In Progress: The Latest Architecture and News

Architects: Wiel Arets Architects Location: Maasbracht, The Netherlands Client: Rijkswaterstaat Maas- werken Project Year: Under Construction Project Area: 1850 sqm Photographs: Courtesy of Wiel Arets Architects

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Architects: de Architekten Cie / Branimir Medic, Pero Puljiz Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan Collaborators: Malone Chang + Yu-lin Chen Architects Client: Kaohsiung County Mayor Project Year: 2007 Project Area: 24,470 sqm Photographs: Courtesy of de Architekten Cie.

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Courtesy of sTARTT

“WHATAMI”, winner of the 2011 Young Architect Program at the MAXXI, is beginning to take shape. This summer installation is situated within the exterior spaces of the museum and is the result of a partnership between MoMA’s P.S.1 and the National Museum of the 21st Century Arts in Rome. Simultaneously Interboro Partners‘ “Holding Pattern” will on display at the MoMA in New York and sTARTT’s winning design “WHATAMI” at Zaha Hadid’s MAXXI.

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The Pharrell Williams Resource Center is a design that represents the future for youth centers. The treehouse concepts aims to inspire future generations through architecture providing a place where kids can escape and imagine. A unique combination of architect Chad Oppenheim of Oppenheim Architecture + Design and musical impressario Pharrell Williams they are hoping that this youth center will set a new standard for the way the world builds for its future. “We’re creating an environment to house creativity,” said Chad about his design. “Pharrell is a visionary renaissance man, and this center is a reflection of his passion for education and natural design sensibility.” The PWRC is slated for completion by 2013.

The community based winning design for the 2011 Young Architects Program at the P.S.1, “Holding Pattern” by Interboro Partners, shared photographs of the installations canopy raising which took place last Thursday at MoMA. The New York firm, formed by Tobias Armborst, Daniel D’Oca, and Georgeen Theodore, were able to creatively accomplish the design within the Young Architects Program’s budget and program requirements, stretching the funds to essentially serve two purposes; as the materials will be recycled, donating the objects such as ping pong tables, benches, and flood lights, to the community at the end of the installation. ”Holding Pattern” will welcome visitors beginning June 19th.

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Architects: Boczkó Architects Location: Vác, Hungary Project Team: Zoltán Gábor Szepesi & Zsuzsanna Mohai Landscaping: Hajlék Tervező Bt., Vácduka Structural Engineering: Kerek és Pintér Kft, Budapest Electrical Engineering: Dinamic Kft, Gödöllő Building Services: Mopemedia Kft, Vác Fire Services: Brolex Kft, Budapest Project area: 360 sqm Project year: 2010-2011 Photographs: Ákos Boczkó

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These two 3-story mixed-use buildings, side-by-side reflecting each other, sit on a narrow thirty-foot lot along Ocean Front walk on world famous Venice Beach. This culturally diverse urban community is a busy commercial pedestrian area, popular with tourists and locals alike.

Architect: Kanner Architects Location: Venice Beach, California, USA Project Area: 13,000 sqf

Zoka Zola is an architecture firm that is interested in high degrees of optimization that are achieved through a series of inventions — similar to the inventions and optimizations leading to human flight from early gliders and flying machines to the airplane — where characteristics, shape and use of each element is in a tight interdependent relationship with every other element. Where every element can be enjoyed on its own while at the same time is an essential part of the entire assembly. These inventions toward optimization contribute to the body of usable strategies in architecture, since each assembly is optimized for a very specific set of circumstances. While this high degree of “optimization” is not yet taken seriously as an architectural objective, they believe it will become an objective of future architects because of the growing awareness of our available resources and their uses, eventually making the terms “efficient” and “optimized” common place. This project develops a series of steps towards optimization through architectural form of a building’s natural ventilation.

Architect: Zoka Zola Architecture + Urban Design Location: Southern China MEP and Structural Engineer: Arup Cost Estimator: Rider Levett Bucknall

In search of the origins of architecture, Laugier presented a primitive hut using the three basic elements of architecture – the post, the lintel and the gable. Semper’s pursuit of the origin resulted in a primitive dwelling that was comprised of four basic qualities – earthwork, hearth, framework/roof, and enclosing membrane. While Laugier’s list of basic elements stemmed from the obsession with disciplinary origins, Semper‘s meditations were a vehicle to essentialize that which was previously seen as superfluous, namely the building enclosure. Semper wanted to put ornament to work. Butterfly House is an exercise in re-working three ubiquitous elements – window, door and roof – until they exceed their functional value and lead the way to new architectural effects. Butterfly House builds upon Laugier’s primitive hut as a model of fitness, updated to reflect a post-bubble economic climate rather than mythical origins, as well as Semper’s interest in the productive capacity of the apparently unnecessary. Our conceptual hut uses a limited quantity of elements to solicit rich qualities and characteristics and uncovers a zone of enchantment between the essential and the excessive.

Architect: davidclovers Location: Wayne County, Pennsylvania, USA Project Area: 1,000 sqf Expected Completion: Fall 2011

Architects: BROISSINarchitetcs Location: Coyoacán, Mexico Design Team: Gerardo Broissin, David Suarez, Alejandro Rocha, Enrique Guillen Collaborators: Rodrigo Jiménez, Mauricio Cristóbal, Ruben Zepeda, Luis Muñoz, Erik Guzman, Jose Luis Durán Sara Villanueva, Juan Carlos González, Elizabeth Salinas, Juan Manuel Vargas, Pamela Moreno General contractor: R+A. Coordinación Acoustics: Saad Acústica Scructural engeneer: Ing. Armando Serralde. Ing. Nabor Castillo Landscaping: a10Studio + Entorno Taller de Paisaje Lighting design: Satélite Iluminación Civil works: Macinter Images: BROISSINarchitetcs

The North American competition-winning design for the renovation and expansion of the historic University of Toronto Faculty of Law responds directly to the client’s ambition to create a law school among the finest in the world. Hariri Pontarini Architects proposed a design that would provide both a physical and visual connection to its surrounding landscape.

Architects: Hariri Pontarini Architects Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Partner-in-Charge: Siamak Hariri Project Area: 160,000 sqf Photographs: Courtesy of Hariri Pontarini Architects

Architects: Richard Meier & Partners Architects Location: Jesolo Lido, Italy Project year: 2003 – 2013 Photographs: Guido Ranieri Da Re courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners Architects

The main objective behind the design for the new Staten Island Animal Care Center was to create a high quality environment for the animals, staff and visitors. The building is sheathed in a highly insulating, translucent polycarbonate envelope. This provides higher performance in comparison to typical glass and maximizes the benefits of natural light. The roof of the outer perimeter housing the animals is raised above a lower interior roof plane, which covers other shelter functions. This configuration permits the daylight to enter the facility on multiple sides. Natural ventilation is encouraged along the periphery with the use of a passive air ventilation system. A sophisticated mechanical system that uses heat recovery to feed heat gain energy back into the system is incorporated into the design to provide constant fresh air exchange.

Architect: Garrison Architects Location: Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA Project Area: 5,500 sqf Renderings: Courtesy of Garrison Architects

Architects: Atelier 11 Location: Beijing, China Design Director: Xu Lei Design Team: Ding Liqun, Gao Qinglei, Liu Heng, An Peng Construction Drawing: Xu Lei, An Peng, Gao Qinglei, Ding Liqun, Li Lei, Liu Heng, Zhu Yin, Jin Ding Client: Beijing Shi Ao Co., Ltd. Project area: 51,199 sqm Project year: 2009 – 2011 Photographs: Atelier 11

Architects: ALA Architetcs Location: Kristiansand, Norway Project team: Juho Grönholm, Antti Nousjoki, Janne Teräsvirta, Samuli Woolston and Birger Grönholm with Niklas Mahlberg, Pekka Sivula, Pauliina Rossi, Pauliina Skyttä, Sami Mikonheimo, Jani Koivula,Auvo Lindroos, Aleksi Niemeläinen, Erling Sommerfeldt, Ingrid Kokkonen, Tomi Henttinen, Harri Ahokas, Anniina Koskela Klaus Stolt Collaborators: SMS Arkitekter AS: Erik Sandsmark, Wenche Aabel, Lasse Stamrud, Hanne Alnes (local partner) WSP Multiconsult AS (structural engineering) Arup Acoustics (hall acoustics) Brekke Strand Acoustics (room acoustics) Sweco Grøner (mechanical engineering) Cowi (electrical engineering) TPC (theater technical engineering) Client: Teater og Konserthus for Sørlandet IKS Project area: 24,000 sqm Project year: In construction Photographs: Courtesy of ALA Architects

Construction for the City Green Court, Richard Meier & Partners third building within the Prague 4-Pankrác Master Plan, is underway. Receiving a pre-certification of LEED Platinum, the building’s design is inspired by the language of Czech Cubism simultaneously responding to issues of conservation and sustainability. A completion date of early 2012 is anticipated. The video,

“We are working together to make City Green Court a benchmark for green building design in the Czech Republic,” shared Richard Meier. “This assignment has been particularly challenging as it also meant addressing the historic beauty of Prague and at the same time creating a modern image of the City for its future.”

More renderings and drawings of City Green Court following the break.

Architects: Richard Meier & Partners Renderings: Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners Architects, vize.com Video: vize.com

Architects: Richard Meier & Partners Architects LLP Location: Tel Aviv, Israel Project year: 2007 – 2013 Photographs: Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners Architects LLP & dbox

Continuing our coverage of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SSE), OMA recently shared the latest photographs of the building while under construction. The building, located in the downtown area of Shenzhen, China, is expected to reach completion in April 2011. The SSE, a new headquarters for China’s equivalent of the NASDAQ, is 132,000 sqm of offices, registration and clearing house, accessory area, securities information company, SSE office area, trading floor and technical operations. The floating podium design, which is suspended 36 meters over a public plaza, projects 54 meters from the base of the tower. The building broke ground in November of 2007, Rem Koolhaas along with local government and the officials from the SSE were in attendance. Check out our previous coverage here.

Follow the break for the latest photographs of SSE.