To support continued development, the Ningbo government decided in 2002 to build Eastern New City, which will add about 16 square kilometers to the city. But as urbanization continues to sweep through China, the problem of housing displaced farmers has grown into a major problem facing local governments.
Beacon of Affordable Housing Shines on Danish Waterfront Containers and cranes are being shipped out to make way for residents and workers in the Light*house district, a $361 million waterfront redevelopment in Århus, Denmark. The Dutch practice UNStudio and the Danish firm 3XN have designed a 15-acre, bicycle-friendly neighborhood that is transforming industrial port land into apartments, single-family residences, offices, and shops. Image courtesy UNStudio The development is based on a 1990s master plan for the site, which encompasses Århus’s Pier 4 in Container Terminal North, by the Danish architect Knud Fladeland. The design team also includes the Jan Gehl,
High Line Hosts a First for Neil Denari When the first phase of New York City’s elevated High Line park opens in early spring 2009, so will one of its most spectacular neighbors. In early March, architect Neil Denari officially announced the start of construction of HL23, his design for a 14-story, 11-unit condominium that abuts the railroad-turned-greenway at 23rd Street. Although HL23 is Denari’s first freestanding building, it is just another feather in the cap of local developer Alf Naman, who has already broken ground on the Jean Nouvel–designed tower 100 11th nearby. Naman says he chose
Michael Graves, FAIA, has channeled many avatars during his career, from one of the academically minded New York Five in the 1970s, to a populist product designer for the retailer Target. After a bacterial infection paralyzed him from the waist down in 2003, the now wheelchair-bound architect works to be a champion of universal design, a movement that advocates creating spaces and products that any person, regardless of physical ability, can use. The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) recently appointed Graves as the honorary chair of its “Beyond Architecture” campaign, which seeks to establish a $2 million endowment to
KMD's Government Building Alights Like a Bird Seongnam, a satellite city southeast of Seoul, South Korea, recently broke ground on a city hall that it hopes will symbolize the young community’s aspirations at a pivotal point in its growth. Chief among this building’s concerns is to sit lightly in its environment. Images courtesy KMD Architects Seongnam’s new city hall occupies a site in 250 acres of parkland at the center of town (top). KMD Architects attempted to convey lightness with its design by lofting the building on piers (above). Throughout the interior, garden atria will brighten and ventilate workspaces (right).
Whoever is elected president in the year 2108 might be taking up residence in a White House surrounded by fields of heirloom tomatoes—at least, that’s how Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners (BBB) envisions the future appearance of Washington, D.C., in a scheme that calls for farmland to replace pavement along Pennsylvania Avenue and other thoroughfares.
Joe and Lucianne Carmichael were thinking green even before Hurricane Katrina. As the owners of A Studio in the Woods (ASITW), an artists center southeast of New Orleans, they have lived in the bottomland hardwood forests for 30 years using minimal energy resources. They rarely use air conditioning, even during humid Gulf Coast summers, and they always line-dry their clothes. The Carmichaels’ goal is to provide a retreat where artists can hone their craft—and give a lesson in living with nature. “The highest guiding principal of A Studio in the Woods is the opportunity to learn,” Lucianne says. Image: Courtesy
Beverly Willis, FAIA, began her own architectural practice and an impressive career in San Francisco during the 1960s, when a woman more likely was found matching upholstery to wall hangings than wielding blueprints at a construction site.