Mississippi Aquarium, Already Making a Splash!

Get excited about the new Mississippi Aquarium scheduled to open in the spring of 2019! The new family-oriented aquarium is already making headlines as one of the most anticipated projects to come into fruition at the downtown Gulfport.

‘Outdoorsy’ Roots Store Opens at Yorkdale Shopping Center

A recently completed retail project in Toronto, Canada by Oculus Light Studio and CallisonRTKL architects, Roots is a unique shopping experience. The new store celebrates the background and handcrafted nature of this Canadian sportswear brand while including unique features such as a leather customization workshop and a woodland inspired fitting room lounge.

Read more about it in this article!

Architizer on Los Angeles LGBT Center

Architizer reported today that over the weekend the Los Angeles LGBT Center broke ground and officially began construction!  The new Anita May Rosenstein Campus is located on McCadden Place and Santa Monica Boulevard, and is designed by architecture firm Leong Leong.  the article describes it as “a much-needed project that’s been a long time coming.” The center will connect with the group’s existing arts and education facility, and will support administrative offices, retail space, and cultural events space; all unique uses that proved a challenge in the building’s design. The architect acknowledges this challenge, stating that “In other words, the main challenge for the architects was to discover how all these different programs could co-exist in one structure. To do that, they had to redefine what it means to design for youth, gender and multigenerational living, among other variables.”

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Architectural Record on Temple Israel of Hollywood

Architectural record published a particularly thoughtful piece today on the Temple Israel of Hollywood design by KoningEizenberg.  What is especially unique about the article is it’s in depth look not only at the history of the building, which is impressive having hosted such speakers as Martin Luther King, Jr., but also takes a look at the process leading up to the design of the new space itself.  It describes how the original temple space has a sort of dark, theatrical feel to it and how the new building needed to both compliment the old structure but also look to the future to serve modern needs of the congregation.  After  a great deal of thought and an indepth study of cultural symbolism, KoningEizenberg came up with the current design, one that the article touts as “Light-filled, the chapel plays against the original building’s darkness, contrasting an open and casual spirit with the main sanctuary’s more introverted and heavy formality. “Its’s a constant dialogue,” says Eizenberg. “The old solidity speaks of the past, whereas this sense of the ephemeral brings one into the moment.”

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