Architecture News

With the launch of ODA18, this year we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Building of the Year Award (ODA), the premier award in the Spanish-speaking architectural world where the winners are chosen by popular vote. Starting today, Monday, March 12, and for two weeks, our readers will be responsible for determining which projects inspired us during 2017, faithfully representing the identity of our local contexts while shaping the way architecture is practiced around the world.

Over the next two weeks, the entire ArchDaily en Español network (Plataforma Arquitectura, ArchDaily México, ArchDaily Colombia, and ArchDaily Perú) will host this celebration of the best built architecture in Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin American countries.

Nominate and vote for your favorites now!

Reinterpreting the teachings of Buckminster Fuller, North Face have announced the latest tent in their collection; a geodesic dome tent. Thanks to the most spatially efficient shape in architecture, it can withstand winds of up to 60 mph as the force is spread evenly across the structure whilst even providing enough height for a six-foot person to stand comfortably inside.

The extremely efficient design has allowed the tent to weigh not much more than 11kg and comprise of 5 main poles and the equator for fast and easy assembly and storage. The outdoor gear company has also considered a water-resistant dual-layered exterior skin for their incredibly strong and sturdy tent to endure whatever mother nature has to throw at it.

Balkrishna Doshi, also known as B.V. Doshi or simply Doshi, has been named this year’s Pritzker Prize Laureate. His extensive portfolio of educational, cultural, public administration, and residential projects is matched only by his contribution to architectural culture—from founding The School of Architecture at Ahmedabad (now known as the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology) to co-authoring the Habitat Bill of Rights, among others. Yet, his vividly illustrated conceptual drawings reveal as much, if not more, of the architect’s relationship with building, history, tradition, culture, and modernism.

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As the river offers a place of beauty and solitude to the people of Detroit, four international design teams have presented their creative schemes for the West Riverfront to extend this vibrant area in the city as part of an international design competition led by the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy (DRFC). The development of the 22-acre West Riverfront Park is expected to cost around $50 million to complete the DRFC’s ultimate vision for 5.5 miles of revitalized riverfront.

The four principal firms include Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN), Hood Design Studio (HDS), James Corner Field Operations and Michael Van Valkenburgh and Associates (MVVA) collaborating with numerous Detroit and Michigan- based firms. Each of the teams has collaborated closely with the public to achieve a design that gives justice to the legacy of the people.

How can we plan a better city? The answer has confounded architects and urban planners since the birth of the industrial city. One attempt at answering came in the form of a spectacular modernist proposal outside of Amsterdam called the Bijlmermeer. And, as a new two-part episode by 99% Invisible reveals, it failed miserably. But, like all histories, the story is not as simple as it first appears.

Sou Fujimoto and Coldefy & Associés Architects Urban Planners’ proposal for a pale sweeping canopy enclosing a stacked glazed volume was among the four finalists for the new Palais de justice in Lille, France organized by the Public Agency for Justice’s Real Estate (APIJ). Though the competition drew 139 international proposals, from which OMA was ultimately selected, Fujimoto and Coldefy & Associés' graceful structure was designed to house the high and district courts as well as public spaces within a facility in dialogue with its natural surroundings.

See the full proposal below.

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In this video, architecture vloggers #donotsettle take us inside Ateliers Jean Nouvel's "museum city" in the sea: the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Filmed one month after the museum’s opening in November, Kris Provoost winds his way through the galleries to the much-talked-about mega-dome—with a diagrammatic key plan in the bottom corner of the video helping us to follow his path.

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The Housing Development Company of the Federal District (CODHAB-DF) recently launched Accreditation Call No. 001/2018 which aims to accredit companies to provide temporary home renovation and minor repair services in areas of social interest. Registration must be completed online at www.codhab.df.gov.br/credenciamento/01-2018 by 6:00 PM on March 26.

Work has begun on the dismantling of the facade of Michael Graves’ iconic Portland Building, part of a $195 million project that could see the building lose its inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

As part of our 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale coverage we present the proposal for the British Pavilion. Find the curator statement below.

The British Pavilion for the 2018 Venice Biennale, entitled 'Island', was curated by Stirling Prize-winning Carusco St John Architects, working in collaboration with artist Marcus Taylor. Responding to the Biennale theme of ‘Freespace’ set by curators Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects, ‘Island’ sees the construction of a new public piazza on the roof of the British Pavilion, leaving the building below empty of exhibits.

At the piazza's centre, the Pavilion’s roof protrudes upwards through the floor to represent both an island, and an undiscovered world beneath. The programme for the British Pavilion sees a series of events including poetry, performance, film and debate, all interpreting interpretations of ‘Island’ and ‘Freespace’.

Rafael Viñoly Architects’ 277 Fifth has topped out at its full height of 663 feet, making it one of the tallest towers in the relatively low-lying NoMad area of Manhattan.

The 55-story condominium tower, located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 30th Street, features a restrained facade design composed of lightweight, reinforced, Indigo-colored cast concrete panels that were custom fabricated in Finland. As the building rises, its elevations are punctured by four unique ‘loggias’ that give residents of those units a space for outdoor dining and leisure. 

After designing over a hundred buildings and establishing several schools of architecture, Balkrishna Doshi achieved architecture’s highest accolade: the Pritzker Prize Award. Doshi is the first Indian architect to receive this award. He is known as an architectural advocate for social change and the environment.

Doshi believes his award is not only for himself but for all of India. The 90-year-old architect stood out as a pioneer of social housing design and architectural identity in India. Reflect on his legacy through these 21 images of his work:

In recent years, many ambitious proposals have been brought forward to revitalize and improve the area around the Los Angeles River. The Lower Los Angeles River Revitalization Plan (LLARP), proposed by Perkins + Will Architects in conjunction with various community groups and public institutions, aims to connect residents to the river and improve the environment surrounding it.

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New renderings and details of The Shed at Hudson Yards have been revealed as the structure’s ETFE panels continue to be installed ahead of its Spring 2019 opening date.

The new images show how some of the cultural venue’s interior spaces will look, including the galleries and the vast event space created when the wheeled steel structure is rolled out to its furthest extents. This space will be known as “the McCourt,” named after businessman Frank McCourt Jr, who donated $45 million to the project.

Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Rockwell Group, the 200,000-square-foot cultural center was envisioned as a spiritual successor to Cedric Price’s visionary “Fun Palace,” a flexible framework that could transform to host different types of events.

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In an era defined by globalization, and ‘speed-driven economies,’ urban environments are becoming more entwined with airports, giving rise to an architectural phenomenon of the ‘Aerotropolis’ across the world. In Oslo, Norwegian firms Haptic Architects and Nordic Office of Architecture have aimed higher, seeking to design the world’s first energy-positive airport city for the Norwegian capital.

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The Arch for Arch, an intertwined wooden archway honoring Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has debuted in downtown Cape Town, South Africa on a site near Parliament where Tutu held many of his anti-Apartheid protests.

Designed by Snøhetta and Johannesburg-based Local Studio, in collaboration with Design Indaba and Hatch engineers, the Arch for Arch consists of 14 woven strands of Larch wood, representing the 14 chapters of South Africa’s constitution. Reaching nearly 30 feet tall (9 meters), the structure invite visitors to pass through and be reminded of the location’s prominent role in their country’s history on their way to the Company’s Garden, one of the most popular public spaces in the city since its establishment in 1652.

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In recent years, International Women's Day has reclaimed the political significance of its origins, bringing together some of the most recent discussions surrounding women: the gender pay gap, the exposure of sexual abuse through the #MeToo movement, and, in the specific case of our discipline, the visibility of women in architecture. Zaha Hadid went so far as to say that she felt "harshly judged for [the fact of] being a woman," despite winning the Pritzker Prize in 2004.

If that happened to her, imagine the rest.

In this regard, at ArchDaily we have opened up the discussion and are proud to highlight the work of women architects worldwide, in addition to partnering with interesting Latin American initiatives along the same lines, such as Un día, una arquitecta. For this edition of International Women's Day, we have joined forces with the Colombian print publication de-Arq (Universidad de los Andes) to showcase the work of five contemporary Colombian women architects, who represent distinct yet complementary approaches within our discipline: design, research, teaching, and experimentation.

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March 8 is a date established by the UN in 1975 to commemorate the struggle for equal rights and universal suffrage. This commemoration honors the efforts of women who demanded their right to vote, to work, to professional training, to hold public office, and to fight labor discrimination.