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The Snøhetta-designed public garden at 550 Madison Avenue in Manhattan has opened, completing one step of the extensive remodelling of the former AT&T Building at the same address. Developed with Olayan Group, the half-acre garden is described by the team as “the first new green space in... View full entry
An important but underutilized piece of the cultural fabric of Upstate New York is getting a makeover thanks to a new master plan for Utica’s Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute from Cooper Robertson. The 103-year-old institute’s campus features a Pratt-affiliated school, performance... View full entry
The debate over Philip Johnson's past and ongoing legacy continues: after The ---- Johnson Study Group published an open letter calling for all institutions to remove the name of Philip Johnson from "every leadership title, public space, and honorific of any form" in response to the architect's... View full entry
Following a letter released November 27, 2020 by The ---- Johnson Study Group calling for all institutions to remove the name of Philip Johnson from "every leadership title, public space, and honorific of any form," Sarah Whiting, Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture at the... View full entry
The ---- Johnson Study Group, an online organization "studying the legacy of a 20th century white supremacist [Philip Johnson] who founded the most significant modern architectural institutions in the United States" has released the following letter calling for all institutions to remove the name... View full entry
Real estate magnate Gerald D. Hines, the developer behind many of America's most iconic skyscrapers from the late-20th century, has passed away at age 95. Hines is perhaps best known as the backer for many of downtown Houston's skyline-altering developments, including SOM's One Shell Plaza... View full entry
A 1.1 million-square-foot office tower complex designed by Johnson / Burgee is currently for sale in Dallas, Texas. Organized as a trio of conjoined 19-story towers topped with mansard roofs and connected by arch-topped skywalks, the office complex rises behind a low-rise hotel designed in a... View full entry
Inspired by Philip Johnson's Glass House and the Ben Rose House from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a glass-clad pavilion recently completed by Maurice Martel Architecte sits as a tribute to modern architecture in Montréal. Photos by Adrien Williams. Complete with a four-season, indoor swimming... View full entry
The iconic New York State Pavilion observation towers in Flushing, Queens are being restored. The New York City Parks Department broke ground on the project this week. Designed by Philip Johnson and Lev Zetlin, the two flying saucer-topped observation towers as well as an adjacent pavilion will... View full entry
[...] the restoration on the observation towers of the New York State Pavilion is beginning soon. A project update on the Parks’ capital project tracker states that there is an estimated start date of September 2019, and that a date has been set for construction to begin, an update first noticed by the People for the Pavilion. — Untapped Cities
Untapped Cities reports that the restoration work of the three New York State Pavilion observation towers, designed by Philip Johnson, Richard Foster and structural engineer Lev Zetlin for the 1964 World’s Fair, will include "reconstruction of the stairways, replace deteriorated suspension... View full entry
Just North of Dallas' city center lies a lesser known mansion designed in 1964 by infamous architect Philip Johnson. With six bedrooms and seven full bathrooms, this 11,387 square foot home in Preston Hollow, known as Beck House, is the architect's largest home design. Recreation Room... View full entry
The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission paved the way for Snøhetta to partially redesign Philip Johnson’s Postmodern skyscraper at 550 Madison Avenue Tuesday with a vote backing the contested plan. [...]
The biggest change to the property, which was granted landmark status in July 2018, is the privately-owned public space (POPS) at the ground level.
— Curbed NY
Image: SnøhettaSnøhetta's original proposal to renovate the, now landmark-protected, 1984 icon of Postmodernism at 550 Madison Avenue was met with fierce opposition from architects, preservationists, and critics. An updated design that incorporated much of the feedback was released a few... View full entry
In “The Man in the Glass House,” Mark Lamster’s brisk, clear-eyed new biography of Johnson, we are asked to contemplate why the impresario of twentieth-century architecture descended into such a morass of far-right politics—and how, given the depths to which he fell, he managed to clamber his way not just out of it, but to the top. [...] Johnson managed to abjure his past and, on the march toward an exceptionally successful career, leave it behind. — The New Yorker
The New Yorker reviews the new Philip Johnson biography, The Man in the Glass House by architecture critic and professor Mark Lamster, and examines how Johnson eagerly embraced Fascism before WWII and still rose to great fame as America's iconic 20th-century architect. "Indeed, it is... View full entry
A year after Snøhetta’s first attempt at renovating Olayan America and Chelsfield’s office tower at 550 Madison Avenue ended in controversy and eventual landmarking, the architects are hoping their second attempt will be smoother. — The Real Deal
"The new proposal unveiled Tuesday features three stories of retail at the ground level and a new opening in the rear facade to allow sight lines from Madison Avenue into a new open-air garden that will replace the currently enclosed galleria," reports The Real Deal about Snøhetta's reworked... View full entry
The designation protects the exterior of the building, including the facades of the office tower, annex, and enclosed covered passageway, and notably preserving its rose Stony Creek granite cladding and the broken pediment at its crown. Going forward, any proposed alterations to the exterior will require approval and permitting by the [NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission]. — Architectural Record
It's official. The AT&T Building is now a designated landmark. Late last year, Snøhetta's plans to redesign the historic building sparked months of heated debate among architects, preservationists, and critics. View full entry
