(Photo by jmeijide)

Sad to see one of the best architects of his generation go so soon. Along with Emilio Tuñon, his partner at Mansilla + Tuñon, Luis Moreno Mansilla designed some of the best buildings in Spain in the last two decades. Our condolences to his family, friends and everybody at Mansilla + Tuñon.

Shanghai metro authorities have almost finished installing the fastest train in the city’s history along the newly-constructed line 16 subway route – a 59-kilometer-track connecting Lingang New City to Longyang Road. According to subway officials, the 46 new ‘bullet’ trains will undergo a trial run sometime this year. By 2014, line 16 will open to the public. (Shanghaiist)

(Old Town Village West townhomes, a new mixed-income development, ca. 2009; looming in the background is the William Green Homes high-rise, part of Cabrini-Green, demolished 2011. Photo by Lawrence J. Vale)

“In 1929 a treatise by sociologist Harvey Zorbaugh famously depicted the Near North Side of Chicago as divided into The Gold Coast and the Slum. [1] Within a generation the public housing development Cabrini-Green, built in stages from the early 1940s to the early 1960s, would replace that slum — all too literally, as it turned out. For while in its early years the Cabrini project, which consisted of low-rise and high-rise housing, served as a clean and modern alternative to the horrific conditions of the neighborhood known as “Little Hell,” Cabrini-Green itself would suffer a protracted decline — to the point where it became the slum it had been meant to cure. By the early 1990s Cabrini-Green had come to symbolize the systemic failures of postwar public housing, and it was then that city officials and local developers initiated a second cycle of renewal.”

Interesting essay by Lawrence Vale for Design Observer. 

Photo by Iker Gil

Photo By Iker Gil

(Photo by Esther Young)

Shanghai, already the preferred regional headquarters hub for multinationals in China, wants another 50 MNCs to locate their Asian headquarters in the city. The target, unveiled by the Shanghai Commerce Commission, will see the total number of regional headquarters exceed 400 by the end of the year. (Shanghaiist)

Photo by Iker Gil

Love this idea: “On the streets of New York architect John Locke has repurposed phone booths into communal libraries or book drops, installing bookshelves within the structures filled with books for residents to take, borrow, or exchange. The phone booth shown here, ‘DUB 002’, is part of his ‘department of urban betterment’ interventionist project.” (via Design Boom)

Photo by Iker Gil

Photo by Iker Gil

MAS Studio has just released a proposal to reactivate the Chicago Pedway system. It is a proposal to initiate the conversation about the true potential of this system in Chicago. We believe that the Pedway should and must become a new collective space in the city. A pedestrian system with different architectural and spatial qualities that allows for the expansion of the activities currently confined in small spaces as well as the incorporation of new activities than can enrich the cultural and social scene of Chicago. Check out the proposal at MAS Studio and, if you want to, drop us a line to let us know what you think.

(Photo by Iker Gil)

The Chicago Pedway is a network of tunnels (with some ground-level concourses and bridges) connecting office buildings, governmental buildings, retail stores, hotels and train stations throughout the Chicago “Loop.”

Initiated during the 1930s, the Pedway is, in reality, an incomplete system that has evolved throughout the decades, reducing its accesses in some areas and eliminating most of its initial activities. Currently it lacks a clear and comprehensive identity, recognizable accesses, proper lighting, interesting activities and, in general, any quality that makes it an attractive destination for the residents or tourists of Chicago.

Seeing its current condition of neglect, the question we ask ourselves is, what is the true potential of this system in Chicago? Can it add something new that can improve the quality of life of its inhabitants?

We believe that the Pedway system has incredible potential and it can play a key role in the city. We don’t understand it as an independent and isolated system but as a system that is part of a bigger network of urban spaces, each with their own characteristics, that complement each other.

We believe that the Pedway should and must become a new collective space in the city. A pedestrian system with different architectural and spatial qualities that allows for the expansion of the activities currently confined in small spaces as well as the incorporation of new activities than can enrich the cultural and social scene of Chicago.

Type: Urban Design
Location: Chicago
Author: Iker Gil
Team: Iker Gil, André Corrêa, Michelle Benoit
Year: 2012
Status: Proposal

A recent visit to Philadelphia’s Naval Yards, currently awaiting redevelopment, offers a glimpse of an abandoned  community soon to be demolished forever. The Naval Yards, and the residential communities that ring it, sit frozen in time since it was last populated, during the height of America’s military industrial complex. (Architizer)

The cost of living for expats is still higher in Shanghai than it is in New York, according to the latest survey. 

Shanghai rose six places to rank 42nd in a global list while New York climbed two places from 49th spot in June to 47th, according to a cost of living survey by the UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit using data from December last year. (Shanghai Daily)

We are thrilled to announce that Plural, led by Jeremiah Chiu and Renata Graw, is the new art director of MAS Context. Having previously worked with them during MAS Context ANALOG, it is great to have the opportunity to establish an ongoing collaboration that addresses all the visual aspects of MAS Context.

Plural is a Chicago-based creative studio practice founded in 2008. With a focus on pursuing meaningful projects, Plural explores new approaches within the design process, experimenting in a wide range of media including print, web, video, sound, interactive and installation. They have received recognition by the Art Directors club,  AIGA, The Type Directors Club, The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Communication Arts magazine, Print magazine, and How magazine among others.

The first change that you will see will be a new MAS Context website released early next month to coincide with our Spring issue, OWNERSHIP. Printed versions as well as other visual aspects of MAS Context will also be redefined throughout the year.

For more information about Plural and to see more of their work, check out their website.

“Hippo” product (prototype) / chair for kids,  2004 by Yuma HARADA

A desk chair crafted from the ejector seat from a 1960′s supersonic Mach 2 Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. (via Iain Claridge)

Photo by Iker Gil

Photo by Iker Gil

“Shanghai” Photo by arndalarm

Photo series of the “One City, Nine Towns” project in Shanghai for German architecture magazine ‘bauwelt’, issue 7-2012.

In a 1969 article written for Domus, the Italian radical architecture group first expand on their principles. (Domus)

Shanghai consumed some 21.27 million kilowatts of power during peak hours Wednesday [Feb 8], the highest for this winter as temperatures dropped to a low of – 2.5 C, approaching the city’s 22 million kilowatt-capacity.

Local power authorities also initiated a precautionary emergency protocol yesterday to obtain 1 million kilowatts of power from neighboring Zhejiang Province to support the city.

”

– Global Times

“Upside Down, Left To Right: A Letterpress Film”

A short film by David Cooke  about letterpress and one of the few remaining movable-type printing workshops in the UK, situated at Plymouth University, featuring Paul Collier.

Photo by Iker Gil

Photo by Iker Gil

(Lieb House, designed by Venturi & Rauch and completed in 1969, has a new life as a guest house in Glen Cove, N.Y. Photo by Leslie Williamson)

For such a little building, the Lieb House has a notorious history. Designed by the Philadelphia architecture firm of Venturi & Rauch (now Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates) for Nathaniel and Judith Lieb and completed in 1969 in Barnegat Light, N.J., the house — a two-toned, asbestos-shingled box with a giant, Pop Art-influenced number 9 on the front and a huge crescent window on one side — caused outrage even in a neighborhood where clotheslines and telephone poles were essential parts of the landscape. (New York Times)

Photo by Iker Gil

© Plural

We are thrilled to announce that Plural, led by Jeremiah Chiu and Renata Graw, is the new art director of MAS Context. Having previously worked with them during MAS Context ANALOG, it is great to have the opportunity to establish an ongoing collaboration that addresses all the visual aspects of MAS Context.

Plural is a Chicago-based creative studio practice founded in 2008. With a focus on pursuing meaningful projects, Plural explores new approaches within the design process, experimenting in a wide range of media including print, web, video, sound, interactive and installation. They have received recognition by the Art Directors club, AIGA, The Type Directors Club, The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Communication Arts magazine, Print magazine, and How magazine among others.

The first change that you will see will be a new MAS Context website released early next month to coincide with our Spring issue, OWNERSHIP. Printed versions as well as other visual aspects of MAS Context will also be redefined throughout the year.

For more information about Plural and to see more of their work, check out their website.

Photo by Iker Gil

Photo by Iker Gil

Photo by Iker Gil

Photo by Iker Gil

New York-based HWKN has been selected for this year’s MoMA/PS 1 Young Architects Program. Their proposal, called “Wendy,” uses standard scaffolding to create a visually arresting object that straddles the three outdoor rooms of the PS 1 courtyard. (Archpaper)

Public art is always a great opportunity to do something exciting that can bring some joy to people. This series of small pavilions created by Taranta Creations that line the Hangpu River in Shanghai. (The Fox is Black)

“Linotype: The Film” is a charming, entertaining and incredibly fun tale about an obsolete machine. A design report from New York by Saundra Marcel for Domus.

Photo by Iker Gil

Photo by Iker Gil

Photo by Iker Gil

Great use of data in our cities.