Long Lane, a key section of the Great Kneighton development on the southern fringe of Cambridge, has recently received planning approval, which will provide 273 homes over 5.4 hectares. Designed by C.F. Møller their contemporary masterplan retains historic features from the existing site, while providing homes that are functional, flexible and sustainable. Working in collaboration for developer Homes by Skanska and PRP, the customer-focused scheme provides a tenure-blind mix of private and affordable housing. More images and architects' description after the break.
Designed by Alexandros Avlonitis + Aggeliki Anagnostopoulou, their proposal for the Great Fen Visiting Center is derived by the observation of the natural environment of the site and its manipulation by he human factor. The concept is based on an attempt to mimic a very common phenomenon of agricultural terrains: the stacking of blocks of hay, and their impulsive installation in the middle of endless fields. Therefore, the new Great Fen Visitor Center becomes not a building, but a stack of volumes placed in the landscape. More images and architects' description after the break.
Designed by Architetto Matteo Ascani (AMA), the main driving force behind the their Cambonian Sustainable Housing project was to somehow recreate the sensation of living in a typical Cambodian house, where people have to maintain their own traditions, but in healthy and safe living conditions. Combined with a type of spatial experience that allows flexibility and the simple method of construction, this environmentally conscious design is able to respond to the needs of this society. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Taking place this coming Tuesday, April 2nd at 6:30pm, Daniel Libeskind, one of the most celebrated architects working today, will be delivering the 'Future of Cities' lecture as part of the Assembly Series at Washington University in St. Louis. His presentation, sponsored by the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Artsand the Architecture Student Council, is free and open to the public and will take place in Graham Chapel. Well known for his Jewish Museum in Berlin, the museum’s radical, strikingly asymmetrical design, is a true icon for the city and the country of Germany. He has received numerous awards including the 2001 Hiroshima Art Prize - an award given to an artist whose work promotes international understanding and peace, never before given to an architect. Fore more information, please visit here.
Developed by Arup and built to international sports federation standards, the Ashgabat Olympic Complex in the heart of Turkmenistan will be one of the largest building projects on which Arup has delivered the ‘total’ design and includes 750,000 square meters of sports and social buildings. Having just signed the contract for phase two of the project, which will add an aquatics center, indoor athletics arena, and a tennis center, the venues also include a velodrome, training halls, hotels, offices, a medical center and media facilities. More images and their description after the break.
BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with RIBA, just launched a competition for the design of a portable ‘pod’ to enable their conversations, which have become essential listening, valued moments in their hectic broadcasting schedules, to take place in different venues around the UK such as shopping centers, libraries and festivals.For some people it might be the chance to capture memories, to relive shared moments, to put down for posterity how we feel about each other - or to have the one conversation they have always wanted to have. The Listening Project enables more of the general public the opportunity to record a conversation. The deadline to register is April 18 and the submission deadline is April 23. More information on the competition after the break.
CPG Consultants recently won the Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport VIP terminal design competition, which was organized by the Airports Corporation of Vietnam. Expected to be completed in late 2014, the lotus flower-inspired design with its iconic petal-shaped pavilion roof will extend a ceremonious welcome to Heads of State and dignitaries as they arrive or depart from Hanoi. The new VIP Terminal will feature an octagonal geometry in plan, with the reception hall, state lounge and president lounges forming the centerpiece while the VIP lounges and function rooms form the angled part of the perimeter. More images and architects' description after the break.
In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Richard Meier’s architecture career, Richard Meier & Partners Architects, in collaboration with the Fondazione Bisazza from Italy, are presenting the first Richard Meier Retrospective in Europe, titled 'Richard Meier - Architecture and Design'. Taking place May 8-July 28, the new exhibition will be a retrospective of the American architect’s iconic work and the unveiling of a site-specific installation for the Foundation’s permanent collection. Meier’s oeuvre is a reflection of the continuous search and analysis of concepts perfected over more than half a century of constant work in the field of architecture and design. More images and information on the exhibition after the break.
Curated by Michael Manfredi and Marion Weiss of Weiss/Manfredi, the biennial Urban Edge Award Symposium titled 'Evolutionary Infrastructure / Evolving Practices' will be hosted by the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning. Taking place April 5th at 10:00am, the event focuses on expanding the definition of ‘infrastructure’ to address an escalating set of design challenges that are at once cultural, architectural, and environmental. The symposium, which is free and open to the public, will host a series of cross-disciplinary talks and discussions between innovative architects, artists, ecologists, engineers, and theoreticians. For more information, please visit here.
Léon Wohlhage Wernik Architekten was recently announced as the first prize winner for their proposal in the Living on Kunstcampus competition. Situated in the heart of Berlin, on the estate of the Hamburger Bahnhof, a new quarter will be created there, including the dominant urban planning element called the “Kunstkubus”. A lengthy building with a faceted surface gives the residential area its own urban planning presence. All apartments radiate spaciousness, and can be freely partitioned and enter into a relationship with the city through large loggias, or so-called “green rooms”. More images and architects' description after the break.
European architects can now compete in the UK’s prestigious Young Architect of the Year Award (YAYA). Now in its 16th year, YAYA is the only prize that recognizes the UK’s most promising new architectural practice and is a crucial means of allowing new practices to emerge.
Speaking at MIPIM, the international property fair in Cannes last week, BD Editor-in-Chief Amanda Baillieu said: “Over time, YAYA has proved itself as a consistently strong means of identifying the most promising young architects of each generation. But, since the prize was launched, the world has changed and the best architects in the UK now have to compete with their counterparts abroad. More than any other, this is a global profession so it makes sense to extend YAYA’s helping hand to the rest of Europe.”
With shelters and settlements in northern Canada currently undergoing a housing crisis due to decadent construction and energy costs, the corresponding ramifications on overcrowding and deprivation have resulted. What the Drift House aims to do is hybridize the intelligence of tradition and technology of both housing systems to offer direction on future constructions in the Arctic. Designed by Neeraj Bhatia of The Open Workshop, this housing prototype for northern climates proposes a series of snow fences that passively utilize snowdrift to form a new dwelling type by calibrating the snow fences with differential mesh openings and height. More images and architect's description after the break.
Patrick Vale, a name you might recognize due to his well-known time-lapse film, 'Empire State of Pen', that went viral last summer, will be opening up 'City Lines', his very first solo exhibition at the Coningsby Gallery in London from April 4-12. Vale, a London-based illustrator, artist and animator is a great example of how you can take your passion and talents and turn it into something that can be shared around the world. Capturing the public's imagination with his film by clocking up to 700,000 plays in a few weeks, his intricate portraits of cities will now be on display. The large and highly detailed freehand drawings render the history and drama of our cities and invite us to peer into the fabric of the place. More images and information after the break.
Inspired to create a landmark in Sofia for the Collider Activity Center, the form of this building volume emerges from the striking rock columns, which are planted underneath the layer of earth and extend up into the open landscape. Instead of literally being rocks, this design by Gojko Radić and Nataša Stefanović metaphorically has an analogy in this natural Bulgarian setting around its stunning cliffs. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Selected for this year's Emerging Voices of the Architectural League of New York, PRODUCTORA of Mexico City will be delivering a lecture this Thursday, March 28th, at 7:00pm at the Scholastic Auditorium. PRODUCTORA was selected for their distinct design voice and their potential to influence architecture on a global scale. Being named an Emerging Voice is one of the most coveted awards in North American architecture, and the program has an excellent thirty year track record of identifying and nurturing firms that go on to have influential practices.
Other winning firms included in this year's selection are Cao-Perrot Studio of Los Angeles and Paris, DIGSAU of Philadelphia, dlandstudio of Brooklyn, Gracia Studio of Tijuana and San Diego, MASS Design Group of Boston and Kigali, Rwanda, Ogrydziak Prillinger Architects of San Francisco, and SO-IL of New York City. For more information on the event, please visit here.
Designed by White arkitekter their Park 1 project is intended to house a traffic and emergency management center, a new fire station and a total of 1,200 new workplaces in which effective coordination will be created on an everyday basis. Located in Stockholm, the building complex inclines back from Lindhagensgatan in a generous gesture which marks the entrance while also boldly cantilevering slightly into space towards the Essingeleden highway and above all of the movement and communication at the site. More images and architects' description after the break.
Walltopia, a global leader in the design and manufacturing of artificial climbing walls and grips, organized the Collider Activity Center competition located in Sofia, near the foothills of Mount Vitosha - one of Bulgaria’s most popular tourist destinations. The proposal by Zohar Architects is a 100% climbable structure: a donut-shaped courtyard building informed by the diversity of context. Its volume is extruded using ‘grafts’ of the world’s most famous mountains as formwork to create a patchwork of alpine geo-diversity, with a perfect cast of Abraham Lincoln’s nose from Mount Rushmore prominently positioned to satisfy curious climber fantasies. More images and architects' description after the break.
Taking place at the Japan Foundation Gallery in Sydney from April 2-May 1, Parallel Nippon, a world-class exhibition, will feature Japan’s most influential architects including 2013 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Toyo Ito, Kengo Kuma, Tadao Ando, Kenzo Tange, SANAA, and many more. Containing over 100 large-scale photo panels of landmark designs, architectural models and video footage, the exhibition is divided into four thematic sections: Urban, Life, Culture and Living, a cross-sectional view of Japanese society. These areas represent the revolutionary, innovative and progressive architectural achievements realized not only in Japan but across the world as projects of Japanese architects. More information after the break.
