Alison Furuto
Copenhagen Arena Proposal / 3XN Architects
3XN Architects, in collaboration with HKS Architects, Arup, ME Engineers and Planit, won the first prize in the competition for the Copenhagen Arena, which is expected to be completed in the fall of 2015. Located in the Ørestad-area, a short metro ride from the city center of Denmark’s capital, their design combines two key ambitions: to create state of the art and flexible multi-purpose arena that can attract spectators from near and far, while ensuring that the building’s presence will be a win for the entire neighborhood. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Block H of the Yongsan International Business District (YIBD) / Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) shared with us their design proposal for Block H of the Yongsan International Business District (YIBD) in Seoul. The goal of YIBD is to create a new symbol for the 21st Century city; a new urban center that will include international business, living, entertainment, and shopping. Scheduled for completion in 2016, Block H consists of a luxury 5-Star hotel and high-end serviced residential building containing 167,225 square meters of space. More images and architects’ description after the break.
‘Water City’ Proposal / Shma
As a part of the exhibition “Water Brick” held by the Association of Siamese Architects (ASA) in The Architect’12 Expo this last April, Shma shared with us their Water City proposal. Their visionary project focused on a response to the severe flood that inundated most of central plain of Thailand in 2011. They focused on Ayutthaya, the old capital of Thailand and the UNESCO’s World Heritage, in the project named “2050 Ultra Flood Plain”. More images and architects’ description after the break.
“Re•architecture – RE•cycle, RE•use, RE•invest, RE•build” Exhibition
Focusing on Paris and its diversity, the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, the center for information and exhibition for urban planning and architecture, has invited fifteen European agencies that question the way that modern-day cities are built to participate in this exhibition.
Through their original strategies, these architects are part of collectives or associations, work in multidisciplinary teams and carry out experiments on cities in order to reinvent the everyday reality of our fellow citizens. The presentation of their lively, direct and sustainable projects is an invitation to discover and share in exciting ways of enhancing city landscapes.
The thirty exhibited proposals, shown at the various stages of development, describe the conditions in which the orders were placed, the study behind the projects, participative action as well as the conditions in which studies were carried out and the projects completed. For more information, please visit here.
Haraldsplass Hospital / C. F. Møller Architects
The winning proposal by C. F. Møller Architects for a new 10,000 m2 ward building for Haraldsplass Hospital in Bergen, Norway has been described by the jury as, “a whole new kind of hospital”. Gone are the traditional hospital corridors, to be replaced by open common areas and efficient logistics. The new building will lie at the foot of the Ulriken mountain, with the river Møllendalselven in front. More images and architects’ description after the break.
IN-Gawa: Community Housing Proposal / INDEX Architecture
The proposal for a community housing development in Tomisato city, a small town close to Narita Airport in Japan’s Chiba Prefecture, takes as its point of departure the Japanese concept of Engawa or verandah space that can be found in many forms of traditional housing types. Designed by INDEX architecture, the competition called for the design of eight detached houses on a semi rural plot that questions the validity of suburban expansion. Therefore, their design proposes a new approach to living on the fringes of the Tokyo ‘megacity’. More images and architects’ description after the break.
School and Student Residence / Chartier Dalix Architectes
Chartier Dalix Architectes recently won a competition for a primary school and student residence located in Ivry, Framce, just outside of Paris. The school is organized in the form of a terraced landscape welcoming successive vegetation and its general implantation, facing south, offers maximum sunlight to the playgrounds, corridors, and classrooms that take full advantage of this landscape in height. More images and architects’ description after the break.
New City Center of Klaksvik / Studio BÄNG + Sebastian Schroeter
The proposal for the new city center of Klaksvik by studio BÄNG and Sebastian Schroeter focuses on the center’s ability to work when public life can be guaranteed at any weather condition. The key task is to create a clearly composed city center. Going ahead from this parameter, a center is created that is not only formal but also functionally designed. The value of this concept is even stronger, when the urban sprawl around the new center increases in density. In contrast to the powerful but silent inner town square. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Platea Residences / Salon2
Salon2 shared with us their winning design in an invited competition for their Platea Residences proposal. Located in Fikirtepe area of Istanbul, their design strategy blends green and the conventional tower blocks into each other with climbing gardens almost like ivy climbing the trees. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Jaypee Sports City / Cannon Design + Peter Ellis New Cities
Cannon Design, a leading international architectural, engineering and planning firm, recently announced that it has joined forces with Peter Ellis New Cities, expanding the firm’s urban planning and city design practice. Currently, they have been working on a master plan for the new Sports City in India, a comprehensive city plan for 1,000,000 inhabitants on 5,000 acres. Ellis and his New Delhi staff will be an integral part of Cannon Design’s planned expansion in India while his U.S. based team has joined the firm’s office in Chicago. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Yingkou Convention and Exposition Center / 2DEFINE Architecture
2DEFINE Architecture, with local partner Dalian Urban Planning & Design Institute, recently won an assignment to lead the design of an extraordinary new convention center in Yingkou, China. The project consists of a four-story, 70,000-square-meter (750,000-square-foot) facility in a city of 2.2 million people located in the northwest province of Liaoning on the Bohai Sea. A unique, sea urchin-shaped building created to reflect its natural environment, the facility will be the centerpiece of a new harbor created off of a satellite central business district in the port city. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Kaap Skil, Maritime and Beachcombers’ Museum Wins Daylight Award 2012 / Mecanoo Architecten
This year’s Daylight Award, a prestigious prize awarded by the Living Daylights Foundation that honors projects that reach an optimum result in combining daylight, artificial light and design, has been given to the Kaap Skil, Maritime and Beachcombers’ Museum on the Dutch island of Texl. Designed by Mecanoo Architecten, one can almost feel the weather because of the transparency of the building, according to the jury. “Sun, clouds, thunder and rain: outdoors comes inside as perception and emotion and this is a core quality for a building with the Wadden Sea at your doorstep.” More images and architects’ description after the break.
Bama Eco Resort / davidclovers
The design by davidclovers for the Bama Eco Resort includes two key areas of an eco-tourist resort project that intends to be a flagship project for China demonstrating how architecture can both re-work and reinvigorate sensitive habitat sites. Using innovative construction methods and design processes, both projects “farm” the existing terrain of the site finding its latent potentials. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Atlantic City Tourism District Master Plan / The Jerde Partnership
Well known for their visionary architecture that people love to visit and go back to time and again, The Jerde Partnership has set out to attract more people through a realistic framework by transforming Atlantic City into the preferred coastal resort destination of the Northeastern United States. By creating a clean, green, safe city that pays homage to its storied history and takes advantage of its unique island setting, the new Atlantic City Tourism District master plan will offer a wide range of attractions and experiences for all ages. By promoting a strategy for redevelopment, phasing, and district-wide improvements, the master plan will serve as a catalyst for Atlantic City’s economic and social uplift. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Student Housing Proposal / CEBRA
In cooperation with engineers LB Consult, CEBRA recently won the competition for 48 new student housing units in Esbjerg, Denmark’s 5th largest city. The eye-catching proposal consists of 26,910 sq. ft. apartments spread across ten floors and outdoor areas with terraces and activity zones such as a street basket field. The project is commissioned by the housing association Ungdomsbo and they expect that the first students can move in in January 2014. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Think Space: ‘Look what Charles Renfro of DS+R has to say on Blur Building project after a decade or so’ Competition
As part of the cycle of competitions, Think Space is calling for entries in its Blur Building themed competition. “It is too soon to know whether Blur was a barometer of early 21st Century sentiment or a neutral response to the conditions of the site. The lack of program allowed us to make our own which had nothing to do with a World’s Fair and everything to do with our own practice. It allowed Diller and Scofidio to bridge the worlds of high art, installation art, and architecture, continue to research threads significant to the practice at the same time it presaged the change of the firm name from D+S to DS+R.” – Charles Renfro. More on the juror’s description of the project for the competition after the break.
YIBD Block C1-20 / Tange Associates
The new Yongsan International Business District (YIBD), which will be the new heart of Seoul, will be comparable only to a few other city centers on the global stage. As part of the district, the Block C1-20 building, designed by Tange Associates, is a metaphorical expression of the dynamic energy created by the Retail Valley and the building’s own diverse program. More images and architects’ description after the break.
‘Inside Out: 7 Architectural Thoughts’ Exhibition
Taking place June 8-28 at the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles, the ‘Inside Out: 7 Architectural Thoughts’ exhibition features seven progressive Korean architectural designers bringing up a challenging topic about ‘Koreaness’ to the Korean American community. With their cultural usages incongruent at times in multi-cultural communities of the United Sates, they are trying to make the cultural usages more suitable for current circumstances and create an indigenous cultural entity that is in harmony with diverse ethnic and cultural circumstances. Personally or communally driven, this effort has been performed not only by the Korean American community but also other ethnic groups. More information on the exhibition after the break.
Yashiki Mori Housing Proposal / HOLDUP
The proposal for the Yashiki Mori competition by HOLDUP elaborates on the Yashiki-rin housing typologies as a protection from environmental aggressions: windbreak forest (hot summer wind, cold winter wind, sandblast), barrier against fire, sunshade, air-purifier (carbon dioxide absorber and oxygen provider), sound-proof shield, etc. This natural eco-system composed of hedges and high trees circling the house could preserve wildlife, supply bamboo or lumber as construction material, fuel or fertilizer. It perfectly fits today’s concerns, i.e. keeping some distance with the surroundings but preserving openness at the same time. More images and architects’ description after the break.
North Las Vegas City Hall and Civic Plaza Wins National Award / Fentress Architects
Chosen for its outstanding construction management techniques and environmental sensitivity, the North Las Vegas City Hall and Civic Plaza was recently named 2012 Project of the Year by the American Public Works Association (APWA). Designed by Fentress Architects, the project was completed $17 million under budget in 2011 and as a result of a downtown revitalization effort, North Las Vegas’ new City Hall successfully consolidates the city’s departments into a one-stop-shop offering convenience, efficiency and ease of navigation for both city staff and residents. More architects’ description after the break.
Nykredit Motivation Prize 2012 Awarded to Powerhouse Company
Powerhouse Company, an office that focuses on the fields of architecture, urban design and research, was recently awarded the Nykredit Motivation Prize 2012. The prize of over 13.000 euros was handed out by the Danish Minister for Culture, Uffe Elbæk, at a ceremony held at Nykredit’s headquarters in Copenhagen. A practice established by architects Nanne de Ru and Charles Bessard with offices in respectively Rotterdam and Copenhagen, they are an example of one of the new global-Danish architectural practices starting to mark its presence on the Danish architectural scene. More information after the break.
