Rockwell Group: The Latest Architecture and News

550 Madison Avenue (née the AT&T Building, more recently Sony Plaza) is among the more recognizable figures on New York’s skyline. Designed by architect-provocateur Philip Johnson, the 37-story skyscraper stands out thanks to its curious headgear: a classical pediment broken by a circular notch, inviting frequent comparisons to the top of a Chippendale grandfather clock. A singular, if largely inoffensive presence on today’s icon-heavy streetscape, the design was positively shocking on its debut in 1979, when Johnson himself appeared on the cover of Time holding a model of the project, then still four years from completion. The image heralded the arrival of something new in American architecture: the fading of the flat-crowned Modernist towers of the midcentury and the onset of the Postmodernist wave.

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Metropolitans take pride in their storied cultural venues, the chroniclers of intellectual acumen and architectural achievement. While these icons revel in their ornate design, immersive grandiosity, and dramatic acoustics, the pandemic has introduced numerous challenges to the rules of assembly.

Recognizing changes in the rituals of attending a show—from procession and gathering to engagement—architects and cultural leaders are designing the next generation of performance venues while asking the question: How does architecture solve issues raised by a building’s inherent purpose? Is it possible to maintain the essence of a venue through gentle yet effective changes in people’s habits? The answers seem to rely on updating the auditorium culture (which dates as far back as the Colosseum) with contemporary design solutions rooted in new technologies.

Fotografiska Museum has announced its expansion to three new locations in Berlin, Shanghai and Miami, to be housed within existing buildings redesigned by Herzog & De Meuron, Neri&Hu and Rockwell Group. A former department store in Berlin's Jewish Quarter, a 1946 factory building in Miami and a historically significant warehouse complex in Shanghai are the future Fotografiska venues set for completion in 2022 and 2023. Together with the existing locations in Stockholm, Tallin and New York, these will form the world's largest private art museum in terms of size, number of locations, and exhibitions per year.

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Johns Hopkins University has selected BIG to design its new Student Center, regenerating the heart of its campus and reviving the social experience, from a shortlisted list of 4 offices, after a months-long international competition. Entitled “The Village”, the proposal is an “open, modern, and welcoming facility envisioned as a social engagement hub for all members of the Hopkins community”.

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Outdoor dining has proven to be something of a lifeline for restaurants not only in New York but around the country, as indoor dining remains far out of reach at this point in the novel coronavirus crisis. Faced with restrictive mandates, however, architects, planners, and restaurateurs across the U.S. have been forced to come up with creative ways to keep patrons uninfected while assembling aesthetically pleasing outdoor dining areas.

In order to ensure a proper transition into post COVID-19, architects, public health experts, and engineers are generating design guidelines to provide people with new secure, and efficient resources. Finding a balance between optimizing operations and keeping people safe, the strategies tackle the built environment that surrounds us, from restaurants and outdoor dining, to streets, offices, and retail.

Addressed to city officials, owners, and employers, the tools developed help to reopen the world, while reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission, promoting social distancing standards, and enhancing wellbeing. Discover in this article a roundup of design guidelines securing a safe post coronavirus transition.

David Rockwell and his team at Rockwell Group proposed an open streets initiative, a template for outdoor dining, in order to help bars and restaurants reopen post-pandemic. The design strategies illustrate practical solutions to make everyone feel safe.

The highest outdoor observation deck in the western hemisphere is set to open in March of 2020 in New York City. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), the Edge cantilevers 80 feet from the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards. At a record-setting height of 1,131 feet, Edge will reveal never-before-seen views of The City, Western New Jersey and New York State spanning up to 80 miles.

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The LAB at Rockwell Group has partnered with The National Building Museum to present the 2019 Summer Block Party installation LAWN. Designed to be an immersive installation taking up the entirety of the Museum’s Great Hall, the project presents a series of interactive experiences for all ages. The lawn itself is programmed with summer entertainment and activities, including movie nights, yoga, and meditation. By creating custom software, the LAB also developed an Augmented Reality game alongside the installation.

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The LAB at Rockwell Group has partnered with The National Building Museum to present the 2019 Summer Block Party installation Lawn. Designed to be an immersive installation taking up the entirety of the Museum’s Great Hall, the project will present interactive experiences for all ages. The lawn itself will be programmed and activated throughout the day with summer entertainment and activities, including movie nights, yoga, and meditation. By creating custom software, the LAB has also developed an Augmented Reality game alongside the installation.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Rockwell Group's iconic Shed has opened after more than a decade in the making in New York City. The building features a 120-foot telescopic shell in Hudson Yards that can extend out from the base building when needed for larger performances. Clad in ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) “pillows,” the project is connected to the High Line on 30th Street to bring performances and art to the city's newest neighborhood,

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New York City’s Hudson Yards has opened its doors to the public, and the reviews are flooding in. Built on Midtown Manhattan’s West Side, the project is New York’s largest development to date and the largest private real estate venture in American history, covering almost 14 acres of land with residential towers, offices, plazas, shopping centers, and restaurants. A host of architecture firms have shaped the development, including BIG, SOM, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Rockwell Group, and many others.

Read on to find out how critics have responded to Hudson Yards so far.

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Construction has completed on Diller Scofidio + Renfro (Lead Architect) and Rockwell Group's (Lead Interior Architect) 15 Hudson Yards, an 88-story skyscraper marking the first residential project in the Manhattan masterplan. The scheme is now open with 60% of residential units already sold, totaling over $800 million in sales.

The tower marks DS+R and Rockwell Group's first skyscraper, designed in collaboration with executive architects Ismael Leyva. The scheme topped out in February 2018 to its architectural height of 914 feet.

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New renderings and details of The Shed at Hudson Yards have been revealed as the structure’s ETFE panels continue to be installed ahead of its Spring 2019 opening date.

The new images show how some of the cultural venue’s interior spaces will look, including the galleries and the vast event space created when the wheeled steel structure is rolled out to its furthest extents. This space will be known as “the McCourt,” named after businessman Frank McCourt Jr, who donated $45 million to the project.

Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Rockwell Group, the 200,000-square-foot cultural center was envisioned as a spiritual successor to Cedric Price’s visionary “Fun Palace,” a flexible framework that could transform to host different types of events.

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Videos

Hudson Yards’ first condominium tower, 15 Hudson Yards, has topped out at its full architectural height of 914 feet, with exterior cladding also more than halfway complete. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (the firm’s first true skyscraper) in collaboration with Rockwell Group and executive architects Ismael Leyva Architects, the tower will contain a total of 285 residences, half of which have already been sold.

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"In architecture, in buildings, in a restaurant for instance, we extract the story."

In the latest from Crane.tv, New York City is examined through a miniseries highlighting the work of David Rockwell in celebration of the Rockwell Group’s 30th anniversary. The retrospective collection visits the original Nobu restaurant, industrial Shinola store, innovative Chef’s Club, and groundbreaking Imagination Playground, while Rockwell shares his approach to creating spaces that are responsive to their occupants.

Watch all four short films, after the break.

Fast Company has announced who they believe to be the most innovative practices in architecture for 2015. Topping this list is the online remodeling community Houzz, the BIG powerhouse and David Benjamin’s The Living. See the complete list, after the break, and let us know who you believe is the world’s most innovative firms in the comment section below.