The Larkin Company’s corporate logo, emblazoned across the late mail-order company’s Larkin Terminal Warehouse for the past 97 years, is still a potent advertising vehicle for the heritage structure, now repurposed as Class-A office space.

The corporate logo (“LCo”) was actually obscured for years by another sign for Graphic Controls, which leased 4,000 sq. ft. space in the former warehouse in 1940 and later purchased the entire building from the Larkin Warehouse Co. in 1967, the likely year of the original sign’s concealment. (Graphic Controls expanded to the nearby Exchange Street Industrial Park in 2001.) When the mammoth 600,000 sq. ft. structure was purchased by investors Howard Zemsky, Bill Jones, Doug Swift, and Joe Petrella in 2002, the original Larkin sign was revealed, a highly-visible first step in the building’s rehabilitation. Read the rest of this entry »

Today the publication place of the ideas competition for a new town office for Rotterdam. 5 winners from 104 entries were chosen, also the people of Rotterdam also had a voice in the appointment of an audience winner.

“The Butterfly”, Figure Sky

PHE N.Y. Lanin, Head of the city

The jury, consisting of Wiel Arets (Chairman), Stefan Behnisch, Adriaan Geuze, John Körmeling, Michelle Provoost and Harm Tilman, received 104 entries to judge. Besides its task to appoint five winners, the jury asked to select 25 plans for this exhibition.

The 5 winners are: PHENY N.Y. Nine of LA La Lidy Meijers and Helga Fast (Posterholt); Figure of Sky RV Ritoe Architecture, Urbanism and Infrastructure (Delft), The Butterfly Maarten van Tuijl, Tom Berg Foot, Naoko Hikami (Amsterdam), assisted by Peter Farmer, Head of the City of Fountain Head of Christian Müller and Forideas (Amsterdam). Read the rest of this entry »

This just in! The January emergency demolition of the Sacred Heart School at 198 Emslie Street not only broke hearts, it also broke the bank.

The emergency demolition of the landmark building reportedly cost taxpayers a cool $125,000. Economic return on the investment? Zero. While few doubt the necessity of the demolition in light of its collapsing brick facade and the imminent threat the building posed to human safety, fewer still believe the school’s “demolition by neglect” was inevitable. Read the rest of this entry »

Boundless optimism, since it all turned to the fifth day of IJburg, such as multiplication ARCAM organized by the date of the referendum that the project is not blocked. The merriment began with the sun during the excursions on the Harbor Island afternoon, and ended with the conclusion of the discussion Chairman Martin Kloos evening top the telephone, the only building on IJburg there certainly is.

Apparently surprised Kloos noted after the pep talk of Klaas de Boer (Director Planning Service Amsterdam), Igor Roovers (IJburg project), Han Michel (director of one of those developer consortia) and Vera Yanovshtchinsky (an architect of the first blocks on the Harbor Island) that it all appears to be a lot better than he and many like him these days the media have understood. And it surprised Kloos, who do not like the naiefste known, in turn, a large part of the room, including yours truly. Read the rest of this entry »

Under the prosaic title “Infrastructure as a showcase for the ingenuity” was the Dutch Architecture Institute (NAI) its second Major Projects debate. The stakes were clear: “The infrastructure can play a leading role in organizing the rest of the country.” What should have been a fierce debate among politicians, critics and designers turned into a private chat between developers and officials. Nieuw Amerongen Frido of reports.

Construction of the Betuwelijn

The discussion has already crippled by the initial absence of the two speakers. Michelle Provoost critic (author of Asphalt) let sickness turn up and Minister of Transport Tineke Netelenbos was absent because of construction fraud investigations. She had a duty of confidentiality. Read the rest of this entry »