Archinect - News

The Panama Canal Gets "Supersized"

2015-03-25T11:10:00-04:00

Over a hundred years ago, the first ships passed from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Panama Canal. One of the greatest engineering feats ever, the Panama Canal is entering a new stage in its history in order to stave off the threat of obsolescence presented by “post-Panamax” ships, or vessels larger than the size constraints of the Canal. An engaging episode of the History Channel’s Modern Marvels series, “Panama Canal Supersized” documents the herculean efforts of engineers and thousands of workers to construct a new passage through the Americas that will radically change the global economy.

Considered one of the seven wonders of the modern world by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the original Panama Canal took over a decade to complete. Since the early 16th century, there were several attempts to cut through the American continent in order to facilitate faster trade, eventually leading to a failed effort by the French in the late 19th century. The United States p...

LA's Mike the Poet looks back on San Diego's "Spanish Magic" architecture

2014-01-02T12:50:00-05:00

Associated with both wedding cakes and McMansions, the Spanish Colonial Revival movement that took hold of California's early 20th century architecture left behind many civic structures that have since become classically Californian. Mixing elements from the colonial Spanish missions, the American Craftsmen style and the Arts and Crafts movement, architects like Bertram Goodhue set out to establish the metropolises of California as romantic bastions of "Spanish Magic". The style crystallized in San Diego's Balboa Park during the Panama California Exposition of 1915, celebrating the Panama Canal's opening and honoring San Diego's role as the first port north of the canal's westward opening.

3rd generation Los Angeles native Mike Sonksen -- perhaps far better known as "Mike the Poet", an impassioned flâneur and urban hiker famous for his city tours punctuated by poetic outbursts -- has been a mouthpiece for Los Angeles architecture and urbanism through his work as a tour guide, jo...

Editor's Picks #262

2012-04-30T19:48:00-04:00

Archinect had the opportunity to speak with Tadao Ando. Check out the Interview: 20 Minutes with a Master. b3tadine[sutures] was so inspired that he posted three times and archaalto wrote "I sometimes imagine that millions of years from now when another intelligent species excavates the earth they find the ruins of Louis Kahn's and Tadao Ando's buildings, and maybe they'll think we had some grace and weren't just accidents waiting to happen.."

Archinect (including Orhan, Alex, Kaori and Paul) had the opportunity to speak with Tadao Ando during Ando's brief visit to Los Angeles to collect his 2012 Richard Neutra Award. Check out the Interview: 20 Minutes with a Master. I especially liked the final exchange wherein Ando revealed "As we all know, you can't make architecture by yourself. An architect needs to make everyone take ownership for the work. To be successful, you need to ensure that every carpenter, plumber, and so on, in every project, is doing their own project. Every time I go to the construction site, I try to take a photograph of every worker. It's a symbol that we're all working together with a shared goal. It's very important for me that everyone feels that way" b3tadine[sutures] was so inspired that he posted three times and archaalto wrote "I sometimes imagine that millions of years from now when another intelligent species excavates the earth they find the ruins of Louis Kahn's and Tadao Ando's building...