Architecture News

Only three years after President Xi Jinping declared, no more "weird buildings," in China, a giant mimetic crab construction on Yangcheng Lake's eastern shore, adds to the world's ever-growing list of "duck" buildings.

According to Russian legend, "Potemkin Villages"—entirely fake urban conurbations made to appear real—can be traced to it's namesake, Field Marshall Aleksandrovich Potemkin. In 1787, this soldier faced an unusual request: Catherine the Great demanded the construction of swathes of artificial settlements along her route to the Crimea in order to disguise, or veil, the run-down face of the region.

In a new book, photographer Gregor Sailer documents versions of Potemkin Villages from around the world. From faithful replicas of European cities in China to vehicle test cities in Scandinavia, grand political gestures to combat training centers, Sailer’s images lend us access to "the world of fakes, copies, and stage sets."

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Ten projects have been selected as winners of 2017 AIA International Region Design Awards, honoring exemplary projects undertaken by architect members of the American Institute of Architects’ International Region, encompassing six of the seven chapters located outside of the United States: AIA United Kingdom, AIA Continental Europe, AIA Hong Kong, AIA Japan, AIA Middle East, and AIA Shanghai (not including the recently formed AIA Canada).

Projects were selected by an international jury led by Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, AIA Past President 2014, AIA IR Zone 1 (USA) and were presented AIA International Region Conference in Prague on October 7th.

Winners were chosen in five categories:

London's Royal College of Art (RCA) have submitted proposals by Herzog & de Meuron to Wandsworth Council for a new £108 million ($141 million) building in Battersea. The "flagship" project will form part of the RCA's ongoing transformation into a 'STEAM' (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) postgraduate university, facilitating the provision of ten new programmes focusing on computer and materials science, the impact of the digital economy, advanced manufacturing, and intelligent mobility.

Google has launched 'Tilt Brush', a powerful tool for designers available for Oculus and HTC Vive that allows artists to create 3D objects while fully embedded in Virtual Reality (VR).

Tilt Brush turns any room into the perfect canvas to capture all your creativity, allowing you to paint in real size with 3D brushes.

London-based publisher Blue Crow Media’s architectural guide series continues with Concrete Tokyo Map. A collaboration with design writer Naomi Pollock and photographer Jimmy Cohrssen, the map lays out 50 of Tokyo’s concrete wonders.

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The fourth annual Flatiron Public Plaza Holiday Design Competition winner has been announced--Flatiron Reflection by Future Expansion. In June 2017 non-profit groups Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership and Van Alen Institute invited ten design and architecture firms to submit proposals. “The initiative has become a valuable platform for launching new practices, a visible celebration of inventive, temporary designs that enliven public space during a chillier season, and an opportunity to understand how these spaces impact our minds and bodies” states David van der Leer, Executive Director of Van Alen Institute.

Of the ten design and architecture firms invited to submit proposals, Future Expansion with their Flatiron Reflection won the competition. Other participating firms include Annie Barrett, The Principals, Kyle May, Hive Public Space, Schaum Shieh, FIRM a.d. and Practice.

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With the 2017 World Architecture Festival less than two weeks away, the event has shared the program of Fringe events scheduled for attending architects to enjoy. Taking place in Arena Berlin in the German Capital from November 15-17, WAF 2017 will also provide opportunities for architect-led tours and parties throughout the city.

Following the Festival’s theme of ‘Performance,’ events will center on the performative quality of different architectural typologies and themes including housing, public spaces, festivals, cultural institutions and new technologies.

The Frank Gehry-designed Eisenhower Memorial has finally broken ground in Washington DC following a tumultuous years-long approval process.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held yesterday at the National Mall site, located at the intersection of Maryland and Independence Avenues and across from the National Air and Space Museum.

The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Technology in Architectural Practice (TAP) Knowledge Community has announced the winners of their 2017 Innovation Awards, honoring “new practices and technologies that will further enable project delivery and enhance data-centric methodologies in the management of buildings for their entire lifecycle, from design, to construction and through operations.”

Continue reading for this year’s winners.

The Wall Street Journal has selected New York-based firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro as their 2017 “Architecture Innovator of the Year.”

Led by partners Liz Diller, Ricardo Scofidio, Charles Renfro and Benjamin Gilmartin, over the past decade the firm has quickly grown from a largely conceptual practice focused on installations, performance and unbuilt works to a full-fledged, international office with completed and in-progress projects around the globe.

The Austrian firm Cukrowicz Nachbaur Architekte has been selected as the winner of an international competition for the design of a signature new concert hall in Munich, Germany, beating out proposals from 30 of the world’s most notable architecture practices.

The competition tasked architects with designing a stand-alone new structure on a 5,300-square-meter site near the Ostbahnhof train station in the neighborhood of Werksviertel. The building program included an overall floor area of approximately 9,500 square meters, including a larger 1800-seat concert hall and a more intimate 600-seat venue that satisfy “the most exacting acoustic requirements.”

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The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA P.S.1 have announced the five finalists of their 2018 Young Architects Program (YAP).

Now in it’s 18th year, the competition was founded to offer emerging architectural talent the opportunity to design a temporary, outdoor installation within the walls of the P.S.1 courtyard for MoMA’s annual summer “Warm-Up” series. Architects are challenged to develop creative designs that provide shade, seating and water, while working within guidelines that address environmental issues, including sustainability and recycling.

The finalists include:

The hit Netflix series Stranger Things returned for Season 2 last week (just in time for Halloween!), and, of course, immediately took the internet by storm.

Just as important as the mysterious circumstances and creepy characters to the plot are the show’s artfully crafted settings, intended by the producer to resemble familiar places from the real world (of the 80s), but with an unsettling twist.

This model from Archilogic recreates one of the central locations from the show, the house where Will Byers lives with his mom and brother. Check it out below to explore the manically-lit living room and other spaces seen in the action of the story.

Videos

London-based architects dRMM have been announced as the winners of the 2017 RIBA Stirling Prize for their renovation of Hastings Pier, beating out a shortlist including projects by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners; Baynes and Mitchell Architects; Reiach & Hall Architects and Michael Laird Architects; Groupwork + Amin Taha; and 6a architects.

"Hastings Pier is a masterpiece in regeneration and inspiration. The architects and local community have transformed a neglected wreck into a stunning, flexible new pier to delight and inspire visitors and local people alike," said RIBA President and Stirling Prize jury chair Ben Derbyshire.

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