Magazine

Zvi Hecker, the “Bad Boy of Israeli Architecture” (according to Haaretz, at least) who was born in Poland, immigrated to Israel in 1950, and moved to Germany in 1991, died at his home in Berlin on September 24, 2023, at the age of 92.  John Hill

Hainan Island, located in the South China Sea, has a tropical climate all year round. Since 1988, the island has been an independent province and the largest special economic zone in the People’s Republic. The capital Haikou is located at the northern end of the island with a population of... Eduard Kögel

Architect Christoph Ingenhoven is the latest recipient of the Golden Flower of Rheydt, an environmental prize presented by the city of Mönchengladbach, Germany, biennially since 1967. His concept of holistic sustainable architecture was the deciding factor. Manuel Pestalozzi

The recipient of the fifth Obel Award, created in 2019 to honor “outstanding architectural contributions to human development” around the world, is “a visionary green infrastructure project” off the shore of New York's Staten Island. John Hill

Artist and architect Oscar Abraham Pabón has installed a terracotta wall on the pond of the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona. The temporary installation was inspired by the architecture of the pavilion but also the ink blots of the famous psychological tests created by Hermann... John Hill

A “ribbon connecting," as opposed to a typical ribbon cutting, was held on September 13, 2023 — two days after the 22th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks — at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, a translucent marble box designed by REX. World-Architects was in attendance. John Hill

The fourth iteration of the biennial Exhibit Columbus opened to the public on August 26, 2023, with a dozen installations spread across Columbus, Indiana, the small town that is famous as a Midwestern mecca of modern architecture. The three-month-long exhibition was shaped by a large... John Hill

In 2019, voters in Flint, Michigan, northwest of Detroit, approved a bond for the renovation of its then 61-year-old library. Two and a half years later, in May 2022, the renovated Flint Public Library opened to the public with much fanfare. OPN Architects answered a few questions about the... OPN Architects

Orange Crush is an apt monicker for this five-story mixed-use apartment building in Philadelphia, both for its striking color scheme and the way it appears squeezed, like an old soda can; the latter aspect arises from the site's unique conditions. The architects at ISA answered a few questions... ISA

Chappe is a new “art house by the sea” that opened earlier this year in Tammisaari, in southern Finland. The small building was designed by JKMM Architects for the Albert de la Chapelle Art Foundation. Ulf Meyer

During the first week in July, the World Congress of the International Union of Architects (UIA) took place in Denmark's capital. The focus of the discussions was the future-oriented and climate-friendly realignment of the construction industry in times of global warming. Katinka Corts

One of the many impacts of the shift from print to digital media this century has been the closure of printing plants. The Los Angeles Times closed its large Costa Mesa facility in 2010, but instead of tearing it down and starting anew, developer SteelWave and Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney... Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects

The sixth and final exhibition in the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art’s “The Architect’s Studio” series presents the Kenyan architectural studio Cave Bureau (stylized as cave_bureau), founded by Kabage Karanja and... Ulf Meyer

Back in May, the winner of the inaugural divia award was announced in Berlin and then celebrated in Venice, the latter coinciding with the opening of this year's Architecture Biennale.... John Hill

The Centro de Investigación del Mar de Cortés (Sea of Cortez Research Center) opened in Mazatlán, Mexico, at the end of May. Located in Parque Central Mazatlán, the impressive building was designed by Tatiana Bilbao Estudio. Ulf Meyer

During a ceremony in Venice on EUmies Awards Day, June 29, the Fundació Mies van der Rohe and Creative Europe announced the three winners of the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture / Mies van der Rohe Awards in the Young Talent category. A fourth award given by the Mies Foundation was also... John Hill

In this interview with Vladimir Belogolovsky, architect Michael Rotondi discusses the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), the promise of architecture, using architecture as a medium for learning, and the role of play as a way to grow imagination. Vladimir Belogolovsky

Floating Bamboo House (FB House) is a housing model for Vietnamese locals whose livelihoods are river-based, especially those in the Mekong Delta. A first prototype was displayed at Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul last year, and a second prototype, presented here, was completed in Hanoi in... H&P Architects

Even though the National Portrait Gallery in St. Martin’s Place boasts the world’s largest collection of portraits, it was sometimes overlooked relative to the other great art museums in London. A new transformation hopes to change that. Ulf Meyer

British architect Michael Hopkins, recipient of the Royal Gold Medal in 1994 with his wife Patty, died on June 17, “peacefully” and “surrounded by his family,” per Hopkins Architects. He was 88. Ulf Meyer

The just-completed Amsterdam headquarters of Booking.com was designed by UNStudio with a focus on health and well-being. Does it pull it off? Ulf Meyer got a tour of the building and sent us his impressions. Ulf Meyer

Documentary filmmaker Nathan Eddy's sequel to Starship Chicago, his 2017 film on Helmut Jahn's James R. Thompson Center, is available to stream on the MAS Context website from June 1 to 18, 2023. 

With its stacked landscapes, MVRDV's Dutch Pavilion was a symbol of Expo 2000 in Hanover and one for the future of architecture par excellence. Now, after a long period of neglect, it is being given a second life. Manuel Pestalozzi

In 2019, after more twenty years living together, Toni Casamor and Anna Codina, two well-known, experienced architects in Catalonia, started working together. Codina and Casamor had worked at their own offices for many years. Each had taught, won competitions and awards, and practiced... Madeline Beach Carey

The City of New York is suing Steven Holl Architects over the additional costs needed to make parts of the Hunters Point Library, which the NYC firm designed and which opened in Long Island City, Queens, in 2019, fully accessible. John Hill

Share of materials in the renovation of the American Geophysical Union Headquarters in Washington, DC that was reused: 96% René Ammann

Estimated number of homes the country of Pakistan René Ammann

Hungary’s tallest tower houses the headquarters of the country’s biggest company, the MOL Group. The giant oil and gas conglomerate commissioned Lord Norman Foster from London to design their new headquarters, which was inaugurated in December. Ulf Meyer

Subsequently leased to a famous tech company, The Brick + The Machine was designed as a speculative office development in Downtown Culver City. The name of the project reflects the palette of its three- and four-story halves, which arose from zoning constraints, among other considerations.... Abramson Architects

From the street, this ranch house looks much the same as when it was completed in the 1970s, but the recent addition by emerymcclure architecture makes a statement in the backyard through its textured shingle skin. Inside, walls were removed to create an open living space. The architects... emerymcclure architecture

On 10 December 2022, the 9th Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale for Urbanism/Architecture (UABB) curated by Lu Andong, Prince Gong, and Aric Chen, opened at the newly converted Kingway Brewery, in the Luohu District in Shenzhen. The conversion of the brewery... Eduard Kögel

After Rio (2021), Seoul (2017), Durban (2014) and Tokyo (2011), the International Union of Architects (UIA) is holding its World Congress in the city of Copenhagen from July 2 to 6, 2023. Silvia Pujalte Toledo

The new headquarters for Houston Endowment is located west of Downtown Houston in Spotts Park, on the banks of the city's Buffalo Bayou. Designed by Kevin Daly Architects (kdA) in collaboration with PRODUCTORA, the building was dedicated on October 11, 2022. The architects at kdA answered a... Kevin Daly Architects, PRODUCTORA

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

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

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