OPEN Architecture in collaboration with Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi have unveiled the minimal housing prototype MARS Case at China House Vision 2018. Located outside the Bird’s Nest National Stadium in Beijing, the design is part of an annual cross-industry innovation and research platform known as House Vision, which uses the medium of the “house” to explore and question the direction of our living habits and urban environments in the future.
Eric Baldwin
Senior Editor at ArchDaily based in Los Angeles.
OPEN Architecture and Xiaomi Unveil MARS Case Housing Prototype at China House Vision 2018
New Photographs Released of Istanbul's Futuristic Supertall TV and Radio Tower
Turkish practice Melike Altinisik Architects have released new photos of Istanbul's futuristic 369 meter-tall Çamlıca TV and Radio Tower. The new telecommunications tower will replace several outdated structures currently in use and support an estimated 125 broadcasting transmitters. Designed for the Ministry of Transportation and Communication, the project is currently under construction, and the new photos showcase the tower's ongoing progress. The project is set to become the tallest tower in Istanbul.
COOKFOX Reimagines Former High Line Freight Terminal as Workplace of the Future
COOKFOX Architects and Oxford Properties have reimagined New York's St. John’s Terminal as a workplace of the future. The 1.3 million square foot proposal aims to connect the Hudson Square neighborhood to the waterfront at the end of The High Line. Combining outdoor space and greenery with 100,000 square-foot floor plates, the project reinterprets the industrial past of the former freight terminal. The project was created to shape how businesses innovate and create between Lower Manhattan and the waterfront.
Penda and Smartvoll Design Giant Watermill for Austria's Expo 2020 Dubai Pavilion
Architecture and design practices Penda and Smartvoll have created a giant watermill for Austria's National Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai in Dubai. ‘The Source of Everything’ was selected as a finalist in an international competition and marks the first collaboration between Penda Austria and Smartvoll. The project features a supersized mill that circulates water through the pavilion and brings an experience to the desert of Dubai that Austria is famous for: Refreshment.
Jasmax Designs New Zealand's Expo 2020 Dubai National Pavilion Inspired by Māori Culture
Architecture firm Jasmax has been selected to design New Zealand's National Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai. New Zealand will participate in Expo 2020 from October 2020 to April 2021. Expo 2020 Dubai will bring together 180 nations and 25 million international visitors. Over six months, the event will inspire collaboration on global challenges and opportunities. New Zealand’s theme for Expo 2020 is 'Care for People and Place'. The pavilion will feature an exhibition experience, corporate hosting facilities, a restaurant and design store.
WXY Proposes Vertical Manufacturing Buildings in New Brooklyn Navy Yard Masterplan
The New York firm WXY and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation have proposed vertical manufacturing buildings in a new Navy Yard masterplan. A series of renderings show plans for the next phase of development, including high-rise structures with 5.1 million square feet of urban industrial space. The $2.5 billion masterplan was first announced in January 2018, and as Curbed NY reports, the master plan and rezoning calls for new manufacturing buildings, increased public access, and more educational programming.
Selgascano + FRPO Design Inflatable Canopy for Spain's EXPO 2020 National Pavilion
Architecture firms Selgascano and FRPO have been announced as a finalist in the competition to design Spain's National Pavilion for EXPO 2020 in Dubai. Their proposal includes an inflatable canopy of nine yellow ETFE cylinders set within a steel framework. Reinterpreting the Spanish plaza, the design creates a new take on the public square. The pavilion was made to be ultralight as a more sustainable structure that could be easily removed and transported. Formed as a 'breathing pavilion', the design allows two inflatables to move up and down to respond to views, light and breeze.
MAD Architects Begins Construction on Mountainous Quzhou Sports Campus in China
MAD Architects have officially begun construction on the Quzhou Sports Campus in China. Led by the Ma Yansong, the team designed the campus as a futuristic landscape with mountains and a lake conceived as a sunken garden. The design connects to the historic city as a surreal, ethereal and tranquil landscape. The 700,000 sqm sports campus combines the functions of a sports park with natural and organic forms to embrace thousands of years of history and culture in Zhejiang.
Expo 2020 Dubai Pavilions and Architecture
For the Dubai 2020 Expo, the United Arab Emirates and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, selected the theme Connecting Minds, Creating the Future. Organized around ideas of Sustainability, Mobility and Opportunity, the next world Expo will be the first to be held in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region. Organised every five years, the world expo lasts six months and is created as a global destination for millions of people to share ideas, showcase innovation, encourage collaboration and celebrate human ingenuity.
Rem Koolhaas and Virgil Abloh Discuss Consumerism, IKEA and Millennial Design
System Magazine and Buro 24/7 recently brought together Virgil Abloh and Rem Koolhaas to discuss contemporary consumerism and millennial design. Abloh, a rising American fashion designer and artistic director at Louis Vuitton, explains how his background in architecture has shaped his research into consumerism and culture. Koolhaas expands the discussion to explore Abloh's work with IKEA and his thoughts on residential design and the future of work.
Amazon Invests in Start-Up Company to Deliver Prefabricated Homes
As the tech giant's first move into prefab construction, Amazon has invested in home-building start-up Plant PreFab. Known for smart home technology and sustainable construction, Plant PreFab is based in Rialto, California and is set to become the latest addition in Amazon's Alexa-integrated homes. As CNBC reports, Amazon's Alexa Fund invested in Plant PreFab for their prefabricated single and multifamily houses and their plan to use automation to build homes faster at lower costs.
Adjaye, MASS Design Group and Shonibare Among 5 Finalists for Boston's MLK Memorial
Nonprofit MLK Boston has released the final five designs for a monument to civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. The finalists include a range of offices like Adjaye Associates, Maryann Thompson Architects and MASS Design Group, as well as artists like Yinka Shonibare, Barbara Chase-Riboud and Walter Hood. As reported by Curbed Boston, the city is working with MLK Boston to make the monument part of a larger initiative that includes an educational center in Roxbury and $1 million endowment for programming related to the Kings.
The Met Set to Leave Breuer Building in 2020 as The Frick Collection Moves In
In the latest turn of events for the New York art scene, the Frick Collection has announced that the Met will vacate it's home in Marcel Breuer's Madison Avenue building in 2020. As the Art Newspaper reports, the Frick will move in later that year while its mansion undergoes a renovation and expansion by Selldorf Architects. The news follows the recent decision by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to approve the museum’s latest expansion plan to its 1914 Gilded Age mansion. The move is the latest development in an ongoing effort to provide additional space for the Frick Collection.
National Building Museum Honors Inga Saffron and Robert Campbell with Vincent Scully Prize
The National Building Museum has announced critics Inga Saffron and Robert Campbell as the recipients of the 2018 Vincent Scully Prize. The award celebrates the pair's thoughtful, insightful, and clear journalistic observations and criticisms of the built environment. Both Pulitzer Prize winning journalists, the two are honored by the Museum for their ability to reveal how smart architecture criticism can raise the consciousness and expectations for the built environment.
Foster + Partners Breaks Ground on Shanghai Suhewan Skyscraper
Work has begun on Foster + Partners' 200-meter-high Suhewan Skyscraper in Shanghai. Designed as part of a larger regeneration plan, the 42 story tower will be built for property development company China Resources Land. The first office tower in the residential district, the project is part of a larger move to make Shanghai a top financial and technology center by 2020. Designed as a landmark development in the Suhewan East Urban Complex, the skyscraper will open up to views of Pudong, Bund and the Huangpu River.
Mecanoo and Metaform Win Mondorf-les-Bains Velodrome and Sports Complex
Mecanoo and Metaform Architects have won a competition to design a new Velodrome and Sports Complex in Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg. Sited in the countryside outside the city, the project was designed as a destination for recreation. The new project will include a new national velodrome with an aquatic centre, multisport hall and climbing wall. The design aims to be a sporting hub that could host national and international cycling events while also remaining open to the community and future international school on site.
3D Cementitious Panel Designed to Protect Homes Against Natural Disasters
Material manufacturer Re-Structure Group has begun using a new 3D cementitious sandwich panel in the United States to help protect homes during natural disasters. As CNBC reports, the material has been widely used around the world, but is now being tested in the United States. Designed for mass production, the panels are fireproof, seismic resistant beyond any earthquake recorded in human history, and are hurricane resistant. The material is made as a sustainable and resilient building system that aims to reshape the U.S. housing market.
Studio Gang, BIG, Calatrava and SOM Among Teams Competing For Multi-Billion Chicago O’Hare Contract
Studio Gang, BIG, Calatrava and SOM are among twelve leading architecture teams vying to work on the Chicago O'Hare International Airport expansion. The city’s request for qualifications calls for demolishing O'Hare's Terminal 2 to replace it with a global concourse and terminal for both domestic and international flights from United and American Airlines. The city’s Department of Procurement Services estimates the total costs of the expansion process (from design through construction) will cost an approximate $8.7 billion. Known as O’Hare 21, the project represents O’Hare’s first major overhaul in 25 years.