Zaha Hadid Architects has won a competition for the design of the Urban Heritage Museum Administration Centre in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. The center will serve as the head office of the Heritage Museum, an educational institution established to preserve the historic UNESCO world heritage sites of Diriyah and the surrounding Wadi Hanifah valley.
This article was originally published by Archipreneur as "Reasons Why Architects Can Make Great Developers (or not?)."
Today, a majority of architects work solely on the design end of the development process. It is common knowledge that the net value of architectural services in a projects’ total value amounts to a very small percentage (it’s usually in single digits), which puts architects near the bottom of the financial structure in the AEC industry.
Stuck between developers, clients, contractors, and subcontractors, architects are usually in a role that implies great responsibility but proportionally low compensation for it. When we add to that the grievance of not having full control of a project, it becomes clear as to why an increasing number of architects either transition to real estate development or transform their design offices into design-builds.
Though still in its infancy, this transition seems indicative of an emancipatory trend that’s taking place, where architects take matters into their own hands and thus claim their rightful position within the industry.
In Chile, a middle-class family may inhabit a house of around 80 square meters, whereas a low-income family might be lucky enough to inhabit 40 square meters. They can’t afford a large “good” house, and are henceforth often left with smaller homes or building blocks; but why not give them half a “good” house, instead of a finished small house? In the 1970s a professor by the name John F.C. Turner, teaching at a new masters program at MIT called “Urban Settlement Design In Developing Countries”, developed an idea surrounding the concept that people can build for themselves. 99% Invisible has covered a story, produced by Sam Greenspan, on how this idea has evolved, and what it has turned into: Half A House.
Update: We've added a video of the process to the article!
This year's Architectural Association (AA) Summer DLAB program culminated in Weave.X, the final working prototype of three-dimensionally interwoven concrete structures. Designed and fabricated by 21 participants from 11 countries in July and August, the prototype explores computational design, geometry rationalization, material behavior, and robotic fabrication as applied to concrete and robotic rod-bending techniques. The result is a network of self-supporting concrete branches that envelop an amorphous enclosure.
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Three new sessions have been announced for the 2016 World Architecture Festival (WAF), held from November 16-18 in Berlin, Germany. Adding to the impressive list of speakers at the event will be Ben van Berkel, founder of UNStudio, who will lecture on “Superliving - from exclusive to inclusive”; Carlos Zedillo of Infonavit discussing “Architect as instigator”; and Qutub Mandviwala, MQA, who will present on “Housing and cultural difference.”
Said Ben van Berkel about the event: “It is essential to understand that ‘housing for everyone’ is not simply a matter of providing homes for all, it is also a question of what the home of the future should be; how we can meet the demands of all future residents and provide housing that fulfils their varied and changing needs.”
The usefulness (and, at times, unintended hilarity or abhorrence) of Google's autocomplete function is nothing new. The screenshots, listicles and articles dedicated to exposing humanity's curiosity, bias and, alas, stupidity have circulated the interwebs since the "Search Suggestion" feature was launched in 2008. As you type a query, topic or name into the the search bar, you are served search predictions, which the company describes as "related to the terms you’re typing and what other people are searching for."
This article was originally published on TiP, Balmond Studio and is republished here with permission.
When an atrocity occurs how do we unpack the truth, using the learnings of architecture, science and art to seek justice?
Dealing with this complex issue is architect Eyal Weizman, founder of the ground-breaking research group, Forensic Architecture (FA) at Goldsmiths University, of London.
His team of architects, filmmakers, designers, lawyers, scholars and scientists are hired not by the State, but instead work with international prosecution firms, NGO’s, political organisations and the UN, to investigate ‘crime scenes’ – like forensic detectives.
EID Architecture looks to the traditional side of Shanghai when designing CITIC Pacific's high-rise residential neighborhood. The Shanghai downtown area will see six new residential towers and amenities through the development.
Designs for the building encourage social interactions through its amenities, which include leisure facilities, a spa, meeting and conference spaces, and roof gardens overhead. Undulating terraces on the top of each building promote a sense of community in addition to responding to the site's preservation of sunlight.
Viger Square, Montreal's first large square, is getting a makeover. The redevelopment project is being led by landscape architects NIPPAYSAGE, which will begin the first phase of redesign in 2017.
Historically, the 30,000 square foot center has always contributed to the liveliness of the city, and it was the largest square in Canada in the 19th century. Now coinciding with the adjacent redevelopment of retail and office spaces at the Viger Hotel, the city hopes for a major revitalization of the area.
