Architecture practice Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) have designed a concrete pavilion for the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial. Today, the practice is unveiling the work of its interdisciplinary practice with Stereoform Slab, a to-scale prototype of a future building system made using advanced robotic fabrication techniques. The project is simultaneously an activation and an exhibition that illustrates a design method that reduces the carbon footprint of concrete construction.
Design company Kilograph has announced the release of “Imagined Landscapes,” a new virtual reality experience exploring the unbuilt work of architect Michael Graves. Based on Graves’ personal paintings, “Imagined Landscapes” offers the first chance to add VR watercolors to an architectural project, turning a conceptual resort into an interactive experience for visitors.
The Shanghai team of Schlaich Bergermann Partner has created two winning bridge designs as part of the Jiangxi River Bridge competition. The bridges are made for Tianfu Airport City, a high-tech industrial development zone in the south of Chengdu, China. Featuring elegant and futuristic forms, the bridges are made to be beacons for the city as they rise above the Jiangxi River.
Education defines design. Few have come to know the power of learning and bringing people together like Gianpiero Venturini. As the founder of Itinerant Office and curator of the New Generations Festival, Venturini’s work is marked by a desire to build networks of collaboration and cultural exchange. Creating platforms for new ideas, he has brought together more than 300 emerging practices through workshops, round tables, exhibitions, and international festivals.
The 2019 London Design Festival opened this month and features a large-scale instillation called Please Be Seated by Paul Cocksedge. Returning for its 17th year, the festival celebrates design across London and aims to promote the city as a major design capital. Please Be Seated joins a series of art, design and performance-based projects by internationally-renowned designers across the city.
Washington, D.C.-based non-profit The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) has announced that it will establish an international landscape architecture prize to be conferred biennially. This is the first and only international landscape architecture prize that includes a US$100,000 monetary award. Landscape architects, artists, architects, planners, urban designers, and others who have designed a significant body of landscape architecture projects are eligible for the award.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design has announced the 2020 Richard Rogers Fellowship cycle. Open to accomplished practitioners and scholars working in fields related to the built environment, the research-focused residency program is based in London at the Wimbledon House, designed by Lord Richard Rogers in the late 1960s. Fellows have researched a diverse series of topics, including examinations of public and affordable housing; how food and cooking transform cities; and citizen-driven urban regeneration initiatives, among others.
MAD Architects have designed a new pylon infrastructure with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT). Created as an elevated rapid transport system, the project is made to demonstrate how the artificial can merge with nature through a new urban infrastructure. MAD’s proposal aims to rethink the future of travel and reshape the way we plan and use public space.
The history and architecture of Burkina Faso is tied to its landscape. As a landlocked country in western Africa, it occupies an extensive plateau with grassy savannas and sparse forests. More than two-thirds of the people live in rural villages, and as such, the country’s modern architecture is the product of ingenuity born from reimagining traditional building materials and techniques.
Architecture firm Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt have won approval to design a new sports pavilion and social club at May’s Bounty Cricket Ground in Basingstoke, Hampshire. Providing a new home for the area’s cricket, rugby, football and squash clubs, the project consists of two carved brick blocks that come together to form a plinth. The aspiration is for the town to host Hampshire County cricket matches once again, with the facility becoming a new home for a local rugby, football and squash club.
Neri&Hu have unveiled a new video exploring the Aranya Art Center in Qinhuangdao, China. Designed to evoke notions of space for art versus communal space, the project places a strong emphasis on the spiritual nature of the seaside community. Drawing inspiration from the seasonal ocean waters nearby, the building seeks to encapsulate the natural wonder of water.
The REACH at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C. will open to the public this Saturday, September 7th. Designed by Steven Holl Architects with BNIM, the project is the first-ever expansion in the Kennedy Center's 48-year history. Aiming to open the Kennedy Center to the surrounding city and riverfront, the team made the project as a nexus of arts, learning, and culture for people to engage with the performing arts.
FXCollaborative has designed a church community space and 33 story tower overlooking Central Park in New York City. The project was made for Harlem’s La Hermosa Christian Church, though no developer has signed on for the project yet. The new project would serve the surrounding community and aims to embody and celebrate the neighborhood’s legacy of music and art.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) have unveiled the latest design for Kansas City's new airport terminal. Working with the Kansas City Aviation Department, the City of Kansas City, Missouri and major airlines, the project is coming together with developer Edgemoor. The air travel hub that will be the largest single infrastructure project in Kansas City’s history.
The world's first publicly accessible art depot by MVRDV has topped out in Rotterdam. Called Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the new archive building was celebrated with a ceremony by the Stichting Collectiegebouw consortium, which comprises the museum, the municipality of Rotterdam, and Stichting De Verre Bergen. The depot will host the museum’s archive of 151,000 artworks and will be fully accessible to the public.
ODA New York has been selected as the Design Architect for the rehabilitation of Detroit's iconic Book Tower. Working with real estate company Bedrock, the team will create a mix of residential, hospitality, retail and office space in the tower. ODA plans to update and expand on Book Tower’s programming and existing structures with nearly 500,000 square feet of downtown programming. The restoration of the 38-story landmark aims to create a cohesive civic vision for Washington Boulevard.
Praksis Arkitekter has won the competition to design a new visitor center for the Stevns KlintUNESCO World Heritage site in Denmark. Four architecture firms were invited to participate, and Praksis was chosen as the winner working with Kristine Jensen Landscape and Henry Jensen engineers. The project was designed to fit into the landscape as visitors move from the geology of Stevns Klint to the sea.
The world's largest urban farm is set to open next year in Paris. The six-story, 150,000-square-foot garden aims to grow more than 2,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables a day. Twenty gardeners will tend to 30 different kinds of plants to produce vegetables for the community. Called Agripolis, the project uses aeroponic farming so the plants absorb water and nutrients via mist.