The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) chapter at Washington State University will proudly host the Spring 2012 West Quad Regional Conference in Spokane at the end of March 2012. The conference will take place March 29th – April 1st on the WSU Spokane campus under the theme of “Preserving Identities,” welcoming in attendees from across the Western United States. More images and information on the event after the break.
In association with Jean-Baptiste Ferrari et Associes SA, gmp Architekten recently won the competition for a sports complex and urban re-design in Lausanne, Switzerland. The design manages to create an urban link between the diverse structure of the neighboring quarters, the new proposed residential quarter and the shores of Lake Geneva. Situated on a triangular lot, the site is defined in the south by the motorway and in the west and north by large arterial roads. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Museum of Architecture and Design is proud to announce the international Call for Entries for the 23rd Biennial of Design – the international exhibition and BIO Design Awards competition. Through its selection of well-designed works and emphasis on quality, originality, and innovation, the exhibit presents current trends in contemporary design. The exhibited works are eligible to receive the Biennial’s awards for the best designs of the past two years.
The Europan 11 proposal for the science park in Ingolstadt, Germany received an honorable mention in the competition. Dominated by technology and science, the intent of YanKang Wang, ShuYan Wang, Yuan Lin, and JingRong Zhong is to create a fresh urban development concept for this city, which is based on the cooperation of industry and academia. Under the theme of innovative living and working, environmentally friendly technology and renewable energy will be applied by creating a new settlement model. However, in this way the city inhabitants will be initiated simultaneously how to live in a future way with the existing resources. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The strategy by FangCheng Architects for the affordable housing design in Shenzhen involves bringing the apartments outside the urban core. Their concept is to build as many affordable houses as possible in the urban center, which can decrease residents’ travelling time and increase usage and sharing of urban facilities. This strategy aims to improve social housing integration in the urban core which is done through building 6200 affordable housing units in the urban center. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Emerging New York Architects Competition proposal, ‘The Greenhouse Transformer’, which received an honorable mention, is a typology for urban farming with the purpose of creating environments for learning year round within the community of West Harlem. PRAUD‘s main goal is to integrate life cycle components of food production into a building that is also a catalyst for activity in the area and allows visitors to engage in the program in a more efficient way. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Wolf House Productions and Gabriel Pascariu shared with us their first prize winning proposal in the ‘Dnieper Pearls’ international urban planning competition in Kiev. THE BLUE LINE aims at providing a sustainable development framework for the Kiev islands as well as an infrastructural backbone for the future urban development of the entire metropolis. Their design suggests a paradigm shift: from large scale urban and infrastructure projects (specific to Ukrainian urban planning) to a more fluid and efficient place-making driven urbanism. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Integrated within the overall residential development of SuZhou 133: Baitang One, the aim of the kindergarten design by CPG Advisory is to provide a high quality, inspiring environment for early age education in the new CBD of SuZhou, China. The design concept is based on the famous children classic: Jack and Beanstalk. By using vines, leaves and beans as the architectural and landscape design elements, a kindergarten associated with the “Magic World” in the story of Jack and Beanstalk is created. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Map 13 shared with us their project, Infrastructural Archeaology. Landfills are areas of great potential which are but a mere evidence of the uncontrolled cosumerism of this extreme society. They understand that waste should be buried and isolated, and not be forgotten and abandoned. It is thus an open project, where the definite plan of its pieces is not the main interest, but rather the definition of its systems and their development in time. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The finalists of the international competition to transform the Carlsberg Brewhouse into an exciting, must-see Brand and Experience Center, was recently revealed. The competition sought to find proposals that would create a world-class attraction with a broad appeal to visitors who wish to be challenged, engaged and entertained by one of the world’s strongest brands. The main focus is on the transformation on the Brewhouse and the Elephant Gate but should also describe how Carlsberg Group can re-enforce, strengthen and further develop its presence in the Carlsberg site. More images and information on the finalists’ proposal after the break.
Launched just last week, the UrbanCollective Modular Building Design Challenge 2012, open to all architects, engineers, designers and students – individually or in groups, challenges participants to design a contemporary modular home. throughout the world. The competition aims to further dialogue within the design community and build interest about prefabrication and modular design but also to create contemporary and affordable modular designs to aid in combating the widely discussed housing affordability crisis in Australia. Submissions close April 20th and the winner will be awarded $2,000.00USD in cash. For more information, please visit here.
Matteo Cainer Architects shared with us their proposal for the Museum Santiago Ydáñez in the town of Puente de Génave, Spain which expresses the relationship between the work of the artists, the site and the building program. Through an engaging, energetic and permeable design, they conceive a musical rhythm where the new museum becomes a reactive and interactive part of its landscaped setting through the intersection of the integrated and sculpted grids. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Above is a video put together by 24studio on what today we call the National Museum of Science andTechnology – MUNCYT – which was born in 2001 as A Coruña Center for the Arts designed by aceboXalonso studio. The video coincides with the article written about the politically controversial building which was conceived as a single container to house two buildings of diverse nature: the new Dance Conservatory of the provincial Council of A Coruña and a Provincial Museum of ambiguous content. More info can be viewed here.
Coming up in March, the AIA Grassroots Conference will be featuring the Young Architects Forum (YAF), a knowledge community of AIA composed of architects licensed less than 10 years, who will be holding ‘Summit20′ at the District Architecture Center in Washington, D.C. during the conference on March 6-7. This is to commemorate YAF’s 20 year anniversary and to identify the top ten issues affecting young architects today. They will also be discussing immediate and long term action plans that AIA-YAF can take addressing the specific needs of young architects. The two day summit with panel discussions and open dialogue among approximately 50 young architect leaders from the nation will conclude with an outcomes presentation at the conference. For more information, please visit here.
Curators Dr. Effie Bouras and Professor Ghyslaine McClure of McGill University, Department of Civil Engineering, are seeking completed building projects and research that engage innovative approach to seismic design for an exhibit that will be held at the internationally renowned Design Exchange in downtown Toronto Canada during the months of September – October 2012. The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2012, however they do encourage firms to submit earlier. More information on the competition after the break.
Designers in the Northwest and Pacific Region create some of the world’s most sustainable buildings. What Makes it GREEN? (WMIG?) celebrates your achievements and the interdisciplinary teamwork required to meet the 2030 Challenge. Through live interviews with shortlisted project teams on April 18, WMIG? will educate and inspire the larger design community with creative solutions for sustainability.
The spring 2012 lecture series at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s School of Architecture started on February 13th with Patrik Schumacher and concludes with the ‘Transactions’ lecture on April 9th. All lectures are free and open to the public and take place at the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media + Performing Arts Center at 6pm unless otherwise noted. More information on the lecture series after the break.
Opening this Saturday, February 18th, from 6pm-8pm at the STORE gallery in Pioneer Place, the ‘Toward a Nomadic Architecture’ Exhibition will be taking a look at the nomadic movements of different cultures. Centered around an academic course on the topic of nomadic architecture, students at Portland State University’s Department of Architecture, their research and investigations have led them to the presented work which can be seen in their exhibition. More information on the event after the break.