The Preservation Green Lab at the National Trust for Historic Preservation has recently published their study The Greenest Building: Quantifying the Environmental Value of Building Reuse. Resolving many conflicted arguments, this study confirms that reusing and retrofitting existing buildings with an average level of energy performance almost always offers environmental savings over demolition and more energy-efficient new construction. The research provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the potential environmental impact reductions associated with building reuse. The Preservation Green Lab utilizes Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology to compare reuse and renovations with new construction over the course of a 75-year life span. Continue reading for more.

I am, admittedly, a big fan of UCLA. At least in the U.S., college loyalty begins and ends as an undergraduate and if you happen to receive your graduate degrees at the same school, well, the deal is sealed, as it were. But we’re not discussing the basketball team, here. We’re actually talking about academic programs and research.

And it just so happens that because UCLA is a research university, there is a lot of interesting research going on there. For example, at UCLA’s Department of Architecture and Urban Design, there is a program that was begun back in 2002. It’s goal? To help everyone improve the energy efficiency of their homes. For free. It’s called HEED, or Home Energy Efficient Design.

What is it? Basically, it’s a set of tools that help people re-design housing to be more energy efficient. That goes for both new and existing structures. And even better, while it was initially developed for California homeowners who were identified by their utility providers—the project began in 2005—the software was restructured to serve professionals in the building industry. That means it was re-made to serve architects, contractors, engineers, and of course, the homeowner to restructure efficiency for both new and existing structures.

In this video, Brookings expert Robert Puentes discusses the importance of construction projects and infrastructure investments that provide real and lasting value to the American economy. Puentes warns against thinly spreading around smaller infrastructure projects that only provide a short-term, seasonal boost in “shovel ready projects” that temporarily help job creation. Infrastructure investments can and must play a key role in the next American economy. Puentes urges that these smaller infrastructure projects must be connected to a larger infrastructure strategy that focuses on exports and globalization, technological innovation and clean energy. This will not only immediately create jobs and boost the economy, but also provide a framework that will sustain the American economy for the long term.

Plywood: Material, Process, Form is an ongoing exhibit at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City that will be open to the public starting tomorrow, February 2, 2012. We have seen many architectural projects that take advantage of the flexibility this “layer cake of lumber and glue”, as described by Popular Science in 1948, has to offer. Plywood has given 20th-century designers a material embodying “formal and aesthetic” qualities on an industrial scale.

More on the exhibit after the break.

The challenging task of designing for the Eurovision Song Contest this year was undertaken by combining the efforts of gmp Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner, Alpine Bau Deutschland AG, and Nüssli International AG. Taking place in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku at Crystal Hall, the aim was to create and implement a multipurpose event-venue that is meant to accommodate 25,000 spectators.The characteristic crystalline shape of the building and its illuminated façade is the response to Azerbaijan’s special request for the creation of a widely visible and visually effective landmark as a bridge between Asia and Europe that will be noticed in an international context. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Architects: Ensamble Studio Location: Mexico D.F, Mexico Architect in Charge: Antón García- Abril Associate Architect: Elena Pérez Construction manager architect: Alba Cortés Project Team: Débora Mesa, Joaquín Gallegos, Alba Beroiz, Jaime Alcayde, Cristina Moya, Juan Ruiz Antón, Tomaso Boano, Federico Letizia Developer: SGAE – GRUPO CARSO Project Management: INPROS Construction Company: GRUPO PC Structural Engineering: COLINAS DE BUEN Project Area: 11,500 sqm Photographs: Roland Halbe, Ensamble Studio

+ 38

From February 3 – March 15, renowned Architecture Forum Aedes Gallery in Berlin will be hosting an exhibition with the title Give more featuring projects by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects. Give more features nine selected architecture projects paraphrasing nine visions on how architecture can give more by adding value and positive change for people, places, and communities. More architects’ description on the exhibition after the break.

Studio Ramoprimo shared with us their winning proposal for the construction of MoMA in China. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Designed by Like Architects, Frozen Trees is a temporary installation for Christmas lighting in D. Pedro IV square in Lisbon. It builds an illuminated, frozen and fractal Christmas landscape that affects and alters the path of passers by as thirty cylinders – structured, self-sufficient streetlights – are placed throughout the square, drawing a new landscape and context and inviting the visitors to new spatial experiences. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The Lost Wall project by YNL Design is not meant to be a physical revival of what’s lost, but rather an ideological intervention through the use of controversial architectural intrusion. It redefines the project site by sharply contrasting with the surrounding environment, an allegory of modern China and its destructive treatment of Beijing’s historic buildings in the past century. The goal is to reinforce the importance of historic preservation by facilitating a cultural discussion. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Sasaki Associates, with RDG Planning & Design and Applied Ecological Services (AES), were recently announced as the winning team of the Water Works Parkitecture Competition. The international design competition entailed the creation of a conceptual plan for Water Works Park to form dynamic relationships between the river, the watershed, and the community. Education and the connection between the river and the community were highly stressed in Sasaki’s winning proposal. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Here in the Lower 48, winter weather has been hard to come by. However, Alaska’s snowy landscape has inspired us to compile a list of images, previously featured on ArchDaily, that capture architecture amongst a pristine, white blanket of snow.

Continue after the break for the complete list!

Three libraries in USA, one in Canada and Dominique Perrault’s National Library of France. All part of our 9th selection of previously featured libraries. Check them all after the break.

Palo Verde Library and Maryvale Community Center / Gould Evans and Wendell Burnette Architects Designed by Gould Evans in association with Wendell Burnette Architects, the Palo Verde Library and Maryvale Community Center is a multi-use facility that includes a large public library collection area, a 150-seat auditorium for recital, drama and public lectures, and a community center that includes a park, pool, basketball courts, running track, and gym (read more…)

In 2011, a volatile Architecture Billings Index (ABI) reflected the unstable conditions U.S. practices were struggling to deal with. However, the year ended optimistically as the ABI remained at 52.0 for the month of December. So far, January has prolonged the hopeful outlook for the American design and construction industry, as many reports highlight a “modest recovery” in the nonresidential sector for 2012 and an even stronger upturn in 2013.

“Spending on hotels, industrial plants and commercial properties are going to set the pace for the construction industry over the next two years,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “The institutional market won’t experience the same growth, but healthcare facilities and places of worship are poised for a positive economic outlook in that sector.”

Continue reading for more.

Architect: Schacht Aslani Architects Location: Port Angeles, Washington, USA Project owner: Peninsula College (Port Angeles, WA) Projects Area: 62,950 sf Project Year: 2011 Photographs: Doug Scott

+ 14

Excuse me architect, but you’re being an ass.

Yes, kind of…sort of…maybe a little bit

Am I bothering you with my petty contract? Is this job just not your “ideal” project? Doesn’t it fit into your “body of work”? your “oeuvre”? Is this project not going to win you any awards?

I know you’re talented. I know you know more about building and design than I EVER will. In fact that’s why I hired you. I need your help. I need you to help me realize this project. I need your skill. I need your experience. And yes, I need your passion.

But, I don’t need any more of your bullshit.

I don’t want you to show me what to build. I want you to include me in the process. I’m not paying you for the privilege of your “vision”. I’m paying you to help me solve this. I assumed I would be a part of that process.

click thru for more angst from coffee with an architect

Recently we had the chance to visit Allied Works office in NY to interview the firm’s founder Brad Cloepfil. It was a great interview, and I really liked the atmosphere of the office: A young team, many abstract study models, beautiful drawings on the boards, and a subtle music playing in the background, it was like seeing the inside of a creative machine at work.

First Run Features

The aim of Bike The Floating Stadium by architects Quentin Perchet & Gabriel Scerri is to design a gift to the city, a symbol of sustainability, and a 24/7 open public space gathering in an exemplary way for leisure, entertainment, and philanthropy. Their concept consists in driving bicycles and pedestrians from their homes to an exceptional viewing platform of the city, through a promenade along the water in the Noord 7 area of Amsterdam. More images and architects’ description after the break.

As part of the European Capital of Culture Maribor 2012, the architectural exhibition, ‘Unfinished Modernisations / Between Utopia and Pragmatism’ will be taking place at the Maribor Art Gallery from February 10 – April 22. The presentation of architectural projects and large-scale urbanistic plannings which denote the period of (socialist) Yugoslavia is a long-expected project that will focus on the milestones and visions of the (unfinished) modernisation of cities during socialism as well as answer the questions about their role and legacy in the successor countries. More information on the exhibition after the break

Above is a video of the Redbull New Headquarters in Amsterdam designed by Sid Lee Architecture. Their main goal was to combine the almost brutal simplicity of an industrial built work with Red Bull’s mystical invitation to perform. In the architecture, they offer, nothing is clearly set; all is a matter of perception.

Starting tomorrow, the five design teams selected to redesign the outdoor spaces of Chicago’s Navy Pier will begin to reveal their schemes to the public. Lead by AECOM, Aedas Architects, James Corner Field Operations, !melk and the Xavier Vendrell Studio, each team will be given thirty minutes to present their ideas, followed by a ten minute question and answer session. The presentations will take place on January 31st and February 1st at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Continue reading for the presentation schedules and more information on the competition.

Projects from China, UK, The Netherlands and Czech Republic, as well as our special inforgraphic on the Serpentine Gallery Pavillion’s 11 years. Check the best of last week after the break.

Administration Building of the North Shanghai Gas Company in Jiading / Atelier Deshaus This is the administration building of the North Shanghai Gas Company in Jiading. The needs of the function of this building are generally simple. With surrounding the undeveloped constructional land, the site is small, and the only feature of the site is the river landscape close to the northern side. The final form of the building completely responds to the landscape in the northern side (read more…)

Every January the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat conducts a review of skyscraper construction and compiles all the data from the previous year. The trend since 2007 has seen record breaking years for buildings taller than 200 meters completed, with 88 skyscrapers completed in 2011. Even as the global economy is slowly recuperating from the 2008 financial crisis, it would appear as though this trend will remain relatively stable. China, leading the pack at 23 completed towers is predicted to remain at the forefront of skyscraper market, followed by Middle Eastern countries in the next decade. UAE, South Korea, and Panama City – an up and coming cosmopolitan city – rounded out the top four. Of the towers completed in 2011, 17 have made their way into the top 100 tallest buildings – Shenzhen’s Kingkey 100, at 442 meters crowning this year’s list. More after the break.