Plaza Républica, a project by Somatic Collaborative, proposes to transform a derelict urban surface into a new cultural landscape that provides the city with a new high quality fine grain open space, complimentary to the adjacent Alameda Park; a new urban piece that can act as a catalyzer for future urban transformations in the Alameda district. More images and brief project description after the break.
The St. Petersburg Pier, a long-adored and long-outdated West Florida cultural attraction, has unveiled the semi-finalists in its international redesign competition. Of the twenty-three qualified inquiries received, nine were chosen to move forward in the contest. The competition attracted big names in the architecture world; BIG, West 8 Urban Design, James Corner Field Operations, and HOK Architects were among the participants.
More on the St. Petersburg Pier after the break.
The Australian architecture firm IAPA recently won the South Song Museum Heritage Park competition and has wished to share their winning design with out readers here at ArchDaily. Follow after the break for an accompanying description and images from the architects.
With nearly 23 million people, Shanghai is China’s biggest and most populous city. It is the financial and commercial capital of the country and a leading cultural center in Asia. Throughout the 1990′s and 2000′s the city underwent immense growth and redevelopment, thriving on international business. The futuristic and ambitious skyline of Pudong is the heart of Shanghai’s business district, and is growing swiftly with towering skyscrapers and an advanced urban environment. More pictures and information after the break.
De Architekten Cie., Jason Lee and Patrick Koschuch, has won the open international Kaohsiung Port Station Urban Design competition in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
The competition was initiated by the city government of Kaohsiung to transform the derelict site of the old railyards and port station from a barrier between two important areas of the city (the Hamasen and Yancheng districts), into a connective piece of the urban fabric. The stated ambitions by the client for the 15.42 hectare site are to highlight the cultural heritage of the site’s former function while introducing new programmes and building volume to accommodate city expansion. These twin objectives are to be achieved in a phaseable and highly sustainable manner. Since a large portion of the site and existing railway buildings are designated as historical monuments, the central challenge of the brief was to strike a balance between the desire for cultural preservation/revitalization, introducing new development onto the site, and establishing enough connections across site to transform the area from an urban barrier into an urban connector.
Brothers Daniel and Maximilian Zielinski shared with us their winning proposal for the modernization of Paris in the Living City Design Competition. Organized by the International Living Future Institute, in partnership with The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Daniel and Max were given the challenge to visualize the transformation of existing towns in cities of the future by translating the highest standards of ecological fund included in the Living Building Challenge 2.0. Desired solutions were possible with existing technologies that could be applied in the near future. As a competition open to all, more than 80 teams addressing 69 cities from 21 countries submitted their ideas for the contest. More images and project description after the break.
The research presented here was conducted by Jan Kudlicka, who spent the last year studying slum dwellings, known as “favelas,” in Brazil. The breadth of the research delves into the living conditions that these urban and suburban developments create and the feasible ways in which their problems can be addressed through the regeneration of the spaces. Jan Kudlicka studied the “little farm” of Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro, which is one of the largest slums in the city.
To find out more about the research click through after the break.
Sydney based Tyrrell Studio has collaborated with Daniel Griffin to create a first prize winning entry to the 2011 international design competition Ideas on Edge Parramatta. The competition received over 150 entries, 40% international and the remainder from around Australia. There were 3 equal winners. Images of the winning entry and a narrative from the architects after the break.
Designed by Chengdu Urban Design Research Center, the “Southern Island of Creativity” is the start-up phase land of the Eastern New Town which endeavors to develop creative industry and is one of the 13 strategic function zones of future Chengdu, China. The Eastern New Town consists of three “Islands” based on their varied topography. The southern one is located in hallow hills, which stands adjacent to the art village which came into being spontaneously. The design team for this project consisted of architects Liu Gang, Zhang Yang, Yu Jia, Lan Mi, and Xu Xin. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Young Greek architects Dimos Moysiadis and Xaris Tsitsikas, have just shared their latest project, an architecture competition entry for the redesign of the central square in Kozani, Greece. The proposal is focusing on a redesign of the public space for hosting various social activities while composing an attractive pole for gathering people of all ages 24 hours a day. The proposed design philosophy was developed by considering the square as the kernel of social everyday life. For additional images and a brief description, follow after the break.
Directed with respect for all views and spatial elements of the incredible energized given space, the concept for the Beton Hala Waterfront by Pero Vukovic, in collaboration with Branka Vukovic, becomes a zone of overlap of the two natural barriers, park/forest (Kalemegdan) and the rivers Sava and Danube, where a huge value of the area belongs to their confluence. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Located in a new area of expansion in Orio, just north of the Cantabrian motorway that connected San Sebastian to Bilbao, the Auditorium and Cultural Facilities Proposal by SOMOS Arquitectos won the first prize in an open competition. Taking advantage of the freedom regarding the position of the building according to the open regulations, they wanted to develop and fix their proposal based on three key decisions: built volume integration, the connection between urban plaza and marina, and an open independent structure. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Architect Djordje Alfirevic shared with us his proposal for the Beton Hala Waterfront Center in Belgrade, Serbia which promotes an idea of visual and functional merging of the newly designed part with the existing Beton Hala building. The design team consisted in Djordje Alfirevic, M.Phil., Dusan Trifunovic, M.Arch, Petar Tufegdzic, M.Arch, Djordje Nikolic, M.Arch, Milica Vujosevic,M.Arch, Bojana Stankovic, M.Arch. In addition, this design aims to create a unique center for exhibition and commercial use in the city which also communicates, in a mimetic way, with the Kalemegdan fortress and Sava river’s waterfront. More images and architect’s description after the break.
With the general aim to create an integrated urban infrastructure, the proposal for the Beton Hala Waterfront competition by office ReduX creates a way to produce a provocative architectural vision. As programs, spaces and typologies are interwoven, this center is a vision of the future progression of Belgrade as a hub for business and culture. As a result, this allows residents and visitors to experience an ultimate experience of the past, present, and future. More images and architects’ description after the break.
A conceptual proposal for the retrofit of an old grain silo in Center City Philadelphia, Interface Studio Architects aims to integrate an existing, vacant structure into an urban, mixed-use project. Additionally, it raises interesting questions about old building reuse and innovative tactics for sustainability. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Justin Davidson, architecture critic for New York Magazine, tours the recently opened section 2 of the High Line and describes the city views you can see from there.
