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Melbourne, Australia has been ranked as the most “liveable” city in the world for the seventh consecutive year by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The EIU’s benchmark annual report titled “The Global Liveability Report 2017,” ranks 140 cities in order of best living conditions.
Melbourne’s 97.5 score is down to perfect assessments in health care, education, and infrastructure, as well as hitting over 95 in stability, and culture and environment.
— qz.com
As in previous years, the top 10 list is mostly comprised of major cities in Australia and Canada, while Vienna — once again — barely misses the first spot by 0.1 percentage points overall. Auckland, Helsinki, and Hamburg manage to claim some coveted spots at the top for their respective... View full entry
The next International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) will be split in two parts, the first held in 2018 and the second in 2020. Appropriately dubbed IABR—2018+2020, it will be based in both the Netherlands and Belgium and use “the world as its source of inspiration”. This follows in... View full entry
Hugh Hardy, the architect best-known for his renovation of many of New York’s most famous theatrical landmarks, passed away on Thursday at the age of 84 from a cerebral hemorrhage. He is survived by his wife, Tiziana Hardy.Born on July 26, 1932 in Majorca, Spain to American parents, Hardy was... View full entry
“To work on architecture for culture and health is a social commitment during these challenging times,” states Steven Holl. His proposal for a new Cultural and Health Center in Shanghai has just received approval. Comprising two buildings set in a public landscape, the project is intended to... View full entry
Forget climbing stars, or even walking laterally--in the increasingly dense and rapid reality of urban life, elevators have become a major part of daily living. According to The Guardian, major elevator designers like Otis are considering re-designing the elevator to become a more comfortable and... View full entry
From their studios, ateliers, film sets and kitchens — and even the White House — these are the people whose inventive spirits shaped the conversation this year. — nytimes.com
It certainly was an eventful career year for Alejandro Aravena (Pritzker Prize, Venice Biennale, et al.), and the ambitious Chilean's cultural footprint can be traced throughout a handful of our Archinect 2016 Year In Review posts:The top prize-winning architects of 2016How starchitect culture... View full entry
Architecture culture, while impossible to pin down precisely, tracks its course roughly with trends in starchitecture, academia, and global politics. It is the substance that wherever you practice, teach or write, provides some kind of reference point for identifying with being "an architect"... View full entry
BOMB Magazine, the influential art journal founded in 1981, will honor architect Steven Holl at its 2017 gala on May 5, 2017. Holl will be the first architect honored at the annual event."The logically unbridgeable gap between concepts and ideas and the world of sense perception is bridged by... View full entry
Top figures from the cultural world applauded the appointment of Justine Simons, 45, by Mayor Sadiq Khan, who handed her responsibility for firms working in film, music, video games, crafts and publishing. She said: “My lifelong belief is that creativity can transform lives and places.
“Culture is part of London’s DNA. It’s a big reason so many of us choose to visit and live here, it generates billions for our economy and gives London its unique character and dynamism.
— standard.co.uk
Read more articles on the topic here: Julia Peyton-Jones discusses her legacy and leaving the Serpentine GalleryBrexit will put even more strain on towns already pressed for housingArchitects react to shocking EU referendum result"The most useless totem pole of mayoral hubris": Oliver Wainwright... View full entry
Smithfield market will be the museum’s new home, but which architectural vision should shape its future: the eye-catching one, the ghostly one, the corporate one … or the one that rings alarm bells?
Little detail has been revealed about the shortlisted schemes, which will go on public exhibition from 10 June to 5 August with a winner chosen by an expert panel later this summer.
— theguardian.com
Curb your cultural curiosities with the articles below: Inside Asif Khan's Serpentine Pavilion Summer HouseLondon's Natural History Museum to create outdoor exhibition spacesShortlist for new Museum of London revealed View full entry
This biennale was not perfect. None are. And frankly I wonder whether Venice can ever be a fit venue for a serious interrogation of issues more profound than the Campari or Aperol conundrum. The vernissage is, at heart, a schmoozey, boozey networking knees-up in which the architectural great and good cheek-kiss their way down Via Garibaldi occasionally glancing in a pavilion. Arevena knew this all too well when he set out to give the festival some bite. — Architecture Foundation
Architecture Foundation Deputy Director/Turncoats founder Phineas Harper gives his two cents on critics' self-righteous reactions to the Venice Biennale.Find more Archinect coverage on the 2016 Venice Biennale in News and Features. View full entry
We tend to perceive our identities as stable and largely separate from outside forces. But over decades of research and therapeutic practice, I have become convinced that economic change is having a profound effect not only on our values but also on our personalities. Thirty years of neoliberalism, free-market forces and privatisation have taken their toll, as relentless pressure to achieve has become normative. — Paul Verhaeghe | the Guardian
"If you’re reading this sceptically, I put this simple statement to you: meritocratic neoliberalism favours certain personality traits and penalises others."In this op-ed, Paul Verhaeghe asserts that neoliberalism has weakened social ties and pitted workers against one another in a... View full entry
An “Inflatable Museum” is about to be launched in Greater Manchester with the aim of bringing exhibits and educational programmes to schools in disadvantaged districts of the city.
It is transportable in a van, can be blown up in under half an hour and can accommodate a full school class. It incorporates moveable cabinets, a large open presentation area and high definition projection equipment.
— globalconstructionreview.com
Relating stories in the Archinect News: RIBA launches 2016 funding for new architecture researchThe price of keeping Britain's 'Downton Abbeys' from crumblingNew year, new you: how a few UK firms are switching up their gameRem Koolhaas to design Manchester arts center, "The Factory" View full entry
No two people, let alone architects, perceive even the most frequented cities in the same way. How do designers experience their cities as locals?Many a listicle have mentioned Copenhagen as one of the most livable cities in the world with the happiest residents. How could that be? “Perhaps [it... View full entry
Called the Grand Entrance Hall, the underground space – opening today – will be run by The Brunel Museum and is set to host plays, operas, concerts and even weddings.
Architects Tate Harmer breathed new life into the 1843 Grade II*-listed shaft – originally designed by civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his father Marc – adding a cantilevered staircase to make the 75ft-deep hall accessible.
— thespaces.com
Discover more UK content here:Serpentine Galleries appoints Yana Peel as new CEOA tall order? Wooden skyscraper could become Britain's second tallest buildingStock bricks to Brutalism: housing design in PoplarThe unbranded, hybrid approach of the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape View full entry
