The five experts who make up the jury of the National Building Museum’s Vincent Scully Prize can spend hours debating the merits of as many as 40 nominees in order to determine a winner who represents “intellectual accomplishment in architecture and an instrumental role in dialogue,” says David M. Schwarz, FAIA, the jury’s chair since the program’s inception a decade ago. For the 2008 laureate, Schwarz says, the jurors made their selection “in just 20 minutes.” Robert A.M. Stern, FAIA, was the subject of this brief discussion. Stern, as well as the decade anniversary of the Vincent Scully Prize, will
The world’s tallest building, the 162-story, 2,680 foot Burj Dubai, designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM), is set to open next year. But Dubai also has six other skyscrapers of at least 100 stories in the works, making it the super-tall building capital of the world—head and shoulders above other cities.
The Architectural Billings Index rose to 46.1 in June, nearly three points higher than May’s 43.4 score. The inquiries score also rose, to 51.8, after dropping to 46.5 in May – the lowest inquiries score in the ABI’s 13-year history. A number above 50 indicates an increase, and below 50, a decrease. Despite the slight uptick, the future doesn’t look bright. This is the fifth straight month that the billings score has dipped below 50. In March, billings plummeted to an all-time low score of 39.7 (RECORD, May 2008). The American Institute of Architects (AIA), which compiles the index based
Designs for a new skyscraper to be built atop a midtown Manhattan transit center were unveiled on Thursday, reports The New York Times. Three competing firms have submitted schemes for the 1.3 million-square-foot office tower, which would rise above the north wing of the Port Authority Bus Terminal on 8th Avenue, across the street from Renzo Piano’s New York Times Building (RECORD, February 2008). For the Port Authority project, Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects has designed a 48-story glass tower “whose surface has an almost icy gleam,” while Pelli Clarke Pelli envisions a 47-story monolithic structure with a curtain wall that
One of New York’s most exciting cultural venues this summer is a vacant lot in Midtown Manhattan. There, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which adjoins the site, is staging part of a new exhibition.
Swiss designer Hannes Wettstein was not as well known as some of his contemporaries. But his work reached a wide audience, with designs that ranged from high-tech innovations and high-end furniture to more accessible consumer products like bicycles, lamps, pens, razors, and watches. His products, while simple and straightforward in appearance, were the result of a rigorous design process. On July 5, his life was cut short at the age of 50 after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Leading the nation in environmental initiative once again, the California Building Standards Commission has unanimously approved the country's first green building code for all new structures'from homes to businesses, schools to hospitals'built in California. 'We have already committed to making our state-owned buildings more green and energy efficient. This statewide code will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency and conserve water in all new buildings,' Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. As part of its goal to curb emissions by 2020, the new standard is voluntary for now, but will become mandatory in 2010. This green code looks
If architect David Fisher manages to achieve his dream, the world will soon have its first prefabricated, net-positive-energy skyscraper with floors that rotate independently of each other.
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