Architecture for Humanity is a a charitable organization that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crises and brings professional design services to communities in need. They do an amazing job all over the world and this has been an incredible year for them, specially for their Skatepark in Afghanistan.
During this year’s AIA Convention, we had the chance to interview Cameron Sinclair, the Co-founder and Eternal Optimist of AFH. Check the first part and second part of this great interview. After the break, we show you a review of everything they’ve done this year, and what’s to come.
Upon first glance, MAD Architects’ latest project for Chongqing, China looks like an impossibility. The project, entitled Urban Forest, features a stacked set of floors that cantilever drastically from their central support. The floors are designed to bring more nature and open space into a densely compacted urban area.
More images and more about the project after the break.
The concept design competition for the Romania Pavilion, “Exchange of Ideas”, was won by SC M&C Strategy Development who designed Greenopolis, “The green mega polis”. Name of the pavilion is term with universal meaning, metamorphosed in a fruit, the apple, which means health, knowledge, freshness, temptation, eternity. The surrounding Greenopolis landscape recreates principal elements of the nature (the lawn from the hills, rivers, grass).
The apple is divided in two parts: the main body from which is detached a slice, the secondary body. The inside architectural design has generous and multifunctional spaces, disposed on 5 floors and the access in Greenopolis follows a natural line which allows visiting all the modules without passing over any zone. Seen at Big Creative Industries. More images after the break.
Two events will take place next week at Columbia University. On Monday, ‘Pointless’, a lecture by Elizabeth Diller. Then on Wednesday, ‘Re:Activators’, a lecture by Jürgen Mayer H. Both events will take place at 6:30 PM in Avery Hall, Wood Auditorium, Columbia University.
The SingaporePavilion at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 is to be called Urban Symphony – a tribute to how Singapore houses a delicate harmony of cultures coexisting together in a city-state.
Designed by Kay Ngee Tan Architects, the theme is best expressed in the pavilion’s architecture, one which evokes images of a musical box. It forms an orchestra of elements and a symphony for the senses – from the choreography of the plaza’s water fountain, the rhythm of fenestrations on the façade, the interplay of sounds and visuals, to the mélange of flora on the roof garden.
Pictures and exhibits of Singapore adorn the way to the atrium space and main hall of the first floor, where visitors will enjoy various activities; taking in performances right up to the expanse of the second floor’s column-free open space. Topping off Singapore’s reputation as a much-admired garden city is the rooftop’s A Garden in the Sky, which ably captures the essence of life in Singapore. More info in the pavilion’s official website. More images and a video after the break.
Yesterday the mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb and city councilor Hamit Karakus officially started the construction of the new Rotterdam Market Hall (previously featured here). The arched building located in the centre of Rotterdam, developed by Provast and designed by MVRDV is a hybrid of public market and apartment building.
The project with a total of 100.000 m2 is set to be completed in 2014 and part of the current regeneration of Rotterdam’s post war centre. Project developer Provast realizes the building, Unibail Rodamco invested in the shops and restaurants whilst Housing Corporation Vesteda will manage the rental apartments, making the building a socially integrated part of the city.
Arch Group shared their innovative SLEEPBOX design with us. Intended to provide a comfortable night sleep, the mobile 3.75 m2 unit can be located anywhere people need a place to rest or relax such as airports, train stations, shopping centers, or even in the middle of the streets. “We believe that urban infrastructure should be more comfortable for people,” explained the architects. Rented for between fifteen minutes and several hours, the SLEEPBOX provides moments of quiet sleep and rest from the city as clients can rest on foamed polymer beds, which are equipped with an automatic system that changes bed linen once the client leaves. But a bed is not the only accommodation the SLEEPBOX provides. The unit is also equipped with a ventilation system, sound alerts, built-in LCD TV, WiFi, sockets for a laptop, charging phones and space for luggage. After clients feel refreshed and leave the unit, the automatic change of bed linen starts and the quartz lamps turn on. Clients can pay for the time spent in the unit at a shared terminal, which provides the client with an electronic key.
The Finnish pavilion at Shanghai World Expo 2010 is called “Kirnu” (“Giant’s Kettle”). Designed by a team from Helsinki-based architect’s office JKMM, Kirnu won first prize among 104 entries in the design competition, which was announced in May 2008.
The results were made public in October 2008 in Helsinki. The planning started immediately, and construction began in April 2009, with the pavilion due to be completed in December 2009. The head designer of the pavilion is architect Teemu Kurkela. Below is a description of the Kirnu concept as seen by the architect.
More images, video and architect’s description after the break.
This new building will offer 170,000sqf for studios, rehearsal space, director’s cut screening rooms, state–of–the art acoustical theaters, lecture rooms and set–building shops, that will be shared by many departments including visual arts, theater, music, as well as cinema and media studies.
The project includes a 11-story tall tower, which will become a new landmark at the south of the campus. At the top of this tower we find the Performance Penthouse, a tall space for performances and rehearsals with an amazing view over the city (see render below).
The rest of the complex is distributed on smaller buildings, with an interesting set of skylights to naturally lit the interiors.
As usual in Tod Williams Billie Tsien works, such as the American Folk Art Museum in New York, the Phoenix Art Museum and the East Asian Library at Berkeley, the simplicity of the materials (stone and glass) give the building a contemporary yet ageless look, a building that will stand over time, not just a fad.
Ginseng Chicken Architecture P.C.has proposed a renewed identity for the St. Paul Church and Vadabus Square in Rakvere, Estonia by attempting to integrate three disparate elements of the site into a cohesive design strategy for a main concert hall. With Arvo Pärt’s musical legacy and contribution to the genre of minimal music in mind, non-organization and non-sequentiality became the main driving force behind the design of the annex and were then translated into an architectural language.
A3+ Architects recently finished an urban renovation project in Marsala, Italy for an international competition. The project is situated in Porta Nuova, where the historical center of the city is connected to the sea by an urban road and an archeological park.
More images and more about the project after the break.
Every year, the Greenway Group led by James Cramer (chief executive of the AIA from 1988 to 1994) assembles the architecture-schools rankings. The rankings include the top 10 undergraduate architecture schools and the top 10 graduate schools.
Also, there are different skills rankings, like “analysis and planning”, “communication”, “computer applications”, “construction methods and materials”, “design”, “research and theory” and “sustainable design practices and principles”. This may be a great tool for architecture students when looking for a school and useful also for architecture firms when deciding on who to employ.
The foundation of the Nepal Pavilion was completed this week. With the theme “Tales of Kathmandu City,” the pavilion will capture important historic moments of the city. The pavilion will put on display the luster of Katmandu, the capital city of Nepal and an architectural, artistic and cultural center that has developed over 2,000 years.
The theme touches upon the soul of a city by exploring its past and future. Another highlight of the pavilion will be Nepal’s efforts in environmental protection and developing renewable energies. The pavilion is in the form of an ancient Buddhist temple in Kathmandu, surrounded by traditional Nepalese houses.
A car or motorcycle rally will run from Lumbini to the Expo site. The rally will bring the “eternal flame of peace” to Shanghai from Nepal. More images after the break.
This small buildings has a great inside/outside integration, given by the combination of several transparent planes and the independent roof, as you can see on the photos.
The Jerde Partnership’sNamba Parks, in Osaka, Japan, was just named one of the winners of the Urban Land Institute’s 2009 Awards of Excellence: Asia Pacific competition. When asked to create a gateway to redefine Osaka’s identity, the architects responded with this project that would become a natural intervention in Osaka’s dense and harsh urban condition. The rooftop park offers a sloping park plane that is “bifurcated by a sinuous, open-air ‘canyon’ path that reinforces the connection with nature while forming the primary circulation pattern.”
BIG is looking for a Project Leader to head up the BIG team responsible for developing the new Presidential Library in Astana, Kazakhstan, which we previoulsy featured in ArchDaily and got many comments from our readers.
The new library, named after the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, encompasses an estimated 33.000m2. Being one of the future cornerstones of Kazakh nation-building, and a leading institution that will represent the Kazakh national identity, the library goes beyond a mere architectural challenge.
The new Presidential Library in Astana, Kazakhstan’s new capital since 1997, shall not only accumulate history but also provide a foundation for new futures. It will serve as an intellectual, multifunctional and cultural center with the primary goal to reflect the establishment and development of Kazakhstan, its political history, and the Head of the State’s activities and roles in the development of the country.
Designed for an 80 year old woman, EASTERN Design Office’sSlit House, a reinforced concrete residential project, “presents her both a life space with a soft light and an interesting experience of scale unlikely in a house.” Situated in an old Japanese city on a site 50 meters by 7.5 meters, the home has long slits that run along a 22 centimeter thick wall, making the interior space open, while providing enough privacy.
More about the home and more images after the break.
London-based architecture firm ACMEwas awarded third prize in a recent competition to design a United Nations memorial. Initiated by the city of Chungju in South Korea, the selected memorial will rest in the city’s UN Peace Park. ACME’s proposal is comprised of a 1,500 seating assembly, two conference halls, a theater and exhibition spaces. The organization of the memorial is metaphorically modeled similarly to the United Nations, where many parts make up the whole.
