A new masterplan along the central Pailao River in Shenzhen proposes a climate-proof regeneration of the area, using nature and water retention ecological zones to mitigate the risk of flooding. Created by urban design and architecture practice VenhoevenCS, with landscape vision by Hope Design and water management plan by Huadong Engineering, the Pailao River Blueway Project capitalizes on the coexistence of the urban and the natural environment, ensuring resilience and enhancing the economic growth of the city district.
In this week's reprint from the Architect's Newspaper, author Patrick Sisson tackles the implication and participation of communities in New York in shaping their built environment, especially their waterfront. He also asks about the roles of representation and if "the city’s community boards and Uniform Land Use Review Procedure act more like gatekeepers than catalysts for equitable development?" especially that a lot of new developments are labeled as housing projects.
Office Building Conversion- Spain. Image via Foster + Partners
Cities around the globe have widely adopted the concept of adaptive reuse and the importance of investing in historic sites and bringing them into the present day. Instead of focusing on brand new, ground-up construction, many are seeing the value in repurposing structure for new programs. Old churches are becoming restaurants, factories are transformed into museums and apartments, and warehouses are designed to become iconic office spaces. But beyond individual buildings, some planners and preservationists are reimagining what it means to revitalize in a similar way, but at a city scale, and how we can determine the buildings that would benefit our neighborhoods if they are repurposed.
With new advancements in software opportunities, Open BIM is tiding over the disconnects between different project sectors, making the workflow more efficient at both large and small scales. Open BIM extends the benefits of BIM (Building Information Modeling) by improving the accessibility, usability, management, and sustainability of digital data in the built asset industry. Open BIM processes can be defined as sharable project information that supports seamless collaboration for all project participants, removing the traditional problem of BIM data that is typically constrained by proprietary vendor data formats, by discipline, or by the phase of a project.
The City Council of San Jose recently approved Google’s “Downtown West” mixed-use corporate campus, an 80-acre net-zero environment, also set to feature the largest multimodal transit hub on the west coast. A departure from the tech campuses of Silicon Valley, the masterplan designed by San Francisco-based SITELAB urban studio is envisioned as an integrated part of the urban environment, an extension of Downtown San Jose open to the local community.
Reflecting on the future of shopping centres and addressing their decline in visitors, MVRDV's Heuvelkwartier design proposes converting Eindhoven's Heuvel shopping venue into a green cultural quarter. The project brings together retail, culture and recreation, expanding the existing buildings while transforming the roofs into a park. The proposal also expands the Muziekgebouw with a stacked cultural building encased in a "glass mountain", creating a new landmark for Heuvel.
Transformation of the brownfield area in Náchod city. Image Courtesy of LETO Architects
Urban design is increasingly striving for more inclusive, sustainable environments, bringing together various groups and activities, and fostering social interaction. This week's curated selection of the Best Unbuilt Architecture focuses on urban designs, large-scale urban development projects and masterplans submitted by the ArchDaily Community, showcasing how architects around the world work with and shape the urban fabric of highly diverse environments.
From the transformation of a brownfield into a lively neighbourhood in the Czech Republic to the redevelopment of Bergamo's city centre around new spatial and collective values, the following projects showcase the ideas shaping urban design, from functional diversity and notions of proximity to a focus on outdoor spaces. The common denominators of the following projects are their collective focus and the strong connection with the existing urban fabric.
Focusing on the different typologies of houses, this week’s curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights conceptual projects submitted by the ArchDaily Community. From urban developments to tiny homes, this article explores the topic of residential architecture and presents approaches from all over the world.
Featuring a cabin amidst the verdant forested region of northern Iran, a development in Georgia that offers an 80% recreational space to 20% housing ratio, and a project in Paris that re-questions our urban reality, and rethinks traditional forms of housing, this roundup tackles a multitude of scales. In addition, it underlines a collection of beach houses in Greece, Italy, Argentina, and Latvia each responding to a different landscape and topography. Other ideas underlined include the renovation of existing developments in Moscow, a residential-led transformation of a former factory in Manchester, and a family of blocks grouped around an elevated communal garden in the Netherlands.
In an ideal world, architects would have free reign to design whatever they imagined. But the reality of the profession is that it comes with strings attached, and our visions are limited by clients, budgets, and perhaps the most dominating force, building codes. These codes have restricted and reshaped architecture so much, that it has forged a new type of building- the “stick frame over podium”, or “five over two” design. The result is a very distinct aesthetic of buildings and a notable monotony that has nearly redefined mid-rise residential architecture across the country.
SOM and Fender Katsalidis have won an international design competition for Central Place Sydney, a commercial development that will introduce new transformative public space and high-tech towers. Located in Sydney's Central Business District, Australia, the proposed project seeks to transform the western edge by introducing innovative buildings and public realm improvements.
London cityscape with building construction sites in background. Image via Shutterstock/ By Ttatty
The UK government has released a document that proposes reforms in the planning system, such as speeding up the process of approvals for development. Entitled Planning for the Future, the report suggests “to streamline and modernize the planning process, bring a new focus to design and sustainability, improve the system of developer contributions to infrastructure, and ensure more land is available for development where it is needed”.
Aedas has released images of the new Xiangyang Overseas Chinese Town Cultural & TourismDevelopment Area Joy Town. Expected to be completed in 2022, the project, located in the Ecological and Cultural Tourism Department in western Hubei, “will provide citizens and visitors with a unique and culturally immersive Xiangyang experience”.
P&T Architects and Engineers have designed a free zone development, “dedicated to the growing e-commerce market in the Middle East”. Entitled Dubai CommerCity, the award-winning project puts in place three main clusters spread over 530,000 square meters: business, logistics, and social.
Mecanoo was selected as the winner of the international architectural competition for the development of the Senezh Management LAB. The master plan highlights an architecture that responds to its surroundings and generates a rich environment with a diverse variety of functions and spaces.
Cover photo: Urban Hospice, photographer, Adam Mørk
Co-creating Architecture is a bookseries project that takes a look at the vast potential and use of co-creation within Danish architecture. It portrays a generation of Danish architects who set a new international standard for Danish architecture with their ability to offer sustainable answers to societal and social challenges in the shape of innovative and lasting design solutions. The key to this was and still is co-creation: a collaborative approach that opens up the creative process, inviting users, decision-makers and experts from a wide range of fields to participate in and inform the development of projects. Co-creation stimulates interest, sense of
Cover photo: Street Mekka, Viborg Denmark, photographer, Rasmus Hjortshøj – COAST Studio
Co-creating Architecture is a bookseries project that takes a look at the vast potential and use of co-creation within Danish architecture. It portrays a generation of Danish architects who set a new international standard for Danish architecture with their ability to offer sustainable answers to societal and social challenges in the shape of innovative and lasting design solutions. The key to this was and still is co-creation: a collaborative approach that opens up the creative process, inviting users, decision-makers and experts from a wide range of fields to participate in and inform the development of projects. Co-creation stimulates interest, sense of
Lisi Green Town. Image Courtesy of Lisi Development
Architects and developers have always been on opposite ends of the construction world. While the first wanted to create dreamy spaces, the latter just wanted to cater to the basic needs. In these past few years, the world has witnessed significant changes, with the aggravation of climate-related issues, the evolution of technological solutions, and the newly acquired awareness and growth of the population.
While everything is transforming, building trends also evolved, mainly due to an alteration in people’s perceptions and priorities. However, one question remains unanswered: Could all these changes mean that the never-ending conflict between architects and developers reached some sort of common grounds? And could they finally be seeking one same goal, of a sustainable, resilient and inclusive future?
The showpiece of a planned new development at Edinburgh Park will be UK-artist David Mach’s first-ever building, named “Mach 1” by the project’s developers and investors, Parabola. Working with Stirling Prize-nominated architects Dixon Jones, Mach’s building will be created from over 30 shipping containers - but not in the modular, linear method to which shipping container buildings typically lend themselves. Instead its sculptural shape is meant to draw attention to the new quarter and catch the public’s eye, especially those traveling by on the nearby tram.
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