Set deep within some of the most isolated desert landscapes across the Middle East and further afield, these desert camp hotels offer a way to connect with their surroundings through the solitary experience of open and expansive scenery.
By disregarding the kind of structural interventions that might alter their historic and often culturally relevant landscapes, the projects position traditional and local skills, materials, and architectural techniques alongside high-end luxury interiors.
15-minute cities are a trending urban planning topic that has long been discussed academically and is now slowly being implemented across existing cities in Europe. But now, the first 15-minute city is being designed and built from scratch in Utah. Dubbed “The Point”, the new 600-acre city will be located just outside Salt Lake City, and will be a redeveloped former state prison site where new jobs, housing, public spaces, amenities, and transportation will serve almost 15,000 people in an attempt to explore a prototype for how innovative urban planning concepts can improve the public health and wellness.
Utah-based community project Summit has announced Mountain Architecture Prototype (MAP), an SPM Design Competition, "to select the design of a cabin prototype in an effort to push forward the conversation around what it means to build responsibly at 8,400 feet in the Wasatch [Mountain] Range.”
The competition seeks submissions for a structure of up to 2,500 square feet, which will be located on a 12 degree sloped site at Summit Powder Mountain. Sustainable designs are highly encouraged, particularly with the use of natural materials.
After producing major revisions on a previously rejected design, BIG have had their second design rejected for the Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah. City Hall rejected the design on the basis of appearance, arguing that it did not relate to the historic city centre "aesthetically, visually or historically." The second design by BIG marked a complete departure from the original that was selected as the winner of an architectural contest hosted by the Kimball Art Center.
In an entertaining take on the events that led BIG to completely redesign their winning competition entry for the Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah, Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan describes the new design as "ridiculously anonymous," "a huge — and almost hilarious — departure from the personality and warmth of the original design." She asks the residents of Park City, whose outrage forced the redesign, "are you happy now?" Read the full article here.
Despite rising poverty across the US, homelessness has decreased 69% in Utah over the past five years and is even expected to be eliminated this year, the Huffington Post reports. How has Utah found such success? By giving the homeless homes. While the answer may seem obvious, Utah is breaking ground with its Housing Works program, which gives the homeless affordable and permanent apartments on just one condition: that they be "good stewards."
Architect: Ennead Architects Architect of Record: GSBS Architects Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA Project Year: 2011 Photographs: Jeff Goldberg/Esto, Stuart Ruckman, Ben Lowry
The Kimball Art Center design proposal by Will Bruder+PARTNERS focuses on the nature of “exhibition” in the context of history. Taking a cue from the “colorful prehistoric petroglyphs and pictographs” of Utah’s canyons along with its abundance of formally expressive Victorian architecture, the proposal takes on the role of expression and education through color and craft. This sensitivity to the history and propogation of exhibition is instantly understood with the facade walls of Main and Heber Streets.
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The Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah is hosting a competition for a transformation of the “non-profit center for the arts in the heart of Park City’s historic and vibrant art community”. The list of architects competing to transform this cultural space is selective. Among them is Sparano + Mooney Architecture, an internationally recognized firm with offices in Park City, Utah and Los Angeles, California. The competition submissions for Stage II will be presented on February 2nd, but until then here is a preview of Sporano + Mooney’s Proposal!
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AIA Utah announces the 2010 design/build competition Ballet West: Fluid Adagio Installation (BWFAI), a first-time-ever joint competition initiated by AIA Utah’s Young Architects Forum.
