LA Union Station Shortlist Announced & The Notables That Missed The Cut
LA's Union Station. (Martin Schall)
It’s official: the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (METRO) has revealed the shortlist for its Union Station Master Plan RFIQ (Request For Information & Qualifications), which seeks a team to oversee the redevelopment of 42 acres of land and up to six million square feet of entitlements around the station. “In addition to creating a model for Transit Oriented Development in the region, it is now important that the property be planned with an eye to its role as the center of regional transportation,” said METRO in an official document released by its executive management committee.
Shortlisted teams include: EE&K, a Perkins Eastman Company; Gruen Associates/ Grimshaw Architects; IBI Group/ Foster + Partners; Moore Ruble Yudell and TEN Arquitectos; NBBJ/Ingenhoven Architects; and Renzo Piano Building Workshop/ Parsons Transportation Group.
An impressive list, but perhaps even more notable are those that didn’t make the cut.
Videos> Harmon’s Headaches Signal Thunder in the Vegas Sky
The Harmon Building (right) adjacent to the Crystals (left) in Las Vegas. (Courtesy vrysxy/flickr)
It’s official. Norman Foster’s unfinished and beleaguered Harmon Building at Las Vegas’ CityCenter is among the walking dead. Its owner MGM has announced its intention to implode the building, whose construction was plagued by incorrectly-installed rebar. These severe structural flaws led to a decision in 2009 to scrap the top half of the building, and it’s been sitting unoccupied ever since.
But what better way to send off what must be among the biggest buildings never occupied than a collection of the most spectacular implosions Las Vegas can muster? There are fireworks, spotlights, music, and lots of gawking onlookers. This stuff is fun, trust us.
Journey From The Center Of CityCenter
Helmut Jahn's Veer Towers at CityCenter.
And so it begins. MGM Mirage’s 67-acre, 18 million square foot, $7.8 billion CityCenter, one of the biggest developments in the history of mankind, officially opened today. It includes buildings by Cesar Pelli, Daniel Libeskind, Rafael Viñoly, Helmut Jahn, KPF and Norman Foster. We can’t wait to put together our commentary. Here are some initial thoughts after our first day here: Read More
Only In Vegas
After a recent visit we saw that Las Vegas’ 18 million square-foot City Center project, with buildings by Daniel Libeskind, Norman Foster, Cesar Pelli, Helmut Jahn, Rafael Vinoly, and KPF, among others, is well underway. In fact despite delays (remedied by foreign investors), the project’s web site still claims it will be done by this year. We also noticed that Libeskind’s new building is sporting a conspicuous Louis Vuitton logo. Only in Vegas.
The British Noninvasion
Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, and James Stirling in 1986. Better luck next time, chaps. (Courtesy BD Online)
As Jonathan Glancey gamely points out in his piece today (a piece which ANN gamely pointed out to us), British architects–namely lords Foster and Rogers–have had a bit of a hard time building in New York. For proof he points to the speculative story from yesterday’s Daily News that has the PA nixing both architects’ towers. Read More
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