University of Southern California’s School of Architecture presents Border Architectures 2000-2008, a lecture by colombian architect Giancarlo Mazzanti.

Group 41, a San Francisco-based firm, has been experimenting with shipping container design. The company is currently working on a large multi-family development in Utah that is to be entirely constructed out of shipping containers.

This proposal is a design for market-rate housing in the suburbs of Salt Lake City Utah. Involving the use of nearly 1000 shipping containers to create up to 200 units of housing, and sitting on a concrete commercial “base” that also includes parking, this major development is slated for a Transit Oriented district near a commuter rail station. Currently, in the preliminary conceptual phase, Container Nation has created two different proposed schemes that take different approaches to the stacking and build-out of the containers. Preliminary local Planning approvals are expected by mid-2009.

For more information, go to Container Nation official website. More images after the break.

On April 2-5, architectural theoreticians from around the globe will be coming to Weimar to debate the political and ethical challenges of globalization and how architecture responds to them.

Since we started with ArchDaily, we’ve tried to interview some of the most important and influential architects of the world. It’s really interesting to see what’s on the mind of the architects behind the amazing projects we’ve all seen. So now, we bring you our first Round Up of previously featured interviews. Enjoy!

One of the entries, Artwave, by Tadao Ando

We’ve just featured the winners for the Munch Museum and Deichman Library competitions in Oslo. See all the entries for the competition after the break.

Bjørvika, a harbour in the eastern part of Oslo, Norway, has become a hot spot for architectural innovation. We have the brand new Oslo Opera by SNOHETTA and the recent competition for the Oslo Central Station awarded to Space Group.

And a recent planning/design competition -actually 2 competitions- just added two cultural buildings to the harbour: the Munch-Area, which will have the new Munch-museum with a collection of the Stenersenmuseum, and the Deichman axis withav the Deichman Library.

Both competitions included invited practices and a stage on which practices applied for pre-qualification.

You can see the list of practices for the Munch Museum here. And the Deichman library here.

The winning project for the Munch Museum was Lambda, by Herreros Arquitectos. The winning project for the Deichman Library was Diagonale, by Lund Hagem Arkitekter and Atelier Oslo. See all the winners after the break.

The Goethe-Institut New York celebrates the opening of its downtown events space, in the Lower East Side’s Wyoming Building, with a Spring series of talks and performances by internationally acclaimed artists and architects, starting with OSA this Friday, March 27.

Our friends from RSVP shared with ous a project in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where a successful advertising agency wants to expand its current facilities on their present site in San Juan’s Roosevelt Avenue, where surrounding buildings have also undergone a process of urban densification.

More images and architect’s description, after the break.

Our friends over at konyk (Brooklyn based practice) shared with us their entry for the Andes Sprouts Society residency studio competition, a project named Girasole.

Gathering all of its energy from the sun, GIRASOLE is a single room studio that is autonomous, movable and flexible. Its independence allows it to function completely off the local utility grid. By manipulating the surface area for maximum solar exposure and utilizing thin battery packs embedded in its chassis, GIRASOLE converts the sun into AC current to heat and electrify the studio. Like Thomas Alva Edison’s 1893 Black Maria, GIRASOLE is formed by the function of sunlight, and follows it across the landscape.

More images after the break.

Principal and Founder of 3XN architects, Kim Herforth Nielsen, receives Denmark’s highest Architectural Honour, the C.F. Hansen Medal. The Award will be presented by the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts as they ‘acknowledge a person who has made outstanding achievements in the field of Architecture’.

The winners of the Valparaiso Cultural Center competition in Chile were just announced. The competition came after a proposal from brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer was rejected. The Cultural Center will be built where the former prison stood for the last 150 years.

The winning projects are:

1st Prize – Jonathan Holmes, Martín Labbé, Carolina Portugueis, Osvaldo Spichiger 2nd Prize – Patricio Mardones, Juan Francisco Garcés, Felipe Ortiz, Pablo Ropert, Rocío Costa 3rd Prize – oficina de arquitectura + Paisajes Emergentes (featured today on AD Futures)

For more information on the winning projects, click here (in spanish). Images of the winning projects, after the break.

The “Spire”, the skyscraper designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, was going to be the tallest building in the United States. That title will have to wait, at least until the economic crisis affecting construction all over the world starts having better days.

Designing a store may be challenging for an architect. Many times, it’s design has to be related to the product the store will sell. Also, a cool design may very well attract people that the product itself will not. So today, for our first Round Up of the week, we bring you Retail previoulsy featured on AD.

Yesterday we featured the results of the international competition of the urban development for Split, Croatia. The jury did not declare winners for the 1st and 2nd Prize, but three equal 3rd Prizes and 6 Purchase Prizes were given.

Seen at bustler. More images on the proposals after the break.

The success of green roofs has driven Landscape Architects and Architects to explore alternative exterior and interior applications of green planting technology, such as green walls, and green screens. Vertical planting presents challenges to proper irrigation and climate control, requiring innovative solutions. This panel of experts will discuss the relevance of green walls and how can we improve their applications.

End of October 2008, the City of Split launched an Open International Competition for the Urban Development of the Duilovo coastal area in Split (Croatia). Submissions were due mid of February 2009. The competition has been organized with the support of the Split’s Architects Association (DAS).

The jury issued the following unanimous decision: 1st and 2nd prize will not be given, but three equal 3rd Prizes + 6 Purchase Prizes. Considering the complexity of the intervention, the jury proposed a workshop for all three awarded teams to attend and work together on the further development of the project.

All the winners, after the break.

LivingHomes®, a developer of modern, sustainably designed, prefabricated homes, has partnered with Kohler Co., to present the Kohler LivingHome, designed by architects Kieran Timberlake. Designed to achieve LEED-Platinum certification, the two-story Kohler Living features furnishings, materials, products and technologies that showcase the best in high design and technology with a low ecological footprint.

Designed to achieve USGBC’s LEED for Homes Platinum certification, the Kohler LivingHome reflects LivingHomes’ Z6 Sustainable Building Goals which include six key objectives for all LivingHomes’ construction and operation: Zero Water, Zero Energy, Zero Waste, Zero Emissions, Zero Carbon, and Zero Ignorance.

This house was premiered at the TED Conference in Long Beach, CA a few weeks ago. Here´s a time-lapse video of the house being assembled:

From the recycled steel and timber-efficient engineered lumber that make up the modules, central vacuum system, and mini-duct air distribution and ventilation systems that help improve indoor air quality; to the bio-composite wood siding, recycled glass tiles, blown-in insulation, high-performance windows with recycled frames, water-saving features and the home resource monitoring system that displays water, energy, and gas usage in real-time, the Kohler LivingHome is built to achieve a minimal environmental footprint.

The Kohler LivingHome is being offered for sale at $499,950. For more information, click here. Images of the house interiors, after the break.

New York-based architects Perkins Eastman sent us their new project, 303 East 33rd Street, the first green development in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan. It’s a 12-story, 165,00 sf building. They worked on the exterior while Studio V Architecture worked on the interior design. They also worked with Archipelago on the landscape of the roof garden.

More images and the architect’s proposal, after the break.

Developed by Toll Brothers, Inc. and The Kibel Companies; 303 East 33rd Street is the first green development in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan. Designed by top ranked green architecture and design firm Perkins Eastman, the LEED Certified development is a fresh interpretation of the full- and half-block residential complexes built during the last century, and reflects the mix of architectural diversity in the area.