The 244th annual Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, which is held until August 12, features a site specific architectural installation designed by architect and artist Chris Wilkinson, Director at Wilkinson Eyre Architects. Positioned in the center of the RA’s Annenberg Courtyard, From Landscape to Portrait is a 12 meter-long sculpture based on a series of 11 wooden artist’s frames, supported upon a timber structure clad in polished stainless steel. More images and information on the installation after the break.
Located on an urban corner lot in the city of Vancouver, the Zero Mile House establishes a relationship between the size of the lot and the size of the construction it supports. Designed by Yianna Bouyioukou, the architectural strategy is focused on most of the house’s construction materials being produced literally on the specific lot. This way, land is not only the physical support for the human habitat, but also the provider. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Located on top of a plateau, which is abruptly ended by a sloped edge, the strong topographical element of the Riethüsli Primary School leads to a severe breaking point between the site and its surrounding context. Designed by MPP Architekten, the aim of the concept is to let the school act as an urban communicator. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The main objective of the project for the Ödemis New City Center by Onat Öktem is to integrate urban functions to ensure the continuity of the pedestrian and green axis while creating a new structure. In this context, defined and undefined urban spaces have been reorganized to increase the physical, social and cultural wealth of the citizens. Green axis, squares and spaces in the city have been evaluated as an advantage for the social, cultural and physical development. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Taking place at the Lisbon Architecture Triennale headquarters from July 16-21, the ‘CRITICAL: Lisbon’ workshop is dedicated to talking, writing, and publishing critically about architecture. Coordinated by Lev Bratishenko, Frederico Duarte and Becky Quintal (included in the Critical Distance program of Lisbon Architecture Triennale), the event is conceived as a speculative editorial project that confronts the notion that architects and the public operate in ideologically disparate universes by focusing on their common desire to improve the city. More information on the workshop after the break.
The idea of the Quattro Punti per una Torre installation, designed by Massimo Iosa Ghini for FMG Fabbrica Marmi e Graniti, is to use the primordial monolith, the whole massive block of stone material. In collaboration with Iguzzini, Tecnovision, and Faraonea, the project at the University of Milan represents produced architecture and sculptures from time immemorial, repeated through the use of the large-sized ceramic slab with a finish that draws inspiration from the quarry stone. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The concept for the ToyBox, a portable installation by Studio Gil , focuses on being a giant toy box for children. A 1500mmX750mm box frame supports three “landscapes” at different heights. These “landscapes” act as a surface and support frame for a series of interactions and games accessed through a screen running along the perimeter of the box. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The proposal for the new city center of Klaksvik by Group 8 aims to become a model of design that is environmentally, economically and socially sustainable; a place synonymous with modern ideals for living, working, being. The design is inspired by a dense and controlled scale of intervention, based on a strong network where each part of the town will be interconnected through sustainable methods of moving, thus providing a green means of living to all inhabitants. The inter-connected city enhances the close relationship between the actors within and is ready to answer to the new ambitions of the town, while maintaining strong traditions. More images and architects’ description after the break.
As part of the 2012 cycle of competitions curated by Adrian Lahoud, Think Space is calling for entries in its Yokohama Port Terminal competition. Simply put, the Yokohama project actually started around the possibility of generating organization from a circulation pattern, which is basically a hybridization between a shed – a more or less undetermined container – and a ground, thus inventing a unique architectural/urban typology, one that would go on to influence a generation of architects. More images and information on the competition after the break.
Based on natural light, open spaces and greenery such as peat, grass and flowers, the proposal by OOIIO Architecture for the Female Prison in Iceland dismisses the dark spaces, small cells and grey concrete walls typical of a traditional prison. The construction will be economical and efficient while not giving off the appearance of a typical penitentiary and increasing a sense of freedom. More images and architects’ description after the break.
BNKR Arquitectura designed a proposal for a 41 room student housing complex in a residential neighborhood in Cholula for the University of the Americas, which is currently growing and being absorbed into the urban area of Puebla, Mexico. The program is characterized as a dense agglomeration of cells with busy common areas that absorb student social life. More images and architects’ description after the break.
In their proposal for the Re-thinking Shanghai competition, Vinícius Philot, Fabiano Ravaglia, and Gibran Duarte aims at transforming the big metropolis through biological methamorphosis. In their “Let’s paint Shanghai with fireflies” design, they give thought to the question, How could we make Shanghai, an already trend setting city within Asian and global scenario, also a reference for urban sustainable growth? The firefly system will be a sub-effect of a new way of thinking the public space. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The second prize winning design proposal for the observatory on the top of Kelcsky Javornik takes advantage of its unique location in a hilly area located north of Zlin, Czech Republic. The landscape difference between the highland of Wallachia on one side and the flat land of Haná region on the other side was taken as the main principle of the design by Mimosa Architekti. The view is strictly directed to one side as visitors go up the structure giving the chance to view Haná‘s characteristic landscape on north or Wallachia on south. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Writhing Tower, designed by LYCS Architecture, is a sky condo for one of the most beautiful residential zones in Lima. The proposal is for a global architectural competition initiated by ARQUIA, an international development firm interested in commissioning architecture as art. Each unit is rotated 45 degrees to create a cruciform shape in plan and the appearance of a linear hinged volume. It enables each unit to have uninterrupted views to both the public park in front of the site, and the ocean to the rear of the site. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed by gmp Architekten, Warsaw’s National Stadium prevailed against international competition and won the World Stadium Award in the best multifunctional stadium design and most innovative use of technology categories in stadium design. On the occasion of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, the stadium was reconstructed on top of the existing – but since 1988 no longer used and dilapidated – earth wall stadium (Stadion Dziesieciolecia), and re-opened in January of this year. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The school of architecture at IE University and TU Graz is putting on an intensive 8-day studio-based design workshop that will be held in Madrid, from July 6-13. This year’s program, titled “Emptiness: The Potentials of Vacancy”, will deal with the consequences and opportunities that derive from the gross overbuilding of the past decade. After years of construction-fueled euphoria, we are now confronted with the after-effects: a city riddled with empty masses, incomplete plans, and urban spaces hastily conceived and neither fully constructed nor consolidated. The moment is challenging and profoundly liberating; it is a crisis that demands creativity and gives us license to invent. For more information, please visit here.
The Shaktar Donetsk 50,000-seater stadium, the Donbass Arena, designed by Arup, will play host to the opening game in Group D between France and England, as well as several other matches, including the second semi-final. Arup, who played a key role in the design team that produced the €320 million Donbass Arena, will feature alongside the football talents of Ashley Young, Franck Ribery and the rest of the players at this year’s European Football Championships. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Sancak Mosque, designed by Emre Arolat Architects, aims to address the fundamental issues of designing a mosque by distancing itself from the current architectural discussions based on form and focusing solely on the essence of religious space. Located in Buyuk Cekmece, a suburban neighborhood in the outskirts of Istanbul, the high walls surrounding the park on the upper courtyard of the mosque depict a clear boundary between the chaotic outer world and the serene atmosphere of the public park. More images and architects’ description after the break.
