In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the death of Finnish architect Alvar Aalto this May, Expedia Finland has created “The World According to Alvar,” an interactive visual portfolio containing some of his most notable buildings from around the world. The digital stereoscope allows you to browse through 15 seminal works including the Helsinki Hall of Culture and the Baker House Dormitory at MIT, with a graphic, photo and description for each project. The site will also link you to locations for each project, so you can start making plans for your own Aalto pilgrimage.
Continue after the break to give the portfolio a spin.
Arquitectonica has released the plans for Pierce Boston—its first building in Boston—a luxury residential condominium in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood. With the recent large-scale real estate boom, the Fenway area is undergoing a massive transformation, with Pierce Boston to become the first building of its caliber in the neighborhood.
In an effort to balance new luxury with the existing iconic fabric of the area, the building is designed in simplicity with contemporary materials, so as to modernize the building against its context. Glass and metal will panel the façade, with the metal paneling patterned down to the scale and texture of a more traditional masonry brownstone. “As the building comes to grade and its opacity increases, it more closely reflects the history of the neighborhoods within which it rises” explained the architect in a press release.
Photographer Chris Forsyth has released the latest images from his photo series Metro. Having previously gone underground to capture the surreal beauty of Montreal’s metro system, Forsyth traveled to Europe to shoot stations in Munich, Berlin and Stockholm. His photographic style portrays the stations in their best light – bright, clean, colorful and completely absent of people.
"Seeing the design strengths of various metro systems, from the hand painted cave-like stations in Stockholm, to the well-lit modern platforms of Munich’s U-Bahn, I really began to feel the how good design can change your day for the better,” says Forsyth. “Whether it be awe-inspiring or simply bright and colorful, I can only imagine how it feels to start your daily commute in one of these metro stations."
Continue after the break for a sampling of Forsyth’s favorite photos from the series.
Penda has designed a prestressed double-helix bridge spanning China’s Gui River that will become an integral part of the infrastructure system for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The San Shan Bridge, which translates to 3 Mountains Bridge, draws inspiration from the interlacing of five rings in the Olympic Symbol to create a form evocative of the area’s mountainous landscape.
Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen and NYCEDC President Maria Torres-Springer have announced New York City’s first official approval of the Lowline project in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. As the first major step in making the project a reality, the approval will help to create the world’s first underground park, a community-oriented public and cultural space that will become both a local resource and an attraction for worldwide visitors.
Although the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) did express interest in the space last fall, the Lowline team was awarded conditional use due its high community potential.
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A wall coated with Paxcon (left) vs an untreated wall (right) after a TNT detonation. Image Courtesy of Line-X
A game-changing protective coating from Line-X has the power to make buildings virtually impenetrable. The spray creates a thin barrier which is watertight, abrasion and impact resistant and can withstand high temperatures; all of which combine to make it almost indestructible. The concoction deemed "Paxcon®," is stronger than steel, and can protect buildings from explosions or natural disasters such as earthquakes or storms.
In an exclusive half-hour interview with Alejandro Aravena, Monocle's Josh Fehnert questions the recent Pritzker Prize-laureate on Chilean architecture and urbanism, why he considers simple design as the key to alleviating the world's biggest woes, and the conception and ultimate result of his 15th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.
https://www.archdaily.com/791596/alejandro-aravena-on-design-venice-and-why-he-paused-his-career-to-open-a-barAD Editorial Team
The City of Los Angeles has selected a team led by Gruen Associates to design a 12-mile section of the Los Angeles River Greenway as a part of Frank Gehry’s comprehensive master plan. The design team will also include architects Oyler Wu and landscape firm Mia Lehrer + Associates, who recently won a competition for a new park at First and Broadway in downtown LA. Upon its completion, the greenway will allow residents to walk and bike nearly 30 miles between the neighborhoods of Canoga Park and Elysian Valley.
After years of waiting, Herzog & de Meuron’s Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, Germany, finally has been given an opening date. The building will open its doors to the public with grand opening concerts by NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra on January 11 and 12, 2017, followed by a three-week festival featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Berlin-based band Einstürzende Neubauten.
The soaring glass structure, constructed on top of a historic warehouse along the River Elbe, was first envisioned in 2003, but rising costs and legal issues with the contractor led the project to be put on hold.
MVRDV has announced plans for Paradise City, a 9,800 square meter entertainment plaza near Incheon Airport in Seoul, South Korea. Designer in partnership with Gansam Architects, the complex will consist of two monolithic forms housing retail and a nightclub, and new public spaces. The connecting element of the project is a giant golden spot at the public square, which the architects hope will become a beacon visible to tourists as they fly into the city.
Cooperación Comunitaria. Image Courtesy of The Buckminster Fuller Institute
The Buckminster Fuller Institute (BFI) has announced 19 semifinalists for the 2016 Fuller Challenge. Now in its ninth annual cycle, The Fuller Challenge seeks proposals to address challenges using holistic approaches and problem solving.
Teams of individuals and groups were judged by the Challenge Review Committee, which looked for projects that are visionary, comprehensive, anticipatory, ecologically responsible, feasible, and verifiable.
The municipality of Amsterdam has selected Team V Architectuur with Lingotto, Nicole Maarsen and ARUP to design HAUT, a 73 meter (240 foot) residential tower located along the Amstel River that will become the Netherlands' tallest timber framed building and, depending on construction schedules, is a contender for the title of tallest wooden tower in the world. With construction expected to begin in the second half of 2017, HAUT is another example of the growing timber architecture trend hitting tall building design.
One of Pompeii’s most precious gems, the Villa of Mysteries, is now at risk of collapse due to seismic activity in the Bay of Naples, as well as vibrations from a nearby train line transporting tourists. That's the conclusion of a recent study conducted by Italy’s National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA). The news comes only a few months after the reopening of the house, whose stunning frescoes had just been restored.
As The Telegraph reports, the high-tech study showed that “in addition to the vibrations from the Vesuvius light railway commuter trains, which ferry tourists to Pompeii from Naples, the protective structure around the villa, built in armored cement, wood and steel 50 years ago is threatened by its own weight and water ingress.”
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has released plans for a new mixed-use urban district for Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station Precinct. In response to projections showing significant increases in transit activity in the coming decades, the project calls for a transformation of the existing Beaux Arts train station and surrounding neighborhood of University City. The design will improve transportation throughout the city, and will activate the area with new shops, restaurants and public plazas.
Nominations in the 9 categories include projects from across the globe. From bars and retail spaces to schools and hotels, the nominees will present their projects live during the festival in November. Read on for a complete list of the shortlisted projects and check out all of the projects in the image gallery.
https://www.archdaily.com/791597/62-projects-shortlisted-for-inside-world-interior-of-the-year-2016AD Editorial Team
The UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (commonly referred to as UNESCO) has named 17 projects in 7 countries by revolutionary Modernist architect Le Corbusier to their list of World Heritage Sites. Given to places of special cultural or physical significance, the designation will help to protect and preserve the buildings for future generations. Citing Le Corbusier’s inventive architectural language, UNESCO praised the collection of projects for “[reflecting] the solutions that the Modern Movement sought to apply during the 20th century to the challenges of inventing new architectural techniques to respond to the needs of society.”
“The inscription on the World Heritage List of 17 buildings of sites by Le Corbusier represents a strong encouragement to continue all along Le Corbusier's built work to maintain this living heritage and to hand it down to future generations,” said Fondation Le Corbusier President Antoine Picon in a statement. “It also contributes to the understanding of that complex and fragile legacy and helps its dissemination to the widest audience.”
Continue after the break for the full list of projects and images.
Studio Symbiosis Architects is amidst the construction process for Punjab Kesari Headquarters, an 18,000 square meter office space in Delhi NCR, India.
Designed as a fusion of traditional Indian architecture and contemporary office space, the main objective of the project is “to reduce heat gain and optimize façade opening ratio, ensuing no artificial lighting is required on a typical day.”
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