Architecture News: The Latest Architecture and News

Italian architect Alberto Catalano of Teknoarch has just won the international competition to design the New Arts and Culture House in Beirut, Lebanon. Catalano won a $75,000 prize and a comission for the project. The Arts and Culture House will be the first of its kind in Lebanon and is funded by a $20 million gift from the Sultanate of Oman. The project should be complete in 2013.

The second prize went to Beatriz Ramo Lopez de Angulo with STAR strategies+architecure, from The Netherlands. The third prize went to Grigoryan Yury with Project Meganom from Russia.

Seen at Bustler. More images after the break.

The Smithsonian Institute has announced the finalists for the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. The museum will be located at the end of the Washington Mall, being the latest addition to this location. The design concepts will be on show at the castle building until April 6. The, a jury will select a winner. The museum will open in 2015, at a cost of 500 million dollars.

Finalists are: Foster + Partners and URS Diller Scofidio + Renfro in association with Klingstubbins The Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates and Davis Brody Bond Devrouax & Purnell and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Moody Nolan in association with Antoine Predock Architects Moshe Safdie and Associates in association with Sulton Campbell Britt & Associates

Seen at designboom. More images after the break.

Amanda Levete Architects is to develop a major retail and hotel complex in central Bangkok, Thailand. Central Embassy, located on Bangkok’s primary commercial artery Ploen Chit Road, will be a new architectural landmark for the city and region.

The 145,000 m2 project will occupy the former gardens of the British Embassy in Nai Lert Park, and will consist of a 7-storey retail podium and a 30-storey 6-star hotel tower. Work on site is scheduled to begin in 2010 and to complete in 2013.

More images, after the break.

With the right equipment, you can build a school anywhere. If you don’t think so, ask the children that goes every day to Mid-Cave Primary School. Built in 1984, this school sits in one of three caves inside a mountain.

Nowadays, it accomodates 186 students with a teaching force of 8 staff. Of course, this may not be the right conditions for a child to go to school, but personally, I think it’s better for a child to go and learn in a cave, rather that don’t go to school at all.

Seen at Chinese Lives. More images after the break.

You can follow everything about Postopolis! in Los Angeles here. We will be continuously updating this post to bring you the latest on Postopolis! So be sure to check this and don’t miss anything about this great event.

Group 41, a San Francisco-based firm, has been experimenting with shipping container design. The company is currently working on a large multi-family development in Utah that is to be entirely constructed out of shipping containers.

This proposal is a design for market-rate housing in the suburbs of Salt Lake City Utah. Involving the use of nearly 1000 shipping containers to create up to 200 units of housing, and sitting on a concrete commercial “base” that also includes parking, this major development is slated for a Transit Oriented district near a commuter rail station. Currently, in the preliminary conceptual phase, Container Nation has created two different proposed schemes that take different approaches to the stacking and build-out of the containers. Preliminary local Planning approvals are expected by mid-2009.

For more information, go to Container Nation official website. More images after the break.

The “Spire”, the skyscraper designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, was going to be the tallest building in the United States. That title will have to wait, at least until the economic crisis affecting construction all over the world starts having better days.

Plasmastudio has recently won the competition to develop the building and landscape design for Horticultural Expo in Xi’an, China. The project comprises 15,000 exhibition hall building, a series of conservatories, a 37Ha park around an artificial lake as well as ancilliary buildings.

The next stages of development will take place during the next months with the collaboration of Plasmastudio and Groundlab.

Seen at AALU Landscape Urbanism. For more information, click here.

More images after the break.

The second part of Trimo Urban Crash international competition for students of architecture is underway, as the short-listed projects were just selected. The public can already rate the 19 short-listed projects on the competition website. The students were asked to design a venue performed with Trimo products in the center of Ljubljana.

Daniel R. Brenna Jr. of Capital Real Estate Group and architects RMJM unveiled the design for Vista Center, a new LEED Platinum office tower in Trenton, which will be the city’s largest commercial development in decades.

Vista Center is a 25-story, 700,000-square-foot Class A office building planned directly adjacent to the Trenton Transit Center, the second busiest train station on New Jersey’s Northeast Corridor, which runs from Boston to Washington. The transit-oriented development will include 12,000 square feet of ground-level retail, a parking garage for more than 1,140 cars and two public art components – a plaza with a signature sculpture and lobby with a video art installation.

The project is targeting a LEED Platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council – the highest sustainability rating offered – which would make it the first Platinum office tower located directly at a Northeast Corridor Hub.

Images after the break.

EVENT 1: “Light-Light in Tokyo” Curiosity’s “Light-Light” installation for “Tokyo Wonder” exhibition in Milan last year was a huge success. The magical installation of 80 lights floating in the air was remembered by many as “one of best installations during the Milano Salone”. Now “Light-Light” will finally be introduced to Tokyo. A “sweet” performance “light-food” created especially for the Tokyo event will also be presented. Held from March 25 to April 5, at the Louis Vuitton Hall. More information, here.

Provincial Court of Bizkaia has sentenced Bilbao City Hall to pay a 30,000 euros compensation to architect Santiago Calatrava for modifying the Zubi-Zuri bridge, by adding a gateway to access Isozaki Towers. The court considered that the “general interest” doesn’t prevail over the “moral right” of the author.

Before Jan Kaplicky’s recent death, the controversial Prague National Library project by Future Systems was supposed to be shelved forever. However, there are rumors now saying it may get built, thanks to a popular Facebook group supporting the project.

Our friends from 3LHD architects shared with us their latest project for a private medical center with additional facilities in Split, Croatia, which won the first prize on a private competition.

Architect’s description and more images after the break.

Close surrounding and historical site of Firule area are one of the most enjoyable Split’s living, working and recreation environments. Extraordinary location for the polyclinic is one of its greatest advantages. Placed near existing hospital complex on Firule, close to the sea and fresh air gives it even more importance and value.

MONU – Magazine on Urbanism, is looking for interesting contributions for their coming issue MONU“Clear Urbanism”.

Yesterday we posted about the influence in architecture of famous actor Brad Pitt. To continue with this Pitt/Architecture debate, listen to this podcast made by Ted Wells, who talks about the popularity of architects thanks to Brad, among other things.

Easily regarded as one of the most adroit architects of 20th century, Le Corbusier was a relentless designer, urban planner and writer dedicated to industrializing almost every city he came across.