University of Ohio’s Central Chiller Plant is chill because it has to be—it supplies water and emergency power to the university’s medical district. But thanks to its facade covered in prismatic fins, it’s also chill in the non-literal sense of the word.
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When buildings fail, they fail spectacularly—and often, tragically. But failed structures also serve an important purpose: To teach engineering and architecture students what not to do.
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In 1889, Paris unveiled the magnificent Eiffel Tower. It was a worldwide sensation. London, meanwhile, was green with envy. Not about to be outdone, city officials announced a competition for a grand monument of its own, and revealed 68 of the entries in a showcase catalog.
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Australia’s Outback is a forbidding land, and many of its dinosaur bones remain unexcavated. But in the early 2000s, a small family of cattle ranchers discovered a bone gold mine on their land. They set out to build a structure for their ongoing find—and their sheer enthusiasm convinced a group of architects and contractors to build the museum pro-bono.
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Drone photography: If you’re not against it because of the Constitution, you’re against it because of how over-hyped it is. But in the hands of enterprising architecture fans, unmanned airborne cameras are also letting us explore some of the most important structures ever built from entirely new angles. Today, it’s Paris’ 1897 glass-and-steel icon, the Grand Palais.
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When the Board of Commissioners of Central Park decided it was time to build Central Park in 1857, they announced a design contest with a prize to the tune of $2,000 (around $50,000 today). Obviously, it was Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux’s design won. But there were 33 other failed entries, only five of which still exist.
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Pretty much anyone who walks into a bar or diner in a group is scanning for a booth. It’s just nicer to eat five plates of cheese fries in your own space. And the architects at Australian firm Techne clearly agree because they used concrete pipes to create seating spaces in the redesigned bar at Melbourne’s Prahran Hotel. Finally some privacy.
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It’s July, so it’s hot as crap outside. In most parts of the country, it’s so balmy you’re sitting inside in your underwear with the freezer open trying to stay cool. But for a different kind of reprieve, here are some of the best design posts we found this week.
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As wildfires escalate year by year, fire prevention is becoming even more important. And prevention doesn’t always mean Smokey Bear PSAs. In fact, the lumber industry has developed a symbiotic relationship with the very material feeding many of the fires.
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At what point does a building become a city? At 1.7 million square meters, the New Century Global Center lands somewhere between the two.
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This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
