Grimshaw Architects recently announced that they have been selected to masterplan a large expansion to Albania’s capital city, Tirana. Grimshaw proposed a robust sequence of public spaces threaded along the boulevard that responded geometrically to existing patterns of land ownership. Tirana is a Mediterranean city with an outdoor culture. Each space or ‘living room’ was presented with a different use and character; a new ‘symphony of squares’. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Federal Republic of Germany recently chose the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) as the designers for their bid to host the Secretariat of the Green Climate Fund in Bonn, Germany. With a design inspired by the beautiful setting in the Rhine valley, and with curvilinear forms, nature light wells, roof top gardens and a large sunken terrace for the restaurant, the three level structure will comply with the latest energy and building ecology standards, meeting the highest demands in terms of sustainability (German gold certificate), ecology and energy efficiency (net zero energy). More images and architects’ description after the break.
Foster + Partners was awarded first prize for their museum design in collaboration with Adrien Gardere for Narbonne in southern France. The museum’s central collection includes more than 1,000 ancient stone relief funerary blocks excavated from a nearby archaeological site, as Narbonne’s historical past as a vital Roman port has left an impressive legacy of buildings and ancient relics. Within the new design, Foster + Partners has created a wall to insert the stones that will act as a natural barrier to separate the public galleries from the more private restoration spaces. The building will also reinforce the strong landscape connection between water and gardens due to the site’s adjacency to the Canal du Midi.
HOK was recently selected to design the new University at Buffalo (UB) School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences on its downtown campus upon winning a global design ideas competition. Located at the center of the region’s emerging bio-sciences corridor, this new transit-oriented medical school development will anchor a lively, urban mixed-use district on campus and bring 1,200 students, faculty and staff downtown. With the goal of fostering collaboration and interdisciplinary care, the new academic medical center will create connections that allow students, faculty, biomedical researchers and clinicians to move easily from classroom to bedside to lab. More images and archtiects’ description after the break.
The project “Living in the City in the City” by the team composed by Paolo Brescia and Tommaso Principi(architecture), Margherita Del Grosso(architecture), Openfabric(landscape), Marco Manzitti(urban marketing), Buro Happold(energy and environmental strategies), D’Appolonia(infrastructures), andDoro Dietz (visualization) recenlty won the international design competition organized by the Municipality of Genoa for the enhancement of Via XX Settembre. The idea of the project promotes a strong sense of self-identification by the Genoese, recovering the essential meaning of living seen as taking care of their city. More images and architects’ description after the break.
New York-based architects Weiss / Manfrediand Philadelphia-based landscape architects OLIN have been announced as winner of the National Mall Design Competition for the Washington Monument Grounds at Sylvan Theater in Washington, DC. Weiss / Manfredi and OLIN were one of three winning teams selected by the Trust for the National Mall to rejuvenate and transform three neglected sites on the National Mall (read our original announcement here). In the winning proposal for Sylvan Theater, Weiss / Manfredi and OLIN sculpt the ground plan and restore the existing tree canopy to create a new performance landscape that can accommodate a wide variety of events, while permeating the site with critical visitor amenities.
Continue reading for more images, video and the architects’ press release.
Danish firm, CEBRA, was recently awarded first prize for their new education center in Odense. The building explores how curved forms can penetrate and define the rectilinear confines of the 134,550 sqf school building. Soft curving levels open to floors below and provide a mixing of visual and auditory experiences in a dynamically changing environment. Moreover, such levels provide a flexible learning environment, with “the human-being placed at the center.”
More about the project after the break, including CEBRA’s awesome hand renderings.
Seattle-based landscape architects Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN) and New York-based architects Davis Brody Bond (DBB) were recently selected as the winners of the National Mall Design Competition for Union Square. Organized by the Trust for the National Mall, a jury of eight esteemed professionals selected a design team for each of the three re-design sites of the National Mall through a three-stage process. The winning design was judged on flexibility, sustainability, and creativity of their design and how well it reflects the established vision and design influences of this historic setting. More images and architects’ description after the break.
gmp Architekten shared with us their first prize winning proposal for the Trianel GmgH Corporate Centre in Aachen, Germany. The new building is located along a major road next to the Tivoli stadium. From 2013 on it is to be built in two phases, the first of which comprises 9,600 square metres of gross floor area and will accommodate 400 members of staff. In the second, optional phase the building can be extended by 4,800 square metres to accommodate a further 200 employees. The building’s sustainability concept merits a silver DGNB certificate. More images and architects’ description after the break.
suckerPUNCH recently announced the winners of their Robot Workshop competition. The past few years have seen an exciting rise in the fascination with robotics. Simultaneously, the ability to develop and build robots capable of complex and experimental applications has become easier and more accessible to the general public. From hardware like Arduino to open source programming like Processing, there now exist inexpensive and even free ways to dabble with robotics. With the site located in an open lot in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, the Robot Workshop will be a place people can come to work on their projects, utilizing shop facilities while simultaneously interacting with fellow robot enthusiasts. More images and descriptions on the winning proposals after the break.
The winning proposal for the design of a stadium for Russia’s 2018 World Cup was created by the design institute “Mosproject-4″ from Russia and HKS Architects from the United States. The main characteristics of the stadium include an innovative constructive decision, increased comfort for both the audience and athletes, and sustainability strategies. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Leo A Daly, in collaboration with Local Design Institute WDCE, recently won a competition to design Phase 2, Plot B, of the international headquarters campus of China Mobile Ltd. in Beijing. One of the largest mobile telecommunications companies in the world, China Mobile Ltd. selected their design for the research and development office and laboratory buildings, each a five- and nine-story facility, which are organized on an east-west pedestrian axis and mirrored in their massing to establish opposite, formal entries linked to internal courtyards at the ground level. More images and architects’ description after the break.
RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) recently announced Michael Lee Architects as the winner of the Cronton Colliery Competition at a private event held on Thursday 19 April. The challenge to design a pioneering new visitor destination on a former colliery inspired creative teams across the world to push the boundaries of landscape and architecture. The Land Trust’s international design competition attracted 50 entries from all over the world, including innovative projects designed by teams in South Korea, Japan and Italy. More images and information on the winner and finalists after the break.
Dominique Perrault Architecture shared with us their winning proposal in the international architecture competition launched by General Electric Capital Real Estate for the requalification of the Pont de Sèvres Towers. Their design response, which could at first appear minimalist, proposes a luminous landmark for one of the most ambitious programs in the service sector of the Western Paris area. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Emmen Theatre and Zoo, designed by Henning Larsen Architects and Van den Berg Groep, is an unusual cultural building that brings together culture and nature. The building design, which won the first prize in the international competition, will constitute the entrance to a large zoological park of 10 hectares and comprises two main stages with a capacity of 1,150 people in total, an additional stage, exhibition and conference facilities. The building in itself covers 16,000 m2. More images and architects’ description after the break.
RUA shared with us their second prize winning proposal in the Ideas Competition for the Re-qualification and Redevelopment of the Beach and Seafront of Figueira da Foz and Buarcos. Their proposal is for a light concrete structure that “fly’s” over the dunes allowing for a gradual and controlled re-naturalization of the area between the existing promenade and the waterfront. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The challenge in the competition for the Amstetten School Campus was to combine two existing secondary schools in one location and complement the program with a new music school and an additional gym. With the area being characterized by an extreme heterogeneous development, with a wide range of buildings with various functions and styles, the design by Atelier Thomas Pucher, which won the first prize, is comprised of a compact five-storey cube which rises in the surroundings as a distinctive landmark. Additionally, the building is combined with two lower volumes and three courtyards, within a chessboard formation. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Mecanoo architecten, in cooperation with local partner Cafer Bozkurt Architecture, shared with us their proposal, one of the competition’s three winning proposals, in an international design competition for Yenikapı Transfer Point and Archaeo-Park Area in Istanbul, Turkey. Yenikapı, ‘New Gate’, consists in a railroad and maritime transfer centre that connects Europe with Asia, as well as the inner city with the surrounding megapolis and the rest of the country. More images and architects’ description after the break.
