The disappointment generated by the Shard’s opening laser light show is not so surprising for a project that has been grounded in controversy for over a decade. Since 2000, when Piano sketched his initial vision upon meeting developer Irvine Sellar, the project has consistently met obstacles such as English Heritage and the financial crash of 2007. But, the biggest opposition of the tower has been its height. English Heritage claimed that the tower, formerly known as London Bridge Tower, would “tear through historic London like a shard of glass” (ironically, coining the new name of the tower), and Piano counters that, “The best architecture takes time to be understood…I would prefer people to judge it not now. Judge it in 10 years’ time.”

Leading us to wonder…does the Shard simply need time to be fully appreciated?

After WWII, the East End of Long Island played host to a variety of architectural styles. From modernism, through post-modernism, and deconstructionism, architects experimented with social ideas and aesthetic expressions which culminated in “small” houses scattered about the Island’s natural backdrop. Now, with the advent of the mega-mansion and the desire for “bigger”, it is becoming increasingly difficult to preserve such iconic and progressive architectural projects.

More about the film after the break. 

Tonight, Renzo Piano’s Shard will officially celebrate its opening complete with an amazing light show. A dozen lasers and thirty searchlights will beam streams of light across the city, creating a network between 15 other significant landmarks in London, such as the Gherkin, London Eye, Tate Modern, and Tower Bridge. (So, if you are in London, don’t miss the event at 10.15 this evening, and be sure to share some photos with us!)

Capping out at 310 meters, the Shard has become the tallest building in London, as well as the entire European Union. We have been following the history of Renzo Piano’s creation, and although laden with financial troubles, a change in developers, and criticism from Londoners, the project has finally reached completion.

More about the history of the tower after the break.

Yesterday afternoon, inside the playground of MoMA PS 1, we met Wendy - HWKN’s temporary summer installation for the 2012 Young Architects Program. As an experiment in pushing the boundaries of what architecture can do in an urban environment, Wendy certainly makes an impression. Her blue spiky arms shoot passed the confines of PS 1′s courtyard walls, immediately attracting the attention and piquing the curiosity of those meandering along Jackson Street. Conceptualized as a storm, Wendy intends to challenge the public’s notion of what architecture should be, as the structure’s ecological function will actually clean the air. ”Wendy does not play the typical architecture game of ecological apology – instead she is pro-active,” explained HWKN.

More about Wendy after the break.

Is it the perfect blend of sculpture and engineering, or it is a twisted form of nonsense? Opinions are quite varied on the subject of Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond’s observation tower, ArcelorMittal Orbit, which will serve as a permanent reminder of London’s hosting of the 2012 Olympic Games. The red steel structure will rise close to 400 feet – taller than New York’s Statue of Liberty and London’s Big Ben – to be Britain’s largest piece of public art. Criticized for undertaking such a massively expensive project during the country’s recession, London Mayor Boris Johnson has claimed that the Orbit will not only enhance visitors’ experiences at the Olympic Games but will also be “the right thing for the Stratford site” beyond the summer time, calling on its potential to become ”the perfect iconic cultural legacy”.

More about the Observation Tower after the break.

With the economic stability of Europe still uncertain, Dame Hadid has recently spoken out against ideas of austerity, warning the UK government that such a move would lead to poor quality projects for the country’s citizens. Hadid told Kath Viner of The Guardian, ”I think that austerity is used as a cliche because people don’t have ideas, they want to crib (old ones) to do bad stuff. Schools, housing, hospitals – I think the government should invest in good housing.” Hadid went on to explain, “”There needs to be investment. We need some sort of quality. All the privileged can travel, see different worlds, not everyone can. I think it is important for people to have an interesting local nearby. Buildings need to do another job, enlighten people, space enlightens the same way as music art and technology.”

Yesterday, the final steel beam rose 977 feet into the air and was placed atop 4 World Trade Center – the 72-story tower designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki. As gospel singer BeBe Winans sang “God Bless America”, the 8 ton beam, signed by all members of the team and adorned with an American flag, reached its final destination atop the city’s sixth tallest tower.

At over 80 years of age, Maki is making his New York debut in an elegant manner. The tower was designed to serve as a “respectful backdrop” to the National September 11 Memorial and not to compete with 1 World Trade. ”This is a special place with a sacred meaning and we felt we had to be respectful,” explained Osamu Sassa, Maki’s project architect, to The New York Times. Such a ideology offers a strong contrast with the other architectural statements that will eventually rise as part of the World Trade Center complex, such as Norman Foster’s 2 World Trade and Richard Roger’s 3 World Trade. While the minimalism of Maki may have kept the design under the radar during its design and construction stages, the grace of its simplicity will craft a dignified presence while visiting the site. ”The design of the tower at 150 Greenwich has two fundamental elements – a ‘minimalist’ tower that achieves an appropriate presence, quiet but with dignity, and a ‘podium’ that becomes a catalyst for activating the surrounding urban streetscape as part of the revitalization of lower Manhattan,” explained Maki.

More about 4 World Trade after the break.

At 97 years of age, the architect Gerhard Kallmann passed away on Tuesday in Boston. Kallmann’s career was ignited with the design of Boston City Hall, a neo-brutalist building that received mixed feelings of criticism and praise upon its completion. After escaping Nazi Germany in 1937, Kallmann studied at the Architectural Association in London before moving to the United States and teaching in Chicago and New York. It was in Columbia University where Kallmann met Michael McKinnell and the two would grow to co-found Kallmann, McKinnell & Knowles in 1962 – the same year they won the competition for City Hall.

More about Kallmann after the break.

We continue our coverage of the Architecture Billings Index with a not-so optimistic report for May. The economic indicator showed a substantial drop in the Index (which had previously been inching upward over the past five months). In fact, all regions reported a decline in demand for design services and all regions fell below 50 (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The official report for May was 45.8, with the regional breakdown as follows: Northeast (48.6), West (47.6), Midwest (46.8), South (46.1). “For the second year in a row, we’re seeing declines in springtime design activity after a healthy first quarter. Given the ongoing uncertainly in the economic outlook, particularly the weak job growth numbers in recent months, this should be an alarm bell going off for the design and construction industry,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “The commercial/industrial sector is the only one recording gains in design activity at present, and even this sector has slowed significantly. Construction forecasters will have to reassess what conditions will look like moving forward.”

Architect: CEBRA Location: Tuborg Havnevej 7, Hellerup, DK Client: Experimentarium Area: Approximately 30.000 m2 modernization and extension Program: Center for Natural Science and Technology Competition Year: 2011 Completion Year: 2015

After placing first in the design competition to transform an old mineral water bottling plant into a Science Center, CEBRA will move forward with the adapted proposal upon receipt of a substantial donation from the The A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation. The original building will be restored to serve as an interactive national center for science, technology and culture and house the Experimentarium’s diverse exhibition and education activities for the neighboring communities. CEBRA’s solution of layering a new expression on the historic entity brings science to the forefront while acknowledging contextual cues that create links back to its surroundings.

More about the project after the break.

Via Verde, Grimshaw Architects and Dattner Architects‘ sustainable housing development for the South Bronx, is officially open. At the ribbon cutting ceremony in front of 700 Brook Avenue and East 156th Street, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, along with the leaders of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, largely praised the team’s commitment to revitalize a once blighted South Bronx neighborhood. ”No one would have predicted that today there would one day be one of the most innovative, exciting, environmentally sustainable affordable housing developments in the nation – if not the world. The change that has swept through the South Bronx in the last decade challenges the very notions of what is and isn’t possible in urban revival. And investment in high-quality affordable housing – made possible by partnerships like the one behind Via Verde – has been the catalyst,” explained the Mayor. Located on a formerly contaminated industrial site, the eco-friendly housing development will provide hundreds with a healthy haven to enjoy fresh air and sunlight, natural food production, and outdoor play.

More about Via Verde’s opening after the break. 

Architect: UNStudio Landscape Architect: !Melk Landscape Architecture Location: Qingdao, China Client: Office of 2014 Qingdao World Horticultural Expo Executive Committee Building site: 35.000m2 Program: Main Expo Pavilion with integrated Landscape Design Status: Awarded Competition

For the International Horticultural Expo 2011 in Xi’an, we followed the design, construction and completion of Plasma Studio’s geometric design that extended from the grounds into the water. Currently, Qingdao, a major city in the Shandong province of Eastern China, is preparing for the 2014 Expo under the thematic notion “Let life walk into nature.” The event, which will be held from April through October, will feature three different pavilions (a theme pavilion, plant pavilion and garden culture center) and seven different themed areas that will display local horticulture and allow visitors to experience international gardens, such as displays from Europe, America and Oceania. The focal point of the Expo will be marked by a 28,000 m2 thematic pavilion designed by UNStudio and !Melk Landscape Architecture. The design focuses on the relationship between Science and Nature, using scientific achievement as a source of inspiration to “communicate the essential generative and structural principles of nature through architectural gesture,” explained the firm.

More about the pavilion after the break.

Tomorrow, June 16th, marks the official opening of Reiulf Ramstad Architects‘ National Tourist Route project. Back in 2004, the Norwegian firm placed first in an invited competition to design a viewing platform extending from the Trollstigen mountain plateau and an information center. After eight years spent designing and constructing the vision, an official opening will be hosted by Norway’s Transport and Communications Minister Magnhild Meltveit on the plateau. The national celebration also marks the 75th anniversary of the famous Trollstigvegen (the mountain was renamed as a marketing strategy years ago when tourism activity levels were rising). RRA’s Trollstigen project is just one stop along miles of the Norwegian natural landscape that will promote tourism by bringing people in closer contact with the country’s beautiful backdrop. The route, which runs between Geiranger and Trollstigen, provides rare driving experiences as people pass high mountains and deep fjords, with narrow ledges and small shorelines. By developing this stretch, more will be able to enjoy such an experience.

Architects: JDS; Partners in Charge Henning Stüben, Julien De Smedt Location: Gangnam Bogeumjari District in Seoul, South Korea Client: Shinyoung Collaborators: Junglim Architects Area: 38,000 m2 Budget: 33 million euros Project Leader: Heechan Park Team: Byeongmoo Moo, Francisco Villeda, Amanda Ripoll, Chris Zhongtian Yuan, Marvin Philipp, Mathilde Claus Construction: Autumn 2012

JDS has been commissioned to design a hybrid office and hotel, the Officetel Building, for the new development area of Gangnam Bogeumjari District in Seoul, South Korea. The interesting mixed program, which includes retail, amenities and 700 compact living spaces, has resulted in a textured facade that responds to contextual issues such as sight lines and expose to natural light.

More about the project after the break.

While all eyes may be locked on the Shard’s latest push toward the sky, Renzo Piano is preparing for his first major Spanish project to officially break ground in about one week in Santander. The Botín Foundation, the largest private foundation in Spain, will invest over 150 million USD for the construction and programming of a new Botín Center that will become an international reference in culture and education for the development of creativity through art. The building will inform a new cultural axis to connect the best art circuits in Europe and will serve as a cultural catalyst to bridge the community with art. Emilio Botín, President of the Botín Foundation, is confident the Center will establish a new community space and link the city with the bay. ”To accomplish it, we have called on the best architect in the world. The architect, who best knows how to link cities to the sea, to build urban spaces, and to generate magical places where art may be enjoyed,” explained Botín.

More about the project after the break. 

Our friends from Visiondivision have envisioned a creative solution to respond to Stockholm’s lack of housing. While the city is growing rapidly, the pace of new construction for residences is quickly falling behind demand. Due to this lack of housing, the core of Stockholm has grown to be defined by expensive apartments, while the outer edges for those who can’t afford such prices. For Stockholm Stacked, Visiondivision responds to this segregated city by proposing a change in planning regulations to eliminate height restrictions on courtyard typologies, so as to utilize the urban spaces for efficiently and effectively. After all, “Who wants to move to a city where it is impossible to get an apartment? Which companies wants to invest in a city where their employees may have a hard time to find a place to stay? Which exchange students wants to study in a city where all the free time available will go to find a small flat with a decent rent?” asks the firm.

More about the project after the break.

Our friends from CEBRA will team with Tækker and Grassat to design the Prinsesse Charlottes Gade 42 day care and after-school center in Copenhagen. The project will convert two existing preservation-worthy buildings from 1875 into a day care center complete with outdoor areas for approximately 225 children. CEBRA has a strong portfolio of educational design - some of our favorites include the Youth Recreation & Culture Center designed with Dorte Mandrup; Design Kindergarten; Egmont High School and the Kristiansand Cathedral School Gimle - so we are looking forward to what this design process will bring about. As the project unfolds, we will keep you informed with the latest.

Each year, we look forward to the varied entries and the selected finalists of the MoMA + MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program for an outdoor recreational area within PS1’s triangular entrance courtyard and outdoor sculpture area. YAP began in 2000 as a way to strengthen the relationship between MoMA and MoMA PS1, and the program provides opportunities for emerging architects to showcase their talent and give back to the community. Now, the program is expanding even more as MoMa and MoMA PS1 have announced a new partnership with the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art. Such a partnership will further expand YAP’s international reach (in 2011, MoMA and MoMA PS1 partnered with MAXXI in Rome to create the first international YAP, and then, partnered with cultural organization CONSTRUCTO in Santiago,Chile).

More about the new partnership after the break.