Architecture News

The ever-growing realm of “post-digital” drawing is currently at the forefront of a healthy dosage of discourse, appreciation and even criticism, as professionals and students alike continue to push the envelope of accepted architectural representation and exchange a waning hyperrealism for the quirks and character of alternative visual narratives. Central to this new wave of illustration is the inclusion and appropriation of specific icons and characters from famous pieces of modern art, selected in particular from the works of David Hockney, Edward Hopper and Henri Rousseau, whose work undoubtedly remains at the forefront of their individual crafts and styles.

In their winning competition entry, French architecture firm Ilimelgo reimagines the future of urban agriculture with a vertical farming complex in the Parisian suburb of Romainville. The project integrates production of produce into the city through a 1000 square meter greenhouse that maximizes sunlight and natural ventilation. Recognizing the developing world’s diminishing agricultural space, the project aims to meet the growing demands for crop cultivation in urban environments.

Videos

As Mies van der Rohe’s adopted city, Chicago and its surrounding area are home to more of the Modernist architect’s projects than anywhere else in the world, from Crown Hall to Federal Center to the Farnsworth House. Perhaps for that very reason, the McCormick House, located in the Chicago suburb of Elmhurst, is one of the lesser known projects in the architect's’ oeuvre – despite being one of just three single-family homes in the United States completed by Mies.

Built in 1952 for Robert McCormick Jr. – the owner of the land where Mies' 860-880 N. Lake Shore Drive was constructed – the house was moved down the street in 1994, where it was attached to the newly built Elmhurst Museum of Art via a 15-foot-long corridor. While its relocation allowed the building to remain in good care over the next 23 years, it also obscured the home’s front facade, “camouflaging one of the most prized objects in the museum's collection.”

But that’s all about to change, thanks to an upcoming restoration that will remove the offending corridor, allowing the original architecture to shine once again.

Manifesta 12 creative mediator OMA has revealed the Palermo Atlas, an interdisciplinary urban study of Palermo that will inform the organization of 12th edition of Manifesta, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, that will be held next year in the Italian city. Led by OMA partner Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, the project outlines a blueprint for Palermo “to plan its future and as a research framework to ensure that Manifesta 12 achieves a long-term impact for the city and its citizens.”

+ 7

It’s one of the core tenants of manufacturing – first, build something useful, then, figure out how to build it cheaply.

Throughout the tech industry’s brief history, the philosophy of economies of scale have helped to achieve the widespread adoption of the latest gadgets across the globe; according to Wireless Smartphone Strategies’ Global Smartphone User Penetration Forecast, an estimated 44% of the world’s population are current owners of an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, or other smartphone.

On the other hand, over the past 60 years building construction costs have essentially remained flat, despite the fact that the price of materials and components for nearly every other consumer object has dropped. Architecture is inherently a bespoke process, making streamlining its production difficult. But finally, technologists believe they may have found a solution.

MVRDV have broken ground on a 3,700 square meter creative office project in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Named “Salt,” the new flexible workspace is part of the Minervahaven port redevelopment located on the city’s harbor. Conceived as a response to the lack of flexible workspaces in Amsterdam, Salt aims to provide small, high-quality offices geared towards the demands of creative industries. The building contributes to Minervahaven’s ambition to redefine itself as the city’s new creative hub.

Videos

Civic buildings are, as a rule, both austere and intimidating. They are often designed to represent authority above all, taking cues from Classical architectural language to construct an image of power, dominance, and civic unity. Adam Nathaniel Furman, a London-based architect and thinker, has at once eschewed and reengaged this typology in order to propose an entirely new type of civic center ("Town Hall") for British cities. The proposal, which was commissioned by the 2017 Scottish Architectural Fringe as part of a New Typologies exhibition in which architects are imagining "how our shared civic infrastructure will exist in the future, if at all", is currently on display in Glasgow.

By "re-grouping various civic functions into one visually symbolic composition of architectural forms," references and types of ornament and allusions have been configured "depending on the metropolitan area within which it is situated in and embodies." In short, Furman states, the Democratic Monument "is an expression of urban pride, chromatic joy, and architectural complexity" which has universal symbolism but remains a beacon to its vicinity.

+ 15

In LEVS Architecten’s newest development Forum City, the firm reinterprets Russian urban life in the center of its fourth-largest city, Yekaterinburg. The nine-building complex, developed by the Forum Group, curates its own metropolitan microcosm inside the larger urban area by combining residential, leisure facilities, and retail inside an archetypal city block.

+ 10

FaulknerBrowns Architects have released plans for a revitalization of Queens Parade, a waterfront site in Bangor, Northern Ireland that has long been left underutilized. Situated next to the Bangor Marina, the mixed-used development will include residential, entertainment, and retail buildings in an effort to secure the site as a destination for both locals and tourists to connect with the water.

+ 2

The people have spoken and the message is clear: “We want CAD blocks, reference drawings in DWG format and templates of all kinds!” Well, feast your eyes on this latest discovery, www.linecad.com. The site is a catch-all for downloadable DWGs and blocks whose scope even goes beyond architecture. (Shout out to your engineer buddies looking for pumps, pipes and gauges!)

This week a groundbreaking ceremony was held for Tainan Axis, a project by MVRDV, and local architects The Urbanist Collaborative and LLJ Architects that is set to offer the Taiwanese city a revitalized plaza and green corridor. William Lai, the Mayor of Tainan, joined the Urban Development Bureau of Tainan City and the local architects to mark the beginning of construction.

+ 4

Architectural photographer Julien Lanoo is known for his storytelling. His documentary-style photographs of the built environment range from Adjaye Associates' Aishti Foundation, OMA’s CCTV and the Oslo Architecture Triennale to name a few. Now the photographer has released a short film: introducing Canadian-Ghanaian architect Akwasi McLaren as he tells the story behind building his eco-lodge in the Cape 3 Points region of Ghana. Broken down into 3 chapters, “Knowledge, Wisdom, and Understanding” follows McLaren’s journey from designing his parents’ hotel in Ghana as a student to building his beloved lodge on the beach, to his hopes of sharing the valuable skills of ecological building and craftsmanship to cities.

Taking a page from its own products, Chicago’s new flagship Apple Store will have what appears to be a MacBook-inspired roof topping its entrance. Videos from the Chicago Tribune and Twitter surfaced earlier last week detailing its roof installation complete with a white apple logo. The Foster + Partners design will offer unobstructed views towards the Chicago river as a tribute to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie-style homes outside the city.

Videos

Update: We've added a 360 rendering of "Lumen" to the post, after the break (courtesy Jenny Sabin)! 

Jenny Sabin Studio’s “Lumen,” winner of the Museum of Modern Art’s 2017 Young Architects Program, has made its debut in the MoMA PS1 Courtyard in New York City, where it will play host to the 20th season of Warm Up, MoMA PS1’s pioneering outdoor music series. Constructed from more than 1,000,000 yards of “digitally knitted and robotically woven fiber,” this year’s structure features 250 hanging tubular structures designed to capture and display the ever-changing color of sunlight over the course of the day.

+ 10

The year's best architectural photos have been announced as winners of 2017 iPhone Photography Awards (IPPAWARDS). Founded in 2007 – the same year as the release of the first iPhone – IPPAWARDS is the first and longest running iPhone photography competition. Now in its 10th year, the awards continue to select the best images taken by iPhone, iPad or iPod touch from a variety of categories including Landscape, Animals, People, Still Life and Architecture.

This year’s architecture category was won by Paddy Chao for his photo of Chand Baori, one of the deepest stepwells in India. Second prize was awarded to Naian Feng for his shot of the red walls of Beijing's Forbidden City.

Continue after the break to see the winning and honorable mention photos.

+ 48

Lendager Group have released drawings and renderings of Stedsans in the Woods, a farming development currently in progress in the deep Swedish wilderness. A collaboration with restaurant owners Mette Helbæk and Flemming Hansen, the project will feature a permaculture farm, restaurant, and lodging. A focus on sustainability and living off the landscape drives both the architecture and the Stedsans brand, who stress the idea of ‘giving more than we take.’ Located in Bohult, Sweden, the development offers visitors an escape from the city with opportunities for fresh dining and connecting with nature.

+ 11

Jože Plečnik is often described as Slovenia's greatest architect despite his passing over seven decades ago. The trace of his hand, which was trained in Vienna under Otto Wagner, can be seen across the country – and especially so in Ljubljana. Although Plečnik is often most keenly remembered for his restorative work and renovation of Prague Castle in the 1920s, the impact he left on the Slovenian capital is unmistakable.

Today, the city is dominated by a medieval castle, sat definatly atop a hill. It was for here, on this particularly charged site, that Plečnik proposed a radical intervention in the mid-20th Century. He wanted to build a new Slovene Parliament – a structure of State to house the legislature of the People's Republic of Slovenia within the second Yugoslavia. With this plan rejected by the authorities, Plečnik proposed a second design—known colloquially as the "Cathedral of Freedom"—here rebuilt and animated for the first time by Kristijan Tavcar.

+ 7

At ArchDaily, we work diligently to bring you the most useful insights and best stories about architecture from around the world. Virtual Reality is quickly developing into an unprecedented tool for architects to share their designs in unparalleled ways—enhancing architects' ability to communicate spatial ideas to clients and enabling more informed decision-making. To build on our coverage of successful case studies of virtual reality in architecture, we have partnered with SentioVR to create the ArchDaily 360 experience—an in-app feature that transports you to a collection of architectural sites that can be viewed in 360 degrees using Samsung's Gear VR platform.