Showing posts from category: architecture
First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Japan and their friends and families wherever they may be around the world.
When you have 4.36 minutes take a tour of Derek Jeter’s Florida home.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBA1ED8dZQo]
Texas has won Site Selection magazine’s 2010 Governor’s Cup for having the most new and expanded corporate facilities, while Dallas-Fort Worth was third among metro areas of 1 million or more, it was announced Tuesday.
Texas led all states with 424 projects, 50 more than in 2009, when it placed second. Ohio, which won the last four Governor’s Cups, was second with 376 projects, followed by Louisiana, 347; Pennsylvania, 337; and Georgia, 251.
“As well as Texas has done in the past and in 2010, we’re not going to be what we can be, or as strong as we can be, unless we have competition from other states,” Gov. Rick Perry said in a prepared statement.
The Chicago area, including parts of Wisconsin and Indiana, was the top metro area, followed by the Houston area.
Site Selection has awarded the Governor’s Cup since 1978. The rankings are considered a benchmark by corporate real estate analysts.
David Berzina, executive vice president of economic development for the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber was involved in attracting 10 projects to the city last year, which added 1,057 jobs and $130 million in annual payroll.
The projects included a 190,000-square-foot expansion for General Mills and a 65,000-square-foot expansion for LG Electronics at the Alliance industrial park in far north Fort Worth, as well as the sale of the Ranch Style Beans plant near downtown Fort Worth to Allens Inc., which has reopened the plant to can vegetables and hired about 120 workers.
“We’re consistently ranked, relative to our population, in the top three or four in the last 10 years,” he said.The chamber worked on 89 possible deals in 2010 and landed the 10, Berzina said.
This year, the chamber has worked on seven new relocation possibilities, he said. The targets include a data center, a large office project and a “green energy project,” he said.
“Four of them I would say are warm; three are tire-kickers,” Berzina said.
“Gov. Perry has worked diligently in recent years to make his state pro-business, which is why Texas ranks as high as it does on matters of interest to site selectors,” said Mark Arend, editor-in-chief of Site Selection.
The rankings are based on new corporate location projects and do not track retail or government projects, schools or hospitals. To be considered, a new facility or expansion must involve capital investment of at least $1 million, create at least 50 new jobs or add at least 20,000 square feet of space.
Via Star Telegram
architects, architecture, architecture jobs, Green Architecture, recession
|
Alliance industrial park, David Berzina, Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, General Mills, Gov. Rick Perry, Governor's Cups, green energy, LG Electronics, Ranch Style Beans
|
eVolo magazine has run a tidy little competition for the last five years, inviting architects to innovative new skyscraper typologies. Today, the winners of the 2011 Skyscraper Competition were announced and we’ve got a recycling wind turbine, an energy- and water-harvesting horizontal tower, and a re-imagining of the Hoover Dam.
Jury members included SOFTlab principals Jose Gonzalez and Michael Svizos, architecture critic John Hill, Mitchell Joachim of Terreform One, CarloMaria Ciampoli of Live Architecture Network, and a host of other working and teaching architects (see the full list here).
FIRST PLACE: ‘LO2P Recycling Skyscraper’ by Atelier CMJN (Julien Combes, Gaël Brulé)
“The idea behind this skyscraper is to recycle the old cars and use them as building material for the new structure. The building is designed as a giant lung that would clean New Delhi’s air through a series of large-scale greenhouses that serve as filters. Another set of rotating filters capture the suspended particles in the air while the waste heat and carbon dioxide from the recycling center are used to grow plants that in turn produce bio-fuels.”
“The idea behind this skyscraper is to recycle the old cars and use them as building material for the new structure. The building is designed as a giant lung that would clean New Delhi’s air through a series of large-scale greenhouses that serve as filters. Another set of rotating filters capture the suspended particles in the air while the waste heat and carbon dioxide from the recycling center are used to grow plants that in turn produce bio-fuels.”
SECOND PLACE: ‘Flat Tower’ by Yoann Mescam, Paul-Eric Schirr-Bonnans, and Xavier Schirr-Bonnans
Imagined for medium-size cities where vertical skyscrapers do not fit the skyline, the flat tower is a “new high-density typology that deviates from the traditional skyscraper. The medium-height dome structure is perforated with cell-like skylights that provide direct sunlight to the agricultural fields and to the interior spaces. The dome’s large surface area is perfect to harvest solar energy and rainwater collection.”
THIRD PLACE: ‘Reimagining the Hoover Dam’ by Yheu-Shen Chua, United Kingdom
This project merges the programs at the current Hoover Dam — viewing platform, a bridge, and a gallery – into a “single vertical super structure.”
There a long list of honorable mentions, and we’ve highlighted below some especial favorites (clockwise from top left):
‘Sports Tower’ by Sergiy Prokofyev and Olga Prokofyeva, Ukraine
‘RE:pH Coastscraper’ by Gary Kellett, United Kingdom
‘White Cloud Skyscraper‘ by Adrian Vincent Kumar and Yun Kong Sung, New Zealand
‘Seeds of Life Skyscraper’ by Mekano (Osama Mohamed Elghannam, Karim Mohamed Elnabawy, Mohamed Ahmed Khamis, Nesma Mohamed Abobakr), Egypt
‘Waste Collector Skyscraper’ by Agata Sander and Tomek Kujawski, Poland
‘Hopetel: Transitional High-Rise Housing’ by Asaf Dali, United States
Via Architizer.com
architect, architects, architecture, architecture critic, buildings, built environment, carbon-neutral office building, construction, Design, eco building, Engineering, government architecture, Green Architecture, green building, green buildings, Green Built Environment, Landscape Architecture, modern architecture, modern buildings, new buildings
|
Hoover Dam, New Delhi, skyscraper
|
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP (SOM) has been awarded the masterplan commission for FTP City in Danang, Vietnam. SOM’s preliminary plan for a sustainable new high-tech community at the edge of the city has been applauded by local authorities, including the Head of Planning and the People’s Committee of the City of Danang. SOM is now working closely with these authorities to finalise the project’s design and ensure its delivery.
The plan has been commissioned by FPT, an up-and-coming national IT and telecommunications company with over 10,000 employees. Covering an area of over 180 hectares, the plan incorporates a wide range of uses organised into a series of distinct districts, including a Town Centre, a Business District, and a series of residential neighbourhoods. The plan also incorporates a new University Campus for FPT University – specialising in information technology, software development and e-services. The campus will also contain a research institute and training centre for FPT employees, allowing new technology to be developed further and put directly into practice.
SOM’s concept is formed on key principles to reduce energy needs and carbon emissions by promoting best practices in mixed-use development in an emerging local context of luxury resorts and single-use residential communities. Instead, FPT City will promote a diverse living community with integrated local services accessed via sheltered and shaded walkable streets. In addition to a web of natural greenways, the plan also incorporates a wide network of smart infrastructure. As a major national IT provider, FPT will ensure the delivery of state-of-the-art communications and information technology to every business and household in the community.
The design also brings to life part of a strategic regional river corridor initiative to be implemented between Danang and Hoi An, a national tourist destination, by establishing a new riverfront eco-park. The waterfront park engages a large existing lake at the river’s edge and will be designed to restore, protect and enhance the wildlife habitat along its entire length and around the lake’s perimeter.
Via World News Architecture
aia, architects, architecture, architecture jobs, buildings, built environment, construction, Design, Green Architecture, green building, Green Built Environment, modern architecture, modern buildings, new buildings
|
Danang, eco-park, FTP City, Head of Planning and the People's Committee of the City of Danang, Hoi An, University Campus for FPT University, Vietnam, wildlife habitat
|
Broadway Malyan continues global expansion with first theatre design in China
International architecture, urbanism and design practice Broadway Malyan has completed the design of its first theatre in China, the Kanas Lake Performance Theatre.
The new theatre, set in an area of outstanding natural beauty in the Xinjiang province of North West China, is a multi-purpose theatre for the Provincial Government. It will house a 1,200-seat auditorium for performance arts including theatre, opera, musicals and dance.
The design draws on powerful yet simple forms, with the theatre auditorium enclosed within two protective wings wrapping the shell as if protected within clasped hands. The smooth shape and flowing forms sit harmoniously within the natural contours of the site and dramatic background of the Kanas mountains. The sweeping forms rise around the theatre shell to evoke the dynamic movement of traditional Chinese ribbon dance.
Broadway Malyan has now delivered the design package to the local design institute and will monitor the detail design and site build. Enabling works are already underway and work on the main structure is due to start this summer.
Director Peter Vaughan said: “We have a broad project portfolio in the cultural and leisure sector. However, this is our first theatre project in China and it reflects our ever-increasing portfolio of high-profile, international projects, across all sectors.
“This portfolio is growing as the result of our strategic global push and focus on growing our business in the Far East and China, with the practice having recently announced that it earns just over half its fees outside of the UK and Europe.”
Via World News Architecture
architect, architecture, buildings, Design, Green Architecture, modern architecture, modern buildings, new buildings
|
Broadway Malyan, Chinese ribbon dance, Kanas Lake Performance Theatre, North West China, Peter Vaughan, Xinjiang province
|
Carl Galioto
Mr. Galioto, 57, is the managing principal of the New York office of HOK, one of the world’s largest architecture firms. HOK New York’s current projects include LG Electronic’s headquarters in Englewood, N.J., and Harlem Hospital.
Mr. Galioto joined HOK in 2009, after 30 years with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, where he helped design One and Seven World Trade Center.
Q Why did you leave S.O.M.?
A My focus at S.O.M. was on the technical elements of architecture and project delivery. I was interested in having a broader role in the management of an office and of a firm. I also wanted to work on building information modeling on a firmwide basis. So this is Chapter 2.
Q What are your duties at HOK?
A I have three principal jobs, and I like to joke that each takes up 30 hours a week.
One is being responsible for the financial management of the New York office and business development.
The other is to be the chair of our Project Delivery Board, which focuses on the documentation and management of projects firmwide. The third part is being a director of our Building Smart program, a platform for building information modeling.
Q What exactly is building information modeling?
A Essentially creating buildings in a virtual environment. We use a variety of applications to design buildings and to simulate the activities and operations.
Q Are you working on many projects?
A We have 25 to 30 projects in this office, which is up from last year.
Health care is the strongest of our components. We’re designing a number of hospitals, including the University Medical Center at Princeton, and Harlem Hospital.
One of the more interesting projects is the North American headquarters for LG Electronics. We also designed the Canon U.S.A. headquarters on Long Island and the BMW North America headquarters in New Jersey.
Q Was it your idea to move HOK’s New York headquarters to Midtown?
A One of my efforts has been to raise the visibility of HOK through the relocation to Bryant Park — really at the center of New York. Interestingly, our predecessor firm, Kahn & Jacobs, designed this building, so we were meant to be here.
We’re in a 12-year lease and made a very nice agreement with our landlord, Blackstone. We fit the space from a sustainable standpoint.
Q How so?
A We are tracking to be a LEED-platinum interior space, and one of the ways is through low-energy consumption.
We’ve reduced the energy consumption, attributable to lighting, by about 40 percent. Because of the daylight we could work with very low light levels here — most of the light in architects’ offices now is coming off computer screens. We have motorized shades with daylight sensors throughout the office.
We have low water consumption in the toilets, and each enclosed space has its own air control, so we don’t have to overcool or overheat the air. And, of course, all of the materials here have been carefully selected.
Q Are most of the projects you design sustainable?
A We go for silver, gold and platinum levels on projects we design, and we’re looking to exceed that. We are moving ahead with several designs for net-zero-carbon buildings. At HOK, the design of high-performance buildings is our design aesthetic.
Q Do you have a favorite architectural style?
A I’ve always had a fascination and appreciation for the Modernism of the midcentury — elegant and somewhat spartan — and I was fortunate to have worked on the restoration of Modern buildings, like the Lever House.
Q You also worked on One World Trade Center while at S.O.M.
A It was more than a project, because it was so meaningful to New Yorkers — not only for the symbolism but for the security of the occupants of that building.
But as an architectural element, it’s also significant and an important component of our skyline. The building is very symbolic, as you know: It rises to 1,368 feet, the same height as the original south tower, and with the mast reaches 1,776 feet. The base is 200 by 200 feet, the same dimensions as the old towers.
Q Did you always want to be an architect?
A Ever since I could remember. I remember being a very small boy at my grandparents’ backyard in Brooklyn and taking folding chairs, boxes and whatever I could find and piling them together in different shapes. I must’ve been like 4 or 5 and doing that sort of thing. I was always fascinated by the building process.
Hat tip NYT
The Cairns Institute, Cairns, Australia
By Woods Bagot Architecture
Proposing a concept that will celebrate the rainforest setting, and enrich the place experience was a winning formula for Woods Bagot and RPA Architects who have been awarded the design of The Cairns Institute, headquartered on the James Cook University (JCU) Cairns campus. A $25 million project, the Institute will be a research hub, housing specialists in the social sciences, humanities, law and business sectors to examine the issues of importance to people in the tropics. Putting the Cairns Institute and JCU on the international stage to attract post-graduate students from around the globe; and to enable the university to draw a high caliber of researchers was key to the winning design.
* January ABI 50.0, down 3.9 pts
* New projects index falls 5 pts to 56.5
* Cautious optimism for design industry: AIA
NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) – A leading indicator of U.S. nonresidential construction activity weakened last month after two months of improving numbers, an architects’ trade group said on Wednesday.
The monthly Architecture Billings Index fell almost 4 points in January to 50.0, a level that indicates neither expansion nor contraction of demand for design services, the American Institute of Architects said.
The billings index is considered a predictor of construction spending about nine to 12 months in the future, since buildings are designed long before they are erected. The latest readings suggest an anticipated recovery in U.S. nonresidential construction may not gain traction this year.
A separate index of inquiries for new projects fell more than five points to 56.5, according to the AIA.
“This slowdown is indicative of what is likely to be a very gradual improvement in business conditions at architecture firms for the better part of this year,” said AIA chief economist Kermit Baker. “We’ve been taking a cautiously optimistic approach for the last several months and there is no reason at this point to change that outlook.”
The AIA’s billings index dropped below 50 in January 2008, indicating falling demand, and stayed below that mark until last November. The separate inquiries index only fell below 50 briefly in 2008. It is typically higher than the billings index, as prospective customers solicit bids from multiple architecture firms.
Most diversified industrial companies get at least some revenue from nonresidential construction, selling machinery used for erecting buildings or components such as elevators or electrical and cooling systems.
When I attended the University of Miami School of Architecture from 1974-1976 (before transferring to Pratt) my studio director was Andres Duany. He was a relative unknown and had recently graduated from Columbia. I have very fond memories of my time in his classes.
Andres Duany
A slide presentation is available at www.PortAuPrinceRP.com.
Famed Miami architect and planner Andres Duany’s government-commissioned blueprint for the reconstruction of Port-au-Prince’s quake-decimated historic city center envisions a new, middle-class residential, commercial and governmental district literally built upon the rubble of the old.
While sparing the few remaining viable structures — including, most significantly, the partially collapsed National Palace — the plan would start virtually with a clean slate. It calls for clearing much of the badly damaged city center, encompassing some 25 city blocks, which pre-earthquake contained a dense mix of government buildings, homes, a commercial district and a cruise port.
Duany’s Miami firm, known for its advocacy of traditional, pedestrian-friendly urban planning, was commissioned by the Haitian government to develop the plan in collaboration with The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment, a charity backed by Britain’s Prince Charles that supports ecologically sound planning and building.
The planners outlined their ideas this week in Port-au-Prince after weeks of research and a weeklong public workshop. A final version of the plan, which would have to be adopted by the government, is due in mid-February. Whether Haiti can muster the will or the financing, though, remains an open question. Enacting the plan would require a blend of government funding, private investment and foreign aid.
On ground raised above flood levels by the use of demolition rubble, the plan calls for self-contained blocks mixing one- and two-story residential and commercial buildings to be constructed in small, incremental phases. While street fronts would be public, courtyard interiors would be secure and private and include parking. Small corner parks would dot most blocks.
The plan also proposes a Classically inspired, naturally ventilated prototype for new government buildings to replace those toppled by last year’s catastrophic earthquake.
Key to Duany’s overall rebuilding strategy would be luring back to central Port-au-Prince some of the Haitian middle class that had decamped for the city’s hilltop suburbs — the only financially viable way for the old city center to be rebuilt, Duany has said in interviews.
Reconstruction of the city would be impossible without the investment and income of middle- and upper-class property owners, Duany says.
The plan outlines three possible approaches to rebuilding.
To keep initial costs down, one approach would be to rebuild a single block at a time, with each urban “village” containing at its center its own power generation, water and sewer capabilities, at a cost of about $3.7 million per block. That would avoid the need for a large, upfront and improbable investment to replace destroyed utilities across the entire urban center.
But that approach would over time be far more expensive — a total of $440 million — than doing everything at once with centralized utilities, which the planners estimated would cost $175 million.
The plan would require new building codes and zoning rules to control what can be built. It proposes a range of rigor, with the loosest set of regulations allowing informal construction in the interior of each block.
A contemplated retail complex and waterfront promenade would cater to an incipient tourist trade from the cruise port to supplement government and small-business employment.
Along the waterfront, mangroves would be replanted to protect the shoreline from storms.
Duany, whose firm, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co., drew up Miami’s new pedestrian-friendly Miami 21 city zoning code, also has designed prefabricated shelter housing for Haiti. He also has designed redevelopment projects for post-Katrina New Orleans, although only small parts have been implemented.
Via The Miami Herald
architecture, buildings, built environment, Design, Engineering, government architecture, new buildings, Urban Planning
|
Haiti, Port-au-Prince, Prince Charles, University of Miami School of Architecture
|
Firm says it has plans for Rancho Mirage, but city says it’s news to them
Ten diverse architecture firms are collaborating with a Los Angeles-based real estate investment company in hopes of building a $250 million urban-village type retirement community primarily for gays on 100 acres in Rancho Mirage. / Submitted illustration
Ten diverse architecture firms are collaborating with a Los Angeles-based real estate investment company in hopes of building a $250 million urban-village type retirement community primarily for gays on 100 acres in Rancho Mirage.
Developers hope to break ground next year on 300 homes to be built in eight distinct neighborhoods — each designed by a different architect — said Matthias Hollwich, principal at New York-based Hollwich Kushner Architects.
The proposed development is news to Rancho Mirage planning officials, however. They only heard of it recently by receiving e-mails from residents after the project was made public on an architecture blog.
“No application has been submitted,” said Bud Kopp, Rancho Mirage senior planner. “I don’t know where it’s proposed to be. I would assume at some point they would come to talk to us. You have to get planning entitlements and approval of the (City) Council first.”
Hollwich said he could not yet reveal the exact location of the proposed project because negotiations are still under way.
A public workshop to seek input from Coachella Valley residents — whether they would want to live in the newly developed community or not — will be held in the area in about three months, Hollwich said.
Input also is being sought through the website boomforlife.com, designed by Toronto-based Bruce Mau Design.
Social media outlets such as Facebook are being used to take participants from a virtual community to one of bricks and mortar, developers said.
Plans call for pathways, plazas and walking trails; an entertainment complex; a boutique hotel; a gym and spa; and a wellness center.
Other features include restaurants, outdoor cafes, nightclubs, a meditation center, a “multi-generational funhouse,” parks, children’s playgrounds, a climbing wall, swimming pools, an outdoor movie theater and an open-air market.
A second phase to include 400 homes already is being conceptualized for the master- planned, pedestrian-oriented community.
Homes range from studios to four-bedroom single-family homes that can be shared.
Hollwich said prices for the units have yet to be set.
Inclusive mission
Boom Communities Inc., a 52-year-old real estate investment firm that is spearheading the project, was so adamant about creating a different kind of look and feel that it sought out only architects who had never worked on retirement communities or projects geared for aging populations.
“We wanted people who looked at the issue with really fresh eyes,” Hollwich said.
Architects range from well-known New York-based Diller Scofidio + Renfro to emerging firms such as Berlin-based Juergen Mayer H and Sadar + Vuga of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Architects say the philosophy behind the development began with the notion of pioneering a space for gay retirees. It has since expanded into a community for all ages with the mission of inclusion, not seclusion, about living, not retiring.
“Like the Kibbutz we grew up on, our vision for (our) neighborhood allows you to have privacy when you want it upon entering your house,” said Lior Tsionov, principal with Tel Aviv, Israel-based architecture firm L2 Tsionov-Vitkon.
“But if you want social interaction, all you have to do is open the door and your neighbors and friends are all around.”
Architects will strive for “high design” that is far from the status quo of other retirement communities or assisted-living facilities, Hollwich said.
Firms for the Boom project also were chosen for their willingness to collaborate with the desert community as well as other architects, and for their progressive design, Hollwich said.
Architect Bostjan Vuga’s progressive design calls for a neighborhood called The Petals, where “homes flower upward and bloom outward to create and exist with a space that blurs the boundaries of public and private.”
Sadar + Vaga’s homes are comprised of two halves — an indoor home and an outdoor home, the latter blending into open space.
Joel Sanders, a New York- based architect chosen for the project, said “gay identity” is not singular, but multiple.
“Our hope is to design a spectrum of housing types that cater to and accommodate these diverse lifestyle needs,” Sanders said.
Several years ago, tennis legend Billie Jean King proposed the RainbowVision project, a gay retirement community that was to be built on 13 acres at East Palm Canyon Drive and Gene Autry Trail in Palm Springs. The project never took off, and the lender repurchased the land at a foreclosure auction.
A few of the features pitched as part of the proposed Boom project for Rancho Mirage:
Pathways, plazas and walking trails; Entertainment complex; Boutique hotel; Restaurants and nightclubs; A “multi-generational funhouse”; Gym, spa and wellness center; Parks, children’s playgrounds, a climbing wall and swimming pools; Outdoor movie theater; An open-air market.
Boom community architects
Arakawa + Gins, New York
Diller Scofidio + Renfro, New York
Hollwich Kushner, New York
J. Mayer H., Berlin, Germany
Joel Sanders Architect, New York
L2 Tsionov- Vitkon, Tel Aviv, Israel
Lot-Ek, Naples, Italy and New York
Rudin Donner Design, West Hollywood
Sadar + Vuga, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Surfacedesign Inc., San Francisco
Via The Desert Sun
