Magazine

In Japan: Nation Building Nature, Joachim Nijs searches for an “alternative interpretation of Japanese architectural history” through a matrix of four ecological phenomena. Ulf Meyer — a fellow European as enthralled with Japan as Nijs is — read the recently published book and sent us... Ulf Meyer

In summer 2019, debartolo architects moved into a 1930s warehouse located "on one of the grittiest streets east of downtown Phoenix." Their conversion of the building responds to the context with dark steel walls facing the street, while inside it maintains the openness of the space capped by... debartolo architects

Reduction of the price of 300 homes in the federal state of Maharashtra, India, resulting from the... René Ammann

As announced by the Obama Foundation on February 3rd, the years-long federal review process of plans to build the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on Chicago's South Side is complete, meaning the project will break ground later this year. John Hill

The Vilcek Foundation, which "raises awareness of immigrant contributions in the United States and fosters appreciation of the arts and sciences," has partnered with artist Hiroki Otsuka on a series of manga devoted to Vilcek Prize recipients. The first is about architect Denise Scott Brown,... John Hill

The new Manufacturing, Technology and Engineering Center (MTEC) at Daley College sets the framework for a wider master plan. The project unifies the existing complex by creating a campus environment with engaging pathways and collaborative spaces throughout. JGMA

Adelaide’s Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre (AACC) has released updated renderings of its proposed 11,500 square meter building designed by New York's Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Australia's Woods Bagot. John Hill

Blending into the trees of Tokyo’s only major public park, Kengo Kuma and Associates' new museum for the Meiji Jingu is a testimony to Japan’s current architectural soul searching. Ulf Meyer

Three years after Amazon opened The Spheres at its downtown Seattle headquarters, the tech company has unveiled The Helix, part of its new HQ2 in Arlington, Virginia. NBBJ is the architect for both biophilic designs. John Hill

Aeon Video has posted "A Little Piece of Earth," a short film by director Ryan Malloy that profiles Charles Bello, an 86-year-old architect who lives an off-the-grid life on 400 acres in Northern California. John Hill

A list of 449 works nominated for the 2022 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award has been released. A second list of nominees will follow in the fall in response to the coronavirus pandemic and a lengthening of the biennial award's timeline accordingly. John Hill

For the second year in a row, a building on Chicago's South Side has received the most votes in our Building of the Year poll on American-Architects.com. In 2019 it was an academic building at Illinois Tech. For 2020 it's the dynamic orange building that Juan Moreno's firm, JGMA, designed for... John Hill

The renovated Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC, originally designed by Mies van der Rohe, had a virtual opening ceremony in September 2020. Open since with limited services, the library, rejuvenated by Mecanoo and OTJ Architects, is sure to get lots of fanfare once the... Mecanoo

Area of a three-level home on Greece's Serifos Island that was carved into a rocky slope to protect its residents from strong northerly winds:... René Ammann

The World Around's annual summit was held on Saturday, January 30, at the Guggenheim Museum, where the organization is in residence this year. Recorded presentations and live discussions were broadcast to the strictly online audience. John Hill

The Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) has announced that the DAM Preis for Architecture in Germany 2021 has been awarded to MVRDV and N-V-O Nuyken von Oefele Architekten for WERK12, a five-story mixed-use building near Munich's Ost station. John Hill

"It is the least we could do: minimalism in an environment of expressionism." — BUA Partner Steve Whitford BAU (Brearley Architects + Urbanists)

In which we take a look inside Formgiving, the new monograph on BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, in the context of the three monographs the firm has produced with Taschen over the last twelve years. John Hill

A new half-hour documentary from the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art profiles architects Søren Johansen and Sebastian Skovsted, whose Copenhagen studio is "a rising star of the architecture scene in Northern Europe." John Hill

Atelier Zhang Lei (AZL Architects) in Nanjing recently completed a new hotel project, just 300 meters north of the Eduard Kögel

The iconic high-tech building designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers will close from late 2023 until 2027, the same year the Parisian institution will celebrate its 50th anniversary. John Hill

The ICA Watershed opened in a formerly condemned industrial space in East Boston, a short ferry ride from ICA Boston's main building across the harbor. Like other museums, the Watershed temporarily closed during the pandemic, but it tapped into its industrial roots by transitioning to a food... Anmahian Winton Architects

Approximate number of staff Gensler, the world’s largest architecture firm, currently employing 2,506 architects, shed... René Ammann

The deadline for voting for the US Building of the Year is January 31. The winner that you decide will be announced on the first day of February online and in our World Newsletter. John Hill

Scottish architect Kate Macintosh and Ghanaian-Scottish architect, academic, and novelist Lesley Lokko are this year’s recipients of the Jane Drew Prize and Ada Louise Huxtable Prize, respectively, part of the W Awards given out by The Architectural Review and Architects’... John Hill

The coronavirus pandemic may have kept New Yorkers from traveling to London last year, but it didn't stop the transatlantic collaboration that resulted in a timber pavilion recently built on a residential rooftop. Made from dozens of interlocking curved timber tiles, the canopy designed by New... John Hill

Architect Petr Hájek recently completed a pet crematorium inserted into an old military bunker about a one-hour drive from Prague. Named Věčná loviště (Hunting Grounds), the crematorium is hidden behind a new wall of mirrors that reflects nature and adds, in the architect's words, "a... John Hill

ODA’s thinking process, just like their design, is fractal by nature. ODA views cities as being made up of small units of life, operating independently yet bound by a shared community. Their newest expression of this can be seen at 98 Front Street, the 165-unit condo building in DUMBO. ODA

Pinghe Bibliotheater is the core of OPEN’s latest project—School as Village/Shanghai Qingpu Pinghe International School. A library, a theater, and a black box interlock together like a Chinese puzzle to form this characteristic building that some call "the blue whale" and others see as an... OPEN Architecture

Breitenbach Landscape Hotel proposes a holistic and a true ecotourism experience in Alsace, inspired by Scandinavian traditions and building on the region’s culinary, wellness and nature opportunities.  Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter & ASP Architecture

The current demolition of the former headquarters of the Burroughs Wellcome company in Durham, North Carolina, designed by Paul Rudolph in the early 1970s, alerted us to a three-year-old short film capturing skateboarders traversing the futuristic building. John Hill

When architecture takes on the vibrancy and rich diversity of nature, it will never be perceived as alien. As part of a special hotel project, noa* has incorporated features that will evoke memories, dreams and perhaps a touch of adventure in every guest. noa* network of architecture

Winners in the seven awards and competition programs of the Tamayouz Excellence Award for 2020 have been announced. Established in 2012, the awards draw attention to architecture in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East. John Hill

London's Design Museum has named the "Teeter-Totter Wall," designed by architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello with Colectivo Chopeke, as the Beazley Design of the Year 2020. John Hill

This single-family house in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood was initiated by architects Lap Chi Kwong and Alison Von Glinow, who answered a few questions about the project. Being client and architect enabled them to invert the typical stacking of a house's program: bedrooms are on the first... Kwong Von Glinow

Size of the 500 minimalist and sustainable tiny homes for formerly homeless individuals at Community First! Village in Austin, Texas: 200... René Ammann