BIG: The Latest Architecture and News

When reflecting on recycling, sustainability, measures to take, and innovative technological solutions, one cannot help but think that there are also familiar approaches that should be taken into consideration. In fact, when examining the impact of the built environment on the climate, one notes that in many countries, 80% of the buildings that will exist in 2050 have already been built. The most effective form of sustainability may, therefore, be saving energy by eliminating or minimizing new constructions, and by avoiding the demolition of existing structures.

That is what adaptive reuse stands for: instilling a new purpose on an existing “leftover building.” Nowadays, the refashioning process is becoming essential because of numerous issues related to the climate emergency, plot and construction costs, a saturation of land, and a change in living trends.

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OMA and LOLA Landscape Architects have revealed their design development for the New Feyenoord Stadium, in Rotterdam. Part of the Feyenoord City master plan, the scheme “has been optimized to ensure on-time and cost-effective delivery, while reinforcing its integrity as a vital iconic building”.

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As architecture is increasingly reliant on renderings to convey its message and depict the unbuilt, many practices turn to seasoned 3D artists to help them portray their designs in the most favourable light; thus they externalize visualizations to a handful of firms. 

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OMA / Jason Long and Y.A. Studio have been selected to design an 150 unit affordable housing project in San Francisco's historic Haight Ashbury neighborhood. Dubbed 730 Stanyan, the project aims to provide a high-quality living environment for families and seniors. The housing will be situated at the entry to Golden Gate Park and aspires to address the city’s desperate need for permanent housing options.

Buildings and construction play a major part in climate breakdown and biodiversity loss. For everyone working in the construction industry, meeting the needs of society without breaching the earth’s ecological boundaries will demand a paradigm shift in behavior.

The urban landscape is constantly transforming to meet the changing social, economic, environmental, natural and technological needs. Ageing populations, sharing economy, urbanization, religion, flexible homes, education… Improving the social dimension and creating societal value are vital elements in the process of urban regeneration and architecture.

The OMA-Designed CMG Qianhai Global Trade Center has broken ground in Shenzhen. Unveiled during the inauguration ceremony for Qianhai Significant Projects in China, the mixed-used 360,000 square-meter development will create a Micro-City environment, blurring traditional boundaries between building and city.

OMA / Jason Long’s 11th Street Bridge Park was granted approval by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) at the beginning of April. Designed by OMA, with landscape architects OLIN, and structural engineers WRA, the project is the winning entry of the design competition held back in 2014.

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Trentini Spaces and Design have created a new platform for design discussions, the first talk show for architects and designers on Zoom - Trentini Talk Show. The first season of the show is hosted by Vēsma K. McQuillan, an architect and a professor from Kristiania University College in Oslo.

Designed by OMA / Chris van Duijn, the Department Store Galleria in Gwanggyo, south of Seoul has just opened. The store’s sixth branch is located at the center of the relatively young and new urban development.

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The Arquia Foundation signs an agreement with Architect-US to expand its program to the United States and adds 2 scholarships in New York to their XXI Arquia Scholarships 2020 Call.

OMA is designing a 10,000-square-metre shopping center integrated with community spaces in Melbourne, Australia. Entitled the Wollert Neighborhood Centre, the project is located in Wollert, Whittlesea, one of Victoria’s fastest-growing regions, in the suburbs of Melbourne.

AMO, the think tank of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), co-founded by Rem Koolhaas and led by Samir Bantal, has announced a recent research collaboration with Volkswagen. Focused on rural areas and the countryside, the partnership will look into the future of rural mobility, through a first conceptual study on electric tractors.

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OMA and partner Reinier de Graaf, together with Jaspers-Eyers Architects, have won the competition to design the new headquarters of Belgium's National Railway Company in Brussels. The design preserves three monumental buildings in the Brussels-South train station along Fonsny Avenue. At 75,000 square meters, the headquarters project brings all departments under the same roof with work space for 4,000 employees.

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Videos

Opening in February 2020, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is showcasing an exhibition by Rem Koolhaas and AMO, the think tank of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). Entitled Countryside, The Future the exhibition seeks to investigate urgent environmental, political, and socioeconomic transformations in the nonurban areas.

OMA has just finalized Potato Head Studios, a hotel, first of its kind, dedicated to both guests and the local community. Located in Seminyak, Bali, the building’s design, led by David Gianotten and project architect Ken Fung, opens the ground floor for public cultural events and activities.

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OMA and designer Shohei Shigematsu have released the design for 10,000 sq. feet of new and renovated galleries for the Denver Art Museum (DAM). The project is part of the phased reopening of the newly renovated Gio Ponti-designed Martin Building. OMA's work is done within the building’s original footprint, and the project is part of an overall campus reunification and building renovation project led by Machado Silvetti and Fentress Architects.

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As 2019 winds down, we're taking a look ahead to the projects we're most looking forward to in 2020. With a mix of cultural and commercial programs, the designs are located across five continents, with many under construction for multiple years. Designed across a wide range of scales, they represent a mix of interconnected landscapes, museums, and the world's newest skyscrapers. 

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OMA'S architect and urbanist Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli will serve as the curator of the Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2020. Moreover, Teresa Iarocci Mavica, co-founder, and director of the V-A-C Foundation was appointed as commissioner of the Pavilion by the Russian Ministry of Culture. The exhibition entitled Open! will showcase young Russian architects and will focus on the renovation of the century-old building of the pavilion, built by renowned Russian architect Alexey Shchusev in 1914.