Addis Abeba Chamber of Commerce Headquarters Winning Proposal / BC Architects
BC Architects, in collaboration with ABBA architects and Adey Tadesse, won the competition for the Addis Abeba Chamber of Commerce Headquarters in Ethiopia with their approach towards a “glocaldesign”. With the goal of sensibly involving local materials in this mid-high-rise building, this resulted in a local nature stone façade system inspired by a ‘Netela’ (threaded Ethiopian textile which so nicely shows the threads of cotton and which has a character of both shadow and transparency). More images and architects’ description after the break.
Kemuri Shanghai Restaurant / Prism Design
Architects: Prism Design
Location: Shanghai, China
Design Team: Tomohiro Katsuki, Masanori Kobayashi, Reiji Kobayashi
Area: 200.0 sqm
Year: 2012
Photographs: PRISM DESIGN, Nacasa & Partners Inc.”(Eiichi Kano)
Artis Headquarters / Roswag Architekten
Architects: Roswag Architekten
Location: Berlin, Germany
Architect In Charge: Eike Roswag
Project Leader: Jan Schreiber
Planning: Maria Scheicher, Oriol Domínguez Martínez
Area: 1,978 sqm
Year: 2010
Photographs: Courtesy of Roswag Architekten
Casas Reais / Concheiro de Montard
Architects: Concheiro de Montard
Location: Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Architect In Charge: Isabel Concheiro, Raphaël de Montard
Area: 89 sqm
Year: 2012
Photographs: Luis Díaz Díaz
MoMA Selects Diller Scofidio + Renfro as Architect of the Folk Art Museum
The Museum of Modern Art has commissioned Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) to design its controversial expansion that will overtake the former American Folk Art Museum in New York. This news comes after an intense backlash from prominent architects, preservationists and critics worldwide pressured MoMA to reconsider its decision to raze the iconic, Tod Williams and Billie Tsien-design museum in order to make way for its new expansion.
In response, DS+R has requested that MoMA gives them the “time and latitude to carefully consider the entirety of the site, including the former American Folk Art Museum building, in devising an architectural solution to the inherent challenges of the project,” as stated by Glenn D. Lowry, MoMA’s director, in a memo sent on Thursday to his trustees and staff. He added, “We readily agreed to consider a range of options, and look forward to seeing their results.”
More on the DS+R’s commission and the fate of the Folk Museum after the break…
Fuyi River Housing Sales Center / Lab Modus
Nowhere but Sajima / Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects
Architects: Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects
Location: Yokosuka Kanagawa, Japan
Client: Nowhere Resort
Structural Engineer: Akira Suzuki/ASA
General Contractor: Heisei Construction
Area: 176.65 sqm
Year: 2009
Photographs: Yasutaka Yoshimura, Chiaki Yasukawa
Council Approves Cornell’s Net-Zero Tech Campus on Roosevelt Island
City Council has approved Cornell’s two-million-square-foot tech campus planned to break ground in 2014 on New York’s Roosevelt Island. Masterplanned by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), the ambitious carbon positive campus will offer housing for 2,000 full-time graduate students, world-class education facilities, a hotel, a corporate co-location building, and more than an acre of public open space. Construction will commence with the first, state-of-the-art academic building that will be designed by Thom Mayne, founder of Morphosis, who will incorporate the latest environmental advances, such as geothermal and solar power, to achieve net-zero energy for the landmark structure.
Media Library Drachten / ADP Archtitects
Architects: ADP Archtitects
Location: Drachten, The Netherlands
Architect In Charge: ADP Archtitects
Collaborators: SH Studio
Area: 650.0 sqm
Year: 2012
Photographs: Gerard van Beek
A Clearer Definition for Smarter Smart Growth
As cities become more conscious of their environmental and social impact, smart growth has become a ubiquitous umbrella term for a slew of principles to which designers and planners are encouraged to adhere. NewUrbanism.org has distributed 10 points that serve as guides to development that are similar to both AIA’s Local Leaders: Healthier Communities through Design and New York City’s Active Design Guidelines: Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Design. Planners all appear to be on the same page in regards to the nature of future development. But as Brittany Leigh Foster of Renew Lehigh Valley points out, these points tend to be vague; they tell us “what” but they do not tell us “how”. 10 Rules for Smarter Smart Growth by Bill Adams of UrbDeZine San Diego enumerates how to achieve the various design goals and principles that these various guides encourage.
Origo Coffee Shop / Lama Arhitectura
Architects: Lama Arhitectura
Location: Bucharest, Romania
Architects In Charge: Dan Enache,Calin Radu, Radu Nenita
Area: 65 sqm
Year: 2013
Photographs: Radu Malasincu
New Central Library in Berlin Winning Proposal / Envés Arquitectos
Designed by Envés Arquitectos, their proposal for the New Central Library in Berlin was named as one of the winners of the competition, which is conceived as an open, public, free and comfortable meeting place; summing up, an urban lobby. This flexible place is able to interact with a changing user (from a kid to an ancient), but simultaneously ensures the area’s accessibility and right usage. The library also aims to become an activity catalyst, a landmark to be perceived from far away. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Architecture City Guide: Beirut
Following a brutal 15-year civil war that tore the city apart, Beirut has recovered remarkably; it was voted the number one destination to visit by the New York Times in 2009, and, more recently, received a similar title by Frommer’s. The city is in the second phase of one of the biggest urban reconstruction projects in the world, run by Solidere, which has brought architects like Steven Holl, Herzog & DeMeuron, Zaha Hadid, Vincent James, and Rafael Moneo to the local scene. In less internationalized parts of the city sit the landmarks of the 1960s and 1970s, Beirut’s pre-war glory days, including buildings by names such as Alvar Aalto, Victor Gruen, and the Swiss Addor & Julliard. With a city growing as fast as Beirut it is impossible to have a final city guide, so we look forward to hearing your suggestions and building on this over the years.
Photos and a map of Beirut’s most exciting buildings after the break…
Lenbachhaus Museum / Foster + Partners
Architects: Foster + Partners
Location: Munich, Germany
Design Team: Norman Foster, David Nelson, Stefan Behling, Christian Hallmann, Ulrich Hamann, Klaus Heldwein, Florian Boxberg, Leonhard Weil, Judith Kernt, Henriette Hahnloser, Eike Danz, Diana Krumbein, Simon Weismaier, Christopher Von Der Howen, Inge Tummers, Jörg Grabfelder, Katrin Hass, Tillmann Lenz
Area: 12,328 sqm
Year: 2013
Photographs: Nigel Young / Foster + Partners
Cultural Landscape Path / Archiplan Studio
Architects: Archiplan Studio
Location: Virgilio, Italy
Year: 2013
Photographs: Martina Mambrin
Bavarian History Museum Competition Entry / X+UN Architecture
The design of the Bavarian history museum by X+UN Architecture… takes into account the impact of the most important landmarks surrounding the site. Located in Regensburg, it is placed on the bank of the Donau River, which acts as a
House in Monasterios / Ramon Esteve
Architects: Ramon Esteve
Location: Monasterios, Spain
Year: 2008
Photographs: Mayte Piera
Mapletree Minhang Development Proposal / Aedas
With the ground breaking ceremony recently held to kick start construction, the Aedas… designed Mapletree Minhang Development Project involves two sites – Mapletree Business City and VivoCity. With a site area of approximately 119,000 square meters and a gross floor
20 Unit Multifamily Housing and Commercial Block / Narch
Architects: Narch
Location: La Parada, Manresa, Spain
Project Architect: Joan Ramon Pascuets, Mònica Mosset
Area: 3,500 sqm
Year: 2008
Photographs: Hisao Suzuki
Sessa Residence / J,P:A
Architects: J,P:A
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Architect In Charge: Jones, Partners: Architecture
Design Team: Wes Jones, Rachel Bitan, Matt Daines, Janiva Henry, Steven Purvis
Area: 2,000 sqft
Year: 2012
Photographs: Taiyo Watanabe
Corrugated Cardboard Pavillion / Miguel Arraiz + David Moreno
Built for the annual traditional festival called “Fallas” held in Valencia in March, the corrugated cardboard temporary pavilion was made out with 3.000 purposefully made corrugated hexagonal boxes as the only structural material. The main challenge for the project by architect Miguel Arraiz and sculptor David Moreno was the wind and the rain, because the structure should be at the urban space during at least 5 days. More images and architects’ description after the break.
