Photo courtesy SCAD Heriberto J. Brito The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), which has a notable track record in historic preservation, has picked a like-minded designer to head its architecture program. In June, architect Heriberto J. Brito became the dean of SCAD’s School of Building Arts, replacing Brian Wishne, who stepped down after two years. For his new job, Brito relocated from Miami, where he taught at Miami International University of Art and Design while running his 20-year-old practice, Brito LLC, which specializes in historic rehabs. That two-employee practice has relocated with him. Wishne, meanwhile, becomes chair of
With the news that Facebook had surpassed 500 million users, the social networking website has decided to more than double the size of its first wholly-owned data center currently under construction in Prineville, Ore. The initial $188-million project, designed by Chicago architect Sheehan Partners, broke ground in January and has been moving along rapidly. The expansion will add another 160,000 sq ft of shell space to the 147,000 sq ft facility now being built, with the shell space being built out later as business demand dictates. Photos courtesy Sheehan Partners "We are making excellent progress on the first phase of
Related Links: Design Vanguard: MOS Newsmakers: Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample Colorado House by ARO Sorkin: Suggestions on How to Spend $800 Billion Sorkin: Learning from the Hutong of Beijing and the Lilong of Shanghai Van Valkenburgh to Remake 2,400 Acres in Toronto The American Academy of Arts and Letters, established in 1898, recently honored the 2010 winners of its annual awards. The Awards in Architecture, selected from a group of 50 architects nominated by academy members, were presented to: Stephen Cassell and Adam Yarinsky, of Architecture Research Office; Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample, of MOS; and the architecture critic
Photo courtesy W.S. Atkins Keith Clarke Photo courtesy PBSJ Corp Robert Paulsen U.K.—based designer W.S. Atkins plc will significantly boost its U.S. market stake with the Aug. 2 announcement of plans to acquire Orlando, Fla.-based transportation engineer and construction manager PBSJ Corp. in a $280-million cash transaction. The proposed deal also provides the U.S. firm with a needed capital infusion for growth and an ownership transition following several tough years financially and recent efforts to seek a buyer. The deal would link Atkins, the industry’s 11th largest global design firm with $2.2 billion in 2009 revenue, with an employee-owned engineer
Denver International Airport’s main terminal, with its distinctive white peaked fabric roof, is getting some company: a 500-room Westin Hotel, a commuter train station, and a rail bridge, all designed by Santiago Calatrava.
Shovels, hammers or hard hats were nowhere in sight. Instead, hair curlers, buttons and paper clips were used to construct future train stations for California’s new proposed high-speed rail. Held in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, July 17, the “groundbreaking” was part of an interactive community design forum to engage the public on high-speed rail. The event was hosted by railLA, an organization comprised of the Los Angeles Chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA/LA) and the American Planning Association (APA-LA), created to raise public awareness about the future of high-speed rail. “We are doing these workshops to get
A former business partner of acclaimed architect Philip Johnson recently unveiled an archive of nearly 25,000 sketches, tracings, and renderings from between 1968 and 1992, a sparsely documented period of Johnson’s prolific career.