Complications could be on the rise for Snøhetta and AECOM, who were recently announced as the Golden State Warriors’ architects of choice to design their new sports and entertainment complex on the San Francisco waterfront. Despite the complications, however, the architects still have time to execute the hoped-for ‘slam dunk’. More information after the break.
Designed for Lausanne Lumieres (Urban Light Festival), Flux Cocoon was selected as one of the winning projects of the the city’s first Light Festival, which inaugurated on November 23rd and will run until early January. Designed by Allegory, the project was installed in the heart of the city and was inspired by its location at the crossing between vertical and horizontal pedestrian movements (flux). The project is also an abstraction of the knot created by the crossing of each pedestrian’s path at this precise point in the Flon area, which is city’s major transportation hub. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Artist Gijs Van Vaerenbergh shared with us his recent project, Framework, a monumental geometric sculpture, which was recently on display in Leuven, above the ring road on the Artoisplein. With this sculpture, Vaerenbergh has once more produced a work in the public space that is based on the language and expertise of the architecture to create an autonomous art object. The result has become a tangible spatial drawing that plays on the visual experience of the object in space as well as the environment. Both interact and determine each other’s ‘view’. More images and artist’s description after the break.
Designed by Tomas Ghisellini Architects, the first prize winning proposal for the Domus Vitae, a new city morgue and social facilities complex, is aimed at being a new architectural presence with a continuous but porous body. The design includes balconies, porches, patios, terraces, overhangs and suspended volumes which capture, tame or magnify natural light. These features create spaces for which the atmospheric quality is supposed to be a decisive added value. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Moving from concept sketch to parametric model, this webinar by modeLab, which takes place this Friday at 2:00pm-4:30pmEST, will cover the ins and outs of working with and managing data trees in Grasshopper for real world design applications. Through a series of short presentations and “live” case studies, learn to streamline your parametric workflows using complex data structures. With two instructors offering guided curriculum and continuous support, their goal is to provide you with an in-depth and personal learning experience. A video of the webinar as well as instructor files will be uploaded after the broadcast. To register and for more information, please visit here.
Stemming from the idea of creating a perfect synergy between architecture, nature and social technologies, the competition winning proposal for the St. Horto project by OFL Architecture fits perfectly within the project area in Rome. By redefining the boundaries through a game of compressions and expansions, the architects create a dynamic and attractive space. More images and architects’ description after the break.
For once, British architects, the Prince’s Foundation, and NIMBYs have something they can all agree on. In a speech to the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), UK planning minister, Nick Boles, has come out swinging against the “pig-ugliness” of British housing, which has given it a bad name:
“We are trapped in a vicious circle. People look at the new housing estates that have been bolted onto their towns and villages in recent decades and observe that few of them are beautiful. Indeed, not to put too fine a point of it, many of them are pig-ugly In a nutshell, because we don’t build beautifully, people don’t let us build much. And because we don’t build much, we can’t afford to build beautifully. My personal mission as planning minister is to help us break out of this vicious cycle once and for all.”
The criticism has been welcomed by many British architects as a necessary wake-up call for Britain and a call-to-action for its architects.
More on this story, after the break…
Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture (KKA) shared with us their winning proposal for Nya Kollaskolan, which is expected to be the largest passive-house school in Sweden, as well as one of the largest passive house buildings in the country. A centerpiece in the new Kollastaden area in the center of Kungsbacka, the school will supplement the existing school, built in 2000, and host around 360 students and 75 employees. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The new Água Espraiada Operação Urbana urban planning program in Sao Paulo has taken a major approach to sustainability. With this plan in action, the Rochaverá Corporate Towers, a high profile mixed residential, office, and shopping complex, is a great example. The recently built project is located at a former industrial area along the Pinheiros River Basin. This enormous 1.2-million-square-foot development, designed by Aflalo and Gasperini Architects, was built to be highly energy efficient, control water usage, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and ease traffic congestion. With the success of the mentioned project, we can begin to ask ourselves, ‘How can a development accomplish all of those objectives?’ Start with urban planning that mitigates sprawl, one of biggest threats to the planet today. More information after the break.
Opening at 6:00pm tomorrow at the Museum of Finnish Architecture, UNBUILT HELSINKI is an exhibition about the Unbuilt City and its inhabitants as part of the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 program. Drawn from the museum’s archive and beyond, unrealized projects in Helsinki are studied by a team of researchers who generate new relationships with local resources in order to translate the projects into architectural models. Their findings and the narratives behind the buildings are displayed in an exhibition at the museum. The event is curated by Åbäke and Nene Tsuboi and will be up until February 24. For more information, please visit here.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro‘s ‘Bubble’ project (featured here) has recently come under fire by critics for its “ballooning” cost. Meant to be a seasonally inflated, temporary structure at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC., the Bubble’s original price-tag ($5 million) has now inflated to $15.5 million. The federally-funded price tag would be less relevant if the project were universally accepted, but many feel that the “Bubble” represents a misguided attempt to get into the spectacle game.
More information after the break.
Located in the Seodaemu-gu district of Seoul, the Swiss Embassy proposal by Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects stands as a pavilion sitting on four mushroom columns. Reaching the maximum authorized height, the project becomes part of the makeover that the neighborhood is about to undergo with its global and drastic transformations. The end result is a tree house like structure floating over a canopy of dense trees in an extremely urban context. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Inspired by Design Indaba, the Your Street Live Challenge aims to transform space and improve life at the street level in Africa through creative thought, one street at a time. Want to be part of something big? This is an opportunity to participate in a global movement that is working to ensure a better world through creativity. Your Street Live is open to anyone living anywhere in the world. Simply send your proposal for how the area where you live, work or play can be improved by harnessing the transformative power of creativity, design and innovation. The deadline for entries is January 28. In total, R1 million (Approx. $115,000 USD) will be awarded to the best ideas. For more information, please visit here.
The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and World Stage Design 2013 are currently seeking proposals for the competition to design a sustainable temporal theatre. The winning design will be built in Cardiff and house performances and events as part of the World Stage Design 2013 festival. Open to students and professionals from across all related disciplines, the structure must be weather and sound-proof and be designed using either existing and readily available building components or alternative sustainable elements. The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2013. More information after the break.
In contrast to the other buildings in the Töölönlahti District of Helsinki, an essential component of the design by PAR and Arup for the Central Library involved creating a public space at the top of the library—visually connecting Töölönlahti to Senate Square and the city at large. The library is organized by six intersecting axes that afford spectacular vistas while creating a variety of spatial configurations for the library’s program. With it’s six floor levels each pointing toward a celebrated landmark, the Central Library becomes a symbolic center for city. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The members of the Master Jury were just announced for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, which is given every three years to projects that set new standards of excellence in architecture, planning practices, historic preservation and landscape architecture. The Jury, which includes Mr. David Adjaye, Dr. Howayda al-Harithy, Mr. Michel Desvigne, Professor Mahmood Mamdani, Mr. Kamil Merican, Professor Toshiko Mori, Ms. Shahzia Sikander, Mr. Murat Tabanlioglu, and Mr. Wang Shu, independently selects the recipients of the US$ 1 million Award, will convene in January 2013 to select a shortlist from hundreds of nominated projects. The shortlisted projects will then be subject to rigorous on-site reviews by independent experts. The Jury will meet for a second time in June 2013 to examine the on-site reviews and then select the final recipients of the Award. More information on the Master Jury after the break.
The proposal for the Helsinki Central Library by OODA tries to merge the most efficient program articulation with a strong concept which intends to suggest the overall theme integrated with Helsinki’s context. Their building acts as a shifting point between the two demarked city urban networks – ancient and modern – merging both, creating a public path that connects to the park while it simultaneously generates the formal composition. The new central library will be much more than a traditional library. It will be a dynamic entity, fully equipped, comprised of the physical spaces themselves as well as technology, library collections, staff, tourists in an all-age designed forefront building. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Golden State Warriors recently announced that Snøhetta and AECOM have been selected as the architecture team to design the Warriors’ new sports and entertainment complex on the San Francisco waterfront. Currently in the final stages of the agreement, the new stadium will be a true centerpiece in hosting the Bay Area’s NBA basketball team, as well as provide a great venue concerts, cultural events and conventions, which are all prominent events the city currently cannot accommodate. More images of the architects’ design can be viewed after the break.