Architect Ellerbe Becket, of Kansas City, has been retained by New Jersey Nets owner and Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner, of Forest City Ratner Cos. (FCRC) to come up with a new design for the long-delayed and controversial Atlantic Yards basketball and entertainment arena in Brooklyn. Ellerbe Becket replaces Gehry Partners. New York City-based structural engineer Thornton-Tomasetti, and mechanical-electrical-plumbing engineer, WSP Flack + Kurtz, will remain on the project. FCRC says it hopes to unveil new images of the arena, named Barclays Center, in late June and intends to break ground later this year in anticipation of a completed arena
For the past three years, visitors to Dinosaur National Monument, which straddles the border of Utah and Colorado, have been unable to enter one of the park’s top attractions: the Quarry Visitor Center.
The New Acropolis Museum, Bernard Tschumi’s minimalist counterpoint to one of the world’s great archaeological sites, officially opens June 20, eight years after he won an international competition to design it, and three decades after the idea for a new Acropolis museum first surfaced. Image courtesy Bernard Tschumi The New Acropolis Museum officially opens on June 20. Related Links: A Temple to Transparency Rises in Athens “The design was chosen for its simple, clear, and beautiful solution that is in accord with the beauty and classical simplicity of the museum’s unique exhibits,” says professor Dimitrios Pandermalis, president of the private
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has revealed its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2009. On April 28, NTHP president Richard Moe and actor Diane Keaton, an NTHP trustee, delivered the announcement in Los Angeles while standing near the Century Plaza Hotel (1966), a 19-story building by Minoru Yamasaki that is one of the sites on this year’s list. The others include: Ames Shovel Shops, Easton, Massachusetts Cast-iron architecture of Galveston, Texas Dorchester Academy, Midway, Georgia Human Services Center, Yankton, South Dakota Lāna‘i City, Hawai‘i Enola Gay hangar, Wendover Airfield, Utah Memorial Bridge, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
The National Science Foundation is seeking applicants for $200 million in grants to rehabilitate research facilities at academic institutions. The funding is coming from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Letters of intent are due on July 1 and full proposals are due August 24. Universities, colleges, community colleges, research museums, and other research organizations and consortia are eligible to apply. According to the NSF, “funding will be limited to facilities where research and research-training activities focus on NSF-supported fields of science and engineering." The agency says it does not intend to use the money to finance new construction. The