WE ARCHITECTURE and Sophus Søbye Architects, both young Danish firms, have been awarded first prize for their competition entry for a cultural center in Denmark’s Rudersdahl municipality. “The future Mariehøj cultural center draws a clear profile in the landscape. With a new foyer, the culture center will get a new face that invites in all people in Ruderdahl’s municipality and also a heart that can bring together and highlight the many users and activities in the house,” explained the architects.

More images and more about the proposal after the break.

3XN’s winning proposal for the new structure marking the entrance to Vällingby Parkstad in Stockholm, Sweden, creates a close relation between work life, housing, and leisure. The building’s curved design embraces the area and the lively shaped balconies opens up the structure towards the surroundings thus raising the park up in the air. The dense city structure at the base adds activity at eye level and life thrives on active roof tops and flowering balconies. Construction is planned to begin in 2011.

More images after the break.

In his article about Renzo Piano’s revised vision for the Whitney, Nicolai Ouroussoff explains that the neighborhood’s criticism and the museum board’s indecisiveness have continually provided stumbling blocks for the museum during its attempts to expand. Upon agreeing to realize Piano’s design for a satellite museum in the Meatpacking district, hope were high that finally, after 25 years, the museum would complete its much needed expansion.

Yet, it seems that Piano is in the midst of a new struggle resulting from the global economic downturn. While construction costs have dropped, allowing the cost of the project to slide under $200 million (persuading the board to commit to breaking ground), the museum is still struggling to contain costs and begin building before prices rise.

Check out this master plan video by Vandkunsten for designing sustainable cities. Not only do we love the animation techniques, by the layers of information are presented in a clear manner. Upon viewing the video, the zoning of public space, circulation routes, and green spaces are made evident while great glimpses of zoomed-in perspectives tie the ideas together. The video depicts three different master plan ideas: reusing a shipyard in Sweden, redefining a recreational space in Denmark in an attempt to better integrate the area with the surroundings, and the renewal of a suburban city center in Denmark. Enjoy!

Situated in a residential neighborhood with buildings dating back to 1900, Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter’s new kindergarten was required to have a “contemporary expression.” The school’s placement within the middle of a small park provides a protected outdoor area for the children to enjoy. The design offers two units for children between 1-3 years of age, and two units for older children between 3-6 years of age. These four units can operate both independently and together, as needed. All units share a common area and a kitchen in the heart of the building, while administration on the upper floor separated from the children areas.

More images after the break.

Steven Holl Architects is pleased to present ‘Su Pietra’, an exhibition of recent projects in China and Europe, which will be held at the Castle of Acaya in Lecce, Italy, from July 10, 2010 to January 15, 2011.

Vedran Pedišić, Mladen Hofmann (SANGRAD architects), and Emil Špirić and Erick Velasco Farrera (AVP_arhitekti) shared with us their winning proposal for the New Zagreb Crafts Centre Competition in Croatia. The architects presented an introverted island organized around the central public communications and spaces.

See more images and architect’s description after the break.

The national cultural event, Imaginez Maintenant, features work of young multidisciplinary designers (all under the age of 30) in nine French cities. Finding inspiration in Gilles Clément’s description of “wandering plants phenomenon,” Nicolas Dorval-Bory and Raphaël Bétillon’s selected project creates an experimental journey, inviting visitors to explore an unlikely landscape. Open from July 1st through the 4th, the project consists of an artificial cloud, a long greenhouse and thousand of seedlings which will rest on the banks of the Garonne, next to the Hospital of La Grave.

More about the installation after the break.

As part of arc en rêve’s long-term ambition, this event aims to call attention to a young European agency that considers architectural projects in an incisive, innovative way that does not exclude a sense of humour. With projects such as the Copenhagen Harbour Baths (2003), the Ørestad residences (2008) built on a gigantic sloping slab resembling an urban mountain, and a bike track spiralling through the Danish pavilion at Expo Shanghai (2010), BIG’s completed projects offer profound architectural experiences at a far remove from minimalism, political correctness and digital formalism.

We have seen a growing interest in parametric design as it offers a new approach to architecture based on advanced computational design techniques. As parametricism becomes a tool more designers are turning toward, is this method beginning to define the style of our time? In an effort to identify our architectural style to allow it to be recognized, Patrik Schumacher, a partner at Zaha Hadid, has communicated his beliefs in his Parametricist Manifesto. “As a style, parametricism is marked by its aims, ambitions, methodological principles, and evaluative criteria, as well as by its characteristic formal repertoire.”

More about the manifesto after the break.

We’re happy to share Google’s launch of the newest Google Earth Pro 5.2. Lots of people in the profession use Google Earth for site work, bringing “geographic data to life”, and now, the latest version will make it easier to find and access the data. With three new productivity-enhancing layers, 5.2 will include demographic and parcel data in addition to daily traffic counts. Information regarding 2010 and projected 2015 income, age, education will be available at the state, county, tract, and block group level. Everything from use codes, and zoning data to even the sales history and average number of cars that have passed through an intersection will be link from each parcel selection. We are excited for this new version and to work with the new levels of information it provides.

Infamously known for their work with shipping containers (be sure to check out their Puma City previously featured on AD), American-firm LOT -EK has nearly completed the APAP Open School, in Korea. The containers are perched atop each other creating spaces beneath them for a public amphitheater, within them for educational functions and even on top of them for a long decked roof offering great views.

More images and more about the school after the break.

Jurors will be looking not only for beautiful, compelling designs that meet the needs of both people and wildlife but also the use of materials that make infrastructure more affordable and, ultimately, our roads safer from wildlife-vehicle collisions. Expressions of Interest are due in hard copy by 4pm (Mountain Daylight Time) July 30, 2010. For complete information visit the competition’s official website. Seen at Bustler.

This month everything seems to be World Cup-related. We didn’t want to be left behind so we had a look at our best projects from South Africa. Check them all after the break!

Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre / Peter Rich Architects Last year, architectural photographer Iwan Baan took a trip to South Africa to visit the Mapungubwe Interpretation Center designed by Peter Rich Architects. Mapungubwe, located on South Africa’s northern border with Botswana and Zimbabwe, prospered between 1200 and 1300 AD by being one of the first places that produced gold, but after its fall it remained uninhabited for over 700 years, until it’s discovery in 1933 (read more…)

Everyone is invited to join the Festival community, to develop projects to take part in debates; to investigate ways that London can be made a better place to live, work and play; to explore the city through guided walks and bike rides and to examine change in the capital in a celebratory way.

Dutch NL Architects’ newest bridge is part of their proposal to connect Hong Kong with the mainland of China. The bridge’s dynamic twisted form is a great resolution to the differences in driving styles, namely that in Hong Kong, people drive on the left side of the road and in the mainland China, they drive on the right side.

As the FIFA World Cup kicks off, Architecture for Humanity in partnership with streetfootballworld, honors the architects, designers and building professionals across Africa who have helped design sustainable Football for Hope Centres as part of the Football for Hope movement.

SOM is in the process of retrofitting their 1958 Inland Steel Building to meet modern sustainability and landmark restoration goals. The idea for the upgrade, although headed by SOM, was actually conceived in 2007 when, non other than Frank Gehry and New York real estate player Richard Cohen purchased the 19-story, 232,450-square-foot property for approximately $57 million, and set out to transform the aging structure into Class A space.

We love listening to TED talks as the speakers offer fresh perspectives and challenge us with thought provoking ideas. Today, we share David Byrne’s talk about music and architecture. Byrne chronologically moves through different architectural periods, noting the difference musical composition experiences as the years progress. For instance, the airy and flowing music that filled cathedrals became more textural with frequent changes in key as the size and shape shifted to become something like Carnegie Hall.

More about Byrne after the break.

Earlier this year we featured Herzog & de Meuron’s VitraHaus in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Now, we share with you this amazing video by Pedro Kok, a brazilian architectural photographer whose incredible photos can be seen in our Flickr pool.

Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter, whose National Tourist Route was a finalist for the 2009 Building of the Year Awards, has recently been awarded first prize for an invited competition to design a mountaineering center. Situated in Norway, the center possesses an expressive geometry that is an artificial interpretation of the site’s mountainous backdrop. Covered in a uniform surface, the angularity of the form breaks the large mass into a more contextual and scalable entity. The design intends to give the “existing house a special character that conveys the content with a unique and existing expression” giving the center of Åndalsnes a “one of a kind building.”

More images after the break.

MINE THE GAP, a single-stage international design ideas competition dedicated to examining one of the most visible scars left after the collapse of the real estate market in Chicago: the massive hole along the Lake Michigan remaining from the cancellation of Calatrava’s Spiral Tower, have recently announced it’s winners. See them after the break.

It starts with one can. To feed the hungry. To lift the spirit. To change the world. Canstruction, an event committed to ending hunger, is using ‘one can’ as a catalyst for change.

Just in time for the summer, Visiondivison‘s new pre-fab housing series is geared toward accommodating summer time guests in a flexible, yet compact space. Pyramidal in shape, the house features a playful facade that is climbable, affording each guest his own entrance hatch that can be reached from the outside.

More images and more about the houses after the break.