Designed by Dietmar Köring, Simon Takasaki and EyeTry, the proposal for the Haus der Zukunft (‘House of the Future’) responds to Berlin’s strict urban context: the concept of the “urban block” is touched upon and developed further. The building is partially lifted off the ground, and takes up the general building height of common Berlin housing. The fluid ground floor concept takes users into the open and dynamic spaces of the building’s interior. The urban block features three-dimensional cuts on the side facing the park, which creates a contemporary, clear structure, blurring the boundaries between exterior and interior. More images and designers’ description after the break.

Designed by Land+Civilization Compositions and Impressively Simple, their proposal for the Daegu Gosan Public Library, titled ‘Open Source’, is consciously not a singular gesture, but more as a series of interpretable spaces. Previously libraries were seen as places to gain access to books, but this library provides places for the dissemination and sharing of knowledge. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The design for the Busan Opera House by IaN+ aims to define a plurality of relationships between different cultures, and, at the same time, to reflect on the value of the Opera House within the contemporary city. The result is a symbolic place representing the city of Busan, not through an icon, but through the image of the city itself which reflects and resolves, becoming thus a meeting point of urbanity and nature. The Opera House embodies the very idea of a public place: a place for cultural and social meeting and sharing. To observe this building means to observe the city, the nature surrounding it, the image of a nation and a culture. More images and architects’ description after the break.

In partnership with Karuna Cambodia, Habitat for Humanity & the Cambodian Society of Architects (CSA), Building Trust International is looking for designs for the Cambodian Sustainable Housing competition. Proposals should be able to provide a sustainable future for housing in the South-east Asian country. Any proposal will have to stick to a very low budget and deal with the yearly flooding of Tonle Sap, which the majority of Cambodia’s 16 million inhabitants live in close proximity to. The final date for registration, which has been extended, is December 22nd at midnight (11:59 pm.GMT). Proposals are then due to be submitted on January 15th. For more information, please visit here.

The Schleifer & Milczanowski Architekci team was asked to prepare several conceptual designs of a prefabricated public convenience unit and to develop a feasibility study for the project. In the future, the project deliverables were supposed to serve as the basis for developing a technical design of a reproducible Gdańsk-specific public convenience. The aim was to create a prefabricated construction that requires minimum earthworks. The public toilet was to be semiautomatic, for use all year round and easy to operate. In architectural terms, they were required to do something seemingly impossible – to create an exceptional building that would suit not only the historical surroundings but also modern city districts. The building should thus suit everywhere. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Simos Vamvakidis Studio shared with is their proposal for the New Landmark for the Faliron Pier in Athens which won the 4th prize. This gesture of “hiding” program under the landscape, combined with other elements of the surrounding man-made and natural context, like the existing landmark / shell structures in the surrounding area, or the small wave breakers that will be formed close to the site, led them to the idea of creating a “hill”, or an island in the sea. More images and architects’ description after the break.

MACA Estudio + Virai Arquitectos shared with us their proposal for the multi-purpose sports hall in Budapest XVI District, which was selected as a finalist in international competition. Their design aims to be a transition between the urban landscape and the rural agricultural landscape nearby. It looks for an innovative but integrated image into the environment, with materials and colors that resemble the park and the trees of the area, like a still life that copies the tone and appearance of the surrounding vegetation. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Given the opportunity to be engaged in a project with high social concerns, the C Spot comes as a reflex of a sustainable mission where the developer contributes to reduce levels of illiteracy by awarding the communities. This would be done through building roads, viaducts, and bridges with a Spot, which is more than a school, but actually a space that foments social elevations through education. Designed by Segmento Urbano Arquitectos, the proposal was shortlisted as part of the World Architecture Festival competition. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Construction is currently underway as of last month for the Aarvli Resort, designed by Serie Architects. Located in Goa, India, the project draws inspiration from the famous forts of Maharashtra. A typical fort is based on a system of massive ramparts that closely follow the contours of its mountain-side setting. Points of occupation were created by thickening the structure to create circular defensive bastions. The resulting architecture has a compelling curvilinear plan that is both easily extendible and in harmony with its natural context. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The Architects in Missions (AIM) recently announced the winners for their 2012 architecture competition with the topic, “Shengsi Islands: Renewing China’s Traditional Village Lifestyle.” Participants were challenged in guiding the island villages toward a diversified economy through sustainable tourism development. Over the course of this society’s development, the unique fishing village, its products, and its lifestyle, represent a cultural resource that cannot be replicated. Awards were given in the categories of scenic village planning, architecture renovation, sustainable development, innovation production, and a special award. More images and descriptions of the winning entries after the break.

vGHcompany shared with us their competition entry for Mobilicity Tirana, which won an honorable mention. Their project outlines a utopia, which is based on the man who fell into one’s own trap: the notion of time. The rings showing the wheels of a watch in which each mean of conveyance (train, car, bike) are the hands covering the dial. Each of these conveyance flows has their own characteristics and its medium speed. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The proposal for the Daegu Gosan Public Library competition, designed by École Architects and AAKAA, consists of a massive cubic construction, in stark contrast with the surrounding cityscape. The singularity and unexpected nature of this landmark building is legible at once, without, however, bearing the trace of any logo, or distinctive sign of its function. It is its absence of obvious identity – its apparent neutrality and slickness – that consecrates it as a singular landmark. The library projects no further identity than its mass. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Designed by Mateo Arquitectura, the purpose of the Leipzig Freedom and Unity Memorial is to commemorate the “Peaceful Revolution” of 1989 that made Leipzig a decisive place for the fall of the Berlin wall with the construction of this monument. The memory they aim to commemorate is that of a peaceful mass change, with no hierarchies, that we see in historic photos as points of light, changing like a surging sea. Formally and conceptually, the architects decided that their intervention here should address surface rather than volume; it should be horizontal rather than vertical. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Designed by STL Architects, the new Daegu Gosan Public Library focuses on the evolution of the role of the library in regard to the new ways we now learn and teach. With extensive amounts of information, that could historically only be accessed in and from a library, being readily available to nearly anyone, this library will be a place where people come to live and vast knowledge resources are more than stereo-typical encyclopedias. Instead of libraries being generically thought of as a dusty place where books come to age and be seldom used, this library will be a place where social interaction is the essence of existence. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Intercontinental Curatorial Project, which promotes the role of architecture as the vital part of contemporary culture and life, presents its ongoing traveling exhibition Colombia: Transformed. The event is to be shown November 8-9 as part of the Dialogues with the Informal City: The Case of Latin America and the Caribbean symposium. This interdisciplinary symposium seeks to connect a range of fundamental themes affecting the current conditions and future of Latin America’s growing informal cities and by extension the rising global urban population.The event will take place at the Jorge M. Perez Architecture Center at the University of Miami’s School of Architecture. The exhibition is co-sponsored by the University’s Center for Latin American Studies and the School of Architecture. For more information, please visit here.

Designed by JBAD (Jonathan Barnes Architecture and Design), the proposal for the Daegu Gosan Public Library proposes to simply, and radically, invert the conventional relationship of public space, circulation and access. In doing so, the public space typically defined and confined as interior, enclosed space becomes externalized, extroverted, stretched, and reformed. With their ”INversion’ concept, the way of interpreting the library as structure and space provides an opportunity to create exterior public space in ways that are both more integrated with the library’s functions and more connected to its urban context. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The Seattle Center HUB (Hybrid Urban Bioscape) is an innovative urban space that explores the value of urban hybridization as a design opportunity to address sustainable and technological issues in the definition of the contemporary public space. The starting point for the proposal by Aétrangère was to introduce an innovative approach to reach the same goals envisioned by the Seattle Center Century 21 Master Plan. Instead of conceiving the demolitions, reconstructions, new buildings, the underground parking, and the major open space as separate elements, they allow some degree of integration for sustainable features we focused on defining this public space project starting from a sustainable approach. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Taking place October 26-December 2, the White Mountain Chilean Contemporary Architecture exhibition is composed of a selection of relevant works. Put on by Aedes Berlin, the event highlights the richness of the recent projects is originated and developed within its landscape. The atmospheric design of the exhibition demonstrates this significant creative moment of the Chilean buildings, often described as the continent’s most interesting today. For more information, please visit here.