Wheelwright Prize
Unique among architecture prizes with its focus on early-career architects, the Wheelwright Prize, recently launched by Harvard Graduate School of Design, is a $100,000 traveling fellowship awarded annually for exceptional itineraries in research and discovery. Recognizing the importance of field research to professional development, the prize reinforces the school’s dedication to fostering investigative approaches to contemporary design. Applications are currently being accepted until February 28. For more information, please visit here.
Azerbaijan Tower Proposal / Avesta Group
With plans to become the world’s tallest building at about 3645 feet, the Azerbaijan Tower is being built on a series of artificial islands, the Khazar Islands, in the Caspian Sea 16 miles south of Baku, Azerbaijan. Avesta Group, the company behind the project, is expecting to have the skyscraper completed by 2019 at an estimated cost of $2 billion. With 189 floors, it is expected to surpass the the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai and Saudi Arabia’s proposed 3280 foot Kingdom Tower. More images can be viewed after the break. (more…)
Denmark’s Sport Fishing Association Headquarters & Activity Center Proposal / CEBRA
CEBRA has gained the support of The Danish Foundation for Culture and Sport Facilities (LOA) for the realization of a new home for Denmark’s Sport Fishing Association in Vingsted, Denmark. The 5,489 sq.ft. project will accommodate the association’s administration as well as an activity center for sports fishermen and other visitors to the beautiful surroundings in the Vejle brook valley. More images and architects’ description after the break. (more…)
Tangram Theatre Second Prize Winning Proposal / Gras Arquitectos
With the city of Zhangjiagang, China lacking their own identity, Gras Arquitectos aims to create a presence and scale with their Tangram Theatre, which won the second prize in the international competition. This mutual need can enable the creation of a new urban icon, an item that addresses a new identity to the city. Historically, the icon of Chinese cities is the pagoda: from the forbidden city to the unknown monument in rural China. The architects intend to create a theatre that becomes a sort of pagoda, icon for the city. More images and architects’ description after the break. (more…)
Book Presentation and Signing of Wiel Arets: Autobiographical References
The Graham Foundation of Chicago will host a book presentation and signing of Wiel Arets: Autobiographical References, a new book edited by Robert McCarter and designed by Irma Boom exploring the notion of ‘A Wonderful World’. The event will take place Friday, February 1st at 6:00pmCST. The evening will begin with a discussion and debate between Arets and McCarter, introducing the book’s origins as well as the work of Wiel Arets Architects, after which signed copies of the publication will be available for purchase. More information after the break. (more…)
Call for Proposals: ‘SMART CITY: The Next Generation’ Exhibition
Architects, Urban Planners, Engineers, and Activists with projects in Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines are invited to send their proposals for an exhibition titled ‘SMART CITY: The Next Generation’. Organized by Aedes Architecture Forum, with the Goethe Institut/South-East Asia, under the guidance of curator Ulla Giesler, the exhibition will be held in Berlin at the their Architecture Forum between May and July 2013 within the framework of the Asia-Pacific-Week Berlin 2013. More information after the break. (more…)
2013 Design for Biodiversity Symposium: Architectural Approaches to Urban Ecology
Taking place February 1-2 at Abby and Howard Milstein Auditorium, Milstein Hall at Cornell University, the Design for Biodiversity Symposium will focus on the extended threshold between building and environment. Since its emergence in the 1970s, the field of Urban Ecology has investigated relations between living organisms and their urban environments, and has primarily addressed the city at the scale of urban planning. Within this framework, architecture, at the building scale, has thus far not been extensively tackled. How might architecture actively support multi-species habitats? Can these habitats help us replace existing, fossil fuel dependent, mechanistic systems with low impact, ecologically integrated systems that leverage natural sources? How does reimagining the city in this way change how we think about urban form and phenomenology? And finally, what are the appropriate models to study? These questions will be answered at the event and more. For more information, please visit here.
modeLab Introduction to Simulation with Kangaroo Webinar
Taking place tomorrow, January 11th from 2:00-4:30pm EST, modeLab‘s Introduction to Simulation with Kangaroo Webinar will apply physical properties and forces to geometry to offer a fun and interactive way to implement physics-based constraints into your parametric workflows. Through a series of short presentations and “live” exercises, learn essential techniques for setting up and developing simulations with Kangaroo in Grasshopper, ranging from particle systems to spring networks. Over the course of the 2.5 hour webinar, you will learn strategies for working with physical geometry, dynamic relaxation, and funicular shapes. To register, and for more information, please visit here.
‘The Crown of Septiemvri’ Soccer Stadium Proposal / Gras Arquitectos
Located in the old plot of the Olympic stadium of Sofia, Bulgaria, the proposal for the new soccer stadium by Gras Arquitectos aims to create a new mixed complex, keeping as much as possible the green and central qualities of the plot. Designed to seat around 15,000, the plot itself works as a central park of the neighborhood. More images and architects’ description after the break. (more…)
‘Open Exchange’ Green Square Library and Plaza Competition Entry / MODU
The “’Open Exchang’ proposal, for the Green Square Library and Plaza competition, creates a space of public engagement by challenging the role of the library in the contemporary city of Sydney. Designed by MODU , in collaboration with Future Green Studio landscape architects, their project becomes a social and public space made possible by new technology, with the potential to transcend the traditional definition of learning spaces. More images and architects’ description after the break. (more…)
AIA and NIBS Launch Building Research Information Knowledgebase
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) have developed the Building Research Information Knowledgebase (BRIK), an interactive portal offering free online access to peer-reviewed research projects and case studies in all facets of the built environment, from pre-design through occupancy and reuse.
“By providing a portal to comprehensive research and data, this initiative is intended to help better educate the entire real estate marketplace on how design strategies and innovations can have a profound impact on building performance,” said AIA Chief Executive Officer, Robert Ivy, FAIA. “The BRIK offering is an entry-way to show quantifiable proof of evidence-based design approaches.”
Yad Le’Banim Building Competition Entry – Cultural and Memorial Center / Irad Shomroni and Josef Shushan
Designed by Irad Shomroni and Josef Shushan, the proposal for the Yad Le’Banim Building – Cultural and Memorial Center seeks to emphasize the duality between everyday life activities and commemoration. In a center that houses both cultural communal facilities that open daily and annual memorial ceremonies for casualties of war, the center is designed as a linear path. It gradually rises from Ramat Yishay’s main street, hovers above its surrounding garden, and eventually reaches a viewpoint towards the historical buildings of Ramat Yishay. More images and architects’ description after the break. (more…)
Timber Café Proposal / BAKOKO
Taking advantage of solid timber’s unique benefits, the Timber Café by BAKOKO, an emerging Tokyo architecture practice, is a proposal for a sustainable pop-up restaurant. The temporary building can be flat packed into a standard 40′ shipping container and erected with a crane in a mere day. Once assembled, this wooden box is remarkably self-stable. It does not need a permanent foundation, making it suitable almost anywhere. More images and architects’ description after the break. (more…)
Video: Paris in Motion / Mayeul Akpovi
Mayeul Akpovi shared with us a time lapse video he made, which goes through a sequence of experiences and places, highlighting the day and night life of the big city. ‘Paris in Motion’ includes about 3500 photos as he successfully creates a video, accompanied by music, which draws you in and fast forwards through time.
Venice Takeaway: Ideas to Change British Architecture
Following the conclusion of David Chipperfield’s 2012 Venice Biennale, the British Pavilion has brought its investigations back to the UK to expand upon ten exceptional research projects that illustrate how architecture has shaped the culture and economy of countries around the world.
Should Amsterdam-style floating homes be built in London’s Docklands? Could the UK learn from Brazil’s successful identikit school-building program? Could Belfast be redeveloped by following a Berlin model? These are just some of the fascinating questions that will be addressed in a series of lectures, debates and events hosted by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in collaboration with the British Council and the Architectural Association.
Mark your calendars for the following special events, which will run from February 26 through April 27, 2013.
Architecture, Art and Collaborative Design: Harry Seidler Exhibition
Celebrating the ninetieth anniversary of the birth of Harry Seidler, the leading Australian architect of the twentieth century, the ‘Architecture, Art and Collaborative Design’ traveling exhibition will take place January 10-February 10 in Sofia, Bulgaria at the VIVACOM Art Hall. The exhibition traces Austrian-born Seidler’s key role in bringing Bauhaus principles to Australia and identifies his distinctive place and hand within and beyond modernist design methodology. The exhibition was developed by curator Vladimir Belogolovsky of Intercontinental Curatorial Project in New York with Penelope Seidler and Harry Seidler & Associates in Sydney and sponsored by Seidler Architectural Foundation. More information on the exhibition after the break. (more…)
SixtyNine-Seventy, The Spaces Between: An Urban Ideas Competition
Organized by AIA Utah Young Architects Forum and the Downtown Alliance, in collaboration with Utah Heritage Foundation, Sixty-Nine Seventy invites design teams from around the world to re-envision the circulation areas and passages of two blocks in Salt Lake City’s downtown. The entrants will prepare comprehensive ideas for these in-between spaces, developing them into the connective tissue linking the area’s cultural amenities. SixtyNine-Seventy, The Spaces Between: An Urban Ideas Competition launches on January 10, 2013 with a party at 7:00 PM at Squatters Pub. The competition and launch party are open to everyone. For those not able to attend the opening night presentations will be posted on the web immediately following the event. For more information, please visit here.
Refurbishment of the Old Railway Station of Mora First Prize Winning Proposal / CVDB Arquitectos + Tiago Filipe Santos
Designed by CVDB Arquitectos, with Tiago Filipe Santos, the proposal for the Refurbishment of the Old Railway Station of Mora, Portugal is focused in the pragmatic definition of uses. These aim to bring to life the existing buildings, activate their use, clarify the functional and distributive relations between spaces, and promote new built areas that incorporate a contemporary presence through the iconographic approach of the facades.More images and architects’ description after the break. (more…)
Lowering the Cost of Housing Competition
At a time when government resources dedicated to housing production and preservation are rapidly shrinking and the cost to develop affordable housing is increasing, there is significant space and demand for innovation when it comes to lowering building and operating costs. Therefore, the ‘Lowering the Cost of Housing‘ competition is seeking to provide a new model for conceiving, siting, financing, building and sustaining, affordable housing. Selected teams will work on a specific site, proposing designs for multi-unit dwellings which present new methods for designing, building and financing housing affordable to individuals or families below 100% of Area Median Income. Submissions are due no later than January 15, with final proposals due in March. For more information, please visit their official website here.
modeLab Introduction to Physics-Based Design with Kangaroo Webinar
Taking place January 11th from 2:00pm-4:30pm EST, modeLab‘s Introduction to Physics-Based Design with Kangaroo Webinar applies physical properties and forces to geometry to offer a fun and interactive way to implement physics-based constraints into your parametric workflows. Through a series of short presentations and “live” exercises, learn essential techniques for setting up and developing Simulations with Kangaroo in Grasshopper, ranging from particle systems to spring networks. This webinar will last 2.5 hours including multiple open Q & A sessions and all participants will have unlimited access to the webinar content and this video online after the broadcast. To register and for more information, please visit here.
The Lodge School Ricaut XIII / Metek Architecture
Located in a residential street, near the lively neighborhood of Place d’Italie, the new lodge of the School Ricaut displays its large yellow cube, which replaces the old entrance, refining the main access point and offering a work space that is simultaneously visible and independent of the adjoining staff accommodation. Designed by Metek Architecture, the yellow module of the new lodge fits into the openings of the building, just like the toy building blocks used by children. Prefabricated with a light wood frame, the lodge is conceived as a piece of urban furniture. More images and architects’ description after the break. (more…)
