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.
Architect: archimania Location: Memphis, Tennessee, USA Project Team: Todd Walker, FAIA; Barry Alan Yoakum, FAIA; Tim Michael, AIA, Matt Seltzer, RA, LEED AP; David Pang, Greg Price, LA; Scott Guidry, CSI, Kayce Williford, Assoc AIA; Todd Steele, LEED AP; Andrew Parks; Stephanie Wexler Malone IIDA Consultants: Dalhoff Thomas Daws, landscape architecture; Sheridan Structural Solutions, Structural Engineering; Shapply Design Consultants, M/P Engineering; Constance Hickey Scott, P.E., Electrical Engineering; Montgomery Martin Contractors, Contractor Project Area: 5,226 SF Project Year: 2006 Photographs: Jeffrey Jacobs Photography
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.
Today Autodesk announced AutoCAD 2012 for Mac OSX, offering native support for Mac OSX Lion, and AutoCAD WS for Mac (the cloud/mobile solution for CAD drawings).
Autodesk also announced AutoCAD LT 2012 for Mac, available for immediate download at the App Store (US$899.99).
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.
More images after the break:
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 shared SHoP’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.”
More about the project after the break.
A joint venture between the Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter) and the NSW Architects Registration Board, Sydney is now gearing up for the 2011 Sydney Architecture Festival, the 10 day celebration of architecture that commences with an opening party at Customs House Sydney on October 20th and will end on October 30th.
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 city of Cupertino has released more details about the new Apple Campus, revealed back in June.
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:
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.
Drawings and renderings after the break:
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.
The design of gas stations is mostly stripped down to that required for bare function. The inextricable relationship of the aesthetics of modernism to that of the automobile begs a different approach, one that fulfills the traditional function of a gas station but also reflects shifting movements within design. Just like the cars that have driven up to utilize them, these gas stations represent design principles contemporary to the time in which they were constructed.
André Chénier, the most famous work by the Italian composer Umberto Giordano, is brought to life for the ‘Opera on the Lake’ floating stage of the 2011 Bregenz Opera Festival in Bregenz, Austria by stage designer David Fielding under the artistic direction of David Pountney. The brilliantly vivid historical drama and human tragedy of shattering intensity is presented on the waterproofed set built directly into lake constance. It is then mounted upon a concrete core anchored into the base of the lake, while wooden poles support accessory structures of the stage. More images and project description after the break.
San Francisco-based IwamotoScott Architecture has just shared their latest project with us – a renavoted 1940s warehouse that holds media company Obscura Digital as well as the architects’ new office space. Upgrading from an unorganized and dimly lit timber warehouse, Obscura looked to Lisa Iwamoto and Craig Scott to outfit the 36,000 sqf building in Dogpatch to suite their needs, while extending the invitation for the firm to set up its practice in the building, as well. “It wasn’t a formalized agreement but a pretty casual thing,” Iwamoto told Lydia Lee for Metropolis. “Obscura by nature is collaborative. The hope is that by sharing space, we’ll have the advantage of seeing their process and what can be done with digital media, and they’ll get an idea of the architectural possibilities.”
In addition to this great refurbishment, we are fascinated by the architects’ dividing wall entitled BookCaseScreenWall, an amazing hybrid of surface projection technologies with a “traditional” bookcase which sits between their office space and Obscura Digital’s.
Be sure to view our comprehensive photo set of construction photos, finished work, and of course, the BookCaseScreenWall after the break.
BABELstudio‘s recent project, Eleva, has been selected for the second phase of the international competition for station entrances of the future San Sebastian underground. Also in the second phase, well-known offices as Snohetta, Morphosis and Richard Rogers are active participants. Follow after the break for further images and a brief narrative from the architects.
When the iconic Apple glass cube on Fifth Avenue was shroud in barriers in preparation for renovation in June, the future of the flagship Apple store was unclear. It was only revealed that Apple would be removing the glass cube and working on drainage, pavers, and bollards on the plaza, but just what changes were to be made to the cube itself remained elusive.
The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is pleased to announce its Fall 2011 schedule of public lectures, discussions and exhibitions. The school welcomes award-winning architects, urban historians, writers, designers, and artists for programs that span from innovative theory to contemporary art to technical practice. Events and exhibitions at SCI-Arc are always free to the public.
Architects: Vincent Snyder Architects Location: Dallas, Texas, USA Project Team: Vincent Snyder, Jon Geib Structural Engineer: Lobsinger & Potts Structural Engineer Inc. Contractor: Urban Edge Developers Project Year: 2007 Project Area: 3900 sqf Photographs: Chuck Smith Photography
But you can browse the last one: 417
