2016

Description from The Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art: The first of a developing programme at the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art of exhibitions talks and events dedicated to contemporary architecture, ‘Raw Material’ presents plans, sketches, correspondence and photographs that offer a fuller understanding of the process of architectural design, beyond the self-sufficiency of the realized project. This will be the first exhibition to draw upon the recent gift to the Fundação de Serralves of 40 projects from the archive of Álvaro Siza as part of a collaboration between Fundação de Serralves, the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon.

Álvaro Siza’s practice is distinguished by his use of drawing as a working instrument in the prefiguration of forms and spaces within the process that brings him successively closer to the desired result. But an archive is more than just a set of drawings. The architect’s correspondence with his clients, the photographic record of the places where the works are to be built, relations with regulatory authorities and the opinions of the multiple actors involved in the construction processes, the models that support the perception of the proposals, the minutes of meetings and reports of the tensions arising at the building sites are documents that record an infinite number of episodes that remain invisible in the finished work. Offering insight into their contingent processes, the exhibition also offers invaluable understanding of the processes associated with the inventory, classification, and conservation of Siza’s archive, which will serve as a focus for future research and discussion about the role of architecture in contemporary society.  

Bordeaux-based atelier d’architecture King Kong has unveiled their design for the new NH hotel at the Toulouse Blagnac airport in France. Both elegant and inviting, the hotel's warm atmosphere is achieved through the acoustic and thermal qualities of the sweeping ground floor area, which opens onto the exterior spaces.

The building consists of 150 hotel rooms, a business center, restaurant and fitness center. The bar, restaurant and terrace, located on the upper levels of the building, are "intimate in feel,’’ while offering unrestricted views.

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• Title

  Call for Entries: BAITASI 2016 International Design Competition

• Type

  Call for Submissions

• Website

  http://www.btsremade.com/

• Organizers

  Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.

• Registration Deadline

  June 30, 2016 12:00 AM

• Submission Deadline

  July 31, 2016 12:00 AM

• Venue

  Beijing, China

1 Overview

This open international competition is to take place among three groups who have been solicited to draw up refurbishment plans of 12 courtyards. Finalists whose plans comply with the design guidelines and have construction feasibility will be authorized by the organizers to implement the project, and the plans will be made available for reference in the Baitasi district, the broader old-town districts of Beijing, and in old towns throughout China that need to be revitalized.

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