NDA Planning, part of NDA Design Associates, an international French-based architectural practice, creates a new ‘Balanced City’ concept that won the international urban masterplan competition against key industry players to design Dalian’s New Airport Zone with MVA, its partner for transportation planning in Dalian, Northern China. The area covered also includes Dalian’s New Sports City and, with a surface area of 168 km2, it is one of the largest development sites ever managed by a foreign design team in China. Dalian Aeropolis, the Balanced City, introduces a vibrant new urban quarter whereby the city’s existing resources and NDA’s innovative development concept blend together in perfect harmony. More images and project description after the break.
This project for An imaginary house for Silence, by Dellekamp Arquitectos, reflects an enduring interest in creating a space that is formed by a close relationship with nature, where one can live intimately in the natural world. The house emerges from the essence of the forest, where towering trees surround and protect the body, creating a magical environment of dappled light in the quiet solitude of nature. By our human weakness, we are moved to leave a contemplative and tranquil mark on the site. Like a cloister, characterized by its intimacy and purity, the structure thoughtfully concentrates the elements and the surrounding environment in an architectural space. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The cocktail is a distinctly American tradition. Once the centerpiece of a thriving “cocktail culture,” it has faded since the 1950s but is now being embraced by a new generation of makers and mixologists who value quality and craft. The Spirits Pavilion, by Min | Day, presents this rejuvenation as part of Slow Food Nation 2008, an event in Fort Mason, San Francisco dedicated to creating a framework for deeper environmental connection to our food aiming to inspire and empower Americans to build a food system that is sustainable, healthy and delicious. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Belgian Buildings Agency and the Department of Justice recently announced the winners of their Brussels Courthouse: Imagine the Future International Ideas Competition. To make the issues of architecture and urban design more widely known, BOZAR Architecture has backed this initiative by hosting the awards ceremony and staging an exhibition of the entries at the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels until May 15th. More images and description of winning entries after the break.
Fascinated with the theory of camouflage and interested in how, as a design concept, it could result in the transformation of space, MODU changed the recognizable figure of a barge in a city to an interactive atmospheric phenomenon they titled, ‘Lighter Than Air’. This proposal, which was for “The Barge” competition organized by SHIFTBoston, won first place and will be coming to the Fort Point Channel in Boston in September 2012. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Receiving an honorable mention for their entry for the Dawntown Seaplane competition in Miami, Florida, NC-Office’s proposal, titled ‘Large Roof’, is a solution to when an artificial geographic condition demands an intuitive architectural response. When seen from above – either as one approaches by air or from the large cruise liners – the project is experienced as a large mass. As one enters the structure the project transforms into an ephemeral space. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Operating at the interstices of architecture, urbanism, and the pedosphere, SOILED is a venue for dialogue and exploration. It investigates the role that the built environment plays in social issues of earthly but marginalized proportions; it documents hidden systems and in-between spaces. Published by CARTOGRAM Architecture + Urban Design, SOILED curates ideas, from the arable to the obscene, by seeking the active participation of multi-disciplinary contributors. It employs narratives, manifestoes, mappings, ephemera, and live events to mediate its architectural discourse to the broader public.
Published twice per year on each solstice, SOILED is available in both a print edition and a free downloadable PDF! The inaugural issue, entitled Groundscrapers, is now available through their website. More images and description after the break.
Gordon Murray Architects were commissioned by Forth Energy, a joint venture between Forth Ports Plc and SSE (Scottish Southern Energy) to develop conceptual design proposals for a series of new Biomass Renewable Energy Plants in Scotland at their ports of Dundee, Grangemouth, Rosyth and Leith in support of Section 36 Applications. The projects have an estimated combined construction value of over £1 billion.
Each project is developed through a clear exploration and understanding of the technological processes involved in the plant operation, by drawing inspiration from the physical and historical setting in which each plant is located, and through intensive research into historical precedent of the power station as building typology. This ensures every project has a unique design solution appropriate to its function and place. More images and architects’ description after the break.
ZIP & BDX Studio shared with us their proposal for Tianjin Port East Area in China. Their design objective was to underline and continuously take advantage of the duality between nature and architecture, fixed and changing, curve and angle. This is reflected in their chosen geometry as a clearly geometric, mad-made slab floats over the ground, hardly connecting with it. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Alter Studio Architetti Associati shared with us their design, which won second place, for the Tower House Competition for Treviso, Italy, which challenged architects to refurbish a twenty story landmark in the area. The proposal transforms the existing tower into 3 attached structures, each of which is designed with its own energy strategy. Photovoltaic panels on the roof and south façade provide 60 + 15 kw of power, which combined with bioclimatic devices brings the CO2 emissions down to zero. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Boston based research and design firm, PRAUD, shared with us the West End Museum which is a community-based museum in Boston dedicated to documenting the history of the West End of Boston. The museum especially captures the immigrant era which dates approximately from 1880 to the West Ends destruction by eminent domain in 1958. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Olson Kundig Architects shared with us that the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has honored two of the firm’s projects with 2011 National AIA Housing Awards. Located in Seattle, Washington, Art Stable and 1111 E. Pike, which have both been featured on ArchDaily, have received awards in the Multifamily Living category, and are among the eighteen projects recognized nationwide.
The AIA’s Housing Awards Program was established to recognize the best in housing design and promote the importance of good housing as a necessity of life, a sanctuary for the human spirit and a valuable national resource. More images and architect’s description after the break.
STAV Architects shared with is their competition entry for The Umm el-Fahem Museum of Contemporary Art which was awarded third place. Planted in its surroundings, the building grows from the side of the mountain, looking towards the Wadi on its border. It refrains from overtaking the Wadi, posed on one of its banks and watches it to the opposite pine planted bank, watching the city from afar to spread into the urban topography of Wadi Ara, Israel. More images and architects’ description after the break.
KGP Design Studio shared with us their entry for the Bankside Bikeshed Competition. The competition asked for a modular, portable and secure cycle parking solution in downtown London on behalf of the Better Bankside Business Improvement District (BID). The issue of cycle parking has been high on the agenda of Better Bankside for the last few years. Discussion with member businesses has highlighted the problem of finding space for cycle parking, particularly when premises are leased or in older buildings. More images and architects’ description after the break.
///byn shared with us their design, UNVEIL, an office complex, part of ORDOS 20*10, the new financial district of Ordos, which is in the third planning growth of the DongSheng District, in the Northwest area of the City of Ordos. Ordos is the fastest economic grow city in Inner Mongolia, China. Ordos has 86,752 square kilometers, which is about 80 times Hong Kong’s size. For this project, similar to the Ordos 100 project, the local government has decided to put together a large group of architects. Instead of being 100 foreign architects, they reduced the list to the 20 best Chinese architecture practices and 10 international ones with experience in mainland China. More images and architect’s description after the break.
Lund+Slaatto Architects, in collaboration with Nils Tveit Architects shared with us their winning proposal for the Arena Ulstein competition in Ulsteinvik, Norway. The main idea of the project is to create a place of sports and activities, where the qualities of the magnificent surrounding landscape will merge with the bourgeoning urban live of the town of Ulsteinvik. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Dutch duo, Benjamin Feenstra and Jelmer Frank Wijnia, were successful in the eVolo 2011 Skyscraper Competition where they were awarded an honorable mention for their entry, On Demand Experience. The two designers, who recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree, are the second Dutch team in the history of the prestigious competition to receive such an honor. The award seeks to discover young talent, whose ideas will change the way we understand architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Milos Vlastic, Vuk Djordjevic, Ana Lazovic, and Milica Stankovic shared with us their proposal for the eVolo 2011 Skyscraper Competition which was awarded an honorable mention. The Hydra-Tesla research facility is a skyscraper that investigates the possibility of creating a power plant that uses hydrogen as source of energy. More images and architects’ description after the break.
