© Alex Morris Visualisation

John Pawson, OMA, West 8 and Arup were all asked to come together to design The New Design Museum in London. Their design will accommodate up to 500,000 visitors per year. Notable for its superb complex hyperbolic paraboloid copper roof intended by the architects to symbolize a tent in the park, it is regarded by English Heritage as the second most important modern building in London, after the Royal Festival Hall. Plans to bring the new design to fruition is scheduled to be completed by 2014. More images and architects’ description after the break. read more »

Jacques Herzog, Ai Weiwei and Pierre de Meuron © Courtesy of Serpentine Gallery

Today, the Serpentine Gallery announced the team that will design the twelfth edition of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, a special edition that will be part of the  London 2012 Festival, the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad.

Every year the gallery invites a renowned international architects who has not built yet in the UK, to design a temporary pavilion that hosts public activities in at the Gallery’s lawn, in London’s Hyde Park between June and October 2012. The list of architects for the past editions includes several Pritzker laureates. More info of this program at our Serpentine Gallery Pavilion infographic.

This years teams includes Pritzker laureate architects Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, and Chinese artist Ai Weiwei (runner up of TIME’s 2011 Person of the Year). The trio has worked together in projects such as ORDOS 100 in the Mongolian desert and the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games. As a trio they don’t have any built projects in the UK, but Herzog & de Meuron have been involved in several, including the Tate Modern renovation and its current expansion.

Their design will explore the  hidden history of the previous installations (more info), with eleven columns under the lawn of the Serpentine, representing the past pavilions and a twelfth column supporting a floating platform roof 1.5 metres above ground. Taking an archaeological approach, the architects have created a design that will inspire visitors to look beneath the surface of the park as well as back in time across the ghosts of the earlier structures.

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Courtesy of Make Architects

Architects: Make Architects
Location: London, England
Client: London and Regional Properties Ltd
Collaborators: Arup, Blyth & Blyth, DP9, Expedition Engineering, Hann Tucker, HBG, Indigo Lighting, Jason Bruges Studio, Safe Consulting Ltd, Tweeds Construction Consultancy
Project Area: 75,000 sqm
Project Year: 2008
Photographs: Zander Olsen, Make Architects

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Courtesy of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF)

International architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) recenlty announced the inaugural exhibition at its new gallery space in central London, a celebration of the work of German artist and architectural photographer Hans‐Georg Esch. Shown in the UK for the first time, the exhibition presents a selection of photographs taken from Esch’s ‘Cities Unknown’ series. More images and information on the exhibition after the break. read more »

Monster Ball, World Tour 2009-10 © Es Devlin

As part of the V&A’s British Design Season, this display in the Theatre and Performance Galleries taking place March 17 – September 30 will celebrate the work of over 30 of the most pioneering British theatre designers, architects and artists to have created for performance over the last four years. The selected works on show will range from costumes for live opera and drama to video projections for stadium music concerts and will illustrate how each designer looks for new ways to transform space, light, sound and body for the stage. More information on the event after the break. read more »

Courtesy of Make Architects

Architects: Make Architects
Location: London, UK
Client: City of London
Collaborators: Arup, Davis Langdon
Project Area: 135 sqm
Project Year: 2007
Photographs: Zander Olsen, Make Architects 

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Courtesy of V&A

This February until the first week of July, a selection of photographs and architectural drawings will be displayed at the V&A Museum of Childhood to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the Museum opening in Bethnal Green. A Museum of Art and Science was officially opened by the Prince of Wales on 24 June 1872. More information on the event after the break. read more »

© Gareth Gardner

Architect: Nick Willson Architects
Location: London, England
Project Area: 170sqm.
Photographs: Gareth Gardner
   
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Courtesy of Building Trust International

Building Trust International will be hosting an exhibition of sustainable, modular, mobile school designs for migrant and refugee populations at a POP up space open to the general public from 10am-7pm on Oxford St, London from February 3-10.

The event will showcase the winning and shortlisted designs from their recent “School 4 Burma” competition. The exhibition will invite a wide range of distinguished architects and designers to attend which will further widen the exposure of the fantastic designs and continue the support for their “School 4 Burma” project.

© Zander Olsen

Architects: Make Architects
Location: London, UK
Client: Ridgeford Properties Ltd
Collaborators: Alan Baxter and Associates, Arup, Drivers Jonas, Gardiner and Theobald, Maleon, John Sisk and Son Ltd, Savell Bird and Axon, Schatunowski Brooks
Project Area: 1,580 sqm
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: Zander Olsen

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View from Rosemount Viaduct - Rendering provided by the Diller Scofidio + Renfro submission boards

Aberdeen City Garden Trust has announced Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) as winner of the international design competition that will transform the center of Aberdeen. The New York City based firm will be working with the Scottish practice Keppie Design and Philadelphia landscape architects OLIN. The “rich and varied” shortlist included Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Foster + Partners, Gustafson Porter, Mecanoo, Snøhetta & Hoskins and West 8. After an extended run-off between DS+R and Foster + Partners, the Aberdeen City Garden competition will be DS+R’s first major win in a European design competition.

Continue reading for more!

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© Zander Olsen

Architects: Make Architects
Location: London, UK
Client: St James Group Ltd
Collaborators: Sheppard Robson, Arup, Barton Willmore, Charles Funke Associates, Davis Langdon, EDP, Faithful+Gould, FPD Savills, Future City, Herbert Smith
Project Area: 25,000 sqm
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: Zander Olsen, Make Architects: Charles Funke; Cooper Rose

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UK Pavilion, Seed Cathedral. Shanghai Expo, China, 2010 © Iwan Baan

As part of a season of events celebrating British design, the V&A presents the first major solo exhibition of the work of one of the most inventive and experimental British design studios practicing today.

This exhibition, taking place from May 31 to September 30, will show the enormous variety of projects that Heatherwick Studio have worked on over the last two decades spanning the disciplines of architecture, sculpture, engineering, furniture and product design. Bringing together prototypes, objects of inspiration, models and finished pieces, the exhibition will reveal the Studio’s creative process and spirit of curiosity. Visitors to the V&A at this time can also enjoy free entry to a spectacular specially-commissioned installation in the Museum’s John Madejski Garden. For more information, please visit here.

Critical Territories / Groundlab and Plasma Studio

Opening tomorrow at the AA, Critical Territories will share the work of Groundlab and Plasma Studio -two interdisciplinary firms pushing the envelope of the relationship between and the expression of landscape design and architecture.   The installation will share the firms’ top projects, such as the Xian International Horticultural Expo which we having been covering extensively on AD,  by way of a site-specific grid arrangement of light boxes covered with technical drawings.  The organization of the installation will showcase the underlying themes of the practices, namely their systemic approach and preoccupation with grids, ground and context. The exhibit will be run through February 11.

© Andy Matthews

Architects: Feix & Merlin Architects
Location: St. Clements Lane, LSE Campus in Holborn, London, England
Client: The LSE London School of Economics
Constructor: Sykes & Son Limited
Use: Student Salon – a social space for the Students of the LSE
Project Area: 30 sqm
Project Year: 2011
Photographs: Andy Matthews

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Courtesy of Make Architects

Ocubis Ltd, development manager for owners Laffly Ltd, has announced that planning permission has been granted by the London Borough of Camden in early December for the comprehensive renovation and redevelopment of 150 Holborn, situated at the corner of Holborn and Grays Inn Road. The building designed by Make Architects, which is located immediately adjacent to Chancery Lane Tube station, will be substantially remodelled and extended to create 80,000 sq ft prime office space and six one, two and three-bedroom apartments, which together complement the existing 30,000 sq ft of retail space at ground-floor level. More images and project description after the break. read more »

© Renzo Piano. The Shard.

We have been covering Renzo Piano’s Shard for London throughout its design and construction process.  Slated to become the tallest building in Europe, the Shard will make a remarkable impression of the London skyline, dwarfing most of the metropolis as the 1000ft+ tower streamlines toward the sky.   The tower has been constructed in an era of economic uncertainty, and although its height alludes confidence and a feeling of power, as it takes shape, many question the motives behind the project and its future implications on the city.

More about the Shard after the break. read more »

© Foster and Partners

Foster + Partners Thames Hub proposal has continuously made progress throughout the year of 2011, however reports say the practice is facing some opposition in the new year. In early November, Foster + Partners revealed the £50bn project that plans to include a £20bn high-speed Orbital Rail line around London; a new £6bn Thames Barrier and crossing; and a £20bn international Estuary Airport, with annual capacity for 150 million passengers.

As seen on BD, Councilors in Essex plan to rally up their colleagues in January in attempt to battle the “disastrous” proposal. Councilor Peter Martin stated, “Lord Foster has been known to build all over the world, so we cannot sit idly by and let this happen. We must have a loud voice when it comes to opposing the airport.”

It will be interesting to hear their critiques of the project and see what pans out in the New Year for the Thames Hub proposal. What are your thoughts on the project?

Reference: BD

© ArchDaily

The futuristic Lloyd’s of London building has become one of the few postmodern buildings to be granted Grade I listed status, elevating the building to the top 2.5% of all listed buildings. Following Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano’s success with the great Pompidou Center in Paris (1977), Rogers designed the Lloyd’s building to replace the insurance company’s original headquarters in London’s medieval financial district. The building was completed in 1986 after eight years of construction, requiring 33,510 cubic meters of concrete, 30,000 square meters of stainless steel cladding and 12,000 square meters of glass to construct.

Continue reading for more information and images.

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The renovation of a house, Hampstead Lane in North London, won Duggan Morris Architects the RIBA Manser Medal of 2011 for the best new house or major extension in the UK.  The video gives an inside look with the architects of the project on the design and renovation of the house.

More after the break. read more »