SWA Group: The Latest Architecture and News

Exploring unbuilt architectural projects by established firms offers a glimpse into the forefront of design innovation and future-thinking concepts. In fact, studying up-and-coming projects provides an opportunity to get ahead of emerging trends and envision the future of the built environment, fostering dialogue around new ideas. With the looming climate crisis in a post-COVID world, this week’s selection of unbuilt projects submitted to the ArchDaily community showcases the scale of problem-solving through city-making and contextual spatial activations.

Whether it’s a vertical neighborhood in Kunming, a life science facility in Manhattan, or a cultural center in Veneria Reale, these unbuilt projects capture the diverse spectrum of architectural visionaries’ progression. Each of these proposals represents a unique narrative, whether seeking to redefine residential living or revitalize urban space. Through these projects, architects can offer the environment a glimpse into the transformative potential of design when used in a problem-solving capacity.

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Since the beginning of the war on Ukraine, over 7.1 million people have been internally displaced within the country, with over 139 sites affected by the ongoing hostilities, including 62 religious sites, 12 museums, 26 historic buildings, 17 buildings dedicated to cultural activities, 15 museums, and seven libraries. Two new programs; Support by Design and Hireukrainiandesigners.org have joined forces to help provide remote jobs for designers in the war-torn country.

Matt Hickman reports on San Francisco's latest inclusive memorial, for the Architect's Newspaper, designed by SWA, a firm that operates two Bay Area studios (San Francisco and Sausalito) as well as offices in Texas, Southern California, New York City, and Shanghai. Selected by FHMP from a shortlist of four firms that submitted proposals, out of 17 invited offices, SWA shared their winning conceptual design for the memorial at Harvey Milk Plaza.

In this article, we tap into how AI could be augmenting, changing design processes, and how architects and other professionals are responding and incorporating these technological advancements into their design work. What kind of innovation can AI bring to this industry, and what has been experimented with so far? This selection of projects can help form an opinion on the architectural application of AI.

The Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission announced the final design has been unanimously selected for the memorial in Newtown, Connecticut. The Clearing by Ben Waldo and Daniel Affleck of SWA Group was officially recommended by the commission, and the Board of Selectmen will make final approvals this month. Chosen out of three concepts unveiled in May, the winning memorial honors the 26 victims and survivors of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

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The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has selected six finalists for the 2015 Urban Open Space Award competition, which recognizes public spaces that benefit and revitalize their surrounding communities. This was the first year that ULI expanded the program to include global submissions.

“The submissions from this year are representative of how quality urban open space has become more than just an amenity for cities,” said jury chair Michael Covarrubias. “The international diversity of the projects is reflective of how developers continually work to meet global demand by the public for the inclusion of healthy places in cities.” See all of the finalists after the break.