Ever wonder why the skyline of Los Angeles is peppered with flat top skyscrapers? Or for that matter, why does such a global cosmopolitan city have so relatively few skyscrapers dotting its cityscape, the majority residing in downtown LA?

The answer lies in a section of the Los Angeles Municipal Code introduced in 1974 – Sec. 57.118.12 – “Emergency Helicopter Landing Facility.” The code stipulates that “Each building shall have a rooftop emergency helicopter landing facility in a location approved by the Chief.” The text also dictates that the helipads measure 50′x50′ in addition to a 25′ safety buffer. The resulting skyline thus far has been dominated by flat roof skyscrapers that would only make it through the planning process if in strict accordance with this code. However, a newly introduced proposal called the Hollywood Community Plan would allow skyscrapers to be constructed along the subway served “Hollywood Corridor.” In lieu of embarking on a plan that would surely result in more box type towers, an amendment has been introduced into the plan that would exempt skyscrapers within the corridor from having to conform to Sec. 57.118.12 helipad requirements. More After the break.

Continue reading for more information and the complete list of newly honored Fellows.

A team led by AECOM and New York-based Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is one of five shortlisted teams invited to participate in an international design competition to renovate and reactivate Chicago’s landmark Navy Pier. This is a once-in-a-century opportunity that will redefine the character and focus of Chicago’s waterfront. It is part of an ambitious effort to create a new Navy Pier for the 21st century, and in doing so, to redefine what the pier and the waterfront means to the city.

Unveiled to the public on January 31, 2012 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the AECOM-BIG design vision aims to “re-colonize the people’s pier,” by maximizing opportunity through a holistic approach. The result is Pier+, a vibrant urban destination that creates a new amenity shared by all while making a positive and progressive statement about Chicago to the world.

Continue reading for more!

+ 21

Strip Morphologies III is a two-day intensive design, prototyping, and fabrication workshop put on by Studio Mode / modeLab to be held in New York City during the weekend of March 03-04.

For their honorable mention competition entry, Betillon/Dorval-Bory have attempted to create a new architectural language rooted in climate analysis for Fundecor, a non-governmental organization focused on environmental preservation. The procedure for creating the project is largely about understanding environmental systems and then allowing the building to respond and support those technical aspects for the desired result. As such, the architecture is “not trying to hide in a neo-vernacular posture, but celebrates its radicalism in aid of its atmospheric functioning.”

More about the competition entry after the break.

Launching in fall 2012, Parsons The New School of Design is offering a new graduate program in urbanism in New York City, the MA Theories of Urban Practice. The 2-year, 36-credit research-oriented program is designed for those who want to transform cities through actionable research, strategic knowledge, and critical theories. In other words, knowledge can transform cities! The program will redefine urbanism and urban design as a field of transformative practice.

Just last month, University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design announced their lecture series for Spring 2012. All lectures are held at 6PM in Meyerson Hall and free and open to the public unless otherwise noted with continuing education credits available. The series began on January 17th and concludes on April 28th. More information on the upcoming events after the break.

Studioninedots + HVDN shared with us their winning proposal for the student housing competition for TU Delft Campus. The project parameters were to design a volume of 67 meters long and 5 storeys high, with its own strong identity and a collective space on the roof including a rain water harvesting element. More images and architects’ description after the break.

For over 20 years, Esto has been a primary source for architectural photography, as they represent a group of photographers who concentrate on architecture, design and the built environment. Esto offers an ever-expanding archive of architectural photography along with a list of extended services which now includes video and time-lapse documentation. Check out their new reel above and continue reading to find more information provided by the professionals of Esto.

Don’t forget to check out the building today when Super Bowl XLVI kicks off at Lucas Oil Stadium in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. HKS repeats as designer for two consecutive Super Bowl venues, immediately following the Super Bowl debut at HKS-designed Cowboys Stadium in Dallas in 2011. The 1.8 million-square-foot sports and entertainment venue has normal capacity of 63,000 for Indianapolis Colts Football, but will expand to approximately 70,000 for the 2012 Super Bowl. The stadium and surrounding site will be transformed to incorporate game-day fan plazas, sponsorship zones, media broadcast areas, fan interactive zones and tailgating. The economic impact to the host city is estimated at $300 million to $400 million.

Mark A. Williams, AIA, principal for HKS Sports & Entertainment Group, said, “We are proud to have created the venues selected for the world’s preeminent sporting event. While very different in their designs, Lucas Oil Stadium and last year’s host, Cowboy Stadium, both provide a setting that immeasurably enhances fan enjoyment and contributes to the success of this momentous event.”

Continue reading to learn more about the 2012 Super Bowl venue.

Conjugating innovation and tradition, the first prize winning proposal for the Celebration Hall of Riyadh by Studio Schiattarella, in collaboration with Tecturae, aims at adhering to the specific route adopted by the Saudi culture. The building appears to be the requirement currently expressed globally and each culture develops it in its own fashion. More images and architects’ description after the break.

As part of the V&A’s British Design Season, this display in the Theatre and Performance Galleries taking place March 17 – September 30 will celebrate the work of over 30 of the most pioneering British theatre designers, architects and artists to have created for performance over the last four years. The selected works on show will range from costumes for live opera and drama to video projections for stadium music concerts and will illustrate how each designer looks for new ways to transform space, light, sound and body for the stage. More information on the event after the break.

The proposal for the Vrbani Business Center by NFO in Zagreb, Croatia aims to solve its inner urbanism within itself and set the guidelines for the development of the surrounding area. They do so through a cube form set on the site while passages carve within the closed volume to emphasize directions from the environment and, at the same time, pull users closer to the internal context of the new structure. More images and architects’ description after the break.

You may remember our coverage on the Flight Assembled Architecture exhibit by Gramazio & Kohler and Raffaello D’Andrea, in collaboration with ETH Zurich, that featured a team of flying drones constructing an architectural structure at the scale of a 600m high “vertical village” out of foam blocks. Well, check this out! Roboticists at the University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Lab, along with developer Kmel Robotics, have created these autonomous Nano Quadrotors capable of flying in formation and flawlessly performing complex maneuvers. Imagine the possibilities!

European Union Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard urges world leaders attending the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro this June to double the share of renewable energy they use by 2030 and give all citizens access to sustainable power.

Big Enough? Architecture Exhibition held at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, Canada now until July 8 features architecture firms Altius Architecture Inc., nkA and rzlbd who created new installations which explore the idea of what is big enough. In addition, artist Surendra Lawoti presents a photography installation. The Metrics or Memories? installation by nkA seeks to illustrate the potential qualitative returns should we choose to shift focus from the metrics of space to the optimization of spatial experience. More architects’ description after the break.

Frank Lloyd Wright‘s 16-room, 6,100 square foot house built in 1897 for Isidore Heller was just placed on the market with an asking price of $2.5 million. Sitting on a large piece of land in Hyde Park, one of Wright’s more highly regarded house, is an architectural marvel with its high ceilings and and large rooms, which contrasts with the more well-known houses Wright is known for. The house also includes seven bedrooms, 33 stained glass windows, four fireplaces and an operational elevator. More images after the break.

Atelier Thomas Pucher recently won the first prize in the international competition for the new extension of the Salzburg Regional Hospital. The design combines a “double-comb” structure that accommodates treatment and examination rooms with a cross-shaped area dedicated for the ward and nursery departments. This distribution is completed by a final slab that host the laboratory and that integrates seamlessly the whole building. More images and architects’ description after the break.

January 23th – February 18th 2012 COAC Barcelona

ESARQ-UIC board of directors: Vicenç Sarrablo , Jordi Roviras, Judith Urbano, Cristina Planas. Curator: Marta Poch Coordination: Vicenç Sarrablo, Jordi Roviras Exhibition Design: Manuel Arenas, Jordi Badia, Eduardo Carles-Tolrà, Jaime Fernández, Ricardo Flores, Cristina García-Ventosa, Albert Guerra, Francisco Hernández, Adrián Jurado, Miquel Lacasta, Sergio Parra, Eva Prats, Antonio Sanmartín Graphic Design: EVA Estudi Exhibition Display: MC Decorados, Daniel Wunsch Illumination: Iguzzini Illuminazione España Printing: Nova era, 47 sendes Sponsors: COAC, Cedria, Iguzzini, Gabarró Hermanos, EPSON, Pere Ventura Caves i Vins

The exhibition

On the occasion of the ESARQ-UIC’s 15th anniversary, the school is going to show its activity in the COAC through an exhibition on the theme of Secuencias Extremas including the presentation of the book. This book describes ESARQ’s teaching style, which is based on three main pillars: personal attention, innovation and a close relationship with industry, and social commitment; that is to say, innovation at the service of people.

A house, a library, an art gallery, a housing project and Gehry. All part of our new Flickr Round Up. As always, remember you can submit your own photo here, and don’t forget to follow us through Twitter and our Facebook Fan Page to find many more features.

The photo above was taken by Anna Mayrah Gregorczyk in Auroville, India. Check the other four after the break.

BDOnline’s recent report Foster & Partners sees profits soars reveals that the firm has “posted a major rise in profits for the year ended April 30, 2011, with pre-tax profits of £10.9 million, up from £1.6 million.” Most of the firms work is said to come from Asia and China, as turnover at the practice is up to £159 million from £134 million.

Zaha Hadid joined H.E. Dr Sinan Al-Shabibi, Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), at a ceremony to sign the agreement between CBI and Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) for the design stages of the new CBI Headquarters building. The ceremony was hosted at the Victoria & Albert Museum by H.E. Dr Muhielddin Hussein Abdullah, Charges d’Affaires of the Iraqi Embassy.

ZHA have already completed the client’s Brief Development and will immediately begin the design process that will focus on developing a national symbol for the new spirit of Iraq on the shores of the Tigris River in Baghdad. ZHA will lead the international team of specialist consultants including: Adams Kara Taylor, Max Fordham, Newtecnic, DEGW, Gross Max, Davis Langdon, Arup, Warringtonfire, Winton Nightingale and A2 Project Managers.

Dr Sinan Al-Shabibi said: “The new building shall be a symbol of the Bank’s role in the economic development of Iraq and a reflection of the determination to rebuild the country.”

Zaha Hadid said: “I am deeply touched that I have been asked to design the new headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq. I was born in Iraq and I still feel very close to it. I feel very privileged to be working in Iraq on a design of such national importance.”

Continue after the break for more images of the ceremony. 

Architects: PLAN Associated Architects Location: Meia Praia, Lagos, Algarve, Portugal Project: Yellow Hotel Meia Praia – 5 star hotel Building Area: 22 298,28 sqm Design Team: Armando Daniel Dos Reis (Principal Architect), Jenny da Costa Marcos, Ricardo Galego Silva, Quirio Ramalhinho, Liliana de Sousa, Luis Caetano, Hugo Fonseca, Joana Fernandes, Inês Martins, José Martins, Ana Paula Costa, Filipa Monteiro, Matias dos Reis Client: Iberotel Group Project Year: 2010 Photographs: Alexandre da Luz Mendes, Ricardo Cabeços, Hugo Fonseca

+ 26