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Marking both an ending, and a beginning, the Menara Mesiniaga (Mesiniaga Tower) in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia (just outside of Kuala Lumpur), is the culmination of Ken Yeang’s years of research into passive strategies for tall buildings, and it marks the first in a line of buildings (what he calls his ‘Series 2’ towers) that fully realize Yeang’s bioclimatic design principles. The embodiment of his tenacious goal to bring passive design to the hot humid climate of Southeast Asia, the principles on display at Menara Mesiniaga have influenced subsequent skyscraper designs across the globe.

Following a turnkey competition, NORD Architects was awarded the contract for their design of the new Furesø City Hall in Denmark. The project, consisting of 2,000 square meters of renovation and 3,400 square meters of new space, is set to finish by 2017 and will house 300 employees. Driven by sustainable and democratic design, the new city hall is estimated to reduce annual operating costs by 8 million DKK for the Furesø government. Read more about this upcoming project after the break.

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Replicating the corner of Friedrichstrabe and Kavalierstrabe, Guerra De Rossa Arquitectos and Pedro Livni Arquitecto's entry for the Dessau Bauhaus Museum is organized as an L, suspended above ground to create a passage and meeting space in the park in which it’s situated. The monolithic volume, built in reinforced concrete, acts as a single gesture, emphasizing its weight. Read more about this entry after the break.

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Barcelona-based Vilalta Studio has unveiled the designs for the Ebenezer Chapel, a granite excavated chapel in Raleigh, North Carolina. Upon completion, the chapel will be excavated 15 meters below ground in a sloped forest terrain next to Richland Creek, and will be built completely from the natural granite on the site.

From the lowest point of the site at the creek, a continuous ramp will slope down around the chapel, and into the foyer, as the main entrance to the space, all of which provides natural light and ventilation in addition to chapel access.

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