We've just learned that the Pritzker Prize will be announced on Monday, March 24 at 5pm EDT. This prize -- architecture's most prestigious -- has been awarded annually since 1979. Past winners include Philip Johnson, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Oscar Niemeyer and Norman Foster (full list). You can see ArchDaily's coverage of the prize here. Stay tuned for the latest updates on this year's winner. Who do you think deserves to win?
Architects, Sociologists and Environmentalists explore the intersection between design and the social sciences at large by explicating the concept of “city” and “citizen” in parallel.
Eight multidisciplinary teams have been selected to move forward in the second stage of competition to design the UK Pavilion for the 2015 Milan Expo. Drawing inspiration from the theme “Grown in Britain: Shared Globally,” the teams will now envision proposals that showcase Britain’s contribution in research, innovation and entrepreneurship to the global challenges addressed by the overarching exposition theme, “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.” Presentations will commence mid-April and a winner will be announced in May. View the selected teams, after the break.
The recently announced 'User-Generated Kyiv Ideas Competition' is searching for creative ideas and architectural solutions on building a better city. In nowadays circumstances, where citizens arise and understand that a city should be built by its citizens, the competition aims to convert the maximum energy generated by the revolutionary wave into urban ideas and new functions of public space.
"In a career that is still taking shape, the 44-year-old McQueen has already done more to make me rethink the relationship between the built environment and the camera than almost anybody in Hollywood." So says Christopher Hawthorne in his latest for the LA Times, where he examines the body of work of Steve McQueen - the director of Hunger, Shame, and the Oscar-winning 12 Years A Slave - and explores how McQueen "takes up architectural symbols in a sustained and strategic way." Read the fascinating article at the LA Times.
Recently, City of Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado declared March as Miami Bike Month. And why shouldn’t it? Did you see the latest gathering this past Friday for Critical Mass? Hundreds of people, including celebrity cyclists and NBA megastars Dwyane Wade and Lebron James, were in attendance for a 13 mile trek around Miami. Cycling has become the latest “thing” in Miami. However, it could be more than just a monthly ride. Why not see cycling as a serious solution to the traffic congestion problems in and out of the city? Cities like Amsterdam and Chicago seem to think of it as a real solution. It doesn’t have to just be about bikes either, car sharing has become a major business as well and could also assist with making our streets safer. What if there was a place in Miami, built infrastructure that helped promote these solutions? Well there could be…..that’s where DawnTown needs your help.
"Some days it feels like Google is taking over the world." In an article for The Verge Sean Hollister investigates how Google now represents one tenth of Mountain View, the city which hosts the company's Californian headquarters. Having one of the world's largest tech companies on their doorstep is a cause of concern for residents, some of whom are now referring to their home as Googleville. Having just bought the lease for a former military airport some city council members are seeing the expansionist move as a step too far - read the article in full here.
In this Financial Times article, Will Hunter reacts to another FT article which brands architects as "cling-ons": "middle class but only by the skin of our teeth". Hunter's article looks at the reasons why our profession has suffered so badly, as doctors' and bankers' fortunes have improved dramatically. You can read the full article here.
Cities are developing into increasingly complex systems. This is giving rise to new scales of risk, making preparedness measures and resilience planning more challenging to formulate and implement.
In the early years of COOP HIMMELB(L)AU, Raimund Abraham was a role model - later on a friend. On the occasion of the Austrian government "Staatspreis" awarded to Raimund Abraham, Wolf D. Prix held the speech of honor, and characterized him as one of the main representatives of the Austrian architectural approach of celebrating space.
The Morton Group announces the "Russian Character" International Architecture Competition to develop the concept for a Culture & Education Center.
In this tongue-in-cheek "Dictator's Guide to Urban Planning", the Atlantic explores the various ways that public spaces, and cities as a whole, have been used to suppress uprisings and bolster the control of authoritarian governments. Covering everything from Baron Haussmann's 19th Century Paris to the recent revolution in the Ukraine, the article reveals the fundamental relationship between public space and democracy. You can read the full article here.
A public petition that the design of new Federal building projects be awarded by open architectural competition has been submitted to the White House’s “We The People” website for consideration by the Obama Administration. The appeal proposes to give young architects greater access to the building market and needs 100,000 votes by March 24th to qualify for a response from the Oval Office. Sign the petition here!
CLOG explores, from multiple viewpoints and through a variety of means, a single subject particularly relevant to architecture now. Their latest issue, REM, is now accepting submissions until March 20.
Australian developer CBUS Property has invited four pairs of Australian and internationally-renowned architectural practices to compete to design an office complex at a 6,000 square meter site in downtown Melbourne, Australia where the National Mutual Plaza currently stands.
See the full shortlist after the break.
Apple's signature glass design has come with its fair share of mishaps - from errant snowblowers to, of course, dying birds. To determine the risk posed by Apple's latest approved store to San Francisco's protected bird population, Apple hired avian collision risk consultants (really) who determined that the risk is "acceptable" (for non-avian species at least). Read the full bird analysis here.
Architectural photographer Agnese Sanvito will be exhibiting a selection from her portfolio at The Building Centre in London. Her works, which include photographs of buildings by Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel, Santiago Calatrava, Wilkinson Eyre, and Sou Fujimoto, focuses on the ways color shapes our sense of buildings.
The Missing 32% Project has a mission: to understand why in the US women represent about 50% of students enrolled in architecture programs, but fewer than 18% of licensed architects (and fewer in leadership roles). If you too are curious about this unusual discrepancy, you can help find an answer by participating in the Equity in Architecture Survey. The Missing 32% Project (along with AIA San Francisco) will use the results to determine best practices for attracting, promoting, and retaining talent in architecture.For more information about the project and to take the survey, go to http://themissing32percent.com/.