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Why is the FDR Drive Purple?

In the latest episode of the Untapped New York Podcast, Michelle Young tracks down the answer to her latest burning question about New York City: Why is the FDR Drive Purple? Michelle went to the source and interviewed Gregg Pasquarelli, founding partner at SHoP Architects and Cathy Jones, project director at SHoP, who designed the master plan for the East River Waterfront.

Brooklyn Needed the Brooklyn Tower

A large part of New York City’s image as the self-described greatest city in the world stems from Manhattan’s defining skyline, wondrous even to jaded natives, while Brooklyn labored under a stubborn inferiority complex. From here on, though, the Brooklyn Tower seems to say, ‘it’s all systems go’. We are not Topeka. We’re big, we’re bold, we’re badass, and we’re nobody’s kid brother.

State Department Celebrates New U.S. Embassy Tegucigalpa

Designed by SHoP Architects with the support of local firm Jorge Caballero Arquitectos and constructed by B.L. Harbert International, the project created over 1,000 jobs for Hondurans and contributed over $42 million to the local economy. The new embassy demonstrates building performance optimization, as evidenced by the pending US Green Building Council’s certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design due to sustainable strategies including solar panels power generation, the recycling of rainwater for irrigation, and the use of local materials.

Imagining a City of Wood

For its LaGuardia terminal, SHoP focused on the combination of digital technology and mass customization that allows the finesse of carpentry to be adapted to the vast scale and industrial rhythms of contemporary construction. “We’re bringing Arts and Crafts into the 21st century,” says Christopher Sharples, one of SHoP’s co-founding principals.

Bioplastic Floor Panel Boasts the Strength of Steel

US researchers working with SHoP Architects have created a potential alternative to steel and concrete as a structural floor material: recyclable panels made entirely from bioplastic and wood flour. The prefabricated panel was made using 3D printing by researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Maine.

Milestone for Volvo’s New Innovation Neighborhood

The new building has been designed by the US firm SHoP Architects, known for their work on projects for Youtube, Uber and Google. It is specifically designed to foster innovation and collaboration. Over 90% of the building is already leased with Volvo Cars among the future tenants. Phase one of Innovation Destination Torslanda began during the first quarter of this year and involves a total transformation of Volvo Cars’ former iconic headquarters, built in the early 80s.

Metropolitan Park Transforms Parking Lots into Park Space

On game days, the parking lot where Shea Stadium once stood is a sea of orange and blue. Mets owner Steve Cohen has a vision to turn this asphalt over to green space and into an entertainment district. New renderings from SHoP Architects and Field Operations elaborate on Cohen’s vision to bring 20 acres of park space to the site in Queens.

NYC’s Waterfront is Transforming into Luxury Leisure Space

New York City has been steadily changing its postindustrial waterfront into leisure space with new parks built on the skeletons of old shipping piers and along formerly fenced-off shorelines. While this work has been happening in all five boroughs, the change has been particularly noticeable in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

A Trip up 111 West 57th Street

Rising above Manhattan in the lift of the world’s most slender skyscraper, travelling at 500m a minute with the building’s architect, is an ideal opportunity to ask about the problems of building a 435m (1,428ft) tall tower in one of the densest cities in the world. It is 125m taller than the Shard in London, with one residence a floor, and is built from the strongest concrete. “This building has New York in its DNA,” Pasquarelli says. “I told the developers that while 60 super-wealthy people get to live in it, eight million New Yorkers have to look at it every day.”

Construction Tops Out For YouTube HQ

Construction has topped out for phase one of the YouTube headquarters redevelopment in San Bruno, San Mateo County. Crews have brought together the steel and mass-timber frame that form two three-story office buildings designed by the New York-based SHoP Architects.