 Few makeover projects have been handled with such a degree of
architectural audacity as the recent transformation of a disused
electric station in Madrid's Las Huertas district into a cultural center
La Caixa Forum - Madrid.
Swiss architects
Herzog
&
de Meuron
not only gutted the building,
removing most of its interiors and changing its shape and size by
conspicuously adding a layer of several floors, they also literally
lifted it from its foundation, giving the whole structure a tense
“suspended” look.
The resulting space now houses a cultural center with its own exhibition
space, a large auditorium, a bookstore and a top-floor café...
Read the rest of: "Caixa Forum - Madrid"»  Retractable roofs have been architects' idée fixe for decades.
Moshe Safdie once wrote up an idea for
entire neighborhoods shielded by such roofs during the harsh season and
open to the elements when it's nice outside.
The path to these dreams' realization has been fraught with difficulties,
from budget overruns to full-blown engineering disasters like
Montreal's Olympic Stadium (after a decade of efforts to fix it, the
city finally gave up and installed a fixed roof in its place. It won't
be moving any time soon).
Nevertheless, projects like that pop up again and again. And so do the
difficulties. The latest example is Santiago Calatrava's project for the
Lower Manhattan Transportation Hub. Among the project's many innovative
features was a retractable roof. But will there be one in the final
implementation?
Read the rest of: "Calatrava's Transit Hub Roof Gets Stuck"»  A few weeks ago, l'EPAD - the government body
responsible for developing Paris' La Défense
district, announced the completion of an
international tender for the construction of
a new high-rise tower (La Tour Signal). The project went
to Ateliers Jean Nouvel.
The revered French architect (who is the
winner of this year's Pritzker Prize in architecture)
beat several well-known colleagues including
Jacques Ferrier Architectures,
Foster+Partners, Studio Libeskind,
and Wilmotte et Associés...
Read the rest of: "Jean Nouvel Will Build La Tour Signal"»  As many press outlets have reported, the Waldorf=Astoria
hotel will open a Montreal outpost some time in 2011.
A 250-room, 76-residence monster (officially named
The Waldorf=Astoria Hotel & Residences Montreal) will rise
a few blocks west of the Montreal Museum of Fine Art...
Read the rest of: "Waldorf=Astoria Hotel to Open in Montreal"»  Many tourists (not to mention the residents) find the lack of direct
transport links between Downtown and
Old Montreal inconvenient. Sure,
the métro is there, but because of the U-shaped configuration of its
lines, a traveler who wants to go from centrally located Peel Street to
no less central Old Montreal would have to travel a few stops west (or east) on the green line, switch to the orange
line, then essentially come back to the geographic center of the city
albeit 10-15 blocks south. Annoying.
Fortunately, the city is aware of that - in fact, many recent proposals
for building a tramway line cited this very inconvenience as the major
reason for building it. Well, the tramway, if it's ever built, is still years
away, but something much more feasible is already coming, the Gazette
reported: Old Montreal and
Downtown Montreal are to be
linked by a new bus route...
Read the rest of: "Downtown, Old Port To Be Linked By New Bus Route"»  I generally dislike articles that sound like advertising,
especially when they are written about foreign cities. You
know the type? Like, how everything is good in XYZ and people
are nicer and girls/boys are prettier and
things are cheaper and nobody works and everybody's happy.
A couple of years back I felt it was appropriate to
comment
on the much promoted virtues of Buenos Aires.
Right now, I feel the same
way about Berlin, except I can not claim to have lived there
myself, so I only have my scepticism to go by...
Read the rest of: "If At First You Don't Succeed, Try It Again In Berlin"» The writers' strike may be over, but not everything is going
well in Hollywood, I read in yesterday's Corriere della Sera (Milan).
The latest trend of shows and movies abandoning the city for cheaper
locales leaves the film industry capital increasingly isolated.
And if things continue down the same path, soon nobody will be filming
there (that prediction is courtesy of Carsten Lorenz who made it
in an interview with the Financial Times)...
Read the rest of: "Frankie Goes To... New York?"»  This past weekend, we're wandering around Dumbo — that neighborhood that takes place between and beneath the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges and seems comprised almost entirely of organic food marts and upscale designer baby clothes boutiques.
I was in the mood for a hot dog and beer, which is only a healthy meal when compared to my previous idea of a meal of ultra-rich chocolate. But there were surprisingly few hot dog vendors about the place, and in stark contrast to my own neighborhood, no guys wandering around offering to sell you a Corona for a buck fifty. However, while walking up Jay Street, I suddenly caught a whiff of…is that…is that taco? Yes it is. And suddenly all I wanted was tacos and beer. Luckily, Pedro's Spanish American Restaurant and Bar was waiting on the corner of Jay and Front Street (73 Jay St., between Front and Water) to give me exactly what I wanted.
Read the rest of: "Pedro's Spanish American Restaurant"» |
