New York City has seen rapid redevelopment that has capitalized on previously undesirable locations. Sitting at the top of these locations are the sites that have access to waterfront. Most of the ventures in these areas are private economic interests that only address public value when there is a direct return on profit. If not taken into consideration many of these waterfronts will be absorbed and, with the constant return of people to the urban core, there lies a need to create public and cultural infrastructure. In a city that is filled with numerous icons, parks, theaters, and museums an aquarium is one of the few remaining public typologies that isn't prevalent within the immediate area.

Dallas Architecture Forum, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing public education about architecture, design and the urban environment, will continue its 2015-2016 Panel Discussion Series on January 26, 2016 with “Making Fair Park Work.” Moderated by Mark Lamster, Dallas Morning News Architecture Critic, this panel is presented in partnership with the Dallas Festival of Ideas and the College of Architecture Planning and Public Affairs (CAPPA) at the University of Texas at Arlington.

The art installation, Salt - Microcosm of Life[Style] is currently exhibiting at 2015 Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (Hong Kong Edition). Stanley Pun and Rina Ko are recent graduates from London and Hong Kong and the work is a reflection of what ability do we have to influence the way we want to live - by changing our perspectives - and in turn, how it could shape our future city.

The Los Angeles Conservancy is now accepting applications for their 2016 Preservation Awards, which recognize outstanding achievement in the field of historic preservation in Los Angeles County. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, January 29, 2016.

The Shivaji Competition seeks actual and impossible ideas to maintain human habitation on islands and deltas doomed by the predicted sea level rise of at least one meter in the 21st century. All entries will be submitted as animated GIFs for social media broadcast and museum exhibition. One finalist will be selected to participate in the Rising Waters Confab 2016 to be held on Captiva Island, Florida, USA in May, 2016. Roundtrip transportation provided. Visit Shivaji2016.com. All entries due on March 10, 2016. Free to enter.

With a population of 3.4 million inhabitants, Berlin is the largest city in Germany and one of the major enclaves of power and culture in Europe. The division of the city during the Cold War doubled the cultural offer. Two theaters, two philharmonic and two stadiums were built generating a great amount of establishments that after the unification enrich the collective culture. Berlin is the cultural capital of the country by excellence. Despite the atrocities it suffered in the past, the city is known for its religious tolerance and multiculturalism. Today the city coexists exemplarily withdifferent religions and cultures from all around the world. Berlin is also home to the alternative youth culture. A great university city where young people from Germany and around the world come to study and socialize. Berlin is a city that has known destruction, division and reconstruction significantly, which transformed it into a laboratory for modern architecture and urbanism. The Berlin Wall divided the city and materialized it in two ways of living. The west side: western, compact and cosmopolitan differentiates from the east side: spacious, simple and Prussian. The multiple events suffered, set the Berlin to be doomed as the “not to be” city. Berlin does not have the museum beauty like other European capitals, but its people and its rich history make it a strong and vibrant city. The constant change is perhaps the only thing that remains stable in the German city.

Competition Subject

The competition includes offering a proposal for station 7, line 1 of Tabriz urban train (Tabriz University) which covers the following two axial subjects:
1. Design of station entrances
2. Design and interior architecture of the station

Presenting the work of the revolutionary architect Walter Segal, Walter’s Way – The Self-Build Revolution focuses on Segal’s work with the Lewisham self-builders of the 1980s and displays the application of Segal’s method today. Housed in and around a newly constructed section of a Segal house, from which visitors can experience the fundamental elements of the style, are original drawings, documents and furniture designed by Segal alongside archival films and photographs, plus contemporary photographs by Taran Wilkhu and a new interpretation of Segal’s technique by 2015 Turner Prize winner Assemble.

Throughout history, the coast has spawned various architectural types of public infrastructure which enabled and enhanced the coastal experience. The British invention of the marine pier for instance was an architectural innovation that allowed the first coast tourists to walk on water, as it were, only without getting wet or seasick. The seafront promenade in turn was the public place to be for the well-to-do dawdler, but at the same time also an integral part of coastal defence as well as an efficient real-estate instrument along which the first prestigious ‘Grands Hotels’ could be erected. Lastly, the modern installations balnéaires in Ostend, Knokke, and Blankenberge integrated showers, changing rooms, luxury cabins, ticket sales, and steps leading to the beach.

[Overview]
TRANS-PLAN is an international student design competition organized by A2G (Architecture Gallery at the Faculty of Architecture University of Manitoba). The competition is open to all students registered in spatial design and or exhibition design disciplines.

The Passive House is now 25 years old; to celebrate this, the International Passive House Conference is returning to Darmstadt – the city in Germany, in which this success story began. On 22 and 23 April 2016, over a hundred speakers from all over the world will report on the latest projects relating to highly energy efficient construction and retrofits. But the anniversary will also serve as an occasion for a review, with the presentation of results relating to the durability of the individual building components of the first Passive House. The complete Conference programme is now available online. In addition, registration at the early booking rate is now possible at: www.passivehouseconference.org

For architects, drawing is a thinking process. Sketching by hand onto paper without having any predetermined built form in mind is often the springboard for new hypotheses. With the rise of digital representation in architecture, has the computer superseded the hand in the exploration of ideas? This RIBA London seminar sees Professor Sir Peter Cook (co-founder of Archigram, director of CRAB Studio) and Professor Marcos Cruz (Bartlett) discuss the boons and limitations of digital representation in architecture, and the hybrid possibilities of using both in tandem.

Videos

Re-Ball! is an open design competition to turn 650,000+ 3-inch, white, translucent plastic balls into a site-specific installation in the Dupont Underground’s 14,000-square-foot east platform. The balls were previously part of the National Building Museum’s blockbuster 2015 summer destination The Beach.
The winning concept will take the medium in a new direction, one that responds to the uniqueness of the installation site. From the open, light-filled box of the National Building Museum’s Great Hall to the curving concrete volume of the Dupont Underground's east platform, Re-Ball! entries should transform the constituent materials — and the space itself — into an entirely new experience.
Re-Ball! is open to everyone across all disciplines: artists, architects, designers, and the general public. The winning entry should be thoughtful, provocative, witty, safe, and executable on a limited budget, in a limited time frame, and within the confines of the site.

Increasingly, more architecture professionals are breaking into the world of film, learning digital animation and design skills to engage non-specialists, as well as their peers. Architect-trained Kibwe Tavares, co-founder of creative studio Factory Fifteen, will explore the ways architects and designers can use digital representation to encourage imaginative thinking through a combination of architecture and film.

At the beginning of January 2016 the Municipality of Prato, Italy, is launching an open, anonymous, international two-phase design competition for a new 3-hectare urban park in its historical city center. By the end of February, the international jury will select 10 finalist architects who will be invited to conceive a schematic design for the site. In June 2016 the winner will be awarded and commissioned to design the final project for the new Parco Centrale di Prato.

In the coming months, OMI is entirely devoted to OMA, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. With the reopening of the Kunsthal, the completion of De Rotterdam and Timmerhuis this is a perfect opportunity to profile the work of OMA. OMI publishes a special map, organises excursions, and an accompanying exhibition at OMI’s own location gives insight into the work of the office in Rotterdam and The Hague.

A’ Design Award & Competition is the world’s leading international annual juried competition for design. The A’ Design Accolades are organized in a wide range of creative fields to highlight the very best designers from all countries in all disciplines. Entries to the competition are peer-reviewed and anonymously judged by an influential jury panel of experienced academics, prominent press members and established professionals. A’ Design Award & Competition promises fame, prestige, publicity and international recognition to all A’ Design Award Winners through the A’ Design Prize which is given to celebrate the awarded designs.

UPDATE: The submission deadline has been changed to February 7th, 2016.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is looking for multi-disciplinary design teams that are capable of designing and delivering a technically demanding and environmentally sensitive makeover in the heart of India’s Financial Capital, Mumbai. There are no competition fees to be paid and all submissions will be exclusively done through the competition portal. Five shortlisted entries from the first stage will each receive Rs. 5,00,000 and the eventual winner will receive Rs. 50,00,000 as part of a contract.