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The dominance of starchitect-led high rises in London is the result of the UK’s subjective planning system, according to a new opinion piece in The New York Times. Taking aim at the city’s “weird” skyline, business and economics columnist Peter Coy argues that “developers hire star... View full entry
Two decades later, the Quadracci Pavilion remains one of the most significant works of architecture in Milwaukee. The project changed the conversation about the city and fueled a vision of molding the area into an arts and entertainment destination. Simply referred to as “The Calatrava” by locals, the game-changing project has made the Milwaukee Art Museum a must-see for residents and tourists alike. The structure has been the backdrop remains a symbol of the city’s continuing renaissance. — Milwaukee Mag
The iconic 2001 structure has become synonymous with the city’s skyline and is seen as the originator of an influx of modern buildings that includes the new Northwestern Mutual Tower and Populous-designed Fiserv Forum downtown. Mo Zell, the Senior Associate Dean of UW Milwaukee’s... View full entry
Continuing with our regional Spotlight on Los Angeles, we've selected 9 Los Angeles firms that are currently searching for the right candidate to join their team. During any job search, learning about your future employer and the culture of the offices they run is key. For this week's... View full entry
[...] sobering reality of selling a “starchitect”-designed home: They might have gotten what they paid for in their house’s dramatic lines, luxurious materials, and prestigious pedigree, but when it comes time to sell, the market is often unforgiving. — Bloomberg
Bloomberg on the challenging business of selling luxury homes, custom-designed for their initial owners by famous architects, including a few properties in the U.S. by Rafael Viñoly, Steven Holl, Annabelle Selldorf, and Pritzker Prize laureate Tadao Ando. Related: Does owning a Frank Lloyd Wright... View full entry
One vestige of Gowanus Canal's gritty, industrial days will soon join the ranks of its Brooklyn-esque neighbors. The Batcave, a former warehouse built in 1904, will be transformed into an art production factory and exhibition space to be called the Powerhouse Workshop by Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron. — 6sqft
This topical review of 2016's News isn't about certain architects' big projects or prizes (those'll have their own lists), but about the culture surrounding those big names, and the way their personalities convey the profession to a wider audience. For your reading pleasure, presented in reverse... View full entry
In light of the Landmarks Preservation Commission's approval of Jeanne Gang's expansion plan for the American Museum of Natural History, the Commission has revealed a slew of new renderings, which show the $325 million project from various angles, as well as new views of the surrounding parkland. Chairwoman Meenakshi Srinivasan referred to the new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation as a “stunning piece of architecture” and an “absolutely wonderful addition.” — 6sqft.com
Modern architecture, during its heyday, was deeply concerned with its civic function; its mission to reform housing and improve the city was a moral imperative. But the failure of this utopian vision has served to...[give] rise to a profession in which its practice is defined increasingly by individual “star” architects and “architecture for architecture’s sake”... — AEI.org
In a piece on the civic benefits of music, literature, and architecture to the public sphere, Rebecca Burgess finds architecture to be somewhat lacking, based on the writings of Michael J. Lewis. Is this a complaint about the good old days in the vein of Prince Charles, or a meaningful critique in... View full entry
In November 2015, Bjarke Ingels‘ released images of a pair of asymmetric, twisting towers along the High Line at 76 Eleventh Avenue then at the beginning of this year, the design changed to a simpler silhouette with more space in between the two buildings. Now it has been revealed through another group of renderings glass crowns at the 300- and 400-foot tops, the retail podium and plaza fronting the High Line, and two amenity-filled podium bridges that will connect the towers. — 6sqft.com
From multidisciplinary architectural firm Weston Baker Creative comes this vision of glass and grass in the form of a mixed-use high-rise springing from the Rem Koolhaas parcel on banks of the High Line. As CityRealty.com reported, the mixed-use concept would include residences, an art gallery and ten levels of indoor farming terraces. — 6sqft.com
Of the four houses Frank Lloyd Wright built in New Jersey, the first and largest was the 2,000-square-foot James B. Christie House, which dates to 1940. Wright built the home on seven acres of secluded woodland and employed his Usonian principles of simplicity and practically that connect to nature. After selling in 2014 to a private buyer for $1.7 million, the Christie House is now on the market for $2.2 million after receiving a new roof and heating system. — 6sqft.com
By and large, elite architects have disengaged from efforts to make the most fundamental unit of architecture available to all. [...]
Contra Hadid and others, a truly revolutionary architecture would concern itself with how to provide permanent, quality housing for the nearly one billion people currently living in slums, how to create accessible housing for the millions more adversely affected by a global affordability crisis in urban areas.
— jacobinmag.com
Related on Archinect:60 Minutes profiles Bjarke Ingels, the "Starchitect"Starchitect-Designed Public Projects Are Often Long Delayed and Way Over BudgetNY Times Enters the "Starchitect" Debate"I miss that cohesiveness...": Rem Koolhaas on celebrity View full entry
Critics of the tallest residential building in the western hemisphere, 432 Park Avenue, are quick to try to bring the tower down from its 1,400-foot pedestal. And strangely, its very own architect is the latest jump on the bandwagon. Rafael Viñoly admitted at a Douglas Elliman talk last week that his creation “has a couple of screw-ups,” namely the window framing, which he blames on developer Harry Macklowe, and the tiny issue of “the interior design and layout.” — 6sqft.com
Previously:As 432 Park Ave reaches completion, the number of supertall skyscrapers in the world is now 100A Trashcan Inspired the Design of Rafael Viñoly’s 432 Park Avenue View full entry
the firm founded by Harvard-trained David Mizan Hashim has made a name over three decades as a stalwart of the Malaysian architecture scene [...]
It is now the country’s second-largest architecture firm, with 330 staffers led by 14 architect principals; 5 of them head Veritas offices overseas. [...]
“I purposely don’t want all decisions to come from me,” [Hashim] says ... “My strategy is planned obsolescence.”
— forbes.com
Related on Archinect:Do western architects disrespect eastern architecture?Looking to start your own practice? Keep this in mind...60 Minutes profiles Bjarke Ingels, the "Starchitect""Stepping Out" – the personal preface to starting your own practice, on Archinect Sessions #44 View full entry
The culture at BIG is intense but in off-hours, blowing off steam dressed as your favorite comic book hero isn't uncommon. That's the boss armed with a gun full of tequila.
Bjarke Ingels: The way we work is maybe unlike certain architects that have a very particular style where it is the auteur. It has to be the design principal who makes the strokes of genius. I don't have to come up with the best idea. It is my job to make sure that it is always the best idea that wins.
— cbsnews.com
Looking for even BIGger news on Archinect? Here are a few recent stories to begin with:A closer look at BIG's West 57th Street "courtscraper"Serpentine unzips Bjarke Ingels' Pavilion and 4 Summer HousesBIG in Paris: Bjarke Ingels to design for Galeries Lafayette on Champs-Élysées View full entry