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Architects: Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects
- Year: 2013
Bernex City Hall / Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects
5 Finalists Selected for the 2015 EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture- Mies van der Rohe Award
Five projects have been selected as finalists of the 2015 EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture- Mies van der Rohe Award. The finalists were selected from a shortlist of 40 projects, and over the next couple of months the jury members will visit each of the finalist projects to evaluate the buildings firsthand and gather information from the people who use them. On May 7, the architects will present their projects to the jury. The winner will be announced the following day at a ceremony at Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion.
See the five finalists after the break.
Boston Society of Architects Announce 2014 Design Award Winners
The Boston Society of Architects (BSA) has announced the 2014 winners of its Design Awards. The BSA Design Awards are allocated annually at the BSA Design Awards Gala, and concentrate on design excellence throughout New England. Each award recognizes projects that excel both aesthetically and technically, making a positive impact in the field of architecture.
Read on after the break to see the honor award winners in each category.
The Barrancas House / EZEQUIELFARCA
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Architects: Ezequiel Farca + Cristina Grappin
- Area: 720 m²
- Year: 2014
AIA Elevates Five International Architects to the College of Fellows
The 2015 Jury of Fellows from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has elevated five international members to its prestigious College of Fellows, including two architects from the Spanish firm Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos that recently won the 2015 Alvar Aalto Medal. The award is given to those who have made significant contributions to the profession. All Fellows will be honored at an investiture ceremony at the 2015 National AIA Convention and Design Exposition in Atlanta. The complete list of newly inducted Honorary Fellows, after the break.
Spanish Firm Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos Awarded 2015 Alvar Aalto Medal
Spanish firm Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos has been selected to receive the 2015 Alvar Aalto Medal. Awarded every three years, the Alvar Aalto Medal recognizes an office or architect “with outstanding merit in creative architecture.” Nieto Sobejano and its founders – Fuensanta Nieto and Enrique Sobejano—were commended by the jury for their profound understanding of the local cultures where they work.
“Nieto and Sobejano were key names in the new wave of Spanish architecture, which emerged in the late 1970s. The roots of their architecture lie in Spain, and its multi-layered history and culture,” the jury wrote. “Their works speak a silent language, proving that the precondition of meaningful architecture is an in-depth understanding of local culture and the context of the design brief.”
Sergei Tchoban on the Importance of Drawing and Details in Architecture
Berlin Art Link recently sat down with Russian-born, German architect Sergei Tchoban. In the interview above, he discusses his career, including working on the design for the Vostok Tower, Europe’s tallest skyscraper, and the recent opening of the Tchoban Foundation Museum for Architectural Drawing. This building houses his extensive personal works, as well as exhibitions by other artists. “What is very important for me is the quality of all details, so you create a building from outline, from the silhouette, to the door lever. This building brings out a lot of our and my personal ideas about architecture and about details in architecture,” Tchoban said regarding his design for the Museum for Architectural Drawing. The exterior of the building expresses Tchoban’s devotion to draftsmanship-- the facade of the building is etched with a graphic pattern based on sketches from artists Angelo Toseli and Pietro di Gottardo Gonzaga. “I’m very active in drawings, as a draftsman myself. Drawing is a result of our thinking process and our thinking process is not only a thinking process with the head, with the mind, but also the process where you think with the whole body.”
176-Pound Concrete Slab Falls From Year-Old Zaha Hadid Library
A 176-pound (80 kilograms) chunk of concrete cladding has fallen from year-old Library and Learning Centre at the University of Economics Vienna. This, unfortunately, isn’t the first time the Zaha Hadid-designed structure has malfunctioned; last year, an “assembly error” was deemed the reason why a large piece of fiberglass-reinforced concrete crashed down in front of the building’s entrance.
The Work of SelgasCano, the 2015 Serpentine Pavilion Designers
The latest designer of the prestigious Serpentine Gallery Pavilion has been named as SelgasCano, the Spanish practice known for their use of the latest synthetic materials and new technology. The Serpentine Pavilion, which has grown to become one of the most visited annual architecture attractions in the world, aims to provide architects who have never built in the UK their first chance to do so. In the past, this has led to pavilions by globally-recognized names such as Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Oscar Niemeyer, and Peter Zumthor, but in recent years the Serpentine Gallery seems to have changed course a little, instead bringing lesser-known, emergent stars to a much wider audience. This was true of Smiljan Radić and his 2014 pavilion, and will likely prove true for the duo of José Selgas and Lucía Cano.
Although designs for the 2015 pavilion will not be released until February, SelgasCano have promised "to use only one material... the Transparency," adding that "the most advanced technologies will be needed to be employed to accomplish that transparency." This coy description perhaps calls to mind the design of their own office, a partially sunken tube of a building with one side made entirely of curved glass, which won them widespread recognition in 2009.
To give a better idea of the design style that SelgasCano will bring to the 2015 Serpentine Pavilion, we've rounded up a number of their major projects for your viewing pleasure, after the break.
Bill & Melinda Gates Hall / Morphosis Architects
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Architects: Morphosis
- Area: 9425 m²
- Year: 2014
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Manufacturers: C.R. Laurence, Lutron, Pilkington, Vitro®, Wilkhahn, +38
House in Futrono / Cristián Izquierdo Lehmann
Luxembourg House / Meier Partners
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Architects: Meier Partners
- Area: 975 m²
- Year: 2012
Five Buildings Compete to be Named "World's Best Highrise"
Rem Koolhaas, Steven Holl, Jean Nouvel and Boeri Studio are the masters behind five skyscrapers competing to be crowned the “World’s best.” Chosen as finalists for the 2014 International Highrise Award (IHA), the four practices are in the running for a prestigious title and €50,000 prize.
Award organizers from the City of Frankfurt/Main, Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) and DekaBank at Frankfurt’s Paulskirche will announce a winner in mid-November. The chosen skyscraper will be selected by an esteemed, multidisciplinary jury based on the criteria ranging from future-oriented design and innovative building technology, to the building’s integrative urban development scheme and cost-effectiveness.
“Good architecture requires a willingness to take risks and a desire to try things out. All the finalists took this approach – there can be no innovation without experimentation. Our shortlist comprises three different prototypes of the future,” commented Jury Chairman Christoph Ingenhoven.
View all five of the competing highrises and the jury’s comments, after the break…
Wicker Man: An Interview with Salvador Gilabert of EMBT
As one of EMBT's Directors, Salvador Gilabert has helped guide the realization of some of the practice's biggest projects in recent years – including as project director of Spain's 2010 Shanghai Expo Pavilion and the recently completed Barajas Social Housing Block.
Last month, he took a week out of his schedule to lead a project at Hello Wood, where – with an energy and intensity that was almost out of place in the relaxing surroundings of the Hungarian countryside – he led a group of students to construct an ambitious, screw-free elevated platform that emerged from a cluster of trees and offered views of the setting sun. ArchDaily caught up with Salvador Gilabert during the week to find out more about his work.
Read on after the break for the full interview
World Photo Day: Roland Halbe by Thom Mayne
In honor of World Photo Day (August 19th) ArchDaily wanted to thank the photographers who bring to life the projects that we publish every day. So we asked 15 architects to weigh in on the work of some of our most-appreciated architecture photographers. Here, Thom Mayne writes on behalf of Roland Halbe.
ESO Headquarters Extension / Auer Weber
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Architects: Auer Weber
- Area: 18736 m²
- Year: 2013
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Manufacturers: Lamilux, Alusommer, KERMI, Ornilux
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Professionals: BAM-Germany, Schmidt König, Gesswein Landschaftsarchitekten, Mayr | Ludescher | Partner, Müller-BBM GmbH, +1
House in Vitacura / Izquierdo Lehmann
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Architects: Izquierdo Lehmann
- Area: 983 m²
- Year: 2012
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Manufacturers: Nuprotec
AD Round Up: Happy Bastille Day!
The fourteenth of July is Bastille Day, a day that commemorates the start of the French Revolution. Named for the fortress prison that was stormed by revolutionaries on July 14th, 1789, Bastille Day is celebrated globally both by France and her former colonies, as well as many cities in the US. In honor of this historic date, we’ve compiled some of our favorite French projects from the past few years. In this round up you’ll find classics such as the Villa dall’Ava by OMA, as well as fantastic works like Nova Green by Agence Bernard Bühler, Pontivy Media Library and Louviers Music school by Opus 5 architectes, Platform Architecture’s Aquitanis Headquarters, L’Atoll Angers by Antonio Virga Architecte and AAVP Architecture, a Parking Attendant’s Pavilion by Jean-Luc Fugier, Kengo Kuma’s Aix en Provence Conservatory of Music, and Origami by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Joyeux quatorze juillet!