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Arup, the engineering firm behind dozens of architectural masterpieces [check out our coverage of ARUP here], has opened three new architecture offices, officially known as Arup Associates. Stretching to Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzehen, the overseas expansion marks the first of its kind for the 65 year old practice. These offices will employ about 15 architects and 12 engineers. While Arup’s London office has faced declined in the recent years, the Chinese offices are already thriving with the design of a campus for Nokia and an insurance building for Ding He in Shenzhen. Declan O’Carroll, Arup’s head of global architecture, told the British publication Building Design, “The traditional model of the Western international practice has been to have a shop window in developing countries but with the work executed back at home. We are looking at a much more fluid, unorthodox model.”

Pratt Show 2011 is designed to give industry professionals and the public a chance to see the best work of students in Pratt’s design programs, many of whom will go on to become masters in these industries. Pratt Show 2011 will also feature for the first time products designed in collaboration with corporate sponsored studios and iconic corporations such as Barnes & Noble, Cabot Wrenn, Cotton Incorporated, Nachtmann, Umbra, and West Elm.

Houses, museums and forgotten Yugoslavian monuments. All part of our selection of the best from last week. Check them all after the break.

Concrete Slit House / AZL architects Concrete Slit House is a contemporary concrete residence enmeshed within a quiet Kuomingtang-era neighborhood in central Nanjing. The entire structure and roof are made from concrete pressed into a custom mould, handmade from five-centimeter horizontal wood strips to remain in scale with the adjacent century-old brick buildings (read more…)

The exhibition will show ten of OMA’s Masterplanning commissions which are now either on-hold or discontinued: an urban regeneration project in White City, London, a project for the ‘Nuova Bovisa’ science city in Milan, and a selection of projects in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Herman’s Square, the new business residential building by Arhimetrics + Enota, is located at an important location in the old city centre in Celje. The land intended for construction is a part of a larger degraded non-built up area, which was somewhat forgotten for decades and exempt from the development of the city. Through the years a very heterogeneous structure evolved around this “wound” in the urban tissue, which was untouched for a long time. It is now surrounded by a range of modern construction in an area that has extensive open space intended for a future park along the Savinja River.

More on this project after the break.

This is a vertically integrated neighborhood 22 stories in height consisting of 140 residential condominiums. The basis of the building design was to develop a vertically integrated neighborhood, with an emphasis on identity, connectivity to neighbors and gathering spaces.

Architect: Circle West Architects Location: 948 + 1000 East Apache Blvd. Tempe, Arizona, USA General Contractor: Wespac Construction Structural Engineer: Paul Koehler Civil Engineer: Site Consultants Electrical Engineer: CR Engineers Mechanical & Plumbing Engineer: Professional Consulting Engineers Project Area: 375,000 sqf Project Year: 2006 Photographs: Courtesy of Circle West Architects

2×8 Mission: The AIA|LA Academic Outreach Committee, having established the AIA|LA AOC Scholarship Fund and awarded prizes and scholarships since the inception of 2×8 in 2002, is working aggressively this year to solidify a long-term endowment towards to recognizing and supporting future generations of emerging Architects. Winning students will take home scholarships in varying amounts. So far, 2×8 exhibitions have raised close to $100,000 in scholarship funds redistributed to California design students. Remaining donations are put toward an ever-growing endowment established for future student scholarships.

Corazon Sur Pueblo is a proposal for a Library Park that will function as the heart of Puebla, Mexico, a city where infrastructure, services, and education are scarce. Rondero Carpena Arquitectos, Luisa Marti and COR & Partners envision an architectural program that will revive vital parts of the neighborhood and create a sustainable social system where the people will experience increased quality of life, education, and an expansion of opportunities.

Read on for information on this proposal after the break.