2013

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In honor and celebration of the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington, which took place August 28, 1963, the RFQ for architectural services for the new Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library was officially launched today by the District of Columbia Public Library. Currently a Mies van der Rohe building, which is his only library and the only Mies building in D.C., people using the public library more than ever to seek assistance in navigating the complex networks of information available to them and in converting that information to knowledge for their personal needs (education, lifelong learning, enjoyment, jobs, business development, and so on).

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library will be a place for residents to explore, connect, create and engage. They seek an inspiring design for the library of the future that will accommodate great flexibility in library uses and in technology. The RFQ's are due no later than September 23. A pre-proposal conference is also set to take place September 10. For more information, including the full RFQ document, please visit here.

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A conceptual framework for the development of the city of Medellin, the Urban Current[s] competition proposal by L+CC (Land+Civilization Compositions), Taller 301, and openfabric considers it important to think of the river territory beyond a simple design of public space. Instead, this is seen as the opportunity to re-structure and establish a framework for the future development of Medellín. Their approach creates new principles for the development of the city by using all available resources (natural, social, economic, political, and cultural) to link the city with its history, its ecology, and the movement of people in the territory. More images and architects' description after the break.

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Taking place September 27 - October 13 at DhobyGhaut Green, Singapore and various satellite venues, Archifest 2013: A Festival of Ideas for the City returns with a brand new theme - Small is Beautiful. Organized by Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA), and curated by Shophouse and Co., this annual architecture event will use the city as a laboratory and frame Singapore as an urban ecosystem beyond singular architectural projects. It will explore and celebrate projects, design studios, communities and ideas that might be small by choice and circumstance, but are large in ambition and impact.

Festival highlights include Archifest Pavilion Design Competition, Archifest Conference, SIA Design Awards Presentation Ceremony, School of Urban Ideas, Architours and Fringe. Early bird registration ends August 31. To register, and for more information, please visit here.

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Videos

Back for its fourth year, the creative camp Hello Wood was held last month in Hungary, set in the countryside north of Lake Balaton. At Hello Wood, 120 young designers and architects worked with leading experts to create installations which approach issues of society and community in architecture, ideas encompassed by this year's motto "Step Closer!" Twelve teams had one week to create these installations using timber as their primary material, with the projects being judged and a winner awarded at the end of the week.

Read on to find out about the installations, and which one was judged the winner, after the break

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Studio V Architecture recently won the competition put forth by the Connecticut Department of Transportation for the design of a $500 million redevelopment of the Stamford Transportation Center and surrounding area. Grown to become the second largest in the region after Grand Central Terminal, Studio V, along with developer Stamford Manhattan Development Ventures (SMDV), aims to transform this traffic-congested station into a dramatic new 24-hour community that reconnects Downtown Stamford to the South End and the city's waterfront. More images and architects' description after the break.

Hawkins\Brown, with Mae Architects and Grant Associates, have been appointed by London Borough of Camden to develop proposals in collaboration with residents for the potential redevelopment of the Agar Grove Estate, a major housing regeneration project for London with an estimated construction value of £55 million. The current proposal being developed includes the demolition of 112 homes and the provision of around 360 new homes, bringing the total number of homes to around 500. A range of unit types has been introduced including family terrace housing and maisonettes with gardens, as well as lateral flats with balconies. More images and architects' description after the break.

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