Israeli-born architect Moshe Safdie ought to be a happy man. Singapore’s government, which wants an architectural icon to put the country on the map, chose Safdie’s design for its new, $3.6 billion casino.

But a 30-minute drive away, a landmark residence designed by Safdie is about to be demolished.

“I am heartbroken,” the 68-year-old Safdie told Reuters in a telephone interview from Boston. “I’ve never had one of my buildings torn down and this is painful for me.”

The 17-storey Habitat towers, built in the 1980s in Singapore’s leafy Ardmore Park, are based on Safdie’s Habitat ‘67 in Montreal — the world’s first major prefabricated housing project and the design that made him world famous in his 20s. Read more » »

A 35-story luxury hotel and condominium tower is rising in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. The one-million-square-foot project, encompassing 604 hotel rooms, 97 condominiums, and three levels of underground parking for 550 vehicles, is designed by the Dallas office of global architecture firm HOK.

Centrally located on two city blocks across the street from the HOK-designed Fort Worth Convention Center, the tower will feature wood and glass storefronts, similar to those found in early downtown businesses. The design features more than 40,000 square feet of banquet, meeting and pre-function spaces, including an 18,000-square-foot grand ballroom and a 10,000-square-foot junior ballroom on the second floor. A hotel spa and fitness center, as well as additional meeting rooms and breakout spaces, will be located on the third floor. Read more » »

The Danish architect company C.F. Møller represented by architect Lone Wiggers has been appointed to design Southern Sweden’s new landmark – the 180 m high “Malmö Tower” with 53 floors, writes Børsen.

The project is in collaboration with the building owner Annehem Holding AB and Malmö city. It has been created for the new district, Hyllie, and is to be finished before 2011. So far more than EUR 250 million has been set off for the completion.

Architect and partner Lone Wiggers is heading the winning team and she has already started to work specifically towards the political approval process which is to pave the way for the first turf to be cut in 2008. Read more » »

Tom Dixon to give away chairs; B&B Italia to unveil new products; and a play by Droog Design.

With the London Design Festival (LDF) now clearly on the horizon, the fair’s specific events are beginning to take shape. Now in its fourth year, the festival is bigger than ever, touting more than 200 events and activities taking place across the city from September 15-30. Exhibitions, events, seminars, lectures, and parties cover a broad spectrum, including applied arts, architecture and buildings, creative business, fashion, furniture, graphics and branding, interiors, product, and photography. Most of the events are free and open to the public. Read more » »

Trio wants chain to match surroundings, abandons uniformity.

If you’ve seen architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s sleek “Prairie” design structures combining overhangs, terraces and natural materials, you’ll think he reappeared at Blakeney.

The new 131 Main restaurant in Crosland Inc.’s 270-acre mixed-use development at Rea and Ardrey Kell roads is reminiscent of his work.

Captiva Restaurant Group turned to Charlotte’s Mind’s Eye Architecture for help, but it was looking more for a building tailored to the site than a standard design for the budding chain.

Joe Douglas and his partners in the venture, Chris Carlsen and Mike Vaughn, want fresh food and quality service to be the constant inside restaurants that blend with their sites.

The low-slung, stone building they opened recently in south Charlotte’s Blakeney is their second 131 Main.

Their third, to open next summer in Raleigh’s nearly 2,000-acre Brier Creek mixed-use development, is being designed with a different exterior. Read more » »