DESIGN DISPATCH

Beyer Blinder Belle Sets Out to Restore the Apollo Theater, and Other News

Our daily look at the world through the lens of design.

A rendering of the renovated Apollo Theater. Image courtesy of Charcoalblue, Flyleaf Creative, & Beyer Blinder Belle

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Beyer Blinder Belle embarks on a major restoration of Harlem’s historic Apollo Theater.

The historic Apollo Theater in Harlem is undergoing its first full renovation, led by Beyer Blinder Belle. The firm will focus its efforts on modernizing and restoring the venue, with cornerstones of the project including doubling the size of the lobby, digitizing its Wall of Fame, and updating its seating and acoustics—all with respect to the Apollo’s neoclassical architecture. 

After the Surfside tragedy, condo repair bills have sent Florida retirees scrambling.

In Florida, condo owners are staring down significant financial strain due to new building maintenance regulations enacted after the 2021 Champlain Towers collapse in Surfside. The costs stem from new mandates around keeping up with structural repairs and maintaining increased cash reserves to fund ongoing improvements to aging infrastructure. 

A rendering of Exposition Park. Image courtesy of Torti-Gallas + Partners

More than $300,000 in Environmental Art Grants is awarded to American women artists.

Anonymous Was A Woman and the New York Foundation for the Arts have distributed their third annual Environmental Art Grants. This year’s edition has awarded a total of $308,000 to 19 women artists across the U.S., including Victoria-Idongesit Udondian, Dara Friedman, Emily Cohen Ibañez,  to create projects focused on environmental advocacy.

L.A. requests proposals for $352 million in Olympics upgrades to Exposition Park.

Los Angeles is in the midst of planning a $352 million upgrade to Exposition Park, in which the city hopes to disrupt the park’s current urban heat island effect with a new six-acre green space. The project is a cornerstone of the city’s 2028 Summer Olympic Games preparation, as the park will host the Games’ track and field and diving competitions, as well as its press village.

The new Royal Institute of British Architects president defends his firm’s work on Neom.

Incoming Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) president Chris Williamson has spoken out in defense of his studio Weston Williamson + Partners’ involvement in Saudi Arabia’s controversial Neom megaproject. Williamson’s comments mark one of the times an architect involved with Neom has publicly acknowledged the significant criticism for alleged human rights abuses surrounding the project.

Madalena Studio's logo for Crucible. Image courtesy of Madalena Studio.

Today’s attractive distractions:

A factory in Finland is using NASA research to create food “out of thin air.”

Relying on big tech to archive our most important memories is a big risk.

Madalena Studio grows a logo for a beverage brand out of live bacteria. 

The internet is (still) gagged over the “bucolic daydream” of tradwife content.

 

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