Nature: The Latest Architecture and News

MAD Architects has just unveiled the design for Lishui Airport in China. Dubbed the "forest city,” Lishui is known for its green landscapes and valleys in the Southwest Zhejiang Province. Situated amidst hilly terrain, approximately 15 kilometers southwest of the city, the airport is envisioned as a domestic, regional transportation hub seeking to harmonize with the natural surroundings.

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CityMakers, The Global Community of Architects Who Learn from Exemplary Cities and Their Makers, is working with Archdaily to publish a series of articles about Barcelona, Medellin, and Rotterdam. The authors are the architects, urban planners, and/or strategists behind the projects that have transformed these three cities and are studied in the "Schools of Cities" and "Documentary Courses" made by CityMakers. On this occasion, Jaume Barnada, coordinator of the award-winning Climate Shelters project in Barcelona schools and speaker at the "Schools of Cities", presents his article "Barcelona, the public place as a synonym for the adaptation of the built city."

Cities are dense, built spaces in which pavements have been efficiently imposed on the natural soil. Cities like Barcelona have almost 75% of the land paved and waterproof. Without a doubt, it is an excess to reverse at a time of climate emergency, where we must reconnect with nature. Oriol Bohigas [1] told us that good urbanization had paved the squares of Mediterranean cities and that no one wanted to live in a mudhole. I'm sure he was right. Also, he taught us that the green and, consequently, the natural soil had to have dimension and especially an urban position. Squares are squares and parks are parks, and each space has a type of project. Today, concepts are too frequently confused when urbanizing public places and consequently, we find projects that blur the model.

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Established in 2023 to protect nearly 13,000 hectares of the Vjosa River Region Park, the Vjosa National Park Europe’s first “wild river national park.” Danish architecture CEBRA has been selected to design a multifunctional visitor center and information center in the newly protected space. Located in Përmet, Tepelenë, and Vlorë in Southern Albania, the Vjosa Wild River National Park features a 190-kilometer-long free-flower river. CEBRA’s design supports conservation efforts and investigates how visitors can engage with their respective ecosystems.

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Henning Larsen and Ramboll have won the competition to design the new campus for the prestigious scientific research center, CERN. Designed to integrate science and nature, the B777 building uses biogenic materials and low-carbon methods to reimagine traditional laboratory settings. Situated on the border of France and Switzerland, in CERN’s Prévessin Campus, the scheme aims to foster a sense of community, collaboration, and well-being.

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

As this bloody year draws to a close, at a moment when the message “Peace on Earth” seems altogether mute, one might well ask: What power does architecture have? How can it address violence against innocent people, whose lives have been turned upside down? How does architecture respond to staggering cruelty? What can it say? Can it raise consciousness?

Construction on MVRDV’s La Serre started. Situated in the ZAC Léon Blum eco-district in Issy-les-Moulineaux, just outside of Paris, and designed by MVRDV, in collaboration with landscape architect Alice Tricon, and developer OGIC, the scheme aims to challenge conventional apartment living by integrating nature into the urban setting. The project features housing units, shops, and ample greenery, aiming to create a haven of biodiversity.

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Videos

Cities are the bedrock of civilization. For millennia, they have attracted people with the promise of superior standards of living — from better economic and educational opportunities to easier access to quality public infrastructure such as housing, healthcare, and public transport. Today, however, many cities around the world are finding it challenging to live up to this promise. With urban migration accelerating at a dizzying rate – the United Nations projects that over two-thirds of the world's population will live in cities or urban centers by 2050 – existing resources and services in cities are coming under increasing pressure, rendering them dysfunctional and leading to glaring inequities.

There is no singular way to define or assess liveability; every city has a unique set of characteristics, from its history, culture, geography, and demographics, to how it is governed and what urban issues plague it. Therefore, improving liveability requires concerted efforts from multiple stakeholders including people, governments, and experts, to identify critical problem areas and opportunities, and devise contextual solutions. The TV show Tale of Two Cities, where Indian architect and urbanist Dikshu C. Kukreja sits down with global leaders, brings out great insights into what some major cities in the world are doing to create more liveable environments for their inhabitants. Here we present five examples: from Bogotá, Kolkata, Hannover, Tirana, and Washington, D.C.

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Videos

Ailton Krenak is a renowned environmentalist, philosopher, writer, and poet who holds honorary doctorates from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and the Federal University of Juiz de Fora. As an Indigenous leader, he played a pivotal role in advocating for Indigenous Rights, which were eventually enshrined in the 1988 Constitution of Brazil. His profound ideas have been disseminated through lectures, educational courses, and books, including notable works such as Ideas to Postpone the End of the World, Life is not Useful, and Ancestral Future.

Krenak has a unique talent for transforming his life experiences into profound concepts, which he conveys through oral and poetic language. His worldview blurs the boundaries between landscapes, human beings, animals, rivers, and mountains. He strongly advocates for a reassessment of our lifestyle, emphasizing the importance of 'breaking up the ground to allow the channeled waters to resurface.' On September 5th, he participated in a discussion in São Paulo during the Archtrends Summit 2023, organized by Portobello. During this event, he shared his insights on topics such as cities, forests, and the future of our planet.

Innovation in materials and construction systems has been a significant theme in 2023, and BASE Studio has decided to surprise us with a new material configuration that showcases the mechanical and aesthetic capabilities of Colihue. Alongside this proposal, innovative ideas for habitable projects have been generated, setting them apart from others through a distinctive spatial morphology created within a rigid perimeter of arches that inscribe a paraboloidal surface.

Modernity and globalization have significantly reduced geographical distances, transformed social interactions, and accelerated the flow of information across nations, which has, in a sense, made the world more accessible to people everywhere. However, it's important to note that when we say "everyone," we refer to a vast and diverse population. Modernity and globalization had an impact on noticeable inequalities in both social and technological realms, as more advanced and privileged nations have established benchmarks and norms for leisure, culture, and consumption. As a result, certain cultures have established a dominant influence, promoting the notion that there is a "correct" way to live and build cities. This unchecked pursuit of development comes at a significant cost to the Earth's ecosystems and biomes.

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As the world becomes increasingly urbanized, the relationship between nature and design has taken on a renewed significance. Residential design projects that intertwine with natural elements are shown to encourage a sense of tranquility in the inhabitants and the surrounding environment. Moreover, the integration of greenery, specifically through gardens, flourishing landscapes, or complete forest and hillside integrations, can be a powerful testament to the coexistence of human habitation and the natural world.

It is well known that exposure to more green spaces and cleaner air has profound impacts on human health and psychology. This kind of exposure has been linked to reduced stress, improved cognitive function, and enhanced creativity. These sanctuaries offer relief, allowing the human to reconnect with the natural world. These residential homes are often a refuge from busy city life, ranging from vacation homes to retirement homes. Moreover, as the global call for sustainable practices becomes more pressing, the role of natural elements in architecture becomes imperative.

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Almost a decade ago, news flooded Colombian media: the announcement of the winning project for the Tropicario of the Bogotá Botanical Garden. Today, we want to bring you all the information we have compiled since then, both about the competition won by DARP and the construction process - up to its inauguration in 2021 and its evolution in recent times.

We hope this architectural journey helps you to know every step, every decision, and every detail that contributed to its realization. Understanding that its true legacy lies in how it transforms lives, inspires communities, and endures over time. 

The Croatian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023 celebrates the harmonious coexistence of the wild and domesticated, natural and man-made, and inanimate and living elements. Modeled after the Lonja Wetlands in Croatia, where communities that have adapted to the continuously shifting landscape have coexisted harmoniously for generations to create a dynamic habitat, the Pavilion is a hub for ongoing research into potential futures through educational experimentation and practice. The exhibition was curated by Mia Roth and Tonči Čerina, in collaboration with their design team: Luka Fatović, Vedran Kasap, Ozana Ursić, Niko Mihaljević, and Ivica Mitrović .“Same As It Ever Was” places a focus on the connections among actors from various backgrounds around the world.

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“The first man wanted to build a shelter that would cover him without burying him.” With some logs found in the forest, he built a square covered with straw so that neither the sun nor the rain could enter, and thus, he felt safe. The description above refers, in a simplified way, to the theory of the primitive hut developed by the abbot Marc-Antoine Laugier in the mid-1700s. The small rustic hut described by Laugier is a model upon which he imagined the magnificence of architecture. It provides an important reference point for all speculation about construction foundations and represents the first architectural idea."

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