Architect, Master’s Degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca and KU Leuven. Based in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
MVRDV has revealed a large-scale residential complex to take shape as part of a new smart city campus built by technology company Tencent in Qianhai Bay, Shenzhen, China. MVRDV’s intervention, named Tencent P5, is comprised of 11 apartment towers arranged around four courtyards. The project also includes amenities such as an adjacent kindergarten, to offer all the necessary facilities for the company’s employees. Construction began in early 2022 and is scheduled for completion in 2024.
The main role of architecture is to create structures that protect us from the environment and create spaces that are safe and comfortable for all types of needs and activities. By providing shelter, architecture also shapes the way people interact with their surroundings. Building technologies of the past rarely managed, however, to create a complete separation between us and the outside world.
While impermeability was a desired outcome, the porous building materials available always allowed some water, wind, or outside particles to leak into the interior spaces. In contrast, modern technologies now allow for almost completely impermeable building envelopes, allowing for complete separation between indoors and outdoors, thus relying on engineered systems to regulate temperature, airflow, or humidity. This article explores the differences between these two contrasting approaches, exploring how building facades are equipped to regulate indoor comfort and its environmental impact.
Foster + Partners, led by Norman Foster, has revealed designs for a new “vertical creative office” campus on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, overlooking Hollywood. Developed by real estate firm The Star LLC, the tower is wrapped in spiraling gardens, giving the project its distinctive image and introducing generous outdoor areas throughout. Dubbed “The Star,” the project strives to use active and passive design strategies to bring a welcoming and comfortable space for all future users.
The State of Kuwait has revealed the design of the upcoming Kuwait Pavilion to take shape at World Expo 2025 in Osaka. Designed by architectural firm LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture), the temporary structure is envisioned as a “Visionary Lighthouse” representing Kuwait’s embrace of Arab cultures, arts, and social works. The pavilion, developed with main partner and contractor NUSSLI, also offers a response to the exhibition’s overarching theme, "Designing Future Society for our Lives", striving to strengthen the relationship between Kuwait and Japan and foster conversations about visions of a sustainable future.
German-based architecture and design studio Beta Realities has developed the “Collective Parts” initiative, a design and technology platform for enabling the construction of affordable 3D printed housing. The project has been recognized as one of the winners of Inititative99 by ICON, a global architecture competition aimed at reimagining affordable housing that can be built for under $99,000. The other winners of the open category are MTspace Studio from New Zealand and For Everyday Life from the United Kingdom. The competition also highlights contributions from students as a separate category, featuring Casa Fami by IAAC from Spain, Juan Felipe Molano from Colombia, and Victoria Roznowski from Germany.
Commissioned by Diriyah Company, HKS Architects have revealed the design for a new multisport arena in Diriyah. Envisioned as a catalyst for the local culture and the entertainment sector, the 20,000-seat venue will be located in the center of The City of Earth, a 76,000-square-meter development aligned with Saudi Vision 2030, aimed at becoming one of the most attractive venues for tourism in the Middle East.
Zaha Hadid Architects have unveiled a large-scale project for the redevelopment of the Al Khuwair waterfront in downtown Muscat, the capital of Oman. The $1.3bn project covers an area of 3.3 million square meters. It aims to revitalize the area through sustainability-led design principles to accommodate the expected population growth, which is expected to almost double by 2040. The plans are developed in collaboration with Buro Happold to incorporate and transform the existing buildings on site, introduce coastal and climate resilience measures, and create an efficient transit-oriented infrastructure.
Last week, Japanese architect and social advocate Riken Yamamoto was announced as the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, becoming the 9th Japanese architect honored with the profession’s most prestigious award. Throughout the 45-year history of the Pritzker Prize, Japan stands out as the nation with the highest number of laureates. While geography is not a criterion in the selection of the laureates, Japanese architecture consistently impresses with its interplay of light and shadow, the careful composition of spaces, soft transitions between interior and exterior, and attention to detail and materiality. An ingrained culture of building also celebrates diverse designs and encourages global dialogue and the exchange of ideas and best practices. Read on to rediscover the 9 Japanese Pritzker laureates and glimpse into their body of work.
Dia Art Foundation announced a major landscape project to reimagine the land at Dia Beacon, New York. Commissioned landscape architect Sara Zewde of Studio Zewde aims to go beyond the simple arrangement of attractive plants and integrate ideas of ecology, culture, and people into the design. Taking over the museum’s 32-acre campus, the project will create an expanded outdoor park, free to access for visitors and locals alike, complete with native meadows, sculptural landforms, and winding pathways. The project, which has been recently extended to also include the museum’s eight back acres, is expected to open to the public in 2025.
This Oscars Season, photographer Paul Clemence turned his lens to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the most famous institution dedicated to the art and science of movies. Designed and revitalized by Gensler and Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the building is located on the famed ‘Miracle Mile’ in Los Angeles, opening with expansive views towards Hollywood. This year, the museum opened its rooftop terrace for the Oscars Night at the Museum, a unique event to celebrate the 96th Oscars.
Brooklyn-based firm SO-IL has revealed the design for a new campus art museum at Williams College in Massachusetts, created to become a primary teaching resource for the institution renowned for its art history program. Since its inauguration in 1926, the Williams College Museum of Art has gathered an expansive collection of over 15,000 works. Through the design of SO-IL, the museum will be able to move into its first freestanding purpose-built home. In May 2024, the museum will present an exhibition on SO-IL’s design.
In the world of architecture, competitions serve as catalysts for innovation and creativity. By promoting the architectural community to contemplate a given theme and intervene in well-defined spaces, they provide some of the best platforms for experimentation, allowing architects and designers to explore new concepts, challenge conventions, and address pressing societal needs, all while comparing the wide variety of emerging solutions. This week's curated roundup gathers examples of worldwide competition proposals submitted by the ArchDaily Community.
The selected projects vary in size and program, from world-renowned competitions such as those hosted for the national pavilions at the next World Expo in Osaka, or the Temple at the center of Black Rock City at Burning Man, to local interventions that highlight unique spaces such as the creative reimagining of a popular market space in the historic center of Sibiu, Romania, or the subtle presence of a villa in the Mediterranean wilderness.
Further developing his collection of photographic series featuring architecture offices from around the world, Archmospheres photographer Marc Goodwin is now exploring workspaces in Taiwan. Among the included offices are well-known studios such as Fieldoffice Architects, an office whose output has significant cultural importance as they represent an example of Taiwanese Deconstructivist Architecture, in addition to other offices such as KRIS YAO | ARTECH, Divooe Zein Architects, and hii architects.
To create this collection, Marc Goodwin collaborated with Italian architect, publisher, teacher, and curator Alessandro Martinelli, who is based in Taipei. He selected the participants with the help of Mr. Chung-Hsiung Wang, the curator of the Taiwan Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018. The series will continue to develop with the creation of scale models for each studio, which will be exhibited alongside the photographs in the Taiwan Pavilion of the Venice Biennale.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) with a team led by Charles Renfro has broken ground on Rice University's New Arts Building named the Susan and Fayez Sarofim Hall. The new building envisioned as a gateway to the university's campus will incorporate exhibition areas, labs, studios, shops, faculty offices, and other facilities. To create adaptability over time, the structure uses an expandable prefabricated system, thus incorporating interdisciplinarity and experimentation within the design. The building located in Houston, Texas, is expected to open in the fall of 2025.
Internationally recognized architect, writer, and professor Antoine Predock passed away in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on March 2, 2024, at the age of 87. Throughout his career, Predock developed a unique style, working outside of urban centers and seeking to find a connection between the landscapes and the human experience of space. In addition to serving as a long-term faculty member at the University of New Mexico, he is also the architect behind some well-known projects, including the Nelson Fine Arts Center, the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Winter Stations, now in its 10th year, has unveiled the winning designs selected from a pool of hundreds of submissions worldwide. Following an international design competition launched in November 2023, designers, artists, and architects contributed with bold proposals to reimagine the lifeguard stations along Toronto’s east-end beaches for the winter. Launched by RAW Design, Ferris + Associates, and Curio in 2014, the event aims to gather an international design and art community to join in this playful exercise of rethinking public spaces through bold temporary interventions. The winning designs were realized with the support of Anex Works, a Toronto-based fabrication group, and will be on display until the end of March.
For its 10th anniversary edition, the chosen theme for this year is “Resonance,” hoping to challenge designers to reflect on the artistic legacy and enduring impact of the Winter Stations and to embark on a journey of reinvention and reimagination. The projects were invited to recreate and reinvent installations from previous Winer Stations editions, offering moments of contemplation and remembrance. The event also continues the tradition of the Lifeguard Sands, inviting designers to incorporate them into their designs without structurally altering the stands in any manner.
The field of architecture and design is a dynamic one, often managing large-scale investments and involving a wide array of professionals. It stands to reason that, in this type of environment, success is not simply defined by just the quality of the completed structures, but also by the internal ability of architecture firms to effectively manage their business operations. For architects and designers, measuring performance goes beyond financial metrics; it encompasses a diverse range of factors that reflect the firm's efficiency, creativity, and impact within the industry.
Several key metrics can be measured, from financial goals to client relationship management, innovation, influence, and professional development, all helping architects and designers gauge their performance from different perspectives. As the famous saying goes, “What gets measured gets managed.” To help in this effort, Monograph's 2024 Architecture Business Benchmarks Report offers a thorough examination of five key metrics.
The Joslyn Art Museum in Nebraska announced that the restoration and expiation works led by Snøhetta and Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture (APMA) are nearing completion, as the transformed institution is scheduled to reopen on September 10, 2024. The new 42,000-square-foot Rhonda & Howard Hawks Pavilion, designed by Snøhetta and APMA will add new gallery spaces to Nebraska’s largest art museum, becoming the centerpiece of the large-scale project for reimagining the visitor experience.
