Image courtesy Santiago Calatrava The recession halted the construction of Santiago Calatrava's 2,000-foot tower in 2008. The Chicago Spire, a hyper-tall condo from Santiago Calatrava that tried to soar into the record books as the world’s second-tallest building, only to get mired in the recession, may be inching back to life. The developer of the twisting, 2,000-foot tower, Shelbourne North Water Street, is close to paying off $135 million owed to creditors of the bankrupt project, sources close to the project say. Those payments, which could be approved in October, include $109 million to a local division of mega-developer Related
Held this year from September 13 to September 21, the festival has grown to become one of the city’s calendar events, visited by an estimated 350,000 people. In over 12 years the London Design Festival, held this year from September 13 to September 21, has grown to become one of the city’s calendar events, visited by an estimated 350,000 people and acting as an umbrella for projects by over 250 collaborators, from retailers and manufacturers to galleries and colleges. Its hub was the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), where many of the Festival’s commissioned pieces are temporarily installed. Here, explains
The Sefaira plug-in for Revit displays energy analysis within Revit's modeling environment. Following last year’s release of several tools, including an energy analysis plug-in for SketchUp, the five-year old software company Sefaira has released a revamped plug-in for Autodesk’s Revit. The new plug-in offers both daylighting and energy analysis in real-time within Revit’s native modeling environment. According to Sefaira CEO Mads Jensen, the latest release provides analysis “as close to the model as possible.” Sefaira’s focus on immediate feedback benchmarked against 2030 Challenge targets and other industry standards allows architects to “incorporate performance analysis into every design decision,” says Jensen.
Since the Guggenheim museum announced plans for its Frank Gehry-designed satellite in Abu Dhabi eight years ago, the project has been part of debates and protests concerning the treatment of migrant construction workers and the role of architects in their safety and well being.
The North American recipients of the Holcim Awards (left to right): David Benjamin, Caitlin Taylor, Amy Mielke, Kai-Uwe Bergmann, and Matthijs Bouw. On September 18 the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction announced the winners for the North American segment of its international awards program at a ceremony held at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto. Over the course of the evening, which was enlivened by an unseasonable cold snap that pervaded the largely open-air venue (a community environmental center that won a Holcim award in 2008), 13 projects were recognized and a total of $330,000 in prize money was awarded.
In July, Autodesk acquired the experimental New York design firm The Living, led by architect David Benjamin, in order to enhance its research capabilities. This union is just one effort by the software leader to engage in wide-reaching discussions about the future of design. Last year it opened Autodesk Workshop at San Francisco’s Pier 9, a 27,000-square-foot playground for employees and partners to explore advanced manufacturing resources. And, more recently, a summer-residency program charged participants with writing science fiction. “We have an extraordinary talent base that can make stuff,” says Jeff Kowalski (left), “but we also need those folks who
Photo courtesy Alan Kranairz Part of the festival, the DETROIT MADE exhibition includes 10 Detroit designers, including Alan Kaniarz of Mobël Link Modern Furniture. His ZigZag chair, above, is his take on Gerrit Rietveld's 1934 model. When one thinks of Detroit, many things come to mind. Design is not usually on the top of the list. But the city is a growing design hub, home to both leading design-driven industries and a vast network of skilled workers with the know-how to make things. And its low cost of living has attracted a growing number of creatives who want to do
McGraw Hill Financial announced yesterday that it has agreed to sell McGraw Hill Construction, the parent company of Architectural Record, to Symphony Technology Group, a private equity firm based in Palo Alto, California. Under the new ownership, Architectural Record looks forward to continuing to serve as the premiere publication of the architectural profession, as it has for more than 120 years. Read the full announcement below. McGraw Hill Financial yesterday announced it has agreed to sell McGraw Hill Construction to Symphony Technology Group, a strategic private equity firm based in Palo Alto, California, for $320 million in cash. The transaction,
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