Jonathan Segal, an architect and developer from San Diego, California, is nearing completion on his latest project, the Cresta. Our friends from Breadtruck films have compiled this short construction video as a teaser until the final project is fully finished. Check out the clip, and we’ll keep you updated on the project.

Last week, we shared a great series of modular summer residences by Visiondivision that ranged from a small cabin to a massive castle. In the meantime, the firm has also been working on a competition proposal to replace a church in Våler, a small Norwegian town, after a devastating fire. For a firm that typically takes a standard design approach and then reinvents it or inverts it to form a completely new paradigm, we were impressed by their ability to bring a simplistic elegance to this religious structure.

More about the church after the break.

Under the guidance of David Mah, Carl Koepcke and Marshall Prado from Harvard Graduate School of Design created a system for constructing a rapidly deployable ice shelter using snow and ice as building materials. The temporary shelter is intended for cold environments and utilizes the insulative properties and inherent compressive strength of the proposed building materials to craft a spatial catenary volume.

More about the ice shelter after the break.

Last month, our reporting of the Architecture Billings Index was a little pessimistic, as the slight upward movement was no sure sign of a stable recovery. Yet, February marks the fourth month the Billings Index has remained in positive territory (a score of 50 or more indicates as such), and while we are cautious to mark the volatile index’s movement as a trend, we sure hope it is! February reported a score of 51.0 and a significant jump was reached in the new project inquiry index (up from 61.2 to 63.4). In fact, the 63.4 score is the highest inquires for new projects since July of 2007. “This is more good news for the design and construction industry that continues to see improving business conditions,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “The factors that are preventing a more accelerated recovery are persistent caution from clients to move ahead with new projects, and a continued difficulty in accessing financing for projects that developers have decided to pursue.” Breaking the index down regionally, the Midwest leads with 56.0, followed by the South, Northeast and finally the West with scores of 51.3, 51.0, 45.6, respectively.

With less than 70 days until soma’s grand opening of their “One Ocean” Thematic Pavilion, we are anxiously anticipating the final result of the firm’s biomorphic creation. Unlike most pavilions, this building will become a permanent part of the grounds after serving as the central point of the EXPO 2012 in Yeosu, South Korea. As we reported earlier, soma’s pavilion focuses on creating an experiential journey as visitors enjoy introductory exhibitions on the Expo’s theme, “The Living Ocean and Coast”.

More about the pavilion, including more construction photos, after the break. 

Just in time for the warm weather, Visiondivison has shared a great collection of summer houses with us. Entitled the Spröjs Series, the residences stem from an organizing modular system present in their built project Spröjs House (previously featured on AD). And, in this collection, in typical Visiondivision fashion, the firm has exploited the potential of the module and crafted residences ranging from a simple shed and cabin to a crazy castle.

Check out the range of residences after the break.

European real estate investment firm, Orion Capital Managers, teamed with development company, Groveworld, and received permission to move forward with a 30-storey tower for 257 City Road Basin in London. Designed by UNStudio, the tower will become a new landmark residential development with waterside vistas. Aref Lahham of Orion Capital explained, “The Canal Basin is being transformed into one of London’s most stylish waterside residential quarters…With such an exciting design, 257 City Road will be a highlight of this regeneration effort and a landmark for the area.”

More after the tower after the break.

Denmark's third largest city, Odense, has a major transformative plan for their city center by 2020. In the 1960s, the Thomas B Thriges Gade allowed Odense to accomodate the demands of growing vehicular traffic, but since then, the city has been hard pressed to break from this defining infrastructure. Utopian City Scape and Entasis have teamed to create a multi-stage development plan for the city center as a way to restore the cohesiveness of a city that has been fragmented by the Thomas B Thriges. The plan sees the introduction of a massive amount of building (more than 55,000 sqm!) that will provide over 300 housing opportunities and 1000 work places. By filling in the street, the smaller networks of secondary streets will be strengthened to create pedestrian passageways and prominades, creating intimate moments that become defined by the edges of the buildings. While we enjoy the light rail system that works its way around the city center, the idea of including a parking lot that accommodates nearly 1000 vehicles seems a bit contradictory. Perhaps, without it, citizens would rely move heavily upon the public infrastructure and the new "connected" feeling of the city to circulate. The absence of cars would further strengthen Odense's move away from a city defined by the vehicle and would allow the master plan to implement its sustainability theme on a macro level.

Last night, ArchDaily joined the community of Chelsea and Friends of the High Line in the crowded auditorium of PS 11: The William T Harris School eager to see James Corner and Rick Scofidio’s latest ideas for the third installment of the High Line. This last segment of the amazing elevated park project is the designers’ most crucial intervention as it culminates the strategies introduced in Phases 1 and 2 and must adaptively respond to new contextual relationships between 34th and 30th Streets. Corner and Scofidio’s eloquent and coherent presentation very much responded to the community’s input from the last public meeting held in December, as the design addressed the need for a child’s play area with an idea for a section with rubberized beams, a place for spontaneous and planned performances, and more seating. Scofidio kidded, “There are some things we could do better, and that’s exactly why we get to do the third phase.”

More about Phase 3 after the break.

Vishaan Chakrabarti, Director of Columbia Center for Urban Real Estate, will join SHoP Architects as its seventh partner – and only the second partner not related to the firm’s founders by blood or marriage. Chakrabarti’s expertise with large scale urban development projects will allow the firm to expand their urban reach, invigorating their “think-tank” approach to confront larger architectural problems that respond to global issues. “We are thrilled to have Vishaan join the firm. His background and depth of experience allow SHoP to add expertise to our bench while continuing our firm-wide focus on both planning and building,” said William Sharples, SHoP Partner. “Our interests extend beyond building beautiful skyscrapers, museums, university buildings and airport terminals. We want to build in such a way that our buildings give back to our cities and to our clients through use of public space, density, sustainability, and innovative construction methods.”

More about SHoP’s new partner after the break.

Rio de Janeiro will be bustling with activity very quickly, beginning with the World Cup in 2012 to the Summer Olympics in 2016. Earlier, we shared AECOM’s winning master plan for the complex and it was recently announced that American golf architect Gil Hanse was chosen as the designer for the Rio 2016 Course. Hanse’s work has included major courses scattered around the country, from Boston to LA, and now he is bringing his talent to South America. This Olympics will mark the first time golf has been an official sport since the 1904 Games in St. Louis, and thus, Hanse has his work cut out for him in designing not only a top course, but also the first of its kind for such an event. After ousting Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam for the job, Hanse will team with pro-golfer Amy Alcott to design the course in the Barra da Tijuca part of Rio. “We will strive to produce a course that will maximize the benefits of the site while creating an identity that is in keeping with the natural terrain, vegetation and wildlife indigenous to what we believe will be transformed into a “picturesque” landscape which will make the people of Rio proud,” explained Hanse.

More about the course after the break. 

We have been following the rising popularity of CLOG, beginning with their inaugural thematic issue on BIG and, their second issue on Apple which highlighted Jobs’ Apple Campus 2 in Cupertino by Foster + Partners. This latest architectural publication seeks to slow the pace at which architectural information is distributed, allowing people to pause and absorb the projects and ideas presented and discuss the topics at hand.

For CLOG’s Apple issue, the publication included over 50 international multidisciplinary contributors and discussed topics from ranging an interview with one of Apple Computer’s original three founders, Ronald Wayne, to articles about the innovative glass engineering, and design critique of the project. After the large success of both issues, CLOG is gearing up for their next issue and calling for submissions about renderings. For this addition, the team will address the persuasive power of renderings and their important, and perhaps dominant, role in project presentations.

More about CLOG after the break.

We have been sharing short clips from Great Spaces that offer a new spin on reviewing contemporary spaces ranging from SANAA’s latest art museum in the Bowery to UNStudio’s New Amsterdam Pavilion by South Ferry. This clip features the review of Piada Cafe, an Italian restaurant in midtown Manhattan at the base of the Citigroup Building. Designed by Fieldlines Architecture, the 900 sqf cafe situated on the corner of 53rd and Lex offers a sleek setting for its customers with a handsome curving central counter and a community table that shapes the main circulation path. Have you had the chance to snack on some delicious Italian food and enjoy the architectural ambiance? Let us know in the comments below.

Would you live here? Designed by Seoul-based practice Moon Hoon, this single family residence for Giheung-Gu, Korea is organized around a central stair that branches to seven different living levels. Wrapped in a colorful facade of metal panels, the coloring choice provides a strong statement for the unusual residence along with conjuring images of a child’s favorite treat. The clients urged Moon Hoon to explore the idea of multiple living planes which has resulted in a skip floor setup with a study, living area, kitchen and dining area, master bedroom, children’s bedroom, attic playroom and upper level room, stemming from the circulation core. An atrium runs the height of the house and allows natural light to illuminate the interiors.

More images and drawings after the break.

After winning the RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship in 2011, Sahil Despande of the Rizvi College of Architecture in Mumbai has focused his research on understanding an urban planning scheme that would look beyond the typical architectural desires of constructing houses and public spaces, to the broader problem of providing proper sanitation. Proper sanitation is not a necessity most can afford; in fact, over 2.5 billion people have poor access to proper sanitation and for 1.5 billion, access is seemingly impossible. Without such a basic amenity, a city or settlement’s economic and health structure are often jeopardized. Despande feels the issue of providing proper sanitation is one in which architects often shy away from, as master plans focus on spatial aspects of the formation of a city rather than trying to install the proper infrastructure necessary for its citizens. In his research, Despande traveled to thirteen vastly different cities – ranging from the poorest informal settlement, Kibera, in Nairobi, Kenya to places such as Zurich, Beijing and Delhi – in an effort to study the existing sanitation systems and understand the cultural context in which they reside. Despande’s research is bringing sanitation to the forefront to generate awareness about its inherent linkage with public health, and urge architects to tackle the issue to improve the conditions for billions of people. Check out his presentation and let us know what you think of his research findings.

China must be going crazy.

In recent years, the growth of China has been incredible. We have often likened the massive surge of projects in the country to the explosive levels of architectural experimentation in Dubai. OMA, Hadid, Holl, Foster, Morphosis – strong powerhouses of architecture – all seeking to help China meet the demands of its emerging world power position by springing from the basis of a historically isolated culture and leaping to craft a more globalized image for the country. Such an image creates the desire for an architecture which can continually out shine itself as it challenges traditional materiality, scale and contextual relationships in China’s modern cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, Hangzhou and West Kowloon.

Perhaps, that is precisely why many have not heard of Wang Shu and Amateur Architecture Studio. And, perhaps, that is precisely why this Pritzker award carries such weight.

We’ve been following the progress of Herzog and de Meuron’s recent projects, such as the construction stages of the Elbe Philharmonic and the design of the Museum der Kulturen Basel. Yet, every so often, it is interesting to view some of the firm’s older projects to see the common line of thought running throughout their portfolio and examine how their design process has evolved throughout the years to respond to newer technologies, materials and environmental concerns. Although the Sammlung Goetz Museum in Munich was designed and constructed nearly two decades ago, the project illustrates the firm’s obsession with the building’s outer treatment. Material selection and facade design is an important facet of the firm’s identity, but we noticed another common thread between this project and their future works – the fascination with the floating volume.

More about the museum, including more photos, after the break.

The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) has clocked in at a positive 50.9 for January. Although the score brings the ABI into positive territories for the past three months, 50.9 is slightly over the positive measuring marker and actually, just under December’s mark of 51.0. Regional averages place the Midwest as the leading area with 53.7; followed by the South (51.6), Northeast (50.7), and West (45.6). AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA explained that even though the index is showing a similar upturn in design billings to the late 2010 and early 2011, firms are still having a hard time staying on their feet. “We still continue to hear about struggling firms and some continued uncertainly in the market, we expect that overall economic improvements in the design and construction sector to be modest in the coming months.”