After studying at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, Mark Raymond returned to Trinidad in 1993 to focus on a range of architectural, urban design and planning projects throughout the Caribbean. You may have seen him lecturing at the Caribbean School of Architecture in Kingston, Jamaica, UNPHU in Santo Domingo, London Metropolitan University and Yale University. In this video, he discusses innovation architectural, urban and landscape design and how they may ensure a sustainable future.

Flight Assembled Architecture exhibit

We have talk a lot lately about Michael Graves, his Wounded Warrior Home Project and his thoughts on hospital room design, mentioning briefly about his initiative to create beautiful and functional furniture for hospitals. This video takes a closer look at the furniture Graves has designed for Capital Health, including discussions and reviews by healthcare professionals.

Foster + Partners Thames Hub proposal has continuously made progress throughout the year of 2011, however reports say the practice is facing some opposition in the new year. In early November, Foster + Partners revealed the £50bn project that plans to include a £20bn high-speed Orbital Rail line around London; a new £6bn Thames Barrier and crossing; and a £20bn international Estuary Airport, with annual capacity for 150 million passengers.

Urban Intervention is challenging you, the innovative designer, to create a multidisciplinary design team able to conceive the new vision for Seattle’s public space in the coming century. “Design ideas should harness Seattle’s history of innovation and civic engagement to inspire the next generation of great public spaces, connecting interaction and innovation to meet the challenges of the future”.

The 9-acre site is located within the 74-acre Seattle Center campus, neighboring the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Experience Music Project, Space Needle and other cultural assets. The top three finalists will receive $30,000, allowing them to further develop their ideas into the second phase. The grand prize winner will receive an additional $30,000 cash award.

Continue reading for more important dates and information.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater has joined a rapidly growing list of interactive apps catered to architects and architecture fanatics. Brought to you by planet architecture, you may now explore the iconic 1930’s Pennsylvania home right from your media device. Get a behind-the-scenes tour through hundreds of photographs, floor plans, archival drawings, VR panoramas and over 25 minutes of video clips from the documentary film “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater”. As architecture continues to join the interactive world of apps, we cannot wait to see which architect or project will be next! Learn about the Zaha Hadid Architects app here.

Continue after the break for more screenshots and video.

Founder of Amateur Architecture Studio and Head of Architecture at the China Academy of Art, Wang Shu was the first Chinese architect to hold Harvards Graduate School of Design (GSD) Kenzo Tange professorship. The Harvard lecture honors architect Kenzo Tange by bringing distinguished architects from around the globe to the GSD.

Since Wim Wenders’s new documentary “Pina” hit the theaters this month, the online world hasn’t stopped talking about the German film director’s plan to create a 3D documentary film on architecture. In a recent interview with the Documentary Channel, Wenders revealed his plans stating, “I have actually already started a long-term project, another documentary in 3D. It will take several years, but it’s going to be about architecture. I have always wanted to do a film about architecture, and I have a lot of architect friends. But that is another subject I never really knew how to approach with film. I realized through PINA that architecture is something that could have a real affinity to this medium. We started shooting already, but it’s at the very, very beginning. That’s going to be my next documentary project in 3D, but I would definitely also do a narrative film in the future in 3D as well.”

Continue reading for more information and videos.

The winner and two runners-up of the Philips Livable Cities Award have started their projects. You can follow the progress of the recipients – from Yemen, Argentina and Uganda – as they document their process on their blog and video diary. The Philips Livable Cities Award is a “global initiative designed to generate innovative, meaningful and achievable ideas to improve the health and well-being of city-dwellers across the world”. The awardees received grants that will allow them to bring their ideas to life, improving the livability within their local communities.

Continue reading for videos and more information on the three award-winning projects.

Melissa Godoy Nieto transforms this interior space with a series of city skylines installations made from hand-dyed yarn. This first installation represents the New York City skyline. Melissa Godoy Nieto is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. She has a BA in Industrial Design from Pratt Institued and is co-founder of The Poetry Club Art Space.

The three finalists of the St. Petersburg Pier competition presented their proposals to a panel of jurors and nearly 200 people, as the presentation was open to the public. BIG started the day off with the Wave and was followed by Michael Maltzan Architecture’s presentation of the Lens. The day concluded with West 8’s proposal, the People’s Pier. Concerns of cost and shade dominated the conversation, as well as materiality, permitting, storm ratings and boating. According to the Tampa Bay online report, the Lens and the Wave generated the most positive attention, stating the People’s Pier received “a more restrained response.” The panel will announce their decision on January 20th.

The futuristic Lloyd’s of London building has become one of the few postmodern buildings to be granted Grade I listed status, elevating the building to the top 2.5% of all listed buildings. Following Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano’s success with the great Pompidou Center in Paris (1977), Rogers designed the Lloyd’s building to replace the insurance company’s original headquarters in London’s medieval financial district. The building was completed in 1986 after eight years of construction, requiring 33,510 cubic meters of concrete, 30,000 square meters of stainless steel cladding and 12,000 square meters of glass to construct.

Continue reading for more information and images.

We found this great image from The All Nighter – a tumblr dedicated to students who want to share and prospective students who would like to know about the architecture studio experience. The ArchDaily team would like to wish you a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!

Inhabitat

Trust for the National Mall has announced the Stage II results, naming the ten design teams selected to continue in the third and final stage of the National Mall Design Competition. The National Mall will undergo an approximate $700 million restoration in three selected areas – Union Square including the Reflecting Pool and the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, Sylvan Theater on the Washington Monument Grounds, and the Constitution Gardens between the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

“We are excited about the teams selected to advance to Stage III and have no doubt each of them will create beautiful, useful and sustainable designs for the National Mall,” said Caroline Cunningham, President of the Trust for the National Mall. “We are eager to share their final designs with the public in April.”

Continue reading for more information and the complete list of finalists.

Studio Banana TV had the opportunity to sit down with Tokyo-based architect Sou Fujimoto. He discussed the current inner-workings of his office and highlights his involvement with teaching in other countries, describing it as a “precious experience”. The importance of learning from other cultures and different students has positively impacted his ever-expanding involvement with a variety of international projects. He describes architecture as a “patient process” and believes architectural education should teach students how exciting the profession is.

As disabled U.S. military veterans return home, they often face the challenge of adapting to a new home and finding ways to cope with their surroundings. In order to better serve the returning soldiers, Clark Reality Capital commissioned Michael Graves & Associates (MGA) to design the “Wounded Warrior Home Project.” In conjunction with IDEO, Graves has designed a complete residential environment for physically impaired veterans. The single-family prototype homes provide everything from adjustable height kitchen counter-tops to easy-access rooms and closets, creating a comfortable environment for the physical and emotional needs of the soldiers.

+ 27

The devastating earthquake and tsunami that ravaged northeastern Japan in early March caused unimaginable damage and heartbreak to many. In response, Google has created a website named “Mirai e no kioku”, meaning “Memories for the Future”. The website allows the people of Japan to share photos and videos of their cities in an effort to preserve the memories collected over generations that may have been lost during the disaster. Google has also provided thousands of miles of Street View imagery that includes “Before” and “After” comparisons of the hardest hit areas.