Designed by Fabiano Ravaglia, Liebert Rodrigues, Vinícius Philot, Fernanda Marx, Tiago Mendonça, and Karen Novaes, the DAF: Designing for Adaptable Futures competition proposal focuses on expansion and flexibility to create a new way of thinking about Brazilian social housing. Based on practices developed by the low-income residents of the social housings of Rio, the team objective is to formulate a set of strategies that could enable and encourage the expansion of housing but in a neatly way. By taking advantage of the existing structure and implantation and inside the constructive knowledge of the population, this will allow the enlargement when it suits them. More images and architects’ description after the break.

ANDO | Andalucía Office, composed by five young architects from the University of Seville, shared with us their 2nd prize winning proposal in the Fourth edition of the “International Mock Firms Skyscraper Competition” organized by Chicago Architecture Today. Their concept, which focused on versatility, let to their NODO project, a tower over 550 meters in Beijing. The most innovative architectural idea of the project is based on the possibility of a constantly changing skyscraper. It is all about developing a mutant vertical city building possibility, which answers to its time, place and inhabitants requirements. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The “Line, surface, space“ installation, by Kawahara Krause Architects, is displayed as part of the architectural triennale in Hamburg this summer. Erected on the plan of three interlocking twisted squares of different sizes, the threads of the outer square suggest the edges of an imaginary space, while the more densely arranged threads towards the middle seem to create surfaces. A fragile structure of threads stretching from floor to ceiling seems to dissolve in space and recompose to ever new appearances. Varying between transparent and closed surfaces, the spatial perception changes with each step taken through the installation. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Designed by J. MAYER H., the ‘Schaustelle’ or ‘show site’ will be a temporary pavilion and platform for the four collections housed at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, Germany. The temporary closure has been seen as an opportunity that will give rise to a makeshift exhibition building – the Schaustelle. Set up to hold exhibitions, workshops, talks, performances, film screenings and video installations, and much more, the scheme has been initiated by the Pinakothek der Moderne Foundation. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Taking place at the Shanghai Oil Painting and Sculpture Institute (SPSI), from July 25 to August 25, the ‘Foster + Partners: the Art of Architecture’ exhibition is the first major survey of the studio’s work to be held in China. It reveals details of a number of new projects underway in the region, including headquarters for Citic Bank in Hangzhou, a new tower in Nanjing and the Vantone development in Shanghai. It is also an opportunity to see the original models and sketches for high-profile completed buildings, such as Beijing International Airport, the Millau Viaduct in France, Hearst Tower in New York and the Swiss Re headquarters in London. More architects’ description after the break.

With this year’s theme being “Big Tree Paradigm” Akihisa Hirata, Shelter Corporation of Japan is inviting under-graduate or post-graduate students at universities or at tertiary institutions (including: junior colleges, colleges of technology, and other relevant vocational schools) as of November 17, 2012, to participate in their annual Student Architectural design Competition. Participants are challenged to design a house that has an attractive quality that is somehow similar to the attractiveness of big trees. It is not necessary that the house imitates the shape of trees. Rather, it is good if the idea starts from the attractiveness of big trees and develops into an unpredictable outcome – the form does not need to look like a tree at all. Submissions are due no later than September 28. To register and for more information, please visit here.

Ground was broken early this month in Singapore for the new Yale-NUS College campus, designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects in collaboration with Forum Architects of Singapore. Jointly created by Yale University and the National University of Singapore, Yale-NUS College is the first college campus established by Yale outside of New Haven, Connecticut. The campus opens in 2015 and is designed to achieve the highest rating under the Green Mark, Singapore’s benchmark for sustainable design Comprising three residential colleges for 1,000 students, the campus balances the traditions of Yale with the cultural and climatic influences of Southeast Asia. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Neutelings Riedijk Architects has made a design for a 180 m high office tower, ‘Le Cinq’ in Paris, commissioned by Brussels developer Buelens NV as one out of four teams for the international competition organized by the City of Paris. The new skyscraper serves as the focal point for the east of Paris in the new urban development of the XIIIth arrondissement, near to the Grande Bibliothèque. The tower consists of a stacking of five separate volumes of six stories each, cantilevered from two vertical cores with open space between the volumes. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The semifinalists were recently announced for the 2011 Open Architecture Challenge: RESTRICTED ACCESS competition. Launched by Architecture for Humanity, the competition asked architects and designers to partner with community groups across the world and develop innovative solutions to re-envision closed, abandoned and decommissioning military sites. After a hard week of voting, during which time jurors had to make tough decisions between the 200 uploaded entries, the semifinalists have finally been determined with the five winning places . They thank all of the participants for their hard work. For a complete list of all the semifinalists and their projects, please visit here. More images can be viewed in the gallery after the break.

Public voting started this past week and will go on until July 22 for the inaugural George Matsumoto Prize for North Carolina Modernist residential design, a unique architecture competition sponsored by nonprofit Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH).

LOLA landscape architects from Rotterdam and Studio KARST from Zurich recently won the international ideas competition for their plans for the future Singel Park in Leiden. The two agencies present “convincing and thoughtful concepts for both the park as a whole, as well as for the role the park can play in Leiden’s future.” That’s the conclusion of the advisory committee headed by Mayor Henri Lenferink. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The expansion project for the Radio Museum in Ponferrada, Spain is built around a new courtyard, which houses the entrance to the building and provides support for “sound” connection with the old museum. Designed by VAUMM arkitekturak and Taperstudio, the piece is inserted in the historic center offering a renewed image from the traditional imaginary. The connection of the volumes at the end of the courtyard and the inner spatial distribution, organizing servant and served spaces, enable a clear and easy travel throughout the building. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Designed by MIRO architects, the starting point for their Klaksvik City Center proposal kept with the language of the genesis of urban nuclei: the form is inherited from the land, shaped by the surroundings as well as the needs and functions that are to be hosted in its nest. This also involved morphing to fit its context as well as accommodate for a plenitude of public spaces. The shape of the new core is based off of a landfill on the bottom of the bay. Even if it is possibly a random shape, it represents a fundamental step in the history of the town: the creation of the tunnel to southern islands. More images and architects’ description after the break.

With the challenge to design a large primary and secondary school in Allscwhil, a low density residential zone in the only free spot in the area, this proposal seeks to maintain the public void by formalizing a close relationship to the environment. By doing so, RaichdelRio estudi d’arquitectura achieves a big scale program in a small town appearance, being both coherent with the environment and with his use. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Designed by o2a studio, the man-made structure for the Natural History Museum in Jerusalem is designated to celebrate the transcendent force and majesty of nature, which is a contradiction in terms. The paradoxical question that arises when approaching the design of a building that is dedicated as a showcase for the unbuilt, is how does one bridge this conceptual gap between the man-made and the organic – between the artificial and the natural. The proposal aims to highlight this difficulty, while allowing for a composite coexistence between the natural and the artificial – interpreted here as ranging between various degrees of control. More images and architects’ description after the break.

For one week during May this year, during the Detour de France, Collective Etc. was invited by the association “Vivre la rue” to open a construction site in Brest, in the district of Recouvrance, Saint Malo. In this context, they offered to add a contemporary layer to the ruins of the street, resulting in the One:One Theatre. Their intention was to highlight the existence of the access to the new footpath that connects the small garden to the staircase in the back of the street, which was made safe to be open to the public. More images and architects’ description after the break.

CityVision recently announced the winners of the New York CityVision Competition. The competition’s goal was to imagine New York in its future if the manipulation of the urban context and its architectural objects, joined with its inhabitants, is influenced by space and time. With 151 project entries from all five continents and 32 different countries, the jury carefully examined all the entries and then unanimously elected the winners as Eirini Giannakopoulou, Stefano Carera, Hilario Isola, and Matteo Norzi took the first prize. More images and information on the winners after the break.

Designed by Huasen Architects, the winning competition proposal for the Research and Development Center for colorful Guizhou.co is based on the structure of local villages, having full possibilities to grow in all directions. The orientation for each building was defined by the best natural view of the river and surrounding mountains. Located near the new district of Long dong bao, just 15 minutes drive from the airport, the site has an undulating character with differing levels up to 15 meters, and sits along a small river. More images and architects’ description after the break.