Among the rushed atmosphere of the Singapore Changi Airport, ART+COM has created an installation in which brings all the commotion to a halt. Located in the departure check-in hall of Terminal 1, “Kinetic Rain” is composed of 608 lightweight aluminum rain droplets, coated in copper, that are suspended from thin steel ropes on two opposing escalators. Each droplet seemingly floats into its precise location during a 15-minute, computationally designed choreography where the two parts move together in unison. The entire installation spans a total area of more than 75 square meters and spreads over 7.3 meters in height.

Maggie’s has proudly announced that the Glasgow architects of NORD have agreed to design the Maggie’s Centre in the grounds of Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert. The principle funder from Walk the Walk is expecting a “beautiful, unique and ground breaking building” from the award winning practice who was established in 2002 and has become known for their distinctive projects that often draw inspiration from social and cultural issues. This news comes shortly after Norman Foster and Steven Holl were announced as the next architects of two new Maggie’s Centers in south Manchester at the Christie Hospital and in London at St. Barts.

Director of NORD, Alan Pert said: “This is a fantastic way to celebrate 10 years of NORD and we look forward to working with the amazing team behind this network of centres. At a recent visit to the Maggies London Headquarters we came across a collection of architectural models of the various centres built over the years including Richard Murphy’s first one from 1996. It is an incredible achievement that so many of these buildings have been realized and to contribute to this vision is a huge privilege.”

Continue reading for more.

MASS Design Group was announced as winner of the Zumtobel Group Award for their innovative and cost-efficient Butaro Hosptial in Rwanda. They triumphed over the 230 projects from 30 different countries that competed in the “Built Environment” award category. Additionally, Atelier d’architecture autogérée (France) was selected as winner of the “Research & Initiative” category for developing a strategy of urban resilience known as the R-URBAN project in Paris.

“Through their decision this year, the jury have underlined the fact that it takes a holistic approach to make truly sustainable improvements in the built environment,” said Zumtobel Group CEO Harald Sommerer, who was also a member of the 8-strong jury. “We are particularly pleased to see that, this year, young and dedicated architectural practices have won the award with approaches to resolving social and ecological issues, both in the industrialized world and in developing countries.”

Continue after the break to learn more.

The participants should take into consideration the advances in technology, the exploration of sustainable systems, and the establishment of new urban and architectural methods to solve economic, social, and cultural problems of the contemporary city including the scarcity of natural resources and infrastructure and the exponential increase of inhabitants, pollution, economic division, and unplanned urban sprawl. More information on the competition’s official website.

The UK’s largest arts centre, occupying an 21-acre site that sits in the midst of London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames, has announced the shortlist of architects competing to head the refurbishment and renewal of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery complex. According to a statement released by the Southbank Centre, the project plans to bring the performance spaces and galleries in the complex up to the standard of the recently transformed Royal Festival Hall and will address current urgent problems including poor access to and the upgrading of the stages and galleries; sub-standard back stage areas; and worn out services.

The eight shortlisted practices are:

The City of Almere has revealed it’s MVRDV-designed proposal for the Floriade 2022 candidature! Almere is one of four Dutch cities competing to be the next location of the prestigious horticultural Expo, which takes place once every ten years in the Netherlands and is currently open in Venlo.

Rather than creating a temporary expo site, MVRDV has designed a lasting Cité Idéale, which would serve as a green extension to Almere’s city center. Drawing upon research from the radical DIY urbanism plan for Almere Oosterwold and the Almere 2030 master plan, MVRDV has designed an ambitious sustainable city that strives to be a 300% greener exhibition than the current standard.

Continue reading for more on this potential, exemplary green city!

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Return from a water taxi journey around the Giardini via zip line, explore the potential for “robot craftsmen” and discover much more this August at the Australian Pavilion during the 2012 International Venice Architecture Biennale. With the world-famous exhibition just around the corner, the Australian Institute of Architects have decided to release details on what to expect at their exhibit, Formations: New Practices in Australian Architecture.

The Creative Directors, Anthony Burke and Gerard Reinmuth, said: “It’s very exciting to see how the architectural profession is evolving, the new domains that are being explored and the vitality and variety of innovative architectural types that Australia seems to foster. Formations highlights the range of unconventional and world-leading architectural practice types being developed across Australia, celebrating new opportunities for architects that are working in non-traditional and unexpected ways.”

Continue after the break to learn more.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Architecture for Humanity have announced the five recipients of the 2012 Disaster Response Plan Grant. Awards totaling $10,000 will help each group implement their locally driven preparedness project in the second half of the year.

The Disaster Grant Program is part of the Disaster Resiliency and Recovery Program, which coordinates the organizations’ advocacy, education and training to help architects make effective contributions to communities preparing for, responding to and rebuilding after disaster.

The 2012 grant recipients are:

Columbia University has been at the forefront of medical education for more than two centuries, as it was the first medical school in the United States to award the M.D. degree in 1770. Now, the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) has announced plans for a new, state-of-the-art medical and graduate education building that reflects how they believe medicine is and should be taught, learned and practiced in the 21st century.

Located on the CUMC campus in the Washington Heights community of Northern Manhattan, the 14-story facility will aim to achieve LEED Gold certification and incorporate technologically advanced classrooms, collaboration spaces, and a modern simulation center. The design is led by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, in collaboration with Gensler as executive architect.

Continue after the break for more details!

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Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) has started construction on their 1.4 million-square-foot master plan for The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. Demolition will commence on the existing parking garage at the south end of the hospital complex in order to clear the way for the new Orthopedic and Spine Center (OSC). The contemporary 332,000 square-foot building draws on the predominantly red brick character of the existing buildings and surrounding historic Mt. Auburn neighborhood, while providing a new public face on the south side of the hospital.

SOM strives to achieve LEED certification after completion in mid-2015. Continue after the break to learn more.

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In a call for a Sustainable New York City, Mayor Bloomberg stated: “Given that buildings account for more than 80 percent of all municipal greenhouse gas emissions, constructing buildings with energy-efficient features is essential to reducing those emissions, and DDC plays a critically important role in that work.”

This is a great idea for new construction, but what about the existing, aging buildings? Most older buildings were built in a time when energy costs were low and the exterior walls were used less for energy performance and more for structural integrity. Knocking these buildings down to start over would cause a greater environmental impact due to the tons of waste material that would need to be discarded. So, what is the solution? REskin. DesignByMany‘s challenges you to cleverly reskin a decaying urban building on the corner of Broadway and Reade St in New York City. Submissions can range from a focused investigation to an entire reskinning of the building.

The REskin challenge is sponsored by Autodesk and media partners ArchDaily. Winners will receive a full license of Autodesk Revit Architecture 2013. Check out the building and learn more after the break!

Starting today, one of Arizona’s most well-known architecture firms will no longer be will bruder+PARTNERS. After a successful 17-year history, the practice has branched into two independent firms with diverse architectural offerings due to a “natural evolution of individual and collective goals relating to firm size, design methodology and management.” Together, the internationally respected firm has created landmark buildings throughout the state, including projects such as the Burton Barr Library and the Agave Library. And now, each will go their separate ways as the firm has split into Will Bruder Architects and WORKSBUREAU.

Continue after the break to learn more about each firm.

The Yale ‘Assembly One’ pavilion is the younger, smaller, more carefree sister to Yale’s building project – a 40-year old tradition in which first-year students design and building a house. It is the product of a seminar and design studio in which students focused on alternative ways in which contemporary buildings can come together and the potential architectural effects computational and material techniques can offer. The ‘Assembly One’ pavilion is designed to act as an information center for New Haven’s summer International Festival of Arts and Ideas and therefore was developed with the following characteristics in mind: dynamism, visual transparency and visual density.

Continue after the break for more!

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Earlier we shared with you these rough clips of the recently completed CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, filmed by Tomas Koolhaas as part of a feature length documentary film that he currently making about his father, Rem Koolhaas. In this short clip, Tomas Koolhaas interviews a homeless man inside the Seattle Central Library as an attempt to capture his unique experience within the glass and steel mesh walls of the famous public library.

Tomas Koolhaas studied at the Los Angeles Film School. Upon graduating, he spend ten years working as a cinematographer and has recently switched his focused more towards directing and writing. The documentary film, REM, is set to debut in 2013. Watch for updates here on the REM Facebook page.

TED Prize has big news! They have evolved so much since the prize launched in 2005 and now three key shifts have allowed them to turn the page to a whole new chapter. Historically, the TED Prize was awarded to individuals who then made a wish. Starting in 2013, it will be awarded to individuals with a big wish already in mind. Also, individuals may self-nominate or nominate someone else, as long as every nomination includes a world-changing, achievable wish. And now for the biggest change (drum roll, please…), the typical cash award of $100,000 has been raised to $1 million in order to provide powerful seed funding for the wish!

Many of you are aware of Bruce Munro’s dazzling LED ‘Light: Installations’ currently on view until late September in the fields of Pennsylvania’s Longwood Gardens. Well, the famed artist has just announced plans to embark on his largest installation to date – a quarter million solar powered stems of light to cover one square kilometer of land in the heart of the Australian red desert at Uluru (Ayer’s Rock). Fundraising begins today and you can help make it happen.

Continue reading for more information.

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As we announced earlier, Steven Holl Architects has been selected to design the Maggie’s Center at St. Bartholomew’s (Barts) Hospital in London. Situated at the periphery of the square, Maggie’s Barts will replace an existing 1960s block that was once used for offices. An average of 3,100 new cancer patients is expected to use the facility each year.

Steven Holl said: “It is a great honor to design a Maggie’s Centre and a very special challenge to be given such an important central site in London. The hospital has been at the forefront of medical understanding for centuries. We are inspired by the deep history of the area, and particularly the nearby St. Bartholomew the Great church which has been in continuous use with marvelous music since 1143. Our proposal is like a vessel within a vessel within a vessel. In the spirit of music, architecture can be a vessel of transcendence.”

Continue after the break to learn more.

Organized by the Institute for Urban Design, the American Pavilion for the 13th International Venice Architecture Biennale is devoted to the theme Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good. The installation will feature 124 urban interventions initiated by architects, designers, planners, artists, and everyday citizens that bring positive change to their neighborhoods and cities. The selection was narrowed down after a nationwide open call for projects, which yielded over 450 submissions.

Designed by the Brooklyn creative studio Freecell, the space will feature a lively system of banners that will frame an archive of the urban interventions. Collaborating with Sausalito-based communication design studio M-A-D, the installation will also feature a supergraphic that serves as a bold counterpoint to the banners and act as an installation in and of itself. This will all be presented in an enveloping environment to put Spontaneous Interventions into a broader historical and cultural context. Continuing into the courtyard, a NYC-based studio Interboro (winner of the 2011 MoMA/PS1 Young Architects Program) designed “outdoor living room” will serve as the pavilion’s hang-out and workshop space during the three months of the Biennale.

Continue after the break to review the selected projects and participants.