Start your weekend early with this Zaha Hadid-inspired track by the internationally renowned DJ, Roger Sanchez. The former Pratt architecture student is currently working on a starchitect-themed, tech house series that musically interprets the work of his favorite architects, such as Frank Gehry, Frank Lloyd Wright, IM Pei, Tado Ando and Gaudi.

The organizers of Trimo Urban Crash, a biannual international competition for students of architecture and industrial design, just launched this year’s summer challenge, which is a relatively simple task. All are being asked, not just students, to present their thoughts on ‘Sustainable urban commuting’. You can send you thoughts/work in either visual form (photography, video, visual art and illustration, poster, etc.) or in textual form (no longer than 150 words); or you can create a combination of both. Submissions are on-line only. The deadline for the Summer Warm-up Challenge is August 20, 2012 and this challenge is only a warm-up for the 4th Trimo Urban Crash Competition which will get started this autumn, October 2012. For more information, please visit here.

The London-based Delfina Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to facilitating cultural exchange with a special focus on the greater Middle East and North Africa, will expand from their townhouse at 29 Catherine Place, near Buckingham Palace, to an adjacent building at 31 Catherine Place. The expansion will double the Foundation’s residency to offer at least 32 residencies a year for artists, curators and writers, making it the largest international artist residency provider in London when it reopens in Autumn 2013. In keeping with the Foundation’s beliefs to promote collaborative understanding across cultures, London-based Studio Octopi and Cairo-based Shahira Fahmy Architects have been awarded first prize for their expansion proposal which will retain the domesticity of the two houses and explore the notion of the hearth in a home.

More about the expansion after the break. 

Composed of approximately 400 simple wooden chairs arrayed and stacked in a sine wave surface, the ‘SEAT’ public pavilion, by E/B Office, is a recently completed winning entry for this year’s Flux Project in Freedom Park. Located in Atlanta, the chairs are drawn into an agitated vortex rising from the ground. Sitting is perhaps the most common condition from which we experience architecture. Whether we work, relax, watch, eat, sleep, or talk to each other, sitting is at the core of our relationship to buildings. Therefore, this project formalizes the transformation of chairs from detached useable objects into structural and spatial components of an ambiguously occupiable edifice. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Presented by the American Institute of Architects Portland and the Center for Architecture, the annual Architecture + Design Festival is coming up in October. Of the more popular events and one that continues to grow each year is the Design Matters: Tour of Homes, the only annual tour of architect-designed residences, which takes place on October 13. The homes tour provides a rare opportunity to glimpse inside seven extraordinary Portland residences. This year’s tour features innovative homes designed by top local architects including the renovation of Donald Blair’s 1960 futuristic “Home of Tomorrow”, a prefab home from Jeff Kovel, as well as several other outstanding examples of modern, efficient living. For more information, please visit here.

As the world turns its eyes to London in 2012, Design Stories examines the architecture and engineering behind the 2012 sporting venues. It provides a unique Olympic experience – a place where people can explore and view drawings, images, videos and amazingly detailed models of London’s key new sporting venues.

Architects: Andrew Burns Architect Location: Urada, Niigata Prefecture, Japan Local Architects: Souhei Imamura, Sotaro Yamamoto Competition Team: Andrew Burns, Casey Bryant Project Year: 2012 Project Area: 120.0 sqm Photographs: Brett Boardman, Courtesy of Andrew Burns Architect

+ 13

HOK Chief Executive Officer Patrick MacLeamy, FAIA, explains why the term “BIM” doesn’t convey the real promise of building information modeling over time. In this video, MacLeamy breaks down the mega acronym “BIM-BAM-BOOM!” and addresses the real promise of this new approach across three basic phases of a building’s life.

It all begins with BIM; the architect uses 3-D modeling to investigate options and test building performance early on in order to optimize the building’s design. The design is then handed off to the contractor who streamlines the building process with BAM (Building Assembly Modeling), which allows for a significant decrease in construction costs. Once complete, BAM is turned over the owner and becomes BOOM (building owner operator model). This allows the owner to manage the building over time and ensure optimized building performance throughout its entire life cycle.

The real promise of “BIM-BAM-BOOM!” is “better design, better construction, better operation”.

Architects: Abis Arquitectura Location: Sierra Dorada, Benidorm, Alicante, Spain Architects: Ángel Benigno González Avilés, Mª Isabel Pérez Millán Design Team: Emilio Cortés Saura Project Year: 2010 Photographs: Toni Elvar, Vicente Martinez

+ 15

As a response to David Chipperfield’s “Common Ground” theme for the 2012 Venice Biennale, the authors of the Serbian Pavilion have created JEDAN:STO / 100 - an installation that brings the archetypical object of a table to its extreme meaning by stretching it to a monumental scale that allows its surface to overcome the rectangular interior of the pavilion. This “minimalistic gesture” breaks down the “common” table into a “plethora of metaphors” that initiates thinking and encourages visitors to observe what is happening around it.

Continue after the break for the an abstract by the project authors.

The Chemical Brothers composed a song entitled “Velodrome”, for which Crystal has created a three minute animated sequence promotional video to match its heart-pounding rhythms. Played in the Velodrome before every session, the video inspired by Hopkins Architects’ design, shows the venue as never before, literally pulsating with excitement.

Now through November 5th, the Museum of Modern Art will be running Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900-2000, a new exhibit that surveys modern design and innovation through the exploration of childhood development and well-being. Prior to the 20th century, childhood was not considered a time of development for the human brain. As Ken Johnson points out in his reviewof the exhibit, “children were considered small adults to be put to work as soon as possible”. The 20th century changed all that and modern psychology bore a great deal of influence on investigations into childhood and development. Modernist design followed, creating a whole new set of tools that children could interact with, learn from, and be entertained by. The exhibit has an assortment of furniture, toys, books, games and posters all designed for the child.Read on for more after the break.

Once in a Lifetime presents tantalizing new possibilities for exploring and relaxing that redefine the idea of luxury travel.

The book showcases quality destinations beyond superficial pomp that represent a conscious choice for slowing down our hectic lives. The inspiring range of examples includes enchanting tree house hotels, incredible eco-friendly resorts, farms on which guests help with the work, simple hotels and glamping sites in spectacular scenery, as well as glamorous houses, trains, and boats. These are not only depicted in stunning photographs, but also insightfully described by renowned international travel, design, and architecture journalist Marie Le Fort.

The main idea for the Raft ’4U’ cafe restaurant was to create a pleasant environment, like staying under the shadow of a tree, but also above water. Designed by Studio Alfirevic, the raft represents an extension of the riverbank. The atrium space is the central motif, with elements of the natural environment such as birch, stone, grass, etc. The spatial organization consists of the main entrance, wardrobe with toilets, café-restaurant with atrium and bar with storage space. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Architects: Haeahn Architecture Location: Seoul Project Year: 2012 Photographs: Park Young-chae

+ 11

Check out these new renderings of One World Trade Center from the Port Authority and the Durst Organization. The images were released to illustrate recent design modifications – such as a treatment for the tower’s first 20 stories and the elimination of the casing around the antenna. These fresh thirteen visuals offer a look at the tower from perspectives taken around the boroughs and New Jersey. While these renderings offer a taste of what can be expected, it is great to physical progress being made and how close we are to a completed tower.

More after the break.

Architects: Sander Architects Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA Project Year: 2012 Photographs: Sharon Risedorph

+ 21

With a given task to design a temporary summer outdoor cafe with a very limited budget, DarkDesignGroup decided to use basic materials for the walls and roof slabs, which will allow the cafe to be more easily dismantled in the fall. Through the creative use of the OSB on a wood frame, they are able to create a dynamic form which invites the public inside and also allows them to enjoy the outdoor atmosphere. By manipulating the wood frame, they take advantage of the different ways to create openings, which make for an exciting piece of architecture. More images after the break.

Architects: Renzo Piano Building Workshop Location: Trento, Italy Architect: Renzo Piano Project Year: 2012 Photographs: Courtesy of RPBW, RPBW – Stefano Goldberg, RPBW – Paolo Pelanda, Colombo Costruzioni – Alessandro Gadutti, RPBW – Cristiano Zaccaria

+ 9

Black Spectacles is hosting two sessions of their ‘Digital Design Crash Course’, a three day online course this August and September, which focuses on strategies and skills for working rapidly and creating beautiful work. The seminar will show students and professionals how to utilize a variety of design software including AutoCAD, Revit, Sketchup, Rhino, Grasshopper, & 3ds Max. You will develop an understanding of the geometric limitations of each software, so you know what tools to work with based on your design interests.

The 20th person to register for each session will be able to take the seminar for free. The deadline to register for the first session is August 10 and the deadline to register for the second session is September 7. More information after the break.

Although the city is seen as a place of meetings and exchanges, many urban centers have become over-saturated with cars and car parks. This phenomenon has created a series of “non-places” that have claimed “common areas” from city dwellers. Occupying a space no larger than a typical parking spot, the Architettura Dolomiti Pavilion reflects on David Chipperfield’s “Common Ground” theme and explores ways on how to exploit these common areas currently occupied by parking places. This wooden pavilion reinterprets and reintroduces the “larin” – a traditional space found in the rural houses of Belluno where the family meets to eat, drink and share stories – in an effort to create an intimate space within the city that offers an escape and an opportunity for interaction amongst city dwellers. With this pavilion, Dolomiti Architetture explores the possibilities of “a new life free from cars” within the city center that also reflects their values of environmental sustainability by using disassemblability techniques, recycling methods and renewable raw materials.

The Architecture Dolomiti Pavilion is currently being occupied by the city dwellers of Belluno, Italy. Continue reading for the architects’ description.

Soon to be Shenzhen’s tallest tower at 660 meters, the Ping An Finance Center by KPF will anchor the city’s new Central Business District. Positioned at the southwest corner of the intersection of Yi Tian Road and Fu Hua Road in the Futian District, the tower will connect with neighboring properties in addition to Shenzhen Line 1 Gou Wu Gong Yuan metro station. More details after the break.

In an article published by The Wall Street Journal called For Creative Cities, the Sky Has Its Limit, Richard Florida discusses the development of urban environments and their relative successes. As human migrations are trending towards big cities, the design and appropriation of space within these cities is increasingly important. Florida cites that trends indicate that by 2050 cities will make up 70% of the global population. With so many people, elevate density within cities will be unavoidable, but what Florida emphasizes is that it isn’t just density that makes a vibrant and thriving city. Citing Shanghai and New York City as examples of dense urban environments, Florida explains the differences in their relative architectural and urban developments and the prosperity that follows. The fundamental difference? The prevalence of mixed-use neighborhoods in New York City that overpower the innovation of strictly financial districts of either New York or Shanghai.

Let’s look at these examples after the break.