On November 22, 1988, one of the most important and revered figures in the history of Mexican and international architecture died in Mexico City. Luis Barragán Morfín, born in Guadalajara and trained as a civil engineer left behind an extensive legacy of published works, conferences, buildings, houses, and gardens that remain relevant to this day. While Barragán was known for his far-reaching research in customs and traditions, above all, the architect spent his life in contemplation. His sensitivity to the world and continued effort to rewrite the mundane has made him a lasting figure in Mexico, and the world.
Undoubtedly, Luis Barragán's legacy represents something so complex and timeless that it continues to inspire and surprise architects across generations. It is because of this that, 30 years after his death, we've compiled this series of testimonies from some of Mexico's most prominent contemporary architects, allowing them to reflect on their favorites of Barragan's works and share just how his work has impacted and inspired theirs.
Urban Sketchers is an international non-profit organization dedicated to fostering a global community of artists who practice on-site drawings to enhance the artistic, narrative, and educational value of drawing. Connecting people from all over the world, the organization brings people in touch with their environment to illustrate drawings of their lived experiences.
Russian practice Kleinewelt Architekten have designed a mixed-use housing block for Moscow that features a carved stone-relief facade. Inspired by historic Russian chambers and Italian palazzos, the project combines a residential building with cultural spaces and social care functions. Called Allegoria Mosca, the design draws upon the site's history and features an open-air art space, conference and lecture halls, as well as a transformable exhibition hall.
EID Architecture was selected earlier this year as one of the two finalists in an international competition to design a 518 meter-tall tower in Fuzhou, China. Located on a prominent riverfront site in Fuzhou, Shimao North Riverfront Tower was made to be the centerpiece of a new business district within the city. The tower's design explores what supertall building means today. In contrast to many form-driven towers, Shimao Fuzhou aims to integrate architecture and structure to create an iconic and futuristic landmark with remarkable efficiency.
Mumbai-based NUDES architecture office have revealed a new design called "Mosque of Light" as their entry in the Dubai Creek Harbor competition. The project was designed as a play in light with a multi-layered geometrical form to filter daylight softly into the prayer hall. The mosque explores the combination of light and built form around a spiritual experience.
Canadian Architect has announced the winners of its annual Awards of Excellence program. Now in its 51st year, the awards are “the highest recognition for excellence in the design stage in the Canadian architectural sector.” Celebrating unbuilt and student work, the awards place emphasis on design ambition, innovation, and social and environmental sustainability.
This year, fourteen entries were recognized from a pool of 190 professional and student submissions. The winners, featured below, were divided into Awards of Excellence, Awards of Merit, Student Awards of Excellence, and the inaugural Photo Award of Excellence.
https://www.archdaily.com/907307/canadas-best-architecture-of-2018-recognized-by-canadian-architect-magazineNiall Patrick Walsh
In his monumental four-volume book, TheNature of Order, Christopher Alexander talks about an intelligent architecture, responsive to human needs and sensibilities through adaptation to existing buildings and nature. This is a new way of viewing the world—a way of connecting to it, and to ourselves—yet it is very much the same as the most ancient ways of connecting.
https://www.archdaily.com/907139/how-to-judge-a-building-does-it-make-you-feel-more-or-less-aliveNikos A. Salingaros & Kenneth G. Masden II
A historic hotbed of architectural styles and a current architectural capital of the world, cities in the United Kingdom are awash with iconic buildings from the Georgian, Neoclassical, and contemporary era. Such buildings, from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol to the Southbank in London, have come to define the cities in which they stand, drawing the eyes of tourists and designers alike from around the world.
It is therefore an interesting exercise to examine what these cities would look like if such structures didn’t exist. To this end, Neomam Studios has partnered with QuickQuid to produce a series of images demonstrating what six British cities could have looked like, resurrecting some of Britain’s most surprising unbuilt structures.
https://www.archdaily.com/907301/what-6-british-cities-could-have-looked-likeNiall Patrick Walsh
London architecture today, for all the big-hitters that dominate the headlines (Foster, Rogers, Heatherwick), finds its richness in small studios. Peter Barber leads one such studio, where for the past 30 years he has led the development of some of the city’s most sensitive housing and housing developments.
https://www.archdaily.com/907299/peter-barbers-adventurously-eccentric-london-architectureKatherine Allen
The International VELUX Award 2018 sought to highlight the work of architecture students around the globe who challenge the use of daylight in built environments. The award, titled “Light of Tomorrow,” was launched in 2004 and is awarded biennially for creative interpretation, exploration, and investigation of daylight in built environments. This year, the winners were selected from over 600 submissions.
PLP Architecture’s Tower Ten, the new expansion of the World Trade Center Amsterdam, officially began construction last week. The ground breaking ceremony was launched by deputy director Sandra Thesing of the City of Amsterdam and Ronald van der Waals of CBRE Global Investors. Located in the Zuidas central business district, the project will create a radically different appearance from its predecessor, adding 32,000 sqm of new office space and amenities in the process.
Yong Ju Lee Architecture and Atelier KJ have created "Elusive Boundary" for the Korean Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. The project is designed as a place for radical encounters in different fields. The main theme of the Korean Pavilion, Mobility, is defined as a new space of possibility created by movement between territories and escape/expansion to new territories. The movement defined by new mobility is not linear, but a simultaneous event between territories.
UNStudio has released images of their proposed Lyric Theatre complex in the West Kowloon Cultural District of Hong Kong. Intended as a “celebration of the world of theater,” the mixed-use scheme will house three theaters, rehearsal room, and dining, retail, and entertainment functions.
Designed to be open, inclusive, and welcoming, the compact scheme is comprised of a series of stacked transparent elements making the arts accessible to the general public. Open displays draw visitors inside from a series of reactivated plazas surrounding the scheme, supported by “an additional programme for the public to enjoy that is independent of performance timetable.”
Honoring “an individual or pair of architects whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture,” the AIA Gold Medal is often considered the highest honor awarded in the United States for architecture.
Zaha Hadid Architects and A-Lab have been announced the winner of a competition to design two new metro stations in Oslo. The stations, Fornebu Senter and Fornbuporten, are to be part of Oslo's new Fornebubanen line, connecting a major existing rail interchange to the Fornebu Senter, a major shopping center in the city.
Throughout history, markets have provided an important function in the exchange of foods, books, spices, everyday items, and even ideas. From Mexican Tianguis to North African Souks, they played an essential element in the configuration of urban spaces.
Different architects have approached this challenge, where spatial distribution plays a fundamental role in creating adequate logistics and circulation.
We've selected 20 markets and their plan and section to inspire your next project.
The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA P.S.1 have announced the five finalists of their 2019 Young Architects Program (YAP). The competition was founded to offer emerging architectural talent the opportunity to design a temporary, outdoor installation within the walls of the P.S.1 courtyard for MoMA’s annual summer “Warm-Up” series. Architects are challenged to develop creative designs that provide shade, seating and water, while working within guidelines that address environmental issues, including sustainability and recycling.
Italian furniture brand Cassina has reissued an iconic piece of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed furniture, the Taliesin 1 chair. The chair was designed by Lloyd Wright in 1949 for the Garden Room in Taliesin West. The iconic chair didn’t enter mass production until the late 1980s, but was discontinued in 1990 as it was seen as “too avant-garde.” The Taliesin 1 is constructed from a single piece of folded plywood, and will release in its original beech plywood with a cherry wood veneer.
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture has announced the master jury for the 2017-2019 award cycle. The jury, a diverse and global group comprising architects, academics, and theorists, will select the recipients of the award, each of whom will, in turn, receive a USD $I million prize for their winning work.
https://www.archdaily.com/907212/jury-announced-for-2019-aga-khan-award-for-architectureKatherine Allen
On a small strip of land between the Emscher River and the Rhine Herne Canal in Germany sits a rest stop whose colorful appearance belies its radical purpose. The structure’s artful design consists of pipes leading from two toilets and the Emscher (the most polluted river in Germany) that converge at a small community garden and drinking fountain. The garden is, in fact, a manmade wetland that collects, treats, and cleans the effluence from the toilets and river—making it drinkable.
Bjarke Ingels Group has revealed new images for their King Street West condo community in Toronto. The development was formed as sets of pixels extruded upwards to create space for housing, retail and boutique offices. The concept was made to avoid the footprints of heritage buildings that already exist on site. The latest renderings revealed both interior and exterior images of the striking new development.
The Royal Institute of British Architects has awarded the 2018RIBA President’s Medal for Research to Chris Hildrey of Hildrey Studio for ProxyAddress: Using Location Data to Reconnect Those Facing Homelessness with Support Services. Hildrey’s project addresses one of the main causes of homelessness in the UK: the end of an ‘assured short-hold tenancy’, where a landlord is legally entitled to issue a possession order. ProxyAddress tackles this issue through collaborative research and real-world application.
The Royal Institute of British Architects have announced the winners of the 2018 President’s Medals for the world’s best architecture student projects. This year's winners were selected from 328 design projects and dissertations submitted by over 100 schools of architecture in 37 countries. Three medals were presented, as well as commendations to nine students of architecture from around the world. Each year, the medals are awarded to reward talent and promote innovation in architectural education.
Tokyo-based designer monde has created a series of bookends inspired by the narrow back alleys of Tokyo. As described by My Modern Met, the bookends convey the “dizzying feeling of wandering the city’s back alleys” through a mixture of laser-cut wood and lighting.
The results of the two-year project were debuted at the Design Festa arts and crafts event, where they caught the eye of outlets across Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.
https://www.archdaily.com/907146/these-crafted-bookends-are-inspired-by-the-alleyways-of-tokyoNiall Patrick Walsh