As part of the Quito Biennale, the Social Habitat and Development competition is oriented to identify and promote architectural practices and built projects that demonstrate having a positive and tangible impact in the improvements of the living conditions of low income families and the improvement of a built environment of society. The category is open for built projects or programs of new or renovated social habitat, built in the American continent during the period between 2008-2012 and that have not participated in previous BAQ editions. Emphasis will be given to projects or programs that consider the importance of: neighborhood and public space improvement, revitalization of urban environment, participation and management strategies in design, implementation and maintenance, cultural and aesthetic inputs that reinforce a community’s identity, building safety and climatic comfort. Entries are due no later than October 26. For more information, please visit here.
The recently launched FuturArc Green Leadership Award 2013 competition is calling for projects that are new, restored, rehabilitated or converted, and must have been completed before December 31, 2012 in Asia or Australia. The jury seeks to understand how the project delivers specific, measurable outcomes. Entrants are encouraged to make a case for the building against the following criteria: Efficacy, Wellness, Embeddedness, Advocacy, Integration, and Adaptation. The Jury will nominate up to three projects in each category. The deadline for submissions is December 17. For more information, please visit here.
The project proposal for the new Santa Maria Parish Center in Bonavista offers a specific solution to the needs of the program and the liturgy. By focusing on the two premises recurrent throughout the history of the Catholic Church, monumentality and mystery, the design becomes a singular and transcendent space. Designed by Gimeno Guitart Architects, they believe the church, as a collective and community space, must be vindicated as a social and urban event as well as a place for prayer and retreat. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed by Ana Cecília Tourinho, Analu Brandão, Gabriel Kozlowski, and Beni Barzellai, their competition entry for the City Hall Várzea Paulista creates a unity among all the planned projects for the downtown of Várzea Paulista. By proposing an infrastructural ring, the project functions as a public connector to embrace the existing green space and north and south. Connected to the public transportation system, it distributes and negotiates the confluence and flow of pedestrians while building a coherent image of the city’s entry. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Using state-of-the-art parametric design tools and digital fabrication, KREOD brings together some of the most talented designers, engineers and innovative materials to challenge current thinking and showcase sustainable and forward-thinking building methods. Designed by Chun Qing Li of Pavilion Architecture, KREOD will be located next to Peninsula Square, between Emirates Air Line and The O2 at Greenwich Peninsula now until January 2013 . More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed for the ‘Mobilicity: Tirana Multimodal Station’ competition, the second prize winning proposal consists in giving back an identity to the area. Designed by Morfearch, the masterplan is not only a project of a railway station: it is a project about Tirana. The chaotic and informal feature of the city asks for the tracking of a simple and clear sign that would restore order and a hierarchy between the urban parts. The system is configured as a flexible solution in different urban situations: depending on space availability and willingness of densification, the layout of the project can change and respond to city needs. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Taking place October 18-23 at Ajman University of Science & Technology, UAE, Japanese Architect, Satoshi Okada, will be putting on an architectural workshop titled, ‘Thinking of Shadow’. As the founder of Satoshi Okada Architects, Okada is known for his simplicity with sublimity even in warmhearted spaces for human activities and even spirituality in rich materiality and delicate details. He believes that “…building activities, on one hand, are nothing but destruction of whatever exists; nevertheless, all the more because of it, they have to compensate it by a beautiful gift of artifice more than before”. For more information on the event, please visit here.
Originating from the ‘pure plate’ structure occurring in natural structures such as sea urchins, and based on a hexagonal geometry, the Spaceplates Greenhouse is being used for the first time this term by horticultural staff and students at City of Bristol College’s South Bristol Skills Academy in Hengrove Park, Bristol. Designed by N55, with Architect, Anne Romme, the project is constructed using an innovative building system based on aluminum and polycarbonate and accommodates work, growing and teaching space. More images and architects’ description after the break.
A cultural and educational space for creative industries, such as movie, TV, web design, fashion and performing arts, the first prize winning proposal for the CASA FIRJAN da Indústria Criativa unifies the educational, cultural and corporate segments. Designed by Lompreta Nolte Arquitetos, the project, located in Rio de Janeiro, creates a hub for producers, consumers, and investors of these disciplines to provide interaction, networking and business opportunities. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed by Space Group + Superunion Architects, their winning proposal for Ruten competition reflects the city of Sandnes’ development and establishes Ruten as a natural center and Sandnes as a future city with strong roots and a proud local history. The proposal, titled ‘Lysning’, consists of a ring that connects and creates the new transport hub and public space below for an attractive unifying roof. As the Central Park in New York was built before the Manhattan grid was condensed around it, Ruten has remained as a buffer in the urban development in anticipation of something bigger. More images and architects’ description after the break.
With the existing Riga Passenger Terminal now outdated and situated in an exclusive location – adjacent to the very center of Riga, the infrastructure needed a new identity and urban response. Therefore, the first prize winning proposal by NRJA envisions the development of the territory and port as a high quality urban environment which offers not only maritime transport, leisure, shopping and business experience but also public space connection to the city. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed by MAD Architects for the 2011 international competition for a new national museum in Beijing, their proposal aims at being a city-sized museum where the public space is the greatest good. Situated on the central axis of the 2008 Olympic site, and part of a six mega volume masterplan, the main question became how to design something iconic on an unrealistic and inhuman city scale. Their response became a hybrid between an elevated public square and a floating mega building above. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Taking the place of the existing building complex that was built in the 70th century for the Soviet Military Headquarters of the Caucasus region, the TBC Bank Headquarters strives towards being an oasis, representing both a nourishing source but also a sense of rescue. Designed by Architects of Invention, their second prize winning proposal offers visitors an experience, a discovery of boundless resource within secure parameters. Visitors enter through the building’s opening, like a key entering a lock, and a lush and fertile oasis appears before them. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed by Fernandes Arquitetos, the Nacala airport aims at better utilization of natural lighting and ventilation, reducing consumption of power associated with the use of artificial lighting and mechanical ventilation systems. It will have water intakes and sewage treatment for irrigation of green areas. The building proposed is basically on the ground floor, where the functional program that meets the operation and passengers is developed, like the check-in area and boarding and arrival rooms, which are located in the north and south wings. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Located in Trafalgar Square in London, the BE OPEN Sound Portal focuses on an experience that would be all about the sound. Designed by Arup, they thought it would be great if people could really concentrate on sound in Trafalgar Square, which would take people away form hustle and bustle into a space where they can concentrate and immerse themselves in sound. The original idea was that they would be able to take people away from London to another place, to hear the sound of a melting glacier or an acoustic model of the big bang. The plan is effectively two concentric circles: the inner circle for the sound and the outer circle forms the entrances. Both pieces mask the background noise. They are shells to shield the noise. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Installed on Parliament Square, London, the ‘House of Flags’ is a flexible, demountable, and totally reconfigurable architectural intallation conceived as a gigantic ‘house of cards’ in the Eames’ spirit. The project was designed by AY Architects after an invited international design competition initiated by the Greater London Authority for the Mayor of London’s ‘Wonder Series of Incredible Installations’. 206 panels depict the flag icons of the nations and combined create a collaged image of the world. All together they make up a large building jigsaw, a united ‘house’ of symbols, shimmering colors and perforations. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Taking place at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. on October 11, the Smart Growth: Tactical Urbanism Event features Mike Lydon, the primary author of Tactical Urbanism Volumes 1 and 2. He will discuss chair bombing, site-previtalization, depaving, open streets, intersection repair, and numerous other placemaking tactics at a time when cities and citizens are increasingly using short-term action to spur long-term revitalization. The event, which starts at 12:30pm, is free and presented in association with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Smart Growth Network. For more information, please visit here.
Taking place October 20-21, modeLab is putting on Simulation Lab, a two-day workshop on the topic of simulation with processing. In a fast-paced and hands-on learning environment, they will cover technical programming concepts such as syntax, control, and modularity. Utilizing a suite of libraries to extend processing’s functionality, they will explore and incrementally develop force-based, physics-based, and agent-based simulations. Additionally, they will examine strategies for visualizing the dynamic nature, unexpected tendencies, and behavioral effects present in our simulations. For more information, please visit here.
