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© Albert Vecerka/Esto

Accompanied by Mayor Bloomberg yesterday in an early morning ribbon cutting, New York City-based practice Weiss/Manfredi celebrated the grand opening of the new Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center. Embedded into an existing hillside at the Garden’s northeast corner, the sinuous glass building appears as a seamless extension to the existing topography as it leads into the 52-acre garden. In addition, the $28-million Visitor Center incorporates numerous environmentally sustainable features—most notably a 10,000-square-foot living roof—that are aimed toward earning LEED Gold certification. The project has been recognized by the New York City Public Design Commission with an Award for Excellence in Design.

Continue reading after the break for the architects’ description.

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A flag announcing the IPO of Facebook flies next to the American flag outside the offices of J.P. Morgan in New York City, New York, May 4, 2012. REUTERS/Lee Celano via The Nation.

In her recent Next American City article, “An IPO for Cities”, Diana Lind proposes employing the financial mechanisms of Wall Street to fund urban development and maintain public infrastructure. This would be fundamentally dangerous to already fragile municipal finance systems.

Is it possible that, now four years in, we still haven’t learned anything from Depression 2.0? Is Wall Street, the cause celebre of our financial system’s downslide, really a good model for funding our cities? Would this go over well in Europe?

Cities are struggling, but raising capital through a financial tool designed to infuse cash into corporations is not the answer. Cities neither function like publicly-traded corporations nor were they intended to perform in such manner. read more »

Today,  over 17,000 architects and designers, contractors and project managers, magazines and bloggers (including us) will converge on the Capital for the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) 144th National Convention, Design Connects. So let’s take a moment to reflect on this Association’s long history, intertwined with our nation’s history, and look at how it’s evolved to become both a vital resource for working/emerging architects and the voice of the architecture profession today.

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Courtesy of OFIS Arhitekti

The new extension for the Crossroad Offices by OFIS Arhitekti acts as a crossroad regulator between the existing villa and its approach from the street on the south side and the underground parking on the east side. The actual form derives from the main logical directions on the site to the main destinations as the new volume is positioned behind the existing villa with individual cut outs, ‘green bays’, in function of the extended external park coming into the pavilion. Inside they form divisions between internal spaces and create dynamic, light and calming atmosphere. More images and architects’ description after the break. read more »

© Megan Jett

According to its Web Site, The American Institute of Architects (AIA) aims to be two things for the architecture profession: a resource and a voice.

There’s no doubt that as a resource, the AIA plays its part well. But what does it mean to be a “voice”? Can an association speak for a profession? And, if so, what is it saying?

Today, over 17,000 architects and designers, contractors and project managers, magazines and bloggers (including us) will converge on the Capital for the AIA’s 144th National Convention, Design Connects. Over the course of three days, connections will be made, conversations had, and three keynote speakers present.

If the AIA represents how we conceptualize and communicate architecture, then let’s take a closer look at those speakers who will be its living mouthpieces: a famed historian, a member of the Obama administration, and the architects who participated in the 9/11 Memorials. The past, the present, the future. Taken together, they tell a story – of where we’ve been, yes, but, more importantly, where we’re going.

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Source AIA via the WSJ

And, we are back with our monthly updates of the Architecture Billings Index.  Last month looked promising as March marked the fifth consecutive positive rating.  However, April’s index has been calculated as 48.4 – a drop from March’s 50.4.  The index has been a roller coaster ride of slight positive trends followed by negative setbacks, and AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, explains, “Considering the continued volatility in the overall economy, this decline in demand for design services isn’t terribly surprising.  Also, favorable conditions during the winter months may have accelerated design billings, producing a pause in projects that have moved ahead faster than expected.”

More about April’s index after the break. read more »

© Shu He Photo

Architect: Vector Architects
Location: Kunshan, China
Client: Kunshan City Investment Company
Design-Partner-In-Charge: Gong Dong, Chien-ho Hsu
Project Architect: Feng Xu
Project Advisor: Nan Wang
Building Area: 150 sqm
Completion: 2012
Photographs: Shu He Photo

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© Laurent Brandajs

Architects: LR Architects
Location: Seneffe, Belgium
Completion: 2008
Surface: 170 sqm
Photographs: Laurent Brandajs

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© Ricardo Amado Fotografía

Architects: Daniel Bonilla Arquitectos
Location: Bogotá, Colombia
Chair Design: Lorenzo Castro
Photographs: Ricardo Amado Fotografía

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© Roberto Puchetti

Architects: Roberto Puchetti
Location: Caracas, Venezuela
Project Team: Yesenia Di Sabatino, Fernando Blanco, Andrés Cova, Karina Rodriguez
Engineering: Manuel Ramírez, Roberto De Adessis, Ricardo Ortega
Completion: 2011
Built Area: 465 sqm
Client: Centro Italiano Venezolano, A.C.
Construction: Constructora Proyectos La Torre, C.A.
Photographs: Roberto Puchetti

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© Miguel Coelho

Architects: Bruno Armando Gomes Marques
Location: S. Roque, Municipality of Oliveira de Azeméis, Portugal
Contributors: Architect Gonçalo Freitas, Architect Rita Cunha
Designers of expertise: Ponte Urbana, Ltd
Completion: 2011
Photographs: Miguel Coelho

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© Yao Li

Architect: Zephyr Architects
Location: Wuhan, Hubei, China
Client: Bio-Lake Commission
Gross Floor Area: 3,540 sqm
Completion: 2010
Design Team: Fu Dong, Zhao Zhonggui, Yang Ching-Chi, Ding Junmei, Yu Tong
Associate Architect: Wuhan Oule
Photographs: Yao Li

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In his book Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed, French photographer Frédéric Chaubin captures the eerie beauty of Soviet brutalism. In his quest to document Brezhnev-era architecture, he stumbled upon 90 Soviet buildings scattered across 14 former-USSR republics. The diversity and lack of a recurring theme across the buildings signaled the end of the Soviet Union.

© Uzi Porat

Architects: Jacobs-Yaniv Architects
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Project management: Oren Sadot
Structural engineer: Doron Toeg
Garden design: Itamar Landscape Design Ltd.
Photographs: Uzi Porat

   
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© Peter Bennett

Architects: Edwards Moore
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Project Team: Ben Edwards, Juliet Moore, Leo Dewitte, Jacqueline Nguyen
Area: 70 sqm
Year: 2012
Photographs: Peter Bennett

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Courtesy of MIZIEN

Architects: MIZIEN
Location: Palau-solità i Plegamans, Barcelona, Spain
Client: Palau-solità i Plegamans Municipality
Completion: 2011
Area: 450 sqm
Cost: 1,062,847.25 €
Photographs: Courtesy of MIZIEN

   
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Courtesy of Prechteck

The main idea behind the design for the S.Deer Corporate Headquarters building was to create a world of fashion underlining the lifestyle the retail company stands for. As fashion is not just about clothing, the new S.Deer headquaters should not just be about administration. Inspired by S.Deer’s appearance design, Prechteck‘s proposal implemented rotated cubes as a formal element in their design. More images and architects’ description after the break. read more »