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Tech NewsDesign
Zaha Hadid Was One of the Most Polarizing Architects of Our Time
Zaha Hadid has died suddenly at age 65 from a heart attack. As the first woman architect to achieve notable celebrity, Hadid’s prolific and geographically diverse commissions mean that she will likely remain the best-known woman architect on the planet for many years. But her work was also incredibly controversial— not just the design of … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
Behold the Best-Designed Cat House Any Cat Will Still Completely Ignore
Every year, FixNation, a Los Angeles animal charity, holds an auction of designer cat houses to raise money. This year’s Fan Favorite is “Cat in the Fishbowl.” It’s very nice, but we’re pretty sure any cat will ignore it in favor of the box it came in. FixNation is a remarkable charity which attempts to … Continued
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Tech News
The Best Solution to Stop Skyscrapers From Casting Shadows on Central Park
Upper Manhattan-dwelling New Yorkers have been complaining for years that supertalls are going to ruin the views from their beloved Central Park. Here’s a very good solution: lower the elevation of the park. The annual eVolo Skyscraper Competition consistently delivers some of the wackiest concepts for tall buildings we’ve ever seen. I particularly love the … Continued
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Tech News
Sydney is Getting the Library of the Future
The city of Sydney is setting up a new library inside a building that looks, depending on who you ask, like a stack of plates, a spaceship taking off, or a cyborg hairdo. The library will occupy two floors, and will house a lot more than just books. There are a lot of gorgeous libraries … Continued
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Tech NewsGoogle
Take a Peek Inside Google’s New Planned Campus
Google has been planning to build a new set of offices, just down the road from its existing HQ in Mountain View, for a while. Now, a new series of renders show what it might look like to spend time in. We already knew that the new Campus, which will be situated in Charleston East, … Continued
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Tech NewsSploid
Berlin’s Oddest Buildings Look Unreal Out of Context
In the years after World War II, Berlin saw a number of new skyscrapers erected to provide the burgeoning middle class with affordable housing. Even though many were designed by famous architects they were eventually viewed as concrete monsters and moldered in disuse, until recently. In a recent series, 36-year-old photographer Malte Brandenburg sought to … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
How Building Expensive New Housing Actually Helps Create More Affordable Cities
Applying the term “housing crisis” to the fact that people increasingly cannot afford to live in many American cities makes it seem like a vast, unfixable problem. But the solution is actually easy: Build more housing. A lot more housing. As soon as possible. But what kind of housing? Several new studies point to a … Continued
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Tech News
This Timelapse of Shanghai Tower Construction Is the Most Spectacular Thing You’ll See All Day
For the past four years, filmmaker Joe Nafis has been chronicling the construction of the Shanghai Tower. After 1,000 work hours and 350,000 photos, he’s put together a stunning timelapse video that you don’t want to miss. China’s Shanghai Tower is still not open to the public (for reasons that aren’t entirely clear), but its … Continued
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Tech News
An Architectural Tour of Donald Trump’s Gaudy Ass Skyscrapers
Before Donald Trump signed up for the presidential race, he signed his name to buildings. Lots of buildings. Sure, presidential candidates have owned real estate before. But no other candidate has been such an ostentatious developer of a real estate empire, with so many gilded phallic structures built in his likeness. Let’s look at Trump’s … Continued
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Tech News
Horrifying Skyslide Will Be 1,000 Feet in the Air on the Outside of a Building
With LA’s Wilshire Grand to be crowned as the new tallest building west of the Mississippi, you might expect the former tallest building west of the Mississippi to just sulk into oblivion. No way! The US Bank Tower is one-upping every observation deck on the planet with a soon-to-be-vomit-covered slide. ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE … Continued
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Tech News
Look Inside the Most Expensive Train Station Ever Built With This 360-Degree Video
The steel ribs arching over New York City’s newest transit station have already become a familiar sight for the city’s residents and tourists. Now, after seven years of delays, the striking new World Trade Center Transportation Hub will finally open this month in Lower Manhattan. When the Twin Towers fell during the 9/11 attacks, the … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
China’s Ban on ‘Weird’ Architecture Is a Damn Shame
China’s become known for some of the zaniest, prettiest, most daring architecture of the 21st century. Sadly, that’s all coming to a halt, as the government is now banning any new buildings that are dubbed “oversized,” “xenocentric,” or “weird.” The government’s State Council made the announcement on Sunday. From here on out, it wants cityscapes … Continued
By Bryan Lufkin -
Tech News
This Mountain Refuge Is a Lighthouse at 7,000 Feet
Mountain huts are normally utilitarian in the extreme—when you’re helicoptering up every pound of building materials, there’s not a lot of leeway for granite countertops. This Romanian hut isn’t what you’d call luxurious, but it creatively uses materials to make something better than a big Portaloo. The constraints on design firm Archaeus were strict: they … Continued
By Chris Mills -
Tech NewsDesign
The World’s Most Slender Tower Is 13 Feet Wide But 531 Feet Tall
You can keep your super-tall towers: How about the physical challenge of building the world’s most slender instead? That’s what engineers have done in Brighton, UK, with the i360 tower. The new construction—a sea-front observation tower—is just less than 13 feet in diameter yet 531 feet tall. It’s just be crowned the “most slender tower” … Continued
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Tech News
This Super-Futuristic Skyscraper for Brooklyn Will Probably Never Get Built
An awesome-looking 73-story tower planned for downtown Brooklyn could add hundreds of apartments to a city that desperately needs more housing. Too bad the proposal will likely be denied. The concept for the supertall, which is designed by SHoP Architects, was first reported by New York Yimby back in November, followed by the first waves … Continued
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Tech News
The Porn House From The Big Lebowski Has Been Donated to a Museum
For design nerds, the Sheats-Goldstein residence is well-known as one of the most triumphant works of renowned architect John Lautner. For hard-core basketball fans, it’s the home of James Goldstein, the flamboyant courtside fixture at Laker games. And for everybody else, it’s known as Jackie Treehorn’s house. Now, the house prominently featured in The Big … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
How Long Before Dubai’s New Observation Tower Is Engulfed in Flames?
A new observation tower will be built in Dubai, and it’s already being billed as an “architectural wonder that will be as great as Burj Khalifa and Eiffel Tower.” That’s great, but what I really want to know is this: Will it catch on fire? The new tower’s design, a contemporary take on traditional Islamic … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
This Twisting Manhattan Tower Will Have a Park on Every Floor
When you think of supertalls you probably think of pricey real estate—not leafy parks in the sky. A new 1000-foot tower going up in Manhattan provides a more interesting take: Hanging gardens that twirl down the exterior of the building like a giant green exclamation point marking the end of the High Line. The 65-story … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
These Gorgeous Buildings Showcase the Surprisingly Innovative Future of Wood
Wood is the future. That’s the feeling you get after looking through the 2016 award winners named by WoodWorks, the United States wood building council. All of these structures are made from wood, but not the traditional two-by-fours you’re thinking of. These buildings make use of innovative new materials like glued-laminated timber (glulam) and cross-laminate … Continued
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Tech NewsApple
Drone Footage Shows Apple’s New HQ Continuing to Grow
Apple’s new UFO headquarters/backup plan for escaping the planet is continuing to take shape, as yesterday’s update from a drone shows. As someone used to seeing only municipal construction projects, the speed with which the $5 billion build is happening is remarkable. A video from 18 months ago basically shows a giant concrete ring, while … Continued
By Chris Mills