Italian architects Michel Carlana, Luca Mezzalira and Curzio Pentimalli shared with us their project for the new library in the town of Bressanone, located in the Italian region of Trentino-Alto. See more images and architect’s description after the break.

Designers from mode:lina have recently finalized their premises in an elegant 60′s building basement in Poznan, Poland. Additional images and a brief description of their renovated offices after the break.

The bicentennial torch, designed by José Pareja Gómez and Jesús Hernández Martínez, is inspired by the mural depicting the social struggle of Mexican independence by Jose Clemente Orozco in which the leader of the independence, Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leading the insurrection by tightly grasping a flaming torch. The structure manifested from this image by the architect is a 45-meter tall element emphasizing the main entrance into León, Guanajuato, México.

More information and images after the break.

During the past weeks, we’ve been featuring a lot of amazing projects that date back to 2009. And that’s precisely the idea of this Round Ups. To give you the chance to see great projects we featured a long time ago. So here’s the 5th part of our Interiors selection. Check them all after the break.

Valentin apartment / ECDM French architects Emmanuel Combarel Dominique Marrec sent us the transformation of this small apartment, with a clear strategy: Decompartmentalise the place so as to fit out an open plan and elude the demand of an extra room by conceiving in the center of the volume a suspended white cube which generates comic and disconcerting use situations (read more…)

Ai Weiwei is a complicated individual living in complicated times. But he’s an artist so this goes without saying. He’s constantly challenging the status quo and seems to thrive on it. But for him there may be no other way of being human, given the role he has accepted as an artist.

For many artists, it is this way. Regardless of nationality, art is about getting into trouble, not about sitting safely in one’s designer loft. Notice how artists flock together whenever they move into rough industrial neighborhoods. Many people like to think of themselves as artists. It’s easy to adopt this pose. Very few, however, actually take risks either in their work or to produce it. Ai Weiwei risks everything for his work.

More after the break.

Raphael França and Adrien Mondine have submitted their competition entry for a multicultural cemetery in Järva, Stockholm, Sweden. The challenge and aim of the competition was to develop a place for remembrance and reflection for all on a site already embedded with societal values. The chosen site has an interesting past: an artificial hill was created as a result of the dumping of construction debris from neighboring housing projects in the 70s and 80s, it was then dominated by frisbee players as the one of the most frequented sites in Sweden.

More information on the project and images after the break.

On March we featured Epsilon Euskadi, a great project from ACXT in Spain which had great comments from our readers. Now, Luis Urculo shared with us a video he made on the project. Enjoy it!

With the intention of creating a gateway for the city of Ploiesti, studioBASAR’s functional and architectural rehabilitation of the Ploiesti Racetrack is a direct response to the current chaotic conditions surrounding the site. Their intervention has led them to a more functional equitation and leisure center dividing the design into three zones that each represents different atmospheres and qualities. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Check out this tower proposal designed by Portugal-based OODA Architecture in collaboration with the Spanish and American studio OOIIO for the City of Taichung. The proposal received a merit award from the Taiwan tower competition, which asked participants to developed a conceptual vision for a landmark tower to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the founding of Taiwan, R.O.C. and to celebrate the merger between Taichung County and Taichung City.

More images and more about the tower after the break.

This mixed-use project, Marina + Beach Towers by Oppenheim Architecture + Design, suggests a fluidity that merges sky and water, responding to the built environment and  the landscape.  A shifted repetition happens within the tower, developing a woven tapestry on the facade.  The units are based on a standard module, and their thoughtful placement within the tower provides beautiful views and natural light, while simultaneously providing critical protection from the intense sun. After the break you will find drawings, diagrams, and renderings of this project.

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Architects: Oppenheim Architecture + Design Location: United Arab Emerits Credits: Chad Oppenheim, Kevin Heidorn, Kevin McMorris, Sebastian Velez, Carl Römer, Santhosh Shanmugam, Juan Lopez, Robert Moehring, Manuel Morales, Constanza Collarte, Jose Ortez, Fitz Murphy, Carolina Jaimes, Jessica Santaniello Barrera, Josh Sacks, and Gianpaolo Pietri Consultants: AREX Consultants Landscape Architect: Green Concepts Acoustical: Cerami Associates MEP/FP: X-nth, Ian Banham & Associates Structural Engineering: Ysrael A. Seinuk (YAS) Wind Tunnel Test: Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin Inc Client: NAKHEEL Project Area: 2,648,850 sqf Project Year: Estimated completion 2012 Renderings: Luxigon and Dbox

Greek architect Aristide Antonas shared his latest project,a bridge that responds to the urban level and the expansions of the city center toward Drava. Intending to produce a new urban situation, the project is seen as an expanding element of the city. The proposed bridge sits closely to an existing one – a move Antonas that explains adds another possibility to the developing riversides. ”We have to imagine a possible constitution of the two sides in order to propose a possible link…We are supposed to think through the perspective of the coming years: how could we create the conditions for an animated area in the place where now lay two more or less neglected riversides?”

More about the project, including more images, after the break.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And what amazing photos we have found lately from our Flickr pool. Here’s our 23rd selection. In case you haven’t seen our previous selections, check them all right here. As always, remember you can submit your own photo here, and don’t forget to follow us through Twitter and our Facebook Fan Page to find many more features.

The photo above was taken by pedro kok in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Check the other four after the break.

Solus 4, an architectural studio headquartered in Kittery, Maine, shared with us their proposal for the International Design Competition for a Marine Research Center in Bali, Indonesia. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Peddle Thorp Architects and Sustainable Built Environments received a commendation for their finalist listed entry in the Proposition 2065 design competition. The competition invited all architects and anonymous participants to develop solutions for a specific Australian site in St. Leonard’s in Sydney adjacent to the train station and a major road intersection. The entries were judged according to the balance of the design potential of the site and economic feasibility of commercial development.

More information and images on the entry after the break.

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Every day we spend quite some time visiting architect’s websites (maybe even yours!) to be up to date with new and ongoing projects.

It’s a very fun part of our job, especially when websites have a good design and usability. However from time to time we stumble upon websites that are very difficult to browse, or present projects in a way that you can’t even understand them.

You know that we as architects have the ability to design “from a spoon to a city”, and a website should be among those things we can (and should) design, especially when it is one of our most important marketing tools. I’m not saying that you should learn HTML and code your own website, but as we know from our work, an informed client is a good client. Therefore, having a good idea on what your website should offer to its visitors can help you relate with the person you hire to maintain it, the same way we love when a client has a clear idea on how they want their building to be… and not asking for a “green roof” just because they read it in some random magazine.

Below you will find a few tips that can help you on this process. I’m very confident that some of you may already know about some of them, and it’d be great if you could share your comments based on your experience.

Like many large scale projects around the country, REX’s Museum Plaza, in the city of Louisville, Kentucky, had just broken ground and had given light to many dreams for the downtown community when the nation’s financial crisis hit the city. Needless to say, financing came to a standstill and funding for the towers the city had been hoping for was no longer an option. Their current construction loan of $140.5 million, city contributions, bonds and funds already put forth by the team was not enough to proceed in their construction efforts until positive news came their way at the turn of the month. More images and description after the break.

The Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin located in Miami’s Design District is an extension of a predominant Paris gallery. The renovation and addition by Oppenheim Architecture + DesignThe Miami gallery is an extension of a predominant Paris gallery. The design intention was to maintain the buildings original 1950s character, maximizing exhibition space, while simultaneously integrating the mechanical systems in an inconspicuous manner. The gallery will serve not only as an exhibition space but also as a residence for the gallery owner and as a living space for visiting artists. Photographs, and drawings along wiht a further description about the Galerie following the break.

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Architects: Oppenheim Architecture + Design Location: Design District, Miami, Florida Project Team: Chad Oppenheim, Juan Calvo, Leslie Abraham, and Carolina Jaimes Client: G.E.P. LLC Landscape Architect: Rosenberg Design Consultants: Vidal and Associates, Cornerstone Engineering General Contractor: Jack Green Project Area: 14,000 sqf renovation and 3,000 sqf addition Project Year: 2006 (renovation) Renderings: Oppenheim Architecture + Design Photos: Ken Hayden

Only in China could we find a video featuring the construction of the 15 story Ark Hotel built in 6 days. Located in Changsa this building is level 9 earthquake resistant and incorporates some sustainable practices.

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What does a life look like when viewed through Google Earth? On the surface, it simply looks like different settlement patterns that morph depending on the altitude setting. Some places have 3D buildings, but most do not. In a few cases, the 3D buildings were inaccurately rendered. The person who had done them had never actually visited these places from my life. He was merely going off the satellite image and guessing at building heights and shapes. I, on the other hand, posses a great deal of information.

What would it look like if I annotated these maps with my memories; if I extruded the buildings? The notations would be so dense as to obscure the territory itself. Should Google give the responsibility for these geographies to those who contain them within their memories? Maybe Google should hire me to be the custodian of my own territories, past and present.

More after the break.

Within this past month we featured STL and Sun & Associates‘ proposal for the Kaohsiung Competition. Now, Maxwan shares with us their design for a Marine and Pop Music Center. Their design, titled ‘LOVE COVE’, focuses on exposing the reality of the various activities that take place at the marine port through a visual showcase while engaging with the culture of the country. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Signaling the growing influence of China’s inland cities, global architecture, engineering and urban design practice RTKL, announced the groundbreaking of the first phase of Pearl River New Town, an 80-acre district in Chengdu that will form the heart of the city’s westward growth and modernization. More images and architect’s description after the break.

Architects Rene Daniels Ayala + Miguel Angel Lozano Vargas + Adriana Hernández Quicazan have designed a proposal from the housing of the Colombian Soccer Team, along with vegetal trails and sports fields, on the site of the main open and public space of Bogotá, the Parque Simón Bolívar in Bogotá, Colombia. The design proposes an articulation of the Metropolitan Park in its relationship to the rest of the city.

More information and images after the break.

The Cube mixed-use condominium complex, designed by Oppenheim Architecture + Design, represents the next frontier in multifamily high-rise housing in urban areas. In response to the individual needs of owners and the need of creating a sense of identity, this design provides the opportunity to not simply pick finishes and add fences. Future condominium owners are propelled to communicate with the architect their needs and day to day functions. Architectural assumption is thrown to the wayside, and Cube is the approach to condominium living in Miami.

Last week on ArchDaily we featured our interview with Chad Oppenheim founding partner of Oppenheim Architecture + Design. Be sure to check out the full interview here.

Follwing the break are words from the architect, along with rendering, and drawings of this future building.

Architects: Oppenheim Architecture + Design Location: Design District, Miami, Florida Credits: Chad Oppenheim, Carlos Ramos, Giovana Henao, Kevin McMorris, Juan López, Carla Urreiztieta, Camilo Orozco, Ana Maria Calle, and Rodrigo Londoño Client: Nexus Development Group Project Area: 240,000 sqf Project Year: Estimated Completion 2012 Renderings: Dbox

If you are in the New York area, Columbia University is organizing a celebration for architect and critic Kenneth Frampton’s 80th birthday. This event, entitled Five Architects: A North American Anthology , is a conference curated by Frampton on Saturday, November 13 running from 10 am – 6 pm. The five architects will include Steven Holl of New York, Rick Joy of Tucson, John + Patricia Patkau of Vancouver, Stanley Saitowitz of San Francisco and Brigitte Shim + Howard Sutcliffe of Toronto. The diverse group represents a varied body of work which, although quite distinct and different, share certain values, such as a particularly sensitive feeling for the impact of both craftsmanship and climate on the generation of form and a seemingly, equally shared concern for the expressive tactility of material and the articulation of structure under the impact of light.