Architecture News

The planet is dying, and we are the reason why. If nature’s decline continues at its current pace, we stand to face increasing natural disasters, loss of biodiversity, and threats to public health. Waste is the largest contributing factor to this problem. And the built environment is one of the top producers of waste in the world—period. But innovation can save the planet.

"Les Jumeaux" or The Twins is a new large-scale public urban intervention by French artist and designer Camille Walala in White City, West London. The project encompasses two pedestrian crossings and seven striking murals, created with geometric patterns and primary colors, Walala’s signature style. Moreover, Camille Walala also unveiled this month her East London intervention, a giant work of art aiming to breathe new life into the street and boost the local economy, entitled "Walala Parade".

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Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos have unveiled the new design for Cité du Théâtre, a large cultural center promoted by the French government in Paris. They will be working with French office Marin+Trottin Architectes, and the project will be located in the Ateliers Berthier. The winning project is based on the creation of a large elevated garden that establishes a visual continuity with Martin Luther King Park.

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Today, our perception of the construction industry has completely changed. We find ourselves in a digital era that drives us to work collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams, making BIM an essential and mandatory tool for professional advancement.

If you are already working with the BIM methodology, read to the end of the article to find out how you can improve and advance.

Neutelings Riedijk Architects has unveiled images for the Heldentoren, the latest icon of Knokke-Heist, in Belgium. Scheduled for construction starting October 2020, the mixed-use 70 meters high development is set to become one of the highest towers along the Belgian coast.

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The City of Parramatta has released a revised vision for the new Parramatta Square civic hub in Australia. Designed by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture with firms Designinc and Lacoste + Stevenson, the multi-purpose, six-story building will accommodate a variety of uses. Called 5 Parramatta Square, the project is designed to be a new community, cultural, and civic heart.

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The winning projects of the National Ideas Competition for the master plan of the Sociedad Rural de Jesús María site have been announced. Organized by the Colegio de Arquitectos de la Provincia de Córdoba, the open call invited architects to develop comprehensive proposals for the programmatic organization of spaces and functions—both current and future—on the property belonging to the Sociedad Rural de Jesús María, located in the municipalities of Colonia Caroya and Jesús María in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. The master plan for the site, which covers a total area of 808,304.68 m², was required to establish a general scheme incorporating specific considerations for urban integration, movement flows, and the introduction of new mixed-use programming.

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Mi Tren's Line 3 is one of the most significant public transit projects for the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (AMG), aligning with the Government of Jalisco's commitment to achieving integrated mobility that connects riders quickly, accessibly, and safely. Line 3 will enable travel to the historic centers of Guadalajara, Zapopan, and Tlaquepaque in a single trip. This new light rail system is projected to handle 233,000 trips per day. In addition to serving residential areas, Line 3 is designed to connect key educational, administrative, commercial, and tourist infrastructure.

As part of the annual CEMEX Awards, the recipient of the Arq. Marcelo Zambrano Scholarship has been announced, reaffirming the commitment to the development of architecture in Mexico. CEMEX awards the Arq. Marcelo Zambrano Scholarship in honor of the exemplary professional dedication and leadership of Architect Marcelo Zambrano, aiming to support young Mexicans in pursuing postgraduate studies at prestigious international universities.

The winners have been announced for the International Competition for the Design of the Prospekt Marshala Zhukova and Klenoviy Bulvar 2 Metro Stations in Moscow, Russia. The judges awarded the first prize for designing the Klenovy Bulvar 2 station on the Biryulyovskaya line to a consortium headed by Zaha Hadid Architects, while the first prize for the Prospekt Marshala Zhukova station was granted to the Russian firm, ASADOV Architectural Bureau.

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Richard Rogers has retired from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners after founding the practice 43 years ago. As one of Britain’s greatest living architects, he is known for iconic, hi-tech architecture, including the Lloyd’s building in London and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. The Pritzker Prize-winner has become one of the world's most distinct architects, utilizing bright colors and structural elements to create a style that is both recognizable and adaptable.

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Created between 2016 and 2020, WEEK and Axel de Stampa have put together a series of architecture gifs, Architecture Animée or Animated Architecture, revealing a playful and fictional side of famous buildings such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Fondation Louis Vuitton by Gehry Partners, and 1111 Lincoln Road by Herzog & de Meuron.

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Comparing revenues from the previous year, Architectural Record lines up annually a list of the Top 300 U.S. Firms. Based on the 2019 data, Gensler tops again the selection, for the ninth year in a row, and Perkins and Will takes the second position. Third, fourth and fifth places were presented for Engineering Architecture firms HDR, Jacobs, and AECOM. Other companies in the top 10 include HKS and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

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ZAS Architects and Denmark-based CEBRA Architecture have unveiled a new student hub at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus (UTSC). The new facility was made to be a learning landscape that promotes agile and asynchronous education through rooms and open public spaces spanning multiple floors. Artificial terrain flows from the outside in, creating a hybrid of social and study areas to support campus life.

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Rojkind Arquitectos has proposed a "Mourning Claim" memorial for COVID-19 victims. Led by Michel Rojkind, Arturo Ortíz Struck, and Diego Díaz Lezama, the project is envisioned for Times Square in New York and the Zócalo in Mexico City. "We claim mourning for its own sake. At the very least, we can care for them, for these architectural symbols that bear witness to our lives and the lives of others," say the authors.

While the first edition's theme was SHARE, and the second was CIRCULATE, the 3rd Tomie Ohtake Institute Leroy Merlin Design Award proposes REVIEW as its core concept—an opportunity to look at our social and environmental context, critically analyze it, and ask: how can a project contribute based on what is already in place? 

MVRDV and The Why Factory (Delft University of Technology) revealed “Le Grand Puzzle”, a book that holds ambitious ideas for Marseille, in the south of France. In fact, the study, made from 2018 to the start of 2020, “proposes a methodology, an agenda, and an analysis to portray today’s Marseille”.

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Part of Reparametrize Studio’s ongoing research on “Re-Coding Post War –Syria”, “House Re-Coding” is a new generation of housing solutions adaptable to the post-war cities. Focusing on innovation, collecting comprehensive infrastructural and socioeconomic analytics data through Artificial intelligence, the project seeks to envision the future of post-war cities, as a Smart urban development where all different actors come together, using the existing, and still useful, urban fabric.

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