Noemí Blager and Tapio Snellman are presenting a new video installation at the Architectural Association (AA) in London. The exhibition titled “A Lot with Little” set out to explore and showcase how architects can employ a more economical use of resources to create architectural works that are both sensible and sustainable. Previously shown in Germany, Switzerland, China, Czechia, the US, and the Venice Architecture Biennale, this London debut aims to highlight the global relevance of resource-efficient architectural practices. The exhibition is now on view at the AA School in London from April 26, until May 30, 2024.
J. Mayer H. Architects has just won the competition for their “Cheongdoam Tower” design in Seoul. As part of the Seoul City Urban/Architecture Creation/Innovation Design Project contest, the competition was initiated by the city of Seoul, aiming to enhance urban qualities and improve the quality of life for residents. Chosen from numerous submissions and six shortlisted projects, Cheongdam Tower emerged victorious.
As the demand for affordable housing grows and the availability of low-cost properties diminishes, stakeholders in housing must become more innovative in their approach to social housing development. One opportunity lies in restoring and repurposing abandoned buildings. While building new houses remains the primary strategy for Housing Authorities and Associations, rehabilitating derelict buildings can be a more economical option. This approach not only maximizes the use of dilapidating infrastructure but also provides an economic opportunity to increase affordable housing within the city. Although rehabilitating derelict residential buildings may seem like an obvious solution, it becomes even more crucial when considering abandoned commercial, institutional, or historical buildings for social housing.
Renowned French architect Jean Nouvel has unveiled his design for Samsung’s pop-up store on the iconic Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, France. The store aims to represent the company’s role as a Worldwide Olympic Partner, offering visitors a space where they can engage with the newest mobile technologies and Olympic-related activities. The first images by architectural photographer Jad Sylla highlight Jean Nouvel’s design of the immersive retail space.
Simone Farresin is the co-founder of Formafantasma, a research-driven design studio exploring the ecological, historical, political, and social influences that shape the design industry. Most recently, the studio participated in Milan Design Week 2024 and Salone del Mobile.Milano with various products and exhibitions. Onsite in Milan, ArchDaily had the chance to speak to Simon Farresin about the studio’s installation for Cosentino at the historic Teatro Gerolamo, and the broader Formafantasma design practice.
The Harvard Graduate School of Design (Harvard GSD) has announced the Class of 2025 Loeb Fellows. Ten practitioners and activists from around the world have been selected to join the Loeb Fellowship program to expand their careers and advance their programs and initiatives focused on equity, resilience, and collective action.
The ten selected practitioners are mid-career professionals coming from diverse backgrounds. Each one has been recognized for initiating practices that are transforming public spaces and urban infrastructures, addressing public health concerns and environmental injustices, as well as housing needs and efforts to preserve the cultural, natural, and architectural heritage of diverse regions from all continents.
This article is the ninth in a series focusing on the Architecture of the Metaverse. ArchDaily has collaborated with John Marx, AIA, the founding design principal and Chief Artistic Officer of Form4 Architecture, to bring you monthly articles that seek to define the Metaverse, convey the potential of this new realm as well as understand its constraints. In this feature, architect John Marx interviews Peter Hirshberg, chairman, and Anna Fedorova, principal at the Maker City Project.
Redevelopment by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Image Courtesy of City of London
The controversial London Wall West redevelopment project, which involves the demolition of the former Museum of London and Bastion House, is set to proceed. The redevelopment, designed by architecture firms Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Sheppard Robson, will replace the landmark 1970s buildings with a modern office complex. The City of London has confirmed that the Secretary of State for Leveling Up, Housing, and Communities, Michael Gove, has decided not to call in the plans to reevaluate the former museum, allowing the project to move forward.
In an open competition, ICON’s Initiative 99 requested participants to design a home using ICON’s 3D printing technologies while keeping the construction budget under $99,000. Among the three selected winners for the Open Category, New Zealand-based office MTspace Studio proposes a robust flood-resistant design, in response to the housing crisis in New Zealand’s flood zones. Titled “Wai Home” after the Māori word for water, the concept revolves around the idea of working with this essential natural element. The design features innovative rainwater collection and storage systems, along with elements to increase the resilience of the construction in the face of increasing threats.
Courtesy of Neutelings Riedijk Architects / ARS Architectes
Neutelings Riedijk Architects and ARS Architects Urbanistes have just won a competition to design the Cité des Imaginaires and Grand Musée Jules Verne in Nantes, France. Selected from 160 entries, their design seeks to revitalize the historic “Moulins de Nantes” mil, also known as CAP44. This industrial heritage site, notable for its unique Hennebique concrete structure, is set to be transformed into a sustainable structure within the Garden Extraordinaire. Additionally, the museum will celebrate the legacy of the renowned author Jules Verne, born in Nantes.
South Asia has undergone notable transformations across economic, political, social, and various other spheres. Mirroring these patterns of societal change are the architectural practices across this region. The modern nation-states of South Asia – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka – share similar histories and a future characterized by rapid economic development and urbanization. However, each region exhibits distinct nuances concerning the present and potential state of architectural praxis, informed by their socio-cultural contexts and emerging political climates.
There's something quite exciting about imagining how a particular space within an existing built form can dictate its use and vice-versa, how the function of a determined space can shape the space's appearance, and the endless possibilities that this entails. This reciprocal process is a concept we often find in the works of the experimental architecture duo Davidson Rafailidis, whose projects evidence a thorough understanding of the existing form that results in a careful and thoughtful ensemble of dynamic architecture.
In Copenhagen, during the 2024 UNESCO International Day of Light, The Daylight Award has announced Spanish architect and professor Alberto Campo Baeza as the laureate for the architecture category and German professor of chronobiology Till Roenneberg for his scientific research regarding the impact of daylight. The two categories create an interdisciplinary bridge between fields, grounding architectural thinking with high-level research. The two winners have been commended for scientific investigations into issues like circadian rhythms and dependencies in the case of Professor Roenneberg, and the poetic qualities obtained through the use of daylight in Alberto Campo Baeza’s architectural works.
23rd Serpentine Pavilion by Mass Studies. Image Courtesy of Serpentine Gallery
Seoul-based Korean architect Minsuk Cho and his firm Mass Studies have been selected to design the 23rdSerpentine Pavilion, to open on June 5, 2024, in London’s Kensington Gardens. Titled “Archipelagic Void,” this iteration of the iconic commission will consist of five ‘islands’ displayed around an open space, breaking down the structure into a series of smaller elements intertwined with the park’s natural ecology. The pavilion will be open to the public from June 7, until October 27, 2024, with a press preview two days before the opening.
The Pritzker Architecture Prize 2024 Laureate Riken Yamamoto will deliver the lecture, "uncovering his journey in the discovery of communities throughout the world, inspiring his socially-driven architecture that blurs the boundaries between public and private dimensions". Following the lecture, Yamamoto will be joined by recent Laureates, Sir David Chipperfield CH (2023), Francis Kéré (2022), and Anne Lacaton (2021), who share a similar commitment to the value of the social system." They will discuss the responsibility of the architect as a catalyst for change and debate respective challenges of creating and bridging communities as they shape new approaches to the design of the built environment."
In 1956, when car ownership and the suburban development that this enabled were just being embraced as American cultural ideals, pioneering urbanist Jane Jacobs wrote that the U.S. was becoming “an unprecedented nation of centaurs. … Our automobile population is rising about as fast as our human population and promises to continue for another generation.” She continued, “the car is not only a monstrous land-eater itself: it abets that other insatiable land-eater—endless, strung-out suburbanization.”
https://www.archdaily.com/1016717/jane-jacobs-cyclistPeter L. Laurence
Delving into the realm of unbuilt architectural projects by renowned offices offers a peak into the design principles and ethos of the studios. The curated list of unbuilt projects submitted by established architecture practices has the potential to reveal new perspectives on the socio-cultural and environmental factors shaping contemporary architecture. These designs often respond to complex challenges such as sustainability, urbanization, and cultural preservation, reflecting architects' efforts to navigate and contribute meaningfully to the built environment.
Within this curated selection, one standout project is Rafael Viñoly Architects' Médano El Pinar, marking the late architect's last contribution to the architectural landscape. Other projects such as Aedas' Ellinikon Commercial Hub explore the opportunities of new developments, such as the disused airport transformed into Europe's largest coastal park in the periphery of Athens, while others are highlighting natural landscapes or offering spaces for creative and innovative programs. Featuring internationally recognized offices like SOM, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Gensler, or GAD Architecture, the selection showcases the unrealized concepts and architectural experimentations of renowned offices.
