Author: Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz | ArchDaily

Architects to Relocate Entire City Two Miles Over

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

UPDATE: The BBC reports that construction on the Kiruna re-location is scheduled to begin next month. For more on this extraordinary project, read the article below.

2013 Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Award Winners

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 01:00:00 +0000

UPDATE: The winning images will go on show February 28th in London at the "Building Images: The Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Awards 2013" exhibition. They will remain on view through April 25th inside a renovated factory on 7–9 Woodbridge Street.

The New York City Cantilever: If You Can’t Go Up, Go Out

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000

New York City’s notoriously space-hungry real estate market is converting the cantilever – perhaps made most famous in Frank Lloyd Wright’s floating Fallingwater residence of 1935 – from a mere move of architectural acrobatics to a profit-generating design feature. Driven by a “more is more” mantra, developers and architects are using cantilevers to extend the reach of a building, creating unique vistas and extended floor space in a market in which both are priced at sky-high premiums.

'Hacked' Offices: The Future of Workplace Design?

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Sat, 18 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

What does the workplace of the future look like? Shawn Gehle, of Gensler, explains in this TEDx Talk that with over 10 billion square feet of existing office space in North America, we may not even need to envision new buildings. Rather, by "hacking" existing buildings, architects can transform them into something completely new. For more on Gensler's "hacker" philosophy, read our article here.

World's Tallest Buildings of 2013 Dominated by Asia

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

According to the latest Tall Trends Report, 73 buildings in excess of 200 meters were completed in 2013 worldwide, the second highest total only behind 2011 with 81 completions. The increase of completions from 2012 to 2013 continues a significant upward trend that, since 2000, has seen an astounding 318 percent increase in tall buildings.

World Trade Center Progress Report: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Slowly, and surely not lacking critique, Santiago Calatrava's transport hub rises $2 billion over budget, SOM's Freedom Tower — now, more mundanely referred to as 1WTC — is recognized as the tallest building in the western hemisphere and there is still a considerable amount of development yet to be done on the World Trade Center. Read Edwin Heathcote's article on the Financial Times regarding the good, the bad and the ugly: "Rebuilding the World Trade Center: A Progress Report."

Snohetta Makes Times Square Permanently Pedestrian

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

New York City's Times Square has concluded the first redevelopment phase of a permanent pedestrian plaza just in time for last week's New Year's Eve celebrations.

UConn Selects Shortlist to Design New Campus Masterplan

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The State of Connecticut and the University of Connecticut (UConn) have invested $2 million to create a masterplan for the UConn campus that will include a new science building and residence hall. The masterplan will be chosen from among three finalists - Michael Dennis & Associates, NBBJ and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill - and then subject to numerous public meetings in which professors, staff, students and community members will be encouraged to provide their input.

We Need More 'Building' in Architecture School

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

"Architectural education is very abstract." Virginia Tech professors and Rural Studio alumni Keith and Marie Zawistowski sit down to talk about the importance of a hands-on experience, suggesting a fundamental restructuring of curriculums. With projects such as the Masonic Ampitheater, they — together with their students — set out to prove that somethings are simply solved by building. Read the full article here, "What Architecture Schools Get Wrong"

Winners of Hong Kong 'GIFT' Ideas Competition Announced

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 01:00:00 +0000

Winners of the 'GIFT' (Green Innovation Future Technology) Ideas Competition in Hong Kong have been selected by a panel of judges representing Hong Kong Science Park (HKSTPC), local government, and private organizations. The winning proposals best displayed the aim of the competition: to create an innovative and iconic architecture; design a low-carbon emissions building that promotes sustainable strategies and lifestyles; nurture and uncover new local talent, and to create a scheme that unifies the Park's development.

New Images Unveiled of Cornell Tech’s Roosevelt Island Campus

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

New information has been released — along with a series of renders — seven months after the New York City Council approved Cornell University's two million square foot technology campus in Roosevelt Island. Envisioned as "a campus built for the next century," Cornell Tech's first set of buildings has tapped into the talent of some of the most respected architecture firms in the city: Morphosis' Pritzker Prize-winning Thom Mayne, Weiss/Manfredi Architecture, Handel Architects, and Skidmore Owings & Merrill.

Photographer Victor Enrich Reshapes an Existing Hotel, 88 Times

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Architectural photographer Victor Enrich has shared with ArchDaily a series of 88 images — one for every key in the classical piano — exploring the various formal possibilities of the NH Deutscher Kaiser Hotel in Munich, Germany. "I found it beautiful," says Enrich, "to connect two distinct artistic disciplines such as photography and computer graphics with the piano." See further illustrations and read a full description of his thought process following the break.

OMA, Foster + Partners, Heatherwick Studio Recruited to Design 'Faena District' of Miami Beach

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 01:00:00 +0000

Alan Faena — prominent argentine developer — is partnering with an all-star cast of celebrated artists, architects and Hollywood darlings to revive the decadence of the roaring twenties, envisioning a booming cultural "epicenter" for the city of Miami. The development, Faena Miami Beach, would include the restoration of the historic Saxony Hotel (the original symbol of opulent resorts along Florida beaches), the construction of new luxury apartments by Foster + Partners and the Rem Koolhaas/OMA-designed Faena Arts Center and Artist Residency. Review them all after the break.

MAD Envisions More 'Natural' Chinese Cities in the Future

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Ma Yansong of MAD recently presented a 600,000 square meter urban design proposal for the city of Nanjing titled, "Shanshui Experiment Complex," at the 2013 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism / Architecture in Shenzhen, China. The concept takes into account the culture, nature and history of Nanjing while reconsidering the methodology in which Chinese cities are built.

Bloomberg Rushes to Approve Billion-Dollar Projects Before Leaving Office

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Tue, 24 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Mayor Bloomberg's decade long administration may be ending this January, but not before he ensures the approval of $12 billion worth of privately developed projects throughout New York City. Under Bloomberg, 40 percent of NYC has been rezoned, creating a hot-bed of new construction. From multi-million dollar research centers to multi-billion dollar neighborhoods — complete with luxury waterfront apartments, outlet malls and the western hemisphere's largest Ferris Wheel — each one of these megaprojects will undoubtedly transform NYC in the coming decades. Check them out here.

Finalist Proposal for First Public University in South Africa Since Apartheid

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

TC Design Architects have been announced as one of the four winners in a country-wide architectural competition to design the University of Mpumalanga in Nelspruit, the first public university in South Africa since the end of Apartheid. Of 147 architectural practices, the Department of Higher Education and Training has narrowed the pool of entries down to TC Design, Conco Bryan Architects, Cohen and Garson, and Gapp Architects & Urban Designers.

Sustainable Container Home Selected in Competition for Sydney's Bondi Beach

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Czech architect Ales Javurek has been awarded first prize in the [AC-CA] Architectural Competition for his design of a two-story, 340 square meter vacation home utilizing shipping containers in Sydney, Australia. The proposal situates the home on the edge of a 1500 square meter hillside to maximize the striking panoramic view of Bondi Beach. By preserving current trees and the slope's profile, consisting of "three platforms," the proposal successfully addresses the main brief: to design a contemporary, sustainable vacation house which sensitively fits into its context and considers Sydney's climate conditions.

Formlessfinder's "Tent Pile" a Hit at Design Miami/

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

From the architects. Formlessfinder’s Tent Pile brings an intensely architectural intervention to Design Miami/, inventing a new building typology to provide shade, seating, cool air, and a space to play for the city’s public. The design practice, co-founded by Julian Rose and Garrett Ricciardi in 2010, approaches new projects with an interest in the specifics of geography — closely examining the spatial, social, and physical conditions of the location with which their structure will interact. They prioritize the use of available materials, committing to deploy them in ways that allow for reuse, an approach that produces what they refer to as “an architecture that can go from nothing to something and back again.”

Learn more after the break...