Month: April 2022

After an extensive five-year restoration carried out by David Chipperfield Architects and Generali, the iconic Procuratie Vecchie in St. Mark’s Square has opened again to the city, with an installation by Italian artist Edoardo Tresoldi. Titled “Monumento”, the artwork responds to the new socially-driven functions presented by the vast space, “renewing the language of the monumental column and the values to which society aspires in order to reflect its own epoch”.

Foster + Partners revealed the design of a new skyscraper at 270 Park Avenue that will host JPMorgan Chase’s New York headquarters. The 60-story tower is set to be the city’s largest all-electric tower with net-zero operational emissions powered by renewable energy sourced from a New York State hydroelectric plant and is designed around high standards regarding wellness and hospitality. The project’s morphology creates extensive ground-level outdoor space with green areas and a public plaza., accompanied by various amenities geared towards the neighbourhood’s residents.

Regardless of the design adopted for kitchen spaces, for some years now and with increasing frequency, many architects have been deciding to design kitchens by integrating them into other rooms in the home. Free of dividing walls or joinery, integrated kitchens are implemented with the aim of leaving the activities that take place there in full view of everyone, encouraging interaction and communication between the inhabitants.

The issue of homelessness is one that has continually been rampant, growing by nearly 17% countrywide year by year. With Los Angeles’ latest homeless count reaching a total of more than 60,000 with nearly 14,000 of these individuals occupying the streets and living in Downton Los Angeles, a call for action was necessary. Lehrer Architects, together with the Bureau of Engineering for the City of Los Angeles, developed an innovative community project by transforming an infill lot into tiny homes for the unhoused Angelenos using prefabricated ‘pallet shelters’.

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

The vernacular architecture of Muskoka has a distinctive quality of its own. This resort region, around two hours to the north of Toronto, is well known for its picturesque lakes and rivers, bordered by boathouses and cottages that make the most of the surroundings with their porches, decks, and terraces. Todd Saunders’ Lily Pad house, on the edge of Ontario’s Lake Rosseau, offers a 21st Century reinterpretation of Muskoka vernacular fused with a range of Modernist and contemporary influences drawn from North America and Scandinavia.

Cladding systems have important functions in buildings. They can confer thermal insulation, protect internal spaces from the weather and–just as important–give the building a “face”, improving its appearance and clearly identifying the element of design. “Cladding” refers to the components that are linked to the structure of a building to form non-structural external surfaces. While in the past wooden cladding was the only option, there are currently multiple possibilities of materials, colors, weights, textures, anchoring systems, and many other variables available. Below, we outline some of the main materials used for façade cladding, and the projects that use them in a remarkable way: