Seoul is considered one of the most densely-populated and over-priced cities in the world, reaching a staggering $ 80,000 per square meter. The extreme conditions of the city have forced local architects to operate, design, and build framing the city's urban issues, traditions, and history. This approach by architects has created the theoretical basis of "The Condition of Seoul Architecture", a publication by multidisciplinary practice TCA Think Tank exhibited in the last Seoul Biennale, which sees the point of view of 18 innovative South Korean architects.

In this interview, Pier Alessio Rizzardi, founder of the practice, interviewed Young Joon Kim of Yo2 Architects, City Architect of Seoul, professor at MIT and Seoul National University, and curator of the Seoul Biennale. The atelier focuses on the creation of new architectural solutions using an urbanistic approach to architecture based on the complexity of contemporary life in Seoul.

After centuries of Portuguese colonization and recent conquest of independence, Mozambique has undergone a difficult period with new challenges, such as the combat against poverty, the infrastructure deficit, and uncontrolled urban expansion. On the architecture field, it is possible to notice the impact of these challenges on the evolution of the Mozambican projects. Some examples are: the prediction of the need to expand the building in the future, the adoption of climate control passive measures and the utilization of vernacular constructive techniques adapted to the local context (as a way to minimize energy consumption in the different phases of building construction and its respective costs).

In 1979, the Pontchartrain Park golf course was renamed the Joseph M. Bartholomew, Sr. Municipal Golf Course by the City of New Orleans. While perhaps not the ‘catchiest’ of title changes, the event was a posthumous chapter in the legacy of one of the most celebrated golf course architects of his time. Joseph Bartholomew (1888-1971) began life as an African-American in racially-segregated Louisiana only 23 years after the end of the American Civil War; fought in large part over the legality of African American slavery. But his life, chronicled in the latest New York Times’ Overlooked series, would see him reach the pinnacles of golf course architecture, and design nationally-celebrated landscapes that Bartholomew, because of his race, was himself not allowed to play on.

Design and the City is a podcast by reSITE, raising questions and proposing solutions for the city of the future. In the second episode, Chris Precht from Studio Precht talks about being part of a new generation of architects, concerned with the environment, climate change, and sustainability, rather than with theories or concepts.

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Videos

Opening in February 2020, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is showcasing an exhibition by Rem Koolhaas and AMO, the think tank of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). Entitled Countryside, The Future the exhibition seeks to investigate urgent environmental, political, and socioeconomic transformations in the nonurban areas.

Australian practice ARM Architecture has begun redevelopment of the iconic Sydney Opera House's concert hall. The two-year renovation aims to better equip it for performances, enhance its acoustics, improve accessibility and create a safer working environment. Part of the biggest upgrade to the building since it opened in 1973, the project will include a new acoustic ceiling, new automated drapes, and a 3D surround-sound system for amplified performances.

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We invite you to participate in the ArchDaily Building of the Year 2020 Awards. We ask you to recognize and reward the projects that you feel are creating the largest impact in the built environment, that ArchDaily has published on our projects database in 2019. By voting, you form part of an interdependent, impartial, distributed network of jurors and peers that has consistently helped us celebrate architecture of every scale, purpose, and condition, from countries large and small, and architects of all descriptions. Already 4000 projects have been filtered down to just 15 finalists – representing the best in each project category on ArchDaily.

Remember, registered users will be able to vote their favorite project for each of the 15 categories included in the Awards. One vote per category. Voting ends on February 17th, 2020 at 12:01 AM (EST). Thank you once again for helping us continue to democratize architectural excellence across the world.

The French Pavilion at the London Design Biennale 2020 will explore the theme of resonance through metronomes. The design team will comprise of designer Sebastien Servaire, Margot Myers and curator Anne-Laure Pingreoun. Up to 50 countries, territories and cities will exhibit at the third edition of London Design Biennale this autumn. They will respond to Artistic Director Es Devlin's call to action exploring how design can provide solutions to the major crises of our time.

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Building with Natural Biodegradable Raw materials is one of the major recurring green construction solutions of our days. Although some might call it regressive, it is an easy and affordable way to promote Eco-friendly Architecture. The implementation of Hay or Thatched roofs are a prime example of a highly beneficial Sustainable building solution.

MVRDV has revealed a renovation scheme for the Tripolis office complex in Amsterdam, originally designed by Dutch architect Aldo van Eyck. Entitled Tripolis Park, the proposal that will accommodate the offices of Uber, will also enlarge part of the existing space, add an office block and a new park.

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The National Railway Museum and Malcolm Reading Consultants revealed the final concepts for the new Central Hall, created by five small to medium-sized international and UK practices. Shortlisted in November 2019, the 5 teams include a collaboration between 6a architects from UK and OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen from Belgium, Atelier d’Architecture Philippe Prost from France, Carmody Groarke from the UK, Feilden Fowles from the UK, and Heneghan Peng Architects from Ireland.

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The global climate crisis is not only forcing us to rethink architectural design and the way we live, but also the materials and products that shape our built environment, starting from its origins and manufacture. Toward this end, wood has become an efficient alternative to steel and concrete – materials with high levels of embodied energy – and has led to some important architectural innovations that may culminate in its more widespread use worldwide.

Inspired by the efficiency of nature, Strong By Form has developed Woodflow, a technology that generates wood panels of high structural performance, "combining the optimization of their shape, the orientation of their fibers in relation to the direction of stressors, and the variation in their density for better compression or traction," as explained by its creators. In addition, all of their products are developed in a controlled process through parametric software, integrated into BIM platforms and CNC manufacturing systems.

We talked with Jorge Christie, CTO of Strong By Form, to learn more about this new technology.

As the world of construction becomes more automated, driven by economy, speed, and bureaucracy, architect and professor Marc Leschelier has created an exhibition at the Architektur Im Magazin Vienna, Austria, which inverts this trend. Titled “Cold Cream” the exhibition creates a secluded space, dissociated from the world, where the practice of construction is reduced to the struggle between soft and hard matters as well as spontaneous rises. The exhibition is therefore not an act of architecture, but rather approaching a form of pre-architecture.

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Schauman & Nordgren Architects, a Copenhagen and Helsinki based architecture and urban planning studio, was selected as the winner of the two-stage competition, organized by the city of Turku in Finland, to transform a former elderly home site into a new 15.000 m2 housing neighborhood.

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New York City Council and the Van Alen Institute have announced a new design competition to reimagine the Brooklyn Bridge. The international competition seeks creative, unconventional designs that respect and enhance the bridge’s landmark status, think inclusively about mobility and access, and accommodate commuters, visitors, and vendors.

This article by ArchDaily's former managing editor Vanessa Quirk first appeared on ArtsCultureBeat, the web magazine of Arts & Culture concentration at Columbia Journalism School’s MA program, titled "The Secret Life of Hungarian Contemporary Architecture."

This time last year, Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán stood at a podium in a pristine new subway station. Raw concrete beams criss-crossed above him; state-of-the art, driverless trains stood silently beside him. It was the opening ceremony for Line 4, a subway line that due to delays, corruption, and disputes had been 40 years in the making.

“The people of Budapest began to accept the thought that only their grandchildren would use Budapest’s new Metro line, or not even them.” Orbán told the crowd. He recounted an old joke that embodied the cynicism that once surrounded the project: Chuck Norris had been on Metro Line 4.

Orbán credited the line’s completion, which occurred only a few weeks before the 2014 parliamentary elections, to “the solidarity and unity that was established in 2010 [when Orbán’s government took power] and has since been maintained.” He didn’t mention how, under his first government (1998 to 2002), he had withheld funds from the project, contributing significantly to its delay. Nor did he mention that his party had fought against the idea that the line, an expensive infrastructural project, needed architecture at all.

Today, though, the line’s stunning architecture is its most noticeable feature. Line 4 is not just a watershed achievement in Hungary’s history, but also a symbol of what it takes to make contemporary architecture in Hungary today. Both literally and figuratively, contemporary architecture had to go underground.

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Foster + Partners have designed a new residential tower project for the Qianhai Talents’ Apartments in Shenzhen. The winning competition design takes aim at the city's rental market, formed as a building exclusively for ‘talents’ – professionals who would have an intensive work-centered lifestyle. Exploring themes of privacy and exclusivity, the project aspires to create modern layouts that redefine the residents’ living experience.

For the first time, the World Architecture Festival will take place in Lisbon, form the 2-4 December 2020. The annual global awards program is now open for entries to all international architects and designers. WAF attracts more than 1000 entries each year to compete in Completed Building, Future Project and Interior categories.

World Architecture Festival is the only architecture awards where all shortlisted practices present their projects live, in front of festival delegates and the judging panels at the festival in Lisbon.

Architectural photographer Marc Goodwin recently visited Madrid to continue his journey documenting diverse architecture studios and design offices. He has visited many cities and countries around the world, including Brazil, Panama City, the Netherlands, Dubai, London, Paris, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, the Nordic countries, Barcelona, Los Angeles and Istanbul. In Madrid, Marc photographed 16 intimate office spaces and a range of studios.

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Asif khan studio has unveiled images of his first intervention for the public realm of Expo 2020 Dubai. Running from the 20th of October 2020 till the 10th of April 2021, The World Expo will have three majestic Entry Portals to welcome visitors from all over the world.

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