When it came to sourcing materials for a new office building for a steel fabricator in Washington, Olson Kundig Architects didn't have to look too far. The firm's striking design calls for giant steel pipes made on site. Images courtesy Olson Kundig Architects The 11,700-square-foot office building will adjoin an existing steel factory. Related Links: 1111 E. Pike Rolling Huts Wing Luke Asian Museum Kundig Wins National Design Award 2009 Firm of the Year Founded in 1966, Olson Kundig Architects has become well known over the years for incorporating raw materials and metal gadgetry into its buildings. In its design
Spread over 55 acres and featuring more than 255,000 different types of plants, the VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver offers the ideal setting for urban dwellers wanting to commune with nature.
Image courtesy OMA OMA has won a competition to design a regional library in the northwestern city of Caen. Related Links: High Hopes in Hong Kong OMA to Buoy Hamburg’s Waterfront Singapore Scotts Tower Cornell Groundbreaking Could End Saga After years of “sending love letters to France,” OMA has won a competition to design a regional library in the northwestern city of Caen, says associate in charge Clément Blanchet. It will be the firm’s first cultural building in the country. In a phone interview from the Netherlands, Blanchet said that OMA, founded in 1975, has been eager to expand its
Image courtesy V&A Kengo Kuma has won the competition to design a new Victoria & Albert Museum in Dundee, Scotland This is the incredible ship-like building that will dominate Dundee' s waterfront from 2014. Japanese architect Kengo Kuma beat worldwide competition to win the honour of designing the city's £47 million Victoria & Albert Museum. Work on the amazing structure will begin in 2012 and the museum—the V&A's new international centre for design—is scheduled to open in 2014. It's hoped the project at Discovery Point will transform Dundee's fortunes in the same way the Guggenheim changed the Spanish port of
The Asian metropolis is spending $2.8 billion to construct an enormous cultural district. The goal: to become one of the greatest cities in the world. Image courtesy Foster + Partners Click on the slide show button below to view schemes by Foster + Partners (pictured), Rem Koolhaas/OMA, and Rocco Design Architects. With the recent unveiling of three competing master plans for the colossal West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), Hong Kong finds itself at a watershed moment—one that will not only shape a prominent waterfront site, but also help define the city’s place in the ever-changing firmament of global cultural destinations.
Image courtesy MVVA A team led by MVVA won the competition to design the grounds surrounding Gateway Arch. Click on the slide show button below to see schemes by all five finalists. Related Links: Shortlist for Gateway Arch Competition Announced Saarinen's Gateway Arch Celebrated in Documentary Design Competition to Enliven St. Louis Arch Park In the 1960s, when the Eero Saarinen-designed Gateway Arch in St. Louis was built, the work created an American icon as recognizable as the Statue of Liberty. But plans never materialized to develop the surrounding grounds into a fully accessible public site, leaving the Arch isolated
« Return to Recession & Recovery In the past two years, the recession has taken its toll on the profession, leaving many hunting for work. Exactly how many architects are unemployed, however, can be the subject of debate. Assessing the jobless rate for the design profession can produce wildly disparate results—and architects, economists, and recruiters aren’t precisely sure how bad things are. Part of the problem, they say, stems from the fact that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lumps architects under its sweeping “Architecture and Engineering Occupations” category, which is tilted heavily toward engineers. In fact, of the 20