SANAA’s

Known for drawing in a diverse background of well-known architects, Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture‘s spring 2012 lecture series began January 23rd with Jesse Seppi and concludes with Tatiana Bilbao on April 23rd. All events will take place at the Carnegie Museum complex and the series is co-sponsored by the Heinz Archiectural Center at Carnegie Museum of Art. A schedule of the lecture series can be viewed after the break.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is pleased to announce a “Call for Proposals” for its 2012 International Research Seed Funding initiative – culminating with an award of US$20,000.

Architect: Kengo Kuma & Associates Location: Besancon, France Associated Architect: Archidev Client: City of Besançon, Region Franche-Comté Engineer: EGIS Est Landscape engineer: L’agence L’Anton et associé Acoustic engineer: Cabinet Lamoureux Scenographic engineer: Changement à vu Quantity survivor: Cabinet Guy Cholley Environment engineer: Alto Façade Detail Manufacturers: LAUBEUF Site area: 23,000 sqm Total floor area: 11,925 sqm Project Year: 2007-2012 Photographs: Nicolas Waltefaugle & Stephan Girard

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In their Europan 11 Proposal, titled ‘Nudge City’, RIO Agency’s main goal was to build on a critical vision of sustainability as it is often promoted today. In their approach, the urban project cannot be a goal in itself. It has to be a frame of incentives, building on the territory’s ability to attract energies, leaning on individual aspirations to create a sustainable city. Nudges are sparks: public interventions which, designing one use, open way for a tree of possibilities. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Curbed lead us to Colorado-based webcomic Grant Snider and his clever blog Incidental Comics. Snider uses the classic “glass houses” proverb in his own unique depiction of midcentury “Iconic Houses”, highlighting The Glass House by Philip Johnson, Farnsworth House by Mies Van der Rohe, Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier and Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The first prize proposal in the Europan 11 competition in Hungary, Szeged by AMK+ Studio is before a functional transformation and with the cooperation of the city and the site owner, the integration of the site into the urban tissue is the main goal. Designed by Tamas Kun, Gergely Almos, and Tamas Mezey, their design suggests a kind of framing building line – an ‘intelligent wall’ – which is formed by many aspects. These aspects manage all the mutual reactions between the mainly residential environment and the rehabilited industrial – new ‘city center’ – block. A ‘bridge’ connects the place formally, in scale, by material use and with functionality. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The hotel project by LAN Architecture rapidly became a small city project, a human settlement in which habitat, commerce, education, politics, and culture are combined. To achieve their objective, they set a strategy where each component of the project plays an essential role in the definition of the whole: rooms become a roof, roof is a plaza, the plaza a window, the window a façade, the façade a landscape, etc. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Loïc Brenterc’h (A.B.A agency) + Ewan Marin (COT agency) shared with us their Europan 11 Proposal in Toulouse, France which won the second prize. Titled ‘META – Block: A Toulouse Urban Model’, the purpose of their design is to extend and redefine the historical city way of life. The inhabitant’s habits and living visions have changed but they still need to feel the Toulouse cultural vibes. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Organized by a commission of professors and students from the ULHT’s (Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias) School of Communication, Architecture, Arts and Information Technologies (ECATI), European Workshop of Waterfront and Urban Design Workshop 2012 will take place from March 18-31. Held at ISCAD on Lisbon’s Waterfront, where students can work all day, EWWUD’s previous editions gathered about 80 students from several European and North American universities, who worked together for two weeks. More information on the event after the break.

In this video Bjarke Ingels shares his enlightened view on Hedonistic sustainability, challenging the misconception that one must give up a portion of their comfortable lifestyle in order to live sustainability. Ingels counteracts that delusion with examples that illustrate the possibilities of sustainable buildings and cities increasing life quality. He encourages architects to embrace their expanded roles of becoming “designers of ecosystems” by creating a world where our presence is not seen as detrimental to our environment through the integration of our “consumption patterns and leftovers” into our natural world. Ingels is optimistic as he shares Hollywood’s copy of BIG’s Denmark Pavilion for the Shanghai 2010 Expo in Iron Man 2. Ingels states, “If Hollywood starts ripping off sustainable architecture to portray science fiction it could be a sign we are moving towards Hedonistic sustainability.”

Subarquitectura transforms a roundabout into a public space with the Parametric Romantic Garden that creates a system of paths leading to a tram station in Alicante, Spain. The parametric design accommodates for existing trees while establishing 32 unique ways in which the platforms may be reached. Each platform is capped with a hollow luminary, serving as an identifier for the station while breaking down the scale for the travelers. Follow this link for more information on the project.

In addition to solving the functional interrelationships of classrooms, workshops, laboratories, cultural center, administrative center, graduate school, parking and service areas, the proposal for the UTEC University Campus by XTe a+d offers an appropriate corporate image to the institution of national and international prominence. Their design will host and give identity to: the most important private organization in the country engaged in higher technological education, being “avant-garde” and “sustainability” two of the essential concepts to be considered in a 3-phase development process to reach its maximum expansion. More images and architects’ description after the break.

This is the second finalist of the international competition for the Alma Hotel Residence for ESO. The competition was won by Kouvo & Partanen.

The main idea of the proposal for the Alma Hotel Residence by Coz Polidura Volante Architects takes us back to archaic structural typologies inherent to the Atacama culture, easily distinguishable in areas like Turi ruins, Lasana or Pucara de Quitor in San Pedro de Atacama. The layout of the building takes advantage of the program modules of rooms, repeating this form of modular design of fullness and emptiness, which means an operation sensible to light and shadow, as occurs at the site between streams and mountains. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Filipe Magalhaes and Ana Luisa Soares shared with us their first prize winning proposal in the open ideas competition organized by Origami Competitions. The competition focused on an empty plot in Oporto, Portugal, where they were asked to develop a fresh and contemporary residential proposal that could be spread through the city. ‘Polikatoikea’ does just that in seeking a compromise between a greek rule (polikatoika) and a swedish philosophy (ikea). More images and architects’ description after the break.

The proposal for the international competition for a cyclone shelter in Bangladesh by Lindsay Bremner and Jeremy Voorhees is conceptualized as a boat-building, referencing two local typologies – the boat and the landing ghat. Located in Ranggabali, a small village in the Patuakhali Province, the building is half submerged in water in times of cyclone flooding while beached against a concrete ghat in dry seasons. Sheltering its occupants in the liminal zone between land and water, it makes place by transitioning from depth and section to surface and plan. More images and architects’ descriptions after the break.

ArchDaily’s Flickr Pool has now over 68,000 photos, and this week’s Round Up has 5 great selections including a wonderful photo of Mies van der Rohe’s Neue National Gallery. 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 Piotr Krajewski in Hamburg, Germany. Check the other four after the break.

This video reveals the first statement by director David Chipperfield and president Paolo Baratta regarding the 13th International Venice Biennale. With “Common Ground” as the underlying theme, Chipperfield encourages participants not to promote themselves, as if in a theater, but rather promote a dialogue that will begin the “chemical process” that will ultimately lead to finding connections between “things, people and influences”. Chipperfield highlights that the Venice Biennale is about “what is not private, but what is common.”

Barcelona designer Martín Azúa questions the idea of the private home with the Basic House – an inhabitable volume that is “foldable, inflatable and reversible”. The experimental prototype challenges the idea of homeownership, offering an alternative to the materialistic reality of today. Made from metalized polyester, the Basic House is a shelter small enough to fit in your pocket, allowing you to break away from the imprisonment of material ties.

Continue reading for more.

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Century City Development Corporation, a subsidiary of Century Properties Group Inc. focused on mixed-use developments with high-rise condominiums, recently revealed their architectural design for the Trump Tower in Manila, Philippines. The tower is going to be prominent on the Manila skyline for years to come. It’s a beautiful glass building – very architecturally significant with an incredible spire. Its architecture will be truly iconic. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Special thanks to our readers Danielle Bakkes, Tjeerd Hermsen, Rudi Koster, Viet Le, Wouter Rooijackers and Kor Zijnstra from the Academy of Architecture Arnhem for sharing their funky video on the Ronchamp Chapel with us. The short film was compiled after the students completed a workshop at the Chapel back in 2007. What do you think of the video’s mystical spin?

Kouvo & Partanen was recently announced as the winners of design competition for the Alma Hotel Residence in the Atacama Observatory and Research Center in the desert of northern Chile. The aim of the competition was to find the best solution on a fixed design fee and construction price for the building that offers the astronomers, engineers, and other staff working at the observatory accommodation, restaurant and office services and recreational spaces. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Architect: Rudy Uytenhaak Architectenbureau bv Location: Nijenborg 7, Groningen, the Netherlands Client: Property and Investment Projects, University of Groningen Contractor: Sternike Partnership (Strukton, Voortman, GTI) Project Area: 36,000 sqm Project Year: 2010 Photographs: Marcel van der Burg

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