A Return on Architecture Design

Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health

Kate Lynch — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:44:19 GMT

Building for the brain
Opened: May 2010
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Height: 75 feet tall
Architectural Firm: Gehry Partners
Chief Architect: Frank Gehry
Cost: $100 million

Project Goal: Built by famed architect Frank Gehry, this steel-shelled structure is Cleveland Clinic’s newly opened Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. Gehry’s design splits the building into a pair of separate wings: an office wing and a main hall. The two wings, one rational-seeming and contained and the other free-flowing and layered appear in opposition and unified at the same time. With its complex, duel-winged design based on folded fabrics, Las Vegas politicians hope that the combination of Gehry’s design and the Center’s association with the Cleveland Clinic will bring medical tourists to Las Vegas.

The High Line

Kate Lynch — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:35:49 GMT

An elevated park
Opened: 2009 (Section 1)
Planned Opening: 2011 (Section 2)
Location: New York City, New York
Size: 1.5 mile long elevated park spanning 22 blocks
Architectural Firm: Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Landscape Architectural Firm: James Corner Field Operations
Lead Architect: James Corner (James Corner Field Operations)
Design Architect: Matthew Johnson (Diller Scofidio + Renfro)
Cost: $152 million

Project Goal: The High Line is an elevated park currently being built on an abandoned railroad running through New York City’s West Side neighborhoods of the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea and Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen. The idea for The High Line originated in 1999 when two community board members wanted to find a way to save the abandoned railroad from demolition. Over the next ten years, The High Line’s designers blended agriculture and architecture to create a public park and walkway inspired by the natural landscape which bloomed after the trains stopped running. Since the completion of The High Line’s first section, the park has become a beacon of light for the neighborhood, sparking a community renaissance of more than 30 new construction projects.

Kroon Hall, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University

Kate Lynch — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:30:08 GMT

Sustainable education
Opened: 2009
Location: New Haven, Connecticut
Size: 58,000 square feet
Architectural Firms: Hopkins and Centerbrook
Head Design Architect: Sir Michael Hopkins (Hopkins)
Executive Architect: Mark Simon (Centerbrook)
Cost: $33.5 million

Project Goal: Built as a model of Yale’s commitment to sustainable ideals, this stone, concrete, steel and glass structure is LEED Certified and serves as the new home for the university’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Satisfying the university’s goal of sustainability, Kroon Hall consumes half the energy of an equivalent academic building and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 62 percent.

MAXXI Contemporary Art Museum

Kate Lynch — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:57:11 GMT

Rome’s new contemporary art museum
Opened: 2010
Location: Rome, Italy
Size: 98,425 square feet
Architectural Firm: Zaha Hadid Architects
Design Architects: Zaha Hadid
Project Architect: Gianluca Racana
Cost: $192 million

Project Goal: Built on the site of former army barracks, Rome’s new contemporary art museum showcases today’s contemporary artistic expressions. The MAXXI serves not only as a place to exhibit art, but also as a research workshop to help bridge architecture and the arts of contemporary design, fashion and film.

Barnes Museum

Kate Lynch — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:51:42 GMT

New Home for Collection of Modern Masterpieces
Planned Opening: 2012
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Size: Two-stories, 93,000-square-feet
Architectural Firm: Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Lead Architect: Billie Tsien
Cost: $150 million

Project Goal: The building will be the new home of the Barnes Foundation’s collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings, African sculpture, Pennsylvania Dutch decorative arts, and other important works. The collection is currently housed at the Gallery and Arboretum in Merion, PA, and will be moved to a new location on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Kate Lynch — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:33:19 GMT

Integrated Resort and Singapore’s Second Casino

Planned Opening: 2010

Location: Central Singapore

Height: 55 stories

Architect: Moshe Safdie

Cost: $5.8 billion

Project Goal: This resort will feature the Art-Science Museum, a Theater, Convention and Exhibition Facilities, Casino, retail stores, restaurants, and a hotel. This integrated structure is intended to be a destination for Singapore’s international business and tourism travelers.

Burj Khalifa

Kate Lynch — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:29:13 GMT

World’s Tallest Building

Opened: 2010

Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Height: 2717 feet high

Architecture Firm: Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill of Chicago

Chief Architect: Adrian Smith

Cost: $1.5 billion

Project Goal: This multi-use building, which includes residential, hotel, and office space is intended to be a landmark among a plethora of new high-rise construction in Dubai. Office space costs $4,000 per square foot.