The proposal by Amann-Cánovas-Maruri in the ideas competition for the organization and design of the access to the city of Murcia through El Palmar Avenue establishes a slanted axis that generates different urban scenes. In creating a sustainable action based on participatory urbanism and new high density urban nodes in contact with and related to the farmland, the architects generate public spaces that link together both sides of the boulevard. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Khoury Levit Fong shared with us their proposal for the GLOW/SHIFTboston Copley Square Competition. Their concept consists of an urban room, and hanging in the middle of it is a great chandelier. Dewdrop-shaped globes hang from a funicular mesh support, each illuminated by a wick-like row of low-energy addressable LEDs. It is light which is given weight and pulls down upon its supports to produce an inverted dome of scintillating light. Through the middle, the oculus at the center, the unobstructed sky is visible again. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The main goal of Sampling Architects for designing the interactive forest information center was to create a generic contemporary addition for the nationally famous National Park of Tervete. They believed the project should allow the discovery of the delight of ‘life of the forest’ through an educational center, but more importantly, creating a space for exchange of know-how of forest science between professionals, students and the general public. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Led by environmental architect and anarchist, Marco Casagrande, representing the Aalto University Environmental Art Masters Program, students were to join in the creation of a nomadic city on the ice, both weathering and embracing the cold and wind, and alternating blizzards and slush over the course of ten days. There were twenty of them in total. In addition to Marco himself, his wife, Taiwanese journalist Nikita Wu, his long time friend Norwegian architect Hans-Petter Bjørnådal, Czech MA student and carpenter-extraordinaire Jan Tyrpekl, made up the organizational team. The Lapland native believes in an almost cruel method to his medium, where human intentions come naturally second to nature’s. It is with this in mind that one needs to approach his workshop on the frozen lake of Rössvatnet in subarctic Norway. More of the team’s description, by Guoda Bardauskaitė and Suzanne van Niekerk, on the workshop after the break.
Jared Levy and Gordon Stott, formerly of Marmol Radziner Prefab, recently launched a new company that hopes to solve the endemic problem of prefab to date: price. They knew how to make beautiful, sustainable prefab. But now, with their patent-pending technology, which allows them to build modules to a whopping 95% complete at the factory, and ship them like shipping containers by rail, sea, or truck, Connect:Homes has figured out how to provide the same level of modern style at an all-inclusive price of $145/sf out of the factory. That’s all inclusive with no surprises. More images and architects’ description after the break.
3XN architects andAarhus Architects in collaboration with Nickl & Partner Architechten, Grontmij and Kirstine Jensen Studio, has won the prestigious competition for the expansion of Copenhagen’s main hospital, Rigshospitalet, which is expected to be completed in early 2017. The winning proposal for Copenhagen’s most centrally located hospital extension ensures 76,000 m2 of efficient and timesaving logistics, while daylight, green spaces and views of the neighboring park contribute to the wellbeing of patients, staff and visitors. More images and architects’ description after the break.
With a seating capacity of 300 at its core, the Fulldome Experience Center, designed by FORMA, gives visitors a dynamic interactive space carrying both scientific and educational functions. It includes installations, exhibitions and game zones as well as a cafeteria, gift shop and conference room for the visitors’ comfort and versatility of the building. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The aim of Bohuon Bertic Architectes for their gymnasium in Plabennec, France is to create an efficient tool in regard to the building’s use as well as for the surrounding area, making the project friendly, enjoyable, serene and identifiable. Characterized by horizontality, the site is a vast, dominant plateau that immerses the user in the scenery. The project interprets and synthesizes the characteristics of the place and programmatic datum resulting in two fundamental elements: the base and the volume-signal. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Co-Chaired by Xavier Costa from Northeastern University and Martha Thorne from IE University, the ACSA International Conference, ‘CHANGE, Architecture, Education, Practices’ will be held in Barcelona from June 20-22. The event will focus on schools and intellectual leadership as we transition to new economic scenarios and professional cultures in architecture worldwide. The relationship between schools and the profession can be very permeable and often imprecise. Each informs the other, at times leading to greater relevance, at other times leaving disconcerting gaps. The conference will focus on CHANGE, and will explore these issues in relation to seven themes, Civic Engagement, Academia, Practice, Technology, Cities, Globalization, Sustainability and one flexible open category. For more information, please visit here.
Located in Naples, the Piazza Garibaldi, designed by Dominique Perrault Architecture, is one of the most important and complex transportation hubs in the Neapolitan transportation system. This infrastructure project, which includes a metro station, offers the opportunity to upgrade this lively urban space bustling with activity. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Located in the Tongzhou district of Beijing, Urban Creek is an attempt at having architecture merge within various spheres of public space. Designed by ATOL Architects, the project is focuses around the idea that architecture should be conceived as a cultural connective tissue that creates opportunities to link spaces and neighborhoods together. In redefining the very notion of mixed-use from a free standing commercial box/podium/tower typology, this design aims at creating an ever evolving city center to reconnect with its secret past. More images and architects’ description after the break.
YIBD ‘Project R6’, designed by REX, is an urban boutique residence for short-term business people, young urban professionals, and foreign residents in Seoul, South Korea. To meet the trends of its users and compensate for its small unit size, R6 must engender a strong sense of community and its residences must be highly attractive, providing generous views, daylight, and cross-ventilation. Maximizing daylight and cross-ventilation are also paramount to providing a highly sustainable residence. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed by Abramson Teiger Architects, the TCH boutique hotel, located in downtown Los Angeles, weaves the nature of the temporal society with the evolving art world. Reflecting the architects’ philosophy of a visually dynamic architecture which evokes a sense of peace, sanctuary, and productivity, the art gallery becomes a backdrop to viewed experiences while the hotel becomes a backdrop to the guests. They are both fortresses of collections: a collection of art and a collection of people. All spaces within the 47 rooms activate as a gallery resulting in a building that activates as an art piece. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Taking place now until September 16, 2012, the Vitra Design Museum is exhibiting “Gerrit Rietveld – The Revolution of Space”. The Dutchman Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964) was one of the most important designers and architects of the 20th century. Today his work is primarily associated with his two most famous designs, which have become icons of modernism: the Red-Blue Chair (1918/1923) and the Rietveld-Schröder House (1924). But this exhibition shows that Rietveld’s oeuvre contains many more facets that deserve to be rediscovered. This is the first major retrospective on Gerrit Rietveld to be presented to the German-speaking public since 1996. Comprising around 320 objects – including furniture, models, paintings, photographs, films and approximately 100 original drawings and plans – it offers a comprehensive overview of the Dutch designer’s work. For more information on the exhibition, please visit here.
The design approach for the National and University Library NUK II by Kamvari Architects re-evaluates what a library could be in the 21st century. As a result, their concept allows the building to become an iconic symbol for Ljubljana. The library offers a variety of external and internal public spaces that caters for a range of formal and informal environments for social interaction and cultural exchange. It also becomes an active part of the city scape through its materiality and cultural relationship. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The main idea behind FORMA’s design for the Museum of Arts is to fit the building into the fabric of an old industrial neighborhood. Signs of its history, such as the smokestack and the brewery’s facade are present on the project area. This respect to the building’s history consists not only in renovation and preservation of its remains, but also in an attempt to extend the history by bringing the building to life. This is achieved by reconstruction of the brewery’s original volume and involving it in the museum’s daily life. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Made-In, an international competition of ideas for public artworks, is destined to reconfigure 5 public spaces in the city of Guimarães, Portugal beyond 2012. This competition is aimed towards art and architecture professionals, to present ideas for 5 specific sites, 4 existing Wash Houses and a proposed new one. The proposed ideas should comply with quality, maintenance and accessibility requirements considering public of all ages and the specific use of the proposed sites. Registration is open until July 15. More information on the competition after the break.
Grimshaw Architects recently announced that they have been selected to masterplan a large expansion to Albania’s capital city, Tirana. Grimshaw proposed a robust sequence of public spaces threaded along the boulevard that responded geometrically to existing patterns of land ownership. Tirana is a Mediterranean city with an outdoor culture. Each space or ‘living room’ was presented with a different use and character; a new ‘symphony of squares’. More images and architects’ description after the break.
