Designed to gather the city’s cultural functions under one roof, the winning proposal by schmidt hammer lassen architects for the new cultural centre and library in Karlshamn, Sweden will be the city’s new meeting place. The 5,000 square metre cultural centre will get a sculptural and flexible building containing a library, an exhibition area, a cinema, a tourist office and a café, which together work to embrace diversity. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Organized by the Order of Architects of Romania and ABplus Events, this year’s INGLASS International Architecture Conference, which takes place March 5, will feature Professor Wolf D. Prix, co-founder, Design Principal and CEO of Coop Himmelb(l)au, Austria, as the special guest. “Glass architecture and engineering”, will be the general topic in the discussion of glass construction, architecture and engineering, facade systems and solar energy. The event will also address the entire glass industry, architects, engineers, glass producers, processors, equipment providers. More information after the break.

In search of the architectural and spatial form for the designed sports hall in Białystok, Studio EL, through their investigation of applied form typologies used in sports facilities, decided to use the coating system. This type of design is characterized by freshness, terseness and coherence in form and in contents of a function. The design consists of two-curvature, two-layered, steel space frames which will cover the space of the sports hall and will be based on the double buttresses located in its ambit. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Taking place February 1 from 2:00-4:30pm EST, Advanced Data Trees: The Art of Navigating and Manipulating Data Structures in Grasshopper will focus on how to effectively navigate and use multi-dimensional data in creative ways. Effective use of Data Trees cannot only help accelerate project development and increase productivity, but in many cases, implementing an advanced Data Tree strategy can lead to greater communication across a team. Through a series of short presentations and “live” case studies, learn to streamline your parametric workflows using advanced Data Tree strategies. To register, and for more information, please visit here.

Designed by BKK Architects, in collaboration with Brearley Architects & Urbanists, Shanghai Normal University’s new Cultural Center aims to create an intensive and richly mixed-use building by applying the lessons of the city and drawing upon the cloister typology. Arranged around an activated central courtyard, the project will provide a new focus for campus life, accommodating a broad range of cultural, retail, hospitality, and leisure activities. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Taking place at SCI-Arc‘s campus in downtown Los Angeles March 29-July 7, Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A.: A Confederacy of Heretics: The Architecture Gallery, Venice, 1979 exhibition. The exhibition examines the pivotal role played by the temporary gallery held in the home of architect Thom Mayne for several weeks in 1979. An immersive showcase of spectacular models, drawings and media will be mounted in two spaces located on the SCI-Arc campus, the main gallery and the Kappe Library Gallery. More information on the exhibition after the break.

Architects BAKOKO, in collaboration with engineers Structured Environment, shared with us their proposal for a new chapel and Center for Christian Culture at Doshisha University’s Kyoto campus. With structure, form, and function molded into a singular totality, their intention is not to draw attention to the form of the building, but rather, to merge floor, walls, and roof into an immersive experience prioritizing personal reflection and human interaction within the central sanctums. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Conducted by The Office of Urban Transformation Research (OUTR) at RMIT University as part of an ongoing research project, they recently announced the winners of the Transiting Cities – Low Carbon Futures competition. The challenge was to develop innovative visions for Latrobe City, in eastern Victoria, Australia to make the transition from a singular economy dominated by the power industry (coal mining and electricity generation) into a diversified economy and prosperous low carbon regional city. More images and information on the winning entries after the break.

Designed by N H D M / Nahyun Hwang + David Eugin Moon, the Nam June Paik Library is a new public art library in Nam June Paik Art Center in Yong-In, Korea, which opened to the general public in 2011. Inspired by Nam June Paik’s artistic processes, the library was designed as a multi-functional spatial device, which redefines the relationship between library users and information. While the conventional library is characterized by the one directional transmission of the static, centralized, and predefined content, this library aims to promote non-linear and random access to information, and its production beyond the consumption. More images and architects’ description after the break.

In an effort to achieve a more holistic development of Latsia, the participation of socially active, culturally motivated and eager to learn citizens is necessary. Therefore, this second prize winning proposal by ECONOMOU Architects & Engineers + Georgios Artopoulos was designed to accommodate and create spatially organized activities and lived experiences, in order to host actions of collective learning and creative occupations relevant to the local natural resources, always aiming for the generation of a new, shared identity of Latsia. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Witteveen+Bos, OKRA, and ZJA have recently won the integral design for the Jaarbeursplein Utrecht and the underground parking. Their vision focuses on the realization of the perfect parking concept, with a comfortable, lively, and socially safe city square on top of it. Forming the face of the new Utrecht, their vital and highly dynamic proposal becomes a place where inhabitants and visitors can have a taste of the new city. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Henn Architekten shared with us their first prize winning proposal in the architectural competition to design the new medical research center of Münster‘s University Hospital, which is the main facility for the Institute for Microbiology and Hygiene. The new building defines the north-eastern edge of the medical faculty site and its southern end is connected to the main axis of the planned campus. It comprises two interlocking, annular complexes, each surrounding an interior courtyard accessible from a forecourt. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Designed by Orproject, their Or2 project, which is a single surface roof structure that reacts to sunlight, won the 2012 Good Design Award. This award, which is known as the world’s most prestigious, recognized, and oldest Design Awards program, is organized annually by The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design in cooperation with the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies. Special software components have been developed in order to create the shapes and to generate the cutting schedules so that the beauty of Or2 is its constant interaction with the elements, where its appearance is unique at each moment of the day. More images and architects’ description after the break.

To commemorate the first edition of “Silent Day,” a fabricated holiday by Sony Argentina that celebrated the release of new Sony headphones, the Planetario Galileo Galilei was given headphones in an effort to change the cold and solid appearance of the buildng into a fun, cartoonish personage. Designed by architect Enrique Jan in 1967, some would argue that one should not use these highlights of modernism for lousy advertising. Although, we all know that brands like to use the urban space as a canvas for their messages, so why not do it in a funny way? More images and information after the break.

Inspired by the Ferris wheel, ‘Wheels of Chicago’ consists of seven revolving wheels proposed for Olive Park and its vicinity. Designed by Hapsitus Architects, five of them will be placed above the circular fountains, with the circumference of each wheel mirroring that of its fountain. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The deadline is rapidly approaching for all lighting designers, architects, urban planners, interior designers, engineers, landscapers or students to participate in the 2013 Lamp Lighting Solutions Awards competition. With light being a fundamental element of life and a key aspect of any architectural project, prizes will be awarded to projects that have successfully met the architectural lighting needs of an indoor or outdoor space, having created a positive synergy between architecture, interior design, landscaping and lighting. The deadline for submissions is January 31. For more information, please visit here.

Through United Design Group’s investigation of their context and analysis of the program, they identified, organized and prioritized the four functions inside the school with this “sequence”: public area, education area, living area, and sport facilities, in order to optimize the circulation and the time of students, teachers and guests. The main goal was the integration of the system with the landscape. To do so, they took into account as a valuable reference the Suzhou Gardens Style, in which the water plays a significant role, trying to interpret it in a modern way. More images and architects’ description after the break.

An impressive team has been pieced together by Canary Wharf Group to design portions of the first phase for the Wood Wharf development in London’s major business district of Tower Hamlets. Already home to some of the UK’s tallest buildings, Canary Wharf has announced its plan to add a Herzog & de Meuron-designed residential high-rise to its glowing skyline on a redeveloped eight-hectare site.

Ascan Mergenthaler, senior partner at Herzog & de Meuron stated, “The new high-rise building will mediate between the city and the individual, the public and private, and will inject a new component of daily residential life into the evolving mixed-use Canary Wharf district. It will be both a symbol and the heart of the new Wood Wharf urban quarter, an extension of a dynamic global community and the start of a new vibrant neighborhood.”

See who else has been commissioned to partake in the first phase of the Canary Wharf development after the break.

Think Big Factory, together with the Basque Culinary Center and Fagor Electrodomésticos, shared with us their development of the Smart Tasting prototype. The prototype integrates the Internet of Things concept into the tasting experience, mixing food with technology. Generating a real-time connection between chefs and customers, connections will be created that explain the most interesting parts of the process to people who are tasting the dishes and vice versa. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Aiming to create a riverfront like none other in the world, landscape architect Matthew Edward Getch and architect Maciej Woroniecki shared with us their proposal in the Detroit by Design 2012 competition where they received the 2nd overall prize and the first prize for the People’s Choice Award. The goals of their proposal were born from Detroit’s apparent weakness. They established linear interventions which recognized the severed parks and green networks and utilized them to reconnect the citizens of Detroit back to the riverfront through pedestrian friendly portals. More images and architects’ description after the break.