The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, the Mies van der Rohe Award has just announced the first 449 works competing in its 2022 edition. Selected from 279 cities in 41 countries, the projects have been nominated by European independent experts, the national architecture associations, and the Prize Advisory Committee.
Making history, Virgin Hyperloop’s Pegasus pod carried its first passengers in the Nevada desert. Designed by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and Kilo Design, Pegasus or XP-2 is a new vehicle typology for an autonomous transportation system to achieve hyperloop travel at the speed of over 1,000km/hour, the fastest form of land-based travel.
Johns Hopkins University has selected BIG to design its new Student Center, regenerating the heart of its campus and reviving the social experience, from a shortlisted list of 4 offices, after a months-long international competition. Entitled “The Village”, the proposal is an “open, modern, and welcoming facility envisioned as a social engagement hub for all members of the Hopkins community”.
Creating new standards for a more connected and livable city, Henning Larsen has designed a New Masterplan for Wolfsburg, Germany. The new prototype for urbanism across the European continent diffuses new energy in the city center. Selected to design the project in a competition in 2019 that included competitors UNStudio and Bjarke Ingels Group, Henning Larsen’s proposal for phase 1 is expected to reach completion by 2023.
Space has long captured our imaginations. Looking to the ocean above us, writers, scientists and designers alike have continuously dreamed up new visions for a future on distant planets. Mars is at the center of this discourse, the most habitable planet in our solar system after Earth. Proposals for the red planet explore how we can create new realms of humanity in outer space.
Virgin Hyperloop has announced that it will build a new Certification Center for an 800-acre site in West Virginia. Designed to test the company's futuristic transport system, the center will serve as a location for developing and validating the use of hyperloop technology. Coming with a $500 million price tag, the project will expand upon Virgin Hyperloop's current testing efforts in the desert north of Las Vegas.
BIG has partnered up with ICON, a developer of advanced construction technologies, and with SEArch+ (Space Exploration Architecture) to imagine humanity’s home in another world. Working with NASA, the collaboration seeks to develop a “space-based construction system that could support future exploration of the Moon”.
BIG has unveiled its design for AI CITY, the future home for Terminus Group, a smart service provider. Imagined as the new center of innovation for China, the project will be dedicated to "artificial intelligence, robotics, networking, and big data”. Located in Chongqing, in southwest China, known as the “mountain city”, the project is set within the Chongqing Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone.
The Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) have named five finalists for the International Highrise Award (IHP) 2020. Selected from 31 nominated highrises in 14 countries, the projects include towers by Zaha Hadid Architects, BIG, SOM, OMA and Heatherwick Studio. The IHA is considered the world's most important architecture award for high-rise buildings.
The results of the International Competition for the Architectural Landscape Design Concept for the Tuchkov Buyan Park were just revealed. The proposal by Studio 44 in consortium with WEST 8 won the first place, JV Vogt in consortium with Herzog & de Meuron won the second place while AB CHVOYA in consortium with KARAVAN landskapsarkitekter took the third position.
BIG, Hijjas, and Ramboll were selected as winners of Penang State Government’s international competition to design a master plan for Penang South Islands in Malaysia. The proposal entitled BiodiverCity, fits into the island's 2030 vision, and generates 4.6km of public beaches, 600 acres of parks and a 25km waterfront. An Urban Mosaic of three diverse islands, the project establishes new urban design guidelines, mixing programs, addressing pedestrian and mobility networks, building sustainably, and harvesting resources.
BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group has joined a series of investors and partnered up with ICON, in order to push forward the use of 3D printing robotics to deliver dignified, resilient homes around the world. Aiming to contribute actively in the ongoing transformation, Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director of BIG stated that “additive manufacturing will play a transformative role in the future of construction”.
Our cities, vulnerable by nature and design, have generated the biggest challenge that humankind has to face. With the vast majority of the population expected to settle in urban agglomerations, rapid urbanization is going to raise the issue of adaptability with future social, environmental, technological and economic transformations.
In fact, the main problematic of the decade questions how our cities will cope with fast-changing factors. It also looks into the main aspects to consider in order to ensure long-term growth. In this article, we highlight major points that help future-proof our cities and create a livable, inclusive and competitive fabric that adapts to any unexpected future transformation.
When reflecting on recycling, sustainability, measures to take, and innovative technological solutions, one cannot help but think that there are also familiar approaches that should be taken into consideration. In fact, when examining the impact of the built environment on the climate, one notes that in many countries, 80% of the buildings that will exist in 2050 have already been built. The most effective form of sustainability may, therefore, be saving energy by eliminating or minimizing new constructions, and by avoiding the demolition of existing structures.
That is what adaptive reuse stands for: instilling a new purpose on an existing “leftover building.” Nowadays, the refashioning process is becoming essential because of numerous issues related to the climate emergency, plot and construction costs, a saturation of land, and a change in living trends.
Bjarke Ingels Group and Norwegian manufacturer Vestre have unveiled The Plus, a new project set to become the world’s most sustainable furniture factory. Sited in Magnor, Norway, the factory was envisioned as a village for a community dedicated to the clean, carbon neutral fabrication of urban and social furniture. The Plus aims to be a global destination for sustainable architecture and high-efficiency production.
Netflix released ten of its documentary films, shorts and docuseries free on YouTube for anyone to watch. Included in the set is Abstract: The Art of Design, exploring "the most creative designers" from various fields. The first season of this series goes into the the art, science and philosophy of design. Back in 2017, Netflix launched the documentary series with the aim of demonstrating how design influences all aspects of our lives.
The new Twist Museum by Bjarke Ingels Group is open in Norway. Traversing the winding Randselva river, the inhabitable bridge is torqued at its center, forming a new journey and art piece within the Kistefos Sculpture Park in Jevnaker. The project was recently captured through a series of images by photographer Jacob Due. The photos explore the museum's formal approach and place the design in its larger natural context.
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy struck the eastern coastline of the United States and caused a level of flooding and destruction that was unprecedented for a major, densely populated city like New York. Storm surges brought a terrifying amount of water to the city streets, tunnels and subways; the National Ocean Service reported a 9.4-foot surge over Battery Park. Essential infrastructure was damaged in many areas, homes were flooded and people were trapped.
