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Uptown and underground is the home of a dense community of New York architects, their colleagues, clients, and friends, their skyscrapers and townhouses. They are the denizens of the boxes and the file folders of the Avery Drawings and Archives, one of the richest collections of American architectural drawings and records. For the last 36 years, Janet Parks, curator [...], has been mayor of this town, located in the lower level of Columbia University’s Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library. — urbanomnibus.net
"The trove of drawings, which took a good 18 months to sort through, contained the physical traces of a long-gone city — and not just how it looked. Parks remembers opening a tightly sealed tube of drawings: “This wafting smell of cologne and pipe tobacco came out. It had been trapped inside... View full entry
Describing her entry, Murdaugh writes, "The components flat pack easily, and the hinging construction of the frame streamlines assembly. Simply unfold the base frame, attach the flanges, and construct the cabinet and seat according to an instruction pamphlet using provided hardware. In effect, this design maximizes the functionality of the book kiosk as a means of emphasizing its role as an intersection of community and learning, while elegantly maintaining ease of assembly.” — Chronicle Books
Little Free Libraries can be found in front yards, community centers, and public spaces all over the world. They support literacy and provide access to books on the community level. The first Little Free Library was created in 2009; now there are over 40,000 Little Free Library sites stewarded in... View full entry
The Miracle for Africa Foundation has given the go-ahead for a new library designed by Steven Holl Architects in Malawi. The first building for a new campus plan, also designed by Steven Holl Architects, the 66,000 sq. ft. library will be built, in part, with local materials like bamboo and stone... View full entry
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect... View full entry
The $12 million project, managed by Tishman Construction Corporation, came about in May 2014 when an ornamental plaster rosette fell 52 feet from the Reading Room’s ceiling. In addition to recreating and replacing this piece, all 900 rosettes in both rooms were reinforced with steel cables. Other work included the recreation of a 27′ x 33′ James Wall Finn mural on the ceiling of the Catalog Room and the restoration of the chandeliers. — 6sqft
After a two-year restoration, the New York Public Library's historic Rose Main Reading Room and Bill Blass Public Catalog Room will reopen to the public ahead of schedule on Wednesday, October 5th. To mark the occasion, the NYPL has released a series of incredible before-and-after photos. View full entry
Designed by SHAU in Bandung (Indonesia's West Java capital), the two-story structure's facade is made from (you guessed it) a grid of recycled plastic ice cream buckets. The ground floor is kept open for various events and activities, and the actual library is located behind the buckets, on the... View full entry
The uncertainty looming over the building’s future is serving as a call to action for preservation groups in Atlanta and around the world who are beginning to mobilize. [...]
Ironically, to gain the Breuer building, Atlanta lost its original Carnegie Library. [...]
As evidenced by the transformation of the former Whitney Museum into the Met Breuer, it is clear that with a careful restoration, Breuer’s works can be an iconic piece of the urban fabric in which they reside
— artsatl.com
The Architecture and Design Center has begun a petition to protect the library, and has since garnered 1,023 signatures of 2,000 needed.The petition states: "We ask that the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System Board of Trustees take actions to protect the Central Library and Library System... View full entry
A striking circular building at Darling Harbour will house a new City of Sydney library for the area’s existing and incoming residents, following an agreement with Lendlease.
The six storey community and retail centre, designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, will be built by developer Lendlease at Darling Square.
— the City of Sydney
The Office of the Mayor of Sydney announced that the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma will design a new multi-use building at Darling Square that will include a two-level library. The developer Lendlease will build the timber-swathed structure.“I am very pleased that the City has reached an... View full entry
MCP: How would you characterize the President and First Lady’s architectural taste, as best as you can tell up to this point?
PG: Modern and refined. They like modern things quite genuinely. They do not want a traditional building... there’s a certain kind of, let’s say tailored modernism, that they respond best to. But they’re interested in a range of things, and they’re also very interested, as they should be, in somebody who they will feel comfortable talking to.
— commonedge.org
Paul Goldberger was first offered to advise the Obama Foundation in the selection of the Presidential Center's architect by Penny Pritzker, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, who also happens to be the niece of Jay Pritzker – founder of the Pritzker Prize in 1979.Get caught up on the selection... View full entry
Today, The Barack Obama Foundation issued a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) to seven architectural firms, one of which will ultimately be selected to design the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) on the South Side of Chicago. [...]
Although the RFP process is not a design competition, the RFP will require defined, visual responses from each candidate to present creative ideas in response to the Foundation’s project goals.
— barackobamafoundation.org
After sending out RFQs to a broad range of (undisclosed but widely speculated) architectural firms on August 26, the President and First Lady, together with advisers from the Obama Foundation, have found time to sit down and select seven finalists to receive a formal Request for Proposal. The... View full entry
Music ensemble Third Angle will team up with choir group Cappella Romana for a new project, “Frozen,” on Oct. 3-4. They’re giving a voice to one of Oregon’s most famous buildings...the Mount Angel Abbey library in St. Benedict, Oregon [...]
“We’re going down into a stairwell and we started singing, and we found a pitch that really resonated the hell out of the building...We want this to be, in effect, a harmony of the building. We want to reimagine the building as an instrument.”
— opb.org
When the 70th regular session of the General Assembly convenes on Sept. 15, it will do so in a complex of buildings that hasn’t looked so good or felt so secure in generations.
“We now have a very safe compound,” said Michael Adlerstein, [...] executive director of a seven-year, $2.15 billion renovation, known as the capital master plan, that is nearing completion. More visible than anything else is the robust yet crystalline new glass facade of the 39-story Secretariat building.
— nytimes.com
When Barack Obama's people announced last week that they are searching worldwide for an architect for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, they won no points for transparency. [...]
Having consulted sources, I can now name 11 of the firms and observe that they are A) Of high caliber; B) Represent a broad geographic and aesthetic spectrum; and C) Include the established firms one would expect to be invited.
— chicagotribune.com
Rumors have been running wild which architects were among the 50+ selected firms to receive RFQs from the White House for the design of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.While Martin Nesbitt, chairman of the Barack Obama Foundation, remains tight-lipped about names of the invited... View full entry
While I believe there will always be a place for the book in the hearts of academics, it is far less likely there will be a place for the book, or at least for every book, on the academic campus. [...]
This is not to say that academic library construction and renovation have come to an end. But rather than being conceived of as on-campus book warehouses, academic libraries are today being reimagined as spaces in which learning, collaboration and intellectual engagement take center stage.
— qz.com
More from the world of library design:Stacked: Archinect's comparison of Fujimoto and Tschapeller's library stacksThe tiny village library that draws Beijingers in drovesRedesign of DC's main Mies library tip-toes around the good and the badAnother big concrete panel falls off Zaha Hadid-designed... View full entry
The competition for the premier high-profile commission is expected to draw the interest of the leading “starchitects” across the globe.
The foundation has stated in earlier documents associated with the site selection competition that the “unified design vision” calls for the building to be a “responsible steward of the environment” and one that “embodies principles of biomimicry to create a living building.”
— chicago.suntimes.com
More on Obama's presidential center:Chicago will indeed be the home of the Obama Presidential CenterUniversity of Chicago will reportedly win race for Obama Presidential Library2014 Chicago Prize winners envision the Obama Presidential LibraryCALL FOR ENTRIES: What do you think the Obama... View full entry