Magazin

Combining the the Museum of Central Finland and the Alvar Aalto Museum, the new Aalto2 Museum Centre opens to the public in May, when it will play a major part of the 125th anniversary of Alvar Aalto’s birth. Ulf Meyer

Once again, a host of innovations were on display at this year's ISH in Frankfurt. New developments from the industries promise to open up many possibilities for a construction industry capable of implementing a circular economy. Geothermal probes or combined PV/solar collectors can... Leonhard Fromm

An abandoned market in Taiping Xu, China, has been transformed by MAD's Ma Yansong for Guangdong Nanhai Art Field. In a short film, Yansong describes the art installation while the camera reveals the transformed spaces of the largest abandoned building in Taiping Xu. John Hill

Due to the pandemic, the last "real" BAU trade fair took place in 2019. Regardless of whether we are talking about BIM, energy, technology or simply standardization and legislation: the transformation of the building sector is in full swing and a four-year break is no mere trifle in... Thomas Geuder

Heatherwick Studio: Building Soulfulness opened on March 17 at Mori Art Museum's Tokyo City View gallery. The first exhibition in Japan devoted to the UK studio of Thomas Heatherwick, Building Soulfulness displays 28 major projects over the last three decades. Ulf Meyer visited... Ulf Meyer

Number of high-rise office buildings in the United States that sit on seismic base isolators, apart from the (W)rapper by... René Ammann

Two notable recent passings: Thomas Hacker, one of the most influential architects in the US state of Oregon, died on February 27 at the age of 81; and British architect Michael Wilford, longtime partner of James Stirling, died on March 10 at 84 years old. John Hill

As part of the 2022 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture (UABB2022) that ran from December 10, 2022 until March 12, 2023, Studio Link-Arc hung an inverted pyramid of 400 bricks made from mushrooms from the ceiling of a converted old brewery in Shenzhen. John Hill

The Naomi Milgrom Foundation has announced that Japanese architect Tadao Ando will design the next MPavilion, which will open in Melbourne's Queen Victoria Gardens on November 16, 2023. John Hill

Michael Graves Architecture & Design, along with DeSimone Consulting Engineers and Wehr Constructors, is being sued by Humana Corporation over "latent defects" in its nearly 40-year-old postmodern headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, designed by Graves. John Hill

A. Eugene (Gene) Kohn, one of the three founders of Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), died on March 9 at the age of 92. A short film from KPF and a 2020 interview with the Business of Architecture podcast illuminate Kohn's takes on the architectural profession. John Hill

Jurisdictions across the United States are updating their zoning codes to allow more residential density, much of it in the form of ADUs. In Washington, DC, a recent rezoning now allows single-family houses on alley lots. One such alley, Adelaide Alley, is home to a bark- and cork-clad... BLDUS

Estimated size of land billionaire businessman Elon Musk and his companies (Boring Co., SpaceX, Tesla) have amassed in Texas to build a new town called... René Ammann

Forty-two architects/teams have been shortlisted in the Missing Middle Infill Housing competition, part of the Chicago Architecture Center's (CAC) Come Home Initiative, which “aims to reverse decades of disinvestment and depopulation and transform the urban fabric of Chicago’s South and West... John Hill

Construction of WEISS/MANFREDI's design for the West Conservatory at Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia recently topped out. A short film shows the erecting of the steel structure that was inspired by the branching of trees. John Hill

SUMA Arquitectura, the Madrid studio led by Elena Orte and Guillermo Sevillano, designed the Gabriela García Márquez Library as a sculptural volume inspired by stacks of books. An expressive CLT (cross-laminated timber) panel structure characterizes the compact faceted volume of the library in... Antonio La Gioia

The divia award promotes the visibility of women in the international architecture industry. From the 27 nominees announced in December, the jury has selected five finalists. Katinka Corts

News reports reveal that Amazon is pausing construction on its second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, near Washington, DC. The pause includes the spiraling Helix designed by NBBJ. John Hill

British architect David Chipperfield has been named the laureate of this year’s Pritzker Architecture Prize. He is the 52nd recipient of the award that is considered architecture’s highest honor. Ulf Meyer

Testbeds, a design research project by New Affiliates and Samuel Stewart-Halevy, is one of twelve projects in MoMA's New York, New Publics exhibition that opened last month. A pilot project,... New Affiliates, Samuel Stewart-Halevy

Distance requested to bump out the front door of a private residence in a historic district on New York City's Upper East Side designed in 1966 by Paul Rudolph, René Ammann

Born in Uruguay and based in New York since 1979, architect Rafael Viñoly died unexpectedly on Thursday, March 2, at the age of 78.  John Hill

OMA partner Reinier de Graaf's third book, the much-anticipated architect, verb. The New Language of Building, was released at the end of February. World-Architects editor John Hill read it to see what all the fuss is about — and discover why “architect” is a verb in de Graaf's world. John Hill

The University of Virginia and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello have announced that Andrew Freear, director of Rural Studio in Newbern, Alabama, is the recipient of the 2023 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture. John Hill

The acronym MoMA, with its lowercase “o,” immediately brings to mind the sprawling art museum in Midtown Manhattan. Yet, halfway around the world, on the outskirts of Bangkok, is another MoMA: the Museum of Modern Aluminum. Images and text from HAS design and research explain their design of... HAS design and research

The designers of the installations that will fill the streets and parks of Columbus, Indiana, later in the year, unveiled their designs during presentations at a public forum on February 25. John Hill

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the 16 award-winning projects that “demonstrate design achievement, including a sense of place, purpose, history, and environmental sustainability.” John Hill

The Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC) will open at the World Trade Center in September 2023, two decades after a performing arts center was first proposed for the site. The design by John Hill

For the 9th winter in a row, the lifeguard stations at Woodbine Beach in Toronto have been transformed by architects, designers, and students into “bold designs that spark conversations.” John Hill

Located in North Central Washington, Winthrop is a small town of over 400 residents that is widely known because of its downtown, which has an American Old West design stemming from the town's Westernization program. Seattle's Johnston Architects followed the program in their design of the... Johnston Architects and Prentiss Balance Wickline Architects

Juha Leiviskä 2000–2022 is a new monograph on the Finnish architect best known for the creation of churches with jaw-dropping interiors. The new book, published by the Museum of Finnish Architecture, collects churches and other projects designed by Leiviskä this century. John Hill

The Noguchi Museum has release a 20-minute film about In Praise of Caves: Organic Architecture Projects from Mexico by Carlos Lazo, Mathias Goeritz, Juan O’Gorman, and Javier Senosiain, which wraps up its four-month run at the end of February. John Hill

The Mrs. Clinton Walker Residence in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1948 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977, recently sold for $22 million. John Hill

Last month David Chipperfield Architects won the competition to expand the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Ulf Meyer spoke with David Chipperfield and Alexander... Ulf Meyer

In a press conference held on Tuesday, February 21, curator Lesley Lokko described details of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition, The Laboratory of the Future, that will open in May. John Hill

Size of The Mukaab, a megaproject proposed for the Saudi capital of Riyadh that is big enough to hold 20 Empire State Buildings and due to be completed in 2030: 400m x 400m x 400m René Ammann