Rome’s new mayor, Ignazio Marino, is leading a crusade for walkability by eliminating noisy, out-of-control traffic surrounding the ancient monuments. Starting with the Via dei Fori Imperiali - a major avenue connecting the Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum - Marino plans to ban private traffic so pedestrians will have a place to “bike, walk, enjoy this incredible archaeological site.” More on the story at NPR.
Disappointed that most architecture is built for the privileged, rather than society, Shigeru Ban has dedicated much of his career to building affordable, livable and safe emergency shelters for post-disaster areas. As described by TED:
Long before sustainability became a buzzword, architect Shigeru Ban had begun his experiments with ecologically-sound building materials such as cardboard tubes and paper. His remarkable structures are often intended as temporary housing, designed to help the dispossessed in disaster-struck nations such as Haiti, Rwanda, or Japan. Yet equally often the buildings remain a beloved part of the landscape long after they have served their intended purpose.
Inspiring builders of all ages, MoMA has released their first storybook, following the adventures of a young, New York City architect and his architect grandfather: Young Frank and Old Frank. The creative pair - with matching bow ties, straw boater hats and, of course, Le Corbusier-inspired glasses - optimistically views the world as an endless supply of inspiration and possibilities. Everything, from macaroni to old boxes, inspires them to create - especially after discovering the works of Frank Gehry and Frank Lloyd Wright at The Museum of Modern Art.
The Royal Academy of Arts’ (RA) in London will soon be transformed into a multi-sensory “architectural maze” with the construction of seven installations by seven world-famous architects for the exhibit, Sensing Space: Architecture Reimagined. Participants, handpicked by curators Kate Goodwin and Drue Heinz, include Alvaro Siza, Eduardo Souto de Moura, Pezo von Ellrichshausen and Kengo Kuma.
Imagine driving your car into a sizable aluminum pod and being shot 800 miles per hour through an elevated, shotgun-like barrel to arrive at a city 400 miles away within 30 minutes. According to Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and co-founder of Tesla Motors, Californians will be doing this within the next decade.
The Architecture Foundation, in collaboration with Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and the Royal Academy of Arts, has shortlisted five multidisciplinary, architect-led teams to envision future development along the Tidal Thames in London. The competition, dubbed London As It Could Be Now: New Visions for the Thames, will challenged the teams to put forward new ideas for self-selected sites along the river that are relevant to changing social, economic, cultural and environmental conditions and concerns.
The shortlisted teams are:
Renowned architect, urban design consultant, and founding partner of Gehl Architects, Jan Gehl will participate in a 30-minute audio interview on August 14 with UBM’s Future Cities. During the program, and in advance of his keynote at the upcoming Future of Cities Forum, Gehl will discuss building cities for people, the importance of public spaces that promote public life, and how to design cars out of our future cities. Listeners can stream the conversation live and directly ask Gehl questions via a live chat discussion here.
This Parisian ghost town in Tianducheng, China has become the archetype of China's architectural copycat culture. Brought to light by the folks at The Atlantic Cities, this short video by German filmmaker Caspar Stracke accounts for an average day in this faux-Parisian development where less than 10,000 residents call home.
This 33-story SOHO Hailun Plaza is currently being constructed in the dense city of Shanghai. Located at the intersection of two metro lines, the plaza will include a 130-meter office tower and five mixed-use podiums. The design, by UNStudio, treats each structure as a set of objects shaped by the flow of commuters. Each facade will be cloaked in a similar, faceted texture that will “change in appearance when approached from different directions.”
Though most architecture firms have benefited from a steady upturn in the economy over the past few years, architect salaries remain low. According to U.S. Census Bureau, architecture firms have experienced a 11 percent increase in revenue from 2011 to 2012. However, as reported by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the average total compensation for architecture positions—including base salary, overtime, bonuses, and incentive compensation—has increased only slightly over 1 percent per year between 2011 and 2013. This is barely more than the average increase in compensation between 2008 and 2011 when the construction sector was still in steep decline.
U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced ten shortlisted teams to compete in the multi-stage regional design competition “Rebuild by Design.” Each team will aim to “promote innovation by developing regionally-scalable but locally-contextual solutions that increase resilience in the region, and to implement selected proposals with both public and private funding.”
The 10 multidisciplinary teams are:
Despite a rise in female architecture students, the amount of women in architecture continues drop in the UK. Though this is not the case in many parts of the world - as female architects reportedly outnumber the men in South America - the UK has yet to find a solution to equalize the numbers for professional women in architecture. Jane Duncan, founder of Jane Duncan Architects and RIBA equality and diversity champion, weighs in the issue by asking “Why are so many women leaving architecture, and how can we buck the trend?” here The Guardian.
Taipei has been selected by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) as the only municipality to move on to the next phase in the process towards becoming the 2016 World Design Capital (WDC). The selection committee is expected to conduct an onsite evaluation and comprehensive report prior to releasing an official announcement in September.
On schedule to be China’s tallest and the world’s second tallest skyscraper, the Gensler -designed Shanghai Tower has topped out at 632 meters (2,074 feet). Upon completion in 2014, the spiraling megastructure will complete a trio of towers - including the adjacent Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center - to become the centerpiece of the city’s Lujiazui commercial district - one of Asia’s leading financial centers which developed from farmland in just over 20 years.
Defined by series of distinctive sky gardens, the state-of-the-art tower will house Class-A office and retail space, along with a luxury hotel and cultural venues.
Continue reading to learn how the Shanghai Tower’s structure saved millions and why it will achieve LEED Gold.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) has selected five educational and cultural facilities for this year’s CAE Educational Facility Design Awards. The award honors educational facilities that the jury believes should serve as an example of a superb place in which to learn, furthering the client's mission, goals and educational program while demonstrating excellence in architectural design.
The 2013 CAE Educational Facility Design Award winners are:
In response to the rising trend of electric vehicles in Sweden, the Traffic Department in Gothenburg has commissioned Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture (KKA) to develop a vision of solar-powered charging stations for electric vehicles, bikes and scooters. With the potential of being distributed throughout the city, the resizable concept was designed with the same formal language for recognition so that the charging stations may stand as a “symbol of a more sustainable city.”
The Victorian Coalition Government’s design competition to re-imagine Melbourne’s historic Flinders Street Station has entered its final phase as the public submits their last minute votes for the “People’s Choice Award” today. Though each proposal is dramatically different, ranging from Zaha Hadid Architects’ carefully calculated, sinuous curves to Herzog & de Meuron’s extrusion of vaulted canopies, all promise to elevate the stations status to the 21st century whilst respecting its historic context.
Form your own opintion and vote for your favorite after the break...
Captured by JA+U, this short film takes you on a tour through a 2011, Kazuyo Sejima & Associates-designed office space in Shibaura, Tokyo. Open and transparent, the five double-height, split-level floors are designed to visually connect movement throughout the space, from the ground level public cafe to the generous outdoor terrace on the fifth floor.