In today’s world “going green” has become a top priority in our society, and sustainable buildings and design are at the forefront of this green revolution. While many designers are focusing on passive and active energy systems, the reuse of recycled materials is beginning to stand out as an innovative, highly effective, and artistic expression of sustainable design. Reusing materials from existing on site and nearby site elements such as trees, structures, and paving is becoming a trend in the built environment, however more unorthodox materials such as soda cans and tires are being discovered as recyclable building materials. Materials and projects featured after the break.
Plaza Républica, a project by Somatic Collaborative, proposes to transform a derelict urban surface into a new cultural landscape that provides the city with a new high quality fine grain open space, complimentary to the adjacent Alameda Park; a new urban piece that can act as a catalyzer for future urban transformations in the Alameda district. More images and brief project description after the break.
On display until January 2012 in the Brooklyn Museum is reOrder, an architectural installation by Situ Studio of Brooklyn. reOrder is located in the Great Hall of the McKim, Mead & White designed museum. The stately historical building served as both inspiration and site for Situ Studio’s imaginative spatial transformation.
Critically engaging the emerging Abu Dhabi context of Masdar City, Zayed University and other tabula rasa territories, Predock_Frane Architects’ project proposes an antidote and refuge to the frenetic future-scape internationalism of the rapidly developing Arabian coast. In proposing a new abstract art space that allows for escape and contemplation Predock_Frane Architects’ project positions itself as a hybrid landscape/environmental machine that can both deliver power and engage the radical phenomenon of the desert. Along a path connecting Masdar City to Zayed University, a low-slung, energy producing sensitive field beckons public engagement.
https://www.archdaily.com/156829/land-art-generator-initiative-%25e2%2580%2593-solaris-predock_frane-architectsChristopher Henry
HIK Ontwerpers capitalized on the opportunity to provide a unique and playful experience for commuters in their hometown of Utrecht. Part of a complete renovation of the Overvecht railway station the transfer accelerator, the official name given to the slide by ProRail the railway maintenance company, provides a fun and unforgettable way of getting to where you are going. The slide was installed as the final piece of the station renovation and opened earlier this month.
A video and additional photographs of the transfer accelerator following the break.
Now in it’s 5th year, DesCours will be holding its annual event in New Orleans from December 2nd-December 11th, 2011. DesCours is a ten-day, contemporary architecture and art event that looks towards the future in showcasing experimental, cutting-edge new media and interactive installations while embracing New Orleans rich cultural heritage. During DesCours, internationally recognized architects, designers and artists transform unique, hidden spaces within the French Quarter and Central Business District into destination places for visitors and locals alike.
There are a total of 11-13 artists and architects (individuals and teams) that will be selected through this proposal process, which is due by August 19th at 5pm, and by invitation to participate by creating installations for French Quarter courtyards, downtown building lobbies, rooftops, walkways and other ‘hidden’ New Orleans spaces. Overall, we are seeking installations that react and respond both to the historic nature of the sites, and to the public audience that views them. More event description after the break.
The Internet is now the library of the past. Where the public library has historically served as the primary source of information gathering and dissemination, we now look to this new virtual, infinitely large library that can be accessed anywhere at any time as the Library of the present.
As a result, the primary roles of today’s physical libraries have shifted. Libraries of the past focused primarily on individualized information consumption. Communal aspects of interaction and information dissemination now represent the core mission of the library when information is more easily accessible. The silent grand beaux-arts reading rooms of New York or Boston have of the past been transformed into flexible communal “living rooms” in Seattle.
The strategic planning of the city of Palmas, while in the search for expansion of urban space, often creates a certain peculiar urbanization compared to other Brazilian cities, such as in the topography of the land available for development of the IAB-To. It’s unusual for architects, who work in densely built metropolis, to design in a “loose” environment without references incorporated or pre-set aesthetic guidelines. For Urban Recycle Architecture Studio, the terrain of the project, in theory, represents everything that architects and builders like the most, “the new”. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Do you remember playing with Lego as a child? Recently the firms Atmos Studio, Make, Foster + Partners, AOC, Adjaye Associates, FAT and DSDHA took some time out from designing real buildings to create their own interpretation of some of the world’s most notable architectural icons in the form of Lego for an Icon Eye initiative.
Dellekamp Arquitectos + Periférica shared with us their proposal for the Gosta Museum Extension competition. The project aims to preserve the historical value and prominence of the original building by smoothly integrating it to the new museum. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Tallinn Vision competition STREET 2020 was addressed to young architects and architecture students who were asked to describe a fluently connected, compatible and diverse urban landscape, with a focus on one particular urban typology: the street. The organizers received 35 competition entries, 34 of which qualified. Entries were submitted from Japan, Bangladesh, New-Zealand, Turkey, Italy, Poland, USA, Austria, Lithuania, Estonia and other countries.
The architects from WTARCH describe their winning proposal after the break
Any trip to Athens, Greece would not be complete without a visit to the Acropolis, the purest remaining form of what the Greeks thought architecture should be. And yet, if you stopped by a few weeks ago, you might have been surprised to find large banners proclaiming support for a communist trade union adorning the Acropolis hill. These banners are the most visible and literal signs of the Greek debt crisis affecting the historic landmarks in the country, but they are not the ones doing the most damage. That honor goes to the drop in tourism that Greece has experienced since the beginning of the global recession and runs through the country’s fiscal problems to the present. More on how the debt crisis is affecting historical landmarks after the break.
Northern S.T.A.R.S. Safety Village, designed by assemblageSTUDIO, is a place where children learn real life strategies for dealing with emergencies while developing a positive attitude towards safety. The Northern S.T.A.R.S. Safety Village will combine traditional classroom education methods with unique interactive experiences in a realistic child-sized townscape. The overall design of the facility will also educate people on how to live in this desert region. With multiple sustainable systems people will learn how to live sustainably in the desert. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Genre De Vie, “Way of Life”, by filmakers Sven Prince and Jorrit Spoelstra researches the effects that bicycling, as a popularized form of transport, has had in transforming our cities, and by extension the lifestyles attached to it. This video takes on a global perspective on the initiatives taken in the revitalization of the bicycle and its socio-cultural impacts. It focuses mainly on city’s that already promote a pro bicycle lifestyle. This coming from a viewpoint, that the bicycle is a positive development on the social and environmental structure and hence of profound effect on the living quality of its inhabitance. The documentary concentrates on individuals that plan yearly races in the post-industrial landscape of the city, and the sociological processes in which the bike plays a pivotal role. It also focuses on the more general role of the bicycle with regards to personal experience and use of space.
The St. Petersburg Pier, a long-adored and long-outdated West Florida cultural attraction, has unveiled the semi-finalists in its international redesign competition. Of the twenty-three qualified inquiries received, nine were chosen to move forward in the contest. The competition attracted big names in the architecture world; BIG, West 8Urban Design, James Corner Field Operations, and HOK Architects were among the participants.
Tallinn Architecture Biennale is a new international architecture forum that brings together theory and practice as well as young and experienced architects in order to arouse rich discussion upon the issues of architecture, urban planning and landscape. The first TAB concentrates on the hybrid issue of Landscape Urbanism.
Our hope is to see landscape urbanism as a ’third way’ which can solve urban problems that have proved too difficult for conventional planning methods. Landscape urbanism could provide answers to the question of how to guide urban processes from the inside so that the system as a whole would maintain its balance and integrity. The term ’landscape’ is here used primarily as a model of consistency, responsiveness and scale, that is, a conceptual tool rather than a direct reference to nature.
For further details on this years Tallinn Architecture Biennale, please follow after the break.
The architecture community recently lost Chicago architect Douglas Garofalo, FAIA. Founder of Garofalo Architects, he was a University of Notre Dame graduate and a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, serving as director (2001-2003) and co-founded the alternative design school Archeworks. Garofalo also was known for pioneering the use of computer technology in building design within the United States. His award-winning Korean Presbyterian Church in New York, a collaborative project with Greg Lynn and Michael McInturf, received international attention with its digital media approach and alternative solution to adaptive reuse.
The Libyan Museum of History located in Tripoli, Libya proposes a unique twist on the traditional museum typology. Consolidated Consultants/Jafar Tukan Architects has taken an approach that blends the building experience into the existing urban fabric through the integration of two surrounding pathways that define both experience and building geometry and massing. Unfortunately, the project has suffered numerous setbacks since concept approval including delays related to property issues, which was followed by a six month delay. Construction of the project is currently undetermined as the current national conflict within Libya continues. More details after the break.
The Allianz Headquarters is an office complex linked and interlocked by a series of bridges and voids that aims to progress the 21st century work environment by becoming a second home to employees.
Waggonner & Ball Architects have been chosen to develop the water management strategy for Greater New Orleans. It was announced on March 21 that they were awarded the contract from Greater New Orleans, Inc. to develop the Comprehensive, Integrated, Sustainable Water Management System for the Greater New Orleans Region which includes the east banks of Jefferson, Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes.
The Earthscraper, designed by BNKR Arquitectura, is the Skyscraper’s antagonist in the historic urban landscape of Mexico City where the latter is condemned and the preservation of the built environment is the paramount ambition. It preserves the iconic presence of the city square and the existing hierarchy of the buildings that surround it. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Developer Hines “quietly filed” plans for a shortened, 1050 foot-version of Jean Nouvel’s “Torre Verre” earlier this month. The tower, on 53rd St. in Midtown Manhattan, will be located on land sold to Hines by the Museum of Modern Art in exchange for$125 million and three floors of new gallery space. Originally designed in 2007, the tower has seen numerous setbacks including a 200-foot “haircut” by the City Planning Commission in July 2009 in response to its impact on views from the nearby Empire State Building. The plans are compliant with two special permits filed in fall 2009. According to a department spokesperson the application is “chair certification,” which doesn’t require public approvals.
The event will take place in Sao Paulo from August 29th to September 2nd, 2011 at the Centro Universitario Belas Artes de Sao Paulo. More competition information after the break.
