The MIT-based Mediated Matter Group have created Fiberbots, an autonomous digital fabrication platform designed to quickly build architecture during disaster. By utilizing cooperative robotic manufacturing, Fiberbots can create highly sophisticated material structures. The small robots work as a group to wind fiberglass filament and create high-strength tubular structures. MIT researchers envision the bots building in extreme environments and natural disaster zones.
UK entrepreneur Ehab Syed has developed a mushroom-based insulation with his company Biohm, embodying techniques that are “completely natural, biodegradable and vegan.”
As reported by Global Construction Review, the material will come to the market in the coming months, with interest expressed by Tata Steel, Heathrow Airport, and leading UK house builders.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has unveiled an updated $13 billion plan to transform John F. Kennedy International Airport into a “world-class 21st-century airport.” The scheme will add two major international terminals at the North and South sides, increasing airport capacity by 4 million square feet and 15 million annual passengers.
The plans are derived from a 2017 masterplan led by Grimshaw Architects and Mott MacDonald, which sought to combine the airport’s eight disparate terminal sites into one unified system.
Barclay & Crousse Architecture’s Edificio E, University of Piura in Peru has been announced as the winner of the 2018 Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP), recognizing the most distinguished architectural works built on the North and South American continents.
The project was selected from a shortlist of six finalists, joining SANAA’s Grace Farms, Alvaro Siza’s Iberê Camargo Foundation and Herzog & de Meuron’s 1111 Lincoln Road as winners of the highly-regarded prize which was established in 2003.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) have announced Foster + Partner's Bloomberg HQ as the winner of the 2018 Stirling Prize. Seen as the UK's most prestigious architecture award, this award is given to the building " that has made the biggest contribution to the evolution of architecture in a given year." Selected from a list of six projects, the design highlights the collaboration between a civic-minded client and architect, as well as addressing the public realm.
Finnish office Lahdelma & Mahlamäki architects have won the competition to design a new high-rise district in Helsinki. Proposing a cluster of public space and triangular plan towers, the firm will see the phased construction of the high-density, mixed-use towers and public space alongside construction firm YIT. Located in the Pasila district, the project is called Trigoni as a reference to the triangular plan of the towers and the desire to create strong connections around sustainable development.
The American Institute of Architects have released the winning films for the 2018 Film Challenge. As part of the institute's larger Blueprint for Better campaign, the film challenge asked participants to produce, shoot, and edit 3 to 5 minute documentary-style short films. The AIA invited architects and filmmakers to collaborate in telling stories of architects, civic leaders and communities working together toward positive community impact.
David Chipperfield and Euroboden have collaborated on the design of a five-story building in Munich, located near the city’s Herzog Park. The 2800-square-meter scheme seeks to “fit sensitively into the historic fabric of the neighborhood.”
The design process revolved around the incorporation of history and pattern from the surrounding environment, without copying or resorting to historicization. The result is a scheme which is “simultaneously self-confident yet restrained, a building that integrates itself into its context without subordinating itself.”
Home to the historic engineering firm, AE Harris, for over 50 years, Birmingham’s treasured Jewellery Quarter is being revamped on account of modernized manufacturing methods adopted by the company.
Joint venture partners Galliard Homes and Apsley House Capital are working alongside Glenn Howells Architects to transform the site into a residential-led, mixed-use hub for the quarter.
After creating the perfect sketchbook, Architools is back with a minimalist notebook made for designers and architects alike. The project is now raising funds on Kickstarter, and aims to bring a subtle elegance to the humble notebook. Named the Dérive, or “drift” in French, the notebook embodies qualities of wanderlust and sensory exploration. Featuring refined materials and design, it was made to inspire the next project or adventure.
Woods Bagot and Peddle Thorp have been announced as the winners of the international competition to create a new high-rise tower in central Auckland. Drawn from five finalists including Warren and Mahoney, Cox Architecture, Zaha Hadid Architects, and Elenberg Fraser, the winning design will stand 180m high. The building design is inspired by New Zealand’s natural landscape and the country’s unique geology and fauna.
New images have been published of Grimshaw and Arup-designed stations for the UK’s ”High Speed 2” railway system. Connecting London to the British Midlands, the mega-infrastructure project will be the UK’s second high-speed rail system, with HS1 already connecting London and the South East to the Channel Tunnel.
The Grimshaw and WSP-designed Curzon Street station in Birmingham will be the first brand new intercity station to be built in Britain since the 1800s, while Interchange Station, designed by Arup, will serve as a gateway station to the West Midlands and Birmingham Airport.
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has been confirmed as designers for an “Urban Living Room” masterplan in the Qianhai area of Shenzhen, China. Formed on already existing reclaimed land, the scheme will feature a 1.2-kilometer elevated sky garden.
The scheme is envisioned as a “heart and a new horizon against which people can orientate themselves” in an emerging urban center.
Shanghai-based JYOM Architecture and GBL Architects have released new renderings of 601 Beach Crescent, the 'Gateway Tower' counterpart to Bjarke Ingels Group's Vancouver House project. As the Daily Hive reports, developer Pinnacle International recently submitted its formal rezoning application to develop the vacant site on the north end of the Granville Street Bridge in downtown Vancouver. Conceptually, the tower was designed to replicate the motions of the dancing female form.
Bjarke Ingels Group has been selected to design the Skypark Business Center South as part of Luxembourg's new Airport City plan. Located just outside of Luxembourg City, the project is the first development within the masterplan, and is expected to start construction during 2019. The new airport district aims to become an economic hub comprised of four floors of shops, restaurants, fitness activities, and offices. The news of Skypark Business Center South comes two years after the presentation of the airport district’s master plan.
WXCA and Bellprat will design the Polish Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai, having overcome more than 30 other proposals. The winning scheme seeks to create an “open, tree-like modular structure” inspired by Poland’s rich wildlife.
The pavilion will feature an integrated exhibition with “kinetic flocks of birds floating over visitors’ heads,” referring to the many migratory birds which settle in Poland each year “inspiring legends, connecting minds, and creating the future.”
Iranian architect and concept designer Nasim Sehat has developed an alternative living module driven by adaptability for the gig economy. SLICE is described as a “sustainable, people centric, connected, self-contained, and flexible plug’n-play urban solution” targeted at future city dwellers.
SLICE consists of a layered module of functional plugins, combined to create basic spatial configurations. In tandem with the design of SLICE’s spatial profile, Shanghai-based Sehat has proposed a shared, on-demand digital service for module rental, maintenance, and payment.
Andres Gallardo, the self-taught Spanish photographer, recently traveled to Paris to capture the city’s urban architecture, documenting the spirit of the buildings, the city’s rich architectural history, and international design influence.
Gallardo describes the city as “magical,” which he chooses to document in both monochrome and color photographs, incorporating overall perspectives and small structural details that often obscure the structures’ overall identity.
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_Nigel_YoungFoster___Partners.jpg?1539114234 "© Nigel Young")
