‘All of sudden, a robot is coming to my desk,’ says Shakúff founder and creative director Joseph Sidof. The video-equipped automaton can be virtually controlled by existing clients and potential new customers, allowing them to (carefully) navigate around the brand’s Brooklyn showroom and even ask for advice. This kind of robot is more usually on duty in hospitals, making it possible for family members to communicate with isolated Covid-19 patients. Sidof thought they might serve another useful purpose.
Architecture News
OMA / Shohei Shigematsu Reveals Design of Jojutla Pedestrian Bridge in Mexico
OMA New York has designed a new 145-meter pedestrian bridge over the Apatlaco River in Jojutla de Juárez, Mexico, as part of a larger reconstruction effort by Infonavit (National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute) following the 2017 earthquakes.
Virtual Tour of the Unbuilt Slow House by Diller + Scofidio
Welcome to the Slow House, Diller and Scofidio’s (now Diller, Scofidio and Renfro) first building commission for Long Island, in NY. The crescent-shaped slug doppelganger, was a pivotal design for the firm — and architecture at large — when it was first revealed in 1990. However, the building was never built, living only through its extensive catalog of models and drawings. In this video, the Slow House is digitally reconstructed, analyzed and explored to discover unique elements lurking in its design that can only be revealed through a first-person experience. From delayed million-dollar views, to CCTV feeds of the water, to dozens of operable plywood doors and shades, the house is truly a machine for viewing. And now, you can view it for yourself.
Zaha Hadid Architects' ‘Green Connect’ Proposal Selected First in Competition to Transform Vilnius Railway Station
Zaha Hadid Architects has ranked first in a design competition for the redevelopment of the Vilnius railway station complex and surrounding area in Lithuania, with its ‘Green Connect’ proposal. Generating an integrated transportation hub for the 21st century with new civic spaces enveloped by nature, ZHA’s project is aligned to the city’s ongoing sustainability agenda.
Estudio Herreros's Long Awaited Award-Winning Munch Museum Finally Open to the Public
After being awarded with the top prize at the Munch Museum Competition in 2009, Spanish architecture firm Estudio Herreros has finally completed the construction of the museum and will open its doors on October 22, 2021. The long-awaited museum will showcase a rich collection of Norwegian heritage and culture and thousands of artworks by artist Edvard Munch, as well as present a contemporary museum concept that highlights architecture's urban role and historical responsibility of Oslo and the nation as a whole.
Aedas Reveals Design for TransportHub in Singapore
Aedas revealed the design for the Jurong East Integrated Transport Hub, a development merging work environment and recreation located within a vibrant commercial area outside of Singapore’s city centre. Featuring a transport interchange station and an office tower, together with community-oriented amenities, the project is designed as a catalyser for the emergence of a second financial district in the western part of the city.
Chile Discards Design by Smiljan Radic, Cecilia Puga and Paul Velasco for its Expo 2020 Dubai Pavilion
In 2019, Chile launched an open call for the design of its national pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. Among 24 submissions, the jury chose the proposal presented by Chilean architects Smiljan Radic, Cecilia Puga, and Paula Velasco.
The proposal consisted of traveling a modular oak lamella shed to Dubai, originally built in Chile back in the mid-twentieth century. At the time of its official presentation in 2019, the architects defined the project as "a primitive mark on the ground, as nomadic tribes have done for centuries in this now globalized desert [Dubai]. This physical and cultural dimension is necessary to adapt the pavilion as a friendly and austere space."
The Allure—and Importance—of Architectural Models
This article was originally published on Common Edge.
In this week's reprint, author Mark Alan Hewitt talks about models and their importance. "For those of us lucky enough to have grown up during the 1950s and ’60s, models were hot stuff—and not just the kind that statement may bring to mind", he states. Going back to the realistic models of the 70s, similar to today's virtual renderings, this essay retraces their history and the artists that produced them.
Design Disruption Episode 11: Architecture for the People with Balkrishna V. Doshi
The COVID-19 Pandemic is a disruptive moment for our world, and it’s poised to spur transformative shifts in design, from how we experience our homes and offices to the plans of our cities. The webcast series Design Disruption explores these shifts—and address issues like climate change, inequality, and the housing crisis— through chats with visionaries like architects, designers, planners and thinkers; putting forward creative solutions and reimagining the future of the built environment.
ODA Transforms Old Parking Lot into Mixed-Use Project and Public Park in Buenos Aires
The old structure called Playa Gigena, in honor of the equestrian of the same name, located between the hippodrome and the Rosedal de Palermo in Buenos Aires, will now be converted by ODA into a Class A office building and a public park including cafes, restaurants, shops, and a covered parking lot. The partial demolition of the old parking lot has begun on June 28th.
Designed by the American architecture office ODA, the next Paseo Gigena will be the firm's first mixed-use project in the city of Buenos Aires city. The team involved in the process also includes the participation of Aisenson studio, Inscape Landscape, Coinsa, and the developer BSD Investments, to which the government has granted the concession of the property known as Ámbito Gigena, for a period of 15 years.
Lord Norman Foster to Chair RIBA Stirling Prize Jury
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced that Pritzker Laureate Lord Norman Foster will chair the 2021 Stirling Prize jury. The jury will also include Simon Allford, RIBA President, architect Annalie Riches, 2019 RIBA Stirling Prize winner, and artist Dame Phyllida Barlow, advised by architect and sustainability expert Mina Hasman.
Christo's Wrapped Arc de Triomphe Opens to the Public
Artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s temporary installation, the L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, opened to the public on September 18th. Twenty-five thousand square meters of recyclable silvery-blue fabric held together by 3,000 meters of red rope currently cloak the Parisian landmark transforming the urban setting, and photographer Jad Sylla captured the completed installation.
Hybrid Architecture: Combining Digital Design and Vernacular Crafts
In Mendoza, Argentina, the digital fabrication research lab Node 39 FabLab created a frame loom structure made of digitally cut wood to help indigenous people in the central region of the country weave and create their traditional patterns. In the state of Ceará, northeast Brazil, a study entitled "Artífices Digitais" (Digital Artisans) by the Federal University of the State of Ceará used digital fabrication tools, namely 3D printing, to produce digital models, like digital prosthetics, to restore the damaged parts of an altarpiece of the high altar of the Mother Church in the city of Russas.
New Materials: Textured and Irregular Appearance Fiber Cement Facade Panels
With the increasing availability of space travel on the rise, living with access to the Moon may no longer be a science fiction fantasy. For decades, Equitone has gathered inspiration for the future by the appearance and raw materials of Earth. Now, reflecting the fascination with what lies beyond our own atmosphere, its new Lunara façade panels appear both otherworldly and yet natural at the same time. Its unique surface, covered with tiny irregular elevations and depressions, is reminiscent of the cratered landscape of the Moon and invites architects and planners to design visionary building envelopes.
Australian Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai Echoes the Country's Distinctive Culture and Landscape
Brisbane-based architecture firm bureau^proberts has unveiled its design for the Australian Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai, UAE. The pavilion serves as a cultural contribution with large social space that translates Australia’s distinctive landscape and skies through a cloud-like form suspended over folding timber. The structure "captures the local sensibility" by highlighting the welcoming and warm nature of the Australians through the central and sheltered gathering area.
3XN Completes Organically-Shaped Exhibition Space in Belgium
3XN has recently completed the Grognon exhibition space dedicated to the history of digital technologies. Located in Namur, Belgium, at the confluence of two rivers and neighbouring the Roman citadel, as well as the Wallonian Parliament, the project inserts itself within the protected historical setting as a new topography, a landscape that flows along the site weaving together the context and the new programme.
Non-Structures & Palimpsest: Photography as a Register for Urban Regeneration and Real Estate Speculation
In honor of World Photography Day (August 19 ), Chilean architect Francisco Ibáñez Hantke offers a a perspective of urban transformation and the resulting instability caused by the regenerative processes and the constant real estate speculation that drive it. The photographs center on London, and reveal an exhausting array of construction and demolition and highlight the often blurry line between architecture and urban decay.
11 Architect-Designed Furniture and Lighting Pieces Displayed at the 2021 Salone del Mobile
After a year-long absence, Milan Design Week has wrapped up yet another year of creativity and innovation. From the 5th to the 10th of September, thousands of design companies displayed their creations to more than 200,000 visitors hailing from different countries, demographics, and industries. And while the design fair gravitated towards the world of interior design, many renowned architects such as Bjarke Ingels, Foster + Partners, and Herzon & de Meuron participated in the week-long exhibition and joined forces with interior and furniture design brands to create signature pieces.
Construction Begins on OMA/ Iyad Alsaka's Prestige Liberty Towers, a Mixed-Used Complex in Mumbai, India
Led by Iyad Alsaka, Adrianne Fisher, and Wael Sleiman, OMA’s latest project, the Prestige Liberty Towers, breaks ground in Mumbai, India. Expected to be completed in 2025, the mixed-used complex is the firm’s first venture in India, located in the historic textile mills at the heart of the city.
SOM Explores Future Timber Construction Methods at the 2021 Chicago Biennial
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has collaborated with University of Michigan Taubman College to create the SPLAM [SPatial LAMinated timber], a robotically-fabricated timber pavilion for the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial. The pavilion employs prefabricated framing panels manufactured using robotic technology, and will serve as an open-air education facility and gathering space for a school in Chicago. The pavilion was inaugurated on September 17, with the opening of the Chicago Biennial, and will remain on display until December 18th.
SUMMIT One Vanderbilt is New York's Newest Glass Observation Deck
SUMMIT One Vanderbilt is New York’s latest observation viewpoint, soon opening to the public on top of the KPF-designed tower. Featuring an observation deck, skyboxes, an all-glass elevator, complemented by a walk-through art installation, the entertainment space designed by Snøhetta provides visitors with a multisensory experience.