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Back in 2015, the 11-storey, AHMN-designed scheme for Google's headquarters was deemed "too boring" by Google CEO Larry Page. Heatherwick Studio and BIG were brought in to add some pizazz to what was an admittedly fairly straightforward, boxy design. Today's freshly unveiled renderings show a more... View full entry
The garden bridge, proposed to cross the Thames from the South Bank to Temple, is nothing if not a landmark of the post-truth era. It has wrung tens of millions out of the public purse on the basis of deceptions, distortions and facts that proved to be fake. First sold as “a gift to the people of London”, entirely paid for by private sector donations, it is now due to cost a minimum of £60m in public money. Its estimated total cost has gone from £60m to “north of £200 million”. — Rowan Moore
Its claims to fundraising prowess are exaggerated, its promised transport benefits minimal. Its backers assert overwhelming public support on the basis of a poll that told those polled nothing of the costs and drawbacks of the project. View full entry
Silicon Valley is in the midst of something of a building boom with several of the tech giants commissioning new headquarters from big-name architects. First came Facebook with a campus designed by Frank Gehry. Next, Apple got Lord Norman Foster to design a spacecraft-like... View full entry
More than three years ago, Google announced plans to build a massive “landscraper” headquarters in London. But after switching architects from AHMM—whose plans were deemed “too boring"—to Thomas Heatherwick, and following the chaos of Brexit, the plans were up in the air. Now, the... View full entry
[...] part architect, part furniture designer, part product designer, part researcher, part landscape architect, and part Pied Piper of design, and the things he comes up with manage somehow to be at once charming and brash.
[...] shares not only the Eameses’ determination to be wide-ranging but also their fascination with technology, their interest in communication, and, most important of all, their passionate belief in the meaning of actually making things and in using materials in new ways.
— vanityfair.com
Other recent Thomas Heatherwick sightings in the Archinect news: Renderings of Thomas Heatherwick's "Vessel" for New York's Hudson Yard revealedWhy are Heatherwick's proposals succeeding in New York but tanking in London?Construction of Heatherwick + Signe Nielsen-designed Pier 55 to begin this... View full entry
Ministers have repeatedly given more public money to London’s planned garden bridge, despite official advice against doing so, and risk losing more than £20m if the controversial project is cancelled, according to a report from the National Audit Office...The Garden Bridge Trust has yet to secure the necessary sub-lease on the area of the South Bank where the bridge will land, the report notes, while the main contractor [is] on standby and construction has been delayed for at least 18 months. — The Guardian
For previous news on this ongoing struggle: London mayor Sadiq Khan blocks extra funds for garden bridge Allies and Morrison propose an alternative to the garden bridge London's garden bridge, the saga continues Sadiq Khan investigates troublesome details in Thames garden bridge project View full entry
Heatherwick who founded Heatherwick Studio in 1994 has been recognised for his 'innovative' contribution to the architecture and design field. Writer and Goldsmiths lecturer Adam Mars-Jones, who will introduce Goldsmiths’ new Honorands to the stage over four graduation ceremonies this July... View full entry
Julia Ingalls wrote about architectural solutions, four major U.S. cities have used, to address homelessness. no_form quipped "Giving homeless people housing solves homelessness. Wow, fucking brilliant. Took long enough to recognize the obvious." Plus, Nicholas Korody previewed Anupama... View full entry
A Labour MP has formally asked the government’s independent spending watchdog to investigate how the trust behind London’s proposed garden bridge has spent almost two-thirds of the government funding for the project before construction has begun.
“We’ve had millions of pounds of public money spent and we have no idea what it’s actually been spent on, and it was spent before it even got full planning permission,” Hoey said.
— theguardian.com
Although Khan originally showed reservations, it was revealed last week that he would back the project pertaining to certain conditions. Read more on the controversial project here:Why are Heatherwick's proposals succeeding in New York but tanking in London?Sadiq Khan investigates troublesome... View full entry
“The Garden Bridge is a land grab,” says Michael Ball of Thames Central Open Spaces. “That is, a major piece of public space and amenity – the South Bank, the River Thames, and the views across central London – would be sequestered for private interests, albeit cloaked in some appearance of charity and beneficence. When I saw Pier 55 I realised it was an even more blatant example of the same idea.” — The Guardian
In this piece design critic par excellence Alexandra Lange analyzes two similar Thomas Heatherwick designed-projects, London's Garden Bridge and New York's Pier 55, in the hopes of discovering why one seems to be resonating with the public while the other has inspired satiric contests to replace... View full entry
Work will go ahead to construct an “elevated island park” in the Hudson River off Manhattan after a judge dismissed a lawsuit from environmental and civic advocates.
The $130m park, which has been given the go-ahead by the US Army’s Corps of Engineers, will be based on the Hudson River...
Judge Joan Lobis, who threw out the lawsuit, said: “A significant purpose of maintaining event spaces in the park is to generate funds for the ongoing upkeep of the park, which is surely a park purpose.”
— Global Construction Review
Previously on Archinect:Looking at all sides of the Pier 55 offshore park developmentBarry Diller Pledges $130M for Futuristic Offshore Park on the West Side View full entry
Visitors to the garden bridge in London will be tracked by their mobile phone signals and supervised by staff with powers to take people’s names and addresses and confiscate and destroy banned items, including kites and musical instruments, according to a planning document. [...]
Caroline Pidgeon [...] said she feared the bridge was following “a worrying trend of the privatisation of public places, where the rights of private owners trump those of ordinary people”.
— theguardian.com
Previously on Archinect:London Garden Bridge wins new supporters with revised funding dealFurther legal setbacks for London Garden BridgeCheeky "A Folly for London" winners announced View full entry
“The thing about Thomas is that every project seems to come out of a completely different burst of imagination,” says media mogul Barry Diller [...] “Nothing looks similar—there’s no linkage. I think he’s the most creative, interesting architect—other than Frank Gehry, whom I adore—alive. They share a kind of genius for imagination in its purest form.” — wsj.com
The six other creatives that were – along with Heatherwick – awarded the title of WSJ. Magazine's 2015 Innovators of the Year are:Richard Serra (Art)Angelina Jolie Pitt (Entertainment/Film)Karl Ove Knausgaard (Literature)Miuccia Prada (Fashion)Stewart Butterfield, CEO of Slack... View full entry
The controversial and seemingly doomed plan for a garden bridge over the Thames in London could be resurrected after the group behind the project reached an agreement with council officials over the level of public funding. On Monday...a joint announcement by Lambeth...and the Garden Bridge Trust said negotiations would resume after a deal to limit the money Transport for London (TfL) would have to pay towards construction to £10m, from an original £30m. — The Guardian
Previously on Archinect:London's Garden Bridge endangered by public funding shortfallAs Garden Bridge procurement process is headed for review, London group claims that 30 new parks could be funded insteadSatirical “Folly for London” competition mocks Garden Bridge projectZaha Hadid, Piers... View full entry
"Thomas Heatherwick: Making" compiles over 20 years' worth of work by the acclaimed British designer and his London practice into one hefty yet sleek 640-page book. Co-authored by Thomas Heatherwick himself, the revised and expanded version of the 2012 monograph delves into the details behind... View full entry
