competition: The Latest Architecture and News

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The competition to design a new flagship factory and bottling plant for San Pellegrino has been narrowed down to two firms: BIG and MVRDV. Searching for a “truly innovative project that not only conveys an artistic vision, but also sets new standards in terms of efficiency and compliancy to environmental sustainability,” the jury committee selected the two final proposals from a 4-firm list which also included designs from Snøhetta and aMDL Michele De Lucchi.

“The judging committee were so impressed by the four proposals that they decided to narrow their selection to a shortlist of two and deliberate further before announcing the winning project early next year,” explained San Pellegrino in a press release.

San Pellegrino also released video proposals of the designs, explained by firm founders Bjarke Ingels and Winy Maas.

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Talented students of design & architecture – now it’s time to think, rethink and innovate! Honour, glory and 5,000 Euros are at stake. Registration deadline for the Troldtekt Award 2016 is October 24.

The Fallen Leaf, designed by Eric Rodrigues, has been named the first-place winner of the competition for the new Sylvan open air theatre in Cherkasy City Park, Ukraine. With a plan to demolish the old building, the new theatre is inspired by nature: it integrates into the landscape of the Cherkasy municipal park and uses only natural and locally sourced stone and wood. The form of the glue laminated timber roof is that of a falling leaf, whose organic slope helps to enhance the theatre's acoustics.

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The government of Lithuania announced today the 3 winning architecture firms of a competition to design a new National Science and Innovation Center, to be known colloquially as “Science Island,” in the city of Kaunas, Lithuania. The competition, organized by Malcolm Reading Consultants, saw entries from 144 teams, making it the largest design content ever held in Lithuania.

Nestled in the heart of the UNESCO designated and celebrated university city, Kaunas, the science center will be located on a 13,000 square meter (140,000 square foot) site on Nemunas Island in the Neman River, adjacent to the Žalgiris Arena and within short walking distance to Kaunas’ historic Centras district. The new €25M complex will “celebrate recent achievements in science and global technologies with the aim of inspiring visitors to expand their knowledge and support innovation,” and will focus on research on the environment and ecosystems.

Continue reading to see the winners.

BIG, MVRDV, Snøhetta and aMDL have unveiled images of their proposals for the redesign of San Pellegrino flagship factory and bottling plant located at the source of the mineral water in San Pellegrino Terme, Italy.

The competition brief asked architects to renovate and expand the historic home of San Pellegrino, the world’s leading sparkling mineral water company, with a “truly innovative and technologically-advanced design” aimed at integrating into the natural aesthetic of the surrounding terrain, while responding to the iconic identity of the S. Pellegrino brand.

Continue reading to see each proposal along with official descriptions from each firm.

The office of Peter Zumthor has been selected to design an expansion to the Beyeler Foundation, located just outside Zumthor’s childhood home of Basel, Switzerland. The Swiss architect was chosen from a prestigious shortlist of 11 firms to add to the existing museum building, designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and completed in 1997.

“The sky above Basel, the city and its surroundings–those are the landscapes of my youth,” said Zumthor. “It is heart-warming to be able to design a major building here.”

Infrastructure includes roads, pipe systems, cable networks, bridges, public places as well as less tangible forms including systems for traffic management or capital flow, public security, or information technology. The way this infrastructure is designed fundamentally affects our lives and the space in which we conduct our activities.

Since infrastructure often spans longer timeframes, it also affects future generations and the way society develops – and due to the massive scale of infrastructure, it is a critical component in shaping the built environment in a sustainable way.

We are running out of time for finding good solutions, which is why the LafargeHolcim Foundation is forging partnerships that promote sustainable construction along the value chain from design through to building implementation. The Foundation’s approach to learning from outstanding examples is embedded in its activities, including the USD 2 million Awards competition for sustainable construction projects and visions.

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The Illuminated River Foundation has announced a shortlist of six firms that will compete to design a new permanent light installation along the Thames River in London. From a pool of 105 teams (made up of 346 different firms), the winners were selected based on experience, past projects and team composition. The six finalists will now continue on to develop lighting schemes for the Westminster, Waterloo, London and Chelsea Bridges, as well as a design masterplan for the 17 iconic London bridges between Albert and Tower.

Continue reading to see the list of six finalists.

Have you ever thought of designing a house that is 8-foot cubed? It's unlikely, unless you've been involved in Dallas CASA’s event “Parade of Playhouses.” For 25 years, the association has asked architects, designers and builders to conceive, construct, and donate playhouses to raise funds for abused and neglected children. Each year, the playhouses are displayed in Northpark Mall – Dallas’ main “cultural centre” – where people can buy $5 raffle tickets to win one of the playhouses exhibited.

Architect Bob Borson conceived his first two playhouses for Dallas CASA in 2009, before starting his popular blog Life of an Architect and subsequently launching “The Life of An Architect Design Competition.” The idea came in 2010 when a great number of architects suffered from the economic crisis. As Borson explains: “I could have a playhouse design competition open to other architects so that they could remain connected to the architectural profession.” This also required Borson to raise money and find builders to construct the designs. “I have always covered all the expenses so that the competition would remain free to enter – the playhouses were for charity and it seemed like the right thing to do,” reflected Borson.

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Competition platform matterbetter has announced the winners of its Syria: Post-War Housing Competition for architectural students and professionals. The competition, initiated earlier this year, called for solutions to the housing scarcity crisis in Syria, “which will affect the country as more and more cities of the war-torn country will be freed and refugees will start to come back.”

With refugee camps around Europe and other countries in generally poor conditions, and Syrian towns in ruins, one solution to the housing crisis becomes the creation of living conditions that are attractive for once-displaced Syrians to return. The competition asked for a new housing concept that would be able to permanently accommodate people in need of a new home and new life in Syria.

Out of 245 submissions, matterbetter selected three winners, each of which was awarded a cash prize, there were also nine honorable mentions.

The winners of the Syria: Post-War Housing Competition are:

Sparkling Natural Mineral Water company San Pellegrino has announced an international competition between 4 top architecture firms for the redesign of its flagship factory and bottling plant, located at the source of the mineral water, San Pellegrino Terme, Italy.

“This exciting endeavor aims to celebrate the heritage, special source and terroir of S.Pellegrino, while also promoting new standards of efficiency, environmental sustainability and compliance. Further, this project will support the revitalization of the historic region, harkening back to the golden age of San Pellegrino Terme, at the height of the Belle Époque, when the town served as an exclusive destination for European aristocracy,” a spokesperson for San Pellegrino said in a press release.

• Title

  Call for Entries: BAITASI 2016 International Design Competition

• Type

  Call for Submissions

• Website

  http://www.btsremade.com/

• Organizers

  Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.

• Registration Deadline

  June 30, 2016 12:00 AM

• Submission Deadline

  July 31, 2016 12:00 AM

• Venue

  Beijing, China

1 Overview

This open international competition is to take place among three groups who have been solicited to draw up refurbishment plans of 12 courtyards. Finalists whose plans comply with the design guidelines and have construction feasibility will be authorized by the organizers to implement the project, and the plans will be made available for reference in the Baitasi district, the broader old-town districts of Beijing, and in old towns throughout China that need to be revitalized.

Terra Award, the first international prize for contemporary earthen architectures, has released a shortlist of 40 projects competing for awards in nine categories. The finalists selected span five continents and 67 countries. Each entry was evaluated on a range of topics including: architectural quality and landscape integration, environmental approach and energy performance, creativity and innovation, technical performance, local economy and social intensity, and showcasing of skills. Project materials range from light clay to cob, poured earth, wattle and daub, compressed earth block (CEB), adobe, rammed earth, and others.

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Jyväskylä, a city whose status as the center of Finnish culture and academia during the nineteenth century earned it the nickname “the Athens of Finland,” awarded Alvar Aalto the contract to design a university campus worthy of the city’s cultural heritage in 1951. Built around the pre-existing facilities of Finland’s Athenaeum, the new university would be designed with great care to respect both its natural and institutional surroundings.

The city of Jyväskylä was by no means unfamiliar to Aalto; he had moved there as a young boy with his family in 1903 and returned to form his practice in the city after qualifying as an architect in Helsinki in 1923. He was well acquainted with Jyväskylä’s Teacher Seminary, which had been a bastion of the study of the Finnish language since 1863. Such an institution was eminently important in a country that had spent most of its history as part of either Sweden or Russia. As such, the teaching of Finnish was considered an integral part of the awakening of the fledgling country’s national identity.[1]

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Chicago Sukkah Expo ’16 is a national design competition that challenges entrants to re-imagine the sukkah. The sukkah, a temporary structure that is built during the Jewish festival of Sukkot, commemorates the 40 years that Jews spent wandering the desert (Leviticus 23:42-43). The impermanence of the sukkah reminds us that many community members do not have adequate shelter and are threatened by the dangers of homelessness. We must devote attention and support those without a permanent home.

Founded in 1950, in the city of Talcahuano, CAP Steel is the main Chilean steelmaker, offering a variety of steel products for industrial, mining and building companies across the country. The enterprise, also known as "Siderúrgica Huachipato," forms part of the CAP Group of Enterprises, the chief producer of iron minerals and pellets along the American Pacific Coast, as well as the main steel producer in Chile and the most important steel manufacturer in the Southern Cone.

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The Knight Foundation has announced their second Knight Cities Challenge – a grant with a pool of $5 million to be awarded for city-improving ideas. Applications can be submitted by anyone, professional, student or amateur. Projects must take place in, or benefit one or more of the 26 knight communities across the United States, and focus on one or all of three key drivers of city success: attracting and retaining talent, expanding economic opportunity, and creating a culture of robust civic engagement.

The Urban Development Institute of Australia NSW office wants to create more affordable, connected and livable cities and it wants your help. The CityLife Project competition presents the opportunity for three organisations or research teams to partner with the UDIA NSW on research projects in exchange for cash and promotional opportunities worth up to $145,000 AUD each. As part of the CityLife Project competition, we want one research partner to work with us on liveable cities, encouraging better health and well-being.