The Dutch architect, identified as a “compelling exponent of the Dutch welfare state,” was a leading voice within the international avant-garde movements CIAM (International Congresses of Modern Architecture) and Team 10. Inspired by the belief that “architecture should accommodate the emancipation of the masses while allowing for the self-realization of the individual citizen,” his portfolio includes some of the Netherlands’ most important postwar projects, such as the Rotterdam shopping street Lijnbaan.
Construction has begun on 3XN’s first project in India. Aesthetically inspired by local foliage, the 136-meter “Grove Towers” are designed to interweave at their base, much like the roots of the native mangrove trees. These lower, “interwoven” floors will house retail establishments, while the upper floors will be given over to residential units.
A court approved ruling has sealed the fate of Foster + Partners’ half-built Harmon Hotel in Las Vegas. Unfinished due to structural defects, the 27-story glass tower was once envisioned to be the staple of the $8.5 billion CityCenter entertainment complex. However, since problems arose in 2008, the stunted hotel and casino has instead served as a glorified billboard.
Though it has yet to be determined who will be blamed for the faulty construction, owner MGM Resorts International has been granted permission to dismantle the blue glass building floor-by-floor at a cost of $11.5 million.
The American Institute of Architects’ San Francisco chapter has announced the recipients of the 2014 AIASF Design Awards. The winners were lauded for their outstanding contributions to the built environment in the following categories: architecture, interior architecture, energy and sustainability, historic preservation, unbuilt design and special achievement.
London Mayor Boris Johnson has enlisted the help of three architects, Hawkins\Brown, Rick Mather Architects and Maccreanor Lavington Architects to design a new town on the site of Heathrow Airport. The move is designed to encourage support for Johnson's plan to build a new airport in the Thames Estuary, jokingly dubbed 'Boris Island' by some. If the Estuary Airport were to go ahead it could mean closing Heathrow, currently one of the world's busiest airports, freeing the land up for the new development. You can read more on the story at the Architects' Journal.
Dear readers, the deadline is quickly approaching for you to enter the search for the 2014 World Architecture Festival (WAF) awards. Annually recognizing the globe’s most impressive works, WAF is the largest architecture festival (and live awards) on the planet.
A team led by Nottingham-based artist Wolfgang Buttress has been selected over seven other architect-designed proposals to construct a “pulsating” beehive for the UK’s participation at the 2015 Milan Expo. Entitled “BE,” the “virtual hive” will highlight the plight of the honeybee and offer an “immersive sensory experience” that leaves visitors with a “lasting flavor of the British landscape.”
A full project description from the creators after the break...
From August 3rd, the International Union of Architects (UIA) will once again host their World Congress, a triennial event that focuses on one critical topic in our architectural culture. Whereas the Tokyo 2011 Congress was focused on the future, this year's congress in Durban will concentrate not on a different time but a different place: the "otherwhere", or as they put it, the "anywhere-but-here". The Congress will explore ideas about how connectivity might shape our experience and alter the course of our social progress.
Read on for more about the themes of the 25th World Conference and the Keynote Speakers...
Do you think your project has what it takes to win an INSIDE award? The deadline (May 30th) is fast approaching, so make sure to submit your projects soon! Divided into 12 categories -- which include Residential, Retail, Transport, Office and more -- entries will be judged by distinguished designers (judges confirmed for 2014 include Fabio Novembre, Matteo Thun, Jaya Ibrahim, David Kohn, Joyce Wang, Voon Wong and Chris Lee). In October, architects and interior designers will meet in Singapore for the INSIDE Festival, which is held alongside the World Architecture Festival. During the festival, the category winners will compete for the ultimate prize: World Interior of the Year.
Bloomberg Philanthropies has announced 21 finalists for its annual Mayors Challenge, a competition to reward cities which propose the most creative and transferable solutions to intractable social problems such as public health, unemployment and transportation. The finalists were selected from a pool of 155 applicants from across Europe.
From the 21 finalists, a winner will be announced this fall, with the winner receiving €5 million to develop their proposal, and 4 runners-up receiving €1 million each. Founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and former Mayor of New York City commented "We need city leaders to continually reach for innovative new ways to address urban challenges – and then share what’s working with the world. That’s what the Mayors Challenge is all about."
Read on after the break for more on the challenge and the list of 21 finalists
The New York Public Library (NYPL) has abandoned Norman Foster's controversial plans to transform part of its 20th century Carrère and Hastings “masterpiece” into a circulating library. The news doesn’t come as much of a surprise, considering the city’s new mayor, Bill de Blasio expressed skepticism towards the $150 million renovation earlier this year.
According to a report by the New York Times, Blasio does not intend on reducing the NYPL funding, however the money will now be allocated to other purposes.
Several library trustees have stated that in order to keep up with the cultural shift from traditional stacks to online resources, they now intend on completing the renovation of the library's mid-Manhattan branch on Fifth Avenue.
With the highly anticipated Venice Biennale just over a month away, ArchDaily is gearing up for what promises to be an impressive architectural display. All of the national pavilions will be organized under one theme: Absorbing Modernity. The event will also include Fundamentals, a look back at some of architecture’s most basic components as a means of examining the history of design in the evolution of societies. All in all, Koolhaas’ conception is for a Biennale that is more "a vehicle for research than an exhibition."
With live, on-the-scene coverage on our Twitter, Facebook,Instagram and Pinterest accounts, ArchDaily will be giving you complete access to this year’s biennale events. We will also be crowdsourcing for content, finding out what our readers want to know from this year’s participants and curators. To get things started we will be sharing fun facts about the different countries, artists, and curators participating in the event. Starting today, May 7th, we will be uploading one fun fact per day and will be sharing whatever great content you bring to us!
Stay tuned to the #countdownvenice2014 hashtag and give us feedback, ideas, and suggestions for our coverage of #fundamentals. Let the countdown to #Venice2014 begin!
Sunny Hills by Kengo Kuma via @archdaily on Instagram
We recently went to Tokyo during the Sakura to visit the city's incredible architecture: from Metabolist towers and the work of Pritzker laureates to the buildings of the new generation of Japanese architects. See the 27 photos we snapped after the break.
Also, leave your suggestions for our next Instatour in the comments below, and be sure to follow @ArchDaily on Instagram to travel with us through the world of architecture! Next destination: #Venice.
The winners of the 2014 RIBA London Awards were announced in a ceremony last night. The awards recognize the RIBA London Architect of the year and 2014 RIBA Emerging Architect of the Year (Haworth Tompkins and RCKa, respectively) as well as a host of project awards which join other regional awards to make up the longlist for the 2014 RIBA Stirling Prize.
Frank Gehry has been bestowed with Spain's prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts. The Canadian-American architect was chosen as the award's 34th laureate “for the relevance and impact of his creations in numerous countries, via which he has defined and furthered architecture in the past half century.”
“His buildings are characterized by a virtuoso play of complex shapes, the use of unusual materials, such as titanium, and their technological innovation, which has also had an impact on other arts,” stated the jury. “An example of this open, playful and organic style of architecture is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, which, in addition to its architectural and aesthetic excellence, has had an enormous economic, social and urban impact on its surroundings as a whole.”
More information about Gehry's selection, after the break...
The influence of Western civilization and the birth of modernization following World War II lead Japan to become the world’s second largest economy by 1968. With this came a host of problems, namely environmental pollution and the oil crisis, which triggered the reexamination of modernism in Japanese architecture and a series of radical experiments by young architects that inevitably lead to a new vision of the city.
Highlighting the work of these young architects, as well as historians, urban observers, artists and magazines of the 1970s, Japan’s participation at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale will spotlight the “independent, fundamentally innovative responses” that “unfolded a new fertile field of architecture” and revealed the “essential power” our profession has in the real world.
Paul Rudolph’s threatened Orange County Government Center has new hope. According to a report by Architectural Record, New York City architect Gene Kaufman has offered to purchase the building and transform it into artist studios, though under one condition: Kaufman’s practice Gwathmey Siegel Kaufman must be commissioned to design the city’s new government building adjacent to the brutalist landmark. This news comes a week after an 18-3 vote secured plans to restore a portion of Rudolph’s building and return it to its former use.
A study conducted by Emporis, the international provider of building data, has revealed that Moscow is set to retain its title as the skyscraper capital of Europe. Already home to 4 of Europe's top 5 - including the Mercury City Tower, Europe's current tallest at 338m - Moscow is also home to 6 of the 10 tallest European Buildings under construction. Three of these buildings will also surpass the height of the Mercury City Tower.
However, despite having the greatest concentration of supertall buildings, Moscow is set to lose its crown for the tallest building in Europe to St Petersburg, with the 463m Lakhta Center due for completion in 2018. Also making the top 10 list with 3 buildings being constructed over 250m is Istanbul. You can see the full top 10 list after the break.
The Edinburgh-based firm Reiach and Hall will be representing Scotland at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale. The show will showcase Scotland's rich modernist heritage, featuring buildings such as Gillespie, Kidd & Coia's St Peter's Seminary in Cardross and the church designs of Reiach and Hall's founder Alan Reiach, focusing on the positive aspects of these buildings which are often seen negatively by the Scottish public. "Certainly buildings from that period get a difficult press - the stories about the Red Road flats and so on don't really help that - but we hope to explain and examine the real optimism of that period" said Neil Gillespie, Director of Reiach and Hall.
Scotland's contribution at the biennale will be based in the UK pavilion for a month-long residency, as well as a show and presentations at other locations around Venice.
A design by Dow Jones Architects for a new Maggie's Centre in Wales has received planning permission. The centre will enhance the existing cancer care facilities at Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff which provides support across South-Eastern Wales. The building sits in gardens designed by RHS Gold Medallist Cleve West, and has an intimate relationship with the surrounding landscape, with rooms that open onto woodland gardens.
Federico Babina, the illustrator behind the extremely popularARCHIPORTRAIT (portraits of architects done in that architect's particular style), ARCHIST (fictional works of architecture in the styles of particular artists) andARCHICINE(illustrations of architecture in famous films), has just released his latest: ARCHIMACHINE.
Non-profit organization DawnTown has chosen Design with Company as the winner of its second official design-build competition. The Chicago-based practice’s winning entry, Pavilion MMM (Miami Many-a-chair Monument), will tell the multicultural story of Miami through metaphor by constructing a temporary monument of recycled chairs collected from local yard sales on Miami’s Cultural Plaza.
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