The main challenge in the design for the Wine Museum in Lavaux was to generate a large-scale cultural attraction non-existent today. Designed by Mauro Turin Architectes, their proposal creates a wine museum that shows and tells the whole heritage richness of the wine-growing area since the Middle Ages seams relevant, but not sufficient to attract people from around the world. The museum wants to be a small iconic object in a great iconic landscape; without being in competition but rather feeding each other. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Located in Zhengzhou’s rapidly developing Zhengdong New District, the proposed office tower by AUA (Atelier of Urban Architecture) is an iconic building that sets a precedent for the area. Derived from a series of indexical and analytical drawings, the design is a direct response to the existing site geometry. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed by Mateo Arquitectura, the proposal for the Lascaux IV: International Cave Painting Center competition speaks to us of its history and woven of enigmas that humankind seeks to solve. It tells us that there are individuals who think, who prove, who suppose and interpret. Right beside, their virtual doubles welcome us in small theatres sunk into the ground, facing the hill. The gentle slope of the entryway leads you to a space of darkness, which awakens a unique experience. More images and architects’ description after the break.
David Chipperfield, the curator of the Architecture Exhibition at this year's Venice Biennale, Common Ground (which wraps up this weekend), will be chatting live this Friday to offer his final two cents on the Exhibition's legacy.
Results from the Transforming the Bridge Competition for Cleveland, Ohio, are in. The competition called for an innovative solution for the redevelopment and repurposing of the abandoned Detroit-Superior Bridge. The brief called for a variety of uses, dedicated pedestrian and bike paths, performance spaces, and landscaping solutions. Nine projects made the cut…
Taking place at RIBA in London November 23rd, the What’s Next in Workspaces? Designing with Change event includes a round table discussion by leading voices in the field of workspace design who will present and discuss their ideas on the future of work environments. Without a doubt, now is a time when organizations, companies and firms from all over the globe are radically reconsidering the way they will work in the future, trying to adapt to the new situations and challenges that they are facing and will face in the new millennium. The event takes place from 3pm-6pm and is being put on by the IE School of Architecture and Design. More information after the break.
One of the final events at the Biennale Architettura is the Meetings on Architecture that will take place on November 24 at Teatro alle Tese, Arsenale. In the context of the 13th International Architecture Exhibition Common Ground, the aim is to explore together with the curator David Chipperfield, architects, scholars and critics the themes of the exhibition Common Ground and are addressed to the public of the Biennale Architettura made up, as well as professionals, by passionates, students and visitors of all ages, backgrounds and origins. Organized by la Biennale di Venezia chaired by Paolo Baratta, the ‘Grande meeting di chiusura’ event on this day will be an afternoon of round table discussions reviewing the intentions of the Exhibition and the reactions to Common Ground. For more information, please visit here.
Taking place November 24-25, the Open House Thessaloniki 2012 event marks the first Open House event in Greece as a selection of architectural sites will be open to the public during that weekend. Celebrating the city’s architecture and design, the event aspires to expose the architectural treasures of this dynamic city, and make architecture accessible to all. Its aim is to contribute to the deeper understanding of urban design and public space, and enable all citizens and visitors to explore and understand the value of a well-designed built environment. Open House is a simple but powerful concept: showcasing outstanding architecture for all to experience, completely for free. For more information, please visit here.
With the challenge of creating a new landmark on a floating platform, the ‘U-Topos’ proposal for the Faliro pier competition proposes a constructed “place”, a new “Land-” and a new “-mark”. Designed by Ksestudio, in an attempt to optimize climatic conditions, views and generate events, while developing an iconic identity, their project bends the given square platform to a “U” shape. The design is essentially a shell, an empty vessel, that frames the view towards the city and the sea, while signifying a gate, as small boats are allowed to park at the perimeter of the platform. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Nabito Architects + ACTAR shared with us their design proposal for the “Les Portes de Collserola” international competition held by the government of Barcelona. As a finalist, the architects were challenged to create an ambitious strategical plan to regenerate the entire Park of Coillserola in the North of the city. The architects were then selected to take part in the 4B door called: ‘LES PLANES IN-PARK UNA PORTA, VÀRIES CLAUS’. The Project is a Master plan for the re-interpretation of one of the doors from Collserola Mountain going into the city of Barcelona. It is a space in between a complex superposition of different elements: urban, natural, rural and infrastructural. The perfect mix to ordinate the territory for a contemporary project. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The ZEZEZE Architecture Gallery recently launched their open design competition for the design of a day care center for adults with developmental intellectual disabilities, to be established in the city of Beer Sheba. Held on behalf of the Beer Sheba municipality and the Shalem Fund, while managed by ZEZEZE Architecture Gallery, the winner of the two-stage competition will have the unique experience of entering into agreement with the city of Beer Sheba for the design of the center. The deadline for submissions is February 3rd, with the second stage following shorty after. To register and for more information, please visit here.
Designed by architect Eli Gotman, the proposal for the “Yad Labanim” (“A Memorial to the Sons”) is dedicated to commemorating the fallen soldiers in Israel’s wars and helping the bereaved families. The Yad Labanim building in Ramat Yishay, is in itself a monument, which begins with the wall buried in the ground carrying the names of the fallen perforated in it, continues to emerge out of the ground as a building, and ending as an illuminated library hovering over the square. More images and Gotman’s description after the break.
Located in Valdespartera Ecocity, a newly built neighborhood located in the residential expansion south of Zaragoza, the design for the Kindergarten by Magen Arquitectos is characterized by its strong expression of horizontality. The definition of the platform floor and the importance and extent of the roof form a broad continuous porch into the yard, supported structurally in tension with cantilevered decks at the top.When projected to the outside by the porch continuum becomes more intense the horizontal relationship with the outside center. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The aim for the design of the Varaždin University Student’s Restaurant and Home was to connect the new building with the old student’s home with the restaurant treated as a separate pavilion. This first prize winning design by SANGRAD Architects + AVP Arhitekti creates a new square between both buildings, which is defined by the main entrance to the existing building and the new restaurant volume. Along with the student’s home on the west side, the restaurant has a visual connection with all three buildings through an access plaza, while the student’s home towards the east continues the structure of the existing house forming a block. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Battery Conservancy Americas Design Competition 2012: Draw Up A Chair, which we published a couple months ago here, has received an impressive number of registrations to-date and continue to receive wonderful design submissions. Due to the impact of SuperStorm Sandy on many of their registered and would-be participants, they recently announced that they have extended the competition submission deadline to Monday, November 19. For more information, please visit here.
Erik Giudice Architects were recently announced as the H+ Bredgatan Winner of the WAN Awards 2012 Urban Regeneration for their innovative solution in Helsingborg, Sweden. The ‘social atmosphere and ability to encourage residents’ integration reconnects the city with a central spine around a canal theme, creating a number of public spaces that are servicing the scheme but also connecting with the key movement around the site,’ according to WAN jury members. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The design proposal for the Daegu Gosan Public Library aim towards becoming a knowledge based city by putting a strong emphasis on the multiple roles of a library as a knowledge based center accessible to all. Designed by wHY Architecture & Design, their project is based on the concept and form of an opened book. The library unfolds to the public green space, engages the landscape into a continuous surface, and invites people to activate and share the space to facilitate knowledge. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed for the Land Art Generator Initiative competition, the ‘NAWT Balloons’ concept, which was recently shortlisted in the competition, aims to couple the image of an oversized helium-filled teardrop with a nuanced application of wind energy technology. While the balloon’s image and subsequent geometry are the primitives to the proposal, the deployment on the Fresh Kills site ignites an interest in the oversized and the attenuated. Designed by Norman Kelley, through its multiplication and reconfiguration, this design may be able to produce new, yet familiar, collections of iconicity. More images and architects’ description after the break.
