Architecture News

Architecture firm Gómez Platero has designed a new memorial to honor those affected by COVID-19. Sited in Uruguay, the monument is made to be an expression of hope in an uncertain time. As the first large-scale monument to the worldwide victims of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project is called the "World Memorial to the Pandemic." It aims to be a space for mourning and reflection that's environmentally conscious and emotionally impactful.

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The World Architecture Festival just announced the launch of WAFVirtual from 30 November – 4 December 2020, where the worldwide architectural community can engage in a week of live content, special prizes, talks, panel discussions and networking opportunities with peers and our WAF partners. Registration will be free for architects and design professionals.

Architects are mobilizing their efforts, to help schools around the world reconsider their design in order to guarantee sustainability, emotional wellness, and physical health. CetraRuddy, Cooper Robertson, and WXY are amongst those proposing an increase in outdoor programming and a rearrangement of classrooms, for post-pandemic school design.

The architectural scene has been witnessing lately a growing focus on indoor/outdoor functions. Discover 3 different interventions from 3 different practices, tackling one common issue, and focusing on outdoor space as a major programming element.

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MVRDV has just unveiled the If Factory, a disused urban structure converted into a new 11.000 m2 creative building, containing a mixture of offices for the Urban Research Institute of China Vanke and offices for rent. Located in one of Shenzhen’s most historic districts, Nantou, the project is the largest proposed renovation in the city to date.

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Snøhetta, Studio Gang and Henning Larsen have unveiled their designs for the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota. The teams were selected from 12 firms, and the final design will be made to respond to the ecology of the Badlands. The three proposals showcase integrated architecture and landscape approaches designed to celebrate Theodore Roosevelt’s life.

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The COVID-19 Pandemic is a disruptive moment for our world, and it’s poised to spur transformative shifts in design, from how we experience our homes and offices to the plans of our cities. The webcast series Design Disruption explores these shifts—and address issues like climate change, inequality, and the housing crisis— through chats with visionaries like architects, designers, planners and thinkers; putting forward creative solutions and reimagining the future of the built environment.

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Videos

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Other bodies, spaces, and languages that have been rendered invisible or simply do not seem to fit into present-day São Paulo are being projected onto its landscape. "Voices Against Racism" is an exhibition and proposition that introduces new imaginaries to a city where narratives are constantly contested. Running until August 24, the event transforms streets from mere transit areas into spaces for art, buildings into canvases, and monuments into backdrops for artistic expressions that showcase paths usually obscured by history.

Dominique Perrault’s proposal has won “the transformation and revival of industrial heritages” or the Hangang district urban design international competition, in Handan, China. Six teams from world-renowned architectural firms, including Coop Himmelb(l)au and UNStudio Team, were invited to participate in the contest and envision the future of the city, through their creative designs.

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The quality of streets and sidewalks is a widely debated topic in Brazil, and the coronavirus pandemic has added another layer of complexity—public health—prompting us to question whether it is actually possible for pedestrians to practice social distancing. This concern led architecture student Conrado Freire to develop a map of sidewalk widths in São Paulo.

Adapted from Meli Harvey's Sidewalk Widths NYC project on New York City sidewalks, Largura do Passeio uses sidewalk data provided by the GeoSampa portal to visually synthesize information about São Paulo's pedestrian pathways that is not typically accessible to the general public. Based on the open-source code released by Harvey—which has also been adapted for cities like Toronto, Washington, Berlin, and Milan—Freire creates a visual mapping of what is often only felt by pedestrians moving through São Paulo's urban space.

SOM and Fender Katsalidis have won an international design competition for Central Place Sydney, a commercial development that will introduce new transformative public space and high-tech towers. Located in Sydney's Central Business District, Australia, the proposed project seeks to transform the western edge by introducing innovative buildings and public realm improvements.

Dorte Mandrup has won the international competition to design the new Exile Museum (Exilmuseum) in Berlin. Located adjacent to the ruins of the historic railway station Anhalter Bahnhof, the museum will tell the stories of those who fled during the Nazi regime and look to today's present displaced populations. The studio’s proposal reinterprets the portico ruins on Askanischer Platz, together a monument and symbol of those driven into exile during the Second World War.

Since its founding in 1937, and despite recent controversies surrounding its administration and leadership, the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) has built one of Brazil's largest bibliographical, documentary, and iconographic collections. In total, 13 interconnected libraries house over 500,000 books and periodicals, which are also linked to the country's main libraries. A significant portion of this rich material is available online—free of charge—on the Institute's online platform.

The Institute of Architects of Brazil – São Paulo Department has reactivated its educational platform. In line with the 2020-2022 administration's program, particularly regarding the promotion and consolidation of a space for debate on pressing issues in the training of architects and urban planners, the Institute has undergone a complete restructuring that deepens and strengthens the democratizing spirit of past experiences.

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“Alternative Utility Platforms” is a project that seeks to generate spaces for social innovation in the integrated management of urban waste. According to Giulia Bianchi and Luis Morillo, the authors of the proposal, the city of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, currently generates approximately 21,147 tons of solid waste per month. Only 61.79% of this waste ends up in landfills, meaning the remaining 33.25% winds up on streets, in informal dumps, rivers, and streams, improperly disposed of. Out of this total, ultimately only 4.97% is processed by recycling companies, and the majority of that volume is sorted and supplied by street waste collectors. For this reason, and through their thesis project developed at the Central University of Venezuela, the authors propose to generate new employment models for the collection and treatment of municipal solid waste through an urban and architectural intervention.

The UK government has released a document that proposes reforms in the planning system, such as speeding up the process of approvals for development. Entitled Planning for the Future, the report suggests “to streamline and modernize the planning process, bring a new focus to design and sustainability, improve the system of developer contributions to infrastructure, and ensure more land is available for development where it is needed”.

Design Core Detroit is launching the 10th annual Detroit Month of Design in September. The event will recognize Detroit’s designation as the first and only UNESCO City of Design in the United States, and will include more than 175 participants presenting over 65 events and special projects. The programming will explore design solutions to the challenges faced by Detroit and the global community since the start of 2020.

The 13th São Paulo International Architecture Biennial has adopted reconstruction as the central theme for its 2022 edition. As a preparatory activity for the co-curatorship competition, IABsp organized three debates that promote a discussion on the very essence of art and architecture exhibitions, while also inviting us to reflect on the role of architects, urban planners, and many other professionals in building more just and democratic cities.

The Instituto Tomie Ohtake and AkzoNobel have announced the 13 projects selected for the seventh edition of the Instituto Tomie Ohtake AkzoNobel Architecture Prize. The finalists include works located in Amazonas, Bahia, Ceará, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, and King George Island in Antarctica. The selection was made by a jury comprising architects Diego Mauro, Elisabete França, Fernando Túlio, Juliana Braga, and Pedro Varella.

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