Articles by Eric Baldwin

The Shanghai Cofco Cultural and Health Center by Steven Holl Architects has topped out. Designed in 2016, the project was designed to become a social condenser, fostering community among the residents of the surrounding new housing blocks with a public space and park along an existing canal. Centering on public space, the projects features an exoskeletal concrete construction.

Costa Rica’s new modern homes are built to float above the landscape. This wave of elevated housing is designed to minimize environmental impact while working with varied terrain. Aiming to become a carbon-neutral country, Costa Rica is transforming its housing market as it experiences a growing demand for more residential buildings.

The School of Architecture at Taliesin has announced the closing of the school after 88 years. The news follows the conclusion of a multi-year struggle back in 2017, when the school was approved to maintain its accreditation as an institute of higher learning. The decision was made by the Governing Board, as the school was not able to reach an agreement with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to keep the school open.

Veteran Italian film producer and CEO of Luce Cinecittà Roberto Cicutto has been appointed president of the Venice Biennale. Cicutto was appointed by the Italian minister of culture Dario Franceschini, and will replace Paolo Baratta, who presided over the Biennale for 8 years. Cicutto’s term will run for four years with a maximum of three renewals.

Minimalism has shaped architecture for over a century. Embracing new materials and rejecting ornament, the modernist movement grounded minimalist architecture through rational use and function. Throughout the 20th century, architects returned to minimalism as they worked with glass, steel and reinforced concrete. Over time, minimalist and modernist designs became more closely tied to cost, construction and aesthetic.

Architect and visual artist Mohammad Hassan Forouzanfar has been conceptually combining contemporary landmarks with traditional Iranian houses, palaces and monuments in a photo-series titled “Retrofuturism“. In his latest exploration, Peace, the Persian architect looks to Iran’s Persepolis cultural site, the former capital of the Achaemenid Empire.

The government of Wuhan City has decided to build a 1,000 bed hospital in six days to fight the recent coronavirus outbreak. The project aims builds off the previous construction of Beijing Xiaotangshan Hospital in just a week’s time back in 2003. As the quarantined Wuhan City’s existing hospitals are overwhelmed, they have turned to social media for medical supplies and have begun to turn away patients.

Wood Design & Building Magazine has announced the winning projects for this year’s Awards program. Launched in 1984, the awards program recognizes and celebrates the work of visionaries around the world who inspire excellence in wood architecture. Submissions included projects that weaved wooden architecture into the surrounding landscape in inventive ways.

OMA and designer Shohei Shigematsu have released the design for 10,000 sq. feet of new and renovated galleries for the Denver Art Museum (DAM). The project is part of the phased reopening of the newly renovated Gio Ponti-designed Martin Building. OMA’s work is done within the building’s original footprint, and the project is part of an overall campus reunification and building renovation project led by Machado Silvetti and Fentress Architects.

LA-based practice Bunch Design was founded by Bo Sundius & Hisako Ichiki with a focus on light, materials and structure. At the core of their work is a desire to build in more mindful ways, making spaces that enrich everyday life. Recently, the duo have launched BunchADU to create custom and pre-designed Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) that can address pressing issues of housing.