After all the controversy, lawsuits, and delays in building the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, it will no doubt seem churlish to point out that the $180 million museum, designed by Bernard Tschumi Architects, is not the firm’s most spectacular work.
Project Specs New Acropolis Museum Athens, Greece Bernard Tschumi Architects << Return to article the People Architect Bernard Tschumi Architects 227 West 17th Street New York, NY 10011 Ph 212.807.6340 Fx 212.242.3693 www.tschumi.com Architect and Lead Designer: Bernard Tschumi Project Architect: Joel Rutten Design Team: Adam Dayem, Aristotelis Dimitrakopoulos, Jane Kim, Eva Sopeoglou, Kim Starr, Anne Save de Beaurecueil, Jonathan Chace, Robert Holton, Valentin Bontjes van Beek, Liz Kim, Daniel Holguin, Kriti Siderakis, Michaela Metcalfe, Justin Moore, Joel Aviles, Georgia Papadavid, Allis Chee, Thomas Goodwill, Véronique Descharrières, Christina Devizzi Associate architect: Michael Photiadis, ARSY Project Team: Michael Photiadis, Principal, with
As would be expected, the opening of the New Acropolis Museum has re-ignited the debate about the return of the Parthenon’s so-called Elgin Marbles to Athens.
The marble for this stunning octastyle, peripteral, Doric temple (with Ionic architectural elements), came from nearby Mount Pentelikon. It was designed to house a huge statue of Athena Parthenos ( 26 cubits tall, or just over 36 feet in height) which Phidias sculpted in ivory and gold. Indeed, the statue of Athena wore enough removable gold plate to operate as something of a bank. As Neils points out in The Parthenon Frieze, “Given all this gold (44 talents) this statue was the symbolic if not physical embodiment of the Delian Treasury.” Photo courtesy of the British Committee of Reunification of
New York City’s legendary Four Seasons restaurant, now celebrating its 50th anniversary, has embarked on the restoration of its famed Philip Johnson-designed interior in the Seagram Building, completed in 1958. Phyllis Lambert, the architect and patron who convinced her father, Samuel Bronfman, owner of the Seagram Company, to choose Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Johnson as the architects of his new headquarters building on Park Avenue, guided the selection of Belmont Freeman, FAIA, as the new architect for the restoration of this culinary outpost.
The mere thought of a high-profile architect designing a shop for a well-known fashion designer raises the old question: Will the container dominate the contained—i.e., the clothes?
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the completion of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York—a landmark structure often condemned by artists but extolled by architects. It also marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Wright, who had unfortunately missed the opening on October 21, 1959. He passed away six months prior at the age of 91.
RECORD's Suzanne Stephens visits the unusually named Ghost International Architectural Laboratory. The design-build workshop in Nova Scotia celebrated its tenth session in 2008.