The World Monuments Fund (WMF) is calling for international attention to the 1969 Preston Bus Station. Once the world’s largest bus station, the brutalist monument is scheduled for demolition as part of the city center’s redevelopment plan. The building is one of thirty UK “at risk” sites featured by WMF.
Karissa Rosenfield
UK Monument Preston Bus Station at Risk
Arctic Food Network / Lateral Office
Recent recipient of the 2011 Holcim Gold Award for the North American region, Lateral Office’s Arctic Food Network is a series of strategically distributed shelters addressing food security, biological and wildlife species management, and provides a safe navigation system across Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada.
Architect: Lateral Office Location: Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada Collaborators: InfraNet Lab, Dr. Claudio Aporta Advisor: Nunavut Department of Culture, Language, Elders, and Youth Project Team: Mason White, Lola Sheppard, Nikole Bouchard, Fionn Byrne Start of Construction: May 2012 Images: Lateral Office
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Global Village Construction Set / Open Source Ecology
Video: Salk Institute / Louis Kahn
This short film by Pablo Casals-Aguirre captures the formal perfection and daily life within Louis Kahn’s architectural masterpiece, the Salk Institute. Kahn was commissioned in 1959 to design the inspiring facility for scientific research. The iconic facility became a designated San Diego Historical Landmark in 1991 and continues to attract daily admirers from all corners of the earth.
Zaha Hadid is Coming to San Diego
San Diego Planning Commission has approved Zaha Hadid’s La Jolla Residence. Along with the San Diego firm Public, Hadid will demolish an existing house on a half-acre site at 8490 Whale Watch Way, replacing it with a 12,700 square foot home comprised of four bedrooms, six bathrooms, and an indoor pool. The firm has described the home as an “introverted sculptural structure.”
Japan to Create World’s First Backup City
The Japanese Government has revealed a radical plan to construct a standby city for Tokyo. The Integrated Resort, Tourism, Business and BackupCity, known as IRTBBC, will provide backup to the capital in an event of an immobilizing earthquake.
Portal to the Point proposal / wHY Design
Portal to the Point is a design project initiated to honor the completion of renovations to Pittsburgh’s most visible National Historic Landmark, Point State Park. wHY Architecture is one of five finalists selected to redefine the space beneath the Portal Bridge that leads into 36-acre park.
Continue reading for more project information and renderings.
Apple Reveals Newly Renovated 5th Avenue Store
The white veil has been removed, exposing the $6.6 million renovation to the Fifth Avenue Retail Store. Apple started the renovation back in June with plans to improve drainage and pavers, remove the bollards on the plaza, and update the cube.
Stakeholders Pledge to Complete High Line
The High Line stakeholders have publicly committed to develop the third and final section of the High Line at the West Side Rail Yard, between West 30th and West 34th Streets. The private rail company and owner of the High Line, CSX Transportation, Inc, have agreed to donate the last remaining section to the City of New York.
Update: Jean Nouvel Jewelbox Houses Historic Carousel in NYC
Since it’s opening on September 16th, the Jean Nouvel acrylic encasement and historic Jane’s Carousel has become a landmark in the heart of Brooklyn Bridge Park for New York families. The welcoming public pavilion offers spectacular views of the East River, the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, and the Manhattan skyline.
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Foster + Partners Launch Proposals for Thames Hub
Norman Foster has launched proposals for the Thames Hub as “An Integrated Vision for Britain”. The self-funded collaboration between Foster + Partners, Halcrow and Volterra has produced a detailed, holistic vision for Britain’s future development of infrastructure.
The rapidly population growth and evolving global economy has put pressure on UK’s aged infrastructure. The study describes the Spine, which will combine rail, energy, communications and data throughout the entire length of the UK. The Spine is supported by the proposed Thames Hub, introducing a new river barrier and crossing, an international airport, and a shipping and rail complex.
The Thames Hub plans to maximize Britain trade links with the rest of world, stimulate job creation, and boost the economies of the Midlands and the North by providing direct connections to the cities and markets of Europe.
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Villa Gardone / Richard Meier & Partners Architects
Yesterday Richard Meier & Partners announced the design of a new Italian residence, Villa Gardone. The home is part of a complex in Gardone Riviera that is to be designed by a number of illustrious architecture firms from Europe and the U.S and completed by 2014.
Continue reading from more information on the Villa Gardone.
Interview: Mark Gilbert on Designing Jacmel by Alexander Britell
Mark Gilbert discusses redesigning and rebuilding the city of Jacmel, Haiti with Alexander Britell from Caribbean Journal. The architect and his colleagues at trans_city used New Orleans typologies and their concept of rapid-response housing to provide an economical reconstruction proposal that will provide long-term stability to the people of Jacmel.
Video: House NA / Sou Fujimoto Architects
Shinkenchiku brings you an exclusive inside tour of the contemporary House NA, designed by Sou Fujimoto Architects. Thin, steel poles delicately support the transparent “pile of boxes” at varying heights. In an interview conducted by F.W. Monocle, Sou Fujimoto explains, “In one way the house is like a single space, but each room is also a tiny space of its own. The clients said they wanted to live like nomads within the house – they didn’t have specific plans for each room. The house looks radical but for the clients it seemed quite natural.”
Chicago Children’s Museum Out of New Plan for Grant Park
The glorious feeling of winning an architectural competition may quickly diminish after the realization that the achievement was only the beginning of the battle.
Officials have confirmed that Krueck + Sexton’s winning competition entry for the new home of the Chicago Children’s Museum has been removed from the redevelopment plan of the Richard J. Daley Bicentennial Plaza on the northeast corner of Grant Park.
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Frank Gehry Turns to Asia as Development Slows in the U.S.
Star architect, Frank Gehry, attempts to survive the decline of U.S. growth by turning to Asia. The Architecture Billings Index illustrates the decreased demand for design serves in America by plunging from 51.4 in August to 46.9 in September. According to the American Institute of Architects, a score less than 50 indicates a decline in billings.
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Thoughts on Architectural Education
Alumni descriptions of the architectural education experience can often range from frustration to admiration. The article Creative Education? An Analysis of Existing Architecture Education in Singapore, written by a fourth year student attending the National University of Singapore, is a collection of thoughts and observations based on this individual’s experience. The article primarily focused on particular frustrations. However, these same frustrations are comparable to those commonly voiced throughout many institutions across the United States.
Vote Now: 2011 Zombie Safe House Competition
For the second year in a row, Architects Southwest has inspired 200 applicants from 12 countries to design imaginative zombie-proof architecture that will save thousands of lives during the inevitable zombie apocalypse. The goal of the competition is to “design a haven that can withstand a full-on zombie assault on civilization as we know it.”
These creative designs may one day save you from the dead, therefore voting is important. Click here to browse through the entries and give thumbs up to your favorite designs. Voting ends on Halloween, October 31st, 2011.
Continue reading to view some of the top competitors.