Death by Architecture / Articles

Article / Rome CityVision Experience 2010 Exhibition and Lecture by CityVision Magazine

2010-08-22T00:00:00Z

ROME CITY VISION EXPERIENCE
September 21, 2010. 5:00 PM

CityVision magazine is pleased to present Rome City Vision Experience, an evening dedicated to contemporary architecture and the protagonists of the international competition Rome City Vision. The entire event is curated by Francesco Lipari and Vanessa Todaro.

Rome City Vision Experience will celebrate contemporary architecture in order to sustain and support Rome in its long journey of emancipation from a strong architectural heritage.

A real and imaginary dialogue between the contemporary and the imagined future. The goal of the evening is to promote and discuss the most advanced ideas in contemporary architecture. A time to explore the current reality and the future of design featuring news, events and conferences.

During the evening, the projects of the winners of Rome City Vision will be presented along with the premiere issue of the first free-press magazine of contemporary architecture in Rome, CityVision Mag.

Graniti Fiandre, a world leader in the production of porcelain slabs, always abreast of the latest trends in architecture and design, will present its innovative product ACTIVE.

Andrea Bartoli, noted Sicilian architecture and contemporary art lover will tell us what it means to be a patron today presenting the proposed redevelopment of the old town of Favara (AG), the Cultural Farm Park.

Alexander Orsini, a Roman architect will tell us about his experience as an architect "in flight" to New York and the importance of a contemporary culture in Rome.

Finally, the evening will culminate with a lecture by German architect Juergen Mayer H.

See an online copy of the CityVision Mag here.

More information about the exhibition and lecture is at the CityVision website.

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / BIG's 8 House wins 2010 Scandinavian Green Roof Award by BIG Architects

2010-08-18T00:00:00Z

Completing its trilogy of housing projects in Oerestad with the same client, BIG + green roof contractor Veg Tech receives the award for 8 House's 1.700 m2 sloping green roof.

The Scandinavian Green Roof Association based in Malmo, Sweden today honored the Best Green Roof in Scandinavia, at an award ceremony at the 8 House in Oerestad, Copenhagen. Since 2000, the association has promoted an increased use of green roofs in Scandinavia and created numerous working examples at its Malmo address. In addition the association and its members educate the positive impact of green roofs on urban ecology, and provide inspiration for legislation and building standards.

"BIG has demonstrated a very clear and conscious use of the green roof successfully integrating it into the visual identity of the building something which was seen in BIG's green roof award application last year with the M2 houses, but on a much grander scale", Louise Lundberg, Scandinavian Green Roof Association's Superintendent.

The moss-sedum roof covers an extraordinarily long, steep and sloping roof surface descending 11 floors downward to the edge of a canal in Oerestad South opening up the interior courtyard to a view of the protected open spaces of Kalvebod Faelled. The 60.000m2 mixed-use development is designed in the form of a figure 8 by manipulating the housing typology most often found in Copenhagen. The massing steps up and down depending on access to daylight and views and is broken into four programmatic bars of retail and housing. Green spaces upon the roof and within the courtyard are strategically placed to reduce the urban heat island effect as well as providing a visual relief to the inhabitants. The first residents have already moved in while the building will be finally completed by 1st of October.

"The parts of the green roof that remain were seen by the client as integral to the building as they are visible from the ground. These not only provide the environmental benefits that we all know come from green roofs, but also add to the visual drama and appeal of the sloping roofs and rooftop terrace in between", Bjarke Ingels, BIG.

The green roof is contracted by Veg Tech founded in 1988 who has since been a leading green-roof manufacturer in Scandinavia.

8 HOUSE CREDIT LIST
Client: St. Frederikslund Holding
Architect: BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group
Green Roof Contractor: Veg Tech A/S
Size of green roof: 1700 m2
Collaborators: Hoepfner Partners, Moe & Brodsgaard, KLAR

For more information and high resolution images, please contact Daria Pahhota:
Press & Communication
M + 45 25 10 44 66
@ dp@big.dk
W www.big.dk

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Energies: New Material Boundaries by Edited by Sean Lally

2010-08-17T00:00:00Z

'Energies' presents a collection of work that challenges the traditional notions of materiality that we as architects rely upon to define some sort of physical limit or boundary especially as it relates to structure, geometry and form. This publication is absolutely not a collection of new recycled material samples or innovations in existing building products. It takes a critical look at the somewhat elusive 'material energies' present in the common technologies of thermal variation, air velocity and electricity beyond their existing implementations as mundane building services. The intent of the projects is to free these media from their accepted roles and to establish them as the boundaries and thresholds of architecture.

Philippe Rahm's, "Research House for Dominique-Gonzalez-Foerster" is an investigation of the thermodynamic phenomenon of the Gulf Stream and its implications on a single-family living enivronment. A typical modern home attempts to create a condition where the entire home is maintained at a uniform temperature regardless of the particular uses. Rahm's project aims to restore the diversity to the relationship that the body maintains with space and its temperature, allowing for seasonal variations. The home essentially consists of an asymmetrical distribution of heat creating a convection movement in the project around which the spaces are organized based on an ideal temperature to activity relationship.

'New Material Boundaries' presents some very interesting ideologies and proposals for the reassessment of how we can define space and experience in architecture today. The selected projects vary between art installations to architectural proposals and address a broad spectrum of issues. The printing is another fine AD Architectural Design release.

Reviewed By Mario Cipresso

Article / Interview with Architects Rueda-Pizarro by By Studio Banana TV

2010-08-16T00:00:00Z

Studio Banana TV interviews Rueda-Pizarro, authors of a young people housing complex in Parla, Madrid.

In mid 2005, the Town Council of Parla in Madrid, in collaboration with the Madrid Architects' Association (COAM) Competitions Office, organized a competition with a novel approach: 826 dwellings distributed in 6 lots for public housing. They were rental dwellings for young persons, optimized to 35 m2 of usable surface area in order to fit the maximum number of units onto the available land. In addition, they awarded the surface right to private companies who paid the costs of the competition, construction and operation of the rented apartments, reducing the town council's contribution to management of the public land and selection of the awardees. Our proposal was one of the six winning projects and we had to include exactly 156 dwellings, which were the number allocated to us in the urban planning scheme.

Already in the competition, with the motto "Building situations", our starting point was the situationist postulates of the fifties. In their texts, they taught us to understand the city from the perspective of individual experience. Exclusively functionalist approaches were left behind; the aspects that concerned us were those that went beyond dimensional parameters, road system hierarchies, solids and hollows, and which took into account topological, relational and phenomenological parameters. The space of the city acquires meaning with the use that is made of it by its inhabitants, from the multiplicity of relationships that can occur in it (figure 1): experience the city as a space for "building situations". Faced with the typical degraded landscape devoured by infrastructures of the periphery (figure 2), we wanted our proposal for dwellings for young persons to be understood as a playful reappropriation of urban space. The site plan itself, reminiscent of the psychogeographic maps of Guy Debord (figure 3), shows the location as part of a network of municipal public spaces.

We proposed to free the ground level as much as possible with a new topography that houses the building services (figure 4), to create an area for recreational activities that can vary depending on the subject and time of day and according to the seasons.

Above this active surface, linked to the surrounding urban fabric, the dwellings are organized around four towers with the maximum compactness (figure 5). A central space in each tower, lit and ventilated from overhead, allows relationships to be established between users in vertical and horizontal directions and ensures cross-ventilation in all the dwellings. Instead of the standard living room-bedroom-kitchen program, we proposed a configurable space (figure 6), an unnamed room that can be used for multiple purposes. All the rooms are organized around this space, which can be incorporated into the rest of the rooms to increase their size or function independently from them. The only fixed part are the rooms with plumbing, which act as a hub around which the living rooms and bedrooms are arranged, introducing a certain randomness in the composition of the fa?ade. An enclosure of 18-cm wide anodized aluminum louvers envelops the fa?ade (figure 7), dressing the building and achieving a contemporary image within the framework of a limited budget, which did not exceed 700 euros per square meter above ground level.

Interview by Studio Banana TV. Translation by Remy Arroyo.

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / 2010 AfH Student Health Design Award Results by Supported by Brookfield

2010-07-23T00:00:00Z

From the organizer:

2010 AfH Student Health Design Award
Supported by Brookfield

Designing for Death – Heaven, Purgatory and Hell

Why Death?? Because it's common, and also a condition that is poorly dealt with in hospital buildings. If anything, it's a key facility where the building plays an explicitly healing role. There needs to be room for admissions, and also short stays for people needing respite from time at home. While there is an argument for allowing more people to die at home, there are still many who for a number of reasons feel unable to do this.

AfH received a record number of entries to the 2010 competition making the shortlisting process more taxing than ever before. The competition continues to challenge the relationship between the practice of healthcare design and the exploratory academic realm.

The Shorlist can be viewed on the website at http://www.afhawards.org

The award event takes place on the 2th of August at the RIBA in London and is free for students to attend.

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Milano Stadt Krone 2030 Exhibition by Architectural and Urban Forum [Milano]

2010-06-16T00:00:00Z

The exhibition features 12 proposals commissioned by the Architectural and Urban Forum (AUFO) of Milano, with support from the Comune di Milano, located on the periphery of the historic city center offering conceptual solutions for the densification of Milano. Each proposal injects 25,000 inhabitants into the existing fabric of Milano for a total population increase of 300,000. The exhibition opens June 16, 2010 at the Politecnico di Milano.

Contributing Architects: Guglielmo Mozzoni Architetto (Milan), Degli Esposti Architetti (Antonelli, Degli Esposti, Lazza) (Milan), ACZ studio di architettura (Agnoletto, Cavani, Zamboni) (Modena), Rojkind Arquitectos (Mexico City), BplusU (Herwig Baumgartner, Scott Uriu) (Los Angeles), Ian+ (Rome), MAD Office (Beijing), Tang & Yang Architects (Savannah GA), Fraschini-Melgrati-Tonoli (Milan), Mystic Brain Region (Milan), Congoritme Architects (Barcelona), NuMi Studio (Milan), Michele Moreno Architetto (Milan), Studio Shift (Mario Cipresso) (Culver City CA), Void_7 (Madrid).

Schedule:

June 16, 2010 (17:00 hours) : Opening and round-table discussion

June 17-30, 2010 (9:00-19:00 hours) : The project MilanoStadtKrone2030 and the previous projects "No-spot City" and the "Aequus Actor" by AUFO will be exhibited at the spazio mostre Guido Nardi - Politecnico di Milano (via Ampere, 2)

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Interview of Carlos Ferrater & Patrick Genard by by Studio Banana TV

2010-05-06T00:00:00Z

Studio Banana TV interviews Carlos Ferrater and Patrick Genard talking about their project Mediapro tower in Barcelona.

Watch the interview on StudioBananaTV.

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / eVolo Magazine Issue Two by Carlo Aiello

2010-02-04T00:00:00Z

The second issue of eVolo magazine is now available and highly recommended as a worthwhile addtion to any library. In much the same way the premier issue symbiotically merged real projects with the more conceptual sort generated in the course of the eVolo competitions, this sequel does to great success. Creating an admirable sense of balance, oftentimes acting as somewhat of a transitional device between projects are the incredibly varied and thought-provoking essays. The theme centers specifically on skyscrapers and speculates on the future of the typology as proposed through various projects and writing.

With over thirty selected projects from the eVolo skyscraper competition and several case study towers, the publication is sure to provide a current snapshot of critical thinking on tall buildings. Graphically, the book is well-composed and complements the rigorous editing of Carlo Aiello.

eVolo Issue 2 available here.

Interviews with:
Carol Willis
Giacomo Costa

Skyscrapers by:
Herzog & de Meuron
Morphosis
MVRDV
Jean Nouvel
Office for Metropolitan Architecture
Skidmore Owings and Merrill
Studio Shift

Essays by:
Brian Ahmes
Marcos Betanzos
Joanna Borek-Clement
Benny Chow
Mario Cipresso
Elie Gamburg
Arvin Garay-Cruz
Mohamed Ghamlouch
Ted Givens
Maryana Grinshpun
Mathias Henning
Reinaldo Leandro
Andrew Liang
Jos? Mu?oz-Villers
Chad Porter
Maria Prieto
Javier Quintana

2009 Skyscraper Competition:
30 most innovative projects

Aranda / Lasch:
Recent work

Editor's Letter
by Carlo Aiello
It has been a tremendous satisfaction to compile this issue about the past, present, and future of the skyscraper. No other architectural genre captures our imagination and reflects our cultural and technological achievements like these towers that pierce the sky. We start off with the history and evolution of building high, from the Egyptian pyramids, Gothic cathedrals, and first American skyscrapers to the contemporary reality in Asia and the Middle East.

We present two fascinating interviews, the first one with Carol Willis, the founder and director of the Skyscraper Museum in New York City, who explains the true genetics and economics behind the birth and future of the skyscraper. The second one with Italian artist, Giacomo Costa, who shares his vision about "the relationship between the natural environment, human activity, and supernatural reality" with provocative images of an apocalyptic urban future.

Javier Quintana exposes the time gap between new architectural concepts and their built reality – like Arne Hosek's "City of the Future" designed in 1928 and materialized in 1998 by Cesar Pelli as the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur or Sergei Lopatin's 1925 idea for the Veshenka Tower in Moscow, later observed as the Willis Tower (former Sears Tower) in Chicago in 1974.

Another group of essays explore the global influence of Manhattan as a contemporary Babylon to be replicated across the world, or the role of the Italian Futurists, Japanese Metabolists, and Archigram, who influenced generations of architects and designers to push forward the concept of vertical living.

In the 'Opinion' section you will find critiques on some of the latest ideas for skyscraper design by some of the most forward-looking architects – like the concept of pixelated tectonics in Le Project Triangle in Paris by Herzog & de Meuron and Rodovere's Sky Village by MVRDV. On the other hand, Jean Nouvel redefined the Italian loggia towers of the seventeenth century with the Tour Signal in La D?fense, Paris; while Morphosis Architects explores new programs for vertical density with The Phare Tower. Lastly, Studio SHIFT masterfully integrates their Miyi Tower in Sichuan, China, with the existing landscape.

Central to this issue are thirty projects from eVolo's 2009 Skyscraper Competition which look into the future of the skyscraper with the use of new technologies, programs, and aesthetic expression. Sustainability, globalization, flexibility, and adaptability are just some of the multi-layered elements explored by some the entries. You will find examples of cities in the sky, horizontal skyscrapers that link various cities, or emergency architecture for disaster zones.

Finally, we present the work of Aranda / Lasch, a young New York-based design studio which develops their research on the observation of the patterns of organization in the natural world and its implementation in architecture and design. Their "Quasi-Series" furniture is designed following the assemblage logic of Quasi-crystals, where a structural pattern does not repeat itself.

We would like to acknowledge our readers for their encouraging letters and e-mails that we have received over the last months. It is our mission to continue discovering and promoting new talents and to present a new wave of architecture that will undoubtedly transform our world.

Review By Mario Cipresso

Article / SHIFTBoston Ideas Competition Results Announced by SHIFTBoston.org

2010-01-27T00:00:00Z

What If this could happen in Boston?

Winner of the SHIFTboston Ideas Competition announced at the SHIFTboston Forum

(Boston, MA, January 14, 2010) Government officials, business, academic, and community leaders converged with artists, architects and design professionals at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston to showcase and celebrate the creative ideas about Boston's future cityscape.

Before a packed auditorium, the finalists of the SHIFTboston Ideas Competition were discussed by a panel composed of local architects Brian Healy and Audrey O’Hagan, joined by Maria Aiolova Co-Founder of Terrefuge and Terreform ONE, NY and Carlo Ratti Director of MIT SENSEable City Lab. Projects presented encompassed a variety of topics ranging from social web technologies, transportation, urban agriculture, energy harvesting and ecological urbanism.

The winning team of Sapir Ng and Andrzej Zarzycki were presented with their US$1,000 prize check for their idea TUTS: Tremont underground theater space. Their concept is to transform the abandoned Tremont Street subway tunnels into an interactive cultural space with experiential theaters and immersive digital galleries. While creating a connection between the Orange and Green subway lines, a trolley museum would celebrate the history of the landmark as North America's oldest subway system. "Compared to what I do on a daily basis and seeing the normative architecture that we have, this is really truly wonderful. I'd like to figure out a way that in city government and in the development community, that we can figure out what are the kernels of brilliant ideas and be able to apply them." Kairos Shen, Chief Planner, Boston Redevelopment Authority.

Visit SHIFTBoston to see the all of the finalists online.

About the SHIFTboston Ideas Competition 2009, http://shiftboston.org, This international competition gathered 141 entries from sixteen states and fourteen countries ideas from visionary architects, artists, landscape architects, urban designers, and others answering the call: WHAT IF this could happen in Boston?

About SHIFTboston
SHIFTboston is here to be the catalyst for change; our goal is to promote the future urban environment and provide a stage for progressive thinkers to present his and her visions. We will push new ideas and innovations that are necessary for Boston to become a model city for the future. Let's start now and have fun doing it.

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / Support Reconstruction in Haiti through Architecture for Humanity by (AFH)

2010-01-14T00:00:00Z

On Jan. 12th a powerful 7.0 quake hit the impoverished nation of Haiti. This was followed more than 30+ strong aftershocks. There has been widespread major damage and a loss of life estimated to be between 45,000 to 50,000 according to the Red Cross with some other estimates as high as 100,000. There are projections of 2-3 million without shelter.

Architecture for Humanity has launched an appeal to focus on the long term reconstruction effort in Haiti.

If you can, please support this cause.

For more information about Architecture for Humanity's activities in Haiti or to donate, please visit Architecture for Humanity

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Architecture Guide for iPhone Released by By Makayama

2009-12-31T00:00:00Z

[New application now available in the App Store]

Apple has approved 'Architecture' for distribution in the App Store. A selection of the world's finest architectural masterpieces in pocket size. A one-stop GPS-enabled guide to the world’s greatest buildings from the 20th and 21st century.

Travel to any place in the world and this guide will tell you, where the most interesting buildings are located nearby. It tells you the story behind the building and the architect, shows two images for each project, website and address, and a detailed map with walking or driving directions. It also presents you with a Google Street View where available.

'Architecture' contains projects from 165 different architects, in 270 cities worldwide. It has more than 1000 pictures from buildings stored internally. From Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe to Sanaa and OMA. From Oscar Niemeyer and Frank Lloyd Wright to Morphosis and Peter Zumthor. A selection of 20th and 21st century architecture that spans traditions throughout the world, from the all time favorites to the latest Pritzker Prize winners, from classic icons to hidden architectural gems and oddities.

A great tool for architecture and design lovers, world travelers and city dwellers, to discover great buildings worldwide. Projects can also be browsed by categories ?cities? or ?architects? with no data connection needed, because all information and pictures are stored offline on the end-user’s phone. So no expensive roaming cost when abroad and it can also be used without GPS, in Flight Mode or on the iPod Touch. All projects have a full description, photos and additional details such as the name of the architect, the year it was built and the associated website.

'Architecture' offers a free trial version that lets users try all features for 3 days. After the trial period, it will return to basic browsing mode. Cost of application is USD 3.99 / EUR 2,99.

Download Application

Application Homepage

More Screenshots

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / Studio Banana TV Interview with Japanese Architect Toyo Ito by Interview By Cornelia Tapparelli

2009-12-30T00:00:00Z

From Studio Banana TV's website:

Studio Banana TV interviews Japanese architect Toyo Ito on the occasion of his lecture at the European University of Madrid. Toyo Ito is one of the world's most innovative and influential architects. Ito is known for creating extreme concept buildings, in which he seeks to fuse the physical and virtual worlds. Interview realised with the sponsorship of the European University of Madrid.

Toyo Ito is a Japanese architect born in 1941. He graduated from Tokyo University's Department of Architecture in 1965. His office Toyo Ito & Associates is a world leading exponent of architecture that addresses the contemporary notion of a "simulated" city, and has been called "one of the world's most innovative and influential architects."

After a brief stint in the Metabolist studio of Kiyonori Kikutake, in 1971 he started his own studio in Tokyo, named Urbot ("Urban Robot"). In 1979, the studio name was changed to Toyo Ito & Associates. Throughout his early career Ito constructed numerous private house projects that expressed aspects of urban life in Japan. His early experiments include the Tower of Winds, the Egg of Winds and the Pao House for nomad women. Later projects include the Yatsushiro Municipal Museum and the Shimosuwa Municipal Museum. More recently he has built the Sendai Mediatheque (2001), the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London (2002), TOD's Omotesando Building in Tokyo (2004), the World Games Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2008) or the Torre Fira BCN Building in Barcelona (2009).

Ito has defined architecture as "clothing" for urban dwellers, particularly in the contemporary Japanese metropolis. This theme revolves around the equilibrium between the private life and the metropolitan "public" life of an individual. The current architecture of Toyo Ito expands on his work produced during the postmodern period, aggressively exploring the potentials of new forms. In doing so, he seeks to find new spatial conditions that manifest the philosophy of borderless beings.

Interview by Cornelia Tapparelli. Translation by Yayoi Kawamura.

Watch the interview.

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Triple Canopy Issue 7 Online - Urbanisms: Master Plans by By Triple Canopy

2009-12-30T00:00:00Z

For those of you unfamiliar with the work of Triple Canopy, you'll find this most recent issue to be an exemplar of the timely critical writing and cultural analysis that has quickly become their hallmark. In reviewing Issue 7, you'll find yourself digging back into previous issues to connect various urban ideas that have been investigated over the first several issues. In this sense, Triple Canopy offers an admirable sense of continuity from release to release.

From Triple Canopy:

Issue 7, Urbanisms: Master Plans

The seventh issue of Triple Canopy has reached its conclusion, and with it a seven-month examination of our current urban situation and what lies beyond it: the city’s past and its future; the suburban, the exurban, the frontier.

Learning from Tijuana by Teddy Cruz with Caleb Waldorf From the graveyards of corporate architecture to the informal settlements of Latin America.

The VPL Authority by Rustam Mehta & Thomas Moran with Keller Easterling Deep in the desert Southwest, a public-private corporation is building a mega-eco-city that will be the hub of a new high-speed rail network.

Divine Wilderness by Nathan Schneider From Thomas Aquinas and John the Baptist to cellular automata and intelligent design: How God taught us planning, and where we went wrong.

Daybreak by Lucy Raven In the suburbs of Salt Lake City, the newest great dead American economy lies in wake atop the last one.

Urbanisms: Master Plans also features work by Zlatan Filipovic with Molly Kleiman, Bryan Finoki, Hovhanness Tumanyan & Vahram Aghasyan, Urban China, Kazys Varnelis, and Zs with Josh Slater.

Read Triple Canopy Issue 7

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / eVolo Magazine Now Available in Digital Format on Zinio.com by Carlo Aiello

2009-09-16T00:00:00Z

The recently launched eVolo magazine is now available digitally on Zinio for a fraction of the price of the print edition and with the added bonus of sparing a few trees from the horror of the paper mill.

Zinio provides an easy-to-use interface with excellent clarity of text and graphics. There are various zoom and viewing controls to help you maximize your reading experience. My favorite features include a clickable table of contents and the ability to search the text.

Have a look at Zinio.com

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / Cantos National Music Centre Competition Entry by By SPFa

2009-08-27T00:00:00Z

From SPFa:
SPF:a presented its design concept in grand style to a packed house at the Grand Theatre in Calgary, along with other finalists, Allied Works Architecture/BKDI, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Jean Nouvel Workshop, and Saucier + Perrotte. The project, which involves building a National Music Centre in and around the shell of Calgary's oldest blues bar is seen by many as one of the country’s most ambitious and important urban-design projects, and is located in the heart of one of Calgary's oldest neighborhoods. The Centre will be part museum, part education and outreach facility, and part performance space, incorporating genres ranging from pop and country to ancient music and contemporary composition. For its presentation, SPF:a delighted the crowd with a stunning documentary film – taking viewers on a journey, not only through the building, but through the entire creative process and soul of the project. Cantos will announce a selection in September 2009.

VIDEO:
SPFa on Vimeo

More information at:
www.spfa.com

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / eVolo Magazine 01 by Edited by Carlo Aiello

2009-08-12T00:00:00Z

By now, many of you are familiar with the annual eVolo Skyscraper Competition that has been featured on our Death By Architecture website. In fact, we reviewed the publication, 'eVolo, Skyscraper For The XXI Century' that presented the results of the 2006, 2007 and 2008 editions of the competition and still highly recommend it as a worthy addition to your library.

Like the book, the magazine is thoughtfully edited by Carlo Aiello and the lengths he has gone to publicize the work produced in the course of the competitions is commendable. This premier issue of eVolo Magazine centers itself around selected projects from the 2007 Housing Competition and then complements those projects with a strong selection of notable commissions by architects such as Herzog & De Meuron, Steven Holl, OMA, BIG and Asymptote. The juxtaposition of 'real' and 'conceptual' makes for interesting food for thought especially when you consider the mission of the magazine, which is to highlight the most innovative and inventive ideas that will shape the cities of the 21st Century.

With over 30 projects and articles, the magazine is substantial and of high-quality and you'll surely find yourself returning to it many times. eVolo plans to release two issues a year currently and given the execution of this first issue, I am definitely looking forward to the sequel.

www.evolo-arch.com

Review by Mario Cipresso

Article / BIG wins an International Competition to design Tallinn's new City Hall

2009-06-24T00:00:00Z

BIG wins an International Competition to design Tallin's new City Hall.

An international idea contest was held for Tallinn's new City Hall in Estonia and the best concept was presented by the Bjarke Ingels Group from Denmark together with Adams Kara Taylor of the UK.

The purpose of the international idea contest was to find the best architectural solution for the new administrative building of the city government that will be situated on a 35,000 m2 plot near the Linnahall building. The contest for the new city was met with a great interest, 81 architects and their teams were willing to present an entry. Of those, the international jury chose the best 9 to shortlist as finalists into the second phase of the competition. By May 15 the finalists handed in their final solutions. The international jury's decision to award BIG's entry first place in the competition was unanimous and was presided by the vice mayor Taavi Aas.

Bjarke Ingels, BIG, Partner-in-Charge:
There is a saying that success has many fathers. That is especially true when designing such a crucial public building and public space as a town hall. The design needs to be shaped by input from neighbours and users, citizens and politicians. Paradoxically we architects often find ourselves isolated from this crucial dialogue at the moment of conception, due to the anonymity of the architectural competition.

Since this was a 2 stage competition, we already had our first feedback from the jury – causing us to dramatically rearrange our design to fit the citizens’ needs. As a result we have envisioned a very elastic structure – capable of adapting to unexpected demands. We see it as the first conversation in a design dialogue we look forward to continue.

Public Insight + Political Overview
Good governance and participatory democracy is dependent on transparency in both directions. It requires adequate political overview of the problems, demands and desires of the public, as well as public insight into the political processes. The new town hall of Tallinn will provide this two way transparency in a very literal way. The various public departments form a porous canopy above the public service market place allowing both daylight and view to permeate the structure. The public servants won't be some remote administrators taking decisions behind thick walls, but will be visible in their daily work from all over the market place via the light wells and courtyards. From outside the panoramic windows allow the citizens to see their city at work. In reverse the public servants will be able to look out and into the market place's making sure that the city and its citizens are never out of sight nor mind.

Jakob Lange, BIG, Project Leader
The Town hall is not only surrounded by public space - but literally invaded by the citizens in the form of the public service market place beneath the canopy of the public offices, where the citizens of Tallinn can meet their public servants.

Democratic Tower
The City Council, the heart of the democratic process, is located in the town hall tower visible from the park, the plaza and the podium of the Linnen Hall. The roof of the tower is tilted forming a slender spire. Inside the City Council greeting hall is accessed via the grand stair or elevators directly from the market place, or from the City offices around it. Above the greeting hall, the City Council is located in a generous space illuminated though a large window facing the city. A balcony for press and visitors flanks the space on the level above. The sloping ceiling of the tower is finished in a large reflective material. The mirror ceiling transforms the tower into a huge democratic periscope allowing literal transparency between politicians and public. In ancient times the town hall would have a vaulted ceiling decorated with a sky or frescos of the land and territories under the ruler's government. In the new town hall of Tallinn the ceiling will be a real (reflected) overview of the city both old and new.

Whenever a politician raises his/her glance, he/she will be met with the view of Tallinn's townscape. In reverse, the citizens, rallying protesters or simply people passing by, will look towards the tower, and within it get an insight into the political work. The circular formation of council members will be reflected in the tilted ceiling, and give the surrounding citizens a sense of assurance that the democracy is busy working for them. In a traditional tower only the king at the top gets to enjoy the great view. The periscope is a form of democratic tower, where even the average Tallinn citizen on the street gets to enjoy the overview from the top. From a distance the silhouette of the town hall tower enters the family of Tallinn’s historical spires including those of the Niguliste Museum-Concert Hall, Toomkirik, Kaarli Kirik, P?havaimu Kirik, St. Olav Church and the current town hall.

Hanif Kara, Adams Kara Taylor:
The structural concept reflects the simplicity of the architectural intent; a grouping of "easily assembled individual Frames" that through vierendeel frames free the connection of the city at ground level whilst simultaneously act as a "group" to resist lateral loads. The result is an economic, fast build adaptable solution.

The Jury
The international idea contest was jointly organized by the City Planning Department and the Union of Estonian Architects. The members of the jury were: Head Architect of Tallinn Endrik M?nd, Administrative Director of the Tallinn City Office Viljar Meister, head Architect of Riga Janis Dripe, architect Tarald Lundevall from Norway, architect Peter Wilson from Germany, architects Martin Aunin, Tiit Trummal, Kalle Komissarov, and Andres Levald as a substitute member. The winning project was awarded with 500,000 Estonian kroons. The mayor of Tallinn Edgar Savisaar stated contentment with the results of the competition, thanked all the participants and expressed his hope that the new administrative building of Tallinn will be built sooner or later, despite the hard times in the European economy.

THE TALLINN TOWN HALL CREDIT LIST:
- ARCHITECT: BIG
- CONTRIBUTORS: Daniel Sundlin, Hanna Johansson, Ondrej Janku, Ken Aoki, Benjamin Engelhardt, Maxime Enrico, Joao Albuquerque
- PROJECT: TALLINN TOWN HALL
- CLIENT: CITY PLANNING OFFICE, CITY OF TALLINN
- COLLABORATORS: AKT
- SIZE: 28.000 M2
- LOCATION: TALLINN, ESTONIA
- TYPE: OPEN IDEAS COMPETITION

For further information or high res images please contact:
BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group
E-mail: press@big.dk
Website: http://www.big.dk

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Death By Architecture now on Twitter and Facebook

2009-06-10T00:00:00Z

Their usefulness and relevance to our purpose is yet to be seen but in hopes of connecting with more of you, I have setup a Twitter account and created a group on Facebook.

Many of you have already joined us online at Linkedin and that's proven somewhat successful. I expect these two venues to create more frequent debate.

I'm definitely open to some feedback in how you think Twitter can best be utilized, I doubt you want to know when I am making a turkey sandwich...well, maybe some of you do. So look me up on Twitter with my name or my user name, "DeathByArch".

Those of you on Facebook, which I believe is everyone by now, please look us up and join the group.

I am looking forward to your participation.

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / 0300tv.com : Pezo Von Ellrichshausen Architects, Context & Work System by 0300tv.com

2009-06-03T00:00:00Z

From the 0300tv.com website:

0300TV visited Sofia von Ellrichshausen and Mauricio Pezo [Pezo von Ellrichshausen Architects] and four of their recent residential projects in Concepcion, Chile: Parr House, Poli House, Wolf House and Fosc House.

So what's the big deal? PvE Architects may have the recipe for operating in developing contexts like -not-so-emerging-anymore Chile.

It’s been almost eight years since they’ve been established in Concepcion, Chile and started to experiment with their subtly restrained method of work formats, trial and error, between art and architecture. Operating in unstable conditions, PvE Architect’s work demonstrates that there’s no room here for grand gestures. It’s all about searching for small ideas, small approximations, which –in addition- will conform the final oeuvre.

0300TV presents Pezo von Ellrichshausen Architects: Context & Work System, featuring an interview to PvE Architects and footage of Forestal and I Was There Installations plus Parr, Poli, Wolf and Fosc houses.

See the video at 0300tv.com.

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Oscar Niemeyer Interview on VBS.NET

2009-06-01T00:00:00Z

VBS.NET is featuring a recent interview with Oscar Niemeyer that is a must-see. The interview is presented in two short segments but it's quite fascinating that after 101 years of life, thus far, Niemeyer believes in keeping it simple although his architecture maintains a certain complexity that has become a trademark over his long career.

He talks briefly about his work but turns to the ocassional outside influence on his architecture, such as a woman. He prefers not to discuss architecture it seems, rather he appears to return to various moments in his life, painting a vivid picture of what he really believes in hindsight is important. A life that he believes is so insignificant in comparison to the magnitude of the cosmos, that no man should consider himself important. It's all about being useful and making contributions to society.

Oscar Niemeyer Interview at VBS.NET

From the VBS.NET site:
In the 1950s, Brazil decided it would be a perfectly reasonable idea to move the capital to the center of the country's interior plateau (read: nowhere). To facilitate this sensible endeavor they enlisted Oscar Niemeyer - an ardent communist and proponent of modern architecture who, alongside his buddy Le Corbusier, had co-designed the UN building in New York - to build a crazy spacepod city in the middle of the planalto.

Brasilia provided Niemeyer the perfect template to test out all the theoretical business he and his modernist colleagues had been cooking up for the past two decades. Together with urban planner Luis Costa, he designed a functionally integrated city full of massive concrete mushroom buildings and swooping aluminum spires and twisty overpasses and skyways and symbolic edifices and designated "sectors" where no one would ever have to watch out for traffic or wait at a stoplight. It's basically the bastard child of Alphaville and Albany, NY, and to this day remains a benchmark in what we really hope the future is going to look like.

It also sealed his reputation as one of the century's most influential architects and certainly its most influential Brazilian. Then an anti-communist military junta seized control of the country and kicked him out.

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / Farmers Market Design Competition Results Announced

2009-05-20T00:00:00Z

Denver, Colorado-based Sprocket hosted an open competition in the historic Highland Square district of Denver to engage the DESIGN community in a public forum. The specific goal was to create a discussion of innovative concepts for designing, occupying and programming public space. The competition endeavored to explore the concepts of community and sustainability through the union of an innovative programming, the exchange of goods and service, and public art.

The program focused on creating a viable concept for programming a 'public space' and entrants were encouraged to go beyond the idea of food and produce. The entrants were asked to expand the historical notion of a ?farmer’s market’ to things such as art display, community venues, music venue, crafts, etc. The concepts were to focus on activating the space with the flexibility to provide year round programming. In addition, each entrant was to create a viable identity for community outreach.

The competition attracted almost 60 entries hailing from both the United States and abroad. All entries are online for viewing at the Sprocket Gallery website.

The winners are:

First Place
Arquitectura, Inc.-(Wisconsin)
Nick Cascarano, Harry Van Oudenallen, Brittany Radlinger, Andrew Herland

Second Place
Andy Stein, Rick Alexander And Mari Suarez (Colorado)

Third Place
Kenny Kinugasa-Tsui, Lorene Faure, Justin C.K. Lau, Jaenes Bong, Jonathan Alotto, & Ana?s Sansonetti (United Kingdom)

Merit Award
Bernie Costello (Colorado)

Colorado Award
Steve Perce (Colorado)

International Honor Award
Carlos Marin And Carlos Avalos (Mexico)

National Honor Award
Ziska Architecture (Ohio)
Rick Ziska And Justin Gustafson

Complete details and jury information at Sprocket Gallery.

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / Hybrids 1 & Hybrids 2 by by Javier Mozas and Aurora Fernandez Per

2009-04-27T00:00:00Z

The recent release of the "HYBRIDS" series has proven timely and relevant given the current prevailing environmental and economic issues we face as a global society today. The underlying themes center largely on the need to intensify and maximize land use as a means to develop sustainable systems and societies which is directly connected to the increasing scarcity of available land. These two themes coupled with the recent trends towards re-inhabiting city centers makes the thoughtful consideration of high-density, mixed-use urban solutions more critical than ever. We've seen more large-scale urban proposals in the architecture media recently than ever before, often bordering on the absurd. The authors have done well to select a good cross-section of projects that are largely built (or planned) and have split the two volumes based on horizontal versus vertical strategies.

The authors present the notion of the 'Hybrid' as structures that enable the mixing or combination of different programs and urban uses. They further expand the definition to include the hybridization of public and private interests in the realms of housing, public space and civic amenities as a means to address the aforementioned social and environmental issues.

"Hybrids 1: High-Rise Mixed-Use Buildings" features Steven Holl's Linked Hybrid, OMA's Dubai Renaissance, REX's Museum Plaza and BIG's Scala Tower. "Hybrids 2: Low-Rise Mixed-Use Buildings" features Jakob+MacFarlane's Docks du Paris, Steven Holl's Vanke Center and Office dA's New Kuwait Sports Shooting Club. One may find the scale of these projects somewhat daunting and it remains to be seen how sustainable these high-density solutions are as projects of this nature are largely untested. These projects form somewhat of a laboratory, a new type of social experiment which is largely taking form in Asia and the Middle East.

The projects are presented in typical a+t fashion which is anything but typical. All projects are custom diagrammed which lends to the ease of project-to-project comparison and analysis. Every project is considered and quantified urbanistically, programmatically and functionally. The graphic presentation is very well done and you'll find the books to be well organized.

It's unfortunate that you can't find these easily on Amazon at the time of this review but you can purchase them directly through a+t ediciones.

Review By Mario Cipresso

Article / Taiwan Centers for Disease Control by Stage 2 Results Announced

2009-04-17T00:00:00Z

Although the results were officially announced last week for the international competition sponsored by the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, the work of all 7 finalists has now been published online at the TCDC competition website. Only the first place entry shows all the presentation panels while all others were limited to just a few images. The entries have also been published elsewhere on the internet in English and Chinese at Forgemind Archimedia where they display some varied materials, but still not all entries in their entirety (see the links below).

The seven finalists were composed of three local Taiwanese firms, who placed first, second and third, and four international firms with local associate architects who all received honorable mentions......hmmm.

First Prize
Ricky Liu & Associates + CUH2A
http://www.forgemind.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=15717

Second Prize
Fei & Cheng Associates + Harvey Ellis Devereaux
http://www.forgemind.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=15718

Third Prize
Domino Architects & Associates
http://www.forgemind.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=15719

Honorable Mentions
TAG Design Works + Kornberg Associates
http://www.forgemind.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=15720

Shuhei Endo + Kunio Watanabe
http://www.forgemind.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=15721

Studio Shift + HOY Architects
http://www.forgemind.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=15722

Manfredi Nicoletti + ARCO Architects & Designers
http://www.forgemind.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=15723

Taiwan Centers for Disease Control Competition Website

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Support the Global Architecture Brigades

2009-04-05T00:00:00Z

There are many organizations that sponsor worthwhile programs and they of course deserve our support. I recently learned of one such program that has architecture students as its driving force and the group in particular that I am familiar with is the University of Southern California chapter of the Global Architecture Brigades. This is essentially a student initiated effort and it's always inspiring and refreshing when young undergraduate students begin learning about the positive impacts that architecture can have on people and their communities.

The students at the University of Southern California (USC) who in collaboration with the organization Global Architecture Brigades have begun an international project for the impoverished in Panama. They are researching and designing a sustainable and ecologically responsible residential project that will eventually be built in Panama, by us and with the help of the community. Our goal is to construct a beneficial space while teaching the community members construction techniques. Hopefully this will enable and empower the surrounding communities to continue rebuilding their neighborhoods.

You can learn more about the program and students involved, and if you deem appropriate, donate, by following this link to the USC Global Architecture Brigades Blog

More on the Global Architecture Brigades:
Global Architecture Brigades is a volunteer student-based collaborative dedicated to the research, design, and construction of socially responsible, environmentally sustainable solutions to architectural problems in the developing world. A think tank design approach utilizes extensive community dialog and independent research to create efficient, appropriate, and elegant structures to be embraced and utilized by those for whom they were built. Ultimately, extended relationships between brigades and communities would result not only in the implementation of a variety of projects, but also the accumulation of a vast wealth of knowledge from which future students, designers, and communities could learn.

Creating these solutions within the current parameters that the field of architecture has set is simply not possible. Students of design must question, reconsider, and ultimately rewrite every aspect of design that culture has come to accept. Through this counter-cultural approach to design defiance, architecture can become something essential not to the few who want, but rather to the many who need.

Global Architecture Brigades Home

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / New Morphosis Website and Morphopedia Announced by Morphosis

2009-03-28T00:00:00Z

Recently launched was the new Morphosis website designed by Venice, California media/web firm UseAllFive. More impressive is the connection of the website to the new Morphopedia.com which is quickly becoming an exhaustive resource for all Morphosis work. Every project is documented in photos, drawings and text with specific technical data.

This is a refreshing approach to publishing architectural projects which facilitates the detailed study of a complete body of notable work. Students should find incredible value in this latest endeavor.

morphosis.com

morphopedia.com

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / Miyi Tower by Studio Shift

2009-01-21T00:00:00Z

Through an RFQ process, the New South Town of Miyi County in south eastern China selected the Los Angeles based team of Studio SHIFT and SWA Group to create a master plan for the developing area. As part of the new plan, Studio SHIFT has designed a tower containing various programs aimed at promoting the region's heritage and natural amenities. The tower sits at the edge of the Anning River and will mark the transition between the new development to the north and the new wetlands, leisure and agricultural districts to the south.

The Miyi Tower rises from the southern end of a kilometer long promenade that stretches from a high density residential and cultural hub devoted to regional arts. The promenade itself consists of a series of parks and public spaces designed by SWA Group to highlight accessibility to the river. It then tapers between rising paths which form the amphitheater at the tower's base. The paths converge and then continue as a bridge across the river and as an overlook affording views of reclaimed wetlands and the lake beyond. The designers were intent on utilizing natural and mechanical means of filtration to produce clean water, converting a highly polluted river into a usable amenity for residents and visitors. This new amenity takes the form of a series of lakes, wetlands and waterways which lend form to the new districts in the master plan.

The tower itself, which is to act as a major landmark per the Miyi government's request, is designed as an educational building for residents and the multitude of tourists that visit every year. Because the town is known for its abundance of sunshine and temperate climate, only half of the building's program elements are enclosed. These double height spaces alternate with unenclosed areas and rise around a vertical core, their alignment shifting toward different views at every floor. An auditorium, exhibition spaces and restaurants featuring local cuisine can be found on the interior while open-air floors are used as event spaces, gardens and an observation deck. The pairs of lower and upper enclosed spaces are joined by structures which act as light monitors. These light monitors, of which there is a third at the highest level, are aligned to take advantage of different lighting conditions throughout the day.

The tower is sheathed in a very porous yet continuous skin that gives the various programs their unified form. As porous building skins are often treated as opaque modules with subtracted holes (i.e. perforated skins) Studio SHIFT deliberately created the inverse. On the Miyi Tower, rather than defaulting to a technique of perforation, they created a pattern of objects in space mounted to a light frame. This inversion allows the skin to take on a rather ethereal effect and evokes the shimmering surface of the river below.

Architect: Studio SHIFT

Principals: Mario Cipresso and Chris Warren

Project Assistants: Chris Hyun and Andrew Kim

www.studioshift.com

Landscape Architect: SWA Group Los Angeles

Gerdo Aquino, Ying Yu Hung, Patrick Curran and Alex Robinson

www.swagroup.com

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / eVolo: Skyscraper for the XXI Century by Carlo Aiello

2009-01-16T00:00:00Z

If you've been to DBA over the years, you're by now familiar with an annual competition called eVolo. This ideas competition asks architecture firms and students to present their ideas on the potential and possibilities for the future skyscraper. For a study on typology in the modern era, it seems that there is none better suited than a skyscraper for this endeavor. It is, after all, somewhat bound by its definition. That specificity, and the tenacity with which it is manipulated, is why you'll be very surprised by the contents of this book.

Carlo Aiello does us a favor in the simplicity of his presentation. There are just two blocks of text that introduce us to the aims of the book. These are best summed up in the text:

"In this book we present the top ranked projects from the 06, 07, and 08 Skyscraper Competition. The central conception of these competitions was to speculate as to the reality and future of the skyscraper, posing questions such as; What is the skyscraper in the beginning of the XXI Century? What is the historical and social context of these mega-structures? What is their response to the urban fabric? Is the modern skyscraper a city in and of itself? Is the human scale lost?"

From this point on the reader will find sixty two-page spreads of the entries categorized within the three years of competition covered by the book, beginning each with the first, second and third place proposals. Each spread is neatly edited with the name of the project, team members and country, and followed by descriptive text from the entries' authors. And finally comes the most eye catching feature of any architecture book, some very sexy imagery.

Whether you're a student or a practicing architect, eVolo: Skyscraper for the XXI Century is a good addition to the bookshelves. By omitting the compulsory requirements of most competitions (and sometimes the compulsory requirements of gravity) eVolo is able to provide us with some very inspirational work. This book showcases the freshness of ideas, those from graduate students to some very well established firms, and reminds us of the potential that is found within our art.

Review by Chris Warren

Article / Join the Death By Architecture group on LinkedIn

2008-12-30T00:00:00Z

Death By Architecture now has a group on Linkedin.com for your use as a discussion and collaboration forum.

We hope you join us there and look forward to fostering new professional and personal relationships. Look for like-minded professionals in all disciplines to jointly approach competitions or connect with organizers and consultants interested in the competition process.

Join today at Death By Architecture Linkedin

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Shortlist Announced for River Soar Footbridge Competition by RIBA

2008-12-29T00:00:00Z

The RIBA is delighted to announce the shortlist in the competition to design a new foot and cycle bridge crossing the River Soar in Leicester.

151 expressions of interest were received from all over the world including India, Australia, Iceland, Brazil and the USA. Six teams have now been shortlisted for the second stage design phase and those teams are:

Allies and Morrison with Price and Myers
Explorations Architecture, Paris with Buro Happold
Knight Architects with Gifford Bridge Designers
McDowell & Benedetti with Arup
Moxon Architects with Arup
Ramboll Whitbybird

James Sinclair of Leicester Regeneration Company said "We have been delighted by both the quantity and the quality of the submissions received, even though this has made the selection exercise a very exacting process. We now have an outstanding shortlist of design teams and look forward to seeing the results of their design development in the New Year".

The shortlisted designs will be submitted in early February 2009 with final presentations held on 19 February 2009 in Leicester.

More information is available at RIBA Competitions.

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Shortlist Announced for Taiwan Centers for Disease Control Competition by TWCDC

2008-12-26T00:00:00Z

Taiwan Centers For Disease Control Complex Planning, Design, And Construction Supervision Project, Announcement Of Short-List Tenderers (Stage One).

Short-List Tenderers (7 Entries):

1. Number: 1, Tenderer: Domino Architects & Associates / Yi-Yong Yang Nationality: Taiwan

2. Number: 4, Tenderer: Fei & Cheng Associates / Philip T. C. Fei Nationality: Taiwan
Joint Tenderer: Harley Ellis Devereaux / Samuel R Bayne, Jr (Louis Hartman) Nationality: USA

3. Number: 6, Tenderer: TAG Design Works, Inc / Johnny C. Lu Nationality: USA
Joint Tenderer: Kornberg Associates Architects / Ken Kornberg Nationality: USA
Ramer Architecture / Richard Ramer Nationality: USA

4. Number: 12, Tenderer: Ricky Liu & Associates / Ricky Liu Nationality: Taiwan
Joint Tenderer: CUH2A, Inc. Architecture Engineering PLA / James Theodore Hall, Jr Nationality: USA

5. Number: 18, Tenderer: Mario Cipresso & Chris Warren competition website.

Posted by Mario Cipresso