Sou Fujimoto. Image Courtesy of Sou Fujimoto Architects
After MAD’s Wormhole Library, the city of Haikou revealed a pavilion by Sou Fujimoto Architects. Scheduled for the end of spring, the ribbon-like white pavilion with an accessible roof will be one of the first public waterfront interventions to be completed in the spring of 2021. Shaping the future of Haikou city and Hainan Free Trade Port, the master plan of 16 permanent destinations re-imagines the future of coastal living.
The Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, France, known also as Beaubourg, is set to undergo major renovation works. Designed in the 1970s by architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, and inaugurated in 1977, one of the capital’s leading cultural attractions is scheduled to be closed completely as of the end of 2023 until 2027. Showing signs of aging, especially when it comes to the heating and cooling system, escalators and elevator malfunctions, and asbestos that must be removed, this is not the inside-out museum's first revamp, in fact, it was closed down once before in 1997, during its 20th anniversary, for a couple of years.
Adjaye Associates has unveiled its design for a new historical center for African consciousness, the Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library in Johannesburg. Named after the previous president of South Africa, the project is an opportunity to realize the dreams of Thabo Mbeki to advance and empower an African renaissance, according to the 2021 RIBA Royal Gold Medal winner Sir David Adjaye.
Shigeru Ban, Pritzker Prize-winner, and Ole Scheeren, RIBA silver medalist, were appointed for the Hangzhou Wangjiang New Town master plan. Creating new art and cultural destination in the historical city, the project in collaboration with New World Development and K11 Group seeks to build a landmark that meets the needs of the new generation.
Bratislava’s existing Istropolis culture and congress center will be replaced by a new cultural destination designed by KCAP and Cityförster. Creating a multifunctional cultural and social center, with a state-of-the-art concert and congress venue, the intervention will also transform the surrounding area into a modern open neighborhood comprising green and public areas.
Courtesy of Christensen & Co Architects with Primus Architects and STED cph
Christensen & Co. Architects has designed a brand new culture house and library for the small town of Viby, in Denmark. Conceived as a sort of living room for the city, the project will be a “place for lingering and staying”, introducing social zones and an open architecture to the urban space.
Panda Base Sightseeing Tower. Image Courtesy of UDG•Atelier Alpha
With more competition entries coming our way, our curated selection of best-unbuilt architecture features this week, exceptional projects presented in an international context. ArchDaily has rounded up another collection of proposals, gathering interventions from across the world, and highlighting never-seen-before programs, designs, and innovations from our readers’ submissions.
The article includes a couple of groundbreaking projects from the Far East with a Panda Sightseeing Tower, a production complex, and the regeneration of an industrial area in China. In addition, the selection showcases a proposal for the Jacques Rougerie Foundation Space and Sea Generation in Melbourne, Australia, and a finalist for the LACMA Not LackMA International Design Competition. Other proposals highlighted encompass a Multi-cultural Complex in South Korea, a recreational zone on an Austrian lake, a peace pavilion in Senegal, and a dream mansion "between mountain and sea" by Penda China, to name a few.
Focusing on competition entries, this week’s curated selection of the best-unbuilt architecture from our readers' submissions, highlights projects from across the globe, presented part of international contests. Some are winners, some are not but all of the featured schemes have an intriguing conceptual approach, and a different story to tell.
Tackling diverse programming, the entries include an urban public housing proposal in South Korea, the Dianju Village Library in China and a new Future-Oriented Neighborhood in Finland combining urban and sustainable living. Moreover, the article showcases rare and unconventional functions like a hospital for psychiatry & neurological diseases in Turkey and an intervention on a famed Oscar Niemeyer site.
Courtesy of Wafai Architecture and Fragomeli+partners
Wafai Architecture and Fragomeli+partners, two architecture practices based in Torino, Italy have imagined an Islamic cultural center in the Piedmont area. The project features a mosque and a center for cultural and social activities, a space that promotes constructive dialogues.