Benthem Crouwel Architects has been announced as the winner of a competition to design a new residential district in Prague, presented in collaboration with local firm RA15. The competition, organized by Penta Real Estate, saw 160 entries distilled down to 44, and then 5 finalists. In a unanimous verdict, the jury praised Benthem Crouwel’s decision to integrate a large, publically-accessible park into the project.
Hey5 has unveiled its design for the National Museum of Finland, an entry for a recent international design competition. The scheme is titled “Suppa,” inspired by the typical Finnish landform where a hollow is created by the melting of buried blocks of glacial ice. The ambition behind the proposal was to create a bold object containing a flexible organizational system to host the museum's demanding international exhibitions.
For those around the world unable to attend the opening of Junya Ishigami’s Serpentine Pavilion in London, photographer Nikhilesh Haval of nikreations has published a virtual tour of the structure. Similar to previous productions of Frida Escobedo’s 2018 Pavilion, BIG’s 2016 Pavilion, and SelgasCano’s 2015 Pavilion, the virtual tour allows viewers to experience the “free space” philosophy that defines the pavilion, playing with our perspectives of the built environment against the backdrop of a natural landscape.
https://www.archdaily.com/919646/step-inside-a-360-degrees-virtual-tour-of-the-serpentine-pavilionNiall Patrick Walsh
Uber Elevate and Related Companies have unveiled their Foster + Partners-designed vision for a future Skyport in Santa Clara. The 240-acre site illustrates the benefits aerial ridesharing could provide for the Bay Area and other cities in the future.
https://www.archdaily.com/919549/foster-plus-partners-unveils-uber-skyport-for-santa-claraNiall Patrick Walsh
EID Architecture has revealed their design for OCT’s Second Headquarters in Kunming, China. One of three winning schemes selected from a shortlist of six international firms, the EID proposal aims to create a headquarters that responds to the cultural and natural characteristics of the city, while reflecting the ethos of OCT’s commitment to innovation in technology, art, and cultural tourism.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), Architectus, and Dexus Property Group have celebrated the completion and opening of 100 Mount Street, a 35-story mixed-use tower in North Sydney’s Central Business District. Inspired by the city’s rich architectural landscape, and shaped by SOM’s legacy of innovation in architecture and engineering, the scheme features a cross-braced exoskeleton structure surrounding a glass-enclosed interior.
XTU architects have published their competition entry for the Founder’s Memorial in Singapore’s Bay East Garden. Inspired by the mangroves and banyans of Singapore which stand tall along the coastal regions of tropical areas, the memorial dives its routes into the ground, before shooting skywards.
Bjarke Ingels has featured in a new documentary about BIG’s Amager Bakke waste-to-energy plant in Copenhagen. Known for its iconic ski slope, the hybrid plant produces district heating for 60,000 households annually from waste generated in Copenhagen, and electricity for 30,000 houses.
https://www.archdaily.com/919415/bjarke-ingels-reflects-on-his-waste-energy-ski-slope-plant-in-copenhagenNiall Patrick Walsh
Squint/Opera, BIG, and UNStudio have collaborated in the design of Hyperform, a revolutionary data-driven design tool that allows architects across the world to collaborate in augmented reality. The tool allows designers to immerse themselves in a virtual 3D environment, where site images, maps, data, and 3D models can be uploaded, viewed and altered through collaboration.
https://www.archdaily.com/919404/big-unstudio-and-squint-opera-launch-ar-design-toolNiall Patrick Walsh
Second Home, a London-based creative business, is set to open its first location the U.S. Designed by Madrid-based Selgascano, the project will see the transformation of the historic site of the Anne Banning Community house in East Hollywood through a 90,000-square-foot urban campus.
Saffar Studio has released details of their proposed Golshahr Mosque and Plaza in Alborz, Iran. Inspired by a dialogue between context and function, the scheme is driven by a desire to increase sociability and the interactions between people in a sustainable platform.
Hout Architecture has released details of their BERC Headquarters in Dhaka, which received an honorable mention in an international competition for the design of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission head office. Located in the center of the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area, orientated along an east-west direction, the program connects to the National Parliament House, designed by Louis Kahn.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill have been selected along with Tom Leader Studio to design the urban core for the Xiong’an New Area, China’s model city of the future. The winning scheme was selected from 12 finalists representing 10 countries, resulting from an international competition of 200 entries. The SOM and TLS scheme ultimately prevailed for its “global vision, world-class standards, sensitivity to Chinese heritage and culture, and innovative approach to urban design.”
https://www.archdaily.com/919230/som-and-tls-design-chinas-model-city-of-the-futureNiall Patrick Walsh
Scandinavian firm White Arkitekter has won an architectural competition for a landmark 12-meter-tall observation tower, hosted by the municipality of Varberg, Sweden. The winning proposal will form part of the development of the region’s new ecological recreation area at the Getterön nature reserve.
https://www.archdaily.com/919091/white-arkitekter-create-lattice-observation-tower-in-swedenNiall Patrick Walsh
David Chipperfield Architects Milan’s renovation of the historic Procuratie Vecchie building in Venice is set to get underway, following a granting of permission by the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape earlier this year. For the first time in 500 years, a large portion of the Procuratie Vecchie on the Piazza San Marco will be made accessible to the public to host activities of The Human Safety Net, supporting vulnerable communities.
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) has celebrated the groundbreaking of their first residential tower in Philadelphia, titled Arthaus. The 47-story condominium tower is situated at Broad and Spruce streets along the famed Avenue of the Arts, and directly across the street from the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The scheme aims to create a rich, holistic experience from top to bottom, inside and out, an in the interiors for all residences and amenities.
HENN has released details of their proposed CAMPUS ’25 in Linz, Austria. Designed for the Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich banking institution, the scheme is defined by principles of openness, flexibility, and multi-functionality, with a range of services open to the wider public. The central cornerstone of a new campus, the new building will contain co-working zones, shops, restaurants, and exhibition spaces.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is presenting an exhibition devoted to the work of the ultra-modern, genre-bending artist and designer Virgil Abloh. Titled “Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech” the immersive space has been curated by the Museum's Chief Curator Michael Darling, and Samir Bantal, a director at OMA’s research wing, focusing on the creative process and collaborative work of Abloh who is redefining fashion, art, and design.