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The planning authority in London’s Royal Borough of Greenwich has ordered the demolition of a new residential development along the River Thames. In a statement, the authority concluded that the 23-story building, named Mast Quay Phase II, was “so substantially different to the... View full entry
A settlement has been reached in the strange case of a homeowner who fought her California town to keep a famous Flintstones motif installed. The curious legal dispute has kept the Bay Area suburb in the headlines for the past two and a half years. Florence Fang will receive $125,000 from the... View full entry
After a landmarked home in San Francisco's Twin Peaks neighborhood was illegally razed last year, the city has ordered the property owner to rebuild an exact replica. One of only five remaining homes in the city designed by the famed modernist architect Richard Neutra, the Largent House was... View full entry
Despite having been under construction for more than 130 years, Gaudí's Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona has lacked the proper paper work. Turns out, the Unesco world heritage site, attracting more than 20 million visitors a year, has never been granted a building permit, the BBC... View full entry
A University of Waterloo employee secretly arranged for his mother to be paid $148,000 from the school’s coffers, his fraud trial heard Tuesday. Jeffrey Lederer is charged with fraud, theft and uttering forged documents.
He was employed by Waterloo until 2011, when he was asked to leave his position as general manager of the university’s architectural school.
— CTV News
Although he's no Bernie Madoff, just how does the former General Manager's illegal fund finagling rank in the annals of architectural rip-offs?Here's a tour of recent questionable architectural appropriations:Sean John rips off Pentagram's poster for Yale School of ArchitectureGetting ripped off... View full entry
In a fresh setback for India's tallest skyscraper, Palais Royale at Worli, the Bombay high court on Wednesday held that the 13 upper floors of the 56-storey building as well as a 15-storey public parking tower next to it were "completely illegal". [...]
The builder also sought to claim that the tower with 900 parking spaces was in public interest. The HC disagreed, saying "but for the incentive FSI (that the developer could claim) they would not have constructed it for social service".
— The Times of India
H/T CTBUH.Related stories in the Archinect news:World's first Slum Museum is coming to MumbaiSteven Holl Architects wins star-studded competition to design Mumbai City Museum North WingAre India's cities prepared to withstand an earthquake like in Nepal? View full entry
Are you joking? Go ask a Latino based org. I am not interested in assisting anyone from a Latino based org. Its racist to even ask and frankly my business has [been] ruined by fucking illegal immigrants. Are we clear! Don’t ever email this address again. If there weren’t so many damn illegal immigrants in this state, i would have work for myself. Now piss off! — Latino Rebels
'Landscaper Refuses to Help Berkeley Students Because of ‘F*cking Illegal Immigrants’. This quote is not from the Onion, but written as a response to Vanessa Hernández Juárez, a member of UCal Berkeley’s Chican@/Latin@ Architecture Student Association who e mailed Sachi Landscape... View full entry
The conceptual storefront Prada Marfa, 2005, by Elmgreen & Dragset, has a new lease on life. The Texas Department of Transportation reached an agreement last week with the foundation Ballroom Marfa to preserve the sculpture after nearly one year of negotiations. The government threatened to shut down the work because it could be considered an illegal roadside advertisement under state law. [...] the foundation plans to lease the land underneath Prada Marfa and register it as an art museum. — theartnewspaper.com
Previously: Prada Marfa declared an illegal outdoor advertisement, faces possible removal View full entry
New York City’s Department of Buildings issues more than 4,400 violations a year for illegally converted basements, cellars and attics that cannot be occupied because of health and safety hazards, like poor ventilation or a lack of multiple exits.
But with the scarcity of affordable housing in the city and with many New Yorkers already living in makeshift apartments, some housing advocates are calling for a new approach.
— nytimes.com
Nearly eight years after opening, Prada Marfa has been classified by the Texas Department of Transportation as an “illegal outdoor advertising sign” because it displays the Prada logo on land where that is prohibited. This could lead to forced removal of the installation, although the department has not yet decided what action it will take. — nytimes.com
UPDATE: Prada Marfa saved View full entry
For the past six years, professor Zhang Lin has been moving rocks and rubble to construct his dream mountain home in the Renji Mountain area of Beijing, China. The catch? It's actually on the roof of a 26-story apartment building. And according to the South China Morning Post, the structure is completely illegal, as he never received the necessary planning permission for this extreme dwelling. — huffingtonpost.com
