AIA New Orleans 2011 Design Awards
The AIA New Orleans welcomed a record number of entries for the 2011 Design Awards, 100 Years of Excellence in Design. The categories included Interior Architecture, Master Planning, Divine Detail, Project, Architecture, Adaptive Reuse, and Juror Favorite. A complete list of the 2011 AIA New Orleans Design Awards and jurors comments following the break.
Volunteer Outreach Opportunities with AIA New Orleans
The AIA New Orleans chapter will offer three volunteer outreach opportunities for the upcoming 2011 AIA National Convention attendees and supporters. Convention-goers and the interested public can volunteer prior to and after the Convention, which is scheduled for May 12th – 14th. The three organizations include Hand On New Orleans, the Preservation Resource Center’s Rebuilding Together New Orleans program, and New Orleans Operation Helping Hands. If you are interested in volunteering more information can be found here.
Call for Ideas: projectChristchurch
Kyle Lewis, an architecture student at CPIT in Christchurch, NZ, shared with us a call for design to help rebuilt Christchurch after last February’s earthquake. Here’s the message:
As you may know, an earthquake has destroyed most of the Christchurch City Centre and many of the surrounding suburbs. We want to rebuild with a plan for a sustainable future but we need help getting there. Put simply: We need advice, experience, know-how, and designs on the best ways to implement sustainable change. We have the energy of the people and support of the government with $15 billion earmarked for the rebuild. But we lack visions for how a sustainable city will look and function. We know solutions exist and invite the contributions and experience of designers from around the world. A socially, economically and environmentally sustainable city is not beyond our capacity. Can you help us get there?
It is my hope that collaborations between local and global communities will have the power to enact change. We are using Reddit as our central meeting place. Reddit is an online community that has gained notoriety for its ability to solve real-world problems. Can our local community and the reddit community work together to design solutions? Can we tap the greater global wisdom to address our community’s needs? Specifically we are asking for proposals. These can be submitted to our page on reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/projectChristchurch/ or emailed directly to (projectChristchruch@gmail.com).
BIArch Book Presentation: Landform Building, presented by Stan Allen
Green roofs, artificial mountains and geological forms; buildings you can walk on or over; networks of ramps and warped surfaces; buildings that carve into the ground or landscapes lifted high into the air: all these are commonplace in architecture today. New technologies, new design techniques and a demand for enhanced environmental performance have provoked a re-consideration of architecture’s traditional relationship to the ground. Some of today’s most innovative buildings no longer occupy a given site but instead, construct the site itself.
The book Landform Building sets out to examine the many manifestations of landscape and ecology in contemporary architectural practice: not as a cross-disciplinary phenomenon (architects working in the landscape) but as a study of the new design techniques, formal strategies, and technical problems that are emerging in the discipline.
Stan Allen will present his new book Landform Building along with the participation of Iñaki Ábalos, Michael Jakob, Josep Lluís Mateo, and Lars Müller, on Saturday April 30th at 12:30 pm in the Auditorium of La Pedrera. The event, organized by the Barcelona Institute of Architecture – BIArch, offers a unique opportunity for participants to analyze and discuss the relationship between landscape and architecture.
Admittance is free, but seating capacity is limited. Please RSVP through our website or our Facebook Page. For more information contact info@biarch.eu.
San Francisco 2011 AIA Design Awards Winners
The San Francisco chapter of the American Institute of Architects, announced the winners of the 2011 AIA San Francisco Design Awards program.
At the gala, winners were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the built environment in the categories of Energy + Sustainability, Excellence in Architecture, Historic Preservation and Innovation in Rehabilitation, Integrated Practice, Special Achievement, Unbuilt Design, and Urban Design in the Bay Area. Each of these award categories was divided into three subcategories-Honor, Merit, and Citation.
All the winners, after the break.
The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale / Steven Guarnaccia
Check out this charming twist we spotted on childhood classics such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs. This new take, by Steven Guarnaccia, modifies the beloved tales into a new architecture-infused storyline complete with new protagonists [Philip Johnson, Frank Gehry and Frank Lloyd Wrighth] and the Big Bad Wolf “huffing and puffing” to blow down Fallingwater. We enjoyed the humorous graphics and hope you do too! Guarnaccia is the chair of the illustration department at Parsons the New School for Design in New York City.
More graphics after the break. (more…)
Foster + Partners’ CITIC Bank Headquarters Tower Breaks Ground
Construction is underway for the sustainable landmark CITIC Bank headquarters tower. Foster + Partners design for the 100 meter high skyscraper in Hangzhou, China intends to establish and iconic presence for the Bank in a prominent location within the new central business district situated adjacent to the Qian Jiang River.
Resonating with elements of traditional Chinese culture, the tower’s form draws inspiration from the shape of the ancient ‘dou’ or ‘ding’ vessel, a traditional symbol of wealth, dignity and stability. The facade of the diagonally-braced structure pulls inwards near the base to form a symmetrical V-shape across the south-facing elevation. Wrapped in a diagrid lattice, the floor plates widen as the tower rises expanding to provide panoramic views of the river and the surrounding public plaza.
Win three signed copies of Richard Meier’s new book: “Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona”
A while ago, we had the chance of interviewing Richard Meier. During the interview, Meier told us about the importance of white in architecture. Now, we want to know your opinion. For you, what is the importance of white in contemporary architecture? Leave us your answer in the comments below, and among all the registered users who comment we will give away three signed copies of the book by Richard Meier and Associate Partner – Reynolds Logan.
Become a registered user right here, share with us your comment and next Wednesday, May4 we’ll announce the three winners! You can see more photos by and a short review of “Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona” after the break.
Richard Meier’s importance of white:
New Furniture Designs for Sawaya & Moroni / Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, Dominique Perrault
Revealed earlier this month in Milan, Sawaya & Moroni‘s New Collection 2011 includes pieces from high profile architects Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid, and Dominique Perrault. William Sawaya and Paolo Moroni, founding partners of Sawaya & Moroni, focus the production of their furniture on contemporary designs intertwined with differing cultural backgrounds, resulting in unique pieces and a selective group of architects and artists.
Ben van Berkel of UNStudio also presented new furniture this month in Milan.
More about the chairs after the break.
MONU Magazine New Issue: Editing Urbanism
MONU – magazine on urbanism is a unique bi-annual international forum for artists, writers and designers that are working on topics of urban culture, development and politics.
Each issue collects essays, projects and photographs from contributors from all over the world to a given topic. Thus MONU examines topics that are important to the future of our cities and urban regions from a variety of perspectives.
They have just released their latest issue on the topic of “Editing Urbanism”. You can see more about the articles on their official website. Also, you can browse the entire issue #14 on YouTube (video after the break). (more…)
Heliotrope Architects win National AIA Housing Award
Heliotrope Architects’ North Beach Residence, a new home located on Orcas Island’s North shore, has received a 2011 AIA National Housing Award. Featured previously on ArchDaily, the North Beach Residence is situated among the trees directly between the beach and the meadow, with walls of glass opening out to both. While actual shelter is provided, the experience is of nearly complete openness to the environment, with a minimized structure meant to disappear from view.
The jury commented that, “Its sensitivity to the site is paramount: its orientation, the lightness with which it sits on the site, the compact nature of project, and its artful reference to vernacular typologies.”
The AIA’s Housing Awards Program was established to recognize the best in housing design and promote the importance of good housing as a necessity of life, a sanctuary for the human spirit and a valuable national resource.
‘Spreading the Light’: Romanian Lighting Convention
Romanian Lighting Convention 2011 is a cultural, scientific, but mostly social meeting of architecture, design and lighting specialists in South Eastern Europe. It was created as a privileged communication area for those who regard light as a source of inspiration and who use light to emphasize and place value on the public space.
Recipient of the Pritzker Prize 2006 – Paulo Mendes da Rocha, the “nonconformist” architect-designer Gaetano Pesce and the most awarded Canadian-Romanian architect, Dan Sergiu Hanganu, are arriving in Bucharest for the 19-20th May event which is going to approach lighting in all its forms of manifestation – architectural, urban, daylight, road, office etc.
Romanian Lighting Convention 2011 comprises several events within its structure, tailored both for the experienced professionals and the new faces in this field: 3 conferences, 3 contests, one of which dedicated to students – LED DESIGN Contest, and 3 exhibitions (flagship products, LED luminaires, contests’ award winning papers).
For registration and more information please contact RLC organizers at office@dkevents.ro or check www.rlc.org.ro.
Interview with Frank Gehry
At 82 Frank Gehry shows no sign of slowing down. Working on 20 projects at any given time, the Pritzker Prize winning architect’s latest completed work New York by Gehry had its formal opening just last month. In this interview Gehry shares how he was inspired by ice hokey, that Gian Lorenzo Bernini is one of his greatest influences, and what he has always wanted to design.
More following the break.
Update: Ex-Container Project / Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects
Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects are continuing to move forward assisting those who have been displaced following the Japan earthquake and tsunami. The Ex-Container Project, which we featured just last week, is one affordable design solution offering easy transport and installation without compromising quality.
Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects are providing daily updates, via their Twitter account, about the reconstruction progress in the disaster areas.
Further details about the project and how you can offer support can be found here.
RAIC 2011 Awards of Excellence
The RAIC Awards of Excellence recognize distinction in the field of architecture. Awarded categories include Green Buildings and Innovation in Architecture as well as the Architectural Firm Award which was given to Montgomery Sisam Architects. Members of the jury included: Peter Busby, Teresa Coady, Stephen Pope for Green Buildings and Enzo Gardin, Dan Hanganu, Gregory Henriquez for Innovation in Architecture.
Recipients and Honorable Mentions for 2011 RAIC Awards of Excellence following the break.
Compostela Architecture Summer Program 2011
The Compostela Architecture Summer Program 2011 will integrate students in the historical context of the city of Santiago de Compostela, to experience walking, travelling, and living among architectural masterpieces.
The students in this program will participate in a sort of “architectural pilgrimage” to buildings by Alvaro Siza, David Chipperfield, and others. Students will also have the unique opportunity to visit the construction site of Peter Eisenman’s largest project to date, the Cidade da Cultura, which embodies some of the most intriguing ideas the architect has been developing for decades.
In addition, this program will focus on issues of sustainability in contemporary architecture. Lectures and seminars will discuss new technologies and new approaches to create more sustainable buildings within a new context.
These different dimensions of learning will be smoothly integrated into a single coherent educational program, complemented by the spiritual experience of own architectural pilgrimage.
The Compostela Architecture Summer Program will run from July 18th to August 6th and they are currently accepting applications until April 29th. Further details can be found here.
Eme3 International Architecture Festival Call for Projects
Eme3 is pleased to announce the the deadlines to present projects to be selected and exhibited in the 6th edition of the eme3 International Architecture Festival, which will take place form 1st to 3rd of July in the COAC, ARTS_SANTA_MONICA, ELISAVA and DHUB of Barcelona.
The eme3 guideline, a festival that questions and confronts differents points of view on architecture and its relationship to society, will be maintained this year wanting to provide concrete answers to global solutions presented and discussed in the last edition 2010. Thus, among other topics, the questionings will revolve around the contradictions between sustainable development and “greenwashing”, around the appropriateness of the use of technology resources compared to “low cost”, aroud the urban impasses in cities, or the micro -urban policies that affect citizens in their daily lives.
For more information, please click here.
GGN Announces Groundbreaking at Hines|Archstone’s CityCenterDC Development
Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN) announced the beginning of construction of the CityCenterDC development by Hines|Archstone in downtown Washington, DC. A new mixed-use development located on the 10-acre site of the former convention center, CityCenterDC is one of the largest downtown development projects currently underway in any U.S. city. Gustafson Guthrie Nichol participated in developing the master plan for the site with lead architect Foster + Partners, and acted as lead landscape architect, working with DC-based Lee and Associates. Additional members of the design team include DC-based Shalom Baranes Associates, serving as associate master plan architect, project Architect of Record, and lead designer of the residential rental buildings.
Construction commenced on March 23, 2011, and is expected to reach completion by the fourth quarter of 2013. The project includes the development of Northwest Park, a lively addition to downtown DC, the creation of a Central Plaza, as well as dramatic terraces with green roofs and gardens incorporated into all the buildings. More images and description after the break. (more…)
10,000 LEED-certified Homes
The U.S. Green Building Council recently announced that more than 10,000 homes across the USA have earned LEED certification.
“Reaching this milestone signifies the continued transformation of the home building industry towards high-performing, healthy homes that save home owners money,” said Nate Kredich, Vice President of Residential Market Development, U.S. Green Building Council. “Market leaders across the production, multifamily, affordable and custom home segments have recognized that there are green homes, and then there are LEED Homes, and they are acting accordingly.”
The Ross Street House by RWH Design received its LEED for Homes Platinum rating in July 2009, the first of Wisconsin. The home has captured the attention of green enthusiasts throughout the country for far exceeding the requirements to achieve the highest LEED rating of Platinum.
More following the break.
Bethlehem Steel Brownfield Site Becomes a New Performing Arts Center
Situated on the former Bethlehem Steel brownfield site the newly designed ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks has transformed an industrial site and inspired a community. A unique hybrid project of old and new, the building’s 67,000 sqf will feature a 450-seat venue for live performances and a two-screen state of the art cinema.
“The design grew from the profoundly meaningful history of place here,” said Joseph N. Biondo AIA, Spillman Farmer Architects‘ Design Principal. “The Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces are iconic – they are America’s historic ruins. The arts center is deeply inspired by this former industrial site and the lives that were lived here. We wanted the building to make a compelling statement about the future of the arts and community here in Bethlehem. This project evolved from the energy generated by the friction of past and future, the human spirit that fueled the American industrial revolution, and the elegance of a finely crafted music box.”
The new Performing Arts Center by Spillman Farmer Architects will host a special dedication ceremony tomorrow Thursday, April 14th.
A video and further construction photographs of this project following the break.
Ex-Container Project / Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects
Led by Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects in association with Nowhere Resort, the main purpose of the Ex-Container Project is to provide immediate housing for those who were displaced following the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on 11th of March, 2011.
Utilizing the format of ISO shipping containers the homes are easy to transport and offer a higher quality housing solution at an affordable price. Thinking beyond the short-term, the Ex-Container Project can initially be built as a temporary house and then converted to a permanent architectural structure.
Further details about the project and how you can offer support can be found here.
