Karissa Rosenfield
Venice Biennale 2012: GREENHOUSE TALK interviews leading architects
As we announced earlier, Pritzker Prize Laureate Wang Shu of Amateur Architecture (China), Rahul Mehrotra of RMA architects (India) and Francine Houben of Mecanoo (The Netherlands) participated in GREENHOUSE TALK at the 2012 Venice Biennale. The informal discussion focused on the current reality of design culture in the great countries of Eastern Asia and Europe.
The video begins with an introduction (in Italian) by architect and Senior curator of MAXXI Roma, Pippo Ciorra, which then leads into some fascinating commentary (in English, with Italian subtitles) by the highlighted protagonists.
The GREENHOUSE TALK event was promoted by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Rome, in collaboration with MAXXI and NAi.
V&A at Dundee / Kengo Kuma & Associates
In November 2010, we announced that Kengo Kuma & Associates was selected over a competitive A-list of international architects to design Scotland’s landmark building, the V&A at Dundee. Well now, the £45 million, waterfront project is moving forward as it has just been approved by the city council!
As reported on BDOnline, Philip Long, director of the V&A at Dundee, stated: “This now allows us to move further with elements of the design and building program, including procurement and tendering, and we will be doing that in due course.”
Continue after the break to learn more about Kengo Kuma’s design for the museum.
AD Interviews: Reiser + Umemoto
Since it’s founding in 1986, Reiser + Umemoto, RUR Architecture P.C. has become a widely published, internationally recognized practice with a diverse collection of projects ranging in scale. On multiple occasions, the firm has been awarded for their contributions to architectural practice and theory – the most recent being The Cooper Union’s 2008 Presidential Citation and the 2011 John Hejduk Award – as they treat “each project as the continuation of an ongoing inquiry, delving into relationships among architecture, territory and systems of distribution.”
The New York City-based practice is led by it’s founders, architect Jesse Reiser and designer Nanako Umemoto. Both partners have taught and lectured at a number of academic institutions throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Reiser is currently a Professor of Architecture and director of graduate studies for the M.Arch program at Princeton University’s School of Architecture.
More about Reiser + Umemoto’s work:
- O-14 Building in Dubai (and its construction)
- Taipei Pop Music Center Competition (1st prize)
Almere with MVRDV selected for Floriade 2022!
Today the Nederlandse Tuinbouwraad (NTR) announced the City of Almere, along with it’s MVRDV-designed proposal, as winner of the prestigious world horticultural expo, Floriade 2022. The event takes place once every ten years in the Netherlands and is currently ending in Venlo.
The MVRDV plan for Almere is not a temporary expo site but a lasting green Cité Idéale as an extension to the existing city centre. The waterfront site opposite the city centre will be developed as a vibrant new urban neighborhood and also a giant plant library which will remain beyond the expo.
The ambition is to create a 300% greener exhibition than currently standard, both literally green and sustainable: each program on the site will be combined with plants which will create programmatic surprises, innovation and ecology. At the same time the site will be with a vast program such as a university, hotel, marina, offices and homes more urban than any other Floriade has ever been before, it is an exemplary green city. Continue after the break for more!
Venice Biennale 2012: Facecity / C+S Architects
C+S Architects‘ contribution, Facecity, for the 2012 Venice Biennale, gives form to the idea of the curator, Fulvio Irace, of continuity in architecture. The exhibition reconsiders the architecture of Milan in the 50s and 60s, where architects, belonging to different generations and with different positions, built the identity of the city without giving up their personal poetics.
The central topic of this thought is the facade, commented by Alberto Savinio in Ascolto il tuo cuore città, 1945: ” …On the facade of buildings is not only written their date of birth, but also written the moods, the manners, the most secret thoughts of their time…, together with the flat window, theorized by Gio Ponti as the way to shape modernity.”
Continue after the break for more.
RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize Shortlist
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the 2012 shortlist for the Stephen Lawrence Prize – an £5000 award that recognizes fresh talent with construction budgets of less than £1 million. The prize is sponsored by the Marco Goldschmied Foundation in memory of an aspiring young architect who tragically lost his life in 1993.
The 2012 Stephen Lawrence Prize shortlist is:
- Hill Top House, Oxford (private house) / Adrian James Architects
- Kings Grove, London SE15 (private house) / Duggan Morris Architects
- Hill House, Kent (private house) / Hampson Williams Architects
- The Dellow Day Centre, London E1 / Featherstone Young
- The Marquis Hotel & Restaurant, Dover / Guy Hollaway Architects
The winner will be announced at the RIBA Stirling Prize Dinner on October 13, 2012, in Manchester. The 2012 judges include architects Phil Coffey, Marco Goldschmied and Doreen Lawrence.
Continue after the break to learn more about each project.
Akihisa Hirata: Tangling
Presented in an “interwoven tangle”, Japanese architect Akihisa Hirata has revealed his view of architecture and ecology, along with form and function, in his first ever international solo exhibition at the The Architecture Foundation in London. Now on view, the immersive 1:1 scale installation – “a contorted loop” – display’s over a hundred study models and conceptual sketches, an interview with the architect, and intimate films of based on his projects.
The exhibition opened shortly after Hirata’s receipt of the Golden Lion award at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale for his contribution, with Kumiko Inui, Sou Fujimoto and Naoya Hatakeyama, to the Japanese Pavilion, curated by Toyo Ito.
Continue after the break for more.
New Department of Islamic Art Opens Tomorrow at the Louvre
Twenty-four years after the inauguration of I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid, the Musée du Louvre will introduce its second piece of contemporary architecture to the public, tomorrow, on September 22.
The new Department of Islamic Arts is designed by Milanese architect Mario Bellini and his French colleague Rudy Ricciotti, who won the commission through an international competition in 2005. Similar to I.M. Pei, the pair created a naturally lit, subterranean gallery space beneath an undulating, glass roof within the courtyard of the historic Cour Visconti. Continue after the break to learn more.
AIA Selects Four Projects for National Healthcare Design Awards
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Academy of Architecture for Health (AAH) has announced four recipients of the AIA National Healthcare Design Awards program. The awards program highlights the “best of healthcare building design and healthcare design-oriented research” that exhibit “conceptual strengths that solve aesthetic, civic, urban, and social concerns as well as the requisite functional and sustainability concerns of a hospital”.
The AIA National Healthcare Design Award recipients are:
Keelung Harbor Service Building / Neil M. Denari Architects
Yesterday, we announced that Los Angeles based Neil M. Denari Architects (NMDA), in collaboration with Taiwanese architectural firm Fei and Cheng Associates, have been selected as winner of a highly publicized, international competition for the new Keelung Harbor Service Building in Taiwan’s largest port city. As promised, we now present to you the winning proposal.
Serving as a “Gateway to the Nation”, the project site consists of a new cruise ship port terminal, a 250 meter long, three level building that will accommodate the largest ships in Asia; a 53,000 square meter Harbor Authority office complex; parking for 1000 cars; and a third phase 23,000 square meter speculative office building. The NT$6.2 billion (US$211.5 million) renewal project will be completed in phases. Construction will commence next year on the three-floor terminal, which is planned for completion by 2015. Work on the complex’s office building is expected to come to a conclusion in 2017. Learn more after the break, with the architects’ complete project statement.
2012 PARK(ing) Day Map
View Park(ing) Day 2012 Cal Poly, SLO in a larger map
On Friday, September 21st, citizens, artists and activists will transform hundreds of metered parking spaces worldwide into temporary public places with mission to call attention to the need for more open space. Since it’s establishment in 2005, by the San Francisco art and design studio Rebar, PARK(ing) Day has quickly become an international phenomenon. Last year, close to 1000 parks were created in 162 cities, 35 countries and 6 continents.
Whether you are a participator or an observer this year, be sure to check out the official PARK(ing) Day Map and see what may be happening in your area of town. Learn how to map your park here.
Two Architects investigate the Evolution of #OWS
Our friends at Design Observer’s Places Journal have shared with us two fascinating articles, written by architects Jonathan Massey and Brett Snyder, that explore the physical and virtual evolution of Occupy Wall Street (#OWS) as it transformed from the privately owned public space of Zuccotti Park into the bustling micro-city of Liberty Plaza sustained by online media.
To learn how OWS has influenced architecture and urbanism, Massey and Snyder asks the following questions: What’s the layout of this place? What are its rules, and who owns it? How does its design shape possibilities for individual and collective action?
Neil M. Denari Architects Wins New Keelung Harbor Service Building
Neil M. Denari Architects has been announced as winner of a two-stage, international competition for the new Keelung Harbor Service Building in Taiwan’s major port city, Keelung. The Los Angeles based practice’s complex, metal-clad terminal was selected over four other competitive schemes provided by the remaining shortlisted teams.
The competition called for a modern passenger and cargo terminal, transfer station, a maritime art plaza, a joint office building and parking structure that would serve as a new “Gateway to the Nation” within the context of the densely built harbor town. The construction of this multi-billion dollar renewal project is expected to accelerate the development of the surrounding areas and promote local prosperity of the region, while improving the quality of services for passengers and cargo.
The jury included Aaron Betsky and Michael Speaks, along with Taiwanese architects and professionals Tsai Yuan-Liang, Jin Guan-Yu, Su Yu-Jer, Wan Ming-Hen, and Wei Si-Jen.
We will provide more details of the design as they become available. In the meantime, check out some snapshots of the winning proposal after the break.
Video: The late Pedro E. Guerrero speaking at the Julius Shulman Institute
Last April, we announced the opening of Pedro E. Guerrero: Photographs of Modern Life – a retrospective exhibition organized by the Julius Shulman Institute (JSI) at Woodbury University that honored the incredible life and career of the great 20th century architectural photographer, Pedro E. Guerrero (1917-2012). JSI was thankful to have Guerrero join the exhibition’s opening night, where he entertained the crowd with his charismatic personality as he shared fascinating stories from his life.
Sadly, the world is still in mourning over Guerrero’s passing last week, as he died at the age of 95 on Thursday, September 13, 2012, at his home in Florence, Arizona.
Woodbury University and the Julius Shulman Institute would like to share a few words from JSI director Emily Bills:
“The Julius Shulman Institute is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Pedro E. Guerrero. We were honored to host a retrospective of his work last April, which included the lively, and often hilarious, conversation he shared with Hunter Drohojowska-Philp. Guerrero will be remembered as one of the great architectural photographers of the twentieth century, capturing the essence of work by Frank Lloyd Wright, Edward Durell Stone, Marcel Breuer, Joseph P. Salerno, and many others. He will be dearly missed.”
Read Guerrero’s obituary in the New York Times and the LA Times to learn more about his epic life and career. Continue after the break to view some of his best photographs that were featured at the exhibition.
Venice Biennale 2012: Álvaro Siza. Viagem sem Programa
Álvaro Siza. Viagem sem Programa, on display at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia through the duration of the Venice Biennale, narrates the most personal aspects of Álvaro Siza’s work in architecture and his concept of life. In response to Siza being announced as the recipient of the 2012 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, curators Greta Ruffino and Raul Betti, along with organizer MedicinaMentis Cultural Association, began to work closely with the Portuguese master to put together this one-of-a-kind retrospective.
The exhibition features an exclusive collection of 53 works, personally selected by the architect himself, that were developed from travel notes and sketches, along with a 38-minute video interview.
Continue after the break for more images of Álvaro Siza. Viagem sem Programa and check out our previous coverage for more information.
RIBA Manser Medal 2012 Shortlist
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the 2012 shortlist for the UK’s pre-eminent private housing design award, the Manser Medal. These five houses, chosen from winners of RIBA Awards and RIBA regional awards, are competing for the UK’s “best new house”.
The 2012 Manser Medal shortlist includes:
- The Dune House in Thorpeness, Suffolk / Jarmund Vigsnaes Architects & Mole Architects
- Private house in Gloucestershire / Found Associates
- Private house in East Sussex / Duggan Morris Architects
- Two Passive Solar Gain Houses, Porthadown, Cornwall / Simon Conder Associates
- Maison L, Ile de France / Christian Pottgiesser – Architecture Possibles
The winner will be announced at the RIBA Stirling Prize dinner October 13, 2012 in Manchester. This year’s judges include Michael Manser CBE, architect; Lady Jill Ritblat; and Tony Chapman, Hon FRIBA, RIBA Head of Awards.
Learn more about each project after the break.
Win Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye from LEGO® Architecture
Last night, ArchDaily indulged in building our very own LEGO® Architecture Villa Savoye. As one of the most influential buildings in the International style of architecture, it is no surprise that architecture and LEGO fanatics rejoiced last month when LEGO® announced Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye as the newest addition to their architecture series. Now, thanks to LEGO® Architecture, five of our readers will win their very own.
We want to know what building should be the next in the LEGO® Architecture series and why. All you have to do is become a registered user at ArchDaily and leave us your answer in the comments below by Sunday, September 23rd! (More information on LEGO® Architecture’s Villa Savoye, designed by architectural artist Michael Hepp, can be found here.)
Official rules:
The five winners will be chosen at random from entries received between Monday, September 17th and Sunday, September 23rd 11:59 EST. You must leave a comment as a registered user at ArchDaily. Open to anyone in the world. One entry per person. ArchDaily will enforce verification and remove duplicated ones before choosing the winner.
Good luck!
UPDATE: And, the winners are….
- Seth Ellsworth
- Wonyeop Seok
- Daniel Bollard
- Makoto Shibuya
- Mark Kitchens
Congrats! You can expect an email from us shortly.
Henning Larsen awarded the Praemium Imperiale for Architecture
The Japan Art Association has named Danish architect Henning Larsen the 2012 Praemium Imperiale laureate for architecture.
Created in 1988 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Japan Art Association and to honor the late Prince Takamatsu, the prestigious Praemium Imperiale awards recognize outstanding, lifetime achievements in the arts categories not covered by the Nobel Prizes: architecture, painting, sculpture, music and theatre/film.
The 2012 Praemium Imperiale laureates:
tur(i)ntogreen: Student Competition focuses on the future of megalopolises
The Research and Documentation Centre in Technology, Architecture and City in Developing Countries (CRD-PVS) at the Politecnico di Torino (Italy) has launched an international Student Design Competition tur(i)ntogreen – Farms in A Town. Sponsored by the UN-HABITAT within the “I’m a City Changer” campaign, participants are invited to apply their creative talents in developing new multidisciplinary solutions for a sustainable and inclusive city reflecting new forms of urban management and regeneration through agro-housing and urban-farming models.
Participants will reflect on the following general objectives, related with the key issues of the area:
- To repopulate the neighborhood making it an attractive and vibrant area for younger generations, students, young couples, and the first employed.
- To foster the weaker strata of society, the new citizens, unemployed, seasonal and irregular workers, to settle in the area.
- To constrain the conditions that might lead to speculation, gentrification and social eviction.
- To contribute to increase employment in the area at urban level, starting from its natural green inclination, integrating agriculture, handicraft, and ICT.
- To suggest new lifestyle formats to live the job (flexible time frame, home based, delocalized…), new models of community, new participatory processes to the construction or the maintenance phases not exclusively money based.
- To introduce models of design, construction, management, maintenance and control that engages (partially or totally) the inhabitants.
Registration closes November 21, 2012. Find more information here.
Kalandia Checkpoint. The First New Gate To Jerusalem in 466 Years.
SCI-Arc graduate Harris Silver has shared his experience passing through the Kalandia Checkpoint during his quest for “an uncanny truth” that would lead him to develop an architecture project in the city of Jerusalem.
The Kalandia Checkpoint is an opening in what Israel calls “The Security Fence” and what Palestinians call “The Apartheid Wall”. Regardless of what you call the separation infrastructure, the checkpoint acts a modern gate to the city of Jerusalem.
After experiencing Kalendia first hand, I came away realizing that until I personally walked through the checkpoint, I was ignorant of the mechanism and tactics employed to humiliate and dehumanize everyone who passes through it. Which means I was not fully capable of participating in the Israeli-Palestinian discourse.
Continue reading for the full Op-Ed.
TEDx: Fracture-Critical Design / Tom Fisher
Thomas Fisher, Professor in the School of Architecture and Dean of the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, discusses the subject matter of his most recent book, Designing To Avoid Disaster: The Nature of Fracture-Critical Design.
Fisher believes we have been engaged in a “Ponzi scheme” with our planet, as fracture-critical design has lead to a number of recent catastrophic events in our infrastructure, politics and economy. The I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, New Orleans’ flooding, the BP oil spill, Port au Prince’s destruction by earthquake, Fukushima nuclear plant’s devastation by tsunami, the Wall Street investment bank failures, and the housing foreclosure epidemic are all examples of fragile systems that were created by this failed system. The solution? Integrating resiliency back into our lives. Watch the video to learn more.
via TEDxUMN
