Architecture News

Rafael Viñoly and OLIN have unveiled plans to transform Cupertino's Vallco Shopping Mall into a new mixed-use neighborhood that boasts the "world's largest green roof." The current plans call for a 15-block sustainable town center with 625,000-square-feet of retail, two-million-square-feet of office space and 800 residential units. All this, if approved, would be topped by a 30 acre public green space with a 3.8 mile trail network that runs through orchards, vineyards, an amphitheater and play areas.

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Santiago Calatrava's Innovation, Science and Technology (IST) Building at Florida Polytechnic University has picked up another award, this time being named "Project of the Year" by Engineering News-Record. The "centerpiece" of the new Floridian university, which was also masterplanned by Calatrava, the 162,000-square-foot building was recently awarded "Best in Steel Construction" by the AISC.

“Educating, particularly young people, is one of the most noble tasks that exist,” said Calatrava in response to the award. “The Innovation, Science and Technology Building aims to be itself a tool to achieve the highest level of education for young people. 

A lot of architects love glass. A lot of architects love curves too. The two can be combined, but in most cases this is a highly bespoke and expensive process, with individual sheets of glass being heated in a kiln over a mold created especially to fit the desired curve. Cheaper options are available though, and one common approach is to use smaller sections of flat glass - often a U-shaped channel section - angled to approximate a curve.

But this strategy also leads to a problem: as the desired curve gets tighter, the gaps between the glass segments get more and more apparent and less efficient as enclosure. To address this problem, German designer Holger Jahns has created "c--c," an update to standard U-shaped channel glass which can be fixed together at any angle and create any curve without gaps appearing between the panels.

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The Japan Art Association (JAA) has named French architect Dominique Perrault winner of the 2015 Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award. Lauded for his "wildly imaginative [or] abstractly minimal" designs, Perrault is known for masterfully blending innovative works with their context.

“Architecture should not be closed on itself, with its back to the context," says Perrault. "It should always be in resonance with the environment, whether natural or urban. We architects should always think about our buildings’ place in the urban design, and about the city itself as a whole.”

The prestigious global arts prize, now in its 27th year, recognizes "outstanding contributions to the development, promotion and progress of the arts" in the fields of architecture, painting, sculpture, music and theater/film. Perrault joins a small handful of architects who have received the award, including James Stirling, Tadao Ando, Alvaro Siza, Richard Rogers, Jean Nouvel, Toyo Ito, Zaha Hadid, Peter Zumthor, David Chipperfield, andJacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron.

All five 2015 Praemium Imperiale laureates include:

The Australian Institute of Architects’ International Chapter has announced the winners of its 2015 International Architecture Awards, which honors projects by Australian architects abroad.

Out of 26 entries, the jury, chaired by Grant Marani, awarded five projects, and commended four more in the interior, public, residential, and small project architecture categories.

Awarded projects are now also in the running for the 2015 Jørn Utzon Award for International Architecture, to be announced at the National Architecture Awards in November.

Read on for the full list of awards and commendations, after the break.

The Jewish Museum in Berlin opened its doors 14 years ago today. Inspired by a lecture given by Daniel Libeskind, Berlin-based photographer Laurian Ghinitoiu captured the building and its dramatic plays of light and texture in a series of 20 photographs.

David Adjaye has been selected as the winner of MIT's 2016 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts, which honors “individuals whose artistic trajectory reveals that they will achieve the highest distinction in their fields and continue to produce inspiring work for many years to come.” The award consists of $100,000 prize in addition to an artist residency at MIT in the spring of 2016. During the residency, Adjaye will participate in four different public events, including panels and symposia.

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Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) has shared initial photos by Iwan Baan of their new McMurty Building for Art & Art History at Stanford University, which will be officially unveiled to the public on October 6. The 100,000 square foot building will open for the 2015 fall semester, and allow students studying art history and students practicing fine arts to work together under the same roof for the first time at Stanford. See and read more about the soon-to-be opened project after the break.

Denmark-based architects CEBRA have won a competition to design a Smart School educational complex in Irkutsk, Russia. Their winning design, dubbed Smart School Meadow, fulfills the competition’s call for a new typology of school that combines architecture and landscaping into a learning environment and local community center.

The design integrates buildings and landscape together through a ring of individual structures connected by a large, ridged rooftop. With this roof, spaces between the buildings can be used as multifunctional, semi-covered learning spaces, activity zones, and flow areas, all of which diffuse into the central and outer landscaped areas.

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Marcin Chmura, a recent graduate from London's Bartlett School of Architecture, has developed a project which attempts to imagine a new future for the 'American Dream'. The United Suburbs of AmeriKa, named after Franz Kafka’s novel in which—despite never having visited America—he depicts the United States as a utopia offering eternal wealth and happiness for his foreign protagonist.

Architect Magazine has unveiled its list of the 50 best architecture firms in the US, with Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Gensler taking the top three slots in the overall ranking, respectively. The rankings are based on scores from three categories: business, sustainability and design. This year the methodology was updated to include three new factors: percentage of women and minority designers; range and value of employee benefits and the rate of employee turnover. Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture also ranked first in the business category, followed by Kirksey Architecture and EYP Architecture & Engineering. EYP also headed the sustainability rankings, followed by Gensler and ZeroEnergy Design, while the design rankings were led by NADAAA, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Studio Gang Architects. Learn more about the methodology and view the full rankings here.

FC Barcelona has announced 14 teams in the running for two planned overhauls of their facilities at the Camp Nou in Barcelona, including alterations to their main stadium and the rebuilding of the Palau Blaugrana, the nearby arena owned by the club and used primarily for basketball and handball. The alterations to the two buildings are part of a larger €600 million project, known officially as "Nou Espai Barça," which seeks to improve the club's entire campus, also adding an ice skating rink, new offices, 5,000 parking spaces and improving the outdoor space surrounding the facilities. The Nou Espai Barça project was approved by the club's fanbase last April after a 72% vote in favor of the proposal.

The list names eight teams - including BIG, Populous, HKS and Arup Sport - in the running for the overhaul of the stadium itself, which will involve the addition of almost 6,000 seats to bring the stadium's total capacity to 105,000, increasing the stadium's lead as the largest football stadium in Europe. It will also include a complete redesign of the lowest seating tier to offer improved views, and the addition of a roof over the terraces. Also named are the six teams in the running to rebuild the Palau Blaugrana.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the shortlist for the 2015 Stephen Lawrence Prize, which awards the best projects with a construction budget of less than £1 million.

The 2015 Stephen Lawrence Prize shortlist features:

Nonprofit organization Architecture for Humanity has launched a rebranding campaign, calling for public input to help create its new name. After working to transition “from a group of chapters to a collectively mobilized and collaboratively led network,” the new version of the organization has a similar mission, but with a focus on “consensus building, professional development, and support for local groups to develop innovative business models while driving humanitarian design services.” Thus, the rebranded AFH will utilize its new image as a “banner to rally under,” putting an emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration and incorporating anyone outside the architectural profession who can help with the mission.

Herzog & de Meuron has revealed their plans for a new £500 million stadium for Chelsea Football Club, intended to built in place of their existing stadium at Stamford Bridge. As reported by BD, the images and a model of the stadium were not officially released to the press but were presented in a public consultation meeting held by the club.

Herzog & de Meuron were appointed to work alongside the site's masterplanners Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands in January, and the recent public consultation and was the first opportunity to see the design for the 60,000-seat stadium in its entirety - however, partial renders were released in an earlier consultation in July receiving 92% approval from 1,250 respondents.