The AOD shall receive a contract for US$ 250,000. Last date for Registration is 15th December 2010. Winners will be announced in the third week of February 2011. For details please log on to: www.spireteccompetition.com.

The trio of KNIPPERS HELBIG Advanced Engineering, POHL Architekten Stadtplaner and STEINMETZDEMEYER Architects have been awarded 1st Prize for their proposal for the international architectural competition for the new building of the Trade Fair Park Luxembourg and train station Luxembourg-Kirchberg. Additional images, a brief description of the competition and the architects description after the break.

The mixed-use Campus Center designed by Oppenheim Architecture + Design for Miami Dade Community College will make a statement within the skyline of the tropical city. Popular for its flowing spaces from interior to exterior, the architects capitalized on Miami’s climate creating an open-aired campus design complete with arcades, quads, and plazas. The design incorporates a variety of materials and sustainable practices including a steel frame exo-skeletal system, clad and aluminum with clear glass aluminum window wall system, solar panels in portions of the roof, and vertical shafts wind turbines.

Here you can check out our interview with Chad Oppenheim founding partner of Oppenheim Architecture + Design featured last week on ArchDaily.

More details, drawings, and photographs about the Campus Center by Oppenheim Architecture + Design after the break.

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Architects: Oppenheim Architecture + Design Location: Miami, Florida Project Team: Chad Oppenheim, Carl Römer, Eduardo Quintero, Carlos Ramos, Germán Brun, Juan López, Sebastian Velez, Robert Moehring, Gianpaolo Pietri, Helen Zhao, Hugo Mijares, Joshua Sacks, Lizmarie Esparza, Francisco Llado, Piero Valtolina, and Santhosh Shanmugam Developer: Gregg Covin Development Client: Miami Dade Community College Project Area: 2,500,000 sqf Project Year: Estimated Completion 2012 Renderings: Dbox and Olalekan Jeyifous

Breaking the Surface will explore the new science and aesthetic of the architectural surface, especially in regard to how the study of biomimetic form and the parametric turn in design are informing new modes of design and construction. The panelists include Cecil Balmond, an architect and designer, hailed by London’s Guardian as “one of the most important forces in contemporary architecture today,”; Professor Harry Ruda, a “surface” breaking scientist and Director of U of T’s Centre for Advanced Nanotechnology; and Nader Tehrani of Office dA, one of the designers of the new Daniels Faculty expansion and the head of MIT’s Architecture Department. This thought-provoking discussion will be moderated by Dean Richard Sommer.

Oglo Architects have recently shared with us their “Hollow Tower” for the Buenos Aires Vertical Zoo competition. Their sculptural proposal aims to act as a polarizing object amongst its surroundings in Buenos Aires without removing itself from the context of the city. Additional images and the architects description after the break.

Construction official begins today for OMA’s latest project, Maggie’s Centre Gartnavel. This facility is part of a pioneering project using thoughtful architecture and innovative spaces as tools for solace and healing. OMA’s design approach carefully composed a ring of interlocking spaces that provide moments of comfort and relief. With a flat roof and floor levels that respond to the natural topography, the rooms vary in height, with the more intimate areas programmed for personal uses such as counseling, and open spacious zones as gathering places creating a sense of community.

Located in a natural setting, like a pavilion in the woods, the building is both introverted and extroverted: each space has a relationship either to the internal, landscaped courtyard or to the surrounding woodland and greenery, while certain moments provide views of Glasgow beyond.

Architects: OMA Location: Glasgow, Scotland Client: Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres foundation Project Area: 534 sqm Photographs: Courtesy of OMA

Currently under construction, the Film Theatre of Catalonia is a new building for the Cinematheque of Catalunya in the Raval, Barcelona. Mateo Arquitectura won first prize in 2004 for their design proposal and they were kind enough to share their construction photographs with us. Follow the break for more photographs and an extract of the meeting between Josep Lluís Mateo and José Luis Guerín about the Raval district in Barcelona.

Architects: Mateo Arquitectura Location: Raval, Barcelona Client: Generalitat de Catalunya Project Area: 7,515 sqm Photographs: Adrià Goula

Last week we featured really interesting articles, like The Challenges of Abandoned Architecture, about the Buzludzha Monument in Bulgaria. Also, two amazing project in Europe, a classic by Le Corbusier, and Kengo Kuma’s awarded design for the V&A at Dundee. Check them all after the break.

The Challenges of Abandoned Architecture : Buzludzha Monument / Gueorguy Stoilov Why would this building be abandoned when at one point it was such a significant symbol for the country? Buildings such as this that have been left to stand alone are calling out for architects to intervene and come up with well thought out solutions while being sensitive to its historical significance. At one time, the Buzludzha Monument, designed by Gueorguy Stoilov, was the most celebrated monument dedicated to the sociopolitical movement of communism (read more…)

Freeform + Deform, a creative collective from New York, shared with us their project ‘First Principle: Earth as Material”, presented at the Input_Output: Adaptive Materials and Mediated Environments symposium hosted by Temple University. More images and architect’s description after the break.

The 2011 RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship was launched today and invites applications from RIBA-accredited schools of architecture around the world. A £6,000 grant will be awarded to one student by a panel of judges which includes Norman Foster and the President of the RIBA. Regarding last year’s competition Foster stated, “we were greatly impressed with the breadth and quality of last year’s entries, but the proposals that really stood out for the jury were focused, setting out clear aims and looking afresh at a current issue. I look forward to seeing the many creative ways in which students will develop their research proposals early next year.”

Gansam Architects & Partners proposal for the SILO Recycling International Competition for the Yeosu Expo in Yeosu, South Korea. The design includes an expo gallery and visitor’s center that hopes to establish the feeling of the expo center with the city and its natural environment.

Read on for more images and information after the break.

Miami’s Design District will soon be home to not just another building, but to COR. The ambitious project to design the first sustainable mixed-use condominium in Miami has been getting a lot of buzz and rightfully so. At 400′ tall it represents a dynamic synergy between architecture, structural engineering, and ecology. Extracting power from its environment utilizing the latest advancements in wind turbines, photovoltaics, and solar hot water generation COR upon completion will be seeking a LEED Platinum certification. The polka dotted hyper-efficient exoskeleton shell simultaneously provides building structure, thermal mass for insulation, shading for natural cooling, enclosure for terraces, armatures for turbines, and loggias for congregating on the ground. Comprising commercial, office, fitness, live/work, and pure residential spaces (113 residences from studios to penthouses)—COR provides a uniquely flexible platform for­ lifestyle enhancement.

Last week on ArchDaily we featured our interview with Chad Oppenheim founding partner of Oppenheim Architecture + Design. Below is a portion of the interview regarding the design of COR, and the full interview can be found here.

Follow the break for drawings and renderings of COR, along with a list of environmental design techniques incorporated into the design.

Architects: Oppenheim Architecture + Design Location: Miami, Florida, United States Project Team: Chad Oppenheim, Carlos Ramos, Juan López, Carolina Jaimes, Juan Calvo, Hugo Mijares, Jessica Santaniello Barrera, Rodrigo Londoño and Camilo Orozco Client: Nexus Development Group Project Area: 480,000 sqf Project Year: Estimated 2011 Renderings: Dbox

The proposal submitted by Charles Dewanto, C J Foo, Lorenzo Ju, Yenny Kusuma, Louis Wong, Maggie Chu and Tze Ek Ng for the Campus Design Ideas Competition for the University of Canberra received a supplementary prize for their degree of resolution, ambitious vision for the concourse and quality of presentation. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Renowned architect Frank Gehry will speak as part of the Pratt Institute School of Architecture’s fall 2010 lecture and events series at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, November 10, 2010, in Memorial Hall Auditorium on Pratt’s Brooklyn Campus. The event is free and open to the public. Seating priority will be given to Pratt students and faculty members with valid ID at 2:30 p.m. Members of the public will be admitted at 2:50 p.m. should seating be available.

Read on for more information after the break.

Our newest addition to the site, our AD Classics, highlight impressive and innovative buildings spanning the course of history. While we are continually fascinated by Kahn’s National Assembly Building of Bangladesh (1982) or SOM’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (1963), what about works that date even farther back….before Corbusier’s Unite d’ Habitation (1952) and Mies’ Farnsworth House (1951); before the Eames House (1945) and Wright’s Unity Temple (1905). Dating back to the 1880s, Antoni Gaudí devoted over a decade of his life to one of Barcelona’s, and the architecture world’s, most prized structures, la Sagrada Família. The cathedral has remained under construction for hundreds of years as debates concerning whether or not its current state is too far from the original vision continually spark controversy. Yet, this Sunday, as the NY Times reported, Pope Benedict XVI visited the cathedral to consecrate the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família. The visit spurred hundreds of workers to prepare the church in an effort to highlight the newest “ latest architectural and artistic features”.

More after the break.

Check out this small dwelling located in the countryside of Switzerland. Designed by FOVEA Architects, the residence boasts a strong aesthetic with a sharply angled facade. The titled upper volume (it is inclined at 40 degrees) faces south, and its geometry balances the need for privacy and light. The lower level is a simple rectangular floor plan with a patio; an outdoor area that seems contained by the angled volume above. Large windows allow natural light to illuminate the interior, and also provide great views of the surroundings. The home was prefabricated and is clad in painted pine planks that allow it to blend in with the rural architecture of the area.

Check out more images after the break.

German-Persian photographer Patricia Parinejad will exhibit a selection of photographs at the Niteroi’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Rio de Janeiro composed in the context of a comprehensive photographic essay of Oscar Niemeyer’s buildings during the last five years.

iki, a practice based in Ankara, Turkey, have shared with us their competition proposal for a Concert Hall and Art Center for Ankara, capital city of Turkey. Additional renders, plans, sections and a brief architects description after the break.

The recent recipient of the 2010 AIA Chicago Unbuilt Design Award, the Culver House Development sparks the conversation of sustainable design within the private sector of the prestigious Gold Coast neighborhood, Chicago, Illinois. A mixed-use development, the building was designed to achieve LEED Gold status. Both the office space and eight dwelling units capitalize on the thoughtful design of the energy efficient and ample day-lit spaces.

The jurors are quoated as descirbing the Culver House Development plan as “very smart” and the scheme “handsome.”  In reference to the varied floor plans of the residential units jurors claimed that “it breaks the typical pattern of every floor being the same” and continuing stating,  ”it is like a jigsaw puzzle.”

More about this award winning design following the break.

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Architects: Dirk Denison Architects Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States Project Year: Unbuilt Renderings: Antonio Petrov , Daniel Wolf

French architects Oglo + PPil shared with us their project ‘Dark Rift’, for which they received 2nd Public Prize in the Ponte de Lima International Garden Festival in Portugal. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Mass Architectuur and Joep Van Der Veen were selected as one of six first prize winners for a competition organized by ‘Stichting de Stad’ to research potentials for the development of infrastructural nodes around Dordrecht, the Netherlands. Tijland, or Tidelands, was selected by Prof. ir. Kees Kaan, with Koen van Velsen and Prof. ir. Joost Schrijnen, among others.

Read on for more images and information after the break.

Amidst a block of more traditional houses in Bilzen, Brussels-based Bassam El-Okeily, in collaboration with Karla Menten, has squeezed a contemporary three storey residence. From the street, the project’s vastly unique façade screams for attention, yet the crazed internal geometry is contained by a flat piece of glass – a move that allows the project to assimilate better into its context. In the evening time, the façade is lit in different colors allowing the house to act as “a pubic light sculpture by night.”

More about the residence after the break.

Architects: Huus og Heim Arkitektur Location: Ullensvang, Hardanger Fjord, Norway Client: Norwegian Public Roads Administration Structural engineer: Dipl. Ing. Florian Koche AS Landscape architect: Thor Sigurd Thorsen Project area: 500 sqm Design year: 2009 Images: Courtesy of Huus og Heim Arkitektur

Jimenez Lai of Bureau Spectacular shared his residential project for a warehouse loft. The 1400 sf space is conceived as a house within a house where all the material possessions are compacted into one oversized briefcase, which the subject sleeps inside. The project focuses on engaging two architectural issues: the inside/outside and S/XL.

More information, including Lai’s illustrated storyboards after the break.