Retail: The Latest Architecture and News

Several hundred guests joined Daniel Libeskind in a ceremony last Friday as he laid the foundation stone of the Kö-Bogen building along with Dusseldorf’s Lord Mayor Dirk Elbers, investor Kurt Zech of Zech Group, and project developer Stefan H. Muehling. The stainless steel foundation stone, designed by Libeskind, will be visibly integrated into the facade of the building.

The new 432,300 sqf mixed use building is scheduled for completion in 2013 will house both office and retail space in downtown Dusseldorf. The design of Kö-Bogen intends to naturally blend landscape into the building space through geometry, permeated cuts in the facade, the green courtyards, and green roof system. All of these elements are ‘part of a new environment that bridges urban space with park space’.

Sopot Business Centre by Urbane Tehnike won 1st prize in the competition for the business complex project in the center of Novi Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia. The concept is for the design of a simple glass cube, structured within the surface of prisms which is visually manipulated by its context. From the urban planning point of view, the cube is derived from the constant movement along the avenues and the silhouette of the city beyond.

More on this project after the break.

Yamasaki Ku Hong Associates Design Lab has been awarded first prize for the invited design competition for a new landmark shopping center in Buyeo, Korea. Additional images of the project and the architects process can be viewed after the jump.