Almost invisibly in her own day, Natalie de Blois, of SOM, helped guide the design of three of the most important corporate landmarks of the 1950s and 60s — the headquarters of Lever Brothers, Pepsi-Cola and Union Carbide — whose suave steel-and-glass facades still exude the cool confidence of postwar Park Avenue. “There wasn’t anybody … Continued
In late May, Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport celebrated the opening of its newly expanded and redeveloped Concourse B, including nine new and seven renovated wide-body gates for Delta Air Lines, the terminal’s new anchor tenant. Other primary elements of the $1.2 billion project include a new inline baggage system, centralized passenger … Continued
A dramatic 16-story building designed by SOM has continued construction on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 14th Street in Manhattan. The structure will eventually open at the University Center for The New School, and with its Muntz metal (a type of brass made of copper and zinc) and glass facade now in place, most … Continued
Since we first announced that Skidmore, Owings & Merrill was chosen to design the new federal courthouse in Downtown LA, construction for the new cubic courthouse at the corner of First Street and Broadway began on August 8. The approx. 600,000-square-foot building was proposed back in 2001 and approved by Congress for $400 million, but … Continued
Pertamina has hired prominent architectural and engineering firm SOM — responsible for the iconic Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which is currently the world’s tallest structure — and has even scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony to be held sometime this month. Pertamina Tower will be 400 meters high and constructed on a six-hectare plot in Kuningan, South … Continued
Does one green approach, density, supersede another green approach — keeping what’s already here? That’s essentially the conclusion offered in a recent report from Terrapin Bright Green titled “Midcentury (Un)Modern: An Environmental Analysis of the 1958-73 Manhattan Office Building.” Basing its assessment of midcentury buildings on a study of 675 Third Avenue (a 1966 Emery … Continued
Still in a raw state, it’s already cause to celebrate. The nearly $4 billion, largest, most fought-over piece of the puzzle in downtown’s epic skyline restoration turns out to be a gentle giant, graceful and humane as the Twin Towers were not. Architectural eggheads will sneer at it, but the masses will just as surely … Continued
Recent architecture in New York City has tended to vacillate between the staid and the iconic. Half of the buildings of note in Manhattan aspire to be the sort of tame comfort fare that New Yorkers have been steadily served since the dawn of the post-war era. (With all the requisite updates, of course.) The … Continued
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee presided over a groundbreaking ceremony for the American Conservatory Theater’s New Strand Theater, a 300-seat performance venue in the Central Market district.
The Strand, the 1125 Market Street building that police shut down in a dramatic raid 10 years ago, will become a key second venue for the well-established ACT, a place to teach and work with emerging artists and actors on a smaller scale than occurs at the group’s main theater on Geary. ACT will restore … Continued