Pop-up architecture helps boost spirits in earthquake-devastated Christchurch. Re:START is constructed of colorful, stacked shipping containers. Related Links: In Quake-Ravaged Christchurch, Ban's Cardboard Cathedral Ready for Groundbreaking One year after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 185 people, much of the city still lies in disarray. The central business district remains restricted to the public, with guards standing sentry at access points. Within this “red zone,” innumerable residential and public buildings have been earmarked for partial or complete demolition, including the iconic, Gothic Revival Christchurch Cathedral, whose 19th-century spire and tower sustained heavy damage. New Zealand economists speculate
A concept model of Ban’s scheme for the Cardboard Cathedral. Related Links: New Zealand Herald: Interview with Head of Earthquake Recovery Authority Shigeru Ban Conceives Simple Solutions for Post-Disaster Zones in New Zealand, Japan A year after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake left Christchurch’s central business district in shambles, Shigeru Ban’s Cardboard Cathedral is ready to start construction. Dividing his time between offices in Tokyo, Paris, and New York, Ban has a stellar track record for helping when natural disasters strike. This time, his pro-bono contribution is a temporary replacement for the New Zealand city’s main Anglican house of worship, a 19th-century
With the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, David Schwarz brings an earnest take on a historical style to the capital of pastiche. The Smith Center for the Performing Arts by David M. Schwarz Architects The Smith Center neighbors Frank Gehry's Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. These days, Las Vegas is best known for its themed casinos (Luxor, Paris, New York, New York) and their intentionally cartoonish buildings. Architects tend to be appalled. In that context, it’s easy to dismiss the Smith Center for the Performing Arts as another ersatz vision for Las Vegas. Unlike the
In a victory for architectural firms, the Small Business Administration has backed away from a proposed major boost in the revenue a firm can have and still be rated “small.” That ceiling governs eligibility for small-business programs, such as contracts set aside for such firms. Last year SBA proposed hiking the “size standard” for both architectural and landscape architectural firms to $19 million in average annual receipts, from $4.5 million for architects and $7 million for landscape architects. Under the higher caps, small firms would compete against much bigger ones for small-business set-asides. After architects flooded SBA with criticisms about
Kimball Art Center Expansion. Click on the slide show button to view additional images. Rising star Danish architect Bjarke Ingels and his firm BIG have won a competition to greatly expand an art center in Park City, Utah, the ski town that hosts the Sundance Film Festival every January. The firm’s preliminary design for the Kimball Art Center—a 35-year-old, non-collecting institution currently housed in a two-story former garage—calls for renovating the existing space and adding an 80-foot structure that resembles two blocks of wood, stacked one on top of the other, with the upper section twisting away from the base.
At New York's Museum of Modern Art, Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream proposes five solutions to the disconnect between the housing Americans need and the housing America offers. Rendering of Studio Gang Architects’ The Garden in the Machine project for Cicero, Illinois. Click on the slide show button to view additional images. Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample of MOS Architects present at the Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream Open Studios at P.S.1 in 2011. At 2,500 square feet, The Museum of Modern Art’s Robert and Joyce Menschel Gallery, site of the exhibition Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream, is about the
LEED Credit: Outdoor Air Delivery Monitoring Identified Risk: Time spent at heights to wire and mount the permanent monitoring system increases risk of falls. Suggested Mitigation: This risk may be eliminated by incorporating the monitoring equipment into the prefabrication process. LEED Credit: Construction IAQ Management Plan Identified Risk: A higher risk of falls and overexertion occurs from increased ladder time maintaining ductwork. Suggested Mitigation: Using different materials for the prefabricated “caps” on the ends of the duct, such as a universal magnetic cap, may make installation less awkward and therefore quicker and easier. Also suggested was the off-site fabrication of
New York City’s adoption of new green building codes are expected to result in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 5% and saving $400 million by 2030, says a recently released report from the Urban Green Council, the U.S. Green Building Council’s New York chapter. The codes are also expected to divert 100,000 tons of asphalt from landfills each year; reduce greenhouse gas emissions citywide by 5%; and lower the costs of lighting energy by 10%. The city has so far enacted 29 of 111 recommendations made by a task force established two years ago to detail steps the city should