The future development of the Arabia Historic District in Helsinki has culminated in the second round of a two-stage competition.

Arabiazza(s) — one of the four proposals selected for the second stage — was developed by team leader Anssi Lassila and comprised of OOPEAA working in collaboration with Lunden Architecture and Gehl Architects acting as a consultant in urban public space. Through a sequential flow of spaces in the form of public squares, Arabiazza(s) fundamentally aims to encourage public interaction. The intent to engage a broad range of people — from students to tourists to workers — inspired the creation of multiple sheltered inner courtyards.

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The $1.4 billion MGM National Harbor has started taking reservations. Nestled in the woodlands of Prince George's County, Maryland, HKS Hospitality Group's gaming resort is gearing up for its December 8th opening.

The hotel is slated as one of the "20 Most Anticipated Hotel Openings of 2016" (Forbes.com). In addition to suites, the hotel has a casino, two-story conservatory with horticulture and entertainment, and a dining and shopping complex. 

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Redsquare productions in collaboration with Think! Architecture has just produced new videos on two of the firms projects: the Jerome Robbins Theater and Pratt Institute’s Myrtle Hall. Both videos explore their respective project’s design strategies in addition to featured interviews with the architects.

Mangroves are vital for stabilizing shorelines, but their recent depletion presents impending doom for coastal habitats. 

Aptum Architecture and CEMEX Research Group might have a solution. Their collaborative project, Rhizolith Island (Isla Rhizolith), is a prototype that explores the potential for floating concrete structures to revitalize deteriorating shorelines. The structure was just installed in Cartagena, Columbia as part of the RC 2016 (Reunion del Concreto), an international Expo and Academic Conference on Concrete.

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After two years of intensive planning, Trinity Church Wall Street revealed the design for its new building at 74 Trinity Place, in the Financial District of New York City. New York-based firm Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects designed the building to serve as both a ministry and community center for the church. Using open public spaces and multipurpose rooms, the structure will connect neighbors, workers, and families — reflecting the church’s aim for community engagement.

EID Architecture looks to the traditional side of Shanghai when designing CITIC Pacific's high-rise residential neighborhood. The Shanghai downtown area will see six new residential towers and amenities through the development.

Designs for the building encourage social interactions through its amenities, which include leisure facilities, a spa, meeting and conference spaces, and roof gardens overhead. Undulating terraces on the top of each building promote a sense of community in addition to responding to the site's preservation of sunlight.

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Videos

Viger Square, Montreal's first large square, is getting a makeover. The redevelopment project is being led by landscape architects NIPPAYSAGE, which will begin the first phase of redesign in 2017.

Historically, the 30,000 square foot center has always contributed to the liveliness of the city, and it was the largest square in Canada in the 19th century. Now coinciding with the adjacent redevelopment of retail and office spaces at the Viger Hotel, the city hopes for a major revitalization of the area. 

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Videos

The Arcade Providence is 188 years old, but it's getting its second wind.

This classical Greek structure, which also happens to be America's oldest shopping mall, was renovated into 48 micro-apartments and an assortment of businesses. Northeast Collaborative Architects, who led the redesign, converted the top two floors into apartments and bottom floor into commercial space. As single people increasingly contribute to a large percentage of the population, micro-apartments have proliferated as a housing solution.

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City Guide publisher Blue Crow Media and Deane Madsen, Associate Editor of Design at Architect Magazine, have collaborated to produce the Brutalist Washington Map, which features 40 examples of Brutalist architecture in Washington, D.C. This is Blue Crowe's fourth architectural guide map, following their Brutalist London Map, Art Deco London Map, and Constructivist Moscow Map. One can only expect further releases on the horizon.

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In a competition to design Lithuania's new National Science and Innovation Center, known as "Science Island," TARI-Architect's proposal aims to exemplify sustainable design and construction practices. Although three architecture firms were already selected on September 30th, TARI-Architects were one of 144 firms to submit a proposal, making the competition the largest design contest in Lithuania. The Rome-based firm, which recently won second place for a design competition in Seoul, formed its design around the idea of science and its progressive nature.

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French photographer Jonk drove over 5,000 kilometers through southeast Europe. His subject matter? Yugoslavian monuments, or “spomenik” in Serbian.

Built in the 1960s and 70s under former president Josep Broz Tito, these monuments commemorate the communist resistance during the German occupation. While their sculptors and architects vary (Vojin Bakic, Jordan and Iskra Grabul among others), all of the monuments memorialize WWII battle sites or former concentration camps. Although the monuments attracted a high rate of visitors in the 1980s, many of them have been abandoned or poorly preserved after Yugoslavia’s split. Jonk’s photographs illuminate both the decay and beauty of these sculptures.

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Manila Architecture Workshop (MAAW) was just awarded one of six outstanding entries to the recently completed Metrobank Art and Design Excellence (MADE) programs for Architecture and Interior Design. In partnership with the United Architects of the Philippines and BluPrint Magazine, MADE encourages architects to design inventive buildings that address public, economic, and environmental issues.

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Maybe it’s the eighties nostalgia. Maybe it’s the cast of lovable characters (a few reminiscent of The Goonies). Or maybe it’s just a break from reality via a fantastical monster. Whatever your reason for watching (binging) it, the hit Netflix series Stranger Things has left fans yearning for Season 2. 

Till then, we have the next best thing: drawings of two major S.T. settings from architect Boryana Ilieva, who creates studies of space and light in cinematic architecture. Warning: the following contains spoilers regarding the first season.

As Zaha Hadid’s successor and current leader of the firm, Schumacher relays a host of opinions, including those on parametricism, which he deems the “architectural style of capitalism.” The term describes the avant-garde practice that uses digital animation to create equations for designs. Patrik Schumacher, who coined this term in 2008, believes this style extracts doubt from the design process, relying instead on the infallibility of science.

On Tuesday, September 6^th, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the newly planned “Berliner Block,” the Zalando Headquarters — a structure designed by HENN Architects for Europe’s largest online dealer in footwear and fashion. Along with David Schneider of Zalando Management Board and Berlin’s governing mayor Michael Muller, architect Gunter Henn spoke about the construction project currently underway.

In this video from CNN Style, London designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby discuss Forecast, a wind-powered installation they created in collaboration with V&A Museum for the first London Design Biennale. With the intent to help city residents find their way “at a time of turbulence,” the installation responds to the Biennale's theme "Utopia by Design."

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Perched on Long Island City’s waterfront, Socrates Sculpture Park is celebrating its 30^th anniversary with its first permanent structure.

Its form? Cubes. 

LOT-EK architecture firm’s “The Cubes” — initially commissioned for New York's Whitney Museum of American Art — is composed of eighteen recycled shipping containers that create two levels of indoor space. The building's 960 square feet of flexible interior space promises a multi-functional facility, with most areas built for holding classes of up to 70 people.

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