Saturday, January 09, 2010

Pascucci Marble & Granite Facility

The new Pascucci Marble & Granite facility is finished and open for business. The 22,000 square foot building houses their new tile and countertop showroom, offices, and warehouse space for the stone slabs, including a 5 ton bridge crane. They're located at 4260 Broadmoor, just north of 44th street.






Saturday, January 02, 2010

The base value of architecture...


In Shanghai, a 13 story apartment building literally fell over on it's face. Apparently they used inadequate pilings and liquefied the soil via the excavation. "Large quantities of earth were removed and dumped in a landfill next to a nearby creek; the weight of the earth caused the river bank to collapse, which, in turn, allowed water to seep into the ground, creating a muddy foundation for the building that toppled."

Architecture in the US is so good at the fundamentals of construction that the discussion of the value of architecture often surrounds topics such as style, design, tectonics, being green, etc.
But when an event like this happens, it's a very straightforward reminder of the core value of architecture. Architects are licensed under oath to protect the "Health, Safety, and Welfare of the Public" so that our buildings don't end up like this one.

Full Story Here from the Wall Street Journal