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Architects: Woods Bagot
- Area: 1908 m²
- Year: 2017
Short Lane / Woods Bagot
Could These Uber Flying Taxi “Skyports” Be Coming to a City Near You?
Uber has unveiled images of its vision for the future of its revolutionary ride-sharing business. “Uber Elevate” seeks to herald in a new era of “urban aerial ridesharing” beginning in 2023 with customers able to hail a flight on-demand.
As reported by The Verge, this future vision has seen Uber hold a competition inviting architecture firms to speculate on the “Uber Air Skyports” of tomorrow. The Skyports comprise a system of launchpads and landing sites throughout the urban landscape hosting a futuristic “flying taxi” service. At the company’s second annual Elevate conference in Los Angeles in May 2018, Uber revealed the winning designs from six firms, capable of transporting more than 4000 passengers per hour.
Bluff Reach / Butler Armsden Architects
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Architects: Butler Armsden Architects
- Area: 5428 ft²
- Year: 2017
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Manufacturers: Bulthaup, David Weeks Studio, Fleetwood, Ortal, Wetstyle
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Professionals: Clayton Timbrell & Co., Leverone Design
Foster + Partners Unveil Images for Towering DJI Robotics Headquarters in Shenzhen
Foster + Partners has unveiled their vision for the headquarters of DJI, the world’s leading robotics company, to be located in the Chinese technological powerhouse of Shenzhen. Symbolizing the “heart of innovation” for the robotics giant, the scheme seeks to alter the traditional concept of office architecture, generating a “creative community in the sky.”
Comprised of two towers, the scheme strikes a balance between research, development, office space and public amenities. The floors comprise floating volumes cantilevered from central cores by steel mega-trusses, ensuring maximum flexibility in large, column-free workspaces.
LA's Pershing Square Is Preparing for a Redesign—And Some Worry They Are Losing a Valuable Civic Space
Surrounded on all sides by "business blocks of architectural beauty and metropolitan dimensions," the intersecting planes of Pershing Square in Los Angeles provide a modernist retreat for many Angelinos in the downtown area. While to some, the square's large stucco tower and aqueduct-like water feature serve as a cultural landmark, the park has drawn negative press due to its lack of green space and abundance of drug-related activity. John Moody purposefully concentrates on the perception, memory, and identity of the space in his documentary Redemption Square—winner of the Best Urban Design Film 2017 at the New Urbanism Film Festival. Using the voice of strangers, residents and those who used to call it home, Moody guides you from the park’s formation in 1866 to its impending renewal: a “radically flat” redesign courtesy of Agence Ter and Gruen Associates.
Studio 6420 / Robert M. Gurney Architect
Toronto Competition Awards Timber Building to be Constructed on City's Waterfront
A collaboration between Moriyama & Teshima Architects and Acton Ostry Architects have been announced as the winner of the competition for a new timber building in Toronto. Their proposal beat out several other notable firms including Shigeru Ban, who is known for his timber constructions, Patkau Architects who worked with MJMA, and Provencher_Roy who partnered with Turner Fleisher. The winning design scheme, called The Arbour, will be a net-zero tower to house a new school of computer technology as part of an expansion at George Brown College.
Swiss Pavilion at 2018 Venice Biennale, Celebrates Peculiar Form of Architectural Representation
As part of our 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale coverage we present the proposal for the Swiss Pavilion. Below, the participants describe their contribution in their own words.
The Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia is delighted to announce the presentation of «Svizzera 240: House Tour» at the Swiss Pavilion at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. The exhibition focuses on the unfurnished interior of contemporary housing by celebrating a peculiar form of architectural representation — the «house tour».
Parish Church in Brácana / Fresneda & Zamora Arquitectura
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Architects: Fresneda & Zamora Arquitectura
- Area: 202 m²
- Year: 2016
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Manufacturers: Isover, Knauf, Laminex, SGG CLIMALIT, TEJAS BORJA
Japanese Pavilion at 2018 Venice Biennale, to Address Accessibility to Resources
As part of our 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale coverage we present the proposal for the Japan Pavilion. Below, the participants describe their contribution in their own words.
In the 20th century, the industrialization of society raised productivity and brought us convenient life with economic growth. However, the change has made us adapt our lives into an industrial network and created the barrier between people and environmental resources. One of the main roles of the 21st-century architecture is to break the barrier and to realize higher accessibility to resources.
Pingtian Village Center / DnA
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Architects: DnA
- Area: 308 m²
- Year: 2015
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Professionals: Zhang Xin Studio, Architecture Department of Tsinghua University
How 3D Renders Helped Trigger Life-Changing Development for an Indigenous Surinamese Community
Since 2015, the tribal community of Apetina in the south Suriname jungle have added a women’s center and seven chicken coops to their village, and there are plans underway to realize a high school, elevated treehouses for ecotourism, a visitor center, housing projects, chicken coops, and more.
Paul Spaltman is the one-man operation behind the designs of these structures, but “everything started with these nice renders made in Lumion," he explains. "It wasn’t enough to show 2D drawings or simply tell them what the project was going to be. When they saw the actual 3D renders, it helped them believe the project was possible. They already had the design. They could see the construction and that the entire project was, more or less, thought out. They could see that the project wasn’t just a dream, but one step further.”
Mega Foodwalk / FOS
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Architects: FOS
- Area: 58000 m²
- Year: 2018
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Manufacturers: Alucobond, Casarocca, Otis, Radcon, TOA
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Professionals: Aurecon, Landscape Collaboration, PIA, RHLB (Siam) Ltd., Ritta Co.Ltd, +1