The first stage in the Augmented Structures project by Salon2 is the Augmented Structures v1.1: Acoustic Formations / İstiklâl Caddesi installation which reanimates phenomena (architecture, sound and visual arts) that appear to be completed and concluded. The acoustic memory of İstiklâl Caddesi is first transformed into an architectural surface and then this solid form becomes a dynamic visual performance through a 400m2 installation on the facade of Yapı Kredi Bank Culture Building. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Through April 15th, the Museum of the City of New York is exhibiting The Greatest Grid: The Masterplan of Manhattan and The Unifinished Grid: Design Speculations for Manhattan. The two exihibits are in honor of the 200th anniversary of the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811 that transformed New York City into the city of endless streets and avenues we know it today, and speculations as to what the next 200 years will mean for the city.

More on the exhibits after the break.

After studying at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, Mark Raymond returned to Trinidad in 1993 to focus on a range of architectural, urban design and planning projects throughout the Caribbean. You may have seen him lecturing at the Caribbean School of Architecture in Kingston, Jamaica, UNPHU in Santo Domingo, London Metropolitan University and Yale University. In this video, he discusses innovation architectural, urban and landscape design and how they may ensure a sustainable future.

With the theme of ‘No Precedent’ this year, the annual Architectural League Prize competition invited young architects and designers to submit their work. Projects of all types, either theoretical or real, and executed in any medium, are welcome. Driven by the desire to create, to be heard, to keep busy or to fulfill untapped and forbidden niches, young architects are a self-defining generation. They are unwilling to wait their turn or to follow in footsteps. It has become normative for young architects to cast aside unfit precedents, codes, rules, and primitives, restlessly defining their projects, their problems, their methodologies, their users, and their spaces of intervention. Their work becomes uncategorizable, suggestive, and speculative; it’s on the brink. It’s neither here nor there, but fodder for the future. The competition deadline is February 15th. For more information, please visit their website here.

Office Jarrik Ouburg (OJO) shared with us their plan for the urban redevelopment of the ‘Havenkwartier’, the harbor of Deventer. Although the harbor will continue to function as a place for transhipment of goods, it has lost one of its biggest customers: the grain silo. The building dates from 1961 and was the first building in Europe to be constructed with a sliding formwork. Although it is not in use anymore, it still is the pivot in the existing urban ensemble at the moment. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The Urban Community of Bordeaux (CUB) and MVRDV recently presented the master plan for Bastide Niel, a 35ha extension of Bordeaux’ city center onto the right bank of Garonne River. The dense urban master plan will offer 3200 homes, offices and urban amenities, respect the existing fabric of the city and become one of the largest zero energy neighborhoods in the world. Construction is to start in 2014. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Although Kish Island is currently a developing region, it can be observed as two main zones; one of which is based on former developments of the Island in previous years, and the other is the currently developing parts. The project for an office and hotel complex by Hooman Balazadeh and team is located at the threshold of the developing zone and the former developed zone. This role facilitates it to collaborate with the two zones and also work effectively with future developments. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Flight Assembled Architecture exhibit

We have talk a lot lately about Michael Graves, his Wounded Warrior Home Project and his thoughts on hospital room design, mentioning briefly about his initiative to create beautiful and functional furniture for hospitals. This video takes a closer look at the furniture Graves has designed for Capital Health, including discussions and reviews by healthcare professionals.

At the virgin beach front area where Min River meets the Pacific Ocean, and adjacent to Fuzhou Changle Airport, Netdragon Websoft Company is building their brand new campus. Nearly 700 employees and their families will relocate from the center of Fuzhou city to here. OPEN Architecture is commissioned to design a new living quarter for them on a 50,000m² piece of land that used to be an eel farm. This is a very interesting and young community of people. Their work is to create wonderful virtual worlds that entertain millions of people. In real life and on this land of their new dreams, they need a unique living area and a brand new collective life style. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The design for the ‘Wafra Living’ complex by AGi Architects won the first prize in the future project/residential category in the WAF 2011 competition. The proposal consists of a high rise building set back from the street and an L-shaped building defining the street edge, conceived to maximize privacy within the community, whilst providing ample natural light and usable indoor and outdoor common spaces. Cuts have been made in the front building in order to provide better views for the lower floor apartments in the back tower. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Located at the southeast of the historical city center in Havenkwartier Deventer, the site for the project by Erwin Schot, Eloi Koster, Bas Meijerman and Elmar Hammers is marked by a remarkable building: the Hoge Silo. Accompanied by the Zwarte Silo, an elevator building and several other industrial buildings, the Hoge Silo and the present inhabitants of the harbor area form the basics of an unusually different residential and working environment. Their new urban design for the area focuses on the preservation of this genius loci. It emphasizes the existing qualities of the built environment and searches for a new social cohesion for its new inhabitants: entrepreneur, student, artist or starter. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Duccio Malagamba shared with us his photographic work on Herzog and de Meuron’s Museum der Kulturen. His photos not just provide us with more images on this exciting design, but allow us to really appreciate the stunning details and architectural elements shown such as its historic walls and beautiful rooftop of irregular folds.

After two years of reconstruction, refurbishment and expansion, it recently re-opened in early September of this year and continues to be one of Europe’s great ethnographic museums. More photos by Duccio Malagamba can be viewed after the break.

Foster + Partners Thames Hub proposal has continuously made progress throughout the year of 2011, however reports say the practice is facing some opposition in the new year. In early November, Foster + Partners revealed the £50bn project that plans to include a £20bn high-speed Orbital Rail line around London; a new £6bn Thames Barrier and crossing; and a £20bn international Estuary Airport, with annual capacity for 150 million passengers.

Urban Intervention is challenging you, the innovative designer, to create a multidisciplinary design team able to conceive the new vision for Seattle’s public space in the coming century. “Design ideas should harness Seattle’s history of innovation and civic engagement to inspire the next generation of great public spaces, connecting interaction and innovation to meet the challenges of the future”.

The 9-acre site is located within the 74-acre Seattle Center campus, neighboring the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Experience Music Project, Space Needle and other cultural assets. The top three finalists will receive $30,000, allowing them to further develop their ideas into the second phase. The grand prize winner will receive an additional $30,000 cash award.

Continue reading for more important dates and information.

The mayor of Montréal, Gérald Tremblay, recently announced the winning project in the architecture competition for the new indoor soccer center at the Saint-Michel Environmental Complex (SMEC). The jury has chosen the concept developed by Saucier + Perrotte & Hughes Condon Marler Architects from among the four submitted by the finalist firms. The daring and creative project is one more step toward the completion of this long-awaited project, which will provide Montrealers with access to a sports center that is not only functional but boasts a modern design meeting the highest standards of quality. This public building, a testament to the talent of our local architects, will be incorporated into the SMEC, one of the largest parks in Montréal. More images and project description after the break.

Our friends from Cebra gave us two signed copies of their book ‘Cebra Files 02‘ for us to organize a small giveaway between our readers! All you need to do is tell us which are your 3 favorite projects from Cebra (check them all here) and a small explanation of why do you like them.

Back in June, we shared JDS‘ winning mixed use project for Hangzhou, China. Conceptualized as the iconic link that fuses two prominent parts of the city, the Hangzhou H project is a dynamic experiment of formal expression. The tiered volume opens pedestrian connections at the ground level, and supports a generous landscape that functions as a rain water retainer on the roof level. The young firm has just received the necessary building permits, and will begin construction in March of 2012. We’ll keep you covered on the building’s progress, and be sure to view our previous coverage of the winning competition proposal here.

In this temporary pavilion by Mark Talbot and Tyler Survant just outside of Louisville, Kentucky, the controlled collision of ruled surfaces generates arched passageways and vault-like spaces. In addition to defining a social milieu at the threshold of lake and land, the pavilion provides shade from the summer sun by day and magnifies the light of campfires lit beneath it by night. More images and project description after the break.

The project, Diamond for Dementia by Haugen/ Zohar Arkitekter, is a winning entry in a competition for upgrading an outdoor electrical supplier in a healthcare center for people suffering from dementia. The project intention was to transform the supplier’s old concrete walls into a jewel, a diamond, giving a focal point to the space, which the user could relate to as a steady though ever-changing reference. Since dementia is a condition that impacts one’s memory and other sensory related functions that many of us may take for granted, this project can provide a healthy experience for patients suffering from the condition and a rewarding experience for visitors and other users at the center. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater has joined a rapidly growing list of interactive apps catered to architects and architecture fanatics. Brought to you by planet architecture, you may now explore the iconic 1930’s Pennsylvania home right from your media device. Get a behind-the-scenes tour through hundreds of photographs, floor plans, archival drawings, VR panoramas and over 25 minutes of video clips from the documentary film “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater”. As architecture continues to join the interactive world of apps, we cannot wait to see which architect or project will be next! Learn about the Zaha Hadid Architects app here.

Continue after the break for more screenshots and video.

                   Federal Reserve Bank of NY (unbuilt) | One United Nations Plaza                    Courtesy of Museum of the City of New York

The Museum of the City of New York is host to several exhibits focusing on the architectural environment of the urban setting. Through February 5th, the museum is hosting a collection of Kevin Roche’s work in Kevin Roche: Architecture as Environment. This exhibit features elegant projects that span through Roche’s career and features variety of styles and influence throughout.

For more on this exhibit, follow us after the break.

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London-based architect David Chipperfield has been officially named as the new curator for the Venice Biennale 2012, the world’s largest architecture exhibition. More information after the break.