During the housing boom in Phoenix and the surrounding suburbs, enormous swaths of land were graded and prepared for endless subdivisions as far as the eye could see. Following the burst of the housing market and prolonged recession, these unfinished construction sites have sat vacant – remnants of unbridled optimism in the Valley of the Sun. A recent article on NPR.org discusses some of the alternative visions for re-appropriating these phantom lots that propagate the greater Phoenix area. Various methods of breathing new life into these chasms left behind include rezoning the numerous residential lots for mixed-use, or tearing up the infrastructure and letting nature take back control. For those unfamiliar with the rapid pace of development that was taking place prior to the recession, Maricopa, a small town just south of Phoenix was approving over 600 residential home permits per month. With an inventory of over 16,000 dedicated to residential homes, the measures that are required to remediate the impact of such an ambitious plan need to be ingenious.
Located in Maintenon, 65km southwest of Paris, France, the Villa Toiture by Kotaro Horiuchi Architecture inhabits a family of three married couples and children. Spontaneous grounds are surrounded by vast grasslands and forests which open as a place of rest for the weekend to give healing to life in the city while enjoying the open-air bath in nature. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The best way to preserve and develop the Kiev Islands in keeping with the aim of the project would be to improve the way people access the islands. Being sensitive to the existing conditions, the proposal by Triple O Studio is not to build new bridges, but to enhance the existing ones; make them more comfortable for all means of transport but more importantly for the pedestrians, cyclists and public transit users. Through the existing access systems of elevated bridges allowing for experiencing the site from an elevated promenade, its majesty can be fully discovered. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The hill of Montabo looms over the city of Cayenne and provides a dramatic backdrop for an architectural project which addresses the raw and unremitting power of nature. The winning competition entry by OUALALOU + CHOI derives from a dual strategy to conserve the natural environment and to protect the building from an undesirable degree of the jungle’s encroachment. The project preserves as much of the natural hilltop as possible, transforming it into a public space by creating a park at the crown of the hill. Thus, the highest point in the city becomes a part of the public realm. More images and architects’ description after the break.
We have some amazing photos for this week’s Flickr Round Up, including projects from Frank Gehry and Jean Nouvel. As always, remember you can submit your own photo here, and don’t forget to follow us through Twitter and our Facebook Fan Page to find many more features.
The photo above was taken by Wojtek Gurak in the La Rioja, Spain. Check the other four after the break.
If you are in the San Diego area and looking for something to do this weekend, check out the Phenomenal: California Light, Space, Surface exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. It is your last chance to experience the exhibit at the museum’s La Jolla location, as it will be closing this Sunday, January 22. However, the exhibit will remain open to the public at its downtown location in San Diego into spring and summer.
Landscape Urbanism is the new black in architecture and this magazine, part of a+t strategy series, has heads turning. There are a dozen projects and hundreds of ideas in this edition. A recurring them is the manipulation of time throughout a project’s life. “In public space, time becomes the first tool to work with. Meaning that the process is a timeline in which the objectives are implemented at different times intervals. Dealing with this long timeline requires a great deal of forward planning.” It is interesting to see how each project deals with aspect in similar but different ways.
https://www.archdaily.com/201541/space-at-landscape-urbanism-strategiesAmber P
Kengo Kuma & Associates recently won the proposal for the Towada City Plaza. The facility will be developed as part of a plan by the city of Towada to activate the city center by introducing the “Plaza for Education” and “Plaza for Social Communication”. Through the introduction of these two facilities, the city intends to improve public welfare and the environment for lifelong learning by attracting the public of all ages and through numerous social events improve the ties and social exchange between the communities. More architects’ description after the break.
We are happy to report another positive showing for the ABI this month as the index remained at 52.0 for the month of December. Prior to November, the volatile ABI showed the struggling and unstable conditions many practices were experiencing throughout 2011; yet, this month brings another bit of hope for the profession. “We saw nearly identical conditions in November and December of 2010 only to see momentum sputter and billings fall into negative territory as we moved through 2011, so it’s too early to be sure that we are in a full recovery mode,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “Nevertheless, this is very good news for the design and construction industry and it’s entirely possible conditions will slowly continue to improve as the year progresses.” Regional breakdowns are as follows: Regional averages: South (54.2), Midwest (53.1), Northeast (52.6), West (45.1) and Multim-family residential led the sector index breakdown with 54.3. It was nice to finish the rocky year of 2011 with a consecutive positive index, and we’re optimistic for more improvement in 2012.
Steinberg Architects, an international design firm, recently announced they will manage the design of the extensive Changsha Songya Hu mixed-use project in China after winning an intensely competitive bid process. Key aspects of the project include a waterfront business district, an entertainment district, and an ecological model community mixing residences and green public spaces. More images and project description after the break.
Todd Saunders of Saunders Architecture will be giving a lecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich on January 25th at 7:30pm. Led by a strong contemporary design sensibility, Saunders has worked on cultural and residential projects right across Norway, as well as England, Denmark, Italy, Sweden and Canada. The studio believes that architecture must play an important role in creating place, using form, materials and texture to help evoke and shape memory and human interaction.
We have some great projects for our 5th selection of previously featured stadiums. A project designed by the 2011 Pritzker Prize winner Eduardo Souto de Moura, one stadium for the Qatar World Cup 2022, two great concepts for future stadiums and one classic for the Olympics of 1972. Check them all after the break.
Braga Municipal Stadium / Eduardo Souto de Moura The Braga Municipal Stadium located in Portugal was designed by 2011 Pritzker Prize winner Eduardo Souto de Moura. The ceremony for the Pritzker Prize (which we attended) was held just a few short weeks ago in New York City. Delivering a speech for the award winner, President Barack Obama spoke of Souto de Moura’s use of materials and attention to detail, specifically siting the Braga Municipal Stadium as “perhaps Eduardo’s most famous work” where he “took great care to position the stadium in such a way that anyone who couldn’t afford a ticket could watch the match from the surrounding hillside.” (read more…)
Foster + Partners, Halcrow and Volterra, the team behind the Thames Hub proposal, welcomed reports yesterday that the government will be considering a Thames Estuary Airport when it launches its consultation to discuss options for retaining the UK’s aviation hub status. The proposal, which includes a comprehensive environmental management strategy, is capable of being privately funded and built within 16 years. Estimations for the capital costs include: a new £20 billion, 150 million passenger estuary airport; £20 billion, four track orbital rail line and utilities spine; £6 billion barrier crossing and tidal power generation that will power the airport with green energy; and an additional £4 billion for improving infrastructure.
On behalf of the team, Norman Foster stated, “We welcome reports that the government is considering the case for an estuary airport, and the extra airport capacity that it can provide, when it consults in March on options for retaining the UK’s aviation hub status as part of the nation’s aviation strategy.”
We have some interesting news: A while ago, we got in touch with Rafael C, owner of The Absolution Blog – one of the most popular architecture blogs at Tumblr. Rafael’s taste for architecture keeps him searching for amazing architecture shots from all around the Internet, followed by thousands on this popular micro blogging platform – he should absolutely be on your sources!
So, to bring Rafael’s unique vision to more of you who may not be on Tumblr (and have no plans to), every week he will present us a curated selection of photos from the ArchDaily archives, framing particular characteristics of the buildings we love. He is bound to find some buried treasure in our four-year-old-and-growing, 250,000+ image database :) so don’t miss it!
From residences to public and institutional architecture, Steven Ehrlich, FAIA has produced a range of distinctive buildings that have earned him recognition among colleagues and the AIA California Council, which has awarded him with the 2011 Maybeck Award. According to AIACC this award honors “outstanding achievement in architectural design as expressed in a body of work produced by an individual architect over an extended career”. The honor of Maybeck Award is not granted annually. The last recipient was in 2007. It is distinctive from the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Firm Award, recognizing the individual’s contribution to the practice of Architecture. It was established in 1992, and Steven Ehrlich, principal and founder of Ehrlich Architecture located in Culver City, California, is the 14th recipient of this award.
Follow us after the break for more on the award and Steven Ehrlich.
What are the important places, the places that define who you are?
In 1969, when my father was at war overseas, my mother and I were on the front porch of our 1910 Bungalow in Kansas. The wind pushed my toys over the edge and into the grass. My mother was leaning on the railing, talking quietly to our neighbor. I crawled across the painted wood and reached through the rail and felt the soft tops of the wheat-colored grass.
In 1970, I walked into a dark bedroom and stood at the foot of my Grandfather’s bed. I reached through the rail to touch the top of the quilt my Great Grandmother had made. I watched the quilt rise and fall with his breathing.
In 1971, I placed my hands and feet on opposite sides of the door casing at my Grandmother’s house. As soon as the “grown-ups” were paying attention, I climbed to the top of the frame and reached up to touch the ceiling.
Weysen & De Baere Architects shared with us their design for an apartment building in Flanders, Belgium which includes four units and an office on the ground floor. The construction site exists of two parcels, lying back to back, each with its own entrance from the street. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Iwan Baan, who has photographed many well-known architectural works, many which have been featured on ArchDaily, recently shot the Hiroshi Senju Museum, designed by Tokyo based architect Ryue Nishizawa who won the Pritzker Prize in 2010 and is known for his works of various scales throughout Japan.. The museum opened in October 2011 and possesses around 100 works by Hiroshi, a Japanese painter known for his large scale waterfall paintings. More photos of the museum can be viewed after the break and the complete photoset in Iwan’s website.
As we have shared previously on AD, Washington DC’s National Mall – America’s most visited national park with over 25 million visitors a year- is undergoing a total restoration. The $700 million project will be the first major renovation in over 35 years, and will focus on three sites of the Mall: Union Square, Sylvan Theater on the Washington Monument Grounds, and the Constitution Gardens. During an intensive three part competition, the jury first evaluated scores of portfolios to select up to eight designers per site; conducted team interviews to narrow the site designers to five; and finally, during Phase Three, the jury will hold a design competition for each site. We have just been notified byWeiss/Manfredi and OLINthat their team has been chosen to develop two of the three sites; no small feat for a competition that began with over 1,2000 designers. The multidisciplinary team of architecture, landscape and planning designers will develop proposals for both the Monument Grounds and the Constitution Gardens. We are excited to see what the team will develop, and we will keep you updated on the other Phase Three finalists and their proposals as we hear more.
Danish practice 3XN is the architect behind ‘Green Solution House’, a new experimental conference center and hotel, where everything is adapted to the circulation of nature and where guests will get an idea of how it feels to live in a world without waste. Located on the Danish island of Bornholm, it is designed and developed in accordance with the principles of Cradle 2 Cradle®. This means that all materials used in the building are either fully recyclable or biodegradable. Hence, the building design takes on the ambition to eliminate the concept of waste. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Aberdeen City Garden Trust has announced Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) as winner of the international design competition that will transform the center of Aberdeen. The New York City based firm will be working with the Scottish practice Keppie Design and Philadelphia landscape architects OLIN. The “rich and varied” shortlist included Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Foster + Partners, Gustafson Porter, Mecanoo, Snøhetta & Hoskins and West 8. After an extended run-off between DS+R and Foster + Partners, the Aberdeen City Garden competition will be DS+R’s first major win in a European design competition.
The Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) has announced their victory in an international competition to design the Greenland Group Suzhou Center in Wujiang, China. The 358-meter tower’s efficient split-core configuration demands a double-take, as the “curved, tapered form unifies the office, hotel and residential uses within a single volume.”
