Correction appended August 13, 2009 After a decade spent operating out of a pair of nondescript offices in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest charity organization, is building a proper headquarters. Located a few blocks north of downtown—under the iconic Space Needle and across the street from the Frank Gehry-designed Experience Music Project—the $500 million Gates Foundation headquarters will encompass an entire city block, approximately 12 acres. The project was announced in the fall of 2005 and is expected to open in the spring of 2011. Image courtesy NBBJ In Seattle, NBBJ
Correction appended August 27, 2009 Beijing and London made headlines last year for building sustainable facilities for the Olympic Games. Now, Vancouver is continuing that trend by going for LEED Gold. All 16 residential buildings in the city’s 2010 Winter Olympics Athlete’s Village will meet the USGBC’s Gold-level sustainability standards, according to Ian Smith, manager of the development office for Southeast False Creek, the district where the complex is located. Additionally, a 30,000-square-foot community center will be certified LEED Platinum. Image courtesy Millennium SEFC Properties The 1.4-million-square-foot complex will accommodate 3,000 athletes competing in the 2010 Winter Games. Related Links:
In January, Minneapolis-based Cuningham Group Architecture submitted a proposal for a public elementary school in Austin, Texas. It expected to be one of ten competing firms, says firm principal Tim Dufault, AIA; instead, it was one of two dozen. Similarly, it expected little competition for an elementary school in suburban Albuquerque—a project that ultimately drew 32 proposals. Traditionally, public schools are not the most sought after commissions, due to low budgets and little room for unique designs. That so many firms are now pursuing these types of commissions reflects a hard reality: the public realm is one of the only
At the farmers’ market in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, people can’t help but ask John Morefield what he is selling. “We’re selling architecture!” he answers. “Have questions about your house? Kitchen too small? Bathroom not working? Drop a nickel into the cup.” Architectural advice is an unusual service to be hawking at a Sunday market known for its organic produce. Then again, these are unusual times, and Architecture 5¢ is just one man’s way of weathering the economic crisis. Inevitably, passersby see the 27-year-old Morefield behind his plywood booth—built to resemble Lucy’s psychiatry stand from the Peanuts comic strip. Intrigued, they
Rising on a 358-acre monastery on the Hawaiian island of Kauai is an architectural feat rare in today’s world: a 3.2-million-pound stone structure built entirely by hand. Arguably the most elaborate Hindu temple in the United States, the $8 million white granite San Marga Iraivan Temple, designed by V. Ganapati Sthapati for the Saiva Siddhanta Church, is intended to last 1,000 years. Construction began in 2001 and is scheduled to be finished in 2012. Photos courtesy Hinduism Today Magazine The San Marga Iraivan Temple is being built on a 358-acre monastery on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Hundreds of temples