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Cross Laminated Timber: The Latest Architecture and News

A Hospital in Belgium and an Airport in NEOM: 8 Unbuilt Structures That Feature Organic Shapes Submitted by the ArchDaily Community

In constantly changing industry of architectural design, the rebirth of organic shapes stands as a testament to the power of design. “Following years of linear, clean-cut, and refined spaces, curved silhouettes were revived, became one of the dominating interior design trends across the world.” Aiming to redefine the boundaries of physical spaces and conventional forms, these curves are often times inspired by nature. In fact, organic architecture symbolizes a departure from the static, reflecting the essence of our technological age.

This curated selection of the Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights projects submitted by the ArchDaily community that demonstrate the use of organic shapes in various forms of architecture and program use. Many times, organic architecture stands as a testament to what we are able to make in 2024, innovating in structural and material technology. From Vincent Callebaut’s HospiWood to Zomorrodi & Associates’ Cadence Art Center, these instances showcase this shift in desigin thinking. Whether its a residential villa in the United States or a resort centered around a curved pool in the Netherlands, organic architecture has been trending globally.

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Shigeru Ban Designs Cross-Laminated Timber Hospital for Ukraine

Shigeru Ban has announced the intention to collaborate with the municipality of Lviv to design an expansion of the Lviv hospital. As the largest hospital in Ukraine, this unit has witnessed an increase in the number of patients since the beginning of the war, leading to the need to increase the capacity of the institution. Shigeru Ban’s proposal uses cross-laminated wood and joints inspired by traditional wooden construction techniques to create a safe and welcoming environment for healing and recuperating.

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Taking on California's First Mass Timber Building

Mass timber is emerging all across North America. Beyond the benefits of natural materials and visible structures, the capabilities of industrialized offsite construction are beginning to change the model of delivery for an increasing range of buildings. When a California owner-developer proposed the first mass timber building in the state, they chose the experience, scope, and qualifications carefully, and the entire mass timber package was delivered on a train from Quebec, Canada.

Foster + Partners Unveils Design for The William, One of London’s Largest Timber Developments

Foster + Partners has revealed the design for a new mixed-use development in the northern end of the central London high street. The building is located on Queensway, opposite the Whitley, the famous department store, which is also being transformed by Foster + Partners as part of a larger redevelopment scheme. Named The William, after William Whiteley, the eponymous founder of the famous Whiteleys, the project includes six floors of office space, shops, and 32 new homes, 11 of which will be affordable.

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Lina Ghotmeh Selected as Designer of the 2023 Serpentine Pavilion, with a Proposal Aiming for the Smallest Possible Carbon Footprint

Beirut-born, Paris-based architect Lina Ghotmeh has been announced as the designer of the 22nd annual Serpentine Gallery Pavilion. Titled “À Table,” the French expression for sitting together to eat, her proposal introduces a slender wooden structure with nine pleated petals supported by radial ribs. Inside the pavilion, a ring of tables and benches invites visitors to enter, sit down and relax, eat or work together. According to the architect, the modest space and low-slung canopy is meant to make people feel close to the earth. The Serpentine Pavilion will be open from June to October 2023.

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OMT Architects Designs Africa's Tallest Timber Tower in Zanzibar City, Tanzania

German-based architecture firm OMT designed Africa's tallest hybrid timber tower in Zanzibar City, Tanzania. In partnership with Birk Heilmeyer Frenzel Architects, engineering firm Knippers Helbig Advanced Engineers, and CPS Developers, the "Burj Zanzibar" will rise 96 meters tall to accommodate 266 residences and recreational and conferencing facilities. The mixed-use tower will promote the locally available wood and support the growing urban infrastructure that, according to the government plans, expects to attract tech companies to turn the island into a leading hub for Africa's technology companies.

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Icon Architects Designs North America's Tallest Timber Building in Toronto, Canada

Icon Architects unveiled the design of a 90 meters tall timber tower in Toronto, Canada, which would become, once completed, North America's tallest building made of wood. Named the "191-199 College Street," the project is aligned with the master plan led by Alison Brooks Architects, Adjaye Associates, Henning Larsen, and SLA to develop Toronto's Waterfront that seeks to turn the Canadian city into a hub of affordable housing, robust public spaces, and new business opportunities. The construction of the CLT tower will cut over 3,300 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions and accommodate around 400 affordable rental units.

Grimshaw Reveals Design for Futures Institute at Dollar Academy in Scotland, UK

Architecture practice Grimshaw has revealed designs for the Futures Institute at Dollar Academy (FIDA) in Scotland, UK, an open-access learning platform developed by the Dollar Academy, one of Scotland’s leading independent schools. The Institute’s new building will receive the country’s first Living Building certification.

FIDA was launched in May 2021 to tackle fundamental challenges in education: providing equitable access and closing the poverty-related attainment gap; finding compelling alternatives to traditional teaching and exam systems; and addressing sustainability. The initiative invites young people across Scotland to participate in innovative projects rooted in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These challenges include workshops, skills-based courses, design challenges, and competitions, all offered in-person and via an online platform to enable the broadest possible participation.

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Toronto’s Leaside Innovation Centre Will be the First Mass Timber Flatiron Building in Canada

Canada suffers no shortage of flatiron buildings, with historic examples dotting the provinces from Toronto to Vancouver to Lacombe, Alberta, and beyond. Canada also enjoys its status as a hotbed of mass timber construction with Quebec serving as an epicenter of sorts for the movement. However, these two things—flatiron building design and the use of engineered wood products—have never yet been combined.

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UK Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai is a Stage for AI-Generated Collective Poems

UK Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai is a Stage for AI-Generated Collective Poems - Featured Image
© Alin Constantin Photography

UK’s contribution to Expo 2020 Dubai is a wooden sculptural structure that celebrates cultural diversity and collaboration, highlighting Britain as a meeting place of cultures and ideas. Created by artist and designer Es Devlin, the Poem Pavilion uses advanced machine learning algorithms to transform the input of visitors into collective poems. The latter can be read in illuminating displays on the façade, transforming the pavilion into the exhibit itself.

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Mass Timber Seizes its Moment: The LEVER Architecture Experience

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The family of products that encompass mass timber –including Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), Glue-Laminated Timber (Glulam), and Mass Plywood– is increasingly becoming a viable construction alternative for the AEC industry. Timber has been a structural material for thousands of years, but these engineered wood products have broadened the field of options and provided a solid basis for architectural designers to work with, expanding upon their range of materials and finishes.

Alison Brooks Designs New Entrance Building for Cambridge College

UK-based practise Alison Brooks Architects has recently won the competition to design the new Entrance Building and Children’s Literature Resource Centre for Homerton, the biggest college in Cambridge. Described by the architects as a “lantern”, the proposal is a three-storey mass-timber framed pavilion which will welcome visitors to the grounds while also providing additional study and exhibition space. Through its morphology and copper-clad facades of the upper floors, the new building establishes a dialogue with its context and provides a flexible space that can accommodate the College’s future spatial needs.

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Ross Barney Architects' CLT Design for McDonald's Expands the Possibilities of Timber Construction

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© Kendall McCaugherty, Hall+Merrick Photographers

In an effort to reinvent an iconic American fast-food brand, McDonald’s U.S. has announced a new direction for the corporation, beginning with rethinking the restaurant’s current archetypal design both in its interior eating spaces and exterior urban landscape. A primary example of this commitment can be seen in the recently completed design for McDonald’s Global Flagship in Chicago by Ross Barney Architects.

The structure, which fills an entire city block in the heart of Chicago, was envisioned as a hallmark example of both the architect and the corporation's shared commitment to environmentally sustainable design. Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), an essential material for the project, replaced many of the commonly-used building materials such as steel, concrete, and plastics that have a larger environmental footprint.