As France prepares for the XXXIII Olympic Games, Paris plans to showcase its rich cultural legacy. The 2024 Olympics, which will begin on July 25, 2024, are set to be a momentous occasion for the city as it anticipates competitors and spectators worldwide. Embracing a “pioneering approach,” Paris 2024 aims to reimagine the Olympic experience by departing from the traditional stadium venues and “integrating sports into the fabric of the city.” From the iconic Grand Palais to the Eiffel Tower, the Gardens of Versailles, and the famous La Concorde, world-famous landmarks are set to host the 2024 games.
restoration: The Latest Architecture and News
Foster + Partners Reimagines William Pereora's Television City in California, United States
Foster + Partners, led by Normal Foster, has just been selected to reimagine the Television City studio complex in Los Angeles, following a global competition. The project involves the restoration of William Pereira’s iconic 1952 buildings and the transformation of the 25-acre site into a low-rise multi-modal campus and draws inspiration from the Los Angeles’ renowned Case Study Houses. The campus will feature new sound stages, production offices, creative workspace, and retail surrounding its perimeter.
Recently Restored Argentinian Icon La Casa sobre el Arroyo Receives 2024 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize
The 1940s architectural marvel Casa Sobre el Arroyo has been awarded the 2024 Worlds Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize for its outstanding restoration. Initially designed in 1943 by architects Amancio Williams and Delfina Galvez Bunge de Williams, this “house on the bridge” symbolizes Argentina’s modernist movement. The project is the first winner of the prestigious Modernism prize in the Global South, now standing as a museum for the protection of Argentina’s modern heritage.
MAD Completes ‘the Train Station in the Forest,’ Their First Transit-Oriented Development in China
MAD Architects has announced the completion of the Jiaxing Train Station, the first transportation infrastructure project developed by the architecture office. Located in the historic city of Jiaxing, 100 kilometers southwest of Shanghai, the project involves the replacement of a dysfunctional station that had stood at the site between 1995 and 2019. As China has developed significantly in terms of urbanization, its train stations have grown into complicated, widespread, and uninviting infrastructures. Through their project, MAD Architects strive to return to a human scale, to create a facility that responds to the newest developments in transportation technology, while creating spaces that are comfortable and easy to navigate for its users.
Giza Pyramids Renovation Sparks Controversial Heritage Debate
Renovation work on Egypt’s infamous Menkaura Pyramid at Giza has sparked criticism on online platforms over the past two days. Dubbed by the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities as “the project of the century,” the ongoing renovation aims to restore the pyramid’s original style by reconstructing the granite layer. Initially, the pyramid was encased in granite and lost part of its covering over time.
Rescuing Architecture: Stories of Buildings Saved from Demolition
Regarding urban development, the choice between demolition and adaptive reuse holds far-reaching implications. From debates around the cultural and historical significance of structure to the environmental impact of the process of razing and rebuilding, compared to the cost of preserving and adapting, the matter of demolitions has ignited the architectural community to come together and ask for more responsible assessment strategies in hopes of rediscovering the value of existing structures. This article gathers some of the stories of buildings facing the threat of demolition and the processes that led to their rescue.
Lacaton & Vassal Receives the 2023 Soane Medal
Sir John Soane’s Museum has announced French architecture practice Lacaton & Vassal as the recipient of the 2023 Soane Medal. The award comes in recognition of the office’s work spanning over 3 decades. Through an honest design approach, the office became known for the resourceful repurposing of materials and existing structures to prioritize the needs of residents and local communities. For this approach, the office has been previously awarded as the 2021 Pritzker Prize 2021 Laureate.
SOM Completes Restoration of New York’s Lever House, Seven Decades After Originally Designing It
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has completed the restoration works for Lever House, one of New York’s Modernist landmarks. The building was completed in 1952, following SOM’s design. At that time, architecture critic Reyner Banham said of the building “it gave architectural expression to an age just as the age was being born.” Since then, SOM has retained a level of stewardship, revisiting the building and ensuring that the restoration works preserve the original image without compromising contemporary standards of performance.
MAD Architects’ Museum of Migration in Rotterdam is Scheduled to Open in 2025
Designed by MAD Architects, the FENIX Museum of Migration is set to be inaugurated in 2025 in Rotterdam’s City Harbor. The purpose of the institution is to showcase and highlight the stories of global migration through encounters with art, architecture, photography, and history. The museum broke ground in 2020 when the first images of the proposal were also released. MAD Architects is working with Bureau Polderman for the restoration of the historic warehouse dating back to 1932, which now represents the base and starting point for the museum experience.
Heneghan Peng Architects Wins Competition for Transforming the Ruins of a Historical Berlin Church
The design by heneghan peng architects, Dublin, with Ralph Appelbaum Associates, Berlin, was awarded 1st prize in the international competition for the replanning and expansion of the Old Tower of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The competition’s purpose was to redesign the original West Tower, which was partially destroyed during a bombing by the Allied Forces in 1943, and return it to the tourist circuit as a war memorial and exhibition space.
MAD Architects Reimagines a Former Cement Factory Warehouse in Shanghai with a Floating Ark
MAD Architects has unveiled the project for the renovation of the "Wanmicang" warehouse on the southside of the Shanghai Zhangjiang Cement Factory. The building is set to be transformed into a multifunctional public waterfront space for culture, creativity, and commerce. The project maintains the character of the former industrial site but introduces a new addition in the form of an ark-like metal 'floating' volume, creating a stark contrast between the old and new structures. The project is scheduled for completion by 2026.
Henning Larsen Restores and Revitalizes Bolzano's Industrial City in Italy
Henning Larsen has revealed the design proposal for Bolzano’s Industrial Zone. The concept revitalizes and reconnects part of the city through prioritizing adaptive reuse, urban mining, and timber construction. The proposed design will transform the post-industrial area into “Pone Roma Quartier,” an inviting, multigenerational, mixed-use neighborhood with a solution to the city’s pressing housing crisis.