-
Tech News
Nordstrom Tower Boosts Its Roof Height to Become the Tallest Building in the Western Hemisphere
Here’s the latest update for the new tallest-building contender in the US: Nordstrom Tower, the superskinny supertall under construction in Midtown Manhattan, apparently no longer aspires to have the tallest spire in the US. But it just increased its roof height, meaning it will now tower above the current-tallest roof on the Willis Tower. According … Continued
-
Tech News
The “Worst Building of the Year” In England Was a Complete Shoo-In, Say the Judges
“Spontaneous unanimity has never been so effortlessly achieved as it was on this year’s judging panel.” Ouch. That’s a quote from the judges behind this year’s Carbuncle Cup, a competition to name the worst building of the year in the UK run by the architectural magazine BDOnline. These judges, who range from architects to critics … Continued
-
Tech News
Trove of Architectural Photos Shows When LA’s Skyline Became Modern
At the dawn of the 1960s, Los Angeles lacked a true city skyline. A longstanding 13-story height restriction, in force since 1904 and only recently repealed in 1956, had created a downtown whose only vertical accent was the 32-story City Hall. And then a flurry of new high-rise construction in the 1960s, ‘70s, and 80s … Continued
-
Tech News
What You Can Buy for $9 Million (If You’re Not Buying This Island)
It must feel thrilling to be rich, free to fling millions of dollars at whatever your heart desires. Right now, you can buy a private island and former sea fort off the coast of Denmark for a little under $9 million. That includes a restaurant and a hotel. What a bargain! Nothing screams luxury like … Continued
-
io9
This Competition Takes Repurposed Shipping Containers To A Whole New Level
Recently, SuperSkyScrapers held an interesting architectural competition in Mumbai, India: how do you tackle housing shortages in densely populated regions around the world? The competition was focused on one type of repurposed resource: shipping containers. The competition brought together architectural firms from around the world to design container-scapers, which, according to CRG Architecural Consultants (which … Continued
-
Tech News
Photo Essay: Inside a 120 Year-Old Steam Powered Water Pumping Station
A small village on the left bank of the river Tisza in Hungary hides one of the best-preserved industrial relics I have ever seen. If you wander along the flood prevention dyke near the village, you’ll see an old building with an enormous brick chimney towering above the trees: this is the old Tiszabercel water … Continued
By Attila Nagy -
Tech NewsDesign
What the Oval Office Looks Like Empty
The Oval Office has a very pretty floor! You’d never know it based on most photos of the White House’s most famous non-square-shaped room, but the president spends his days walking on a Reagan-era design. It’s a heck of an improvement over the wood-grain linoleum of the Johnson years. The rare photo above was taken … Continued
-
Tech NewsDesign
The Incredible DiY Cabins of the Tisza River in Hungary
One of the strangest places in Hungary lies beside the Tisza River in a village called Gergelyiugornya. Hugged by a bend in the river, it’s a relatively narrow, woody flood basin area packed with small cottages that show an incredibly wide variety of architectural designs and creativity. Walk with me in the shade of the … Continued
By Attila Nagy -
Tech NewsDesign
The U.S. Embassy in Havana Is a Perfect Metaphor for American Diplomacy
John Kerry watched a soldier hoist the American flag over the United States Embassy in Havana on Friday morning. He’s the first secretary of state to visit the land of Castro, communism, and cigars in 70 years. The embassy itself, an acclaimed example of midcentury modern architecture, has been rotting for just as long. In … Continued
-
Tech News
Frank Gehry Wants To Preserve the LA River’s Infamous Concrete Walls
Good news to those of you who still want to drag race, chase T-1000s, or, heck, even land small planes in the concrete banks of the LA River. Frank Gehry, the architect chosen for a controversial new master plan for the revitalized river, says he wants the cement walls to remain. Last week it was … Continued
-
Tech News
Frank Gehry Is the Wrong Architect to Revitalize the Los Angeles River
Last month Los Angeles was promised $1.3 billion in federal funding to transform its river from a cinematic cement chute to an honest-to-goodness urban waterway. That great news has been tainted by today’s puzzling announcement that the city has tapped architect Frank Gehry to lead the redevelopment. It’s a really bad idea. Specific details are … Continued
-
Tech NewsDesign
I Want To Build All These Amazing Alternative Lighthouses
A new lighthouse would probably be a fitting memorial to the 2012 sinking of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy. Open-idea competition platform matterbetter has been running a contest to design a new lighthouse concept to live at the spot where the ship capsized, and while the entries aren’t realistic, they’re sure pretty … Continued
By Chris Mills -
Tech NewsDesign
An Architect Wants To Retrofit This London Power Plant With Tesla Coils
A few weeks ago, the design mag Dezeen reported on a lecture by the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels at the Royal Academy in London. During the lecture, Ingels nonchalantly described a plan to turn an aging power station’s smokestacks into tesla coils—if only London would let him. The Building Battersea Power Station is a landmark … Continued
-
Tech News
Russia Wants People to Road Trip from New York to London (via Moscow)
Between the western shores of Alaska and the northeastern tip of Russia, the Bering Strait is so narrow that you could drive across it in an hour, if only there were a tunnel beneath the sea. And Russian Railways wants to build one, as part of a massive road and rail project that would stretch … Continued
-
Tech NewsApple
Apple’s Cupertino Campus Will Have an “Observation Deck” For Fans
If you’ve been to a natural history museum lately, you’re familiar with the glass-walled laboratories where paleontologists and archaeologists give the public a glimpse of their work. It sounds as though Apple is banking on the same level of interest in its day-to-day operations. If not more. The Silicon Valley Business Journal’s Nathan Donato-Weinstein reports … Continued
-
Tech NewsDesign
The World’s Biggest Free Form 3D Printer Is Being Used to Build Houses
The dream of 3D printing buildings is not a new one and, typically, it’s not a pretty one either. However, the visionaries at Branch Technology, a startup founded by architects in Chattanooga, Tennessee, want to change that—and they’ve built the world’s largest free form 3D printer to do it. The Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce flew … Continued
-
Tech News
This Super Tall, Super Thin Tower Was Built Just To Test Elevators
How do you design a new type of elevator without installing it in an existing building? It’s a chicken/egg question that engineers have long struggled with—even using abandoned mine shafts to test new technology. Take ThyssenKrupp, the German elevator company that, last year, announced it had developed the elevator of the future. Called Multi, the … Continued
-
Tech News
NYC Is Razing and Rebuilding LGA, Everyone’s Least Favorite Airport
A panel of architects, engineers, planners, and lawmakers evaluating the future of America’s most-maligned airport released the results of their research to the public today. Their first recommendation: Tear it down! The panel was assembled by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who today announced a plan to demolish and rebuild much of LGA today alongside … Continued
-
Tech News
Celebrate Bugs Bunny’s 75th Birthday With This 1944 Short About 2000 AD
Unofficially, Bugs Bunny turns 75 today. It’s unofficial because Warner Bros doesn’t recognize birthdays of fictional characters. But that’s no reason we can’t celebrate! And what better way than looking at Bugs Bunny predictions for the year 2000? In 1944 Warner Bros released the Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd cartoon The Old Grey Hare. Directed by Bob … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsDesign
New Zealander’s Self-Built ‘Skysphere’ Is The Retreat Of Your Dreams
Being able to escape to your own personal haven, complete with beautiful views and peaceful seclusion, is one of many dreams many of us have. Enterprising Kiwi Jono Williams decided to make his perfect retreat a reality and three years and $NZ75,000 later, he’s ended up with the above creation, dubbed the “Skysphere”. According to … Continued
Logan Booker - Gizmodo Australia