement delaying the program.
— SILive.com
New York City's new congestion pricing plan was finally approved on a federal level last month following years of debate that began under then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy told CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday that he wants to prevent pollution from the... View full entry
New York-based artists collective Harlem Grown, in collaboration with Jerome Haferd of BRANDT : HAFERD, has shared photos of the new ‘Sankofa’ installation in Harlem’s historic Marcus Garvey Park just months after the announcement of a two-year community-led commission aimed at... View full entry
More than 30 years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law, mandating reasonable accommodations and accessibility features for people with disabilities. Yet to this day, ADA noncompliant sidewalks, crosswalks, and public transportation stops permeate U.S. cities from coast to coast. — Next City
The plaintiff in the Hunters Point Library suit against Steven Holl — disability advocate Tanya Jackson — is another high-profile case highlighting the effects of racial health inequality in design and the failures of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for Black disabled... View full entry
Rex Heuermann, an architect who had lived most of his life in Nassau County and worked in Manhattan, was taken into custody in connection with at least some of the killings, said an official with knowledge of the case. — The New York Times
The 59-year-old was the owner of a Midtown Manhattan-based consultancy practice that offered “concept-driven designs at multiple scales from educational facilities, residential works, as well as mix use and office design, public works, and master planning,” according to its website. Heuermann... View full entry
