Designed by Foster + Partners, with landscape architect Mark Rios, One Beverly Hills puts in place a unifying vision for Beverly Hills’ western gateway. Proposing two residential buildings, a new ultra-luxury hotel, a casual dining, and retail pavilion, and expansive publicly accessible botanical gardens, the development, expected to open in 2026, aims to become a striking and dynamic mixed-use project.
Gensler: The Latest Architecture and News
New Images Reveal One Beverly Hills Development by Foster + Partners
Art Gensler, Founder of Gensler Passes Away at 85
Art Gensler, the founder of one of the largest architecture businesses in the world, Gensler, has passed away at 85, as reported by the company’s Instagram Account. The architect and businessman founded Gensler back in 1965, in San Francisco, and in his 65 years of career, he managed to turn his practice into one of the leading worldwide firms with 50 locations across Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and the Americas.
Gensler and PAU Create Ford Motor Mobility District in Detroit’s Oldest Neighborhood
The Ford Motor Company has released a new plan for an innovation and mobility district in Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighborhood. Designed by the Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), the "Michigan Central" plan involves a multiyear development that includes the restoration of the iconic Michigan Central Station. Gensler is reimagining the Book Depository building, while PAU is master planning the Michigan Central development as a whole. The vision is an open platform for startups and entrepreneurs to develop, test and launch new mobility solutions.
Gensler Designs Tech-Focused Office Space in Miami
Gensler has unveiled 545wyn, “the first Class-A office tower in Miami in over a decade”. In collaboration with office developer Sterling Bay and local development partner Joe Furst of Place Projects, the project introduces a new generation of office space, aiming to attract a new type of innovative, forward-focused tenants. In fact, Gensler Miami will be the building’s first tenant of the 10-story tower.
Gensler Ranks First in the 2020 U.S. Top Architecture Firms, for the Ninth Year in a Row
Comparing revenues from the previous year, Architectural Record lines up annually a list of the Top 300 U.S. Firms. Based on the 2019 data, Gensler tops again the selection, for the ninth year in a row, and Perkins and Will takes the second position. Third, fourth and fifth places were presented for Engineering Architecture firms HDR, Jacobs, and AECOM. Other companies in the top 10 include HKS and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
The World's Largest Soccer Stadium Breaks Ground in Guangzhou
On April 16, a ground-breaking ceremony was held in the city of Guangzhou, China, for what is to be the world’s largest soccer stadium. The most controversial aspect of the project was not its $1.7 billion price tag, but its bold lotus shape causing a backlash from the local architectural community but praise from the general public.
Gensler Unveils Temporary Worship Pavilion for Notre Dame
Architecture firm Gensler has unveiled a design for a temporary worship pavilion at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Set to be located in Parvis Square, the temporary structure would be constructed primarily out of charred timber for added strength and durability. The proposal comes after the Notre Dame fire in April this year. The Pavillon Notre-Dame was designed to offer hope to Parisians and international visitors while the 850-year-old cathedral is being restored.
BIG, Gensler, and Field Operations Revise Plans for Oakland Athletics Stadium
A revised design has been released for the Oakland Athletics baseball stadium, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, James Corner Field Operations, and Gensler. The new stadium will replace the Oakland A’s existing 51-year-old Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, which the A’s share with the Oakland Raiders football team. The mega-ballpark includes a waterfront circular stadium at Howard Terminal and would turn the current Coliseum site into a tech and housing hub.
Under the redesign, the previous “diamond box” stadium is replaced by an open, circular scheme. Encompassing the playing field, a coliseum-like seating arrangement steadily bows own to the entrance area, topped by a landscaped green roof.
MoMA Releases Opening Date and New Images of Major Diller Scofidio + Renfro Expansion
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has announced an October 2019 opening date of its Diller Scofidio + Renfro / Gensler-designed extension, which will offer 40,000 square feet of gallery space for the iconic institution in Midtown Manhattan. The expansion features two key additions, with the Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Studio creating a double-height space for live and experimental programming, and the Paula and James Crown Platform offering experimental, creative pace to explore ideas, questions, and processes that arise from MoMA’s collection.
The project has not been without controversy, with considerable backlash generated from the decision to demolish the American Folk Art Museum in order to make way for the new expansion. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times in January 2014, DS+R principal Liz Diller embraced the criticism, saying “we would be on the same side if we didn’t know all the details that we know.”
The Week in Architecture: Blue Monday and the Aspirations of a New Year
For those in the northern hemisphere, the last full week in January last week kicks off with Blue Monday - the day claimed to be the most depressing of the year. Weather is bleak, sunsets are early, resolutions are broken, and there’s only the vaguest glimpse of a holiday on the horizon. It’s perhaps this miserable context that is making the field seem extra productive, with a spate of new projects, toppings out and, completions announced this week.
The week of 21 January 2019 in review, after the break:
Gensler's Tower Fifth in New York City will be the Second-Tallest Building in the Western Hemisphere
Gensler has released details of their proposed Tower Fifth in New York City. If realized, the 1556-foot-tall scheme would be the second-tallest building not just in New York, but in the Western Hemisphere. Located east of Fifth Avenue between 51st and 52nd Street, the tower will sit adjacent to St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
According to Gensler, who designed the scheme in collaboration with developer Harry Macklowe, the tower “creates a new paradigm for how a supertall structure meets the street and interacts with its neighbors.”