Tag: urban-plan | ArchDaily

Benoy’s City Walk Masterplan in Abuja Introduces Mixed-Use District with Africa’s Tallest Tower

Antonia Piñeiro — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 05:30:00 +0000

Abuja was named the capital city of Nigeria on December 12, 1991. Located in the central Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it replaced the most populous coastal city of Lagos in a process of structural reform aimed at national integration and more balanced regional development. Like other capital relocations, Nigeria's capital was moved for strategic reasons to transform Abuja into the country's new administrative center, often referred to as "the center of unity." It was envisioned as a planned city based on a master plan developed by the United States-based consortium International Planning Associates (IPA). More than three decades later, a new master plan titled "City Walk" has been developed by MAG International Links Limited and designed by Benoy as a mixed-use district integrating hotels, offices, residential, retail, cultural, educational, and healthcare facilities, alongside a 450-meter tower and a 13,000-seat indoor arena across 250 hectares.

The Standardized Planning of Latin American Cities: Tracing the Blueprint of the Laws of the Indies

Moises Carrasco — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 05:00:00 +0000

A look at most of the cities within Latin America reveals striking commonalities across countries, from Mexico down to Argentina: most cities have a well-defined area known as "El Centro" (The Center), anchored by a main plaza (Plaza Mayor), flanked by a church on one side and key buildings like the city hall on another. This is no coincidence, as it can be traced back to an urban planning system established during the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 17th and 18th centuries. It gave standardized guidelines for city design across its viceroyalties. Unlike French and English colonies, Spanish settlements adhered to regulations that contributed to the emergence of a shared urban identity, with cities displaying similar spatial logic and architectural cohesion despite differing scales and contexts.

“Our Projects Are like Detective Stories”: In Conversation with Eva Prats and Ricardo Flores

Vladimir Belogolovsky — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 03:30:00 +0000

Eva Prats and Ricardo Flores started their Barcelona-based practice, Flores & Prats Arquitectes in 1998 after both worked at the office of Enric Miralles. They overlapped for about one year there, from 1993 to 1994. After her nine-year stint with Miralles, Eva won the EUROPAN III International Housing Competition with a friend. The success that led to a real commission and was going to be built, served as the springboard for starting their independent practice. Shortly thereafter they won another competition. Ricardo joined Eva after working for five years with Miralles. By then they were a couple for three years and decided to start working together. Today they practice out of the same sprawling apartment where Eva’s original studio rented a room along with several other young architects and designers. Even though the office now occupies the entire space—the architects told me they typically employ ten, no more than twelve people—they keep traces and memories of the former “dwellers” alive. Curiously, Eva and Ricardo implement the same strategy in their architectural projects as well.

CEBRA Wins Planning Competition for Hannemanns Allé in Copenhagen, Denmark

Paula Cano — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 05:30:00 +0000

Danish design studio CEBRA won the planning competition to develop the business district at Hannemanns Allé, in Ørestad Syd, Copenhagen, Denmark. With a project emphasizing urban quality, urban life, and area identity, the 150,000 square meters plan will define the framework for future design and completion of the area between the Royal Arena and the Øresund motorway. Expected for completion in 2024, the project is commissioned by Copenhagen Municipality and By&Havn, an organization tasked with developing Ørestad and the city's port.

KCAP Wins Competition to Develop the Yantai Seafront in Northeast China

Paula Cano — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 05:30:00 +0000

KCAP won the design competition for the Coastline of Yantai, Shandong Province, south of Beijing. As one of China's top 10 ports and a gateway city for communication between Japan and South Korea, Yantai Seafront Garden will transform the underused coastal area into an influential economic and technological development zone in Northeast China. The conceptual proposal was selected by its vision of 4 stages along the 95km of waterfront, including water conservation zones, a "sponge city" community, and a resident tidal shoreline.

Urban Agency and COBE Design Master Plan for Esch-Sur-Alzette in Luxembourg

Paula Cano — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 05:30:00 +0000

Urban Agency, in partnership with COBE, won in 2019 a competition to transform a former steel factory into an 850,000 square meters car-free mixed-use district. The industrial site is planned to become a mixed-use district, with housing for over 8,000 new residents, office spaces, schools, workshop spaces, and 268,000 square meters of landscape, including a reactivated river area. The master plan strategies focus on urban nature, renaturalization, preservation and reuse, car-free streets, and an adapted dense mix of buildings and functions.

BIG Unveils Design of Urban Fashion Village in Portugal

Dima Stouhi — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 08:00:00 +0000

BIG has collaborated with global technology platform for luxury fashion Farfetch and Portuguese real estate developer Castro Group to create "Fuse Valley", a purpose-built urban fashion village on the slopes of the Leça River in Porto, Portugal. The platform's newly unveiled HQ will feature 12 uniquely-designed interconnected buildings that represent the different elements of the company’s organization. The project is set to break ground by early 2023, and open its doors in 2025.

Open Call: macau [ morphosis ] WATERFRONT FUN PALACE

Rene Submissions — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 11:13:00 +0000

Design Synopsis
The debate is whether Macau can continue to be a liveable city with such deficit and lack in social spaces.
The competition challenges designers to bring back these spaces that once belonged to the locals, to create new social spaces and recover the lost connection between the city and its people.
We seek proposals and designs of an alternative form of social and entertainment architecture that diverges from the existing gambling culture.

Jury
Viviana Muscettola, Associate Director, Zaha Hadid, Architects, London

Michela Falcone, Senior Architect, Zaha Hadid Architects, London

Negar Moghtadaei, Founder & CEO, Tarkib Studio, Canada

Yashar Montazeri, Founder & CEO, Tarkib Studio, Canada

Zeth Ko,

Herzog & de Meuron Propose New Urban Plan for the West of Munich

Christele Harrouk — Mon, 29 Jul 2019 11:00:00 +0000

Herzog & De Meuron presented this week to the public their new vision for the cityscape and the urban life of Munich. The plan revolves around a former postal railway hub, the Paketposthalle, an impressive concrete structure built in the 60’s, used lately as a sorting office for general mail. The 87,000 square meters site was recently acquired by Büschl, a private group of developers, who commissioned Herzog & de Meuron to create a new urban study for the area.

AD Classics: Master Plan for Chandigarh / Le Corbusier

Luke Fiederer — Sat, 06 Oct 2018 15:30:00 +0000

On August 15, 1947, on the eve of India’s independence from the United Kingdom, came a directive which would transform the subcontinent for the next six decades. In order to safeguard the country’s Muslim population from the Hindu majority, the departing colonial leaders set aside the northwestern and eastern portions of the territory for their use. Many of the approximately 100 million Muslims living scattered throughout India were given little more than 73 days to relocate to these territories, the modern-day nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh. As the borders for the new countries were drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliffe (an Englishman whose ignorance of Indian history and culture was perceived, by the colonial government, as an assurance of his impartiality), the state of Punjab was bisected between India and Pakistan, the latter of which retained ownership of the state capital of Lahore.[1] It was in the wake of this loss that Punjab would found a new state capital: one which would not only serve the logistical requirements of the state, but make an unequivocal statement to the entire world that a new India—modernized, prosperous, and independent—had arrived.

Woods Bagot to Redevelop an Abandoned Sugar Factory in Zhuhai, China

Kaley Overstreet — Sun, 03 Jun 2018 14:00:00 +0000

Woods Bagot have announced that they will be leading a redesign effort for the abandoned Hongqi Zhen Sugar Factory in Zhuhai’s Jinwan District. Due to be completed in three phases over the next ten years, their master plan for the almost 80,000 square meter site includes designs that will revitalize the area and transform it into an integrated tourism, cultural and leisure park.

Arabiazza(s) Urban Plan for the Arabia District of Helsinki Focuses on Sustainability

Natalina Lopez — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 13:00:00 +0000

The future development of the Arabia Historic District in Helsinki has culminated in the second round of a two-stage competition.

Deutzer Hafen / Cobe

Patrick Lynch — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 12:15:00 +0000

Danish firm COBE has been announced as the winner of a competition for the revitalization of Deutzer Hafen, the harbor district of Cologne, Germany. Unanimously selected over proposals from Lorenzen, Diener & Diener Architekten, Scheuvens + Wachten, and Trint + Kreuder dna, the winning design will transform the old industrial harbor into a vibrant, sustainable neighborhood through the addition of a new city landmark: a new public pool and huge waterfall at the end of the harbor.

Drivhus – Planning & Administrative Offices for the City of Stockholm / UD Urban Design AB + Selgas Cano Architecture

Eric Oh — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 06:00:00 +0000

U.D. Urban Design AB and Selgascano have won an international, invited competition to design the new Planning and Administrative Offices for the city of Stockholm, Sweden. Their project, "Drivhus” (Danish for "Greenhouse”) will be located south of the Stockholm city center in Söderstaden, an area set for redevelopment.

Studio 015 Paola Viganò Wins Competition to Masterplan Rome's Progetto Flaminio District

Eric Oh — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 06:00:00 +0000

CDP Investimenti has selected Studio 015 Paola Viganò as the winner of the Progetto Flaminio International Design Competition to master plan a new district surrounding the City of Science in Rome. After launching the competition in December 2014, CDP Investimenti Sgr and the Municipal Government received over 240 entries. Of those, six teams were shortlisted and given 24,000 euros each to develop and submit their final proposals. Learn more about the winning proposal after the break.

Foster + Partners Reveals Cardiff Central Square Masterplan

Rory Stott — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The City of Cardiff has unveiled plans by Foster + Partners to redesign the city's Central Square, close to the Millennium Stadium, adding over a million square feet of office, retail and residential buildings organized around a new civic square. Explaining that it is "the key gateway to Cardiff" for many visitors, City Council leader Phil Bale said that Central Square's "role in providing a positive image for Cardiff and Wales cannot be underestimated," adding that Foster + Partners' design is "reflective of the City’s ambition to be amongst the most ‘liveable’ cities in the world."