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INNOVATION AT IRVINE
For residents of Los Angeles, California, the county line to the south is often referred to as "the orange curtain." Stereotypes of Orange County depict a different world politically and architecturally: "red" versus "blue," suburban versus urban, predictable versus vivacious. The orange groves after which the county is named have all but disappeared, replaced by office parks and subdivisions of million-dollar houses. — Published 2005.0518
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DOUBLY TRANSPARENT
Growing concern for occupant comfort and lower energy costs has led to a recent revolution in curtain wall design, primarily in Europe. Dynamic, double-skin walls that induce air movement between the layers of glass are replacing the static, sealed envelopes that have until recently characterized modern curtain walls.
The new generation of glass wall is an active component of the heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) system, bringing air tempering installations from the hidden central core to the building perimeter. — Published 2005.0316
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BEHNISCH IN BOSTON
With ever-rising energy prices, commercial tenants in office buildings have begun to consider the increasing cost of heating, cooling, and lighting their spaces as a "second rent." Savvy developers and architects are responding to their concern by making new buildings far more energy efficient than in the recent past. — Published 2005.0209
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HONG KONG'S NEW TALLEST
The second tower for the International Finance Centre, new headquarters for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, perches near the narrowest crossing of the beautiful Victoria Harbour and marks a new gateway to the city. The so-called "Two ifc," at Central Waterfront is said to be the world's third-highest building and the safest highrise completed since September 11, 2001. — Published 2004.0421
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ART CENTER UPON TYNE
The abandoned Baltic Flour Mills in the northern England town of Gateshead has recently been transformed into the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. It joins other illustrious works in the heart of the Gateshead Quays regeneration area. — Published 2003.0402
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APARTMENTS OUTSIDE THE BOX
There has been a recent growth spurt of highrise apartment development along Manhattan's avenues. Although these buildings strengthen street-level pedestrian activity, replacing congested parking lots with shops and restaurants, their predictable appearance means that the population of New York is being denied high-quality design. — Published 2002.1016
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LA EXPANSIVE
The view from the 23rd-floor lobby of the White, O'Connor, Curry & Avanzado law office is as good as it gets in Los Angeles. Nearly floor-to-ceiling glass curtain walls reveal an awe-inspiring backdrop of the city, mountains, and Southern California's endlessly blue sky. Located in a corporate high rise in the prime business district of Century City, the new headquarters of one of LA's leading litigation law firms is a workspace to be envied. — Published 2002.0925
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OFFICE INFILL TREADS LIGHTLY
The BP Amoco Research Center posed several challenges to its architects. The client wanted the 40-building campus to have a new corporate identity expressed in a high-profile marker at its entrance. Three existing buildings needed to be connected through a central circulation space. And to keep costs down, the addition needed to impose minimum disruption on the existing structure. — Published 2001.1024
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NEW GATES FOR ASIA
This spring Incheon Airport brings South Korea, and all of Asia, closer to the rest of the world. Asia's newest high-tech airport reaches out from a man-made land bridge between two islands in the Yellow Sea. Incheon will make Seoul a new rival to Hong Kong and Osaka as gateway to the East. — Published 2001.0606
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WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD BUILDINGS
Most people in the construction industry have had this experience: Someone (a client, a guy at a cocktail party, your Aunt Ethel) asks, "Why can't you people build things the way you used to? Why do new buildings fall apart?" — Published 2001.0404
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