The Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma) revealed in November 2022 the winning proposal for the curation and exhibition design of the Spanish Pavilion at the 18th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale, which will take place from May 21 to November 26, 2023. Developed by Eduardo Castillo Vinuesa and Manuel Ocaña, "Foodscapes" focuses on the biennale's theme "The Laboratory of the future", by choosing as the object of its research the architecture related to the food production, distribution, and consumption chain, from the domestic to the territorial level.
Nanjing K.Wah G72 / UNStudio. Image Courtesy of K.Wah
UNStudio has been commissioned to create a human-centric mixed-use destination on the waterfront of Nanjing, China. Developed by K.Wah Group, the new complex aims to enhance the working-living environment for the local community while contributing as a hub for culture and finance. The project, set along the central axis of the Hexi New District, introduces high-rise office towers, commercial and cultural functions, two serviced apartment buildings, a headquarters tower, a hotel, and various public amenities.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill have been selected to design the New YorkClimate Exchange in partnership with Stony Brook University, a public research institute in New York. The new net-zero campus, located on Governors Island, New York, is planned to serve as an anchor institution for the development of new climate solutions. As a first-of-its-kind international center, “The Exchange” will also act as a regional hub for the green economy.
The Belgian Pavilion has announced its display for this year’s international architecture exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. Curated by Bento and Venciane Despret, “In Vivo” concentrates on investigating the architect's new relationship with resources. The display challenges our extractivist production system by identifying and designing architectural alternatives using components obtained from live organisms and the imagery that goes along with them.
Every year since its establishment in 1970, Earth Day aims to bring into focus not only the increasingly threatening effects of climate change but also highlight the effective measures and adaptation efforts that can improve the quality of our environment. This year’s event comes after a report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in March, which presented another warning on the magnitude of changes produced by human-induced global warming and its impact on people and ecosystems. The same report does offer some hopeful prospects as well, showing that adaptation measures can build resilience, but those urgent systemwide transformations are needed to secure a net-zero future. In response to these findings, the 2023 Earth Day is focused on the theme of “Investing in Our Planet,” as an encouragement for governments, institutions, businesses, and civil society to accelerate the change. Read on to discover several citywide initiatives aligned with these objectives of building resilience and a more sustainable future through legislation, civic involvement, and innovative systems.
rendering for the Pavilion of the Republic of San Marino. Image Courtesy of Archivio Corsini
For this year’s annual architecture exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the Pavilion of San Marino will present the Hosting Guest project. Curated by Michael Kaethler and Marco Pierini, this intervention is an authentic co-design workshop focused on hospitality-related issues, part of an international and multi-year research project based on real places and needs. Representing the oldest Republic in the world, Artist Vittorio Corsini will participate in the pavilion with the help of a research team of students, designers, and researchers from San Marino, Venetian, and international universities.
Danish Maritime Architecture Studio MAST, working together with the Municipality of Segrate, plans to transform a former sand quarry into a central park to reconnect the surrounding neighbourhoods and create a new destination for the residents of Milan, Italy. The abandoned quarry has left behind a unique landscape. The off]ice’s proposal includes a series of buildings along the lake’s perimeter linked by a public walkway and a cluster of islands in the centre of the lake. MAST is currently working with the Municipality of Segrate toward realising the project.
WHEN IS ENOUGH, ENOUGH, The Performance of Measurement. Image Courtesy of Singapore Pavilion
For this year’s 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the Singapore Pavilion activates discussion on new methods of measuring and evaluating the intangible and asks explicitly: how much is enough? The exhibition explores a community’s interaction with its surroundings, suggesting that they are not currently measured within the same measurable, quantifiable and gradable standards that buildings and the built environment are designed and built to. Moreover, the pavilion suggests that connecting these two pillars of city architecture, it is essential to rethink innovation in design. The exhibition asks how architects can quantify the immeasurable values of architecture: agency, attachment, attraction, connection, freedom, and inclusion.
Torre Velasca, the renowned 1950s skyscraper by BBPR in Milan, Italy, is currently undergoing an extensive renovation process led by Asti Architetti and developed by Hines. After completing the work on the facades and with the extensive restoration of the interiors under way, the office has made public the project for the redesign of the Piazza Velasca, the square surrounding the tower. By turning it into a meeting and social gathering place, the architects hope to restore the status of the complex as a symbol of Milan’s architectural heritage. Pedestrian access to the building, and the renovation of previously disused adjacent spaces will open up the area for public access and will restore the original meaning of “piazza,” or square. The project is scheduled for completion by early 2024.
EJS Presidential Center. Image Courtesy of Atelier Masōmī
Atelier Masōmī has just revealed its design for The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development (EJS Center). President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf chose an all-female team to work on the project with lead architect Mariam Issoufou Kamara of Atelier Masōmī, exhibition's architect Sumayya Vally of Counterspace, and the local architect Liberian architect Karen Richards Barnes. The EJS Center, located in Liberia’s capital Monrovia, will provide digital access to former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s personal and professional archives.
Perkins&Will has been selected as one of the five finalists in the nationwide artistic ideas competition for the design of the new National Museum of the U.S. Navy. The other finalists are DLR Group, Frank Gehry Partners, Quinn Evans, and BIG. Organised by the Naval Heritage History and Command’s (NHHC), the competition’s aim is to create a modern museum for Naval veterans and the public, a new building and ceremonial courtyard to reflect the Navy’s values and legacy. The campus would consist of approximately 270,000 square feet, with 100,000 square feet of gallery space. The Navy’s preferred location for the museum is on a site adjacent to the Washington Navy Yard.
California High Speed Rail. Image Courtesy of Foster + Partners
Foster + Partners and Arup have chosen to work together to design the Merced, Fresno, Kings/Tulare, and Bakersfield stations that will service high-speed train passengers on the first 171-mile leg of California High-Speed train (CA HSR). The Central Valley stations will be the grand entrances to America's first high-speed rail stretch, marking an important step towards providing all Californians with sustainable, carbon-free transportation. Planning, architecture, and engineering for the four new stations, which will serve as design templates for stations planned for the whole 500-mile Los Angeles/Anaheim to San Francisco line, are being done jointly by Foster + Partners and Arup.
The California high-speed rail will connect the state's mega-regions, promote economic growth and a cleaner environment, foster job growth, and conserve agricultural and protected lands. With up to 200 mph speeds, the system can travel from San Francisco to the Los Angeles basin in less than three hours. The Authority is collaborating with regional partners to implement a state-wide rail modernization plan that will spend billions of dollars on local and regional rail lines.
Christophe Levy, Scientific Director at Holcim and Lord Norman Foster. Image Courtesy of Holcim & Norman Foster Foundation
During the 2023 Architectural Biennale in Venice, Holcim and the Norman Foster Foundation will announce the start of their Essential Houses Research Project. Through this collaboration, the Norman Foster Foundation created necessary housing to give displaced communities safety, comfort, and welfare while allowing them to live in temporary settlements for over 20 years. To make sustainable buildings accessible to everyone, Holcim constructed these necessary homes using various green products, such as Elevate Insulation Boards and ECOPact low-carbon concrete.
Part of the beauty of an architectural education is that it provides you with design skills that can be applied to a wide variety to jobs. So when it came time for Kharkov University Architecture School graduate Dinara Kasko to select a career path, she chose to pursue something a little bit sweeter: architectural pastry chef.
For the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the Lithuanian Pavilion will present an exhibition titled “Children’s Forest Pavilion”, curated by Jurga Daubaraitė, Egija Inzule, and Jonas Žukauskas. The intervention aims to become a playscape, acknowledging the unique perspectives through which children observe and interact with their environment. The project strives to explain the ecosystem of the forest, bringing together works and findings developed in parallel to outdoor activities held with children in the woodlands of Lithuania and Finland. Environmental educators, activists, architects and foresters will discuss the idea of forests as negotiated spaces where all actors play an important role. The Pavilion will be open from May 20th until November 26th, 2023.
