All 74 “wild designs” being considered to become London’s next “landmark” have been released to the public. As part of a two-stage competition, architects worldwide have submitted ideas for a new £40 million pedestrian and cycle bridge that will connect London’s Nine Elms and Pimlico communities over the River Thames.
The jury, chaired by Graham Stirk of Rogers Stirk Harbour, will choose four schemes to move onto the competition’s second and final round in March. These designs will be then shortlisted and further developed with input by the community and client before a winner is announced in July.
See a selection of the considered bridge designs, after the break.
Architects interested in proposing ideas for a new public space in Kristall City, a former territory of legendary Moscow distillery, have until Tuesday (February 24) to submit applications. Organized by KRAYS development and the CENTER Agency of Strategic Development, the competition is calling on all architects and designers to consider three sites to host the cities premier public space. The newly developed area aims to “share the future look of the quarter” and establish a “new type of public space made out of form industrial city territories. Learn more and apply, here.
RTA-Office has released its first-prize winning proposal for the Wuhu Urban Planning Exhibition, Office, and Archive. The design stems from the idea of an “urban cultural container,” holding both knowledge and space, and extracts its sculptural form from the surrounding mountainous landscape.
Pushing for the Exhibition Hall to be a recognizable landmark, the design is largely driven by its surrounding context. The building as a whole derives its shape from the rocky faces of the nearby Yashan Mountain, giving it a strong sense of place. Similarly, the structure is divided into three distinct sections all grounded by a central public space, each informed by the same rocky inspiration. The cracks in the rocks’ surfaces are mirrored in the irregular entrances and windows carved into the building’s volumes.
Videos
Winning Entry: Exhibition Space. Image Courtesy of UNESCO
UNESCO, in collaboration with the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture, have announced the winning proposal for the Bamiyan Cultural Centre. An Argentina-based team, lead by Carlos Nahuel Recabarren alongside Manuel Alberto Martínez Catalán and Franco Morero, were selected from 1,070 design entries from 117 countries. Prepatory work on implementing their scheme, entitled Descriptive Memory: The Eternal Presence of Absence, "will start immediately" close to the boundaries of the Bamiyan World Heritage site.
See the winning entry and the four runners-up after the break.
In its 62nd year of competition, six projects emerged to receive ARCHITECT Magazine's Progressive Architects Awards (P/A). This year’s awards celebrate designs that fully embrace the context of their surroundings, whether through bold or restrained methods. Regardless of the approach, each of the winners exhibit both creativity and energy in their designs.
Announced in the summer of 2014 the Red Square Tolerance Pavilion, an international ideas competition organized by HMMD, was a deliberately provocative proposal before any teams had even entered - a statement planned in an envronment where tolerance is an increasingly urgent topic, for people both inside and outside Russia. In this interview, originally published by Strelka Magazine, the Italian winners of the competition discuss their proposal and its response to this charged context.
The Fentress Global Challenge is an international design competition created to engage students worldwide in the exploration of future design possibilities in public architecture. This year the annual competition is challenging students to imagine "The Airport of the Future."
The ARCH+ Magazine for Architecture and Urbanism has launched the international competition ”PLANETARY URBANISM – CRITIQUE OF THE PRESENT in the medium of information design." The competition is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will take place in the context of the UN-Habitat Conference 2016, where the results will be presented. Project partner of the exhibition is the M:AI, Museum for Architecture and the Art of Engineering, NRW. Consulted by the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). Learn more, here.
Inspiring designs across the United States, the winning entries aimed to envision a library that could both recognize the President by displaying a collection of mementos from his life and provide the basis for community programs. Contestants were asked to consider the building's context within the city of Chicago to generate a speculative proposal that not only fosters learning and exploration, but also inspires public discussion. To further encourage creativity, the library's program was unspecified, allowing participants to decide how to incorporate these civic and educational elements in their designs.
Ultimately, a distinguished panel selected two winners and three honorable mentions emerged from the competition. The winning proposals and honorable mentions are as follows:
Auerbach Halevy Architects have been announced as winner of a competition to design a museum to display the history and future of Jewish sports in the heart of the Maccabiah Village – a 22 acre sports complex at the outskirts of Ramat Gan, Israel. With over 700,000 business travelers and tourists entering its gates each year, the complex plans to join the museum with a 350-seat auditorium, three-star hotel and education spaces to maximize its appeal and use. The building will also include the Maccabi House archives - the world's largest repository and collection of documents and objects related to the living heritage of Jewish sports.
Chilean architects Archiplan and international office Architects of Invention have unveiled their concept design for a new public plaza in Santiago. Prepared as a competition entry, the proposal is a tribute to the late Chilean architect Fernando Castillo Velasco, sited in front of his iconic Tajamar Towers.
Entitled "Origami Highline," the project draws inspiration from the ancient Japanese paper folding craft of origami and takes the form of a sculptural intervention in Balmaceda Park.
View from main atrium. Image Courtesy of Tsabikos Petras Architectural Studio
The first prize winner of a Greek design competition in Greece, which challenged participants to redesign an existing structure into an archaeological museum, this proposal by Tsabikos Petras Architectural Studio examines both the reintroduction of green areas into the city and relationship among city, sea, and coast. The scheme follows the lead of a north-south and east-west axis which present a pedestrian connection between the museum and a public square, and an archaeological site with a second public square, respectively.
CLOG is seeking submissions for its 13th issue, CLOG: Landmark. The latest edition from the New York-based publication explores the "powerful and complicated" nature of landmark status, examining the factors which dictate whether a building is to be destroyed or preserved. CLOG: Landmark plants itself in the nexus between architecture and social issues, dissecting ideas of "cultural value" and the framework by which this is determined. Critique and commentary of all forms will be considered, including images, graphics, diagrams, and text of not more than 500 words. Submissions must be received by March 1. Further guidelines for submission can be found here.
Building Trust has launched their sixth international design competition: Cool School. Seeking an innovative school design proposal that can withstand the extreme Mongolian climate, the competition is challenging architects, designers and engineers to envision a solution which has the chance to shape the future of school buildings across cold regions globally. Contestants should consider environmental conditions, materials, space, comfort, accessibility, adaptability and aesthetics. Building Trust will work alongside competition partners, World Vision, local government and the school community in Khovd, Mongolia to build the winning school design. More information about the competition, here.
The latest competition entry, "Gate 2 Tower" from Pichler & Traupmann Architekten examines the relationship formed between a high-rise building and its local and global surroundings to create a cohesive design that bridges the problematic gap between these different scales. Employing unconventional methods, Gate 2 Tower features geometries that not only create unique interactions, but also inform each other.
Group8asia is nearing completion on a first-prize winning proposal that is meant to revive the concept of public housing in Singapore. The Punggol Waterway Terraces, so named for the river on which they’re set, will be a sustainable community that aims to echo the utopic exuberance of Singapore’s first housing developments in the 1970s. Arranged around central courtyards, these high-rise apartments hope to create a sleek, graceful skyline that contrasts with the verdant greenery of their landscape.
OFFICETWENTYFIVEARCHITECTS (O25) has won second prize the Prologis' 2030 Design competition, which challenged participating firms from seven European countries to redefine what logistics buildings may look like in the future.
O25's proposal utilizes a site similar to characteristic distribution sites, under the assumption that future demands will be closely aligned with current one. With this mentality, the design utilizes a greenfield site within close proximity to major transportation systems, but is not directly in the heart of the urban environment. Due to its semi-rural locality, the goal of the design was to create a functional and efficient distribution system that would not compete with, but rather complement, its surroundings, so unsightly features (storage areas) are located underground. Additional nods to the landscape are made by the integration of green space atop the loading bays.
Combo Competitions'latest ideas challenge asks participants to "rethink refueling" in a competition which seeks to re-imagine the ubiquitous filling station. The historical rise of this 20th century typology, from simple fuel dispensers to palatial rest-stops on the highway, grew with the proliferation of the car and became symbols for societal progression, personal status, and "a bright future." Although the number of vehicles worldwide "surpassed one billion in 2010, there has been a steady decline in filling stations since the end of the last century." As such, perhaps this is the time to start to rethink how these fragments of the international mobility infrastructure operate?
Grimshaw, IDOM, Populous,Feilden Clegg Bradley, White Arkitekter and Wilkinson Eyre are among five international design teams who've been recently shortlisted in a RIBA-organized competition to design the £90 million Bristol Arena, a 12,000-seat indoor entertainment venue set to open by 2017. At this point, the proposals remain anonymous and the public is being asked for their opinion. A judging panel, that includes the Mayor of Bristol, will review the public commentary and designs before selecting a team in March. Take a look at the projects and share your thoughts, after the break.
The Atlanta Bridgescape Competition is an urban design challenge seeking creative strategies to enhance existing freeway infrastructure in Midtown and Downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The objective of the competition is to solicit designs for the next two bridge projects: the 10th Street Bridge in Midtown and the Courtland Street/Ralph McGill Boulevard Bridge in downtown. The competition seeks broad participation from multi-disciplinary design teams to develop innovative approaches for enhancing existing infrastructure in a manner that will elevate the experience of travelers along the Connector and improve the environment for pedestrians and cyclists on the bridge surfaces.
Spanish-Kuwaiti firm AGi architects has been awarded second prize in a competition to design a new courthouse in Qatar’s capital, Doha. The restricted competition, organized by the Government of Qatar, challenged 30 participants, of which four were shortlisted to compete in the final round.
AGi’s proposal was based off of two grids - the immediate site’s and the larger city - resulting in a “floating,” canopy-like structure that metaphorical “protects” its inhabitants. View the complete proposal, after the break.
120 HOURS' 2014 Winner: Architecture / Antariksh Tandon, Jennifer Tu Anh Phan (click to learn more). Image Courtesy of 120 HOURS
This year's 120 HOURS student architecture competition is set to run from February 9th through the 14th. The international competition is open to any current Architecture student, anywhere in the world. There is no fee to enter, and you (and your team of up to three) can do so by visiting the 120 HOURS website.
This week, Robert A.M. Stern Architects released applications for its third annual Travel Fellowship. The $10,000 grant is given to an architecture student in the penultimate year of their Master’s degree study. The recipient must be attending one of 18 U.S. and Canadian schools, and show “insight and interest in the profession and its future, as well as the ability to carry forth in-depth research.” The prize money will be used to support travel and research based on Robert A.M. Stern’s own philosophy of reinventing traditional architecture. Check your eligibility and apply for the RAMSA Travel Fellowship here!
In memory of architect and arts administrator Deborah Norden, the Deborah J. Norden Fund is calling for proposals from students and recent graduates in the fields of architecture, architectural history, and urban studies for awards up to $5000 in travel and study grants. A program of The Architectural League of New York, participants must submit a maximum three-page proposal, which succinctly describes the objectives of the grant request and how it will contribute to the applicant’s intellectual and creative development. The deadline for submissions is April 16, 2015. For more information, please visit here.
.jpg?1421988905)
