The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced Kingston University London Town House designed by Grafton Architects as the 2021 RIBA Stirling Prize winner. The distinction recognizes the projects’ progressive approach to the educational program, crafting a democratic, open space that fosters appropriation and social cohesion. The design resulting from a 2013 RIBA Competition is the Pritzker laureates Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara’s first project in the UK.
Andreea Cutieru
I am a Bucharest-based architect with a keen interest in the programmatic complexity of the contemporary built environment, and I am passionate about architecture that enhances social capital and the quality of life. I see architectural space as a potential catalyst for social interaction, and I am inspired by the possibility of enabling human connections through design.
Kingston University Town House Designed by Grafton Architects Wins 2021 RIBA Stirling Prize
LIPMAN ARCHITECTS to Design Garage Museum's 2022 Summer Cinema
The Garage Museum of Contemporary Art has announced the winning design for the 2022 summer cinema. Selected from 118 applications, the proposal created by Moscow-based practice LIPMAN ARCHITECTS (Dmitry Limpan, Angelina Yashkevich, Maria Oganian) features gabion walls filled with plastic water bottles, inviting conversation around topics such as material recycling and the environmental impact of temporary architecture.
Ronald Lu & Partners Designs High-Density Environments Across the Rapidly Urbanising Greater Bay Area in South China
China is undergoing a rapid urbanization process, and in South China’s Greater Bay Area (GBA), it takes the form of a comprehensive development strategy. The region, comprising the cities of Hong Kong, Macau as well as other nine fast-developing municipalities in Guangdong Province, is being transformed into a city-cluster of world importance and architecture practice. Ronald Lu & Partners contributes to this vision through high-density urban developments shaped around principles of sustainability and human-centric design.
Aedas Designs Garden City in Shanghai
Aedas revealed its design for a mixed-use development in Shanghai, a mid-rise high-density scheme comprising several blocks of offices, retail spaces and a hotel linked by an extensive network of public spaces. A central circulation spine running across the site connects the various programs and, together with a series of green spaces, recreates the atmosphere of the organic urban fabric.
CROSSROADS : Life in the Resilient City Documentary for SBAU 2021 Explores Dwellers' Experience of Rapidly Changing Urban Environments
Created in association with the Seoul Biennale Of Architecture And Urbanism 2021, the documentary CROSSROADS: Life in the Resilient City pieces together five stories illustrating how individuals appropriate the rapidly changing urban environments of New York, Seoul, Mumbai, Paris and Nairobi. Created by cinematographer Nils Clauss, together with filmmaker and videographer Neil Dowling, the film captures architecture and urban landscape as both the backdrop and the protagonist of these narratives blending reality and imagination.
OMA Completes First Quadrant of KaDeWe Department Store in Berlin
The first quadrant of OMA’s Berlin KaDeWe department store transformation opened its doors to the public, revealing a new approach to retail design in the age of online shopping and shifting consumer behaviour. The masterplan divides the historic building, the largest department store in continental Europe, into four smaller, easily accessible and navigable sectors. The completed quadrant features a six-storey void containing a series of escalators and simultaneously acting as circulation, retail and event space.
The Transformation of Offices into Residential Projects: Tackling Vacancies and Housing Shortage
The housing shortage has long been the catalyst for architectural speculation over adaptive resue scenarios or the valorisation of underused places in cities. At the same time, the health crisis and its work from home imperatives have brought into sharp focus the adaptive reuse potential of offices spaces into housing. The probability that some office buildings remain vacant post-pandemic opens up the possibility of bringing back housing to city centres, enabling the implementation of a 15-minute city vision. The following discusses the challenges and opportunities of transforming office spaces into housing, highlighting this limited phenomenon's long-term feasibility and impact.
Hiroshi Sambuichi Designs Extension of Copenhagen's Cisterns
Hiroshi Sambuichi and The Cisterns in Copenhagen reveal plans for a fourth chamber to extend the exhibition space with another immersive artistic experience, further establishing the venue as a cultural destination. The design continues the succession of spaces within the former water reservoir with a new room featuring a transparent roof with light filtering through the water from a recreated water basin located above, on the Frederiksberg Castle grounds. The sharp contrast between the existing Cisterns and the proposal highlights a unique spatial experience, where the natural elements are quintessential.
The New Kremlin Museum Nestles a Contemporary Design Within a Historic Monument
The new Kremlin museum set within the UNESCO protected museum ensemble in Red Square nestles a contemporary structure within the vast courtyard of a 19th-century building. Designed by Moscow-based practices NOWADAYS office and Meganom, the project will house the vast Armory collection, of which only 30% is currently available to the public with the Kremlin walls. The refurbishment of the historic Middle Trading Rows building, together with the new extension, complement each other, creating a diverse and complex museum experience.
Spacelab's Experimental Shelter is Energy Self-Sufficient and Designed for Disassembly
Italian architecture practice Spacelab designed an energy self-sufficient shelter for temporary use, a parametric project that can be built without foundations on any site, leaving no trace and no damage to the site at the end of its life cycle. Named Zero in reference to the lack of waste during construction or removal and its zero-emissions operation, the structure can be demounted and reassembled multiple times, tapping into issues of circular economy, impermanence and reuse.
The Netherlands Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai Creates a New Temporary Biotope in the Desert
The Netherlands Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai proposes a circular climate system that harvests water, energy, manufactures rain and produces food, creating a temporary biotope that embodies the fusion between art, architecture and technology. Designed by V8 Architects, with a visitor experience curated by Kossmanndejong, the pavilion creates a multi-sensory narrative around natural phenomena. Industrial materials like metal sheets, steel tubes, ducts and pipes blend unexpectedly with vegetation and textile fabrics to create a spatial journey culminating in a centrepiece that provides a tranquil stop amidst the bustle of the Expo.
Snøhetta Designs New Opera House for Düsseldorf
Snøhetta revealed its design for Duett Düsseldorf, a new opera house set to become the German city’s new cultural destination. Stemming from the horizontal volume containing the new music venue are two sloping towers containing a hotel, restaurants, office spaces and residential units, creating a multi-layered development serving the arts and culture scene of Düsseldorf. Neighbouring the historic Hofgarten park and the Rhein river, the project’s ground-level blurs the boundaries between indoor and outdoor, with a glass façade revealing a cultural wood wall within the foyer, welcoming users to the opera house.
Finland's Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai Evokes the Country's Strong Connection with Nature
The Finnish Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai showcases the country's deep connection with nature and sustainability, contributing to its high quality of life. Titled "Snow Cape", the pavilion designed by JKMM Architects subtly evokes Finnish natural settings through materiality and atmosphere while embodying the principles of circular economy championed by the Nordic country. The structure with its tent-like entrance creates a point of commonality, reminding of Finland's nomadic heritage, as well as the Arabic text.
Canadian Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai Reflects on Landscapes and Endangered Ecosystems
Designed by Toronto-based practice Moriyama & Teshima Architects and construction company ElisDon, the Canadian Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai aims to bridge the two cultures by echoing Canada’s landscapes and incorporating Arabic architectural elements with its wooden lattice facade a reference to the traditional Mashrabiya. Accompanying the pavilion is the art installation Traces created by Montréal-based firm KANVA, which brings a poetic reflection on the uncertainty of the future of ecosystems to the exhibition grounds.
UK Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai is a Stage for AI-Generated Collective Poems
UK’s contribution to Expo 2020 Dubai is a wooden sculptural structure that celebrates cultural diversity and collaboration, highlighting Britain as a meeting place of cultures and ideas. Created by artist and designer Es Devlin, the Poem Pavilion uses advanced machine learning algorithms to transform the input of visitors into collective poems. The latter can be read in illuminating displays on the façade, transforming the pavilion into the exhibit itself.
Singapore's Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai Illustrates the Vision of Architecture in Nature
The Singapore Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai illustrates the city's aspiration towards a sustainable future that merges architecture, nature, technology and culture. Under the title "Nature.Nurture.Future", the pavilion designed by WOHA Architects and landscape design practice Salad Dressing showcases a sample of Singapore's urban environment that epitomizes its City in Nature vision. The multi-layered green space creates a self-sufficient ecosystem highlighting ideas of sustainability and resilience through the marriage of technology and nature.
Grimshaw Architects Designs Sustainability Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai
Expo 2020 Dubai's Sustainability Pavilion designed by Grimshaw Architects expresses the ethos of addressing the impact of human activities on the environment, acting as a catalyst for collective action. With sustainability as one of the three core themes of the Expo, the pavilion named Terra will become a platform for highlighting the urgency of the issue, sharing knowledge and exploring ideas while also providing visitors with n immersive experience. As one of the legacy buildings, the project is set to become a Science Centre after the event and aims to operate as an autonomous construction in terms of energy and water supply.