Nine projects have been recognized this year by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in the 2019 Institute Honor Awards for Interior Architecture. A five-member jury evaluated entries’ sense of place and purpose, ecology and environmental sustainability, and history to choose this year’s most innovative interior spaces.
Architecture News
AIA Announces Winners of 2019 Institute Honor Awards for Interior Architecture
Herzog and de Meuron Donate Selection of Works to MoMA
Over 40 years of practice, Herzog + de Meuron have established themselves as one of the most celebrated practices in architecture. Their works span scale and site but are united by a sensitivity to material and detail that, today, often seems to fall by the wayside. The inner workings of the practice are notoriously private, but those interested in the process behind the project may soon have reason to celebrate.
Frank Gehry: "Take the Chance to Jump Off Into the Unknown"
Louisiana Channel has released a new video interview with Frank Gehry. Known for his expressive use of form, Gehry has become one of the most important architects of our time. Recorded at his studio in Santa Monica, the interview explores Gehry's life and early influences, as well as modern architecture and the world as he sees it today. Marc-Christoph Wagner explores Gehry's ideas on building, art, and leaving your mark on the world.
Giancarlo Mazzanti develops Architectural Toy Series inspired by Bogota Pavilion
El Equipo de Mazzanti, led by Giancarlo Mazzanti, has developed a line of toys inspired by their playful Bosque de la Esperanza sports center on the outskirts of Bogotá, Colombia. The first edition of the “We Play You Play” toy series inspired by the firm’s most recognizable architectural and social projects, the Bosque de la Esperanza toy set embodies Mazzanti’s ethos of “using the playful as a design tool.”
With more than 15 years of experience in architectural design, the Mazzanti team developed a special interest in using play as a method of involving and encouraging social behavior within the communities impacted by their designs. The Bosque de la Esperanza set therefore contains 16 modular pieces and 30 connectors, with complex geometries igniting a cognitive element, and creative challenge.
Harvard GSD Relaunches Free Online Architecture Course
The Harvard Graduate School of Design has relaunched its free online course entitled “The Architectural Imagination.” Directed by the school’s Eliot Noyes Professor of Architectural Theory, K. Michael Hays, the course seeks to teach students “how to understand architecture as both cultural expression and technical achievement.”
The free 10-week program runs until July 2019 and is carried out through the online edX platform, a Harvard/MIT system that specializes in high-quality massive open online courses. During the course, students will engage with the social and historical contexts behind major works of architecture, basic principles to produce drawings and models, and the pertinent content for academic study or a professional career as an architect.
Lights, Camera, Architecture!: Where Set Design and Architecture Cross Over
What do Kanye West and Frank Gehry have in common?
As a first impression, not much. However, they have both engaged on stages with striking design details: the use of exaggerated scale and dimensions to manipulate visual perception, bulky concrete walls and slabs to emphasize heavyweight and grandiosity, visible scaffolding to create an industrial, unfinished feel... Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Heatherwick Studio's Olympia London Receives Planning Permission
Heatherwick Studio has received planning approval to transform Olympia London, a 150-year old exhibition and event space in West Kensington. Working with SPPARC, the project will transform the 14-acre site into restaurants, hotels, performance venues and office space, as well as create 2.5 acres of new public space. The proposal aims to turn Olympia London into a world-class cultural hub in West London.
Solutions to London's Mounting Affordable Housing Crisis Proposed in Bee Breeders' Latest
Skyrocketing prices of London housing have become so unbearable that many have turned to less-than-ideal compromises. Large homes can be found but come with commutes of hours; places are still available in the city, but only for those with sky-high paychecks. Unable to balance their needs, people are resorting to workarounds that disrupt the existing urban fabric and dissatisfy all involved. Surely we can do better.
ODA Tapped to Expand Rotterdam's Historic Post Office
ODA New York has been selected to redesign the historic post office of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The iconic Postkantoor has sat vacant for more than a decade, and now the adaptive reuse project aims to bring new life to the city center. Built in 1916, the post office was one of the only original structures still standing after the Rotterdam Blitz aerial bombardment in 1940. The city of Rotterdam hopes to re-energize the neighborhood by activating the site with residential, retail, and hospitality.
Sasaki Transform the Yangtze Waterfront with Flood-Friendly Masterplan
Sasaki has released details of their redevelopment proposal for the Yangtze Riverfront Park in Wuhan, China. Developed in collaboration with OMA and Gensler, Sasaki has drawn on the centuries-old symbiosis between the city and river, leveraging the river’s dynamic flooding to nurture a rich regional ecology and create dynamic recreational experiences.
The endeavor in landscape urbanism seeks to celebrate the river’s spontaneity, and incorporate flooding as an essential element. Stitching together then OMA and Gensler “urban balconies,” a series of microenvironments will host a wide variety of distinct wetland ecosystems, the characters of which evolve throughout the seasons.
Jean Nouvel + OXO Architectes design Mountainous Mixed-Use Campus in Antibes
Ateliers Jean Nouvel has collaborated with French practice OXO Architectes on a competition-winning design for a mountainous campus in the Sophia Antipolis technology park in Antibes, France. The “Ecotone Antibes” will serve as the main entrance to the technology park, which is home to over 2,000 companies.
Described as a 21st-century campus for France, the 40,000-square-meter mountainous structure is covered in lush vegetation, containing offices, a hotel, amenities, and co-working spaces. The campus, a rare exercise in biomimicry for the South of France, sought to capture the site’s rich landscaped surroundings, translating a natural ethos to the hard, technological campus.
RIBA Announces a New Award for Housing in Memory of Neave Brown
The Royal Institute of British Architects has announced the foundation of a new award focused on recognizing work in housing in the UK. The award is named in memory of Neave Brown, the British architect, and designer famed for his many housing estates in London.
The Unbearable Lightness of Fiber-Cement Furniture
The idea of turning cold, raw materials into elegant shapes has always fascinated artists, architects, and designers. In the Carrara marble sculptures of Lorenzo Berdini and Michelangelo, human forms were carved from heavy blocks of stones with great detail and precision. There is no difference in architecture: from taking a light volume off the floor, to leaving a small indentation between a structure and a fence, to altering the lining of a block, there are several devices to make buildings visually lighter.
How to Design for Optimal Thermal Comfort (And Why it Matters)
Have you ever found yourself losing a good night’s sleep due to an overly warm room? Or wearing four jackets and a scarf just to tolerate your office’s frigid air conditioning? Truth be told, you can’t please everyone when it comes to adjusting an indoor climate, and there is always that one unfortunate individual who ends up sacrificing their own comfort for the sake of others.
Evidently, there are no ‘universal standards’ or ‘recommended comfort ranges’ in designing building systems, since athletes training in a gym in Mexico will not feel comfortable in an interior with the same building systems of a nursing home in Denmark, for instance. Which is why, if we were to briefly define ‘thermal comfort’, it is the creation of building systems that are adapted to the local environment and functions of the space, cooperatively.
So how can we design for optimum thermal comfort?
Ghilardi+Hellsten and Karres en Brands to Design Norway's New Stavanger Cultural Hub
Ghilardi+Hellsten and Karres en Brands have won the competition to design Norway's new Stavanger cultural hub. Dubbed ‘Three Houses and a Long Table’, the project will transform the historical Nytorget site in Stavanger. The team worked with engineering partner Dipl.-Ing. Florian Kosche AS to combine a youth cultural center, offices, shops and an art gallery around a multi-functional green space. The proposal aims to build upon the qualities with a design that's anchored in the city fabric around public space.
Safdie Architects design a Series of Treehouse-Like Pavilions for Surbana Jurong Headquarters
Safdie Architects have unveiled details of their proposed corporate headquarters for Surbana Jurong in Singapore. The scheme seeks to reflect the mission of Surbana Jurong (Singapore’s leading architecture, urban design, and infrastructure firm) of characterizing Singapore as the “Garden City.” Located on a previously undeveloped site, the campus will “integrate harmoniously with its natural landscape” while also offering over 740,000 square feet of space for the firm’s 4000 employees. The scheme marks the first initiative for the Safdie Surbana Jurong joint venture, which was established in 2017 to develop innovative and iconic projects in Asia-Pacific.
The scheme manifests as a series of treehouse-like pavilions united by a central pedestrian “street,” all shaped by a careful examination of, and respect for, the site’s existing trees and unique flora. The result is a distinctive network of offices embedded within surrounding parkland, with the glazed pedestrian street interweaving interior and exterior landscapes.
Moira Gemmill Prize Shortlist Announced for Emerging Female Architects
The shortlist has been announced for the Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture, recognizing excellence in design with an emphasis on achievements and completed projects. Part of the Women in Architecture Awards organized by The Architectural Review and The Architects’ Journal, the prize is named in memory of the late Moira Gemmill (former V&A director of design and director of capital programmes at the Royal Collection Trust), and offers a £10,000 prize fund to support the professional development of the winner(s).
The four shortlisted candidates hail from France, Spain, China, and Switzerland. Previous winners of the prize include Gloria Cabral, partner at Gabinete de Arquitectura (2018); Rozana Montiel (2017); Gabriela Etchegaray, co-founder of Ambrosi Etchegaray (2016); and vPPR founders Tatiana von Preussen, Catherine Pease and Jessica Reynolds (2015).
As London's Housing Crisis Deepens, a Provocative Proposal Suggests the Solution Rests with the Queen
"The rooms are awash with sparkling candelabra, sumptuous carpets, marble columns, sculptures, and expensive artworks,” says Benedikt Hartl, co-founder of Opposite Office of Buckingham Palace. The 775-room, 79-bathroom, 828,821 square foot residence has been home to Britain’s royalty since the 1830s. And, if Opposite Office’s recent Affordable Palace proposal were to go through, could also be home to you.
Explore Architecture Offices in Mexico Through the Lens of Marc Goodwin
After having previously photographed the architecture offices in the Netherlands, Dubai, London, Paris, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, the Nordic countries, Barcelona and Los Angeles, the architectural photographer Marc Goodwin continues the series with an exploration of some of the most recognized architecture offices in Mexico. With a set of emerging and world-renowned offices alike, the series offers insight into the lives of designers in Mexico City.
How To Create a 360 Render (And How to Improve your Presentation with Virtual Reality)
If you're looking to upgrade your standard architecture presentation, SENTIO VR's tutorials can be very useful. They allow you to accurately use Revit, SketchUp, V-ray, 3Ds Max, Lumion and Cinema4D to create 360 renders and perform virtual reality experiences, with both technical and visual advice.
Below, we've compiled a list of useful videos.
Chicago's $6 Billion Lincoln Yards Project Wins Planning Approval
The Chicago Plan Commission has approved the $6 billion Lincoln Yards project to develop 55 acres of riverfront land in Chicago. Proposed by real estate investment and development firm Sterling Bay, the project has the potential to reshape the city's skyline along the Chicago River. Lincoln Yards would include office, residential and hotel towers, as well as restaurants, retail and entertainment spaces along Lincoln Park and Bucktown.
Beijing's Forbidden City to be Opened to the Public for the First Time, with Restoration by Selldorf Architects
The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has announced Annabelle Selldorf as architect of the new Qianlong Garden Interpretation Center within the iconic Forbidden City in Beijing, China. One of few American architects to lead architectural projects at the site, Selldorf’s scheme will allow the public access to the Qianlong Garden for the first time, permitted through a new Visitor’s Center.
Selldorf, working with her NYC-based firm Selldorf Architects, will design the interpretation center within an existing, restored structure of the Qianlong Garden’s second courtyard. Designed as three distinct halls surrounding an open pavilion, the different spaces within the restoration will offer a unique perspective on the past and present of the Forbidden City.
The World's First Quarry Hotel Opens in China, Designed by JADE + QA
The world’s first quarry hotel has been opened in China, designed by Martin Jochman and his studio JADE + QA. Situated in an 88-meter-deep, water-filled, disused quarry, the 337-guestroom Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland Hotel contains only two levels above ground, with 16 more levels plunging into the quarry below.
The winner of an international design competition in 2006, Jochman developed the scheme in collaboration with ATKINS, in a process which has lasted over a decade. The resulting “groundscraper” features such amenities as an underwater restaurant and aquarium, all set within a form which seeks to minimize its impact on the local environment.
Liz Diller and Helene Binet Recognised in 2019 Women in Architecture Awards
Architect Liz Diller and architectural photographer Hélène Binet have been awarded the 2019 Jane Drew and Ada Louise Huxtable Prizes, respectively, for their exceptional contributions to the field of architecture. The prizes are part of the eighth edition of the Women in Architecture Awards founded jointly by The Architect's Journal and The Architectural Review.