Live stream of a panel discussion organized by Milan-based studio untitled architecture as part of Triennale di Milano's summer public program. TOPOTEK 1, Openfabric and Project for Public Spaces, three leading firms in the world of public spaces, will address the issues of the post-pandemic cities and share their views on how to approach them.
France Pavilion. Image Courtesy of Expo Dubai 2020
With 3 months to go until the opening of Expo 2020 Dubai, on October 1st, the organizing committee has released updated images highlighting ready and completed pavilions. With officially 191 participating nations, the expo is seeking to “explore the power of connections in shaping our world”. Showcasing architecture, culture, and inspiring innovations, the world expo has been, for the past 170 years, the leading platform to introduce great inventions and architectural revolutions, most of which shaped the world we live in today.
Designed by architect Renée Gailhoustet in 1972, the Cité Spinoza residential complex is part of the master plan created for downtown Ivry-sur-Seine, France. The project is a rendition of the Unité d'Habitation de Marseille by Le Corbusier, a major architectural reference for architects at that time. Architectural photographer Anthony Saroufim took the streets of the Parisian Banlieue and captured the modernist architecture's distinct concrete geometry.
UNStudio and Bjarke Ingels Group have partnered up with Squint/Opera to develop SpaceForm, a virtual, cloud-based platform that facilitates design, review and collaboration processes for architects and developers. The new virtual workspace explicitly developed for the architecture and construction industry aims to fill a gap by creating a viable and sustainable way of collaborating and designing remotely across global teams, thus reducing the need for travel.
Herzog & de Meuron’s first realized project in Korea is completed and is set to open to the public in September 2021. Situated in the heart of Cheongdam Dong, one of the most commercial areas of Seoul, the ST International HQ and SongEun Art Space will offer non-commercial art spaces, a variety of new exhibition spaces, and offices for ST International both above and below ground, creating an inviting space for the public to engage with contemporary art. The first inaugural exhibition is expected to be on the 28th of September, and will be curated by the Swiss architecture firm in collaboration with SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation.
C+S Architects and Citizenstudio are among the winners of the Face of Renovation competition, an initiative to redesign the architectural image of housing stock across 31 sites in Moscow. The competition sought to improve the experience of the urban environment through the renovation of urban blocks, fostering a sense of identity through individuality. In redesigning the Metrogorodok area (lot no. 13), the two architecture studios focused on overcoming the uniformity and repetitiveness of the prefab housing estate while also enriching the public space through the plasticity of the facades, the use of colours and the creation of intermediate spaces.
Australian architecture firm Durbach Block Jaggers has unveiled a design for the Pencil Tower Hotel in Sydney. Designed to be the country's thinnest skyscraper, the project would rise at 410 Pitt Street with a height-to-width ratio of 16:1. With 173 hotel rooms with six suites on each floor, the 100-metre-high tower would be built in the downtown area with street frontage only 6.4 meters wide.
After ongoing uncertainties about the future state of the The Nakagin Capsule Tower Building, Kisho Kurokawa Architects and Urban Design Office Chiyoda-ku, have decided to dismantle the iconic architecture and regenerate its capsules as accommodation units and museum installations across the world. The regeneration plan follows the initial concept of "Metabolism", re-configurating the elements instead of complete demolition.
Foster+Partners has unveiled its design for Marina Tower, a residential project set to become the tallest building in Greece. Located in Ellinikon, on the outskirts of Athens, the project is part of a larger development plan meant to transform the site of the former airport into several new neighbourhoods centred around a large coastal park. The 200-metre tall tower at the heart of the masterplan showcases a permeable relationship between interior and exterior spaces in tune with the Mediterranean climate while also featuring various water elements and extensive greenery.
Zaha Hadid Architects has been invited to exhibit at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. Titled ‘High-performing Urban Ecologies', the installation responds to the theme of Resilient Communities by displaying the Alis Meeting Pod, a modular structure of ZHA’s Unicorn Island Masterplan that is currently under construction in Chengdu, China. The installation is on display at the Giardino delle Vergini at the entrance of the Italian Pavilion.
Courtesy of Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism
Under the theme of "Crossroads: Building the Resilient City", the 2021 Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism explores cities through architecture, design, and urban planning by highlighting "the virtues and dialogue of crossroads of knowledge" through exhibitions, installations, and events, that tackle the city of tomorrow led by architect Dominique Perrault. With more than 100 participating cities across five continents and installations by world renowned architects and designers, the Seoul Biennale will take place at various locations across the city from September 16 until October 31st, 2021.
Batroun Boutique Hotel . Image Courtesy of Carl Gerges Architects
Last year, Archdaily inaugurated its first edition of Young Practices, an initiative meant to highlight emerging offices that pursue architectural innovation. Carl Gerges Architects is a Lebanese practice whose body of work is a careful consideration of culture, context, and heritage. Villa Nadia and Batroun Boutique Hotel are two of the studio’s unbuilt projects that showcase the assemblage of architectural tradition and contemporary design, informed by a poetic sensibility and a deep understating of the local social, environmental and historical landscape.
Twelve big-picture architectural initiatives addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges have won the first of this year’s World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards. The 2021 WAFX Awards celebrate project proposals from across the world tackling today’s global issues, ranging from pandemic control and the climate emergency, to social equity, cultural identity, aging populations, and food supply.
The first exhibition by Zaha Hadid Architects 'ZHA Close Up – Work & Research' at the Modern Art Museum in Shanghai is now open to visitors. The exhibition displays an in-depth look at the evolution of Zaha Hadid Architects’ projects over the last 40 years, from the MAXXI Museum and the Leeza SOHO in Beijing, to the studio’s current ongoing projects across the world. The exhibition is the first by the architect to be held in in mainland China and will run until August 29, 2021.
MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong, has unveiled its design for the Aranya “Cloud Center” in Qinhuangdao, China. The floating-like design will offer Aranya, a vibrant seaside arts and culture community, a new multi-purpose public space with a a variety of functions and sculptured landscapes imagined as a “white stone garden".
Trahan Architects broke ground on the new Chapel of St. Ignatius and Gayle and Tom Benson Jesuit Center at the Loyola University in New Orleans. The new spiritual site and the community gathering space draw on elements of the Jesuit tradition, central to the University's heritage. Through the circular design, the light-filled interior space and the predominance of natural materials, Trahan Architects creates a space of universal spirituality at the heart of the campus.
Benedetta Tagliabue - Miralles Tagliabue EMBT participates in the 17th International Venice Architecture Biennale with an installation detailing the design thinking behind Plateau Central Masterplan at Clichy-Montfermeil, Paris. Entitled Living within a Market - Outside space is also Home, the exhibition showcases a series of models, drawings, prototypes and collages which illustrate the principles of community building and social integration that underline the project. The installation also brings to Venice a display structure designed by Enric Miralles in 1996, reproduced for the first time this year for the Miralles series of exhibitions in Barcelona.
Integrating metal panels into exterior architecture can result in a unique building that is both performative and beautiful. Metal panels customized in tandem with adaptive solutions, proprietary technology, and skilled project managers and designers create a perfect opportunity to make a statement in the surrounding built environment. Arktura provides services, resources, and materials to support endless creativity with exterior metal wall panels that give the flexibility to achieve virtually any design preference.
Herzog & de Meuron's rehabilitation of Porta Volta took up themes of Milanese urbanism and architecture, which has defined the city's urban fabric throughout the years. The project's design was developed after an intensive historical analysis of the site - a site which dates back to the 16th century and holds remains of when the Romans defined the city's boundaries. Architectural photographer Bahaa Ghoussainy captured Herzog & de Meuron's Lombardian-inspired structure, highlighting its modernized nod to historic architecture.
Gmp has won a competition to redesign a disused stainless steel factory that would accommodate the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts. In tune with China's newfound interest in adaptive reuse, the project retains the core structure of the 860-meter long industrial building, as well as its ventilation towers. At the same time, it redesigns the façade and accentuates the central axis through a mix of social spaces. The design is part of a larger redevelopment plan to transform the former industrial site into an art district.
Titled "Reflections", the Swiss Pavilion at the 2020 Dubai Expo showcases Switzerland's unique duality of scenic landscapes and technology, as part of the Opportunity district of the expo. Designed by OOS Architekten, along with Bellprat Partner for the scenography, and Lorenz Eugster for the landscape, the creative team behind Reflections created a bold architectural statement with the pavilion's facade and immersed visitors in an exploration of Switzerland's scenic landscapes and state-of-the-art innovations.
Aedas has unveiled the design for a tourist leisure resort that takes the form of an organically-spaced 266-meter tower in the harbour city of Zhanjiang. Located at the intersection of three distinct urban areas, the Zhanjiang Yun Hai No. 1 Tower becomes a portal for the city and a symbol of its development. With a tower design inspired by the motion of koi fish, and a podium echoing the shape of waves, the project creates an allegory of Zhanjiang’s harbour culture.