This December, we at ArchDaily take a moment to review what happened during the past year -- you have already seen posts with the best architecture projects, the best books, the best articles and much more. Now it's time to review the most bookmarked projects by our readers all over the world on MyArchDaily.
News
“To Work at Different Scales is the Architect's Wisdom”: Ricardo Bofill Interviewed for the Time Space Existence Video Series
In their recent interview for the Time Space Existence video series, Plane-Site, through the support from the European Cultural Centre, interviewed Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill. The series will be exhibited in the biennial exhibition in Venice, opening May 21-22, 2020.
World's Tallest Modular Hotel to be Developed in the United States
DMDmodular is manufacturing modules for the world's tallest modular hotel, in the Big Apple. The modular elements of the 26-story AC Marriott New York NoMad, designed by Danny Forster & Architecture, are produced in Skawina, Poland and shipped to the United States.
WAFAI Architecture and Fragomeli+Partners Design an Islamic Cultural Center in Piedmont, Italy
Wafai Architecture and Fragomeli+partners, two architecture practices based in Torino, Italy have imagined an Islamic cultural center in the Piedmont area. The project features a mosque and a center for cultural and social activities, a space that promotes constructive dialogues.
Odile Decq Unveils New Images of First Residential Skyscraper in Barcelona
Odile Decq has unveiled new images of the design for her first new residential building and luxury skyscraper in Barcelona, Spain. Called Antares, the project will be sited along the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to the architecture, Odile also designed the interiors. Antares was made to be a unique addition to the Barcelona skyline by taking the form of a distinctive architectural tower.
Quatre Caps Explores the Unbuilt Architecture of Fernando Higueras in a Series of Images
Quatre Caps, a group of architects from Spain visualized in a series of images, the unbuilt works of Fernando Higueras. In fact, the pictures portray the buildings in their context, as if they were built back when they were first conceived.
The New Technologies of Archivization / Albena Yaneva for the Shenzhen Biennale (UABB) 2019
What happens when the sensor-imbued city acquires the ability to see – almost as if it had eyes? Ahead of the 2019 Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB), titled "Urban Interactions," ArchDaily is working with the curators of the "Eyes of the City" section at the Biennial to stimulate a discussion on how new technologies – and Artificial Intelligence in particular – might impact architecture and urban life. Here you can read the “Eyes of the City” curatorial statement by Carlo Ratti, the Politecnico di Torino and SCUT.
Architectural practice naturally results in an extraordinary accumulation of visuals and archival media that demand sorting, cataloguing, and organizing at a certain moment in time in order to avoid their amorphous accumulation to invade the working order of a firm. Tagging, numbering and classifying the accumulated traces of architectural creativity and data, has become a way of organizing the log of creative options and scenarios developed in practice, a directory of successful examples and of failures, all arranged to be used as a self-referential working catalogue of options that may be mobilized at any moment in time.
Architecture and the Death of Carbon Modernity
Log 47 reconceives architecture’s role in climate change away from sustainability and solutionism and toward its formal complicity and potential agency in addressing the crisis. In this excerpt from her introductory essay, guest editor Elisa Iturbe defines carbon form as a necessary new way of understanding architecture and urbanism in order to develop a new disciplinary paradigm.
Until now, most environmental discourse in architecture has focused on carbon as a by-product of building and construction, making it seem that at the ecological brink, the most pressing concern is energy efficiency. This stance compartmentalizes the discipline and dislocates the origin of the climate crisis from the dominant political, economic, and spatial organizations that are its cause. In response to this dislocation, Log: 47 Overcoming Carbon Form reconsiders the link between architecture and climate by exploring the reciprocity between energy and built form. To do so, energy must be understood beyond its technical capacity, viewed instead as a political and cultural force with inevitable spatial repercussions.
Taking on Tanzania: Architecture at Play
Tanzania’s architecture is built to celebrate nature and everyday life. Representing a long history of diverse styles, from British and German to Arab influences, much of the country’s major buildings include mosques, churches and marketplaces. Today, Tanzania’s diversity is also rooted in its traditional architecture and structures that were shaped by both their functional use and culture.
KÂAT Architects to Design Research & Rehabilitation Center For Sea Turtles
The National Architectural Competition for the Research, Rescue, and Rehabilitation Center for the Sea Turtles in Iztuzu Beach, organized by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation of Turkey, selects KÂAT Architects to design the environmentally sensitive facility.
Contemporary Angola: Technology and Identity in 4 Projects
Angola, like many African countries, is experiencing a process of rapid urbanization. For the most part, these changes are happening under little to no regulation, filling cities with spaces that lack the infrastructure to provide a basic quality of life for residents. However, in spite of this unregulated development, it's worth noting the quality of contemporary architecture being produced in the second-largest Portuguese-speaking country, where projects draw inspiration from the strong local identity and blend with modern materials and technology.
In this article, we highlight 4 current projects in Angola. While it is a small sample, not only from the capital city of Luanda, but from smaller cities as well, it showcases the richness of Angola's local architecture--an art form that deserves worldwide recognition.
Krft Chosen to Create a New Building for the Performing Arts in Brighton, UK
Krft, a young architecture studio based in Amsterdam, was selected as the winner of the Brighton College competition, for the new performance arts building. Finalists included international firms Haworth Tompkins, Sauerbruch Hutton, Mecanoo, and Morphosis.
3XN and Aspect Studios Design New UNSW Tower in Australia
3XN and Aspect Studios have been selected to design a new mixed-use tower for the University of New South Wales in Sydney. Made with a focus on resilience and environmental sustainability, the project aims to to create a welcoming campus gateway that will serve as a new entrance point to the UNSW campus.
LMN Designs New Ocean Pavilion for the Seattle Aquarium
Design practice LMN Architects have unveiled new details of the design for the Seattle Aquarium Ocean Pavilion. The $113 million project will include the 50,000-square-foot Pavilion sited adjacent to the existing Seattle Aquarium. The pavilion will link together the new Seattle Waterfront, downtown and the historic Pike Place Market.
Herzog & de Meuron Releases Conceptual Images of the Grand Canal Museum Complex in Hangzhou, China
The Grand Canal Museum Complex in Hangzhou, China designed by Herzog & de Meuron reflects on the importance of this area in Chinese cultural and natural landscapes. The project illustrates the story of the Grand Canal, through a continuous dialogue between the water and the museum.
Topotek 1 Wins Competition to Design an Extension for a School in Switzerland
Topotek 1 was selected as the winner of the open architecture competition for the extension of School Champagne in Biel, Switzerland. The winning proposal suggests the integration of an additional building with the existing campus and new outdoor spaces.
Jadric Architektur + 1990uao Selected to Create the Seoul Photographic Art Museum
Vienna-based Studio Jadric Architektur and their Korean Partner 1990uao were chosen as the winners of the Seoul Photographic Art Museum international competition. The proposal will be part of the future cultural mile in Chang-dong.
How Apple Strives for the Perfect Sky and Revives Cities
At first glance, it seems that Apple's strong retail design has derived from consistent design. But since Steve Jobs opened the first Apple Store in 2001, the brand has changed its store and lighting design concept five times. Thereby change appears as a central factor when a brand grows and expands internationally. For each period Apple developed sophisticated details and has strived for the perfect sky in their store - a smart strategy to enhance naturalness and sustainability.
Annabel Karim Kassar Transforms 19th-century Structure into a Contemporary Family Home
AKK Architects, an architecture practice founded by architect Annabel Karim Kassar, with offices in Beirut, Dubai, and London, is transforming a historical 19th-century Lebanese home into a contemporary family home. Bayt K was shortlisted for the WAF future projects awards under House category.
Moreau Kusunoki and Genton Design a New Hyper-Platform for Sydney
Moreau Kusunoki and Genton have won the Powerhouse Parramatta International Design Competition. The project marks the largest investment in arts and culture in NSW since the Sydney Opera House. The Powerhouse Parramatta is designed to transform and renew the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, relocating one of Australia’s oldest and most important cultural institutions.