CHYBIK + KRISTOF ARCHITECTS & URBAN DESIGNERS have been selected as the winners of the public competition to design and build the Jihlava Multipurpose Arena. One of the largest sports and leisure complexes in the Czech Republic, the project, built on the city’s existing hockey stadium, is scheduled for construction in 2021, to be completed by 2023.
Created by Argentinian photographer and visual artist Federico Winer, Ultradistancia, the fine art project based on high-resolution satellite images, has released its latest series “Monsters of Mine”. Showcasing pictures of large mines from all over the world, "Monsters of Mine" reveals a fascinating carved out topography.
Ronald Lu & Partners has announced the completion of phase one of Tianhui TODTOWN: China’s first transit-oriented development, after 13 years of collective effort. The project promoting sustainability, mass transit, and community in Shanghai, takes the concept of public transit-oriented development (TOD) important in the development of China’s urban areas to the next level.
The Russian Federation Pavilion announced that its exhibition Open! will "move to an entirely online presence". Coping with the recent outbreak of COVID-19 that led to the postponement of the Venice Biennale 2020, the pavilion will transform into a digital platform, to ensure the continuation of the projects.
Vertical Eco-Village: Urban Lung of Beirut . Image Courtesy of Anastasia Elrouss Architects
Anastasia Elrouss Architects has imagined the MM Residential Tower, a vertical eco-village in the fast-developing suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon. Labeled Urban Lung, the project, sitting on a 900-square-meter rectangular site, generates 14 stacked floor plates around a central and open planted core. The ground floor and basement level, rented by Warchee NGO, will encompass farming and carpentry workshops for women.
The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) has released guidelines to provide cities with strategies “to redesign and adapt their streets for new uses both during the COVID-19 crisis and in the recovery”. Streets for Pandemic Response and Recovery highlights the most updated street design approaches cities are using, around the world.
White Arkitekter has won a competition to design a new beach park and sea bath in Bergen, Norway. The waterfront proposal entitled “True Blue” generates “a new meeting place where residents will be challenged to experience the water’s qualities throughout the year”. Inspired by water, the most tangible element in Bergen, the winning project creates a sustainable park, upon the competition’s brief.
Stefano Boeri Architetti has won the international competition for the construction of the largest and most innovative Rehabilitation Centre in Shenzhen, China. With his Chinese office, SBA was selected by a jury composed of local and international figures such as Peter Cook and Sou Fujimoto. Planned to be built in the next three years, the project will put in place “a set of green terraces and overlapping spaces in a sustainable system combining nature, architecture and biodiversity and including internal gardens dedicated to rehabilitation”.
Koichi Takada has designed a 43-story mixed-use development, in downtownLos Angeles, inspired by “California’s natural beauty and iconic redwoods”. Hoping to create the healthiest place to live in L.A., the proposed building humanizes the concept of high-rise through the use of natural materials, vertical landscaping, engaging public elements, and creating a between artificial and natural environments.
The Atlassian Sydney Headquarters, the soon to be “world’s tallest hybrid timber building” is being built in Sydney, Australia. Designed by SHoP in partnership with BVN, the 40-story high tower will provide, once completed in 2025, a new and innovative space for technology giant Atlassian.
The KPF-Designed 601 West Pender Street was granted approval by the Vancouver City Council. Located next to the city’s historic Rogers Building, the project generates an urban oasis within the city, replacing a six-story parking structure in the Central Business District.
Now in its fourteenth year, the 2020 RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship has been awarded to Iulia Cistelecan, from the London School of Architecture, for her project “Life Between Shelters: Refugee camps of today becoming cities of tomorrow”.
In order to ensure a proper transition into post COVID-19, architects, public health experts, and engineers are generating design guidelines to provide people with new secure, and efficient resources. Finding a balance between optimizing operations and keeping people safe, the strategies tackle the built environment that surrounds us, from restaurants and outdoor dining, to streets, offices, and retail.
Addressed to city officials, owners, and employers, the tools developed help to reopen the world, while reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission, promoting social distancing standards, and enhancing wellbeing. Discover in this article a roundup of design guidelines securing a safe post coronavirus transition.
MAD Architects has unveiled its design for the Shenzhen Bay Culture Park along the waterfront in Shenzhen, China. The masterplan puts in place a 51,000 square meters cultural complex that includes the Creative Design Hall, the Shenzhen Science and Technology Museum, and a vast public green space.
During the peak of Postmodernism, and the uprising of notions such as urban renewal and public participation, Aedes Architecture Forum, the first private architecture gallery in the world, opened in 1980 in Berlin. Founded by Journalist Kristin Feireiss and Helga Retzer, both neither architects nor regularly engaged with architecture at that time, Aedes aspired to encourage an international dialogue around the subjects of urban environment, space, and society.
Shortly after its inception, the center became an integral part of the contemporary international architectural scene, carrying out debates, seeking fresh ideas, showcasing the avant-garde, and highlighting young talents. Providing architects with a compelling space to present their architectural and urban ideas, Aedes hosted exhibitions for Zaha Hadid, Venturi Scott Brown, Cedric Price, John Hejduk, OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture), Peter and Alison Smithson, and Bernard Tschumi to name a few.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has just released strategies, illustrations, and 3D design models in order to help reduce the risk of COVID-19 in schools. In an effort to assist education officials with reopening schools during the pandemic, the design guidelines are part of the AIA’s initiative “Reopening America: Strategies for Safer Buildings”.
A new pop-up intervention installs 50 private, clear, frameless, geodesic domes in the open spaces of Toronto, Canada. Created by Lmnts Outdoor Studio, the project aims to bring Yoga and fitness workouts safely, to an outdoor setting, while respecting social distancing measures.
The PHVision Masterplan for Heidelberg in Germany has been approved by the City Council. Located on the site of the Patrick-Henry-Village (PHV) in Heidelberg, the 100-hectare development, designed by KCAP can now move forward, transforming the former military area into a new quarter, establishing the knowledge city of the future.