September 18, 2008
Celebrities who love fame but not flashbulbs can finally rest easy. A new Los Angeles high-rise, the Carlyle in Westwood, is being promoted as a paparazzi-free zone. It features such incredible innovations as tall bushes, private elevators and (wow!) security guards. The fact that paparazzi tend to simply wait outside celeb homes doesn’t daunt the Carlyle’s marketing team, who is betting the glitterati will feel more secure just knowing they paid between $3 – $20 million to supersize those shrubs. Read More
September 17, 2008
It’s been another tough week for newspapers. The McClatchy Co. on Tuesday announced another round of layoffs, saying it would reduce its work force by an additional 10 percent, or about 1,150 full-time positions, in an effort to cut expenses by $100 million a year. The McClatchy Co. owns 30 newspapers in the U.S. Read More
September 16, 2008
After designing one of the most astounding Olympic stadiums in the world – the “Bird’s Nest” in Beijing – Swiss architecture firm, Herzog & de Meuron, is at it again. This time in New York City. The firm unveiled plans this week for 56 Leonard Street, a 57-story condominium tower in Tribeca. Read More
September 15, 2008
As the muck from the sub-prime mortgage meltdown threatens to smother Wall Street and the entire economy, a few journalists are looking into its connections with the current presidential campaign. (The few journalists, that is, not busy chasing stories about lipstick and pigs.) John McCain’s chief economic advisor is former Senator Phil Gramm. As Philadelphia Daily News reporter Dave Davies recently wrote, Gramm co-sponsored “the 1999 law that allowed commercial banks to get into investment banking. And Gramm was a prime architect of a 2000 bill that kept regulators’ hands off of ‘credit default swaps,’ an exotic financial tool which helped enable the bundling and selling of crappy subprime mortgages to investors.” Read More
September 11, 2008
Seven years after the tragedy of September 11th, the Hotsheet notes that little progress has been made in the reconstruction efforts at ground zero. The 1,776-foot Freedom Tower was scheduled to be completed in 2006, but has barely risen above ground level and only one of the six office buildings is finished. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, owners of the 16-acre site in lower Manhattan, blame basic transportation and security needs among the litany of obstacles. The Pentagon faced its own security controversies in constructing its 9/11 Memorial site, however the two-acre park will open to the public with a dedication ceremony on September 11, 2008. The park is located where American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the left wing of the Pentagon and features 184 cantilevered benches, each with a name of the 184 victims. Pentagon 9/11 Memorial Park architect Keith Kaseman said, “The Park is really all about the visitors’ thoughts and their interpretations when they visit this place.”
Read more about the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial. Read More
September 10, 2008
The Marina Arts District, located on the west side of Los Angeles adjacent to Marina del Rey, is no longer an area made up of auto body shops, warehouses and light manufacturing. Several commercial structures have been replaced by a dozen or so “eco-chic” condo and loft projects, bringing approximately 1,000 units to the area. The Marina Arts District Read More
September 9, 2008
Putting their marketing tactics to the test, schools all over the U.S. are giving their campuses face-lifts to boost enrollment and tuition dollars. According to this report in Forbes, overall 2007 construction costs on college campuses more than doubled to $14.5 billion from $5.8 billion a decade earlier. A lot of that money is going into flashy architecture. Read More
September 8, 2008
In one of the Los Angeles Times’ more eye-opening op-eds of late, a transportation expert makes the case for solving L.A.’s gridlock with podcars. Say what? It’s “personal rapid transit,” computerized, driverless cars on overhead guideways. Like monorails or people movers. Except those systems are much pricier than more practical light rails or busses. USC School of Policy, Planning and Development Associate Professor Catherine G. Burke claims in the Times that Read More
September 5, 2008
There are a number of universal truths to the marketing process. According to RPR President Mark Paolucci, “The first is the desire to create a strong initial brand platform, or identity, and the second is to integrate that brand into the various marketing disciplines as seamlessly and cost-effectively as possible.”
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson agrees with Paolucci. Last week, Johnson legally changed his last name to Ocho Cinco Read More
September 4, 2008
As going “green” has gone from eco-geek to eco-chic, the U.S. is catching up with the rest of the developed world… especially in regard to design. As Cuningham Group Architecture P.A. principal Jonathan Watts recently told The Hot Sheet, “Every project should be built with sustainability in mind – if the design isn’t sustainable, then it isn’t good design.” Apparently the American Institute of Architects (AIA) agrees. Beginning in January 2009, the organization will require its members to fulfill four hours per year of continuing education concentrating on sustainable design. This requirement is set to remain in effect until 2012.
Read more about proactive green design education in this article. Read More
