UNICEF Snowflake / Ingo Maurer + Baccarat
Shining in the heart of New York City at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue, the UNICEF Snowflake is a special symbol for the world’s most vulnerable children. It hangs as a reminder of UNICEF’s commitment to reach a day when zero children die from preventable causes. Hanging at its location in the big city, throughout the winter season, the largest outdoor chandelier of its kind is designed by German lighting and industrial designer Ingo Maurer, along with leading French crystal manufacturers Baccarat. The iconic UNICEF Snowflake has 12 double-sided branches adorned with 16,000 dazzling crystal prisms handcrafted in the small village of Baccarat, France. Names can be engraved upon the New York City landmark while helping children around the world in need. For more information, and to find out how you can donate, please visit here. A video of the symbol of a beacon of hope for children can be viewed after the break.
Lego Housing Units on the Street / Jaye Moon
In an effort to alleviate some of the stress and frustration associated with New York’s continued housing crisis, Jaye Moon, a Brooklyn-based street artist, decided to leave new buildings made of Legos cradled in the limbs of trees, or wrapped around their trunks. Carefully designed, the blocked geometry of her architectural construction is considered to allow for the expansion of tree limbs and to avoid damage. Catching the eye of local New Yorkers and captivating anyone who may pass by her creations, Moon says she chose Legos as a medium because they are ready-made objects that mimic industrial, mechanical uses and because they summon a certain childlike innocence and sense of play. More images and information after the break.
Güiro Art Bar / Los Carpinteros + Absolut Art Bureau
Architects: Los Carpinteros
Location: Miami, FL, USA
Collaborators: Absolut Art Bureau
Year: 2012
Photographs: Roberto Chamorro
Burgess Residence / John Dwyer Architect
Architects: John Dwyer Architect
Location: Saint Paul, MN, USA
Architect In Charge: John Dwyer
Collaborators: Shelter Architecture, Colin Oglesbay, ro/lu
Area: 2,355 sq ft
Year: 2009
Photographs: Courtesy of John Dwyer Architect
Chasen Residence / In Situ Studio
Architects: In Situ Studio
Location: Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
Contractor: Axiom Green Build
Cabinet Maker: Dopko Cabinetry
Energy Modeling: Prime Energy Group
Area: 1,451 sq ft
Year: 2012
Photographs: Richard Leo Johnson
Phoenix Observation Tower / BIG
Architects: BIG
Location: Phoenix, AZ, USA
Architects In Charge: Bjarke Ingels and Thomas Christoffersen
Project Leader: Iannis Kandyliaris
Project Team: Thomas Fagan, Aaron Hales, Ola Hariri, Dennis Harvey, Beat Schenk
Collaborators: MKA (structure), Atelier10 (sustainability), Gensler (local architect), TenEyck (landscape)
Client: Novawest
Area: 70,000 ft2
Year: 2012
Photographs: Courtesy of BIG
Detroit River Front Competition Entry / AMA
The main objective for the Detroit River Front proposal is to create a new image of the city, an exclusive and unique landmark that glances to a future Detroit involved in its nature that it forgot for a long time. Designed by Architetto Matteo Ascani (AMA), the project for the redevelopment of Hart Plaza is divided in major guide lines: water, nature, history. They provide a new landscape system, where water enters inside the plaza by canals that redesign the cost line, as the river comes closer to the downtown. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Webb Chapel Park Pavilion / Cooper Joseph Studio
Architects: Cooper Joseph Studio
Location: Dallas, Texas, United States
Project Team: Wendy Evans Joseph, FAIA (Principal in Charge), Chris Cooper, AIA (Principal in Charge), Chris Good (Project Manager / Design Team), Read Langworthy (Design Team)
Area: 903 sq ft
Year: 2012
Photographs: Eduard Hueber
Chicago Riverwalk Proposal / Sasaki Associates + Ross Barney Architects
Sasaki Associates, along with Ross Barney Architects, Alfred Benesch Engineers, and a broader technical consultant team, were tasked this year with creating a vision for the six blocks between State Street and Lake Street in Chicago. Building off previous studies, the team’s Chicago Riverwalk Concept Plan, which is currently in progress to be completed, provides the last, critical link between the lake, the city’s circulation, and the river’s urban branches. Once a meandering marshy stream, the river became an engineered channel to support the industrial transformation of the city, making this riverwalk an instrumental design in the city. More images and architects’ description after the break.
New United States Courthouse Competition Entry / McCarthy, Brooks + Scarpa, and HMC Architects
The McCarthy, Brooks + Scarpa, and HMC Architects team just released their proposal for the Design Excellence/design-build competition for new United States courthouse in Los Angeles. Selected to compete thru the General Services Administration two-stage Design Excellence Program, the team is challenged with the approximately 550,000 sq. ft. high-rise building located at 1st and Hill Street. Aiming to be certified LEED Patinum, the design delivers functional efficiency, security, and accessibility for the Court, the U.S. Marshal Service, and the other tenants and users. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Stoneridge / In Situ Studio
Architects: In Situ Studio
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
Contractor: Redfoot and Weber Construction
Area: 4,650 sqm
Year: 2012
Photographs: Richard Leo Johnson, Courtesy of In Situ Studio
Stockton Campus Center / KSS Architects + VMDO Architects
Architects: KSS Architects + VMDO Architects
Location: Pomona, Galloway, NJ, USA
Area: 153,000 sq ft
Photographs: Barry Halkin
FXFOWLE Lounge Installation / FXFOWLE Architects
FXFOWLE Architects shared with us their custom-design for the inaugural Miami Project art fair. Their installation, known as the ‘FXFOWLE Lounge’, features a free-standing architectural pavilion housed within a well-appointed lounge and bar area. The pavilion – which pairs technologically-sophisticated scripting software with simple museum board – comprises 180 varying segments that, together, take the form of complex structural geometries. More images and architects’ description after the break.
McHenry Library / Boora Architects
Architects: Boora Architects
Location: Santa Cruz, California, United States
Photographs: Chad Ziemendorf
Nelson Cultural Center / HGA
Architects: HGA
Location: Minneapolis, MN, USA
Design Team: Tim Carl; AIA, Nancy Blankfard, Andy Weyenberg
Area: 47,038 sq ft
Year: 2012
Photographs: Paul Crosby
Buddhist Retreat / Imbue Design
Architects: Imbue Design
Location: Torrey, Utah, USA
Structural Engineer: Shen Engineering
General Contractor: Fordham Construction
Area: 1,350 sq ft
Year: 2012
Photographs: Imbue Design
StreetFest Competition – IDEAS CITY 2013
Storefront for Art and Architecture, jointly with the New Museum and Architizer, recently launched the StreetFest Competition – IDEAS CITY 2013. As the world’s resources continue to be endangered, depleted, and destroyed, we all need to imagine new solutions and develop innovative approaches and practices. Created to explore the future city and to effect change, the biennial festival will take place in downtown New York from May 1-4, 2013 with the theme, ‘Untapped Capital’. On May 4, one winning entry will occupy a designated outdoor space along the Bowery near the New Museum. The deadline for submissions is February 9. To register and for more information, please visit here.
Colin Powell, Blake Mycoskie, and Cameron Sinclair to Speak at 2013 AIA Convention
Taking place June 20-22, 2013 in Denver, General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), former Secretary of State (2001 – 2005), joins Cameron Sinclair, co-founder and chief eternal optimist of Architects For Humanity, and Blake Mycoskie, founder and chief shoe giver of TOMS, as keynote speakers for the 2013 AIA National Convention,. The 2013 “Building Leaders” theme will give architects and design professionals opportunities to learn, share, and demonstrate the essential qualities that define leadership today. Registration opens in January. For more information, please visit here. More information on the keynote speakers after the break.
Mandeville Canyon Residence / Griffin Enright Architects
Architects: Griffin Enright Architects
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Architects In Charge: John Enright, Margaret Griffin
Area: 427 sqm
Year: 2010
Photographs: Tim Street-Porter
‘Live Share Grow’ Farm Tower Proposal / Brandon Martella
With produce coming from the Imperial Valley, Central California Valley, neighboring states and other countries the 30,000 plus residents of San Diego’s central urban context consume 21,231,000 pounds of produce each year. Where will we get our food? Transparency in the food industry needs to occur and enlighten blinded consumers. Our city needs to handle this critical issue with an architecture that responds. A new type of residential tower needs to come forth. Utilizing vertical farming, Brandon Martella’s “Live Share Grow’ proposal is a new model of living can be tested and resolved in a dense vertical community. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Bloom House / Greg Lynn
Architects: Greg Lynn
Location: Los Angeles, California, United States
Design Team: Jackilin Bloom, Brittney Hart, Chris Kabatsi, Brian Ha, Danny Bazil, Andreas Krainer
Architect Of Record: Lookinglass Architecture & Design
Structural Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
Mechanical Engineer: Storms & Lowe
Electrical Engineer: Storms & Lowe
Cost Estimator: Oliver Garrett Construction
Year: 2010
Photographs: Richard Powers
