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Skidmore, Owings & Merril (SOM) have broken ground on a new $336 million campus redevelopment at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in downtown Newark. The state’s largest city will receive a new 350-unit SOM-designed ArtSide apartment complex through the plan. Other key elements... View full entry
This morning, Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark will preside at the unveiling of a massive monument to the abolitionist hero Harriet Tubman.
“Shadow of a Face” has been installed in a park where a statue of Christopher Columbus stood until it was removed in 2020 in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis. Last year Baraka led a ceremony that changed the name of the park — which had been Washington Park since the 1790s — to Harriet Tubman Square.
— The New York Times
Tubman, who may yet grace all $20 bills minted after 2030, made stops at the still-existing Old First Presbyterian Church on Broad Street while aiding escaped slaves on their journey through Newark. Baraka said the new monument would “make her experience real for all of us.” Its existence... View full entry
Arup has been selected for a multibillion-dollar expansion project for Newark Liberty International Airport following an announcement from the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey on Monday. SOM will also provide its expertise on the project. The two will oversee the development of the... View full entry
“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
The former Longaberger basket building on the eastern edge of Newark will be open for business again, although it will be a place to spend the night instead of work in an office.
In a couple years, the seven-story basket building will open as a luxury hotel with 150 rooms, a restaurant and indoor pool.
— Newark Advocate
Formerly the quirky headquarters of The Longaberger Company in Newark, Ohio, the building has been sitting empty since 2016 and was eventually sold to developers in late 2017 (previously on Archinect). Cleveland-based Sandvick Architects will be designing the landmark's transformation into a... View full entry
Lotus Equity Group announced on Monday plans to bring the largest mass timber office building in the United States to the Newark waterfront. Michael Green Architecture has been tapped to design the 500,000-square-foot office building made with a wooden structure for Riverfront Square, a massive... View full entry
The Longaberger basket building has been sold.
The iconic seven-story office building at 1500 E. Main St. in Newark has been sold to Coon Restoration of Louisville, which is near Canton. The developer has an eye toward converting the building and its 21-acre site to a new use, the company said in a release.
— bizjournals.com
Developer Steve Coon, the landmark building's new owner, hasn't revealed specific details about his redevelopment plans for the property but announced Cleveland-based Sandvick Architects as the designers for the job. View full entry
[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
What will reportedly be the world's largest indoor vertical farm will break ground on July 9 along 212 Rome Street in Newark, New Jersey. Earlier this year, leading vertical farm commercial grower AeroFarms, the property management firm RBH Group, and their affiliates jointly announced the... View full entry
Just north of Newark, New Jersey, the Pulaski Skyway became the country’s first so-called “superhighway” — a 3.5-mile raised roadway running over the top of some of the most heavily industrialized property in the country. [...]
In infrastructure terms, the Pulaski is what’s called “functionally obsolete,” meaning it doesn’t meet modern design standards —and the money being spent to fix it up won’t change that.
— marketplace.org
Next time you dig into a bowl of leafy greens, chances are they were grown in the heart of Newark, soon home to the world's largest indoor vertical farm*.AeroFarms, a leading commercial grower for vertical farming and controlled agriculture, together with property management firm RBH Group, a slew... View full entry
Mt. Prospect Avenue in Newark has New Jersey’s first protected bike lane, as far as we know. But unfortunately it looks like the Garden State will soon be back to zero.
Andrew Besold at WalkBikeJersey is reporting Mayor Ras Baraka has ordered the removal of the bike lane, and in the meantime is allowing people to park in it.
— streetsblog.net
Richard Meier is returning to his roots with two new developments in New Jersey, where he grew up. — The New York Times
Balancing Meier’s familiar white metal panels with a rich, iron spot brick, the architects were careful to break down the massing of the contemporary buildings, not exceeding a height of 60 feet in front, in keeping with the Newark Living Downtown Plan. — Architectural Record
“It was not typically a type of project we normally do,” says Dukho Yeon, the firm’s associate partner-in-charge on Teachers Village. “This was part of basically everybody including the investors giving back to the city of Newark.” — Fast Company
