Ben van Berkel, cofounder of UNStudio with Caroline Bos, recently unveiled designs for Five Franklin Place, a condominium tower that will rise in Manhattan’s swanky Tribeca neighborhood. The project, whose 55 units range in price from $2 million to $16 million, is the Amsterdam-based architecture firm’s first major building in the United States. It is being developed by New York–based business partners David Kislin and Leo Tsimmer.
The University of Pennsylvania plans to announce today that Marilyn Jordan Taylor, FAIA, a long-time partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, will be the new dean of its School of Design.
Harmon Sews the Seeds of 'Earthy Modernism' If architecture is didactic, and Frank Harmon, FAIA, thinks it is, then his design for the American Institute of Architects North Carolina (AIA/NC) headquarters in downtown Raleigh is a master course in what the architect calls “earthy Modernism.” The 12,000-square-foot structure is intended to meet both LEED Platinum standards and the American Institute of Architects’ Committee On the Environment objectives. In addition to containing staff offices and a lecture hall for presentations, it will feature less obvious elements such as a community recycling center and an outdoor area for concerts and farmers’ markets.
Ceramic Frit Does Double Duty The downtown of Mesa del Sol, a 25-square-mile development in Albuquerque, will feature a cultural, office, and retail core whose design is unlike most others at the heart of similar master-planned communities. Designed by Antoine Predock, FAIA, with locally based Jon Anderson, AIA, as executive architect, the Town Center building will be clad in a glass curtain wall whose ceramic frit—that doubles as a film screen—was inspired by the cellular structure of bone. Images courtesy Forest City Covington NM LLC The Town Center building will be the office, cultural, and retail core of Mesa Del
Superdome's New Skin is Tougher Than Pig Skin In deciding how to repair the outside of the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, a local design team faced a challenge of time and engineering. Locals love the bronze hue of aluminum panels that clad the arena’s curvy walls, but Hurricane Katrina had blown off some of those panels. Could the architects make repairs without stamping on incongruously shiny bits? Or, could they replace the entire skin without cheapening the dome’s resilient look? Images courtesy Trahan Architects The Louisiana Superdome’s steel skin is being replaced with new aluminum panels that will match
The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum recently announced the recipients of its ninth annual National Design Awards, prestigious accolades that recognize achievements in a range of creative disciplines. Photo courtesy Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects Tom Kundig won the Cooper-Hewitt’s National Design Award in the architecture category. View images of projects by his Seattle-based firm, Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects. Related Links: The ArchRecord Interview: Tom Kundig Rolling Huts by Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Stilt Cabin by Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Skinner Studio by Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Rockwell to Transform Steel Mill Into Arts Center A Bedazzled, Pop-Up Restaurant
Charles Eames would have turned 100 on June 17. To commemorate his birthday, the United States Postal Service is issuing 42-cent stamps featuring the collaborative work of the influential designer and his wife, Ray.
While “adaptive reuse” and “loft living” have become popular catch phrases for developers transforming old industrial buildings into trendy condominiums, others are shouting “not so fast”—and perhaps none as loudly as those opposed to converting the Domino Sugar plant in Brooklyn into a residential complex. During a New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) public hearing, Beyer Blinder Belle Architects was sent back to the drawing board after its proposal for a five-story glass rooftop addition to a landmarked refinery was met with considerable disapproval.
Photos courtesy Wikipedia/Michiel972 The landmark Architecture Faculty Building at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands reportedly collapsed this afternoon after an electrical fire burned out of control. The building, completed in 1970, was designed by J.H. van den Broek and Jacob Bakema, both associated with the rebuilding of Rotterdam after World War II. The building was evacuated when the fire broke out around 9 a.m. No injuries have been reported. The fire destroyed far more than a building. Its architecture library is considered one of the finest in Europe, with an outstanding collection of architecture journals and books dating
The first quarter of 2008 was a bleak one for architects—and conditions are not likely to improve anytime soon. The Architectural Billings Index (ABI), a key measure of the market for architectural services compiled by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), opened the year with a three-month skid, ending the first quarter at the lowest point in its 12-year history. March’s anemic ABI score of 39.7—a number over 50 indicates an increase in billing activity and below 50, a decrease—marks a 15-point drop from December’s 55. While some firms are still reporting high volumes of work, even the most optimistic
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