Located in Trafalgar Square in London, the BE OPEN Sound Portal focuses on an experience that would be all about the sound. Designed by Arup, they thought it would be great if people could really concentrate on sound in Trafalgar Square, which would take people away form hustle and bustle into a space where they can concentrate and immerse themselves in sound. The original idea was that they would be able to take people away from London to another place, to hear the sound of a melting glacier or an acoustic model of the big bang. The plan is effectively two concentric circles: the inner circle for the sound and the outer circle forms the entrances. Both pieces mask the background noise. They are shells to shield the noise. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Installed on Parliament Square, London, the ‘House of Flags’ is a flexible, demountable, and totally reconfigurable architectural intallation conceived as a gigantic ‘house of cards’ in the Eames’ spirit. The project was designed by AY Architects after an invited international design competition initiated by the Greater London Authority for the Mayor of London’s ‘Wonder Series of Incredible Installations’. 206 panels depict the flag icons of the nations and combined create a collaged image of the world. All together they make up a large building jigsaw, a united ‘house’ of symbols, shimmering colors and perforations. More images and architects’ description after the break.
PAX.ARQ, in collaboration with Vazquez Junqueira Arquitetura, designed this concept for the CAD SP (Digital Arts Center of São Paulo) as a study for São Paulo’s secretary of culture. The transparent, prismatic cube arises from the concepts of inter-connectivity, transparency and respect to pre-existing architectural surroundings. Learn more after the break.
Since it launched 23 years ago (to the day, oddly enough), SimCity has been inspiring would-be urban planners to design, build (and, if the mood so calls for it, blow up) the cities of their dreams. The lasest edition of the game, coming out in February, is no exception – however, it does have a bit of a twist.
In the words of Fast Company reviewer Ariel Schwartz, the newest version ”retains most of the game’s previous elements (including its addictive quality) while bringing a whole new level of complexity to the tilt-shift inspired world. You might not even notice how Maxis is subtly teaching you about the pros and cons of renewable energy, preserving natural resources, and cooperating with neighboring cities. But it is.”
With over 180 million copies of Sim games sold worldwide, and players spanning ages, nationalities, and genders, SimCity could be a powerful way (and by far the funnest) to impart to the average citizen the simple fact that Urban Planners have known for years: Sustainable Design is the future.
Find out how SimCity makes Urban Planning and Sustainable Design fun, after the break…
Python is the most intuitive language we have found for both learning programming and developing powerful scripts. Beginning with a presentation on the main principles of scripting with Python, this webinar will incrementally unpack a diverse set of Programming techniques through a series of “live” exercises with Python and Grasshopper. With two instructors offering guided curriculum and continuous support it is our goal to provide you with an in-depth and personal learning experience. Additional topics covered will include: the basics of scripting with python, where to look for help and references, and when to script in Rhino3D vs Grasshopper.
This Webinar will last 2.5 hours including a 30 minute Q & A session. A video of the Webinar will be uploaded after the broadcast – all participants will have unlimited access to the webinar content and this video online. We look forward to your participation!
Topics, registration and more details after the break.
Foster + Partners is about to break the mold of New York’s static Park Avenue skyline, as they have been announced as winner of the highly publicized competition to replace the aging tower of 425 Park Avenue with a new world-class, sustainable office tower.
Lord Foster said: “I have a personal connection with New York, which has been a source of inspiration since my time at Yale, when the new towers on Park Avenue and its neighborhoods were a magnet for every young architect. Seeing first-hand the works of Mies van der Rohe, Gordon Bunshaft, Eero Saarinen and Philip Johnson was tremendously exciting then – I am delighted to have this very special opportunity to design a contemporary tower to stand alongside them. Our aim is to create an exceptional building, both of its time and timeless, as well as being respectful of this context – a tower that is for the City and for the people that will work in it, setting a new standard for office design and providing an enduring landmark that befits its world-famous location.”
Continue after the break to learn more about Foster’s winning proposal and to review the existing condition of 425 Park Ave.
With a 3-2 vote, Seattle’s Downtown Design Review Board has voted in favor of Amazon’s plans for a three-block, high-rise complex in the Denny Triangle. The board voted after conducting five, comprehensive meetings over the last six months to review Amazon’s evolving NBBJ-designed proposal. Although this design review approval is simply a recommendation to the city’s Department of Planning and Development, it is still a milestone for the ambitious project.
The five acre site, roughly located between Sixth Avenue, Blanchard Street and Westlake Avenue, is currently occupied by expansive parking lots, the Sixth Avenue Inn and the King Cat Theater. Continue after the break to learn more.
Today at 6:30pm in New York City, Design critic Alexandra Lange will moderate a panel of award-winning female architects (Galia Solomonoff, Claire Weisz of WXY Design, and Marion Weiss of Weiss/Manfredi) on “their experiences in a male-dominated field and how the gender landscape has changed since the start of their own careers.”
Taking place at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. on October 11, the Smart Growth: Tactical Urbanism Event features Mike Lydon, the primary author of Tactical Urbanism Volumes 1 and 2. He will discuss chair bombing, site-previtalization, depaving, open streets, intersection repair, and numerous other placemaking tactics at a time when cities and citizens are increasingly using short-term action to spur long-term revitalization. The event, which starts at 12:30pm, is free and presented in association with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Smart Growth Network. For more information, please visit here.
Taking place October 20-21, modeLab is putting on Simulation Lab, a two-day workshop on the topic of simulation with processing. In a fast-paced and hands-on learning environment, they will cover technical programming concepts such as syntax, control, and modularity. Utilizing a suite of libraries to extend processing’s functionality, they will explore and incrementally develop force-based, physics-based, and agent-based simulations. Additionally, they will examine strategies for visualizing the dynamic nature, unexpected tendencies, and behavioral effects present in our simulations. For more information, please visit here.
As the documentary description explains: “Against a backdrop of strict censorship and an unresponsive legal system, Ai expresses himself and organizes people through art and social media. In response, Chinese authorities have shut down his blog, beat him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention.”
While working as a journalist in China, the director, Klayman, gained unprecedented access to Ai while filming. Since being released, the documentary has gained many accolades, including the Sundance 2012 Special Jury Award for Spirit of Defiance.
You can find out more about the documentary, including if it’s playing at a theater near you at its website. And you can keep updated on Weiwei’s struggle at the Never Sorry Facebook page and on Twitter, @AWWNeverSorry
Screenshots from the trailer of “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry,” after the break…
The Nanjing Hexi District recently selected tvsdesign for the south expansion of the Nanjing International Expo Center (NIEC). The goal of this mission was to promote cooperation and exchange between the two cities, and re-emphasize the importance of friendly business relations between China and the United States. Their design will compliment the original master plan and design while embracing the cultural history and beauty of Nanjing, calling upon its dramatic landscape of iconic mountains and scenic waterfronts to enhance architectural roof forms and shape towers that emphasize the importance of the Olympic Axis to the Hexi District. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Nordic Light is a 240-pages book with a wide array of lighting projects in nordic architecture as well as essays about light in late 19th century art form. The book contains architects and comtemporary artists such as Snøhetta, Olafur Eliasson, Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects and Henning Larsen Architects. The graphic elements presented in the book is an interpretation between northern lights and architectural sketching.
In Western thinking the notion of void, or emptiness is a usually considered a negative state of affairs, absence or lack of something. As an existential term emptiness, coupled with our contemporary condition with unforeseen wealth, is associated with the sensation of uneasiness and alienation in the midst of our plenty. This spiritual emptiness may be filled on its surface with busyness and entertainment, cultural hipness and formal styles. This obsessive behavior or fear of emptiness, well exploited by commercial interests, is a trap that enforces us to produce, to consume and to fill the seemingly meaningless gaps, rather than allowing things to evolve in a natural and sustainable way.
Designed by Architetto Matteo Ascani (AMA), their horizontal farm proposal is a flowing architecture system where the farming world meets the Indian slum in New Dehli. The project aims to create a balanced mix with farms, working areas and housing to improve the living conditions for the inhabitants. By doing this, their design is able to avoid the slum situations to enhance the micro-economy. ‘Farmandala’ also provides an urban scale development, involving the street life and a territorial scale development based on vertical flowing connections. This is done by means of ramps that climb shops, farms and the recycle factory connecting to walking trails in the fields on the top of the hills. More images and architects’ description after the break.
David Mirvish, founder of Mirvish Productions, and Toronto-born starchitect Frank Gehry have officially unveiled a massive, mixed-use project that will transform Toronto’s downtown arts and entertainment district. The multi-phase project will significantly alter the city’s skyline with three, “sculptural” residential towers perched atop two, six story podiums.
Mirvish describes, “I am not building three towers, I am building three sculptures that people can live in.”
Andreas G. Gjertsen and Yashar Hanstad, principals of the architecture cooperative TYIN tegnestue Architects in Trondheim, Norway, have been named as this year’s winners of The European Prize for Architecture. The young Norwegian architects were honored for their humanitarian work designing and building with community participation in poor and underdeveloped areas in Africa and Asia.
Annually presented by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, the prize is awarded to influential European architects “who have demonstrated a significant contribution to humanity and to the built environment through the art of architecture”.
Continue reading for more information and a sample of TYIN tegnestue Architects’ work.
