Recently we had the chance to visit Allied Works office in NY to interview the firm’s founder Brad Cloepfil. It was a great interview, and I really liked the atmosphere of the office: A young team, many abstract study models, beautiful drawings on the boards, and a subtle music playing in the background, it was like seeing the inside of a creative machine at work.

Established in 1994 by Brad Cloepfil, Allied Works Architecture is an awarding-winning practice known for their expressive design and pristine detailing. Portland, Oregon hosts the firm’s headquarters and maintains a close, interdependent relationship with the New York City office. Together the 50-person practice has completed a number of influential public, institutional, commercial, and residential projects worldwide.

Allied Works’ strong reputation started with the Maryhill Overlook in the Columbia River Gorge, followed by the Wieden + Kennedy Agency Headquarters. Currently Allied Works is involved in a variety of commissions, including the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado, the National Music Centre of Canada, and the Vancouver Community Connector in Washington.

Architectural historian and critic, Sandy Isenstadt, describes Cloepfil’s work as “aiming to create oases of legibility, spaces that can look out upon the simultaneous contrasts of the modern world to appreciate them from a place no less complex, but one that unfolds over time, with repeated visits, rather than at the speed of a camera shutter, thereby rewarding continued occupation rather than just dazzling the eye.”

Allied Works projects at ArchDaily:

• Clyfford Still Museum
• Maryhill Overlook
• Wieden + Kennedy Headquarters
• Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts
• Dutchess County Residence – Guest House
• University of Michigan Museum of Art
• National Music Centre (Competition, 1st prize)
• New Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts (Competition entry)
• Musée National des Beaux Arts du Québec (Competition entry)

Through our interview program, I’ve had the chance to meet with some of the world’s most renowned architects, while creating a moment to share their views about the profession with our readers.

During the 2011 AIA National Convention, I had the chance to meet Kengo Kuma, one of Japan’s most recognized architects, whose work I admire. His recent works use subtle elements with a powerful structural expression, and interesting spatial results for different programs of various scales.

Established in 1990, Kengo Kuma & Associates have become known for their expressive use of materiality and deep connection with nature. The mid-sized firm is involved in a wide spectrum of work, ranging from private residences, to Buddhist temples and art museums. Kengo Kuma & Associates consist of two offices located in Tokyo and Paris.

Principle Architect Kengo Kuma is a professor at the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of Tokyo. His goal is to recover traditional Japanese design and reinterpret it for the 21st century. Inspiration of light and nature guides the design process and influences his unique explorations with glass, wood, concrete and stone. Kuma strives to create architecture that coexists with the natural environment and works in harmony with the human body.

Kengo Kuma has won a multitude of competitions and received many awards, including the prestigious Architecture Institute of Japan Award (1997) and most recently the Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award (2002) and the AIA Honorary Fellowship (2011). Major works include the Kirosan Observatory, Water / Glass, Toyoma Center for Performing Arts, Stone Museum and Bato-machi Hiroshige Museum. Recent works include the Mesh / Earth terrace house, the Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum and the Suntory Museum of Art.

Projects by Kengo Kuma & Associates at ArchDaily:

• Casalgrande Old House
• GC Prostho Museum Research Center
• Lucien Pellat-Finet Shinsaibashi
• Momofuku Ando Center
• And more to come in the next days!

The last part of our Brazilian day, commemorating the 104th birthday of the renowned Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and the launch of ArchDaily Brasil: An exclusive interview with Mr Niemeyer himself.

- How did you start your office?

My office in Copacabana -the only one that I have- was opened and organized to meet, since the early 50s, the ever growing demands.The last 13 years I have been the only architect here “at work”; the initial stage of the projects is done by me, up to the basic project, and then I trust its development by other architecture offices, specially the ones directed by my colleague and friends Jair Valera and my dear granddaughter, Ana Elisa.

- For you, what is Architecture?

In my opinion, architecture is invention. And under this prism is how I do my projects, always searching for beautiful, expressive, different and surprising solutions.

read more »

During the 2009 AIA Convention in San Francisco, I had the chance to see a very interesting group of architects, Emerging Voices. That group, in my opinion, represented the new generation of US architects who are advancing the profession with new ideas and innovative projects. Several of those architects have already been interviewed and featured on ArchDaily, but it took me a while to finally meet one of them: Philip G. Freelon. We met during the 2011 AIA Convention in New Orleans, where I had the opportunity to interview him. I really liked this interview, where Philip shares valuable insights on running a firm and his views on the role of the architect.

Update: President Obama announced his appointment of Philip G. Freelon, FAIA to the US Commission of Fine Arts.

Founded in 1990 by Philip G. Freelon, FAIA, The Freelon Group has established a strong reputation for the innovative integration of technology and design excellence. The firm’s diverse portfolio has received nearly forty AIA design awards at the national, regional, state and local levels. Freelon is comprised of a forty-five person professional staff in Durham, North Carolina.

Along with Vice President Timothy F. Winstead, Philip has become a nationally recognized expert in museum, higher education, and science/technology planning and design. Their work “focuses on research and education, health and well-being, the advancement of understanding between disparate cultures, and the creative expression of the arts.

Freelon has completed major intuitional projects all over the United States. They are currently designing three behavioral healthcare facilities for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the Durham County Health and Human Services Complex.

The Freelon Group projects at ArchDaily:

• International Civil Rights Center and Museum Historic Preservation and Renovation
• Harvey B Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture
• Anacostia Library
• Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE) Facility
• North Carolina A&T State University Proctor School of Education

© Chris Clunn

We are sharing with you an interview of architect Tony Fretton of Tony Fretton Architects conducted by Hugo Oliveira, as seen in Jornal Arquitectos. Prior to founding his firm in 1982, Fretton was Principal Designer at Arup Associates. He is deeply committed to architectural education and has experience teaching worldwide, from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London to Harvard University in Cambridge. He currently serves as a Professor of Architectural Design and Interiors at TU Delft in the Netherlands.

The complete interview following the break. read more »

Abalone Shell : Photo by Gilly Walker - http://www.flickr.com/photos/27863935@N03/

The Economist featured an interview with Michael Pawlyn discussing sustainable architecture inspired by nature. Michael Pawlyn is known for his passionate investigations of the unique, efficient structures of natural organisms and how they may translate through design. Biomimicry has been an important topic amongst the innovators and educators who are learning from the 3.8 billion years invested into the design of our natural world.

The shell of an abalone is “twice as strong as the toughest man-made ceramic.”

Continue reading for the complete interview. read more »

We recently had the opportunity to interview gmp architekten founding partner, Meinhard von Gerkan.  Born in 1935 in Riga/Latvia, Gerkan completed his architectural studies in 1964 at the Carolo Wilhelmina Technical University in Braunschweig.  In 1965 he co-founded with Volkwin Marg, von Gerkan, Marg and partners.  They have completed together over 260 buildings, among them the Berlin-Tegel Airport (competition, 1st place 1965, built in 1970-75), the Berlin Central Station, Villa Guna, Christ Pavilion, and the Lingang New City, been recognized nationally and internationally for their designs and competition proposals.

Meinhard von Gerkan has also dedicated time to architectural education serving as a professor at multiple institutions including Hamburg’s Free Academy of Arts and Japan’s Nihon University in Tokyo.  His interest in the training of architects resulted in the creation of a foundation to promote architectural training in 2007: the Academy for Architectural Culture. He has regarded this as one of his most important projects.

“The architect has a particular social responsibility since architecture is an art with social obligation and use.”

Our profession has a big component of passion, and Meinhard was full of it. It was inspiring to interview him, and I hope you enjoy this video.

A list of gmp architekten projects featured on ArchDaily include:

• Tianjin West Railway Station
• Tower Block Complex
• Universiade Sports Center and Bao’an Stadium
• Shanghai Oriental Sports Center
• National Museum of China
• Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
• Moses Mabhida Stadium
• Greenpoint Stadium

Courtesy of Trans_City Architecture and Urbanism

Mark Gilbert discusses redesigning and rebuilding the city of Jacmel, Haiti with Alexander Britell from Caribbean Journal. The architect and his colleagues at trans_city used New Orleans typologies and their concept of rapid-response housing to provide an economical reconstruction proposal that will provide long-term stability to the people of Jacmel.

read more »

© Hugo Oliveira

We are sharing with you an interview of british architect Jonathan Sergison of Sergison Bates architects conducted by Hugo Oliveir, as seen in Jornal Arquitectos. Sergison, prior to the founding of his firm in 1996 with partner Stephen Bates, gained professional experience working for David Chipperfield and Tony Fretton.  Currently he serves as a Professor of Architectural Design at the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio, Switzerland.

The complete interview following the break.

read more »

A few months ago I had the chance to meet Steven Holl, whose work I admire. I think that he has been able to innovate and challenge programs as we used to know them, and experiment with materials and structures, while sticking to what really matters in architecture: space, context and light.

When I attended his “Disobedience” lecture in Columbia (during Kenneth Frampton’s 80th birthday) I  understood how this disobedience is tied to his constant investigations, and then reflected on his buildings (like the competition for the Nelson Atkins museum as he tells on the video). I also really liked the fact that he’s very down to earth, and how he started his career and moved to the east coast. If you ever had the chance to attend one of his lectures, don’t miss it!

Steven Holl along with partner Chris McVoy lead Steven Holl Architects, one of the more innovative architecture and urban design offices in the world. A graduate of the University of Washington, Holl also studied in Rome and London before heading to New York to establish an architecture practice.

Holl has also contributed to the profession as an educator; the architect and watercolorist has taught at Columbia University since 1981, where he is a tenured faculty member. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and the recipient of the New York American Institute of Architects Medal of Honor and the prestigious Alvar Aalto Medal.

Steven Holl Architects’ has been recognized internationally by some of architecture’s most prestigious awards. Recent recognition for SHA work includes 2010 P/A Award for LM Harbor Gateway and the 2009 CTBUH Best Tall Building Overall for Linked Hybrid. Their numerous AIA awards include the AIA 2008 Institute Honor Award as well as a Leaf New Built Award 2007 for the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City; the AIA 2007 Institute Honor Award, AIA New York Chapter 2007 Merit Architecture Award, and a RIBA International Award for the School of Art & Art History at the University of Iowa. And the New Residence at the Swiss Embassy in Washington, D.C was awarded an AIA New York Chapter 2007 Honor Architecture Award and the RIBA International Award.

Steven Holl is also present in the social web via their Facebook page and @stevenhollarch on Twitter.

SHA’s completed works featured on ArchDaily:

• Knut Hamsun Center in Hamarøy, Norway
• Herning Museum of Contemporary Art in Herning, Denmark
• Linked Hybrid mixed-use complex in Beijing, China
• Nanjing Sifang Art Museum
• Museum of Ocean and Surf
• Chapel of St. Ignatius
• College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, UMINN
• T Space
• Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City
• Simmons Hall at MIT
• Horizontal Skyscraper

In Progress:

• New Doctorate’s Building, National University Bogota
• Glasgow School of Art
• Sliced Porosity in China
• Queens Library at Hunters Point
• Hangzhou Normal University Performing Arts Center
• Daeyang Gallery and House

Video credits: J.P. Barrera Faus (Editing), J.C. Labarca (Camera).

A preview of the interview we did with Steven Holl. In this part he describes the recently opened Museum of Ocean and Surf in Biarritz, France.

The design by Steven Holl Architects in collaboration with Solange Fabiao is the winning scheme from an international competition that included the offices of Enric Miralles/Benedetta Tagliabue, Brochet Lajus Pueyo, Bernard Tschumi and Jean-Michel Willmotte.

Stay tuned for the full interview!

Photos by FG+SG Fernando Guerra and Sergio Guerra.

Yesterday we showed you a preview, and here it is the full interview with one of the most influential contemporary architects.

Architect, educator, and theorist, internationally recognized Peter Eisenman was a part of an important generation of architects and popularized amongst the general public when he was exhibited at the MoMA in 1969 as one of the New York Five. Eisenman, along with Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, John Hejduk, and Richard Meier (Eisenman’s second cousin) made up the ‘group of architects whose work, represented a return to the formalism of early modern rationalist architecture’.

Eisenman earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University, a Master of Science in Architecture degree from Columbia University, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Cambridge University (U.K). He founded an international think tank for architecture, the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (IAUS), serving as director until 1982 and simultaneously established his own architecture firm.

As an educator, Eisenman has taught at some of the most prestigious architecture programs including the Yale School of Architecture, Cambridge, Princeton, Harvard, and Ohio State universities.

Peter Eisenman’s work ranges from large-scale housing and urban design to educational institutions and private houses.  Often labeled as a deconstructivist Eisenman is also known for his intricate drawings.  He has been recognized for his design abilities receiving the Medal of Honor from the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 2001, the Smithsonian Institution’s 2001 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture, and he was also awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2004 Venice Architecture Biennale.

In 2006 Eisenman’s design for the University of Phoenix Stadium for the Arizona Cardinals earned him the label as one of the top five innovators of 2006 according to Popular Science.

Eisenman’s most recent book Ten Canonical Buildings: 1950-2000 revisits some of the most important buildings of the past century with a critical view, a must read for every architect.

Projects by Eisenman previously featured at ArchDaily:

• The City of Culture
• House VI

read more »

Peter Eisenman is one of the most influential figures in contemporary architecture. Theorist, academic and practitioner, Peter Eisenman was part of a very important generation of architects and one of the New York Five.

In his recent book Ten Canonical Buildings: 1950-2000 Eisenman revisits some of the most important buildings of the past century with a critical view, a book that is in my opinion a must read for every architect.

During the interview Peter talks about the practice/project of architecture, his views on running an architecture practice, and the current state of American architecture, among other relevant topics. On this preview you can see his views on today’s American Architecture.

Full interview tomorrow!

A while ago I had the chance to meet one of the architects whose work I highly admire: Sou Fujimoto.

This Japanese architect based in Tokyo, Japan, established his firm Sou Fujimoto Architects back in 2000. He graduated from the Department of Architecture at the University of Tokyo in 1994, and has been a lecturer at Kyoto University since 2007. With a solid history in residential and cultural projects this firm has consistently shown a unique and innovative play of spatial qualities within its building designs, pushing the limits of housing and space conventions.

He defines his architecture under the concept of Primitive Future (as seen on his book), better described by himself as “a sort of primitive situation that relates to the human cave habitation but at the same time creating something new for the future”. This explains very well his works, specially in his recently completed library and museum for the Mushashino Art University. On our article you can watch a video of Sou explaining the challenges of designing a library on the information age.

You can check other works by Sou Fujimoto recently featured on ArchDaily:

• House N
• Group Home in Noboribetsu
• T House
• House of ORDOS 100
• Children’s Center for Psychiatric Rehab
• Final Wooden House
• Dalarna Library (in progress, with ADEPT Architects)

I first learned about Preston Scott Cohen’s work when I read about the Goodman House, a simple and elegant operation of a concrete shell housing an ancient Dutch barn frame. But after further investigation, I was surprised to see a constant spatial and formal research of his work, that we have witnessed in the latest three public buildings from his office and featured on ArchDaily.

On one side we have the Nanjing Performing Arts Center, a curved roof related to the surroundings with a tower that anchors the project on the extended landscape. Also in China, the Taiyuan Museum (under construction) continues the geometric explorations with a tessellated surface that wraps a series of different spaces which alternate with courtyards that maintain a relation with the exterior.

When we visited Preston in Boston for this interview we had the chance to see a preview of his latest work, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (also shown during construction at AD),  recently completed and now in final preparations to receive the art pieces and finally be open to the public.  The exterior geometry of the building has a dynamic look, due to the changing shadows, while the interior features a careful use of natural light in the exhibitions spaces thanks to a lightfall that crosses the building.

Preston is also the Chair of the Department of Architecture of Harvard GSD, a role that allowed us to talk about the challenges of architectural education.

Our profession is very particular. We react very fast to current issues with our ideas, yet our buildings can take quite some time to be erected. For example, the project of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange building by OMA in China was the physical image of the new Chinese economy back in 2006. Five years later this new economy has taken the world by storm yet the building is still under construction.

Also, the exchange of knowledge in the age of information has made our profession move at an unprecedented speed, and thanks to the Internet the new ideas are not coming from the usual centers (New York, Milan, London) but rather from Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

In this new panorama, architectural education has to move faster, and smarter. It’s not about teaching how to use the latest tools, bur rather how to be part of a new world.

When we visited Preston Scott Cohen, Chair of the Architecture Department at Harvard GSD, we asked him about the challenges that architectural education is facing today, such as how our field is expanding to work on areas that were totally out of our scope until a few years ago.

With more than 120 architecture schools in the US, there are several perspectives about this. It would be great if you could tell us your opinion about this important matter.

During the 2011 AIA Convention in New Orleans we had the chance to sit down and talk with Steve McDowell, Principal and Director of Design of BNIM, the 2011 Architecture Firm of the Year. BNIM was founded over 40 years ago with a commitment to design excellence. Currently at the top of their game the Kansas City, Missouri headquartered firm has worked with high profile architects such as Steven Holl to produce the multi-award winning Block Building expansion for the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, they have contributed to advancing education of building sustainability with their innovative design of the Omega Center for Sustainable Living, which is the first project in the world to achieve both ‘Living’ Status and LEED Platinum, and BNIM’s scope of work also includes more rural projects such as the Midwest Retreat.

BNIM, 2011 AIA Firm the Year - Photo courtesy of BNIM

Steven Holl shared, “We selected BNIM Architects because of their focus on innovation, impeccable reputation and stature, but we got much more from them. With the exacting level of care and commitment to Architecture, the collaboration was the best our firm has experienced.”

BNIM’s excellence in design and sustainability has been acknowledge by receiving over 300 design awards on the local, regional, and national level. Their 7 COTE Top Ten Green awards, 3 GSA Design Excellence Awards, 20 honor and design excellence awards by seven different AIA Chapters, and two National AIA Honor Awards is a testament to their process of integration and collaboration with clients and consultants, creating designs that reflect a balance of people, planet and prosperity.

Additional projects by BNIM featured on ArchDaily include:

• Freight House Pedestrian Bridge
• Christian Life Center
• The Greater North Charleston Naval Base Memorial

Episcopal Academy Chapel / © Matt Wargo

Back in August 2009, architect Andrea Tamas interviewed Robert Venturi & Denise Scott Brown. Today, we share with you the complete interview. Read it after the break. read more »

X-ray view through front elevation, above and below ground

5 (student) Projects: is a group of projects completed at Yale University’s School of Architecture by 5 young architects during their graduate education. Each of the 5 projects are sited in New Haven on or adjacent to Yale’s campus. Each project focused on an institutional building, loosely defined by program, type and context. These commonalities became a framework for discussion that illuminated individual polemics and debate about experimentation in today’s architectural landscape. Despite the initial appearance of diversity within the set, each architect sought to address a common set of ideas emerging at Yale and perhaps within the discourse of architecture at large.

Primarily addressing the legacy of Postmodernism (in its various guises and forms), each sought an architecture that engaged historical memory, local context and an renewed concern for communication and legibility. Each was interested in an operable or speculative way to use history and its associated culturally established values, meanings and forms to produce new bodies of work. In that sense, each sought a contemporary way to learn from the past that would have particular resonance in today’s social, political, and cultural milieu.

The identity of the group of 5 is meant as a provocation towards two related issues: the desire for individuality and expression by today’s younger generation of architects inculcated by media and secondly, the desire for consensus within discourse on what counts today as critical & theoretical concerns for architecture. The aspiration behind the interviews and feature is to reveal an internal discussion which demonstrates an effort to clarify and identify a set of ideas that underpin contemporary architectural production. The feature and interviews were organized and conducted by Alexander Maymind.

You can check the first interview, second interview, third interview and fourth interview in case you missed them. Read the fourth one after the break. read more »

exterior view

5 (student) Projects: is a group of projects completed at Yale University’s School of Architecture by 5 young architects during their graduate education. Each of the 5 projects are sited in New Haven on or adjacent to Yale’s campus. Each project focused on an institutional building, loosely defined by program, type and context. These commonalities became a framework for discussion that illuminated individual polemics and debate about experimentation in today’s architectural landscape. Despite the initial appearance of diversity within the set, each architect sought to address a common set of ideas emerging at Yale and perhaps within the discourse of architecture at large.

Primarily addressing the legacy of Postmodernism (in its various guises and forms), each sought an architecture that engaged historical memory, local context and an renewed concern for communication and legibility. Each was interested in an operable or speculative way to use history and its associated culturally established values, meanings and forms to produce new bodies of work. In that sense, each sought a contemporary way to learn from the past that would have particular resonance in today’s social, political, and cultural milieu.

The identity of the group of 5 is meant as a provocation towards two related issues: the desire for individuality and expression by today’s younger generation of architects inculcated by media and secondly, the desire for consensus within discourse on what counts today as critical & theoretical concerns for architecture. The aspiration behind the interviews and feature is to reveal an internal discussion which demonstrates an effort to clarify and identify a set of ideas that underpin contemporary architectural production. The feature and interviews were organized and conducted by Alexander Maymind.

You can check the first interview, second interview and third interview in case you missed them. Read the fourth one after the break. read more »