The Architectural Billings Index (ABI) rose to 36.4 in December—up nearly two points from November’s score of 34.7, a record low in the ABI’s 13-year history.
At a time when many projects are getting shelved, work is now under way on the Songdo International Business District, a self-sufficient city on the outskirts of Incheon, South Korea. Image courtesy Kohn Pedersen Fox Master planned by Kohn Pedersen Fox and developed by Gale International and Posco E&C, the 1,500-acre financial district will include 50 million square feet of office space, 30 million square feet of residential, 10 million square feet for retail, and five million square feet for hotels. Green space will account for another 10 million square feet. “It’s a fully fledged city and has every function
For the large-scale redevelopment of Longgang Centre and Longcheng Square in Shenzhen, the United-Kingdom-based design collective Groundlab is turning the typical planning process upside-down. Rather than adhere to the top-down approach taken by “big bureaucrats sitting at tables with big markers,” Groundlab is working from the bottom up, explains Eva Castro, a Groundlab partner and director of the Architectural Association’s Landscape Urbanism (AALU) masters program. “Instead of mapping [sites], which is a known hierarchical way of lifting up all the information contained within a territory,” says Castro, Groundlab chooses to “lift up systems” of particular interest. In their plan for
“A good building can improve the educational mission of a university,” says University of Baltimore (UB) president Robert Bogomolny. With his school poised to invest four years and more than $100 million dollars into a new facility for UB’s law school, he should hope so.
With key action taken in recent weeks, the world’s first private spaceport is edging closer to a groundbreaking. Designed by Foster + Partners and URS Corp., the $198 million Spaceport America project is slated to be built in Upham, New Mexico. According to prior reports, the facility is designed to accommodate two transport airplanes and five spaceships. Its “superhangar” and terminal will include training facilities, a mission control center, viewing galleries, and passenger lounges. Image: Courtesy URS/Foster + Partners The world's first private spaceport is edging closer to a groundbreaking. Designed by Foster + Partners and URS Corp., the $198
Today, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced the eight recipients of the 2009 AIA Young Architects Award. This prize recognizes individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the profession early in their careers. Architects who have been licensed 10 years or fewer, regardless of their age, are eligible. The winners will be recognized at a ceremony in San Francisco during the 2009 AIA national convention, scheduled for April 30 to May 2. AIA Names Winners of 2009 Young Architects Award Matthew Bremer, AIA Nominated by the AIA New York Chapter, Matthew Bremer is a
Israel’s High Court of Justice has allowed construction to proceed on Jerusalem’s Museum of Tolerance, designed by Frank Gehry and backed by the Los Angeles–based Simon Wiesenthal Center.
A Cesar Pelli-designed office tower and art museum planned for downtown Austin, Texas, is the latest casualty of the economic downturn. Houston-based developer Hines Interests LP has shelved plans for a 30-story, 434,000-square-foot glass high-rise and accompanying museum. Construction was scheduled to start in the first quarter of this year, with completion expected in early 2011. Image courtesy Hines Houston-based developer Hines Interests LP has shelved plans for a 30-story, 434,000-square-foot glass high-rise and accompanying museum. The high-rise, dubbed Museum Tower, would be located at 455 West 4th Street on land owned by the Austin Museum of Art (AMOA). The
At 680 feet tall, the Austonian, designed by Houston-based firm Ziegler Cooper Architects, will be the tallest building in Austin when it’s completed in 2010. Currently at the halfway point, the 56-story elliptical steel, aluminum, concrete, glass, and limestone-clad building will serve to add to Austin’s skyline with a somewhat softer (and less controversial) top than the pointy ends of the current highest building, the 515-foot, 33-floor Frost Bank Tower, built in 2003 by Duda/Paine Architects and HKS and sometimes referred to as “giant nose-hair clippers.” Images courtesy Ziegler Cooper Architects The Austonian (top, center) will be 680 feet tall.
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