Every year, there are scores of festivals, conferences, and exhibitions catering to architects. Add another one to the list: the World Architecture Festival, which was presented for the first time from Oct. 22 to 24 in Barcelona.
Dubai has attempted to set itself apart with the world’s tallest building (Burj Dubai) and largest urban development (Dubai Waterfront). But in terms of fallout from the current economic crisis, the Middle Eastern city may not be so different from the rest of the world after all. Photo ''Mark Horn The global credit crunch is affecting projects in Dubai. In recent weeks, delays have beset several massive projects there, according to several architects working in the area, and articles in The National, a United Arab Emirates newspaper. Dubai Waterfront, often referred to as Waterfront City, the 1.5-billion-square-foot development master planned
For more than two decades, the Battersea coal-fired power station, rumored to be the largest brick building in Europe, has sat dormant on the south bank of River Thames in London. The facility, built in 1939, was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect responsible for the city’s iconic red telephone booths and the Bankside power station, which, in 2000, Herzog & de Meuron converted into the Tate Modern.
Twenty years ago, Fort Worth’s Kimbell Art Museum announced a major expansion, and promptly got stuffed by critics, architects, and the public. “Hands off Louis Kahn’s masterpiece” was the outraged response, and the Kimbell quickly abandoned the idea. Now it is back with a new $70 million scheme that is more respectful of the Kahn building and, it hopes, less politically toxic.
When Charles Bower Winn donated $140,000 to the small Massachusetts city Woburn to build a freestanding public library, he suggested selecting an architect by way of a design competition.
In late September, José Torres, an architectural designer, was laid off from the Miami firm where he had worked for two years. Because of the global economic crisis, he says, “there were no more projects coming to the table.” His severance package included two weeks’ pay and a letter of reference that attributed his lay off to “the dire financial environment that has overtaken the country.” Now, he’s struggling to find a new job, he says, as candidates with similar credentials flood the market. Nationwide, unemployment is on the rise. According to the "Employment Situation: October 2008" report released on
Photo courtesy Page Southerland Page “Then there’s a little buffer of green space, which is very, very important because that makes them not feel like they’re on the sidewalk,” says Lawrence Speck of the Dunn Center’s outdoor space for Houston’s homeless residents. Lawrence Speck, FAIA, has worked with well-off clients on many residential projects, but he has also spent a lot of time talking about architecture with people living on the streets. A few years ago, the architect and professor at the architecture school at the University of Texas in Austin won the commission to design a $19.1 million expansion
Another Grand Plan for the South Boston Waterfront The redevelopment of Boston’s waterfront has been a start-stop affair in recent years. Now, another grand project is planned for the area, and this one is particularly ambitious. Images courtesy Gale International Seaport Square is a planned, 23-acre development featuring 19 buildings designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind, HOK, and CBT Architects, among others. In May, developer Gale International and partner Morgan Stanley filed a proposal for Seaport Square, a 23-acre mixed-used development featuring 19 buildings designed by the likes of Studio Daniel Libeskind, HOK, and CBT Architects. The 6.5-million-square-foot, $3.5 billion project—one
With its partners DekaBank and the Deutsches Architekturmuseum, the City of Frankfurt am Main announced today that the Hearst Tower in New York by Foster and Partners is the winner of its 2008 International Highrise Award, given to a project completed between January of 2006 and April of 2008. Photo ' Nigel Young, Foster + Partners The Hearst Tower in New York by Foster and Partners is the winner of the 2008 International Highrise Award, given to a project completed between January 2006 and April 2008. Chosen from among five finalists and 26 nominated projects by a seven-member jury that
President-elect Barack Obama was one of the most vocal advocates on the campaign trail for sustainability, with respect to both the environment and economic stimulus. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has wasted no putting together a progressive green agenda to push in Washington, consisting of a variety of measures Obama has supported on record. The USGBC has singled out four major nodes on which to base an aggressive sustainability agenda. Green building is at the forefront, and Obama has proposed the expansion of federal grants that assist states and municipalities to build LEED-certified public buildings. Furthermore, Obama has planned
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