Every day digest: New York’s most lively architects, Perkin&Will’s new Jacksonville park, and extra

Good afternoon and welcome to the first day of February. 2022 is still steaming ahead, so make sure you’re caught up on what’s happening this month:

Ranking New York City’s most active architects of 2021

The Real Deal has compiled its annual list of the top 10 busiest NYC architects, and unsurprisingly, firms acting as executive architects took home top billing in 2021. To that end, SLCE Architects took first place with 10 projects across 3.1 million square feet, most of which in residential projects. Similarly, Handel Architects was a somewhat distant second at 5 projects spanning 2.5 million square feet (most of which was also residential and spanned two towers at the Two Bridges project in Manhattan). You can read the full list on The Real Deal, and there are definitely some surprises; megafirms like SOM or Gensler are nowhere to be found.

H/t to The Real Deal

Perkins&Will will overhaul the Jacksonville waterfront

In Jacksonville, Florida, the Miami office of Perkins&Will has won an international design competition to radically overhaul the waterfront Riverside Plaza. Now named “One Park Jax,” the transformed waterfront park, once completed, will better connect the community to the water thanks to added pedestrian and bike paths, a hotel and sky garden, a beer garden, a river terrace, park pavilion, and new central lawn.

But of course, the largest addition will be a 151-foot-tall stainless-steel sculpture from artist JEFRË that will spell out Jax in cursive.

“One Park Jax is fundamentally about creating one park for all of Jacksonville—a place that connects people to the river, to the city, and to each other,” said Christopher Counts, principal and landscape architecture practice leader at Perkins&Will, in the announcement. “The design lends a timeless elegance to this cherished riverfront site and promises to become an iconic and beloved part of the City’s identity.”

One Park Jax is set to break ground soon, and AN will follow up when work is underway.

Black neighborhoods across the U.S. will be disproportionately affected by climate change

The deleterious effects of climate change are already being felt across the globe, but the worst is yet to come—and according to a new report in the journal Nature Climate Change, Black communities across America will be hit disproportionately hard. By modeling flooding risks through 2050 and overlaying recent census data, the team discovered that the U.S. will be hit with $40 billion in flood damages every year, with Black communities facing up to twice the risk.

H/t to NBC News

The city of Bellevue sues homeowners after their house slid off its foundation

After a house slid off its foundation and tumbled down a hillside in Bellevue, Washington, last month, forcing about 40 others in the Somerset neighborhood to evacuate, the building still hasn’t been demolished—its owners and their lawyer have denied a request to tear down the remains. Now the city is taking legal action to declare what’s left of the building a public nuisance and prevent the owners from interfering with the demolition any further.

H/t to The Seattle Times

Mapping New York’s Black history sites (that lack protection)

To kick off the first day of Black History Month, nonprofit Village Preservation has created an interactive map showing more than 200 sites across the East Village, Greenwich Village, and NoHo with connections to civil rights struggles throughout the centuries. From the homes of Black poets to the building where the first New York chapter of the Black Panthers was founded to the site of the 1863 Draft Riots, the map has breakdowns of each (and if they’re lacking historic protections).

Norway’s floating exhibition hall will be clad in salmon skin shingles

The Salmon Eye, a floating exhibition hall in Norway’s Hardangerfjord, is under construction and once complete will be wrapped in a metal skin reminiscent of overlapping salmon scales. Shaped like an eye (or egg, or pebble), the 1,000-ton offshore convention center was designed by Kvorning Design & Communication—no estimated completion date was given at the time of writing.

H/t to Archinect