Focusing on local architecture, the proposal for the Mosque (Amir Al- Momenin) by CAAT Studio detaches from everyday life and the approach to worship space in accessing the building. The integrated entity of the proposal plays its role as a religious and cultural center in the region scale while communicating with the environment. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Walkability, density, and mixed-use have become key terms in the conversation about designing our cities to promote healthy lifestyles. In an interview with behavioral psychologist, Dr. James Sallis of the University of California San Diego in The Globe and Mail, Sallis discusses how his research reveals key design elements that encourage physical activity. In the 20th century, the automobile and new ideals in urban planning radically changed the way in which cities were structured. Residential and commercial areas were divided and highways were built to criss-cross between them. Suburban sprawl rescued city dwellers from dense urban environments that had gained a reputation for being polluted and dangerous. In recent decades, planners, policy makers and environmentalists have noted how these seemingly healthy expansions have had an adverse affect on our personal health and the health of our built environment. Today, the conversation is heavily structured around how welcoming density, diversity and physical activity can help ameliorate the negative affects that decades of mid-century planning have had on health. Sallis describes how much of a psychological feat it is to change the adverse habits that have developed over the years and how design, in particular, can help encourage the change.
Designed by YCF Group, in collaboration with ARCA Consulting and AFH Haiti (Architecture for Humanity), their proposal for the Notre Dame de l’Assomption draws on the life and culture of the Haitian people, while remembering the site’s history and the lives lost on January 12, 2010. Inspired by a Haitian fisherman’s boat, the project’s folded origami form aims links the new cathedral to the old cathedral’s former function as a lighthouse. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Exhibited at the Designers’ Saturday 2012 in Langenthal, Switzerland and at the BAU 2013 in Munich, Germany, the experimental installation “Abstraction” transforms shadows and lights into predefined pixels. Created by architects Peter Thomas Hornung of Hornung and Jacobi Architecture and Axel Schenke, their patented system uses the given material properties of Corian and assigned it with so far unknown qualities. More images and architects’ description after the break.
A true legacy in the field of architecture and beyond, Oscar Niemeyer, who died just this past December at the age of 104, has traveled into the heart of many, one of which is graffiti artist Eduardo Kobra. In honor of the Brazilian architect, Kobra created a 61-yard art piece on the side of a building in Sao Paulo’s financial district. The immense, colorful mural cannot be missed as people pass by and admire the work. Expressing Niemeyer’s love for concrete, curves and Le Corbusier, the mural truly encompasses the architect’s aim to, “…produce an architecture that serves everyone and not just a group of privileged people.” More images can be viewed after the break.
Aiming to provide a new gateway and identity, the two-story, 87,135-square-feet Roche Diagnostics Training Center re-imagines their Indianapolis campus. Designed by SOM, the project just broke ground as it begins to establish a new and consistent brand identity for the Swiss-based pharmaceutical company. The new building’s clean, modern aesthetic embodies Roche’s corporate architectural philosophy and is informed by a 100 year legacy of European design precedents. More images and architects’ description after the break.
We here at ArchDaily are big fans of Roman Mars' radio program 99% Invisible, and just had to share the latest show: "In and Out of Love." In it, Mars explores the changing face of Philadelphia's JFK Plaza (more commonly known as LOVE Park), why its Modernist characteristics made it perfect for skateboarding (although city officials certainly didn't feel that way), and why Le Corbusier truly is the patron saint of skateboarders.
And, if you like this, check out Why Skateboarding Matters to Architecture, and follow the jump for some very cool, very innovative skate-friendly homes, stores, and parks...
Read more about this episode at 99% Invisible.
Architecture for Humanity Chicago recently announced the launch of their 4th annual ACTIVATE! Design Competition, which is free and open to the public. The competition challenges participants to redefine a public space on a temporary basis and on a budget of $1,000. The designs should aim to leverage community development through the implementation of small scale place making infrastructure. This will be a partnership with Chicago Department of Transportation as part of the ‘Make Way for the People’ initiative. It will focus on four sites in the city: Old Town, Pilsen, Woodlawn, and East Garfield Park. The deadline for entries is March 15. For more information, please visit here.
With the site of the proposed project characterized by a 7m height difference between the south west corner and the north east one and the fastest way to access to it is from the roads west and north of it, the Huaihua Theater and Exhibition Center will be managed by three different subjects adding further difficulties in organizing the layout. Designed by United Design Group, the 60,000 m² complex is equally subdivided between the theater/cinema part (30,000 m²) and exhibitions: 12,000 m² for the museum; 10,000 m² for the urban planning hall; 3000 m² for the fine arts museum and 1000 m² for the local history exhibition. An extra 6000 m² will host the art training center. More images and architects’ description after the break.
In an effort to search for the city’s own identity, the ‘Almighty Tree’ concept proposal by Saraiva + Associados aims to give people the chance to experience the city of Almaty by hovering above treetops. As seen before in Kazakhstan, this unique style of architecture offers the opportunity to involve everyone in a place where the city, in combination with environmental values and modern design, shapes an exciting and memorable idea. Full architects’ description after the break.
In their proposal for University of North Florida’s Interfaith Chapel, OAD concluded that the main challenge was to create more than just an impressive chapel, but a place in and of itself that would highlight the unique character and seclusion of the site. The team’s response engages visitors by encouraging unscripted exploration and discovery, gradually revealing the site, chapel, and accessory buildings as the user experience unfolds. More images and architects’ description after the break.
In our last Editorial, "Post-Traumatic Design: How to Design Schools that Heal Past Wounds and Prevent Future Violence," we discussed how architects must conceptualize school design in the wake of the tragic shootings that have affected our nation. Rather than leaning towards overly secure, prison-like structures, the Editorial suggested a different model, one better suited to dealing with student needs (particularly for those who have experienced trauma): domestic violence shelters.
While the comparison may seem bizarre at first, shelter design is all about implementing un-invasive security measures that could easily make schools safer, healthier spaces for students. To further elaborate this unlikely connection, we spoke with an Associate at Mahlum Architecture, Corrie Rosen, who for the last 6 years has worked with the The Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence [WSCADV] on the Building Dignity project, which provides Domestic Violence Shelters advice to design shelters that empower and heal.
Find out Corrie Rosen's 8 strategies for designing schools that can improve security and student well-being, after the break...
Designed by SHJ (Simon Hjermind Jensen) Works, Fire Shelter: 01 is a personal project located in at Sydhavnstippen in Copenhagen. Taking inspiration from architecture of ethnic and nomadic people, the starting point for the design emerged from a fascination of the place. It´s a temporary project and a design experiment that aims to celebrate the place. The project has public access, and it establishes experiences of spatial and social character. More images and architect’s description after the break.
After two intense weeks, with 40,000 nominations, the collective intelligence formed by the readers of ArchDaily has scrutinized close to 3,000 projects, creating the shortlist that now moves into the final voting stage.
As in previous years, we have to congratulate our readers, as the finalists are outstanding. Buildings from all over the world, by firms of all sizes and trajectories, ranging from social buildings with no budget to state of the art buildings. But they all have something in common: good architecture that can improve people’s lives.
You can vote for your favorite projects starting today and until February 13th, 2013 (read the complete rules).
Remember that the project with the most votes will receive an HP Designjet T520 ePrinter and the project with the 2nd most votes will receive an HP Designjet T120 ePrinter from our sponsor HP.
The winners of the iPad Minis that we are giving away during the nomination process are: Sunil Bald and Susana Carls (you’ll receive an email shorty). And remember that we are giving away two iPads during the final voting round!
Meet the finalists:
Taking place February 7-10, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture, Ohio State University Knowlton School of Architecture, University of Kentucky College of Design, and University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning will be presenting the Possible Mediums Conference. Taking place in Columbus, Ohio, the event is composed of a series of workshops and panel discussions revolving around four “possible mediums” which places a group of designers in productive dialog, unpacking their collective foundations and futures. Challenging the boundaries of architectural convention, the invited workshop leaders employ exploratory processes rooted in mediums external to the discipline (such as film or comics) or developed from atypical applications of more conventional mediums (such as drawings or models). For more information, please visit here.
Opening February 14, and on view until May 4, Yale School of Architecture‘s ‘White Cube, Green Maze: New Art Landscapes’ exhibition will examine emerging trends in museum design through six new art sites that share the common thread of moving beyond the traditional “white cube” gallery space, and that juxtapose the experience of culture, art, architecture, and landscape. Featuring newly commissioned photography of these sites by Iwan Baan, each site represents a unique expression of the ambitions and collaborations of patrons, architects, landscape architects, artists, and curators. For more information, please visit here.
The competition winning proposal for the Beijing Agriculture University Library is a successful addition to the existing campus. Designed by Tongji Architectural Design and Research Institute, their design takes care of all the functions while providing a comfortable environment for students to study and research. With a construction area of about 49,000m2, the library includes a self-study area, a restaurant, an auditorium, several offices and some meeting rooms. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Yesterday, we featured an article by Yale faculty member and AutoDesk Vice President, Phil Bernstein, about the increasing opportunities for architecture students graduating in 2013. Today, Scott Simpson, a senior fellow of the Design Futures Council and co-author of the books How Firms Succeed and The Next Architect, offers his perspective on our recovering economy, and what it will mean for architects in the future.
Simpson starts off by putting the Crisis in perspective: "From 2008 to 2011, the profession took a tremendous hit, both financially and in terms of lost intellectual capital. The old way of doing business is not coming back, nor would we wish for it. [...] Rather than complaining about tough times, let’s start with the realization that many of these changes are long overdue."
After reviewing what the Recession has meant and what we can learn from it, Simpson makes one final, and empowering, claim: "For those willing to take up the challenge, there has never been a more exciting time to be an architect."
Read all of Simpson's article, which originally appeared on DesignIntelligence, after the break...
Only a few weeks after being recognized for his excellence by the Universidad Politécnica of Madrid, the distinguished Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza has just been awarded the Heinrich Tessenow Gold Medal for 2012 by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation in Hamburg. The award, given since 1962, is a recognition of work that, like that of German architect Heinrich Tessenow (1876-1950), is "uncompromising, sober and essential."
The awards ceremony will take place on the 30th of January, 2013, in Hamburg. In his honor, the Hafeb City University in Hamburg will also be exhibiting some of Campo Baeza's works.
Read the full Press Release, after the break.
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Martin Barry, founder and director of reSITE in Prague and associate at W Architecture and Landscape Architecture in New York, will give an evening lecture at 6:30pm EST on February 7th. Taking place at the NYU Silver Center, his lecture will focus on how organization is advocating for more transparent, contemporary and sustainable urban planning in Czech cities. Martin will discuss the outcomes of reSITE 2012 and describe their plans for reSITE Festival and Conference to take place in June 2013. The event is presented by NYU Department of Art History & Urban Design and Architecture Studies with Czech House NYU. For more information, please visit here.
This time we want to share a very contemporary film. An amazing story stunningly described by Christopher Nolan, in which dreams within dreams can be manipulated by “architects” who can construct an imaginary reality.
Imagine: being able, as architects, to create whole environments, just using our minds as the resource. Let us know your ideas in the comments below, and, while you’re at it, please let us know of some new films we can add to the list!
Designed for the “Vigdis Foundation”, the Languages Center aims to be a rational building, where modulation is a key aspect. Designed by OOIIO Architecture, there is no architectural excess that might increase the budget, but quite singular and special at the same time, comfortable for users and interesting enough to get the pedestrians attention. Built to host exhibitions, a cinema-theater, café, library, and more, the construction of the building is efficient, quick and with a rational materials use. More images and architects’ description after the break.More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Transalley Technopole is a metropolitan scientific and technological project of an international dimension, dedicated to transportation and mobility, located on a strategic site of the Valenciennes urban area. The competition proposal by Mikou Design Studio aims to be a real ecosystem of innovation, and it will host the Institut des Transports Durables (Sustainable Transport Institute), the Institut International de Management, and the head office of IRT Railenium, which will be a major research and development center dedicated to railway infrastructure. More images and architects’ description after the break.
