Continuing our coverage of the Venice Biennale, London-based Farshid Moussavi’s installation at the Arsenale explored different experiences within everyday life and culture that are the result of architecture accepting certain “common grounds.” Entitled ‘Architecture and its Affects’, viewers were surrounded by changing projections of textures and patterns, structural configurations and facades, which were organized in such a manner as to highlight their affects, rather than their chronological existence or historical references.

More about Architecture and its Affects after the break.

Undergoing the most significant change since the historic station was completed to Brunel’s design, the new Paddington Station, designed by Weston Williamson Architects, will provide a major new gateway for London. Serving local, national and international passengers, the Crossrail Station balances many design issues including heritage, conservation, transport integration, way-finding, orientation, servicing and security to create a world-class pedestrian space alongside the existing Network Rail buildings. More images and architects’ description after the break.

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Marking the entrance to Stockholm’s inner city center, the Stockholm City Station. Designed by 3XN Architects, integrates the station, a hotel, conference center, and apartments. The main idea behind the design was to create a building that gently adjusts to the area’s existing building in scale and expression, and which reinterprets a number of local Swedish design traditions. Containing a number of public and private functions, the building will contribute positively to creating life in the surrounding neighborhood. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Architects: L’Escaut Architectures Location: Mont-sur-Marchienne, Belgium Project Architects: Olivier Bastin, Eloisa Astudillo, Nele Stragier, Florence Hoffmann Project Year: 2008 Project Area: 8,230 sqm Photographs: Courtesy of L’Escaut Architectures, Gilbert Fastenaekens

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Spearheading the development of the new district in Egedal, Demark, the town hall and health center will be the uniting center of the new Municipality of the city as one of the first buildings in the new planned urban area around Egedal Station. Designed by Henning Larsen Architects, their proposal won the highest score for all criteria in the competition to get the first prize. The health center will become an active part of the town hall, while at the same time offering citizens the opportunity to use the area outside town hall opening hours. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Herzog & de Meuron’s exhibition at the Biennale is focused on the architecture of a symbolic project, with a complex history: The Elbphilharmonie, a concert hall on top of a former industry in Hamburg, which also includes a 250 room five-star hotel, and 47 apartments. The project, in a very advanced state, remains halted since last year due to legal issues with the contractor.

In the exhibition, the history of the project is documented with three-dimensional representations of the complex building services; camera shots panning through the construction site; and large-scale models, whose spatial and physical presence represent what the architects wished and still wish to foreground: architecture.

DesignByMany’s latest challenge: Superhero Landmark sponsored by Autodesk and media partners ArchDaily. With the rise of superhero movies dominating the movie screens, we need a permanent place of celebration to honor these great characters and their awesomeness. DesignByMany suggests building a Superhero Theme Park! Designing an entire theme park is way too big of a task to tackle for this scope, but luckily every park has an element that embodies the ethos of the park.

This challenge is to design the central landmark of your Superhero Theme Park. The landmark will serve as the iconic image of the park and the primary means of orientation for the park. It can be inspired by a single character, a group of characters, or event your own imaginary character! The more creative the better!

Architects: a3gm + Mata y asociados Location: Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain Architect In Charge: Salvador Mata Pérez Project Year: 2009 Photographs: Courtesy of Mata y asociados

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Architects: Cendón – Vázquez Arquitectos Location: Pontevedra, Spain Project Year: 2007 Photographs: Manuel G. Vicente

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In the context of the ongoing financial crisis, cities and citizens are going through profound and as yet uncharted transformations. Tomorrow in Naples, Italy, UN-Habitat’s World Urban Forum will bring together mayors, international organizations, governments and civil- society organizations to discuss the Urban Future.

This debate aims to blur the boundaries between designers and politicians; researchers and eco- nomists, to highlight new policies and practices which do not require funding from strained public coffers. Can new forms of city development be thought about without the contribution of private enterprise? Can the political and design worlds find “Common ground” in the face of urban decay and austerity? How can policy making and urban planning come together to bring about appropriate norms for improving urbanites’ lives? This will be one of the focus areas for the ANMA Architects’ new foundation ANMA-F.

Architects: EDU Medellín Location: Medellín, Colombia Design Team: Juan Mejia, Gustavo Adolfo Restrepo, John Octavio Ortiz, Alejandra Gomez, Maria Elena Arango, Adolfo Emilio Arboleda, Julian Yepes, Isabel Mejia, Alba Milena Garcia, Diego Alberto Serna, Victor Hugo Garcia, Jerónimo Franco, Jose Puentes, Andres Montoya, Gustavo Ramirez Project Year: 2011 Photographs: Courtesy of EDU Medellín

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We’ve already introduced you to the Danish Pavilion exhibition Possible Greenland, on display at the 2012 Venice Biennale, featuring possibilities that lay in store for Greenland in light of geographic changes caused by the increased rate of ice and snow melt. Henning Larsen Architects has now shared with us their portion of the exhibit, Greenland Migrating, a project developed in collaboration with David Garcia Studio and KITAA Architects. Curating the exhibit are Danish-Greenlandic Professor in geology Minik Rosing and Copenhagen-based NORD Architects.

Join us after the break for a closer look at the project.

When people think architecture school they think of training that teaches them how to make things: build spaces or develop sites for, primarily, human use. Over the years, this concept has expanded to encompass social activism. In the States, for example, there are programs like Architecture for Humanity, Project Row Houses, and Make It Right that address issues of poverty, displacement, and housing. Human Rights, however, extends beyond creating spaces for the economically disadvantages or impoverished. In fact, the term Human Rights often conjures up people’s rights within the context of conflict. Most people, however, do not think of architecture as encompassing the lack or destruction of structures.

Read about the Forensic Architecture program at the U. of London after the break

In his Op-Ed for The New York Times, called “Architecture and the Lost Art of Drawing,” American architecture legend Michael Graves laments the loss of drawing in our computer-dependent age. While Graves realizes the usefulness of computer technology to present a final product, he maintains that the act of sketching (particularly those first, fleeting “referential sketches”) is vital to the process of design:

Architects: Cazú Zegers G. Location: Kawelluco, Chile Architect In Charge: Cazú Zegers G. Photographs: Guy Wenborne

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When Pritzker-Prize Winner Eduardo Souta de Moura faces unemployment in his own home country, you know things must be bad.

Due to the dissolution of its Parliament in 2005, Portugal has been in economic slow-down even before the 2008 global Recession set in. Factor in the Recession, and Portugal’s staggeringly weak economy rivals even Spain’s, making Portugal – along with Greece and Ireland – one of the EU’s “crisis countries.”

For the first of our “Recessionary Interviews,” we spoke with Portuguese architect Luis Pedra Silva, of Pedra Silva Architects, who gave us a first-hand account of the situation, the Darwinian mindset he’s been forced to adopt, and his (he’ll admit) stubbornly optimistic belief that Portuguese architecture, which boasts a particularly plucky history, will survive this crisis to the end.

Read the Complete Interview with Luis Pedra Silva, after the break…

The 2012 IIDA Best Interiors of Latin America Competition was created to recognize, honor and celebrate outstanding Interior Design/Architecture projects that represent the highest level of creativity, originality and design excellence in the following countries: Argentina, Aruba, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela. The design project(s) must have been completed between January 1, 2010 and June 31, 2012. The deadline for submission is September 14. For more information, please visit here.

The Palace of International Forums is a centrally located venue in the cityscape of Tashkent , Uzbekistan for hosting official state receptions, conferences and concerts. With the request from the client for an atmosphere of festive glamour, pfarré lighting design created the illumination of interior spaces to encompass a total of 40,000 m2. They augmented the work of the interior designers by designing many lights, light systems, light objects and crystal chandeliers manufactured specifically for the project. More images and their description after the break.

Photographer Patricia Parinejad has shared with us her images from the Japanese Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale. Presenting “Architecture. Possible here? Home-for-all”, the exhibition tells the story of three emerging architects collaborating with the exhibit’s curator, Toyo Ito, to design for the Rikuzentakata residents who lost their homes during the devastating 2011 tsunami. “The humanity of this project” impressed the Biennale jury and was awarded the top honor of the Gold Lion.

Check out our previous coverage on the exhibit for more information and continue after the break for more images.

National Building Museum and Metropolis Magazine contributor Andrew Caruso takes you “inside the design mind” of architect Steven Holl.

This year, the American Institute of Architects conferred its highest honor – the AIA Gold Medal – upon Steven Holl. I had the opportunity to talk with Steven about his sources of inspiration, a mid-career enlightenment, and his recent recognition as one of the most celebrated “American” architects.

Andrew Caruso: Balancing your practice with teaching and art is clearly a part of the designer we know you to be. How do these explorations shape your design point of view?

Steven Holl: Every project is unique: a site and a circumstance, a culture, a climate, a program. All of these forces are unique and you need a concept to hold the manifold pieces together, an idea that makes the project significant in its place and for its purpose. That is always the way I begin projects.

The Leeds Housing design by Kamvari Architects proposes terraced housing which meets the criteria of modern day living. The proposal refers to the context and the interesting site surrounded by canals and a waterway. This was seen as an opportunity to generate a central hub for the community which would separate them from vehicular routes and create a sanctuary for the entire community to enjoy. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Zaha Hadid, who has been making her mark in product design, such as with her footwear design, has most recently collaborated with Donna Karan to design the powerful new scented perfume. The scent, which evokes the complexity of a woman, is accompanied by a curving, fluid-seeming container made of ombré charcoal glass. With a shape that is distinctively elegant, the bottle represents a strong sense of femininity, while demonstrating the confidence of a woman. “The bottle’s dark, translucent qualities offer a sense of mystery that awakens our curiosity,” Hadid, the Pritzker Prize winner explains. The perfume, which is sure to awaken many, retails at $85, per 1.7 oz.