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Today’s libraries have also evolved into complex institutions compressed into small spaces, making their design needs equally intricate. ... In the end, the problem of how to build good public architecture briskly and frugally has little to do with design and everything to do with bureaucracy. Virtually no one feels the urgency or has the clout to reform a sclerotic system. — New York Magazine
The council housing designed 50 years ago for a progressive London borough remains a potent symbol of the achievements of postwar social democracy. — Places Journal
Prompted by Mark Swenarton's recent book, Cook's Camden, Douglas Murphy looks at the radically experimental public housing estates built by the London borough from 1966 to 1975, and the reevaluation of these extraordinary projects currently underway in our own era of unaffordable cities and... View full entry
In Hong Kong, New World Development heir Adrian Cheng Chi-kong recently founded the non-profit organisation Culture For Tomorrow to give up-and-coming architects funding and support to realise their more experimental ideas.
“I get to meet and work with a lot of designers and architects thanks to my line of work, many of them young, aspiring and very driven,” Cheng says. “But increasingly we’re noticing that a lot of great concepts by young architects often go untested.”
— South China Morning Post
Culture for Tomorrow is a non-profit organization founded by the cultural entrepreneur Adrian Cheng. Heir of one of China's most influential business families, Cheng is the guy behind K11 Art Malls, which blend fashion retail and art together for a unique shopping experience, and C Ventures, an... View full entry
The wing of an airplane is a mechanized form. But it’s also a shape, like the wing of a bird, that we understand from the living world. Last spring, eight students from the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design — part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at... View full entry
Many people view GPS and similar emerging interior-wayfnding technologies as a way to 'solve the blind wayfnding challenge.'...Architects still need to be better multisensory placemakers to design and create effective environments for the blind and visually impaired. — Dwell
Chris Downey, whose story as a blind practicing architect was recently documented in the AIA's "Look Up" campaign this past May, dishes in on his own experiences with embossing printers, wayfinding devices, and graphic input tools, and other emerging technologies that have the potential to vastly... View full entry
The architectural folly is an opportunity for architects to bring out their eccentric side in the design process, which makes it an entertaining approach when creating a (temporary) public installation. In this spirit, the Socrates Sculpture Park and The Architectural League of New York hosts the... View full entry
Getting caught up in holiday madness has become so normal that it's easy to forget that the holidays can act as a reminder that caring for each other -- no matter how simple the act -- can go a long way. Architecture firm Hello Wood, who built the 11-meter Christmas tree made out of 365 sleighs... View full entry
Ukraine's largest architectural event CANactions held its 2014 ideas competition, whose theme was "User-generated Kyiv". Based on reinforcing the valuable idea that a city is shaped by its citizens, the competition sought architectural ideas to help Kiev further develop towards the ideals of creativity, peace, justice, and of course, happiness. — bustler.net
Here's a look at the three top-prize winning entries:Pictured above: 1st prize: connecTABLE by Anna Dobrova, Dima Isaiev, Dasha Zaichenko,Daryna Bagachuk, Anna Kamushan (Vienna, Austria).2nd prize: POP-UP KIEV by Polina Timofeeva, Galyna Tolkachova, Pavel Bartov (Perm, Russia).3rd prize: Reload... View full entry
After being chosen to have the winning design in the competition, KSR Architects got to realize their proposal for the Camden Town Pavilion at the iconic Britannia junction during the town's first Camden Create Festival that recently occurred in Camden, London.
KSR Architects' colorful pop-up pavilion must've been quite the statement piece to celebrate the town's unique creative culture.
— bustler.net
Check out some photos of the pavilion:More details on Bustler. View full entry
MVRDV has the winning proposal to design the Collection Building for the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. The bowl-like public art depot will let the public see the ins and outs of the museum's daily activities, and also let private art collectors store their own collections in ideal museum conditions. Completion of the project is expected in 2017. — bustler.net
Diagrams:Find out more on Bustler. View full entry
Alas! The winning team to renovate the historic Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library has been selected. That team would be Mecanoo and Martinez + Johnson, who won over notable finalists Patkau + Ayers Saint Gross and STUDIOS + Freelon.
Upon contract approval, Mecanoo and Martinez + Johnson will begin working with library staff and consultants to finalize the new library's design scheme.
— bustler.net
Find out more on Bustler. View full entry
Ready, Set, Hike! A Trial Trek to MetLife Stadium
The officials planning Super Bowl XLVIII want it to be the Super Bowl of public transportation. They are not just discouraging fans from walking to MetLife Stadium on game day in February — they are forbidding it.
— The New York Times
A reporter attempts to walk to MetLife Stadium. Most likely the reason one won't be allowed to walk into the Super Bowl is "terror"-related, but the article raises again the question of why our pedestrian environment is so degraded. Why have we allowed our cities to be built in such a way... View full entry
The "Trylletromler" pavilion by Dutch firm FABRIC has attracted plenty of public attention in King's Garden, Copenhagen since its public opening this past September. The installation was built after FABRIC won a temporary-pavilion design competition earlier this year. (Check out our previous... View full entry
In the last decade, much has been written about architecture for the greater good, and it would seem that the field, as a whole, is invested in bringing design to underserved communities. Yet all of this talk — at conferences, in the press, at universities — has focused hardly at all on how to put together a career in social design. — Places Journal
On Places, Virginia Tech graduate Will Holman gives an honest report of his experiences volunteering, studying and working at Arcosanti, Rural Studio, and Youth Build. Does the architecture profession need to do more to support young architects who take this path? View full entry
