Articles by Alanna Malone

Three years and $50 million after work first began, the New York Public Library has revealed the fully renovated facade of the landmark Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue.

Photo © Mathew Millman 355 11th Street, San Francisco, CA Click on the slide show icon to see additional photos. The AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) recently announced its 14th annual Top Ten Green Projects. Demonstrating the range of contemporary green design, the 2010 winners include educational facilities, research centers, commercial spaces, and residential projects, all with varying scales and located in diverse geographies and climates. The jury established high benchmarks for design and performance—achieving LEED Platinum certification alone wasn’t enough. “Design excellence and sustainability are inseparable; you cannot have one without the other,” said Juror Robert Harris, FAIA,

An exhibition that presents “soft” infrastructure solutions to rising sea levels around New York opens today at the Museum of Modern Art. Image courtesy Architecture Research Office and dlandstudio Click on the slide show icon to see additional photos. Related Links: Design Teams Propose Solutions for 'Rising Currents' AIA Awards Latrobe Prize to Flood Research Rising Currents: Projects for New York’s Waterfront features drawings and models conceived by five multidisciplinary teams, led by designers from Architecture Research Office (ARO), LTL Architects, Matthew Baird Architect, nARCHITECTS, and SCAPE Studio. The teams produced their schemes from November to January, during an 8-week

Photo ' John Vincenti Click on the slide show icon to see additional photos. Related Links: Ennis House for Sale Rare Louis Kahn House on the Market Ten months after it was listed for $15 million, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ennis House is still for sale. In February, the price was dropped to $10.5 million. Built in 1924 for Charles and Mabel Ennis on a hilltop in Los Angeles, the 6,000-square-foot Ennis House is the largest of Wright’s four textile-block-style dwellings. The house, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been a popular location for movies,

Often looked at as the federal government’s “landlord,” the General Services Administration has chosen to lead by example when it comes to pushing a sustainable agenda. In response to President Barack Obama’s executive order on federal sustainability (October 2009), which challenged agencies to define efficiency goals and strategies, GSA recently announced the creation of a new post: Chief Greening Officer. The job will be part of the agency’s Public Buildings Service division, helmed by Robert A. Peck, AIA. “We’re going through a change, trying to figure out the best ‘greening’ bang for the buck,” says Commissioner Peck. “And we have

Photo © Jay Elliot Malcolm Wells Malcolm Wells, a green design pioneer best known for his underground, or “earth-sheltered,” buildings, passed away on November 27 in Brewster, Massachusetts. He was 83. Wells grew up in New Jersey and joined the Marines shortly after high school. Though he never received a college degree, he studied engineering at both Georgia Teach and Drexel Institute of Technology, now Drexel University. He went on to work as a draftsman for the electronics company RCA and apprenticed at a small architectural firm in New Jersey. Achieving a perfect score on the state examination, Wells became

Though experts may dispute the role of human activity in climate change, evidence is mounting that temperatures and sea levels are rising. With 10 of the world’s largest 15 cities located on the coast, metropolitan areas could be greatly affected. In fact, according to a January 5 editorial in The New York Times, New York City “will face a tidal rise of 2 feet or more by 2080” if global warming continues at its current rate.  Image courtesy Guy Nordenson and Associates, Catherine Seavitt Studio, Architecture Research Office The 'Rising Currents' project was inspired by a study conducted by the