The California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) moved in December 2007 to allow the re-classification of potentially hundreds of seismically questionable hospitals in the state to avoid possible closure due to code non-compliance. The decision will likely ripple through the large market for health care design and construction that developed following Southern California’s Northridge earthquake in 1994, which left many hospitals still standing, but structurally unsound. “This is giving hospitals more time to do what’s right,” says Chris Poland, a structural engineer and the president and CEO of San Francisco-based Degenkolb Engineers. After the 1994 earthquake, Poland served on an advisory
The Serpentine Gallery, in London, has chosen Frank Gehry to design this year’s summertime pavilion. Gehry is the first American to be commissioned to design the structure, which he will realize in four months for a June launch.
The Smithsonian-affiliated National Museum for American Jewish History (NMAJH), the nation’s only museum documenting the Jewish-American experience, has assiduously expanded its collection from 40 objects, when it opened in 1976, to more than 20,000. In doing so, it has outgrown the meager 6,000 square feet of exhibition space in its current home, a half-block from the spot on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall where it is constructing a new 100,000-square-foot complex designed by Polshek Partnership. NMAJH hopes that when the $150 million space opens on July 4, 2010, it will be able to expand its programming and quintuple its attendance to 250,000
Frank Gehry will design the ninth annual summertime pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery in London this year. It will be Gehry’s first built structure in England and that’s exactly the idea—the gallery selects architects and artists “who, at the time of the Serpentine Gallery’s invitation, have not completed a building in England,” the U.K.’s Building magazine reported on January 17. No word yet on what Gehry’s design will look like, but his pavilion will include a café that doubles as an event venue. Previous efforts by Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, and Daniel Libeskind have attracted as many as 250,000 visitors
Planning is underway on a new building that will be the centerpiece of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Cultural District. The project charts new territory for New York City both in sustainable design and its designated mixture of occupants; it also marks a step forward for the city’s long-stalled plans for the area. The development firm Full Spectrum of New York, together with architects studioMDA and Behnisch Architects, is developing the $85 million project and expects to break ground in early 2009. Images courtesy studioMDA / Behnisch Architects, renderings by ESKQ In a new tower for the Brooklyn Academy
The Empire State Building basked in the limelight after taking top honors in last year’s “America’s Favorite Architecture” poll, in which the American Institute of Architects (AIA) asked the public to pick the nation’s most beloved 150 buildings in honor of its 150th anniversary. Now, architects are taking a turn. Buoyed by the immense popularity of sesquicentennial events—the AIA’s Web site, which usually averages 7,000 hits a week, was slammed with a server-crashing 27,000 hits-per-hour after results of the top 150 poll were unveiled—they’re capitalizing on the freshly elevated profile of their profession to shape policy, in ways large and
No Such Thing as a Bridge Too Far in Dublin Santiago Calatrava’s bridges in Dublin are getting some company in the form of Spencer Dock Bridge—a curvy structure designed by Future Systems. Linking the city center to a docklands redevelopment area, the new 131-foot-long span over Dublin’s Royal Canal will be located within the new Linear Park. It will carry automobile traffic, pedestrians, and one of the Luas streetcar lines. Images courtesy Future Systems Designed by Future Systems, Dublin’s new Spencer Dock Bridge features a 62-foot to 95-foot-wide, shallow deck—just two feet thick—supported at its center by two piers; at
Saucier+Perrotte Experience Rocky Mountain High Saucier+Perrotte Architectes, in collaboration with Marc Boutin Architects, have designed the National Mountain Centre, a Rocky Mountain museum and visitor’s center to be constructed in Canmore, Alberta. Program elements within the five-story, 55,000-square-foot space will be layered—a touch inspired by geological stratification, says partner Gilles Saucier. Images courtesy Saucier+Perrotte Architectes Saucier+Perrotte Architectes, in collaboration with Marc Boutin Architects, have designed the National Mountain Centre (top). Program elements within the five-story, 55,000-square-foot space will be layered—a touch inspired by geological stratification (middle). A 98-foot-tall central, seismic column doubles as a rock-climbing wall, which will be North
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