The construction of Hudson Yards, the biggest private real estate development in the history of the United States and currently the largest development in New York City since the Rockefeller Center, is gaining momentum. The vast infrastructural project in the heart of the city is set to enclose an active rail yard with an expansive platform, paving the way for 28 acres (and 17 million square feet) of commercial and residential space. Housing over 100 commercial units, 5000 residences, 14 acres of open public space, an enormous school and luxury hotel all on top of a working train depot, the project will directly connect to a new subway station and meet with the High Line.
Urban Design: The Latest Architecture and News
Construction Begins on the Vast Platform for New York's Hudson Yards
Playfully Reimagining Madrid's Urban Realm
How often are spontaneous, primitive, radical actions implemented in large urban centres? Siempre Fiesta (or Always Party) by Andrés Carretero and Carolina Klocker was recently voted by the We-Traders community as their favourite in the recent Open Call Madrid competition. Viewing the city through children's eyes, where the order of the day is primarily playing or making, and using the concept of "free movement of our body in space" as a key driver, Carretero and Klocker developed a playful scheme that proposed filling a niche in Madrid's urban grid with sand as a way of managing the environment to create "comfortable space."
Freya and Robin / Studio Weave
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Architects: Studio Weave
- Year: 2009
Energy Carousel Dordrecht / Ecosistema Urbano Architects
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Architects: Ecosistema Urbano Architects
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Professionals: Elger Blitz, AST engineering
Pilar de la Horadada Promenade / Joaquín Alvado Bañón
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Architects: Joaquín Alvado Bañón
- Year: 2013
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Professionals: Guia Consultores
New Waterfront of Thessaloniki / Nikiforidis-Cuomo Architects
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Architects: Nikiforidis-Cuomo Architects
- Area: 238800 m²
- Year: 2014
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Manufacturers: SIMES
Familistere Guise / h2o architectes
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Architects: h2o architectes
- Area: 40000 m²
- Year: 2014
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Professionals: France Aires, HDA, Michel Desvigne Paysagiste
Eiffel Tower's 1st Floor Redevelopment / Moatti-Rivière
Architects
Location
Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars, 5 Avenue Anatole France, 75007 Paris, FranceArea
4586.0 sqmProject Year
2014Photographs
Courtesy of Moatti-RivièreLocation
Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars, 5 Avenue Anatole France, 75007 Paris, FranceProject Year
2014Photographs
Courtesy of MOATTI-RIVIEREArea
4586.0 m2
AD Classics: PPG Place / John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson
The design of PPG Place, by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, melds the notion of the modern corporate tower with a neo-gothic monument. Clad in almost a million square feet of glass manufactured by the anchor tenant PPG industries, the architects ingeniously rethought accepted practices in curtain wall design to create "the crown jewel in Pittsburgh's skyline." (1) The 1.57 million square foot complex was one in a series of high profile corporate projects completed during Johnson's controversial foray into postmodernism.
Woesten Community Center / Atelier Tom Vanhee
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Architects: Atelier Tom Vanhee
- Area: 616 m²
- Year: 2011
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Professionals: S.C.E.S. nv, Monument Vandekerckhove
How to Design Out Democracy from Your City (A Dictator's Guide)
In this tongue-in-cheek "Dictator's Guide to Urban Planning", the Atlantic explores the various ways that public spaces, and cities as a whole, have been used to suppress uprisings and bolster the control of authoritarian governments. Covering everything from Baron Haussmann's 19th Century Paris to the recent revolution in the Ukraine, the article reveals the fundamental relationship between public space and democracy. You can read the full article here.
Value Farm / Thomas Chung
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Architects: Thomas Chung
- Area: 8120 m²
- Year: 2013
Interview with Vicente Guallart, Chief Architect of Barcelona
In the following article, originally published in Polish in theDecember 2013 issue of A&B, Ewa Szymczyk interviews Vicente Guallart, the Chief Architect of Barcelona since 2011 as well as the founder of Guallart Architects and IAAC (Institute of Advanced Architecture in Catalunya). Szymczyk questions Guallart about his experience in urban design, asking: how can you measure a city's success?
Ewa Szymczyk: When measuring the contemporary city’s success we typically use economic measures. In this sense Barcelona ranks very high, being a top tourist destination and managing its budget in times of global crisis. But there are many other ways to measure its success. What in your opinion makes a city a good city? Isn’t it much more than economic prosperity?
Vincente Guallart: A good city is a place where the citizens live well. So the best measure for a good city is how the citizens live. The truth is that the city is a physical representation of a social agreement. If you think for instance about Phoenix in Arizona, maybe people live there the way they want and the way they like to live. Obviously there are also questions related to cost. I mean, questions related to environmental and economic costs. Therefore the cost of a city like Phoenix is very different from the cost of a city like Hong Kong, which is the densest city and probably the most efficient urban structure in the world. So the question is the economic efficiency and also the quality of life of the citizens. And the best way to know is to ask citizens how happy they are to live in a place like this. The truth is that if you are a citizen of Barcelona you are quite happy. We have been evaluating this over the past few years and the average rating is seven out of ten. So that is in general very good! The people are proud to live in a place like this.
Light Matters: 7 Ways Daylight Can Make Design More Sustainable
Daylight is a highly cost-effective means of reducing the energy for electrical lighting and cooling. But architectural education often reduces the aspect of daylight to eye-catching effects on facades and scarcely discusses its potential effects - not just on cost, but on health, well-being and energy.
This Light Matters will explore the often unexplored aspects of daylight and introduce key strategies for you to better incorporate daylight into design: from optimizing building orientations to choosing interior surface qualities that achieve the right reflectance. These steps can significantly reduce your investment as well as operating costs. And while these strategies will certainly catch the interest of economically orientated clients, you will soon discover that daylight can do so much more.
More Light Matters with daylight, after the break…
Ninety Nine Failures / The University of Tokyo Digital Fabrication Lab
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Architects: The University of Tokyo Digital Fabrication Lab
- Year: 2013
Hamburg's Plan to Eliminate Cars in 20 Years
About 40% of the area of Hamburg, the second largest city in Germany, is made up of green areas, cemeteries, sports facilities, gardens, parks and squares. For the first time ever, the city has decided to unite them together via pedestrian and cycle routes. It's all part of the "Green Network Plan," which aims to eliminate the need for vehicles in Hamburg over the next 20 years.
According to city spokeswoman Angelika Fritsch, the project will help to turn the city into a one-of-a-kind, integrated system: "Other cities, including London, have green rings, but the green network will be unique in covering an area from the outskirts to the city centre. In 15 to 20 years you'll be able to explore the city exclusively on bike and foot."
More details, after the break.
MAD Envisions More 'Natural' Chinese Cities in the Future
Ma Yansong of MAD recently presented a 600,000 square meter urban design proposal for the city of Nanjing titled, "Shanshui Experiment Complex," at the 2013 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism / Architecture in Shenzhen, China. The concept takes into account the culture, nature and history of Nanjing while reconsidering the methodology in which Chinese cities are built.
Children's Bicentennial Park / ELEMENTAL
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Architects: ELEMENTAL
- Area: 40000 m²
- Year: 2012
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Manufacturers: Fahneu
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Professionals: DC Ingeniería Eléctrica, Geofun Ltda., Luis Soler P. y Asociados, Parque Metropolitano