After more than a decade of financing snags, legal scuffles, and more than a soupçon of backlash, initial work on the Herzog & de Meuron-designed Tour Triangle (Triangle Tower) is set to commence by the end of this year at a site near Parc des Expositions de Porte de Versailles in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. However, last-ditch efforts to block the project are underway.
The hassle and stress that comes with home buying is something that everyone interested in purchasing a property dreads. The long process of negotiations between buyers and sellers, months of escrow, and expensive closing costs demand a more simple and convenient process of home transactions. Consumers today expect a quick turnaround on all services- including purchasing a home. Enter ‘iBuyers” who are removing the hurdles around this process and making home valuations and sales a more automated process.
In this episode of Design and the City - a podcast by reSITE on how to make cities more liveable – scholar, writer and consultant Tim Gill, author of Urban Playground: How Child-Friendly Planning and Design Can Save Cities, talks about the importance of designing cities that can foster play and empower children autonomy, as a way of creating inclusive urban environments fit for all ages and abilities. Gill argues for enhancing children's everyday freedom and discusses his research into ideas and principles that would make neighbourhoods rich in experiences in possibilities, which he defines as child-friendly urban planning.
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MVRDV has revealed "O", one of four letter-shaped apartment buildings that spell out the word HOME in Franklin Mitte, Mannheim. The 15-storey residential building features a brightly colored structure with 120 apartments, commercial spaces, and a terrace, and is part of Franklin Mitte's complete master plan transformation.
Farshid Moussavi Architecture has recently revealed the design for the Ismaili Center in Houston, a project dedicated to cultural exchanges and civic outreach. An ambassadorial building for the largest Ismaili Muslim community in the United States, the new building will host educational, cultural and social events, while also providing a space for contemplation and prayer. The design showcases a contemporary image while reinterpreting traditional Persian elements, thus establishing a dialogue between tradition and modern architecture.
The European Commission's New European Bauhaus has announced the winners of the 2021 edition at the Ateliers des Tanneurs in Brussels, Belgium.
According to the organization, the main objectives have been to recognize current achievements and help the younger generation to continue developing emerging concepts and ideas that illustrate three values: sustainability, aesthetics, and inclusion. Accordingly, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has stated that "these projects give a lot of hope for our fight against climate change and the European Green Deal."
Zaha Hadid Architects' Hollywood-inspired Studio City Phase 2 has reached its full height of construction. Located in the Cotai district of Macau, the resort expansion was assigned to Zaha Hadid Architects back in 2017, featuring new leisure, entertainment, and hospitality facilities, including one of Asia’s largest indoor & outdoor water parks. The project was named winner of the ‘Regional Award Asia’ at the BREEAM Awards 2021, and is set to be complete in December 2022.
.jpg?1637229880 "Courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects / Minmud")
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the first two shortlisted projects for the 2021 House of the Year, an annual award that honors the best new architect-designed house or extension in the United Kingdom. The following two projects will be announced on November 24th, and the complete shortlist will be announced on December 8th, 2021, on UK's Channel 4.
Canada's Department of National Heritage has announced the five finalists for the LGBTQ2+ National Monument competition, a project meant to honour the community and recall its oppression during the LGBT Purge period. Among the shortlisted designs is SOM's proposal, consisting of an array of flagpoles stripped of their flags, symbolising the trauma, deprivation of culture and concealment of identity that the LGBTQ2+ community was experienced. Designed in collaboration with Rebecca Belmore, Noam Gonick, and HTFC Planning & Design, the design titled Bapiiwin, meaning survival /overcoming in native Ojibwe, seeks to provide a space of remembrance while serving as a symbol of resilience.
Art Deco architecture derives from a style of visual arts of the same name that emerged in Europe in the 1920s, which also influenced the movie industry, fashion, interior design, graphic design, sculpture, painting, and other forms of art, in addition to architecture. The milestone of this style was the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts held in Paris in 1925, from which it took its name.
Led by American Lebanese architect Hashim Sarkis, the jury of the global Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction has announced the winners of the sixth edition of the global competition at a handover ceremony at the 2021 Venice Biennale in Italy.
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Sou Fujimoto Architects has unveiled its design for the Hida Takayama University, a new academic institute tucked in a small rural area of Japan. The project aims to revitalize the rural areas which are often overlooked, especially by academic institutes, and nurture the sense of community and appreciation of the rich culture provided by nature. The design features an organic-shaped structure inspired the surrounding landscape and a walkable roof. The university is set to open in 2024, and will be followed by 11 other regional learning centers across the country.
Sou_Fujimoto_Architects_004.jpg?1637138724 "Courtesy of Sou Fujimoto Architects")
Sou_Fujimoto_Architects_001.jpg?1637138564 "Courtesy of Sou Fujimoto Architects")
Sou_Fujimoto_Architects_003.jpg?1637138684 "Courtesy of Sou Fujimoto Architects")
Sou_Fujimoto_Architects_002.jpg?1637138565 "Courtesy of Sou Fujimoto Architects")
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Canada’s Department of National Heritage has announced the five finalists for the LGBTQ2+ National Monument competition, a project meant to tell the story of generations of people who have been persecuted, specifically during the LGBT Purge period. Among the shortlisted designs is The Lens, a proposal that turns a symbol of oppression into an identity element and uses the landscape to express the community’s reverberation into society. Designed by a team comprising Canadian office Fathom studio, MVRDV and Two Row Architect, the proposal seeks to express resiliency, creating a space for memorialization and education while providing an inclusive space for the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community.
Bamboo is a very resistant, versatile, and sustainable natural building material, which can be used to build structures and decorative elements. This article explores its diverse applications in a selection of projects for public spaces.
When the 2008 Great Recession destroyed advertising revenue for all of publishing and limited the cash that architects had for PR and photographers, the established way of promoting architects and architecture was brutally compromised. That same moment saw the instant availability of smartphones, with insanely good cameras, huge memory, and soon 5G transmission. Those technological revolutions turned graphic duffers into artists. Anyone can now photo, video, and narrate any perception anywhere, instantly, free - and share universally. The cliché of saying that the internet “everything changed” is true in how the world sees architecture.
This one-two punch of fiscal devastation and technological revolution has realized a New Practice; the Self-Promoting Architect, independent of the Machine of Defining Cool in architecture.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced its shortlist for the 2021 International Prize, a prestigious biennial award that celebrates the world’s best new projects that “champion buildings that change the world and positively impact the community around them". The jury has selected three projects from a list of 16 projects in 11 countries, and will announce the winner on Thursday 2nd December.
UNStudio revealed its competition-winning design for K31 Courtyard, a residential complex in Moscow that fosters community-building in the context of a rapidly changing city. The proposal features a stepped podium and two towers and reinterprets Moscow’s typical courtyard block, aiming to create a new neighbourhood through various housing typologies, amenities, and outdoor spaces.
Responsible use and consumption of natural resources and the impacts of the building industry have been ongoing concerns in the field of architecture and urban planning. In the past, concepts such as clean slates, mass demolitions, and building brand new structures were widely accepted and encouraged. Nowadays, a transformation seems to be taking place, calling for new approaches such as recycling, adaptive reuse, and renovations, taking advantage of what is already there. This article explores a selection of projects and provides a glimpse into interventions by renowned architects in pre-existing buildings.
.jpg?1637314414 "Courtesy of MVRDV")
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.jpg?1637314508 "Courtesy of MVRDV")
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.jpg?1637053142 "James-Simon-Galerie / David Chipperfield Architects (Berlin, Germany). Image © Simon Menges")
.jpg?1637053340 "Lille Langebro / WilkinsonEyre + Urban Agency (Copenhagen, Denmark). Image © Rasmus Hjortshøj")
.jpg?1637053381 "Friendship Hospital, Satkhira / Kashef Chowdhury-URBANA (Shyamnagar, Bangladesh). Image Courtesy of URBANA")
