The first ever Chicago Architecture Biennial closed January 3, with over half a million visitors having attended the event. An architecture exhibition of unprecedented size on the continent, the Biennial gathered 93 projects from 120 offices from over 30 countries to discuss the “State of the Art of Architecture.” We take a look at some of the Biennial's highlights after the break.
Visitors to the Chicago Architecture Biennial were greeted with the appearance of a small, 30 square meter home built of thatch and steel – the S House 3. The latest prototype in experiments with affordable, sustainable housing by Vo Trong Nghia, the exhibit allowed visitors to experience the home firsthand. Designed to be built for as little as $1,000 and last over 30 years, the exhibit challenged notions of sustainability and cost, proposing an optimistic look at the future of affordable housing.
Now in its second year, Toronto’s annual Winter Stations design competition has revealed its four winning designs, and three student designs that will add art to Toronto’s beaches. Receiving almost 400 submissions from local and international designers, this year’s theme “Freeze/Thaw” challenged participants to respond to the changing climate of winter. Founded by RAW Design, Ferris + Associates, and Curio, the Winter Stations Design Competition uses design to inspire Torontonians back outside.
“The public participation in Winter's Station's inaugural year proves that even the most overlooked winterscapes can be injected with vibrancy and life," says Ted Merrick, lead designer at landscape architecture firm Ferris + Associates. "Our ultimate goal for year two remains the same - to encourage the community out of hibernation and back to the beach."
The winning designs will be built along different beaches in Toronto, adding to existing lifeguard towers. See the winners after the break.
About twenty years after the last documentary on Kevin Roche was released, London-based film company Wavelength Pictures will produce an updated look at the life and work of the Pritzker Prize-winning architect, with a section of the film focusing on his projects in Columbus, Indiana, reports local paper The Republic. Wavelength Pictures plans to come to Columbus in 2016, filming buildings that Roche designed and conducting interviews.
Gensler's recently completed Shanghai Tower is now the 2nd tallest building in the world, and the tallest building in China, according to The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). At 632 meters tall, it is the third building in the world to exceed 600 meters and be designated “megatall.”
A new construction worker has been lending high-efficiency help to job sites, laying bricks at almost three times the speed of a human worker. SAM (short for Semi-Automated Mason) is a robotic bricklayer that handles the repetitive tasks of basic brick laying, MIT Technology Review reports. While SAM handles picking up bricks, applying mortar and placing them at designated locations, its human partner handles worksite setup, laying bricks in specific areas (e.g. corners) and improving the aesthetic quality of the masonry.
We recently sat down with Amale Andraos, co-founder of WORKac, about her past year as the new dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP). Appointed as the University’s dean in September 2014, Andraos has made steps to improve the program’s connectivity within itself and challenge students and faculty with considering the role of discourse in architecture.
Commissioned by the Polytechnic Museum, P-Cube by Marcos Zotes and his studio UNSTABLE is a temporary pavilion at the center of VDNKh Park in Moscow, Russia. The project is a nine-meter tall, nine-meter wide cubic structure, that uses a scaffolding system covered in translucent fabric to create an experience that changes with the time of day.
The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture has reached another important milestone on its current path to becoming independent from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, having raised over $2 million in cash and pledges. As the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture is currently an operating division of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, it faces losing its accreditation, following new laws by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) that require universities, colleges and other institutions to be financially and administratively independent from "larger institutions with multi-faceted missions."
UNESCO has inaugurated 47 new cities into its Creative Cities Network, with Detroit being selected as the first "City of Design" from the United States. The Creative Cities Network is a selection of cities across the world that promote the creation of creative and cultural industries, within the categories of crafts and folk art, design, film, gastronomy, literature, media arts, and music.
RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) has released a report forecasting the greatest design trends in housing in the UK for 2016, based off a survey of 250 RIBA charted practices that are currently active in the housing design market. Noticeable trends include an increase in sustainable, energy conservation measures such as sustainable materials, improved insulation and water conservation/recycling; large extensions and bigger homes; housing designed for aging relatives/occupants; and flexible open-plans for family gathering.
The President's Design Award, which honours Singapore designs and designers, has named its three Designers of the Year for 2015. Dr. Colin K. Okashimo (sculptor and landscape architect), Mr. Franklin Po (Principal of landscape architecture practice Tierra Design) and Mr. Siew Man Kok (co-founder of MKPL Architects) were selected from 111 nominations by a 14-member panel, which included British architect Richard Rogers.
Designed by Félix Guyon of Les Ateliers Guyon in Verchères, Quebec, "Sails Benches" is a monument to the original founding families of Verchères, commissioned by the municipality. Having worked in Montreal for many years, Guyon returned to his native village for this personal project, which was selected as the winning design of the Furniture Category at the World Interiors Awards 2015 in London, "charming" the judges with the personal narrative and sensitivity of his Sail Benches, according to a press release. Read more about the project after the break.
Images have been released of Forward Slash ( / ) ARCHITEKTUR’s Performa 15 Hub, which served as the headquarters for New York-based Performa’s 2015 Biennial, an event dedicated to live performances across artistic disciplines. The Hub offered a venue for performances, screenings, panel discussions and seminars; and a lounge, shop and visitor information centre. View more images of the venue after the break.
Despite not having an office, using a computer or drawing on paper, Bolivian architect Freddy Mamani Silvestre and his firm have completed over 60 projects in El Alto, the highest city in the world. Like most of his clients and fellow citizens, Mamani is an Aymara and his work is typified by its highly detailed, colourful facades, inspired by Aymara dress. In light of his visually exciting, daring work, The New Yorker has released a stunning photo portfolio by Peter Granser, with an introduction by Judith Thurman, showcasing some of Mamani's colourful projects.
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Ctrl+Space has announced the winners of their Hamburg Hybrid Housing Competition, which prompted participants to design a mixed-use residential building in the St. Pauli neighbourhood of Hamburg, Germany. Entries were expected to reflect on the typology of the mixed-use building, exploring the set of relationships present with the city, the public, the time of day and the different programmatic areas. See the three winners after the break.
The new Civic Center by 3TI Progetti in Villacidro, Italy, is sited at an important reference point for the city, due to both its history and natural features. Located in the "historic garden of the Episcopal Palace," the new center re-interprets the surrounding urban elements, redefining the relationships between its urban and natural surroundings. Read more about this project after the break.
The product of Toronto-based Lateral Office and Montreal-based CS Design, in collaboration with EGP Group, Mitchell Akiyama, Maotik and Iregular, “Impulse” is a winter installation in the city of Montreal. Thirty giant seesaws and a series of video-projections on surrounding building facades, all with accompanying music, transform the Place des Festivals into an “illuminated playground.” The project was selected as the winner of an open competition this past summer, for the sixth annual Luminothérapie event. Read more about this interactive installation after the break.
