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ENGINEERING KOOLHAAS
To support the rapid expansion of China Central Television (CCTV), an international design competition was launched in 2002 for a centralized headquarters building in Beijing. Winning the commission was Rem Koolhaas (Office for Metropolitan Architecture, OMA), teamed with engineering firm Arup and the East China Architecture and Design Institute as both architect and engineer of record. Koolhaas imagined a building whose three dimensional form brings CCTV's staff and functions into a "continuous tube." This is part of the story of the engineering challenge. — Editor — Published 2006.0111
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CAREFUL CONSERVANCY
The Trustees of Reservations, one of the oldest land conservancies in the United States, is in the business of improving and preserving scenic landscapes in Massachusetts. When it came time to design an administrative center, the largest capital project in its 113-year history, the statewide nonprofit organization took pains to apply its own tenets of environmental stewardship. — Published 2005.0810
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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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SWISS RE TOWER BY FOSTER AND PARTNERS
During construction, London's newest highrise conjured up many emotions from visitors and locals alike: here was a building that would bring a major change to the skyline. It became affectionately known as the "Gherkin," but was it worth it? Was it a white elephant? — Published 2005.0504
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REGARDING WATER
A building can outwardly but subtly express the functions it shelters and express institutional regard towards its surrounding context. An example of this is the new office building for Rijkswaterstaat Zeeland, the Department of Water Management and Transport (RWS), in Middelburg, The Netherlands. Through its many sustainability features, it shows deference to energy and water conservation and to the well being of its occupants. — Published 2005.0413
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TALKING SHEDS
Architecture's communicative function was disregarded throughout the first half of the twentieth century. During the 1950s, Robert Venturi and I independently developed a strong interest in it. In the mid 1960s, we looked for a site where we could study architectural communication somewhat separately from architecture's other functions and away from complex urban patterns that would make the communication systems less clear. We found it in the Nevada desert on the Las Vegas strip. — Published 2005.0406
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GREEN BUILDING SCHOOL
At the University of Florida in Gainesville, the new home for the School of Building Construction is setting an example for sustainability on campus. Rinker Hall has achieved a "gold" LEED rating from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Its success has raised the bar for this university's new buildings which will now be expected to meet or exceed LEED silver standards. — Published 2005.0309
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TAIWAN ON TOP
The official opening of the Taipei 101 Tower in December 2004, makes it — for now — the world's tallest building. In the 20th century, competition for this title was largely waged in Chicago and New York, but it has recently migrated to Asia. — Published 2005.0302
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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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TIMELY WATCHWORKS
If "Swiss clock maker" conjures an image of quaint craftsmanship conducted in gingerbread workshops, think again. The oldest active watch making firm in the world, Vacheron Constantin, recently celebrated the opening of a new headquarters building that looks as sleek and trim as any 21st-century timekeeping technology. — Published 2005.0209
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