ION Architecture - NEWS

The Architectural League of New York has named ten editorial teams that it has commissioned to document a collection of “small to mid-size communities from across the United States” in an effort to “bring together on-the-ground perspectives on the condition of American communities and what they need to thrive going forward.” The group’s American Roundtable initiative will “give voice to local places to envision a better, collective future,” according to architect Paul Lewis , Architectural League President.  A press release highlighting the initiative states, “Communities across America are being transformed by changing economic drivers; new patterns of mobility; legacies of environmental, racial, class, and spatial injustice; volatile and vitriolic politics coupled with chronic short-termism and near-sightedness; the impacts of climate change; and other forces. Yet our understanding of these small and mid-size communities is often reduced to caricature and oversimplification...

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Curabitur vitae nunc sed velit dignissim sodales ut eu sem. Ullamcorper velit sed ullamcorper morbi tincidunt ornare. Rutrum quisque non tellus orci ac. Porttitor eget dolor morbi non arcu risus quis. Enim nunc faucibus a pellentesque. Eu scelerisque felis imperdiet proin fermentum leo. Amet nulla facilisi morbi tempus iaculis urna.  Image courtesy of Inside Weather. The Jorn Desk Designed to adapt to your lifestyle, The Jorn Desk requires zero commitment to one configuration. Each desk comes with two pedestal shelves and one larger monitor shelf—all three are adjustable and their height and position along the desk can be customized to meet your creative needs Image courtesy of Inside Weather. Nola Chair The Nola is a stylish chair that tells it like it is. Your upholstery of choice is hand stitched and fitted like a glove over an injection-mol...

The construction industry, an engine that has helped power New York City’s tremendous growth in recent years, is slowly starting to reawaken, offering one of the first optimistic economic glimmers as the city struggles to recover. And it also provides a glimpse of how the coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally changed the workplace in the nation’s largest city and the epicenter of the outbreak. For the New York Times , Matthew Haag reports on the recent reopening of several thousand NYC construction projects and how the ongoing COVID-19 crisis calls for new social distancing and hygiene measures on job sites: "Roughly 5,200 construction projects were operating again as of Tuesday, from the Spiral office tower at Hudson Yards on the Far West Side to One Vanderbilt near Grand Central Terminal and home renovations in Far Rockaway, Queens." Related: Archinect’s COVID-19 Guide for Architects & Designers Alexander Walter via Archinect - News https://bit.ly/2KKfjuC

A buff stone-clad supertall tower designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects ( RAMSA ) in New York City is nearing the final stages of construction. The 950-foot-tall building, 220 Central Park South , rises from a site directly opposite Central Park's southern edge as a relatively modest 18-story "villa" apartment complex overlooked from behind by a massive, skinny tower.  Construction on the site has been ongoing since 2013 and is finally heading toward completion. The tower is marked by a traditional arrangement of punched widows and protruding balconies that interrupt otherwise monolithic stone facades. As the tower rises, it steps back slightly as it rises toward a more dramatically stepped top. A massive 23,000-square-foot penthouse suite located within the tower sold last year for $230 million , making the unit the most expensive home in the United States at the time.   Previously on Archinect: " Construction on NYC’s One Vanderbilt supertall tower conti...

In the mad rush to accommodate the surge of COVID-19 patients in New York City that started in March, the city's Mt. Sinai hospital looked to MASS Design Group to help the facility rapidly reconfigure its existing spaces for use during the pandemic.  MASS Design has extensive experience working within the pandemic setting, as the group's work in Haiti, South Africa, and other international locales battling infectious disease outbreaks demonstrates. In a recent article published by The Boston Globe , Michael Murphy, founding principal and executive director of MASS Design Group, outlines design approaches focused on the potential spaces have to transmit (or prevent transmission) of deadly particles via "air, surfaces, and water."  The MASS Design team has also recently published an online PDF titled  Redesigning Hospital Spaces on the Fly to Protect Healthcare Workers that offers insights into the approaches the designers took when they partnered with Aria...

After previous studies showed that patients in healthcare facilities were becoming ill due to dust generated by construction activity researchers from Washington State University and Clemson University asked 129 construction managers and field supervisors from the top healthcare contractors in the US for details on their training programs. According to Construction Dive 's Kim Slowey , "only 52% of those surveyed said that owners of healthcare projects always or often required construction teams to receive training about how to perform work safely in or near occupied healthcare facilities, but 77% said that such training was typically required at the start of projects." Previously on Archinect: Researchers urge additional construction safety measures during COVID-19 But, most of these training programs are geared toward upper management and often exclude or minimize the training time offered to workers and subcontractors who have closer contact with patients. ...

Zaha Hadid Architects  has won the international design competition for the new Shanghai HQ of the China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group (CECEP).  The victorious entry proposes a mixed-use ensemble of three office towers, retail and hospitality spaces, and an urban park. Given the client's mission, the complex boasts a variety of green-building features and aims for the highest sustainability score anywhere in Shanghai. "Incorporating rainwater harvesting to irrigate expansive green spaces and landscaping in a biophilic design that enhances indoor-outdoor connectivity, the design also minimises cooling demand through optimised external shading," states ZHA's project description.  Alexander Walter via Archinect - News https://bit.ly/3bTM1FB

Architects: Showcase your next project through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletter . Charrette Venture Group’s Architecture Business Plan Competition recognizes small, innovative architecture firms that have invested time and resources in effective planning for their business. Now in its sixth year, the competition offers finalists a unique opportunity to interface with a jury of industry leaders. Jack Ossa, AIA, NCARB, LEED BD + C, founder of Ossa Studio , emerged as the 2020 winner after three competitive stages culminating with video pitches to a jury of experts, which included David Weber , CEO at Architizer, Jennifer Castenson , Vice President of Programming at Hanley Wood , Matt Ostanik  AIA, Founder and Chairman of the Board at Charrette Venture Group, and Mark R. LePage  AIA, Founder of EntreArchitect. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Ossa Studio is a multidisciplinary design firm offering architecture, workplace interiors, maste...

As COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to decline in New York, the federal government moves forward with the shuttering of the Javits Center which housed a 2,500-bed field hospital for COVID-19 patients. According to Gothamist ,  as of last week, only 141 of those 2,500 beds were occupied. Additionally, the USNS Comfort, a Naval hospital ship, is expected to depart as well, as it's 1,000-person capacity carried only 32 patients. The USNS Comfort "We are encouraged by the data which suggest the curve is flattening in New York and we are working with the city and state to begin the strategic drawdown of resources," a spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) told Gothamist on Friday.  Both facilities are due to shut down as soon as April 30th. Sean Joyner via Archinect - News https://bit.ly/3bSnqRM

Another day working from home, another list of events to consider to remain connected. Check out more upcoming online events in Archinect's Virtual Event Guide .  Are you hosting a virtual lecture? Presentation? Tour? Interview? Happy Hour?  Submit it for consideration by clicking here. Are you an expert in an arena that's especially important right now?  Let us know  if you would like to work with Archinect to host an online event. Winka Dubbeldam: Strange Objects Thursday, April 30, 2020 | 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM PDT A lecture and discussion with Winka Dubbeldam of Archi-Tectonics and Chair of the Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania. Click here to attend and/or register MIT Lecture: Chris Leong of LEONG LEONG "Informal to Formal" Thursday, April 30, 2020 | 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM EDT "Informal to Formal," Reflecting on ten years of Leong Leong's practice and the studio's ongoing research into informal and formal collectivities. Clic...

Architects: Showcase your next project through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletter . Vienna-based architecture studio Smartvoll  has designed an offshore hotel and restaurant situated in a lake outside the Austrian city of Graz. Called “Land Ahoy”, the project was selected as a finalist in an international competition. The design sits at the heart of the Lake Thalersee recreational area, a place that has provided pleasant amenities for its locals since the 1920s. In Austria, lakes such as this, hold great significance and are central for leisurely and recreational activities. “Land Ahoy” is Smartvoll’s proposal for a replacement of a pre-existing, dilapidated building, which is located on the northern shore of the lake.  Instead of re-populating the most prominent part of the shore with a new structure, the architects decided to convert the shoreline back to its natural state and give it back to the public. This called for the elimination of the ...

Le photographe parisien Fred Lahache aime mixer des esthétiques graphiques à des images qui sont plus du ressort du photoreportage. C’est dans les histoires simples qu’il trouve son inspiration, entre travail de commandes et projets personnels. Comment s’est construite votre relation avec la photographie professionnelle ?  Je suis autodidacte. Je ne me sentais plus du tout à ma place dans mon milieu d’origine. La photo me changeait les idées. Une première exposition du nom de Tomodomo , à la galerie Madé, a attiré un peu d’attention et a signé le début des commandes pour mon travail de photographe. À partir d’un certain temps, je vivais suffisamment de cette seconde activité pour ne plus dépendre de la première, alors j’ai pu faire de la photographie mon travail.  Quels sont les personnes, les paysages ou les thèmes qui vous font forcément sortir votre appareil photo pour en capturer l’essence ? Des scènes anodines peuvent souvent suffire. La lumière, ou un gros coup ...