Architecture News

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the American Library Association (ALA) have selected eight projects as recipients of the 2017 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards. Founded to “encourage and recognize excellence in the architectural design of libraries,” the award draws attention to the changing role of libraries in society, and how exemplary community spaces can change to reflect the needs of their surrounding residents.

The eight winners of the 2017 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards are:

Videos

British green energy company Ecotricity has revealed plans for a new Zaha Hadid Architects-designed green technology hub in Stroud, England. The project, known as the “Gateway to Stroud,” will consist of several greenhouse-like buildings and a wooden footbridge that will connect the campus to the future all-wood stadium for the Forest Green Rovers football club, also designed by ZHA and revealed late last year.

Planned as a center for local sports and sports science, the ECO park will provide state-of-the-art office space for environmentally-focused companies as well as public access to a wide range of health and leisure activities.

+ 4

Toronto-based Hariri Pontarini Architects’ Bahá’í Temple of South America has won the 2017 Innovation in Architecture Award presented by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC).

Located in the foothills of the Andes Mountains outside Santiago, Chile, the domed building was designed and built using computer modeling, measuring, and fabrication software, as well as custom glass, all of which culminated in nine monumental veils that frame an open worship space for up to 600 visitors. Completed in 2016, the project took 14 years to realize.

+ 3

As Zaha Hadid’s 520 West 28th approaches completion, photos of the apartment interiors have been revealed for the first time. Shared by developer Related Companies, the images show two of the building’s first completed residences: the massive 4,500-square-foot Unit 20 and the more modest 1,700-square-foot Unit 12. The two units feature the interior built-ins and finishes designed by Hadid alongside interior design schemes envisioned by Jennifer Post and West Chin, respectively.

+ 4

KPF’s Lotte World Tower in Seoul, South Korea is officially complete, according to criteria established by the the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). At 555 meters tall, the building becomes the tallest building in Korea (250 meters taller than the previous tallest building, Northeast Asia Trade Tower) and the world’s new 5th tallest building.

The city of Copenhagen have announced the shortlist of 5 firms that will compete for the design of a new aquatics center to be located on a prominent site in the Copenhagen Harbor. Planned for completion in 2021, the project will feature a 5,000-square-meter facility offering both indoor and outdoor swimming areas with views across the water to the Henning Larsen-designed Copenhagen Opera House.

Have you been experiencing motion sickness, depression, sleepiness, and even fear, as you gaze out of your window from the 44^th floor? If so, you may be prone to “Sick Building Syndrome” – the informal term for side effects caused by swaying skyscrapers, according to experts at the Universities of Bath and Exeter, who are launching a £7 million ($8.6 million) study into their causes and prevention through testing simulations.

“More and more people are living and working in high-rises and office blocks, but the true impact of vibrations on them is currently very poorly understood,” explained Alex Pavic, Professor of Vibration Engineering at the University of Exeter. “It will for the first time link structural motion, environmental conditions, and human body motion, psychology, and physiology in a fully controllable virtual environment.”

Bee Breeders have selected the winners of the New York Affordable Housing Challenge, inspired by barriers faced by the global population in our contemporary culture of housing scarcity and economic deprivation. The submissions provide various multifaceted architectural responses to scattered sites of various scales around New York City, “redefining the culture, economy, and experience of urban domesticity by means of space, material, morphology, or structure.”

Below are the winners of the New York Affordable Housing Challenge:

+ 80

Cities around the world are facing a shortage of attractive housing options that use resources in a responsible, environmentally-positive manner. Looking to solve this challenge, New York-based firm SO-IL has teamed up with car manufacturer MINI to create MINI LIVING – Breathe, a “ forward-thinking interpretation of resource-conscious, shared city living within a compact footprint.

Now on display at the Milan Salone del Mobile 2017, the prototype structure is constructed of a translucent fabric membrane stretched across a modular metal frame that rises vertically from a previously unused 50-square-meter urban plot. Six rooms and a roof garden provide the space for flexible programmatic arrangements, adhering to the MINI LIVING principles of “Creative use of space” and “Minimal footprint.”

+ 10

A clearer picture of this mornings fire in downtown #dubai. Lots of sirens, fire is still ongoing. Any info on this? #dubaifire pic.twitter.com/aYZ6O7Mo1A

— Anthea Ayache (@AntheaAyache) April 2, 2017

A fire has broken out at a construction site near the Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates. At around 6:30 am (02:30 GMT), flames broke out in the lower levels of the Address Residences Fountain Views towers, a complex of three towers, each 60 floors in height, being built by Dubai developer Emaar Properties.

Zaha Hadid Architects has collaborated with Samsung and digital art and design collective Universal Everything to create an immersive technology installation at the 2017 Milan Design Week, taking place this week in the Italian city. Named ‘Unconfined,’ the pavilion will showcase Samsung’s new Galaxy S8 smartphone by leading visitors through an immersive environment inspired by the device.

BIG’s Serpentine Pavilion is headed to North America, with plans for stops in New York and Toronto on its way to a new permanent home in downtown Vancouver. Purchased by Canadian developer Westbank, who also sponsored the project in 2016, the pavilion will come to a rest on a site adjacent to the company’s headquarters in Shaw Tower, spitting distance from the waterfront plaza where the 2010 Olympic cauldron is located.

+ 1

The winners of the 2017 Architectural Review MIPIM Future Project Awards have been announced. Prizes span across 11 categories and were awarded to projects from eight countries, from projects under construction to competition entries and conceptual designs.

"Successful projects this year include a thermal bath and resort in the Baltic, a new ecclesiastical library for the Church of England, a rural women’s community center in Turkey and a ‘dematerializing’ office building in the US Capitol city, all demonstrating the dynamism and creativity at the heart of the architectural professional internationally," explained the awards organizers in a press release.

The winners of the 2017 Architectural Review MIPIM Future Project Awards are:

+ 11

With nearly 24 million inhabitants to feed and a decline in the availability and quality of agricultural land, the Chinese megacity of Shanghai is set to realize the Sunqiao Urban Agricultural District, a 100-hectare masterplan designed by US-based firm Sasaki Associates. Situated between Shanghai’s main international airport and the city center, Sunqiao will introduce large-scale vertical farming to the city of soaring skyscrapers. While primarily responding to the growing agricultural demand in the region, Sasaki’s vision goes further, using urban farming as a dynamic living laboratory for innovation, interaction, and education.

+ 12

Renderings have been revealed for Herzog and de Meuron’s new luxury loft residences in Miami, designed in collaboration with local developer Robert Wennett. In contrast to the firm’s acclaimed parking garage located nearby, which capitalized on Miami’s surrounding views, 1111 Lincoln Residences will be a far more inwardly-focused endeavor, with the 2,115-square-foot lofts opening onto a series of rooftop courtyards.

Located near the city’s bustling intersection of Alton and Lincoln, the complex accommodates a multi-level parking garage, over 100,000 square feet of interior office space, dedicated event space on the seventh floor, as well as 11 selected retailers on the ground floor. Notable tenants include Alchemist, Jo Malone, Rosetta Bakery, and Chotto Matte, in addition to the various restaurants available to residents along Lincoln Road.

+ 2

Architectural research initiative arch out loud has announced the winners of its DMZ Underground Bathhouse international open ideas competition. The brief challenged participants to create an underground bathhouse within the Korean Demilitarized Zone, responding to long-running geopolitical tensions between North and South Korea. Ultimately, nearly 300 proposals and 900 participants explored how architecture could position itself in the middle of these turbulent conditions, seeking out new forms of non-military architecture to improve relations between the two states.

The winning entries can be found below. Full results of the DMZ Underground Bathhouse Competition, including winners, honorable mentions and Director’s Choices can be found on the competition’s webpage here.

+ 26