Courtesy of HGA | Barabara and Gerson Bakar Research and Academic Building (BRAB)
Architectural firms Snøhetta and HGA have just began work on the Barbara and Gerson Bakar Research and Academic Building (BRAB) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). This nine-story, 323,000-square-foot facility is set to redefine UCSF's approach to biomedical research and academic collaboration. Designed as a state-of-the-art hub for scientific inquiry, BRAB will offer cutting-edge spaces for translational research, fostering breakthroughs in critical areas such as cancer, diabetes, microbiology, immunology, and cell biology.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro has just revealed the design for the 60,000-square-foot Center for Collaborative Arts and Technology (CCAT) at the University of New Mexico (UNM). This ground-up facility will serve as a new gateway to the arts at UNM, located along the historic Route 66, where it bridges the campus and the city of Albuquerque. While many interior spaces are designed for performance, film, and technology, the building's prominent location fosters a visual connection between its activities and the surrounding environment.
As humanity enters the AI-driven intelligent era, technology platform enterprises adopt more open and flexible modes of operation. Collaborative spaces such as creative incubators and informal exchange areas have become key places for practicing their operational philosophies. In the design of headquarters buildings, companies aim to engage with the public more deeply and convey their corporate culture and spirit, in addition to fulfilling daily office functions. Alibaba's new headquarters in Shanghai is located in the "Global Waterfront Lifestyle Demonstration Zone," at the heart of the West Bank Cultural Corridor. Positioned by the river and near the West Bank Media Port, Financial City, and other industrial hubs, the site integrates art with industrial heritage, bringing a unique historical and contemporary vibrancy to the area. The architecture around the park is "star-studded," with forward-thinking designs from renowned architectural firms worldwide. The three buildings of Alibaba Xuhui Riverside Campus, designed by SANAA, Foster + Partners, and SOM, are introducing new concepts and visions to Xuhui Riverside.
Czech-based architectural firm CHYBIK + KRISTOF has revealed its design for a new school in Mulbekh, North India, in collaboration with the Czech NGO Himalayan Patron and Spring Dales Public School. The project aims to provide quality education in the region while preserving local culture. This initiative is particularly significant as many children, especially girls, from remote ethnic minority communities, have faced limited access to education due to the area's harsh climate and challenging terrain.
Oppenheim Architecture has unveiled the design for the College of Europe's new campus in Tirana, Albania. This project introduces the first "purpose-built" campus for the College, following its established campuses in Bruges, Belgium, and Natolin, Poland. The College of Europe, created under the initiative of the Hague Congress, is dedicated to promoting European ideals of unity, cooperation, and integration. This expansion to Tirana aims to reflect both a continuation of this mission and an opportunity for the College to establish a presence in a historically significant city.
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) has announced a three-year redevelopment of its 2-acre downtown Newark campus. The project, designed by architectural firms Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), and Weiss/Manfredi, has recently broken ground and is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2027. It integrates 350 mixed-income residential units, retail spaces, and a dynamic education and community center, in addition to rehearsal spaces, a new headquarters for jazz public radio station WBGO, and various outdoor gathering areas.
Masterplan Framework, designed by KPF. Image Courtesy of Plomp
Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) has just unveiled its 2045 Campus Vision for the University of Birmingham, a plan designed to shape the future of the institution. This framework evaluates the university’s portfolio of over 300 buildings, identifying areas for retention, refurbishment, transformation, or replacement to support its goal of becoming a net-zero, future-ready university. Developed in collaboration with Ayers Saint Gross, the 2045 Campus Vision leverages data on building conditions, operational costs, environmental performance, and space utilization. In fact, this data-driven approach aims to help the university achieve its long-term objectives while maintaining its historical legacy.
Tencent Shenzhen Headquarter Lot 04 East designed by Ma Yansong/MAD Architects. Image Courtesy of MAD Architects
Tencent is developing its new headquarters campus on five parcels spanning over 80 hectares east of Da Chan Bay Island in Qianhai, Bao'an District, Shenzhen. MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong, has designed LOT 04 East of Tencent's new headquarters, envisioning two biomorphic office towers, three interconnected buildings, and a raindrop-shaped building. This project covers approximately 72,000 square meters with a Gross Floor Area of 412,000 square meters. Currently under construction, Lot 04 East of the headquarters is expected to be completed and open for users in 2025. Other projects announced for the campus include Büro Ole Scheeren’s swirling design for the Tencent Helix, and MVRDV’s residential complex named Tencent P5.
In London, where I live, there are 23 universities. Those universities make up an institutional population of nearly half a million people. In a city with almost 10 million residents, 5% may seem a small number, but it’s a significant one, roughly the population of Atlanta. Shrink the city, and the proportion can increase dramatically. In our neighbouring cities of Oxford (population 150,000), 40% of the population is institutional; in Cambridge (population 125,000), it’s 33%. Campus and city are so intertwined in those places that a plan for one is almost necessarily a plan for the other.
“The 2024 Prize jury emphasizes the significance of architecture that explores the potential to shift mindsets and policies, as well as the importance of fostering inclusivity”, explains the official announcement. The Awards Ceremony will take place at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona, in the context of the EUmies Awards Day, on the 14th of May 2024, launching the Barcelona Architecture Weeks.
The Obama Foundation has released details about the design of a new athletic, program and event facility to take shape at the Obama Presidential Center located on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. Designed by Moody Nolan, the facility titled Home Court will offer the largest gathering space on the campus, serving as a place for community engagement as well as health and wellness activities. The venue is scheduled to become the first space within the Obama Presidential Center campus to open in late 2025.
MVRDV has revealed a large-scale residential complex to take shape as part of a new smart city campus built by technology company Tencent in Qianhai Bay, Shenzhen, China. MVRDV’s intervention, named Tencent P5, is comprised of 11 apartment towers arranged around four courtyards. The project also includes amenities such as an adjacent kindergarten, to offer all the necessary facilities for the company’s employees. Construction began in early 2022 and is scheduled for completion in 2024.
Brooklyn-based firm SO-IL has revealed the design for a new campus art museum at Williams College in Massachusetts, created to become a primary teaching resource for the institution renowned for its art history program. Since its inauguration in 1926, the Williams College Museum of Art has gathered an expansive collection of over 15,000 works. Through the design of SO-IL, the museum will be able to move into its first freestanding purpose-built home. In May 2024, the museum will present an exhibition on SO-IL’s design.
GRAFT Architects has just won the competition to design the new Carl Bechstein Music Campus. Located centrally in Berlin, the Carl Bechstein Foundation’s main goal with the campus is to create a cultural hub entirely devoted to piano music. Serving as a focal point for the Bechstein Brand, established in 1853 and known for its variety of Bechstein pianos, this campus will serve as a focal point and a new headquarters for the foundation.
Recently I visited Pittsburgh for a fascinating hand-drawing conference at Carnegie Mellon’s superb school of architecture, which to my knowledge is not among the top 10 in U.S. News and World Report. I wonder why? The curriculum is cutting-edge, the faculty world-renowned, and the students well-grounded and talented. More people of color are in the design community at CMU than at Princeton, SCI-Arc, or Harvard.
Henning Larsen and Ramboll have won the competition to design the new campus for the prestigious scientific research center,CERN. Designed to integrate science and nature, the B777 building uses biogenic materials and low-carbon methods to reimagine traditional laboratory settings. Situated on the border of France and Switzerland, in CERN’s Prévessin Campus, the scheme aims to foster a sense of community, collaboration, and well-being.
