AD Futures: The Latest Architecture and News

Aquatic Complex for Panamerican Games, Competition 1st prize, under construction

After a 2 week break, AD Futures is back to bring you the best young practices from around the world.

This time, I choose a practice based in Medellin, Colombia. Why did I choose them? Paisajes Emergentes (Emerging Landscapes) has a very unique approach to landscape architecture, which has made them win several competitions. Most of those competitions weren´t even landscape specific projects, yet the result is always a built environment which becomes a new landscape – not just limited to small interventions but as the base for the whole project: sports centers, parks, public facilities, libraries, etc.

Also, they have a very good representation technique, that in my opinion is able to transmit the proposed atmosphere the landscape will create over time, not as a brand new shiny project  but as an evolving project becoming one with its location.

Enough of my words, and lets see the projects speak by themselves:

One month ago, we started searching for new works and offices to feature on ArchDaily. Offices that are not yet famous, but will be in the future. So before you get to see them on traditional magazines and websites, we bring you our first Round Up of AD Futures.

Dresden Museum of Contemporary Art – Estudio Barozzi Veiga, 2007

For our 5th installment of the AD Futures series, I have choosen Estudio Barozzi Veiga (EBV). The studio was formed in 2004 by Fabrizio Barozzi (Trento, Italy, 1976) and Alberto Veiga (Santiago, Spain, 1973). The preactice is based in Spain, but with project all over Europe (and a villa in China).

Why did I choose them? It wasn´t because of ORDOS 100, but actually for all the recent competitions they have won, on which you can see an excellence in design. Every one of this projects features a different approach in terms of design, showing a constant experimentation and search for innovation inside the practice.

Some of these awarded projects are currently ongoing (ROA Headquarters at Ribera del Duero, Aguilas Concert Hall and the Szczecin Philharmonic Hall), so we are close to see built projects from this practice.

Now onto some of these projects:

HiDrone - 1st Prize Awarded London Architecture Gallery International Competition 2008

SPARC is a team of international architects at the MIT based in Boston, MA, with a multidisciplinary background at the MIT´s Media Lab. This has resulted on a continuous research on smart/responsive environments applied to the world of architecture, design, urbanism and landscape architecture.

This new relation between technologies and built spaces has opened a wide array of possibilities, that we are just starting to see. And that´s why I choose this practice for this week´s AD Futures.

This week on AD Futures, NRJA:

I found this practice thanks to the recommendation of one of our readers who sent me this video. After watching it, I had a good feeling about next generations.

Fresh ideas, a young team (average age is 25)… actually building those ideas! That´s NRJA (No Rules Just Architecture) a practive based in Riga, Latvia, founded by Uldis Luksevics in 2005. As a young office they have a very strong statement, that can be seen (or felt?) on their projects. They feel passionate for what they do, while being professional and always trying to go beyond than is allowed or required – hence “No Rules Just Architecture”.

But I think their statement describes it better:

AD Futures is a weekly section showcasing emerging practices from around the world. We are open for submissions.

I got to meet L.E.FT when we interviewed them at their office in New York back in September, 2008. This practice is lead by three partners, Makram el Kadi, Ziad Jamaleddine and Naji Moujaes. They all graduated in Beirut between 1995 and 1997, and then got their masters at Parsons, Harvard and SCI-Arc, respectively. After that, they worked on big practices such as Massimiliano Fuksas and Steven Holl Architects, and then founded L.E.FT in 2001.

They are still related to the academy (UPenn, Yale, Cornell, RPI), a constant on innovative practices. Also, they got invited to the Young Architects Program at P.S.1 2009, an annual competition that invites emerging architects to design a temporary structure.

You can hear their thoughts on several aspects of the architectural practice on the interview we conducted. Now, onto some of their featured works:

During our interviews, we have noticed that most practices have a milestone on their careers, that marks their “jump” on the scene: a competition, one of their first buildings, an innovative project…

While searching for new works and offices to feature on AD for our beloved readers, we have found several practices that are about to take that jump, and that we are sure will put them on the spotlight.

So, we decided to start a new series of articles featuring this practices, so you get to know them before you start seeing them on the traditional magazines/websites. Every Monday, you will find one of this practices featured on AD. And yes, we are open for suggestions (specially if you can show us something exclusive).

Our first chosen practice is ICE, an international practice based in Hong Kong.