ION Architecture - NEWS

Behind a high wall in Marrakesh is an oasis of green. Cool, lush, inviting. Designer (and general manager of the beautiful boutique hotel El-Fenn ) Willem Smith has created a retreat from the hustle and bustle, the heat and the dust of an ancient city. , midcenturyjo , via desire to inspire http://bit.ly/2gnrvBR

As the main entry point to Estonia for countless ferries and cruise ships every year, Tallinn’s Old City Harbor will soon undergo major reconstruction and development until 2030. Out of three finalist teams, Zaha Hadid Architects had the winning proposal to develop the port's 2030 Masterplan. The Port of Tallinn launched the competition last year to find the most fitting long-term solution that will: serve as the basis for property development in the port area, improve the port's connectivity with the surrounding city, and transform the area into an accessible, vibrant urban space. Justine Testado via Archinect - News http://bit.ly/2eJ2Nf4

The program was tested in states like New York, California, Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania and involved viaduct construction, pavement rehabilitation and highway development projects. The study was extended for five years in January, just before President Trump took office. Advocates of local employment allowances say hiring from the neighborhood helps offset longstanding racial and gender imbalances in the construction industry. The Trump administration is relinquishing another Obama-era regulatory provision, which was proposed in 2015 aiming to allow cities to set aside work for local residents on federally funded public works projects. No reason has been given for the Department of Transportation termination of the initiative, set to take effect tomorrow, Anastasia Tokmakova via Archinect - News http://bit.ly/2eIRpA4

For the Richview Residence, Studio AC was tasked with creating a design that maintained an open layout, while housing as much storage as possible for this growing family. The interior renovation completely reimagined the layout and functions of the home. , Architizer Editors, read more Architizer http://ift.tt/2wVRg6V

1:1 was brought in to design a new factory building that would enable a handbag manufacturer to expand capacity on his current site in Mariveles, Bataan, Philippines. The new building measures roughly 90 x 75 meters in plan, for a total footprint of approximately 6,750 square meters. , Architizer Editors, read more Architizer http://ift.tt/2wVrTCb

Which building will take home the 2017 Carbuncle Cup ? Earlier this week, UK-based BD Magazine  announced six shortlisted projects that are still in the running for the “prize”. Established by BD, the yearly competition crowns one project as “Britain's worst new building” from the last 12 months. Unsurprisingly, the contest has stirred up controversy in Europe for the way it singles out architecture firms and shames them. Judged by a jury panel with consideration of BD readers' feedback, the six shortlisters “suffer from a range of sins”, as BD Magazine writes. These blunders include overwhelming “statement” buildings, incoherent form, overdevelopment, and plain ol' gaudiness, among other factors. The shortlisted projects are: Nova Victoria by PLP Architecture Preston Railway Station Butler Street Entrance by AHR Greetham Street Student Halls, Portsmouth by Cooley Architects 8 Somers Road, Malvern by Vivid Architects C...

Derek Hoeferlin , associate professor of architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, along with research assistants Jess Vanecek and Rob Birch, both master’s degree candidates in the Sam Fox School, has won  first prize  in the inaugural  Designing Resilience in Asia International Open Competition . Sponsored by the School of Design and Environment of the National University of Singapore, the competition asked participants to propose innovative water solutions to the challenges of climate change at the urban planning, urban design, architecture, building technology and industrial design scales.  Hoeferlin’s submission, titled “From the Third Pole to the Nine Dragons,” outlines a simple, two-part toolkit that would enable communities within the Mekong River Basin to holistically understand how local threats and adaptations relate to broader river basin-scaled issues — a concept that Hoeferlin defines as “w...

The International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled on 17 August, that an Islamic extremist caused €2.7m in damages when he destroyed shrines in Timbuktu, Mali, in 2012. This is the first time that the ICC has made a ruling solely on cultural destruction, setting an important precedent. [...] Islamic extremists used pickaxes and bulldozers to destroy nine mausoleums and the centuries-old door of the Sidi Yahya mosque, built during a golden age of Islam [...]. By ruling that "the destruction of the protected buildings has caused the suffering of people throughout Mali and the international community," the International Criminal Court in The Hague acknowledged the demolition of cultural heritage as a war crime — potentially treating recent acts of violence against historic sites in Palmyra and Mosul as such as well.  Alexander Walter via Archinect - News http://ift.tt/2vN2zcA

Located at 600 West 58th Street is a 10-story, 150,000 square-foot mixed-use smoke free building consisting of 65 rental residences as well as office, retail and community facility uses. The handsome zinc-clad building is a distinctive architectural complement to its neighboring properties on the 57 WEST residential block. , Architizer Editors, read more Architizer http://ift.tt/2x9vxI2

Famed architect Frank Gehry agreed earlier this summer to design the Krens museum, the fifth such project they've worked on together ... Krens, who is credited with conceiving of Mass MoCA before leaving to serve as the director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation until 2008, first proposed a model railroad and contemporary architecture museum at Western Gateway Heritage State Park in 2015. The museum will be one piece of an 11-part revitalization issued by Kerns for the North Adams neighborhood in Massachusetts best known as the home to MASS MoCA —a project Gehry and Kerns previously partnered on. The wide-scale development includes renovation of a historic theatre, the creation of the Massachusetts Museum of Time, a new luxury hotel, a distillery and the Extreme Model Railroad and Contemporary Architecture Museum, of which Gehry is to design. Architects Richard Gluckman and Jean Nouvel will also be involved in the revitalization. Mackenzie Goldberg via Archinect - N...

Take a walk through BIG 's controversial 2,800 m2  Bunker Museum that opened this summer in Denmark— Anastasia Tokmakova via Archinect - News http://ift.tt/2iJeG9k

Amazon says the new fulfillment center will create some 2,000 jobs “with benefits and opportunities to engage with Amazon Robotics in a highly technological workplace. The company will spend $177 million to build the new fulfillment center, and job listings will start appearing six to 10 weeks before the facility opens. Amazon says workers at their new 855,000 square feet warehouse in North Randall, Ohio, “will pick, pack and ship smaller customer items such as electronics, toys and books.” In other words, the new employees will be filling Amazon-branded boxes with the exact same sorts of goods that were once sold at the Randall Park Mall, once the biggest mall in the US, which, ironically, was closed in 2009 due to retail sales moving online.  Anastasia Tokmakova via Archinect - News http://ift.tt/2vN1cKZ

St Declans Terrace involved the renovation and extension of a 1920s terrace house in Marino. The extension is a simple block that is twisted towards the sun. The simple form is punctured by a large skylight and a timber lined bench. A massive sliding window divides the interior and the exterior. , Architizer Editors, read more Architizer http://ift.tt/2xvf9iH

A company called Big Ass Fans clearly has a sense of humor. But when it comes to the health and comfort of its employees, the manufacturer takes things very seriously. Which is why, when it came to the bathrooms of Big Ass Fans’ 80,000-square-foot headquarters in Lexington, Kentucky, only one bathroom fixture made sense: TOTO’s bestselling WASHLET. “It started as a simple equity gesture,” explains Big Ass Fans’ design manager Margaret Schwartz. “Our CEO, Carey Smith, had WASHLET at home and wanted to offer that to his employees. Smith felt that he couldn’t expect the employees to do anything he wouldn’t do, and that principle extends to the toilets.” It was a strong vote of confidence for TOTO’s signature product, which boasts a heated seat, front and rear bidet cleansing options, automated bowl cleaning utilizing electrolyzed water and a dryer. Over 40 million of these models have been sold to date, in markets including almost every building type in Japan and high-end hospitality pr...

Unlike other building finishes, designed to resist weathering and remain static, these naturally mottled surfaces will age gracefully, changing hues and textures with time. , Jon Cornachio, read more Architizer http://ift.tt/2vokDP8

Masculine chic is what Anthony George is calling this bedroom, and again I will take his word for it although I think I'd beg to differ. Perhaps it is because of the black and white colour palette. Again, call it whatever you would like, I will still love it for its dark and dramatic vibe. (P hotos:  Emily Johnston ) , KiM , via desire to inspire http://ift.tt/2xQ3M4o

But what if there were a way to see gentrification long before the coffee shops, condos and Whole Foods appear? What if city planners and neighborhoods had an early warning system that could sniff out the changes just as they begin? [...] neighborhood advocates would have the opportunity to implement policies ranging from reserving affordable housing units to educating residents of their renting rights to helping small businesses negotiate long-term lease extensions. In his NPR piece, astrophysics professor Adam Frank explains how various big data sets, like housing prices, eviction records, census data, or social media usage, can be utilized for "predictive analytics" to detect early onsets of gentrification for specific neighborhoods at an increasingly high resolution — and what significant perils come with it. Alexander Walter via Archinect - News http://ift.tt/2wjDBoB

Houston calls itself “the city with no limits” to convey the promise of boundless opportunity. But it also is the largest U.S. city to have no zoning laws, part of a hands-off approach to urban planning that may have contributed to catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Harvey and left thousands of residents in harm’s way. Hurricane Harvey is drawing renewed scrutiny to Houston's 'Wild West' approach to planning and its unusual system for managing floodwater that, according to environmentalists, greatly diminishes land's natural ability to absorb water.  While local officials have defended the city's take on development claiming that the  record-shattering rainfall  on Houston and its surrounding area this week would have wreaked havoc even if stricter building limits were implemented, it's hard to argue that the damage could have been significantly reduced with more stringent building codes. According to the Washington Post, in the past, proposals for large...