Picking on (and apart) New York City subway maps is a metropolitan pastime, no different from kvetching over the Mayors latest scandal, or that new banal building on your block. Massimo Vignelli, who architects know for , rolled out his famous MTA map in 1972, only for it to be replaced seven years later (and then again in 1998) by a less abstract version ideated by Michael Hertz Associates. The decision to pull the iteration by Vignelli, Bob Noorda, and Joan Charsyn has long been a sore spot for designers, while the choice was well received by the public. Not long after the famous We New York logo flop, which revisited Milton Glasers iconic 1976 campaignto jumpstart the citys tourism industry after COVID, New Yorkers awoke this week to again relish and debate a piece of Drop Dead 1970s lore. The MTA formally unveiled yesterday its new map that will go up in subway stations and cars all over town, replacing the Hertz drawing. This latest version pays homage to the one Vignelli envisioned, reprinted in 2012 by Waterhouse Cifuentesit utilizes a diagrammatic style, employing bold, straight lines making it much easier for the eye to follow and more suitable for digital users, the MTA said.This week the MTA rolled out a new map of the New York City subway. (Courtesy MTA)The new subway map was drawn in-house by the MTAs Creative Services Mapping Department. The white background, bold colors, horizontal writing and use of black dots make the map more ADA-friendly and easier for people with low-vision or cognitive disabilities to read, the MTA said.Designers also focused on text legibility, keeping text on one line wherever possible making better use of open space to alleviate crowding and using a black subway bullet with a white character to provide maximum contrast for easier reading, MTA added. The legend on the map is now more detailed and includes accessibility, transfer, and safety information, as well as a QR code that leads users to the MTA website. Vignelli v. HertzThe baby wasnt thrown out with the bath water, however. While the new map indeed evokes Vignellis prowess, it maintains certain elements that worked from the Hertz version. Or, to quote Pentagrams Michael Bierut on social media, the new official version mitigates some of the things normal people (i.e. non-designers) found aggravating about the 1972 version, but it is still beautifully faithful to its precise geometric logic.To Bieruts point, the Creative Services Mapping Department kept the official brand colors established by the 1979 and 1998 Hertz maps, making this iteration a hybrid between old and new, diagrammatic and figurative. The water in this new version is blue, for instance, and the parks are green, just like the Hertz map, instead of the murky beiges and grays Vignellis respectively had, which bewildered New Yorkers at the time. I support the decision! Criticism of Vignellis subway map largely stemmed from its abstract representation of geography and topography, which created confusion for users, said Taylor Loutsis, founder of Studio Loutsis, the Brooklyn office which designs AN Interior. At the time, this was understandableboth locals and tourists relied heavily on the map to orient themselves within the city. However, in the 21st century, most subway riders carry smartphones with GPS and step-by-step directions, making the need for geographically accurate maps less essential.Today, maps are used differently: theyre less about providing spatial context and more about supplementing the directions already provided by our devices, Loutsis told AN. The issue is no longer about whether the average person can interpret abstract geography, but how maps function alongside the mobile tools everyone now uses to navigate urban environments.The famous Massimo Vignelli subway map lasted between 1972 and 1979. (Courtesy MTA)The subsequent 1979 and 1998 maps were designed by Michael Hertz Associates. (Courtesy MTA)The new subway map has already been employed at select stations since 2021, while testing on station digital screens started in 2024. All physical maps will be swapped out of R211 rolling stock and MTA stations over the next few weeks. This will be accompanied by the increased frequency of real-time data, where platform trackers will be updated every five seconds to better reflect train arrival times. These improvements are based on customer feedback, surveys, and analysis of all 472 New York City subway stations, MTA continued.The swap comes around the same time the MTA phases out MetroCards, those yellow rubbery things you have to swipe just right in order to board your train on time. The MTA is now transitioning to the OMNY contactless fare payment system, a maneuver praised by many thats been criticized by transit advocates, who question how those without smartphones will be able to ride. The MTA is also expected to raise fares from $2.90 per ride to $3 by August 2025, sparking further protests.While the city that never sleeps tosses and turns over rising prices, and we count the days until the next mayoral election, one thing is for certain. To quote AN contributor Antonio Pacheco: 53 years later Massimo Vignelli is victorious, and vindicated.

After a successful 16th season, Architecture and Design Film Festival (ADFF) is now looking ahead to its 20252026 programming. The film festival centers the creative spirit of all things connected to architecture and design from around the world.In this last season, ADFF added two new stops to its lineup, hosting screenings at Grace Farms in New Canaan, Connecticut, and in Mumbai, India. Both locations will now be included in its annual cycle, ADFF shared. Dates for the 20252026 season:ADFF:NY October 1418ADFF:LA October 2125ADFF:Vancouver November 59ADFF:Toronto November 1215ADFF:Mumbai January 2026Humanity in Architecture at Grace Farms January 30 and 31, 2026ADFF:Chicago February 2026Looking back at the close to its 20242025 season, for ADFFs Mumbai event in January, the festival partnered with media agency STIR. A series of programming accompanied the screenings: Talks, music performances, games, workshops, and dance were part of a themed program under the moniker ~log(ue).Samta Nadeem curated ~log(ue) at ADFF:Mumbai, which brought talks, performance, and more to the film festival programming. (Courtesy ADFF)The multifaceted curation of the ~log(ue) programme was aimed at instigating the much-needed interdisciplinary conversations within the creative community and fostering intelligible dialogues between practitioners and the wider public, said Samta Nadeem, who curated ~log(ue) at ADFF:Mumbai and is curatorial director at STIR. ADFF:Mumbai also hosted the Pavilion Park, an initiative that brought ten site-specific pavilions designed by architects, from India and elsewhere, to the open-air plaza at the National Center for the Performance Arts.Also returning for the 20252026 season will be screenings and talks presented in partnership with cultural and humanitarian center Grace Farms.In January, ADFF partnered with the nonprofit for a two-day event on the expansive SANAAdesigned campus. The theme of the programming centered the idea of Humanity in Architecture; this will be the focus again next year.

Visitors encounter community spaces enlivened with colorful artwork from murals to a covered events plaza before even entering Portland, Oregons renovated and expanded Midland Library by Colloqate and Bora Architecture & Interiors. Near the entrance are a series of orange and pink hexagonal sculptures resembling childrens building blocks, by the artist team HYBYCOZO. A new entry canopy provides a covered space for farmers markets, fairs, and other events. The canopys underside is festooned with a vibrant collage in tropical colors of people, flora, and fauna by artists Lillyanne Pham and Paola De La Cruz. Its metal overhang and adjacent facade panels are inscribed with symbols of stars, mountains, suns, and rippling water, drawn from the cultures of people who live in the surrounding neighborhoods. Inside, where a security checkpoint has been removed, the foyer offers information about upcoming events: a teen council, a graphic novel book club, and drop-in violin lessons. In the nearby double-height central space, beneath a ceiling mural depicting the nearby Columbia River, shelves are lined with books in not only English but Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, and Spanish.The library is a double-height space, with a ceiling mural depicting the nearby Columbia River. (Josh Partee)Though books are a librarys reason for being, the Midland building itself, through its interwoven artwork, interactive and community spaces, and an overall welcoming spirit, is like a collection of stories. I cant overemphasize how central that is to the work that we do, because people live their lives and recount their lives through stories, Karim Hassanein, codirector of New Orleansbased Colloqates Portland office, told AN. The art and the architecture are not separate when it comes to creating a sense of place and reflecting culture. They have to work together. Midland is among the first projects completed in a multiyear, $387 million bond-funded campaign to renovate and replace eight Multnomah County Library (MCL) branches, most of which are several miles east of Portlands downtown, a part of the city where the patron base is demographically diverse. We have so many different communities and cultures represented, so many age groups from very young to very old, which for me is the leading edge of library service, said Midland Library administrator Greta Gutierrez.The existing Midland branch, completed in 1996 and designed by Portlands Hacker Architects (replacing the circa 1958 original), established the axial, natural-light-filled space that remains today. But the library lacked community meeting spaces. Its entrance, at the buildings southeast corner beside a busy thoroughfare, also presented some challenges to creating that neighborhood feel, Gutierrez said.The librarys interwoven artwork and community spaces reflect a desire to connect to the buildings raison dtre: storytelling. (Josh Partee)Colloqate and Boras redesign added 6,000 square feet, and now Midland is fronted by glass-walled community rooms and an art gallery. Because the entrance was relocated from the southeast corner to the midpoint of the buildings south facade, near these new spaces and with a larger foyer, it becomes more of a social space and a crossroads rather than a pass-through area. We have a better ability to see people coming in and help them, Gutierrez explained.Colloqate and Portlands Bora, the design architect and architect of record, respectively, deliberately blurred those roles in an equal exchange of ideas. Since its 2017 founding by Bryan Lee, Jr., the nonprofit Colloqate has become a leader in the burgeoning design justice movement. Its framework prioritizes the input of marginalized communities throughout the design process. Still, Lee, a Harvard University Graduate School of Design visiting critic and the current president of the National Organization of Minority Architects, became wary of Colloqate being pigeonholed as an engagement firm, he explained. The whole point of design justice is that engagement and design are not distinctly different processes. Its one process. So our ability to have conversations that influence a design is necessarily the next evolution of what this type of work should be, specifically in civic, cultural, and community spaces.The librarys redesign maintained the light-filled spaces and included subtle changes, such as lowering the height of bookshelves to improve visibility. (Josh Partee)Colloqate and Bora first partnered on a workforce training center for Portland Community College in 2023 and have collaborated on renovations for an additional MCL branch and (with LEVER Architecture) Portlands Jefferson High School. After Hassanein and architect Sophia Xiao-fan Austrins decided to leave Bora to open their own design justicefocused firm, Lee invited them to instead cofound Colloqates first office outside New Orleans.As one of Boras first city library projects, Midlands design drew from the firms portfolio of performing arts facilities, which, like libraries, increasingly accommodate myriad activities from morning to evening. The traditional model of a library, you have a majority of spaces used for the collection. In this new model we worked with MCL to turn it into three buckets, said Bora principal Jeanie Lai. One is tables and seating where people can hang out. One is the collection. And then one is meeting spaces. We tried to make them all equal in the use of space: a community-centric library for modern times. Thanks to a separate operations center and warehouse nearby, Midland can offer a rotating curation of books based on whats popular. Plus the height of bookshelves lining the librarys main space was deliberately lowered in the new design for better visibility. For staff, its easier now to track whats going on from one end to the other without running around, Lai explained.Just beyond the bookstacks is the gathering circle, a multiuse space formed by curving benches and seating, inspired by Indigenous gathering circles and Black story circles, framed by a Kanani Miyamoto mural. An adjacent childrens area includes interactive play features and books in several languages; teen spaces and sensory rooms are also available. An outdoor interactive childrens garden, designed by Portland landscape architecture firm Place, is accessible through a nearby glass door.Curving benches and seating were inspired by Indigenous gathering circles and Black story circles. (Josh Partee)A combination of community meetings and engagement programs with paid facilitators guided public input into a variety of design choices, from the interior color palette to the exterior canopy. Ive worked in libraries since the 90s, including a brand-new library opening. Ive never seen a process like this before, with such free-flowing ideas, Gutierrez said.Midlands community engagement has continued well past the design stage, to establish a continuing feedback loop that may lead to additional changes over time. The hope is that this dialogue will also expose the design profession to new voices.Hopefully some kid that we involved actually looks into architecture because they were like, This is kind of fun. I want to do this, and it feels possible, Hassanein said. Thats how were going to change and diversify the profession.Brian Libby is an architecture and arts journalist based in Portland.

Stantec announced today it has signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Page, the 1,400-person firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. with offices in 20 cities around the world. The agreement positions Stantec as the second largest architecture office in the U.S. after Gensler.With this agreement, Stantecs overall U.S. employee headcount is approximately 13,500 people, expanding Stantecs U.S. Buildings practice by 35 percent. The maneuver is part of Stantecs 20242026 Strategic Plan, which outlined fast growing segments and regions where the corporation wants to grow. The agreement with Page essentially doubles Stantecs presence in Texas.The agreement, Stantec said in a statement, deepens its expertise and resources in key growth areas such as advanced manufacturing, data centers, and healthcare, while adding new capabilities in cleanroom design and fabrication facilities, and also mission critical, academic, civic, cultural, aviation, science and technology, and commercial sectors.Page is a respected architecture and engineering firm with shared values and a commitment to design excellence and innovation, said Gord Johnston, Stantec president and CEO. This acquisition will greatly support our strategic market growth in our Buildings business while enabling us to leverage our expanded platform to better serve our North American clients and grow our worldwide market presence. Page was founded in 1898 in Texas. While presently based in the nations capital, it has offices in Mexico City, Houston, Austin, Dallas, Denver, New York City, Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco, and other cities. Both Page and Stantec have a history of successful collaboration.Previously, Stantec and Page collaborated on the Brian D. Jellison Outpatient Cancer Pavilion and Outpatient Cancer Center Institute for Sarasota Memorial Health Care System in Sarasota, Florida.Together, we will support our clients with expanded reach, greater expertise, and deeper resources. Our strategic plans were to achieve domestic primacy and global influence for our team, joining Stantec positions us to accelerate these plans, added Thomas McCarthy, Page CEO. We are delighted to be joining Stantec and elevating the capabilities of our talented team.Now that the agreement has been signed, the acquisition is expected to close upon receipt of required regulatory approvals, Stantec said. The acquisition is funded, Stantec continued, through existing funds and credit facilities.The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

INFONAVIT (The National Housing Fund for Workers Institute) is the state agency behind almost one-third of Mexico Citys workers housing. The group was founded in 1972 and, today, many of its early works suffer from a lack of maintenance and government neglect. INFONAVITrecently organized a competition to revitalize four original multifamily housing complexes by INFONAVIT: Iztacalco, Santa Fe, Culhuacn El Rosario, and Ignacio Chvez. AMASA Estudio, a Mexico City office founded by Andrea Lpez and Agustn Pereyra, won the multi-project commission. The firm recently completed a project at the Iztacalco Complex, the state agencys first, completed in 1972. The local office repaired a 13,000-square-foot semi-sphere, converting it into a usable shared space for the community. This project exemplifies the transformative potential of public investment in Mexico Citys housing complexes, AMASA Estudio shared. Thoughtfully designed interventions, rooted in resource efficiency and strategic planning, can revitalize common areasturning them into spaces for gathering, recreation, learning, and community engagement.The architects added color and structurally reinforced a 13,000-square-foot semi-sphere. (Zaickz Moz/Courtesy AMASA Estudio)Splash of ColorCumulatively, AMASA Estudio has developed four individual, tailor-made proposals for each of the four complexes. This started with in-depth site analysis, culminating in an innovative organization strategy between the architects, construction team, INFONAVIT, the Social Prosecutors Office, local government groups, and the residents committees. The Iztacalco Complex was damaged during the major 1979 earthquake that rocked Mexico City, leaving its central element, a semi-sphere, unfinished. AMASA Estudio worked on a proposal to revamp the central common area of the housing complex, where the 40-foot semi-sphere is located.The corrugated metal offers refuge from the sweltering heat. (Andres Cedillo/Courtesy AMASA Estudio)The renovation will wash the circular structures gray concrete with color, featuring pigmented concrete in warm tones, complemented by turquoise-green steel supported by corrugated metal panels in a dynamic, polychromatic finish. Structural reinforcements were added at the column bases of the steel joints to support the semi-spheres enclosure, consisting of a suspended, inclined roof system formed by a steel grid and lightweight metal sheets. These elements were secured with tensile steel cables.In addition to work on the semi-sphere, the project also brought new playground equipment to the housing complex. Also realized in chromatic shades were bars ideal for climbing and strength training.The architects also designed new playground spaces. (Zaickz Moz/Courtesy AMASA Estudio)These improvements provide residents with opportunities for exercise and neighborhood interaction, fostering a sense of belonging and social cohesion, AMASA Estudio continued. Ultimately, this project demonstrates that large budgets are not always necessarywhat matters most is a well-planned, well-managed, and well-designed public investment strategy that breathes new life into communal spaces and strengthens the social fabric of Mexico Citys housing communities.Other recent projects backed by INFONAVITinclude, a 9-acre Housing Laboratory project in Hidalgo that realized 32 prototype homes.

Steel SquigglesThose Architects uses curves to carve out space in Mosman ANZAC Memorial Hall for BresicWhitneys officeByPaige Davidson April 3, 2025Interiors, International (Ben Hosking)SHARENortheast of Sydney, in the suburb of Mosman, a 100-year-old building commemorating those killed during duty in World War I now houses a real estate office for BresicWhitney. The shiny, modern interior is located within the stately edifice of the ANZAC Memorial Hall, dedicated in 1924. Local architecture firmThose Architectscreatively organized the spatial layout of the office using ribbons of shiny curved steel rather than the typical application of stringent walls. The unique approach to BresicWhitney Lower North Shore office is a bold reimagination of a historic building. While the new 2,282-square-foot office boasts a modern look, Those Architects didnt overlook the historic importance of the building or the complications that come with it. Ben Mitchell, cofounder and director of Those Architects, toldAN Interior,Unfortunately, not much of the original interior building fabric remained intact, so when we uncovered the original staircase, we were very keen to restore it and incorporate it into the design. It provides a beautiful counterpoint to the contemporary interior and also serves as a touchstone to the past.Read more on aninteriormag.com. Adaptive ReuseAustralia

Pilar Viladas, a bonafide architecture writer and editor, and former AN Best of Design juror, died on March 15 at a Connecticut hospital. Her passing from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrigs disease) was confirmed by her sister, Luisa, and later reported by The New York Times. Viladas was 70 years old. Viladas is remembered for her intellect; editorships at The New York Times Magazine, Progressive Architecture, and Home & Garden; and articles for Town & Country and Architectural Digest.Julie Iovine, former AN executive editor, shared heartfelt words after Viladass passing. Pilar Viladas was not only a consummate professional and elegant writer but also a deeply responsive and caring friend, Iovine told AN. Iovine continued:In her prose, Pilar represented a gold standard in architecture criticism. Her instincts were sharp, her voice clear and her insights unassailable. Modernism was her passion, nurtured by an early career writing books about midcentury Californian architecture. And even as modernism itself teetered and tottered this way and that, Pilars seeking eye for quality remained unerring. Before ever meeting her, I knew of Pilar by reputationas anyone in the field of design and architecture wouldfrom her pointedly intelligent essays in House & Garden, where she was on staff, and Architectural Digest, where she earned one of those golden gigs of yore. She was incomparable at drawing a perceptive bead on the significant essence of even the most banally plush homes in order to make clear what you needed to know or notice. Her own understanding of history, context and all the most amusing cultural asides ran very deep.When I moved from The New York Times Magazine to the daily newspaper, Pilar took my place and dedicated her pages in the magazine to showcasing the best of contemporary modernism and where it was headed. She left no good architect unnoticed, and seemed to be a close familiar to every elite design manufacturer. To watch her work a vernissage at the Italian Furniture Fair was to see connoisseurship in action.We lunched regularly and connected with the kind of deep fellow feeling that colleagues often do, based less on personal confession and more on the minutiae of shared daily dramas. Pilar could be biting in hilarious ways that wish I could remember. Above all, Pilar cared about finding and championing honesty and clarity in architecture and, from time to time, in the lucky people who knew her.Born Maria Pilar Viladas in 1954 in Greenwich, Connecticut, she later graduated with a degree in art history from Harvard University in 1977. Two years later, she got a job at Interiors, a trade publication. She quickly cut her teeth writing about the rise of the Memphis school, and Reagan-era decadence of the 1980s. In 1995, she published Los Angeles: A Certain Style. After a series of important editorial roles at powerhouse publications, mentioned above, Viladas completed a Loeb fellowship in advanced environmental studies at Harvard in 1997.In 2005, Viladas published another book, Domesticities: At Home with The New York Times Magazine. She continued to edit, write, and participate in academic and culture forums.After her recent passing, friends and readers remembered Viladas on social media, including Chicago critic Blair Kamin. On Instagram, interior designer Nicole Hollis remembered the writer and editor as having a keen eye for beautiful work. Hollis also looked back on the joyful hours together, sipping tea and talking about all aspects of my upbringing, her upbringing, the influences that shaped us as women.Writer Farran Nehme shared on X an article about Viladass favorite apartment, Ingrid Bergmans London flat in Indiscreeta decisive statement coming from someone who frequented well-designed residences.

In Portland, Maine, a 2024 ruling declassified the 19th-century building at 142 Free Street as a historic building, removing its protection as part of the Congress Square Historic District. As of late, the building has been the subject of a preservation debate in the small East Coast city, where the Portland Museum of Art (PMA), which owns the historic building, is expanding its footprint.When AN first reported on PMAs plans for expansion, we noted the growing displeasure from local groups surrounding the possible demolition of 142 Free Street. Now, despite opposition, a path has cleared for the demolition to take place. In response to the declassification, Greater Portland Landmarks (GPL)a preservation nonprofit founded in 1964appealed the decision in Cumberland County Superior Court. A judge has now rejected the appeal, siding with the museum.It doesnt need to come down to a choice between new and old. Theres room for both. And historic districts are created to allow change in that way, not to stop change, Kate Lemos McHale, executive director of GPL, shared in Back in 2024, the Historic Preservation Board, Portland Planning Board, and GPL were among those who recommended against stripping 142 Free Street of its landmarked status. However, on May 20, the city council settled the buildings fate with a 6-3 vote. Those recommending reclassification noted significant alterations to the buildings interiors. However, those who oppose the declassification and subsequent demolition noted that the columned facade, renovated by John Calvin Stevens in the 1920s, plays an important role in maintaining the integrity of nearby contributing structures. PMA acquired the property in 2019 after its previous occupant, the Childrens Museum & Theatre of Maine, decamped to a more spacious location at Portlands waterfront Thompson Point Development. Previously, the building served as the home to Portlands former Chamber of Commerce, the Free Street Baptist Church, and a theater. The demolition is part of PMAs $100 million museum expansion, which will expand its physical footprint for the first time since Henry Cobbs Payson Building opened in 1983.In 2022, the 140-year-old museum began a capital campaign (initially for $85 million) to fund its PMA Blueprint: Building A Landmark For The Future project. The plan was sparked by an exponential rise in museum attendance alongside the growth and diversification of the collection. Through this initiative, the original campus, spanning about 40,000 square feet, will double in size. Following a design competition, a jury ultimately selected a scheme led by LEVER Architecture to realize the plan.A proposed vision for the expansion at 142 Free Street includes accessible open space on the ground floor, classrooms, galleries, and a new auditorium. The space would also play into LEVERs greater Free Street concept, utilizing the facades facing Free Street as a unifier, forming a connection point between new timber additions and the four existing historical structures. In light of the rejected appeal, LEVER and PMA now have the ability to raze the current structure to make room for the new plan.

On February 10, the Cambridge, Massachusetts City Council adopted a pair of zoning reform petitions that eliminated exclusionary zoning restrictions throughout most of the municipality overnight. While major cities across the country have been adopting similar measures in recent yearsincluding Minneapolis, Austin, and SeattleCambridges reform marks an important step in tackling major affordability issues in a city long thought of as unaffordable for many, and could prove as a model for other small cities (Cambridges population is 118,000). The median sale price for a single-family house in Cambridge crested just under $2 million in 2022. Despite a brief decline since then, rental prices remain extremely high in the region, with significant increases since 2009 lows, particularly as biotechnology companies have moved into the area. The nominal 1-bedroom rental price in Cambridge currently hovers around $2,500 per month, a slight decline from 2022 highs parallel with the sales market. These trends in Cambridge are part of a larger housing affordability crisis in the Boston metro area, which has been a focal point of local politics for a number of years. Onerous zoning restrictions and the lack of a more aggressive public housing developer have stymied progress. Although Cambridge has a better track record in public housing than some municipalities, according to one of the champions of the reform, City Councillor Burhan Azeem, only 350 units were previously projected to be built in Cambridge in the next 15 years.The petitions approved last month streamline all residential neighborhoods under the same zoning code, with multifamily housing permitted in all areas except for open space. Residential construction will be allowed up to 4 stories (45 feet), or 6 stories if 20 percent of units are affordable and the lot size is at least 5,000 square feet. This will significantly shift away from the current construction market, which is dominated by single-family housing, and mark a return to a density similar to previous eras of construction, including swaths of early-20th-century housing stock whose massing and height has not been permitted in Cambridge for generations. Additional streamlining efforts within the zoning reforms will abolish step-back, Floor-Area-Ratio, and parking requirements. This will allow for more units per lot and more land to be devoted to housing, particularly as parking requirements reflect a grossly inefficient and anti-urban use of space in a city with increasingly better public transit functionality. Improvements in the petitions are significant and have the potential to radically shift not only market dynamics in housing and construction in Cambridge, but to also densify a city where parking, empty lots, and significant spans of office and research blocks limit the quality of street life. Particularly post-pandemic, parts of Cambridge, including Kendall Square, have seen large research, office, and academic projects top out. Many of the office and research clusters remain quiet day-to-day, with wind-tunnel sidewalks left empty. Zoning reform that brings more residents into the city will hopefully offset projects that directly contribute little, if anything positive, to the citys urban fabric. The other elephant in the room is the amount of land owned by universities, including apartment buildings rented on the private market to non-students.The major challenge of Cambridges growth will be affordability. While supply-side restrictions do provide leverage for landlords to continually raise rents, and an influx of construction will put pressure on that, results will still be limited without significant guarantees of low- and middle-income housing. In this area, Cambridge should learn something from New York City, where there has been backlash against affordable apartment buildings whose Area Median Income (AMI) requirements are comically high. While AMI limitations are not up to the city itself, the city will need to go out of its way to find means to support working class families and students in providing more income-restricted housing. One way to do this would be for the Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA) to take leadership as a public developer. Over 8,000 units in Cambridge are currently affordable, with only 32 percent of those under full public ownership. If the city truly wants to guarantee affordability, and recognizes the current housing shortage as a crisis, it should continue to take initiative through models of public ownership rather than waiting for the market to catch up.Chris Walton is a master of architecture candidate at Harvard GSD and a former assistant editor at AN.

Bryan C. Lee, Jr. is president of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA); founder and director of Colloqate Design, a New Orleans and Portland, Oregonbased practice; and a lecturer at Harvard GSD. NOMA, like many organizations, is navigating our present political moment in which executive orders from the Trump administration threaten civil rights; freedom of speech; and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which are at the core of NOMAs mission.Lee became NOMAs president in January and will serve a two-year term, through 2026. AN interviewed Lee to check in about how the organization is doing and his plans for his presidency. The interview was conducted over Zoom and finalized via email. AN: What is morale like at NOMA right now? What are NOMAs current priorities?Bryan C. Lee, Jr. (BL): NOMA is an organization with a history of challenging these moments, stepping up, and being forthright about situations like this. Id say were ready for this fight, but were tired of having to keep having this fight over and over again. But, you know, weve done it before. And well do it again.Our board and membership are concerned about the rollback of DEI as it pertains to student chapters being at risk in our universities and as it relates to MWBE certification for federal and state projects. We also have concerns around issues in Palestine, the genocide, and the erasure of culture there.There are a lot of issues getting brought up that our membership is at the forefront of, whether through organizing on the ground or directly at their universities.For NOMAs board, our job right now is working through the chaos and responding in a way that actually has meaningful outputs that can make our students safer and our membership more resilient through the hardest few years were going to go through in a while. AN: How has NOMA been impacted by Trumps first round of executive orders?BL: The executive order in regard to classical architecture is a moot point because Ive never known a federal or state building to finish in four years so, theoretically, things should go back to the way they were at some point.The orders concerning language and DEI will have ramifications for procuring jobs, especially for smaller firms. I dont know what to tell the big firms, but Im not really in the business of sustaining large firms that already consume all the resources in the architecture industry either; they can survive on their own.Small and mid-sized firms like mine, however, need $500,000 and $1 million dollar contracts to survive. My concern is smaller firms that partner with larger firms will no longer have access. The larger firms have always figured out ways to work, and theyll manage because they have the resources to sustain themselves. Or theyll just fire everybody like they generally do.I think there will be a knock on firms and organizations that survive off larger projects which they wouldnt be able to get otherwise. This is significant and especially so for NOMAs membership.AN: What tangible actions can NOMA take to keep students safe?BL: We will have a student roundtable soon about this. It will be less about us making decisions for students and more about understanding what students need.I have students right now in my classes at the GSD dealing with these issues. First and foremost, I want to make sure folks who are critically impacted by any given issue are the ones who can shape institutional policy.Some students feel afraid about going back to school. I understand some of the things Columbia students might be struggling with. Some are asking, Do I go back and finish class or not? or, Maybe I was at a protest these past few years. Am I at risk? We need to advocate for students who are either at risk of being deported and not being able to go to school. We also need to deal with the sustained mental trauma and constant fear of being persecuted.Generally speaking, we want to make sure that were able to protect the identity of students who speak out. Were doing our due diligence of understanding whats going on so we can act appropriately, protect peoples privacy, and make sure they have the resources they need. We want to make sure we can speak truth to power around these issues with a student perspective in mind, even if they are not speaking directly. I can handle the heat, which is part of my job as NOMAs president. But its never just a single person who does this stuff; NOMAs board is able to take a stand, if needed.AN: What are your thoughts about the plight of Ranjani Srinivasan, a doctoral candidate at Columbia GSAPP, who was targeted by ICE?BL: Speaking for myself, I think this situation represents a concerning precedent for academic institutions and their responsibilities toward students engaged in critical discourse.Columbia University has an obligation to protect its academic community. In this instance, they have failed to uphold this fundamental duty. I would expect specific, concrete action from the institution in the form of: The full reinstatement of Ranjani as a non-residential student; the provision of all necessary resources to complete their doctoral studies; [and] institutional accountability for the disruption to Ranjanis academic career.As it relates to NOMA, this case highlights broader concerns about academic freedom and international student protections that affect many in our profession. The 140-plus student chapters of NOMA and countless international students in design programs deserve better safeguards. I encourage colleagues to consider how we might collectively address these systemic issues through professional advocacy, institutional engagement, and policy reform.AN: What are some aspects of your platform as NOMA president? What gives you hope?BL: There are fewer restraints today forcing us to uphold the existing system. When the system doesnt work, I think theres an opportunity to restructure the way procurement works and the way we talk about DEI. Im much more of a justice, equity, and liberation person myself, anyway.We can build and create spaces that are actually of service to whole communities, not simply individuals with capital; we can identify the holistic version of neighborhoods that support us; and we can potentially try reducing the amount of funding that goes to the Department of Defense and instead put that money into HUD.We can change the way we think about affordable housing. What if, for instance, instead of basing affordability on AMI, we used AWIArea Wealth Inequality? And how can we acknowledge the history of violence and capital extraction that were part of urban renewal?Toward that end, at NOMA we want to develop a Benefits Toolkit empowering communities to articulate their needs and measure outcomes in architectural projects, ensuring neighborhood voices directly shape development in historically marginalized areas.Were also working on developing a NOMA JEDI Leaders Guidebook that provides comprehensive resources for firms and individuals to implement justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion principles in leadership and practice.We also want to establish a NOMA Environmental Justice Initiative addressing how architecture contributes to climate impacts, with a specific focus on reducing the 39 percent of carbon emissions and 40 percent of energy consumption attributed to the built environment.Another goal we have is to develop and implement a spatial Design Justice Practice committee that will set new standards for equitable architectural practice across the industry.AN: How is NOMA building resiliency at an institutional level?BL: Im hoping we can partner with other institutions that are also at risk. I dont know whats going to happen with the National Museum of African American History and Culture or the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. but those Smithsonian Institutions are on the chopping block, not to mention the ones at the state and local levels.I also think we have to expand outside architecture. We have to go back to working with the Urban League, the NAACP, and La Raza. We need to work with the Congressional Black Caucus and the Progressive Congressional Caucus. We want to support Black Lives Matter and the ACLU. Weve got to make sure we are working with institutions and organizations that support justice and equity in their work. I also want NOMA to establish stronger partnerships between HBCUs and communities to leverage both spatial and cultural knowledge in neighborhood revitalization projects.I dont want to give anyone clout at the moment, because everybody can change tomorrow. But, in terms of corporate entities, there are corporations that we would like to work with that are leaning into these issues. There are not a lot of them, and I dont know if there are any I can point to immediately, but part of our work right now is identifying whos real and whos not.

Crates of Select Aperitivo and champagne are currently being carted throughout Milan and stocked in showrooms. The carbonated calling card can only mean one thing: Milan Design Week is near. This year, design week coincides with the 63rd edition ofSalone del Mobile, the year of Euroluce, which will bring 2,100 exhibitors to the city. One week out from spritz season and the inbox and calendar are filling up with invites and appointments. Already a theme appears to be emerging: theater. Salones special guest this year is Robert Wilson, renowned American director, playwright, and artist who will be creating an installation titledRobert Wilson. Motherfor the fair. Elsewhere, Formafantasma will mount a theatrical performance,Staging Modernity, at Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber for Cassina. Some designers will even be sleeping in the showroom among their worksbut more on that later.Amid the flurry of upcoming activations,AN Interiorrounded up these enlightening and engaging events. In addition to the weeks staples like the fair and Alcova, these perhaps lesser-known destinations will provide not just the spectacle surrounding Salone, but also thought-provoking and moving ruminations on design.The Theater of Things features a bench by Laurids Galle, vases by Espace Aygo, and a carpet by Stefania Ruggiero (Piercarlo Quiecchia/DSL Studio)The Theater of ThingsDelvis (Un)LimitedVia Fatebenefratelli 9, 20121 MilanDesign is only as good as it is livable, and this new exhibition hosted atDelvis (Un)Limitedgallery puts this to the test. For the duration of design week, designers will be living at the galleryyes, eating, sleeping, and partying in the spaceall visible through the shop window. Each night, one of the seven designers, whose work will help shape the home/gallery, will spend the night, and each morning, a critic or journalist will wake them for coffee and engage in discussion about the experience. The participating designers include Objects of Common Interest, Linde Freya Tangelder, Espace Aygo, Rich Aybar, Laurids Galle, Stefania Ruggiero, and Niki Danai. The exhibition is curated by Valentina Ciuffi and Joseph Grima and designed by Space Caviar. A render showcases Rockwells installation and the lifelike tree it features (Courtesy Rockwell Group)Casa CorkVia Solferino 31, 20121 MilanIn partnership with nonprofit Cork Collective and cork producer Corticeira Amorim,Rockwell Grouphas designed an installation that showcases the prowess of cork, both from a sustainability standpoint and its interior applications. The material will be used to craft the interiors, furnishings, lighting, and a lifelike replica tree. Students from Parsons School of Design in New York and Politecnico di Milano will also be presenting cork prototypes at the atelier.Vocla is a new platform from Alcova (P. Sorgetti)VOCLAEx-Macello di Viale MoliseViale Molise 68, 20137 MilanAlcovamakes it return to the citybut only for night owls. VOCLA is a new platform for design by night. Catering to design experimentation as well as social gathering, VOCLA brings together a design exhibit and a bar and restaurant pop-up to create places of encounter. Henge designed the custom lounge bar with dining by Yapa. This program will be held in the exchange of the former slaughterhouse of Viale Molise, a listed Liberty building. Designers include Weronika Woliskas textile-inflatable collaboration, made by astronauts studios hydroforming research, and more. Get those Resys in now to dine within design.The exhibition features objects from prisons around the world (Piercarlo Quiecchia/DSL Studio)Prison Times Spatial Dynamics of Penal EnvironmentsVia Giovanni Battista Sammartini 60, 20125 MilanAcross five ofDropcitys tunnels, the exhibitionPrison Times Spatial Dynamics of Penal Environmentsdelves into the spatial and temporal realities of prison environments. Objects from prisons around the world will be displayed clinically and taxonomically to create a show that merges design, market data, and penal objects. The 14 pyramid and 141 piece by Bocci (Kate Williams)The Numbers Between The NumbersVia Giuseppe Rovani 20, 20123 MilanIn celebration ofBoccis 20th anniversary, this exhibition explores the work and process of its founderOmer Arbel. The artist and architect presents archival concepts, fragments of works, and completed pieces. The exhibitions creative direction is led by David Alhadeff, founder ofThe Future Perfect. The showcase will culminate in a reimagining of 14, Boccis first-ever piece, as well as show the recently debuted 141.Hydro will present R100 with post-consumer recycled aluminum (Courtesy Hydro)Capsule PlazaSpazio Maiocchi: Via Achille Maiocchi 7, 20129 MilanSatellite Venue 1: Via Achille Maiocchi 23, 20129 MilanSatellite Venue 2: Piazza Risorgimento 8, 20129 MilanThe third edition of Capsule Plaza features the theme Expanded Living, an exploration of the design of lifestyles and domesticity. Featured exhibitors include HEM, Stone Island, Harry Nuriev, Sabine Marcellis,Hydro, and many more. This year, the exhibition will include the activations Spazio Maiocchi, the same venue Capsule was held last year, as well as two satellite venues. The Marghe chair for Flou in 1993 (Courtesy Flou)More or less 60 chairs in 60 yearsFondazione studio museo Vico MagistrettiVia Vincenzo Bellini 1, 20122 MilanoIn 1980, architect and designer Vico Magistretti organized an exhibit titled,Twenty Years, Twenty Chairs. When he reached 21 chairs he staged another exhibit,Twenty One Years, Twenty One Chairs. Now,Fondazione studio museo Vico Magistretticontinues the traditionmore or less. The exhibition follows a timeline of original drawings and photographic reproductions of 66 chairs with a dozen or so available to the public to sit and lounge.Rooms Studio presents Re-Assembled Floor Lamp (Lile Revishvili)Sub-currents (At work)Studio Frey BarthVia Kramer 32, 20129 MilanTbilisi- and ParisbasedRooms Studiopresents an exhibition of new furniture, lighting, and ceramic works that reflect the shifting political and social landscape in Georgia. Hosted byStudio Frey Barth, this presentation is both poetic and quietly political as it captures the unique moment in Georgian history. Featured among the new work, Re-assembled Floor Lamps is a set of utilitarian lighting the aesthetic of captures urban protest sites.Bitossi Ceramichealso contributes vessels that bridge ancient tradition and contemporary design languages.

Architecture competitions are big business; offices like Malcolm Reading Consultants play huge roles in determining who gets to build what. Look no further than Norways Kistefos Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, Londons British Museum and Sainsbury Wing, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, or Helsinkis New Museum of Architecture and Designinternational competitions often become guessing games over who will win, and so often its the usual suspects who take home the big fish. Online gambling has been legal in the U.S. since 2018, and its since grown into a $6.5 billion industry, so why shouldnt architecture get into the action? Amid March Madness, The Architects Newspaper announces its own new online gambling platform, AN BETS, which allows the risk-inclined to speculate on the worlds biggest architecture projects. Architecture, after all, is a public art, so why shouldnt the public have a say in who gets to break ground? We should always be learning from Las Vegas, after all.AN BETS is a platform for betting. Want to bet on who will be the next SCI-Arc dean? AN BETS has you covered. You can also now win big on guessing wholl win the next Pritzker Prizeif the jury decides to go with a crowd favorite instead of a deep cut. Go ahead, take a gamble. You can now go all in on who will win the next big architecture competition overseas, or put all your chips on a two-way parlay on lawsuits between architects and clients.I always bet on Bjarke cuz he has rizz, and I really admire his grindset. Plus, he even dresses like me, a 24-year-old financial analyst told AN.He has a go big or go home mentality me and my boys can really relate to.Inspired by recent success at DraftKings, ESPN BETS, and Polymarket, AN BETS will disrupt the industry. Im new to architecture but I feel like its always the same people who win these competitions, its getting kind of boring, one accounting intern said. I think its time to mix it up.To get $125 in free credits, download the AN BETS app and enter promo code: ANBETS125.AN BETS abides by rules set by the National Council on Problem Gambling. All architecture gamblers must be over the age of 21.If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help call 1-800-GAMBLER.

In the age of AI and fake news hysteria, companies and brands consistently come out flexing every April 1 with pranks and jokes that sometimes make us laugh in ridicule and also pause to say but wait, actually, what if?As in past years, AN editors searched the internet and social media for urbanism- and architecture-related jokes. From Wrights original design for a glass elevator at the Guggenheim to a fast lane for New York City residents who travel by foot, here are some of the jokes that circulated online today.And ICYMI, did you fall for ANs prank? Guggenheim New YorkThe Guggenheim always pulls out all the stops on April Fools Day. This year the Fifth Avenue museum playfully posted about a proposal to add a glass elevator to the exterior of the spiraling Frank Lloyd Wright building. If real, it would envision the architects original design intent.Chicago Architecture CenterChicago Architecture Center shared its love for Chicago architects in its joke. On its Instagram the CAC shared that its docents are now tattoo artists too and can emblazon your skin with your favorite building designers.View this post on InstagramA post shared by Chicago Architecture Center (@chiarchitecture)Harry Potter Shop on Chicagos Michigan AvenueI solemnly swear Im up to no good rings true in the Chicago River where larger-than-life jelly beans sporting fun colors are floating along. The installation stunt is timely, part April Fools but really a marketing ploy for the new Harry Potter shop opening on April 10.View this post on InstagramA post shared by The Harry Potter Shop (@harrypottershop) Secret NYCOnline publication Secret NYC pulled a fast one with its prank, poking fun at slow-walking tourists. The joke is that a new locals only sidewalk lane would fast track residents just trying to get on with their day.View this post on InstagramA post shared by Secret NYC (@secret_nyc)New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT)In the spirit of walking, the New York City Department of Transportation announced its launch of a new hotline for when map apps GPS you directions on busy roadways. In the comments section the general consensus was: this may actually be a good idea?Downtown OrlandoIn Orlando, the City also has plans to keep pedestrians moving. It shared detailed, rather convincing renderings on its Instagram of moving walkways instead of sidewalk along Orange Avenue and Church Street.View this post on InstagramA post shared by Downtown Orlando (@dwntwn_orlando)Hudson YardsHudson Yards imagined a go-karting track outside the Vessel. Congestion pricing, is that you?View this post on InstagramA post shared by Hudson Yards New York (@hudsonyards) Rice UniversityFor fans of more jerky flavors than you can count and beaver nuggets, Rice University shared a cunning jest that it plans to add a Buc-ees inside Lovett Hall. In the post the Texas-based university joked construction would start as early as this summer.View this post on InstagramA post shared by @riceuniversityEmbassy of France in the U.S.The Embassy of France in the U.S. made fun of the Louvre-like pyramid building in Memphis, Tennessee that houses a Bass Pro Shop, in a post on Instagram that the French art institution would also be a one-stop-shop for all your fishing, hunting, and boating gear.View this post on InstagramA post shared by Embassy of France in the U.S. (@franceintheus)Bryant ParkFor those seeking summertime temperatures and beach fun Bryant Park shared a pool-themed prank that would turn its fountain into a lazy river where visitors can float around in tubes while soaking in the Midtown skyline.View this post on InstagramA post shared by Bryant Park (@bryantparknyc) Virginia Beach Magazine and Shore Drive ShuffleSimilarly, Virginia Beach Magazine and Shore Drive Shuffle also have the crazy idea to turn the Virginia Beach Boardwalk into a lazy river. According to the pranksters, if realized it would be the second-longest lazy river in the country.View this post on InstagramA post shared by The Virginia Beach Magazine (@vabeachmag)

The eternal city that changes forever is the slogan coined by the mayor of Rome for the 2025 Jubilee. Every 25 years, believers from around the world flock to the city to step through one of its four holy doors and have their sins forgiven. But it seems that Rome itself is hoping for some forgiveness, too. In Italys capital, public works are often slow to be decided, even slower to begin, and nearly impossible to finish on time. As Marco DEramo writes, the city is governed by four key forces: public administration, the church, the real estate sector, and the tourism industry. This quadriga makes processes, competitions, and decisions anything but agile. A prime example of how long things take can be seen in the development of the citys metro network. Work on Metro B began in the 1930s but was halted by World War II. It resumed in 1948, with the first section inaugurated in 1955. A few more stops were added in 1990, and the project was finally completed 64 years later, in 2012. Metro A was a bit faster: It took 36 years to finish after starting in 1964, with the final section being completed in 2000. Currently, Metro C is under construction. Its initial plan ran from 2007 to 2013, with the first station opening in 2015 and a second station following in 2018. Its full completion, promised in time for the Jubilee, remains uncertain.Although mass transit might be one of the more utilitarian projects planned for the Jubilee (and certainly no easy task given Romes rich archaeological history), the Metro project is an example of how things often work in the city. Presently, over 300 urban renewal projects are underway, with a total investment of around 3.5 billion euros. Romans have watched the construction sites pop up at nearly every corner of the city with a mix of curiosity and skepticism, wondering how many projects will actually be finished. Large banners and scaffolding havent gone unnoticed by tourists either, with humorous videos circulating on social media that showcase impaired sightseeing experiences. Meanwhile, the citys mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, is running his own social media campaign to promote the works. One of the most ambitious projects is the redevelopment of Piazza Pia into a pedestrian zone, which was inaugurated on December 23, 2024, just in time for the start of the Holy Year. An existing underpass was extended to create a large public square to directly connect Castel SantAngelo and both sides of the Tiber River to St. Peters Basilica. The redesign offers a new walkway and, perhaps more importantly, new sightlines. Its now possible to view the papal basilica head-on from before the start of Via della Conciliazione, a street designed in 1936 by Marcello Piacentini following Pope Pius XIs request to Mussolini for a triumphal avenue highlighting Michelangelos dome. And indeed, its a triumph to experience the view, the proximity to the river and city, and most notably, the absence of carsRomes main handicapon such a vast stretch of land.Its nearly all right, at least. What also stands in view are two circular fountains that appear to have been designed without any particular criteria other than not interfering with the surrounding culture. Unfortunately, their meaningless slanted lines detract from the rich historical context around them. Theres no clear architectural signature on this or other interventions, a condition that reflects the growing trend of anonymous Italian infrastructure that emerges from the need to efficiently spend European recovery funds, whether in Piazza Pia or the tourist harbor of Palermo. As one Roman notes, even if one were to praise these works, it would be unclear to whom those compliments should go. Faced with tight deadlines, the city planner evidently took no time for considerations of authorship. Many of the projects underway feel more like cosmetic changes rather than genuine progress. On Via Nomentana, bike lanes have been painted in red, but the potholes that cyclists risk falling into remain untouched. Parking islands in the middle of the road have been tidied up with a tree here and there, but no attempt has been made to rethink traffic and transportation as a whole. What, then, is the radical vision for Rome in 2050? If the metro system cannot be built successfully, why not invest in the best bike lanes in Europe? If traditional basalt stones are no longer availablemore on that in a momentwhy not replace paved squares with gardens and green spaces? Whats at stakeor what should be at stakeis nothing less than Romes identity today and in the next 25 years. An illustrious urban research lab, Laboratorio Roma050, led by Stefano Boeri, has been commissioned by the municipality to consult on Romes future, but the opportunity for renewal and forward-thinking urban design and policymaking that this Jubilee presents has largely gone unrealized. Despite the allusions toor illusions ofthe Eternal City, 92 percent of Rome is modern. The historic center is but a small drop of water in a vast urban lake. Yet, Romes complexity and enormous urban sprawl are seldom considered in the broader narrative of the city, as though Le Corbusiers drawing from 1932 is the only image Rome could ever aspire to.It is this outdated notion of identity that holds Italys capital captive. The aforementioned basalt stones are a key example. Heritage authorities have insisted that certain roads and squares be paved with traditional sampietrini, Romes iconic square pavement stones, first used in the 16th century and given their name in 1725, when they were used to replace pavement in St. Peters Square. Even though the quarries and labor conditions that once produced them no longer exist in the Lazio region and the few remaining stones are prohibitively expensive, the authorities have opted to import similar-looking stones from Vietnam. Of course, Italys heritage authorities are known for their rigid, arbitrarily conservative approach, and issues like transport emissions, labor ethics, and resource scarcity are unlikely to be considered anytime soon. This, perhaps, is Romes real problem: What standard should this eternal, yet eternally changing, city be held to?Izabela Anna Moren is a researcher, writer, and curator, as well as a PhD candidate at the University of Tor Vergata in Rome and a lecturer in architecture and environment at Syracuse University in Florence.

Power plants make for good art spaces. Herzog & de Meuron, for instance, famously transformed a shuttered factory in London into Tate Modern. Another example of artsy adaptive reuse is St. Anns Warehouse in Brooklyn. Today, Garces de Seta Bonet Arquitectes (GdSB), a Spanish firm, and New Yorkbased Marvel are working together to transform an abandoned Barcelona factory, recognizable for its three chimneys, into an exhibition space.Tres Xemeneies/Three Chimneys will anchor Barcelonas burgeoning Catalunya Media City, astrategic project of the Catalan government that will host audiovisual, digital, and video game projects. The development is taking place in Sant Adri de Bess, a Barcelona suburb.(Courtesy Garcs de Seta Bonet Arquitectes/Marvel)The former thermal plant where the culture center will be sited was built in the 1970s, but closed in 2011. Its three chimneys are 650 feet tall, recognizable from far away, marking some of the tallest structures in the region.Since closing, the plant has been managed by Front Martim del Bess, but that entity has since ceded the turbine hall over to the Generalitat de Catalunya for redevelopment.The redesign by GdSB and Marvel breaks up the complex into four zones, architects said. Space for educational programming; research, residency, and business incubators; experience and exhibitions; and a resource center for the Catalan audiovisual industry will all abound.The future centers main space will be its main hall. (Courtesy GdSB and Marvel)There will be a 5,300-square-foot auditorium that can host up to 250 people. There will also be an immersive, 4,300-square-foot room with ceiling heights almost 90 feet tall. Two recording studios, a mixing room, a color grading room, and an editing suite will also occupy space, as well as two UX labs, a workshop, a fabrication lab, a library, and meeting rooms. The main space at Tres Xemeneies/Three Chimneys will be its central space for concerts and lectures. Anna Bonet, GdSB cofounding partner, compared the future Barcelona institutions main hall with large-scale exhibition spaces reminiscent of the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern in London, the Aviva Studios Warehouse in Manchester, or the Park Avenue Armory in New York.A generous promenade will offer outdoor experiences. (Courtesy GdSB and Marvel)The architects plan to keep the existing structure intact while adding a new addition to complete the building. (Courtesy GdSB and Marvel)GdSB and Marvel won a Catalan government-backed competition to design the project; that pair beat out 26 preliminary entries. Daria de Seta, GdSB cofounder, called her offices design an ode to Fellini, the lauded Italian filmmaker. The project itself is titled E la nave va, and the ship sails on in English. The Tres Xemeneies represent an icon of Catalonias industrial heritage that we aim to preserve and enhance, said Guido Hartray, a founding partner at Marvel.The architects noted that they intend on keeping the existing structure intact while adding a new addition that extends and completes the building. The new addition will connect the interior of the turbine hall with outdoor space, replete with great views of the sea and mountains.The interiors will be lined in concrete and other materials. (Courtesy GdSB and Marvel)The only substantial modification to the existing factory building, architects continued, will be transversal cuts that create a harmonious transition between the terrain and the urban pavement, fostering an organic integration with the surroundings. We have designed a proposal that plays with connections and knotstemporal, landscape, and territorial, GdSB cofounder Jordi Garces said. One of the key features will be linking the city with the sea, where users and residents can share a large communal space. For the first time, there will be a balcony facing Badalona. The architectural elements at different heights will offer new landscape perspectives, as if it were a land art piece.The ground level will have ample daylighting. (Courtesy GdSB and Marvel)Transforming an infrastructure that has had a heavy environmental impact in the past into one that drives the future of media collaboration while utilizing the existing structures weight to lighten the new programs energy footprint, seems to us, like a worthy goal for the future of architecture, Jonathan Marvel of Marvel Architects noted.Construction will begin in summer 2025 and conclude no later than 2028.

Thanks to a $300 million gift by philanthropist Richard Hedreen, Seattle University (SU) will soon boast a new art museum to complement its new art school, the Cornish College of the Arts. The future Seattle Museum of Art will be located near the campuss main entrance within a new building designed by Olson Kundig. To make way for the Seattle Museum of Art, a beloved theater, the Lee Center for the Arts, will be razed. Anniyah Fitzhugh, a SU communications and theater major, called the Lee Center critical space for students and community members to express themselves, collaborate, and celebrate the arts.The gallery spaces were designed with flexibility in mind. (Courtesy Seattle University)Renderings show the future museum occupying a prominent corner site clad in wooden slats. Both stories are expressed with different material elements; the ground floor has ample open space and the second floor is regulated by fins, which help control interior natural light. Its flexible gallery spaces will accommodate performance art, music, and select theater productions. Both Seattle University and Olson Kundig describe the future building as a teaching museum. The building will permanently house and display the Hedreen art collection, which includes more than 200 works.The Hedreen art collection has pieces from the 15th and 16th centuries through modernism with pieces from Jacopo da Pontormo, Thomas Gainsborough, Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, among many others.The collection on view will include works all the way from the 15th century through modernism. (Courtesy Seattle University)In addition to showcasing a spectacular collection of art, the new museum serves a beacon to both the campus and the surrounding community, Tom Kundig said in a statement. It carries forward the agenda and ambition of the Chapel of St. Ignatius, framing a flexible gathering space between the two buildings that could be a future campus green.Both stories are expressed with different material elements. (Courtesy Seattle University)Past museum projects by Olson Kundig include the Burke Museum at the University of Washington, the Bo Bartlett Center at Columbus State University, and two wings of the Tacoma Art Museum.Groundbreaking on the Seattle University Museum of Art will commence August 2026.The museum will open in 2028.

Tilemakers continue to innovate on texture and color, incorporating cutoffsas is the case with Salvatoris Patchworkusing natural volcanic stone like Zia Tile, or sticking to the techniques of yore, like the Mesa Tiles ancient slab building method. (Courtesy Nemo Tile + Stone)Park AvenueNemo Tile + Stone(Courtesy Zia Tile)CanteraZia Tile (Courtesy Porcelanosa)TerraPorcelanosa(Courtesy In Common With)Mesa TilesIn Common With (Courtesy Salvatori)PatchworkSalvatori(Courtesy Cosentino)Dekton Pietra EditionCosentino(Courtesy Marble Systems)MajestyMarble Systems

At a 65-acre fossil park in Mantua, New Jersey, 66-million-year old marine and terrestrial fossils are sited below ground. Rowan University purchased the land from Inversand Company in January 2016 for $1.9 million.In its post-quarry days the site was frequented by hobbyist and professional paleontologists. More recently, theJean & Ric Edelman Fossil Park & Museum of Rowan University was built atop this landscape; the highly-anticipated museum building, nested on a ridge between a lake and quarry overlook, was designed by Ennead Architects, KSS Architects and G&A. A 44,000-square-foot museum anchors the marl quarry-turned-fossil park, one of the largest public net-zero carbon emissions building in New Jersey. Inside, full-scale reconstructions of extinct creatures hang from the ceiling and stand on plinths to share history with themes that still resonate today.Other exhibitions and programming include hands-on learning experiences, live animal attractions, a collections and conservation facility, a virtual reality chamber, a 138-seat theater and event space, and community gathering spaces. Theres also a cafe with an outdoor veranda that overlooks the quarry.G&A provided exhibition design services. (Jeff Goldberg/Esto)The design draws from the truly profound nature of this site, unique in the world for its evidence about the calamitous fate of the dinosaurs, Thomas J. Wong, Ennead design partner, shared in a statement.As visitors encounter the rich variety of experiences that the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum has to offer, they gain a greater understanding of the deep past, are shown how that relates to the current state of our planet, and are encouraged to take action to shape a better future for us all, Wong continued. The boxy building comprises several rectangular volumes clad in wood. Inside the exhibition space, glulam columns and beams, timber roof decking, and renewable materials also make up the assembly. Bird-friendly glass was applied in the windows which frame stunning views of the context.Glulam columns and beams, glulam timber roof decking, and renewable materials make up the assembly. (Jeff Goldberg/Esto)A state-of-the-art fossil lab facilitates research. (Jeff Goldberg/Esto)A range of exhibition content presents material to museum patrons. (Jeff Goldberg/Esto)In regard to its sustainable properties, the building practices what it preaches: It lives up to standards set by the Energy Petal Certification of the Living Building Challenge. This was enabled by massing and orientation strategies taken by designers which minimize heating and cooling loads.An all-electric mechanical system assists in clean, on-site energy production. A geothermal system connected to on-site wells further reduces heating and cooling loads.In other words, as museum executive director Kenneth Lacovara put it: No fossil fuels at the fossil park.

As bathhouses and saunas steadily grow in popularity, Therme Group, a global wellness company that operates large-scale resorts for rejuvenation, has been working to develop a broad international portfolio. So far, Therme has announced plans for facilities in Canada, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. With a new location announced for Poplar Point in Washington, D.C., it looks like plans for the U.S. are full steam ahead. With origins in thermal bathing traditions from ancient cultures, the first iteration of the Therme concept was developed in the late 1990s by German architect Josef Wund. The Munich facility opened in 1999, and features a thermal spa, pools, and saunas surrounded by real palm trees.Around the WorldThe urban infrastructure of Therme facilities focuses on recreation and rejuvenation, with arts, entertainment, and cultural programming alongside the spa, fitness, and dining facilities. The Therme DC project is a 15-acre health and wellness complex with thermal baths, saunas, wet rooms, immersive art, and a variety of restaurants. Therme recently announced plans to bring a 24-acre facility and campus to Dallas. While site plans for the Poplar Point outpost have yet to be released, Therme is targeting the same LEED Platinum certification it received on its second operational location in Bucharest. At this location, about 10,000 people from Bucharest and beyond sink into the steamy waters each day.With the North American rollout in Toronto facing public criticism, the jurys out on whether or not U.S. plans will catch any heat. Cities thrive when they create spaces that bring people together. Around the world, were seeing a growing demand for third spacesplaces where culture, nature and community intersect, shared Robert Hammond, president of Therme Group US and cofounder of The High Line in New York City.Plants and trees in the bathing facilities feed into Thermes urban oasis concept, promoting year-round access to nature. (Courtesy Therme Group)Site-SpecificLocated on the east side of the Anacostia River between the Frederick Douglass and 11th Street bridges, the site is one of the last significant waterfront development opportunities on the East Coast, according to Therme Group. Poplar Point, a parcel of nearly 110-acres containing a mix of accessible open space, wetlands, and wooded park, has been awaiting development since the enactment of the DC Lands Act in 2006. Now, almost 20 years later, it looks like Therme may have cracked the code.To kickstart its entry into the U.S., Therme Group submitted a proposal in response to a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) released in 2024 by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED). Following the successful model of mixed-use developments across the Anacostia Waterfront including The Wharf and The Yards, the key goals of the RFEI include creating a new mixed-income waterfront neighborhood, attracting high growth industries, and increasing tourism. The project represents a breakthrough for the satisfaction of stipulations in the DC Land Act that would allow the conveyance of Poplar Point from the National Park Service to The District. Alongside the arrival of Therme DC, the site is expected to include a new public park connected to the existing Anacostia Park and Anacostia River Trail, which will span 70 acres. The Georgetown Companydeveloper and owner of commercial, retail and mixed-use propertiesis the exclusive development partner for Therme US.Early visualizations of the project showcase expansive greenspace, with wooden bridges and plants to encourage the habitation of local wildlife. The continuation of plants and trees in the bathing facilities feeds into Thermes urban oasis concept, promoting year-round access to nature.The project is undergoing an environmental assessment as part of the ongoing land use plan, with the official construction date and more design details to be announced.

Los Angeles sometimes faces derision for itslack of history, but one beloved element of its past is being revived in Culver City. As of last November, Helms Bakery, which baked and delivered bread to Angelenos from 1931 to 1969, is now back in action, this time as a market hall with a forthcoming all-day cafeand, of course, a bakery. To lead the project, Studio UNLTD channeled a bit of nostalgia when incorporating elements of the original industrial bakery space but largely pushed a design that looks more to the future than the past. To be able to pump life into something and give the district back its heritage was really the thing that drew me to this project, Greg Bleier, founding principal of Studio UNLTD, told AN. Bleier, a seasoned interior designer for revered area restaurants such as Bestia and Bavel, also jumped at the chance to work with the chef and restaurateur Sang Yoon, who spearheaded this latest addition to the Helms District, where he operates a location of his beloved restaurant Fathers Office amid design showrooms, retail shops, and an art bookstore.The new market and restaurant from chef Sang Yoon revives the name and location of a legendary Los Angeles bread brand that closed in 1969. (Stephen Paul)The chef is known in part for his obstinacy about condiments: His Office burger is famously served as is, topped with caramelized onion, bacon, and Gruyre, with no substitutions and no ketchup. At Helms Bakery, Yoon collaborated with Studio UNLTD more cordially, perhaps, though Bleier noted that the concept took some inspiration from the chefs appreciation of the popular upscale Erewhon markets; Bleier also indulged Yoons desire to include a vintage-style flipboard, which announces daily specials. (Yoons team operates the entire market.)Oak cladding skirts the front of the counters.(Stephen Paul)Otherwise, Studio UNLTD set out to design a flow that would allow customers to shop from Helms Bakerys various counters, picking up coffee and juice pastries, as well as provisions, in a seamless experience. Im a big fan of facades that step in, Bleier said with a laugh. The first thing I did was step the facade of the building to create a covered patio area so that [we] werent just pushing people out onto the street. From there, Studio UNLTD employed an eyebrow element to create a datum to define the stalls; branding from local firm folklor adds to the retro-chic vibe. Bleier and his team leveraged existing elements from the building, including a bow-trussed roof and skylights that bathe the space in light while incorporating what he referred to as the basic tectonics of architecture, like character oak cladding on the skirt fronting the counters, plaster finishings, concrete, glass, and steel. The 6,880-square-foot main floor is dotted with subtle art deco elements, while khaya mahogany planks were used to create custom checkout stands, a nod to the Helms Bakery delivery coaches and their wooden racks.Studio UNLTDs design for Helms Bakery features subtle art deco references, with like minded branding by folklor. (Stephen Paul)Studio UNLTDs designs spin the projects inherent nostalgia with a contemporary touch. The forthcoming cafe, Dinette, also from Yoon, will feature an entry with fluted-glass panels. Inside, antique mirror and glass frame the seating areas.Studio UNLTD aimed to celebrate the history of the Helms Bakery brand with elements such as antique-inspired mirrors while maintaining a fresh-looking design scheme. (Stephen Paul)The cleanliness and brightness and the simplicity of it is where that modernity shines, Bleier explained of the renovated Helms Bakery. Consider it a new addition that also creates another chapter in Los Angeless evolving history.Project SpecificationsDesign Architect: Studio UNLTDArchitect of Record: Oakes ArchitectsGeneral Contractor: WNM RealtyInterior Design: Studio UNLTDStructural Engineering: Reiss Brown EkmekjiElectrical Engineering: Creative Engineering GroupLighting Design: Studio UNLTDGlazing Contractor: Rubens Glass ServiceAV: SquareEye NetworksSignage/Wayfinding: FolklorWindows: Torrance SteelLighting: Neptune Glassworks, Lusive, Nuura, RejuvenationArchitectural Lighting: Amerlux, Core Lighting, Tivoli, BK Lighting, Columbia Lighting

The deadline forANs Best of Practice Award has been extended another week. Submissions will now be accepted until April 4, 2025 at midnight ET. Best of Practice is a program that honors the companies designing better, fairer practices in the AEC Industry. From contractors and developers to architects, landscape architects, engineers, and consultants, Best of Practice celebrates companies that not only create well-designed work, but are also themselves well-designed. Winners and honorable mentions will be featured in the year-end Best of 2025 print issue, online, and on ANs social media channels.This year, the jury includes Tizziana Baldenebro, the executive director the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation; Antoine Bryant, managing director of Gensler Detroit; Anne Marie Duvall Decker, principal of Duvall Decker; Diane Lipovsky, principal and cofounder of Superbloom; Enrica Oliva, adjunct associate professor of Pratt Institute School of Architecture; Steve Radom, founder and managing principal of Radom Capital; Jacob Reidel, assistant professor in practice at Harvard Graduate School of Design; and Jack Murphy,ANs own executive editor.The application is quick, requiring a firm narrative, images, and an optional client testimonial. Reduced price entry is provided for companies who are emerging (founded within the last five years). Learn more about eligibility and the submission process and enter Best of Practice via ANs award site.

New York Citys premier WNBA franchise is touting what the sports organization calls the first-ever practice facility designed by players, for players. Populous is ideating the New York Liberty venue in Brooklyns Greenpoint neighborhood, in collaboration with professional athletes and Clara Wu Tsai, Governor of the New York Liberty. Hot off their 2024 WNBA Championship win, Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, and Breanna Stewart have been working with Populous to inform the design of the new practice facility. In a recent press statement, the New York Liberty noted that Ionescu, Jones, and Stewart offered Populous insights that are unique to women and helped optimize player performance and best accommodate their multi-faceted lifestyles.The practice facility will connect with an existing historic building. (Courtesy New York Liberty)I am grateful to be a part of an organization who recognizes the power of investment in their players, and ensures we have everything we need to be at top of our game at all times, Ionescu shared. It was amazing to sit down with Populous and walk through what is most important to us as athletes to be successful in all aspects of our lives. This facility is a massive next step for the New York Liberty.Black fins line the exterior of the new building. (Courtesy New York Liberty)The practice courts will be flood with natural light. (Courtesy New York Liberty)Renderings show a sleek structure attached to the backside of an existing brick building. An array of fins enclose two full-sized practice courts and regulate sunlight. The interiors are to be lined with earth tones, wood, and masonryevoking team colors black and green. A 2-story strength training room will have a balcony deck that overlooks the practice courts.The future, 75,000-square-foot practice facility tosses away the design of conventional locker rooms with shared spaces, instead delivering a revolutionary locker room concept, in which players will have their own private suite. This is a great take on reshaping what a locker room is, because it is not only about building team chemistry, but also giving players space for personal time, Jones said. It is important to let our personalities shine and have a place where you can really express yourself. This new facility is not only about functionality, it is about creating a space that truly reflects who we are as athletes and people.Two full practice courts will be equipped with remote cameras and data tracking technology. Meanwhile, an outdoor basketball court will facilitate clinics between the public and Liberty players, and also the Brooklyn Nets. Three floors will be set aside for the Libertys front office staff, which has grown in recent years. There will also be a media workroom for podcasting and broadcasts.A roof deck dining area will look out toward the New York City skyline. Other building amenities include meals from private chefs, as well as wellness facilities to promote health and relaxation. Steam, sauna, and message rooms will be sited in the full recovery suite. Players can unwind in facilities for hydrotherapy, hyperbaric chambers, infrared, and red-light therapy and book appointments forhair, nail, and makeup treatments.Unlike conventional locker rooms, players will have dedicated rooms. (Courtesy New York Liberty)Additionally, two private family lounges will host separate family and nursing areas. As a mom, Im especially grateful for the family roomsit means everything to know my family is cared for while I stay locked in on my craft, Stewart said. One of the main things that drew me to the New York Liberty organization is the level of investment in us as athletes, Jones added. We just won a championship, and in the same way they expect us to level up and step up our game, our ownership group and leadership continues to raise the bar, and this facility is a perfect example of that. This is what makes our organization great and why it will continue to be relevant as the years go on.Other women sports teams have also started investing in new, purpose-built stadiums and facilities; in California Olson Kundig is designing practice grounds for women soccer team Bay FC and Generator Studiorecently completed a new venue for the Kansas City Current.The $80 million practice facility will open in 2027.

Hello WhimsyIn London, Leopold Banchini Architects uplifts arts and crafts for wine bar Goodbye HorsesByKelly Pau March 31, 2025International (Rory Gardiner)SHAREJapanese folk art, William Morris, and the wider English arts and crafts movement informGoodbye Horses, a new wine bar in Londons De Beauvoir Town. The bars interior, outfitted byLeopold Banchini Architects, prioritizes natural materials, abundant lighting, local craftsmanship, artist collaboration, and swaths of colorful doodles. Drawing from these movements and local heritage, the bar takes a stance against our eras never-ending focus on screens and stimulation. Instead, Goodbye Horses bids farewell to the overwhelming and hello to a sense of being present and convivial. While the interior draws inspiration from across cultures, the bar has a distinct sense of regional sourcing. Located in an old brick building, original walls and materials are preserved and, where modified, were handled with local know-how. The existing walls are painted with limewash and old-fashioned roughcast. The dark green paint acts as a datum that helps proportion the space and add color. The flooring utilizes beaten earth, a mix of soil, straw, and clay with a natural linseed oil coating, commonly used in countryside pubs of yore.Read more on aninteriormag.com. BarsLondon

Architecture firms that specialize in science and technology work, or larger companies with divisions that specialize in lab and research facilities, have spent the last few years pivoting toward different project types, as the boom years of biotech building continue to fizzle. The designers who specialize in building spaces for innovation need to innovate how they sell their services and find work. A pandemic-era upswing in life sciences investment created a lab building boom in 2021 and 2022, which has since created a supply glut, with tens of millions of square feet of brand-new, empty lab space in top markets such as San Diego, Boston, and the Bay Area. The resultwith a third of the nations lab space empty and in search of tenantshas been a near-complete shutdown in new lab construction and corresponding demand for lab architecture.Cooper Carry renovation of Halyard Health Corporate Research and Development Facility (Courtesy Cooper Carry)Its down across the country, except for a few exceptions in Texas and across the Front Range in the Rocky Mountains, said Ed Cordes, Perkins&Wills leader of the firms science and technology practice, which employs about 300. We think were about three years out before all the new lab supply gets absorbed. Its not great.In addition, the Donald Trump administration has severely curtailed federal support for research funding and universities. The push to cap whats called indirect costs at 15 percentsupport for basic research including materials and labormeans billions of fewer dollars will go to universities that would support the ongoing operations of new and existing research centers. Ken Richter, National Life Science Sector Lead for Project Management Advisors, an industry consultancy, said these cuts represent a significant headwind for an important part of the industry, and some research institutions are canceling or putting large developments on hold. Gavin Keith, Life Science Core Market Leader at DPR, said that over the last four years, the lab real estate most affected by oversupply have been the commercial biotech developments for startups and emerging markets done by commercial developers and real estate investment trusts. Architects tend to focus on the academic research and medical lab facilities.Weve seen very little activity when it comes to that commercial part of the lab market, said Keith.The loss of the AAAA commercial biotech lab market, and the shrinking federal contribution to research funding, has created a gap in the market for science and technology architects, which firm leaders seek to fill with related projects. Designers with the skills to design around complex workflows, understand sophisticated science and inquiry, and work with high-tech machines, tend to have transferable skills.Franklin Antonio Hall at the University of San Diego, designed by Perkins&Will (Nick Merrick)Within biotech, theres still a heavy focus on diagnostics and medical devices, as well as pharmaceutical research and manufacturing, especially by Big Pharma firms like Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson. Keith said theres tremendous investment in research and development, just in private companies that arent dependent on venture capital.Architectural firms should look to pivot from pure research and discovery to diagnostics and medical devices, and labs for healthcare companies to do translational research, said Keith. Cordes said theres also an explosion in academic medical center projects, including the rebuilding of schools of medicine and allied health, a response to the aging U.S. population.But overall, the academic market has become more challenging. Brent Amos, principal and leader of the Science + Technology Studio at Cooper Carry, said hes seen a significant drop-off in the number of RFPs for large projects in the last year, and his firm has mostly been doing renovations and studies for future projects.Northwestern Querrey Biomedical by Perkins&Will (James Steinkamp)Perkins&Will made a larger pivot and redeployment of their science and technology team a few years ago, when they observed changing interest rates and shifting market demands. Part of this shift has been working more in advanced manufacturingincluding working on micro-nuclear reactors for powering data centers. Cordes said the division isnt booking, but staying busy. Cooper Carry has been making similar pivots, working on advanced manufacturing projects as lab work remains unsteady. The shift that this sector of the architecture profession is making mirrors the evolution of labs, which has grown from just encompassing traditional visions of labs, with benches and test tubes, to the growth of specialty labs for various industries, from semiconductor labs to ag-tech labs making fake meats.Everyone talks about designing facilities that are flexible and adaptable, said Cordes. There is no better example of it than right now, and designing some of these speculative lab buildings. The spaces will be different in the next ten years than theyve been in the past ten years.Patrick Sisson is a Chicago expat living in Los Angeles who covers design, policy, and the trends that shape our cities.

Last June, the city of Houston announcedHood Design Studio had been tapped to renovate MacGregor Park, a historic Third Ward public space. This week, the Houston Parks Board and City of Houstons Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD) rolled out the firms final conceptual design, with support from Kinder Foundation. Hood Design Studios vision for the revamped park was informed by lengthy community outreach, the city shared in a press statement. More than 2,500 interactions with local community members through 18 public engagement sessions, which included surveys and interactive workshops, were conducted. As previously announced, other firms working with Hood Design Studio on the project include, Talley Landscape Architects, Moody Nolan, and Walter. P. MooreMacGregor Park holds generations of memoriesa place where culture, history, and community converge. We sought to preserve its legacy through the layering of preservation and cultural programming while creating spaces that invite new stories to unfold, Walter Hood said. In doing so, we also will bring forth the recognition that MacGregor sits on the banks of Brays Bayou.The upgraded park will be connected to a series of trails. (Courtesy Hood Design Studio)MacGregor Park is 65 acres. There, Hood Design Studio seeks to integrate nature into the park more effectively, the city shared. The final design acknowledges the native landscapes, which includes prairies and post oak savannah, there before the park was built.The final conceptual design has a central promenade meant to unify the parks various components, offering a central focus point for all activities and park users. A new natural amphitheater will be connected to the central promenade, stocked with open seating for performances and civic gatherings. A plethora of new shade trees will be added to protect visitors from the sweltering Texas heat, making the park comfortable for users year round, an ideal space for quiet reflection. There will also be an expanded walking trail around the park perimeter that connects to the existing Brays Bayou Greenway, a 38-mile uninterrupted trail.The existing tennis center will be renovated. (Courtesy Hood Design Studio)Another important component will be the refurbishment of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza. Hood Design Studio was able to keep the monument in its original location near the MLK Tree of Life. Surrounding the monument will be new seating and shading, thanks to a stretch of new grove trees.By introducing new ecologies to the park, the cultural and athletic heritage of the park will become enmeshed with an ecological story, Hood added. The renovated park will act as a bridge between past and future, honoring those who came before while welcoming the next generation to shape its evolving story, all amongst a native ecology.Among the recreation facilities are new pickleball courts (Courtesy Hood Design Studio)A new natural amphitheater is part grass, part stone construction. (Courtesy Hood Design Studio)Hood Design Studio affirmed that the park will have a new, all-inclusive, ADA-accessible playground for all ages and abilities to enjoy. The existing Homer Ford Tennis Center will also be renovated, as per the communitys request.The parks renovation is part of a longterm effort by the city of Houston to address gaps in park equity.Construction will begin in 2026 and wrap up in 2028.

This week, Woods Bagot and ERA-co announce a new integrated network of brands. United under a holding company named 7C, the 7C network, focusing on Total Place Design, is a curation of best-in-class capabilities across placemaking (ERA-co), sustainability (Impact Futures), architecture and interior design (Woods Bagot), and ultra-luxury concepts (Customs Bureau), this innovative new network offers holistic and integrated solutions for an increasingly complex built environment. The 7C network provides clients with access to a unique combination of the worlds best talent, drives interdisciplinary knowledge throughout the network and delivers shared services that contribute stronger, more integrated solutions for evolving client needs. At the helm of the newly announced 7C network is Sarah Kay. Appointed as Woods Bagot Global CEO in 2024, Kays role now expands to Global CEO, 7C, leading the network of brands operating from 18 global cities.Since 2020, we have been growing and adding complementary services towards the launch of our 7C network. The 7C network is fundamentally about solving our clients most complex challenges and delivering their most ambitious projects. Our ambition is to be the most trusted and influential voice shaping the future of the built world.As a networked set of brands, 7C can engage with more phases of our cities lifecycle, beyond architecture from initial visioning, design, and sustainable development to implementation and long-term impact assessment. ERA-co, our second 7C business, has driven 42 percent compound revenue growth in its first five years. Alongside Customs Bureau, who have been working on significant projects since 2023, and our newly established Impact Futures sustainability consultancy, the 7C network also demonstrates significant growth potential in time these new brands will make up to 20 percent of overall revenue, said Kay. We are proudly fueling this growth through retained earningsnot external capital, Kay added. By reinvesting up to 10 percent of our profits annually, we ensure controlled, strategic expansion while maintaining the highest standards of quality, ownership, and direction. Our commitment is to growth that strengthensnot compromisesthe integrity of our design and advisory expertise.The 7C network is strategically aligned with key industry shifts, including the rapid expansion of sustainability consulting and compliance, the evolution of urban planning towards regenerative and climate-responsive models, and the rise of hyper-luxury and experience-driven design. By embedding specialised capabilities that anticipate these trends, the 7C network is poised to lead in a rapidly changing market.This alignment allows us to bring value to our clients by connecting specialist knowledge from across our network to deliver strategic outcomes and long-term impact. Its what we call a Total Place Design mindset teams who think more holistically and whats best for our clients, not individual silos. Something thats only possible given the depth and breadth of expertise sitting within each of our brands, Kay continued. Each company within the network represents a stand-alone entity with the ability to work directly with clients, or part of an integrated solution. Together, the 7C network intends to deliver a collective ambition to be the most trusted and influential voice for the built world.With recent wins showcasing two or more entities within the new network, including Londons mixed-use office tower 85 Gracechurch Street (Woods Bagot and ERA-co) and mixed-used adaptive reuse development Bondi Road (Impact Futures and Woods Bagot) in Sydney, the strategy is already demonstrating its value and is designed to propel the 7C group of companies into their next phase of growth.

David Childs, the lauded SOM architect perhaps best known for realizing One World Trade Center, died on March 26 in Pelham, New York, surrounded by family. News of his passing was confirmed by his wife, Annie, and later reported by The New York Times. Childs was 83 years old. SOM shared a remembrance for Childs, saying that he was instrumental in some of SOMs most impactful projects, among these a masterplan for the National Mall, the expansion of Dulles International Airport, and both One World Trade Center and 7 World Trade Center in New York City.Davids contribution to the firm was extensive and profound, SOM continued, and we will always be grateful to David for his leadership, his impact, and his friendship. We will miss him dearly and extend our condolences and deepest sympathies to his family.One World Trade Center, the Freedom Tower, at dusk (James Ewing)Childs was born in 1941 in Princeton, New Jersey, and spent his childhood in Mount Kisco, New York. His father was a classics professor at Princeton University and his mother was executive director of the Childrens Books Council, a nonprofit trade association of childrens books publishers. Childs earned his masters of architecture at Yale University in 1967; he moved to Washington, D.C. shortly after to help transform Pennsylvania Avenue into a ceremonial boulevard, as part of a presidential commission. It was in Washington, D.C. where Childs, then in his early thirties, met politician Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Nathaniel A. Owings, founding partner of SOM. In 1971, after getting acquainted, Owings personally invited Childs to start SOMs Washington, D.C. office, where the late architect spent his fledgling career.In 1976, Childs debuted a masterplan for the Washington Mall and Constitution Gardens. Later, he designed the headquarters building for National Geographic; the U.S. News and World Report building; the Four Seasons, Regent, and Park Hyatt hotels, and more, including the expansion of Dulles Airports main terminal.Washington Mall masterplan (Courtesy SOM)Childs stayed in Washington, D.C. until 1984, when he became a senior design partner at SOMs New York City office. There, he completed Worldwide Plaza, the New York Mercantile Exchange, the JFK International Arrivals Building, Bear Stearns (now J. P. Morgan) Headquarters, the Riverside South masterplan, and Time Warner Headquarters at Columbus Circle (now Deutsche Bank Center). He also helped renovate and preserve Lever House.After 9/11, Childs partnered with Larry Silverstein to help rebuild Lower Manhattan. His clashes with Daniel Libeskind often made headline news. Childs was sued in 2004 by Thomas Shine, who claimed Childs had copied his graduate student work at Yale for SOMs One World Trade Center design. Childs denied the accusation, and the suit was settled in 2006. Childs went on to oversee projects all over the world. His work on the Moynihan Train Hall marked a full circle, as Senator Daniel Moynihan, the halls namesake, was a mentor.JFK International Airport, Terminal 4 (Jeff Goldberg/ESTO)In New York and overseas, Childs held important titles. He was chairman of the National Planning Commission, on the American Academy in Rome board of trustees, Municipal Art Society of New York board of directors, MoMAs Architecture & Design Committee, The Architectural League of New York board of directors, and the New York City Partnership Economic Development & Housing Committees.Today, Childs is remembered for his self-effacing charm: I know a lot of what Ive designed is not A work, he once said, but my role was different. I wanted to raise the level of everyday development as much as I could.

In recent years, before the Trump administrations crusade to repeal inclusion initiatives, more women architects had actually feltseen, but that doesnt mean they were beinghearduntil now.Lately when you might expect women architects to be worried about the rebuilding of gender barriers, they already have a solution: all-women teams. Today, you can find entire project teams and construction leadership with no men in sight. That is both a response to the rollback in womens rights in general and a triumphant blow to misogyny in the design industry specifically. Still, career recognition lags behind these efforts. After seven women presidents and two years of all-female leadership at the AIA, the organizations fellows remain decidedly maleapproximately 18 percent of them are women and 81.3 percent are men, according to the groups 2023 Membership Demographics report. It gets worse when considering the Pritzker Prize: Of the 58 laureates recognized with the award, just 6 are women, or about 10 percent of the awardees.Even the most successful women practitioners carry with them a familiar story of being underestimated, undermined, dismissed, micromanaged, harassed and just plain mansplained out of seats at the table.So a growing number are simply done with waiting, and instead are making their own safe, fulfilling spaces where they feel free to focus on actual work.Field Operations led an all-women construction crew in completing the $98 million Presidio Tunnel Tops. (Courtesy Presidio Trust)For Women by WomenTwo years ago in San Francisco, for instance, the firm Field Operations led an all-women construction crew in completing the $98 million Presidio Tunnel Tops, a 14-acre park built over and around that citys traffic tunnels. In Vancouver the same year, an all-women team led by GBL Architects principal Amela Brudar broke ground on a government-funded affordable housing projectfor women residents. Now, the award-winning Mariam Issoufou Architects (formerly atelier masm) is heading up an all-women team who are building the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development (EJS) in Monrovia, Liberia. (Issoufou recently opened a New York office after the coup in Niger prompted a pivot in operations.) Representation on the project team is a priority for the client, because its the first presidential library ever commissioned by a woman head-of-state. Counterspace founder Sumayya Vally and Pan-African Engineering Group principal Karen Richards Barnes round out that crew.Another all-women team led by MASS Design Groupfrom the lead designer to lead landscape architect and lead engineerbuilt the Ellen DeGeneres Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund campus in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2022. In June 2024, the project won a COTE Top Ten Award for excellence in sustainable design.Architect Mariam Issoufou Kamara ( Rolex/Stphane Rodrigez Delavega)Such commissions, which place budgets and design decisions entirely in womens hands, are having a significant industry-shifting impact. Thats especially true when the projects legacy is female, as is the case for the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center and for Fossey, MASS Design director Emily Goldenberg told AN.I was there for four years leading the design and construction supervision of that project. Our construction arm, MASS.Build, was actually founded out of that projectout of a desire to have a larger impact. We set impact goals at the very beginning related to equity, Goldenberg explained. Goldenbergs team for the Fossey campus not only reflected the projects namesake female primatologist, female funders, and executive director, but also expanded local recruitment of women construction workers to an unprecedented degree. A significant 24 percent of that projects skilled laborers were women, which is an exceptionally high rate of participation, doubling Rwandas average and eclipsing that of women on American projects, Goldenberg said.In 2021, women were only 3.9 percent of all those who work with tools in U.S. construction, according to the Institute for Womens Policy Research. The upside however is that even that modest percentage represents a jump in womens overall employment in construction and extraction to a record high of 11 percent that year from 9.1 percent in 2016. Typically, the only women in sight [on my projects] are the ones from my office. The construction or engineering teams have none, Issoufou said her of jobsites.An astonishing 24 percent of skilled laborers for the construction of the campus for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Funds were women. (Iwan Baan)A Cultural MovementSo with a construction site full of women now seeming like a possibility and architectures gender politics unlikely to disappear (not to mention recent corporate backlash against equity initiatives), these projects suddenly take on the feel of a movement. In fact, Carla Guerrera, developer of the Vancouver project, told the Vancouver Sun she intended to demonstrate the leadership of women in development, design and construction. She added that having previously been the only woman at the table, she felt an all-women team engendered a different culture in how we work together and make decisions.MASSs Goldenberg also spoke of the transformative power of such teams when theyre viewed collectively as an intentional act of resistance. Like most, she has been literally the only female at site visits or in design meetings and has felt isolated and intimidatedeven by contractors who were supposed to report to her. I didnotfeel that way on the Fossey site, she clarified. I was surrounded by brilliant females who led with empathy, and that uplifting feeling is a unique attribute of working in groups of women, she said. Office PoliticsPresumably that feeling is easier to sustain in women-led studios. So it is meaningful that Issoufou,whose accolades span two Global LaFarge Holcim awards for sustainable architecture, a Prince Claus award, distinction as the 2021 Aga Khan Visiting Critic at Harvard GSD, and recognition as one of TheNew York Timess 15 Creative Women of Our Time, also maintains a studio that is 60 percent women. With women, you can skip the pissing contests and just focus on the work, she said.The difficulty that women architects have endured to secure the mental freedom to focus purely on work can be seen in the disciplines own #metoo stories, like the allegations of sexual harassment made against starchitect Richard Meier in 2018 and David Adjaye in 2023, among other fallout from items like the Shitty Architecture Men list.Womens (Home) WorkGiven the fraught history, pros and clients say all-women teams also just feel safer. Thats apparent in residential projects where single women homeowners have outnumbered menfor the past 20 years and yet still complain of trouble with mostly male contractors. The female-to-male homeownership ratio was 58 percent to 42 percent in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, butthat purchasing power hasnt saved women clients or tradeswomen from routine harassment, mansplaining, and other bad behavior from male architects and tradesmen.Lacey Soslow and Gabriela Ainslie, cofounders of Matriarchy Build. (Courtesy Matriarchy Build)That problem is so pervasive that two-year-old online home-services platform Matriarchy Build (MB) was designed to address it. Like other directories, MB maintains a database of plumbers, electricians, and general contractors. But unlike its competitors, MBs directory is exclusively women and nonbinary professionals who are vetted for the value they can bring to women-friendly project teams. The fundamental desire [among our users] is connecting with folks who make them feel safe, said MB cofounder Lacey Soslow. Thats why the companys services require clients and pros to opt into the same code of ethics, added MB cofounder Gabriela Ainslie.Even having completed around ten gut renovations herself and knowing a bit more than the average consumer, Soslow said she still faced condescending attitudes from male contractors. I still get told you cant do that. And its like I actuallyknowyou can. If Im feeling bulldozed, I can imagine how the average person feels, she shared.Conversely, the communication on women-dominated teams like Issoufous can be, as she puts it, quite effortlessand with no biases to overcome in the process.MBs directory is exclusively women and nonbinary professionals who are vetted for the value they can bring to women-friendly project teams. (Courtesy Matriarchy Build)Thats the kind of safe and satisfying renovation experience activist builder Shelley Halstead intended to provide black women homeowners when she founded Black Women Build-Baltimore (BWBB) in 2017. The initiative trains women in trades-related skills by having them restore vacant and deteriorated houses.In the current political climate, with government and private businesses reversing their equity and inclusion efforts, its easy to see why women are seeking the camaraderie of women-led project teams. Less clear is why the industry and the media continues to exalt the narrative of a heroic male architect. Architectural designer Melissa Daniel, who hosts the Architecture is Political podcast, has a theory about why. (Along with three other women, Daniel created Riding the Vortex group, which hosts a speaker series that spreads awareness about Black women architects and was recognized with a Whitney M. Young Jr. Award from the AIA in 2022.) I think many men believe that if they acknowledge systemic gender bias, then they also have to acknowledge their own disproportionate and sometimes undeserved advantages, she said.In the meantime, it seems women will just keep building their own winning teams.Kelly Beamon is a freelance journalist specializing in architecture and design and sustainable building materials. She has held senior editorial roles at Metropolis, Architectural Record, and This Old House, but has slipped the bonds of the corporate office. She now writes from her home in Central New Jersey.

Brought to you by:Architect: KTGYLocation: Morgan HillCompletion Date: 2025Mass timber construction has arrived in Morgan Hill, California, a small city located south of San Jose. A new structure known as the Edes Building has risen near the center of town, housing a contemporary art gallery and a wine bar that draws from the regions plentiful vineyards. Eager to showcase the buildings use of wood, design architect KTGY exposed glulam columns and beams on the interior, pairing this with Douglas fir exterior siding treated according to Shou Sugi Ban, a Japanese wood burning technique that creates a black charred appearance. The Edes Building occupies a previously vacant corner lot along Monterey Road, one of the citys main commercial thoroughfares. To acclimate the structure to the local context, the massing of the building is deferential to surrounding structures as well as the hillsides that loom in the background of Morgan Hill. On one end of Monterey Road, the buildings height reaches upward to match the cornice line of a historic building located across the street from the site, while sloping downward on the other to avoid imposing on the adjacent single story commercial properties to the southeast. Mirroring the grade of Morgan Hills picturesque hillsides, the Edes Buildings longitudinal elevation, which runs along 2nd Street, slopes upward in height from each end, reaching a gentle peak at its midpoint.Additionally, small cutouts were subtracted from the mass to create entrances to the wine bar and gallery, as well as a small balcony on the second floor.At night, the contrast between the buildings charred exterior and its illuminated timber interior intensifies. (Mike Schwartz)KTGY served as the projects design architect and interior designer, while also supplying branding for the developments two tenants: Cura Contemporary and Vra Wine Bar. The interior of both spaces are defined by the presence of exposed timber. The mission of the galleryrepresenting local and regional artistssuggested to us that the gallery should be as specific as the artnot a white box gallery, Mark Oberholzer, principal at KTGY, told AN. We decided that a straightforward approach would be to expose the construction and movement thought the building, and that exposed mass timber would create a warmly inviting gallery that would encourage rather than intimidate visitors.The interior palette of the building is defined by exposed timber. (Mike Schwartz)In contrast to the buildings blonde timber interiors, charred Douglas fir siding was applied to the buildings facade. KTGY utilized the ancient Japanese method of timber preservation, Shou Sugi Ban, where controlled burns across the surface of the wood planks improves resistance to damage from water, rot, and insects. This method was selected not only for its durable results, but also to create a more modest exterior expression for the building, which already differs significantly from Morgan Hills existing architecture. To heighten the juxtaposition between interior and exterior, KTGY applied clear-finished Douglas fir panels to the soffits and subtractive spaces at the buildings openings. At night, these spaces are illuminated, causing them to pop against dark backdrop of the facade. Another dramatic opening occurs along 2nd Street, where an oblique window follows the ascent of the gallerys main staircase. The cutout also highlights a series of origami pendant lamps that hang above the staircase, projecting their glow to the street.With the buildings 2nd Street elevation facing the western sun, KTGY implemented a series of vertical fins across the facade. While these elements were originally intended to be wood, an aluminum product with a wood-like texture was ultimately chosen to avoid warping, which might have occurred as the wood settled.Contrast, color, and lighting design are all at play in the design of the Edes Building. (Mike Schwartz)Though this is Morgan Hills first mass timber building, KTGY reported that they did not encounter major issues introducing the material to local trades. Mass timber was new to the contractor; however, weve found that most good contractors are both intrigued and interested in getting experience in what may be an increasing share of construction, said Oberholzer. The components, manufactured off-site with very good tolerance, are so refined that the process is primarily installation, rather than rough construction.In a press release, the firm mentions that the construction of the building, particularly the installation of its 40-foot-long CLT beams, was a spectacle in-and-of-itself to local residents. In the coming years, this sight will hopefully become more common.Project SpecificationsArchitect: KTGYLandscape Architect: RANAStructural Engineer: John A. Martin & AssociatesElectrical Engineer: GiacaloneCivil Engineer: KPFFLighting Design: ChromaticMechanical & Plumbing: K2D Consulting EngineersSignage and Wayfinding: KTGYGeneral Contractor: Kent ConstructionGlazing Contractor: Glass Concepts by ClineFacade Installation: FramecomCurtain Wall / Storefront Glazing: ArcadiaAluminum Sun Shade Battens: KnotwoodShou Sugi Ban Siding: Pioneer MillworksVertical Grain Douglas fir: Pioneer MillworksGlass: VitroSkylights: Royalite

In January, the world watched in horror as wildfires tore through Southern California neighborhoods, destroying more than 11,000 structures and killing at least 29 people. Many outside observers wondered whether anyone would want to return and rebuild in and around the affected Los Angeles areas; the early response is a resounding yes. Still, residents and architects must contend with the ongoing housing crisisand the housing insurance crisisin addition to the questions of how to adapt the built environment and landscape to withstand future wildfires and other potential catastrophes. AN surveyed nine top Los Angeles architecture firms to gain insight into how they are thinking about the current moment and how they plan to move forward. Their responses, edited for clarity and conciseness, are below.What are the immediate effects the fires have had on you and your practice?We have lost seven projects, one in construction, to the fires. Our immediate response was touching base with current and former clients in the affected areas. Within a couple days of the fires eruption, potential clients started reaching out to us. We were at a bit of a loss about what our response should be. The urgency that they felt was palpable, and our measured response turned at least one of them away.Alice Fung, principal, Fung + Blatt ArchitectsThe immediate effect for me and my practice has been that so many friends, extended family members, and employees have been directly affected by the traumatic losses of their homes and belongings. There is an aspect of this which feels very much like bombings during wartime.Barbara Bestor, principal, Bestor Architecture In the past, most of our architectural commissions have been underscored by excitement, extensively planned and entered into by choice. Now, for the first time in our careers, we are sitting down with families to navigate the aftermath of what has been for many of them the most tragic experience of their lives. This new prompt requires a deeply human sensitivity and an abundance of empathy.Peter Harper, founder + principal, Breland HarperA completed project by Fung + Blatt Architects before it burned in the Eaton Fire. (Courtesy Fung + Blatt Architects)A completed project by Fung + Blatt Architects after it burned in the Eaton Fire. (Courtesy Fung + Blatt Architects)We are engaged in ongoing conversations with academics (specifically at SCI-Arc), architects, and our clients regarding the more existential question of moving forward in creating gardens, which are, by nature, flammable. Through these conversations, research, and testing procedures, we are approaching fire not as a problem to be solved, but as a natural event that needs to be understood, analyzed, and treated with respect.David Godshall, TERREMOTOThe fires have highlighted a critical need to integrate environmental risk management into every facet of our work. Our practice has had to rapidly adapt to challenges such as hazardous waste removaldealing with an extended timeline due to contaminated debris and ensuring that cleanup processes meet stringent environmental standards. At the same time, were grappling with an unpredictable real estate market where property values are shifting rapidly due to perceived risks.Amanda Gunawan and Joel Wong, OWIU DesignView this post on InstagramA post shared by Practice (@practice.la_)The effects of the wildfires on my architectural practice have been profound. They have underscored the critical need for architects to take a proactive role in climate resilience, disaster recovery, and policy advocacy, reinforcing my commitment toward designing a more fire-adaptive future. My family lost our home, and half of our community, in the 2018 Woolsey fire. The events of January brought those same feelings back, along with a renewed focus and effort toward building a more equitable and resilient L.A.Greg Kochanowski, design principal, PracticeWill the fires and the destruction they caused change the way you approach projects or the way you design?There is a growing emphasisboth among architects and clientson fire-resistant materials and sustainable design. As an L.A.-based firm, we have generally prioritized sustainably sourced materials suited to coastal environments. However, its encouraging to see fire resilience becoming a more widespread priority. This shift will help ensure that future structures are not only environmentally conscious but also better equipped to withstand natural disasters.Aaron Leshtz and Harper Halprin, AAHA StudioThe scale of devastation has reinforced the urgent need for fire-adaptive, resilient, and sustainable architecture and has underscored the necessity of a paradigm shift in architectural practice. Fire resilience can no longer be an afterthoughtit must be embedded in every stage of design and planning. My commitment to safer, more adaptive, and climate-conscious solutions has never been stronger. A few specific points were focusing on are prioritizing fire-resistant and resilient design; strengthening building codes and advocacy for policy change; designing for climate adaptation and self-sufficiency; emphasizing community-oriented solutions; and enhancing education and research in resilient architecture.Greg KochanowskiView this post on InstagramA post shared by AAHA Studio (@aaha_studio)This rebuilding is an opportunity for devastated communities to reform themselves in a manner consistent with contemporary fire code, which was virtually nonexistent 20 or 30 years ago and was reflected in woefully unprepared structures. We find the greatest frontier to be the cultivation of fire-resistant gardens that are not the easy two-dimensional gravel and cacti variety, but rather the complex gardens that we associate with the beauty and romance of California domestic gardens. Trees are not in themselves a fire threat, and we look forward to continuing to prove that in our landscape work.Peter HarperThis is an evolving discussion within our firm. Fire resistive construction and best practices are standard for our design approach. Homeowners affected by the recent fires, particularly in the Palisades, have been actively asking us for additional measures such as roof and building sprinklers or concrete construction. Many of these measures are not well understood by homeowners and there has been a significant effort to educate homeowners about the options available within their prospective budgets.Jonathan Schnure, Studio Director, Marmol RadzinerIn Altadena, an ADU by Fung + Blatt Architects is the first application taken in by the County for the Eaton Fire Rebuild. (Courtesy Fung + Blatt )Were humbled by how much there is to learn about how to build differently. Thinking of fuel management in buildings and nontoxic materials and how to build simpler. The architecture community is feeling a collective calling to administer to a need, and that feels galvanizing. But the power that we wield as a collective feels small. We are only one part of the building equation. Our first response was to go on autopilot, to be helpful and productive with what we know to dowhich is advising, designing. Were also dealing with individuals whose lives have been upended. There is a lot of emotion, uncertainty, vulnerability. And depending on where one is in lifefamily structure, means, and resourcesone faces this catastrophic event differently. We have a direct role to play in the recovery, not just of places but of lives. How do we make the architecture process a healing one? That is an ever-present thought.Alice Fung With regard to my practice, it reinforces our commitment to do work of consequence. It is essential to help those who lost their homes to rebuild and to rebuild well. Thats both a personal and a professional viewpoint. Weve always prioritized the history and context of any site. After the Woolsey fires in 2018, my firm LOHA completed its first rebuild implementing wildfire resistant strategies, as thats become the unfortunate new norm of the region. We do already have significant experience navigating rebuilding after disaster, and we expect to see some changes to the process along the way, but were prepared to work with the county to rebuild quickly, effectively, and efficiently. Lorcan OHerlihy, Lorcan OHerlihy ArchitectsFire is a natural phenomenon that has always occurred and will continue to occur in Southern California. We disagree with the present discourse that mostly vilifies Coastal Sage Chaparral as an enemy to humans that now needs to be suppressed. Fire is a natural phenomenon whose frequency and intensity are increasing due to poor development standards, the proliferation of invasive species, and climate change. Generating a formidable and proper solution to wildfire will require solutions that address the totality of the contributing problems. That said, we believe that striking a balance between the needs and safety of the single family or multi-family dwelling and the greater ecological health of a neighborhood and region remains to be found, as the two ultimately depend on each other. We hope to seek this balance as we move forward designing within a climate changeimpacted future.David GodshallHow do you see rebuilding happening in the areas that were affected?The reality of rebuilding and rethinking our urban spaces in the wake of these fires is very much going to be a tale of two cities. The City of Los Angeles has a relatively progressive building department, plus some experience in managing and streamlining opportunities for rebuilding and code requirements that are more explicitly fire prevention oriented. Altadena, within the unincorporated county of Los Angeles, is in a somewhat politicized planning environment with very conservative building codes, huge parking requirements, and no current opportunities for medium density rebuilding or changing of the small-scale, single-family residences. We are finding that for properties in Altadena, the insurance and opportunities for funding are less ample and [we] are quite concerned that many more people will permanently lose their homes because of the fires in that area. Whereas in the Palisades, we see a lot of clients and others already jumping into new permits and rebuilding with gusto.Barbara BestorIt appears that many people want to stay and want to rebuild, which is crucial for the community. I believe it will take a combination of approaches and expertise. Wildfire-resistant concrete structures can be expensive, but there are other alternatives that are less costly. Well certainly see an increase in smart, fire-resistant landscaping design, which is one key way to limit the spread of fire and by limiting vulnerability to embers carried by wind. Infrastructure for fireproofing beyond the home will be critical. Theres certainly potential for a firewall between brush and neighborhoods, but it wont be enough on its own with the increase in wind speeds due to climate change.Lorcan OHerlihyPost-fire, landscapes also need to be regrown. (Grigory Heaton/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)Our discussions with affected residents and fellow architects have revealed a shared commitment to preserving the architectural and cultural identity of these communities. Rather than opting for uniform, mass-produced rebuilds, there is a concerted effort to restore neighborhoods in a way that respects and honors their original character. The goal is not just to rebuild but to thoughtfully reinstate spaces that reflect the history and spirit of the people who call them home. Aaron Leshtz and Harper HalprinThe pace of rebuilding is going to be understandably fast, [but] is not always in agreement with the time that natural materials, such as soil and vegetation, need to heal themselves. For example, we disagree with the presently occurring carte-blanche removal of burned trees in the immediate aftermath of a fire as the ubiquitous solution to mitigate future risk. Certain native trees such as Quercus agrifolia have evolved to be fire resilient and, with time, to recover from burning. The unnecessary loss of urban tree canopy can lead to heat island effects that exacerbate future fire risk, contribute to habitat loss affecting endangered and at-risk species in the wildland urban interface, and reduce quality of life for individuals living in postburn areas.David GodshallWhat is your longer-term vision for how the L.A. region ought to move forward?We want to see these communities rebuilt. There has to be a robust collaboration between architects, private citizens, and the public sector addressing and designing for climate change. What we as architects are dealing with is larger and more profound than ever before. [We] can work closely with the city to mitigate these profoundly challenging times with regards to fire. There is a solution, and architects should take the position of being a strategist to work holistically.Lorcan OHerlihyView this post on InstagramA post shared by Barbara Bestor (@barbarabestor)The bigger issue of natural disastersif we look back at John McPhee, Mike Davis, and othersthere is certainly plenty of warning that these large national and state parks adjacent to residential areas are full of many kinds of dangers whether its mudslides, fires, or earthquakes. There is a bargain in living on the edges of the city. I hope increasing public transportation and city infrastructure will allow us to grow in population without forcing people with less money out further and further into less accessible places to live.Barbara BestorThe 2025 wildfires have exposed more than just the fragility of our built environmentthey have laid bare the deeper inequities embedded in our urban fabric. Rebuilding cannot be a return to what was, but a reimagining of what could be: a city that is not only fire-resilient but fundamentally more just. If we can get this right, Los Angeles can become more than just a city that survived its latest disasterit can become a global model for how fire-prone regions can adapt with intelligence, humility, and justice.Greg KochanowskiAs the effects of global warming unfold, the state and local jurisdictions need to change the entitlement and permitting process to help build more resilient buildings and infrastructure. The current process incentivizes property owners to retain existing structures over replacing them. Moreover, agencies need to develop clear strategies for how permitting recovery efforts will work to address future catastrophic event scenarios like wildfires and earthquakes.Andy Thompson, Senior Project Manager, Marmol Radziner From a landscape perspective, we believe that our short-term solutions as to how to begin to think about new landscape strategies for rebuild zones must include soil testing and remediation; a deep analysis of how and why the fires spread in the manner they did; and whether the landscape (both designed and non) was a primary contributing factor to the conflagration. Our long-term solutions should think deeply about plant layout in relationship to structures, the species we employ in our gardens, and how to enact detailed maintenance strategies for these newly emergent fire-safe landscaping approaches. We believe that we will have to contend with future fires of increasing scale and force in the wildland urban interface and proximate urban areas. We thus intend to support long-term solutions which leave space for emotional, spiritual, and psychological care within an environmentally indeterminate future.As such, a meaningful response to wildfires in the future will consider human resilience as in alignment with soil, vegetal, and structural resiliencies.David GodshallNew does not need to mean soullessdevoid of depth or complexity. Rebuilding in a manner that incorporates aspects of what was is not a form of denialdenial of the fires, denial of the passage of time. Sometimes it is an acknowledgement of value, of importance, and simply of love. This process is by no means meant to expunge variation or stifle unique perspectives, but rather to help define the basis on which personal art, variation, may populate itself. Within an outline, within a structure, beauty and complexity can flourish. Peter HarperView this post on InstagramA post shared by @rebuildlaarchitectureAdditionally, we asked Leshtz of AAHA Studio about the Slack workspace group, Rebuild LA Architecture, he started in January after his friend and fellow architect, Rachel Shillander, set up a Zoom call that attracted hundreds of industry professionals wanting to discuss the implications of the Eaton and Palisades fires. Here is Leshtzs response:The Slack group has been highly active and is nearly at 650 people. The ability to share information between professionals in an immediate and direct way has been invaluable to the rebuild processespecially as there is a lot of information, and misinformationthat is being distributed through other channels. Our studio, among others, recently completed a crowd-sourced rebuild handbook for homeowners, Rebuild LA Architecture, that originated out of a conversation in one of the Slack channels. Additionally, through the initiative of some of the members, a Q&A session with officials in LA County was also organized. While it can be a full-time task to keep up with the communication within the group, it has become a reliable resource for information for building professionals in the city.