Pola Mora

BROWSE ALL FROM THIS AUTHOR HERE

Smiljan Radic Wins Competition to Design Landmark for Santiago

Smiljan Radic has been announced as the winner of the competition to design a landmark on San Cristobal Hill, in the heart of Santiago, Chile, that consolidates the hill's numerous antennas into a single infrastructure.

According to the Contest Director, Luis Eduardo L. Bresciani, the purpose of this competition was to generate an innovative structure of iconic character, an architectural work of outstanding quality that would differ from other towers in other cities and give an identity not just to the hill, but to the city of Santiago. The jury also took into account the landscape of the site, particularly the care with which the park would be treated, as well as the tower's relationship with the statue of the Virgin and the hilltop in general. Finally, the functionality of the infrastructure, which should act as both a telecommunications tower as well as a public space with panoramic views, was considered. See the six shortlisted proposals, after the break.

Smiljan Radic Wins Competition to Design Landmark for Santiago - Image 1 of 4Smiljan Radic Wins Competition to Design Landmark for Santiago - Image 2 of 4Smiljan Radic Wins Competition to Design Landmark for Santiago - Image 3 of 4Smiljan Radic Wins Competition to Design Landmark for Santiago - Image 5 of 4Smiljan Radic Wins Competition to Design Landmark for Santiago - More Images+ 7

ARCHISET: An Illustrated Tribute to the Interiors of Classic Cinema

Subscriber Access | 

Federico Babina has surprised us several times with his artistic work, from his "pixelated" versions of iconic characters (Parts 1 and 2) of architecture to his illustrations of architectural landmarks in the history of cinema. This time, the architect and illustrator delights us again with a new series entitled ARCHISET, which presents the sets of some of the most memorable scenes from classic films.

The series consists of 17 illustrations, cross-sections presenting the interior design and characters in films such as "A Clockwork Orange" by Stanley Kubrick, "All About My Mother" by Spanish Director Pedro Almodovar, and "Vertigo" by the master, Hitchcock.

Check out the full series, after the break.

Richard Rogers to Design Two New Stadiums for Hugo Chávez Park

On January 17th, the mayor of Caracas, Jorge Rodriguez, and British architect Richard Rogers signed a contract that confirms Rogers will oversee the design and construction of two new stadiums within "Hugo Chavez" Park. Both stadiums should be completed by 2015.

The 200-hectare "Hugo Chavez" Park will be located around the race course La Rinconada and the Museum Alejandro Otero (MAO). The project, which began in April 2013, includes the construction of a football stadium with capacity for 50,000 people and a baseball stadium with capacity for 45,000, plus a multipurpose gym and the new headquarters of the Bolivarian University of Venezuela. 

Wang Shu's Partner Lu Wenyu: I Never Wanted a Pritzker

In an interview with Spanish newspaper El País, Lu Wenyu defends her husband Wang Shu for solely receiving the Pritzker Prize in 2012. Despite the fact that the couple co-founded Amateur Architecture Studio and have worked side by side ever since, Wengyu maintains that her husband would have shared the Prize with her - she just didn't want it.

She confides to El País: "In China, you lose your life if you become famous. I want a life and I prefer to spend it with my son. Over there I don't accept interviews. And not in English-speaking countries either [...] I'm happy to be able to do architecture that I believe helps our towns and cities to be better. I'm convinced that to talk about this awakens interest in others - not being famous." Read the full interview at El País

MEXTRÓPOLI: The First International Festival of Architecture & the City

Building upon its 15 years of experience, the Arquine Conference presents MEXTRÓPOLI, a festival that will position Mexico City as an epicenter of architecture and a leader in creative transformation.

MEXTRÓPOLI is a critical project that will encourage and promote culture, urban regeneration, and the artistic heritage of Mexico city.

MEXTRÓPOLI will host over 30 academic, cultural and tourist activities, held principally in the historic center of the city.

MEXTRÓPOLI invites the public to connect to the city in six different ways:

Call for Proposals: A Landmark for Santiago

To commemorate its Bicentennial, the Chilean government has launched an initiative called "Bicentennial Legacy" to regenerate, revitalize, and consolidate the public spaces, heritage sites, and urban icons of the country.

As part of this program, Chile's President, Sebastian Piñera, has proposed the “Plan Parque Metropolitano 100 Años”, which outlines projects that are to be developed within the Metropolitan Park of Santiago. This urban park is the principal public space within the city and is located on San Cristobal Hill, the geographical/metaphorical heart of the city.

One of these projects is the construction of a tower that will consolidate the numerous antennas currently located throughout the hill into a single infrastructure. 

5 Women Changing the Face of Architecture

In a profession all-too-often associated with and dominated by men, women have begun to carve a space for themselves in the architecture world - but still few are recognized as they deserve. 

So Alice Shure and Janice Stanton, the founders of Amici Productions LLC, began work on a new documentary, Making Space: a visual register for future generations of architects that will document what is changing in architecture today and how these changes are affecting women. 

After interviewing over 30 architects, Shure and Stanton selected five women, five "rising stars" to hi-light. The documentary will show their day-to-day lives as well as tell the stories of how they achieved success. 

Thanks to a recent Kickstarter campaign, this project will soon be a reality. But to get your sneak peek into these five female pioneers, read on after the break.

Think Sol, International Ideas Competition

As part of the Architecture Week in Madrid, the "Past, Present and Future of Sol" exhibition was inaugurated and the brief for the International Ideas Competition was publicated.

PIENSA SOL is a reflection about the future of Madrid's Puerta del Sol plaza. Its objective is to compile proposals through an international ideas competition to profile the path of its evolution looking to improve the Puerta del Sol context. To get to this objective PIENSA SOL is planned in a structured process base in four complementary phases: COMPETITION, EXHIBITION, CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND REFLECTION.

VIDEO: "Affairs in Blue" Mediterraneo House / Manuel Ocaña

Subscriber Access | 

Spanish architect Manuel Ocaña has shared with us an innovative video that explores his Mediterraneo House, in Alicante, Spain.

The view was produced by Taller de Casquería; Luis Rodriguez Carnero plays the protagonist.

From the architect. Through travellings, point perspectives, a main character and a plot trick, the film creates a catalogue of experiences that open up a path to describing architectural spaces without conventional cliches, without still photos, and amplifies the importance of the human scale in the communication of architecture.