After a fire destroyed the foyer of the gymnasium in Oberglatt, Switzerland, the city council asked for a new extension to the remaining parts of the building. The proposal by kit architects, which took the second prize in the competition, seamlessly connects to the existing structure, through program, space and form. Old and new dissolve into one, giving the building from the 70ties a distinct new identity. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The Ring installation by Arnaud Lapierre in Place Vendôme in Paris, France plays with the context of this urban space through reflections, light and the interaction of passers-by. The piece was created for the FIAC 2011 Conference and sponsored by Audi. It is an aggregation of offset mirrored blocks stacked to form a cylinder.

For more images follow us after the break.

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Alison Brooks Architects has won the competition to design a `third quad´ for Exeter College at Oxford University. The “third quadrangle” is just a ten minute walk from the historic 700-year-old Turl Street campus in the heart of Oxford.

More on this project after the break.

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The new extension designed by 1+1=1 Claudio Silvestrin Giuliana Salmaso architects and planners for laRinascente in Piazza della Repubblica, Florence, is conceived as a symbol of strength through the square, yet of lightness, in the detail of the Archangel’s wing in Filippo Lippi’s painting of the Annunciation. Visually, the new extension is floating above Palazzo del Trianon while preserving its authentic architectural structure. More images and project description after the break.

Designed in an undeveloped plot in Gdynia, Poland, the housing concept by Mikolai Adamus and Igor Brozyna is based on the idea of tissue as group of elements cooperating with each other. The area is divided into plots of shapes that occur in the neighborhood. Instead of being placed on separate parcels, houses are grouped into settlements, allowing to achieve a diverse public park between. More images and project description after the break.

Giannikis SHOP won the honorary mention in the national architecture design competition for the Thessaloniki Water Transport Piers in Greece. Four Piers (Eleutheria Square, Megaro, Aretsou, Perea) are designed so that each Pier is composed of three elements: the floor, the pavilions and the inflated pneumatic structure. The main goals for this competition proposal were functionality, economy and innovation. More images and project description after the break.

Hilary Sample and Michael Meredith present the proposal by MOS. The project questions the idea of homeownership and re-imagines public housing in The Oranges, New Jersey. MOS is one of five interdisciplinary teams participating in “MoMA’s Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream.” Each team is challenged to re-imagine struggling American cities and suburbs, seeing the current economic crisis as an opportunity to evolve.

We have now over 63,000 photos in our Flickr Pool! 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 Clément Guillaume in the Fujian Province, China. Check the other four after the break.

Unbuilt Washington

Architects: Populous Location: Miami, Florida, USA Photographs: Emilio Collavino

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In the latest bid to solidify territorial claims within the Arctic Circle, Russia has unveiled plans to build a city for 5,000 year round residents 1,000 miles from the North Pole on the remote island Kotelniy in the Novosibirsk archipelago. Part of a strategic plan to assert its claim over the vast reserves of natural resources underneath the polar ice cap, the planned development will cost several billion dollars.

Continue reading after the break.

Minimalism will not require removal of all of your possessions: They will simply be made to feel inadequate and trite and eventually they will move on.

Minimalism will not be cold and aloof: However, It may be aloof, and then cold.

Minimalism will not match the furniture you currently own: No, in fact the presence of your furniture may make Minimalism feel uncomfortable. Your furniture should leave Minimalism alone.

Minimalism will simplify your life: No, but it will make most of your life harder to access by placing it in multiple boxes carefully labeled and stacked in an unseen corner of the attic.

Located at the heart of the city of London, the Barbican will be featuring the upcoming screening of Mur Murs (1981) and Get Out of the Car (2010) as part of their Architecture on Film season on November 29th at 7pm. More information on the films after the break.

We recently received one of the limited editions (n=500) of eVolo Skycrapers. At 1224 pages (9″ x 11.5″ x 2.5″), it is less of a coffee table book than it is an actual table. The book grew out of the 2006 eVolo Skyscraper Competition. “The contest recognizes outstanding ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the implementation of new technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organizations. Studies on globalization, flexibility, adaptability, and the digital revolution are some of the multi-layered elements of the competition. It is an investigation on the public and private space and the role of the individual and the collective in the creation of dynamic and adaptive vertical communities. Over the last six years, an international panel of renowned architects, engineers, and city planners have reviewed more than 4,000 projects submitted from 168 countries around the world. Participants include professional architects and designers, as well as students and artists. This book is the compilation of 300 outstanding projects selected for their innovative concepts that challenge the way we understand architecture and their relationship with the natural and built environments.”

Mozhao Studio shared with us their first prize winning proposal for the Hong Kong Alternative Car Park Tower competition which was held by held by AC_CA. Their design integrates the Hong Kong City Hall, the second-floor pedestrian system and streets on the second-floor level, provid¬ing a convenient and enjoyable network of public spaces. Because of this strategy, the park tower presents the citizen¬ship, which relates and echoes to the Hong Kong City Hall nearby. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Recently completed by Spirit of Space, the film above displays the cadence of morning rush hour reflecting the rhythm of the Chicago River, but how often do we allow the river to reflect a wandering glance from us? This “glance” aims to bring to light the potential of Chicago’s socially under utilized, aqueous artery.

HOK has been selected to design Porsche Cars North America’s new headquarters in Atlanta, following an intense design competition. This innovative development includes a contemporary workplace, a Technical Service and Training Center, and a Customer and Driver Experience Center with an integrated road handling track. The dynamic design embraces the on-site road handling track, celebrating the Porsche driving experience at every turn. More images and project description after the break.

Zaha Hadid discusses the challenges she has faced throughout her life and career. She talks about the criticism that comes along with being an Arabic woman architect with “unconventional” designs and the unconditional support from her family. Hadid describes architecture as an exciting but painfully demanding field, stating, “All the arts are not respected enough.”

Our friends from the Iceland Design Centre Blog shared with us this interesting news. Open the Tower exhibits 676 models in a scale of 1:1000 designed by Eurohigh. The project was led by architect Winy Maas, Alexander Sverdlov and Ania Molenda of The Why Factory in collaboration with KRADS and supported by Lego and Arup.

The exhibition is the result of a 2-month-long research period on the ultimate European skyscraper, and the models are presented in a grid of 26 linear iterations. This exhibition is on display at the Tu Delft Faculty of Architecture. This work will continue until January 2012 and it will be in continous exhibition until February 2012.

More images after the break. Original article: http://blog.icelanddesign.is/krads-open-the-tower/.

The modernization of the Messe Basel is making progress. Developed by Basel architects Herzog & de Meuron on behalf of the MCH Group, the project aims renew the existing exhibition space and become a popular destination for pedestrians and foreign visitors. The new multifunctional exhibition building is scheduled for completion in 2013.

Architects: Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd., Basel Location: Basel, Switzerland Client: MCH Messe Switzerland AG, Basel, Switzerland Project Area: 141,000 m2 Construction Period: 2010 – 2013 Photographs: Courtesy of MCH Swiss Exhibition (Basel) Ltd.

Continue reading for more images, renderings and information.

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The Bispevika mixed-use development proposal by PUSHAK maximizes the views of the harbor and integrates passive design methods to minimize energy use. The proposal is part of an invited competition that will conclude in January 2012.

Architects: PUSHAK Client: HAV Eiendom Location: Bispevika, Oslo, Norway Project Size: 35000 sqm Project Status: Invited Competition Entry

Continue reading for more project details.

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If you were asked to store your most valuable data… What kind information would you keep in 130Kb? Your usernames and passwords, your delicious tabs, a PDF with all your tweets, a map as a biography? Do you think this data would be valuable if mapping the genomic code of knowledge at this moment? It would be useful for anyone but you?

With this challenging question we start a publishing project in the intersection of technology and seed banking. Learn more about it after the break.

One organism, one body, that understands and reflects the functional complexity of nature, interpreting it in its relationship with the resources and translate this to architecture, in the use of light, the sun or the water and consecutively in the way the architecture itself generates these resources. Therefore the built morphology is understood as habitat resonance. These were the main goals of AND-RÉ for their proposal for the Pools and Public Sports Complex in S.João da Madeira, Portugal. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Duosegno Visual Design shared with us a video they put together for the Social Housing project by ZigZag Architects.