Awarded Competitions: The Latest Architecture and News

"Dear Architecture," writes Craig L. Wilkins, "I’ve been wondering why you don’t speak to me. Is it because you don’t see me? Are you ignoring me? Maybe it’s because you really don’t care for me; but whatever it is, you sure don’t. Speak, that is. At least, not to me." In his winning entry to 'Dear Architecture', a competition initiated by Blank Space (of Fairytale fame), Wilkins describes misgivings through the lens of a disenfranchised city dweller, illustrating a missed connection felt by one resident towards his surroundings.

schmidt hammer lassen architects has won an international competition to masterplan a 87,000-square-meter area of Skøyen in central Oslo, dubbed Eureka Kvarteret. The multi-phased plan aims to unify the area's connection to the Oslo fjord, nearby transportation hubs and its main street, Hoff, while generating a versatile new skyline that compliments its context.

“We have proposed a framework that builds upon a basic idea about the space between the buildings," explains Senior Partner Kristian Lars Ahlmark.

Architects for Urbanity has been awarded first prize in a competition for a new regional library in Varna, Bulgaria. What will be known as the "Pencho Slaveykov," the proposed 17,500-square-meter building was lauded by the jury for its ability to fit into the context "unobtrusively." It's design features a transparent "open space of knowledge" that divides the building's mass into two volumes and encourages the public to enter.

Henning Larsen Architects has won a competition to design the new Forum Medicum, an addition to the Medical faculty at Lund University in Sweden. The 25,000 square meter space will be the “new gathering space for employees, students, researchers, and visitors,” bundling several educational fields under the larger umbrella of medical research.

The project will include a Forum that seamlessly connects the inside and outside with accessible public space, a café, restaurant, space for exhibitions, and informal learning spaces.

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Bystrup Architecture Design and Engineering, working with with Robin Snell & Partners, Sven Ole Hansen ApS, Aarsleff and ÅF Lighting, is set to win the high-profile contest for the new pedestrian and cycle bridge between Nine Elms and Pimlico in London. The team was unanimously selected by the competition jury ahead of three other teams on the shortlist including Buro Happold Ltd with Marks Barfield Architects, Arup with AL_A, and another Arup-led team working with Hopkins Architects.

The competition for the new bridge attracted attention early this year when the competition organizers released images of all 74 entries online, sparking ridicule almost across the board from Reddit commenters to The Guardian's Oliver Wainwright.

The Flatiron Public Plaza has unveiled its centerpiece for this year’s “23 Days of Flatiron Cheer” – SOFTLab’s Nova, the winner of a closed-competition hosted by the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership Business Improvement District (BID) and Van Alen Institute. The project will become the center of the neighbourhood’s festivities for the holiday season, as well as “a highly visible landmark” in the heart of New York.

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Update: 3XN's Quay Quarter Sydney has received final approval. The article below was originally published September 25, 2014, after the practice won the commission. New interior images have been added to the gallery.

3XN has won an international competition to design the “50 Bridge Street” tower and masterplan for the Quay Quarter Sydney (QQS) precinct. Just west of Jørn Utzon’s Opera House, the new tower will feature five rotating glass volumes, each equipped with a multi-level atria and views of the Sydney harbour.

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HENN has won the competition to design the new Zalando Headquarters in Berlin. The project will consist of two seven-story buildings, where up to 2,700 employees will occupy 42,000 square meters of office space.

With the new Headquarters, all of the Zalando offices will be brought together, rather than dispersed throughout the city.

New York-based d3 has announced the winners of its international Natural Systems 2015 competition. The annual competition asked architects, designers, engineers, and students to “explore the potential for ecologically-grounded and sustainable design influences in urbanism, architecture, interiors, and designed objects.”

Three top prizes were awarded, with six special mentions. The jury included architects, designers, and academics from Shigeru Ban Architects, Syracuse University, and Studio Nguyen, among others.

View the winners, after the break.

The winners of the 2015 LEAF Awards have been announced. Founded in 2001, the awards ceremony honors innovative architecture projects in 13 different categories dedicated to various aspects of building, including best façade design and engineering, best future building, and public building of the year.

Find out which projects won the awards, after the break.

SOFTlab has been chosen as the second annual winner of the Flatiron Public Plaza design competition in New York. Their winning proposal, Nova will open to the public next month on Wednesday, November 18th. Its "crystalline" structure aims to intrigue the passer-by, welcoming them inside for framed views of the Flatiron Building and surrounding landmarks, including the Met Life Tower and Empire State Building.

A consortium led by Sergey Skuratov Architects (SSA) was selected over Steven Holl Architects and Miralles Tagliabue EMBT to develop a concept for a multi use complex on Moscow's Sofiyskaya Embankment. Planned for a historic area on the Moscow-river bank, opposite Kremlin, the winning concept calls for three "longitudinal units with roofs of different types and heights" that produce a "picturesque outline" and offers a "gentle transition" from the "old buildings to new."

Read on for a glimpse of the winning and two runner-up proposals. 

The Royal Academy of Arts in London has announced the four shortlisted proposals in their Urban Jigsaw competition, which aims to generate ideas for the renewal of Brownfield sites in London. After appraisal of many high-quality entries, four finalists have been selected to move onto the next stage of the project. See the finalist proposals after the break.

Wilkinson Eyre Architects has won an international competition to design Australia's second tallest tower. The proposed Queensbridge Hotel Tower, planned for Melbourne’s Southbank area, will be comprised of a 388-room luxury hotel and 680 apartments, as well as ground floor retail and rooftop garden terrace. As BDOnline reports, the winning scheme will rise 317-meters - just five meters shy of the country's tallest building: Q1 on the Gold Coast. Pending approval, it is scheduled for completion in 2020.

Russian-Chinese consortium Turenscape and MAP architects was announced as winners of a major competition to redevelop the Kaban lake system embankments in Kazan, Russia. Their winning concept, “Elastic band: The Immortal Treasure of Kazan” aims to establish a "continuous system of landscapes along the bank line, which will preserve the cultural and historical memory and become a basement for future stage-by-stage development."

"The water is turning into a real living treasure and heritage of Kazan," said the competition's organizer.

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The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the winners of the Look Up Film Challenge at the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial.

Out of 26 entries for the competition launched earlier this year, a jury of architects and media professionals selected three top prize winners and recognized seven additional films in themed categories. The winning pieces best represent the competition’s call for films that highlight the impact that architects have on communities.

The winners of the Look Up Film Challenge are:

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NASA, who recently confirmed evidence of flowing water on Mars, has deemed SEArch (Space Exploration Architecture) and Clouds AO (Clouds Architecture Office) winners of the 3D Printed Habitat Challenge for Mars. Sponsored by NASA and America Makes, the teams were asked to use indigenous materials and 3D printing techniques to build a habitat for four astronauts on Mars. SEArch and Clouds AO's first prize proposal, ICE HOUSE was awarded $25,000, ahead of 30 other shortlisted practices.

"Recognizing that water is the building block to life, the team used a ‘follow the water’ approach to conceptualize, site and construct their design," said SEArch and Clouds AO. "[Our] proposal stood out as one of the few entries not to bury the habitat beneath regolith, instead mining the anticipated abundance of subsurface ice in the northern regions to create a thin vertical ice shell capable of protecting the interior habitat from radiation while celebrating life above ground."

Bakpak Architects and EovaStudio have won a competition to design a multifunctional building in Rzeszow, Poland. The design—called The Pottery Courtyard—is based upon the local tradition of ceramic artisans, thus restoring a sense of heritage to the region and city.