Hungarian architects Építész Stúdió shared with us ‘Red Rocks’, a residential and retail project for Budapest, Hungary. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Rem Koolhaas CNN interview mentioned by Karen on her previous article “Is China Architect’s New Dubai?”.

A team of four architects: Besian Mehmeti, Betim Zeqiri, Bekir Ademi and Nikola Strezovski won first prize in a competition for a theater and library in the city center of Tetovo, Macedonia. The competition called for the design to incorporate both programs into one building. The total building area for the winning design is 25,000 m2 and includes 3 underground levels and is designed to correlate into the city square of the site.

More images and text after the break.

The latest buzz from China is all about the West Kowloon Cultural District, a large performing arts venue incorporating studios, theaters, performance venues, and cultural and public spaces. We’ve brought you coverage on OMA’s proposal as well as Foster+Partners‘ and Rocco Design Architects‘ schemes, and as the master plan develops, we’ll be sure to bring you the latest updates. As CNN reported, China has become “an increasingly attractive territory for leading architects.” And, we couldn’t agree more. Over the past few months, we’ve seen great projects from Holl emerging in China, such as his Horizontal Skyscraper in Shenzhen, as well as Hadid’s Guangzhou Opera House, OMA’S CCTV Tower, Vector Architects + CCDIP’s Tianjin Elementary School, and, not to mention, Plasma Studio’s Flowing Gardens. Plus, in terms of experimentation, China’s recent Expo 2010 offered the perfect opportunity for architects across the world to demonstrate their newest concepts about space, materials and performance. This explosion of architecture in the West has brought with it a sense of fresh experimentation of form and analysis of programmatic elements and organization. Together, the buildings are forming a rich and diverse vocabulary of architecture sprinkled throughout China. Koolhaas commented to CNN, “I think that any architect today has to be interested in China.”

Architects Ahmed Mito, Kamel Loqman, Hisham Alaa and artists Ayman Lotfy, Ahmed Refat, Niveen Farghaly, and Amer Abdelhakemrecently took part of the prestigious La Biennale di Venezia where they presented their work for the Egyptian Pavilion. Images and the architects description after the break.

IE School of Architecture shared with us the interview that Associate Dean of External Relations, Martha Thorne conducted with innovative Japanese architect Shigeru Ban at Hay Festival Segovia, Spain.

Nabito Arquitectura has recently completed a international concept store for the hand made ice cream company Giolitti in Istanbul, Turkey. More images and the architects description after the break.

Karim Elnabawy, co founder of Mekano based in Alex, Egypt, has shared with us his design submission for the Land Art Generator Initiative. The design, located near the Ras al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary of Dubai looks at creating a layered energy system that creatively harnesses available resources as well as becoming an attraction to the landscape. Additional images and architects description after the break.

DETAIL: Featuring Steeel

Authors: Andrea Bruno, Klaus Bollinger, J. Michael Davies, Markus Feldmann, Manfred Feldmann, Federico M. Mazzolani ISBN: 978-3-920034-32-4

More information about this publication after the break.

Sadly, Shanghai’s Expo 2010 ended yesterday after 184 exciting days. Throughout the course of the exhibition, over 73 million people experienced great pavilions from countries across the world and we’ve brought you coverage of projects ranging from videos to project descriptions to photographs. In these past months, we’ve shared a few of our reader Seppe’s videos with you (check out his German Pavilion, UK Pavilion, and Denmark Pavilion clips, previously featured on AD) and today we’re sharing his latest bit on the Swiss Pavilion.

This year Canstruction® challenged 25 teams of architects and engineers to produce sculptures out of 100,000 full cans of food. The exhibition of the work produced will be displayed at the World Financial Center between November 11th and 22nd. Everyone is welcome, free of charge to marvel at the mind-boggling sculptures.

Read on for images and more information.

Tim Bacheller shared with us his award for, “Best Multi-Congregation Design’, in the Faith in Place competition. The competition challenged architects to develop creative solutions to serve the needs of modern communities and congregations. A House of Worship becomes a vehicle for congregations with outdated structures and a need for environmentally friendly architecture while integrating with the broader community. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Luanda, which is the capital and largest city in Angola, is located in an area of south-central Africa that is mostly characterized as having poor living conditions for its inhabitants, but is surrounded by the natural beauty of the Atlantic Ocean.

In a competition that encouraged its participants to design a house that foretold the urban future of the city, the collaborative team of Cristina Peres, Diogo Aguiar, Teresa Otto and Tiago Andrade won the 2nd Prize for the International Competition ‘House in Luanda: Patio and Pavillion’ where they responded to what Luanda has to offer and created an idea that would revive society and its economic conditions. More images and description after the break.

One New Change, Jean Nouvel and Sidell Gibson Architects’ mixed use facility, has just opened in Cheapside, London. The project includes over 340,000 ft of office space and an additional 220,000 sqf for commercial use. It is set to become London’s newest shopping destination and bring life to the area, “all set overlooking London’s most famous landmark, St. Paul’s Cathedral.” The project has sparked controversy as Sian Disson shared, “…staunch traditionalist Prince Charles made his feelings towards the glass and steel hulk clear from an early stage, attempting to have Nouvel thrown off the project when he learnt of the architect’s appointment.” Contrastly, as we reported earlier this year, the project was awarded by the MIPIM with the jury noting that the project will transform the area bringing a refreshing contrast. While the public voiced their opinion about the color selection, Nouvel’s use of glass provides blurred reflections of the Cathedral to be seen in its facade, gently referencing the historic landmark within its contemporary presence. Which side are you on?

More images after the break.

Australian firm, Plazibat & Jemmott Architects, shared their most recent competition submission with us. The competition asked participants to design a residence using Australian building material supplier Boral’s selection of products. “This model takes a holistic approach to the issue of sustainable suburbs and is interested not so much in the technicalities of water harvesting or co-generation, but rather through increased efficiency, density and social interaction,” explained the architects.

More about the residence after the break.

Results for the Rome 2010: Vertical Spa Competition have been revealed, and MORQ has been declared the second prize winner. MORQ is composed of three architects: Emiliano Roia, Andrea Quagliola and Matteo Monteduro.

The competition challenged designers to consider the “belonging” to Rome and design a high tower whose spirit encompasses the historical complexity of the Eternal City. MORQ’s prize winning entry for a Vertical Spa suggested a tower that could define a new typology of buildings that could potentially determine the renewal of Rome in its future.

Read on for more images and descriptions after the break.

Stortorget is one of the largest squares in Sweden and dates from the 16th century. Today it is an urban space that lost its old significance. LAND Arkitektur, Urban Design, and Marjamaa designed the new square for the city of Malmö. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Turkish Architects 1/1 Architecture has sent us their proposal for the Landmark Project on Cebeli Hill in Antalya, Turkey. More images and a quick architects description after the break.

Five great projects from Europe for our 5th selection of previously featured institutional architecture. Check them all after the break.

Saxo Bank / 3XN Danish architects 3XN just sent us their latest finished project, a building for an online bank. This building was finished 4 years after winning an international competition back in 2004. I like how the central stair adds dynamism to the interior, enhancing vertical relations. Architect´s description, photos and drawings below (read more…)

Architect Hagy Belzberg recently showed me around his latest creation, the new Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. He had kindly agreed to give me a personal tour since I was preparing to write up a review.

While I had fully intended to focus on the architecture, the site, the ideas behind the design, I was caught off-guard by something unexpected: people.

Prior to my visit I had been looking at some new photographs of the building taken by Iwan Baan. Architecture photographed for reviews is usually uncluttered by the messiness of life. The buildings are often empty vessels waiting to be activated. People appear as mere apparitions, like objects, often blurred. Thus, there is little evidence of other responses or adaptations to the architecture. If we overlook the gaze of the photographer, there is then only one gaze present: that of the singular “I”. And this “I” had expected an encounter with a building.

More after the break.

In May we presented Kengo Kuma’s CCCWall Installation in anticipation for the now completed CCCloud monument. CCCloud, or Casalgrande Ceramic Cloud, Kengo Kuma’s first built work of architecture in Italy was completed September 2010. The monument, located in the middle of a roundabout in front of Casalgrande Padana‘s Headquarters, is the collaborative result of Kengo Kuma’s team, the University represented by Alfonso Acocella and Luigi Alini, and the authorities of Casalgrande Padana. The monument is remarkably made out of unglazed ceramic tiles that have been adapted for structural use that are produced by the client, Casalgrande Padana.

Read on for more information and images after the break.

The Parklands, South Bank, Brisbane, Australia, has played host to Lightwave, a sensory light installation at the Unlimited festival. At 10m x 16m x 5.5m, Lightwave is not just a sculpture or an art piece, but an object that can be interacted with, like a large animated toy or hybrid living creature—glowing and pulsing by the river. The design by AnL Studio was intended to provoke conversations about using contemporary parks as a performative public space. By offering a new and unexpected experience between people and the object (displayed art), or between nature and the (artificial) object, Lightwave responds in a purposefully dynamic and playful way, engaging and inviting public participation. The object is responsive to the new environment, therefore generating a new pattern into the place and time. More explanation and photographs of Lightwave following the break.

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Architects: AnL Studio Location: Brisbane, Australia Project Architects: Keehyun Ahn and Minsoo Lee Prototyping Design/Interactive Consultant : Rory Nugent, Andy Doro Project Management: Laing O’Rourke, Byte Logic Curator: Creativesight, Hassell Electrical Engineers and Lighting/Interactive Consultants: Webb Australia Structural engineer: OPUS Cost Planning: Mitchell Brandtman Building Certification: Certis Surveying: LandPartners Construction and Construction Management: Laing O’Rourke Project Year: 2010 Photographs: Courtesy of AnL Studio Interactive Fabrication: Watthouse, Zenith, Xenian, CTI, Imaginus Fabrication: Flow Force, Heyday Landscaping: Dig It, South Bank Corporation, Concrete Supply: Boral

171 Students from around the world attended the one-week workshop at the Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. In association with the AA summer school and sponsored by Gehry Technologies the workshop taught students how to generate, parametrically control, and fabricate complex geometry.

After the break, you can see a few projects from the 37 Advanced Design studio students which Daniel Gillen co taught with Xu Feng, Nikolaus Wabnitz, Rob Stuart-Smith, Raymond Lau, Xiaowei Tong, and Zhang Xiaoyi.

Images and more information after the break.

The Boston Society of Architects shared with us their publication where members were given honorable recognition for receiving the Preservation Achievement Award by the Boston Preservation Alliance. While, undoubtedly, these iconic buildings have been highlights to the city of Boston, they are now being acclaimed for being buildings of historic preservation while creating a resounding impact for society and beyond. Flip through the Boston Society of Architects’ images to view stunning work by architects after the break.