Fortunately, architecture has the power to solve numerous issues of the modern world and how we live in it, and there are infinite ways of doing so. However, not all architecture is effective in providing solutions while also being sensitive and thought-provoking. With a portfolio that is getting richer every year, SO–IL, an architecture practice based in New York City, has proven that buildings can actually do this and much more.
Throughout the years, urban settings have been shifting and taking on new forms. Workspaces became more flexible, home-based offices are common and the increasing costs of housing have led to changes in the way dwellings are designed and built; while turning us towards public and communal outdoor areas for leisurely activities and social gatherings. Our shifting lifestyles are therefore shaping a new urban landscape that’s influencing the way we conceive and use these spaces. Despite everything, some smaller and often unrecognized typologies have persisted and remain as necessary as they’d always been.
They are not places of defined function, yet they still host valuable instances within our day-to-day lives. The latter are the Interstitial (or In-between) spaces, that act as buffers to, and link our private spaces to the public and functional buildings or landscapes. They are the hallways, waiting areas, elevators, staircases, entrances, and transitional zones weave our built environment together.
SO-IL Architects has been chosen to develop the conceptual design for a new building for the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The project is set to provide the first stand-alone facility for WCMA, and will feature teaching spaces, collections, exhibitions and programs that will transform the museum’s engagement with the campus, as well as the Williamstown community and the Berkshires cultural region. The architecture firm was commended for its "inventive and enthusiastic approach to the museum’s teaching mission", putting art at the center of academia, student life, the campus, and community.
The United States Artists Fellowship Award is an annual grant that recognizes the "most compelling artists working and living in the United States, in all disciplines, at every stage of their career". Every year, individual artists are anonymously nominated to apply by a diverse group of scholars, critics, producers, and other arts professionals. Among the 63 recipients of 2022, 5 were selected from the fields of architecture and design with the aim of strengthening and enriching the industry and their communities.
The SO – IL-designed 21,000 square foot multi-building “art campus” in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is set to open on June 5th, 2021, with construction projected to conclude by May 2021. Serving as the Amant Foundation’s new headquarters, the complex will host exhibitions, public events, archival projects, performances, and residency programs.
Photographer Iwan Baan captured the construction process of the social housing Las Américas in León, imagined by the New York-based office, SO-IL who collaborated with the Municipal Housing Institute of León (IMUVI) in the design of the development.
.jpg?1592209486)
MAAT, the museum of art, architecture, and technology in Lisbon, Portugal has officially reopened its doors on June 10, unveiling to the public the new projects originally scheduled to launch before the Covid-19 lockdown, such as Beeline, an architecture intervention by SO – IL. Transforming the museum into a landscape of encounters and conversations, this exhibition also generates a temporary second entrance to the gallery space.
The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art by SO-IL and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson is the first contemporary arts museum for the University of California and the city of Davis. The museum’s signature element is the grand canopy that stretches over the surrounding site and building.
Creative duo another : have collaborated with music composer Yu Miyashita and released a short film that explores the geometric composition of the museum's structure in an exceptional way.
SO-IL has released details of their Las Americas social housing project in León, one of Mexico’s fastest-growing cities. Seeking to establish a solution to the nation’s housing crisis, SO-IL collaborated with the Instituto Municipal de Vivienda de León (IMUVI) in the development of the prototype development.
As a firm which has already won major awards, worked on culturally significant projects on a large scale, and generally achieved substantial success and recognition in just over 10 years, SO-IL seem to straddle a line between being an “emerging” and an “established” practice. Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu founded SO-IL (Solid Objectives-Idenburg Liu) in 2008 and have since gained a reputation for modern, clean-lined designs, but often with a unique material twist.
Design practices SO-IL and West 8 have won a competition to redesign a 37-acre cultural hub along New York's Niagara Gorge. The project will include a renovated main stage and an outdoor ampitheatre, as well as a series of pathways, galleries and viewing stations integrated into the canyon. The teams are tasked with the development of a strategy to revitalize the Artpark grounds, while improving connectivity, facilities and programs.
Arts South Australia has unveiled 6 designs shortlisted in a competition for the Adelaide Contemporary, a new cultural destination in Australia's fifth-most populous city. The shortlist, which was announced in January, features a star-studded list of international practices, pairing some of Australia's most famous firms such as Woods Bagot, HASSELL, and Durbach Block Jaggers with international names such as Adjaye Associates, BIG, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, David Chipperfield Architects, and Ryue Nishizawa.
The Adelaide Contemporary is planned to transform the site of the former Royal Adelaide Hospital (oRAH), and will feature exhibition, research, and education spaces situated in a public sculpture park and community meeting place. The museum will also notably host the Gallery of Time, a first-of-its-kind space to exhibit Aboriginal art alongside art from Europe and Asia, inviting visitors to see Australian art in a global context. The six designs are now being displayed in an online gallery created by competition organizer Malcolm Reading Consultants, and in a public exhibition being held in Adelaide at the Art Gallery of South Australia.
Update 1/23/18: The jury for the competition has been announced as the architects arrive on site for walkthroughs.
Six star-studded teams have been shortlisted in the Adelaide Contemporary International Design Competition, which is seeking to create a new contemporary art museum and public sculpture park on a significant site near the University of Adelaide and the Adelaide Botanic Garden in Adelaide, Australia.
Selected from 107 teams made up of over 500 individual firms, the six shortlisted teams were chosen through the “outstanding quality” of their initial submissions and for the complementary strengths of each of the team members.
“This is an extraordinarily rich list of diverse creative partnerships of architects looking to complement their talents by working with both peers and smaller talented practices. The final decision was very demanding but these are the teams that convinced us through the outstanding quality of their submissions,” said Nick Mitzevich, Director, Art Gallery of South Australia.
ARCHMARATHON has announced the winners of their 2017 Awards Program as the event, which took place at Faena Forum in Miami from October 12-14, comes to a close. Now in its 4th edition, the Awards focus on architecture studios that have been actively practicing in USA, Canada, Central America and Latin America.
Winners were chosen by a jury consisting of Luca Molinari, Francisco Pardo, Sebastian Salvat, Alejandro Paredes Fontanals and ArchDaily’s David Basulto and David Assael in in 8 themed categories: MOVING, LIVING, DREAMING, WORKING, CHILLING OUT, CARING, VISIONING and RE-THINKING. This year’s overall winner was awarded to Rozana Montiel | Estudio de Arquitectura + Alin V. Wallach for their community space, Common Unit.
See all the winners below:
.jpg?1505399498)
Today SO-IL, in collaboration with Ana Prvački, debuted L’air pour air on the occasion of the press preview of the second edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial. The performance explores the art of performing behind a filter in an age where many cities suffer from the environmental impact of human habitation. Described as "part installation and part musical performance," the creators have drawn inspiration from abundant plant life and the interconnectedness of people and nature.
SO-IL and Laisné Roussel architects have been selected as the winners of an international competition to design a new masterplan for Place Mazas in Paris. Titled L’Atelier de l’Arsenal, the proposal seeks to integrate the historic fabric of the site into a new, flexible urban strategy organized around a variety of new buildings and public spaces.
The Chicago Architecture Biennial and it's artistic directors, Johnston Marklee, have revealed a collection of Special Projects designed to harness the curatorial vision of the event—entitled Make New History—and bring it to a number of significant landmarks in the city and in it's surrounding area. Featuring a SO-IL and Ana Prvački collaboration, a Francois Perrin installation, a new performance artwork by Gerard & Kelly at the Farnsworth House, photographs by James Welling, and films by Gerard & Kelly, the projects will inhabit some Chicago's greatest "architectural gems."
CANactions seeks to enhance the creation of places and communities in Ukraine where people love to live and work. CANactions integrates the most relevant world experience in the sphere of architecture and urbanism to educate and inspire responsibility active change makers. For this moment CANactions is a member of Future Architecture Platform.
.jpg?1592209476 "© Iwan Baan")
.jpg?1592209513 "© Iwan Baan")
.jpg?1592209536 "© Iwan Baan")
.jpg?1592209452 "© Iwan Baan")
.jpg?1592209486)
