Alison Furuto
Airport City Stockholm Urban Design Strategy Proposal / Spacescape
Developed by Spacescape, Airport City Stockholm, in cooperation with Swedavia Swedish Airports (state), Sigtuna municipality, and Arlandastad Holding (private real estate), has a new urban design strategy and urban plan that envisions a unique airport city which emphasizes urban qualities and places sustainability in focus. Such rapid expansion has placed distinct demands on planning, which has resulted in this collaborative effort. Creating these foundations, along with offering the world within walking distance, will increase value and attract even more people and businesses. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Hämeenkyrö Environmental School Competition Entry / Hyperbuildings
Located in a rural setting in central Finland, a few kilometers north of the city of Tampere, the proposal for the Hämeenkyrö Environmental School by Hyperbuildings aims to be a reflection of the school’s nationally acclaimed environmental curriculum. The addition is an L-shaped volume that forms a new central courtyard with the existing 1903 building where the school is currently housed. This approach seeks to maximize opportunities for having natural and agricultural landscapes on the site. More images and architects’ description after the break.
‘New Acadia, Retrofitting Urban Decay’ Winning Proposal / Garrett Rock
Designed by Garrett Rock, the New Acadia, Retrofitting Urban Decay proposal was the winning entry for one of six sites in the [Imagine Downtown] Lafayette Design Competition which aims to be a re-imagination of urban density within the neighborhood’s city core. The design offers Lafayette an alternative mode of development that stimulates street life in hopes of attracting a young, creative class that are leaving the city for more amenity-rich urban enclaves. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Architectural League Prize 2013 Winners Announced
The Architectural League just announced the winners of Range, the thirty-second annual Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers. One of North Americaʼs most prestigious awards for young architects, the program exemplifies the Leagueʼs longstanding commitment to identifying and nurturing the development of talented young architects and designers. This yearʼs winners are: Luis Callejas, Paisajes Emergentes, Cambridge and Medellín; Brandon Clifford and Wes McGee, Matter Design, Boston and Ann Arbor; Marc Fornes, MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY, Brooklyn; Rafael Luna and Dongwoo Yim, PRAUD, Boston and Seoul; Skylar J.E. Tibbits, SJET, Boston; and Bryan Young, Young Projects, Brooklyn. More images and information on the winners after the break.
Kyiv Culture Space on Andriivskyi Descent Competition Entry / Dmytro Aranchii Architects
Dmytro Aranchii Architects shared with us their proposal for the cultural space on the Andriivskyi descent, an educational competition sponsored by ESTA Holding earlier this year. The challenge was to create an architectural concept of the Yunist factory former site development, and out of 1 hectare, the competition terms determined the cultural space as 10-15 percent of the area linked to the Andriivskyi descent, and the rest of it was for commercial use. This consists of a multifunctional cultural space with an integrated chamber music hall. Besides the hall, the architects suggested to place a literature space in the cultural center suitable for seminars, conferences, meetings of readers and writers, poets and essayists, as there is a lack of such place in Kyiv. More images and architects’ description after the break.
DawnTown 2013: Landmark Miami Design Competition Winners Announced
DawnTown recently announced the winners for Landmark Miami, their 2013 ideas competition which focused on how cities are instantly identified by the individual structures within them. With the challenge of coming up with a new symbol for the future, architects and designers were tasked with creating an iconic architectural piece that contributes to the image of Miami. Studio Dror was announced as the first prize winner for their ‘Miami Lift’ proposal which pays tribute to the city’s by elevating visitors to give them a new perspective to the city. More images and information on the winning entries after the break.
International Call for Ideas: Transform Kansas City
Transform Kansas City, a collaboration between the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance and the Kansas City Chapter of the American Institute of Architects Young Architects Forum, is asking for submissions that illustrate transportation related or affected ideas or solutions. No matter your background or experience, all are being called to submit your ideas on transportation, urban design and architecture. You are encouraged to find solutions to question such as: What impact does urban mass transit have on the mobility of our cities in which we live, work and play? What forms will these new investments take and what is the result to our built environment? The deadline for submissions is June 30. For more information, please visit here.
Square de l’Accueil Winning Proposal / ARJM
ARJM, in collaboration with SUM, recently won the competition for their project, “Square de l’Accueil” (Welcoming Square), which includes a public square of 10,000 m2, 53 flats, a school, commercial spaces and underground parking. Located in a neighborhood at a strategic entry point towards Evere, one of Brussels communes, the project itself includes all the components of the city at a smaller scale. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Wonsan International Airport Proposal / PLT
Surrounded by a number of influencing factors, the proposal for the Wonsan International Airport by PLT is to service both passengers and cargo. The main concept is based on the combination of the country’s past traditions and today’s technological abilities. The shape of the terminal was chosen by sustaining on the traditional form of the drum. As there are many different types of drums, two shapes were selected and integrated into the building design. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Dynamic Fields Workshop: Special Guest Patrik Schumacher
Taking place July 16-29, the two week ‘Dynamic Fields’ workshop consists of analyzing and creating structures responsive to environmental energy. Presented by Parametrica, the last day of project is dedicated to Patrik Schumacher, director at Zaha Hadid Architects and founder of AA Design Reseach Lab London. Schumacher will present a lecture on Parametric Semiology (Architecture as interface of communication) as intelligent structures and parametric architecture are the primary topics up for discussion for the whole event. Students or graduates, architects, interior designers, product designers, urbanism designers, engineers and all others who wish to partake in experimenting what the parametric design of such structures is in practice are expected to join both in the workshop and the conference. More information after the break.
New Urban Village Proposal / Zotov & Co
Almost demolished after the earthquake in 2011, Christchurch center was required a renovation. The challenge for architects Zotov & Co was to recall a livable city center. After asking the question of what is needed to be happy, the architects chose nature and communication as the foundation of their concept. The center for the quarter an island covered, dense forest which concentrates all social activity. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Next Landmark 2013 Competition
Floornature recently launched Next Landmark 2013, their second international contest for young architects, which is introducing a new category dedicated to architecture photography and taking the winners to Helsinki Design Week. The competition is organized to spotlight and showcase projects by the new generations of architects, promoting what they are doing or planning for contemporary living. Furthermore, it provides an ethical opportunity with a declared interest in the community, helping up-and-coming architects move forward in their careers. Originality, environmental sustainability and all the ideas that exploit relations between people, architecture and landscape will be the main contents of the winning projects and research essays. The deadline for entries is June 30. For more information, please visit here.
‘Stormcloud’ Installation / Oyler Wu Collaborative
With the Southern California Institute of Architecture celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Stormcloud installation was designed and built by the office of Oyler Wu Collaborative, along with students of SCI-Arc, for the after-party of its April 2013 gala. Tasked with the challenge of revamping the existing Netscape pavilion, Oyler Wu Collaborative saw the project as an opportunity to take a completely different approach to the problem. By removing the ten miles of knitted ropes that once hung between the soaring steel trusses, the project was transformed both volumetrically and materially. More images and architects’ description after the break.
‘Kids’ City’ – Modular Kindergarten Proposal / Adam Wiercinski
With the concept of being a small town in the city, the ‘Kids’ City’ – Modular Kindergarten proposal by Adam Wiercinski consists of a different approach to the everyday world of the child. The main idea was to create a welcoming and safe space, which becomes a part of an interesting architecture by functioning in the city. With a floor area of 95 square meters for 25 children, the basic module of the whole structure is designed as a single branch. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Musholm Bay Holiday Resort Winning Proposal / AART Architects
AART Architects, in collaboration with URBANlab, Bexcom and Keinicke & Overgaard Architects, have won the competition for the expansion of Musholm Bay Holiday Resort. Located at the beautiful Danish coastline, the resort is acknowledged as the world’s most innovative holiday resort for people with disabilities. The expansion of resort is divided into two sections in the form of a multi-purpose sports hall and a number of new holiday flats. More images and architects’ description after the break.
‘Vitreous’ Academic Initiative / University of Houston CoA + Judd Foundation
Vitreous is a collaborative academic initiative by the University of Houston’s Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and the Judd Foundation that incorporates the vantage points of the natural landscape, and the technological advancement of digital fabrication and media technologies. The faceted panels disguise and blend the unbounded Marfa landscape with reflective images causing a perceptual distortion between the viewer and the surroundings and between the real and the virtual. More images and the team’s description after the break.
AA Mexico City Visiting School
Taking place June 26 – July 5, the AA Mexico City Visiting School will engage with the most crucial and imposing challenges that Mexico City faces and the ways in which architecture and urbanism can shape the metropolis at different scales. In this sense the international program sees the city as a laboratory where the virtual and experimental tradition of the Architectural Association finds a fertile and concrete ground for the application of its methodology in Mexico. With the theme of “Manufactured Landscapes/Manufactured Urbanities”, the program explores the metropolitan condition understood as a manufactured process by and for human beings. More information after the break.
Custore Pavilion / Anna Dobek + Mateusz Wojcicki
Custore, an experimental project, is a pavilion that explores the areas of parametric architecture used for the commercial market. Designed by Anna Dobek + Mateusz Wojcicki, they had to deal not only with the aesthetic issues of computer-generated sculptural forms, but also with practical problems associated with the execution of the project inside a commercial building, and – most importantly – with the real clash of artistic forms and commercial market guidelines. More images and architects’ description after the break.
‘The Slabs’ – Italian Pavilion Expo 2015 Proposal / MenoMenoPiu Architects + BE.ST Architect
MenoMenoPiu Architects + BE.ST Architect shared with us their proposal for the Italian Pavilion Expo 2015. Titled ‘The Slabs’, their design consists of a light cage where the technical innovation is embedded within the structure: revolutionary glass columns sustain traditional slabs clad in marble. Simple and elegant in its structural system, marble and glass are intertwined to express the Italian architectural tradition of proportion and elegance. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Addis Abeba Chamber of Commerce Headquarters Winning Proposal / BC Architects
BC Architects, in collaboration with ABBA architects and Adey Tadesse, won the competition for the Addis Abeba Chamber of Commerce Headquarters in Ethiopia with their approach towards a “glocaldesign”. With the goal of sensibly involving local materials in this mid-high-rise building, this resulted in a local nature stone façade system inspired by a ‘Netela’ (threaded Ethiopian textile which so nicely shows the threads of cotton and which has a character of both shadow and transparency). More images and architects’ description after the break.
New Central Library in Berlin Winning Proposal / Envés Arquitectos
Designed by Envés Arquitectos, their proposal for the New Central Library in Berlin was named as one of the winners of the competition, which is conceived as an open, public, free and comfortable meeting place; summing up, an urban lobby. This flexible place is able to interact with a changing user (from a kid to an ancient), but simultaneously ensures the area’s accessibility and right usage. The library also aims to become an activity catalyst, a landmark to be perceived from far away. More images and architects’ description after the break.
