Urban Movement Design, winner of the 2012 Young Architects Program (YAP) MAXXI in Rome, has reinvented the MAXXI experience by engaging the mind and body with their interactive, summer installation. UNIRE/UNITE responds to the current public health crisis by offering an alternative solution to traditional urban furniture that choreographs exercise and play back into our daily lives. As our world struggles in crisis, Urban Movement Design believes it is imperative that we rethink the way we live and change the disabling, sedentary lifestyles that are currently promoted by our built environment.
The New York and Rome-based practice has merged the two disciplines of architecture and movement therapies in an effort to integrate health back into design and promote a greater sense of community. This project is a reflection of their philosophy. Continue after the break to learn more.
Urban Movement Design: “All of nature acts according to the law of interconnectedness, but humankind has moved away from this natural law and into an unnatural state of self-interest and isolation.”
The high-speed rail terminus station will connect Hong Kong to various major cities in the Mainland with the largest rail network in our history. Located centrally in Hong Kong within the city’s urban realm and equipped with fifteen tracks, the facility will probably be the largest below ground terminus station in the world.
Designed by Andrew Bromberg of Aedas, in collaboration with Aecom, the West Kowloon Terminus will function more like an international airport than a rail station; this means that the facility needs to have both custom and immigration controls for departing and arriving passengers.. More images and architects’ description after the break.
This year the Cleveland Design Competition is calling for a re-imagining of the Detroit Superior Bridge – a 19th century bridge rich with history and value to Cleveland’s downtown area and industrial zones. Professional, students, firms and designers are all invited to propose a dynamic public space, performance venue and pedestrian experience along the abandoned lower streetcar level of the bridge. Registration for this competition closes on September 24th. The competition deadline is October 5th. This is an awarded competition for first, second and third prize winners. A free public reception and exhibition will takes place on October 26th to announce the winners. To register, visit the official competition website.
For a brief on the competition, join us after the break.
EE&K, a Perkins Eastman Company, and Knutson Construction were recently selected by Hennepin County for their design for ‘The Interchange’ in Downtown Minneapolis. The design-build contract for the $79.3 million transportation hub, which is expected to be completed by 2014, will connect transit with culture. Led by architect Peter Cavaluzzi FAIA, the multidisciplinary team envisions a state-of-the-art transit station with complementary mixed-used development and year-round activated public space. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Yul Kwon of PBS travels coast to coast to reveal how America’s transportation systems make the nation the most mobile place on earth. Woven together by 200,000 miles of railways, 5,000 airports and 4 million miles of roads, America’s car culture has shaped our cities and defined our lifestyles. However, as roadways become more congested, many predict people will eventually give up this car-centric lifestyle and embrace mass transit. Recently we announced the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s selection of Gruen Associates and Grimshaw Architects to design the new master plan for Union Station in Los Angeles. Their winning proposal gives a hint of what America may look like by 2050, as it transforms into a more mass transit centered nation.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has selected L.A.’s Gruen Associates and London’s Grimshaw Architects to design the new master plan for Union Station in Los Angeles. The pair was awarded with the commission over some of the biggest names in the profession, such as Norman Foster and Renzo Piano (view the other five fantastical proposals here). They will transform the historic 1939 station and its surrounding 40 acres into a world-class, 21st century transportation hub that will host the future high-speed rail system that plans to connect L.A. and San Francisco.
The master planning process could take as little as 24 months. No surprise, considering both Gruen and Grimshaw have a great amount of experience with transit related projects. Gruen recently worked with Metro on the first phase of the Expo Line, while Grimshaw has extensive resume in Europe and is involved with the forthcoming Fulton Street Transit Center in Lower Manhattan, which is planned for completion in 2014.
