Modern Architecture

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July 2008
- Green Housing: From Good Idea to Good Business
  
  newser | Fast Company | Jul 15, 08 11:56 AM CDT
  
  With US homes on average twice as large as they were 50 years ago—and, of course, dwarfing those in all other developed countries—rethinking our idea of "home" is as crucial to cutting global warming as switching to a smaller car, says architect Edward Mazria in Fast Company . Half of all greenhouse gas emissions are building-related; residential buildings make up 21% of national energy consumption—almost as much as transportation. More »
- New York Times Dismantles Rods After 3rd Climber
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 10, 08 9:00 AM CDT
  
  After the third man in 5 weeks scaled the facade of the New York Times building, the newspaper has begun removing dozens of the distinctive horizontal rods that sheathe the new skyscraper. Opened last year and designed by Renzo Piano, the building has attracted death-defying climbers who have ascended all the way to the top via the ladder-like beams. The Times building's trademark rods are energy-efficient, designed to admit sunlight without overheating the interior. More »
- US Embassy Returns to Berlin's Heart
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 4, 08 3:00 PM CDT
  
  With the July 4 backdrop, the US opened its new embassy in Berlin today, bringing to a close a project planned since reunification. The new facility stands near the historic Brandenburg Gate, the same location as its pre-World War II predecessor. But, the New York Times reports, the building has attracted severe criticism from everyone from local officials to architecture critics. More »
June 2008
- Dubai High Rise Would Add Novel Twists
  
  newser | Associated Press | Jun 26, 08 3:51 PM CDT
  
  If heights make your head spin, a planned 80-story tower in Dubai might not be the place for you. Set to be the "world's first building in motion," David Fisher's design features doughnut-shape floors that rotate 360 degrees around a fixed cement core, the AP reports. It would be the first skyscraper for a relative unknown prepared to "revolutionize the way buildings are made." More »
- For Sale: Chicago Landmark
  
  newser | Chicago Sun Times | Jun 25, 08 9:44 PM CDT
  
  Saddled by debt from his acquisition of the Tribune Company media empire, billionaire Sam Zell may sell off the iconic Chicago headquarters of the Tribune newspaper, he said yesterday. The 83-year-old Tribune Tower could fetch $250 million, analysts told the Sun-Times , with Zell likely needing to assure a new owner that the newspaper would continue to occupy the building on a long-term lease to fetch maximum value. More »
- Daring Architecture Energizes Beijing
  
  newser | New Yorker | Jun 25, 08 5:30 PM CDT
  
  Some of the world’s most adventurous architects have found a gung-ho partner in Beijing, the most noticable payoff being the soon-to-be completed CCTV headquarters—"a dazzling reinvention of the skyscraper," writes Paul Goldberger in the New Yorker. Other creations, such as an ovoid peforming arts center dismissed as "the egg" by residents, come off as "silly and cumbersome," but such risks are worth it. More »
- Iconic Sign Is Fabulous Indeed
  
  newser | Las Vegas Weekly | Jun 14, 08 10:25 AM CDT
  
  It's been nearly a half-century since the iconic "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign went up on the Strip, and Betty Willis is still as sharp as she was when she designed it, Las Vegas Weekly reports. Willis created the neon design back when the Strip still intersected dirt roads, but she never doubted "fabulous" was the best word for her hometown. More »
- Abu Dhabi to Buy Chrysler Building
  
  newser | New York Post | Jun 11, 08 10:02 AM CDT
  
  The Chrysler Building—a jewel of the New York City skyline since 1930—is poised to be sold to the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, reports the New York Post . The nation's oil-rich sovereign wealth fund is offering $800M for a 75% stake in the skyscraper. More »
- Jewish Museum in SF Unsettles
  
  newser | New York Times | Jun 9, 08 7:52 AM CDT
  
  Architect Daniel Libeskind won worldwide acclaim for his stark, unsettling Jewish Museum in the heart of Berlin. Now the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco has moved into a new Libeskind-designed building. But as a critic for the New York Times observes, the Bay Area institution shies away from the particularities of the Jewish experience. More »
- Architects Vie for Best Wobble
  
  newser | Building Design | Jun 7, 08 5:28 AM CDT
  
  Don’t accuse them of playing with their food; the finalists in the 2008 London Festival of Architecture’s Jelly Design Contest aren’t fooling around. Using what Americans would call gelatin, “a vast range of architectural motifs and techniques have been used to spectacular effect,” an event organizer tells Building Design. Entries will be evaluated on aesthetics, innovation and “wobble factor.” More »
May 2008
- China's Olympic Wonders Dazzle—at First
  
  newser | New Yorker | May 26, 08 5:27 PM CDT
  
  Beijing's new Olympic buildings will impress the world at first glance, Paul Goldberger writes in the New Yorker . The National Stadium boasts a lattice of crisscrossing beams, and the blue-gray Aquatic Center seems underwater with its translucent plastic pillows. But peel back the paint, and see evidence of what enrages the world about China. More »
- Guggenheim Vegas Failure a Rare Stumble
  
  newser | Los Angeles Times | May 13, 08 5:54 PM CDT
  
  Now that the shutdown of the Guggenheim Museum's Las Vegas satellites is complete, many in the art world are faulting museum leaders in New York for not understanding the realities of the Strip. But for one LA Times critic, it's not just the Guggenheim that misread Vegas. Rem Koolhaas, the musem's designer and perhaps the world's most lauded architect, deserves some of the blame. More »
- University of Chicago receives $25 million gift from Morningstar CEO for new Library building
  
  news.uchicago.edu | May 12, 08
  
  A $25 million gift from alumni Joe and Rika Mansueto will support construction of a new library at the University of Chicago. Joe Mansueto is Chairman and CEO of Morningstar, Inc.Renowned Chicago-based architect Helmut Jahn designed the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, which will be a partially underground facility topped with a glass dome and have the capacity to house 3.5 million volumes of print material — making the University of Chicago the country’s sole top academic research library to keep its entire collection on campus.
- Capital Ambition Feeds Beijing's Building Boom
  
  newser | New York Times | May 2, 08 12:42 PM CDT
  
  The new Terminal 3 at Beijing airport—the largest building in the world—is not only the gateway for visitors streaming into the Chinese capital for this summer's Olympics. It's also the capstone for an unprecedented building program that has transformed Beijing into a world-scale architectural showcase. The New York Times looks at how China is translating its rapid growth and political ambition into such projects—and hoping the world notices. More »
- Rome's New Mayor Vows to Raze Renowned Museum
  
  newser | Times (UK) | May 2, 08 12:22 PM CDT
  
  Only a few days into his mandate, Rome's new right-wing mayor has sworn to dismantle a state-of-the-art museum designed by American architect Richard Meier, reports the Times of London. Gianni Alemanno called the Ara Pacis museum, built 2 years ago to house a peace altar from the Augustan period, "invasive" and "a disfigurement in the heart of Rome," prompting protests from the city's cultural elite and the architect himself. More »
March 2008
- Jean Nouvel Wins Pritzker Prize
  
  newser | New York Times | Mar 31, 08 2:45 AM CDT
  
  The French designer of the Arab World Institute in Paris and Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theater has won architecture's top award, the Pritzker Prize, reports the New York Times . Jean Nouvel’s projects "greatly expanded the vocabulary of contemporary architecture,” the Pritzker jury noted. “His inquisitive and agile mind propels him to take risks in each of his projects." More »
February 2008
- Beijing Opens Giant Air Terminal
  
  newser | Independent (UK) | Feb 27, 08 11:25 AM CST
  
  Ahead of this August's Olympics, Beijing is set to open a new airport terminal that has been billed as the world's largest building. Designed by Norman Foster, who also designed Hong Kong's airport, the new Terminal 3 was built in only 4 years and, unlike many buildings in China, incorporates environmental control systems to minimize energy consumption, writes the Independent . More »
- 10 Must-See Big Apple Buildings
  
  newser | Associated Press | Feb 25, 08 6:35 AM CST
  
  Headed to New York for a burst of sightseeing? Trade the Statue of Liberty for a tour of the Big Apple’s 10 must-see buildings, as compiled by the Center for Architecture: Conde Nast Building Brooklyn Museum Prada New York Rose Center For Earth And Space Apple Store Soho More »
- LA Museum's Extension Has Split Personality
  
  newser | Los Angeles Times | Feb 7, 08 1:00 PM CST
  
  Critics are assessing Los Angeles's newest art institution, the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, housed in a building by Renzo Piano on the campus of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It's a strange mix of public and private: The new building—to open Feb. 16—was funded by billionaire benefactor Eli Broad and integrated with LACMA before Broad announced that his collection won't be permanently housed there, after all. More »
January 2008
- Behold, the Worst Building Ever
  
  newser | Esquire | Jan 31, 08 9:38 AM CST
  
  The Ryugyong Hotel in downtown Pyongyang is surely one of the worst architectural failures in history, Eva Hagberg writes in Esquire : Not only has the 105-story building—which sucked up an estimated 2% of North Korea’s annual GDP from 1987 to '92—never opened, but the pyramidal “hotel of doom” is such an eyesore that the government routinely edits it out of official skyline photos. More »