Forest City Breaks Ground at Atlantic Yards’ B2 Tower, Shows Off Modular Design
The B2 Tower sits next to Barclays Center at Atlantic Yards. (Courtesy SHoP)
At Tuesday’s groundbreaking of B2, the first 32-story residential tower to be built at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, New Yorkers got a sneak peek at how the world’s tallest modular building will be constructed. Just beyond the podium stood what officials call the “chassis,” a steel framed box that makes up an essential structural element of the building. “You don’t need to compromise on design when it comes to modular,” said Developer Bruce Ratner.
AIA Billings Report Scores Fourth Month of Gains
BILLINGS (BLUE) AND INQUIRIES (RED) FOR THE PAST 12 MONTHS. (THE ARCHITECT’S NEWSPAPER)
A fourth straight month of increased billings by AIA members signals the architectural economy may finally have turned the corner. The Architectural Billings Index (ABI) ticked up to 53.2 from last month’s 52.8 (any score above 50 indicates an increase in demand for design services). Project inquiries also rose slightly to 59.6 from 59.4. “These are the strongest business conditions we have seen since the end of 2007 before the construction market collapse,” said AIA chief economist, Kermit Baker.
Adrian Smith+Gordon Gill’s First Manhattan Skyscraper Among the City’s Tallest
Extells new tower will be built on 57th Street east of Broadway. (Courtesy Google)
Extell Development made waves as when they announced their 1,004-foot-tall skyscraper One57 by Christian de Portzamparc on Midtown Manhattan’s 57th Street (which made headlines most recently for crane troubles during Hurricane Sandy), but their next project a few blocks down the street looks to climb even higher. Developers announced in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday that Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture will design an 88-story, 1,550-foot-tall tower on West 57th Street just east of Broadway, an area quickly becoming known for skinny skyscraper proposals.
When Artists Design Infrastructure: Basket-like Bridge Energizes San Gabriel Valley
The Gold Line Bridge over the EB 210 Freeway in Arcadia. (Courtesy METRO Los Angeles)
The expansion of LA’s Metro Rail Gold Line is well underway with a stunning new piece of infrastructure: The Gold Line Bridge. Completed last week, the 584-foot dual-track bridge, stretching over the eastbound lanes of the I-210 Freeway, will provide a light rail connection between the existing Sierra Madre Villa Station in Pasadena and Azusa’s future Arcadia Station. The rail line itself is scheduled for completion in 2014.
Made from steel reinforced concrete with added quartz, mica crystals, and mirrored glass, the monochromatic, abstract design, conceived by artist Andrew Leicester, pays homage to the region’s historic American Indian basket-weaving tradition and includes a carriageway and a post-and-lintel support beam system. The 25-foot baskets adorning each of the posts, “metaphorically represent the Native Americans of the region…and pay tribute to the iconic sculptural traditions of Route 66,” wrote Leicester.
New York City Planning Looks To Better Prep Buildings After Sandy
The Edge in Williamsburg. (Courtesy of Thorton Tomasetti, the structural engineers of The Edge)
While the majority of New York City is pre-occupied with the recovery efforts post-Hurricane Sandy, the Department of City Planning (DCP) is discussing and introducing different measures that can be taken to protect our buildings from future storms. At a review session yesterday, Howard Slatkin, the Director of Sustainability and Deputy Director of Strategic Planning for the DCP, presented Hurricane Sandy: Initial Lessons for Buildings. From the start, Slatkin maintained that newly constructed buildings designed to code “fared better.” He listed several buildings—such as The Edge in Williamsburg, IKEA in Red Hook, and Arverne by the Sea in the Rockaways—as examples of new developments that successfully withstood the storm.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s Charles Birnbaum is known as a passionate advocate, and occasional agitator, for the profession of landscape architecture. Blogging for the Huffington Post, Birnbaum has compiled a list of notable developments in landscape, including well known projects like LA’s Grand Park by Rios Clementi Hale to lesser known works like Sugar Beach in Montreal by Claude Cormier & Associates. It’s an engaging list, and it also includes a mention of a recent AN editorial, “Landscape Architecture’s Ascendance.” AN is glad to be a part of the dialogue of this important design profession.
On View> Manhattan’s David Zwirner Gallery Presents Diana Thater’s Video Installation, Chernobyl
(Courtesy David Zwirner Gallery)
Chernobyl
David Zwirner Gallery
519 West 19th Street
New York City
Through December 22
Diana Thater’s video installation, Chernobyl, captures the effects manmade disasters have on the natural environment. Situating her work on the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear explosion in the Ukraine, which left a no-man’s land with the sudden evacuation of over 100,000 people, Thater highlights the possibilities nature has to rebuild itself when the ruins of industrial infrastructure are left to decay. She focuses on Prypiat, a city that was built to house nuclear plant workers, and the city’s wildlife, specifically the Przewlski’s Horse species that were released post-disaster and left free from human contact. Her work, both beautiful and startling, forces us to consider how we perceive images and their potential to dictate how we see our world.
Zaha Hadid to Design Residential Tower in Downtown Miami
Zaha Hadid to design tower at 1000 Biscayne Boulevard. (Courtesy Bing Maps / Jason Schmidt)
New York said no, but Miami says yes. After losing out to Norman Foster to design a tower in Midtown Manhattan, Zaha Hadid has been asked to design her first skyscraper in the Western hemisphere in downtown Miami, the Miami Herald reported. No design has been released, but the new residential tower will be located at 1000 Biscayne Boulevard on the site of a BP gas station on the city’s waterfront Museum Park, seen in red above. The site is part of a row of condo towers along the boulevard known as the “Biscayne Wall.” Developers Gregg Covin and Louis Birdman aren’t releasing details, but told the Herald the project will be officially unveiled early next year.
As AN previously reported, Hadid is also building a new parking garage in Miami, which was approved for construction in November. Elsewhere in North American, Hadid is working on a dramatic house in San Diego and has been designing smaller-scale interiors and products. Also check out renderings of Hadid’s Manhattan proposal here.
Apartments to Rise at Brooklyn Bridge Park Site in the Shadow of the Manhattan Bridge
(Courtesy Bing Maps)
For those in the market for prime waterfront real estate, there is something brewing in DUMBO. Today Brooklyn Bridge Park issued a Request for Proposal for a development on a vacant parcel in the north section of the park right next to the Manhattan Bridge. This site, located in what will be called the “John Street Section,” is approximately 9,600 square feet and will accommodate up to 130 residential units (with a maximum height of 130 feet) in addition to over 100 parking spaces and retail on the ground floor level.
The Shortlist> Top 5 Competitions of the Week
Vidal’s Modular Camouflage for the Transparent Shelter Competition. (Courtesy Innosite)
Don your thinking cap and put pen to paper in one of these architecture and design competitions drawn from AN’s online competitions listing. We’ve selected five of the most interesting competitions for you here, but be sure to browse the full listing here. If you’d like your competition to be included in the listing, please submit it here.
Transparent Shelter Competition: Deadline: 01.20.2013
The Nordic Centre of Glass is challenging designers to create a glass bus stop design to prove the material is both visually appealing and practical. Entrants will base their designs on an actual bus stop in Holbaek, Denmark that offers little shelter from the elements.
Street Seats Design Challenge: Deadline: 02.01.2013
Design Museum Boston’s competition is calling for international designers to create a bench or “street seat” to inspire socially and environmentally responsible design for South Boston’s Fort Point Channel in the growing Innovation District. The entries will be displayed publicly in an outdoor design exhibit held from April through October 2013.
Historic Park In BJØRVIKA, OSLO: Deadline: 01.04.2013
An open ideas competition organized by a free association of young planners called ByFabrikken. Submissions are accepted in various mediums and entrants can choose to plan the entire park area in Oslo or a designated section. The ten best proposals will be presented in an exhibition and the top three winners will earn a small cash prize as well as tickets to a music festival at the park site.
Boulder Civic Area Ideas Competition: Deadline: 01.11.2013
The City of Boulder is asking student and professional designers to redesign Boulder Civic Area to meet the community’s social and environmental needs. The winning proposal will be published in Urban Land magazine and receive up to $15,000 in cash and prizes.
Nikola’s Belvedere: Deadline: 01.15.2013
As part of the Archstoyanie Festival, Nikola-Lenivets Project has announced the Nikola’s Belvedere competition in search of a design for an observation deck/belvedere for Versailles Park. The winning design will link the park’s art objects, a rotunda and arch, offer a panoramic view, and will be awarded 100,000 rubles and funding for construction.
Here Comes The School Boat: Living With Bangladesh’s Floods
Bangladeshi School Boat (Courtesy Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha)
For five months a year Bangladesh endures a monsoon season, suffering from two floods yearly leaving millions of citizens living in river basins stranded without basic necessities. But a non-profit organization founded by an architect based in northern Bangladesh, Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, has decided to build flood resistant schools that come to the homes of students. Health care facilities and homes are also being built to float by the non-profit.
Advertise on The Architect's Newspaper.
Archives
Categories
Architecture
Design
East Coast
Midwest
National
Planning
Shft+Alt+Del
Sustainability
Transportation
West Coast
