Landscape: The Latest Architecture and News

Architect: Olivier Bourgeois Location: Magdalen Islands, Qc, Canada Visual Artist: Annie Landry Carpenters: Gaston Bourgeois, Cyrice Boudreau Fiberglass specialists: Les Entreprises Leo Leblanc & fils Main partner: Arrimage Project year: 2009 Photographs: Serge Boudreau, Olivier Bourgeois

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The Jerde Partnership’s Namba Parks, in Osaka, Japan, was just named one of the winners of the Urban Land Institute’s 2009 Awards of Excellence: Asia Pacific competition. When asked to create a gateway to redefine Osaka’s identity, the architects responded with this project that would become a natural intervention in Osaka’s dense and harsh urban condition. The rooftop park offers a sloping park plane that is “bifurcated by a sinuous, open-air ‘canyon’ path that reinforces the connection with nature while forming the primary circulation pattern.”

More about the park after the break.

Project: Field Location: Arts Quad, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA Client: AAP, Escuela de Arquitectura, Cornell University Architects: Mauricio Pezo, Sofia von Ellrichshausen, Yehre Suh Collaborators: Sae-Jun Ahn, Laura Amaya, Jesica Bello, John Best, Irina Chernyakova, Constanza Cortes, Karen Drummund, Monica Alexandra Freundt, Thea von Geldern, Lisa Hollywood, Amanda Lee Huang, Soyoung Jung, Kyle Keene, Jina Kim, Viola Diane Kosseda, Weonyoung Joy Lee, Chris Leonberg, Timothy Liddell, Jacqueline Liu, Hana Ovcina, Mia Ovcina, Mansi Ajit Pandey, Anna Pelavin, Hilary Pinnington, Mitchell W. Pride, Lorena Quintana, Ashley Reed, Samuel J. Reilly, Landon Gary Robinson, Hira Sabuhi, Johann Schweig, Courtney Song, Jerome Soustra, Rachel Tan, Margarita Urquiza, Mauricio Vieto, Zhiqiang Wang, Christopher Werner, Sonny Meng Qi Xu, Soo Jung Yoo, Milena Zindovic Photography: Karen Brummund, Mauricio Pezo, Irina Chernyakova, Jesica Bello Project year: 2009 Construction Year: 2009 Surface: 30.000 m2 Budget: 3000 USD

This installation establishes an optical exercise extended into a landscape format. Field is a continuous and homogenous installation of 2800 red sacks filled with straw (21” wide x 32” high) that covered the entire Arts Quad of the Cornell University Campus, in Ithaca (NY). The sacks were distributed in a 10 feet by 10 feet regular grid that followed the natural slope of the ground surface.

The New York Highline, a project by James Corner Field Operations with the collaboration of Diller Scofidio + Renfro has been open to the public for a few weeks (as we reported previously on AD) and as a New Yorker who has waited patiently for the project to finish, I was anxious to stroll along the latest addition in Manhattan. The visit was a completely new way to experience the city. Just the idea of observing Manhattan by walking above (and through) it, rather than being an actual part of it, made the Highline a project one must encounter to feel what the space can offer.

More about some impressions after a visit to the Highline and more pictures after the break.  

Following an international design competition, Imperial War Museum North (IWMN) selected Topotek 1 as the preferred design team to develop the external spaces of the museum in Trafford. The selection panel felt that Topotek 1′s scheme, Camouflage Strategy, best addressed the need for zones of contemplation, creativity and play which would complement the Daniel Libeskind building.

Further project description after the break.

Photos Iwan Baan

In May 2003, James Corner Field Operations with Diller Scofidio + Renfro competed against 720 teams from 36 countries to win the infrastructure conversion project of the New York City High Line. More than half a decade later, the High Line’s transition to a public park is almost complete. On June 8th, architects, elected officials, and advocates watched as Mayor Michael Bloomberg cut the ceremonial red ribbon, officially announcing the opening of the first of three sections. The new park offers an alluring break from the chaotic city streets as users have an opportunity to experience an elevated space with uninterrupted views of the Hudson River and the city skyline.

More info about the park, including an incredible set of photos by architecture photographer Iwan Baan and a video by Brooklyn Foundry after the break.

UPDATE: We corrected some credits of this project. You can see the full list here.