Color of Hockey: Mobile History Museum rolling into NHL All-Star Weekend →

The NHL's traveling history museum hits the road again in 2023, bigger and more diverse than ever.

The United By Hockey Mobile History Museum makes its debut at 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend in South Florida at the Truly Hard Seltzer All-Star Beach Festival in Fort Lauderdale Park from Feb. 2-4.

A partnership between the NHL, Hockey Hall of Fame and AXLMOBILE, the 840-square-foot museum highlights diversity and inclusion within hockey on the ice, in the front office and corporate suites and behind the microphone.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi on climate and resilience at COP27 →

The United States is officially back “in the game,” leading the fight against climate change, said US Representative Kathy Castor, chair of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. “And we’re not leaving the playing field ever again.”

Castor and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke on Thursday about how the United States is addressing the climate crisis at an Atlantic Council Front Page event hosted by the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.

While the United States—which withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords in 2019 but rejoined the agreement in 2021—has seen its climate leadership questioned, Castor said the country now has the tools to meet its emissions reduction goals. Those tools, she explained, include the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the latter of which she deemed the “most important climate bill” in US history.

New Four Seasons attraction blends a sublime view of the city with a high-tech history lesson →

BY DOUG MACCASH

Vue Orleans is a brand-new $25 million amenity at the recently opened Four Seasons Hotel at the foot of Canal Street. It’s a sort of high-tech museum that will give visitors a crash course in Crescent City culture 101. The $30 admission will include an elevator ride to what is surely the most splendid view of one of the world’s most splendid cities. More about the vista later.

When Vue Orleans opens on March 2, guests will encounter life-sized video versions of Marie Laveau, Jelly Roll Morton, and other historical figures; listen to jazz, R&B and bounce music samples broadcast by giant old-fashioned Victrola horns; learn a little about river dynamics and its effect on a low-lying city; and otherwise become familiar with the Big Easy backstory.

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida reopening renovated Nature Center →

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida Nature Center is days away from its grand reopening after being closed for more than a year.

The $5 million renovation focuses on areas critically important to Southwest Florida.

When you come out to the ‘newly-expanded’ Sue and William Dalton Discovery center, you will get to experience new interactive exhibits and galleries.

The expansion includes the new John & Carol Walter Discovery Wing, which focuses on invasive species like the Burmese python. There is also a new exhibit exploring climate change.

Under the lights and canopies of the Dalton Discovery Center are passionate people like the conservancy’s Director of Education Alex Levine. “It’s been such a hard time for us here at the conservancy and for people everywhere in terms of lockdowns, and not being able to interact with, you know, folks in person and as an educator, it’s been very, very difficult.”

Resilience Hub Pavilion Designed by Boston’s CambridgeSeven Hosts Global Climate Programs 24/7 →

BOSTON–Over the past 4 days at COP26 in Glasgow “The Resilience Hub” pavilion, designed by Cambridge-based architecture firm, CambridgeSeven, has already hosted 35 physical and virtual events engaging both in-person delegates and a global audience through 24/7 programming.

The two-level, 2,195 sf indoor pavilion in the COP26 “Blue Zone” at Glasgow Caledonian University is the home of the Race to Resilience initiative – a global campaign to build climate resilience and move towards “global net zero.”

The hallmark pavilion was commissioned by an alliance of the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center and the Atlantic Council of the United States in a multi-national collaboration aimed at sparking dialogue and climate action.

Designed in the US, contracted in France, and fabricated in Poland, the pavilion is a model in sustainable design using repurposed construction staging and materials sourced within 100 miles of Glasgow – all of which will be recycled at the end of the conference.

Highlights of the pavilion include

  • Lower-level meeting and event areas combining cutting-edge media activations, digital art, and augmented reality graphics

  • A second-story, multi-use theater and virtual connections center

  • Dynamic lighting with floating, illuminated ceiling graphics to engage visitors in the vital issues of COP26

  • Bold, environmentally-focused graphics created by artist Natalie Zanecchia Graphic Design printed with plant-based, organic inks.

  • Bamboo flooring, an FSC certified renewable resource

  • A virtual art exhibit using mobile technology, accessed by a QR code.

The Resilience Hub’s design, management and installation represents a global collaboration: international partnerships, engaging in a purposeful process, with global reach. Through panel sessions, special events, film screenings, live speakers and special events, The Resilience Hub programs range from renewable energy, to climate change and migration, to global clean energy and more.

COP26 kicks off in Glasgow with talks, exhibitions, and a CambridgeSeven-designed Resilience Hub →

By Matt Hickman • November 1, 2021 • Editor's Picks, Environment, International, Round Up, Sustainability

Following a rousing kick-off speech by Sir David Attenborough, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, is now officially underway in Glasgow. For those on the ground in Scotland’s most populous city, there’s no shortage of planned exhibitions, talks, and other activities during the run of the 12-day conference that squarely focuses on the critical role of the built environment in creating a healthier, safer, and more equitable future for the global population while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and working with renewed urgency to ameliorate the dire climate projections.

New Orleans' New Luxury Hotel Is World-Class Choice For Business or Leisure →

Larry Olmsted, Senior Contributor

For such a popular vacation and conference destination, New Orleans has always been surprisingly short on top tier luxury hotels. That is about to change.

In recent pre-pandemic years the city’s leisure profile has been on a steady rise, thanks to a wave of top new attractions and great restaurants. If you haven’t been in a while, noteworthy things to do include the exceptional and ever-expanding National WWII Museum (with it’s own unique attached hotel) and the popular Sazerac House tour and tasting venue for the city’s signature homegrown cocktail.

On the food front, New Orleans has always had its grand classics full of Cajun and creole influenced specialties such as Brennan’s, Commander’s Palace, Arnaud’s and Galatoire’s, along with its collection of never disappointing Emeril Lagasse eateries (Emeril’s, Delmonico, NOLA, Meril). But it is a new generation of James Beard award winning standout chefs like Alon Shaya and Donald Link who are driving the contemporary culinary scene and bring a heightened level of gastronomic interest and energy to the city. Arguably the two most in demand names in New Orleans cooking right now, both have eateries in the new Four Seasons New Orleans luxury hotel.

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Hosts Ribbon Cutting Following $25+ Million Renovation of Museum →

By Boston Real Estate Times - June 1, 2021

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.  – The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame hosted a ribbon
cutting ceremony following its $25+ million museum refurbishment which launched in 2017. The museum had been closed to the public for a period of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but is now fully renovated and open to guests.

“Coming off of a momentous Enshrinement weekend for the Class of 2020, we couldn’t be more excited to reveal our museum renovations in Springfield to the basketball community,” said John Doleva, President and CEO of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “This renovation project has been in progress for several years, with a number of local vendors involved, and we’re so proud of the end result. We welcome basketball fans and the people of Springfield to visit us for an experience unlike any other.”

With the efforts of several Massachusetts-based businesses, including architecture and design firm CambridgeSeven, nearly every exhibit in the Hall has taken on a new look and added interactive elements, in addition to the refurbishment of the Hall’s iconic dome.

“I want to express what a thrill it was to partner with the Basketball Hall of Fame team on the inspirational reimagining of the museum,” said Timothy Mansfield, AIA, principal at CambridgeSeven. “Our team and the Hall have enjoyed a long-standing partnership from the design of the original museum to this latest evolution, creating an immersive and highly interactive visitor experience. The new Hall celebrates the amazing game of basketball, uniquely tying thematic narratives from the game’s very beginnings in Springfield in 1891 all the way to the present-day action. We are proud to join in the celebration of the grand re-opening of the Hall!”

Big changes coming to Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans →

After 31 years, riverfront attraction is getting a makeover

By Katy Reckdahl

At age 31, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas is up for a makeover.

The Audubon Nature Institute says it plans to close the aquarium’s Entergy Giant Screen Theater, move the building’s main entrance downriver, add 2,500 square feet by enclosing a breezeway along the front of the building and convert 17,000 square feet of interior space to exhibits and classroom use. Contractors also will upgrade mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, audiovisual and security systems.

Details are still being worked out. Audubon said the New Orleans architecture firm Eskew Dumez Ripple is working with CambridgeSeven, a Massachusetts architecture firm known for designing public spaces, and Cortina Productions, a Virginia firm known for museum design, on the changes.

A New Orleans Tower Anchors a City’s Riverfront Ambitions →

The World Trade Center, an X-shaped office tower that has sat empty since 2011, is at the heart of plans to revitalize the area along the Mississippi River.

By Jane Margolies

For many years, a distinctive X-shaped office tower looming over the New Orleans riverfront was a prominent reminder of the city’s woes.

A 33-story edifice bordering the Mississippi River, the building, known as the World Trade Center, was completed in 1967. During the oil bust of the 1980s, tenants fled. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was another devastating blow. After 2011, the building stood empty.

But today, it’s a hive of activity, teeming with construction workers who are converting it into a Four Seasons property combining a luxury hotel and condominiums, expected to open in the spring. The $530 million project is said to be the largest private investment in the history of the city. It is also the most visible sign of progress on the riverfront, whose redevelopment has proceeded in fits and starts over decades and is still far from fully realized.