Are Tree-Covered Skyscrapers Really All They Set Out to Be?
31 May 2016
Are tree covered buildings really in tune with ecological and sustainable principles, or are they just a form of greenwashing? This is the question posed by Kurt Kohlstedt in his essay, Renderings vs. Reality: The Improbable Rise of Tree-Covered Skyscrapers, for 99% Invisible. The author notes that vegetated designs come about for myriad reasons – the appearance of sustainability, better air and views, investment intrigue – but that most of these concepts will never leave the realm of paper or virtual architecture. |
Schmidt Hammer Lassen Wins Competition for New Student Center and Library in China
18 May 2016
Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects has been awarded first prize in the competition to design the Student Center and Library for the Wenzhou-Kean University in Wenzhou, China. Set on 500 acres of land in a rural mountainous region, the 25,000 square meter project will provide learning and living space for 8,500 students. Wenzhou-Kean University is cooperatively run by Wenzhou University, in China, and Kean University, in New Jersey, USA, and aims to merge Chinese and American teaching methodologies. Thus, the new Student Center and Library is focused on embracing diversity, interaction, and the sharing of knowledge. |
BIG, Arup, and Aecom Are Now Partners With Hyperloop One
11 May 2016
Elon Musk first proposed Hyperloop transit in 2013, but the innovator responsible for Tesla and SpaceX has yielded to outsiders to test and build the technology. In response to that challenge, Hyperloop One(formerly Hyperloop Technologies, Inc. rebranded as to not be confused with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, a competitor) conducted its first test today on a track north of Las Vegas. Meanwhile as reported on Slate and The Verge, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has simultaneously been working on a different passive magnetic levitation system developed by Lawrence Livermore National Labs. For those unfamiliar, Hyperloop is a tubular transit system that relies on maglev (magnetic-levitation) technology to transport passengers or cargo at speeds in excess of 700 miles per hour, in other words, traveling from Los Angeles to San Francisco in half an hour. |
ROSSETTI Designs MLS Stadium and Mixed-Use Development for Detroit
6 May 2016
ROSSETTI has unveiled their design for a proposed development in downtown Detroit on the site of a currently unfinished jail. The project features a new MLS stadium with 20,000-25,000 seats, a training facility, a retail area, a parking structure for more than 5,000 cars, and four towers programmed for a hotel and residential and office spaces. |
Kengo Kuma and Cornelius+Vöge Release Plans for Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Odense
28 April 2016
Kengo Kuma & Associates, in a team with Cornelius+Vöge and landscape architects MASU planning, have revealed plans for the Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Odense, Denmark. Channeling the otherworldliness of Andersen’s fairy tales, the 5,600 square meter building is two-thirds below grade, leaving ground level space for “enchanted” gardens of large trees, lawns, box hedges, and tall shrubs. The museum building is an ambling collection of cylindrical volumes, with glass and lattice timber facades beneath scooped green roofs, all surrounding a sunken courtyard space. The project will replace an existing museum that is largely focused on the author’s personal life with one that is more centered on his stories |
The 10 Best Architect Designed Products at Milan Design Week 2016
26 April 2016
To mark the conclusion of the 55th Milan Design Week (also known as Salone del Mobile), ArchDaily has compiled a list of the best architect designed products unveiled at the event. This year’s notable items include works by Zaha Hadid, BIG, Herzog & de Meuron, MAD, David Adjaye, and Daniel Libeskind, among others. |
SHoP Wins Landmarks Commission Approval for Brooklyn Supertall
21 April 2016
SHoP has won Landmarks Preservation Commission approval to build Brooklyn’s tallest tower at 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension, reports New York Yimby. Located on the same block of the former Dime Savings Bank, an individual and interior landmark, SHoP’s proposal calls for a 73-story, 1,066 foot-tall mixed-use tower. The proposal required LPC-approval because the architects want to merge the tower’s lobby with the bank and convert the atrium into a new retail component.
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Sou Fujimoto Installs a "Forest of Light" for COS at 2016 Salone del Mobile
13 April 2016
Photographer Laurian Ghinitoiu has captured the collaboration of the Swedish fashion retailer COS and Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto for this year's Salone del Mobile in Milan. "In this installation for COS, I envisage to make a forest of light," said Fujimoto. "A forest which consists of countless light cones made from spotlights above. These lights pulsate and constantly undergo transience of state and flow. People meander through this forest, as if lured by the charm of the light. Light and people interact with one another, its existence defining the transition of the other." |
Kengo Kuma Uses Carbon Fiber Strands to Protect Building from Earthquakes
8 April 2016
Japan-based Komatsu Seiten Fabric Laboratory has created a new thermoplastic carbon fiber composite called CABKOMA Strand Rod. The Strand Rod is a carbon fiber composite which is covered in both synthetic and inorganic fibers and finished with a thermoplastic resin. The material has been used on the exterior of Komatsu Seiten’s head office.
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12 Projects that Explain Landscape Urbanism and How It's Changing the Face of Cities
6 April 2016
In his new book Landscape as Urbanism, Charles Waldheim, the John E. Irving Professor and Chair of Landscape Architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, argues that in order to understand the twenty-first century metropolis, “a traditional understanding of the city as an extrapolation of architectural models and metaphors is no longer viable given the prevalence of larger forces or flows. These include ruptures or breaks in architectonic logic of traditional urban form as compelled by ecological, infrastructural, or economic change.” |
Zaha Hadid Dies Aged 65
31 March 2016
The Iraqi-born British Architect Dame Zaha Hadid, DBE (1950-2016) has died aged 65, in Miami, Florida. According to reports from the BBC, Hadid was being treated in hospital for bronchitis when she suffered a heart attack. Earlier this year she became the first sole woman to receive the RIBA Royal Gold Medal at a ceremony in London.
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20 Creative Adaptive Reuse Projects
17 March 2016
After built structures become disused or abandoned, adaptive reuse can be the perfect way to breathe new life into an old building, while conserving resources and historic value. Whether due to environmental reasons, land availability or the desire to conserve a historic landmark, countless architectural firms worldwide are turning to adaptive reuse as a solution to some of the modern problems of the built environment.
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Foster, BIG and Grimshaw Design Main Pavilions for Expo 2020 Dubai
14 March 2016
Foster + Partners, BIG and Grimshaw Architects have won a competition to design pavilions for Expo 2020Dubai. Under the Expo’s 2020 theme of Connecting Minds, Creating the Future, the teams were selected from 13 invited practices to design three themed pavilions within the Expo's HOK-designed masterplan: Opportunity, Mobility, and Sustainability.
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Nikken Sekkei to Design New Camp Nou
8 March 2016
Japanese practice Nikken Sekkei, in collaboration with Joan Pascual-Ramon Ausió Arquitectes, has been chosen to design the new Camp Nou stadium for FC Barcelona, according to Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia. The winning team was chosen over three other finalists: HKS + COX + Batell i Roig Arquitectes;BIG + IDOM + BAAS Arquitectes; POPULOUS + Mias Arquitectes + RCR Arquitectes. The new design intends to compliment the recently unveiled New Palau Blaugrana, FC Barcelona's main basketball arena that will be designed by HOK and TAC Arquitectes. All this is happening alongside the Espai Barça remodel that is expected to begin in 2017 and complete by 2021. |
Kimmel Eshkolot Architects Wins Competition for Masterplan in Tel Aviv
3 March 2016
Kimmel Eshkolot Architects has won the competition to design the Kaplan North Masterplan, covering an area of 32,000 square meters in central Tel Aviv. Once a secretive and secluded area, the space has been opened to new development due to the decision to relocate the headquarters of the IDF. “Located between one of the city’s busiest intersections and its cultural center, the design creates a new gateway to Tel Aviv, which will be an innovative series of structures that will connect this fragmented area,” with the goal of creating a “sustainable coexistence between a busy urban space and an intimate residential neighborhood.” |
BIG's 2016 Serpentine Gallery Design Revealed (Plus Four Summer Houses)
24 February 2016
The Serpentine Gallery in London has unveiled the designs for this year's prestigious Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, designed by BIG, showing an "unzipped wall" which rises to a point above the entrance. In addition to the pavilion, this year the Serpentine gallery will host four smaller "summer houses" designed by Kunlé Adeyemi - NLÉ, Barkow Leibinger, Yona Friedman and Asif Khan. For these summer houses, the Serpentine Gallery asked the participants to take inspiration from Queen Caroline's Temple, a small, classical summer house near to the gallery that was built in 1734. |
TheeAe Releases Proposal for Varna Regional Library in Bulgaria
23 February 2016
Hong Kong-based architecture firm TheeAe has released the plans for its entry to the competition for the Varna Regional Library in Varna, Bulgaria. The competition called for proposals to combine six regional libraries into one new site, ultimately awarding Architects for Urbanity the first prize. TheeAe's proposal focuses on accommodating the site’s zoning, creating a sloped roof that allows for sunlight to shine down to surrounding buildings. |
Mecanoo Wins Competition to Design Tainan Public Library
22 February 2016
Mecanoo architecten and MAYU architects+ have won a competition to design the new Tainan Public Library in Taiwan. Their winning design "represents the meeting of cultures, generations and histories," says the architects. It will feature an inverted stepped facade that houses reading rooms, special collections, study spaces, a children’s area, café, conference hall, a 200-seat auditorium, and public courtyards. |
MVRDV Designs Shopping Center with Pearlescent Façade in Beijing
16 February 2016
Exterior construction has almost wrapped up on MVRDV’s Chongwenmen M-Cube shopping center inBeijing, featuring a shimmering façade that changes color from grey to pearlescent. The approximately 40,000 square meter center sits in the central Chongwenmen district, just moments from the Forbidden City, and will serve as a centralized hub for retail, cuisine and leisure. The project is set to be completed in summer of this year. |
Winners of the 2016 Building of the Year Awards
9 February 2016
After two weeks of nominations and voting, we are pleased to present the winners of the 2016 ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards. As a peer-based, crowdsourced architecture award, the results shown here represent the collective intelligence of 55,000 voters, filtering the best architecture from over 3,000 projects featured on ArchDaily during the past year. |
Kohn Pedersen Fox + Leslie E. Robertson's Next Tokyo 2045 Masterplan Features a Mile-High Skyscraper
29 January 2016
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and Leslie E. Robertson Associates have joined forces to propose a vision for a new city in Tokyo Bay. “Next Tokyo” imagines a mega-city that is adapted to climate change in the year 2045. Rising sea levels, seismic activity, and the threat of typhoons have drawn attention to the vulnerability of low-elevation coastal zones in the bay. This design proposes a development strategy that improves the bay’s preparedness for these natural disasters, while also creating a mile-high residential tower and a new transit-oriented district. |
Foster Breaks Ground on New Dubai Skyscraper
26 January 2016
Construction is underway on a new office and retail tower in the Dubai International Financial Center district (DIFC). Designed by Foster + Partners, the 1.5-million-square-foot "ICD Brookfield Place" has officially broke ground and is expected to be completed by late 2018. "The beginning of construction at ICD Brookfield Place marks the next phase of one of Dubai's most prestigious developments at the DIFC. We were honored to be chosen by ICD Brookfield to design a project that we believe will become a new social focus for Dubai, combining world class office space with a major civic plaza," says Foster. |
2016 Pritzker Prize Winner Alejandro Aravena's Work in 15 Images
20 January 2016
Alejandro Aravena is the first Chilean architect to ever receive a Pritzker Prize. Praised for reviving the socially engaged architect, the 48-year-old architect and executive director of ELEMENTAL has proved architecture's ability to solve pressing global issues through his diverse portfolio. Read on to see 15 projects that exemplify Aravena's contribution to architecture so far. |
OMA to Renovate Berlin’s Historic KaDeWe Department Store
19 January 2016
OMA has been selected to renovate Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe), a historic department store inBerlin – and the biggest in continental Europe. Its giant size “makes it akin to a city: a three dimensional network of paths, squares, neighbourhoods, activitiies and views unfolding through its large extensions and providing opportunities for commercial, social and cultural encounters,” writes OMA. To address the size, their design divides the department store into four quadrants, breaking “the original mass into smaller, easily accessible and navigable components.” Each quadrant will target different audiences and act as an independent department store. Learn more about the design after the break. |
Victor Enrich Transforms Architectural Images Into Optical Illusions
18 January 2016
Since 2006, artist Victor Enrich has been working on his project, City Portraits, a series of digitally manipulated images that transform photos into architectural illusions.
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Alejandro Aravena Wins 2016 Pritzker Prize
13 January 2016
Alejandro Aravena has been named as the winner of the 2016 Pritzker Prize. Highlighting his dedication to improve urban environments and to address the global housing crisis, the Pritzker Prize jury praised the way in which the Chilean architect has "risen to the demands of practicing architecture as an artful endeavor, as well as meeting today's social and economic challenges."
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China’s Newly Completed Shanghai Tower Is Now the 2nd Tallest Building in the World
8 January 2016
Gensler's recently completed Shanghai Tower is now the 2nd tallest building in the world, and the tallest building in China, according to The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). At 632 meters tall, it is the third building in the world to exceed 600 meters and be designated “megatall.”
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Steven Holl Architects Unveil Proposal for Shenzhen Art Museum and Library
Steven Holl Architects |
21 December 2015
Steven Holl Architects has unveiled their design for a new public library and museum in a developing area of Shenzhen, China. With the goal of creating a public space with two buildings connected below the plaza level, the massing concept is based on a three-part removal. While the design did win the most votes from the jury in the overall competition,city officials chose a different scheme to continue with. |
Herzog & de Meuron Release Updated Images of the New Chelsea FC Stadium in London
© Herzog & de Meuron |
02 December 2015
Following the announcement earlier this year that Herzog & de Meuron were developing designs for a new £500million stadium for Chelsea Football Club, the Swiss practice have released a series of official images which narrate the project's design intentions and contextual implications. The new stadium, which will be built in place of the football club's existing stadium at Stamford Bridge, will contain a "three-tier, four-stand, bowl with a capacity of 60,000 supporters" (compared to the current 41,837 capacity) and have around 60,000sqm of facilities housed within its ribbed shell. |
OMA Selected to Design Manchester's 'Factory', Their First Public Project in the UK
OMA's proposal for 'The Factory'. Image © OMA |
25 November 2015
Rotterdam-based Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) have been announced by the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer as the winning team in the competition to design the city of Manchester's high-profile Factory art space. Following the announcement of the shortlist earlier this year, featuring practices including Rafael Viñoly, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Zaha Hadid and Mecanoo, it has since been reported by The Guardian that the British government's original pledge of £78million ($117million) to the cost of the building will be raised by a further £9million per year from around 2018. |
See “More Sky” with These Collapsible Window Seats
© Aldana Ferrer Garcia |
18 November 2015
With the parameters of Brooklyn’s construction and regulations in mind, architect Aldana Ferrer Garcia has created a series of windows called "More Sky" for her Masters of Industrial Design thesis project at Pratt Institute. Using existing window mechanisms, More Sky seeks to promote a healthier and happier home life by connecting users with the outdoors and offering a glimpse of the sky from a different viewpoint. |
CTBUH Names Stefano Boeri’s Bosco Verticale “Best Tall Building Worldwide” for 2015
Bosco Verticale, Milan / Boeri Studio. Image © Kirsten Bucher |
13 November 2015
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has selected Stefano Boeri’s Bosco Verticale as the Best Tall Building Worldwide 2015 for “its extraordinary implementation of vegetation at such scale and height," according to a press release. The tower was selected from a shortlist of four buildings, which included SOM’s One World Trade Center, Toyo Ito and RSP Architects’ CapitaGreen and Foster + Partners’ Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid Tower. |
March Studio's Hotel Lobby in Australia Named World's Best Interior of 2015
Winner: Hotel Hotel Lobby and Nishi Grand Stair Interior / March Studio. Image Courtesy of March Studio |
09 November 2015
The "fragmented" lobby of Australia's Hotel Hotel in Canberra by March Studio has been named World Interior of the Year 2015. Announced at the INSIDE World Festival of Interiors in Singapore, concurrently with the World Architecture Festival's Building of the Year award, the winning project was selected over 100 nominated and 50 shortlisted projects for being the best global interior completed within the last 12 months. It also took top prize in the award's hotel category. |
OMA and Ole Scheeren's Interlace Named World Building of the Year 2015
World Building of the Year Winner: The Interlace (Singapore) / OMA and Ole Scheeren. Image © Iwan Baan |
06 November 2015
OMA and Buro Ole Scheeren's vertical village in Singapore, The Interlace has been named the World Building of the Year 2015 at culmination of the World Architecture Festival (WAF). Celebrated for being "an example of bold, contemporary architectural thinking," asWAF Director Paul Finch described, the project is eighth building to ever win the illustrious award. It is considered to be a "radical new approach to contemporary living in a tropical environment." |
Jeanne Gang to Expand New York's American Museum of Natural History
The new Central Exhibition Hall, which also serves as the Columbus Avenue entrance. Image © AMNH/D. Finnin |
05 November 2015
A conceptual design by Studio Gang was unveiled today as the preferred expansion to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York. The proposed building, named the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation, aims to host an array of public exhibition space as well as become a premier "active scientific and educational institution" that enhances connections with the existing Museum and encourages exploration amongst its users. |
Semi-Permanent Wood Nest Balances Unaided in Czech Republic Treetop
© Antonín Matějovský, Jan Tyrpekl, Karolína Ryšavá |
31 October 2015
Over the course of two days, architect Jan Tyrpekl created The Nest, an experimental structure built without any investors, sponsors, assignment, or project documentation inStrančice, in the Czech Republic. Made of about $120 USD worth of Osier Willow wood, The Nest perches in a park in the designer’s hometown, interlaced between tree branches, so as not to damage or affect the tree. |
HQ's Blooming Flowers React to the Presence of Pedestrians
© HQ Architects |
29 October 2015
Shade isn't hard to find in Jerusalem's Vallero Square, thanks to these giant urban flowers designed by HQ Architects that bloom in the presence of pedestrians. "Warde," as the installation is called, is a set of four inflatable flowers at the entrance of the city's market square and adjacent tram station that "open up" whenever pedestrians walk by or the tram is approaching. |
Pop Up Box: A Customizable Retail Space in Germany
© DITTEL | ARCHITEKTEN GmbH |
24 October 2015
DITTEL | ARCHITEKTEN GmbH has created Pop Up Box, a convertible retail space located in a shopping center in Stuttgart, Germany. With its cube design, the Box serves as a self-contained, customizable presentation area, where retailers can move three of the four pieces to create his or her own sales space
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Renzo Piano Designs New Skyscraper for London
© RPBW |
21 October 2015
Plans have been unveiled for a "skinny Shard" in London's Paddington area. Designed byRenzo Piano, the 65-story skyscraper is the focus of a £1 billion plan aimed at revitalizing the "soulless" district.
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9 Aesop Stores that Revitalize Architectural Simplicity
Aesop Prisensgate, Oslo / Snøhetta . Image Courtesy of Aesop |
17 October 2015
Australia-based cosmetics company Aesop is clearly dedicated to design. Over the years, the company has worked with architects such as Snøhetta, Paulo Mendes da Rocha,Torafu, and Ilse Crawford to create unique stores around the world.
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Renzo Piano to Convert Moscow Power Station into an Arts and Culture Center
Rendering View of the Building from the Birch Forest, RPBW, 2015. Image Courtesy of V-A-C Foundation |
16 October 2015
The V-A-C Foundation has selected Renzo Piano Building Workshop to re-develop a two-hectare area in Moscow, converting a former power station into a center for contemporary arts and culture. Located on the Moskva river in the city’s Red October district, the GES2 power station was built in the early 1900s and once supplied energy to the city. The project envisions the recuperation of the power station’s original form as well as the reconfiguration of the entire site into a 150 meter by 150 meter square. |
New Seattle Proposal Caps I-5 Freeway With a Two Mile Park
Courtesy of Patano Studio Architecture |
15 October 2015
Patano Studio Architecture has created a proposal for a 45-acre, two-mile park spanning over the top of the Interstate-5 freeway in Seattle. Called C.A.P., the plan “proposes a city-wide architectural infrastructure solution to multiple issues facing the fast growing city.”
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NLA and Mayor of London Select 10 Winners in "London's Housing Crisis" Competition
Buoyant Starts / Floating Homes Ltd with Baca Architects. Image Courtesy of New London Architecture |
13 October 2015
Following their selection of 100 ideas to help solve London's housing crisis last month, NewLondon Architecture (NLA) and the Mayor of London have narrowed down the entrants to ten winners which they believe offer exemplary models for the UK capital. The selected designs range from radical architectural solutions, such as Floating Homes and Baca Architects' proposal to create 7,500 new homes in a matter of mere months by floating small abodes in London's canals, to radical economic solutions such as David Kroll's recommendation to separate the value of properties from the value of the land they occupy. |
Gallery: OMA's Garage Museum of Contemporary Art Photographed by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art / OMA. Image © Laurian Ghinitoiu |
12 October 2015
Photographer Laurian Ghinitoiu has shared with us images of OMA's recently completed Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow. The museum project repurposed the 1960s Vremena Goda restaurant in Gorky Central Park and transformed it into a modern exhibition space adorned with Soviet era tiles, mosaics and bricks preserved from its previous life.
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MVRDV Designs 3-Tower Development for City of Amsterdam
A2 Studio |
8 October 2015
The City of Amsterdam has selected MVRDV and OVG Real Estate to realize a new mixed use development in its Zuidas Business District - "P15 Ravel Plaza." Chosen through an international competition, the design calls for three asymmetrical towers grounded by office and retail, topped with housing and intertwined by an expansive public green space that wraps itself in and around the building. |