Afsarmanesh Architects has recently won the suckerPUNCH Long Island Cinema Competition with their unique design process and approach of the theoretical. Further images and a brief breakdown of their design process can be viewed after the break. Additionally, you find a brief interview of the architects at their winning entry domain on suckerPUNCH.

Architects: Oficina Ideias em Linha – José Laranjeira Location: Estremoz, Portugal Project area: 13,000 sqm Project year: 2007 – 2010 Photographs: Francisco Nogueira

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Scheduled for demolition in Summer 2011, the Phillis Wheatley Elementary School is a treasured piece of regional modernism in New Orleans. Designed by Charles Colbert, the school has served the historic African-American neighborhood of Tremé since it opened in 1955. It is just one of over thirty public schools that were constructed at that time. These schools were designed by architects who practiced a regional modernism, incorporating innovative design for circulation, ventilation and lighting. Of the thirty schools only four are still standing, three of which are threatened with demolition (including Phillis Wheatley). DOCOMOMO Louisiana is advocating for the restoration through adaptive reuse for the Phillis Wheatley Elementary School. “A Plea For Modernism” was created by Evan Mather and is narrated by actor Wendell Pierce.

Poland-based UGO architecture shared with us their proposal for the Barcelona 2011 Bohemian Hostel for Backpackers International Competition. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Hosted by Design By Many, the Passive House for New Orleans competition challenged designers to design a single-family dwelling that is sustainable in the broadest sense of the term: affordable to build and purchase, long-lasting, with minimal impact on the local environment, and affordable to heat and cool throughout the life of the building.

The winning proposal, designed by sustainable.TO, is based on the vernacular shotgun typology. The affordable, low-energy, single-family low cost, low energy house will help to revitalize the existing neighborhood of the Lower Ninth Ward. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Each week, progress is being made on Manhattan’s Freedom Tower as it slowly rises to meet its 1,776 ft mark. In addition to the skyscraper, we’ve shared Calatrava’s Transit Hub design with you and we are excited to see the completed complex. Although the new project will offer dynamic architecture in conjunction with a spiritual environment to remember the victims of the attacks, many wonder what companies will occupy the 2.6 million sqf of office space. A few days ago, media company Conde Nast (a publishing company responsible for the likes of Vanity Fair, Vogue, The New Yorker, among others) announced their plan to lease 1 million sqf, giving the Tower its first high-profile anchor. Christopher O. Ward, executive director of the Port Authority, told the Times, “We built a new reality at the World Trade Center, and this transaction will be the exclamation point on that turnaround.” This deal has appeased rising concerns that the Tower would be solely occupied with government offices; with such a progressive company slated to move in, hopefully others will follow suit. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo told the Times, “ sends a message to the global business community that Lower Manhattan is alive, growing and open for business.”

Field Architecture‘s goal for Bodega Bauer was to create an architecture informed by the same particularities of the earth which are embodied in the wine of the region. Siting and materiality are guided by the subtleties of sun and wind exposure, climate, the unexpected nuances of each season, and the presence and absence of water and shade.

With a primary focus for new construction in Amsterdam South, 2700 new houses will be developed in the Havenstraat and Zuidas zones. The Havenstraat masterplan is currently the biggest project in this area, with construction due to start in 2014. The plans are yet to be finalised, as the city must reclaim the land from companies which occupy the existing temporary buildings. As a result, Allard Architecture was triggered by these plans to develop a dwelling scheme that adapts to the specific qualities of the Havenstraat area, near the old Olympic stadium in Amsterdam. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Architects: 109 architectes Location: Beirut, Lebanon Client: Université Saint-Joseph (USJ) Partner in Charge: Ibrahim Berberi Architect in Charge: Nada Assaf TEAM: Rani Boustani, Etienne Nassar, Emile Khayat, Naja Chidiac, Richard Kassab Collaborating Architect: Youssef Tohme Project Area: 57,000 sqm Photographs: 109 architectes

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The Tulane School of Architecture, theCharrette presents its May 2011 Issue. The culmination of a year with a new image for the publication, theCharette has included in this issue key architectural topics at Tulane and adjacent realms including the Richardson Memorial Hall renovations with FXFOWLE and el dorado.

With a main focus on establishing a relationship between the social, the ecological and the economic together in one building, Urban Recycle Architecture.Studio won the Copa Arquitecture 2011 Contest, organized by Architecture for Humanity, Liga FOS,Fu.de and Nike. For this relationship to be successful, they decided on a building with multiple functions, a rectangular design and metallic structural system of fast construction and high strength. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Architects: Estudio Lamela Polska Location: Cracow, Poland Project team: Carlos Lamela, Pierluca Roccheggiani, Przemek Kaczkowski, Alessandro Mattei, Gabriel Fortes Cala, Martyna Tejwan Project area: 8,914 sqm Competition year: 2011 Renders and drawings: Courtesy of Estudio Lamela Polska

Seattle based Miller Hull Partnership has recently shared with ArchDaily that they have expanded to open an office in San Diego. Formed in 1977 the award-winning [check out our coverage of The Miller Hull Partnership here] firm’s design reputation is based on simple, innovative and authentic designs that incorporate sustainable practices.

The Miller Hull Partnership has been working in San Diego for seven years, and has a number of projects currently under way. These include the renovation of the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry, the busiest border crossing in the world (Phase 1 in construction), and the University of California San Diego Structural & Nano Materials Engineering building also in construction.

Architects: Mecanoo Location: Shezhen, China Client: Shenzhen Vanke Real Estate Project Area: 90,000 sqm Artistic Impressions: Doug & Wolf

The Department of Architecture at Portland State University will celebrate the graduation of its first-ever class of Master of Architecture students with an end-of-year design show, titled “Materialize | Student Work 2010-2011.” Hosted by the Portland chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the show will highlight the achievements of students throughout the graduate and undergraduate programs, with an emphasis on the independent design theses of the Master of Architecture students. An opening reception will be held in conjunction with First Thursday on June 2, 2011, from 5:30pm to 8:30pm.

FibroCITY is a proposal by Perkins+Will that operates as a restorative catalyst for communities that have been segregated by 20th century superhighways and the environment built around the car. FibroCITY is a template that restores urban voids with places for people, activities, and interactions, set in Houston, Texas, USA.

More on this project after the break.

The municipality of Brežice in cooperation with The Chamber of Architecture and The Spatial Planning of Slovenia have invited applications for public project, open and anonymous architectural competition for the kindergarten “Mavrica“ in a small town Brežice, Slovenia. Among 64 submissions, commission assigned the 1st prize to the Ljubljana based group of architects: Breda Bizjak, Lidija Dragišić M.A., Katja Florjanc, Emir Jelkić, Ajda Vogelnik Saje. More images and architect’s description after the break.

The imposing architecture and monumental scale of Brussels’ landscape are some of the characteristics that establish the personality of the city. A distinctive example of the aesthetic architecture that orients and at the same time governs the area of its presence is the Law Court. This proposal for the future formation of the Law Court of Brussels, Belgium by Europe Studio Architects moves in parallel to the existing frame and function of the building and proposes the re-establishment of the internal system that made this court a public social space in addition to its political and judicial functions. The monumental and programmatic aspects of the building will be preserved, with additions of cultural functions such as gallery and exhibition spaces.

More on this project after the break.

Thomas Heatherwick

Keeping with our coverage of the Architecture Billings Index, while the past index saw a slight decrease from 58.7 to 55.0 in March, the AIA has just announced that the index has dropped quite a bit to 47.6 for April. This billing marks the first point since October to register below 50. As the AIA explained,“It remains unclear if this month’s downturn is a bump in the road to recovery, or indicative of a longer-term reversal in the two-quarter recovery in design activity. Firms reported that the threatened federal government shutdown, tornadoes though the Southeast, and the winding down of federal stimulus funds for building activity all were impediments to design activity in April.”

The Brooklyn-based design and fabrication studio, FLATCUT_, in conjunction with the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (“ACADIA”), are pleased to announce this year’s award-winning jurors for The ACADIA 2011 Design + Fabrication Competition. The international competition asks designers to “push the boundaries of materials, minds, and machine” by exploring emergent modes of computational design. The competition focuses on unique material combinations and new fabrication techniques in creating forms in three categories: Furniture, Lighting and Partition. Winners will get the opportunity to actually fabricate their proposals this summer at FLATCUT_’s incredible 100,000sf warehouse.

The Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture, Chicago, and IE School of Architecture & Design, Madrid/Segovia, have joined forces to launch the IE/IIT Summer School, set to take place from July 8 to 15, 2011. The course, headed ATLAS ON DENSITY, will explore the cross implications of levels of density and sustainability from the sprawl of American suburbs to the extreme density of Asian cities.

The Nanjing Sifang Art Museum designed by Steven Holl Architects is nearly complete, and on schedule to open its doors to the public in a few short months. Iwan Baan shows on his website a great photo set of the new museum which can be viewed here.

This proposal for the Yongjia Public Center competition was submitted by Kang Chul-Hee of Idea Image Institute of Architects. The cultural facility will be located in the landmark geographic and social center of the city plan of Yongjia, China. The design is approached at an urban scale to provide a symbolic gateway between the past and present development of the city.

Read on for more on this project.