The Architecture and Construction News Roundup

2.4 million

The number of monthly online searches for the late Zaha Hadid, who is the most popular starchitect in the world according to a ranking system by Monograph. The ranking system, which uses the STAR model developed by MIT’s architectural data team, places Norman Foster in a distant second, followed by Le Corbusier, Bjarke Ingels and Renzo Piano.

7 minutes 30 seconds

The time UNStudio’s design for the world’s first cross-border cable car will take to carry passengers between Russia and China. The project, which has won an international competition, will see the two cities of Blagoveshchensk, Russia, and Heihe, China, connected across the Amur River. The cable car will consist of two lines and four cabins, each with a capacity for 60 passengers.

£1.1m

The amount required to restore and gain legal protections for the Undercroft, a global skateboarding destination located beneath the Southbank Centre in London, the UK. The space, which is also considered a brutalist landmark, narrowly avoided closure and conversion to retail environment in 2013. It re-opened in late July following a fully crowdfunded campaign.

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£24,000

The amount a fake architecture practice has been fined by UK courts. Hanzo Design, led by Tatsiana Aliaksanava, was given the fine at the end of June for misusing the title of architect after being convicted of four counts of the same. The company, which had claimed to employ ‘experienced architects’ despite having no registered architects on its staff, previously ignored multiple warnings from the Architects’ Registration Board (ARB).