Seattle-based architecture and design firm NBBJ has formed a new business partnership with startup Visual Vocal to develop an innovative virtual reality (VR) productivity platform. Using this new tool, distributed project stakeholders will be able to immerse themselves into unbuilt environments and provide instantaneous feedback.
As opposed to traditional methods of communication such as email, a new VR platform, combined with mobile and cloud-based communications, could help expedite and facilitate the sharing of designs with clients, in a way that has "the potential to transform workflows within the field of architecture and beyond," state NBBJ in a press release.
Architectural and landscape photographer Jade Doskow is publishing the first hardcover, full-color monograph of her eight-year photography project on the post-utopian sites of the World’s Fairs, entitled Lost Utopias. Since 2007, the project has captured the remaining architecture and landscaping of international World’s Fairs at 26 sites in North America and Europe on large-format 4”x5” film.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced 17 winners for its RIBA South Awards, which recognize architectural excellence. These 17 regional award winners were drawn from a shortlist of 30 projects. Over the next few months, they will be considered for the RIBA National Awards, and then for the RIBA Stirling Prize.
MetPublications is a portal to The Met’s online publishing program, containing more than 1,500 books and other publications from the museum from the last fifty years. It includes descriptions for most titles as well as information on the author, publication reviews, and links to other similar titles.
The contents of many publications can be viewed online or downloaded in a PDF format. Readers can also search for works of art from The Met’s past collections. New titles are frequently added, expanding the online catalog.
Check out some of the architecture-related publications below and find more at the MetPublications Portal, here.
Arch Out Loud has announced the winners of their New York CityAquarium and Public Waterfront Competition, which invited students and professionals alike to design "an intertwined public aquarium and park" on an underutilized riverfront property located on the East River in Queens. Participants were asked to “redefine the aquarium typology, examining its relationship to the urban context and the public domain.”
The call for submissions was answered by 556 participants and 178 proposals from forty counties, and included ideas that pushed the physical boundaries of the site and responded to the idea of redefining the typical aquarium typology.
From a shortlist of 68 buildings, 36 London projects have been awarded the 2016 RIBA LondonAwards for architectural excellence, the city's most prestigious design honor. The winners include a home for ravens, a Japanese-inspired London terrace home and a historical restoration. All of these designs will be further considered for the RIBA National Awards, to be announced in July. The winners of the national award will then create a shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize – the highest award for architecture in the UK.
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Photomontage of the Memory Matrix installation at night in front of the Wiesner Building, MIT campus. Image credit: Photomontage by Azra Aksamija, 2016. Original photo of the MediaLab by Steve Mann. Image Courtesy of Resnicow and Associates
In honor of the centenary of MIT's move to the Cambridge Campus, the university has carried out a series of public events this spring, including the installation of two innovative architecture and design projects: Memory Matrix and Biaxial Tower.
Installed in the iconic arch of MIT’s Wiesner Building (designed by Pritzker Prize winner and MIT alumni I.M. Pei), Memory Matrix is a giant screen made of intricate pixel-like Plexiglass elements, arranged to form larger matrix-like screens that reveal an image of the recently destroyed Arch of Triumph in Palmyra. The image is only visible during the day through the movement of wind and light, and at night, through the illumination of the pixels. Spearheaded by Azra Aksamija, Memory Matrix will be on display from April 23 through May 7.
“All nations and regions returned positive workload forecasts, with practices in the North of England being the most optimistic. Large practices (51+ staff) remain the most positive. Medium-sized practices (11–50 staff, balance figure +48) saw a boost in confidence levels, while small practices (1–10 staff, balance figure +28) were upbeat, however to a lesser degree," states the report.
ROSSETTI has unveiled their design for a proposed development in downtown Detroit on the site of a currently unfinished jail. The project features a new MLS stadium with 20,000-25,000 seats, a training facility, a retail area, a parking structure for more than 5,000 cars, and four towers programmed for a hotel and residential and office spaces.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced six winners for its RIBA South East Awards, which recognize architectural excellence in the regions of Kent, Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex and the Channel Islands. These winners will be considered for a RIBA National Award, which will be announced on June 23. Winners of the National Award will then be eligible for the RIBA Stirling Prize later in the year.
The six winners of the RIBA South East Awards are:
The Architectural League of New York has announced the winners of its thirty-fifth annual Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers. First launched in 1981 and selected by a committee of former recipients and League Program Director Anne Rieselbach, the Architectural League Prize is one of the most prestigious awards given to young architects, who are recognized for their talent and forward-thinking ideas. This year’s theme for the competition, “(im)permanence”, asks how time plays a role in architectural style, means of assembly, and its relationship to program which ultimately alters expectations of architecture in an “impermanent environment.”
The Global Art Affairs (GAA) Foundation in collaboration with PLANE-SITE, has produced a series of interviews with world renowned architects that will be available for public viewing at the TIME SPACE EXISTENCE exhibition at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. The prestigious list of architects includes Peter Eisenman, Denise Scott Brown, Curtis W. Fentress, Meinhard von Gerkan, Dirk Hebel, the late Frei Otto, and Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell of WOHA.
Ennead Architects have unveiled their proposed design for the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts campus expansion, master planning and architectural design competition. “This campus expansion and re-envisioning positions Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts—one of China’s top schools of fine art—as an Academy in the Park,” inspired by nature and an oasis destination within the dense urban fabric of Tianjin, write the architects.
The Australian Institute of Architects have awarded their highest honor, the Gold Medal, to the founders of ARM Architecture during the 2016 Australian Achievement in Architecture Awards. Based out of Melbourne and Perth, ARM is widely known for their “contemporary, often daring, sometimes controversial designs.”
Established in 1988 by directors Stephen Ashton, Howard Raggatt, and Ian McDougall, the large scale practice has had a significant impact on design throughout Australia. They've designed a range of projects including cultural buildings, urban design and planning, office buildings, apartments, community projects, and shopping centers.
Twelve years after Santiago Calatrava revealed his design for the World Trade Center Oculus, the PATH station finally opened to the public in March. Although not officially confirmed by the Port Authority, the total cost of the Oculus is estimated to be nearly four billion dollars - almost double the original budget. The Real Deal has broken down the big-ticket costs that went into the making of the Oculus.
KAAN Architecten, in collaboration with VORM, have designed a new 11,000 square-meter Education and Study Center (OZC) for the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands. The OZC will be used by approximately 2,500 students and educators on the campus. The goal is for the new facility to increase the quality of education at the university.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom has announced a series of renovations that will take place on Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben in London, starting in early 2017. During the renovation period, the tower and clock will be partially covered with scaffolding, which will be removed as the work progresses. Moreover, the clock mechanism will be stopped for several months, during which there will be no chiming or striking of the iconic bells.
The World Architecture Festival (WAF) has announced that Lars Krückeberg, Founding Partner of GRAFT, and Juergen Mayer, Founder of J. Mayer H., will speak at this year's festival as part of a session titled ‘Architect as Instigator,’ exploring issues of housing, immigration, and how architects can drive social change through the buildings and spaces they create.
The world’s largest, annual, international architectural event, WAF will be held from November 16 to 18, at Franz Ahrens’ historic former bus depot now known as Arena Berlin, in Berlin, Germany. WAF also features the biggest architectural awards programme in the world. Projects can be submitted for consideration for an award until May 19th via this link.
