Worries over how long the credit crunch will continue to impact residential construction are having a spillover affect on lending in other construction markets. The Architectural Billings Index (ABI) reflected these jitters in September, falling 2.8 points for a score of 51.1. It was the index’s second down month in a row. The number of inquiries for new projects in September, meanwhile, rose slightly for a score of 61.4. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) compiles these indices based on surveys sent to 300 mainly commercial firms; any value over 50 indicates growth. Studies have shown a correlation between the
In architectural terms, the 2007 World Series, which opens tonight in Boston, pits the Red Sox’s venerable 1912 Fenway Park against the Colorado Rockies’ 1995-vintage Coors Field in Denver—old bricks v. new bricks. Fenway is the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball, but it’s receiving a makeover informed by the latest thinking on sustainability. The Red Sox are planning to add photovoltaic panels and make additional green improvements with advice from the Natural Resources Defense Council. Although there is not yet a standardized way of greening a stadium, the Sox join a host of other ball clubs pursuing LEED-inspired, or
The Netherlands’ obsessive relationship with water dates to the construction of the first polders in the Middle Ages. But only in recent decades have Dutch designers and engineers considered coexisting with water, rather than holding it back. The Rijswijk-based architecture firm Waterstudio, for example, has gained prominence as visionary designers of floating homes both locally and as far afield as Dubai, while organizations like the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects has sponsored resources including “H2olland,” an online exhibition that explores new opportunities for a life afloat. Images Courtesy Ronday Winkelaar Architects Architects Maxim Winkelaar and Bob Ronday won a competition
When Paul Chan visited New Orleans for the first time in November 2006, the digital media and video artist expected to hear the sound of jackhammers and to see evidence of post-Katrina progress. He instead witnessed a far different scene: “The streets were still, as if time had been swept away along with the houses. Friends said the city now looks like the backdrop for a bleak science fiction movie. ... I realized it didn’t look like a movie set, but the stage for a play I have seen many times. It was unmistakable. The empty road. The bare tree
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 Polshek Partnership’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial Center received conditional approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts yesterday. But as The Washington Post reported on October 19, some commissioners expressed concern that the proposed underground visitors and education center on the Mall “might dilute the emotional impact” of Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial nearby. Polshek’s design, the paper wrote, “calls for a 34,100-square-foot structure
Construction is underway, albeit with some delays, on one of India’s highest profile and most opulent projects—the Antilia, a 490-foot-tall corporate meeting facility and private residence in Mumbai. Chicago-based Perkins + Will designed the 24-story tower for business tycoon Mukesh Ambani, whose family will occupy roughly 35,000 square feet in its top floors. Images: Courtesy Perkins + Will Perkins + Will designed Antilia, a 24-story corporate meeting facility and private residence, now under construction in Mumbai (top). The tower features several garden levels and a trellis, which supports panels of hydroponically grown plans, that act like a green band weaving
Just as other cities around the country are experimenting with ways to streamline the plan review and permit process, New York City, a trendsetter in this respect, is clamping down on its practice of allowing architects to self-certify building plans. In an effort to save architects time, Oregon is taking Portland’s “e-permit” online submission tool statewide. Los Angeles has unveiled the Guaranteed Express Permit Program, which aims to serve walk-in customers with small projects within 30 minutes and issue a permit within 90 minutes, or the application is free. And in Honolulu, the city’s understaffed Department of Planning and Permitting
For admirers of the Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, the 73-year-old’s death on October 12 culminated a year of disappointments. In April, Kurokawa lost an election bid for the governorship of Tokyo; then, in July, he and his wife, actress Ayako Wakao, were both unsuccessful in their campaigns for seats in Japan’s Upper House of parliament. Concurrent with Kurokawa’s candidacies, plans were announced to raze Tokyo’s Nakagin Capsule Tower, completed in 1972, which was an icon of the Metabolism movement; it closely follows last year’s demolition of Kurokawa’s Sony Tower in Osaka. Photo Courtesy Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates Kisho Kurokawa
Who’s snickering about Brad Pitt’s interest in architecture now? The movie star jolted attendees at the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual conference in late September by announcing a plan to replace 150 destroyed houses in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward with new, environmentally sustainable ones that cost less than $200,000 each. Seeking justice for city residents who lost their houses in what he termed an “abysmal” rescue effort, Pitt and his partners formed an organization called Make it Right to hire 13 architectural firms for green designs that fit the local vernacular. He promised that each model will match what residents
RSS