1. ArchDaily
  2. SCAPE

SCAPE: The Latest Architecture and News

‘Living Breakwaters’ by SCAPE Landscape Architecture Wins the 2023 Obel Award

Focused in its fifth edition on Adaptation, the Obel Award has been granted to ‘Living Breakwaters’ in New York, a green infrastructure project off the shore of Staten Island. Awarded to SCAPE Landscape Architecture and its founder Kate Orff, masterminds behind ‘Living Breakwaters’, the yearly prize honors architectural contributions that positively impact both people and the planet.

The Obel Award is an international prize for architectural achievement presented annually by the Henrik Frode Obel Foundation, and each year, the jury sets a focus and awards a potential solution. Previously, it recognized Seratech, a carbon-neutral concrete solution, as the 2022 Obel Award winner, while in 2021, the concept of the 15-minute city received the prize for its value in creating sustainable and people-centric urban environments. The award ceremony will take place at the Sydney Opera House on 21 October 2023, and the winner will receive a prize sum of EUR 100,000 and a unique work of art by artist Tomás Saraceno as a trophy.

‘Living Breakwaters’ by SCAPE Landscape Architecture Wins the 2023 Obel Award - Image 1 of 4‘Living Breakwaters’ by SCAPE Landscape Architecture Wins the 2023 Obel Award - Image 2 of 4‘Living Breakwaters’ by SCAPE Landscape Architecture Wins the 2023 Obel Award - Image 3 of 4‘Living Breakwaters’ by SCAPE Landscape Architecture Wins the 2023 Obel Award - Image 4 of 4‘Living Breakwaters’ by SCAPE Landscape Architecture Wins the 2023 Obel Award - More Images+ 4

Transformed Tom Lee Park: Studio Gang and SCAPE Architects Revitalize Memphis Riverfront

The newly transformed Tom Lee Park by Studio Gang and SCAPE Architects reopened this weekend to the public. Located alongside the Mississippi River in downtown Memphis, the 31-acre park is a centerpiece of the city’s riverfront. As an essential zone included in Studio Gang’s six-mile masterplan for the riverfront, the design will serve as a model of the restored natural ecology of urban parks.

Transformed Tom Lee Park: Studio Gang and SCAPE Architects Revitalize Memphis Riverfront - Image 1 of 4Transformed Tom Lee Park: Studio Gang and SCAPE Architects Revitalize Memphis Riverfront - Image 2 of 4Transformed Tom Lee Park: Studio Gang and SCAPE Architects Revitalize Memphis Riverfront - Image 3 of 4Transformed Tom Lee Park: Studio Gang and SCAPE Architects Revitalize Memphis Riverfront - Image 4 of 4Transformed Tom Lee Park: Studio Gang and SCAPE Architects Revitalize Memphis Riverfront - More Images+ 1

Studio Gang’s Redesigned Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock, US, is Set to Open to the Public

The newly transformed Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock, US, is ready to open to the public on April 22, 2023. Designed by architecture practice Studio Gang in collaboration with Polk Stanley Wilcox and landscape architecture and urban design practice SCAPE, The Museum’s new architectural identity aims to signify its role as a leading arts institution in the region. One of the Museum’s most recognizable features, the folded plate concrete roof, is now complete. The new roofline spans the length of the building, connecting the new construction and the renovated spaces to create a coherent architectural character for the cultural institution.

Studio Gang’s Redesigned Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock, US, is Set to Open to the Public - Image 1 of 4Studio Gang’s Redesigned Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock, US, is Set to Open to the Public - Image 2 of 4Studio Gang’s Redesigned Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock, US, is Set to Open to the Public - Image 3 of 4Studio Gang’s Redesigned Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock, US, is Set to Open to the Public - Image 4 of 4Studio Gang’s Redesigned Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock, US, is Set to Open to the Public - More Images+ 1

The Signature Roof of Studio Gang's Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Reaches Completion

Designed by Studio Gang architects, together with landscape design firm SCAPE and Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA) reaches an important construction milestone with the recent completion of its signature new roof. Spanning the entire length of the project and connecting the various buildings, both renovated and new, the folded plate concrete roof establishes the museum’s new architectural identity as the leading cultural institution for the state of Arkansas.

The Signature Roof of Studio Gang's Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Reaches Completion - Image 1 of 4The Signature Roof of Studio Gang's Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Reaches Completion - Image 5 of 4The Signature Roof of Studio Gang's Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Reaches Completion - Image 6 of 4The Signature Roof of Studio Gang's Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Reaches Completion - Image 2 of 4The Signature Roof of Studio Gang's Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Reaches Completion - More Images+ 12

SOM Reveals Design for Walt Disney's New Headquarters in New York

4 Hudson Square is Walt Disney’s new headquarters in the Big Apple, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM). Located in the Lower Manhattan district, in the neighborhood of Hudson Square, the project will create a space for the company’s New York operations.

Mission Rock's Collaborative Master Plan to Transform San Francisco’s Waterfront

The first phase of the planning vision for Mission Rock in San Francisco was initiated. The masterplan developed by the San Francisco Giants and Tishman Speyer put in place four buildings designed by internationally renowned architecture firms MVRDV, Studio Gang, Henning Larsen, and WORKac. The scheme also includes a 5-acre waterfront park by SCAPE.

How Three Major US Cities are Preparing for Climate Change

As the world recognizes Earth Day 2019, the public discourse is increasingly dominated by citizen action across the world manifesting a widespread fear and frustration at a perceived lack of action by governments and officials to confront the issue forthrightly. From the Extinction Rebellion protests that have gripped London, to school student strikes across 125 countries, global cities are increasingly finding themselves on the front line of a battle to limit the effects of global warming.

Studio Gang and SCAPE Reveal Plans for Tom Lee Park on the Memphis Waterfront

Studio Gang and SCAPE has unveiled further details of their plans to transform the Memphis waterfront with the new Tom Lee Park. One of five zones included in Studio Gang's six-mile masterplan for the riverfront, the park has been developed with input from over 4,000 people, including community groups, stakeholders, and local students from North and South Memphis.

The proposal for Tom Lee Park draws inspiration from the Mississippi River, “reimagined as a vibrant and dynamic civic space that fosters positive encounters and civic pride, restores natural ecology and conditions, and better connects the city to the river.” New architecture floating above the landscape is inspired by historic structures that once dotted the riverfront, such as terminal buildings, grain elevators, and barges.

Studio Gang and SCAPE Reveal Plans for Tom Lee Park on the Memphis Waterfront  - Image 1 of 4Studio Gang and SCAPE Reveal Plans for Tom Lee Park on the Memphis Waterfront  - Image 2 of 4Studio Gang and SCAPE Reveal Plans for Tom Lee Park on the Memphis Waterfront  - Image 3 of 4Studio Gang and SCAPE Reveal Plans for Tom Lee Park on the Memphis Waterfront  - Image 4 of 4Studio Gang and SCAPE Reveal Plans for Tom Lee Park on the Memphis Waterfront  - More Images+ 1

Dimensions of Citizenship: The US Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale

As part of our 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale coverage, we present the completed United States Pavilion. To read the initial proposal, refer to our previously published posts, “Curators and Theme Announced for US Pavilion at 2018 Venice Biennale” and "Studio Gang, Diller Scofidio + Renfro Among Exhibitors Selected for US Pavilion at 2018 Venice Biennale"

The pavilion representing the United States at this year’s biennale brings together the work of seven different transdisciplinary teams who each prepared an installation addressing the concept of citizenship at a different scale. Entitled Dimensions of Citizenship, the exhibition is intended to challenge the definition and conception of citizenship, examining issues and citing examples on the scale of the citizen, civitas, region, nation, globe, network and cosmos. The pavilion was commissioned on behalf of the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago.

Dimensions of Citizenship: The US Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale - Image 1 of 4Dimensions of Citizenship: The US Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale - Image 2 of 4Dimensions of Citizenship: The US Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale - Image 3 of 4Dimensions of Citizenship: The US Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale - Image 4 of 4Dimensions of Citizenship: The US Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale - More Images+ 23

Final Winning Design Concepts Released for Resilience by Design's Bay Area Challenge

One year after the launch of Resilient by Design's Bay Area Challenge, led by TLS Landscape has presented the final nine design concepts. The Bay Area Challenge launched with a call to action to "bring together local residents, community organizations, public officials and local, national, and international experts to develop innovative solutions that will strengthen our region's resilience to sea level rise, severe storms, flooding, and earthquakes." The idea formulated as a “blueprint for resilience” that can be replicated and utilized locally and globally. Other urban challenges will also be addressed, including housing, transport, health and economic disparity as a means of not just protecting the current regions, but strengthening them.

The elite, collaborative teams include world-renowned designers like BIG, Mithun and HASSELL+.

Read on for more about each of the final design concepts.

Final Winning Design Concepts Released for Resilience by Design's Bay Area Challenge - Image 1 of 4Final Winning Design Concepts Released for Resilience by Design's Bay Area Challenge - Image 2 of 4Final Winning Design Concepts Released for Resilience by Design's Bay Area Challenge - Image 3 of 4Final Winning Design Concepts Released for Resilience by Design's Bay Area Challenge - Image 4 of 4Final Winning Design Concepts Released for Resilience by Design's Bay Area Challenge - More Images+ 41

Studio Gang Reveals Design of Arkansas Arts Center Expansion

Studio Gang has revealed the design of their $70 Million expansion of the Arkansas Arts Center, located in historic MacArthur Park in the state capital of Little Rock. Working with associate architects Polk Stanley Wilcox and landscape architecture firm SCAPE, Studio Gang has envisioned a sweeping roof structure that will connect the existing architecturally disparate museum pavilions into a cohesive whole.

Studio Gang Reveals Design of Arkansas Arts Center Expansion - Image 1 of 4Studio Gang Reveals Design of Arkansas Arts Center Expansion - Image 2 of 4Studio Gang Reveals Design of Arkansas Arts Center Expansion - Image 3 of 4Studio Gang Reveals Design of Arkansas Arts Center Expansion - Image 4 of 4Studio Gang Reveals Design of Arkansas Arts Center Expansion - More Images+ 1

Elon Musk, Architects David Benjamin and Kate Orff Among Rolling Stone's "25 People Shaping the Future"

In their latest issue, Rolling Stone has named Elon Musk "The Architect of Tomorrow," as well as listed architects David Benjamin and Kate Orff as two of their "25 People Shaping the Future in Tech, Science, Medicine, Activism and More."

Resilient by Design Announces Ten Winners Set to Re-Imagine The Bay Area

From a pool of over fifty submissions, Resilient by Design have chosen ten winning teams to collaborate with engineers, climate change experts, designers, architects and community members to imagine a better future for The Bay Area in the face of potentially devastating climate change. The winning teams AECOM, BIG, Bionic, TLS, Field Operations, HASSELL, Mithun, Base Landscape, SCAPE and Gensler will spend the next year on a combination of collaborative research projects and site-specific conceptual design solutions.

Resilient by Design Announces Ten Winners Set to Re-Imagine The Bay Area - Image 1 of 4Resilient by Design Announces Ten Winners Set to Re-Imagine The Bay Area - Image 2 of 4Resilient by Design Announces Ten Winners Set to Re-Imagine The Bay Area - Image 3 of 4Resilient by Design Announces Ten Winners Set to Re-Imagine The Bay Area - Image 4 of 4Resilient by Design Announces Ten Winners Set to Re-Imagine The Bay Area - More Images+ 2

Studio Gang, Diller Scofidio + Renfro Among Exhibitors Selected for US Pavilion at 2018 Venice Biennale

The curatorial team for the U.S. Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale have announced the seven designers who will create the pavilion’s main exhibitions. Consisting of architects, landscape architects, artists and designers, the group will produce responses to the theme of Dimensions of Citizenship, exploring “the meaning of citizenship as a cluster of rights and responsibilities at the intersection of legal, political, economic, and societal affiliations.”

The seven exhibitors include:

How the Architectural League's "Emerging Voices" Award Predicted 30 Years of Architectural Development

How the Architectural League's "Emerging Voices" Award Predicted 30 Years of Architectural Development - Image 10 of 4
Tarlo House, Sagaponack, NY, 1979 by Tod Williams Associates (EV 1982). Image © Norman McGrath. Courtesy Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects

For over 30 years, the Emerging Voices prize given by the Architectural League of New York has offered the architecture world a glimpse into the future, showcasing radical ideas from architects at a crucial stage in their career development. In this excerpt, the opening to her essay "Idea: Claiming Territories" in the newly-released book "Thirty Years of Emerging Voices: Idea, Form, Resonance," Ashley Schafer discusses how the prize has acted as a litmus test for architectural culture, with laureates often presaging trends and sometimes even singular projects years or decades before they occurred in the profession at large.

How the Architectural League's "Emerging Voices" Award Predicted 30 Years of Architectural Development - Image 1 of 4How the Architectural League's "Emerging Voices" Award Predicted 30 Years of Architectural Development - Image 2 of 4How the Architectural League's "Emerging Voices" Award Predicted 30 Years of Architectural Development - Image 3 of 4How the Architectural League's "Emerging Voices" Award Predicted 30 Years of Architectural Development - Image 4 of 4How the Architectural League's Emerging Voices Award Predicted 30 Years of Architectural Development - More Images+ 8

SCAPE Wins 2014 Buckminster Fuller Challenge with Climate Change Adaptation Plan

"Don't fight forces, use them." - R. Buckminster Fuller

SCAPE’s comprehensive climate change adaptation and community development project, Living Breakwaters has been announced as winner of the 2014 Fuller Challenge, “socially responsible design’s highest award.” Announced by the Buckminster Fuller Institute (BFI), the proposal was selected over seven shortlisted humanitarian initiatives and will receive a $100,000 prize for their innovative solution to solve one of humanity’s most pressing problems.

"Living Breakwaters is about dissipating and working with natural energy rather than fighting it. It is on the one hand an engineering and infrastructure-related intervention, but it also has a unique biological function as well. The project team understand that you cannot keep back coastal flooding in the context of climate change, but what you can do is ameliorate the force and impact of 100 and 500 year storm surges to diminish the damage through ecological interventions, while simultaneously catalyzing dialog to nurture future stewards of the built environment," said Bill Browning of Terrapin Bright Green, a 2014 senior advisor and jury member.

More on Living Breakwaters, after the break.

SCAPE and Rogers Marvel Selected to Transform Waterfront District in Minneapolis

SCAPE and Rogers Marvel have been unanimously selected from 27 international applicants to create a schematic design for one of the most visited destinations on the Mississippi River: Water Works in downtown Minneapolis. The SCAPE-Roger Marvel Team, which also includes New York-based James Lima Planning + Design and Minneapolis-based SRF Consulting, will be responsible for transforming the historically significant Central Mississippi Riverfront Regional Park, within which the Water Works district exists, with a master plan based on a series of “visionary” parks and trails.

SCAPE/Landscape Architecture Wins Competition for Lexington Masterplan

SCAPE/Landscape Architecture Wins Competition for Lexington Masterplan - Image 2 of 4
SCAPE's Masterplan for Lexington, Kentucky's Town Branch Commons. Image © SCAPE/Landscape Architecture

New York-based SCAPE/Landscape Architecture has beat out 4 national/international firms, including JDS Architects, to design a Masterplan for the Town Branch Commons, a two-mile linear stretch of green space that will connect the eastern and western sections of downtown Lexington, Kentucky. The Competition has garnered attention for its interesting challenge: to bring the Town Branch Creek, a river which has been underground for over 100 years, to the surface.

Jeff Fugate, President and COO of the Lexington Downtown Development Authority, which sponsored the competition, noted that “The [five-person] jury had five excellent choices, but SCAPE clearly was above the competition.” Aaron Betsky, the director of the Cincinnati Art Museum and the jury chairman also explained the choice: “As a jury, we felt inspired and excited by the breath of the designers’ vision, while we felt confident that they would be able to implement their plan."

Kate Orff, founder of SCAPE, notes that the firm is looking forward to working with the community to make the vision a reality: “SCAPE is so thrilled to be a part of this exciting initiative to revive Town Branch, make new connections downtown, and improve the quality of life in Lexington. We’ve been inspired by the realities and conditions on the ground and by the potential of water to inform the design of new urban landscapes.”

Find out more about the Masterplan, after the break...