Participants in the Skanska Bridging Prague competition were asked to develop a new Vision Plan for the section of the riverfront from Libeňsk (Bridge) to the north to Železniční (Railway Bridge) in Smíchov to the south. The goal was to create a unified experience, linking cultural, recreational, ecological, historical and economic opportunities. They were also asked to design an intervention that will become a premiere destination along the river Vltava. The first prize winning proposal by Pete North focuses on strengthening the natural characteristics of places at the riverside, where it is consistent and feasible. It aims to create a synergy between park localities and the river, connected into a consequent chain of continuous spaces. More images and winning proposals after the break.
The LEAF Awards, now in its 9th year, honors the architects designing the buildings and solutions that are setting the benchmark for the international architectural community. The shortlist this year was recently announced and the final winners will be announced September 21. Information on the shortlist winners in the corresponding categories of Mixed-Use, Residential (single occupancy), Residential (multiple occupancy), Commercial, International Interior Design, Refurbishment, Young Architect, Public Building, Best Sustainable Building, and Best Future Building after the break.
TEX-FAB recently announced that the APPLIED Research Through Fabrication competition completed its first round at the beginning of the week. A total of 68 entries from 13 countries on 4 Continents in the Continuing and Speculative Research categories with roughly an even split between the two were received. Proposals dealing with acoustics, material structure, ambient light occlusion and movement monitoring through haptic and sensory relays all bid to proceed to the second round with $1000 in funding. In the end four proposals were chosen that satisfied the competition brief and proved to entertain the jury with intriguing and potentially unknown outcomes. More on the finalists’ proposals after the break.
The double landscape and architectural competition proposal for Yanqing Grape and Wine Park and Yanqing Greenhouse and Winery by LocalDesignStudio was organized ahead of the World Grape Conference to be held in 2014 in Yanqing County. The park was meant as a pilot project for the territory, only recently reconverted to cultivations of grapes, showing the latest technical achievements in the field of cultivation and production of wine and grape growing. Furthermore, the project was to represent the ambition of Yanqing County to become an important wine district internationally, not only oriented to business but related to a specific life-style. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed by Peter Ruge Architekten, the ‘Bambooline Berlin’ project, exhibited at Gallery DEN in Berline, explores the city’s urban development and proposes a new approach for the temporary, interim use of sustainable urban wasteland. This new, imaginary band complements the historically developed lines of the Berlin cityscape. More images and architects’ description after the break.
At the seventh edition of the International Architecture Festival from June 27-July 1, eme3‘s project brings back the action to the public space. They aim to recover the format of former editions and take back the interventions and organization of activities in different locations of the city center. These locations include some lots and spaces that were abandoned and fell into degradation. Their topic, ‘Bottom Up’, has a participation of around 50 participants coming from 17 countries. More images and architects’ description after the break.
As part of the 5th International Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam, Casanova + Hernandez Architecten will be putting on the ‘Can public space be used to regenerate urban life?’ roundtable discussion today, June 26 at 3:00pm.
This roundtable discussion is based on the one-year postgraduate studio entitled “Public Space Acupuncture”, that has been guided at the Berlage Institute by Helena Casanova and by Jesus Hernandez. An accompanying exhibition will open at 7:00 pm, remaining on view until Sunday, August 12. More information on the participants after the break.
RETHINK REUSE, an independent group whose goal is to inspire discourse on the topic of reuse is inviting all to participate in their Transforming Seattle’s 520 Floating Bridge 2012 International Design Ideas Competition. The goal is to envision new, innovative reuse strategies. The 520 bridge will be decommissioned in 2014 due to high maintenance costs, damage, and the need for additional lanes. The Washington State Department of Transportation is requiring of the new bridge’s design-build team that it be reused or recycled in a sustainable fashion; current trends for the reuse of pontoons have been floating docks, breakwaters and piers, but what else could be done with such a feat of engineering? More information on the competition after the break.
The proposal for the Klaksvìk City Center by studio wok starts from a thorough study of the natural elements of the place and from a study of the context. The two qualities of the bay and the natural character of the isthmus are key factors in the project. The new masterplan for Klaksvík strives to build a new way of living in the open public spaces through “spatial ecology”: the project wants to restore continuity to residential space at all scales of the project, from the design of the sidewalk up to design of urban systems on a regional scale. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Green Carceri, designed by TARQUITECTOS, arises as a natural extension of the High Line Park, connecting himself with the High Line and flying over the river, thus enabling a continuation of the public space underneath with the neighborhood to the height of the street and the docks. Winding around a series of vertical communication cores, the building allows both internal transit users and visitors to descend to the level of the street without having to enter the building. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The design proposal of the Badel Block Complex by Popular Architecture is a combination of polyvalent and stable, both a massing inviting interpretation and detailed development by others, and an anchor seeking to re-channel the site’s positive qualities. Conceptually, the project begins with making a direct link between the former distillery building and the preserved façade of the Gorica Factory — two features required to be kept. Treating the factory façade as a gateway, the plan pulls in the existing context of an active street market — into the heart of a site cut-off from the city for decades — while also avoiding direct replication of the area’s pervasive perimeter block typology. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The proposal by reSET Architecture for the Klaksvík city center unites the two town halves and acts as a place of meeting, relaxation and celebration. Their design creates a place that represents the new born heart of Klaksvík. The architects believe that the city should be attractive to more than just the people of Klaksvík itself, a place that attracts people from the Faroer and abroad. More images and architects’ description after the break.
With a challenge to make a series of random ephemeral public spaces using a simple structure in the Seattle Center, the intervention by Hoshino Architects proposes areas of such spaces to be transformed to voids and purely leave the circulation spaces on the ground level. In contrast, the public contents circles are randomly scattered on the field level. As normal urban spaces, the circulation spaces sometimes change to unexpected functions, such as a viewing gallery for the event staged at the field level. This dual layer structure intertwines and creates the complex ‘Porous-scape’. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Organized by Europan Europe, 2:pm Architectures & CUAC Arquitectura met for a 4-days long international workshop to explore how agriculture and architectural development are in symbiotic relationship. In analyzing the growth of Vienna and Oberlaa, they can easily understand how architecture born on agricultural results in footprints so they offered a system to develop Oberlaa. It’s a system which is able to offer countryside qualities within contemporary city density. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Globe/Hedron Rooftop Farm is a bamboo greenhouse designed to organically grow fish and vegetables on top of generic flat roofs. Designed by Conceptual Devices, the structure is optimized for aquaponic farming techniques: the fish’s water nourishes the plants and plants clean the water for the fish. Using this farming technique, the design is optimized to feed four families of four all year round. More images and designers’ description after the break.
The 244th annual Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, which is held until August 12, features a site specific architectural installation designed by architect and artist Chris Wilkinson, Director at Wilkinson Eyre Architects. Positioned in the center of the RA’s Annenberg Courtyard, From Landscape to Portrait is a 12 meter-long sculpture based on a series of 11 wooden artist’s frames, supported upon a timber structure clad in polished stainless steel. More images and information on the installation after the break.
The main objective of the project for the Ödemis New City Center by Onat Öktem is to integrate urban functions to ensure the continuity of the pedestrian and green axis while creating a new structure. In this context, defined and undefined urban spaces have been reorganized to increase the physical, social and cultural wealth of the citizens. Green axis, squares and spaces in the city have been evaluated as an advantage for the social, cultural and physical development. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Taking place at the Lisbon Architecture Triennale headquarters from July 16-21, the ‘CRITICAL: Lisbon’ workshop is dedicated to talking, writing, and publishing critically about architecture. Coordinated by Lev Bratishenko, Frederico Duarte and Becky Quintal (included in the Critical Distance program of Lisbon Architecture Triennale), the event is conceived as a speculative editorial project that confronts the notion that architects and the public operate in ideologically disparate universes by focusing on their common desire to improve the city. More information on the workshop after the break.
