Follow this tag to curate your own personalized Activity Stream and email alerts.
“It’s been fifty years since Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s death and the details of his international career have been carefully archived. But a mysterious painting has surfaced that reveals what may be an early version of his master plan in Newark” — JerseyDigs
The supposed painting depicts what could have been a disastrous expansion of the footprint of van der Rohe’s iconic 1960 apartment complex. Courtesy of Newark Public Library Digital Collections His Colonnade Apartments are perhaps the foremost example of the “Towers in the Park” typology... View full entry
LA's famed Taix Restaurant on Sunset Boulevard made headlines earlier this month after a strange ruling by the City Council to designate only certain elements of the century-old establishment a historic landmark in an unprecedented move that could have ramifications for preservation efforts in Los... View full entry
After several rounds of jury reviews, Silicon Valley may have found its new landmark. The winning proposal is said to "symbolize people standing and working together." On March 25th, Fernando Jerez and Belén Pérez de Juan of SMAR Architecture Studio were announced as winners of the... View full entry
Six LGBT historic sites have received official designation as local landmarks from the New York City Landmarks Commission, The Villager reports. The sites represent an ongoing effort to expand historic preservationprotections to sites that are significant to the civil rights struggles of the... View full entry
Under a plan announced last week by Mayor Anne Hidalgo, thickets of trees will soon appear in what today are pockets of concrete next to landmark locations, including the Hôtel de Ville, Paris’s city hall; the Opera Garnier, Paris’s main opera house; the Gare de Lyon; and along the Seine quayside. — citylab.com
"Islands of freshness" are on the way to Paris, according to a recently-unveiled plan by mayor Anne Hidalgo. The environmentally-aggressive mayor is aiming to have 50 percent of the city's land area taken up by permeable surfaces and planted areas, Citylab reports, and so, she is turning spaces... View full entry
The developers behind the distinct supertall at 432 Park Avenue want to take a second shot at altering New York City’s skyline. Harry Macklowe submitted last week a preliminary application to the city’s planning department for a 1,551-foot-tall skyscraper between 51st and 52nd Streets in... View full entry
London photographer Rich McCor, who is better known by his instagram handle @paperboyo, travels the world transforming some of the world's most notable buildings through the use of black paper cutouts. By placing the intricate, shapes in the foreground of his image, McCor playfully gives his... View full entry
The Hill House in Helensburgh was built as "a home for the future" by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1902. But the experimental building material used has allowed water to soak into the building. Now, the National Trust for Scotland will surround the house with a protective "shield" in the form of a "giant cage" while it comes up with ways to restore it. The trust plans to build the huge see-through structure [...] over the top of the landmark to protect the building from the elements. — bbc.com
This temporary structure buys preservationists time in finding a permanent solution to the building's structural problem. While the design problem persists, architects Carmody and Groarke have allowed a unique opportunity for visitors to experience the landmark building from new perspectives with... View full entry
Temple Works, a former flax mill in Leeds, has been listed for sale, in the Pugh auction on December 7th, with a starting price of just one pound according to the Yorkshire Evening Post. The Egyptian-influenced industrial building is one of the city's oldest and most cherished, and is the only... View full entry
For as long as there have been landmarks, there have been people willing to deface them in the name of politics, art, fame or sheer stupidity. — The Guardian
From the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge to the Trevi fountain in Rome, this Guardian article explores a brief history of temporary vandalism on famous landmarks (and it's not just artfully placed tarps: try a dangling VW Beetle!). From the annals of the vandals:Detroit issues arrest for... View full entry
In light of the Landmarks Preservation Commission's approval of Jeanne Gang's expansion plan for the American Museum of Natural History, the Commission has revealed a slew of new renderings, which show the $325 million project from various angles, as well as new views of the surrounding parkland. Chairwoman Meenakshi Srinivasan referred to the new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation as a “stunning piece of architecture” and an “absolutely wonderful addition.” — 6sqft.com
Brooklyn is finally getting a new skyscraper development worthy of its 2.6 million populace. Today, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved SHoP Architects‘ vision for 9 DeKalb Avenue, a rehabilitation of the landmarked Dime Saving Bank that will marry it with a dramatic, supertall skyscraper behind, the first 1,000+ foot building to arrive in the borough. To bring back more of the building’s grandeur, its exterior and interior spaces will be restored. — 6sqft.com
[JRJR Networks] is eager to shed itself of the big basket, but that may not be easy. What non-basket-related company will want a giant basket to be the face of their company? Are there enough well-off eccentrics in or visiting Newark to convert it into market-rate apartments or a boutique hotel?...A deal to donate the building to the city no longer appears to be in the works, and foreclosure is a possibility. — CityLab
A few throwbacks related to weird architecture in Archinect news:The politics behind China's ban on "weird" architectureMovie-themed resort in Macau to show off "figure-8" ferris wheelSouthwark planners nix 'crude and literal' rocket-shaped flats27 weird and compelling architectural evolutions of... View full entry
For 45 years, Iran's most famous modern monument, the Azadi (Freedom) Tower in Tehran, has been the backdrop to every major news story coming out of the country...Hossein Amanat was a rising star in Iran's architectural scene when, in 1966, he won a national competition to design the monument...Its historical pull, he believes, lies in the tower's evolution as a 'symbol of Iran'...that is both intensely Iranian and Islamic at the same time. — BBC
More on Archinect:The young woman who designed Tehran's new popular bridgeKhamenei's fight against "un-Islamic" architecture in Iran View full entry
'Recently, people were more worried about preserving their jobs, not preserving their history...Now a new generation is aware there was a history that came before them...Not a lot of our history has been preserved. People without a history can be erased.' — Mark Meinke, co-founder of the Rainbow Heritage Network — Curbed
History was made today in American civil rights with the Supreme Court ruling that legalizes same-sex marriage across all 50 states. The ruling is a major push toward marriage equality in the U.S., but like several historically marginalized communities, one giant obstacle that the LGBTQ community... View full entry
