CHRISTOFF: FINIO ARCHITECTURE CONTINUES EXCELLENCE IN NYC INTERIOR DESIGN AND RENOVATION

Christoff: Finio Architecture caught my eye two years ago and resulted  in this post on their work featuring their renovation and rooftop addition projects, as well as their selection of finish materials. I recently caught up with their more recent work, worthy of an update here. I just love the diversity of their work in New York City and hope to have the chance to work with them on one of their projects soon.

See the whole article at RenovatingNYC

This Is Murdock Solon Architects

The High Line

If you are not familiar with the High Line,  R.J. Diaz has a video explaining the history. My wife walked the High Line the last time she was in New York City with New Yorker Kathy DeJardin and was very enthusiastic about the experience.

Mike just posted this article on Integrity Contracting's website: This Is Murdock Solon Architects

Vertical City To Be Built

"Vertical city" of "neighborhoods in the sky" to be built in Singapore features a park in the air:

About two-thirds of the way up is a "sky garden," an open-air deck with pools and dining areas that gives the building an airport observation tower look and mimics the lobby.

BOORA

Bev has a particular affinity for BOORA Architects, since she worked at the firm for several years.  The firm caught her attention when on April 29th, the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) dedicated the  opening of eight new academic buildings on the 12.5-acre site that forms the new Knight Management Center campus.

Congratulations to Boora principal Stan Boles and all at BOORA for the most recent of four major Stanford capital development projects in which Boora has played a lead, or key supporting, role.

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The Model Architect: Bart Prince

It fascinates me that an idea in our mind can become solid; real. As soon as the idea was conceived it was real and then the conception became physical. Dwell has this wonderful video of architect Bart Prince from Albuquerque talking about his work with clients and the results. After his interviews he builds a model of the design so his clients can see the idea in solid form.

Portland Japanese Garden Expansion By Kengo Kuma

Jenna McKnight editor of the Architectural Record reports

The renowned architect Kengo Kuma has been tapped to design an expansion for the 5.5-acre Portland Japanese Garden, which opened in 1967. While funding is not yet in place, the plan calls for new garden spaces, an education center, a gift store, and a tea house. Groundbreaking is targeted for 2013.

THA Architecture In Portland Wins Award

Architectural Record is pleased to announce the winners of its 13th Good Design Is Good Business Awards (formerly the Business Week/Architectural Record Awards). The program recognizes projects with innovative architectural strategies that help businesses achieve specific goals. The jury, which consisted of members of the editorial staff, attempted to gauge the success of each project’s “business case”—a series of quantitative and qualitative measurements of building performance. Factors considered included employee productivity, construction costs, reduced overhead, and branding, among other criteria.

Pictured above is Mercy Corps Headquarters by THA Architecture, in Portland, Oregon

The Tacked On Look

In Portland we see a lot of contemporary or cubist architecture where boxes seem to be attached to the sides, I suspect, to provide balconies:

Designed by Holst Architecture

Now, Architectural Record has an example of a 12 story square building with local architecture (s)tacked on.

WAM Architecten's hotel in Zaandam, the Netherlands's revitalized center incorporates the iconic wooden houses of the region. Photo: © Roel Backaert

What do you think?

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ZGF Has A New Portland Home

Somehow, we've missed this addition to the Portland skyline. Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects (ZGF) has a new home at 12th and Washington and is on track to achieve LEED (NC) Platinum and LEED (CI) Platinum. The new building has wind turbines on the roof that will generate 1% of the building's energy needs. Those turbines were mounted in mid-August.

Other sustainable features include a 6,000-sq.-ft. terrace and eco-roof that serves to mitigate storm water and reduce the building's heat island effect. Office ventilation mainly is achieved through a combination of an Underfloor Air Distribution System (UFAD) and natural ventilation. The system provides individual control through adjustable diffusers at each workstation. Passive chilled beams will aid in cooling on particularly hot days. Passive chilled beams are perforated metal panels mounted near the ceiling and chilled with cold water tubing.

The new mixed-use building not only will house ZGF, but will have street-level retail space, four floors of office space (for ZGF) and 17 floors of residential living space.

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Art Imitating Life

Pigeon houses at Mit Gahmr, Egypt

Earth Architecture has a picture of pigeon houses in Egypt that are constructed as a home for the bird for food and a place to collect the droppings for fertilizer.


"Interestingly, the Egyptian pigeon houses remind one of the recent work of architect Vicente Guallart, who in his project The Re-Naturalization of Territory, attempts to create what could be considered as dovecotes for biotechnology and cinema in Tarragona, Spain."

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