So you think Chicago is a tale of two cities? The gulf between its booming downtown and its violence-plagued neighborhoods is nothing compared to the gaps that a visitor witnesses in Detroit… …Detroit is evolving new ideas for how to revive its stricken neighborhoods. Here’s what they boil down to: Turn emptiness into opportunity. Make … Continued
Those driving on Fairfax County Parkway past Fort Belvoir will see the National Museum of the United States Army finally taking shape. The Army Corps of Engineers has begun site work on 84 acres at Fort Belvoir that will be the home of the museum, which is projected to open in late 2019… The National … Continued
…Cars aren’t cheap, but what is the alternative in an auto-dependent city like Miami? Director of the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) for Miami-Dade County Alice Bravo said that she wanted to make Miami a “car-optional community,” where people can get to “all the different regions within the county using reliable public transit … Continued
The City of Chicago and the Chicago Housing Authority have announced the selection of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Perkins + Will and John Ronan Architects to lead in the design of three new “co-located” affordable housing and library developments in the Chicago neighborhoods of Little Italy, West Ridge, and Irving Park. Selected from a … Continued
With security and sustainability becoming critical factors in nonresidential construction, design sometimes takes a back seat on projects. Case in point: New York City’s second Public Safety Answering Center, known as PSAC II, which opened last June in the Bronx. The 450,000-sf facility, sitting on 8.75 acres along the Hutchinson River and Pelham Parkways, supplements … Continued
The last time a private American company built rail infrastructure was more than 100 years ago. But this summer’s launch of Brightline service, connecting downtown Miami with Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, could propel private passenger rail forward… The company’s new investments should yield benefits for passengers and the wider public. Perhaps most significant, … Continued
Four SOM projects have been named finalists in this year’s Architizer A+ Awards. Selected from thousands of submissions, the finalists will now be considered for a Jury Award, determined by a panel of over 400 esteemed judges, and a Popular Choice Award, based on public voting. Voting is open on Architizer’s website through March 30th, … Continued
Poly International Plaza has won two 2017 Architizer A+Awards, a program that recognizes outstanding design across more than 100 categories. The SOM-designed complex in Beijing won both the Jury Award and the Popular Choice Award in the category for Commercial – Office High-Rise (16+ Floors). The Architizer A+Awards, now in its fifth year, is billed … Continued
Navy Pier is no longer the top tourist attraction in Chicago and the Midwest, according to a newly applied crowd-counting methodology. The pier hasn’t lost visitors, but Millennium Park gained lots of them in the new tally that would vault it into first place even as it is taking on an expanded mission. The free … Continued
Millennium Park has been Chicago’s glorious and quirky town square, almost since the moment it opened in 2004 after construction delays and cost overruns more than tripled the original pricetag — to $475 million. Now, City Hall has the statistics to prove it: nearly 12.9 million visitors in the last six months of 2016 alone. … Continued