Asymptote Architecture and Artech Architects were awarded a close second place finish for the Kaohsiung Marine Gateway project. The project proposes a 200m long structure situated between two 14 story towers located at the cities newly developed harbor edge. The proposal calls for a new urban intervention at the cities waterfront combining both cultural and commercial aspects with the port terminal functions the building is designed to house. The buildings technological envelope and architecture and is designed to be a striking and elegant addition to the quickly changing city of Kaohsiung and to act as a catalyst for unique and sustained urban development over the coming years and decades.

Further description and renderings of Asymptote Architecture and Artech Architects proposal after the break.

For the winning proposal by Reiser + Umemoto click here.

Architects: Asymptote Architecture and Artech Architects Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan Project Team: Asymptote Architecture – Hani Rashid & Lise Anne Couture, Artech Architects – Kris Yao Structural Engineering: Knippers Helbig Environmental Engineering: Transsolar Cruise Consultant: Parsons Brinckerhoff Fire, Electrical & Plumbing: Heng Kai Traffic Engineering: Everest Project Area: 40,000 sqm Client: Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau Competition: Kaohsiung Port Terminal 2010 Photographs: Courtesy of Asymptote Architecture

Morris Arboretum’s Tree Adventure exhibit Out on a Limb, designed by Metcalfe Architecture & Design, was the 2010 AIA Philadelphia Design Excellence Gold Medal Winner, 2010 AIA Pennsylvania Architectural Excellence Award, 2010 “Best of Philly” Award, and the 2010 American Association of Museums Excellence in Exhibition Design Award. Suspended 50 feet above the forest floor this network of walkways (450-feet in length) provides a bird’s eye view of the forest, complete with a giant Bird’s Nest, Squirrel Scramble rope, and many vista platforms.

Follow the break for photographs, drawings, and renderings of Out on a Limb.

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Architects: Metcalfe Architecture & Design Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Consultant: Forever Young Treehouse, Inc Structural Engineers: CVM Engineering Construction Managers: CVM Construction Civil Engineers: Hunt Engineering Company Lighting Designers: Grenald Waldron Associates Exhibit Designers: Sparks Exhibits and Environments Photographs: Paul Warchol

Now this is dense. Kowloon Walled City, a Chinese settlement in Hong Kong was at one time thought to be the most dense place on the planet. A Japanese team was able to document the city in section before it was disassembled in 1993.

Additional photographs following the break.

Budapest’s new metro line includes ten stations and will connect South Budapest to the center city. Located on the Danube river and currently under construction, Fővám tér Station is part of the first phase of this project. Only a complex structural system could fulfil the requirements emerging from the proximity of the Danube and the given construction site. For that reason, Fővám tér Station station is composed of a cut-and-cover box and tunnels. The complexity of the structure is driven by the need for a new tunnels for the tramline and pedestrians. This new underground station will become a gateway to the historic downtown of Budapest.

Renderings, drawings, and photographs following the break.

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Architects: Spora Architects Ltd Location: Quay of River Danube, Budapest, Hungary Lead Designers: Tibor Dékány, Sándor Finta, Ádám Hatvani, Orsolya Vadász Project Team: Zsuzsa Balogh, Attilla Korompay, Bence Várhidi, Noémi Soltész, András Jánosi, Diána Molnár General Design: Palatium Studió Kft Project Area: 7,100 sqm Project Year: 2007-2012 Photographs: Tamás Bujnovszky

When  you combine imagination, architectural detail, and team work, cool things can happen, as seen in one architecture firm’s annual christmas card.  In 1975 Don Reeves challenged his staff, “Rather than send out some nice architectural drawing for our holiday greeting to business friends and family, let’s do a working drawing of Santa’s workshop! Take the next 45 minutes or so, and have at it!”  His staff enjoyed the challenge and four days later a sticker board was put up in the office, with a brainstormed functional workshop.

Thanks to the New York Post article we noticed that this project Pionen White Mountain, which we featured November 24, 2008, is indeed the WikiLeaks Headquarters. Pionen – White Mountain designed by Albert France-Lanord Architects is housed in a former 1,200 sqm Cold War bunker (originally built as a World War II bunker); an amazing location 30 meters down under the granite rocks of the Vita Berg Park in Stockholm.

One of the original founders of WikiLeaks is architect John Young. Sections and more photographs following the break.

Update: It seems that the New York Post article was misleading. The Pionen – White Mountain facilities, a Bahnhof computer center, hosts two Wikileaks servers at these facilities and provides power, cooling, and Internet access to the servers.

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Architects: Albert France-Lanord Architects Location:Stockholm, Sweden Program: Datacenter Collaborators: Frida Öster and Jonatan Blomgren Geology Consultant: Geosigma AB Construction: Albert France-Lanord Architects Client: Bahnhof AB Construction Area: 1,200 sqm Project year: 2008 Photographs: Åke E:son Lindman

PBS has released their sixteen finalists under consideration for piloting. Making their short-list is Cool Spaces, a show focused on featuring modern architecture, hosted by architect Stephen Chung. The show is slated to be a 13-part series focused on buildings in North America. The public spaces Chung would visit include libraries, restaurants, hotels, etc. with approximately two or three buildings featured per half hour episode.

Recently reported in El Economista, Apple has chosen to team up with Norman Foster for its new Apple Campus in Cupertino, California. Steve Jobs and Norman Foster have been working together for months developing the design for the new campus. The future headquarters will seek to utilize Foster’s innovative vision for sustainability, ability to perfect a building for its users down to the finest detail, and ideas to maximize efficiency in the workplace.

The Baabdat Residence is an inversion design of the traditional agricultural terracing. This results in spectacular 180 degree views out to the mountains beyond, and a camouflaged home from above. More drawings following the break.

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Architects: L.E.FT Location: Baabdat, Lebanon Team: Daniel Colvard, Makram el Kadi, Ziad Jamaleddine, Mahdi Sabbagh, Karie Titus, Karine Yassine Client: P.Baadarani Project Area: 500 sqm Renderings: Courtesy of L.E.FT

Located on an 80 acre field station on the prairie of Muncie, Indiana the Straw Bale Eco Center was a community project between Ball State University Department of Architecture students, professors, building professionals, elementary school students and the general public. The classroom and ecology center was a project of complete collaboration, resulting in immersion learning, education outreach and research initiatives, it is the first carbon neutral load bearing straw bale public building in the region.

The Straw Bale Eco Center was awarded the 2008 Merit Award for Excellence in Architectural Design by AIA Indiana, 2008 Alternative Power and Energy Award, 2008 Accent on Architecture Award, and 2007 Green Building Initiative Award.

More photographs and drawings following the break.

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Architects: Students of Ball State University Department of Architecture; Faculty Coordinator Timothy Gray, Gray Architecture Location: 5800 Bethel Avenue Muncie, Indiana Client: Field Station Oversight Committee, Ball State University Project Area: 500 sqf Project Year: 2008-2009 Photographs: Courtesy of Gray Architecture Drawings: Dan Bajor

The architectural proposal for the block of buildings at No.8, No. 9 and No. 10 Franciscan Square deals with restoration and addition to an existing structure offering new possibilities in terms of usage and spatial arrangement. The essence of idea lies in the nature of the historical environment of the Old Town of Bratislava seen in the principles of layering of new shapes, volumes and functions. In this case the oldest layers go back to Middle Ages when the foundations of the town were laid.

The 21th century layer is added in the form of new feature respecting the old structure without being replica of historical fabric. This so called “leg” connects all levels terminating at the highest level creating its own world at the top.  Follow the break for more renderings and a brief of Frantiskanske Square.

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Architects: AOCR Location: Bratislava, Slovakia Design Team: Michal Vrsansky, Pavol Senecky, Petr Navrat, Vladimir Vrsansky Cooperation: Jana Stykova, Romana Kukulova, Rastislav Miklus Renderings: Michal Vrsansky

Take a look at Villa In Darvishabad by Pouya Khazaeli Parsa. This video directed by Mehrdad Emrani, provides a complete experience of the house, proportion and scale, and how the light shifts in the home throughout the day. Last month we featured this project – drawings, photographs and description can be found here.

Reexamining an ‘icon of the American landscape’ architects Austin + Mergold have created an innovate solution to pre-fabricated housing. A typical metal grain dryer offers an interior footprint of roughly one thousand square feet, thirty-six feet in diameter. The Philadelphia based, Cornell University graduates, have developed a design that instantly assembles off-the-shelf. The soup can-shaped 2,000 square foot single family starter homes are constructed from 14 gauge galvanized corrugated steel exterior, have 2 or 3 bedrooms, an optional green house, and can have one or two levels accordingly. Austin + Mergold recently partnered with Hometta where plans for House-in-a-Can will soon be available. Follow the break for more drawings and sketches.

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Architects: Austin + Mergold Project Area: 36-foot diameter American grain dryer, 2,000 sqf

Featured here on ArchDaily are the recently unveiled designs by Foster + Partners for the Zayed National Museum. The monument and memorial to the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding president of the UAE, is located on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE, and will be the first museum completed for the island.

Architecturally, the aim has been to combine a highly efficient, contemporary form with elements of traditional Arabic design and hospitality to create a museum that is sustainable, welcoming and culturally of its place. Celebrating Sheikh Zayed’s legacy and love of nature, the museum is set within a landscaped garden, based on a timeline of his life.

Architects: Foster + Partners Location: Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE Foster + Partners Project Team: Norman Foster, David Nelson, Gerard Evenden, Toby Blunt, Martin Castle, Ross Palmer, Dara Towhidi, Karsten Vollmer, Barrie Cheng, Ho Ling Cheung, Sidonie Immler, Joern Herrmann, Andrew King, Gemma Owen, Jillian Salter, Marilu Sicoli, Daniel Weiss, Bram Van Der Wal, Simon Wing Engineers: WSP/BDSP AKT Local Architect: Planar Landscape Architects: Atelier Dreiseitl Lighting Designers: Claude Engle Cost Consultants: RLB Facade Access: Lerch Bates Specification Writers: Schumann Smith Air Flow Consultants: RWDI Environmental Engineers: Transsolar Auditorium Consultants: Shen Milsom + Wilke People Movement Consultants: Intelligent Space Programme Managers: AECOM District Master Planners: TDIC Master Planners Museography: The British Museum Client: Tourism Development + Investment Company Project Area: 66,042 sqm Renderings: Courtesy of Foster + Partners

And this years rankings are in…

In it’s 12th year of publication in DesignIntelligence, James Cramer and the Greenway Group have compiled the 2011 America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools ranking. Cornell University repeated as the No.1 Undergraduate Architecture program. The most significant switch among the universities this year, the University of Michigan Graduate program grabbing the No.1 spot, nudging out Harvard (No.2) who had consecutively held the top position for the last six years.

James Cramer answered the ever popular question, why rank schools, “At university, students’ experiences can significantly enhance or diminish their interests as well as their likelihood for future success. This gives schools both tremendous opportunity and huge responsibility, since what happens in them has the potential to change the careers of individuals as well as the architecture profession as a whole.”

Cramer continues, “Another answer is given by the architecture firms that employ recent graduates. If the purpose of a professional degree is to prepare students for professional practice, then how well are degree-granting institutions performing the task? Ongoing research by the Design Futures Council and Greenway Group shows that architecture firms and related professional practice careers are being deconstructed and reinvented at an accelerated pace. Beyond the economy, for example, the profession is being shaped by profound changes in technology, such as building information modeling. Can educational institutions keep pace with the changing needs of 21st-century practices? And so we ask in our survey, “In your firm’s hiring experience in the past five years, which schools are best preparing students for success in the architecture profession?”

After the break you can find the complete rankings divided into the following categories: analysis and planning, communication, computer applications, construction methods and materials, design, research and theory and sustainable design practices and principles as seen at Architectural Record.

The Vasquez Rocks Nature and Interpetive Center is a vital gateway to a unique asset in the Los Angeles County Parks system. The high-desert site is one of the most significant natural areas in the region; its sculptural rock formations have inspired generations of visitors.  Its location along the Pacific Crest Trail affords hikers on a 2,650-mile walk from Mexico to Canada an unforgettable point of reference.

The new Vasquez Rocks Nature and Interpretive Center communicates the feeling that it is at one with its environment, treading lightly upon the land but leaving a significant cognitive impact upon the visitor. It is at once visually arresting and subtly integrated – it’s as if it has been there as long as the rocks themselves.

More about this project after the break.

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Architects: Brooks + Scarpa Location: Agua Dulce, California, USA Exhibit Designer: Victoria Biddle Design Contractor: Mallcraft Civil Engineer: Bighorn Consultants Structural Engineer: BPA Group MEP Engineer: IBE Consulting Engineers Landscape Architect: PEG Office of Landscape + Architecture Client: County of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works Project Area: 3,000 sqf Project Year: 2010 Photographs: Courtesy of Brooks + Scarpa

Situated at the based of a steep field, the Chapel of Eternal Light offers views to the water beyond, an ideal location. With its slanted walls, the inverted pyramid shape is anchored by a concrete slab and formed from a metal structure. Follow the break for more construction photographs, drawings, and model pics of this in progress project.

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Architects: Bernardo Rodrigues Arquitecto Location: Ponta Garça, San Miguel, Azores Project Team: James Grainger, Peter Mosca, Natasha Viveiros, Malheiros Nuno, Nuno Rodrigues Specifications: Ana Fortuna Structures: HDP Engineering Mechanical: Maria Odette de Almeida, Paulo de Faria Queiroz Ltd Electrical: Fernando Gomes Project Year: 2003-2011 Photographs: Courtesy of Bernardo Rodrigues Arquitecto

“How Wine Became Modern: Design + Wine 1976 to Now” is a brand new exhibit at the San Francisco Modern Museum of Art. Co-created and designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the exhibit was organized by Henry Urbach, SFMOMA’s Helen Hilton Raiser Curator of Architecture and Design. Bringing attention to the wine industry and its integration with the latest artists, designers and architects the exhibit will be on display at SFMOMA until April. A main part of the exhibit is featuring the architectural spaces that house the wine making process, tastings, museums, etc. Some big name architects who have developed designs for cutting-edge wineries include: Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Norman Foster, Herzog and de Meuron, Renzo Piano and Alvaro Siza.