The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has announced its biannual list of “watch sites”—buildings and landscapes of significant cultural value that, according to the organization, require urgent attention. The WMF states that the sites are selected based on four criteria: “significance, urgency of the situation, viability of proposed actions, and relevance of the issues to the heritage field at large.” Photo courtesy World Monuments Fund Afghanistan, Old City of Herat. The 2010 list consists of 93 sites located in 47 countries. Of those, 11 are in Africa and the Middle East, 38 in North and South America (with nine in the
Images courtesy One New Change Work is progressing on Jean Nouvel’s One New Change in central London. Related Links: New Retail and Office Center by Nouvel Nouvel Wins 2008 Pritzker Prize Nouvel's First California Project on Hold While construction launches have come to a virtual halt in central London, highly visible projects that predate the economic downturn are coming to fruition. A trio of wind turbines that will crown the 43-story Castle House designed by London-based architecture firm Hamiltons are being fabricated in Sweden. The tropical-colored ceramic skins of the Renzo Piano–designed Central Saint Giles have begun wowing tourists strolling
In the three years leading up to the current recession, gross billings at U.S. architecture firms increased nearly $16 billion from 2005 and totaled $44.3 billion in 2008. That equates to 54 percent growth over three years with annual growth of about 16 percent. These findings come from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) “Business of Architecture: AIA Survey Report on Firm Characteristics,” which is conducted every three years to examine issues related to the business practices of AIA member-owned architecture firms. Top 10 sectors served by architects in 2008 Healthcare: 18.2% Office space: 11.3% Education (K-12): 9.0% Education (college/university):
“It’s just a part of an architect’s work, but I do turn down a lot of this stuff,” Frank Gehry, FAIA, says of product-design commissions. When the French shoemaker J.M. Weston approached the Los Angeles–based architect to collaborate on a limited-edition shoe in early 2008, it was Gehry’s family members who wouldn’t take no for an answer. His son, the artist Alejandro Gehry, admits to a long-held interest in shoe design.
Carl Galioto, FAIA Photo courtesy HOK In an eyebrow-raising move, a decades-long employee and partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has jumped ship from its New York office for a rival firm. In September, Carl Galioto, FAIA, joined HOK¹s New York office after 30 years with SOM, where he contributed to the design of One World Trade Center, 7 World Trade Center, and Terminal Four at John F. Kennedy International Airport. He also worked on the planned 5-million-square-foot mixed-use project called Manhattan West, on Ninth Avenue and 31st Street, which developer Brookfield Properties has postponed. While at SOM, Galioto
CityCenter, the highly publicized $8.5 billion mixed-use project now under construction on the Las Vegas Strip, has been saddled with problems: the death of six construction workers, a lawsuit between development partners over rising costs, and funding woes brought on by the global credit crisis.
Just days after the July 1 opening of Citygarden in St. Louis, landscape architect Warren Byrd observed people using the sculpture park in ways he hadn’t quite imagined. A father and daughter waded in an 18-inch-deep reflecting pool while other visitors, unencumbered by do-not-touch regulations, interacted with some of the 24 sculptures by artists such as Jim Dine and Martin Puryear. “There’s a real hunger,” Byrd says, “for these amenities in this context.”
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