Höweler + Yoon Architecture wins Audi Urban Future Award 2012
Eric Höweler and J. Meejin Yoon of Höweler + Yoon Architecture have been announced as winners of the Audi Urban Future Award 2012, an international architecture competition focused on the future of urban mobility in the five metropolitan regions Boston/Washington, Istanbul, Mumbai, Pearl River Delta, and São Paulo. With “Shareway”, the Boston firm’s winning proposal called for the reinvention of the Boston-Washington, D.C., metropolitan region called “Boswash”.
Höweler+Yoon Architecture was one of the five architectural offices that were selected for the competition. Other participating firms were Superpool (Istanbul), CRIT (Mumbai), Node Architecture & Urbanism (Pearl River Delta), and Urban-Think Tank (São Paulo).
We had the chance to interview the practices and ask them about the role of the architect in our society. We also talked to Eric Höweler about this project during the awards ceremony, video coming soon.
Project Description by Höweler+Yoon Architecture:
Sky Courts / Höweler + Yoon Architecture
Architects: Höweler + Yoon Architecture
Location: Chengdu, China
Year: 2012
Area: 20,000 sq ft
Photographs: Yihuai Hu, Courtesy of Höweler + Yoon Architecture
BSA (Boston Society of Architects) Space / Höweler + Yoon Architecture
The Boston Society of Architects (BSA) recently opened its new headquarters, BSA Space, Boston’s leading cultural institution on architecture and design. The design of the new headquarters by Boston-based firm Höweler + Yoon Architecture is centered around a highly visible “cloud” ceiling and an iconic stair. These two architectural elements act as brand markers for BSA Space and an invitation into the exhibits and meeting spaces above. More images and project description after the break.
In Progress: Sky Courts / Höweler + Yoon Architecture
Sky Courts is a 20,000 sqf corporate club house that incorporate short-term housing, office space, and entertainment facilities utilizing the logics of the courtyard and sloped roof. The project packs several courtyards into a defined perimeter and utilizes the sloped roof to accommodate program in the wedge between courtyards, allowing the project to read as 100% courtyard from above. The complex lacks a single center; instead it is a network with multiple centers, and multiple paths, edges and liners. The sequence through these precincts creates a series of layered spaces that line exterior spaces, and views from one courtyard might look through perimeter spaces and into other courtyards.
Building 2345 / Höweler + Yoon Architecture
Located in the under-developed neighborhood of Anacostia in southeast Washington DC, Building 2345 stacks a series of interlocking uses in order to maximize the site. With an existing FAR of 1.5, and an additional FAR bonus of 1 for mixed-use developments, the building maximizes its FAR potential on a narrow lot, 25’ wide by 130’ long. The program includes a doctor’s office, retail and residential uses.
Architect: Höweler + Yoon Architecture
Location: Anacostia, Washington DC, USA
Project Team: J. Meejin Yoon, Eric Howeler, Carl Solander, Liz Burrow, Parker Lee, Daniel Sullivan, Dan Smithwick, Eric Maso
Structural Engineer: MGV
Contractor: FEI Construction
Mechanical Engineer: MepTech
Civil Engineer: CAS
Project Year: 2007
Photographs: Courtesy of Höweler + Yoon Architecture
MIT’s Festival for Art Science and Technology ‘FAST Light’
MIT’s Festival for Art Science and Technology will culminate this weekend May 7th and 8th with FAST Light, a series of innovative site specific installations around the MIT campus and along the Charles River. Installations by MIT Department of Architecture Head, Nader Tehrani (founder and principal of Office dA and of the newly formed NADAAA), Professor Sheila Kennedy (Principal of Kennedy & Violich Architecture), and Professor Meejin Yoon (Principal of Höweler + Yoon Architecture and MY Studio) are among the final river front projects that will light up the night along the river this Saturday and Sunday in front of Killian Court at MIT.
More information, photographs, and videos following the break
BSA Headquarters / Höweler + Yoon Architecture
The Boston Society of Architects plans to move from its current location on 52 Broad Street to a new space at Atlantic Wharf, as part of a major transformation of the 1867 institution. As part of an open design competition, the BSA selected Höweler + Yoon Architecture’s proposal entitled: Slipstream Public Exchange. Images of the proposal, a fly through video and an architects description after the break.
Expanded Practice: Höweler + Yoon Architecture / MY Studio
The title “Expanded Practice” comes from how Höweler + Yoon Architecture / My Studio have named their design methodology. And in this book it’s not just a title, as the book is really a guide on how this young firm conceives their projects rather than a mere catalog of works.
Their works can’t be grouped in types of buildings, instead their works are grouped in envelopes, natures, formats, interactions and media, as they range from a Möbius strip dress, to a responsive park.
What caught me while reading this book is the effective use of technology developed by this practice, not just mere eye candy as we are used to. It clearly shows how the architects’ experimentation with small electronic components could be derived into interactive spaces through a methodological work. And I have to repeat “metholodogy” as it is the most important part of this book, which makes it a learning tool instead of a construction catalog as we are used to on typical monographs.
More information about this book after the break.
