Manuel Márquez, an architect from San Luis de Potosí, Mexico shared with us “The Box Mix”, a two unit apartment building. You can see more images and architect’s description after the break.

Iwan Baan is a dutch photographer that has been documenting works from the best contemporary architects, such as OMA, SANAA, Steven Holl, Sou Fujimoto, Toyo Ito, Zaha Hadid, Michael Maltzan and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, moving away from the traditional static architecture photography. As you may have noticed, we’ve been featuring many projects photographed by Iwan Baan, so here’s a little selection for you to see his works. Check them all after the break.

Selgas Cano Architecture Office by Iwan Baan Once again, Iwan Baan amaze us with this great project between the woods by Spanish practice Selgas Cano: Their own architecture office. You can see the complete photoset after the break (photos here)

On Saturday, May 15, 2010, Steven Holl Architects opens the exhibition Urbanisms: Steven Holl + Li Hu, 4 Projects in China by Steven Holl Architects in the Linked Hybrid, in Beijing, China.

The exhibition tracks the process of designing four projects in China from 2003-2009: Nanjing Museum of Art and Architecture, Beijing Linked Hybrid, Shenzhen Horizontal Skyscraper, and Chengdu Sliced Porosity Block.

More information after the break.

One of the most ambitious projects of Risco architects is the concept design for the new towers – Sky Residence II + Sky Businees – located in Luana Sky Center. Two towers with great programmatic diversity, aiming for high urban density and encouragemente of further developments around this so-called Sky Center, the future new town.

More images and architect’s description after the break.

DesCours is a free, public, week-long architecture and art event now in its fourth year, held the second week of December in New Orleans. This event invites internationally renowned architects and artists to create 14 architecture installations within ‘hidden’ locations in the heart of New Orleans, including private courtyards, rooftops, abandoned buildings and walkways, all locations normally unseen, inaccessible or unused by the public.

Czech architects Chalupa Architekti shared with us their winning proposal for the competition of the new Embassy of Czech Republic in Washington DC, USA.

More images and architect’s description after the break.

The Saudi Arabia Pavilion for Shanghai World Expo 2010, which starts in two days, is a combine effort of Chinese and Saudi designers. The pavilion has a “moon boat” shape and is surrounded by deserts and seas, just like Saudi Arabia. Along with the 150 date palms that are now planted in the pavilion, it’s main attraction is a huge IMAX screen. The 1,600-square-meter screen is larger than any other cinema screen on earth. Short films will be presented on the screen.

You can see more images and a video after the break.

The Regione Calabria Town planning and Territorial Governance Department are promoting an online international competition for Solar Park South. Proposals must provide design solutions for the Solar Park South in relation to both the values of the local landscape and the application and enhancement of renewable energies. By investigating and studying in detail sustainable solutions, the procedure will considerably impact on the diffusion of a culture of sustainability.

It seems that this week everything is about Shanghai. The World Expo 2010 starts in three days and the pavilions are ready. Yesterday, we featured some amazing photos that Chaz Hutton took at the Expo. Today, David Goss shared with us many more, and even a video inside the UK’s Pavilion. Check them out after the break!

Flickr Video

DETAIL is one of my favorite periodic publications in terms of construction inspiration. The reason? It’s packed with highly detailed drawings of contemporary projects.

Each volume features a specific building system (concrete in this case), presented in the form of articles, short reports, new technologies, products, and the most attractive section, recent projects with the mentioned detailed drawings.

For example, in this issue we find an interesting article by Hubertus Adam on the current state of concrete in Switzerland illustrated with photos of Valerio Olgiati projects; and projects such as the Children’s Playhouse by LAN Architecture, the Bus Operation Center by ECDM, or the MAXXI Museum by Zaha Hadid with detailed sections of walls, roofs and more.

This magazine is a good reference material, and even if the projects presented on each issue are very recent, the technical information is timeless.

More info after the break.

100 first year students in the Department of Architecture are developing proposals to design and construct a minimal dwelling unit that they will occupy for a period of 24 hours. Each unit must accommodate an entrance, internal circulation, and sleeping areas for a minimum of three people. Individual units are placed adjacent to one another and share boundaries thus creating a party wall condition between adjoining structures where unique structural and programmatic conditions might begin to evolve.

Back on March we featured a fantastic set of photos of the pavilions for Shanghai World Expo 2010 almost finished. Now, with only three days left for the grand opening to the public, the pavilions seem to be ready for the more than 70 million people expected to visit the Expo between April 30 and October 31.

Chaz Hutton shared with us through Flickr his amazing photos of the pavilions. You can check them all after the break. And remember you can see every pavilion we’ve featured right here.

¿Which one’s your favorite?

Only four days left to the grand opening and the pavilions of the Shanghai World Expo 2010 should be ready to receive thousands of visitors each day. We’ve been featuring a lot of pavilions but there is still a lot to cover, so we hope to bring you more on the Expo in the next few days (like a good preview of many pavilions ready later today). Meanwhile, check some of our latest ones, after the break.

Dutch Pavilion for Shanghai World Expo 2010 The Dutch submission to the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai is an exceptional one. This time around, it will not be the classic pavilion with long lines of visitors waiting outside and a presentation inside. The Netherlands is making its appearance at China’s world exposition along an entire street. The submission, entitled “Happy Street”, is the response by designer John Kormeling to the Chinese Expo theme “Better City, Better Life” and the sub-themes (read more…)

In 2009, the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) announced a competition for its new headquarters to be built in a city near Naju, South Korea. H Associates proposal received 3rd place. The new KEPCO headquarters, which would include nearly 120,000 square meters of office space and public ex¬hibition program, will constitute a major anchor point of this emerging city. KEPCO has mandated an ambitious program of objectives for the facilities with its vision to become a genuine Green Energy leader among the world’s utility corporations.

More images and architect’s description after the break.

Expo 2010 Shanghai is the first World Fair to adopt sustainable urban development as its theme. As consequence concepts which legitimise the extensive resource use and major investment of a World Fair must be promoted. The basic concept of “Norway Powered by Nature”, designed by Helen & Hard, directly engages this challenge, placing emphasis and awareness on multiple aspects of sustainability.

More images and architect’s description after the break.

d3:dialog is a hybrid publication that combines the depth and format of a journal with the flexibility of a magazine. Each issue will explore a focused aspect of current architectural theory and production.

Amazing projects from Europe and South Africa, and even a Herzog & de Meuron special you may have missed last week. Check them all after the break.

Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre / Peter Rich Architects Last year, architectural photographer Iwan Baan took a trip to South Africa to visit the Mapungubwe Interpretation Center designed by Peter Rich Architects. The 1,500 sqm visitor’s center includes spaces to tell the stories of the place and house artifacts, along with tourist facilities and SANParks offices. The complex is a collection of stone cladded vaults balancing on the sloped site, against the backdrop of Sandstone formations and mopane woodlands (read more…)

The Architecture Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of an open international competition to design a New Aldgate, a temporary landmark on the eastern edge of the City of London, to stand for the duration of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, to open in January 2012.