Chyutin Architects, in collaboration with Shmaya Zarfati, shared with us their first prize winning proposal for the District Courthouse in Jerusalem. Located on a newly designed main public square in the city center, the building houses all the judiciary levels except the Supreme Court, and contains 113 courtrooms and 135 judges’ chambers. The design of the court building connects and bridges among the host of diverse design languages of the buildings around it while creating a distinctive language of its own. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Following Populous’ recent success with the redevelopment of the home of the British Formula One Grand Prix, Silverstone, the ground breaking ceremony for the next Populous Formula 1 project, the 4.7km Velociudad Speedcity circuit, recently took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 16th. More images and brief project description after the break.
The Dalian Urban Planning Museum, designed by Architects Collective, is to be the gateway to the city center redirecting several main streets to the main boulevard. The building skin consists of a careful arrangement of transparent and opaque triangular surfaces closing and revealing the interior of the museum to the urban surrounding. This simple formal strategy keeps the building from overheating in summer and allows natural light in winter. More images and project description after the break.
Edward Mazria, architect, founder and CEO of Architecture 2030 was awarded this year’s Purpose Prize. His work over the past eight years, after founding Architecture 2030, has set numerous environmental goals for the building industry. It has also brought many issues of sustainable design to the forefront of conversations and policies about buildings and their construction. Watch the video for more information!
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Diversity Recognition Program seeks submissions featuring exemplary efforts to diversify the architecture profession. The jury will select up to 12 submissions as diversity best practices meriting the following recognition: AIA Diversity Recognition Program Award, Profiled in AIArchitect and on the AIA Diversity Web page, Acknowledgment at the AIA National Convention: Diversity Recognition Program Awards Presentation and Diversity Recognition Program Exhibit. The AIA must receive all submissions by March 1, 2012. For more information, please visit their website here.
Architectural firm 10 Design from Shanghai and Hong Kong is inviting anyone of all ages – architects, students artists, all who are interested – to take part at their recently started competition, Re-thinking Shanghai 2012.
Located in front of Manila City Hall, the proposed project by HartnessVision integrates ‘water branding’ into the architecture of this Maynilad customer facility. The site is organized around 3 programmed axes (nature, access, amenities) in which pedestrians have priority. The expression of water-channeling and healthy clean water resources play important roles in their concept. More images and project description after the break.
Way back in 1755 an Op-Ed appeared in, of all places, Domus, concerning the relevance of the architectural manifesto. Speaking of relevance, the authors waxed on about some movement known as Occupy Wall Street—remember them? They claim—though I’m not certain it’s entirely true—that Occupy proliferated without the aid of any manifesto and thus serves as an example of how the manifesto has become a thing of the ancient past. Well, there you go. Manifestos are more or less dead these days. They have been supplanted by tweets and something called pragmatism. Seems like this whole pragmatism in architecture thing has been taken around the block a few times before, hasn’t it?
Implementing green roofs into architecture is rapidly becoming a design principle for buildings at every scale. There are many benefits to a green roof including a decrease in heating and cooling costs, which in turn mitigates the urban heat island effect. Other benefits include a natural filter for rain water, an increase in the life span of the roof, a natural habitat for animals and plants and a reduction in dust and smog levels. In this post are four highlighted projects where a green roof is emphasized to produce successful sustainable architectural works.
Trust for the National Mall has announced the Stage II results, naming the ten design teams selected to continue in the third and final stage of the National Mall Design Competition. The National Mall will undergo an approximate $700 million restoration in three selected areas – Union Square including the Reflecting Pool and the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, Sylvan Theater on the Washington Monument Grounds, and the Constitution Gardens between the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.
“We are excited about the teams selected to advance to Stage III and have no doubt each of them will create beautiful, useful and sustainable designs for the National Mall,” said Caroline Cunningham, President of the Trust for the National Mall. “We are eager to share their final designs with the public in April.”
Continue reading for more information and the complete list of finalists.
Studio Banana TV had the opportunity to sit down with Tokyo-based architect Sou Fujimoto. He discussed the current inner-workings of his office and highlights his involvement with teaching in other countries, describing it as a “precious experience”. The importance of learning from other cultures and different students has positively impacted his ever-expanding involvement with a variety of international projects. He describes architecture as a “patient process” and believes architectural education should teach students how exciting the profession is.
Dutch firm Shift Architecture Urbanism is the winner of a first prize, two second prizes and a third prize in the competition for an eco-retail development, the Groene Kamer, in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The aim of the development is to create a new type of country estate where eco-retail, nature and recreation are brought together in an innovative way; A place where city and countryside meet, both physically and programmatically. The competition’s goal was to select the designers of four different building typologies which will populate the masterplan designed by Fabric and Lola landscape architects. Shift’s design, Topos, makes use of a topographic approach that allows for a profound integration of architecture and landscape. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Finally! Amidst all the holiday cheer, we are happy to report a positive Architecture Billings Index this month. From August through October, the ABI has had a crazy run with large dips in the index, but November has changed that with a score a 52.0. Up from 49.4 in October, the 52.0 teamed with a new projects inquiry index of 65.0 rounds out a strong November. Interesting to note, the South led the regional averages with 54.4 followed by the Midwest (50.9) and then the Northeast (49.1) and the West (45.6). And, the sector breakdown measured multi-family residential at 55.8 while industrial/commercial tallied 53.9/ “This is a heartening development for the design and construction industry that only a few years ago accounted for nearly ten percent of overall GDP but has fallen to slightly less than six percent,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “Hopefully, this uptick in billings is a sign that a recovery phase is in the works. However, given the volatility that we’ve seen nationally and internationally recently, we’ll need to see several more months of positive readings before we’ll have much confidence that the U.S. construction recession is ending.”
The proposal by Site-Specific for the Burma School competition aims at escaping from social depression, as Karen people are searching for freedom and are displaced from their homes. They are residing on a borrowed piece of land which they can never owned. They are living in a country that they are not considered parts of society – many of them without citizenship. So they believe that the right kind of architecture can create the sense of belonging and the sense of ownership in the hearts of the displaced Karen community members. They want to create a school that this community can say ‘made by us’ and ‘made for us’. Thus, this school can become the center of the community. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The design of the proposal by OODA + OOIIO was instinctively developed under basic and determinant assumptions reflected from the local. Water, rurality, urbanity and cultural habits and traditions. They have tried to form an interactive balance among all the premises and found in nature a conceptual framework that served as a starting point for the formalization of their urban housing plan. The floating water lilies. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Polonsky Academy building, designed by Chyutin Architects, is situated on the cliff facing south towards the Jerusalem Theater. Its northern side faces the Main Garden Court which will function as the heart of the campus in the new master plan. The low horizontal appearance of the Polonsky Academy building fits in with the dimensions and design characteristics of the existing buildings with their closed stone fronts to the city and glass fronts facing the open inner garden. Other building materials to be used are exposed concrete and wood slats. The design of the building elevation respects the modernistic spirit of the existing buildings. More images and architects’ description after the break.
As disabled U.S. military veterans return home, they often face the challenge of adapting to a new home and finding ways to cope with their surroundings. In order to better serve the returning soldiers, Clark Reality Capital commissioned Michael Graves & Associates (MGA) to design the “Wounded Warrior Home Project.” In conjunction with IDEO, Graves has designed a complete residential environment for physically impaired veterans. The single-family prototype homes provide everything from adjustable height kitchen counter-tops to easy-access rooms and closets, creating a comfortable environment for the physical and emotional needs of the soldiers.
The devastating earthquake and tsunami that ravaged northeastern Japan in early March caused unimaginable damage and heartbreak to many. In response, Google has created a website named “Mirai e no kioku”, meaning “Memories for the Future”. The website allows the people of Japan to share photos and videos of their cities in an effort to preserve the memories collected over generations that may have been lost during the disaster. Google has also provided thousands of miles of Street View imagery that includes “Before” and “After” comparisons of the hardest hit areas.
Check out this great video by SO-IL about their spatial facade for the Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale. Referencing the 1980 Venice Bienale where 20 architects collaboratively designed a “facade” that challenged the notions of an individual and collective expression, SO-IL has taken a similar approach for their 2011 work. The firm, no doubt, is used to challenging the accepted norms of architects and architecture – case in point, their Pole Dance for MoMA PS1 - and this Biennale proposal marks a distinction between the facade as a flat symbolic representation, and the use of the facade to actually become a spatial and experiential element. “It is high time to revisit this canonical exhibition of post-modernism. 40 years after our predecessors expanded the territory of the architectural discipline into the experience of time, we continue to believe that growth and innovation are limitless if a new territory of spatiality can be defined,” says Jing Liu of SO-IL when reflecting on the intention this installation. With SO-IL’s prismatic paneled “colonnade” of marble tiles backed with mirrors, visitors can experience a changing depth of the installation and discover new spaces while wandering through it.
The new library in Dalian by Architects Collective is designed to become the center and heart for the local community with a strong relationship to the ocean and the bay. The building is placed in a park setting and aims to be a landmark for locals and visitors and a symbol for the creative and environmentally friendly future of New Pulian. More images and project description after the break.
The aim of the design proposal by sam architecture for the sports facilities at Lille-Fives was to create a pure and efficient building. The clearly identifiable shape of the concrete plate, which covers the grandstand and the gymnasium, announces the sport facility from far around. It is undeniably inspired by Future system’s Lords Cricket Ground Media Stand. It truly identifies the building and is ment to become a symbol of the renewal of Lille-Fives, a former industrial and socially fragile district. More images and architects’ description after the break.
