Bushwick, now famed for its art, night life and abundance of green spaces, is one of the fastest gentrifying neighbourhoods in Brooklyn. ODA New York's 71 White Street will be the latest in new developments taking over former industrial buildings in the neighborhood -- but with a twist. Using the foundation of a former 1930s manufacturing building, 71 White will preserve its graffitied brick exterior, maintaining the character of the neighbourhood. Read more about the project after the break.
Unbuilt Project
ODA’s 71 White Street in Brooklyn Incorporates the Site's Graffitied Walls Into the Design
Isay Weinfeld Unveils the Design for His First Project in New York City
Located on 527 West 27th Street, in “the heart of West Chelsea” and overlooking the highline, Jardim is a set of two, 11-storey luxury condominium buildings designed by Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld. His first project in New York, the buildings comprise 36 condominium residences, each with between 1-4 bedrooms. Many of the residences will have private outdoor spaces, providing “seamless indoor-outdoor living."
1+1 Architects Creates New Landmark for Antalya, Turkey
1+1 Architects has been awarded first prize for its design for A New Landmark for Antalya, in a competition held by the Municipality of Kepez, a major tourism city on the coast of Turkey in the Mediterranean.
The competition called for a proposal of a landmark to introduce the metropolitan area of Antalya to the world, while providing a public cultural and activity center for day-to-day life. In response, 1+1 Architects’ project marries the notion of a prominent landmark, and the idea of adapting to the natural landscape.
CODA’s "Cabinette" Reflects the Tension in WB Yeats’ Poem “Lake Isle of Innisfree”
In his 1892 poem Lake Isle of Innisfree, WB Yeats fantasizes about a life lived in solitude on an island in Lough Gill in Ireland, where the poet spent his summers as a child. Earlier this year, as a celebration of the poet’s 150th birthday, an architectural competition was held by the organization Yeats2015 to realize a temporary version of the “small cabin” from the poem.
In their response to the competition brief, New York-based practice CODA’s “Cabinette” feeds off of the contradictions in the competition’s premise, creating a structure that would realize Yeats’ cabin, yet simultaneously maintain its status as a fantasy contingent upon the conditions of everyday reality.
Tommaso Bernabò Silorata’s “Skyframe” Wins Super Skyscrapers Competition With its Dizzying Rooftop Pool
Winner of the annual Super Skyscrapers competition, Tommaso Bernabò Silorata’s “Skyframe” is a proposal for a skyscraper in Paris featuring a hotel, business areas and rooftop pool. Despite its status as one of the world’s fastest changing cities, Paris has severe restrictions on its skyline to preserve its existing landscape. Skyscrapers are discouraged in its urban core, an issue addressed in this year’s Super Skyscraper competition. The first place winner, Skyframe, creates a void between the two towers, framing the Parisian skyline, and creating an ethereal swimming experience for occupants on the roof-level pool.
Eighty-Seven Park / Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Located in North Beach in Miami, Florida, Eighty Seven Park will be a luxury condominium, and Renzo Piano’s first residential project in the western hemisphere. Set to be completed in 2018, the project seeks to seamlessly blend sky, sea and ground, addressing both the ocean and nearby 35-acre park. Seventy apartments ranging in size from 1400 to 7000 square feet sit atop two lush parks with uninterrupted ocean views. Read more after the break.
3rd Skin Architects' Haghani Pedestrian Bridge Folds Over Iranian Highway
3rd Skin Architects has released the plans for the Haghani Pedestrian Bridge, which will connect the residential zone of Mirdamad, Tehran, to Abbas Abad over the Haghani Highway in Iran.
MX_SI + SPRB Arquitectos Design Papalote Children’s Museum in Iztapalapa, Mexico
A team made up of Barcelona-based firm MX_SI and Mexican practice SPRB Arquitectos has been selected to design the Papalote Children’s Museum in Iztapalapa, Mexico.
Under the slogan “Let’s Make City,” their proposal seeks to integrate the museum with the city and surrounding public space.
Learn more about the winning project after the break.
Ennead Architects Announces Plans for New Tech District in China
Ennead Architects has unveiled the plans for its new project, the Qilin Technology Innovation Park, located in Nanjing, China. The 468,000 square meter project seeks to give a new direction to Chinese urbanism, as it moves away from the trend of “individual architectural trophies,” and towards “creating a holistic district identity and memorable urban space on a human scale.”
Inspired by Silicon Valley, the new science and technology district will create a “24-7 mixed-use urban research hub,” with commercial and government office space, conference facilities, residential buildings, hotels, retail environments, and public open space.
New Wave Architecture Designs Sustainable Office Building for Turbosealtech in Iran
Located in Pardis Technology Park in the suburbs of Tehran, the new Turbosealtech office by New Wave Architecture is a small, but complex building with a site of 1,300 square meters. Envisioned as an “incubator,” the project will provide a platform for people to research and innovate. Pardis Technology Park is made up of developments by young architects from Iran, and this project continues this pattern of expressing the vision of young Iranian architects through its design team. Read more about the project after the break.
GRAFT Begins Construction on Lakeside Hotel and Spa in Germany
GRAFT has begun construction on its new project, Hotel Bostalsee, a four-star hotel and spa situated lakeside in Saarland, Germany.
Based on the idea of integrating the building with its natural surroundings, the Hotel’s figure has been developed from the local topography, as well as the junction and relationship between the woods and the water.
The French International School / Henning Larsen
Henning Larsen Architects has revealed the designs for its new project, The French International School, in Hong Kong. The 18,000 square meter school in the Tseng Kwan O district will be the fifth to arise in Hong Kong, and will house 1,050 students from kindergarten through middle school.
Not only will the project be a school, but it is also intended to become a center for French culture in Hong Kong. Thus, the campus will be open on evenings and weekends for public events like sports competitions, exhibitions, French May, and French cinematheque.
aLL Design Reveals Plans for Residential Tower in South London
Will Alsop’s practice aLL Design has revealed the plans for its new 15-story residential tower in Vauxhall’s new arts district on Newport Street in south London. The project, called The Beacon, was commissioned by Newport Street Projects (NSP), which was formed solely for the development of the up-and-coming area.
The Beacon will be 1,735 square meters, with a narrowed footprint at the ground level, giving back 38% of street-level space to be used as public seating, landscaping, and permanent art installations.
gmp Designs New Headquarters for CNPEC in Shenzhen, China
Following a closed competition, which included practices like OMA, KPF and Henn Architects, gmp Architects was selected to design the new CNPEC Headquarters in Longgang, Shenzhen, Southeast China. The power corporation called for a new building that could house over 4000 employees. Read more about gmp’s design proposal after the break.
Tradition and Modernity Come Together in Mecanoo and HS Architects’ Proposal for the Longhua Art Museum and Library
Mecanoo has released their proposal for the Longhua Art Museum and Library, designed in collaboration with HS Architects. The proposal was a finalist for a competition to design a new cultural center in Baoan Qu, a district of Shenzhen, China. Their design recalls the necessity of returning to the Chinese cultural context after years of foreign designs, blending modernity with place and purpose. Read more about the proposal after the break.
KSP Jürgen Engel Wins Competition for New Shenzhen Art Museum and Library
KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten has won an international competition for the new Shenzhen Art Museum and Library. Selected over schemes by Steven Holl, Mecanoo, OMA, and others, the winning project takes the shape as three "elements" - an art museum, library and archive, and new "Culture Plaza" - united by a "stone podium."
"The main concept behind the design was to create a space that brings together art, culture, and an urban environment – a space where people and culture are encouraged to interact," says the architects.
Henning Larsen Architects Wins Competition to Design a New Forum at Lund University
Henning Larsen Architects has won a competition to design the new Forum Medicum, an addition to the Medical faculty at Lund University in Sweden. The 25,000 square meter space will be the “new gathering space for employees, students, researchers, and visitors,” bundling several educational fields under the larger umbrella of medical research.
The project will include a Forum that seamlessly connects the inside and outside with accessible public space, a café, restaurant, space for exhibitions, and informal learning spaces.
Quay Quarter Tower / 3XN
Update: 3XN's Quay Quarter Sydney has received final approval. The article below was originally published September 25, 2014, after the practice won the commission. New interior images have been added to the gallery.
3XN has won an international competition to design the “50 Bridge Street” tower and masterplan for the Quay Quarter Sydney (QQS) precinct. Just west of Jørn Utzon’s Opera House, the new tower will feature five rotating glass volumes, each equipped with a multi-level atria and views of the Sydney harbour.
Zalando Headquarters / HENN
HENN has won the competition to design the new Zalando Headquarters in Berlin. The project will consist of two seven-story buildings, where up to 2,700 employees will occupy 42,000 square meters of office space.
With the new Headquarters, all of the Zalando offices will be brought together, rather than dispersed throughout the city.
Ennead Architects Design Huawei Research Center in Wuhan, China
Ennead Architects has unveiled its design for the new Huawei Research Center, a research and development campus under construction in Wuhan, China. The new Center will be 350,000 square meters, and seeks to foster “interdepartmental interaction amongst employees while maximizing access to the surrounding landscape.”
MKPL Architects Wins Two Projects in Singapore Rail Corridor Competition
After competing with a strong shortlist of firms, which included OMA, MVRDV, West 8, Grant Associates and Olin Partnership, a team comprising MKPL and Turenscape International has been selected for not just one, but two, of the three projects planned for the Singapore Rail Corridor – the Choa Chu Kang affordable housing development and the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station renovation. Read more about the two projects after the break.
New Lower Hill Masterplan / West 8 + BIG + Atelier Ten
BIG, West 8 and Atelier Ten have revealed their masterplan design for Pittsburgh's Lower Hill district, just outside the city's downtown region. Located on the former site of Pittsburgh's Civic Arena, which was demolished in 2012 and has since left a significant hole in the city's fabric, the design will bring 1,200 residences and over 1 million square feet of retail space to the area, while reconnecting the wider Hill District with the downtown core by reinstating the city's road grid, overlaid with a series of pedestrian footpaths, public plazas and green spaces.
Atelier 2B's "Soft in the Middle" Rethinks Modernism for An Age of Collaboration and Sharing
In his book We Have Never Been Modern, philosopher Bruno Latour concludes that an inability to make humanity and nature inherently separate is one of Modernism’s most misguided tropes. Thus, contemporary designers that hope to riff on or have continuity with modernism must understand that architecture, even at its most aestheticized, is not hermetically sealed off from the outside world - and that therefore modernism is not a plateau of design, but another base camp on the road to further refinement.
In Chicago, the city where Modernism reached both its metaphoric and physical peak, Atelier 2B, a team of Yewon Ji, Nicolas Lee, Ryan Otterson, recently shared the top-five prize of the Chicago Architecture Foundation's ChiDesign Competition (part of the Chicago Architecture Biennial) for their project Soft in the Middle: The Collaborative Core. Indebted to the legacy of Mies and the International Style, Atelier 2B proposed a Modernist-tower-redux that (externally at least) is composed of three stacked rectangular volumes bisected with terraces, set back from the street by a large public plaza. The project brief called for “a new center for architecture, design and education,” in a competition judged by critics including Stanley Tigerman, David Adjaye, Ned Cramer, Monica Ponce de Leon, and Billie Tsien.
KUAN Architects’ Intellectual Property Office Headquarters Design is Inspired by Traditional Chinese Paintings
Addressing the budding concept of intellectual property in China, KUAN Architects has revealed their proposal for the Intellectual Property Office Headquarters at the Beijing TBD. The project sits at the crossing of the North-South axis of the Badaling Expressway and the East-West axis of the TBD, an irregular quadrilateral footprint among several rectangular developments. Both sides of the main axis of the TBD are divided into 5 parcels - simple, concise shapes that balance the irregularity of the site and reconcile its plan with the surroundings. Using these building volumes, a plaza is created in the centre.