An educational view on Architecture, 80s style (thanks Emilio!).

Our cities manifest very often a total absence of any visual project and present themselves to citizens and visitors as places full of incoherent signs, all to be deciphered, discovered and interpreted. “Più Design Può” points out the importance of visual communication as a formidable instrument in the determination of society’s participative processes.

Zaha Hadid Architects and french company Lacoste collaborated to design this exclusive footwear. Limited to 850 pairs, the boots will be released next July in three exclusive stores from Paris, London and Milan.

“Featuring a digitized version of Lacoste’s famous croc logo and a pliable, coiled strap system, the styles bring Hadid’s signature look to footwear for men (an ankle boot) and women (a calf boot).”

One more image after the break.

Architects: Sadar Vuga Arhitekti (lead architect); KSS, London (consultant in sports architecture); MYSI, Tel Aviv (shopping centre concept); OFIS arhitekti, Ljubljana (architect shopping centre) Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia Landscape Architects: AKKA, Ljubljana Construction Engineering: Gradis; Atelier One, London Mechanical Engineering: Lenassi; Jelen & Zaveršnik Electrical Engineering: Elprojekt; UTRIS Fire Engineering: EKOsystem Client: Ljubljana City Municipality, Grep Project year: 2007 Site Area: 182,000 sqm Constructed Area: 460,720 sqm Photographs: Sadar Vuga

Dutch practice, Sponge Architects sent us their latest residencial project: Villa Panorama, where you can “enjoy the country life in a home where your dream landscape reveals itself before your own eyes”, as they say.

See some more images and drawings after the break.

A few years ago i started using Ecotect v4 for energy analysis on projects. I gotta say that is a very easy to use tool, with a very short learning curve that lets you conduct several analysis on the design phase of your projects, such as shading, energy consumption, airflow, acoustics, lighting, etc. Also, during the process of analysis, it shows you on a very didactic way new terms and how they affect the project.

Easy, fast and accurate. What else could you ask for?

Well, these software was acquired by Autodesk as of last year and was released as Autodesk Ecotect 2009. And now during the AIA 2009 Convention they announced Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2010, the latest version of the software that offers improved integration with Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 and Autodesk Revit MEP 2010.

And continuing with the teaching spirit of the original version of Ecotect, Autodesk has launched the Autodesk Guide to Sustainable Design, a new free online resource for designers that illustrates sustainable design principles, decisions and technologies for every phase of the building project lifecycle.

More screenshoots of Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2010 after the break:

German designer Jung von Matt designed this great ads for IKEA latest campaign. Seen at Core77. All the ads, after the break.

Thanks Martín Bravo for the tip!

Belgian practice BURO II designed some new projects around this historic site with a great importance to the city of Ostend. This is, amongst others, determined by its location: the proximity to the sea the Royal Galleries and the historically important Thermae Palace. The former racecourse for horse racing was turned into a collection of projects, and a crossroads of activities, which bring a new urban dynamic to ‘the queen of seaside resorts’.

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This house in the mountains, designed by the architect Joan Anguita, brings all the glamour of Los Angeles to Barcelona, Spain. Partially suspended above the terrain, it is the dream home of a young businessman who loves collecting cars and organizing gatherings for his friends.

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The last day of Postopolis! LA started a few minutes ago, and it´s already getting crowded as you can see on the photos.

For those of you in LA (or nearby), ForYourArt has organized the 2nd Annual Los Angeles Art Weekend, a four-day event highlighting the city’s vast array of art, architecture, design and performance… which actually started yesterday but there are still lots of events to attend today, saturday and sunday:

The prize is only a few weeks away (it usually gets announced on March 31st) and we decided to setup a poll with the given names and the possibility that you add your own candidate.

Lets see if the ArchDaily community can guess the next Pritzker. Poll available on the sidebar or after the break:

3XN just shared with us their winning entry for the Randers Museum of Art, a “sculpture sitting in a sculpture garden” according to the architects, a sinuous building both open to both the town and the landscape. The red-tile façade of the exterior becomes the roof, and similarly on the inside, the floor becomes a wall, and then the wall a ceiling.

From the architects:

Architects: Encore Hereux + G Studio Location: Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China Design year: 2008 Construction year: 2009 Curator: Ai Weiwei, Beijing, China Client: Jiang Yuan Water Engineering Ltd, Inner Mongolia, China Constructed Area: 1,000 sqm aprox

French architects Encore Heureux & G Studio didn’t send a text for their Ordos villa, but the renderings are quite expressive. Judge for yourself.

Corrections after the break…