After years of controversy and a total redesign, Forest City Ratner Cos., the developer of the Atlantic Yards megadevelopment in Brooklyn, N.Y., says it expects to begin construction of the development's centerpiece, an arena for the NETS basketball team, later this year. Ratner "anticipates" opening the facility, called Barclays Center, for the 2011-12 basketball season. Photo: SHoP Architects and Ellerbe Becket Redesigned basketball arena in Brooklyn. Ratner released renderings Sept. 10 of the redesign by Ellerbe Becket in collaboration with SHoP Architects. The original architect was Frank Gehry. Under the new design, the 675,000-sq-ft arena is clad in weathered-steel and
German architect Ole Scheeren, a partner with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), Rotterdam, has unveiled his plan for MahaNakhon, Bangkok’s tallest skyscraper. The 310-m luxury mixed-use tower appears to be carved, with portions set back in seemingly random fashion. It will be primarily residential but also will include a Marriott hotel. The tower is located near a major transportation hub and is the central feature of a $515-million, 37-acre development that will contain public gardens and retail spaces. Construction is slated to begin in late 2009 and be completed in 2012.
Construction is under way at Camp Ederle, a U.S. Army base in Vicenza. The post is the headquarters of the Southern European Task Force as well as the 173rd Airborne Brigade combat team. A 100-acre portion of a former civilian airfield, Dal Molin, will be the site of barracks for 1,200 soldiers and office space for four brigade battalions being transferred from Germany. A joint venture of two Italian contractors, C.M.C. Di Ravenna and Consorzio Cooperative Construzioni, Bologna, have already driven 800 concrete piles, which eventually will be topped with 25 multistory buildings and car parks. Simultaneously, Italian teams are
A new urban center is rapidly taking shape in Incheon, a port city 30 miles west of Seoul. Work is under way on 100 buildings across 1,500 acres reclaimed from the sea. The so-called First World apartment complex is currently home to Songdo’s first 7,800 residents. The development’s population is expected to reach 65,000 upon completion in 2014. A convention center, hotel, international school and 100-acre central park have been completed. The construction workforce currently numbers 15,000 and is expected to peak in late 2010 at 25,000. The developer is New Songdo International City Development LLC, a 70/30 partnership of
Construction crews working the One World Trade Center site reached a milestone on Aug. 12 by placing the largest steel column to date for the $3.1-billion tower in Lower Manhattan. The 60-ft, 70-ton beam will serve as one of 24 perimeter columns that surround the building’s core. Once placed, the columns will allow the initial floors of the tower––including the lobby––to be built out. Tishman Construction is managing construction on the 2.6-million-sq-ft, 102-story structure for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Construction began in April 2006 on the steel-frame tower designed by the New York office of
Lifestyle doyenne Martha Stewart, more at home with comforters than cars, likely never dreamed her commuting-to-work routine would inspire a way of living, which could be called insider parking. But the developer of a 19-story residential building nearing completion in Manhattan, just blocks from the 19-story Starret-Lehigh building where Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. has its offices, modeled its 15 “sky” garages after Stewart’s habit of driving her vehicle straight into the freight elevator and up to her office. Slide Show Image: Selldorf Architects Residents drive through gate, into lift and up to their apartments. The paparazzi-proof residential building takes
An eye-catching project is taking shape in Baku. It features three curving towers ranging from 31 to 39 stories, rising from a podium with an extensive roof garden. The towers will be shield-shaped in cross section. One tower will house luxury apartments, another a hotel and the third, offices. The design by HOK is inspired by Azerbaijan’s tradition of fire worship. Baku is an active seismic zone. The excavation is seven stories deep and required a bored pile retaining wall and foundation piles up to 50 m long. Winds sometimes reach 120 km/hour, requiring tower cranes to be shut down.
High-wire acts and heavy props, used to build the gravity-defying steel “bird cage” on concrete stilts that frames the tallest little theater in Texas, stole the show from myriad balancing acts that combined into a command performance at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts.
The New York state court appellate division ruled 4-0 to uphold the state’s right to use eminent domain to build the Frank Gehry-designed Atlantic Yards arena-centered megadevelopment in Brooklyn. The decision prompted developer Forest City Ratner Cos. (FCRC) to say it plans to break ground this year, with the intent that the arena for the New Jersey Nets basketball team would be ready for the 2011-12 season, two years later than planned. FCRC says this is the 23rd consecutive ruling in favor of the controversial $1-billion development.
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