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Endangered Monuments Update: Preservation Efforts for the 510 Fifth Avenue Manufactures Trust Company Bank Branch

Endangered Monuments Update: Preservation Efforts for the 510 Fifth Avenue Manufactures Trust Company Bank Branch - Image 2 of 4
Manufacturers Trust Company by SOM © Landmarks Preservation Commission

ArchDaily previously ran an article about the Manufacturers Trust Company Bank Branch at 510 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and interior designer Eleanor H. Le Maire, a building designated as protected under the Landmarks Preservation Commission with first the exterior in 1997 and later the interior in early 2011. But as recently as October 2011, the building was already listed under the 2012 World Monuments Fund in the 2012 World Monuments Watch as the current owners, Vornado Realty Trust, began compromising the landmarked conditions of the interior of the building as it was being adapted for reuse. With preservationists in an uproar, support for the protection of the building was enough to bring Vornado Realty Trust to New York State Supreme Court where a settlement was reached.

Read on for more details on the settlement and continuing efforts to protect endangered monuments.

AIA Emphatically Urges Looser Credit, Notes 30% Drop in Architectural Employment Since 2008

AIA Emphatically Urges Looser Credit, Notes 30% Drop in Architectural Employment Since 2008 - Featured Image
Construction at 1 WTC, by ShinyThings VIA Flickr. Used under Creative Commons

The AIA has issued a “comprehensive look yet at the built environment’s role in economic recovery, highlighting six specific policy steps that will generate jobs and help grow the American economy.” Coming on the eve of President Obama’s major jobs initiative, the report cites George Mason University economist Stephen J. Miller in arguing that every $1 million in new construction spending supports “28.5 full-time, year-round-equivalent jobs.”

Miller and the AIA blame tight credit markets blocking potential progress in this area. The publication, “The Built Environment’s Role in the Recovery,” is issued with this problem in mind. “We’re putting these recommendations forward now because it’s time for the Administration and Congress to get real about creating an environment in which people are willing to lend and borrow,” said AIA President Clark Manus, FAIA, quoted in a recent AIA press release. “When credit flows to worthy projects, it unleashes the job creation potential of the American economy.”

Mayor Signs Contracts Drunk, Blames Design Firm

Mayor Signs Contracts Drunk, Blames Design Firm - Featured Image

Sunland Park, N.M– Martin Resendiz, mayor of a small community near Las Cruces, admitted earlier this month to signing contracts with a San Diego–based parking design firm while drunk. The company, Synthesis +, is suing the city for nonpayment. Resendiz claims the contracts were never valid since the City Council did not approve them.

UK "Architecture Minister" Mocks Profession, Cites Mr. Bean

UK "Architecture Minister" Mocks Profession, Cites Mr. Bean - Featured Image
John Penrose MP (R) and Prime Minister David Cameron MP (L), johnpenrose.org

A minor transatlantic controversy erupted last month after UK “architecture minister” aka Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport with responsibility for architecture and the built environment John Penrose apparently compared architects with other negatively-stereotyped groups, noting architects are “just one of those groups people love to mock.” The comments were part of a longer blog post about Rowan Atkinson, Dreamland, and VisitEngland’s new Smartphone-based marketing campaign.

The Decaying Dutch Harbor Bunkers

The Decaying Dutch Harbor Bunkers  - Featured Image
© Tom Doyle

Set against a backdrop typically reserved for postcards, the decaying bunkers of the Aleutian Islands Campaign serve to memorialize a little-known chapter of WWII lore. Read more about these distinctive relics after the break.

The Decaying Dutch Harbor Bunkers  - Image 4 of 4The Decaying Dutch Harbor Bunkers  - Image 6 of 4The Decaying Dutch Harbor Bunkers  - Image 1 of 4The Decaying Dutch Harbor Bunkers  - Image 8 of 4The Decaying Dutch Harbor Bunkers  - More Images+ 5

Venice: City in Peril

Venice: City in Peril - Image 7 of 4
Photo by Tambako the Jaguar - http://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/. Used under Creative Commons

Venice is commonly regarded as one of the wonders of the world, attracting over 17 million tourists each year. However, the city of Venice faces ongoing problems that threaten its ability to stay above water. The city’s flooding issues are notorious around the world. Every year water surges through its legendary labyrinth of streets wreaking havoc on architectural gems such as the Palazzo San Marco. With its architecture under threat, and dwindling population as many young people flock to the mainland, it is appropriate to think of Venice as a dying relic.

AD Classics: United Nations / Wallace K. Harrison

AD Classics: United Nations / Wallace K. Harrison - Institutional Buildings, CityscapeAD Classics: United Nations / Wallace K. Harrison - Institutional Buildings, Facade, CityscapeAD Classics: United Nations / Wallace K. Harrison - Institutional Buildings, FacadeAD Classics: United Nations / Wallace K. Harrison - Institutional Buildings, FacadeAD Classics: United Nations / Wallace K. Harrison - More Images+ 7

  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  1952
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  One Collection

AD Classics: Boston City Hall / Kallmann, McKinnell, & Knowles

AD Classics: Boston City Hall / Kallmann, McKinnell, & Knowles - Town & City Hall, Stairs, HandrailAD Classics: Boston City Hall / Kallmann, McKinnell, & Knowles - Town & City Hall, Door, Facade, Column, StairsAD Classics: Boston City Hall / Kallmann, McKinnell, & Knowles - Town & City Hall, FacadeAD Classics: Boston City Hall / Kallmann, McKinnell, & Knowles - Town & City Hall, FacadeAD Classics: Boston City Hall / Kallmann, McKinnell, & Knowles - More Images+ 10

AD Classics: National Assembly Building of Bangladesh / Louis Kahn

AD Classics: National Assembly Building of Bangladesh / Louis Kahn - Other Public Administration BuildingsAD Classics: National Assembly Building of Bangladesh / Louis Kahn - Other Public Administration Buildings, Facade, CityscapeAD Classics: National Assembly Building of Bangladesh / Louis Kahn - Other Public Administration Buildings, Arch, Facade, StairsAD Classics: National Assembly Building of Bangladesh / Louis Kahn - Other Public Administration Buildings, Arch, StairsAD Classics: National Assembly Building of Bangladesh / Louis Kahn - More Images+ 6

Modernist architecture is traditionally understood to be utilitarian, sleek, and most of all without context, such that it can be placed in any context and still stay true to aesthetic principles and its functional requirements. However, Louis Kahn’s National Assembly Building of Bangladesh in Dhaka is an extraordinary example of modern architecture being transcribed as a part of Bangali vernacular architecture. The National Assembly building, completed in 1982, stands as one of Kahn’s most prominent works, but also as a symbolic monument to the government of Bangladesh.

A New Infrastructure, Los Angeles

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Los Angeles is often portrayed as the example of the car-friendly city. The traditional image of the town is an endless pattern of single family dwellings, interconnected by traffic-clogged freeways, where transit is undeveloped and the air is choked with smog.

However, Los Angeles is changing. The city’s Transport Authority has planned in the last years a series of measures aiming to improve quality of life through improving transit and walking and providing alternative to car commuting.