National land charity the Land Trust and RIBA Competitions launched an international competition this week until the last week in March to find the most inspirational design and funding team to create a new visitor destination and public open space at the former Cronton Colliery in Knowsley. The competition is open to architects and architect-led multi-disciplinary design teams and will be in two stages, judged anonymously in the first stage. A shortlist will then be invited to enhance and present their designs and potential funding propositions at interview as part of the second stage. More information on the competition after the break.
A garden is not just a beautiful place; it is a place for enjoyment, a place of admiration and a place where we come in contact with and learn about nature, especially food. A garden is also a workplace, where one’s hard efforts are rewarded with a bountiful harvest. In recognition of the intense relationship between growing and eating a garden, Taste the Slope, the winning proposal in the International Garden Festival by Active City Transformation, strives to create a more meaningful public connection to the foods we grow and where they are eaten; a local, hands-on garden café of sorts. More images and architects description after the break.
CLOG recently announced their open call for submissions for their third issue, Data Space. All over the world, data centers are becoming integral components of our 21st century infrastructure. These facilities can range from small portable modules to massive warehouses full of servers, from sleek new constructions to reuse of existing infrastructures. What is the significance of this bridge between the virtual and the physical? How does this new typology affect the discourse of architecture and the shaping of our built environment? As cloud storage and global internet usage increase, it’s finally time to talk about the physical space of data. The deadline for submissions is January 9th. For more information, please visit their website here.
When architects use SketchUp Pro as a tool for making more-accurate bubble diagrams, they create “rooms” whose areas match the ones in the program, group each one, and arrange them three-dimensionally. This is useful until one of the rooms changes size, which can throw off the whole process.
With the aim to provide a portable building solution that is tailored to suit the site, climate and desired learning outcomes in an efficient, sustainable and adaptable way, Architectus designed a system titled, eMOD (Educational Modular Offsite Design). It is an adaptable modular design system comprising two separate modules 4.5m x 15m that can be configured to create a building solution to suit the site, climate and learning outcomes. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Carmody Groarke were recently announced as the winners of the RIBA competition to redevelop the Windermere Steamboat Museum in the Lake District National Park. Earlier this year, the Lakeland Arts Trust secured initial support for a £7.4m Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) bid*, including £494,000 development funding, to take the project forward. The project aims to create an exciting and active museum which will use the lake and the stunning lakeside setting to display the nationally significant collection of steam launches, motor boats, yachts and other vessels which are all associated with Windermere. More images and project description after the break.
Journey to Seven Light Bay, Mariko Mori’s anticipated exhibition is now on view on the Adobe Museum of Digital Media (AMDM) as of Dec. 6, 2011. This digital exhibition can be viewed entirely online here, and also corresponds with the first phase of her physical installation which opens in Japan on Dec. 22, 2011.
Journey to Seven Light Bay is a digital recreation of Mariko Mori’s remote physical project, and an exploration of Mori’s artistic vision. Both projects focus on themes of nature, spirituality, technology, and futuristic design, prevalent throughout Mori’s work. More information on the exhibition after the break.
‘And then it became a city…’ is a film series featured at the 2011 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture. The Biennale is curated by Terence Riley and just opened last week – on view in Shenzhen through February 18, 2012. And then it became a city… shows the everyday life and activity of six planned cities under sixty years old. The cities featured include Gabarone, Chandigarh, Shenzhen, Almere, Las Vegas, and Brasilia. More trailers on the films about their corresponding cities can be viewed after the break.
This design proposal by 2bw Studio for the School for Burmese Refugees, an international competition put on by Building Trust International, responds to its situation by providing a series of sheltered spaces and enclosures that encourage children to learn, play and be rehabilitated into the local community. The design is intended to be colorful, warm and promote a feeling of safety and sanctuary where children will be able to develop and learn new skills. The design is based on a modular construction system which allows the buildings to easily expand to suit future uses or a different site if required. More images and architects’ description after the break.
This Helsinki’s new South Harbor proposal, designed by Macyauski Research & Design, is envisioned as the iconic gateway into the heart of the city that serves its tourists and travelers aesthetically and effectively. Its strong urban connection between the waterfront and the city has been simplified to efficiently activate Helsinki’s South Harbor. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Given the particular nature of the program described in the competition brief, the proposal for the Istanbul Disaster Center by DRA&U focuses on the realization of a visually striking building that also represents a challenge to traditional architecture and engineering. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Architectural designers Alan Cheung Kwok-lun and Sam Hau Sum-ming from Hong Kong have designed a conceptual passenger terminal building for the International Design Ideas Competition for Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point Passenger Terminal Building, in an attempt to link up China and Hong Kong through the reveal of nature. Inspired by the distant nature of the lands along the border, the proposed architecture does not merely fulfill the purpose of border crossing. It should be capable in enhancing the usability for both Hong Kong and Shenzhen citizens, as well as the aesthetic quality of the hidden natural surroundings. More images and architects’ description after the break.
As part of the Little Tokyo Design Week event in Los Angeles this past July, deegan day design of Los Angeles and Open A of Japan curated an exhibition of 40 houses from Japan and California called Tokyo/LA Houses. The goal was to highlight 20 Japanese and 20 Californian architectural practices that explore new efficiencies of scale, construction and reduced ecological impact, posing innovative possibilities for the future of small-scale residential design.
As part of their exhibition, many architects also donated a model to auction benefiting the recent disasters in Japan. Although this exhibition only lasted for four short days, they were able to raise over $3,000. Tokyo/LA Houses, with the help of US-Japan Council, started another auction for the remaining models until December 20th on eBay. More information on the auction after the break.
To celebrate the festive period, the V&A has commissioned design duo Studio Roso to create a Christmas Tree for the Grand Entrance of the Museum until January 5th. The handmade ‘tree’ is made up of 3.3 miles of elastic cord and will reach over 4 meters high. A total of 1500 individual strands have been combined to create the outline of a traditional Christmas Tree. Within these cords Studio Roso has created a number of geometric shapes, referencing both traditional Christmas ornaments and the crystalline structure of snowflakes and icicles, providing a decorative garland throughout the installation. The design for the tree was inspired by the intricate craft of bobbin lacing, a technique often used in traditional Christmas decorations. More images after the break.
The winning project proposal of Hotel Liesma by Ventura Trindade Architects recovers the concept of old ‘estrãdês’, simple outdoor structures formed by a stage with an acoustic shell and a flat audience, in front.The building acts like a system of visual and functional relation with the theme of the music box (resonance box), with visual resonance in the collective memory of the guests and general population. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Founded in 1973 on the campus of The University of South Dakota in Vermillion, the National Music Museum & Center for Study of the History of Musical Instruments is one of the great institutions of its kind in the world. Its collections, which include more than 15,000 American, European, and non-Western instruments from virtually all cultures and historical periods, are the most inclusive anywhere. The addition, designed by Schwartz/Silver Architects in association with Koch Hazard Architects, will span between the original Museum building to the east and the South Dakota Union to the west.
As the addition connects both existing buildings, it re-positions the main entrance to be at the center of the new composition. While the architecture of the addition is striking in form, it incorporates the color and texture of the limestone original building in the materials of the new façade and plaza surface. The project is scheduled to begin construction in 2013, with the auditorium to follow as a second phase. More images after the break.
Oppenheim Architecture + Design recently won the international competition to design a new hotel in Brooklyn, NY. A third pillar of the Williamsburg Bridge to emerge after 108 years. Their design of the Williamsburg hotel attempts to capture the essence of this vibrant neighborhood. Adjacent to both the Williamsburg Bridge and the historic Williamsburg Savings Bank, the building expresses itself as three dramatically proportioned, rectilinear volumes of varied height and materiality. Soaring high above the neighborhood, the hotel becomes the third pillar of the bridge, while serving as an archetypical tower to the domed basilica of the historical bank.
Sustainability was once again an important issue for Oppenheim Architecture + Design. The hotel will have geothermal, wind, and solar power generation, along with other resource saving strategies, for which they achieved Platinum LEED rating. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The main idea of the Multi-functional Pavilions by Aleksander Wadas is to create public spaces with social functions like culture, recreation, sports. They would be built with temporary pavilions of minor scale that can be easily fitted in the existing urban tissue, would have light components and could be mobile . They could be places where people could take some fitness exercises, take part in workshops or expositions or just rest. More images and project description after the break.
