Only a few weeks after being recognized for his excellence by the Universidad Politécnica of Madrid, the distinguished Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza has just been awarded the Heinrich Tessenow Gold Medal for 2012 by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation in Hamburg. The award, given since 1962, is a recognition of work that, like that of German architect Heinrich Tessenow (1876-1950), is "uncompromising, sober and essential."
The awards ceremony will take place on the30th of January, 2013, in Hamburg. In his honor, the Hafeb City University in Hamburg will also be exhibiting some of Campo Baeza's works.
Martin Barry, founder and director of reSITE in Prague and associate at W Architecture and Landscape Architecture in New York, will give an evening lecture at 6:30pm EST on February 7th. Taking place at the NYU Silver Center, his lecture will focus on how organization is advocating for more transparent, contemporary and sustainable urban planning in Czech cities. Martin will discuss the outcomes of reSITE 2012 and describe their plans for reSITE Festival and Conference to take place in June 2013. The event is presented by NYU Department of Art History & Urban Design and Architecture Studies with Czech House NYU. For more information, please visit here.
This time we want to share a very contemporary film. An amazing story stunningly described by Christopher Nolan, in which dreams within dreams can be manipulated by “architects” who can construct an imaginary reality.
Imagine: being able, as architects, to create whole environments, just using our minds as the resource. Let us know your ideas in the comments below, and, while you’re at it, please let us know of some new films we can add to the list!
Designed for the “Vigdis Foundation”, the Languages Center aims to be a rational building, where modulation is a key aspect. Designed by OOIIO Architecture, there is no architectural excess that might increase the budget, but quite singular and special at the same time, comfortable for users and interesting enough to get the pedestrians attention. Built to host exhibitions, a cinema-theater, café, library, and more, the construction of the building is efficient, quick and with a rational materials use. More images and architects’ description after the break.More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Transalley Technopole is a metropolitan scientific and technological project of an international dimension, dedicated to transportation and mobility, located on a strategic site of the Valenciennes urban area. The competition proposal by Mikou Design Studio aims to be a real ecosystem of innovation, and it will host the Institut des Transports Durables (Sustainable Transport Institute), the Institut International de Management, and the head office of IRT Railenium, which will be a major research and development center dedicated to railway infrastructure. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed by architects Costandis Kizis, Platon Issaias, Theodosis Issaias, and Alexandra Vougia, the second prize winning proposal for the Innovative Bioclimatic European School Complex in Crete develops around two fundamental elements of space: light and soil. In response to the intense landscape of the area of Voutes, the architectural gesture, derived from the cliffs and valleys of the region, takes advantage of the microclimatic conditions while at the same time underlining the presence of an educational institution, not by standing out, but by letting the natural landscape play the leading role. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Phil Bernstein is a Vice President at Autodesk and teaches at Yale (see our interview with him here). Last week, we published his "5 Pearls of Wisdoms for Architecture Grads," originally written in 2011. This week, Phil is back to talk to Architecture students again, but this time with some updated advice for the grads of 2013.
It’s been a year since my “Winter Commencement” discussion, and just a few days since I gave my annual talk to our graduating students about the state of the construction economy and what that means for their spring job hunt. And since ArchDaily decided to repost that blog recently, it seemed timely to reflect a bit on how things have changed since December of 2011, and what those changes might mean for job prospects going forward.
And what a difference a year makes, at least for this year’s graduating class. The elections are over, most of the economic malaise, while not lifted here in the U.S, is certainly lighter, and designing, building and, most importantly, hiring seems to be on the rise again. In fact, for the first time since 2009, I suggested to our students that prospects for their employment are the brightest of the young decade.
Here’s my reasoning...
Find out why Grads in 2013 are facing far rosier circumstances, after the break...
Designed to gather the city’s cultural functions under one roof, the winning proposal by schmidt hammer lassen architects for the new cultural centre and library in Karlshamn, Sweden will be the city’s new meeting place. The 5,000 square metre cultural centre will get a sculptural and flexible building containing a library, an exhibition area, a cinema, a tourist office and a café, which together work to embrace diversity. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Organized by the Order of Architects of Romania and ABplus Events, this year’s INGLASS International Architecture Conference, which takes place March 5, will feature Professor Wolf D. Prix, co-founder, Design Principal and CEO of Coop Himmelb(l)au, Austria, as the special guest. “Glass architecture and engineering”, will be the general topic in the discussion of glass construction, architecture and engineering, facade systems and solar energy. The event will also address the entire glass industry, architects, engineers, glass producers, processors, equipment providers. More information after the break.
In search of the architectural and spatial form for the designed sports hall in Białystok, Studio EL, through their investigation of applied form typologies used in sports facilities, decided to use the coating system. This type of design is characterized by freshness, terseness and coherence in form and in contents of a function. The design consists of two-curvature, two-layered, steel space frames which will cover the space of the sports hall and will be based on the double buttresses located in its ambit. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Taking place February 1 from 2:00-4:30pm EST, Advanced Data Trees: The Art of Navigating and Manipulating Data Structures in Grasshopper will focus on how to effectively navigate and use multi-dimensional data in creative ways. Effective use of Data Trees cannot only help accelerate project development and increase productivity, but in many cases, implementing an advanced Data Tree strategy can lead to greater communication across a team. Through a series of short presentations and “live” case studies, learn to streamline your parametric workflows using advanced Data Tree strategies. To register, and for more information, please visit here.
With awards season in full swing, Hollywood's sparkly razamtaz occupies our television screens. But what about the unsung, architectural heros of film? What about the films that are less ‘Schindler's List’ and more ‘Schindlers Hauser’, less ‘Wrath Of Kahn’ and more ‘Louis Kahn’. We look past the panoply of stars to bring you 30 of the best Architecture Documentaries which will provoke, intrigue and beguile in 2013.
Designed by BKK Architects, in collaboration with Brearley Architects & Urbanists, Shanghai Normal University’s new Cultural Center aims to create an intensive and richly mixed-use building by applying the lessons of the city and drawing upon the cloister typology. Arranged around an activated central courtyard, the project will provide a new focus for campus life, accommodating a broad range of cultural, retail, hospitality, and leisure activities. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Taking place at SCI-Arc‘s campus in downtown Los Angeles March 29-July 7, Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A.: A Confederacy of Heretics: The Architecture Gallery, Venice, 1979 exhibition. The exhibition examines the pivotal role played by the temporary gallery held in the home of architect Thom Mayne for several weeks in 1979. An immersive showcase of spectacular models, drawings and media will be mounted in two spaces located on the SCI-Arc campus, the main gallery and the Kappe Library Gallery. More information on the exhibition after the break.
Architects BAKOKO, in collaboration with engineers Structured Environment, shared with us their proposal for a new chapel and Center for Christian Culture at Doshisha University’s Kyoto campus. With structure, form, and function molded into a singular totality, their intention is not to draw attention to the form of the building, but rather, to merge floor, walls, and roof into an immersive experience prioritizing personal reflection and human interaction within the central sanctums. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Conducted by The Office of Urban Transformation Research (OUTR) at RMIT University as part of an ongoing research project, they recently announced the winners of the Transiting Cities – Low Carbon Futures competition. The challenge was to develop innovative visions for Latrobe City, in eastern Victoria, Australia to make the transition from a singular economy dominated by the power industry (coal mining and electricity generation) into a diversified economy and prosperous low carbon regional city. More images and information on the winning entries after the break.
In 2005, OLIN - a landscape architecture, urban design and planning studio - developed a master plan for University of California Berkley's southeastern campus in an effort to unify its distinct elements and strengthen the social spaces of the campus. HNTB Architects led the renovation of the California Memorial Stadium and worked with STUDIOS Architecture and OLIN to design the Simpson Center for Student-Athlete High Performance. These are unified by OLIN's design of the grounds which are just part of the transformation planned for the campus, which also includes the renovations and landscape design for the Haas School of Business, UC Berkley School of Law and the Piedmont Avenue.
Designed by N H D M / Nahyun Hwang + David Eugin Moon, the Nam June Paik Library is a new public art library in Nam June Paik Art Center in Yong-In, Korea, which opened to the general public in 2011. Inspired by Nam June Paik’s artistic processes, the library was designed as a multi-functional spatial device, which redefines the relationship between library users and information. While the conventional library is characterized by the one directional transmission of the static, centralized, and predefined content, this library aims to promote non-linear and random access to information, and its production beyond the consumption. More images and architects’ description after the break.
In an effort to achieve a more holistic development of Latsia, the participation of socially active, culturally motivated and eager to learn citizens is necessary. Therefore, this second prize winning proposal by ECONOMOU Architects & Engineers + Georgios Artopoulos was designed to accommodate and create spatially organized activities and lived experiences, in order to host actions of collective learning and creative occupations relevant to the local natural resources, always aiming for the generation of a new, shared identity of Latsia. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Witteveen+Bos, OKRA, and ZJA have recently won the integral design for the Jaarbeursplein Utrecht and the underground parking. Their vision focuses on the realization of the perfect parking concept, with a comfortable, lively, and socially safe city square on top of it. Forming the face of the new Utrecht, their vital and highly dynamic proposal becomes a place where inhabitants and visitors can have a taste of the new city. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Henn Architekten shared with us their first prize winning proposal in the architectural competition to design the new medical research center of Münster‘s University Hospital, which is the main facility for the Institute for Microbiology and Hygiene. The new building defines the north-eastern edge of the medical faculty site and its southern end is connected to the main axis of the planned campus. It comprises two interlocking, annular complexes, each surrounding an interior courtyard accessible from a forecourt. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The bursting of the housing bubble wreaked havoc on cities across the United States causing widespread blight in once-thriving community economies. Foreclosed, abandoned and condemned homes continue to pockmark neighborhoods and communities, adding to the vacant lots of populous but affected cities like Philadelphia. The Mayor's Office of Philadelphiaapproximates that there are nearly 40,000 vacant lots throughout the city of brotherly love, about 74% of which are privately owned, making them virtually inaccessible to rehabilitation. But the city has a strong drive to amend these conditions. With organizations like DesignPhiladelphia's "Not a Vacant Lot"and the city's Redevelopment Authority, some of this land is being put to good use.
Designed by Orproject, their Or2 project, which is a single surface roof structure that reacts to sunlight, won the 2012 Good Design Award. This award, which is known as the world’s most prestigious, recognized, and oldest Design Awards program, is organized annually by The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design in cooperation with the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies. Special software components have been developed in order to create the shapes and to generate the cutting schedules so that the beauty of Or2 is its constant interaction with the elements, where its appearance is unique at each moment of the day. More images and architects’ description after the break.
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