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AL_A Creates Stackable Soccer Pitches for Unused Urban Lots

Architectural firm AL_A has unveiled its design for Pitch/Pitch, a series of 5-a-side soccer pitches designed for unused or temporarily vacant lots across London, as well as in other cities internationally.

Created as a response to shortage of sport space in inner cities, the project is meant to be fast and easy to construct, “meaning it could be set up for a fortnight to coincide with a World Cup tournament, or last for a year, bringing use to vacant sites that might otherwise lie dormant.”

After working with Arup, the practice developed a modular system that utilizes a lightweight carbon-fiber structure, a material generally associated with the aerospace industry, but that is emerging architecturally at larger scales.

In with the Old and with the New / Scenario Architecture

In with the Old and with the New / Scenario Architecture - Renovation, Kitchen, Beam, Table, Countertop, ChairIn with the Old and with the New / Scenario Architecture - Renovation, Door, Facade, Beam, ChairIn with the Old and with the New / Scenario Architecture - Renovation, Courtyard, Door, FacadeIn with the Old and with the New / Scenario Architecture - Renovation, Kitchen, Table, Chair, Lighting, CountertopIn with the Old and with the New / Scenario Architecture - More Images+ 19

Sam Jacob Studio Creates a "Soft Baroque" Backdrop to New Design Museum's Inaugural Exhibition

The inaugural show at the new London Design Museum, Fear and Love, presents a collection of "reactions to a complex world." Featuring eleven specially-commissioned installations designed by the likes of OMA/AMO, Hussein Chalayan, Andrés Jaque and Metahaven, the spatial context which frames them is the work of Sam Jacob Studio.

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Eric Parry Architects' 72-Story Skyscraper Receives Approval from City of London

Eric Parry Architects’ 1 Undershaft has been granted planning permission from the City of London Corporation’s Planning Committee, which will allow the 73-story tower to become the tallest building in the London Financial District and the second tallest building in the UK, behind only The Shard.

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New Permanent Garden / Gabriel Orozco

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Zaha Hadid Architects Responds to Patrik Schumacher's "Urban Policy Manifesto"

On Thursday 17th of November, at the World Architecture Festival in Berlin, Patrik Schumacher gave a lecture offering his theory on how to address London’s Housing crisis. Given Schumacher’s well-known penchant for neoliberal economics, it was perhaps little surprise that his plan included a number of highly controversial ideas, such as the elimination of all forms of social housing and planning, and the privatization of all public space—with Schumacher highlighting Hyde Park as a particularly interesting opportunity.

Though ArchDaily was in attendance at the lecture, we chose not to cover Schumacher’s speech, at least in part because the audible boos from the crowd indicated that this was not a position that the wider architectural profession was interested in giving publicity to. However, the news was picked up by a number of other architectural publications including Dezeen; as a result, Schumacher’s speech became front page news on the London Evening Standard, prompting a response from London Mayor Sadiq Khan who said Schumacher’s ideas were “out of touch” and “just plain wrong.” These developments in turn have prompted an outcry from the architectural profession, causing Zaha Hadid Architects to write an open letter in response to the furore. Read on to see the full letter.

Update [05 January 2017]: the Architects' Journal have published a leaked internal email from Patrik Schumacher which claims that "this letter was sent out by ZHA’s head of press, Roger Howie, without the authorisation of any of the company’s directors."

Arts Building for The American School in London / Walters & Cohen Architects

Arts Building for The American School in London / Walters & Cohen Architects - Schools , Garden, Column, Facade, Arch, ForestArts Building for The American School in London / Walters & Cohen Architects - Schools , Table, ChairArts Building for The American School in London / Walters & Cohen Architects - Schools , GardenArts Building for The American School in London / Walters & Cohen Architects - Schools , FacadeArts Building for The American School in London / Walters & Cohen Architects - More Images+ 15

Tour These London Landmarks Without Leaving Your Couch

Architectural photographer Rod Edwards specializes in 360º virtual reality imagery and virtual tours of iconic buildings. Having spent the last decade producing this type of media, Edwards was recently commissioned by Visit Britain to shoot his “More London” project as part of the global campaign for the 2015 James Bond film “Spectre.”

Read on to see “More London” and more projects by Edwards.

Slab House / Bureau de Change Architects

Slab House / Bureau de Change Architects - Extension, Facade, Beam, LightingSlab House / Bureau de Change Architects - Extension, Kitchen, Facade, Table, ChairSlab House / Bureau de Change Architects - Extension, Facade, Beam, ColumnSlab House / Bureau de Change Architects - Extension, Courtyard, Facade, DoorSlab House / Bureau de Change Architects - More Images+ 4

View London's Newly-Opened Design Museum Through the Lens of Interior Architect John Pawson

Intimidating to design a Design Museum for designers? No, because what you're doing is working with the challenges of the existing space.

In this new video from NOWNESS, the audience is treated to a viewing of the new Design Museum in London, courtesy of its interior architect John Pawson. Part interview and part guided tour, NOWNESS uses the unorthodox technique of giving the building's designer his own camera, making parts of the video an intriguing insight into how Pawson sees his own work.

Designed in collaboration with OMA and Allies and Morrison, the project is a thorough renovation of the former Commonwealth Institute building, a 1962 structure by Robert Matthew, a founding partner of RMJM. Pawson dwells on the experience of working with their dramatic hyperbolic paraboloid roof, the materials used in the design, and the challenges of working on such a sensitive project.

Adjaye Associates Designs Mixed-Use Building Near London's Trafalgar Square

Adjaye Associates Designs Mixed-Use Building Near London's Trafalgar Square - Office Buildings, Facade
Courtesy of Adjaye Associates

Adjaye Associates, alongside development manager Alchemi Group, have submitted a planning application for 5 Strand, a mixed-use scheme adjacent to London's iconic Trafalgar Square. Inspired and informed by the surrounding historic buildings, the new 5 Strand will include 62,000 square feet (5,760 square meters) of office space, 26 apartments, and two ground-level retail units.

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Scenario's House / Scenario Architecture

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Article 25's "10x10" Auction Features Work by Zaha Hadid, Kengo Kuma, Richard Meier & Antony Gormley

In celebration of their 10-year anniversary, Article 25, the world's largest architectural charity, will hold this year's "10x10 Drawing the City London" event on November 29 at the Royal Institute of British Architects. Each year, representatives from UK's top architecture studios and property and design industries gather to raise funds for Article 25's work in developing countries. The event features an auction of artwork by 100 prominent rising artists, designers, and architects; this year's participants include Kengo Kuma, Richard Meier, Antony Gormley, Zaha Hadid Design, and David Adjaye.

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10 Teams Shortlisted in Competition for New National Holocaust Memorial in London

The Government of the United Kingdom and competition organizer Malcolm Reading Consultants have announced the ten architect teams selected to envision designs for the new National Memorial to the Holocaust, to be located next to the UK Parliament. Designs will encompass a “striking” new National Memorial in Victoria Gardens, as well as a possible below ground Learning Center.

The 10 shortlisted teams were selected from nearly 100 entries from teams across the globe by a jury made up of notable figures in British culture, religion and architecture, including Director of Stanton Williams Architects, Paul Williams; former Serpentine Galleries Director Dame Julia Peyton-Jones; and National September 11 Memorial and Museum Director, Alice M Greenwald.

Study John Pawson's Interiors of the New London Design Museum

This month London's Design Museum will officially open its new home on Kensington High Street. The project, which has been redeveloped and designed in collaboration with Rotterdam-based practice OMA and London-based studio Allies & Morrison, has seen a Grade II* Listed Modernist monument sensitively restored into contemporary galleries. For John Pawson—who has been commissioned to create "a series of calm, atmospheric spaces" ordered around a large, oak-lined atrium—this scheme marks his first major public work.

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The Design Museum of London / OMA + Allies and Morrison + John Pawson

The Design Museum of London / OMA + Allies and Morrison + John Pawson - Interior Photography, Cultural Interiors, Stairs, Handrail
© Luc Boegly & Sergio Grazia

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8 Finsbury Circus / WilkinsonEyre

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John Pawson Narrates a Tour Through London's New Design Museum

This edition of Section D, Monocle 24's weekly review of design, architecture and craft, explores London's new Design Museum – a significant expansion for the institution at an entirely new location in West London. The interior spaces of the former Commonwealth Institute Building in Kensington, which is Grade II-listed, have been renovated by John Pawson. Alongside the museum’s Deputy Director, Alice Black, the Monocle team investigate the thinking behind the relaunch and how the spaces are designed to accommodate a shifting audience.

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