In Progress: The Latest Architecture and News

CEBRA has been designing several buildings for young users, (we recently featured their 1st-3rd grade building) and their new Design Kindergarten attempts to break preconceived notions of “what a school should look like” as a way to pique children’s curiosity and creativity. Still in progress, the daycare center’s organization is based around different “themes” that focus of specific activities -in this case art, design and architecture. This is somewhat new to the Danish model of daycare, as the building will turn into more of an educational preschool facility where knowledge is acquired, not though a formal lesson, but rather through play. In addition to the architectural strategy of redefining a daycare center, the client/architect relation is something to be noted. The parents participated in the design process in a very active way, offering ideas and criticism to push the project forward.

More images, videos and lots of diagrams after the break.

Architects: Debbas Architecture Location: Dalian, China Client: YIDA Group Project Year: 2010 Photographs: Debbas Architecture

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Our friends from CEBRA, with the The Danish Foundation For Culture And Sports Facilities, are developing a series of “igloos” for sports and culture in Denmark.

The concept is to create a multi an unheated use dome, for sports and cultural acts as you can see on the sketches below. The dome covers a 1,650sqm area on one single space subdivided by smaller pieces. The main structure that allows this single space consists on large laminated wood beams as you can see on the images. Over this structure, a series of sheets cover the space leaving space for ventilation.

This dome is being built in Hundige (Greve municipality), and it will be replicated in other danish cities.

Stay tuned for a CEBRA surprise later this afternoon.

More images after the break:

The Metropol Parasol in Sevilla, Spain, is the result of a competition in 2004, awarded to Jürgen Mayer Architects.

The sinuous structure is proposed to be a landmark in the middle of the old city fabric, while serving as an observation deck to discover the upper level of the compact urban context, a new view of the city. The project has been criticized by the citizens because of the contrast with the existing constructions, as you can see on the renderings.

Architecture photographer Pedro Pegenaute shared with us some photos of the current status of this impressive structure, from which we can see a preview of what the observation deck will be:

Morphosis Architects is currently completing a massive project in Shanghai: The Headquarters and offices for Giant Group, including residence for the chairman & all Giant Group employees, hotel, training center and clubhouse, with a total of 258,300 sqf (23,996 sqm).

Thom Mayne’s architecture has pushed building techniques in order to take his organics form to reality, and I think that the best way to understand his projects is not through renders or even drawings, but by watching the structure and the construction progress.

After the break drawings and several photos during the construction phase of this almost completed project in China:

John Jay College of Criminal Justice, an active college in the City University of New York, currently occupies a former Public School building, Haaren Hall, on 10th Avenue between 58th and 59th Streets. With ownership of the entire Manhattan block, the college has ambitions to grow over two phases into the full Zoning capacity of the block. The charge of this project is to occupy the entire site with an integrated campus while providing a base for future growth.

Our friends from kadawittfeldarchitektur sent us their latest project, the new Adidas administration building “LACES”, located in the city of Herzogenaurach, Germany. The roofing ceremony was yesterday, and the shell of the new building will be finished in the 2nd quarter of 2011.

“Laces“ forms a bright white counterpart to the horizontal black volume of the adjacent adidas Brand Center. The clearly contoured building fits into the existing “World of Sports” campus, with the campus park floating in the interior space, yielding a tempered atrium. This plaza forms the heart of the new building – a forum and meeting space. The office floors organized around this central space provide views into the surrounding landscape of the Herzo-Base. Catwalks above the plaza link the departments, offering a high degree of interaction. Like laces, they tie the building together, forming a multilayer workspace and conveying an atmosphere of creativity.

More images after the break.

Architects: MAD Location: Erdos, Inner Mongolia Director in Charge: Ma Yansong, Yosuke Hayano, Dang Qun Design team: Shang Li, Andrew C. Bryant, Howard Jiho Kim, Matthias Helmreich , Zheng Tao, Qin Lichao, Yang Lin, Sun Jieming Yin Zhao , Du Zhijian Collaborators: China Institute of Building Standard Design and Research, The Institute of Shanxi Architectural Design and Research Site Area: 27,760 sqm Constructed Area: 41,227 sqm Status: Under Construction Client: Erdos Municipal Government Images: MAD

The extension of the fira de barcelona in montjuïc is planned half inside and half outside Barcelona’s municipal term, at the back of the Montjuïc hill, following the Gran Via avenue straight to L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.

Japanese architect Toyo Ito won the competition for the masterplan of the project.

This project by young Latvian architects NRJA (previously featured on AD) is currently under construction. The complex, in Riga, Latvia, includes 2 towers (29 and 30 stories each), connected by a floor bridge. It also includes a 4-stories podium. Completion is expected durin 1st quarter 2010.

Architect´s description, more renderings and construction photos after the break. You can also watch the construction site via webcam.