I just saw the video for the new OMA project for PRADA, the Transformer. This pavilion currently being assembled in Seoul, Korea allows different configuration for different uses (cinema, exhibition, art , fashion show) - related to a new mix of disciplines, between art, fashion and architecture.

Then, the question on how to mix these different uses under one pavilion become the architectural trigger for this new “object” (I rather use that word, as i think “building” is obsolet for it).

These different configurations result by rotating this object -the transformer- with a crane, and each face of this object is a plane with a given shape, specific for each use but also being used as a helper for other uses (ie: the cinema projector).

If you take a look at each of these shapes, they are all common to us: a circle, a cross, a rectangle and an hexagon… which results on a very recognizable object that Koolhaas calls the anti-blob, and I think that´s where Rem scores another one.

Anyway, i highly recommend you to watch the videos at the Prada Transformer website: Koolhaas explaining the transformer, time lapse of the construction and the transformer being rotated with cranes.

Channel pavilion (blob, by Zaha) versus Prada pavilion (anti-blob, by OMA)?

Renderings and diagrams after the break.

A few days ago I was googling “unemployed architect” to see what are they up to after being laid off during current crisis, and found 2 good examples.

Sometimes photos aren´t enough to describe a project. Wallpaper* featured a cool video showing how the Sliding House works. By british architects dRMM:

A very interesting project from Estudio Barozzi Veiga, a practice featured on our AD Futures series.

Headquarters of the Ruling Board for Guarantee of Origin, “Ribera del Duero” Location: Roa, Spain Years: 2006 – 2009 Competition: first prize Status: under construction

The objective of this competition was to remodel an existing building and to extend it to accommodate the headquarter of the ruling board for guarantee of origin “Ribera del Duero”.

Dresden Museum of Contemporary Art – Estudio Barozzi Veiga, 2007

For our 5th installment of the AD Futures series, I have choosen Estudio Barozzi Veiga (EBV). The studio was formed in 2004 by Fabrizio Barozzi (Trento, Italy, 1976) and Alberto Veiga (Santiago, Spain, 1973). The preactice is based in Spain, but with project all over Europe (and a villa in China).

Why did I choose them? It wasn´t because of ORDOS 100, but actually for all the recent competitions they have won, on which you can see an excellence in design. Every one of this projects features a different approach in terms of design, showing a constant experimentation and search for innovation inside the practice.

Some of these awarded projects are currently ongoing (ROA Headquarters at Ribera del Duero, Aguilas Concert Hall and the Szczecin Philharmonic Hall), so we are close to see built projects from this practice.

Now onto some of these projects:

HiDrone - 1st Prize Awarded London Architecture Gallery International Competition 2008

SPARC is a team of international architects at the MIT based in Boston, MA, with a multidisciplinary background at the MIT´s Media Lab. This has resulted on a continuous research on smart/responsive environments applied to the world of architecture, design, urbanism and landscape architecture.

This new relation between technologies and built spaces has opened a wide array of possibilities, that we are just starting to see. And that´s why I choose this practice for this week´s AD Futures.

And we just saw the news that the project got “cut”, but in a literal way. It wasn´t because of the economical crisis, but actually due to construction flaws: 15 floors of wrongly installed rebar. This forced the developer to cut down the height -removing the condos portion of the building- resulting on a 28 stories tall building, instead of 49 as planned.

Dorobanti tower, a new project by Zaha Hadid Architects in Bucharest moves away from the works we have been seen lately, with a very expressive structure. The 200m tall iconic tower will be located in the heart of the capital city of Romania, at junction of Calea Dorobanti and St. Mihail Eminescu, with over 100,000 sqm for mixed-use development which include a 5-star hotel (with restaurants and convention centre), luxury apartments and retail space at street level.

The chamfered diamond like structure  tapers from the centre towards the top and the bottom. The meandering structural mesh expresses the change of programs across the tower.

A good move by Zaha in my opinion.

More on the structure, from Zaha Hadid Architects:

The partnership of AIA Newark and Suburban and the Young Architects Forum invited international designers to find innovative, visionary and compelling proposals for container constructed multi-family mixed-use project. The idea was to reuse the thousand of unwanted shipping containers clogging ports -and the land around them- as the primary unit of an urban multi-family mixed use project. The competition was called Live The Box.

The selected site is adjacent to a major train station and walking distance to the downtown major cultural centers of Newark, New Jersey. Standard height shipping containers 8′-6″ exterior height, in either 20′-0″ or 40′-0″ nominal lengths were the units to be used as the main building block of the structure.

This competition was won by Felix Heidgen and Thomas Nagy, associates at RMJM in Princeton, with their entry NewPark Station described here:

This project by young Latvian architects NRJA (previously featured on AD) is currently under construction. The complex, in Riga, Latvia, includes 2 towers (29 and 30 stories each), connected by a floor bridge. It also includes a 4-stories podium. Completion is expected durin 1st quarter 2010.

Architect´s description, more renderings and construction photos after the break. You can also watch the construction site via webcam.

This week on AD Futures, NRJA:

I found this practice thanks to the recommendation of one of our readers who sent me this video. After watching it, I had a good feeling about next generations.

Fresh ideas, a young team (average age is 25)… actually building those ideas! That´s NRJA (No Rules Just Architecture) a practive based in Riga, Latvia, founded by Uldis Luksevics in 2005. As a young office they have a very strong statement, that can be seen (or felt?) on their projects. They feel passionate for what they do, while being professional and always trying to go beyond than is allowed or required – hence “No Rules Just Architecture”.

But I think their statement describes it better:

Our friends at Various Architects, authors of the innovative Mobile Performance Venue, just shared with us a new inflatable project, currently running up for the Yorkshire Renaissance Pavilion competition. From a total of 87 submissions, the jury selected 5 projects and then narrowed down to 3 finalists. Final results aren´t announced yet – we´ll keep you posted on that.

Their project, named “The Yorkshire Diamond“, has a very particular structure with inflatable tubes forming a diamond-lattice structure, forming a box with an excavated interior, which allows for different configurations.

The architect´s description:

The construction process of the The Cathedral of Christ the Light by SOM (featured earlier on AD), clearly shows the impressive structure that supports the building and its skin.

You can see more at this gallery, courtesy of SOM: