‘The Building: Problem or Solution?’ competition, managed by Faith in Place, encouraged the creative design of religious buildings through the re-use and modification of existing structures. Through the collaborative ideas of architects Onat Oktem, Ziya Imren, Zeynep Oktem and Uri Tzarmotzky, their Green Mosque won the competition’s, “Best Freestanding Religious Structure”. More on the architect’s description and images after the break.

Bjarke Ingels (BIG) conference at ETSAM in Madrid, which took place on Oct 6th.

Talk about a great public space, the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center seems to have it all. A sudden and much welcomed break from the chaotic streets and hectic bustle of city life, Caesar Pelli’s amazing garden slows down the pace of a passerby’s day for just a second as one may steal a glance of the river, read under palm trees or relax on the grand marble stairs. This space is so meaningful that it was one of the first things rebuilt after the attack on the World Trade Center back in 2001. Yet, according to the New York Observer, Brookfield Properties, the owner of the World Financial Center, has proposed a redesign of the winter garden, including the removal of the beloved steps.

More about the proposal after the break.

The competition for the IJhal in Amsterdam announced its first place winner, Wiel Arets Architects, on 8 October, 2010. The project will entail the construction of a pedestrian-centric area adjacent to the existing Centraal Station in Amsterdam along the River IJ waterfront.

The new addition will act as a synthesis between Amesterdam North and the rest of the city, which historically has been seperated by the River IJ.

More images and information after the break.

In an adaptive re-use project, Serie Architects, Grimshaw of London and Pysall Ruge Arkitekten of Berlin were asked to renovate four factories in Hangzhou that would form a new urban core for the city center. For Serie’s factory, the firm decided to preserve the unique16 ft tall main hall of the factory and to “accentuate the industrial drama of this massive void by restoring the concrete truss roof structure and by bringing additional light down through a newly glazed lantern.” The design truly feeds upon the existing conditions, as the newer programs are situated on a large plinth, respecting the historic presence of the factory.

More about the project after  the break.

Want to go to a bar? Beauty salon? Perhaps a Center for Yoga? Some relaxing Spa? Check our 5th selection of previously features leisure projects after the break.

Ganesh Club / Pormenor Arquitectos PORMENORarquitectos® were invited to integrate a bar into a natural environment. As a limit, beside the standard local legislation, 3 milion euros were the budget. Embracing the fact that an equipment of such nature urges to become a great atraction and needs to influence a wide spread area, the concept pointed the design towards a powerfull object, massive and strange, growing from the mountain (read more…)

International architecture practice SPARCH shared with us their new mixed-use development Raffles City Ningbo, consisting of an office tower, a residential tower and a retail podium. It is located to the east of the Yuyao River, within the Jiangbei district, next to the Ningbo historical downtown, China. More images and architect’s description after the break.

With the intention of framing a new cultural center within the iconic identity of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, STL has designed a complex program that will revive the cultural atmosphere of the city for the Kaohsiung Competition which is to be submitted by January 10, 2011. More images and architect’s description after the break.

[blip.tv ?posts_id=4133671&dest=-1]The Auditorium and Convention Centre in Expo 2008 located in Zaragoza, Spain was designed by architects Nieto Sobejano. A fractional and varied profile – ascending and descending – the building's exterior expressed the different spaces housed in its interior and introduced a large amount of natural light into the exhibition areas. Three main blocks house an auditorium, a multi-purpose pavilion, and modular halls will be connected to each other via a large common vestibule which links the different areas.Video: Studio Banana TV

As if learning in the classroom weren’t challenging enough, school renovations can disrupt teachers who are trying to teach and kids who are trying to learn. Too often during a renovation project, students are displaced into shaky mobile-home-style classrooms and/or packed into gyms and music rooms.

Recent Oregon graduate Kris Celtnieks has an answer for these problems. His full-size pre-fabricated temporary school building would be a middle ground between stable, permanent space and the shanty feel of mobile classrooms. His buildings would be quickly assembled on vacant spaces near schools under renovation, providing learning-friendly space with good acoustics, pleasant lighting, and a solid framework. They could be quickly configured to the site and sized for enrollment. When renovations are complete, they could be disassembled and infinitely reused. As conceived, they feature a fabric roof, adjustable microclimate, and a self-contained waste-processing system.

Griffintown Interrupted is an international ideas competition which invites speculation on the value of the temporary, the urban promise of postindustrial lands, and the possibility of dynamic, incremental architectures.

[blip.tv ?posts_id=4151677&dest=-1]The Santa Caterina Market is Barcelona's oldest market, built in 1848. Nearly the entire market was recently renovated by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue of EMBT Associated Architects. The very expressive arc roof, mosaic tiled designed by artist Toni Comella, displays vivid colors and figures that represent vegetables and fruit.Video: Studio Banana TV

Our friends from Visiondivision shared their latest summer house in Singö, Sweden with us. The architects were limited to designing the small summer house within the confines of an existing shed because the site is exposed every tens years to the overflows of the Baltic Sea. Constructed as a lizard’s tail, the house utilizes a pragmatic strategy where if one part of the building gets exposed to water, that part can easily be replaced without affecting the rest of the building.

More about the summer house after the break.

- October 28th – Building Connections: Brazilian Design for Real Cities with Jaime Lerner at the Instituto Cervantes - October 29th – Building Connections: Brazilian Design for Real Cities with Jorge Wilheim, Rosa Kliass and Fernanda Barbara at the Graham Foundation - October 30th – Learning from Informal Cities & 1.99 Real Housing at the South Side Community Art Center.

Vimeo Festival + Awards was held over the weekend in NYC. Check out this architectural projection mapping performance on the facade of the IAC Building, designed by Frank Gehry in 2007.

What? You missed MVRDV’s Balancing Barn last week? Five great projects you didn’t see last week after the break.

Balancing Barn / MVRDV Balancing Barn is situated on a beautiful site by a small lake in the English countryside near Thorington in Suffolk. The Barn responds through its architecture and engineering to the site condition and natural setting. The traditional barn shape and reflective metal sheeting take their references from the local building vernacular. In this sense the Balancing Barn aims to live up to its educational goal in re-evaluating the countryside and making modern architecture accessible (read more…)

The IFLA World Congress is an international professional congress to be held in Zurich that is expected to be attended by more than 700 professionals and students from the fields of landscape architecture, landscape planning, research and associated professions from throughout the world to discuss current topics, exchange experiences and establish contacts.

[blip.tv ?posts_id=4151558&dest=-1]Enric Ruiz-Geli created the Villa Nurbs in the coastal town Empuriabrava at the Costa Brava, Spain. The mixture of ceramics and plastics try to optimize the surface and structure, which is important for the temperature regulation inside the house. The wavelike ceramic plates decorate the facade and protect against strong solar radiation.The complex geometry is stabile but adaptable, and the completion of Villa Nurbs will express all Ruiz-Geli's aim to optimize building resources and to harmonize nature with technology. The energy-saving roof consists of inflatable plastic bubbles.Video: Studio Banana TV

Korean creative director Byung Ju Lee of Planning Korea announced a new paradigm in bridge called ‘Paik Nam June Media Bridge’ in Seoul, Korea. Connecting Dangi-li Power Plant (which has a plan to be redeveloped into public cultural space) in the north and The National Assembly Building in the south, this bridge shows the first example of ‘a city expanded to the river’. Similar to the Thames River and the Seine River, the Han River in Seoul crosses the center of a city, however is of a much larger scale. There are almost 30 bridges over the Han River, but most of them were made of steel and concrete construction. Paik Nam June Media Bridge approaches the concept of crossing the Han River in a more sculptural, futuristic, and eco-friendly way. Inspired by the water strider, the overall shape is organic, with a sleek streamlined outline. This mega structure bridge is covered with solar panels to generate energy by itself, and totals a length of 1080m.

Unsangdong Architects shared with us their 1st prize winning project “Culture Forest”, a Culture & Art Center located in SeongDong-gu, Republic of Korea. The project is expected to be completed next year. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Full index after the break.

As we told you earlier, Autodesk for Mac is now shipping and you can download a free trial.

After the break you will find more videos to get started on this new version. Happy drafting!

Each issue collects essays, projects and photographs from contributors from all over the world to a given topic. Thus MONU examines topics that are important to the future of our cities and urban regions from a variety of perspectives.

They have just released their latest issue on the topic of “Most Valuable Urbanism”. You can see more about the articles on their official website. Also, you can browse the entire issue YouTube (video after the break).

[blip.tv ?posts_id=4142649&dest=-1]Carlos Ferrater and Xavier Martí Galí of OAB designed a promenade as a transit area that would separate the user from the various problems currently arising at its seafront and provide more accessibility to the beaches, creating a place with its own lifestyle. By recreating the shape of cliffs and waves, the project organically developed unusual convex and concave spaces. These honeycombed surfaces generate areas of light and shadow and become a series of platforms and levels for play, leisure, and meditation. The promenade was constructed with only white concrete, incorporating the benches and street furniture in varied shapes, finishes, textures, and colors.Video: Studio Banana TV