US-based innovators HOZO Design C.O. have launched an Indiegogo campaign for the “first compact digital rolling ruler.” The “ROLLOVA” seeks to replace traditional measuring tapes with a compact gadget that measures curves and lines. The pocket-sized stainless steel body contains a 10000:1 high-contrast ratio OLED screen, displaying measurements of flat surfaces and curved objects.
With a maximum tolerance of +-0.4%, the rolling device is capable of measuring to a distance of 10 meters (32 feet). When measuring distances between corner to corner, such as window sills, the device’s offset mode adds either the radius or diameter of itself into the measurements, similar to conventional laser measures.
https://www.archdaily.com/911299/this-compact-rolling-ruler-seeks-to-change-how-architects-measureNiall Patrick Walsh
After the dissolution of the Bauhaus due to Nazi political pressure in April 1933, the ideas, teachings, and philosophies of the school were flung across the world as former students and faculty dispersed in the face of impending war. Of the numerous creative talents associated with the Bauhaus, many went on to notable careers elsewhere. Some made a living as artists or practitioners, others either continued or began careers as teachers themselves - and many did both throughout the course of their lives.
In many parts of the world, more women have architectural degrees than men. However, this fact hasn’t translated past university into the working world as women continue to be underrepresented across nearly all levels of practice.
The conversation regarding women in architecture gained tremendous traction back in 2013 with the petition for Denise Scott Brown to be recognized as the 1991 Pritzker Prize winner, alongside her husband and the consequent rejection of that request by Pritzker. The Architectural Review and Architect's Journal have, since 2015, jointly presented awards to the exceptional female practitioners as part of their Women in Architecture Awards program. The swelling of these movements have helped to promote not only the role but also the recognition of women in architecture.
The UK's new HolocaustMemorial by Adjaye Associates and Ron Arad Architects is facing criticism for the location of the project from local residents and the Royal Parks. An application for the memorial and learning center is being considered by Westminster City Council, and a petition calling for the protection of the green space is already signed by more than 11,000 members of the public. Planned for Victoria Tower Gardens alongside the River Thames close to the Houses of Parliament, the project is made to be dedicated to the 6 million Jewish men, women and children and other victims murdered by the Nazis.
A new laser light installation by Luftwerk and Iker Gil has transformed the Mies van der Rohe's famous Barcelona Pavilion. Dubbed Geometry of Light, the installation was designed to highlight the materials and architecture of the structure using light and sound. Taking cues from the pavilion's gridded plan and vertical planes, the light project was designed to create a new interpretive layer that traces, highlights and reimagines the pavilion itself.
The European Space Agency has teamed up with a group of architecture students to speculate on the future design of sustainable lunar habitats. From the ESA’s astronaut center in Cologne, Germany, the organization challenged the students to draw on extreme environments in remote places, and speculate on sourcing and producing materials on the Moon to build a sustainable habitat.
Giving consideration to sunlight, temperature, and terrain, the design team developed a system of inflatable modules that can land at the base of a small crater on the South Polar Region of the Moon, where they will gradually fill the cavity with lunar soil until the modules are effectively buried.
https://www.archdaily.com/911182/architecture-students-imagine-a-moon-base-with-the-european-space-agencyNiall Patrick Walsh
The OMA / Reinier de Graaf-designed Nhow Amsterdam RAI Hotel has topped out at its 91-meter height. The main hotel for the RAI Amsterdam convention and exhibition center, the scheme will offer 650 hotel rooms across 25 floors. Formed of three shifting triangular volumes, the scheme draws from a triangular advertising column on the Europaplein that once stood prominently on the site.
OMA was chosen ahead of eleven practices to design the project, which will operate as a hub for business travelers, tourists, and Amsterdam locals. The project has been 15-years in the making, as a larger 800-room proposal was once rejected by the city a few years back.
In the past three decades, Dubai has grown from a dusty desert town to a strategic hub for international business and tourism. As a result, several cities in the developing world have been competing to outdo one another in the race to replicate this development model—an urbanism largely built around the automobile, luxury villas, gleaming skyscrapers, massive shopping malls, and ambitious “smart” cities, designed and built from scratch. Across Africa, these new developments go by different names: Eko Atlantic City Nigeria, Vision City in Rwanda, Ebene Cyber City in Mauritius; Konza Technology City in Kenya; Safari City in Tanzania; Le Cite du Fleuve in DR Congo, and several others. All are mimicries of Dubai.
https://www.archdaily.com/910933/what-urban-africa-needs-to-learn-from-dubaiMathias Agbo, Jr.
It would seem that in London when it rains, it pours. Mere weeks after designs for the London Centre for Music were announced, efforts to bestow the city with another world-class concert venue have come to the fore. The WimbledonConcert Hall, which currently has American architect Frank Gehry attached to the project, would add a 1,250-seat space for music and performance to the London suburb best known for tennis.
https://www.archdaily.com/911133/efforts-for-gehry-led-wimbledon-concert-venue-in-wimbledon-gain-ground-weeks-after-london-centre-for-music-announcementKatherine Allen
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill have broken ground on Alárò City, a new masterplan development that will connect to Lagos in southwest Nigeria. The mixed-use model community will feature an international trade gateway with a new seaport and airport. Designed for the Lagos State Government and Africa’s largest urban developer Rendeavour, the project is made to boost foreign direct investment to create an economic and cultural hub for West Africa.
This past Monday brought with it not just a new week, but the start of the lunar new year. The start of the lunar new year brings with it another chance to review what's past and start afresh - a welcome opportunity for those of us already suffering a bit of new year blues.
Looking back to move forward seemed to be a bit of a theme this week, with the announcement of a number of memorials and renovations on historic sites. While the spate of new projects this week is certainly a coincidence, the recent proliferation of reuse and memorial projects, in general, shouldn't come as a surprise. As the age of the icon-producing starchitect stutters to a close, the long-gestating movements in reuse and preservation will likely come to the fore as a major movement in contemporary architecture. While major works such as the LocHal Library and the Battersea Arts Centre are banner examples, this is a movement that will celebrate the small-scale and local.
https://www.archdaily.com/911128/the-week-in-architecture-the-long-awaited-rise-of-reuse-and-the-next-generation-of-architectsKatherine Allen
Street art has long surpassed mere trend to become an integral part of cities' cultural identities. What was once considered vandalism is now not only accepted but encouraged. The works of once-prosecuted artists such as Banksy and Shepard Fairey are now collector's items; murals can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000 or more. Through their works, artists may even have the power to save cities.
Svigals + Partners has designed a Memorial Garden in honor of victims of gun violence in New Haven, Connecticut. Developed in collaboration with a partnership of concerned mothers, the scheme emerged from efforts by New Haven school teacher Marlene Miller Pratt, whose 18-year-old son was killed in 1988.
Working pro bono since April 2018, Svigals + Partners have designed the garden to be flanked by engraved stone pavers and lamppost wind chimes. Before culminating in a serene, protected, circular plaza, the scheme leads visitors past an original sculpture titled “The Lost Generation.” As visitors walk past, the sculpture depicts abstract human figures and are revealed and concealed depending on the visitor standpoint.
https://www.archdaily.com/911089/svigals-plus-partners-design-memorial-to-gun-violence-victims-in-connecticutNiall Patrick Walsh
The Royal Academy has revealed the shortlist for their annual prize recognizing young talent in architecture, the Dorfman Award. The award is given to those "...reimagining the future of architecture and whose work demonstrates a high degree of sensitivity to local and global context." The 2019 shortlist comprises four emerging architects practicing across the globe.
As retail moves evermore online, vacant storefronts have become ubiquitous sights in American cities and towns. Often located in formerly prime downtown real estate, the darkened windows have a knock-on effect, sapping urban vibrancy and sometimes falling into disrepair. Discourse surrounding the predicament of dead malls and traditional retail space is ongoing, but a one-size fits-all solution clearly isn't the answer here.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro has been announced the winner of the 2019 Royal Academy Architecture Prize, an award given annually by the British arts body to recognize firms or individuals who have been "instrumental in shaping the discussion, collection, or production of architecture in the broadest sense."
SANAA's new campus for the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem is now set for a 2022 opening. Initially proposed in 2013, the new project for Israel’s national school of art broke ground back in 2015. The campus is being built in the Russian Compound in Jerusalem’s City Center. The design will bring together 2,500 students and 500 faculty members as the school moves from the current Mount Scopus Campus. The new campus aims to revitalize the city center and connect to the urban fabric of Jerusalem.
The Architectural League of New York has announced the winners of it's 2019 Emerging Voices, an award given annually to eight individuals/practices based in the US, Canada, or Mexico. The Emerging Voices program, which is now in its 37th year, seeks to spotlight the distinctive design voices with the potential to influence the field of architecture.
The Emerging Voices award program has long been considered one of the most prestigious in North American architecture; a large portion of the 250 awarded practices are now well-known internationally.
https://www.archdaily.com/910879/architectural-league-of-new-york-announce-winners-of-the-2019-emerging-voices-programKatherine Allen
Dubai Holding has released details of the latest skyscraper planned for the UAE metropolis, designed by Skidmore Owings and Merrill. The Burj Jumeira will soar 550 meters in the air, “inspired by the harmonious ripples of the UAE’s desert sand dunes and its flowing oases.” Inaugurated by the UAE’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on January 31st, 2019, the new tower will be built as part of a vast development known as Downtown Jumeira, “a city of the future distinguished by its intelligent design and cohesive infrastructure and network.”
The tower’s façade is to be covered in digital displays that can be utilized for various occasions and celebrations, with a 450-meter-high sky lounge and sky restaurant complete with interactive surfaces. The tower will also contain multiple observation decks giving visitors 360-degree panoramic views of Dubai, rising from a base designed in the outline of the Sheikh’s fingerprint.
Artist Lee Simmons has unveiled a 17-ton, 50-foot sculpture in London’s Marylebone neighborhood. Titled Quadrilinear, the project is made of five layers of laser-cut steel standing four stories tall. The project is slotted through Schoen Clinic by ESA Architects, and was completed over a four-year period with Format Engineers. The stainless-steel column is based on deconstructed maps of historic Marylebone to engage the context, rhythm and fabric of the facade.
Traditionally, Chilean housing has used the kitchen as a central space in their designs, from which all other venues are deployed. Being a focal point within each project, it's important to deepen its design and occupy every available square meter in favor of its effective use. Today, we review 7 kitchens designed specifically in Chilean homes; each one with particular details and distributions, and different combinations of materials, furniture, and equipment.
https://www.archdaily.com/910756/chilean-houses-and-their-kitchens-in-detailMartita Vial della Maggiora
Mextrópoli is a ludic and reflexive event that heightens the voices of architects, city planners and authorities to generate knowledge about the city that occupants inhabit. At Mextrópoli, public spaces are filled with pavilions, panel discussions that involve prominent actors in issues such as urbanism and public policy, as well as a strong selection of speakers. This program seeks to include all citizens. Students, activists, urban planners and architects are welcome to experience the extraordinary city.
In its sixth edition, the Mextrópoli Architecture and City Festival will propose new ways of thinking about the city as an open territory that is continually redefining its limits.
Danish architect and CEBRA founding partner Mikkel Frost has given a TEDx Talk arguing for the relevance of hand drawing in an increasingly virtual world. Titled “Let your fingers do the talking,” the talk presents hand drawing “not as a render killer, but rather as a lively and more open supplement to the close-to-nature visualization.”
During the talk, Frost explains the inspiration behind is drawing style, partly from the cartoon universe where messages are communicated with humor, few words, and simple expressions. A central part of the design process for every CEBRA project, Frost describes hand drawing as a visual language that is easily understood, open, and less conclusive that hyper-realistic visualizations.
https://www.archdaily.com/910931/tedx-talk-by-cebra-founder-mikkel-frost-demonstrates-the-power-of-hand-drawingNiall Patrick Walsh