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Renzo Piano has offered to donate the design of a bridge to replace the one which tragically collapsed in Genoa on 14th August. Piano, who was born in Genoa, said he has been deeply affected by the tragedy which claimed the lives of 43 people.
The project, reported by Reuters, was announced following a discussion between the architect and the governor of Liguria, who accepted Piano’s offer.
Hello Wood has revived its highly-successful POP-UP Park, bringing a touch of vibrancy to an underused square in downtown Budapest. Having built the structures in the summer of 2017, the park has returned one year later to provide “a democratic space for all social groups embedded within the everyday movement of the city.”
Open 24 hours per day, the park acts as a free-to-use space for people from all walks of life. Supported by the Municipality of Budapest, the scheme is situated in a frequented though empty spot beside the Budapest City Hall.
Dubai has launched 3D Printing Strategy, a global initiative to make the city the world's leader in 3D printing. The initiative is designed to promote the status of the UAE and Dubai as a leading hub of 3D printing technology. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has created the plan for one quarter of new buildings to be 3D printed by 2025. The strategy hopes to utilize 3D printing to cut costs in the medical and construction sector and restructure economies and labor markets.
In the current iteration of our digital age, Instagram is king in the social media. Boasting 1 billion (yes, with a "b") active monthly users, if you are a business and not on Instagram, you are missing out.
Given the visual nature of the platform, architects and designers have flocked to the platform, using it to market their work, promote new ideas, and even pull in commissions. Other aggregator accounts use the platform to find and foster new talent, creating an entirely digital architectural community that is open to all.
Galaxies, quasars and gas clouds are a little bit closer, thanks to China's Five-Hundred-Meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope, or FAST. Built as the world's largest telescope, the project was made to sense radio waves from space. Sited in the Dawodang depression, a natural basin of the Guizhou Province in southwest China, the telescope was completed in September 2016. Now two years later, the telescope has begun to radically transform tourism and the urban evolution of Guizhou.
Located in south-east Turkey, the 11,000-year-old Göbekli Tepe is considered to be the world’s oldest temple, greatly surpassing England’s Stonehenge, and the Egyptian pyramids. The ancient site, awarded Unesco World Heritage status in July 2018, predates pottery, writing, and the wheel, leading archaeologists such as its discoverer Klaus Schmidt to ask if Göbekli Tepe may, in fact, be not only the world’s first piece of architecture but a crucial catalyst for the onset of settled societies.
Spread across eight hectares near the city of Sanliurfa, the Göbekli Tepe is an artificial mound hosting a series of sunken circular structures adorned with limestone carvings, believed to have been occupied for thousands of years before their abandonment.
The last five stories of the Torre de David in Caracas have tilted 25 degrees following the largest earthquake to hit Venezuela in 100 years. The well-known building gained infamy as an unprecedented vertical "slum" when its construction was abandoned and squatters began to inhabit the unfinished structure.
The 190-meter skyscraper with 45 stories became Latin America's 8th tallest tower in the 1990s, but it was never completed. Officially known as the Centro Financiero Confinanzas when construction began in 1990, the project succumbed to Venezuela's 1994 banking crisis.
Celebrating Paddington Central’s first year as a Design Route at the London Design Festival, the design practice Snøhetta created a rotating book pavilion for British Land. Snøhetta wanted to create a project that would reimagine the traditional principles of a library through a mechanized pavilion that generates varied spatial types. Designed for visitors to immerse themselves into a world of books, the pavilion encourages exploration, interaction and reflection.
As part of the first phase in an extensive rebuilding project, the Empire State Building Observatories have a newly renovated entrance. Created by a team of architects and designers, the renovation aimed to transform visitor experience of the Art Deco skyscraper and its history. The 34th Street entrance was renovated for better flow, and to showcase a technology-driven lobby space. The project is the first in a multi-part rebuilding of the tower, which will be completed by late 2019 and include both digital hosts and a new lighting ceremony installation.
While cemeteries have long served as a place in which we can honor and remember our loved ones, they are also often places that showcase architecture, and landscape design. In the late 19th century, cemeteries evolved from overcrowded and unsanitary urban spaces into rural, park-like social centers. In cities that lacked public parks, cemeteries became popular destinations for picnics, holidays, and other family gatherings.
With 486 applicants and 249 conceptual plans received, MUDA-Architects stood out from the 20 finalists and won the first prize in "The Most Beautiful Bookstore in Chengdu" competition. The competition was sponsored by the Chengdu Tianfu New Area Investment Group, China Southwest Architectural Design and Research Institute, and co-sponsored by Chengdu Yi Zhu Yi Shi Culture Communication Ltd.
The Barbican, London’s iconic Brutalist estate designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon Architects, has launched a range of jewelry and homeware designed by creative studio Tom Pigeon, paying tribute to the vibrant aesthetic which put the scheme on London’s architectural map.
As reported by Creative Boom, the Surface collection draws inspiration from the geography of the Barbican estate, communicating its color, pattern, and shape in a range including earrings, mugs, and greeting cards.
Photographer Stefanie Zoche of Haubitz-Zoche has captured a series of vibrant images showcasing the “hybrid modernist” movie theaters of Southern India. The images below, also available on the artist’s website, capture the large number of cinemas built in both rural and urban areas of South India in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, all conveying an “unconventional mix of local building styles and Western influences."
As Zoche describes, the colorful facades, “suggestive of theatrical sets, provide a foretaste of the cinematic experience in the hall itself, in which extravagant shapes and ornamentation are continued and put the viewer in the right mood for the cinematic world before the screening itself.”
Following up on the AIA's recent update of guidelines regarding school safety, architect Jay Brotman, designer of the new Sandy Hook Elementary School, testified in front of the US Department of Education this week to urge the government to adopt safer standards for design. While not unheard of, it is not typical for architects to stand in front of Congress.
The Bristol Arena site faces yet another turn of events, as Zaha Hadid Architects and property investor Legal & General have released plans for a large housing development next to Temples Meads Station. The site is one of two proposed locations for the Bristol Arena, a project on hold for more than 15 years as Bristol City Council continues to debate its location. The proposal by Zaha Hadid Architects would include office blocks, a 345 room hotel, conference center and over 500 homes.
The New York City Department of Building has created a real-time interactive map detailing every major construction project currently underway in the Big Apple. Covering Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Manhattan, and the Bronx, the map also ranks projects by cost, size, and height.
While most city planning portals are already freely accessible to the public, the new interface of the “NYC Active Major Construction” map presents detailed information in a clean, fast, user-friendly manner, giving architects and residents-alike a deeper insight into construction trends in what Bjarke Ingels refers to as “a capital of the world.”
Oslo councilors have voted to halt the Snøhetta-designed “A House to Die In,” located in the grounds of painter Edward Munch’s former house and workshop in western Oslo. The recent vote, reported by Norwegian newspaper The Local would appear to put an end to the 8-year collaborative process between Snøhetta and Norwegian artist Bjarne Melgaard.
A House to Die In has become the most controversial building proposal in recent Norwegian history, due to its architectural form and how it honors the legacy of one of Norway’s most famous artists.
As August draws to a close and our holidays - be they from work or school - already start to feel like distant memories, perhaps it's a good moment to reflect on our faith in what we do. Sometimes design affords us the ability to oversee massive and exciting change. Sometimes projects don't work out, despite our best efforts. And sometimes, design isn't as capable of making change as we believe it to be. This week's stories touched on our faith in design in a range of ways, from the literal (such as the bright churches of Kerala) to the more abstract (how much good taste in fast food design actually equates to good tastes.) Read on for this week's review.
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As the demand of a sustainable lifestyle increases, cities are trying to find strategies to create environmentally friendly communities. From passive designs to recycled materials, architects are turning their attention to climate change and trying to find solutions through architecture and design.
The Zero Emission Neighborhood is an eco-village concept proposed by Architecture for Humans in the city of Pristina, Kosovo. The concept ensures optimum sustainability for the entire community through “zero emission” buildings, passive design strategies, active solar systems, and energy efficient appliances.
Taking to the skies, Ennead Architects have released drone footage of the construction progress on their Shanghai Planetarium project. First revealed back in 2016, the 38,000-square-meter planetarium will be one of the largest in the world. By early June, nearly 85 percent of civil construction has been completed, and a new milestone was reached as temporary braces were removed with the 2,000-ton cantilever structure. The drone footage showcases the museum design and the construction process that's bringing it to life.
The Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences One Dalton Street, Boston’s tallest residential building, has reached its full height of 742 feet, forming a significant presence on the Boston skyline. Designed by Henry N. Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, in collaboration with Cambridge Seven Architects, the 61-story scheme features 160 residences, a five-star hotel, and an adjacent park.
Cobb’s design for One Dalton comes 40 years after he designed another noted Boston landmark, the John Hancock Tower.
The Oakland Athletics baseball team have hired Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), James Corner Field Operations, and Gensler to lead the design process for their new ballpark and surrounding development in California. The new stadium will replace the Oakland A’s existing 51-year-old Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, which the A’s share with the Oakland Raiders football team.
It has been reported by the San Francisco Business Times that BIG will lead the masterplan for the privately-financed ballpark, either at Howard Terminal or near the existing stadium, while Gensler will collaborate on the ballpark design. Field Operations will adopt the role of landscape architect for the development.
More than 500 years after it was built, Filippo Brunelleschi's dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy, remains the largest masonry dome ever built. But the dome's construction methods are still a secret, as no plans or sketches have been discovered. The only clue Brunelleschi left behind was a wooden and brick model. While the dome has been plagued by cracks for centuries, new breakthroughs in muon imaging may help preservationists uncover how to save the iconic structure and reveal new ideas on its construction.
Mexico’s President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has announced that a referendum will be held on whether or not the government should proceed with Foster + Partners’ proposed $13-billion Mexico City International Airport.
The scheme, already under construction, has been described by the incoming president as a “bottomless pit” and that “the plan is to provide the Mexican people all the relevant information, truthfully and objectively, so that we can all decide together on this important matter of national interest.”
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