Animation: Seattle's Next Big Earthquake

The Washington State Department of Transportation wants to replace the Alaska Way Viaduct.  If you don't live in the Northwest, you may not be certain exactly what this is.

If you've ever been a tourist in Seattle, you'll remember it as the triple-decker street that separates downtown from the water.  You go under it when you go to the ferry or the aquarium or any of the other attractions on Elliott Bay.

WSDOT is worried about the viaduct collapsing in the event of an earthquake.  We all remember from the last big one in San Francisco what happened when a double-decker roadway failed.

It illustrate the possibilities, the people in Washington have put together a very informative, and visually gripping, animation showing what might happen if there was another earthquake about the same size as the last big one to hit Seattle.

It's really good stuff

SOM Vision Will Expand Downtown Beijing

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has been picked to expand downtown Beijing.  You can view a video about it here.  And here's the press release:

SOM Wins Beijing CBD Competition

October 23, 2009 (Beijing, China) – The Chicago and China offices of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) were named the winner of an international design competition to expand the Beijing Central Business District (CBD). The competition was sponsored by the Chaoyang District Government and the Beijing CBD Administration Committee. Seven teams of the world’s leading urban planners, urban designers and architects were invited to participate. Philip Enquist, FAIA, Partner-in-Charge of Urban Design and Planning for SOM, led this effort.

The SOM plan calls for the establishment of three new districts anchored by signature parks and green boulevards. New modes of public transportation are proposed, including express commuter rail service between the Beijing Capital International Airport, the CBD, and high speed rail service at Beijing South Station. A new streetcar system is proposed to conveniently link all areas of the CBD. A network of small, walkable blocks is proposed to establish a pedestrian-friendly scale for development and every street would be bicycle friendly.

The SOM plan defines new strategies for building municipal infrastructure and high performance buildings. Implementation of the plan could reduce energy consumption within the district by 50%, reduce water consumption by 48%, reduce landfill waste by 80%, and result in a 50% reduction in carbon emissions. Reduction in emissions from office buildings alone would equate to a reduction of 215,000 tons of CO2 per year, which is the equivalent of planting 14 million adult trees.

SOM’s vision for the Beijing CBD provides the framework that will enable China’s capital city to grow as a global center for commerce, yet be a green and ecological setting for healthy life.

About SOM

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) is one of the leading architecture, urban planning, interior design, and engineering firms in the world, with a 75-year reputation for design excellence and a portfolio that includes some of the most important architectural accomplishments of the 20th and 21st centuries. Since its inception, SOM has been a leader in the research and development of specialized technologies, new processes and innovative ideas, many of which have had a palpable and lasting impact on the design profession and the physical environment. The firm’s longstanding leadership in design and building technology has been honored with more than 1,300 awards for quality, innovation, and management. The American Institute of Architects has recognized SOM twice with its highest honor, the Architecture Firm Award—in 1962 and again in 1996. The firm maintains offices in Chicago, New York, San Francisco,  Washington, DC, London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Brussels.

Linked Hybrid Building Named Best Building of 2009

The Beijing building complex known as Linked Hybrid Building has been named the Best Building of 2009 by the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

Here's a web page about the building.

Here's the press release.

The CTBUH named Linked Hybrid by Steven Holl Architects the “Best Tall Building Overall” for 2009. The Award was bestowed at the 8th Annual Awards Dinner and Ceremony held October 22nd at the Illinois Institute of Technology campus in Chicago, USA.   Following brief presentations by each of the regional winners, the CTBUH Awards Committee Chairman, Gordon Gill of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, announced the overall winner to be Linked Hybrid, describing the project as, “rich in thought, both programmatically and architecturally, presenting an advanced typology for dense urban living.”

With its rich pallet, appropriate scale and consistency in architectural language, Linked Hybrid adds a level of high quality architecture to the city of Beijing. Working well above the plane of purely sculptural architecture, the project embodies, on an urbanistic scale, where the future of tall buildings and urban cities is heading, creating architecture that does not isolate, but rather connects both on the ground plane and in the sky. This creates both a unique ground level plane that acts as an oasis in the density of Beijing, and a real multi-use zone of connected urbanism in the sky.  The project incorporates numerous sustainable design features, but really goes far beyond its geo-thermal and  water recycling, to tackle the much broader issue of social-urban sustainability itself. 

The CTBUH named Linked Hybrid by Steven Holl Architects the “Best Tall Building Overall” for 2009. The Award was bestowed at the 8th Annual Awards Dinner and Ceremony held October 22nd at the Illinois Institute of Technology campus in Chicago, USA.   Following brief presentations by each of the regional winners, the CTBUH Awards Committee Chairman, Gordon Gill of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, announced the overall winner to be Linked Hybrid, describing the project as, “rich in thought, both programmatically and architecturally, presenting an advanced typology for dense urban living.”

With its rich pallet, appropriate scale and consistency in architectural language, Linked Hybrid adds a level of high quality architecture to the city of Beijing. Working well above the plane of purely sculptural architecture, the project embodies, on an urbanistic scale, where the future of tall buildings and urban cities is heading, creating architecture that does not isolate, but rather connects both on the ground plane and in the sky. This creates both a unique ground level plane that acts as an oasis in the density of Beijing, and a real multi-use zone of connected urbanism in the sky. The project incorporates numerous sustainable design features, but really goes far beyond its geo-thermal and  water recycling, to tackle the much broader issue of social-urban sustainability itself. 

Accepting the award on behalf of the Linked Hybrid project team was design architect Steven Holl. Joining Mr. Holl on stage was Li Hu, project manager in Beijing from Steven Holl Architects, Congzhen Xiao, from structural engineer on the project, China Academy of Building Research, and Stefan Holst, from environmental consultants, Transsolar ClimageEngineering. While accepting the award, Mr. Holl admitted that while he was honored by the recognition he couldn’t help but be surprised at the win because Linked Hybrid is only 22 stories tall. CTBUH Executive director, Antony Wood commented that, “Though Linked Hybrid is not especially tall (though it certainly meets the Council’s criteria for defining a tall building), it points the way forward for the intensified multi-use, multi-level, connected cities of the future.”

Also awarded on the night, were the four Regional Tall Building Winners—Manitoba Hydro Place (Winnipeg, Canada) won the award for Best Tall Building Americas, and was accepted by building owner Tom Gouldsborough of Manitoba Hydro and architect Bruce Kuwabara of KPMB Architects. The Broadgate Tower (London, UK) won for Best Tall Building Europe, accepted by architects Timothy Poell and Jeffery McCarthy of Skidmore Owings & Merrill. Tornado Tower (Doha, Qatar) won for Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa and was accepted by building owner Said Abu Odeh of QIPCO. Linked Hybrid was also awarded the Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia award.

Best Tall Building Overall winner Linked Hybrid viewed from within central plaza.

John Portman accepts the Lynn S. Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award

Steven Holl presents the design concepts behind Linked Hybrid

Awards Chairman Gordon Gill presents the Best Tall Building Overall Award to members of the Linked Hybrid team: Steven Holl, Li Hu and Congzhen Xiao.

Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to John Portman of John Portman & Associates and Prabodh Banavalkar of Ingenium, Inc. Mr. Portman was awarded the Lynn S. Beedle Award for his careful urban planning and ability to weave art, nature, and the pedestrian experience together in his tall building designs. Dr. Banavalkar was awarded the Fazlur Khan Medal for his ability for finding the optimum structure with due consideration to cost effectiveness, constructability, redundancy, and seamless integration with the architectural design concept.

This year the Awards Dinner was held in conjunction with the CTBUH annual conference in Chicago titled, “Evolution of the Skyscraper: New challenges in a world of global warming and recession.” Held in Mies van der Rohe’s historic Crown Hall, the space was filled to capacity with an international audience of 380 guests. Table sponsors for the event included: Arup, Viracon, Walsh Construction, KONE, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Cico Consultants, AECOM, SmithCarter/KPMB Architects,  Illinois Institute of Technology, Perkins + Will, Gensler, John Portman & Associates, Rolf Jensen & Associates, Goettsch Partners, Turner Construction, the Korean Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, and Thornton Tomasetti.

A Taste of Chicago in Tokyo

If there's one thing I've learned roaming around the world, it's that you never know when you might run across the word "Chicago."  From Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill in Hong Kong to this "Chicago"-branded used clothing store in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo.  In some places, I've found that people don't even realize that Chicago is the name of a city.  They think it's a brand like Nike or Levis.

Slice of Life: Granville Street, Vancouver, BC

In case anyone's curious, this is the background of the blog's logo banner.  It's Granville Street in Vancouver, British Columbia.  This portion of the city is rapidly changing from sketchy to swanky as shiny new condo blocks pop up all around.

Expect to see a lot more Vancouver photos and video on this blog because I just got back from there and have a ton of media from the trip on my desktop.

Global Architecture Blog Launched

Welcome to the Global Architecture Blog.

This project is an offshoot of the Glass Steel and Stone global architecture web site.

No publication, web site, or blog can adequately catalog everything happening in the world's architecture. The world is simply too big, and there are too many projects being built all the time. That's not what the point of this blog is.

The Global Architecture Blog's goal is to present interesting bits of information, photos, stories, and the occasional long-form piece about the world's built environment. From the most massive skyscrapers to lonely cottages out on a prairie somewhere.

In my wanderings around the world for Glass Steel and Stone I've come across a number of interesting things that don't quite fit into any category for the web site, and thus have been discarded. This blog will be a place for those things. Sometimes will be video of a pretty sunrise over a skyline. Sometimes it will be a photo capturing street life in a particular city. Sometimes it will just be random thoughts and observations as I travel to a new city.

I welcome your photos, observations, thoughts, and videos of places you've been, too.  Just e-mail me what you've got. The address is editor@glasssteelandstone.com.  I'll share them with the world right here.

Once again, thanks for reading the Global Architecture Blog. To get an idea of what's ahead, visit our sister publication: The Chicago Architecture Blog.

And in the spirit of all things social, you can also visit our architecture discussion forum, our Global Architecture Flickr pool, follow our Twitter feed, or become a fan on Facebook.