The Transalley Technopole is a metropolitan scientific and technological project of an international dimension, dedicated to transportation and mobility, located on a strategic site of the Valenciennes urban area. The competition proposal by Mikou Design Studio aims to be a real ecosystem of innovation, and it will host the Institut des Transports Durables (Sustainable Transport Institute), the Institut International de Management, and the head office of IRT Railenium, which will be a major research and development center dedicated to railway infrastructure. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed to gather the city’s cultural functions under one roof, the winning proposal by schmidt hammer lassen architects for the new cultural centre and library in Karlshamn, Sweden will be the city’s new meeting place. The 5,000 square metre cultural centre will get a sculptural and flexible building containing a library, an exhibition area, a cinema, a tourist office and a café, which together work to embrace diversity. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Organized by the Order of Architects of Romania and ABplus Events, this year’s INGLASS International Architecture Conference, which takes place March 5, will feature Professor Wolf D. Prix, co-founder, Design Principal and CEO of Coop Himmelb(l)au, Austria, as the special guest. “Glass architecture and engineering”, will be the general topic in the discussion of glass construction, architecture and engineering, facade systems and solar energy. The event will also address the entire glass industry, architects, engineers, glass producers, processors, equipment providers. More information after the break.
In search of the architectural and spatial form for the designed sports hall in Białystok, Studio EL, through their investigation of applied form typologies used in sports facilities, decided to use the coating system. This type of design is characterized by freshness, terseness and coherence in form and in contents of a function. The design consists of two-curvature, two-layered, steel space frames which will cover the space of the sports hall and will be based on the double buttresses located in its ambit. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Taking place February 1 from 2:00-4:30pm EST, Advanced Data Trees: The Art of Navigating and Manipulating Data Structures in Grasshopper will focus on how to effectively navigate and use multi-dimensional data in creative ways. Effective use of Data Trees cannot only help accelerate project development and increase productivity, but in many cases, implementing an advanced Data Tree strategy can lead to greater communication across a team. Through a series of short presentations and “live” case studies, learn to streamline your parametric workflows using advanced Data Tree strategies. To register, and for more information, please visit here.
In an effort to achieve a more holistic development of Latsia, the participation of socially active, culturally motivated and eager to learn citizens is necessary. Therefore, this second prize winning proposal by ECONOMOU Architects & Engineers + Georgios Artopoulos was designed to accommodate and create spatially organized activities and lived experiences, in order to host actions of collective learning and creative occupations relevant to the local natural resources, always aiming for the generation of a new, shared identity of Latsia. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Witteveen+Bos, OKRA, and ZJA have recently won the integral design for the Jaarbeursplein Utrecht and the underground parking. Their vision focuses on the realization of the perfect parking concept, with a comfortable, lively, and socially safe city square on top of it. Forming the face of the new Utrecht, their vital and highly dynamic proposal becomes a place where inhabitants and visitors can have a taste of the new city. More images and architects’ description after the break.
All professionally active individuals or legal persons such builders, architectural bureaus, local government, construction firms, or other companies are invited to submitted projects for the Architecture of Necessity 2013 Competition dated between 2010 and 2013, whether they have been built or not. The submitted material must include a short text describing the project in relation to the Architecture of Necessity, which espouses the values of being responsible, diligent, sustainable, just, and open. Entries should be submitted to Virserum Art Museum no later than February 15. For more information, please visit here.
The design proposal for NAAS Springs, a well-known wellness center and place of relaxation in Beirut, is formed by a series of walls projecting into nature. They alternate between large living spaces with roofs for residences and uncovered elongated spaces for the passages, which form an extension of nature. Designed by Hapsitus Architects, the architectural landscape is created in the spirit of water following down a sloped terrain. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Entering their fifth cycle of the WDC (World Design Capital) initiative, Icsid (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) is currently calling for submissions of applications for the biennial designation, where a combination of many factors contributes to the final selection. Although applicants are encouraged to prepare a creative proposal for review, it is essential, that applications clearly define the aims and objectives of the city to hold the designation, as well as provide a detailed account of the city’s contribution to design from a social, economical and cultural point of view. More information after the break.
Austrian architectural office AllesWirdGut were recently commissioned to build the corporate headquarters of the international WAZ Media Group at their corporate home base in Essen, Germany. With a gross floor area of 36,000 sqm, the architects create a landmark and sustainable business model as shown in their future-oriented concept. More images and architects’ description after the break.
By Design is a two-day inaugural event taking place January 25-26 that aims to build a platform of innovation by engaging key stakeholders through the creative process. The event includes a speaker series and a design challenge at the newly constructed Harvard Innovation Lab, Harvard Business School, and the Graduate School of Design. With a focus to reframe the future of education, the model and structure of the conference allows participants to unpack tacit, hidden, and evident knowledge from each corner of the university, through simple yet uncommon dialogue between each school. More information after the break.
Recently destroyed by the 2010 Earthquake, Port-au-Prince’s new design for the National Cathedral is presented as an absolute plain wall of concrete which expresses the true character of the construction. Designed by NC-Office, the concrete material is not only structurally appropriate, but it also produces a somber cool space that absorbs light – forming an architecture of shadows. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Confronted with an original form of the pyramid, the shape of the Operlab Theatre Pavilion proposal, designed by UGO Architecture and Design, is the result of a consistent analysis of the building of the Grand Theatre. The character and function of a row of interior spaces, including the entrance, auditorium, and stage, finds its reflection in the arrangement of forms composing the body of the building. The pavilion then becomes a repetition of this arrangement and gives it additional meaning. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed by Studio Alfirevic, their proposal for the Operalab Theatre Pavilion competition represents ‘live’ theater, in which different performances and experiments take place in the field of art. The suggested position of the pavilion is in the fringe area of the park, in the direct vicinity of the building of the Great Theater. The circular form of the pavilion is a subtle response to the conditions of the natural environment and it allows an equal visual experience from all sides. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed by architect Dina Hadi, the proposal for the Beirut Multi Art Use project represents a total art mass from the city with different rhythms and patterns. It becomes a live scene from local artists that is captured into this box. With a focus on art as a foundation base for cultures, this project becomes a model for global art beyond. Her study was also awarded the best prize at the Oslo School of Architecture under the title, ‘Excellence in Professionalism’. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Synthesis Design + Architecture Inc. and Shenzhen General Institute of Architectural Design and Research Co. Ltd have been awarded first place in the invited international design competition for the Shanghai Wuzhou International Plaza. Their scheme, entitled “Urban Canyon”, embodies the energy and vibrancy of the cities distinct urban environment. Inspired by traditional Chinese concepts of Yin and Yang, the project is organized as two nested rock-like volumes which have been broken apart to reveal a flowing canyon condition which connects the project to the urban fabric of the city. More images and architects’ description after the break.
