‘Lighter Than Air’ Proposal / Rachely Rotem Studio & Phu Hoang Office
Fascinated with the theory of camouflage and interested in how, as a design concept, it could result in the transformation of space, Rachely Rotem Studio and Phu Hoang Office changed the recognizable figure of a barge in a city to an interactive atmospheric phenomenon they titled, ‘Lighter Than Air’. This proposal, which was for “The Barge” competition organized by SHIFTBoston, won first place and will be coming to the Fort Point Channel in Boston in September 2012. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Tank Bar + Restaurant / Donovan Hill
Architects: Donovan Hill
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Project Team: Brian Donovan, Timothy Hill, Greg Lamb, Michael Hogg
Project area: 100 sqm
Project year: 2010
Photographs: Shantanu Starick
Architecture City Guide: Richmond
This week our Architecture City Guide heads to Richmond, Virginia. Admittedly, it was Richmond’s pair of Cinderellas in this year’s NCAA Tournament that first caught our attention. However, with our interest peaked, we spent the last week exploring its architecture and found much to be admired. Richmond is by far the smallest city we have featured; with only 200,000 residents, the next closest on our list is twice its size. Architecturally, this Cinderella city can compete in her own way with the architectural powerhouses we have previously featured. Richmond’s architectural appeal comes from the city’s ability to keep its rich historic fabric intact while experimenting with new modes of design. While the city strongly embraces the gritty manufacturing buildings of its past, Richmond has resisted the imitation trap and has promoted modern interpretations of the older forms and materials. The majority of the buildings we chose to feature are emblematic of Richmond architecture, rehab/addition projects. We couldn’t possibly fit all our favorites in our list of twelve, so please take a look and add ones that visitors should not miss in the comment section below.
The Architecture City Guide: Richmond list and corresponding map after the break!
Mayne to join SCI-Arc
SCI-Arc, Los Angeles’ cutting edge architectural institute, has just announced Thom Mayne as the newest Trustee of the board. Mayne’s addition to the board emphasizes SCI-Arc’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of traditional architectural form and theory. Back in 1972, Mayne co-founded the institute along with seven faculty members and approximately forty students who left Cal Poly Pomona to form a “a college without walls.” For the past nearly four decades, Mayne has been an integral part of the university, serving as a juror, lecturer and generous supporter of the school. ”Thom Mayne is the quintessential SCI-Arc architect. His addition to the board is indicative of the fact that SCI-Arc continues to re-imagine the content of architecture,” said Director Eric Owen Moss. According to SCI-Arc, this appointment complements a series of events that have prompted the school’s growth both physically and programmatically.
Challenge: Design a Passive House for New Orleans
Our goal is straightforward: to achieve a dramatic reduction in the climate-change-causing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the Building Sector by changing the way buildings and developments are planned, designed and constructed.
Architecture 2030
The research from Architecture 2030 and the EIA has shown both the building industry and general public some staggering numbers; building operations for residential, commercial and industrial structures use 77% of ALL the electricity produced in the USA, not to mention 49% of energy consumption.
Just some additional numbers to take into consideration: transportation accounted for 33.5% of CO2 emissions and the industry field within the USA 19.6%. Even more of a concern is the building sector’s 46.9% reading.
Architecture 2030 has changed the way we look at buildings. Recognizing that the building sector is BOTH the problem and the solution Design By Many has media partnered with ArchDaily to issue the following Challenge: Design a Passive House for New Orleans, sponsored by HP.
Adhering to the Passive House Standard, the challenge is focusing on a single-family housing design solution for communities in New Orleans. Entries must provide a well balanced concept of sustainability including minimal impact on the local environment, affordable to heat and cool, and affordable to build and purchase.
Open to both students and professionals, Challenge: Design a Passive House for New Orleans is combining a lot of key components: The Passive House Standard, 2030 Challenge which has influenced the Better Buildings Initiative issued by President Obama, and the 2011 AIA Convention New Orleans, to name a few.
Prizes include an HP Designjet T2300 PostScript eMFP (nearly $10,000 value), a feature on DesignReform on the first day of the AIA National Convention in New Orleans (May 12th), AND the winner will also receive a feature on ArchDaily.
We are looking forward to seeing your design solutions!
StudioSC / Marcio Kogan
Architects: Studio mk27 – Marcio Kogan, Suzana Glogowski
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Interior Design: Diana Radomysler, Beatriz Meyer
Project Team: Carolina Castroviejo , Eduardo Chalabi, Eduardo Glycerio, Eduardo Gurian, Elisa Friedmann, Gabriel Kogan, Lair Reis, Luciana Antunes, Maria Cristina Motta, Mariana Simas, Oswaldo Pessano, Renata Furlanetto, Samanta Cafardo
Project area: 1,160 sqm
Project year: 2009 – 2011
Photographs: Nelson Kon
Manuel I Secondary School / BFJ Arquitectos
Architects: BFJ Arquitectos – Francisco Amaral Pólvora
Co-authors: Bernardo Campos Pereira, José Amaral Pólvora
Location: Beja, Portugal
Project area: 14,730 sqm
Project year: 2008 – 2010
Photographs: FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
Galleria Centercity / UNStudio
Our friends from UNStudio have shared their latest 66,000 square meter Galleria in Cheonan, South Korea, with us. The Galleria attempts to re-define the traditional typology of such a place, as changing societal norms in Asia have led supermarkets to operate as “social and semi-cultural meeting places,” according to Ben van Berkel. As a result, the project blends the functional aspect of a large scale commercial store, while placing emphasis on maintaining a sense of public space for social and cultural aspects.
More information and photos after the break.
152 Fanshawe Street / Architectus
Architects: Architectus
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Client: Townscape Properties
Project area: 7,500 sqm
Project year: 2007
Photographs: Simon Devitt
Exhibition: ‘Architecture in Uniform: Designing and Building for the Second World War’
The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) presents the major exhibition Architecture in Uniform: Designing and Building for the Second World War. On view from 13 April until 18 September 2011, the exhibition investigates the consequences of the Second World War on the built environment and reveals the immense development undertaken and responsibility carried by architecture during these years. Until now, few studies have analyzed the breadth of research, innovation, and building conducted by architects during the war years.
Curator Jean-Louis Cohen fills an important historical gap by investigating the work and achievements of the architects and designers active during World War II across the political battle lines and demonstrates that the war served as an accelerator of technological innovation and production that would lead to the supremacy of modernism in architecture. For more information go to the exhibition’s official website.
In Progress: Faculty of Law, University of Toronto / Hariri Pontarini Architects
The North American competition-winning design for the renovation and expansion of the historic University of Toronto Faculty of Law responds directly to the client’s ambition to create a law school among the finest in the world. Hariri Pontarini Architects proposed a design that would provide both a physical and visual connection to its surrounding landscape.
Architects: Hariri Pontarini Architects
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Partner-in-Charge: Siamak Hariri
Project Area: 160,000 sqf
Photographs: Courtesy of Hariri Pontarini Architects
Inno Olympic Plaza / KSP Juergen Engel Architekten
Another first prize for KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten in Beijing: Inno Olympic Plaza. The German studio won another competition in Beijing (after the recent first prize for the Beijing Science Center) and will build the Inno Olympic Plaza just south of the location of the 2008 Olympics. Additional images and a narrative of their winning proposal after the break.
House Meijer / Van der Jeugd Architecten
Architects: Van der Jeugd Architecten
Location: Almelo, the Netherlands
Design team: Paul van der Jeugd, Ruud van der Koelen, Mirjam Wiggers
Project area: 370 sqm
Project year: 2008
Photographs: Ruud van der Koelen
h2 Hotel / David Baker + Partners
Registered for LEED certification, h2 Hotel infuses all aspects of its design, operations, and attitude with eco-consciousness—including such energy-saving measures as a green roof and solar panels.
Architect: David Baker + Partners
Location: 219 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg, California, USA
Interior Design: Jen Gadiel Design and Marie Fisher
Landscape Architect: Andrea Cochran Landscape Architects
Lighting Designer: Horton Lees Brogden
Mechanical/Plumbing Engineer: Guttman + Blaevoet
Acoustical Engineer: Wilson Ihrig + Associates
Contractor: Midstate Construction
Photographs: Brian Rose
W35 / Marianne Borge
Architects: Marianne Borge
Location: Drøbak, Oslo Fjord, Norway
Project area: 35 sqm
Contractor: Hakon Wester
Photographs: Ivan Brodey
Herzog de Meuron’s Triangle Tower Design Raises Eyebrows in Paris
The 590ft (180m) proposed Herzog de Meuron design labeled ‘Triangle Tower’, has been in the spotlight over recent weeks after the cross-party council approved the tower’s protocol agreement. Opposing the recent approval, Green party members are eager to share their thoughts commenting that the “colossal” project is “yet another office block” according to party member Yves Contassot.
The controversy over the 40-story steel and glass building surely was anticipated; the French capital has had a 30+ year drought of buildings over 121ft. In 1977 a ban was put into place, shortly after the completion of the 689ft Tour Montparnasse, because Parisians feared that the city center would lose its existing urban fabric to skyscrapers similar to the Montparnasse.
To most Parisians the Montparnasse’s over exaggerated proportions and lack of character have left an uneasy feeling for future skyscraper development. Many citizens are not opposed to high-rise development, such as Olivier de Rohan Chabot member of Safeguard of French Art, however he has concerns, “Look at the Montparnasse Tower; it has crushed the hotel des Invalides (housing Napoleon’s tomb). The monument was built to be grandiose. But what has it become? A dwarf. The tower ridicules it. In this sense, it’s a veritable attack on the beauty of the capital” (as stated Le Figaro newspaper).
More following the break.
J. Mayer H. Architects’ Metropol Parasol new photos
Last week we told you about J. Mayer H. Architects’ Metropol Parasol recent opening. Today, photographer Javier Orive shared with us some great photos of the redevelopment of Plaza de la Encarnación in Sevilla. Check them out after the break.
2015 Pan American Games Pavilion / Manuel Gross + Patrik Staub + Stefan Vetsch + Yannick Vorberg
Manuel Gross, Patrik Staub, Stefan Vetsch and Yannick Vorberg, all recent graduates of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, have shared with us their winning entry for the AIAS/Vinyl Institute 2015 Pan American Games Awards Pavilion to be situated in Toronto, Canada. Follow after the break for a comprehensive write up and additional images of their competition entry.
Anukoo Fair Fashion Shop / Atelier Heiss Architekten
Architects: atelier heiss architekten – DI Christian Heiss, DI Michael Thomas, DI Thomas Mayer
Location: Vienna, Austria
Project area: 70 sqm
Project year: 2011
Photographs: Courtesy of atelier heiss architekten
Spiritual and Cultural Russian Orthodox Center / Christian Pottgiesser architecturespossibles
Christian Pottgiesser architecturespossibles recently shared with us their entry for the Russian Orthodox Center in Paris. Read about their proposal and view their renderings and video after the break.
Vertical Urban Factory Exhibit at The Skyscraper Museum
Now on exhibit at The Skyscraper Museum, ‘Vertical Urban Factory’ examines over 30 significant factory buildings from the turn of the 20th century to present day discussing the architectural design and structural engineering along with the evolution of mass-production technologies and social issues. Focusing primarily on the verticality of urban manufacturing the exhibition poses the question: Can factories present sustainable solutions for future self-sufficient cities?
‘Vertical Urban Factory’ is guest-curated by Nina Rappaport, architectural historian and critic and Publications Director, Yale School of Architecture with designers mgmt. design, Studio Tractor Architects, and filmmaker Eric Breitbart.
The Museum also is offering a series of corresponding programs including panel discussions, gallery tours, factory tours, and film screenings. More details of this exciting exhibit following the break!
