NBBJ: The Latest Architecture and News

Over 1,200 entires from 30 states and 10 countries submitted applications for the National Mall competition. Late last month fifteen design teams were chosen as finalists to advance to the second stage of this prestigious contest.

Hosting 25 million visitors annually, the National Mall will undergo an estimated $700 million restoration beginning in 2012. The competition has been broken down into three areas of restoration: Union Square including the Reflecting Pool and the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, Sylvan Theater on the Washington Monument Grounds, and the Constitution Gardens between the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

Among the finalists to move on to stage two of the competition, Diller Scofidio Renfro, Weiss/Manfredi, and Rogers Marvel Architects who are shortlisted for two out of the three areas of restoration, as well as Snohetta, Michael Maltzan Architecture, Ten Arquitectos, and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson who are finalists for one area of restoration.

“Entrants were evaluated on past design performance, philosophy, design intent, thoughtfulness, creativity and overall resume,” according to a release from the Trust of the National Mall. The jury, compiled of architects, professors and other members of the architecture community, included Michael Gericke of Pentagram NYC and Pritzker Prize Laureate Thom Mayne founder of Morphosis.

The second stage of the competition includes interviews of the teams conducted by the Trust for the National Mall and the National Park Service, and the last stage will include proposed plans for the restoration. The competition will culminate in May 2012 and the proposed designs from stage three of the competition will be available to the public prior to the winning design being selected.

Follow the break for a complete list of design finalists for the National Mall Competition.

Architect Magazine‘s third-annual ranking of American architecture firms takes a look at three factors: profitability, sustainability, and design quality. This whole picture approach provides an opportunity for small and large firms to go head to head, with a result of the best architecture firms, not necessarily the biggest.

Some of these practices have been featured on ArchDaily like Perkins + Will, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Cannon Design, and Frank Harmon Architect.

Take a look at the complete rankings after the break.

The Columbus, Ohio office of international design firm NBBJ is designing the new headquarters for the Housing Bank For Trade and Finance (HBTF), the largest bank branch network in Jordan. Located in the Schmeisani section of Amman, the new HBTF headquarters will feature a modern, iconic design helping to re-shape the city’s evolving skyline. It will also be among a handful of buildings in Amman created under the current sustainable design guidelines. Once completed, the new facility will provide employees with a state-of-the-art work environment to deliver even better service to customers.

Project description and drawings after the break.

Architect: NBBJ Location: Amman, Jordan Project team: Adam Shriver, Aleksandr Daskalov, Brian Sell, Chandra Wilcox, Dean Stump, Don Kruckeburg, Earl Lee, Ed Mickelson, Ivan Amy, Jim Lehnert, John Woods, Karen Miller Eskandari, Kent Usher, Mark Gammon, Mark Perry, Matt Manda, Mike Suriano, Nick Forbess, Scot Walls, Tony Murry, Tyler Bohm, Katie Hueblein, Michael Denison, Laura Elswick, Jeff Heffner, Jonathan Novak, Teri Umbarger, Brian Rezentes, Budiman Wiharja, Nursah Balcilar Design Engineer: Arup Local A/E: Arabtech Jardaneh Lighting Designer: Quentin Thomas Associates Food Service Designer: Hammer Design Associates Wind Testing: CPP Water Architecture: Dan Euser Construction Manager: Projacs Client: Housing Bank for Trade and Finance Project area: 76,000 sqm Project year: Estimated Completion 2014 Renderings: Li Fang / Illustration on Demand

The first phase of the Qingdao Water City development at Aoshan Bay, designed by the Los Angeles office of NBBJ, will include a new exposition center of 1,940,000 sf. As the ocean sits to one side of the site, and a wetland on the other, a strong emphasis has been placed on how the exposition is shaped by its interaction and proximity to the water.

More images and more about the exhibition hall after the break.

NBBJ, in collaboration and partnership with CCDI, have designed the Hangzhou Sports Park: A vibrant, pedestrian-centric sports and recreation development located in the midst of Hangzhou’s new urban environment. Situated on the Qian Tang riverfront opposite of the new Central Business District, and encompassing a site of approximately 400,000 square meters, the sports park is seen as an opportunity for creating picturesque and sustainable public spaces that are often elusive in the newly constructed urbanism of China. This new place making will be accomplished while intelligently balancing the long-term commercial viability of the sports development.

See more images and architect’s description after the break.

NBBJ‘s proposed design for the new Dalian Shide football stadium in China represents a new direction in sports architecture by moving away from the creation of a building based on pure form. The organic architecture of the building challenges the typical stadium typology to become more than an impressive skin wrapped around an ordinary seating bowl.

More images and full architect’s description after the break.

NBBJ just revealed their latest design for UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, slated to begin February 2010 and be completed just in time for the 2012-2013 basketball season. Upon UCLA’s decision to renovate the existing Pavilion due to its strong sentimental value, NBBJ’s design includes new lobby and concourse space, as well as new facilities for the athletes and additional seating for fans.

Project description and more images after the break.