Event: Columbia University invites Zaha Hadid

Columbia University is validating its name once more for being an incredible academic institution by offering lectures as this tonight to its students and guests... The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation is hosting Zaha Hadid to discuss about her recent works and her thoughts about the future in architectural design in line of the recent economic events. Zaha has just launched her recent creation in New York, a Pavilion in Central Park that features objets de la Maison Chanel...  More on this... soon!  

Architecture: The Green House

We love when New York gets greener and especially it's rooftops... Above is real estate developer Matthew Blesso's 3,000 SF penthouse in Lower Manhattan, a New York heaven, that cost over $1 Million in renovation. The house now includes a herb garden, full of peppermint and spearmints, and wooden floors. 

Architecture: Something to light up our moods...

... and make us jealous of this New York penthouse designed by Andrew Berman. The rooftop is transformed into a magnificent garden... all surrounded by incredible views of Midtown Manhattan.   

News: Development Doom

Black Sunday they called it... the day that two of the biggest American investment banks vanished from the market... following a crash on Wall Street similar to the point drop after 9/11. Everyone is holding their breath... anticipating the events to follow... but undeniably one thing is for sure, construction will get the first hit. Developers will have to shift gears... Does this mean that Manhattan will soon produce a new development product altogether? Are many of the new anticipated extraordinary projects come to a halt? We'll watch and learn... 

Development: Rem Koolhaas's first NYC building

Thirty years after the master of architecture published the infamous, "Delirious New York", Rem Koolhaas will soon bring his own design in Manhattanville. The design of the residential tower has been kept so well under wraps that it is creating quite the stress to its fellow condo, One Madison Park. Regardless, 23e22 will be one of the most talk about buildings of the century in the Big City.  

Development: SOMething special...

ia being created on the Second Avenue and 57th Street by The World-Wide Group developers. 250East57, a 1 million Sq Ft mixed-use project, designed by SOM architects, will include the New School of Art and Design and the PS 59 - an ingenious way to earn more air rights and create a unique project. The partnership with the New York City Educational Construction Fund has created a LEED Silver project that will consist of 300 units of affordable and market-rate housing and 170,000 Sq Ft. The biggest development in the area since... maybe... Times Warner?

Development: Trump Soho comes out a winner...

after numerous battles the Trumps had to face from the Greenwich Village Society of Historic Preservation and the local residents for being against the development of a 45-story building in the area! The Real Deal announced that 53% of the condo-hotel has been sold already, since sales commenced in September. The condo-hotel, designed by Handel Architects, will allow residents to stay 120 days per year with a minimum of $3,000 per SF. With interiors done by Fendi and amenities like these, what else would you expect though?

Architecture: New Museum... New Images...

Simple. Clean. Elegant. More images on Sanaa's New Museum of Art in New York...

Architecture: Why we love New York...

just because buildings like this one are constructed and light up your day! The New Museum of Art in the Lower east side proved once more that the Japanese architects are here to take over the world! Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa's design have created a new fan base already... Take a look at the construction of the site from A to Z...

Event: The Architectural League NY

hosts its student program 2007 today at the Urban Center in the court of the New York Palace hotel; for more details click here. The Leaugue will launch the student membership with influential talks of current professional architects and a tour around some of the most important architectural firms in New York, like SOM, HOK, Shop Architects and Hanrahan Meyers.

Development: Manhattanville in West Harlem

One of the biggest in size developments that is happening this moment is undisputedly Columbia University's plan to expand its facilities in West Harlem. This urban developement plan consists of 18 academic and research buildings and campus housing on 17 acres. It's not a surprise that the large neighborhood of West Harlem that consists mostly of black and Hispanic residents feels threatened by this grand scheme. Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, is planning to protect the character of the neighborhood by practicing the special zoning model that worked for the Hell's Kitchen region in Midtown Manhattan. Renzo Piano is the assigned designer for the project, who has seeked to maximize green space, which it will be open to the public. The star architect will undeniably elevate the university's image even further. And as the New York Times wrote "without a vibrant Columbia, New York City itself will suffer...".