Master Plan: The Latest Architecture and News

Construction has begun on the Liuzhou Forest City in the mountainous region of Guangxi, China. Designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti, the new ground-up city will accommodate up to 30,000 people in a master plan of environmentally efficient structures covered top-to-bottom in plants and trees.

Liuzhou Forest City will contain all of the essential typologies of the modern city – offices, houses, hotels, hospitals and schools – housed within a 175 hectare site near the Liujiang River. Employing the firm’s signature vertical forest system, The facades of each building will be covered in plant life, with a total 40,000 trees and nearly 1 million plants from over 100 species specified.

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International Architecture office 10 Design has released their first images of their Jefaira Seafront Development along Egypt’s North Coast. Spanning 550 hectares, the site stretches 3km along the Mediterranean coastline. The project is in collaboration with INERTIA, one of Egypt’s prominent real-estate developers leading various luxury residential and commercial developments across the country.

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Zaha Hadid Architects have broken ground on the construction of a new 5.5 hectare development in Bratislava, Slovakia. Known as ‘Sky Park,’ the master plan will transform an abandoned site in a formerly industrial area of the city into a 20,000-square-meter park and mixed-use community containing more than 700 apartments and 55,000 square meters of office and retail space.

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LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture) has revealed their runner-up proposal in an international competition to design Forest City, a new development located on reclaimed land just off the coast of Singapore in Malaysia.

Initiated by Chinese developer Country Garden, the competition sought urban design schemes that would improve the efficiency of the land use while enhancing the quality of space and environment through the landmark of a “forest city.” The competition was won by Sasaki Associates last year.

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At its best, architecture has the power to confront the world’s most urgent social and environmental issues. The Los Angeles River sits at the center of many of these issues, thanks to the long-overdue plans to convert it from a concrete canal back into a social space and an ecological corridor; and thanks to its position as a symbol of the drought in California. In this serene video by filmmaker Chang Kim, the full length of the river is put on display, exploring a resource that is the topic of much debate in the Los Angeles area.

Atkins has been selected to design a transit-oriented development (TOD) master-plan along the new Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail (HSR) corridor, the first HSR project in Indonesia. Set for completion by 2019, the corridor will extend 142.3km, stimulating economic growth along the corridor while re-allocating traffic to de-congest the region.

The TOD masterplan will integrate smart planning, land value capture and development/station integration, with Atkins specifically covering "masterplanning, transit oriented development, architecture and urban design, landscape design and station integration for Halim and Manggarai areas."

Working with Drexel University and master developer Brandywine Realty Trust, SHoP and West 8 will transform 14-acres of existing underutilized land with 6.5-acres of public open space to create a collaborative mixed-use neighborhood in Philadelphia’s University City submarket. Schuylkill Yards will feature a mix of 24/7 entrepreneurial spaces, educational facilities and research laboratories, corporate offices, residential and retail spaces, hospitality and cultural venues, as well as a robust public realm network that connects the existing neighborhoods with the adjacent Amtrak 30th Street Station.

Situated next to the third-busiest passenger rail station in the country, Schuylkill Yards will be connected to Philadelphia’s international airport and major cities along the Northeast corridor, making it a major innovation hub on the East Coast.

One of 23 teams selected in the Reinventer.paris competition, Jacques Ferrier Architecture, Chartier Dalix Architectes and SLA Architects have unveiled their winning proposal for the Ternes-Villers site, titled “Multi-Layered City.” Located at Boulevard Périphérique (Ring Road), the competition entry has a unique opportunity to transform Paris at a highly strategic spot.

British firm PLP has unveiled their design for a large complex at the heart of the Pearl River Delta in China. The master plan comprises four buildings: the Platform for Contemporary Arts, the Lizhi Park Tower, the Concourse, and the Nexus - a 600-meter tall office and hotel tower that will be the masterplan's centerpiece and the region's tallest skyscraper.

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Located on four man-made islands in Iskandar Malaysia, “Forest City” is set to be South-East Asia’s largest, mixed use green development. Designed by Sasaki Associates, the master plan has an estimated investment of S$58.3 billion (US$40.9 billion) and is expected to bring around 220,000 jobs to the area. Located near the economic centers of Southeast Asia, the new Forest City is ideally placed to become a hub of commerce and culture. Designed to encourage live/work culture, it is composed of “financial institutions, high-tech research and development facilities, headquarter offices, and a variety of creative industries that establish an innovative and sustainable employment base for the region,” write the architects. Read more after the break.

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The winners of the Sejongdaero Competition to masterplan the former National Tax Service building site in Seoul, Korea have been announced. The competition called for entries that not only addressed the site, but also the underground area of Sejongdaero and the old city area of Seoul. The jury was looking specifically for entries that addressed the many layers of culture and history in the area, promoting a new vision for the future.

After receiving 80 entries from 20 countries; first, second and third places, as well as 10 honourable mentions were awarded. See the three finalists along with the jury’s comments after the break.

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The Curtin University Master Plan has become the first project to receive a 5 Star Green Star-Communities Rating by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA). Helmed by AECOM and Donaldson and Warn architects, the plan sets forth a strategy for the renewal of the University's main campus in Bentley, Perth, aiming to create a "vibrant urban community" that combines commercial, retail, residential, educational, and transport infrastructure. Sustainability is a cornerstone of the project, which seeks to be adaptable to, and respectful of, its site and heritage.

The 5-star rating honours Australian Excellence in "innovation, design excellence, environmental sustainability, economic prosperity and liveability". Learn more about the project and view selected images after the break.

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The State of Connecticut and the University of Connecticut (UConn) have invested $2 million to create a masterplan for the UConn campus that will include a new science building and residence hall. The masterplan will be chosen from among three finalists - Michael Dennis & Associates, NBBJ and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill - and then subject to numerous public meetings in which professors, staff, students and community members will be encouraged to provide their input.

Learn more after the break...

The Russian Green Building Council has shortlisted five teams to continue on with the second stage of the international Park “Russia” competition, which plans to become the largest theme park in Europe. Designed to be a “trademark” for the country in Moscow’s Domodedovo district, the 1000 hectare “Russia” Theme Park aims to merge concepts of healthy living, entertainment and education into one, commercially attractive destination.

The five shortlisted teams are: