Alyssa Wu

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AA Summer DLAB Program Applies Computational Design to Concrete

Update: We've added a video of the process to the article!

This year's Architectural Association (AA) Summer DLAB program culminated in Weave.X, the final working prototype of three-dimensionally interwoven concrete structures. Designed and fabricated by 21 participants from 11 countries in July and August, the prototype explores computational design, geometry rationalization, material behavior, and robotic fabrication as applied to concrete and robotic rod-bending techniques. The result is a network of self-supporting concrete branches that envelop an amorphous enclosure.

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Photo Set by Paul Clemence Captures the Intriguing Details of Herzog & de Meuron's 56 Leonard St.

Photographer Paul Clemence of ARCHI-PHOTO has shared images of 56 Leonard Street by Herzog & de Meuron. Nearing completion, the 60-story residential tower will be the tallest structure in Tribeca when it opens later this year. The concept of 56 Leonard Street is to disrupt the monotony of typical high-rise city buildings with a more varied articulation achieved by stacking recognizable individual houses. Shifted floor slabs create differentiated corners, cantilever, and balcony conditions that provide apartments with their own unique characters. Developed from the inside out, the pixelated rooms are arranged such that the base of the tower reacts to the street conditions and ripples upward to merge with the sky.

Read on for the full photo set.

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AIA Announces Recipients of Innovation Award

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has selected this year's winners for the TAP/CCA Innovation Award, which highlights new practices and technologies that advance project delivery and life-cycle management of buildings. Categories for the awards, conferred by the AIA's Technology in Architectural Practice (TAP) Knowledge Community and the Construction Contract Administration (CCA) Knowledge Community), include Stellar Design, Project Delivery & Construction Administration Excellence, Academic Program/Curriculum Development, and Exemplary Use in a Small Firm. Voting is open from now until November 18th for favorite projects among the winners.

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Tokyo Pop Lab Competition Winners Announced

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By Stella Cinzia, Leonardo Ramondetti, Marco Lagamba & Francesco Montesoro. Image Courtesy of Bee Breeders

Detailed descriptions of the winning Bee Breeders' Tokyo Pop Lab proposals have been released. The competition brief called for a new program for studying and producing pop culture media in Tokyo. Drawing from a wide range of international pop culture history, entrants were encouraged to investigate the migration and evolution of pop culture across the world over time, and examine the relationship of culture and architecture.

In challenging established typologies of pop culture, proposals exhibited a wide range of ideologies. Successful submissions were chosen for their nuanced depictions of pop culture, clear representation, and coherent agendas for the new laboratory's program.

Take a look at the winners of the Tokyo Pop Lab competition after the break.

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60 Storey Tower Maximizes Energy Capture with Photovoltaic Facade

Peddle Thorp Architects have submitted their proposal for the Moray Street Residential Tower in Melbourne for approval. At 1173.5 square meters, Sol Invictus is wrapped entirely in solar panels, attaining 10 times more solar surface area than a traditional roof covering. The facade can achieve up to 5000 square meters of solar panel array and is connected to a battery storage system.

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Urban Ecosystem Design Named Winner of Lion Mountain Park Competition

Berkeley-based TLS Landscape Architecture has won the Lion Mountain Park Design competition in Suzhou, China, corresponding to the Chinese government's new Urban Work Guidelines. The guidelines prioritize ecological and urban development, as well as rejuvenation of local character in public spaces. Lion Mountain Park will be the first large-scale public project to be constructed according to these values, envisioned as the core of a new urban ecosystem complex.

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Anna Yeroshenko Reimagines Architecture as Photographic Sculptures

In Hidden Dimension, Boston-based Russian photographer Anna Yeroshenko converts a series of architecture photographs into three-dimensional structures. The work is intended to transform the viewer’s perspective of forgettable utilitarian buildings and encourage a closer look at the physical and social impacts of the built environment on our everyday lives.

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Take a Virtual Tour of Zaha Hadid's Dominion Office Building

Maksim Sodomovsky of iVision3D has created a virtual tour of the Dominion Office Building, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, in Moscow, Russia. Completed in 2015, the project is among the new infrastructure being built to support the growing creative and IT industries in the southeast of the city. The design is organized as a series of stacked plates, connected with curving elements and surrounding a central atrium exposed to natural light.

Check out the virtual tour here:

Now You Can Assemble Your Own Tiny House for Outdoor Recreation

Vancouver-based Leckie Studio Architecture + Design has founded the Backcountry Hut Company to bring affordable recreation structures to outdoor enthusiasts. Inspired by IKEA's philosophy of providing superior design at a moderate price point, the prefabricated hut prototype aims to embody the company's four cornerstones: function, quality, sustainability, and value.

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Nature-Inspired Design Named Winner of Sylvan Theatre Competition

The Fallen Leaf, designed by Eric Rodrigues, has been named the first-place winner of the competition for the new Sylvan open air theatre in Cherkasy City Park, Ukraine. With a plan to demolish the old building, the new theatre is inspired by nature: it integrates into the landscape of the Cherkasy municipal park and uses only natural and locally sourced stone and wood. The form of the glue laminated timber roof is that of a falling leaf, whose organic slope helps to enhance the theatre's acoustics.

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House Proposal Using Prefabrication & CNC Wins RIBA Journal's Sterling OSB Habitat Award

MawsonKerr Architects' Low Rise High Density has been selected as the winner of the RIBA Journal Sterling OSB Habitat Award. The house proposal, in the Byker area of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, uses prefabrication and CNC techniques to confront issues of substance abuse and addiction.

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Se Yoon Park Uses Architectural Techniques to Symbolize Life in Sculptures

After working for OMA, BIG, FR-EE and REX, architect-turned-artist Se Yoon Park has dedicated the last three years to Light, Darkness, and the Tree, a sculpture series employing digital fabrication techniques to express an allegory for life. With assistants, Vladislav Markov, Kelly Koh, David Temann Lu, Ramon Rivera, Kara Moats, and Insil Jang, Park uses dynamic light and shadow to capture movement on surfaces that contort, split and disappear into each other.

Take a Tour Inside Shanghai's Cultural Hotspot

Take a walk through the Hub Performance and Exhibition Center, designed by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, in the dynamic Hongqiao District of Shanghai, China. The video, produced with Pedro Pegenaute, showcases the Center's nature-inspired interior, featuring dramatic lighting and views framed by walnut- and oak-covered aluminum branches recalling forest canopies.

Green Urban Park Floating Above a Highway Unifies Buckhead Neighborhood in Atlanta

Rogers Partners Architects+Urban Designers and Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects have released preliminary designs for a new park floating above a divisive highway and commuter rail line in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. A 2,400-foot-long elevated traverse, Buckhead Park Over GA400 aims to bring the community together with safe, convenient access to the amenities and cultural attractions in Buckhead.

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