Alison Furuto
AD Classics: Igualada Cemetery / Enric Miralles + Carme Pinos, photos by David Cabrera
Completed in 1994, the Igualada Cemetery was designed by Enric Miralles and Carme Pinos to be a place of reflection and memories. After 10 years of construction, their envision of a new type of cemetery was completed and began to consider those that were laid to rest, as well as the families that still remained.
The Igualada Cemetery is understood by the architects to be a “city of the dead” where the dead and the living are brought closer together in spirit. As much as the project is a place for those to be laid to rest, it is a place for those to come and reflect in the solitude and serenity of the Catalonian landscape of Barcelona, Spain. More on the project after the break.
STUDIO Issue #4: TRANSFORMATION
STUDIO magazine just released their Issue #4: TRANSFORMATION which focuses on how the city is a place involved in a continuous Transformation where man is the main creator and user. Furthermore, this issue uses several architectural projects to demonstrate how the city withstands continuous changes in its form, generating new and different landscapes. Through various scales and facets of architecture, the magazine clearly presents to its readers, from basic to in depth analyses, this transformation process cities undergo. For more information, and to read the magazine, please visit here.
Xuzhou Suning Plaza Proposal / Aedas
Connecting time and space with the ‘lucky cloud’, the Aedas designed Xuzhou Suning Plaza is interpreted as magical and delightful, bringing history to life in Xuzhou. Located in the ‘Imperial Emperor’s Town’ of China, the changing of forms inspires reverie and the oval buildings reflect the union of masculine and feminine qualities as well as power and gentleness. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Update: ‘Richard Meier – Architecture and Design’ Retrospective Exhibition
As an update to our recent post about the ‘Richard Meier – Architecture and Design’ Retrospective Exhibition currently taking place until July 28 at the Fondazione Bisazza in Vicenza, Italy, the first images have been shared with us. The exhibit includes several iconic, current and recently completed projects by Richard Meier & Partners, in celebration of the company’s 50th anniversary. Also being unveiled at this exhibition is a site-specific installation for the Foundation’s permanent collection. For more information about the exhibition, please visit here. More images after the break.
Magma Architecture Wins AIA UK Design Award
Magma Architecture‘s Olympic and Paralympic Shooting Arenas have just been distinguished with a 2013 AIA UK Excellence in Design Award. Driven by the desire to evoke an experience of flow and precision inherent in the shooting sport through the dynamically curving space, the shooting arenas were the only buildings of the London 2012 Games to be selected. While all three ranges were configured in a crisp, white double curved membrane façade studded with vibrantly colored openings, the fresh and light appearance of the buildings truly enhanced the festive and celebratory character of the Olympic event. For more images and information on their award-winning project, please visit here.
San Rocco Summer School
Taking place August 28-September 6, the University of Genoa’s San Rocco Summer School (SRSS) will teach you to design buildings by making drawings, copying precedents and talking about corner solutions. Each teacher, who is a member of the San Rocco editorial board, and some friends and colleagues, will participate for two days, taking over the work developed by the colleagues that preceded him in the days before. It is the students who will provide the SRSS with consistency, being the only constant. The building to be designed is the new mosque of Genoa. Applications must be submitted no later than 12:00 on June 10. For more information, please visit here.
Evolucio / Onionlab
Projected onto the façade of the Musées d’art et d’histoire de Genève, Onionlab‘s ‘Evolucio’ is a piece that revolves around the graphic and sound abstraction of the concept it is named after: evolution. Created with 3D projection mapping techniques, It is construed as transformation, construction and alteration of reality through time; evolution as a discontinuous creation process as well. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Baku White City Office Building Proposal / ADEC – Azerbaijan Development Company
The Baku White City Office Building Proposal by ADEC – Azerbaijan Development Company just received the awards for Office Architecture and Office Development at the Asia Pacific Property Awards event last week. A development of an international level, Baku White City Office Building features offices and commercial areas. A beautiful plaza is planned in front of the building where the foundation stone of Baku White City is situated, and which will become a beginning of a vibrant promenade along the Nobel Avenue.
Hundreds of finest developers, architects, interior designers and real estate agents gathered at the Shangri-la Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on Friday (May 10th) to hear the long-anticipated results of the Asia Pacific Property Awards. Baku White City proudly accepted awards for Office Architecture and Office Development for Baku White City Office Building.
More images and information on the award-winning project after the break.
Tel-Aviv White City Forum Winning Proposal / Kimmel Eshkolot Architects
The Tel-Aviv White City Forum winning proposal by Kimmel Eshkolot Architects is an exhibition center, part of the huge Tel- Aviv wholesale market project currently under construction. Comprising thousands of apartment units, a mall, a school and a sports complex, the Forum will be a platform for genuine urban celebration. More images and architects’ description after the break.
‘PostZERO’ Nordic Built Challenge Finalist Proposal / Space Group
Recently named as one of the finalists in the Nordic Built Challenge, Space Group, in collaboration with BollingerGrohmann + Florian Kosche AS and AJL Engineers, shared with us their ‘PostZERO’ concept. An extension of an existing high-rise building in Oslo, the project aims to identify good ideas for how buildings can be transformed in a sustainable, innovative and cost-effective manner. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Architecture at Zero 2013 Competition
Open to students and professionals worldwide, the Architecture at Zero 2013 competition is challenging participants to create a design for a new, roughly 150 unit mixed-use residential apartment building located in the Tenderloin neighborhood in San Francisco, California. With the aim of being as close to zero net energy as possible, the building must be a mix of affordable and market rate housing units and include a full neighborhood-serving grocery store on the ground level. The competition is presented by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and AIA San Francisco, in partnership with the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC). Submissions are due October 1. To register, and for more information, please visit here.
Call for Submissions: MONU Magazine’s #19 Issue – ‘Greater Urbanism’
MONU magazine on urbanism recently announced their call for submissions for their upcoming #19 issue on the topic of ‘Greater Urbanism’. In this new issue, they would like to discuss the problems of urban “greatness” in a global context, but also to envision new strategies for the “greater” urban areas of cities in terms of governance, politics, space, architecture, sociology, ecology, and economics. Ultimately, this issue will try to define what “Greater Urbanism” means today in general and in relation to the past and to previous strategies. They are inviting participants to submit radical new strategies, critical thinking, analytical texts, photo essays, pioneer projects, data-based infographics, and historical research. Submissions are due before July 15. For more information, please visit here. For more information, please visit here.
Nanne de Ru Appointed Director of The Berlage
The Executive Board of The Berlage Center for Advanced studies in Architecture and Urban Design, chaired by Professor Karin Laglas, has just appointed architect Nanne de Ru as the Director of The Berlage. Partner of Powerhouse Company, de Ru has taught and lectured at schools across Europe, such as the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, the Oslo School of Architecture and Design and Delft University of Technology. Now part of the Faculty of Architecture, The Berlage is an entity of Delft University of Technology that builds on the tradition and reputation of the former Berlage Institute.
OMA Proposes Radical Redevelopment Plan for the Miami Beach Convention Center
South Beach ACE just unveiled their master plan for the redevelopment of the Miami Beach Convention Center site. Currently in a battle with BIG and Portman CMC for the right to overhaul the 52-acre site, national developer Tishman, international architecture firm OMA, international firm TVS, and Miami Beach developer UIA Management comprise the South Beach ACE team. The vision involves bringing to life one of Miami Beach’s most underutilized public sites with a fully-revamped convention center capable of luring major events from around the world, an iconic hotel, inviting green spaces, low-density retail uses, and cultural venues.
More images and the team’s description after the break…
‘Le Corbusier/New York’ Symposium
Held in conjunction with MoMA’s exhibition Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes, “Le Corbusier/New York” is a two-day international symposium taking place June 8-9. The event will examine this world-renowned French architect’s ideas on the city before and after his first trip to the United States, along with his influence on generations of American architects. The journey through Le Corbusier’s work will begin on Saturday with an exclusive preview of the MoMA exhibition led by its curator Jean-Louis Cohen and Sunday’s events include engaging lectures at the Center for Architecture. Discussions will focus on how Le Corbusier’s ideas about New York City influenced his work and how, in turn, Le Corbusier’s legacy impacted the city’s built environment. For more information, please visit here.
Xiamen Wu Yuan Wan Mixed-Use Development Winning Proposal / Aedas
Designed by Aedas, their competition winning proposal to design a bay front, mixed-use development in Wu Yuan Wan, Xiamen, China is comprised of a shopping mall, a five-star hotel and two SOHO towers. With a total gross floor area of 175,000 square meters, their design aims to become the centerpiece of a new master plan. Ultimately, it will be a new retail landmark and a well integrated complex that responds to its watery surrounding. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Ground/Work: A Design Competition for Van Alen Institute’s New Street-Level Space
Ground/Work is a design competition just launched yesterday that seeks to recognize emerging design talent with a highly visible built project in New York City for Van Alen Institute. Since 1982, the Institute has occupied the sixth floor of its building at 30 West 22nd Street in Manhattan, where a diverse program of competitions, curatorial initiatives, and public events has made Van Alen an influential center for design innovation. This year, the Institute is making its public-oriented mission central to the reinvention of its own office and event space, transforming the ground floor and lower level of its building for a new venue to house its entire work space and public programs. The deadline for submissions is June 13. For more information, please visit here.
Hotel in Montenegro Competition Entry / Kana Arhitekti
The main goal of the Hotel in Montenegro proposal was not to create a resort type of hotel, but rather a new town square, a vibrant part of this sleepy city. This approach by Kana Arhitekti significantly upgraded the quality of urbanism both on a micro and macro scale to create a city center this small town needs. More images and architects’ description after the break.
‘BS25′ Silos – Diving and Indoor Skydiving Center Proposal / Moko Architects
The proposal by Moko Architects for the Diving and Indoor Skydiving Center restores a part of a house factory in Żerań which operated in the past,. They turn a building in a non-developed area with abandoned halls and warehouses into a recreation center open all year round in the old silos where bulk cement used to be stored in the past. The existing facility is a perfect base for this investment and will be the only place in Poland where people wishing to learn the skills of diving will have the opportunity to safely train at the depth of 25m under control. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Château of Chillon Restaurant & Boutique Competition Entry / Mauro Turin Architectes
The proposal for the Château of Chillon Restaurant & Boutique by Mauro Turin Architectes takes into account the cultural significance of the historical national monument and uses century-old construction along with various updated methodologies. Their aspiration is to add, in a notion of continuity, a new layer of history about the site and the Castle. Therefore, the building is designed in the image of its ambitions, in the expectation in what can be called the expansion of the Castle. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Wood Summit Smaland Conference
Taking place at the Virserums Art Museum June 26-27, Wood Summit Smaland is an international conference that will focus on sustainability and wood architecture. Featuring renowned guest speakers such as Jim Taggart, Sadie Morgan, Stefan Behnisch and TYIN Tegnestue, winner of Architecture of Necessity 2010, the winners of Architecture of Necessity 2013 will be announced. For more information, please visit here.
