CAPACITY: Gensler Los Angeles Academic Studio
CAPACITY, the Gensler Los Angeles led academic studio at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, was created with the intent to survey, understand and visualize the dynamic set of infrastructure constraints impacting and contributing to Downtown Los Angeles’ capacity to evolve. The video above highlights the documentation and synthesizing done by the SLO_GenLA ’13 Professional studio which shows the capacity of Los Angeles’ infrastructure and demonstrates how the limits of each system may physically impact the future built form of the city. Once these variables, which include building information and zoning, energy, waste management, and water were universally known and their units of measure understood, scenarios for the future were generated.
Gensler Designs New Silicon Valley Headquarters for Nvidia
Silicon Valley visual-computing pioneer Nvidia has joined the expanding list of tech moguls seeking to transform their work environment into the physical manifestation of their innovative business model. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has released the first schematic renderings – designed by Gensler - that depict a pair of 250,000 square foot triangular motherships centered around collaboration – a complete contrast to the typical, dated office building commonly found throughout Silicon Valley’s “oddly banal” landscape.
More after the break…
The 100 Largest Architecture Firms In the World
Building Design has released their annual ranking, The WA100, of the world’s largest architecture firms. Coming in the #1 spot (up from #2 last year) is Aecom, who, with 1,370 employees worldwide, narrowly outranked Gensler (with 1,346 employees). Completing the top three was IBI Group (1,129 employees). Aecom, Gensler, and Japanese-based firm Nikken Sekkei (ranked #4) were the top 3 earners of 2012, each making over $400 million US Dollars in Fee Income.
Of the top 10 largest firms, 5 are based in North America, 3 in Asia, and 1 in the UK (Aedas, which ranked 5th, is dually based in both China and the UK). A similar trend is also evident in the list as a whole – as you can see from the graphic we compiled (after the break), US firms remain the biggest employers of architects and the highest-earners. Although the UK represents about half the number of employed architects as the US, UK firms earned almost as much in fee income.
Interestingly, the only firms to grace both the Top 10 list and Building Design’s survey of the Top 5 Most Admired Firms of 2012, were Gensler (#2 Largest; #4 Most Admired) and Foster & Partners (#10 Largest; #1 Most Admired). Zaha Hadid Architects (who shared the number 5 Most Admired spot with Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners, ranked as the 45th largest firm).
See our graphic and the full list of the world’s largest firms, after the break…
Gensler to Envision the Office Building of the Future
Last year, Gensler‘s LA Office researched how they could turn an existing building into more useful and sustainable structures. By highlighting the architectural phrase of ‘hacking the planet’, they even envisioned a plan to hack the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, DC (and LA’s Union Bank) by adding residences, big box retailers and a rooftop soccer field. As part of the NAIOP (Commercial Real Estate Development Association) competition, their vision for the office building of the future focused on how offices could become obsolete unless we turn them into useful spaces that improve the overall urban fabric.
More images and architects’ description after the break.
AIA California Council’s 2012 Design Award Recipients
The American Institute of Architects, California Council (AIACC) has announced the 2012 Design Award Recipients. Since 1982, AIACC has recognized excellence in architecture and design through the AIACC Design Awards Program. An esteemed Design Awards jury has selected these award winners out of 300 submittals. Continue after the break to review the projects!
Diller Scofidio + Renfro Unveils New Columbia University Medical Building
Columbia University has been at the forefront of medical education for more than two centuries, as it was the first medical school in the United States to award the M.D. degree in 1770. Now, the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) has announced plans for a new, state-of-the-art medical and graduate education building that reflects how they believe medicine is and should be taught, learned and practiced in the 21st century.
Located on the CUMC campus in the Washington Heights community of Northern Manhattan, the 14-story facility will aim to achieve LEED Gold certification and incorporate technologically advanced classrooms, collaboration spaces, and a modern simulation center. The design is led by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, in collaboration with Gensler as executive architect.
Continue after the break for more details!
Data Space / CLOG
“Every second, 2.8 million emails are sent, 30,000 phrases are Googled, and 600 updates are tweeted. While being absorbed into this virtual world, most rarely consider the physical ramifications of this data. All over the world, data centers are becoming integral components of our twenty-first city infrastructure [...] As cloud storage and global Internet usage increase, it’s time to talk about the physical space of data.” - CLOG (5)
What does it look like to give the virtual, physical form? As every CLOG edition, Data Space explores “from multiple viewpoints and through a variety of means, a single subject particularly relevant to architecture now” (5) and this subject, how to design “the infrastructure of invisible data” (103), could very well be the defining question of our age.
Top 250 U.S. Architectural Firms
Architectural Record has published their annual list of the “Top 250 Architecture Firms” in the United States. The companies are ranked according to architectural revenue from the prior year. Gensler claimed the number one spot, with a record high of $764 million in revenue, over the long-standing leader AECOM, whom brought in $445 million in 2011.
The firms classify themselves by:
- A = Architect
- AE = Architect-Engineer
- AP = Architect Planner
- EAL = Engineer Architect Landscape
- AEC = Architect-Engineer-Contractor
Continue after the break to review the top 25.
In Progress: Shanghai Tower / Gensler
Soon to be the tallest building in China, the 632-meter Shanghai Tower is beginning to take shape. Located in the center of the Pudong district, the tower will become the centerpiece of the city’s international financial district. The transparent, mixed-use building will work as a “self-contained city”, housing 550,000 square-meters of world-class office, hotel, entertainment, retail and cultural venues. It is designed to achieve both LEED Gold certification and a China Green Building Three Star rating.
Global powerhouse Gensler won the Shanghai Tower commission in an invited multi-stage competition among many other leading international architects. Upon completion, the Shanghai Tower will be the second tallest building in the world, behind the 828-meter Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Continue after the break for more information and the latest construction images.
Video: Virgin America and Gensler offer Behind-the-Scenes look at SFO T2
Gensler, architects of SanFrancisco International Airport’s Terminal2(SFO T2) and Virgin America, the terminal’s anchor tenant, announce the release of A Day in the Life of SFO T2, a video by filmmakers Spirit of Space. A Day in the Life of SFO T2 is a key element in Virgin America’s fall promotion “VX Deals on the Fly,” launching today via Loopt, the geo-social network. The promotion will offer travelers mobile check-in rewards at various locations throughout SFO T2. More information after the break.
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, North Terminal / Gensler
The 12th-busiest airport in the United States, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) serves as a global gateway to Metro Detroit. Opened as a model of post 9/11 terminal design, the airport’s new North Terminal is enhancing DTW’s status as one of the most modern and efficient airports in the world. Gensler designed the terminal to meet the dynamic needs of today’s travelers. The 26-gate, 824,000-square-foot terminal met stringent budget requirements, and establishes new benchmarks for value-conscious airport facilities. A tremendous time saver for travelers, the terminal’s linear design will also create a faster, more efficient path for taxiing aircraft that will save fuel and reduce environmental emissions. More images and information about DTW’s North Terminal after the break.
Architect: Gensler
Location: Romulus, Michigan, United States
Project Area: 850,000 gross square feet
Project Year: 2008
Photographs: Gensler
Villeurbanne-Lyon Arena / Gensler
Gensler has been named lead architect, in collaboration with Groupe-6, of this new multipurpose arena in Villeurbanne, France. The Villeurbanne-Lyon Arena project includes a 12,000 seat arena that incorporates Tony Parker Academy, a training academy for talented young basketball players. This mixed-use project is a large public plaza which fluidly transitions from arena, to public hall, to public transit facilities.
More on the Villeurbanne-Lyon Arena after the break.
Three PNC Plaza / Gensler
Architect: Gensler
Location, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Structural Engineer: Astorino
Sustainability Consultant: Paladino & Company
Contractor: P.J. Dick
Project Area: 750,000sqf
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: Gensler
Tower at PNC Plaza / Gensler
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., currently the sixth largest bank in the United States, is a leader in green design, currently possessing over 100 green buildings. PNC was an early adopter of sustainable design, opening its first green building in 2000. PNC and Gensler have recently announced plans to design and construct the world’s most environmentally friendly skyscraper at PNC’s headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. More information and images after the break.
Foreign Development in China’s Growing Cities
With China’s high level of exports and booming real estate market, it is predicted that the country is on its way to becoming the world leader in economic performance. As a result, the Chinese government has been taking steps to show the world its growing economy and the newfound modernity that has come with it. China’s largest cities have already spent hundreds of billions of dollars on new development and infrastructure projects, ranging all the way from from roads, bridges and buildings to new financial districts. In fact, the country is expected to lay down a total of 4.7 billion square feet of construction in this year alone. More information after the break.
Video: NETWORK_LA transit
Network_LA Transit is a conceptual design response by Gensler Los Angeles to an open invitation by Sci-Arc, The Architect’s Newspaper and LA Metro to shift people from their cars to public transit.
More after the break.
Top 100 Architecture Firms
Architect Magazine‘s third-annual ranking of American architecture firms takes a look at three factors: profitability, sustainability, and design quality. This whole picture approach provides an opportunity for small and large firms to go head to head, with a result of the best architecture firms, not necessarily the biggest.
Some of these practices have been featured on ArchDaily like Perkins + Will, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Cannon Design, and Frank Harmon Architect.
Take a look at the complete rankings after the break.
JetBlue Airways T5 at JFK / Rockwell Group with Gensler
Rockwell Group worked with JetBlue to re-think the airline’s brand concept and to re-imagine the T5 marketplace – a triangular retail and dining area where all three concourses will meet. JetBlue believed that the marketplace was the one area in its new terminal where it could fully exhibit its “JetBlue-ness.” In response, Rockwell Group expanded JetBlue’s brand concept by equating “JetBlue-ness” with “New York-ness” and created a marketplace interior concept that is bold, celebratory and affirmatively New York.
Architect: Rockwell Group with Gensler
Location: John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York, USA
Planner and Design Manager: Arup
Airside/Landside Civil Engineers: DMJM Harris
Construction Management: Turner Construction
Engineers: Amman & Whitney
Collaborator: Port Authority of New York and New York
Project Area: 55,000 sqf
Project Year: 2008
Photographs: Nic Lehoux
Video of Gensler’s office in Chicago
Photographer Christopher Barrett shared with us a video he shot at Gensler’s office in Chicago. Hope you enjoy it!
