Cities across North America are struggling to undo the mistakes of 20th-century public housing. Some are finding that a clean slate also presents opportunities. In Canada, the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) is pushing the agenda on design and sustainability with a $1 billion effort to rebuild an inner city housing project. Images courtesy Diamond and Schmitt A team of architects including architectsAlliance and Diamond and Schmitt has prepared plans to redevelop Regent Park, a 1950s-era public housing complex in Toronto. Breaking apart superblocks, it will replace 2,000 townhouse and mid-rise apartments with more than 5,000 housing units in townhouses
The thicket of condo towers and abundant public spaces in Vancouver, British Columbia, make this Canadian city an urban planner’s dream. Over the past two decades, the downtown population has doubled to 80,000 residents. But as the city prepares for the 2010 Winter Olympics, the spotlight is turning to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, which is located in Canada’s poorest zip code and suffers from chronic homelessness, drug abuse, and prostitution. Revitalization has the support of mayor Sam Sullivan, who wants cleaning up the area to be an Olympic legacy, but affordable housing advocates fear a new wave of displacement in a
The Azrieli Center’s sleek silver-and-blue towers, designed by Eli Atia and Yaski Sivan Architects and completed between 1999 and 2006, symbolize modern Tel Aviv, the commercial and cultural hub of Israel. But with the proliferation of these and other skyscrapers has come a new appreciation for the city’s historic buildings.
Editor’s note: You may read the news digest below or listen to it, plus other news headlines from ArchitecturalRecord.com, as a podcast by clicking this link. Click the play button to begin | Click here to download Columbia University’s proposal for rezoning portions of Manhattanville received a green light from the New York City Council this week, allowing the school to move forward with developing a controversial campus expansion designed by Renzo Piano and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. As RECORD has reported, the council’s approval seemed likely in November after the city’s planning department recommended a modified plan that gives
Until his death on November 23 at the age of 81, Robert Gutman, Hon. AIA, did more than any other individual to build a discourse between the disciplines of architecture and sociology, particularly with regard to housing, architectural education, and architectural practice. He avoided advocating the direct application of social fact to architectural form; rather, he initiated a conversation about the occupants of buildings and the forms, policies, plans, and theories that architects might shape. For the architects who met him, Gutman’s erudition was balanced by a contagious curiosity, which went a long way to assuage the pointed criticism he
A team led by the Dutch landscape architecture firm West 8 has been selected to design a new park and open space on Governors Island, a 172-acre landmass near the southern tip of Manhattan. The project will include a two-mile promenade along the water’s edge, a new 40-acre park on the southern half of the island, and improved park design on the northern half of the island, which is a National Historic District. “These spaces will be places where New Yorkers and others will experience a completely new set of captivating and unique recreational, cultural and educational opportunities,” West 8’s
A team of architects led by Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, Hargreaves Associates, TEN Arquitectos, and Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, will unveil the final design in February for revitalizing a stretch of the Mississippi River in New Orleans. The broad goal of the redesign is to reduce barriers that discourage people from enjoying the river and replace decaying sections with parks and public venues that will trigger private investment.
Legendary Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer celebrated his 100th birthday this past Saturday and is still hard at work. In fact, he spent the day talking about his next project: the Centro Cultural de Aviles, a $45 million arts center along Spain’s northern coast. Image courtesy Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Niemeyer has unveiled plans for the Centro Cultural de Aviles, a $45 million arts center along Spain’s northern coast. Related Links: Niemeyer to Celebrate 100th Birthday Niemeyer says the building will be one of his most beautiful yet. The design includes his trademark curves, made famous by his flying saucer-shaped National Museum,
Tis the season for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to unveil the winners of its awards for 2008, several more of whom were announced today: Richard Meier’s Atheneum, in New Harmony, Ind., will be honored with the Twenty-Five-Year Award; Norma Merrick Sklarek, FAIA, will be recognized with the Whitney M. Young Jr. Award; and Thomas L. McKittrick, FAIA, will receive the Edward C. Kemper Award. The Twenty-Five-Year Award goes to a work first recognized by the AIA at its completion and whose design has held up well after its silver anniversary. The Atheneum is a visitors center for the
Can an iconic new building by a world-renowned architect boost the global profile of an already well-regarded higher education institution? Officials at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University hope so. Last week they unveiled the competition-winning design by London-based Zaha Hadid for an interdisciplinary hub that will be home to its school of design, which BusinessWeek ranked among the top 60 worldwide in 2006. She beat out SANAA, of Japan, and Sauerbruch Hutton Architects, of Germany, to win the commission. Images: Courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects The shape of Hadid’s new tower for the Hong Kong Polytechnic University is reminiscent of a
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