This guide shows how to use a D5 Render a free live-sync plugin to improve SketchUp workflow.

Organized by Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye CJSC, part of Sberbank Russia group of companies, the two-stage open international competition for the development of the masterplan of the International Financial Centre in Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye (Moscow, Russia) launches this Monday, September 2nd. The International Financial Centre is a 460 hectare mixed-use development project located in the west of ‘New Moscow’, in the floodplain of the Moscow River, five kilometers from the Moscow Outer Ring Road. The project involves the construction of offices, housing, hotels, commercial and social infrastructure. Applicants are required to have expertise in masterplanning of projects measuring over 30 hectares in order to qualify. The deadline for submissions is October 4th. For more information, please visit here.

Designed by NRJA + IG Kurbads, their ‘Show Under Skin’ proposal for the reconstruction of the new Riga Theatre corresponds to the dynamism of the creative process within the theater - minimalist, smooth finish, combined with a twisted in a motion stopped volume.The skin is a multi-functional covering structure which is connected with the historical volume, covering it and combining various features and space dimensions in a single organic volume, also matching different adjacent building heights. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The Graham Foundation recently announced their upcoming exhibition, Environments and Counter Environments. “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape,” MoMA 1972, which opens to the public on September 18th with a short talk by curators Peter Lang, Luca Molinari, and Mark Wasiuta followed by a reception. This exhibition highlights the lasting significance of MoMA’s groundbreaking 1972 exhibition, Italy: The New Domestic Landscape. Presented for the first time in the United States outside of New York, the Graham Foundation's iteration of Environments and Counter Environments highlights both the dynamic context of radical Italian design and architecture in the 1970s, as well as the innovative exhibition that first presented this work in America. The exhibition will be on view until December 14th. More information provided by The Graham Foundation after the break.

The Wall Street Journal recently detailed the complex history of E-1027, the house which Eileen Gray designed with her lover Jean Badovici in Southern France: from the murals which Le Corbusier painted on the walls (without Gray's permission) to the murder that happened there in 1996 to the restoration that has been going on for over a decade (a supposed "massacre" of the original). You can read the full article here.

Presented by the University of Maryland's School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, the 'Conflict and Convergence: Urban Informality in Latin America' Symposium aims to explore how recent experiences in cities such as Medellín, Bogotá, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Caracas, among others, can serve as examples for multidisciplinary models to urban and social revitalization in other parts of the world. Taking place October 4th at 5:00pm until October 5th at 10:00am, the event will bring together participants representing a wide spectrum of disciplines and seeks to generate a conversation between professionals and academics to analyze the goals, methods, achievements and opportunities in Latin America. For more information, please visit here.

Videos

The Innovative Prototyping @ Dynamic Fields – Responsive Architecture Workshop, which took place in Bucharest, Romania July 16-29, resulted in five innovative prototypes. The workshop was benefited by the presence of Patrik Schumacher, Director of Zaha Hadid Architects, founder of AA Design Research Lab London and one of the most important figures in the world of computational design. The workshop’s purpose was the understanding of how the advancement of digital technology is helping architects respond to the complexity of the environment surrounding them. The five prototypes (Turbillon, Interactive Field, Dynamic Muqarnas, Project 86 and Wind Mapper) are to be exposed in the near future at different fairs or events. More images and information after the break.

Designed by Buro AD and SPECTACLE for this year’s CityVision Competition, their Rio de Inverso proposal critically addresses the historically cyclical attempts by urban planners to impose order post ex-facto on Rio de Janeiro's informally created, complex and spatially rich urban fabric. With the theme of the competition ‘sick and wonder (wonder and disgust),’ the architects demonstrate how the city was the arena for a continuous struggle. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Designed and constructed by QASTIC Lab, ‘Balance Through Buoyancy’ is a temporary researchpavilion called “Floatastic” which was designed and built for a private client to serve as a shade pavilion for a wedding ceremony. Situated in Edgerton Park, in New Haven Connecticut (an Olmsted planned landscape), this deployable structure aims to create a floated shelter which avoids imposing any loads to the ground, which traditional structures require. Instead, it proposes a well-fabricated balloon, which is filled with Helium to raise the imposed loads of fabric veils and any possible dynamic environmental loads toward the sky. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR) of the Department of State requests proposals from private U.S. individuals, firms, associations and organizations for the fundraising, construction, development, organization, and management, and disassembly and removal of a USA Pavilion/exhibition at Milan Expo 2015, which is set to open with an eco-themed fair on May 1, 2015. The USA Pavilion will be situated on a 2790 square meter plot with a building footprint no more than 70% of the plot size on a site northwest of Milan, near the Massimiliano Fuksas-designed Fiera Milano convention center. Proposals are expected to include ‘a food demonstration or exhibition’ to emphasize the ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’ theme. Submissions are due no later than September 15. For more detailed information, please visit here.

The Latvia Association of Architects recently announced the launch of their international competition for the best concept of an architectural idea and architectonic solution for the object, 'Food Supermarket with Additional Services.' Construction of the food supermarket is primary foreseen in St. Petersburg or its' closest proximity. For this reason it is essential that competition participants take into consideration climate conditions of St. Petersburg while choosing relevant materials and developing technical and constructive solutions. Submissions are due no later than October 15.. For more information, please visit here.

New York-based, Serbian-born performance artist Marina Abramović has successfully secured funding via Kickstarter for phase one of an interdisciplinary performance and education center in Hudson, New York. The project, known as the Marina Abramovic Institute for the Preservation of Performance Art (MAI), aims to be the first crowdfunded cultural institution ever to be built as well as the only international arts center dedicated to presentation and preservation of long-durational work. With the help of Abramović’s “global community of collaborators,” OMA will now move forward with the project’s design development process. More information on the MAI’s design can be found here.

Opening October 11th to mark the re-opening of the J1 Maritime Hangar, Marseille-Provence 2013, European Capital of Culture, is presenting the Le Corbusier and Brutalism Exhibition in celebration of one of the most esteemed architects of the 20th century. The exhibition emphasizes the different facets of this unique artist-architect who along with his design work also pursued drawing, urbanism, painting, and sculpture.

Curated by Jacques Sbriglio, the renowned Marseille architect and realized in collaboration with the Fondation Le Corbusier, Le Corbusier and Brutalism covers the period from 1935 to 1965. It presents more than 250 of the architect’s works: 133 original blueprints, 54 drawings and sketches, 33 paintings, 14 sculptures, 10 enamels, 4 tapestries, and 19 architectural models, as well as close to 100 photographs taken at Le Corbusier’s building sites. The exhibition ends December 22. For more information, please visit here.

Known to be the longest running architectural drawing competition in the work, the 2013 KRob Architectural Delineation Competition, invites professionals and students to enter this exciting competition for an opportunity to win great prizes, gain recognition across the industry and open up new opportunities with the publication of their ‘Award Winning’ work. Organized by the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects since 1974 and sponsored by Doghouse Computer Systems, the competition culminates in an award ceremony and event night with refreshments and a lecture by the jury panel on November 14th.

All entries must be of an architectural nature, and must be authored by one individual. Entries can be elevations, sections, or perspectives, and can be conceptual or final renderings. Exploration and innovation in unique techniques are encouraged. The deadline for submissions is October 28th. For more information, please visit the official website here.

A shadow hangs over the hills of Los Angeles, threatening its modernist architecture. In this article on the Daily Beast, Andrew Romano investigates the trend for the 'McMansions' which are now popular among LA's super-rich, and the risk that they pose to the style that "many believe was perfected in Southern California" - the hillside modernist home. But it's not all bad news: he finds that the Schairer House, designed by Gregory Ain in 1949 is now being restored, and Beverly Hills last year past its first preservation laws. Read the full article here.

Recognized as one of the few global players in the lighting industry, Zumtobel Group is inviting submissions between September 1 and November 30 for their 2014 Award in three categories: Buildings, Urban Developments & Initiatives, and Applied Innovations. Architecture practices, engineering bureaus, urban and landscape planners, universities and technology start-ups, NGOs and other public or private initiatives can submit their current projects. As in previous years, the Zumtobel Group Award 2014 will be held under the curatorship of Kristin Feireiss and Hans-Jürgen Commerell of Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin. More information, including images of previous winners, can be viewed after the break.

Launching September 4th, the Tallinn Architecture Biennale: Recycling Socialism will be exploring the modernist and socialist architecture from the 1960s to the 1980s in a 5-day long main program. The core events of the program are the two-day Symposium, the Curators' Exhibition, the Vision Competition Award Ceremony and the International Architecture Schools' Exhibition. With such a diverse program, this event is expected to be one of the most outstanding events in the region. Events run until September 30th. More information after the break.

In this interview with BD, Richard J Williams discusses his recent book "Sex and Buildings," which analyses how some places, such as his home town of Edinburgh, "wear their morality on their sleeve," while other places. such as Brazil, have an idea that "modernism can be sexy." He also talks about the US attitudes to sex and modernism, bringing up the 'Playboy townhouse' of the 1960s and the TV show Mad Men, as well as architects Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler and John Portman. You can read the full interview here.

In this article in the Wall Street Journal, a number of key players discuss the ongoing work to transform "the most elegant urban boulevard in the US", Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The parkway has been on a long journey from boulevard to highway, and thanks to a new plan entitled "More Park, Less Way", it could be on its way back, with a variety of plans to change the Parkway into a vibrant, more densely populated series of spaces with more amenities for local residents. You can read the full article here.