Photo courtesy Wikipedia Norval White Architect Norval White, a pioneer of New York City’s preservation movement who parlayed that passion for buildings into a widely read and frequently reprinted book, died on December 26 of a heart attack at his home in Roques, France. He was 83. Educated at M.I.T., Princeton, and the Fontainbleau Schools, White, a native New Yorker, fought unsuccessfully to save the original Pennsylvania Station, a Beaux-Arts creation from McKim, Mead & White that was razed in 1963. White had more luck, however, with the AIA Guide to New York City, a witty and scholarly block-by-block directory
"Competing Visions" Lead to Demise of Costas Kondylis and Partners Photo courtesy Costas Kondylis Design Costas Kondylis, designer of Donald Trump towers, has broken up his longtime firm and formed a new one. Architect Costas Kondylis, AIA, who is perhaps best known for the New York high-rises designed for Donald Trump, has broken up his longtime firm and formed a new one. In December, Kondylis announced the launch of Costas Kondylis Design, a New York-based practice emphasizing projects that aspire to certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program (LEED). His former firm, Costas
In a case that could have larger implications for the architecture profession, an Ohio firm has sued a client after being fired, with the hope of being put back on the job. Image courtesy Wikipedia The medical center would feature 480 beds and a cancer center. Karlsberger, a mid-sized firm based in Columbus, claims that nearby Ohio State University acted in bad faith this fall when it terminated a contract for a $1 billion, 1-million-square-foot expansion of its medical center. The glassy, soaring addition, which is to feature 480 beds and a cancer center, is the largest construction project on
Photo courtesy Merzproject Joe Herzog, AIA, co-founded Merzproject in 2004. One of the country’s oldest architecture firms has teamed with one of its youngest, betting on expansion while other practices scale back. In early December, Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott, which was founded by H.H. Richardson in 1874, acquired Merzproject of Phoenix, Arizona, which formed in 2004. The young firm, which will remain in Phoenix with its two principals intact, will also retain its name, with a slight twist; it will now be known as “Merzproject, a studio of Shepley Bulfinch.” In 2008, Shepley Bulfinch reportedly earned $36.6 million in
Cubellis, a top-earning international architecture and engineering firm headquartered in Boston, has closed. The 23-year-old firm, which has 12 offices, including one in Dubai, told its employees of the shutdown the day before Thanksgiving, according to the Boston Business Journal, which first reported the news. In 2008, the firm came in 60th out of the U.S.’s 250 most-successful firms, with revenues of $51 million, according to a survey by Architectural Record. The immediate cause of the closure was Sovereign Bank’s denial of a key line of credit, which made the firm unable to pay the salaries of its 170 employees,
As summer gave way to fall, some economic indicators suggested the Great Recession was ending, and yet many architects continue to struggle in an environment that provides only scattered reasons for optimism. Much of the gloom can be explained through numbers. For example, the Dodge Index from McGraw-Hill Construction, which measures all current construction activity in the U.S., from homes to highways, has stood at an average of 85 for 2009, which is far below the average of 135 for 2007. “And if you adjust for inflation, it’s even worse,” says Kim Kennedy, an economist with McGraw-Hill Construction Research. Related
Carl Galioto, FAIA Photo courtesy HOK In an eyebrow-raising move, a decades-long employee and partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has jumped ship from its New York office for a rival firm. In September, Carl Galioto, FAIA, joined HOK¹s New York office after 30 years with SOM, where he contributed to the design of One World Trade Center, 7 World Trade Center, and Terminal Four at John F. Kennedy International Airport. He also worked on the planned 5-million-square-foot mixed-use project called Manhattan West, on Ninth Avenue and 31st Street, which developer Brookfield Properties has postponed. While at SOM, Galioto
Today in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, 20 people aimed cameras at a three-story row house, snapped photos, and cheered. Part of the reason for their excitement may have been that the building was once the home of Jane Jacobs, the writer and activist. More likely, though, is that the picture-taking session marked the official end of the lengthy research phase for the fifth edition of the AIA Guide to New York City, the wryly written block-by-block directory of landmarks that’s become an essential reference for architects, planners, and developers, as well as residents. About half of the new book, which is
Whether they’re for septuagenarians who can get around on their own or older people struggling with bed-confining illnesses, senior-living communities have surged in number in the past two decades, as the country’s retirement-age population has swelled. Indeed, those aged 65 and older now represent 12.4 percent of the population, according to census figures, which is three times what it was at the turn of the last century. By 2050 that number will spike to 20.2 percent, the data show, and the supply of senior-living communities should continue to grow to match an increased demand, says Nancy Thompson, a spokeswoman for the American