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VitraHaus © Duccio Malagamba

In my opinion, Herzog & de Meuron has been one of the few practices pushing new forms on architecture. They always start with something vernacular, extracting its inner essence and materializing it into something new that you will immediately understand by looking at the building (or the renders). A dialog between art and the current state of our society, embodied on industrial facilities, residential projects, mixed use complexes.

Their book “Herzog & de Meuron: Natural History” is a must.

We now bring you a special on Herzog & de Meuron, with photos by  Barcelona-based photographer Duccio Malagamba (previously featured on our AD Photographers section).

Eleven works by the Swiss practice after the break:

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An existing building block from the communist era in Budapest gets extruded and converted into the tallest building on Earth, short by Aron Lorincz.

Music: videocopilot/proscores, RATATAT: Shempi

Interesting video by Rob Carter:

“Stone On Stone” is a stop-motion video animation that uses the architectural language of High Gothic and Modernism to invent a contradictory history of their evolvement. The theme starts and finishes with the vast and unfinished Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, NYC. It is contrasted with Le Corbusier’s La Tourette monastery in France, competed in 1960. The video uses this anomalous but single-minded architectural vision as the foundation for a new emergence of Gothic religious expression, resulting in a complete and unified fantasy cathedral – akin to the building that the Church of Saint John might have aspired to be.

2009, 7 minutes 44 seconds
1080 x 1080 pixel digital video projection
B&W/Color/Sound
(Clip taken from the 3rd to 6th minute)

AMO is a design and research studio inside OMA, a think tank operating on the boundaries of architecture: media, politics, sociology, sustainability, technology, fashion, curating, publishing and graphic design. Some of their works include the barcode flag for the EU and a study for Wired magazine.

And while OMA covers sustainable strategies on a building or master plan scale, AMO is approaching it on en European scale as one of the five consultants conducting technical, economic and policy analyses for Roadmap 2050, an initiative by the European Climate Foundation which looks to chart a policy roadmap for the next 5-10 years based on the European leaders’ commitment to an 80-95% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050. You can download a brief of Roadmap 2050 in PDF.

Roadmap 2050 © AMO

The goal is to achieve a 2% energy efficiency saving per year in order to meet this goal, with power and vehicle transportation being the most important areas.

Through the complete integration and synchronization of the EU’s energy infrastructure, Europe can take maximum advantage of its geographical diversity. The report’s findings show that by 2050, the simultaneous presence of various renewable energy sources within the EU can create a complementary system of energy provision ensuring energy security for future generations.

AMO’s work focuses on the production of a graphic narrative which conceptualizes and visualizes the geographic, political, and cultural implications of the integrated, decarbonized European power sector.

On their study you can find an interesting approach to a diverse european energy grid, including energy trade and the use of new non-traditional sources.

Eneropa © AMO

The image of “Eneropa” appears as a new continent based on its energy production: Biomassburg, Geothermalia, Solaria, the Tidal States… are part of this new territory. Other branding concepts are introduced on the study, creating a tangible image of this ambitious plan, which reminds the powerful (yet simple) idea behind the barcode flag.

You can download the full study in PDF format at the Roadmap 2050 website.

More after the break:
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© Iwan Baan

Last year we presented you this interesting project by REX during its construction stage, where you could see how an unused structure was converted into the new headquarters for Vakko, integrated with a new complex steel structure. The project is now completed, and we can see the final result with photos by Iwan Baan and a complete set of drawings and diagrams courtesy of REX.

Despite the mix of the existing concrete structure with the new additions and the complex inner core (dubbed the “showcase”), the exterior of the building is read as a whole. The structural “X” of the glass panels on the facade break the monotony of the box on the outside, contrasting with the mirror like finish of the volume on top.

© Iwan Baan

The “showcase” fills the central void with a mirror finish that turns the volume into a sculpture (as seen on the photos and on the showcase elevations below), while housing different programs that benefit from the arrange of the boxes, such as the auditorium, meeting rooms and showrooms.

REX once again shows innovative structural solutions in relation with the program, together with new uses of materials as we previously saw on the Wyly Theatre in Dallas.

After the break, the architect’s description:

Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Clientes: Vakko and Power Media
Architect: REX
Key personnel: Erez Ella, Tomas Janka, Mathias Madaus, David Menicovich, Tsuyoshi Nakamoto, Joshua Prince-Ramus, Ishtiaq Rafiuddin, Tieliu Wu
Consultants: ARTE, Autoban, Buro Statik, Cedetas, Dora, Eleksis, Front, Gurmen Muhendislik, Lamglass, Norm Tecnic, Say Yapi, STEP, Superpool, Cem Mimarlik
Area: 9,100 sqm (98,000 sqf)
Completion: 2010
Program: Headquarters for a Turkish fashion house—including offices, showrooms, conference rooms, auditorium, museum, and dining hall—as well as the television studios, radio production facilities, and screening rooms of its media sister-company
Photography: REX, Iwan Baan

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Amazing video by Patrick Jean, produced by OneMoreProd. New York turns into a pixelated video game. Love the Tetris buildings.

Via FUBIZ.

© Brad Lansill

During February we presented you Rosa Muerta, a project designed by LA based architect Robert Stone. A personal work, built by himself in the desert, to rent to his friends (check the original article for more on his background).

It generated a powerful debate between the readers, and Robert himself.

For Acido Dorado, another one of his rental projects under Pretty Vacant Properties, Robert decided to write a text specially for ArchDaily readers, a kickstart for the debate:

In appreciation of the immediacy of ArchDaily as a medium- no press release this time. Just some notes to try and share what I am doing with this work.

Somewhere along the way I became interested in meaning, as well as form, in architecture. A reduced abstract approach can be a valuable exercise in pursuit of novel form, and there has been some really exciting work generated by that approach in past decades. But honestly, I began to see its muteness as an expresion of the conservative power that it silently serves, the very stuff that many of us resist in our daily lives. I began to admit the negative connotations of architecture first. Then I eventually found positve ones as well and things got a lot more interesting to me. . .so I followed that path wherever it led. In my case it led through art and design theory and practice, then eventually back to architecture with a very different set of issues, terms and aesthetics. read more »

An impressive visual performance by label Anti VJ , over the facade of a recent building in the new Songdo city, South Korea.

Watch in HD at Vimeo.

Inntel Hotel Zaandam, Netherlands designed by WAM © Roel Backaert

In Zaandam, the city of the first European McDonalds, we find the Inntel Hotel designed by dutch architects WAM.

The 12-storey tall structure is the result of stacking a series of tradicional Dutch houses.

Neo post modernism?

Read the complete article at The Guardian.

Aerial view © OMA, render by Luxigon

OMA has been announced as the winner of the international competition for the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ) expansion. The CAD$90 million project was also consulted with local residents, with an 82% of approval.

A series of stacked boxes remind the programatic relations of Seattle’s Library, while generating an interesting grand hall facing the street with urban qualities.

Section © OMA

The three stacked galleries vary in size, as you can see on the axo and models included below: contemporary exhibitions (50m x 50m), the permanent contemporary collection (45m x 35m) and design / Inuit exhibits (42.5m x 25m). The cantilever over the street creates the grand hall, a 14m tall transparent space connected to the park, starting point of an ascending path trough the boxes.

“Our ambition is to create a dramatic new presence for the city, while maintaining a respectful, even stealthy approach to the museum’s neighbors and the existing museum. The resulting form of cascading gallery boxes enhances the museum experience by creating a clarity in circulation and curation while allowing abundant natural light into the galleries.”

- Shohei Shigematsu

The other four finalists of the competition were Barkow Leibinger (Germany) + Imrey Culbert (US), Allied Works (US) + Fichten Soiferman et Associés (Canada), Nieto Sobejano (Spain) + Brière, Gilbert et Associés (Canada) and David Chipperfield (UK) + Groupe Arcop (Canada).

The project is led by partners Rem Koolhaas and Shohei Shigematsu (who we interviewed before), and will be executed by OMA NY in collaboration with Provencher Roy + Associés Architectes. Construction is expected to be completed in fall 2013.

More images after the break:

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A tilt-shift video documenting a day around Zaha Hadid’s CMA CGM Tower in Marseilles, France. The project is expected to be completed during the second half of 2010.

Video by Exmagina.

Jean Nouvel‘s 100 11th Ave in NY is almost complete. Vernissage TV brings us a video preview of the building, featuring the mosaic like facade and the interiors:

In this video, we have a look at the building’s exterior by day (March 6, 2010), and its interior by night (March 4, 2010). For the VIP party / preview on March 4, 2010, Jean Nouvel created a collaborative installation with the French artist Jean-Charles Blais. The installation involved taking over an apartment and doing a temporary “intervention” in it.

© Gehry & Partners

Last year Frank Gehry won the design competition for the Eisenhower Memorial, which included six other firms (Perkins & Will, Krueck & Sexton, Rogers Marvel Architects, Moshe Safdie & Associates, Natoma Architects and PWP Landscape Architecture). After that, the firm was asked to produce three options for the members of the Eisenhower Memorial Commision to choose from, from which the final design was chosen a few days ago.

LA Time’s Culture Monster has more info about the project:

The design, which Gehry and his colleagues will flesh out in the months to come, combines a grove of oak trees, two parallel colonnades of limestone pillars and loosely piled limestone walls carved with sculptural reliefs — elements common to all three proposals — with a series of woven steel-mesh tapestries that will feature images of Eisenhower and his presidency. There is a gap in the colonnade as it runs along Independence, creating an opening framing views of the Capitol and also marking an informal pedestrian entry into the memorial site.

While the oak trees should provide plenty of shade — along with pockets of contemplative space — the tapestries will give much of the memorial the feeling of an expansive outdoor stage set. Gehry came up with the idea for the steel-mesh panels while exploring the tapestry collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where his firm has been working on an expansion.

More images after the break:
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© LaChapelle Studio

Philip Johnson (1906-2005), one of the most influential American architects portrayed by David LaChapelle.

Philip Johnson received the Pritzker Prize back in 1979.

This and another photo at LaChapelle Studio.

© William Zbaren

Location: 860-880 Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Original Architect: Mies van der Rohe
Original Completion Date: 1951
Restoration Architect: Krueck & Sexton Architects
Restoration Completion Date: 2009
Client: 860-880 Condominium Association
Photos: William Zbaren

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Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima, Photo by Takashi Okamoto, Courtesy of SANAA

Today, the Pritzker Prize laureate has been announced: Japanese practice SANAA formed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa.

SANAA was following Steven Holl on the polls (my favorite for next year), a name that was very strong for the award since last year.

The awarded duo will receive the prize at a formal ceremony May 17 at Ellis Island, New York.

Works by SANAA at ArchDaily:

• Rolex Learning Center
• Rolex Learning Center photos by Iwan Baan
• Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009
• Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art
• Zollverein School of Management and Design

© Iwan Baan

Architects: Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA
Client: Zollverein School
Location: Essen, Germany
Construction start: March 2005
Completed: July 2006
Project architect: Nicole Berganski
Associate architects: Böll & Krabel
Built area: 5.000sqm
Masterplan: Rem Koolhaas, OMA
Landscape: Agence Ter
Photos: Iwan Baan

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© Iwan Baan

Location: Toledo, Ohio, USA
Client: Toledo Museum of Art
Architect: Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA
Team: Toshi Oki, Takayuki Hasegawa, Keiko Uchiyama, Mizuki Imamura, Tetsuo Kondo, Junya Ishigami
Built area: 7,000sqm
Site area: 20,000sqm
Opening: 2006
Structure: Guy Nordenson & Associates / SAPS
Glass consultant: Front Inc
Lighting: Arup / Kilt Planning
Photos: Iwan Baan

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The Pritzker will be announced in a few minutes. It will probably go to one of the figures you have already voted for in our 2010 Pritzker poll, but deep in our hearts we wish Architecture for Humanity to be awarded.

With the purpose of the Prize being “to honor a living architect whose built work demostrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision, and commitment, which has produced a consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture“, don´t you agree with me?

Anyway, Architecture for Humanity has been awarded with the 2010 IIDA Pioneers in Design Award, and we congratulate them once again.

Let’s hope we can probe Cameron Sinclair wrong in the future:

@casinclair: @archforhumanity will never be awarded the Pritzker Prize but we do have this awesome new video http://is.gd/b2yUU

(remember to follow @archdaily on Twitter to be instantly up to date on this and other news)

Last year our readers got it right, when majority voted for Peter Zumthor at our poll, who was later announced as the Pritzker Prize 2009 laureate.

Will you guys guess the Pritzker once again?

The Pritzker Prize laureate will be announced this Sunday. In the meanwhile vote on this list we compiled via Twitter:

Update

Today, japanese practice SANAA has been announced as the 2010 Pritzker Prize laureate.