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The Don't Move, Improve Awards is an annual program organized by New London Architecture highlighting the city's best new home extensions and celebrate innovative home improvement projects. In its eleventh year, each selected winner demonstrates "how a well-designed home can improve quality... View full entry
Residents of a luxury development on London’s South Bank who lost a legal battle to close part of the tenth-floor viewing platform at Tate Modern are now taking their case to the UK Supreme Court.
Owners of four flats in the Neo Bankside block located alongside the gallery, previously claimed in court that “hundreds of thousands of visitors” to Tate Modern were looking into their homes from the viewing space located in its Blavatnik building.
— The Art Newspaper
After losing their legal case to close parts of the public viewing terrace at the neighboring Tate Modern extension, some residents of the luxurious Neo Bankside glass condo development in London are now taking their fight to the UK's Supreme Court, reports The Art Newspaper. Previously on... View full entry
For decades, ordinary residents have been pushed out of cities like London and New York to make room for offices and luxury apartments. But the pandemic has massively reduced demand for these same locations — turning city centers into ghost towns, full of shiny new buildings that no one needs. — Jacobin Magazine
Writing for Jacobin, Glyn Robbins dissects the pandemic's lasting effect on cities around the world where new luxury developments — too often favored over affordable housing solutions for the broader local community — are now faced with a sudden drop in demand. Related on Archinect... View full entry
MVRDV today revealed "Marble Arch Hill," a temporary installation next to London's Marble Arch. It is a hollowed-out mountain based on a scaffolding structure designed to create a rendered interest in the surrounding area, which connects Oxford Street and Hyde Park. The design introduces a... View full entry
London’s National Gallery is embarking on a £25m-£30m project to upgrade its building, to be partly completed in early 2024 to celebrate its 200th anniversary. There will be three key elements: upgrading the lobby of the Sainsbury Wing, creating a new research centre and improving outdoor space on the edge of Trafalgar Square. — The Art Newspaper
The Sainsbury Wing, designed by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, will have obvious limitations to what work can be done, given its Grade I listed status. According to The Art Newspaper, the work will be phased over five years. The first step will be to select a design team, which... View full entry
If you've been hunting for a lovely abode inside a rusty shell wedged between a railway line and a scrap yard on a challenging plot in central London for under a million pounds, you're in luck. Designed by UK firm Undercurrent Architects, the 1,600-sqft Archway Studios property is actually an... View full entry
It has been a long time coming but a decision on whether east London will get a slice of Las Vegas in the form of a state-of-the art entertainment venue almost as tall as St Paul’s may be nigh. [...]
But the project, the brainchild of MSG’s chief executive, James Dolan [...] is proving divisive.
— The Guardian
The Guardian reports that the public consultation period for the enormous Madison Square Garden Sphere entertainment venue — officially filed for planning application in March 2019 — had to be extended for a third time until the beginning of December due to locals' concern over... View full entry
Executives who sold combustible insulation for use on Grenfell Tower perpetrated a “fraud on the market” by rigging a fire test and making “misleading” claims about it, a public inquiry has heard.
Celotex, a subsidiary of the French construction materials company Saint-Gobain, behaved in a “completely unethical” way, admitted Jonathan Roper, a former assistant product manager.
— The Guardian
Plans for Fotografiska's gallery in London’s East End—billed as the world’s largest photography venue by the British Journal of Photography—has been quietly cancelled, with the founders citing Covid-19 and uncertainty around Brexit as the reasons for pulling out of the project.
The Stockholm-based photography hub Fotografiska was founded in 2010 by brothers Jan and Per Broman.
— The Art Newspaper
The ambitious proposal for a 89,000 sq ft Fotografiska London satellite first appeared on Archinect in 2017. View full entry
Open House, the volunteer-led festival of London's urban landscape, has created a collection of card models of iconic London buildings. The collection is one of a number of new "virus-proof" initiatives celebrating London's architecture during the pandemic. There are a total of sixteen card... View full entry
Will Hunter, a founder of the London School of Architecture (LSA), has announced a plan to step down as the chief executive of the institution. The Architects Journal reports that Hunter aims to transition out of his current role at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year. Hunter founded the... View full entry
Walking into Yinka Ilori’s west London studio from the drab suburban business park outside is to enter an oasis. Floor-to-ceiling shelving is lined with the brightly coloured, upcycled chairs, painted or upholstered in West African fabrics, that made Ilori’s name when he first left college. [...]
“My work is very much about inclusivity and how people enjoy design,” says the 33-year-old.
— The Guardian
Emerging British-Nigerian designer Yinka Ilori in conversation with The Guardian's Observer Design magazine. Asked about his growing courage to also take on architectural-scale projects, such as his collaboration with architects Pricegore on the 2019 Dulwich Pavilion The Colour Palace, Ilori... View full entry
In a statement issued this week, London Metropolitan University announced the decision to rename its Art, Architecture and Design School and remove the name of John Cass, an English merchant who was instrumental in the early development of the slave trade in the late 17th and early 18th century... View full entry
London Mayor Sadiq Kahn has announced a new commission that will "review and improve diversity across London’s public realm to ensure the capital’s landmarks suitably reflect London’s achievements and diversity." A press release announcing the creation of the commission states: "The... View full entry
In a pursuit to create the most accurate floor plan of Buckingham Palace available on the internet, HomeAdvisor embarked on a research project to scour every available photo and video of the palace interiors to uncover the layout of every room. Researchers then collected additional information... View full entry
