Cultural Center: The Latest Architecture and News

Just as layers of history accumulate through time to offer varying perspectives on culture and environment, Saucier + Perrotte’s design for the Fifth Pavilion of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is composed of a series of mineral strata that form a home for the Hornstein collection of art. Floating gently above street level, each marble stratum is superimposed to produce a sculpted volume containing the collection and defining a space dedicated to the next generation of Montreal art lovers. Their proposal was recently announced as a finalist in the competition

+ 2

Australia based Williamson Architects’ proposal for the City Cultural Center of Taichung, Taiwan aims to create a sculptural beauty that resurrects the romance of the architectural journey through a building. Driven by function, the building’s form is expressed in its own beauty to create not only a landmark public structure but also creating a catalyst drawing people and activity, beautifully connecting all strata of society. More images and architects’ description after the break.

+ 6

Georges Batzios Architects + Sparch (Rena Sakellaridou and Morpho Papanikolaou) shared with us their proposal, titled 'Calligraphic-scapes,' for the Taichung City Cultural Center competition which stems from the origins of calligraphy. The rigorous transformation of knowledge, to be found in written language, is brought together with the poetic domains of art by means of calligraphy as the medium. As such, it brings together both the library and art museum into a new hybrid entity. More images and architects' description after the break.

Currently on display until January 31, 2014, the ‘Pretty Vacant’ installation by design and research studio Rietveld Landscape encourages visitors to take a fresh look at the empty spaces of the Centraal Museum in The Netherlands. The blue window literally and figuratively sheds a new light on the space and complements the architecture of this medieval chapel. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Young Australian designers, Nic Gonsalves and Nic Martoo from leading architecture firm Conrad Gargett Riddel, have won an international award for their innovative emergency shelter design for victims of natural and man-made disasters. Showcased in Brisbane's King George Square last year and having recently toured to Melbourne's Federation Square last month, their design provides ease of fabrication without the use mechanical tools; a place to house both occupants and their belongings; and the ability to control the level of engagement with the outside world through a flexible skin of solid, translucent and transparent shingles. More images and the designers' description after the break.

+ 19

Designed by TheeAe LTD., the main idea for their ‘Wooden Wave’ proposal for the Taichung City Cultural Center competition was driven by its elements in historical buildings which have had its form of curve, wooden structure, prolonged canopies and so on. In respect of the past architecture, they believe change or new is not a sole creation from nothing, but rather evolution from the past. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Neutelings Riedijk Architecten was recently awarded with the architectural design commission for the new Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden. As one of the top five natural history museums in the world, Naturalis has a collection totaling over 37 million objects.. A collaboration between Amsterdam Zoological Museum, National Herbarium Nederland and the National Natural History Museum, Naturalis has resulted in an expansion of personnel and objects and correspondingly the need to extend and renovate the current location and research facilities. More images and architects' description after the break.

In the heart of Colombo, Sri Lanka, a lot surrounds a historic British-colonial building. In this country, density is not limited and the program quickly takes on an exceptional scale. Designed by Maison Edouard François, the 450,000m² Heritage Building is planned for offices, apartments, a hotel, a cinema, and a commercial center. As two spectacular bridges unite the three towers, the challenge becomes how to successfully create such a massive program adjacent to a historic monument. More images and architects’ description after the break.

+ 10

Built and exhibited at “Data Curation” in the Museum of Art at Seoul National University, ‘Mood Map’ visualizes the moods of Korean people in color and light through textual analysis of their Tweets on Twitter. Designed by E/B Office, they created a custom software program in Processing that will search and analyze Tweets in Korean language through the Twitter API. More images and architects’ description after the break.

+ 42

+ 7

The new cultural hub of Sejong city, the proposal for the Sejong Art Center features a 700 seat theater for classical concert, ballet and musical, a 300 seat black box theater, a cinema, gallery spaces, and a 1,500 seat opera theater as an extension. Designed by H Architecture + Haeahn Architecture, the project aims to embrace the polarity of the city and nature. It was initiated from a scrupulous speculation concerning the dichotomy between them since the site is located at the edge of the city. More images and architects’ description after the break.

+ 4

With a unique, prominent position in the urban landscape of Oslo, the Tryvann Tower is an existing TV transmission tower high up on the forested hills surrounding the city. Launching the idea of developing a new Tryvann Tower, MAD Arkitekter envisioned a tower with an elegant and bold design, placed in the same position as today’s tower. The new Tryvann Tower would be both higher and more spacious, giving increased room for a public program. More images and architects’ description after the break.