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David Adjaye’s proposed UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Westminster, London is going forward after gaining approval from the Minister of State for Housing Christopher Pincher this week. The memorial has drawn a considerable amount of backlash in the Commonwealth since being... View full entry
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is rebuilding part of New Delhi, but the mammoth undertaking is drawing fire [...]
The massive project — which local media have estimated could cost about 200 billion rupees ($2.7 billion) — has grown more controversial as India’s coronavirus cases have exploded. On social media, some questioned the need for spending on new government structures at a time when the nation is dealing with severe fallouts from the pandemic.
— Bloomberg CityLab
As India struggles to contain a new devastating wave of Covid-19 outbreaks throughout the country, opposition is further growing to Prime Minister Modi's controversial redesign plan of the historic Central Vista in the capital Delhi which will include a new parliament building and several... View full entry
India’s supreme court has given approval for a new parliament building that critics have called an “expensive vanity project” for the prime minister, Narendra Modi. [...]
Since the project was announced, it has faced criticism from civil society groups, environmentalists and politicians about its lack of transparency and public consultation and high cost in a time of economic crisis.
— The Guardian
The $3 billion parliament plan, a pet project of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reshape the country's capital, was officially launched last December with the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone but immediately halted again by India's Supreme Court due to legal challenges over... View full entry
Despite widespread opposition, the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has begun a £2bn overhaul of Delhi's grand complex of government buildings in a bid to sever the nation from its colonial past.
At a ceremony held last week, Modi laid the foundation stone for a new building to replace Parliament House, designed by English architects Edward Lutyens and Herbert Baker, which upon its completion in 1927 became the seat of power for British-ruled India.
— The Art Newspaper
The ambitious plan by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to overhaul the sprawling complex of historic, colonial-era government buildings in Delhi is off to a rocky start: despite ceremonially laying the foundation stone for a new parliament building on December 10, further spending on the... View full entry
Architect Norman Foster is reviving a plan for creating expansive temporary facilities to be used by the parliament of the United Kingdom while the Palace of Westminster undergoes significant restoration.The £300 million proposal calls for a erecting an amorphous, 151-meter-long glass-wrapped... View full entry
A 360-year-old passageway once used by British monarchs has been rediscovered inside Parliament, revealing a piece of history that was thought to have been permanently covered up after World War II.
[...] access to the passage had remained hidden in plain sight for about 70 years.
— The New York Times
As the Houses of Parliament in the United Kingdom undergo a $5 billion renovation and restoration project by architecture studio BDP, an archival team has rediscovered a hidden passageway once used by British monarchs, members of Parliament, and dignitaries like Benjamin Franklin that dates to the... View full entry
According to Architect's Journal (AJ), in a letter published in The Times, Norman Foster – writing as Lord Foster and president of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust – said the ‘power of architecture’ should be used ‘to express our political and economic ambitions’. It comes in... View full entry
It is now almost 80 years since the Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act enabled the construction of the post-war prefab, but controversies and concerns about building a home in a factory have run deep ever since. While practically every other item we buy rolls off a production line, housebuilding’s transition to the factory remains, for many reasons, problematic. — RIBA Journal
With the rise of automation and advances in building manufacturing, architects have considered if machines can replace the profession. However, makes the job so rewarding is thinking of new and creative ways to execute ideas. This level of creativity and design distinction is something architects... View full entry
The UK government thinks it has got to the heart of the housing crisis: the problem is, new homes just aren’t beautiful enough. “Build beautifully and get permission,” says the housing minister, Kit Malthouse. “Build beautifully and communities will actually welcome developers, rather than drive them out of town at the tip of a pitchfork.” — The Guardian
According to housing minister, Kit Malthouse, the key to solving the housing crisis in the UK is “putting beauty at the heart of our housing and communities policy.” On November 3, 2018, the initiative to champion beauty when building better homes was announced through the "Building Better... View full entry
The move would raise fascinating questions about the need to replicate habits that are tied to the layout of the current chamber – voting by trooping through “aye” and “no” lobbies, for example. Archaic linguistic protocols might seem doubly peculiar when expressed in a more modern setting. People’s behaviour is shaped by their environment and it is unlikely that parliamentary culture could be unaffected by transplant to a space unlike the unique one in which it has been nurtured. — The Guardian
The Palace of Westminster has been in a state of advanced disrepair for many years now. Though a plan for the building's massive £3.5bn refurbishment headed by BDP was announced last year, the government has avoided taking the decision to proceed. The main reason for the delay in action on... View full entry
The full scope of work includes architecture, civil and structural engineering, building services engineering, interior design, landscape architecture, lighting design, acoustics and planning.
Since its construction in the mid-1800s, many systems in the palace have never undergone a major renovation, and the heating, ventilation, water, drainage and electrical systems are antiquated.
— GCR
BDP's London studio beat Allies and Morrison, Foster + Partners and HOK in the competition and has been awarded a full interdisciplinary contract for client advisory services for the refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster, the meeting place for the two houses of the UK parliament. The firm... View full entry
For the past five years van der Vegt and Max Cohen de Lara, his partner at XML, have studied the halls of parliament of all 193 United Nations member states. In a new book, Parliament, the duo elegantly connects architecture to the political process.
All 193 assembly halls fall into one of five organizational layouts: “semicircle,” “horseshoe,” “opposing benches,” “circle,” and “classroom.” And these layouts make a difference.
— wired.com
If you can imagine how debating with someone seated beside you might feel different from arguing with someone standing at a pulpit, you can appreciate the impact.For more on the intersections of the architectural and the political, follow these links:Looking into the White House's “much longer... View full entry
Let me share a secret with you. Even those who love the Gothic extravagance that is the Victorian Palace of Westminster know that great swaths of it are out of date. [...]
In 2015 the urgent question is again what to do about it. [...] options ranging from staggering on as usual with make-do-and-mending to a new 21st-century building on a new site, possibly far from London.
— theguardian.com
Power to the people is the driving force behind the Austrian Pavilion for the upcoming 2014 Venice Biennale. The pavilion will include an exhibition that explores the concept of parliament and its architectural influence on the world's more than 200 national parliament monuments. — bustler.net
The pavilion was designed by a collective team including Commissioner Dr. Christian Kühn, Harald Trapp, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Auböck + Kárász Landscape Architects, Kollektiv/Rauschen, and the Vienna University of Technology - Institute of Architecture and Design.Here's a glimpse of the models in... View full entry
A previously historic government building has now become the centre of the Parliament of Navarra, Spain.
Designed by Otxotorena Arquitectos, the redevelopment project was part of plans to restore the 19th century Audiencia Building of Pamplona. Covering 11,062 square metres, the €9 million redevelopment project has drawn attention for its architectural aesthetics which incorporate a new glass skin into the parliament building.
— DesignBuild Source
