PARK(ing) Day is a world-wide attempt to draw attention to how much space is taken for parking in our cities. STUDIOS Architecture and SWA Group have developed some site furniture that pixilates views of the city through plotter paper tubes and binder clips.

Amsterdam-based Laura Alvarez Architecture has been awarded with the second prize in the International Competition for the realisation of the New Cultural Centre in Hernani, Basque Land. The competition was launched as an open european tender organized by the municipality of Hernani. More images and architect’s description after the break.

–Go West, The Village People

These days you have to be willing to go just about anywhere for a job. Here is a sampling of recently advertised locations: Rwanda, Liberia, South Korea, Qatar, Libya, India, Saudi Arabia, Austria, and Singapore. The rest were in China. What about North Korea?

More after the break.

Ljubljana City Council has approved the project ‘Shopping Pillow Terraces’, by Slovenia-based OFIS arhitekti. The project, a commercial and residential complex located on a main pedestrian street in Ljubljana City Center will begin its construction next year. More images and architect’s description after the break.

fabriK·B, a young architectural office based in Mexico and Berlin shared with us their proposal for the Parque Bicentenario Estero 2010 (Bicentennial Park), located in San José del Cabo, Baja California, Mexico. They received a special mention for the Landscape Architecture Urban/Social/ecological structure at the d3 Award Natural Systems 2010. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Sustainability has become one of the main issues when designing for any architecture practice around the world, and not only thinking in technological aspects but also in the quality of the community environment. Awarded with the Young Architect Award by AIA Seattle, b9 Architects creates innovative, sustainable, modern architectural solutions utilizing open, connective spaces and maximizing access to natural light. Working through a comprehensive design process, they translate initial concepts into form through text, drawing and modeling, utilizing rhythm and pattern in order to create moments of contrast and difference. Through thoughtful site planning, energy considerations, daylighting and material choices, b9 Architects are committed to working towards achieving carbon neutrality in our built environment.

With this introduction, we would like to present an interview we made to Bradley Khouri, AIA, the Principal and founder of b9 Architects inc. Their work focuses on creating positive change in the urban environment through innovative place-specific modern architecture. Supporting sustainable, transit oriented, walkable communities, b9’s completed works include urban single- and multi-family housing projects, live-work dwellings and commercial interiors.

David Adjaye’s new affordable housing building for Sugar Hill, Harlem is expected to strengthen the community with its mixed program on the base level and impvero the poverty-stricken neighborhood by providing quality housing for 124 families. In addition to apartments that will house some of the city’s poorest residents, a new educational, cultural and arts space will also be incorporated into the scheme. Resting at the bottom of Adjaye’s stacked and shifted volumes, the 18,000 sqf Faith Ringgold Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling will hold a permanent exhibition of Ringgold’s quilt art in addition to temporary exhibitions. As bdonline.uk reported, “Ringgold, who grew up in the area, has developed the museum in order to provide local children with early education through art. The museum will, in particular, attempt to foster pride in Harlem’s own artistic legacy.” The building’s construction is projected for later this year. We’re hoping this building has the potential to uplift a burdened community; what do you think?

Paris-based LAN Architecture won the competition organized by ICF Novedis to design the block 4.2 of the new Cardinet-Chalabre urban development zone in Paris, France. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Five amazing museums for our 5th part of previously featured projects. Check them all after the break!

Lapidarium Museum / Randić & Turato Novigrad Lapidarium Museum houses the collection of early medieval monuments, architectural sculpture and church furnishings, which all come from the neighboring cathedral. Building is situated inside the park bordered by the cathedral and residential buildings on the other sides. One of the specifics of Novigrad, in comparison with other historical towns on the western coast of Istria, is that it has a large proportion of parks inside the historical city structure (read more…)

Brazil-based JMN Arquitetura shared with us their proposal for an Ideas Competition for a Laboratory Building for the Federal University of São Carlos. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Charles Holland, director at UK based firm FAT Architecture (see their public bathroom proposal for London) runs Fantastic Journal, an interesting blog on which he recently published the following open letter to us, the other architects:

Athens-based Oiio Architecture Office shared with us their project ‘Architecture of Earth’, a library/cultural space in Ioannina for which they received first prize in a competition. More images and architect’s description after the break.

If you find yourself in Manhattan for the weekend of October 14-17, be sure to check out the Architecture and Design Film Festival on Varick Street in Tribeca. Films running anywhere from a quick 2 minutes to 80 minutes will feature popular pieces such as Citizen Architect about Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio, to a film about the Kimbell Museum, an interview with Oscar Niemeyer and even a film about dumpster pools. The event will also include discussions with some of the filmmakers and architects about the design process. As this will be the first film festival celebrating the creative spirit of architecture and design in the United States, be sure not to miss it!

Candidates may be nominated by IFLA Member Associations, delegates, individual members and allied organizations, as well as independent sources.

Just in case you were sick, on vacation, or just offline… Here are five great projects we featured last week. Check them all after the break.

Schouwburg Amphion / Mecanoo Amphion Theatre, designed by Mecanoo, takes the place of the former and successful Amphion Theatre of the seventies which needed replacing. With its slightly reclined facades, the theatre is anchored firmly to the Doetinchem ground. The sand-coloured masonry is interrupted by a playful pattern of square windows which appear to be strewn on the facades (read more…)

The Lisbon Architecture Triennale is getting ready to open its doors October 14. The exhibition Let’s talk about houses: Between North and South will be presented at the Museu Colecção Berardo. Occupying the entire floor of the Grand Hall (3000 m2), it will examine dwelling conditions and the new solutions found in the specific contexts of various regions around the world. With a broad span of commissioners, the exhibition is based around two emblematic experiments (the SAAL project and Alison and Peter Smithson’s House of the Future) in order to examine the meaning of the specificity of place, the modernist legacy, and new solutions to the question of dwelling.

Images and more information after the break.

Mexico-based Dellekamp Arquitectos shared with us ‘New Palace-Lecumberri’, their proposal for the new archive in Mexico City Competition. They were one of the two finalists. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Design competitions are an ideal vessel to raise awareness and introduce a broad audience to issues affecting the built environment. Winning an award can have a significant impact on gaining public support or securing sponsorship for the respective project. The Holcim Awards is such a design competition: it promotes and rewards innovative approaches to sustainable construction.

One of the award-winning projects is the “The Living with Lakes Center” (above) in northeastern Ontario, Canada. The project will also house a research center to aid the restoration of the city of Sudbury’s ecosystem with an emphasis on water security for future generations. The research center will be self-sufficient for electricity and heating needs and be built to LEED platinum standards with instrumentation fitted to monitor the effectiveness of an array of technical features and their impact on lake water quality.

In the next six years, a new collaboration between the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the BMW Group is seeking to explore various issues of urban life. Three labs, which will be assigned a theme, an architect, and a graphic designer, will be placed in major cities that will engage the public, bringing people together to discuss and experiment with new ideas. Traveling across the globe, the labs will interact with people from all different backgrounds and cultures with the intention to shed light upon a broad spectrum of issues.

More about the exhibition after the break.

Our friends from NRJA (be sure to view previous NRJA projects on AD, especially their 2009 Building of the Year House) shared their finished competition entry for a cemetery in Järva Common, Stockholm with us. Designing a cemetery is a difficult challenge as it is a place filled with symbolic importance and infused with a commitment to offering hope. The architects decided that this new cemetery will provide a place where the identity of the site is defined not only by the environmental quality of the space and its historical importance, but also by the project’s emphasize on concentration on the memory of the deceased.

More images and more about the project after the break.

The Architecture and Design Museum, Los Angeles and Kanner Architects (see their projects here) present a retrospective and official public memorial service for Stephen Kanner, FAIA, on November 4, 2010, from 7-10 pm. The show continues until Jan 16, 2011.

With his passing on July 2, after a short battle with pancreatic cancer, the Los Angeles architectural and design community loses one of its most prominent advocates. A thirdgeneration architect and principal of Kanner Architects, Stephen was a native Angelino known for his reinterpretation of Southern Californian modernism and for his unique imprint on LA’s urban landscape.

His contributions to the Los Angeles built environment reach from Santa Monica to East Los Angeles, as his firm completed more than 150 projects throughout the city. In addition, Kanner earned national and international stature with residential projects across the US and, most notably, PUMA retail stores worldwide.

Full press release after the break.

Amsterdam-based IOU Architecture shared with us their project “BadBuiten”, a floating pool and bar in the Amstel river in Amsterdam. See more images after the break.

A few weeks ago we told you about the short list for this years RIBA Stirling Prize. And once again our readers got it right, as the majority of your comments favorited Zaha Hadid’s MAXXI Museum in Rome, which has been announced as the winner of the prestigious british award.

The Media Architecture Biennale 2010 will link stakeholders willing to shape the evolution of Media Territories in Economy, Urbanism, Design, Arts and Architecture.