The Busan Opera House proposal, by WEAVA Architects, takes full advantage of its placement within the Marine Culture District; a site advantageous for designating the building as a unique cultural landmark. Their concept embraces both the city and natural landscape by providing two distinct, yet connected faces. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Debartolo Architects were commissioned to develop a master plan for the growing church in a satellite community of Metro-Phoenix. Debartolo Architects developed a new language for a church that named themselves after an existing pistachio grove that once and still partially thrives on their 22 acre site. With three existing buildings, built by the congregation and designed by volunteers, the idea was to develop a more strategic approach to the next generation of development, growth and use of the entire site.

For the STAAB Residence designed by Chen + Suchart Studio the context for this site consists of larger homes on one-acre lots. Aesthetically, the neighboring houses’ architectural language is more often than not, associated with speculative developer trends and styles, rather than an integrated understanding of the site, the views, and the potential. As a result, the project required a strategy which would edit out the immediate context of this neighborhood while focusing on distant views of the McDowell Mountains to the north and the valley to the south and southwest. The project also sought to create a protected courtyard space for the backyard and pool area as an immediate focus for the lower level of the house in contrast to the second level taking advantage of the more distant views.

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German artist EVOL recently completed an interesting interactive installation just outside of Hamburg, Germany for the MS Dockville music and art festival. The ‘Rural City’ is comprised of thin trenches about 1.5 meters deep in an ‘X’ shape that were dug out over the course of 8 days. Earth is held back with retaining boards made of Eternit and spray painted to resemble the facades of skyscrapers. More photos after the break.

This sketch comedy by Monty Python is sure to produce some laughs. For all the architects and students out there,  you will undoubtedly be able to relate to this situation. Whether it is when you are presenting to crits for studio review or as architects pitching your idea to developers.

From the history of plastics and membranes in architecture to their material properties and requirements in construction and design, the Construction Manual for Polymers + Membranes cuts to the chase, providing the kind of solid and comprehensive overview of the subject that readers have come to expect from the Construction Manual series. Selected project examples round off the reference work and make it indispensable for the day-to-day life of the professional planner and for every architecture library.

Venice is commonly regarded as one of the wonders of the world, attracting over 17 million tourists each year. However, the city of Venice faces ongoing problems that threaten its ability to stay above water. The city’s flooding issues are notorious around the world. Every year water surges through its legendary labyrinth of streets wreaking havoc on architectural gems such as the Palazzo San Marco. With its architecture under threat, and dwindling population as many young people flock to the mainland, it is appropriate to think of Venice as a dying relic.

Johann Watzke, Anne-Fanny Cotting & Aurélie Mindel of EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland shared with us their photographic project on the Rolex Learning Center from SANAA which is the campus hub and state-of-the-art library. More images and a brief description after the break.

Historically, rivers have served as the ecological and commercial backbones of the communities that boarder them. With the deindustrialization of American cities, these lifelines have been unclaimed for civic use. They lay cluttered; remnants of their past serve as barriers to their potential re-use. This proposal by StossLU seeks to claim the Mississippi River and envision its transformation into park space as a spectacle in its own right within the city of Minneapolis.

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Located in the Busan North Port development area, the Busan Opera House is home to a cultural complex department, museums, a maritime culture center, a cruise center, waterfront causeway, public parks, an opera, a theater and a business district. It was crucial for Kubota & Bachmann Architects that the BOH program and its architectural form integrate into the existing master plan, and express the new and unique creative character of the Busan North Port. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Designed by holdUP & BLOO NATION, the Waving Wall of Chalkwell is an art installation commissioned by Metal comprising of over 1200, 19L water cooler bottles, demonstrating the vast journey water takes as well as the amount of water used in the production of certain products; a few of which have been depicted in small cabinets, along with information regarding their water consumption. More images and a brief description after the break.

A proposal made by the twin brothers of sanzpont for the Busan Opera House Competition, the concept of their design is based on the philosophy of Korea, the balance of opposites, the Um-Yang. The fundamental idea is to create an iconic building that represents the culture in which it is immersed, to remind the native people where they come from in order to promote this philosophy to the outside world. More images and architects’ description after the break.

As billings continue to decline in the US, the nation of Vietnam is quickly emerging as a hot spot for Western architecture firms seeking new work. About two dozen North American and European firms now have projects in the Southeast Asian country, including Foster + Partners, HOK, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). Some are even reportedly opening permanent offices there.

Tea ceremonies have evolved a great deal since they first got their start in the ninth century, and as the ceremonies have grown and shifted in purpose, so have the tea houses that hold them.

Initially tea was seen as a medicine used to cultivate the mind, body and spirit; tea was seen as good for monks because it helped them to stay awake for long periods of meditation. For this reason, the military class sponsored the construction of large zen temples for monks to drink tea in. As tea began to grow in popularity beyond the temple, tea ceremonies became a source of entertainment for members of the upper class who could afford to gamble, read poetry and attend tea parties in extravagant pavilions. More information after the break.

The design team SUMoffice & Van Noten recently won the Open Call 21.14 in Moorsel, Belgium. The project consists of the conversion and extension of the presbytery into a meeting centre for youth and other associations and the redesign of the presbytery garden into a publicly accessible garden. More images and project description after the break.

Next week we will be taking our Architecture City Guide to Beijing and we need your help. To make the City Guides more engaging we are asking for your input on which designs should comprise our weekly list of 12. In order for this to work we will need you, our readers, to suggest a few of your favorite modern/contemporary buildings for the upcoming city guide in the comment section below. Along with your suggestions we ask that you provide a link to an image you took of the building that we can use, the address of the building, and the architect. (The image must be from a site that has a Creative Common License cache like Flickr or Wikimedia. We cannot use images that are copyrighted unless they are yours and you give us permission.) From that we will select the top 12 most recommended buildings. Hopefully this method will help bring to our attention smaller well done projects that only locals truly know. With that in mind we do not showcase private single-family residences for obvious reasons. Additionally, we try to only show completed projects.

The statistics are in for the ABI July, and as we shared in our coverage for June, the numbers are quite bleak. After June’s 46.3, July measured in more than a full point lower at 45.1. The new projects inquiry index dropped dramatically from 58.1 in June down to 53.7.“Business conditions for architecture firms have turned down sharply,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “Late last year and in the first couple of months of this year there was a sense that we were slowly pulling out of the downturn, but now the concern is that we haven’t yet reached the bottom of the cycle. Current high levels of uncertainly in the economy don’t point to an immediate turnaround.” Regional averages include the South at 46.9, West at 46.6, Northeast at 46.4, and the Midwest at 44.9. Hopefully, for our coverage of the ABI August, we’ll have more positive data to share.

WAHAG Studio shared with us their competition entry in the international ideas competition to establish a design for the Busan Opera House, which is expected to begin construction in 2014. The opera house will include a variety of facilities that will foster a wide range of artistic activities all the while being accessible to the city’s citizens. The grand scale of this project will be suitable for Busan’s status as an international city. More images and architects’ description after the break.

As we reported on Wednesday, rumors were circulating about a new Apple retail store at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Wednesday evening the proposal, a transparent glass ceiling commercial building by an unnamed retailer, went before the Santa Monica Planning Commission. Peggy Clifford of the Santa Monica Dispatch reported that the ‘Apple Glass House’ was approved without even a second thought.

Tulane School of Architecture has announced their 2011-2012 school year lecture series featuring Rafael Moneo, Billie Tsien, Adam Yarinsky and others, including a string of lectures on Urban Innovations co-sponsored by The Murphy Institute. More information on the lectures after the break.

DeStefano Partners shared with us their new documentary on Mies van der Rohe and his 1951-52 McCormick House in Elmhurst, Illinois by the Elmhurst Art Museum. Please refer to the above video for the complete documentary.

A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his own image.

Joan Didion

Community pressure has swayed the owners of Richard Neutra‘s Kronish House to postpone plans for demolition, and has also prompted the city of Beverly Hills to draft legislation to preserve its architectural history. The house been spared until at least October 10 in order to give community activists time to devise a plan for its restoration. In a related, ground-breaking action the Beverly Hills City Council has asked the city’s Planning Commission to enact a first-ever historic-preservation ordinance.

Ever think you could find a moment of peace and quiet to have an intimate conversation with a friend in the middle of Times Square? The designers that go by mmmm… must have considered the same thing. Starting August 16th, people visiting Times Square can enjoy a private moment with up to eight people in one of mmmm…’s Meeting Bowls supported by the Times Square Alliance. The 5-foot tall, 7-foot wide pieces of street furniture will be available as a visiting exhibition until September 16th between 8am and midnight.