The “Reunite the River with our City” project, an public initiative by 4am Architekci, aims at creating a new approach in Poland for introducing changes to the shape and character of Warsaw and to propose solutions to the topic of planning the city’s sensitive areas. Concerning the master plan of Warsaw’s waterfront in the city’s downtown area, they feel an obligation to use their knowledge and experience for public benefit by distributing their work between paid and non-profit conceptual projects according to the 80/20 rule. Their goal is to materialize the “bottom up” rule, where the society is giving a proposal and solutions and thus relieves the administrative apparatus. More images and architects’ description after the break.
American Institute of Architects, California Council (AIACC) has awarded Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects with the 2013 AIACC Firm Award. The jury praised the practice’s ability to achieve a delicate balance between producing high quality architecture and having a long-standing commitment to mentorship. This award is the highest honor the AIACC can bestow on an architectural practice and Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects is the first Sacramento-based firm to receive it.
This short video via ja+u takes you on a brief journey through the Tokyo Skytree’s various observation decks that range in altitude from 340m all the way up to the 450m high spiral Tembo Galleria. A quick time lapse of the construction that took place from 2008-2012 illustrates the tower’s growth as it quickly surpassed the Tokyo Tower’s 333m pinnacle. See our previous coverage here.
The proposal for the Luxodrome, designed by Charles Wagner, is a concept started after analyzing the recent topography of a velodrome, which is most of the time just a circle built by two lines and two half circles. With tracks still looking like a hundred years ago, even though cycling as a sport has developed rapidly over the years, this project aims to demonstrate the look of a future velodrome. This is why the track itself has to change to be up to date for all the different race formats. More images and architect’s description after the break.
Designed by Illinois Intitute of Technology architecture students, Andrea Zuniga and Daniel Caven, the winning proposal in the Powerful Design Competition held this summer in Chicago will redefine Chicago’s south side skyline, adding a new member to the series of local landmarks: a skyscraper made of light. Sponsored by ComEd, this will not only serve as the company’s icon, but also as a symbol for environmental awareness, heightening the aesthetics of the area. With the aim to design a new LEED certified training facility in the south side of the city, ‘The Seed of Light’ will travel along the Chicago River to spread the knowledge of smart grid technology and promote the company name as a responsible and environmental friendly entity. The estimated completion for the project is April 2014. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Architects: DCPP arquitectos Location: Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico Architect In Charge: Pablo Pérez Palacios, Alfonso de la Concha Rojas Project Year: 2010 Project Area: 240.0 sqm Photographs: Onnis Luque
Architects: Cooper Joseph Studio Location: Dean Road Ghent, NY, USA Architect In Charge: Wendy Evans Joseph Project Manager: Thruston Pettus Desing Team: Farzana Gandhi, Jonathan Lee Project Year: 2007 Photographs: Elliott Kaufman
The Battery Conservancy announced today that it is launching the Americas Design Competition, an open-call opportunity for designers across North, Central and South America and the Caribbean to propose designs for innovative portable outdoor seating for The Battery, the 25-acre green oasis at the southern tip of Manhattan overlooking New York Harbor. The Battery Conservancy will fabricate the winning design for use in its new Battery Green scheduled to open to the public in 2014 adjacent to the park’s Broadway entrance.
Registration for The Battery Conservancy Americas Design Competition 2012: “Draw Up A Chair” opens July 31, 2012, and submissions are due no later than October 30, 2012. All interested designers are directed to The Battery Conservancy website for additional information: http://www.thebattery.org/competition. More information after the break.
Now in its eighth year, the Maggie’s London Night Hike invites you to participate in a ten to twenty mile “hike” through the capital city and explore a number of landmark buildings and iconic structures. In collaboration with the Open House London, the event aims to raise money for charity and give recognition to important, well-designed places and spaces that have a positive effect on everybody’s well being.
London Night Hike patron actress Hermione Norris said: “I have been involved in the Maggie’s London Night Hike for four years and I am really looking forward to taking part again this year. It is always an incredible event with great buildings, entertainment, support and most importantly – amazing people. I’m looking forward this year to exploring the Roca Gallery, which is a new building on the route as well as having a night time trip on the London Eye.”
Other buildings confirmed include the Sterling Prize-winning Maggie’s West London centre, City Hall, Leadenhall Market, Royal Institute of British Architects, Royal Geographical Society, and 20 Gresham Street with more to be announced.
Maggie’s Night Hike will take place in London on Friday, September 21, 2012. Register here!
Terreform ONE has announced the finalists of the “ONE Prize 2012: BLIGHT TO MIGHT” – an international design competition powered by the idea that social, ecological, and economic struggles can simultaneously be addressed through collaborative action and innovative design. Situated in the context of a struggling U.S. economy and the tension of stagnant unemployment, ONE Prize 2012 called to put design in the service of the community, to reinvigorate deindustrialized and depressed urban areas, and to repurpose spaces for economic growth and job creation.
The competition attracted 115 teams and 655 team members from more than 20 countries and five continents. The Jury will select the final winners in late September.
“Legos were the ultimate building tool, capable of making the most advanced space ships, powerful vehicles, impressive buildings, and incredible cities. As a child, everyone I knew loved Legos, and this never seemed to change. In high school, whenever a conversation with friends happened to shift upon Legos, everyone would gleefully reminisce about their days making fantastic structures out of those awesome little building blocks. No doubt Legos played a supporting role in my growth in appreciation for architecture.” - Architect Albert Lam, in a Blog post for the LPA
When you ask architects what inspired them, almost all (according to one study, 99%) can trace the calling back to the same, simple origin: playing with their LEGO bricks.
The LEGO Group, which turns 80 today, can boast that there are approximately 62 LEGO bricks for ever person on earth. However, it wasn’t until 1958, when the newly-plastic LEGO bricks incorporated the classic knob-and-tube-connecting-system, that they overtook the Froebel block (Frank Lloyd Wright’s toy of choice) to become the massively popular architectural inspiration they are today.
But while the influence of LEGO on architects may be self-evident, not many know about Architecture’s contribution to LEGO. In fact, only through the lens of Architecture, can you truly understand why LEGO merits its bold moniker as “The Toy of the Century.”
Find out Architecture & LEGOs unlikely relationship, after the break…
Start your weekend early with this Zaha Hadid-inspired track by the internationally renowned DJ, Roger Sanchez. The former Pratt architecture student is currently working on a starchitect-themed, tech house series that musically interprets the work of his favorite architects, such as Frank Gehry, Frank Lloyd Wright, IM Pei, Tado Ando and Gaudi.
The organizers of Trimo Urban Crash, a biannual international competition for students of architecture and industrial design, just launched this year’s summer challenge, which is a relatively simple task. All are being asked, not just students, to present their thoughts on ‘Sustainable urban commuting’. You can send you thoughts/work in either visual form (photography, video, visual art and illustration, poster, etc.) or in textual form (no longer than 150 words); or you can create a combination of both. Submissions are on-line only. The deadline for the Summer Warm-up Challenge is August 20, 2012 and this challenge is only a warm-up for the 4th Trimo Urban Crash Competition which will get started this autumn, October 2012. For more information, please visit here.
The London-based Delfina Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to facilitating cultural exchange with a special focus on the greater Middle East and North Africa, will expand from their townhouse at 29 Catherine Place, near Buckingham Palace, to an adjacent building at 31 Catherine Place. The expansion will double the Foundation’s residency to offer at least 32 residencies a year for artists, curators and writers, making it the largest international artist residency provider in London when it reopens in Autumn 2013. In keeping with the Foundation’s beliefs to promote collaborative understanding across cultures, London-based Studio Octopi and Cairo-based Shahira Fahmy Architects have been awarded first prize for their expansion proposal which will retain the domesticity of the two houses and explore the notion of the hearth in a home.
Composed of approximately 400 simple wooden chairs arrayed and stacked in a sine wave surface, the ‘SEAT’ public pavilion, by E/B Office, is a recently completed winning entry for this year’s Flux Project in Freedom Park. Located in Atlanta, the chairs are drawn into an agitated vortex rising from the ground. Sitting is perhaps the most common condition from which we experience architecture. Whether we work, relax, watch, eat, sleep, or talk to each other, sitting is at the core of our relationship to buildings. Therefore, this project formalizes the transformation of chairs from detached useable objects into structural and spatial components of an ambiguously occupiable edifice. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Presented by the American Institute of Architects Portland and the Center for Architecture, the annual Architecture + Design Festival is coming up in October. Of the more popular events and one that continues to grow each year is the Design Matters: Tour of Homes, the only annual tour of architect-designed residences, which takes place on October 13. The homes tour provides a rare opportunity to glimpse inside seven extraordinary Portland residences. This year’s tour features innovative homes designed by top local architects including the renovation of Donald Blair’s 1960 futuristic “Home of Tomorrow”, a prefab home from Jeff Kovel, as well as several other outstanding examples of modern, efficient living. For more information, please visit here.
As the world turns its eyes to London in 2012, Design Stories examines the architecture and engineering behind the 2012 sporting venues. It provides a unique Olympic experience – a place where people can explore and view drawings, images, videos and amazingly detailed models of London’s key new sporting venues.
HOK Chief Executive Officer Patrick MacLeamy, FAIA, explains why the term “BIM” doesn’t convey the real promise of building information modeling over time. In this video, MacLeamy breaks down the mega acronym “BIM-BAM-BOOM!” and addresses the real promise of this new approach across three basic phases of a building’s life.
It all begins with BIM; the architect uses 3-D modeling to investigate options and test building performance early on in order to optimize the building’s design. The design is then handed off to the contractor who streamlines the building process with BAM (Building Assembly Modeling), which allows for a significant decrease in construction costs. Once complete, BAM is turned over the owner and becomes BOOM (building owner operator model). This allows the owner to manage the building over time and ensure optimized building performance throughout its entire life cycle.
The real promise of “BIM-BAM-BOOM!” is “better design, better construction, better operation”.
As a response to David Chipperfield’s “Common Ground” theme for the 2012 Venice Biennale, the authors of the Serbian Pavilion have created JEDAN:STO / 100 - an installation that brings the archetypical object of a table to its extreme meaning by stretching it to a monumental scale that allows its surface to overcome the rectangular interior of the pavilion. This “minimalistic gesture” breaks down the “common” table into a “plethora of metaphors” that initiates thinking and encourages visitors to observe what is happening around it.
Continue after the break for the an abstract by the project authors.
The Chemical Brothers composed a song entitled “Velodrome”, for which Crystal has created a three minute animated sequence promotional video to match its heart-pounding rhythms. Played in the Velodrome before every session, the video inspired by Hopkins Architects’ design, shows the venue as never before, literally pulsating with excitement.
