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The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Jencks Foundation announced renowned Indian architect Anupama Kundoo as the winner of this year's RIBA Charles Jencks Award. The accolade given in recognition of significant contributions to the theory and practice of architecture acknowledges Kundoo's holistic practice that marries theoretical investigations, material research and sustainable building methods.

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Construction is underway for Gehry Partners' Second Century Project, which will house the new headquarters of Warner Bros. After breaking ground in early 2020, the project now has its structural framework in place, and the façade is currently taking shape. Set for completion in 2023, in time for the production company's centennial, the design features a series of mid-rise, slanted office towers grouped within two distinct structures resembling "icebergs floating along the freeway".

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The Chicago Architecture Biennial has revealed the calendar for this year’s program of events, lectures, workshops and performances exploring how architecture shapes communities and cities. Titled The Available City, this edition aims to highlight the potential of vacant urban areas as community spaces, with the event debuting on September 17 at 12 sites across Chicago featuring 16 interventions that activate unused plots. The projects are complemented by a series of outdoor programming, as well as digital events that kick off on August 17.

The world's largest natural stone industry fair, Marble İzmir, seeks to transform the future of natural stone by combining sectoral changes and new business approaches. Join the Marble İzmir Fair, where thousands of varieties of Turkish natural stone are presented for investors, traders, and professional organizations to connect and appreciate their colors, textures, and patterns. The Fair will take place between August 25-28, 2021.

In order “to help architects and students to get to know the best International Master’s programs available”, the Best Architecture Masters (BAM) has established its annual list of top postgraduate architecture curriculums. Based on the QS Ranking by Subjects – Architecture / Built Environment, for the 2021 edition, 22 Universities were selected to be evaluated, by an Expert Committee, formed by 15 professors from all over the world.

In 2021, the Harvard Master in Architecture II continued to lead the ranking, and Colombia maintained second place with its Master of Science Degree in Advanced Architectural Design. TU Delft in the Netherlands took on the third position, becoming the best in Europe while Tsinghua University in China followed in the fourth position, becoming the best in Asia. The Master in Architecture of the Pontificia Universidad Católica in Chile occupied the 15th position and was named the best program in Latin America.

By now an architectural classic, Safdie’s Habitat ’67 represents a highly influential vision for a community-oriented, nature-infused urban housing model, and at the same time, a critical example of the possibilities of prefabrication. Fifty years after the design of Habitat ’67, Safdie is still exploring this vision of urban living, further developing the concept with projects such as Altair Residences, Qorner Tower and Habitat Qinhuangdao. Rooted in the architect’s motto - “for everyone a garden”, the new projects capitalise on outdoor terraces, natural light and ventilation, as well as communal spaces.

MAD Architects has unveiled his design proposal for Hainan Science and Technology Museum Haikou City, Hainan, China. Scheduled to break ground in late August 2021 and to be completed and open by 2024, the Hainan Science and Technology Museum is the firm’s second major public project in Hainan, after the Cloudscape, inaugurated in April 2021. Merging nature and technology, the project located on the city’s west coast will become an “important science venue and a major tourist attraction for Hainan's free trade port”.

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Videos

After being postponed for one year, the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale opened its doors to the public on May 22nd, 2021, revealing a wide range of answers to Hashim Sarkis’ question of "How will we live together". With over 112 participants from 46 countries, the contributions are organized into five themes: Among Diverse Beings, As New Households, As Emerging Communities, Across Borders, and As One Planet. Due to travel restrictions, many curators were unable to be physically present at the inauguration of the event, resorting to digital platforms for interviews and presentations. ArchDaily had the chance to physically attend the exhibition and meet with some of the curators to further explore their pavilions. The following are 9 interviews from ArchDaily’s Youtube playlists that feature these exclusive interviews.

EFFEKT has won the competition to transform an urban block occupied by a decommissioned editorial office and printing press of the regional German newspaper Kieler Nachrichten. As digitalization has rendered many of the existing newspaper production facilities obsolete, the KielHöfe project aims to redefine the publication’s urban presence by incorporating various programs meant to drive the revitalization of Kiel’s city centre and shape a new cultural destination.

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Construction is underway at Vestre's new facility designed by BIG, set to become the world's most sustainable furniture factory through carbon-neutral fabrication processes and the use of renewable energy. Called the Plus and placed within the Norwegian forest, the project will be an example of efficient manufacturing, using Industry 4.0 solutions, while also developing Magnor as a tourist destination through its attractive design.

Foster + Partners has recently completed the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, a new research facility within the Hebrew University of Jerusalem campus. The design features an array of flexible laboratories arranged in two parallel wings around an open central courtyard, which recreates the surrounding landscape through its citrus trees and water stream. The distinctive facade screen represents the neurological brain structure, as drawn by Spanish neuroscientist Santiago Ramon y Cajal at the beginning of the 20th century.

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Paul Clemence has released a new series of images showcasing the incomplete construction of Diller Scofidio + Renfro's Copacabana Museum of Image and Sound (MIS). The project first took shape in 2014 but was completely suspended in 2016. Although the project has been untouched since then, a recent announcement by Governor Cláudio Castro promised the revival of construction works at the museum, with an expected public opening in early 2023.

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Aedas has revealed its design for Shirble — The Prime, a new mixed-use development that would revitalize the Ba Gua Ling industrial zone, a central area of Shenzhen. The design features a retail podium from which one office tower and three residential ones of various heights rise, connected by a sky-park at 150 metres above the ground. The high-density development aims to respond to the city’s demand for housing while bringing multiple aspects of urban life into one building.

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The Royal Institute of British Architects has announced the 13 regional winning projects of the 2021 South Awards. The projects ranged from complex civic buildings to refined residential extensions and context-integrated interventions, with an emphasis on landscaping and craftsmanship. The winning architects will now be considered for a highly-coveted RIBA National Award in recognition of their architectural excellence, which will be announced later this year.

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In a recent interview with Louisiana Channel, graphic designer-turned-architect Bruce Mau explains how design is a mindset "of optimism and action". The designer talks about how architecture and design can influence and give form to the world we are sharing, and explains how we are the ones who design the outcomes of life, leaving no room for cynicism.

Jasper Architects has recently won a competition to design an immersive hotel experience within the desert landscape of Kuwait. Featuring a curved structure echoing the surrounding dunes, the project is intended to recreate an oasis where visitors can fully observe the natural environment. Through its colors, textures, use of wood, and rammed earth, the concept emulates the surrounding. Reiterating the local topography, a circular roof rises and touches the ground, creating an array of alternating interior and exterior spaces.

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Bjarke Ingels Group has collaborated with NASA and ICON to create Mars Dune Alpha, a 3D-printed research habitat that will provide long duration habitation for astronauts on missions to Mars. The 1,700 sq.ft. structure, which is currently located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, is designed by the award-winning architecture firm, 3D printed by construction developers ICON, and will soon be home to NASA's future crew.

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In 2017 the team led by Chilean architects Alberto Moletto, Cristóbal Tirado, Sebastián Hernández, and Danilo Lagos was selected as the winners of the International Antarctic Center (CAI) design competition, a unique landmark planned for Punta Arenas, a city at the deep south of Chile.

Four years later, Chile's Ministry of Social Development has given the green light to the 33,000-square-meter (355,200-square-foot) project after reviewing the technical requirements, as local media reported on August 3.

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EXMURO arts publics and the Ville de Québec have inaugurated the the 8th annual PASSAGES INSOLITES art event, the annual Quebec City art walk that showcases over 20 unusual urban interventions by local and international artists. The event will run from June 26 to October 11, 2021, and will focus on reimagining the urban fabric and transforming how we see the city and its historic landmarks.

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UK-based practise Alison Brooks Architects has recently won the competition to design the new Entrance Building and Children’s Literature Resource Centre for Homerton, the biggest college in Cambridge. Described by the architects as a “lantern”, the proposal is a three-storey mass-timber framed pavilion which will welcome visitors to the grounds while also providing additional study and exhibition space. Through its morphology and copper-clad facades of the upper floors, the new building establishes a dialogue with its context and provides a flexible space that can accommodate the College’s future spatial needs.

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UK-based architecture firm AL_A has collaborated with Canadian energy firm General Fusion to develop the world's first magnetized target fusion facility on the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) campus in Culham, United Kingdom. The energy firm wanted to "transform how the world is energized by replicating the process that powers the sun and stars". AL_A's design proposes a first-of-its-kind facility with open spaces and see-through partitions that provides innovative carbon-free energy solutions.

The latest news and reports on China’s construction sector redefine the country’s future architectural landscape. A Cultural Infrastructure Index reflecting the data from 2020 places China and, more specifically, Shenzen as the world leader in investments regarding cultural facilities. Last year saw the announcement of 10 new cultural projects, all designed by world-renowned architects. At the same time, the Chinese authorities announced last month that buildings taller than 500 metres would no longer be approved, marking the end of an era that made the country home to 10 of the tallest 20 buildings in the world.

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