Glass

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The design of PPG Place, by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, melds the notion of the modern corporate tower with a neo-gothic monument. Clad in almost a million square feet of glass manufactured by the anchor tenant PPG industries, the architects ingeniously rethought accepted practices in curtain wall design to create "the crown jewel in Pittsburgh's skyline." (1) The 1.57 million square foot complex was one in a series of high profile corporate projects completed during Johnson's controversial foray into postmodernism.

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• Architects

  KPF

• Location

  Tianjin, China

• Design Principal

  James von Klemperer, FAIA

• Director/Senior Designer

  Jeffrey A. Kenoff, AIA

• KPF Project Team and Contributors

  Jeffrey A. Kenoff, Audrey Choi, Edwin Lau, Peter Gross, Ciara Seymour, Gary Stluka, Benjamin Albury; Bernard Chang; Hanna Chang; Saera Park; Shang Chen; Sarah Smith; James Kehl; Sandra Choy; Thomas Coldefy; Javier Galindo; Onur Gun; Heejin Kim; Yoojung Kim; Ming Leung; Luis Llull; Manon Pare; Charles Portelli; Samuel Schmitz; James Siow; Kristin Speth; Donald Springer; Kyle Steinfeld; Scott Wilson, James von Klemperer, Paul Katz

• Area

  152800.0 sqm

• Project Year

  2014

• Photographs

  Courtesy of Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF)

• Location

  Tianjin, China

• Project Year

  2014

• Photographs

  Courtesy of Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF)

• Area

  152800.0 m2

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In contrast with its traditional Milanese surroundings, the Pirelli Tower is one of the earliest examples of Modern skyscrapers in Italy. Affectionately called "Il Pirellone” (The Big Pirelli), the 127 meter tower stood as Italy’s tallest building from 1958 to 1995. The design of the structure, led by architect/designer Gio Ponti and engineer Pier Luigi Nervi, featured a tapered plan—as opposed to the conventional rectilinear volume which was prevalent in America—encouraging greater creative freedom during a time when skyscrapers typically lacked experimentation.

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As we reported last week, The Menil Collection has unveiled details on the Menil Drawing Institute (MDI), designed by Los Angeles-based Johnston Marklee, in Houston, Texas. The building will be the first freestanding facility in the United States created especially for the exhibition, study, storage, and conservation of modern and contemporary drawings.

Situated in an extensive 30-acre masterplan designed by David Chipperfield Architects, the institute will be located amongst Renzo Piano's main museum building, Piano's Cy Twombly Gallery, the Dan Flavin Installation at Richmond Hall, and the Rothko Chapel. More info on the design, and all the renderings, after the break.

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