BREAKING NEWS: Architecture

According to EIA survey results, U.S. commercial buildings are increasing and getting larger

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 22:16:58 +0000

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) data is now available.

The CBECS is a national sample survey that collects information on the stock of U.S. commercial buildings, including their energy-related building characteristics and energy usage data. It defines commercial buildings as those in which at least half of the floorspace is used for a purpose that is not residential, industrial, or agricultural.

The survey provides building characteristics information for the estimated 5.9 million commercial buildings in the United States in 2018. The data includes the number of buildings and amounts of floorspace by characteristics including geographic region, building activity, size and age, employment and occupancy, energy sources used, and energy-related equipment.

According to the survey, the number of U.S. commercial buildings grew 6% from 2012 to 2018, and the total floorspace of commercial buildings increased ...

San Francisco is adapting the tiny home approach to city's largest encampment

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 21:40:58 +0000

The cost of up to $1.7 million for building and installing the cabins, along with the dining and other facilities, will be paid for by the nonprofits DignityMoves and Tipping Point Community. The cabins will remain for 18 months, when the lease the city signed for using the parking lots as outdoor shelter spaces runs out.

The 64-square-foot cabins are produced by LifeMoves, a Silicon Valley-based company responsible for the installation of a similar development in nearby Mountain View in 2016. Neighboring Oakland has operated its own cabin site since 2017, albeit with mixed results for residents who have found themselves back on the streets long-term.

San Francisco’s move comes a bit late, however, as COVID-related fears have deemed the crowded shelter system a non-starter for many. Other cities like Los Angeles have invested in the tiny homes movement, which is being seen as a popular solution to a crisis at a time when encampments sanctioned by municipal governments are popping up increasingly throughout the state. More than 40% of America’s homeless population lives in California alone.

The new approach certainly constitutes a change from San Francisco’s previous initiati...

Notre Dame cathedral is now secure enough to start the rebuilding process, potentially in time for 2024 Summer Olympics

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 21:07:07 +0000

Two and a half years after a fire ravaged the centuries-old Cathedral of Notre-Dame in the heart of Paris, the building has been secured enough to start the rebuilding process, which is expected to be completed in 2024, according to the French authorities.

The news was announced last weekend in a statement on Facebook by Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris, the public body responsible for the conservation and restoration of the 850-year-old cathedral. This milestone and expected timeline meets French President Emmanuel Macron’s five-year plan to reopen the landmark, which would be in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

“We’re officially saying that the cathedral is now saved, that it’s solid on its pillars, that its walls are solid, everything is holding together,” Jean-Louis Georgelin, the head of Rebâtir Notre-Dame, told the French news outlet BFM TV.

Previously on Archinect: Not so fast: Following the Notre Dame Cathedral fire, heritage experts respond to Macron's ambitious five-year restoration deadline

According to Artnet News, this phase involved reinforcing the cathedral’s flying buttresses, protecting its gargoyles, and removing approximately 40,000 pieces of damaged scaffolding that had been in place for spire restoration at...

Galashiels gallery celebrates the rich tapestry of history

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 21:04:11 +0000

The jewel in the crown of Galashiels tourism has opened with the completion of The Great Tapestry of Scotland Gallery , the custom-built home for a tapestry that brings history to life in pictorial form. Built around a special first-floor room to house the one-off piece, painstakingly assembled at the hands of a thousand stitchers, the Page\Park designed gallery rises on the town's High...

AETHER Apparel Headquarters by Assembledge+

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 20:17:20 +0000

Born out of the desire for men’s and women’s collections to look at home in the city but withstand the outdoors, Aether’s products reflect a pure expression of form and function. Aether Apparel engaged Assembledge+ to renovate an existing 1953 bow truss building and design a new, dynamic headquarters to echo the brand’s value and provide for a transparent and creative workspace.

The solution endeavoured to celebrate the original building by opening up the original structure and creating a communal and flexible workspace, partitioned into workstation areas, a design studio, communal areas and a conference room adjacent to a showroom.

Large window openings along the southern concrete façade fill the space with natural light and contribute to the sense of openness. The project’s clean lines, predominately white interiors with wooden details and exposed warehouse space create an airy, open office conducive to communication with a clean and modern aesthetic.

In the spirit of their extre...

Monastero: Inside the walls by noa* network of architecture

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 20:16:33 +0000

The monumental spaces of a 17th century monastery are brought back to life in Arco, Alto Garda, where noa* has transformed them into a unique hotel, while conserving the charm of the original architecture and its atmosphere of peace and meditation. In the garden, the spa is inspired by certain typical rural constructions, which can be found on the lakes shore.

To restore the majestic power and spiritual dimension of an old monastic centre and make its most distinctive elements the main features of a unique and charming hotel, was the mission pursued by noa* in the project to renovate the Monastery Serve di Maria Addolorata in the centre of Arco, situated at the northern tip of Lake Garda. This noble complex with its’ extensive garden, is encompassed by a high surrounding wall and dates all the way back to the second half of the 17th century. Half of the Monastery building, which also hosts a church and cloister, where nuns continue to live, has been left untouched and in 2020 work o...

Transsensorial Gateway by noa* network of architecture

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 20:15:12 +0000

Architecture and people are closely intertwined and through the creation of a space, the connection between the individuals within a space is encouraged. This was the starting point for the installation designed by noa*. The concept proposes a kind of light and sound landscape, which welcomes visitors as they enter the exhibition.

On either side of the doorway, a crown of structural light-beams open up, each one at different heights, visually amplifying the sequence of the 17th-century portico that serves as the setting for the installation.

The result is a sculptural work that combines various elements, including light, sound and movement, in direct dialogue with people and with the space.

The light beams create relationships, building ‘bridges’ between people. The light reacts to the presence of visitors and at the same time interprets the way they relate to each other.

Through a ‘transsensorial’ mechanism, a light and musical score is created that is not only c...

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Downtown by Gluckman Tang Architects

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 20:14:33 +0000

Gluckman Tang worked with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego to expand its Downtown campus by creating new exhibition spaces in the Baggage Building of the historic Santa Fe Depot and by adding a new, adjacent three-story structure on the site of the former Railway Express Agency Building.

The new 13,750-square-foot addition is a contemporary, contextual response to the surrounding historic structures, while the 13,680-square-foot former Baggage Building was converted into a Kunsthalle-type exhibition venue.

The new facilities will complement the curatorial programs of the museum's primary site in La Jolla, while expanding and connecting with the museum’s existing downtown venue across the street. The Depot continues to function as a transportation hub with ongoing active use by local and regional railways, as well as by Amtrak.

On The Hill House / Narofsky Architecture

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 18:00:00 +0000

architects: Narofsky Architecture
Location: Great Neck, New York, United States
Project Year: 2019
Photographs: Phillip Ennis Productions
Area: 2500.0 ft2

As prices for construction materials begin to level off, labor costs will plague the industry entering 2022

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 17:46:08 +0000

Since lumber, steel, and other construction material costs began skyrocketing during the summer of 2021, Archinect has followed the ongoing fluctuation of construction costs. During our July construction coverage, the cost of lumber began to drop, which brought a slight glimmer of relief. However, this eventual "return to normalcy" isn't without its additional challenges.

Previously, Archinect reported that the decline was "attributed to a number of factors, including reductions in both speculative trading and DIY home building, and a gradual normalization of supply chains as economies re-open following over a year of reduced output."

According to a recent report from Construction Dive's Sebastian Obando, however, the next looming issue the industry continues to be at odds with is project delays and labor costs.

Previously reported on Archinect: Construction Casualties: The Deadly Cost of Skyscrapers for Immigrant Laborers

Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban...

Architecture Billings Index in August continues expansion but magnifies material and labor shortages

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 16:48:41 +0000

A new economic report released by the American Institute of Architects this morning indicates the seventh consecutive month of increasing architecture billings. The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) rose by one point from 54.6 in July to 55.6 in August.

New project inquiries and design contracts softened slightly in August but remained in positive territory with reported scores of 64.7 and 56.6 respectively.

August ABI Highlights

Regional averages: West (57.2); Midwest (55.2); South (52.5); Northeast (51.7)
Sector index breakdown: mixed practice (56.0); commercial/industrial (54.7); institutional (54.4); multi-family residential (54.3)

"The surge in design activity continued in August, signifying an expected upturn in construction activity in the fourth quarter and continuing into 2022," said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. "This expected expansion will magnify the already serious problems of price inflation and availability of many construction products and materia...

Bertolotti Vial Machinery and Office Warehouse / Estudio 2(A) DosArquitectas

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 16:00:00 +0000

architects: Estudio 2(A) DosArquitectas
Location: Ruta Provincial 25 (Intersección, Au Rosario, Santa Fe, Provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina
Project Year: 2019
Photographs: Albano García
Area: 691.0 m2

Is that a dishwasher or a Hindu temple? Inside kitsch pomo masterpiece Cosmic House

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 15:30:33 +0000

From its classical dome bathtub to its vanishing ceilings, godfather of postmodernism Charles Jencks turned a terraced house into a madcap monument to his voracious ideas. What was it like to live there?

The first challenge facing visitors to Charles Jencks’s house is choosing which knob to push on the front door. Two identical brass fixtures flank the entrance to 19 Lansdowne Walk in Holland Park, the first indication that this is no ordinary west London pile. Push the correct one and you enter a bewildering oval lobby lined with numerous mirrored doors and topped with a ceiling of intersecting ovals that appears to taper upwards to infinity. The faces of Pythagoras, Erasmus and Hannah Arendt peer down from a mural, above a frieze of gnomic inscriptions about the cosmos. There’s a lot to digest already – and you’ve barely stepped through the front door.

As an architecture critic, cosmic landscape designer and all-round polymathic funster, Jencks was never one for half measures. His Cosmic House, as 19 Lansdowne Walk is known – which opens to the public this Friday, two years after his death – stands as a madcap monument to his voracious appetite for ideas. As the godfather and chief promoter of postmodernism, or pomo, he spent a lifetime championing eclecticism, wit and meaning over what he saw as the bland, faceless tedium of modernism. And he lived his theories to the max.

“We tried to experiment on ourselves and bring symbolic architecture back,” Jencks says, in an introductory video to the house, which is open to 15 visitors at a time in pre-booked slots, three days a week. “We wanted to see how far we could push it.”

The answer is beyond anything you might imagine. This substantial 1840s end-of-terrace house has become a wondrous, indigestible cacophony of cosmic symbolism, classical references and architectural in-jokes. It samples from cultures, continents and epochs with promiscuous glee, relishing in unlikely combinations of high and low, veering from the sublime to the kitsch. As Jencks would say, it is “pizza with all the toppings” – and then some.

He bought the house with his second wife, the Scottish artist and garden designer Maggie Keswick, in 1978, a year after he published his seminal book, The Language of Postmodern Architecture. Working in collaboration with his friend the architect Terry Farrell, they spent the next seven years concocting what would become a built appendix to the book, a fantasy world of meaning, trickery and allusion.

Federal design mandates should end, says AIA

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 15:08:35 +0000

The AIA has expressed support for legislation recently re-introduced to the U.S. Congress, which seeks to prevent future administrations and the federal government from mandating preferred design styles for federal buildings. The organization had previously been critical of a 2020 decision by the Trump Administration to make classical architecture “the preferred and default style” for America’s public buildings.

The bill currently sitting in Congress, named the “Democracy in Design Act,” would codify the U.S. General Service Administration’s 1962 Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture, and prohibit the federal government from mandating a preferred national design style. The bill also includes a requirement that any changes to the Design Excellence Program, which guides the procurement, design, and construction of public buildings, would need to include public comment before enactment.

Ribeira 11 Apartment Building / Ricardo Carvalho + Joana Vilhena

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 14:00:00 +0000

architects: Ricardo Carvalho, Joana Vilhena
Location: Lisboa, Portugal
Project Year: 2019
Photographs: Nuno Goucha Gaspar / Desalinha
Photographs: Fernando Guerra | FG+SG
Area: 1112.0 m2

Rotonda Ferrer Manuelli Renovation / Studio Marco Ciarlo Associati

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 12:00:00 +0000

architects: Studio Marco Ciarlo Associati
Location: SS 1, Spotorno SV, Italy
Project Year: 2021
Photographs: Aldo Amoretti
Area: 2500.0 m2

Twin Barratt builds to transform brownfield Leith sites

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 11:44:22 +0000

Barratt Homes have renewed their focus on Leith with plans to deliver over 300 homes across two brownfield sites. The housebuilder has begun work on a 212 home development at Baltic Street named Merchant Qua y, with a sister 115 home development called Heron Bank set to get underway shortly. Rising on the site of a former builders yard Merchant Quay will include a mix of one, two and...

Nikken Sekkei's Ariake Gymnastics Centre celebrates timber construction

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 10:30:19 +0000

One of the largest timber-framed roofs in the world spans 90 metres over the arena of the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo, designed by Japanese practice Nikken Sekkei for the delayed 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The structure, located a short distance from Tokyo's centre in Koto City, was originally unveiled in 2019 and has been the location for artistic, rhythmic and trampoline gymnastics as well as the wheelchair sport Boccia.

The gymnastics centre is located next to a canal in Koto City

Located next to a canal on the site of a former timber storage area, the centre is a celebration of wood and its centrality to traditional Japanese architecture. Around 2,300 cubic metres of sustainable timber are used throughout the building.

"Based on the architectural concept of a wooden vessel floating in the bay area, timber is used wherever possible, specifically in the roof frame structure, facade, spectator seats and exterior walls, while carefully considering the characteristics of wood in each application," said Nikken Sekkei.

Steel columns support the timber concourse

From its base, the centre's inverted pyramid form sweeps upwards to shelter an external concourse below, expressing the shape of the raked seating within with a stepped cladding of horizontal timber planks.

Referencing a traditional engawa, a verandah-like space found in Japanese architecture, the concourse is defined by two rings of steel supports: one vertical surrounding the entrances in the centre and another angled supporting the edge of the roof structure.

Arch-shaped timber beams form the roof span

"By positioning the circulation concourse on the outside of the building and creating an open and broad approach space, the design attempts to avoid the impenetrable exterior typically found on large-scale sports facilities," explained the practice.

The roof structure is formed by a series of large, arch-shaped glue laminated timber beams made using larch from the Nagano and Hokkaido prefectures, spanning a distance of 90 metres between the steel columns of the centre.

"We adopted a simple structure that uses single members of large glue-laminated timber with high heat capacity, rather than trusses containing a number of small members to achieve both fire resistance performance and structural stability," Nikken Sekkei said.

Steel cables attached to this roof structure support the arena's lighting rig, above the glulam stands that can accommodate 12,000 spectators. This number will reduce when the temporary seating is removed following the 2020 Olympic Games.

A timber staircase leads to the seating area

A corrugated steel roof covers the structure, following the form of the timber beams below to create the arena's distinctive undulating roof shape.

The centrepiece of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the Japan National Stadium by Kengo Kuma Associates with Taisei Corporation and Azusa Sekkei Co also incorporated an extensive use of timber, with its roof structure made from steel and laminated larch and cedar trusses.

Both of these structures and more featured in Dezeen's roundup of the most architecturally significant buildings in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which took place during summer 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The images are courtesy of Nikken Sekkei.

The post Nikken Sekkei's Ariake Gymnastics Centre celebrates timber construction appeared first on Dezeen.

The Reach Apartments / Pitman Tozer Architects

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 10:00:00 +0000

architects: Pitman Tozer Architects
Location: United Kingdom
Project Year: 2019
Photographs: Kilian O’Sullivan
Photographs:
Area: 6400.0 m2

The Dezeen guide to plastic in architecture, design and interiors

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 09:45:37 +0000

Thinking of using plastic in your project? Our latest Dezeen guide includes more than 11 types of plastic commonly used in architecture, design and interiors, with links to hundreds of projects for inspiration.

Plastics are among the most versatile materials in existence. Defined by their plasticity, they have long carbon chains called polymers at their backbone and can be moulded, extruded or cast into any desired shape from films to textile fibres.

They can be divided into thermosetting plastics, which never soften once moulded, and thermoplastics, which can be melted and reshaped, making them more suited to recycling.

Plastics "are a co-product of fossil fuels"

Although certain plastics – such as rubber, which is derived from the rubber plant – occur naturally, most modern plastics are synthetic and more than 99 per cent are derived from fossil fuels.

This helps to make plastics more affordable than most other materials and sees them used to create millions of tonnes of single-use items every year.

"Part of why plastics are so cheap is that they are a co-product of fossil fuels," explained designer Charlotte McCurdy, who has created a bioplastic made from algae.

"Petroleum or natural gas is pumped out of the ground and at the refinery, it is broken up into different lengths of molecule and catalytically cracked into useful monomers."

79 per cent of all plastic is dumped in landfills

This refining process yields not just fuels such as gasoline and kerosene but also chemical byproducts such as ethylene and propylene, which are the most important feedstocks used to create plastics.

Once discarded, 79 per cent of all plastic is dumped in landfills or in the environment, where it will remain for thousands of years. Although this contributes to pollution, it also helps to sequester the carbon contained in the materials and prevents it from entering the atmosphere.

But when incinerated, as 12 per cent of all plastic waste is, this carbon is emitted as carbon dioxide.

Taken together, plastic production and incineration were responsible for more than 850 million metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions in 2019.

However, with growing efforts to decarbonise the economy, non-fossil alternatives are being developed in a bid to meet the ever-increasing demand for plastics in a more sustainable way.

Read on to find out more about the most popular types of plastic and their possible substitutes.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

PET is a strong yet lightweight thermoplastic, originally developed in the 1940s by combining fossil fuel-derived ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid.

The resulting polymer can be blow-moulded to form single-use bottles, stretched into a film for food packaging or spun into fibres to create polyester fabric, which accounts for more than half the world's synthetic fibres.

Designers often make use of PET for its translucent finish, with Marjan van Aubel turning it into solar panels that resemble stained glass windows while Beyond Space created a cavernous interior in an Amsterdam office using a kilometre's worth of semi-sheer polyester.

PET is also the most widely recycled plastic, at which point it is called rPET and can be used to create everything from backpacks (above) to Emeco's Navy chair.

See projects featuring PET ›

High-density polyethylene (HDPE)

HDPE is a variation of polyethylene, the most common type of plastic in use today. While its low-density equivalent LDPE is used to make plastic bags, HDPE is sturdier and more rigid, lending itself to everything from milk jugs to packaging for cleaning products and toiletries.

The material is also used to create plastic bottle caps and even when brands such as Evian claim they've created bottles from "100 per cent recycled plastic", their lid is generally made from virgin HDPE to guarantee durability.

However, the material can ultimately be recycled after use, with architecture firm Bulot+Collins using the waste plastic to form 1,400 thermochromic tiles for a floating diving platform while Space Available and techno DJ Peggy Gou turned 20 kilograms of HDPE collected from Bali's beaches into a chair.

See projects featuring HDPE ›

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)

Derived from chlorine and ethylene, PVC makes up about 20 per cent of all plastic produced. Due to its strength and durability, the material is commonly used to create pipes, gutters and window frames, which designers have variously recycled into flower vases and cladding (above).

With the addition of a phthalate plasticiser, PVC can be turned into flexible vinyl and used to form flooring, shower curtains and imitation leather. Swiss studio Bureau A made use of the material's pliability to create an inflatable nightclub while Formafantasma played with its translucency in a "deconstructed" stage design for fashion label Sportmax.

Due to additives like phthalate, vinyl is among the least recyclable plastics and has been linked to a number of health concerns. But latex made from the sap of the rubber tree can offer a renewable, plant-based alternative.

See projects featuring PVC ›

Polypropylene (PP)

Polypropylene is derived from propylene gas, a byproduct of the gasoline refining process, and is commonly used to form more rigid, hardwearing items such as Tupperware, kid's toys and outdoor furniture.

Designers began experimenting with the material in the 1950s to create monobloc chairs, injection moulded and formed from a single piece of material. Among the most notable designs are Verner Panton's Panton chair, the Air-Chair by Jasper Morrison and more recently the recycled polypropylene Bell Chair by Konstantin Grcic for Magis, which is manufactured in less than a minute.

The thermoplastic can also be spun into fibres to create surgical masks, which South Korean designer Haneul Kim has recycled to create a series of stackable stools, or used as a 3D-printing filament as in the performance sports tiles on Yinka Ilori's Bank Street Park basketball court.

See projects featuring PP ›

Polycarbonate

Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic with carbonate groups in its chemical structure, making the material exceptionally resistant to impacts and temperature changes.

Often used to create bulletproof windows, it can be engineered to be almost as clear as glass while being lighter and up to 250 times stronger.

Polycarbonate sheets are popular among architects and interiors designers for their ability to maximise natural light while maintaining privacy, as well as improving a building's thermal insulation.

Francesc Rifé Studio used the sheeting to divide an old textile factory into offices for the team behind Michelin-starred restaurant El Bulli while La Shed Architecture clad an entire barn (above) in the translucent material to give cows "a better quality of life".

See projects featuring polycarbonate ›

Discover the Forest Glamp Project designed by Bourgeois / Lechasseur architects appeared first on Archiscene - Your Daily Architecture & Design Update.

The Best Architectural Photographs Submitted by Our Readers in 2021

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 07:30:00 +0000

City of Dakar. Photo © Andrea Ceriani

Every year on August 19th, we celebrate World Photography Day. This year, to encourage our readers who are passionate about this art, we published an open call inviting people – both amateur and professional photographers – to submit their images of architecture and the city.

We received over 400 photographs of buildings, interiors, and public spaces in various locations and contexts, captured by more than 130 participants from all over the world, including India, Brazil, Pakistan, Mozambique, Italy, and the United States. Our editorial team pre-selected 50 photographs and then voted on the 25 most compelling images. Here is the selection, listed in alphabetical order by the names of the authors.

Casaneiro House / UID Architects

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 07:00:00 +0000

architects: UID Architects
Location: Nara, Japan
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Nacasa & Partners Inc.
Area: 210.0 m2

New Materials: Textured and Irregular Appearance Fiber Cement Facade Panels

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 06:45:00 +0000

Courtesy of Equitone

With the increasing availability of space travel on the rise, living with access to the Moon may no longer be a science fiction fantasy. For decades, Equitone has gathered inspiration for the future by the appearance and raw materials of Earth. Now, reflecting the fascination with what lies beyond our own atmosphere, its new Lunara façade panels appear both otherworldly and yet natural at the same time. Its unique surface, covered with tiny irregular elevations and depressions, is reminiscent of the cratered landscape of the Moon and invites architects and planners to design visionary building envelopes.

Australian Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai Echoes the Country's Distinctive Culture and Landscape

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 06:30:00 +0000

Courtesy of bureau^proberts

Brisbane-based architecture firm bureau^proberts has unveiled its design for the Australian Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai, UAE. The pavilion serves as a cultural contribution with large social space that translates Australia’s distinctive landscape and skies through a cloud-like form suspended over folding timber. The structure "captures the local sensibility" by highlighting the welcoming and warm nature of the Australians through the central and sheltered gathering area.

Casas Boulevard / Paralelo Colectivo

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 06:00:00 +0000

architects: Paralelo Colectivo
Location: La Plata, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Project Year: 2020
Photography: Luis Barandiaran
Area: 215.0 m2

3XN Completes Organically-Shaped Exhibition Space in Belgium

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 05:30:00 +0000

3XN has recently completed the Grognon exhibition space dedicated to the history of digital technologies. Located in Namur, Belgium, at the confluence of two rivers and neighbouring the Roman citadel, as well as the Wallonian Parliament, the project inserts itself within the protected historical setting as a new topography, a landscape that flows along the site weaving together the context and the new programme.

Non-Structures & Palimpsest: Photography as a Register for Urban Regeneration and Real Estate Speculation

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 05:00:00 +0000

"Unsustainable Structures", 3. Image © Francisco Ibáñez Hantke

In honor of World Photography Day (August 19 ), Chilean architect Francisco Ibáñez Hantke offers a a perspective of urban transformation and the resulting instability caused by the regenerative processes and the constant real estate speculation that drive it. The photographs center on London, and reveal an exhausting array of construction and demolition and highlight the often blurry line between architecture and urban decay.

11 Architect-Designed Furniture and Lighting Pieces Displayed at the 2021 Salone del Mobile

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 04:00:00 +0000

La Linea. Image Courtesy of Artemide

After a year-long absence, Milan Design Week has wrapped up yet another year of creativity and innovation. From the 5th to the 10th of September, thousands of design companies displayed their creations to more than 200,000 visitors hailing from different countries, demographics, and industries. And while the design fair gravitated towards the world of interior design, many renowned architects such as Bjarke Ingels, Foster + Partners, and Herzon & de Meuron participated in the week-long exhibition and joined forces with interior and furniture design brands to create signature pieces.

Public Space at Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names / Rijnboutt + Studio Libeskind

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 03:00:00 +0000

architects: Rijnboutt
architects: Studio Libeskind
Location: Holocaust Memorial & Dutch Theater (Jewish Cultural Quarter), Plantage Middenlaan 24, 1018 DE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Project Year: 2021
Photographs: Kees Hummel

House F / Tom Munz Architekt

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 02:00:00 +0000

architects: Tom Munz Architekt
Location: 8590 Romanshorn, Switzerland
Project Year: 2021
Photographs: Ladina Bischof
Area: 456.0 m2

Pritzker Military Museum & Library announces finalists in Cold War Veterans Memorial competition

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 01:11:41 +0000

Chicago’s Pritzker Military Museum & Library has announced four finalists for its international design competition that would give veterans of the Cold War a new memorial in Somers, Wisconsin.

The memorial is a central part of a larger development plan that will create the Pritzker Archive and Memorial Park Center (PAMPC) campus in under a decade.

“In missions on and off the battlefield, Americans of all stripes made immense sacrifices in defense of our national interest,” founder Jennifer Pritzker said in a statement. “They deserve to be recognized, and the weight of this era deserves to be understood. This Memorial will provide a place where their contributions are honored.”

The finalists enter phase II of the competition, which is being judged by panelists that considered each entry for its “individuality, relevance, and conceptualization.” Each project now has until late February to develop before individual reviews begin and a winner is announced in late March.

Have a closer look...

Sports Complex in Sant Francesc Xavier / MCEA (Manuel Costoya Estudio de Arquitectura)

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 01:00:00 +0000

architects: MCEA | Arquitectura
Location: 07860 San Francisco Javier, Balearic Islands, Spain
Project Year: 2021
Photographs: Gonzalo Ballester Rosique
Area: 29353 ft2

MOTTAGI 99 Building / AGIT STUDIO

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

architects: AGIT STUDIO
Location: 99 Myeongil-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Project Year: 2020
Photographs: Kyungsub Shin
Area: 436.0 m2

Tollcross tenement infill seeks to avoid 'faux copy' trap

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 23:49:47 +0000

A vacant plot on Tollcross Road in Glasgow's east end is to give way to a mixed development of two ground floor commercial units with six apartments. Aberdeen-based Cater Group have purchased the land and appointed Neil Rothnie Architecture to draw up plans for the infill block, including a first-floor terrace to the rear. In a statement, Neil Rothnie wrote: "The building has been...

Chicago Architecture Biennial: A new pavilion by SOM & Taubman College makes a statement about SLT technology

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 23:26:20 +0000

As part of their contribution to the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial, Skidmore Owings & Merrill has teamed up with the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning on the design of a robotically fabricated timber pavilion.

The project is the result of a year’s worth of research by Taubman Professors Tsz Yan Ng and Wes McGee and is meant as a showcase for the power of robotics to produce efficient and sustainable methods of design and construction.

Image: Kendall McCaugherty © Hall+Merrick Photographers

“Automated manufacturing technologies enable us to precisely and efficiently prefabricate a kit of parts which can be delivered to the construction site on demand, leveraging skilled labor where it is most effective in the process,” Ng and McGee said in a statement.

Image: Kendall McCaugherty © Hall+Merrick Photographers

The processors report that the Spatial Laminated Timber (SLT) they used reduces up to 46% of material use when compared to more trad...

The Architectural Team announces scholarship program at Boston's Wentworth Institute of Technology

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 22:26:57 +0000

Architecture, master planning, and interior design firm, The Architectural Team (TAT), has announced a scholarship in partnership with Boston’s Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT).

“The Architectural Team Endowed Scholarship” is a need-based scholarship for students pursuing degrees in Wentworth’s School of Architecture and Design. It is intended to build a pipeline into professional practice for underrepresented students.

Applications are set to open in early 2022 for the 2022-23 academic year. TAT will make a $25,000 contribution to the scholarship, which will be dollar-matched by funds from the Wentworth endowment as part of the school’s Advancing Student Access and Potential (ASAP) Challenge program. In addition, scholarship recipients will have an option to apply for a one-semester co-op opportunity at TAT, allowing them to receive professional experience and build networks.

The Architectural Team was also recently featured in Archinect's feature article: How will Senior...

Shimotsuma Junior High School / MIKAMI Architects

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 22:00:00 +0000

architects: MIKAMI Architects
Location: 38-1 Nagatsuka Oto, Shimotsuma City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Koji Horiuchi
Area: 3818.0 m2

OMA's Prestige Liberty Towers break ground in Mumbai

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 21:24:26 +0000

OMA has announced that construction has begun on the Prestige Liberty Towers mixed-use complex in Mumbai, the firm’s first project in India.

The development is situated in the historic textile mills area of Mahalaxmi in the heart of Mumbai. The complex is another contribution to the city’s rapid transformation from industrial city to global financial center, along with its new transport networks, high-rise residential, retail, and office spaces.

As per the architects: “OMA’s design takes advantage of the views overlooking the Mahalakshmi Racecourse to the Arabian Sea with two staggered towers of 200 and 290 meters — at 270,000m² [2.9 million square feet] one of the largest office developments in the city. The rectangular column-free floors, combined with full-height curved glass facades, are designed to maximize the office plan efficiency with light-filled, high-quality workspaces. The restrained material selection of Indian black basalt and glass provide a counterpoint to the urb...

Opening of Gehry-designed Guggenheim Abu Dhabi announced for 2026

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 21:06:11 +0000

The long-awaited Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will open in five years, said the institution’s director Richard Armstrong at a press briefing held today in Basel.

One of Frank Gehry’s most-anticipated projects to date, the $200 million Guggenheim Abu Dhabi satellite museum, has been pushed back numerous times over the years after being originally announced by Armstrong’s predecessor in July of 2006.

Armstrong’s tenure has been permeated by protests over the labor conditions of workers in the UAE. The new museum will complete the cultural segment of Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island, which includes Jean Nouvel's Louvre Abu Dhabi and a planned performing art center from Zaha Hadid.

“We think it should be five years from next week,” he said. “It looks like everything is coming together, so we can say something definitive. It has been a relatively long gestation.”

The Architects' Journal highlights 14 architectural assistants working at the UK's biggest practices

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 20:29:18 +0000

It takes a team of experienced and dedicated architects, designers, and project leads to keep a firm running. However, each firm's success also comes down to the unsung contributions of emerging talent whose efforts are often overlooked. This transitional role from a recent graduate to design professional continues to teeter between a slippery slope of "exposure" and "working experience" with unfair work practices. AJ's latest initiative, AJ100 New Talent, however, aims to "champion those who may not always be given the credit they deserve."

Celebrating this year's design cohort is a step towards re-writing the narrative for architectural assistants who were once thought of as voiceless and underrepresented. The AJ adds that this celebration of talent "chimes with [their] focus on the struggles facing those entering the profession and the need for change. Practices have a big responsibility to nurture these rising stars, who are the future of the profession."

(Top Row L-R) Ellie Sa...

Kanye West's favorite architect is drawing some seriously high praise

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 19:15:39 +0000

“For most of us, architecture is a profession of compromise [...] We are service people, turned on and off by the client, not so terribly different from window washers. But Valerio is different. He believes in the physical substance of architecture, not the impression — that something should not just look interesting but be interesting. That makes him incredibly important to our field.”

The ever-famous Valerio Olgiati is also a favorite of Kanye West, whose splashy architectural tastes have made headlines of late, and for whom the Swiss architect is said to be designing an underground Wyoming home, among other projects. The 44-year-old rapper even reached out to him for input on his recent album Donda.

“He says I am Picasso, and his job is to buy land so that I can create,” Olgiati told the NYT Style Magazine. “I have never had anyone who appreciates so much what I do.”

Olgiati previously served as the Kenzo Tange Chair at the Harvard GSD. T Magazine has a lengthy profile of the prolific architect here.

Ten installations to see at the Chicago Architecture Biennial

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 19:00:46 +0000

The Chicago Architecture Biennial has returned to Chicago for its fourth edition with installations by Atelier Bow-Wow and Manuel Herz Architects. Here are 10 must-see projects.

Curated by designer David Brown, the biennial contains contributions from over 80 participants hailing from more than 18 countries.

These include numerous site-specific installations, many of which have been built on empty lots across the city.

With the theme The Available City, this edition of the event intends to investigate who contributes to the design of Chicago, with projects from studios including Skidmore Owings & Merrill and Outpost Office.

SPLAM by SOM

Architecture studio SOM worked with students to build an open-air learning lab and gathering space for the University of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning in Chicago's South Shore.

The pavilion was created as a prototype to demonstrate the possibilities of prefabricated timber framing to build large structures.

"Weaving together timber beams like threads in fabric, SPLAM explores the idea of using smaller pieces of wood than conventional mass timber construction systems," said SOM.

Block Party by Studio Barnes in collaboration with Shawhin Roudbari and MAS Context

Studio Barnes created two structures on a plot in North Lawndale that are "born from Chicago's rich history of annual block parties".

The first is bright pink and blue and designed to recall the look and feel of a bounce house, or bouncy castle, which are often seen at block parties.

Alongside this, a second smaller structure made from a series of blocks will be used for social gatherings.

Cover the Grid by Outpost Office

Outpost Office has painted a series of plots in the North Lawndale and Pilsen areas of the city with "architectural-scale urban land paintings " for its Cover the Grid installation.

Created using GPS-guided robots, which are typically used for painting lines on sports fields, the temporary installation aims to challenge civic boundaries and public rights-of-way.

River Frames by PORT

PORT's River Frames aim to draw attention to the history of the installation's site near Bertrand Goldberg's River City apartments on the south branch of the Chicago River.

Set on a gravel walkway that outlines the footprint of the former Chicago Great Western Freight warehouse, which was demolished in the 1970s, are a group of steel-framed structures that "reflect the spartan warehouse structure that occupied Southbank Park for nearly a century".

Englewood's Commons by Atelier Bow-Wow

Tokyo-based architecture studio Atelier Bow-Wow is developing a pavilion and meeting space in a square marking the entry to Englewood Nature Trail on Chicago's South Side.

The studio is creating a forty-person communal table, raised gardening beds, indoor growing houses and new office space as part of the project.

Central Park Theater by Manuel Herz Architects

Swiss studio Manuel Herz Architects aimed to recall memories of the buildings that stood near the Central Park Theater in North Lawndale, which is currently being restored, for this installation.

A pattern based on floor plans and sections of the lost buildings has been painted across the building.

Grids + Griots by Sekou Cooke Studio

Sekou Cooke Studio's contribution to the biennial is a series of structures that can be used as benches, tables, planter beds, retail stands and bike storage made from a cut-up forty-foot-long shipping container.

Named Grids + Griots, the installation was created in collaboration with youth organisation Young Men's Educational Network (YMEN) and is located at its site in North Lawndale.

Soil Lab by James Albert Martin, Eibhlín Ní Chathasaigh, Anne Dorthe Vester and Maria Bruun

Set in the North Lawndale neighbourhood of Chicago, Soil Lab will see a series of structures constructed during the biennial.

Structures for social gathering will be made from bricks, rammed earth and ceramic tiles.

The Garden Table by Studio Ossidiana

Rotterdam-based Studio Ossidiana designed the Garden Table to be "part kitchen, part game, part stage".

Along with seating and table space, the permanent installation at the El Paseo community garden in Pilsen is topped with boards for playing marble solitaire, tic tac toe, backgammon and chess.

Woodlawn Canopies: Stories and Futures by Norman Teague Design Studios

Erected in an empty lot opposite the New Beginnings Church, the temporary Woodlawn Canopies was created as a community space in collaboration with mentorship and training organisation Project HOOD (Helping Others Obtain Destiny).

Along with an interactive workspace and stage, an exhibition space has been built to showcase the history of Project HOOD.

The post Ten installations to see at the Chicago Architecture Biennial appeared first on Dezeen.

New architecture and design competitions: Barbican Renewal, Phil Freelon Design Awards, National Design Museum, and Daylight Award

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 18:51:46 +0000

Included in this week's curated picks of architecture and design competitions listed on Bustler are four briefs inviting entries to the NOMA Phil Freelon Professional Design Awards, research and architecture nominations for the Daylight Award, design proposals for the National Design Museum in the Korean city of Sejong, and renewal schemes for London's famed brutalist complex, the Barbican Centre.

For the complete directory of newly listed competitions click here.

Google will buy St. John’s Terminal building in Hudson Square for $2.1B

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 18:47:23 +0000

Google announced plans to purchase the St. John’s Terminal building in Hudson Square for $2.1 billion during the first quarter of 2022. The tech giant already leases the former freight terminal, which is currently undergoing a major renovation and addition as part of the company’s new 1.7 million-square-foot campus in the neighborhood. The deal marks the priciest sale of a single office building in the country since the pandemic, as well as one of the most expensive ever recorded.

View more details about St. John's Terminal by COOKFOX on their Archinect profile by clicking this link.

AETHER Apparel Flagship Store by Assembledge+

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 17:52:28 +0000

Born out of the desire for a men’s collection that looked at home in the city but was built to withstand the outdoors, Aether worked with Assembledge+ to develop their new flagship store that would support the brand’s mission to create a complete lifestyle collection for urban-dwelling, design-focused, well-travelled men and women.

Located in the heart of Los Angeles’ La Brea design district, the retail space is set in a 4,000square-feet industrial space. Two full-sized glass garage doors open onto the sidewalk, facilitating interaction with the pedestrians, and allowing for natural light and air to fill the space.

Inside, the store features a walk-in freezer for prospective gear testing housed in a custom 13-by-13-foot wood cabana, along with 45 modular wood crates that can be moved and rearranged to give the space a different feel monthly, seasonally. A threshold of white and black gives the open space a sense of division while contemplating the brand’s dual character to be classi...

The collection of towers in Novosibirsk by Brusnika Design

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 17:51:51 +0000

In 2014 the Ob riverside area in Novosibirsk was selected for redevelopment. According to the project, the existing industrial estate and fire station were to be replaced by several residential quarters. Brusnika is developing the European Riverfront, one of the plots along the Ob river.

The master plan of the quarter was designed by KCAP Architects & Planners. The European Riverfront is conceived as three clusters of blocks along the riverside and the inner street. The clusters are linked by public squares, each designed with a different character and dominated by a 25-storey landmark. Three towers Number 20, 24 and 28 are central elements to open public spaces in the housing estate composition, acting as navigation points for the pedestrian route along the river bank.

All three towers are based on a common morphotype, resulting in common visual links. Featuring matching silhouette proportions and uniform white stucco facade finish, they stand out against the neighbouring buildin...

AIA survey shows impact of pandemic and climate on client design requests

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 17:41:19 +0000

The AIA has released the latest edition of its Home Design Trends Survey, covering the category of “home features.” The report found that quarantines, working from home, and climate change are among the factors contributing to changing home design trends. Among the key findings from the report were an uptick in demand for outdoor living space, multiple home offices, and exercise space, and features such as solar panels, backup power generators, and hurricane-resistant design.

The demand for outdoor living spaces continues to grow, with a 70% increase in popularity compared to 2020. Home office popularity increased 69%, while a demand for multiple offices or spaces for virtual meetings increased 48%. There was also a 39% increase in demand for exercise rooms/yoga spaces. Over half of respondents noted either outdoor living spaces or home offices as being the most popular special function room demanded by clients.

Extract from the AIA Home Design Trends Survey.

The report shows a not...