First Press Conference of Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture
The Organizing Committee of the Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture recently announced that the 2013 Biennale, which will open December 6, will be delivered by two curatorial teams, consisting of Team Ole Bouman and Team Li Xiangning + Jefferey Johnson. Old Bouman wil act as curator, creative director. Li Xiangning + Jefferey Johnson will be the curators, academic directors. The main venues for the event are the former YAOPI float glass factory (venue A) and the old warehouse at Shekou ferry terminal (venue B). More information after the break.
Vietnam’s Pavilion at Expo 2015 Competition Entry / H&P Architects
The concept proposal for Vietnam’s Pavilion at Expo 2015 in Milan focuses on mixing settlement and settled agriculture to create the future’s space – the space where settlement and settled agriculture include each other. Titled the Pavilion of dream terraces (field), the building by H&P Architects is created from steel structure frames, which have a large amount of modules – the longest one being 7.5m – that are connected by simple joins or overlapping. More images and architects’ description after the break.
‘Research as Practice’ Symposium
Taking place this Friday, April 12th, from 4:00pm-8:30pm, the Doctor of Design program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design is inviting you to ‘Research as Practice’, their annual Convergence symposium. As the traditional boundaries of design practice are increasingly questioned, broadened, and blurred, scientific research in technology development and application emerges as an essential vehicle for exploration and assessment. In this inaugural year, the symposium will seek to explore the position, relevancy, and sustainability of applied research in design practice across various disciplines with examples from contemporary practitioners. For more information, please visit here. For more information, please visit here.
Operlab Competition Entry / Rafal Oleksik + Krzysiek Stepien
Inspired by the movement of the curtain, an element inherently connected with the theatre, this second prize winning proposal for the Operlab competition focuses on this movement to induce the emotions of the viewers. Designed by Rafal Oleksik and Krzysiek Stepien, it was crucial in the proposed concept of the pavilion to induce such emotions to encourage people to enter the facility, and at the same time, allow them to become a part of the show whether it be exhibitions, screenings, a concert or a discussion. More images and architects’ description after the break.
‘Panta Rhei’ Exhibition / Mateo Arquitectura
On view until this Saturday, April 13th, at the Galerie d’Architecture in Paris, the ‘Panta Rhei’ exhibition by Josep Lluís Mateo of Mateo Arquitectura is a tour through time: the past, present and future of the practice’s work. Highlighting projects, materials and moments that tend to be concealed from view, their ‘everything flows’ themed exhibit forms part of the agency’s praxis. Mateo displays how the present leads us to the future, and projects that are already being transported to reality. Also, the present of that which is clearly finished, and a trace of the past that has brought us to this point. An exhibition allows us to salvage, for a moment, materials produced in different contexts, to support ideas, explain stories or understand a world. For more information, please visit here. More images of the exhibition can be viewed after the break.
2013 ‘Folly’ Competition Winner: tree wood by Toshihiro Oki
Socrates Sculpture Park and The Architectural League of New York recently announced the selection of Toshihiro Oki architect for tree wood as the winner of this year’s “Folly” competition – an extraordinary opportunity for emerging architects and designers to experiment and build large-scale projects for outdoor exhibition. tree wood will be a rigid yet airy geometrical wooden structure placed within a grove of trees – a lush and dense area at Socrates Sculpture Park. Visitors will peer into the structure through the floor beams where a formal, ornate chandelier will be suspended. The installation creates a dialogue between built structures and systems with the irregular and organic. This winning project will open at Socrates Sculpture Park on Sunday, May 12th from 2-6pm. More information after the break.
INVERSION Installation at INTERNI Magazine’s Hybrid Architecture Exhibition
As part of INTERNI’s Hybrid Architecture Exhibition event, Steven Holl Architects will be opening their ‘INVERSION’ installation tomorrow, April 9th, in Milan. In addition, Steven Holl will deliver a lecture in the Aula Magna of the Università degli Studi di Milano at 10am. Shown in the Cortile 700 of the Università degli Studi di Milano, the installation features six void-cut, 21 million year old limestone blocks, which frame a sheet of water. The process, beginning with a 5”x7” watercolor sketch in New York City, which is transformed into a 3D file and then sent to Lecce, required no working drawings. More information on their installation after the break.
Preserving Modern Architecture in the Midwest
On April 24th and 25th, Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) will celebrate the gift and the restoration of the Frederick and Harriet Rauh House, designed by pioneering Cincinnati Modernist John Becker in Woodlawn, by hosting “Preserving Modern Architecture,” a two-day symposium at the house. In September 2011, CPA launched the restoration of the 1938 Rauh House with a festive celebration honoring Emily Rauh Pulitzer, donor of the house and funder of the work. A year later, the restoration of this pioneering International Style residence is complete.
‘Up-Downtown’ DawnTown’s 2012 Competition Winning Installation
Up-Downtown, the prize-winning installation in DawnTown‘s competition for the creation of a temporary installation on the theme of the “Evolution of Miami”, is taken literally to present an interactive story of Miami’s rise. “A city is a complex machine, where everything is interconnected and any movement affects the other,” said Manuel Clavel-Rojo, co-creator of the Up-Downtown team. The installation, exhibited at HistoryMiami, features a 10’ x 10’ x 10’ box structure using steel for supports. A mirror sits at its base, with blue and pink neon lights representing the water’s edge and roadways, creating a perimeter of the downtown area. More images and information after the break.
Update: Facades+ Performance Symposium
Taking place April 11-12 in New York, the Facades+ Performance Symposium will focus on cutting through the jargon to consider the heart of high performance building envelopes. Presented by The Architect’s Newspaper and enclos, they recently announced that an additional workshop will take place on Friday, April 12. This workshop will focus on the fundamental concepts and workflows for creating performance-based design models with the parametric design tool, Grasshopper for Rhino3D. Using Grasshopper, participants will be guided through a series of exercises designed to emphasize the relevant applications of parametric design for professional practice. To sign up, and for more information on the two-day event, please visit here. A video can be viewed after the break.
Woldya Maternity Center / Xavier Vilalta Architects
Located in Woldya, a town in the Amhara region in northeast Ethiopia, the new maternity care center is placed at the entrance of the Woldya hospital becoming a new gathering area for future mothers. Designed by Xavier Vilalta Architects (XVA), maternity is divided in two areas that share an entrance space: the maternity unit and the mothers waiting area. The first one is the functional and operational medical space and the second, a temporary hostel for upcoming patients that need a place to stay before they enter in the final stage of their pregnancy. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Green Square Library & Plaza Proposal / Gus Wüstemann Architects
The proposal for the Green Square Library & Plaza in Syndey rethinks a common emphasis on new technologies and the transformation of a reading room in a library being an inside storage space of books to a public space that communicates with its boundaries. For this design, Gus Wüstemann Architects suggests a bridge from the virtual world to the authentic world, from nature to culture, society and technology. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Collider Activity Center Competition Entry / SO-AP Architects
By creating a space which is open onto the city and welcoming for visitors, the proposal for the Collider Activity Center by SO-AP Architects intends to be a place of importance in the city of Sofia. The objective is to propose a building designed to meet the expectations of a wide audience motivated by the challenge and keen on using a place offering multiple combinations of sports and rest, while being able to enjoy views on the city and its surroundings. More images and architects’ description after the break.
‘Shigeru Ban – Architecture and Humanitarian Activities’ Exhibition
Currently taking place at the Art Tower Mito‘s Contemporary Art Gallery and Plaza until May 12, the ‘Shigeru Ban – Architecture and Humanitarian Activities’ exhibition is the architect’s largest exhibition and encourages visitors to think about the architect’s role in society. From his early works and a pioneering new architectural material to an ongoing disaster project, the exhibition explores the diverse activities and achievements of the architect as well as his vision and spirit to challenge social issues and disasters. Featuring architectural models, mock-ups, photographs, videos of his major and important works, and furniture, Ban is known for his innovative work constructed by developing or applying building materials from objects already existing in our everyday lives. For more information, please visit here.
The Pier / Kavakava Architects
Architects: Kavakava Architects
Location: Tallinn, Estonia
Architect In Charge: Siiri Vallner, Indrek Peil
Year: 2011
Photographs: Margit Argus, Siiri Vallner, Maarin Murk, Tarvo Hanno Varres, Courtesy of Kavakava Architects
Performing Arts Studio of the National Theatre of Korea Second Prize Winning Proposal / Archiplan
Designed by Archiplan, their second prize winning proposal for the Performing Arts Studio of the National Theatre of Korea is an extension design concept for the performers practice facilities in the basement of the existing plaza. The main issue is the vitalization of the environment which is now ‘blocked’ by the retaining wall on the edge of the main road and by the steep slope that makes a disconnection of the site. By embracing art, culture, and the city itself, this proposal connects the two-dimensional old theatre-plaza and the nearby park to link the performer and the citizens while allowing the art and culture flow well. More images and architects’ description after the break.
2013 Burnham Prize Competition: NEXT STOP: Designing Chicago BRT Stations
The Chicago Architectural Club and Chicago Architecture Foundation, in partnership with the Chicago Department of Transportation, the Chicago Transit Authority, and the Chicago Bus Rapid Transit Steering Committee, recently launched the 2013 Burnham Prize Competition: NEXT STOP: Designing Chicago BRT Stations. Intended to catalyze iconic, sustainable, and functional design for representative corridors in Chicago’s planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, they are seeking entries that integrate innovative and compelling transportation design into Chicago’s urban fabric. Each design team must submit designs for three different prototype sites and demonstrate how BRT station design can be adapted to each context. Submissions are due by May 13. For more information, please visit here.
Das Band meiner Stadt (The Band of My City) Winning Proposal / da architecture
Designed by da architecture, their first prize winning proposal in the IBA Basel 2020 competition, Das Band meiner Stadt (The band of my city), is a new dynamic that is brought to the Eastern railway station district of Quartier du Lys, which becomes the new landmark of the city of Saint-Louis. The development of this new district on the western side of the station area is characterized by a well-mixed, multi-use business district with offices, commercial and residential programs. This will benefit Saint-Louis train station and help the stream of travellers to further increase. More images and architects‘ description after the break.
Great Fen Visiting Center Competition Entry / Arrigoni Architetti
The proposed Great Fen Visitor Center by Arrigoni Architetti consists of three barns arranged on the edge between land and water in a clear orthogonal layout. Gathered around an open space, the buildings will represent the welcoming meeting point for single visitors and groups as well as the ideal setting for outdoor activities and events. The goal is to find a balance between architecture and landscape, loosening the boundaries between inside and outside, allowing different views and encouraging the curiosity for an individual, non preset experience. More images and architects’ description after the break.
3C Comprehensive Coastal Communities Competition
Organized by ORLI (Operation Resilient Long Island), a student-led grassroots committee of architecture, interior design, and construction management students from New York Institute of Technology, the 3C Comprehensive Coastal Communities Competition aims to catalyze the discussion of rezoning towns that are vulnerable to coastal storms. The post-Sandy rebuilding process has already begun, yet there are no strategies on how rebuilding communities can accommodate transforming coastal housing typologies. In effort to help local communities preserve the value of their neighborhoods, the challenge is to create a vision for a specific northeastern coastal community. Participants should design a resilient housing typology and integrate it into the community master plan. Submissions are due no later than July 25. To register, and for more information, please visit here.
Storefront for Art and Architecture’s Competition of Competitions
Striving for a diverse and international response, Storefront for Art and Architecture recently launched the Competition of Competitions. The intent of the competition is to provide and deliver new and relevant forms of engagement and content to the economic, politic and social systems that currently act as the voice of authority for the development of our cities. They are asking architects, artists, economists, philosophers, writers, and citizens at large to create interdisciplinary teams to formulate the questions of our time and define the agents that should pursue the task to ask and commission the visions for the future in the form of a competition brief. The deadline to register is June 22 and submissions are due by July 22. For more information, please visit here.
