Keeping the material library organized is a difficult task for many architects, let alone keeping it up-to-date with the latest, most innovative materials. Well, today we stumbled on this video, by The Economist, that highlights Andrew Dent, vice-president of Material ConneXion, and his thoughts on the evolution of material science. Material ConneXion has created the world’s largest resource for advanced, innovative and sustainable materials and processes. Their online archive and material libraries, based in seven cities world-wide, feature over 6,500 of the world’s most cutting-edge materials that are all commercially available for use.
Andrew Dent believes Material ConneXion will help bridge the gap between science and design as we move from the “synthetic century” into a “biological century”, where intelligent, nature-inspired materials consume less resources and less energy.
As we reported yesterday, the LEGO Group, the company responsible for everyone’s favorite LEGO bricks, just turned 80. We’ve often talked about LEGO’s major impact on young architects’ development, but few are aware of architecture’s influence on LEGO… so we thought we’d keep the LEGO celebrations going by sharing this cute (if unabashedly cheesy) video on the birth of LEGO.
At a time when sustainability is high on the agenda and construction costs continue to soar, many Cambridge residents are questioning a proposal to demolish a sound and respected school building to replace it with a new school one that will strive to be a “green facility”. The Martin Luther King Elementary School (1968-1971) was designed by Catalan architect Josep Lluis Sert (Sert, Jackson and Associate). As it stands today, the school compliments the many other buildings in Cambridge that Sert worked on while also teaching at Harvard University, including the Peabody Terrace Graduate Housing complex just across the street.
Read on to find out what the community is doing to save the building from demolition and why it can prove to be a more sustainable option for the city.
Alred Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980), who would have turned 113 today, is often known as the “Master of Suspense.” But we here at ArchDaily would like to tweak that moniker slightly, to the Master Architect of Suspense.
Hitchcock, who actually worked as a set designer in the 1920s, not only maintained meticulous control over his film sets as a director (many of which were mounted in studio), but incorporated many architectural themes into the narratives themselves.
More on Hitchcock’s use of Architecture, after the break…
Although the UK has not shortage of architectural talent,Venice Takeaway: Ideas to Change British Architecture responds to David Chipperfield’s ‘Common Ground’ theme for the 2012 Venice Biennale by seeking out imaginative responses to universal issues worldwide in an ambitious global research project. The British Council sent ten architectural teams around the world to research inspiring places and subjects that could generate discussion on what is great architecture while injecting new ideas into the UK. The Venice Takeaway exhibition charts the course of these teams and shares the ideas they discovered throughout Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Russia, Thailand and the USA.
Designed by Hans Hollein & Partner, the Tehran Stock Exchange aims to become a civic symbol that not only accommodates the stock exchange functions but also repents the practice in its entirety. As an architectural intervention, The buildings’ architectural nature allows it to become an identifiable structure within the urban fabric. The rectangular form of the office tower follows the homogenous surroundings, but the TSE´s façade is an innovative merger of two building envelope typologies and a strong contrast to any building in the vicinity: The window wall and the ceramic brick façade. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Last week, we shared LCLAOFFICE‘s conceptual proposal for the Kiev Islands, a proposal which connected the urban with the natural through an activated network of activities. In their shortlisted entry for the Faroe Islands, the firm teamed with Lateral Office to relink the city of Klaksvik with both of its bays. Such a move allows the urban development, which has historically happened along the length of the bay, and the civic and public institutions, which have been concentrated in an urban corridor, to connect people with the water.
Gustafson Guthrie Nichol and Davis Brody Bond were recently announced as the winners of the National Mall competition for Union Square. As the country’s most visit park, attracting more than 25 million visitors annually, Union Square is the site of major historic events from presidential inaugurations to public gatherings and demonstrations. Located at the base of the Capitol, they were judged on the flexibility, sustainability, and creativity of their design and how well it reflects the established vision and design influences of this historic setting. More architects’ description after the break.
During the last few years the world has witnessed dramatic changes. Our world is no longer rural, economic models are struggling, and the centres of innovation and political power have shifted.
It is this context that explains why the recently held competition for the new Tehran Stock Exchange is relevant beyond the building. The Physical Development Research Center organized a competition between 29 top architecture firms, later narrowed down to eight after a RFQ process, who each worked with a local Iranian firm. In a country experiencing a very unique economic moment, the brief of the competition aimed to challenge the typology of the stock exchange in general, as well as factors that could alter this type to address cultural factors specific to its location. Thus, the firms were asked to look at how this program has developed throughout history while also undertaking a thorough analysis of the specifities of this project.
The jury was composed by local architects Mehdi Alizadeh, Farhad Ahmadi, Bahram Shirdel, Hossein Sheikh–Zeineddin and Nader Tehrani (MIT Head of Architecture, principal at NADAAA) as spokesperson.
Alejandro Aravena (founder of Alejandro Aravena Architects, Executive Director of ELEMENTAL) together with local office VAV Studio were selected as the winners for their artful, considered, and minimal, project; of the various proposals, it was the only project which took into consideration functions and forces, geometry and geography, and an organization that distributed its program in a field condition, evenly spreading its function to best capture, light, views, cross ventilation, as well as shade. In turn, it produces a timeless (yet fast-paced) character of the stock exchange as an institution, a building that extends broader traditions while mirroring the current state of its country.
Aravena’s entry stood out from the rest as it was conceptually distinct, aligned with the brief of the competition. Other highlights of this entry are its geometry, structural base, sensitivity to climate, and relation to its mountainous landscape, which are explained further in the architect’s description below:
A monolithic figure at a first glance, the building achieves a particular transparency thanks to the hollow blocks used on its skin, turning into a lamp that is transparent to the public.
The decision of the jury, while unanimous, is only a recommendation to the client, so we will keep you informed as the project moves forward.
Read the complete architect’s description, with renders and drawings, after the break:
AIA Detroit Chapter’s Urban Priorities Committee just launched their Detroit by Design 2012: Detroit Riverfront Competition, which is open to students and professionals world-wide. The project site consists of the area between Cobo Hall and the Renaissance Center and between Jefferson Avenue and the Detroit River. A distinguished group has been put together to judge the competition including Daniel Libeskind, Walter Hood, Reed Kroloff, Faye Alexander Nelson, and Lola Sheppard. With a prize of $8500, the winner will also win a trip to Detroit and a lecture at an AIA sponsored event. Proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. EST on November 30. An accompanying symposium is scheduled for Thursday, December 6, 2012. To register and for more information, please visit here.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star program has launched the 2012 National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings. This year, 3,200 buildings across the country will be competing to improve energy efficiency, lower utility costs and protect health and the environment. With that kind of challenge, every participant wins. Last year, 245 participants saved a combined $5.2 million on their utility bills and prevented nearly 30,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. The competition is open to commercial buildings, which are responsible for approximately 20% of the nation’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion annually in energy bills.
A winner will be announced in April 2013. In the meantime, follow us after the break for more on the potential behind this competition.
Two friends, the photographers of The Seventh Movement, gave themselves one week to photograph as much of Paris as possible. Unsure of where this would lead, the ambitious project turned out to be larger than they could ever imagine. After an intense week in Paris and spending countless hours editing, organizing and re-editing thousands of photographs, they settled on this time-lapse production – a synthesis of their best work. It is a bit long, but well worth the watch.
Located in a land about 80 hectares in Tehran, the design for the Army Residential Complex by Hootanpei was chosen in an architectural competition. With the contractor’s demand of 28-30 towers with 20-30 floors, the most important factor of design was minimum interference between pathways and driving ways and also suitable green places to create comfort and welfare for residents. More images and architects’ description after the break.
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
