Inspired by the Swiss glaciers and taking advantage of their history, the architectural firm rd2b limited created Emmen Innovation Community, an innovation center located in the region of Emmen, in Zurich, located in the heart of Switzerland. Roads, railways, public transportation and an airport connect the area to Europe. Bluish in color, a solid line through organic and deployments to the territory, the aesthetics of the design reflects the elegance, harmonizing and transcendence of the glaciers. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Efficiency of the government and consequently well-fare of the society is closely related to development of infrastructure. Ukraine is situated in advantageous geographic location, therefore it is twice as interested in arranging proper transportation system which will become a significant stimulus for economic growth. Creating the Center for Development of Innovative Transportation Technologies, KO+KO Architects considers their design as an incarnation of intents of the Ukrainian society to establish sustainable means of communication, as a fact of realizing its crucial importance for human life. Apart from the symbolic function, the center is thought to fulfill tasks announced in its name, thus providing ground for the developing of Ukraine. More images and architects’ description after the break.
“Chapeau”, a sports park and new urban place for the woods is characterized by an unprecedented relief, introduced in the process of design thinking related to soil and the empty space it creates. The buildings that make up the urban landscape, perfectly calibrated on the urban fabric, have complicated the delicate choice of the approach and the relationship to the existing building of the hall. Early in the project, the intention of Michel Carlana, Luca Mezzalira, Curzio Pentimalli and Riccardo Sanquerin was to integrate the gym in the environment in a local sense. By isolating it from the front of the hall, the building became one of the five elements of life. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The work of C-Lab, Columbia University’s experimental urban and architecture think tank, is on display in Tokyo. Conceived as a temporary occupation, the exhibition presents C-Lab’s work alongside magazines from Yoshioka Library’s archive of international architecture journals from the 1960s to today. Images of C-Lab analyses, planning projects, installations, and publications are positioned on the gallery’s shelves next to vintage issues of A+U, Japan Architect, Shinkenchiku, Space, Architectural Review, Domus, Abitare, and Casabella. More information on the exhibition after the break.
The project for the central bus terminal of the city of Majes, designed by the team of Jimmy Liendo Terán, Kátia de Oliveira Vieira and Carlos Arellano Rivera, is located in an irrigated desert area and is part of a plan to provide an equal distribution of the production activities by improving the circulation between the cities in the South of Peru. Their concept, which won the second prize in the national competition, is based on two ideas: first, the separation of the movement for arrival and departure; and second, the plot with a difference in height, about 4,5 meters between parallel sides, which is hard to notice because of the size of the terrain. More images and project description after the break.
The ideas of the project by Imago for the Jøssingfjorden competition is to link the landscape to the new building and the building to the entire scenario of Jøssingfjorden; it’s valleys and context, both visual, historical and technological. The architecture of the proposal will express the power and intentions that people have had for generations. It will make use of the most developed technologies and formal principles as they did according to their time. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The 19.500m2 Flowerbed Hotel and conference center, designed by MVRDV, will be devoted entirely to flowers and will be located next to the future Bloomin’ Holland theme park and business center. The hotel with include 280 rooms along with 2.100m2 flowerbeds and host tourists and business travellers. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The DESIS Lab (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability) at Parsons The New School for Design presents Amplifying Creative Communities in NYC: North Brooklyn from November 7–20 at Arts@Renaissance. This exhibition and workshop series, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation’s New York City Cultural Innovation Fund, are part of a two-year, design-driven initiative aimed at helping neighborhoods and communities to support social innovations that create a more sustainable New York City. These activities range from healthy and local food initiatives, to environmental efforts, alternative modes of transportation, and sharing economies such as co-housing, food cooperatives, and bartering. For more information about this exhibition and workshop series, please visit here.
Storefront for Art and Architecture presents Pharmacophore: Architectural Placebo, the latest in a growing body of Harrison Atelier (HAt) collaborations bridging design with performance. The new dance-installation work is conceived, dramaturged and directed by HAt founder Seth Harrison, designed by his partner, Ariane Lourie Harrison, choreographed by Silas Riener and performed by Merce Cunningham Dance Company members Silas Riener, Rashaun Mitchell, Jamie Scott and Melissa Toogood.
Praksis Achitects has recently won the invited competition for a new architectural expression to Camp Hverringe on North Fyn, Denmark. The contest was organized by Hverringe Estate who owns the five star campsite Camp Hverringe. Especially shaping the future of the camping cabin was a main goal for the competition. Praksis Architects worked with a concept where it is possible to have a large variation in hytternes expression and color schemes, without compromising on a common sense construction technology. More images and architects’ description after the break.
oiio architecture office shared with us their proposal for the ‘Regeneration and Reuse of the Western Historical Docks and their surroundings’ for the Municipality of the City of Heraklion where they won the 2nd prize in the national architectural competition. Facing all the demands that emerge from the restoration of the Western Arsenali the compositional process tackles to organize the articulation of a visually legible cultural hub at the point where the old city meets the sea. More images and project description after the break.
The Floresta apartment complex, designed by Somatic Collaborative, is a 16 unit residential complex that occupies a residual site on the northeastern edge of the city of Quito, Ecuador, overlooking the Guapulo valley. More images and project description after the break.
Paul Stallan Studio’s response to the competition brief for the Federal National Council’s New Parliament Building Complex was to promote a monumental Islamic architecture that had both gravitas and iconic potential. A huge cubic form was proposed that held within it a major assembly space suspended within an enormous courtyard. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Deputy Mayor Laura Hay recently revealed the winners of the competition for a 12.000 m2 sustainable housing project at a reception at Aarhus City Hall. The winning team consists of the architects ADEPT and LUPLAU & POULSEN, turn-key contractor Dansk Boligbyg and NIRAS Consulting Engineers. The team has designed a project entitled The City in the Building – Housing for All at Harbour North, that consists of 238 public dwellings distributed between 83 apartments for families and +55 aged seniors, and 155 student-housing units. The project is expected to be completed for inauguration in December 2013. More images and project description after the break.
Designed by the Danish architecture offices COBE and TRANSFORM, the new Maritime Museum and Science Center in Porsgrunn, Norway conveys Norway’s transformation from a seafaring nation to a modern society based on knowledge industry. The iconic character of the new Maritime Museum and its attractive location at the river close to the city center makes this new building a natural landmark for the city. Furthermore, the new museum building is the first step towards a big new master plan development for Porsgrunn City Center, also designed by COBE and TRANSFORM. Construction for the building recently began and is expected to be completed in autumn 2012. More image and architects’ description after the break.
Published by Analist Group and organized and curated by the Italian Association of Architecture and Criticism_presS/Tfactory, the OUTSIDE THE BOX competition is focused on identifying design ideas for resolving various problems in emergency situations. During recent years, numerous natural phenomena have upset the lives of many communities scattered across the globe. Examples include Fukushima in Japan, Haiti, L’Aquila and New Orleans. The Box is a small temporary structure capable of offering various services: a space that is simultaneously a workstation and information center open to public to allow people remain in touch with the rest of the world. A fundamental role in the elaboration of the design proposal must be entrusted to technology, whether low- or high-tech. The challenge launched by the competition is to combine sustainability and parametric design. The submission deadline is 15 January, 2012. More information on the competition after the break.
ContemporARchitectURban Designers Group, which was created by Ali Andaji Garmaroodi, Amin Monsefi and Reza Roudneshin, shared with us their winning proposal for the Mehrshahr Residential Complex Design Competition located in Karaj which is the fifth largest city of Iran, and located near Tehran. The main purpose of the client and the organizer of this competition was to find new ways to develop and build houses for middle layer people of the society in order to have an complex suits to Iranian needs and culture, which has had missed in the recent years. More images and project description after the break.
Auburn University’s chapter of American Institute of Architecture StudentsA invites you to join them for their annual Internship Fair on March 5th – 6th, 2012. The event allows professional firms the opportunity to meet and interview students of Auburn University and the students are eager to initiate and continue the relationship between participating firms and the students.
