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“With its wide array of sustainable measures, ranging from the choice of materials, to the many passive designs to economize energy and ensure great daylight, to the way the school is able to share spaces with the surrounding community, the new campus of FIS offers lessons in sustainable architecture for pupils and local builders. - Claude Godefroy, Design Director and partner at Henning Larson Hong Kong
Hong Kong's seven million residents and bustling urban city is filled with looming concrete buildings and dense streets. However, the new campus of the French International School shines amongst the congested cityscape. Image © Philippe RuaultFinding green space is difficult in such an urban... View full entry
If yesterday’s terraces were just little rectangular slabs tacked onto the sides of buildings — on which a tenant might cower, or perhaps more likely, rarely step foot — today’s are becoming increasingly generous and welcoming.
Some developers and architects are ushering in a new age of terrace design in a bid to provide more interesting outdoor space, capitalize on views and add greenery. In the process, they’re adding drama to the buildings themselves.
— NY Times
Via 57 West terraces (pictured above) are inset to the building by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group). The firm names them “cockpits” due to their shelter against wind and noise. 305 East 44th Street terrace floor rendering. Image: Moso Studio.Terraces of 1,400-square-feet will be located between... View full entry
MVRDV’s new project, Fabryczna Offices, will house both office and retail space in the center of Łódź, Poland's third largest city. The firm's design draws inspiration from the city’s industrial textile heritage reimagined for contemporary use. The 13-floor building uses the... View full entry
Amazon’s Spheres, a botanical gardenlike workspace for the retail giant’s employees, are primarily a private space.
But the company has set up a few ways for the public to access the geodesic domes — in downtown Seattle on Lenora Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues — starting Tuesday, when the Spheres officially open to visitors and employees.
— The Seattle Times
The Amazon Spheres, designed by NBBJ, will now be open to the public; however, getting in may be tricky. There is the option of entering from the ground floor to see an exhibition about the Spheres, and the much more difficult option to join a guided tour of the entire headquarters. Inside the... View full entry
The importance of urban design goes far beyond feel-good aesthetics. A number of studies have shown that growing up in a city doubles the chances of someone developing schizophrenia, and increases the risk for other mental disorders such as depression and chronic anxiety. — BBC, Michael Bond
While it might appear as common intuitive knowledge, humans are strongly influenced by their context. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in studies on the connection between neuroscience and architecture. Last month, London's Conscious Cities Conference brought together... View full entry
The lack of public greenery is a concern troubling many urban areas around the world. For city-dwellers living in increasingly dense neighborhoods, nature often becomes synonymous with a singular tree or two as existing green spaces are few and far between. Istanbul, as the heart of Turkey, is one... View full entry
According to a press release from Apple, it will take six months to move all 12,000 employees into the 175-acre campus, which will officially open for occupancy in April. In addition to the 2.8 million square foot, naturally ventilated Foster + Partners'-designed "spaceship" building, the campus... View full entry
One thing, though, is different this time around. These days the city and county are busy investing money and lavishing attention on public spaces across L.A. — and even producing some from scratch...In a range of ways, Southern California is beginning to make up for neglecting its public realm for the bulk of the postwar era. — L.A. Times
With two park design competitions currently underway (linked below), Downtown L.A. is eager to boost its amount of green space. But will those ambitious plans pan out in a tricky cityscape? Christopher Hawthorne gives his two cents on the potential of each park. Previously on Archinect: Take... View full entry
The New York cityscape might get another tower from Bjarke Ingels. At 1,005 feet, "The Spiral" is a new office building proposed to fill up an entire block on 66 Hudson Boulevard in Manhattan's West Side. The concept was unveiled today. The 65-story Spiral is set to be the fourth tallest... View full entry
The Hills on Governors Island will welcome visitors this summer — nearly a year ahead of schedule, it was announced last week — and add 10 acres of green space to the city, largely in the form of four artificial hills. Made of recycled construction debris and clean fill, the hills rise as high as 70 feet above the island...An unseasonably warm fall contributed to faster-than-expected construction times. — NextCity
You can find more photos and renderings from the Governors Island's Flickr here and here.Scroll down for a drone video of the park under construction.More about public parks on Archinect:Pershing Square Renew competition narrows down to four finalist teamsBIG unveils 28-acre master plan for... View full entry
Before becoming senior vice president for The Trust for Public Land in 2012, Adrian Benepe spent 11 years working as New York City Park Commissioner under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, overseeing such projects as the High Line, Hudson River Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park and Central Park's renovation... View full entry
If the project is scaled up, it could have a substantial impact on the urban fabric: Los Angeles has a total of almost 900 miles of alleys, roughly the length of the coast of California. Proponents believe that on a citywide scale, green alleys could act as significant rainwater sponges, mitigate the heat island effect, and reduce vehicle use, as well as bring social and health benefits to nearby residents. — nextcity.org
Tori Kjer, a program director of the Trust for Public Land, and her colleagues won support from local South L.A. communities for their proposed Avalon Green Alley Network Plan, which will transform the city's alleyways into more community-friendly spaces for playing and for bike and walking... View full entry
Since Cummins Inc. appointed Deborah Berke Partners back in September, the company finally revealed DBP's design of their new global distribution business headquarters in downtown Indianapolis to the City of Indianapolis’ Metropolitan Development Commission today. The Commission could vote on... View full entry
Our friends at DawnTown continue to uphold innovative ideas in the Miami architecture scene with their Wynwood Gateway Park Competition. Just recently, the winners were announced for the international competition, which challenged participants to design a 14,000-sq.ft urban park and garden to be realized at the Wynwood Gateway Complex near Downtown Miami. The competition garnered over 238 submissions from interdisciplinary teams from over 20 countries. — bustler.net
Three winning teams were selected under anonymity by the jury:1ST PLACE (US$10,000): "Wynwood Greenhouse" by artist Jim Drain, landscape architect Roberto Rovira, and architect Nick Gelpi2ND PLACE ($5,000): “Graffito Green” by Meyer + Silberberg Land Architects from Berkeley, California3RD... View full entry
Friday, August 29:MIT's MindRider helmet draws mental maps as you bike: The prototype is currently being used to create a mental-map and guidebook for NYC, and an upcoming Kickstarter campaign will attempt to fund the project for commercial sale.In Beirut, a grassroots push for more grass... View full entry
