John Graby, director of the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland, said the six members who resigned had done the honourable thing in the circumstances. Photograph: Dara Mac Dnaill.

Two former presidents and four other council members of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland have resigned over what they claim to be serious governance failings in the organisation.

Their letters of resignation were delivered in advance of an extraordinary general meeting of the institute in Dublin tonight which was called to debate motions relating to implementation of a controversial amendment to the Building Control Act.

The six who resigned were members of an RIAI reform group campaigning against the amendment, which makes it mandatory on architects, engineers or other building professionals to certify that new building comply with regulations.

Other issues raised by the group included claims of a recurring and increasing deficit in the RIAIs accounts, its dual role as a membership organisation and a regulatory body for architects, and the lack of open debate to end a growing alienation among members.

At last nights meeting, a motion tabled by the group which includes former RIAI presidents Joan OConnor and Eoin Cofaigh calling on the council to seek a revocation of the building control amendment was defeated by 165 votes to 102.

Another motion, which had the support of the institutes officers, calling on members to support the councils efforts to have the new regulations amended to reflect concerns of architects about consumer protection, was overwhelmingly carried.

RIAI president Robin Mandal, who chaired the meeting, said afterwards that the six had resigned because they didnt get their way in changing its policy. Institute director John Graby said they had done the honourable thing in the circumstances.

Ms OConnor said she was resigning because the council had not made material progress on any of the issues raised by the reform group and failed in its responsibilities to ensure that the institute was solvent, well-run and delivering the outcomes for which it is set up.

She claimed that the RIAI president and some members of the 24-strong council try to suppress contrarian views on the building control amendment. Those who held such views were effectively gagged (and) subjected to ridicule and hostile interrogation.

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Architects council members resign over governance failings

The project will cover around 37 acres of space and see up to 600 lodgings built.

"The selected sites represent varied opportunities for both land and housing that can be quickly developed," said Jean-Louis Missaka, deputy mayor in charge of urbanism.

These include an electricity sub-station at Parmentier, which the mayor wants to see transformed into a "popular, quality cinema" and the old Massna station in the 13th arrondissement. Also up for grabs is vacant land in the 19th arrondissement, along with a 16th-century mansion house in the chic 5th and the former Paris government prefect headquarters by the Seine in the 4th arrondissement.

Perhaps the most challenging prospect for architects is to suggest designs for a future building bridging the peripherique or Paris ring road - at the Porte des Ternes.

Ideas are to be sent early next year, with a short list drawn up by July and the winning tenders announced next December.

Those chosen will then have the option of buying or renting the sites they will transform.

The ambitious plan comes as Paris's town hall faces stiff resistance to a project to build the Triangle Tower, a 50-storey, 590ft high pyramid-like structure, due to overlook Paris from its southwestern extremity at the Porte de Versailles, already home to a vast exhibition centre.

The council of Paris is due to vote on the project this month, with the Socialists' green partners due to vote against, along with part of the opposition centre and Right.

Mr Missika said a vote against would send "a very bad signal to the outside world, where France already has a reputation of being a country that is struggling to enter modernity."

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Paris mayor calls on world's top architects to 'reinvent Paris'

San Francisco rejected the plan, Chicago officials welcomed it with open arms, and now, mere months later, following promises of organic sponginess from George Lucas himself, Beijing's MAD Architects have unveiled their preliminary design for Chicago's Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. It looks part moonscape, part rising conical mass, part melted pile of marshmallow goop, and 100-percent MAD. Let's take a look, shall we?

Like MAD's previously unveiled live-in landscapes, this conceptas the firm describes in a press releaseblurs "the line between structure and landscape," exploring "the relationship between nature and the urban environment." Under the mountainous structure, three levels of exhibition space connect "in infinite loops," reaching an observation deck and restaurant with 360-degree views, where the stone surface that rises from the harbor "crescendos into a 'floating' disc." At once "primitive," "futuristic," and "timeless," it seeks to be "more than a building," providing Chicagoans with "an urban vista for social interaction, bringing people closer to each other and to nature."

Image via MAD Architects

Aside from gallery space, the museum's conjoined slopes and hills include four theaters, an education center, and archival space, according to Gizmodo, totaling about 400,000 square feet. As the facade slopes toward the ground, it merges with a sinuous stone sidewalk that carves out amphitheaters and public green spaces from the 17 acres the museum is sited on. Surrounding it is the full panoply of lakefront Chicago attractions, including the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, the Adler Planetarium, and Northerly Island, which, like the Lucas Museum, had its landscape designed by Chicago's Studio Gang.

MAD cites Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe as inspirations for the project, drawing a connection to the rising conical design of Wright's Guggenheim Museum and kissing the ring of the city's one-time modernist master-in-residence. By integrating the "natural beauty of the park and Lake Michigan with the powerful man-made architecture of Chicago," MAD aspires for its design to join the ranks of the city's most recognizable landmarks. Architect Ma Yansong, who worked as an intern architect in Chicago before founding MAD, points out to Gizmodo's Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan that "even Mies was alien to Chicago" at one point.

Image via MAD Architects

The museum's holdings will a potpurri of high and low American artwork, including Norman Rockwell paintings and cover art from a MAD more recognizable to the average American teenager. And, of course, Star Wars stuff, although Lucas managed to hold off from directly referencing the franchise in the design of this building. According to Gizmodo, the team will go into schematic design now, and present a final proposal to the city in the spring of 2015.

Here's MAD founder Ma Yansong discussing his concept for the museum:

UPDATE: Curbed Chicago rounds up some of the critical reactions to the museum, including not-so-serious comparisons to Jabba the Hutt, and very serious characterizations of the design as a "land-eating colossus" that would be an illegal intrusion onto the lakefront. Also worth noting: the building has an estimate price tag of $400M, and would be four times the size of the rejected San Francisco proposal.

Our First Look at the Radical Design of George Lucas' Art Museum [Gizmodo]

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Rendering Reveals: MAD's Lucas Museum is a Moon Mountain with a 'Floating' Halo

Can We Learn from Architects? by Vojta Jna at ng-europe 2014
Slides: http://goo.gl/u27Otl.

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Can We Learn from Architects? by Vojta Jna at ng-europe 2014 - Video

Philadelphia-based DAS Architects, Inc., will design a boutique hotel in Center City, Philadelphia, set to open in 2016. The new $125 million property will be a high rise with more than 300 guestrooms, including 40 modern executive suites. The penthouse floor will offer guests and patrons access to an exclusive dining venue with panoramic city views. The property will also include two stories of luxury retail shops, at least one restaurant and bar, as well as special events and meeting facilities.

Photo Courtesy of DAS Architects Dave Schultz, founder of DAS Architects, said, This new hotel will breathe fresh air into the citys hospitality market, not only providing much-needed rooms and meeting spaces, but exciting food and beverage options as well. We are confident our project will be the best independent hotel in the city.

Photo Courtesy of DAS Architects, Inc.

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DAS Architects to Complete Boutique Hotel in Philadelphia

By - Associated Press - Monday, November 3, 2014

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Architects have finished designing downtown Baton Rouges 50,000-square-foot River Center branch but construction documents still have to be finished before companies can bid on the project.

The planned downtown translucent Library of the Future building will cost about $19 million. It will be located amid some of downtown Baton Rouges most eye-catching architecture, such as the Old State Capitol and the 19th Judicial District Courthouse.

Architect Rex Cabaniss told The Advocate (http://bit.ly/10NwgLM ) the library will be the center showpiece of downtown.

WHLC Architecture designed the building in collaboration with Boston-based Schwartz/Silver Architects.

The library will include computer commons, technology labs and panoramic views on its upper terrace.

Its not a square, cookie-cutter kind of building, Library Director Spencer Watts said.

Something not included in the tight budget is parking. Watts said the East Baton Rouge Parish Library system does not have the money to add parking but he hopes the urban space surrounding the library will encourage people to walk and ride bikes.

Watts said the Library Board hopes more parking will be available nearby downtown.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Library system has been doling out construction projects left and right. The new, $35 million, 126,000-square-foot Main Library opened in January.

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Architects finish design of downtown BR library

PES Architects Guest Lecture 29.10.2014

By: Chryssa Skodra

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PES Architects Guest Lecture 29.10.2014 - Video

Pier Solar and the Great Architects Gameplay (PC HD) [1080p]
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SPEARFISH, S.D. (AP) - Theyre used to doing the drawings for projects, but last summer, Spearfish architects Andy and Shauntel Fett had the chance to take a design through the construction process. They created a rammed earth bench that won a merit award from the South Dakota chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for its sustainable design and materials.

We draw it; we dont build it, Shauntel said of what the couple, both of whom work at Williams and Associates, is used to doing. However, both were interested in a building material called rammed earth that they had learned about in architecture school, but they didnt think it was feasible in a cold climate. When Andy was returning from a conference in Denver, however, he saw a rammed earth building in Wyoming, the Black Hills Pioneer (http://bit.ly/1tGOUAX ) reported.

Then we started investigating it more and messing around with it and decided that we wanted to do something with it, he said.

They started researching and designing, using sustainable building methods and materials. One thing that drew them to the method was the fact that it uses less concrete and looks a little more natural, and they thought it would be neat to build something usable near a hiking trail or path in their community.

A bench was an approachable size for just the two of us building something, Shauntel said of their final decision.

They approached Cheryl Johnson, Spearfishs public works administrator, about the possibility of placing the sculptural bench, pro bono, on city land.

I was really encouraged when they brought the idea to us, Johnson said, adding that it gave the city the chance to place a bench in a space it may not normally consider.

The Fetts had prepared a plan and design that they presented, and the conversation turned to placing the bench near the trail to the Thoen Stone monument, above the Lookout Amphitheater on Meier Avenue.

I really think it suits some of the new things this community is out there trying, Johnson said of the bench design, adding that lately, more people are coming forward with unique ideas to complement the community and natural environment.

The city authorized the Fetts to place the bench on the space, and they started the work, putting in many hours every weekend. There is no water or electricity on or near the location, so they had to haul water and do all the work by hand.

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Spearfish architects win award for bench design

STP : Architects of life.
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