Among the finalists in an open competition to create a master plan for a judicial campus in Madrid, one proposal stood out for its requirement that all of the buildings have cylindrical volumes. That scheme, designed by Javier Frechilla and José Manuel López-Peláez, of Madrid, was selected as the winner in 2005. Three years later, construction has begun on the macro-project, the largest of its kind in Europe.
For a 43,055-square-foot tourist entertainment center under construction in the famed Changbaishan mountain region in China, architect Xu Tiantian’s was at first less concerned about the buildings than where they sit—a patch of primeval woodland with a gorgeous mountain backdrop. “The beauty there is so overwhelming,” says the principal of Xu’s Beijing-based DnA_Design and Architecture. “So we decided that maybe the most convincing way to design this building was to have a dialog with nature.” Image courtesy DnA_Design and Architecture An 82-foot-high 'Info Tree' brings visitors to different platforms offering panoramic views of the mountains and forest. Instead of a
In moves that will surprise no one who has followed the barrage of grim economic news, architecture firms across the country are laying off workers at unprecedented levels. Over the past few months, Perkins Eastman, one of the country’s largest firms, has let go 10 percent of its staff, or about 80 of 800 employees, according to Bradford Perkins, FAIA, firm chairman. “It’s very unfortunate when this happens,” says Perkins, adding that the cuts are the deepest in the firm’s 24-year history. Meanwhile, FXFOWLE cut six percent of its staff in October, leaving 185 in New York and 15 in
The Council on Tall Buildings and the Urban Habitat has named the Shanghai World Financial Center the “Best Tall Building Overall” for 2008. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) and completed last year, the building was chosen from among four “Regional Tall Building” winners, including The New York Times Building by Renzo Piano Building Workshop with FXFOWLE, London’s 51 Lime Street by Foster and Partners, and the Bahrain World Trade Center by Atkins. Photo courtesy Kohn Pederson Fox The Council on Tall Buildings and the Urban Habitat has named the Shanghai World Financial Center (pictured at left) the 'Best Tall
J'rn Utzon, designer of the Sydney Opera House, died November 28 at age 90. Jørn Utzon died November 28 at age 90, after a long illness. He never saw his masterpiece, the Sydney Opera House, completed. Though it is among the 20th-century’s most widely admired and audacious works, it is the architect’s great failure. It jump-started a promising career and stunted what should have been a glorious maturity. Utzon married a great intuitive aesthetic to an almost heroic faith in the ability of technology to realize human aspiration. The son of a naval architect, Utzon was born in Copenhagen in
Buffeted by criticism of its modern look and trophy-like setting, Gap founder Donald Fisher has agreed to redesign and move a museum that he wants to build in San Francisco’s Presidio, a 1,491-acre national park. Image courtesy Gluckman Mayner Gluckman Mayner has designed an art museum for the Presidio, a national park and former army base in San Francisco. There’s no assurance the changes announced in December will placate the project’s opponents. And it’s a twist nobody would have predicted in December of 2007, when members of the city’s cultural establishment praised the unveiling of what Fisher calls the Contemporary
Graphs courtesy AIA The Architectural Billings Index (ABI) sunk to 34.7 in November, the lowest score in its 13-year history. In comparison, the score was 54.8 just one year prior. The inquiries score also hit a record low in November: 38.3, down from 51 in September. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) compiles the index based on surveys sent to mostly commercial architects. The index has fallen below 50 for 10 straight months (a number below 50 indicates a decrease in billings). The commercial sector has taken a steep dive, hitting 26.7 in November. Multi-family residential was also down, from
In recent, years, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has stepped up its advocacy efforts in Washington on behalf of the design profession. With Barack Obama taking office in January, the association is anticipating more legislative victories in the next four years, from an administration that appears to have architects’ best interests at heart, says Andrew Goldberg, the AIA’s chief lobbyist. Photo ' Happyme22/Wikipedia With Barack Obama taking office in January, the AIA is anticipating more legislative victories in the next four years, from an administration that appears to have architects' best interests at heart. Though details are lacking, the
On December 6, President-elect Barack Obama revealed key elements of his sweeping economic-recovery plan, part of which calls for building roads, greening federal offices, and making schools more high-tech, all of which should bode well for those in the design and construction industries. Photo ' Tannen Maury/EPA/Corbis Barack Obama's economic-recovery plan calls for building roads, greening federal offices, and making schools more high-tech, all of which could bode well for architects. “This has to be great news for architects,” says Robert Dunphy, who studies infrastructure issues for the Urban Land Institute, based in Washington, D.C. Advocates have made the case
This fall, Steven Holl Architects won an international competition to design The LM Project, a significant oceanfront development in Copenhagen, Denmark. Envisioned as a gateway for arriving ships, Holl’s scheme consists of two mixed-use towers on opposite sides of an entry to the city’s harbor. The towers are connected by a walkway that soars 213 feet above the water, providing clearance for boat traffic. Images courtesy Steven Holl Architects This fall, Steven Holl Architects won an international competition to design The LM Project in Copenhagen, Denmark. Project architect Noah Yaffe says each glass tower has a “distinct architectural expression.” The