Curtis Fentress with a model of his 2001 design for the Incheon International Airport in Seoul. Curtis Fentress had just three weeks to come up with a design for Denver International Airport. Completed in 1995, the airport—with its distinctive peaked white-fabric roof—helped put Fentress and his Denver-based firm in the architectural spotlight. Since then, the 64-year-old North Carolina native has built a reputation as a forward-thinking designer of airports and other civic buildings. His airports, including South Korea’s Incheon International, are consistently top-rated in passenger surveys. Currently under construction is a $1.4 billion expansion of Los Angeles International Airport, the
David Wright House Even casual fans of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture are familiar with the Guggenheim Museum’s spiral ramp, which wraps around a six-story atrium. Wright designed the Guggenheim in 1943, though it didn’t open until 1959, shortly after the architect’s death. But the New York museum’s famous spiral inspired a little-known house that Wright designed for his son David in the Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix. Preservationists say the house could be torn down if a new buyer isn’t found soon. Related links Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House a Tough Sell Frank Lloyd Wright Exhibition Opens at the Guggenheim Frank
Image courtesy Miller Hull Partnership Robert Hull was a Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan in the 1960s and 1970s. Now, he’s returning to the country to build a health clinic for a nonprofit organization. Seattle architect Robert Hull remembers Afghanistan in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a poor but peaceful country, with people who were kind and tolerant of foreigners—a far cry from the war-torn nation of today. Image courtesy Miller Hull Partnership Hull’s design for the 20,000-square-foot clinic is based on a traditional caravanserai, a kind of walled roadside inn for weary travelers. Related links Special Report:
Though London's Games have yet to leave the starting block, work on Rio's Olympic venues is well under way. Image courtesy AECOM AECOM’s master plan for the waterfront site of the 2016 Olympics in Rio includes several venues adapted from use in previous events, like the 1950 World Cup and the 2007 Pan-American Games. The 2012 London Olympics are still a month away, but in Rio de Janeiro, the city is already gearing up for the 2016 Games. In February, the Samb'dromo, home to the city's official samba-school parades, reopened in time for this year's Carnival with the addition of
Photo courtesy Stephen Sandstrom (left) / S'ren Simonsen (right) Utah Rep. Stephen Sandstrom (left) and S'ren Simonsen (right). Thomas Jefferson may be the most celebrated American architect, albeit an amateur one, to lead a political life, but he certainly wasn’t the last. According to the American Institute of Architects, there are currently about 1,250 AIA members serving in elected and appointed positions, including six mayors, 55 city council members, 135 historic preservation commissioners, and 226 planning commissioners. But oddly, there are no architects currently serving in the U.S. Congress, and according to the AIA, there was only one during the
Architect Sergio Palleroni, founder of BaSiC Initiative, has dedicated his career to helping communities in need. Image courtesy BaSiC Initiative Click on the slide show button to view images of BaSiC Initiative’s work in various communities. Related Links: Special Report: Building for Social Change Humanitarian Design: The New Frontier in Education To Sergio Palleroni, humanitarian architecture is nothing new. In the 1980s, long before public interest design became fashionable, Palleroni was working on sustainable architecture projects for the World Bank and the United Nations in Nicaragua, Mexico, and Africa. Then, in 1995, while teaching at University of Washington, he co-founded
Image courtesy Jack DeBartolo 3 Click to view additional images. Related Links: Humanitarian Design: The New Frontier in Education Special Coverage: Building for Social Change Resources for Socially Conscious Designers Prayer Pavilion by DeBartolo Architects Every April, faculty members at Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts meet with graduate architecture students to present options for a half-dozen or so international studio courses. It’s a chance for professors to “sell” their programs, but adjunct professor Jack DeBartolo 3 takes a somewhat different approach. “I spend most of my presentation trying to discourage students from coming,” says the
Photo ' Rob Pyatt University of Colorado students will design housing for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Click on the slide show button to view images of projects by architecture students at additional schools. Yale graduate students have been required to design a low-income house since 1967. This dwelling, at 12 King Place, was built in 2010. Related Links: University of Colorado Students to Design and Build Native American Housing ARCHIVE House Aims to Curb Disease Through Design DesignBuildBLUFF: Drawing on two-by-fours Teaching By Example Like a lot of architects and architecture students these days, Nathan Hammitt believes design has