Cranes are still busy over Boston’s medical districts. But the city’s healthcare construction boom, which in the past five years has seen over a million square feet of new projects completed and more than 2 million square feet approved or under construction, is subsiding. Image courtesy HKS There is still demand for healthcare facilities in the Middle East. Dallas-based HKS recently won a contract to design a 160-bed hospital in Abu Dhabi. “We’re seeing institutions taking a step back,” says Sonal Gandhi, senior manager for institutional development at the Boston Redevelopment Authority. “They’re looking at how they can optimize the
Like thousands of architects today, Merritt Palminteri is out of work, a victim of the severe economic downturn. 'Every single job we had last year was put on hold,' says Palminteri of her former firm, New York's Anik Pearson Architect. Even though she saw the writing on the wall, it was no use: her headhunter was laid off, too. 'It was kind of ridiculous,' says Palminteri. Photo ' Paul Warchol/courtesy Architecture Research Office The Princeton School of Architecture (pictured above) has seen a 50 percent increase in applications this year. Now, like many of her colleagues, the 29-year-old is applying
Architect Jan Kaplicky. Jan Kaplicky, the dour but visionary Czech architect, died January 14 in Prague of a heart attack, within hours of the birth of his daughter. He was 71 and had been dividing his time between London and the Czech Republic, where he had several major commissions. After emigrating to England in 1968, Kaplicky worked with some of Europe’s best architects, including Denys Lasdun, Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, and Renzo Piano, the last two on the breakthrough Centre Pompidou in the mid-70s. He spent several years in Foster’s office before founding his own firm, Future Systems, in 1979.
In January, the Architectural Billings Index (ABI) sunk to 33.3, the lowest level in its 13-year history. The score has fallen below 50 for 12 straight months; a score above 50 indicates an increase in billings, and below 50, a decrease. One of the profession’s leading economic indicators, the index is compiled by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and is based on surveys sent largely to commercial firms. It reflects a nine- to 12-month lag time between architectural billings and construction spending. The inquiries score for January was 43.5. In terms of project sectors, the score for multi-family residential
Foster + Partners, the London-based practice founded by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Norman Foster, is laying off between 300 and 350 people due to the worldwide economic slowdown—a move that will reduce the company's workforce by nearly a quarter. The firm also is closing its Berlin and Istanbul offices, according to a spokesperson. “A number of our international clients have fallen victim to the current economic climate, said the firm’s chief executive, Mouzhan Majidi, in a formal statement. “After the eventual necessity to make reductions the company will still be at a similar size to that of 18 months ago.” The
With government projects getting a boost through the economic stimulus package while many private sector plans remain in limbo, the playing field for finding new work is quickly changing.
At least one New York rooftop is about to get a lot more productive. This spring students from Parsons The New School for Design will put the finishing touches on bronXscape, an urban rooftop garden and outdoor kitchen in the Bronx for young adults transitioning out of foster care. Completed under The Design Workshop, the school’s elective design-build studio course, the project tops a new building run by the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter, a nonprofit organization that will provide low-income housing and education for 46 residents.
Today, President Barack Obama is expected to sign the $787-billion economic stimulus bill, officially called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Final congressional action came late on February 13 in the Senate, where three Republicans joined 55 Democrats and two Independents to pass the bill by a vote of 60-38, the minimum majority needed for approval. In the House, the legislation passed by a vote of 246-183; no Republicans voted in favor of it. While difficult to tally, it is estimated that roughly $130 billion of the bill is earmarked for construction-related spending. Below are some highlights. TRANSPORTATION: $49.3 billion
Image courtesy of the New Museum Urban China editor, Jiang Jun Image courtesy of the New Museum New Museum curator, Benjamin Godsill Cities are four-dimensional universes. Places and spaces at once, they’re always too big to fully grasp, and they’re always changing. If the contemporary apex of this incomprehensibility is anywhere, it’s in China, where cities are blurs of government control and ground-level commotion. They’re huge and sprawling, overpopulated, misunderstood, and growing fast. And a new show at the New Museum in New York packs all that into one room. Jiang Jun edits the Shanghai-based magazine Urban China, and his
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