Henning Larsen Architects just won the competition for a new research building for the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research in Stuttgart. The Center is one of Germany’s leading research institutions and conducts research on renewable energy. Carefully integrated into the surrounding context, the building features various heights that relate to the city and adjacent buildings. The building will create a new, distinctive entrance to Stuttgarter Engineering Park and provide an insight into the ongoing research. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The College of Architecture and Design (CoAD) at NJIT will be launching its Fall 2012 Lecture Series on October 15 with Neil Meredith’s talk on a recent project by Gehry Technologies, Burj Khalifa Office Ceiling. Featuring Fred Kent*, Alissia Melka-Teichroew, Ted Krueger, Nataly Gattegno + Jason Johnson, and William Sharples as keynote speakers throughout the series, it concludes with a lecture by Nader Tehrani. All lectures take place on Mondays at 5:30 in Weston Lecture Hall unless otherwise noted, and are free and open to public. For more information please visit here. More information after the break.
20th-Century World Architecture portrays, for the first time, an overview of the finest built architecture from around the world completed between 1900 and 1999. The unprecedented global scope of this collection of over 750 key buildings juxtaposes architectural icons with regional masterpieces.
Specially designed and commissioned graphics at the start of the atlas explore the changing economic and political contexts of architectural production throughout this fascinating century, and highlight the flow of architectural ideas and architects around the globe. The selection of projects brilliantly illustrates the built outcomes of these formal and cultural influences in every corner of the world, with some surprising revelations.
The master plan presented by Vittorio Magnano Lampugnani at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition is for a private company, even though it operates at city scale. Designed for the Swiss pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Novartis, it demanded a balanced response to the needs of industry, commerce, and human interaction, as well as the rationalization of a site that had advanced, unplanned, for a century. The plan also required finding a common ground between the approaches of many architecture practices from around the world: individual buildings are to be designed and constructed by architects such as Peter Märkli, Diener & Diener, SANAA, and David Chipperfield. Lampugnani’s vision is represented here in the form of a large-scale model, allowing visitors to appreciate its scale, complexity, and careful poise.
This past Tuesday, Kengo Kuma of Kengo Kuma and Associates, Tokyo, lectured at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD). His discussion centered around the epochal challenge architecture must respond to following the great disaster of March 11, 2011. The tsunami, which flattened the Tohoku coastline in a matter of seconds, and catastrophic nuclear accident that followed proved our infrastructure to be insufficient in the age of technology. With this realization, Kuma understands that we must learn from what happened and “start again from scratch”.
Norman Foster is undoubtedly one of the most influential architects of our time. Since establishing his award-winning practice in 1967 – originally titled Foster Associates – the Pritzker Prize laureate has grown Foster + Partners into an international powerhouse, with project offices in more than twenty countries.
Yesterday, October 10, Studio Daniel Libeskind celebrated the “Topping Off” ceremony for Toronto’s “L Tower” with aerial acrobatics dancing across the North face of the structure. The 58-storey skyscraper, located at the intersection of Yonge Street and The Esplanade, is part of the redevelopment of the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts. It was designed to be an architectural transition between the towers of the financial district to the west and the historic residential St. Lawrence neighborhood to the east. A 5000 square-feet public plaza along the redevelopment’s west side will serve as an additional public space for the theater, L Tower residents and the downtown community. Continue reading for more.
Beginning on October 16th, 2012, Galeries Lafayette in Paris, France, will be celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the Dome designed by architect Ferdinand Chanut and glass artist Jacques Gruber in 1912. 100 years under the Dome will be held at the flagship store of the boulevard Haussmann, a true Parisian symbol. In addition, the gallery will launch an exhibition called 1912-2012. Chronicles of a Creative Itinerary by architect Rem Koolhaas and his studio OMA, along with a collaboration called Chrysalide between visual artist Yann Kersalé and Djuric Tardio – Architectes.
Join us after the break for more stunning images for the anticipated celebration.
Designed by dom arquitectura, the masterplan in Huizhou, China focuses on the traditional Chinese cultural concepts and social issues. Their response was to group housing towers in two lines, with an staggered arrangement, forming a double perimeter line and leaving a large green space in the site centre. The concentration of a big green space will enhance the CO2 consumption and improve the users air quality. More images and architects’ description after the break.
After months of anticipation, October 13th, 2012 (a.k.a. TEDxCity2.0: A day of urban inspiration), is around the corner! This Saturday, TEDx communities around the world, made up of “urban innovators and organizers, stewards and artists, builders and taste makers,” will get together and share their stories of urban inspiration.
Our Swedish friends from Visiondivision are back with their latest residential project for a family in Tampere, Finland - an extension that offers a quirky departure from a traditional “addition” as the architecture provides an entire “village” of units to meet optimal flexibility and potential. The village idea offers an interesting structure for the clients to inhabit and one that can be experienced in a variety of ways to inspire the residents during their everyday activities.
Taking place at the California College of the Arts in San Fransisco October 13th from 10am-4pm, The Missing 32%,’ features leading professionals from around the country to discuss the role of women in architecture in the 21st century. In the United States, women represent about 50% of students enrolled in architecture programs, but only 18% of licensed architects are women. Throughout the day, attendees will hear from a broad range of speakers who represent different career paths in the profession ranging from those working for large firms to those choosing to start their own practice. The day will begin with a brief overview of statistics that detail the current leadership structure of architecture firms. The event is presented by AIA San Fransisco. For more information, please visit here.
The primary condition for the first prize winning design of the new headquarters of Congresso Nacional dos Municípios (CNM) is the creation of a metropolitan area in line with the urban context of the city of Brasilia. Designed by Luis Eduardo Loyola and Maria Cristina Motta, the project is embodied along an axis in the form of a white metallic volume floating gently on a concrete basement. The transparency of the volume creates a special relation with their surroundings. More images and architects’ description after the break.
What began as an academic initiative to improve the quality of life of poor strata of the population has meanwhile become a professional “do tank” offering services that cover the entire spectrum of urban development. Alejandro Aravena (1967 Santiago de Chile) founded Elemental in 2001 in his hometown with the goal of alleviating social deprivation directly instead of hoping for a balance of income relations. Besides building public facilities and public housing, Elemental also develops new approaches for the reorganization of resources and the potential of cities by means of projects devoted to infrastructure and transportation. This publication documents the social activity and history of the international architectural team and sheds light on its financing strategies, for example through participative building.
