Browsing: Moshe Safdie

The Smithsonian Institute has announced the finalists for the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. The museum will be located at the end of the Washington Mall, being the latest addition to this location. The design concepts will be on show at the castle building until April 6. The, a jury will select a winner. The museum will open in 2015, at a cost of 500 million dollars.

Finalists are:
Foster + Partners and URS
Diller Scofidio + Renfro in association with Klingstubbins
The Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates and Davis Brody Bond
Devrouax & Purnell and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
Moody Nolan in association with Antoine Predock Architects
Moshe Safdie and Associates in association with Sulton Campbell Britt & Associates

Seen at designboom. More images after the break. read more »

The model #1: Napoli, quartieri Spagnoli (image: flickr)

If the mainstream view on the slums describes them as places to escape from and as to destroy as soon as possible, more and more people look at slums in a different way.

The first glances at slums were from some of the architects involved in urban renewal projects, who started to integrate in their projects some elements of the slums. Some of the recurrent features are:

• narrow courtyards and alleys
• division of the building into small blocks
• use of different colors and materials within the same building.

(part 1/2)

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