We would like to introduce you to a new weekly series we will be featuring here on ArchDaily. This exciting new set of posts will pull projects from our ArchDaily archives, highlighting projects that were featured this week but in previous years.
Today’s selection includes an unconventional museum design in Germany, an educational recycling concrete center in Korea, three well-crafted projects from Finland that pay careful attention to material choices, and a re-imagined 1950s German “Siedlungshaus”. We hope you enjoy taking a look at these projects that deserve a revisit!
The city of Long Beach, California recently asked firmsWE-designs and XP& Architecture to design a landmark project to revitalize its downtown area using a low budget. The initial ideas are represented here as a series of re-configured old shipping containers, truncated and placed upright. The futuristic cluster of low rise buildings, called (RE) Configured-Ecologies, may eventually become multi-use space with an open playground feel. It will comprise of an education center, a café, retail space and 13 work/live loft spaces as well as an open roof terrace. Through proposing three types of innovatively reconstructed modular shipping containers, the overall construct leads to open courtyards, interlocking units, and playfully generated programs that introduce a new innovative topological creation that regenerates and reconnects the community.
This new insight into a classic illustrates Gerrit Rietveld’s transition from humble cabinet maker’s son to Architect and leading designer in the De Stijl movement. The book and film compliment each other nicely, covering several different furniture designs both preceding and subsequent to the famed Red Blue Chair, including alternate versions of that particular design (unpainted, arm rest panels, etc.).
The Department of Architecture at Portland State University proudly announces its inaugural lecture series, titled ‘Firsts.’ The series spans the 2011-2012 academic year, beginning October 6, with presentations by six notable academics, artists and professionals in architectural practice worldwide: Petra Kempf, John Ochsendorf, Gilles Saucier, Jeremy Till, Sarah Wigglesworth and Paul Pfeiffer.
The concepts of origins and beginnings, long a subject of interest among architects, will be explored throughout the series of lectures. As the Greek word Arche (meaning ‘first cause’) is at the root of the word architecture, the guest lecturers will discuss their own ‘first causes’—the spark that led them to follow their career path—as part of their presentations. The lectures in the series begin at 7pm in the Shattuck Hall Annex at Portland State University (at SW Broadway and Hall Streets) and are free to the public.
More information on the lecture series after the break.
Last Fall, we introduced the collaborative effort between the Guggenheim and BMW to create a modern day public form exploring a variety of urban issues. The New York Lab, designed by Atelier Bow-Wow, has just opened in the East Village on a leftover 2,000 sqf plot squished between two existing buildings. With the ground level open to passersby, the museum focuses on creating a transparent and welcoming atmosphere to house discussions, lectures and the like. “We wanted the Guggenheim Labs to be in the middle of an urban environment where people live, work and hang out,” Mr. van der Leer, a curator for the Guggenheim, told the Times.
As part of an upcoming exhibition, they are developing a New York Archive of Sacred Spaces in Profane Buildings and they need your help. This is an open call for contributions that explain either a story or the memory of a visit, a sketch of a known space, a photograph of a street sign, a location in a map, anything that might help us construct the most comprehensive guide to the sacred unknown of New York. To participate, you are encouraged to submit any material at their website.
More information on the exhibition after the break.
Gowanus Connections is an international ideas competition hosted by Gowanus by Design, inviting speculation on the value of urban development of post-industrial urban lands, and the possibility of dynamic, pedestrian-oriented architecture that engages with the Gowanus Canal and the surrounding watershed. The competition focuses on reusing the industrial space and orchestrating a clean-up for the canal. This competition is a first of a series which will explore the possibilities of the future of the Gowanus Canal and its effects on the people that work and live around it.
The Gowanus Lowline: Connections competition produced 98 entries, of which six were selected. First Prize was awarded to “Gowanus Flowlands” by Tyler Caine, Luke Carnahan, Ryan Doyle, and Brandon Specketer. Second place winners, along with four honorable mentions can be seen here after the break.
In the summer of 2011, Joakim Kaminsky and Maria Poll, of Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture, went into the deep forests of Medelpad in northern Sweden. With them they brought 15 meters of mirror coated fabric aiming to create an installation that would interpret the life cycle of this pine forest. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Based on the integration of light and illumination effects, the Guzhen Center, designed by Volkan Alkanoglu, will be an outstanding exhibition space that functions for its occupants, inspires its visitors, and resonates with a global audience. With a commitment to innovation and technology, the project will feature an unparalleled design vision and become a significant addition to the city of Guzhen. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The last chance to see the Barnes Foundation’s artwork in its original setting has passed. It is now being prepared for the move to its new home in downtown Philadelphia. Architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien designed the new building for the Barnes Foundation with respect for its strong history and as a reflective addition of the foundation’s mission. The building is scheduled for completion in late 2011. More after the break.
Remember we left off last week with “It cost what it cost“. Does your budget really reflect what you want it to, or what you wish it would? BIG DIFFERENCE. Remember it cost what it cost and there is really no way around that, so manage your expectations within your budget. It is your budget. No one forced you to that budget, it’s yours. If the budget exceeds your taste or requests…. than the pile of poop you are about to step in was put there by no one else, but you.
Ok now clean off your feet and let’s get down to business. MANAGING expectations is only one of the many challenges I face as a designer + builder. To be honest with you, sometimes more modest budgets force wonderful opportunities to create great results within the means.
Back in 2008, a rash of falsified concrete testing reports on major projects in New York including the Yankee Stadium and the Second Avenue subway station had construction executives scrambling to find replacements. American Standard Testing and Consulting Laboratories were selected as the replacement company. However, the owner and five other employees have currently been arraigned on charges stemming from exactly the same things they were hired to rectify.
The new portfolio of AutoCAD products for Mac expands options for millions of users of the popular design, documentation and collaboration software. AutoCAD 2012 for Mac was built specifically for OS X Lion and helps users create stunning designs on their platform of choice. AutoCAD LT for Mac enables users to document designs, optimize workflow and collaborate with colleagues and clients. AutoCAD WS for Mac enables users to view and collaborate on DWG files through the Mac interface. In addition, AutoCAD WS users can plot DWG files to PDF or DWF formats and sync with their cloud-based AutoCAD WS account, making files accessible from their AutoCAD WS mobile app. AutoCAD LT 2012 for Mac and AutoCAD WS for Mac are available exclusively in the Mac App Store.
John Thackara, photo by Kristi van Riet via Wikimedia Commons
In his forthright and insightful essay, designer/author/Doors of Perception director John Thackara discusses problems with today’s design completions and offers up some compelling suggestions for change.
Complaints range from moralistic, “competitions are too often staged for wrong or unclear reasons;” to humanistic, “attention is usually focused on the thing rather than on the person or team behind the thing;” to mundane, “there is seldom enough time in the judging process to assess entries adequately.” I assume such complaints are obvious to anyone on the judging-side of the design competition world, and that saying all this out loud might come off as obnoxious, but as a recent architecture school graduate I appreciate Thackara’s full disclosure. Knowledge is power, y’all. Likewise, Thackara’s proposed redesigns range from pragmatic, “get real: Insist on external partners and a live context,” to idealistically postmodern, suggesting competitions “ask entrants to create platforms and contexts in which diverse groups of people may co-design the systems, institutions and processes that shape our daily lives.” As reasonable as the suggestion may be, allusions to leftist, Los Angeles School-style activism might cause some readers to lose interest.
Last summer, we sharedSHoP’s 270,000 sqf office and research building for Botswana, Africa, a winning proposal that surpassed 17 international competitors. The Innovation Hub is a huge investment for the Botswanan government as an attempt to diversify its ecomony which is primarily based upon diamond extraction to move toward a more “knowledge-based economy.” A lot is at stake for this $50 million project. With thousands of sqf of office space to fill, many wonder if the building and its location can attract the latest researchers; yet, SHoP’s initiative to create an environmentally friendly haven attempts to do just that. “The goal was to create an incubator to invite new startups and other companies into Botswana,” says SHoP principal William Sharples, “and get the country into another economic line besides just diamonds.”
Australia’s only Architecture Festival stimulates debate and offers fresh perspectives about what constitutes good architecture and design and how to create a sustainable, healthy and culturally rich built environment. The 5th annual event offers the chance to engage with ideas and architectural inspirations from around the world, and this year promises several new and exciting ways to engage in conversations about our city with events in venues across Sydney – tours, talks, workshops, exhibitions, lectures, films and children’s activities. More event description after the break.
The new documents confirm Foster + Partners as the architects, working with ARUP North America and Kier & Wright, a local civil engineering firm that has worked on Apple’s current campus and buildings for other tech companies (eBay, Nvidia, Cisco, Netflix and Sun, among others).
About the program:
An Office, Research and Development Building comprising approximately 2.8 million square feet for up to 13,000 employees
A 1,000 seat Corporate Auditorium
A Corporate Fitness Center
Research Facilities comprising approximately 300,000 square feet
A Central Plant
Associated Parking
It’s a pretty amazing building. It’s a little like a spaceship landed. It’s got this gorgeous courtyard in the middle… It’s a circle. It’s curved all the way around. If you build things, this is not the cheapest way to build something. There is not a straight piece of glass in this building. It’s all curved. We’ve used our experience making retail buildings all over the world now, and we know how to make the biggest pieces of glass in the world for architectural use. And, we want to make the glass specifically for this building here. We can make it curve all the way around the building… It’s pretty cool.
- Steve Jobs
The round shape has also been cited as an important part of the campus’ security (better perimeter control) and to improve internal circulations.
It’s interesting to see that the objectives of the project are focused on reducing the use of electricity by generating its own energy on an on-site Central Plant, provide open green spaces “for Apple employees’ enjoyment” and to “exceed economic, social, and environmental sustainability goals through integrated design and development”. It seems Jobs choose the right firms for this.
By looking at the drawings it seems that the project is ready to go, and now it’s waiting for city approval. The city has revealed that they are very likely to approve the project, so it seems everything is on route for an opening in 2015.
The American Institute of Architects, San Francisco chapter (AIA San Francisco) and Center for Architecture + Design present the eighth annual Architecture and the City festival, the nation’s largest architectural festival showcasing tours, films, exhibitions, lectures, family programs and more. Taking place every September 1-30, the month-long celebration offers individuals an unparalleled opportunity to engage with the local architectural community, explore the crossroads of planning and contemporary culture, and experience design in a myraid of ways throughout the city. More information about select events after the jump.
Prefabricated design has been around since at least the 1940’s, but has lately seen resurgence in popularity. By assembling off-site, prefab gives homebuyers attractive alternatives to the standard residential developments that have become commonplace. While prefabricated homes are not without their disadvantages, they are an interesting component of the post-housing bubble residential market. More on prefab design after the break.
Architectural firm manadelucru has shared with us their recent proposal for the Cluj National Library Extension, located in Cluj Romania. Images and text after the break.
The construction of the new library and renovation of City Hall in Søgne, Norway is starting this September, Architects A-Lab is behind the new project. For images of the future library and renovated city hall, just follow us after the break.
Imagine taking your Google Sketchup creation for a house and having it milled out and assembled all within 24 hours. WikiHouse, an Open Community project that puts you in the driver’s seat of design and construction has recently unleashed the opportunity for anyone to realize their own vision of architecture.
The OLIN team’s award-winning submission to the Living City Design Competition responded to ambitious standards of sustainable development within the historically rich yet socially and ecologically underserved neighborhoods of Brewerytown and North Central in Philadelphia. Working closely with architects and urban planners Digsau and Interface Studio, OLIN explored how sustainable design can be implemented within an existing urban framework by utilizing local resources, community engagement, and respect for the vernacular culture and architecture.
https://www.archdaily.com/159540/patchwork-living-city-design-competition-olinChristopher Henry
