Architecture News: The Latest Architecture and News

The Emerging New York Architects (ENYA) committee of the AIA New York Chapter has announced the winners of its 2014 biennial design ideas competition, QueensWay Connection: Elevating the Public Realm. In an effort to imagine the ways in which The Trust for Public Land and Friends of the Queensway could transform an abandoned railway in Central Queens into a vibrant urban greenway, entrants were challenged to design a vertical gateway for the elevated viaduct portion of a 3.5 mile stretch along the rail.

Of the 120 submitted proposals from 28 countries, the jury selected the following winners to represent the diverse array of ideas generated:

The Irish Turf Club has selected Grimshaw, alongside collaborators Newenham Mulligan & Associates (NMA), amongst 100 other leading practices to envision a concept design for the modernization of Ireland’s most prestigious thoroughbred race course.

Embedded within County Kildare’s open plains, the historic Curragh Racecourse is need of a masterplan that preserves the site, upgrades facilities and respects the surrounding landscape. Grimshaw’s winning proposal promises to satisfy these requests, in addition to constructing a new grandstand that retains the “intimate and distinctive character” of the existing grounds.

Long Island’s downtowns have more than 4,000 acres of surface area dedicated to parking lots. That’s roughly 6.5 square miles of prime real estate, a phenomenon quite common in most American cities. When necessary, these lots are often exchanged for a standard “set of concrete shelves” that share little to no connection with their surroundings. This leads to the question, why must parking garages be so monofunctional and, well, ugly?

To help solve this nationwide issue, the Long Island Index challenged four leading architectural firms to envision a more innovative way to free up surface lot space in four Long Island communities.

See what they came up with, after the break...

With minimal intervention, Swedish architecture firm visiondivision claims that the underused structure beneath Stockholm’s Tranebergsbron bridge could be transformed into a pedestrian walkway and informal cinema. If built, this proposal would not only remove pedestrians from the dismal walking space provided alongside the bridge’s bustling car lanes, but it would also dramatically shorten the walking distance between the city island of Kungsholmen and western suburb of Bromma.

Snøhetta has released an updated, more "slimmed-down" version of the Golden State Warriors’ Stadium, which is scheduled to debut on a preeminent San Francisco waterfront site for the 2017-18 NBA basketball season. Located on Piers 30-32, just walking distance from the downtown Financial District and easily accessed by a variety of public transportation, the revised design has shaved off over 30,000 square feet of the venue's total square footage and increased public open space to nearly 8 acres, 60 percent of the 13 acre site.

Milroy Perera Associates, in collaboration with Mäga Engineering, has unveiled plans for the world's tallest residential vertical garden in Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka. The Clearpoint tower will house 164 apartments spread across 46 floors within 10 kkilometers from the centre of Columbo. Overlooking the tributaries of the Diyawanna Lake in Kotte, planted viewing terraces will encircle the entire structure fed by "inbuilt self-sustaining watering systems."

Basel-based Harry Gugger Studio and Boston’s over,under have collaborated to design the Museo Maya de América, Central America’s largest museum of Maya artifacts and culture. Planned for a prominent site at the Northern edge of L’Aurora Park in Guatemala City, the $60 million project will be the “capstone” to a “cultural nexus”, which will eventually include the Children’s Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art within the city's largest recreational open space.

Richard Meier & Partners has unveiled the “Reforma Towers,” a 40-story, mixed use development planned for Mexico City’s historic Paseo de la Reforma. Comprised of two high-rise towers, clad in Meier’s signature white concrete, the new development will bring high end office, hotel, and retail space, as well as restaurants and a fitness center to the city’s distinguished Boulevard upon completion in 2015.

BIG has released plans, alongside collaborators HKS and Michael Diggiss Architects, of a luxury, mid-rise condominium at the Albany Bahamas resort. Located on the south coast of New Providence Island, “The Honeycomb” will offer 34, 3,000 to 8,000 square foot apartments, each complete with a private outdoor pool and summer kitchen integrated into the structure’s hexagonal-shaped facade. 

Foster + Partners has released new images of their revised, 19-story luxury condominium tower planned for West Chelsea in New York. Named after its address, 551 West 21st Street, the cast-concrete and glass structure plans to open its 44 residences, and three penthouses, to occupancy in the Fall of 2015.

Bidding for the future home of Barack Obama's Presidential Library is underway with three locations claiming the chief executive as their own. Obama's birthplace, Hawaii, has mounted a campaign in pursuit of their native son, followed by New York City's Columbia University, where he received his bachelor's degree in political science. Architect and urbanist Michael Sorkin believes it is the Windy City, however, his adopted hometown, that will ultimately win the presidential library bid.

The results from the first brief of Think Space's MONEY themed cycle of competitions, Territories, have been announced. David Garcia (MAP Architects), juror of the Territories competition, invited participants to send in proposals "that tackle the present economic and territorial challenges in the present and future of the Arctic lands." See them all, after the break...

Architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp) have been commissioned to design of a new urban development project on a 45 hectare site in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. The competition-winning proposal comprises a transportation hub including five underground railway stations, a border control point and numerous commercial areas. Above ground there will be a range of tower blocks of different heights with apartments, shops and offices to form multi-functional city quarters.

Fashion visionaries Tom Ford, Gianfranco Ferre, and Gianni Versace all began their design education in architecture. In the words of Coco Chanel, "fashion is architecture." It was likely with this in mind that the Architecture Foundation hosted it's annual John Edwards Lecture. The event, which was held at the Tate Modern's Starr Auditorium, was a discussion between designer Marc Jacobs and architect Peter Marino, who have frequently collaborated together on retail design.