{"id":486110,"date":"2026-05-15T14:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/486110\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T14:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:08:15","slug":"an-attractive-well-built-thing-i-approve-says-commenter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/486110\/","title":{"rendered":"“An attractive, well built thing. I approve” says commenter"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this week’s comments update, readers are discussing the completion of Ray Phoenix<\/a> by California studio Johnston Marklee in partnership with Lamar Johnson Collaborative.<\/p>\n

Located in Arizona, the residential building is clad in a mint green metal facade, and was meant to “enhance the Phoenix community by making art, architecture, and design highly accessible to its residents”.<\/p>\n

\"Ray<\/a>Johnston Marklee completes “democratic by nature” green-metal tower in Phoenix<\/p>\n

“The green in green architecture was never meant to be literal”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Readers were split, with some praising the structure and others questioning the practicality of its glass in such a hot climate.<\/p>\n

“Well done,” wrote Trewus<\/a>. “And by well done, I mean look at the surrounding residential developments and see how easy it is to create something that looks good, contributes to the urban space and probably didn’t come at a much higher price point if at all.”<\/p>\n

“An attractive, well built thing,” agreed Ben<\/a>. “I approve.”<\/p>\n

Jack Woodburn<\/a> thought otherwise. “Sorry, that is one very ugly green ‘greenhouse’ built in a city with frequent 110+ degree temperatures,” he said. “The AC energy costs for residents will be enormous.”<\/p>\n

Regarding its facade, readers were critical.<\/p>\n

“The green in green architecture was never meant to be literal,” said HB<\/a>, while This is not Hank<\/a> wrote, “70s and 80s design might have a revival, but that only works in small doses.”<\/p>\n

Chris D<\/a> concurred, “at least if you live there, you don’t have to look at it.”<\/p>\n

Have you had your say yet? Join the discussion \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Canon<\/a>Pend transforms overlooked infill site into mews homes that balance light and privacy<\/p>\n

“Very tidy project”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Causing a stir in the comments section this week was the light-filled Canon Mews project in Edinburgh<\/a>, by architecture studio Pend.<\/p>\n

“Well done Pend!” congratulated Colin MacGillivray<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reader Jb<\/a> was just as encouraging. “This is a step up for Pend \u2013 this time the architectural context has driven their creative response.”<\/p>\n

“Clean and elegant,” said Pa Varreon<\/a>, and RK<\/a> agreed: “very tidy project.”<\/p>\n

Though overwhelmingly positive, a few commenters made their suggestions.<\/p>\n

“Lovely looking project,” wrote HP<\/a>. “But that dormer window not meeting the roof is a bit ouch.”<\/p>\n

Sam Hagger<\/a> said, “looks lovely and I love a Mini, but that garage shot looks suspiciously like it’s managing expectations of an unfeasibly small garage.”<\/p>\n

“I’d rather have my ‘framed view’ of brick than a wall of zinc,” wrote Chris Rogers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Join the discussion \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Tour<\/a>Tour Triangle skyscraper by Herzog & de Meuron tops out in Paris<\/p>\n

“It’s not another Tour Montparnasse disaster”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also stoking plenty of debate in the comments section was the topping out of the trapezoidal Tour Triangle in Paris<\/a>, by Swiss studio Herzog & de Meuron.<\/p>\n

Some readers appreciated the addition to the Paris skyline.<\/p>\n

“Looks better than I expected,” wrote Trewus<\/a>. “It’s not another Tour Montparnasse disaster.”<\/p>\n

Commenter Hubbe<\/a> agreed. “I like this very much. The shape is elegant, and if the attention to detail and materials is good enough, this could be a jewel.”<\/p>\n

“In a way, very Parisian,” wrote Jota<\/a>. “That imperial touch\u2026”<\/p>\n

Other readers were less certain about the design.<\/p>\n

“Will it grow on us?” asked Don Bronkema<\/a>. To which Milton Welch<\/a> replied, “despite the ‘lack of enthusiasm’ in early days of Eiffel Tower that was proven wrong, I still scratch my head in thought of a giant shadow that will blanket the neighbourhood.”<\/p>\n

“It’ll be soon quite interesting to appreciate the traffic congestions in that area, which is already a massively jammed zone,” added Pa Varreon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What’s your take? Join the discussion \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

Comments update<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dezeen is the world’s most commented architecture and design magazine, receiving thousands of comments each month from readers. Keep up to date on the latest discussions on our comments page<\/a> and subscribe to our weekly Debate newsletter<\/a>, where we feature the best reader comments from stories in the last seven days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In this week’s comments update, readers are discussing the completion of Ray Phoenix by California studio Johnston Marklee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[18974,365,362,363,364,366,18,117,19,17,199333,10357,10358,34279,56486],"class_list":{"0":"post-486110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-apartments","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-artsdesign","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-eire","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-johnston-marklee","19":"tag-sectionall","20":"tag-sectionarchitecture","21":"tag-sectioncomments","22":"tag-skyscrapers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116578989130393148","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}