The big one is almost upon us. America’s inaugural architecture biennial launches in Chicago this we ekend looking to capture the public imagination and throw architecture into the mainstream spotlight in the same way that the Venice Biennale has done for Europe. The event — entitled “The State of the Art of Architecture” — runs from…
Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron know only too well how challenging it can be conceiving high-r ise designs in low-rise cities. They faced a protracted battle to get their pyramidal tower in Paris accepted by locals and the planning authority in the French capital. However, last week they successfully realized a project of similar proportions…
Architects and design aficionados frequently get embroiled in heated debates over the value of rende rings when evaluating unbuilt projects, and rightly so — cleverly lit, artificially textured images can be misleading all too often. That’s why this Instagram photo — posted by New York-based developers JDS — constitutes the most satisfying preview of a building…
“Funnily enough, I think Sir John Soane might have liked the Digital Age,” says Robert Stern, Founde r and Senior Partner of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, referring to the neoclassicist architect as perhaps the “first modern architect,” one who had both “a firm grasp of history, especially of Classical Rome” and “a sense of his own…
Last week, when French architect Dominique Perrault was award the Praemium Imperiale — often conside red one of the most important art prizes in the world — he joined some seriously prestigious company. The 2015 winner joins a long list of globally renowned names to have received the award including Frank Gehry (1992), Rem Koolhaas (2001),…
It’s a fact of life for architects and their clients: major projects rarely progress from conception to completion without facing some design complications along the way. In Los Angeles, famous businessman and art collector Eli Broad knows this better than anyone, having experienced some exceedingly turbulent times during the construction of the iconic Disney Concert…
Behind every great building there lies a story: one of diligence, determination, and creative inspir ation. Telling this story with a visceral flourish can help architects communicate concepts to clients, as well as convincing doubters and inspiring trust in the design process. One of the most powerful ways to do this in recent years has been…
With cities growing as fast as lightning in the current climate, it seems we are forever negotiating scaffolding and construction hoardings on every sidewalk. Typically, these utilitarian structures are not pretty: they are designed to function as necessary, formed by tunnels of plywood, canopies of plastic sheets and netting, and a spider’s web of steel…
Ever since James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro realized the first section of the phenomenally successful High Line in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, cities around the globe have sought their own urban splint of greenery and public amenity. From MVRDV’s Seoul Skygarden to Heatherwick’s Garden Bridge in London, many of the biggest names…