Los Angeles River: The Latest Architecture and News

Taking place June 2 - September 2 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, 'A New Sculpturalism: Contemporary Architecture from Southern California' will be the first extensive, scholarly examination of the radical forms that have become prolific in Southern California architecture during the past twenty-five years. It will examine the role of Los Angeles–based architect Frank Gehry, arguably the most significant and innovative architect of the later part of the twentieth century, and the generation of Los Angeles architects that followed him, including Greg Lynn, Michael Maltzan, Thom Mayne, and Eric Owen Moss, to name a few. For more information, please visit here.

Open to students and professionals worldwide, the Architecture at Zero 2013 competition is challenging participants to create a design for a new, roughly 150 unit mixed-use residential apartment building located in the Tenderloin neighborhood in San Francisco, California. With the aim of being as close to zero net energy as possible, the building must be a mix of affordable and market rate housing units and include a full neighborhood-serving grocery store on the ground level. The competition is presented by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and AIA San Francisco, in partnership with the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC). Submissions are due October 1. To register, and for more information, please visit here.

Held in conjunction with MoMA’s exhibition Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes, “Le Corbusier/New York” is a two-day international symposium taking place June 8-9. The event will examine this world-renowned French architect's ideas on the city before and after his first trip to the United States, along with his influence on generations of American architects. The journey through Le Corbusier’s work will begin on Saturday with an exclusive preview of the MoMA exhibition led by its curator Jean-Louis Cohen and Sunday's events include engaging lectures at the Center for Architecture. Discussions will focus on how Le Corbusier's ideas about New York City influenced his work and how, in turn, Le Corbusier's legacy impacted the city's built environment. For more information, please visit here.

Ground/Work is a design competition just launched yesterday that seeks to recognize emerging design talent with a highly visible built project in New York City for Van Alen Institute. Since 1982, the Institute has occupied the sixth floor of its building at 30 West 22nd Street in Manhattan, where a diverse program of competitions, curatorial initiatives, and public events has made Van Alen an influential center for design innovation. This year, the Institute is making its public-oriented mission central to the reinvention of its own office and event space, transforming the ground floor and lower level of its building for a new venue to house its entire work space and public programs. The deadline for submissions is June 13. For more information, please visit here.

DawnTown recently announced the winners for Landmark Miami, their 2013 ideas competition which focused on how cities are instantly identified by the individual structures within them. With the challenge of coming up with a new symbol for the future, architects and designers were tasked with creating an iconic architectural piece that contributes to the image of Miami. Studio Dror was announced as the first prize winner for their 'Miami Lift' proposal which pays tribute to the city's by elevating visitors to give them a new perspective to the city. More images and information on the winning entries after the break.

Transform Kansas City, a collaboration between the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance and the Kansas City Chapter of the American Institute of Architects Young Architects Forum, is asking for submissions that illustrate transportation related or affected ideas or solutions. No matter your background or experience, all are being called to submit your ideas on transportation, urban design and architecture. You are encouraged to find solutions to question such as: What impact does urban mass transit have on the mobility of our cities in which we live, work and play? What forms will these new investments take and what is the result to our built environment? The deadline for submissions is June 30. For more information, please visit here.

FIGMENT has teamed with the Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA) of the American Institute of Architects NY Chapter (AIANY) and the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) to host their 4th annual call for proposals to design and construct an architectural pavilion on Governors Island, the City of Dreams Pavilion. The City of Dreams Pavilion will be a gathering place for people to meet, learn about the arts programs on the island, be able to enjoy a performance or lecture, and experience the interaction of art and the historic context of Governors Island. Participants are being challenged to imagine a future New York City where anything is possible. The deadline to register is June 1, and submissions are due July 1. For more information, please visit here.

The extensive damage to low-lying waterfront zones caused by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 reinforced the need for resilient infrastructure and redevelopment strategies for existing coastal communities throughout the greater New York area. Costly damage to buildings, roads, and utility systems by the storm raises the controversial question of whether areas of particular geographic vulnerability should be rebuilt, maintained and defended, or simply abandoned. In an effort to solicit creative ideas, the FAR ROC [For a Resilient Rockaway] competition seeks innovative proposals for the design and development of a comprehensive new master plan for Arverne East, a vacant 80+ acre Urban Renewal site on the Rockaway Peninsula in New York City. Submissions are due no later than June 14. For more information, please visit here.

Above all, another pamphlet is a conversation, a loose exchange of forms and ideas, an excuse to play, a frame through which to look, a shared excitement. It is an open dialogue with our friends, our histories, and our surroundings. Meaning both “more of the same” and “something different”, “another” contains the seeds of both continuity and change. Another pamphlet mines this contradiction - this tension between past and future - opportunistically interrogating, critiquing, and celebrating the discipline of architecture. Their latest issue, Symmetry no.05, was just released and they are having a launch event this Thursday, May 2, from 6:00pm-8:00pm at Printed Matter, Inc. in New York City. For more information, and to order a pamphlet, please visit here.

Taking place at Trespa Design Centre in New York, the 'Visionaries: The New York Wheel' event welcomes Richard Marin, President +CEO, New York Wheel LLC; Navid Maqami, Perkins Eastman; Rick Parisi, M. Paul Friedberg + Partners; Penny Knops, Design + Sustainability Management, for one of the first-ever presentations on the proposed New York Wheel project. Located on the north shore of Staten Island (St. George), the 630-foot, or roughly 60-story attraction, promises to become one of the City’s great landmark attractions. The event takes place 6:30-8:00pm EST. For more information, please visit here.

Opening today at the Center for Architecture in New York, the 'Low Rise High Density' exhibition examines a housing type celebrated in the 1960s and ‘70s, and what it means in the United States today. Co-sponsored by the Institute for Public Architecture with AIA New York, architectural drawings, photographs, and oral histories will be presented with project architects, tracing the typology over the last 50 years. The exhibition will be on view until June 29. More information after the break.

With programs in both Eugene and Portland, the University of Oregon's School of Architecture and Allied Arts recently launched their Spring 2013 lecture series which began early this month with Neri Oxman of MIT's Media Lab, and concludes May 16th with University of Oregon's Judith Sheine's lecture in Portland. The lectures take place in Portland, Eugene, or in both cities, depending on the lecture. The full list of remaining lectures can be viewed after the break.

Taking place now until June 30 at the Museum of Design Atlanta, the 'Eero Saarinen: A Reputation for Innovation' exhibition pays tribute to Saarinen’s brief yet brilliant career, in which he designed numerous corporate, educational, cultural, public, and private buildings, including recognizable icons like the Saint Louis Gateway Arch, the TWA Terminal at New York’s JFK Airport, and Dulles Airport in Washington DC. Also breaking new ground by shedding light on a little known chapter of Saarinen’s secret professional life during World War II, the exhibit highlights the architect’s work and a study of the design principles he followed. For more information, please visit here.

Aiming to build awareness of urban design solutions capable of shaping Dallas forward, The Connected City Design Challenge is asking participants to develop a more refined and specific strategy for connecting the downtown and river, and assist in securing future public and private investment. By empowering both designers and citizens, The Challenge will work to realize integrated solutions that improve the livability and viability of our city. In order to secure the most capable design talent and facilitate a variety of solutions, this will be structured as a competitive process consisting of two idea streams: a professional stream and an open stream. Requests for qualifications are due May 9 for the professional stream and for the open stream, the deadline for submissions is October 3. For more information, please visit here.

Now in it's 4th year, the New York Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NYCOBA) announced their Crafting the Interview event for graduating college students and young professionals seeking feedback on their portfolio. A panel presentation will provide information about the job searching process and current market trends. The event will offer constructive one-on-one feedback to participants and a panel discussion comprised of HR professionals representing different sectors of the architectural + design community. The event is intended to prepare attendees to be practiced for potential interviews and to gain an understanding of current job trends. The event will take place May 18th from 11:00am-4:30pm. For more information, please visit here.

Columbia University's GSAPP Applied Architecture Research program will be holding their Conflict of Interests event on Friday, April 16th from 2:00pm-6:00pm, which will be organized as a series of conversations—five distinctive panels—discussing the limits of applied research in contemporary practices and academia. This event will be the first in a series of symposia investigating the role of applied research in architecture. Nestled in an intersection between practice and theory, applied architectural research can potentially work as a space for overlap and negotiation. This event will formally make explicit the opportunities for architectural research to bridge the gap between the archive and the laboratory. For more information, please visit here.