Jacob's Pillow, a historic hub for dance in the United States, will open the new Doris Duke Theatre on July 9, 2025. As of November 2024, construction is progressing on schedule, with the theater taking shape on the original site of the initial structure lost to a devastating fire in November 2020 in Massachusetts, United States. Designed by the Dutch firm Mecanoo, led by Francine Houben, in collaboration with New York-based Marvel, helmed by Jonathan Marvel, the project blends innovation with a deep reverence for the site's historic legacy.
Marvel Architects: The Latest Architecture and News
Mecanoo's Reimagined Doris Duke Theater to Open in Massachusetts in July 2025
Mecanoo, in Partnership with Marvel, Reimagines the Doris Duke Theater Lost to a Fire in 2020
Jacob's Pillow has revealed its plans for the redesigned Doris Duke Theater, which will be built on the original site of the theater that was destroyed by a fire in November 2020. Mecanoo, based in the Netherlands and led by Creative Director and Founding Partner Francine Houben, has taken on the role of lead architect for the new building project, collaborating with Marvel, based in New York and led by Jonathan Marvel, who serves as the project's architect of record and landscape architects.
Marvel Architects Reveals Design for The Bronx Museum of Art's Renovation
New York-based firm Marvel revealed schematic designs for The Bronx Museum's new multi-story entrance and lobby, as part of the museum's revamp for its 50th anniversary. With a budget of USD $26 million and slated for completion in 2025, the renovation will relocate the access on the Grand Concourse Street, one of the most iconic The Bronx boulevards, and focus on the cohesion of the multiple sections for a fully accessible route through all of the galleries. Coinciding with this announcement, the Museum reinvented its brand identity and website for the first time in over two decades to reflect its ethos as a vital space at the intersection of art and social justice in New York City.
Studio Gang, SHop Architects, and Snøhetta Among 20 Firms Designing NYC’s Next Generation of Public Buildings
Under the latest round of NYC's Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Project Excellence Program, Commissioner Thomas Foley has announced that the agency has selected 20 firms to provide architectural design services for New York City’s future public buildings project. 10 of the selected firms are certified Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs), meeting the city’s ambitious goals of supporting M/WBEs and increasing its ability to generate culturally competent designs.
Moriviví House: The Hurricane-Proof Project that Builds Community
House Moroviví, designed by Marvel Architects, is a culturally-sensitive, readily-adaptable home that provides residents with physical and psychological comfort before, during and after natural disasters occur. Designed to maximize structural stability yet minimize energy and water usage, it is built with local components that promote ease of assembly, leave space for creative expansion and foster ownership by way of customization. These materials and their integration support local manufacturers and tradesmen, and the simplicity of their assembly encourages homeowners and neighbors to work together on the construction of their neighborhood.
Studio Gang, SANAA Among Winners of 2017 AIA Institute Honor Awards
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) have named 18 architectural and interior projects as recipients of the 2017 Institute Honor Awards, the profession’s highest recognition for excellence in design.
According to the AIA, “the 2017 Architecture program celebrates the best contemporary architecture regardless of budget, size, style, or type. These stunning projects show the world the range of outstanding work architects create and highlight the many ways buildings and spaces can improve our lives.”
The awarded projects were selected from nearly 700 submissions. The winners will be honored at the 2017 AIA National Convention in Orlando.
TheatreSquared Reveals Designs for Permanent Facility
On November 3, TheatreSquared Executive Director Martin Miller and Artistic Director Robert Ford unveiled the completed plans for the company’s new permanent home, a 50,000 square-foot building in Fayetteville, Arkansas designed by London-based theater planners Charcoalblue and New York–based Marvel Architects. The new building will include two theaters, a rehearsal space, staff offices, design workshops, a community space, a 24-hour cafe/bar, three levels of outdoor public space, and a separate building housing eight guest artist apartments.
26 Firms Selected to Design New York City’s Public Buildings
The New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) has selected 26 architecture firms to be pre-qualified to design new public projects throughout the city’s five boroughs. In effect until 2019, these firms will be given exclusive access to Request for Proposals (RFPs) for public works projects with an estimated budget of $50 million of less. These projects will include new constructions, additions and renovations of existing public buildings, parks and plazas.
The program, known as the Design and Construction Excellence 2.0 Program, was established in 2005 to increase the efficiency and quality of procuring design services. Recent successes of the program include the Times Square pedestrian plaza by Snohetta, Dattner and WXY’s Spring Street Salt Shed, Studio Gang’s Fire Rescue 2, and BIG’s 40th precinct police station in the Bronx.
This Brooklyn Theater Renovation Shows You Don't Have to Choose Between Heritage and Sustainability
This article was originally published on Autodesk's Redshift publication as "Energy Efficiency in Historic Buildings: Why a Theater Company Chose Resurrection (Not Demolition)."
For a ruined Civil War-era warehouse in Brooklyn, there may have been no better organization than an avant-garde theater group to think creatively about its future.
Situated in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge in the popular Dumbo neighborhood, the 1860 tobacco warehouse was crumbling and forgotten when St. Ann’s, a 36-year-old theater company that began life in another Brooklyn church, sought to renovate it for its first permanent home. Attaining energy efficiency in historic buildings is not just possible—it can be the most sustainable and aesthetic choice.
St. Ann’s, led by artistic director Susan Feldman, hired a building team that included Marvel Architects; BuroHappold Engineering; and Charcoalblue, a theater, lighting, and acoustics consultancy. The resulting 25,000-square-foot complex, St. Ann’s Warehouse, includes two versatile and changeable performance spaces, lobby and event areas, and a triangular garden (designed by landscape architects Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates).
MASS Design Among Shortlist to Redesign Gallaudet University's Campus
Gallaudet University, the world’s only university for deaf and hard of hearing students, has shortlisted four teams in a competition to redesign its new campus in Washington DC and redefine “the university’s urban edge as a vibrant, mixed-use, creative and cultural district.”
A total of 51 teams, consisting of 320 architectural practices, responded to the call for submissions, and 13 semi-finalist teams were highly commended for their designs. The four shortlisted firms will participate in a design forum at the university next week and will submit their final concept designs by January 2016.
View the shortlisted teams after the break.
Fourteen Tower Proposals Unveiled for Controversial Brooklyn Bridge Park Development
New York City have released images of fourteen tower proposals as part of a controversial scheme to bring affordable housing to the 85 acre Brooklyn Bridge Park, originally designed by Michael van Valkenburgh and realised in 2004. The schemes, designed to be located on “two coveted development sites” on Pier 6, have been actively met with strong opposition from local community members. The park and surrounding area has seen a number of interesting recent regeneration proposals, from an 11,000ft² beach beneath the Brooklyn Bridge to a triangular pier proposed by BIG. Read on to see the proposals in detail, including those by Asymptote, Pelli Clarke Pelli, Davis Brody Bond, and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).