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Terrence Zhang Wins Arcaid Award for World's Best Building Image 2017

Terrence Zhang has been named the winner of the 2017 Arcaid Images Architectural Photographer of the Year Award for his "striking image" of the Swimming Pool at the New Campus of Tianjin University in China, designed Atelier Li Xinggang. Announced on the final day of the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Berlin, the image was lauded for its ability to capture the shafts of sunlight entering through the clerestory and interacting with the water.

Guangming Post-Earthquake Reconstruction Project Wins World Building of the Year 2017

The Chinese University of Hong Kong & Kunming University of Science and Technology’s Post-Earthquake Reconstruction Project in Guangming Village has been named the World Building of the Year for 2017 at the finale gala of the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Berlin.

The project becomes the 10th to hold the title of World Building of the Year. Last year, the award was given to Robert Konieczny + KWK Promes' National Museum in Szczecin - Dialogue Centre Przełomy.

Due to the "high standard of category winners presented in the first two days of WAF", the super jury has also awarded a Director’s Special Award to Superlofts Houthaven in Amsterdam by Marc Koehler Architects.

Winners of the year's Future Project, Landscape, Small Project, Iran Special Prize and Best Use of Colour awards were also announced. Continue after the break to see the winners.

Tesla Unveils Electric Cargo Truck that Could Change the Future of Shipping

At last night’s keynote address, Tesla unveiled the company’s first electric-powered large cargo vehicle, the Tesla Semi, providing a first look at how the shipping industry of the future could operate.

Employing the same sleek forms that define their roadster and sedan models, the Tesla Semi is designed “specifically around the driver,” with ergonomically-designed stairs for easier entry and exit, full standing height interior, and a centrally-position driver’s seat for optimal visibility. Touchscreen displays will provide the driver with heads-up navigation and data monitoring, while a blind spot protection will increase driver awareness on the road.

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Mecanoo and Beyer Blinder Belle Unveil $317 Million Masterplan for the New York Public Library's Main Branch

The New York Public Library has revealed plans for the transformation of their iconic main branch on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Led by Mecanoo with Beyer Blinder Belle, the $317 million masterplan will increase accessibility to the library as well as increase public space for research, exhibitions and educational programs by 20%.

“For over a century, the Schwarzman Building has been a beacon of open access to information and a tireless preservationist of the world’s knowledge,” said New York Public Library President Tony Marx. “We have a responsibility to preserve its architectural wonder and its role as an important civic space, while also preparing it for the future, and another century of best serving the public. We believe this plan does just that.”

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World Architecture Festival Reveals Day 2 Category Winners of their 2017 Awards

Day 2 of the 2017 World Architecture Festival is now complete, and with it, 14 more projects have been announced as category winners of the event’s 2017 awards.

The world’s largest architectural award program, the WAF Awards year saw its biggest year yet, with a total of 924 entries received from projects located in 68 countries across the world. The finalist projects will be selected live at the festival by a Super Jury made up of jury chair Robert Ivy, Chief Executive Officer of the American Institute of Architects; Nathalie de Vries, Director & Co-founder of MVRDV; Ian Ritchie, Founder of Ian Ritchie Architects; and Christoph Ingenhoven, Founder of Ingenhoven Architects.

Check out the Day 1 winners here, the full shortlist here, and see the Day 2 winners after the break.

Marina Abramovic Responds to Allegations of Misuse of Funds over Scrapped OMA-designed Museum

Following her decision to abandon plans for an OMA-designed, upstate New York museum, artist Marina Abramovic has spoken out in response to allegations that her institute may have improperly utilized funds raised through a crowdsourced fundraising campaign.

2017 World Architecture Festival Announces Day 1 Award Winners

The World Architecture Festival (WAF) has announced the Day 1 category winners of their 2017 awards slate. Winners selected among 32 categories over the first two days of the conference will then continue on to compete for the title of the World Building of the Year 2017 to be announced on the final day of the event on Friday.

The world’s largest architectural award program, the WAF Awards year saw its biggest year yet, with a total of 924 entries received from projects located in 68 countries across the world. The finalist projects will be selected live at the festival by a Super Jury made up of jury chair Robert Ivy, Chief Executive Officer of the American Institute of Architects; Nathalie de Vries, Director & Co-founder of MVRDV; Ian Ritchie, Founder of Ian Ritchie Architects; and Christoph Ingenhoven, Founder of Ingenhoven Architects.

You can check out the full shortlist here, and see which built and future projects took home awards after the break.

Florida's Forthcoming Hard Rock Hotel is Shaped Like a Giant Guitar

This article was originally published by The Architect's Newspaper as "Rockin’ guitar-shaped Florida hotel celebrates construction milestone."

Hoteliers and musicians smashed guitars in Hollywood, Florida to celebrate a construction milestone at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, a $1.5 billion entertainment complex featuring a mega guitar-shaped hotel.

The 450-foot-tall hotel will boast more than 600 rooms, around half of the complex’s total, plus a 41,000-square-foot spa and a few restaurants. At the tower’s base, guests can swim underneath waterfalls in plunge pools, relax in private cabanas, and partake in water sports in a giant artificial lake. Right now, the existing Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood hotel has almost 500 rooms, as well as a casino, meeting space, restaurants, and a lagoon pool.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro to Create Planning Vision for Charlotte Science Center

Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) has been selected by Discovery Place and the City of Charlotte to design the new Discovery Place Science center in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina. Partnering with architect-of-record Jenkins•Peer Architects (J•PA), the team will create a masterplan and conceptual design for the museum, one of the state's most popular cultural attractions.

Adjaye Associates Reveals Design of Winter Park Library and Events Center in Florida

Adjaye Associates has revealed the design of the latest building, a new public library and events center located in the city of Winter Park, Florida, as the project has been granted unanimous approval from the city commission.

The $30 million project will replace existing, dated library and civic center structures with a series of three red-hued pavilions described by the architects as a “micro-village.” Each pavilion will house a different program element, but will share a common formal language including structural arches inspired by local fauna and the region’s vernacular architecture, vaulted roof lines, and sweeping windows. These elements will allow natural light to penetrate deep into the buildings and create a sense of a unified local civic center.

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Buro Ole Scheeren Unveils Skyscraper Complex in Ho Chi Minh City Featuring Public "Sky Forest"

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Central Lake View. Empire City by Ole Scheeren. Image © Buro Ole Scheeren

Büro Ole Scheeren has revealed the design of a landmark new development for Ho Chi Minh City that will feature three skyscrapers rising from a mountainous landscape of vegetated terraces and vibrant public spaces. To be known as “Empire City,” the development aims to embody “a symbiotic vision of nature and living” within the space of Vietnam’s capital city.

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Winner Announced for Highrise Residential Tower Competition on the French Rhine

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© Yam Studio

The mayor of Strasbourg, Roland Ries, has announced the winner of the architectural design competition for a residential tower. The site is located near the Rhine, within the ‘Strasbourg, Presqu’ile--Citadelle’ neighborhood -- dense with low-rises, not exceeding five levels. The winning design by KCAP Architects & Planners and OSLO Architectes is commended for its contextual sensitivity and formal relationship with Germany which sits just on the other side of the Rhine river.

Bill Gates Purchases 25,000 Acres of Land for Smart City in Arizona

An investment firm run by Microsoft founder Bill Gates has paid $80 million for 25,000 acres of Arizona desert to serve as the site of a new “smart city.” To be known as Belmont, the city will be made up of 80,000 residences, as well offices, retail spaces and civic amenities such as schools and police stations. The city will serve as a test ground for the latest in logistical and infrastructural technologies.

Marina Abramovic Ends Plans for OMA-Designed Art Institute After $2.2 Million Fundraising Campaign

Performance artist Marina Abramovic has ended plans for her OMA-designed upstate New York art institute, leaving questions about what happened to the $2.2 million she raised from a slate of celebrity patrons and nearly 5,000 Kickstarter donors.

When Abramovic first announced the project in 2012, she touted the plans as transformative for the town of Hudson, New York. To be known as the Marina Abramovic Institute (MAI), the facility was intended to create a new space for the “collaboration between art, science, technology and spirituality.”

Abramovic tapped OMA’s Rem Koolhaas and Shohei Shigematsu to design the space, located within an old 33,000-square-foot theater. Early architectural concepts were daringly experimental – ideas included a theater with seats that could be individually rolled away if visitors were to fall asleep during planned hours-long performances.

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These Drawings Use Just 5 Lines to Create Beautiful Compositions

DailyDose—one of ArchDaily's five favorite daily newsletters of 2017—have published a collection of drawings submitted as part of an open competition to sketch a composition of just five lines. To celebrate the milestone of their 1000th newsletter which has, over the course of the last five years, delivered 34,297 collected images to inboxes around the globe, one work (by Roberto de Oliveira Castro) will be made available as a limited edition framed artwork by Desplans.

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CEMEX Announces Mexico Winners In Their 2017 Building Awards

The CEMEX Building Award recognizes the best projects in Mexico and the rest of the world that use concrete in a creative and innovative way, with a focus on sustainability and social welfare. This year, the award received 545 entries in its Mexican Edition, of which 18 were awarded prizes.

The awards ceremony took place on November 9th in Mexico City, with finalists attending from the Czech Republic, France, the United States, the United Arab Emirates and various countries from South America.

The winners of the Mexico Edition were:

Extreme Cities: The Densest, Coldest, Remotest, Most Visited (etc) Human Settlements on Earth

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Hong Kong Khush N licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Humans are adaptable animals; we have evolved to adjust to, and survive in, many difficult and extreme conditions. In some cases, these extremes are natural, while in other modern cities extreme living situations are created by us, and we are forced to accept and adjust. Here is a list of extreme settlement conditions: some challenging, some wonderful and all of them offering a fascinating insight into how we occupy the planet in 2017.

Portugal’s Center for Architecture Reopens With 3 Days of Events

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Casa da Arquitectura in Matosinhos. Image © Casa da Arquitectura, via Flickr.

This week, the Portuguese center for architecture Casa da Arquitectura (House of Architecture) celebrates the opening of its new premises in Matosinhos, Porto. In order to mark the occasion, the architecture museum has planned three days full of activities from the 17th to the 19th of November, with guided tours, performance, talks, music and films.

Within the new gallery spaces, Casa da Arquitectura will hold two exhibitions open to the public, including their inaugural exhibition Poder Arquitectura. Organised by the architects Jorge Carvalho, Pedro Bandeira and Ricardo Carvalho, the exhibition will be open until March 2018, with several talks and debates by national and international figures that have been involved in the exhibition scheduled to take place during this time.

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