In order to serve its rapidly expanding population of more than five million, the ArRiyadh Development Authority has commissioned Zaha Hadid Architects to construct the new King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Metro Station in its capital city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
With six platforms over four public floors and two levels of underground car parking, the KAFD Metro Station will be integrated within the urban context of the financial district, while responding to the functional requirements for a multimodal transport centre and the district’s future vision. The project extends beyond the simple station typology to emphasize the building’s importance as a dynamic, multi-functional public space; not only an intermediate place perceived through quick transitions, but also a dramatic public space for the city.
The proposal for the Château of Chillon Restaurant & Boutique by Mauro Turin Architectes takes into account the cultural significance of the historical national monument and uses century-old construction along with various updated methodologies. Their aspiration is to add, in a notion of continuity, a new layer of history about the site and the Castle. Therefore, the building is designed in the image of its ambitions, in the expectation in what can be called the expansion of the Castle. More images and architects' description after the break.
The proposal by Moko Architects for the Diving and Indoor Skydiving Center restores a part of a house factory in Żerań which operated in the past,. They turn a building in a non-developed area with abandoned halls and warehouses into a recreation center open all year round in the old silos where bulk cement used to be stored in the past. The existing facility is a perfect base for this investment and will be the only place in Poland where people wishing to learn the skills of diving will have the opportunity to safely train at the depth of 25m under control. More images and architects' description after the break.
The main goal of the Hotel in Montenegro proposal was not to create a resort type of hotel, but rather a new town square, a vibrant part of this sleepy city. This approach by Kana Arhitekti significantly upgraded the quality of urbanism both on a micro and macro scale to create a city center this small town needs. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Located in a rural setting in central Finland, a few kilometers north of the city of Tampere, the proposal for the Hämeenkyrö Environmental School by Hyperbuildings aims to be a reflection of the school's nationally acclaimed environmental curriculum. The addition is an L-shaped volume that forms a new central courtyard with the existing 1903 building where the school is currently housed. This approach seeks to maximize opportunities for having natural and agricultural landscapes on the site. More images and architects' description after the break.
Developed by Spacescape, Airport City Stockholm, in cooperation with Swedavia Swedish Airports (state), Sigtuna municipality, and Arlandastad Holding (private real estate), has a new urban design strategy and urban plan that envisions a unique airport city which emphasizes urban qualities and places sustainability in focus. Such rapid expansion has placed distinct demands on planning, which has resulted in this collaborative effort. Creating these foundations, along with offering the world within walking distance, will increase value and attract even more people and businesses. More images and architects' description after the break.
Bringing harmony and sense to the surrounding context, the proposal by Kamvari Architects for the Crete Bioclimatic School creates a simple linear movement across the site, looking inwards towards the heart of the school. This subtle exterior introduces excitement and fun to the interior while giving the school an impression of enclosure and security, but sustaining the sense of its landscape setting. More images and architects' description after the break.
BIG has collaborated with West 8, Fentress, JPA and developers Portman CMC to challenge an OMA- and South Beach ACE-lead team in the 52-acre Miami Beach Convention Center overhaul. With a mission to “bring Miami Beach back to the Convention Center,” BIG’s newly unveiled proposal aims to transform the “dead black hole of asphalt in the heart of one of the most beautiful and lively cities in America” into an archipelago of urban oases made up of paths, plazas, parks and gardens, which will all lead to the heart of the plan: the Miami Beach Square. This tropical centerpiece will become the front door to the convention center and the convention hotel, as well as the front lawn to a revitalized Jackie Gleason Theatre, a town square for the city hall, an outdoor arena for the Latin American Cultural Museum, and the red carpet for the big botanical ball room.
“We have devised a strategy that combines urban planning and landscape design to create a neighborhood characterized by human scale, pedestrian connections, shaded spaces with public oriented programs lining the streets and squares. A neighborhood that, depending on the season, the weekday, or even the time of day can be perceived as a lively downtown neighborhood or an inviting public park.” Bjarke Ingels, Creative Director BIG
More images and the teams description after the break...
Dmytro Aranchii Architects shared with us their proposal for the cultural space on the Andriivskyi descent, an educational competition sponsored by ESTA Holding earlier this year. The challenge was to create an architectural concept of the Yunist factory former site development, and out of 1 hectare, the competition terms determined the cultural space as 10-15 percent of the area linked to the Andriivskyi descent, and the rest of it was for commercial use. This consists of a multifunctional cultural space with an integrated chamber music hall. Besides the hall, the architects suggested to place a literature space in the cultural center suitable for seminars, conferences, meetings of readers and writers, poets and essayists, as there is a lack of such place in Kyiv. More images and architects' description after the break.
Designed by Garrett Rock, the New Acadia, Retrofitting Urban Decay proposal was the winning entry for one of six sites in the [Imagine Downtown] Lafayette Design Competition which aims to be a re-imagination of urban density within the neighborhood’s city core. The design offers Lafayette an alternative mode of development that stimulates street life in hopes of attracting a young, creative class that are leaving the city for more amenity-rich urban enclaves. More images and architects’ description after the break.
SOM has designed what will be Singapore’s tallest tower upon its completion in 2016. Positioned as a premier quality business and lifestyle hub, the 290-meter, 1.7-million-gross-square-foot Tanjong Pagar Centre will provide a mix of uses, comprising office, residential, retail and hospitality, in the historic Tanjong Pagar central business district. The development will be a significant contribution to the evolving skyline of Singapore and will become a landmark destination, serving as a gateway to the future waterfront city.
Almost demolished after the earthquake in 2011, Christchurch center was required a renovation. The challenge for architects Zotov & Co was to recall a livable city center. After asking the question of what is needed to be happy, the architects chose nature and communication as the foundation of their concept. The center for the quarter an island covered, dense forest which concentrates all social activity. More images and architects’ description after the break.
ARJM, in collaboration with SUM, recently won the competition for their project, "Square de l'Accueil" (Welcoming Square), which includes a public square of 10,000 m2, 53 flats, a school, commercial spaces and underground parking. Located in a neighborhood at a strategic entry point towards Evere, one of Brussels communes, the project itself includes all the components of the city at a smaller scale. More images and architects’ description after the break.
AART Architects, in collaboration with URBANlab, Bexcom and Keinicke & Overgaard Architects, have won the competition for the expansion of Musholm Bay Holiday Resort. Located at the beautiful Danish coastline, the resort is acknowledged as the world’s most innovative holiday resort for people with disabilities. The expansion of resort is divided into two sections in the form of a multi-purpose sports hall and a number of new holiday flats. More images and architects' description after the break.
With the Southern California Institute of Architecture celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Stormcloud installation was designed and built by the office of Oyler Wu Collaborative, along with students of SCI-Arc, for the after-party of its April 2013 gala. Tasked with the challenge of revamping the existing Netscape pavilion, Oyler Wu Collaborative saw the project as an opportunity to take a completely different approach to the problem. By removing the ten miles of knitted ropes that once hung between the soaring steel trusses, the project was transformed both volumetrically and materially. More images and architects' description after the break.
Courtesy of MenoMenoPiu Architects + BE.ST Architect
MenoMenoPiu Architects + BE.ST Architect shared with us their proposal for the Italian Pavilion Expo 2015. Titled 'The Slabs', their design consists of a light cage where the technical innovation is embedded within the structure: revolutionary glass columns sustain traditional slabs clad in marble. Simple and elegant in its structural system, marble and glass are intertwined to express the Italian architectural tradition of proportion and elegance. More images and architects' description after the break.
Custore, an experimental project, is a pavilion that explores the areas of parametric architecture used for the commercial market. Designed by Anna Dobek + Mateusz Wojcicki, they had to deal not only with the aesthetic issues of computer-generated sculptural forms, but also with practical problems associated with the execution of the project inside a commercial building, and - most importantly – with the real clash of artistic forms and commercial market guidelines. More images and architects’ description after the break.
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Courtesy of University of Houston CoA + Judd Foundation
Vitreous is a collaborative academic initiative by the University of Houston's Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and the Judd Foundation that incorporates the vantage points of the natural landscape, and the technological advancement of digital fabrication and media technologies. The faceted panels disguise and blend the unbounded Marfa landscape with reflective images causing a perceptual distortion between the viewer and the surroundings and between the real and the virtual. More images and the team's description after the break.
With the ground breaking ceremony recently held to kick start construction, the Aedas designed Mapletree Minhang Development Project involves two sites – Mapletree Business City and VivoCity. With a site area of approximately 119,000 square meters and a gross floor area of about 297,000 square meters, Vivocity is designed as a double looped mall with high efficiency. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The design of the Bavarian history museum by X+UN Architecture takes into account the impact of the most important landmarks surrounding the site. Located in Regensburg, it is placed on the bank of the Donau River, which acts as a visual promenade that makes the building visible from a long distance and channels an important flow of people into the site. The shape of the museum is generated from a series of stripes parallel to the river. More images and architects' description after the break.
Designed by Envés Arquitectos, their proposal for the New Central Library in Berlin was named as one of the winners of the competition, which is conceived as an open, public, free and comfortable meeting place; summing up, an urban lobby. This flexible place is able to interact with a changing user (from a kid to an ancient), but simultaneously ensures the area’s accessibility and right usage. The library also aims to become an activity catalyst, a landmark to be perceived from far away. More images and architects' description after the break.
Courtesy of BC Architects, ABBA architects, and Adey Tadess
BC Architects, in collaboration with ABBA architects and Adey Tadesse, won the competition for the Addis Abeba Chamber of Commerce Headquarters in Ethiopia with their approach towards a "glocaldesign". With the goal of sensibly involving local materials in this mid-high-rise building, this resulted in a local nature stone façade system inspired by a 'Netela' (threaded Ethiopian textile which so nicely shows the threads of cotton and which has a character of both shadow and transparency). More images and architects' description after the break.
