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Architects: Gene Fong Associates, Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio
- Area: 158000 ft²
- Year: 2017
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Manufacturers: Arcadia Inc., Dri, Pool Deck Screen
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Professionals: Hellman & Lober, Psomas, Studio HBA, AquaDesign, Englekirk, +3
Santa Monica: The Latest Architecture and News
Downtown Santa Monica Hotels / Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio + Gene Fong Associates
AD Classics: The Entenza House (Case Study #9) / Charles & Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen & Associates
Nestled in the verdant seaside hills of the Pacific Palisades in southern California, the Entenza House is the ninth of the famous Case Study Houses built between 1945 and 1962. With a vast, open-plan living room that connects to the backyard through floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors, the house brings its natural surroundings into a metal Modernist box, allowing the two to coexist as one harmonious space.
Like its peers in the Case Study Program, the house was designed not only to serve as a comfortable and functional residence, but to showcase how modular steel construction could be used to create low-cost housing for a society still recovering from the the Second World War. The man responsible for initiating the program was John Entenza, Editor of the magazine Arts and Architecture. The result was a series of minimalist homes that employed steel frames and open plans to reflect the more casual and independent way of life that had arisen in the automotive age.[1]
Experience Cities From Above With Crystal Clear Drone Videos
With rapid advancements in technology and crystal clear imagery, drones have allowed us to experience our cities and landscapes from unimaginable vantage points and perspectives. In its series of videos, YouTube channel Mingomatic uses drones to capture the sights and scenes of predominantly American cities and various locations from above, offering glimpses of skylines, oceans, highways and terrains (and seals!). Check out the 10 videos below for some spectacular views, and find Mingomatic’s full selection, here.
Edmunds.com Headquarters / M+M Creative Studio
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Architects: M+M Creative Studio
- Area: 145000 ft²
- Year: 2016
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Manufacturers: Artcraft Kitchens, Corian, Janus et Cie, Jeff Jones, Pulp Studio
Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences / Frederick Fisher and Partners
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Architects: Frederick Fisher and Partners
- Area: 25000 ft²
- Year: 2015
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Manufacturers: Eco-Cem, ORNL
This Floating Desalination Megastructure is Designed to Combat California's Water Shortages
California is suffering through its 5th year of severe water shortage. Aquifers and rivers continue to dry out as the water provided by melting snowpacks is reduced, and even the heavy rain brought by El Niño this year could not relieve the drought. Authorities are wary of the long-term consequences for California and neighboring areas of the Colorado River, and Santa Monica is now seeing a growing number of initiatives to control the use of potable water and find sustainable solutions.
Most recently, a competition asked architects, artists and scientists to conceive sustainable infrastructure projects to improve Santa Monica’s water supply. Bart//Bratke and studioDE developed a raft structure named “Foram” that illustrates the future of floating platforms in sustainable development.
AD Classics: Nomadic Museum / Shigeru Ban Architects
Shigeru Ban, the 2014 Pritzker Prize winner, is an architect often celebrated for his humanitarian and disaster relief structures, constructed out of recycled or recyclable materials. On the other end of spectrum, he is well-known for his meticulously constructed residential and museum projects, more often than not for high-end wealthy clients. The Nomadic Museum, however, combines both of these facets of his practice, using shipping containers and paper tubes to craft a bespoke mobile gallery for Gregory Colbert’s traveling exhibition of photography entitled Ashes and Snow.
Princeton St. Bungalow / Ruben S. Ojeda Architects + KoningEizenberg Architecture
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Architects: KoningEizenberg Architecture, Ruben S. Ojeda Architects
- Year: 2014
Holleb Residence / John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects
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Architects: John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects
- Area: 4000 ft²
- Year: 2012
Ehrlich Retreat + / John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects
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Architects: John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects
- Area: 1430 ft²
- Year: 2012
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Manufacturers: Antares Enterprises, Hevi-Lite
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Professionals: Bonomo Development
2802 Pico Housing / Moore Ruble Yudell
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Architects: Moore Ruble Yudell
- Area: 42263 ft²
- Year: 2014
City of Santa Monica Parking Structure #6 / Behnisch Architekten + Studio Jantzen
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Architects: Behnisch Architekten, Studio Jantzen
- Area: 2250 m²
- Year: 2013
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Professionals: Brightworks, Gaia Development, Burnett & Young, Culp & Tanner, DVV Associates, +3
Broadway Housing / Kevin Daly Architects
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Architects: Kevin Daly Architects
- Area: 33225 ft²
- Year: 2012
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Professionals: TK1SC, Dry Design, FBA Engineering, John Labib & Associates, Paller-Roberts Engineering, +1
Pico Place / Brooks + Scarpa Architects
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Architects: Brooks + Scarpa Architects
- Area: 38250 ft²
- Year: 2013
OMA's Santa Monica Scheme Re-evaluated
In July the Office for Metropolitan Architecture's (OMA) competition proposal for a mixed-use development in the heart of downtown Santa Monica was recommended by City Council members after they "seemed genuinely wowed by OMA's theatrically-terraced design." City officials have since voted to re-evaluate the recommendation over concerns of a lack of affordable housing in the development, as well as issues "related to design [and] economics." They have also invited Related California, a team comprising of BIG, Koning Eizenberg Architecture, and Rios Clementi Hale Studios, to revise its original proposal that was shortlisted in March of this year.
OMA's Competition Proposal Selected in Santa Monica
Santa Monica’s City Staff has recommended OMA’s competition proposal for a mixed-use development in the heart of downtown Santa Monica. The building and surrounding plaza incorporates a civic plaza, cultural venue, retail, residences, offices and a boutique hotel. The City Staff selection panel praised OMA’s project for its iconic architecture and flexibility, saying it would “easily accommodate potential design modifications and adjust to market demand changes in the future.” Santa Monica’s City Council will review the recommendation on August 27th before the project formally proceeds in 2014.
The proposal’s plazas and terraces will add over 55,000 square feet of programmable open space. A cultural venue will sit inside of the building, anchored by office spaces for Santa Monica and greater Los Angeles’ growing tech industry. The project will be led by OMA’s New York office, headed by Shohei Shigematsu. He explained, “Our design provides residents, tourists, and entrepreneurs a dynamic new public realm – a stepped building that achieves a strong interaction between interior program and exterior environments.”
More images and information after the break…
UCLA Outpatient Surgery and Oncology Center / Michael W. Folonis Architects
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Architects: Michael W. Folonis Architects
- Area: 50000 ft²