There is a lot of attention being paid to the New York skyline these days – and rightly so, as the Freedom Tower rises about 1 story a week. Yet, a little farther up the Island, an elegant faceted tower has caught our attention since its completion in 2008. Designed by New York-based Cook + Fox, the conceptualization behind the sleek volume, which rises gracefully from its base at One Bryant Park, is rooted in ideas of biophilia – the innate relationship between nature and man. Constructed to respectively take its spot as the second tallest building in NYC , the sustainable tower marks the first LEED Platinum commercial skyscraper in the world. Check out this short click featuring Principal Richard Cook as he offers a deeper explaination of how biophilia informed not only the formal attitude of the architecture, but also shaped the experiences and atmosphere of this 2,200,000 sqf skyscraper.

The Gulating Museum proposal by LETH & GORI is a design for a new museum building for the historic Viking thingstead Gulating in Norway. The museum building is situated in the middle of the grandiose mountainous landscape as a natural portal for visiting the historic site. The circular building provides an overview of the area and information about the rich history and culture of Gulating. More images and architects’ description after the break.

A large tree, whose leaves are drawings, a pond from which photos of projects arise, a large installation which recreates the mental landscape of Alberto Campo Baeza: this is CAMPO BAEZA. THE CREATION TREE, the third of the monographic exhibitions of NATURE, the series of four monographic installations in which MAXXI Architectura explores different interpretations of contemporary architectural investigation.

Co-produced by MAXXI Architectura and Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) with the special collaboration of TOTO GALLERY MA of Tokyo, the show, dedicated to the work of one of the masters of Spanish architecture, is curated and designed by Manuel Blanco. More information on the event after the break.

Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects shared with us their competition proposal for an AquaPark in the Swiss Alps where they won the second prize. Located in an exceptional geographical context, the quality of the alpine setting was decisive in shaping the design of this particular water park. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The Kilcreggan Competition ‘A future for rural communities’ intended to produce ideas which could be replicated in other rural areas to help areas keep families and businesses and attract young people to live and work. The small village competition, Kilcreggan is 40 miles outside of Glasgow, recieved 56 entries and chose Konishi Gaffney Architects as the winning design. Focusing on designing a blueprint for the survival and growth of rural communities. Konishi Gaffney Architects’ proposals provided “some particularly innovative and well considered events along a new foreshore promenade, which could form a template for other rural communities to reinvigorate their communities by improving the amenity of their settlements and making them attractive as a destination for others”.

“If implemented, the material would take care of most of construction’s attempts at carbon reductions in one fell swoop,” says Material ConneXion Vice President Dr. Andrew H. Dent of the company’s selection for 2011 MEDIUM award. The selection, Novacem‘s Carbon Negative Cemement, replaces calcium carbonates used in typical cement formulation with magnesium silicates and uses a lower-temperature production process that runs on biomass fuels.

Architects: BIAD UFo Location: Beijing, China Client: Phoenix Satellite Television Project Year: 2009-2012 Project Area: 64973 sqm Photographs: Courtesy of BIAD UFo

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The proposal, by design team Diana Q. de Saul and Alejendro Munevar, consists of an organic building-scape which allows for a variety of recreational and educational activities while creating a cultural icon for Busan. The building is organized around three principal wavelengths generated parametrically based on the pre-existing local tensions: a stunning ocean view to the west, a bustling city to the east, and a thriving cultural district to the south. More images and project description after the break.

When the Taiwan Tower competition in Taichung asked participants for an iconic skyscraper, Visiondivision responded with a cluster of over 100 slender towers that challenges the expected experiences within and aesthetics of a 21st century tower. Tower Town, a result of examining the traditional skyscraper and questioning its spatial offerings, creates a dense urban environment with its fragmented massing.

More about the project after the break.

The Architectural Association (AA) Visiting School, which provides an opportunity for visiting students, young architects, recent graduates and other creative individuals to participate in a form that emulates the school’s famed ‘unit system’ – that is, through a highly-focused short course pursuing a shared agenda of collaborative design, study, research and performance, will be holding an event at the German University of Technology, Muscat from September 10-22.

In order to develop theoretical, as well as practical, contributions to their discourse, the workshop will have as its methodological focus the form and idea of the pattern – patterns are seen as a means of translating the performance, as well as the appearance of historical structures into new concepts. More information on the event after the break.

Fentress Global Challenge is an annual international competition created by Fentress Architects to engage students worldwide in the exploration of future design possibilities in public architecture. The competition theme changes each year to reflect current issues. For 2011, students around the globe are invited to envision the Airport of the Future.

Winning students will receive cash prizes and gain international exposure. Top design concepts will be exhibited online and in the Airport of the Future section of the international touring exhibition Now Boarding: Fentress Airports and the Architecture of Flight, which will offer a multi-media immersion into the past, present and future of airport design. It will open in North America in the summer of 2012, and will travel internationally through 2015. More information on the competition after the break.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was born in Aachen in 1886. On the occasion of the 125th anniversary of his birthday, Aachen Fenster e.V. and the Department of Theory of Architecture at RWTH Aachen University, will jointly host an international conference.

By determining new, yet sustainable ties between technology and aesthetics, as well as between ideas and artifacts, Mies van der Rohe defined a path leading to architectural modernity. The works of Mies have been documented, published, and displayed in countless exhibitions. As major references they stand apart from the rapid change of attitudes and stylistic preferences.

The Aachen symposium on Mies is not meant to be a hagiographical laudation on the person, the work or its reception. ‘Rethinking Mies’ will rather provide opportunities to understand the essence of Miesian thought and its relation to the modern movement as well as to contemporary practices of architecture. More information on the event after the break.

Tensions mounted between modernist and traditionalist camps earlier last month when Paul Finch, UK Chairman for the Commission for Architecture and the Build Environment, praised the fact that modernists had won bids to design buildings for the 2012 Olympics. In response, Robert Adam, member of the Traditional Architecture Group, and Michael Taylor, senior partner at Hopkins, the firm that designed the Olympic velodrome, met for a discussion on hegemony, timeliness, and pastiche moderated by Guardian staffer Lanre Bakare.

This video, produced by Maike Acosta and Javier Cuevas of Florida International University (FIU), was awarded the Grand prize for the AIA Florida Committee on the Environment’s (COTE) 2011 Video-Arch Competition. The competition asked for short video clips that emphasize the architect’s primary role in designing sustainable and energy resourceful environments, leading the state of Florida and the nation their sustainable potentials. The theme of Architecture Controlling the Future of Sustainability was required to carry through to the video, intending to be a public service announcement touching on the subjects of the entrants’ choice: energy, water, public health, economics, or land use.

The greenway is a modern twist on an outdated concept. Ancient cities sprung up around trade routes. Many modern US cities were originally formed according to access to a local train station or navigable river. Today’s metropolises were brought to success by an advanced highway system. All of these circumstances were brought about by two prevailing factors, location and traffic. In a post-modern world however, when the infrastructure has been laid and a consumer society comes to live for a variety of new reasons how can these concepts be applied. The answer lies, partially at least, within the recent push for a developed greenway system.

Russian architect, Ayrat Khusnutdinov, shared with us his proposal for the Busan Opera House. The main idea behind the design was the outstanding natural environment: the sea and the mountains are features that are reflected in this project. They, not architecture, are prime actors in this scene; this is the reason why so much attention was paid to let people enjoy them, here the architecture is just a frame that defines this great picture. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Syracuse University School of Architecture recently announced their Fall 2011 Lecture Series. The lectures take place at 5pm in the Slocum Hall Auditorium at the University (Syracuse, NY), unless otherwise noted.

Exhibitions are in the Slocum Hall Gallery. All events are free and open to the public. More information on the events after the break.

A student group from the University of Idaho shared with us their proposal, titled ‘Coeur d ‘Alene After the Reign,’ for the Living City 2035 Challenge competition which won the ‘Can Do It’ Award (third place). Their proposal endeavors to imagine the impact of even a modest increase in the cost of fuel and the repercussions it might have on our built environment and the way we live within it. More images and their description after the break.

Sunland Park, N.M– Martin Resendiz, mayor of a small community near Las Cruces, admitted earlier this month to signing contracts with a San Diego–based parking design firm while drunk. The company, Synthesis +, is suing the city for nonpayment. Resendiz claims the contracts were never valid since the City Council did not approve them.

The City of Sebastopol, together with The Redwood Empire Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and a group of local business sponsors, is hosting The Core Project, an international design competition to generate innovative ideas for renewing the city center. A small town with a population of approximately 8,000 people, Sebastopol is the hub of western Sonoma County. It provides commercial and community access for roughly 50,000 people in outlying rural and residential areas but it retains a desirable small town feel. More information on the competition after the break.

The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art Flip a Strip competition challenged designers around the country to re-imagine the suburban strip mall as an urban typology, proposing an alternative to the ubiquitous developments which have emerged as an economic response to a rapidly outward expanding residential market and the availability of inexpensive land.

Until October 11, Image ARCHIVE will be participating in the MAXXI’s summer program, YAP MAXXI, the first Italian edition of the well-known Young Architects Program launched by the Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 twelve years ago in New York.

The exterior spaces of the MAXXI in Rome, transformed into a garden of green isles by the project WHATAMI by studio stARTT will host the summer events that focus on the diverse aspects of contemporary art. Image ARCHIVE was invited to create an event focused on a series of videos and films that would expose the public to some of the most relevant and experimental projects, works and ideas in the architectural scene internationally. The result is a awe-inspiring journey, divided into six evenings from July to October, which is a testimony to the arduous search for forms of expression and the emergence of a new language in the discourse which Image ARCHIVE has observed for more than a decade. More on the event after the break.