Death by Architecture / Articles

Article / P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S : NYC Book Launch & Symposium Feb. 9th, 2012 by Marcelo Spina and Georgina Huljich

Death by Architecture — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S : "EMBEDDED"

Jeffrey Inaba, John McMorrough, Marcelo Spina, Jesse Reiser, David Ruy, Michael Meredith and Mark Foster Gage

An event marking the publication of P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S’ new book, Embedded brings together authors, contributors, mentors and confabulators to discuss some of the most relevant issues haunting contemporary architectural practice and discourse today, such as the perceived divide between progressive design culture, the politics of form and social responsibility.

EMBEDDED is P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S’ long awaited book that reflects on the evolution, actualization and conclusion of certain lineages of design and material research, while signaling the initial stages of others. Co-directed by Marcelo Spina and Georgina Huljich, this research and collaborative-based practice seeks to move between digital and material expressions. Having gained worldwide recognition for its inventive approach to design and architecture that fuses advanced computation with an extended understanding of form, tectonics and materials, what sets P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S apart is not only its overt ambition to materialization but the quality and extent of realized work. The book includes a collection of more than twenty projects and writings by Spina and Huljich, with contributing essays by Todd Gannon, Marcelyn Gow and John McMorrough.

Organized by P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S, Los Angeles

Thursday February 9th 6.30 to 8.30pm

Studio-X NYC

180 Varick St., Suite 1610, New York, NY 10014

www.arch.columbia.edu/studiox/newyork

studioxnyc@gmail.com

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / School 4 Burma Design Competition Winners by Building Trust Intl.

Death by Architecture — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Building Trust International announce 'School 4 Burma Design Competition' Winners

Building Trust International are delighted to announce that designers Amadeo Bennetta and Daniel LaRossa, of Berkeley, California have won the School 4 Burma Design Competition.

The winning design, for a modular school for migrant and refugee children in the Thai-Burma border town of Mae Sot, beat entries from all over the world as the competition generated progressive, contemporary design solutions. Over 800 designers and academic institutions expressed interest.

Winner Amadeo Bennetta said: “We are thrilled to have been selected and we're enthusiastic about seeing this project become a reality by continuing to refine the original design into a real, feasible and deployable building.”

As the Building Trust International project now moves from conception to the planning and fabrication phase, the charity plans to work closely with the Kwe Ka Baung School, community leaders and other aid agencies in the area to ensure that the development of the design continues with their input.

David Cole, founding partner of Building Trust International said, “We would like to thank all those who took part. The standard of design entries that we received was incredible. We have the funding to develop the winning design, but we are now also looking for funding partners for a number of entries that we believe could be used to help other schools in the region. The competition has been a great success and highlights the key role that architects and designers have in tackling global issues.”

The winning team submitted a proposal that expressed a high level of flexibility responding well to the brief. The design utilizes an adaptable framework that balances prefabricated structural elements with locally crafted, modular, bamboo panels. By creating entirely flat-packed components, BURMA [RE]FRAMED can be rapidly reassembled from a flatbed truck into a courtyard school, a single building or even as independent multi-use units. By reconsidering the restrictions of land ownership into an opportunity for flexible community space, BURMA [RE]FRAMED acts as a local/global bridge providing at-risk communities with a physical space around which the population can learn, grow and thrive.

The student category winners, Ms.Gauri Satam and Mr.Tejesh Patil from Sir J.J. College of Architecture, Mumbai, India, used the basic design principles of anthropometric/scale along with simple striking colours naturally creating a welcoming feel towards a learning institution for young minds.

Building Trust International is a non profit organisation offering design assistance to communities and individuals in need. Building Trust International assesses areas in need, finds sustainable, economical aid solutions and ultimately provides buildings and infrastructure. These core actions have blossomed into advocating and educating on the principles of socially aware design, providing an accessible resource on humanitarian design projects and providing a structure for the crossover of information between design professionals.

For more details please visit Building Trust International website:

www.buildingtrustinternational.org

Building Trust International is a charity registered in England and Wales (1142338)

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Combinatory Urbanism: The Complex Behavior of Collective Form by Thom Mayne

Death by Architecture — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Combinatory Urbanism: The Complex Behavior of Collective Form takes a critical look at twelve large-scale, urban projects executed over the last ten years by Morphosis Architects and is the first such time in which the firm articulates the urban methodologies implemented that have historically been inherent in their work. In order to make explicit the complex processes employed and demystify the resulting complex forms and spatial conditions that result, each project is decoded through text and images to explain the work in its simplest terms.

Each of the twelve projects is defined through four individual strains of urban production: context, program, green space, and infrastructure which establish the project's gestalt. You'll appreciate that the book is not rendering-heavy, rather it is populated with extremely clear and well-articulated drawings and diagrams that really illustrate the substance of each project utilizing varying techniques and levels of detail and complexity. The focus here is clearly to unpack the research and strategies that are the foundation of each project. In addition to individually analyzing each project, the book makes direct comparisons between all projects making useful and quick comparisons for properties such as area distribution, program, FAR, and populations.

The projects featured include New City Park, World Trade Center, NYC2012 Olympic Village, Penang Turf Club, Manzanares River Park Development, New Orleans Jazz Park, College Avenue Master Plan, East Darling Harbour Development, Los Angeles State Historic Park, NEW New Orleans Urban Redevelopment. Greenwich South Visioning and Pudong Cultural Park.

The neon-orange cover may require sunglasses during viewing but you'll always locate it on the shelf immediately.

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Infrastructure Landscape : Case Studies by SWA by Gerdo Aquino and Ying-yu Hung

Death by Architecture — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Infrastructure, as we know it, no longer belongs in the exclusive realm of engineers and transportation planners. In the context of our rapidly changing cities and towns, infrastructure is experiencing a paradigm shift where multiple-use programming and the integration of latent ecologies is a primary consideration. Defining contemporary infrastructure requires a multi-disciplinary team of landscape architects, engineers, architects and planners to fully realize the benefits to our cultural and natural systems. This book examines the potential of landscape as infrastructure via essays by notable authors and supporting case studies by SWA landscape architects and urban designers led by Gerdo Aquino and Ying-Yu Hung of their Los Angeles office. Among these case studies are Renzo Piano's California Academy of Science in San Francisco and Morphosis' Giant Group Interactive in Shanghai, the restoration of the Buffalo Bayou in Houston, and several master plans for ecological corridors in China and Korea. The case studies are thoroughly described with technical drawings and diagrams for repositioning infrastructure as a viable medium for addressing issues of ecology, transit, performance and habitat.

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Winners of the Tallinn Vision Competition Street 2020 by Tallinn Architecture Biennale

Death by Architecture — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Warren Techentin Architecture(WTARCH)’s entry “Peer-to-Peer” received the €3000 1st prize of the Tallinn Vision competition STREET 2020, held under the auspices of TAB Tallinn Architecture Biennale.

Tallinn Vision Competition STREET2020 was addressed to young architects and architecture students who were asked to describe a fluently connected, compatible and diverse urban landscape, with a focus on one particular urban typology: the street. The organizers received 35 competition entries, 34 of which qualified. Entries were submitted from Japan, Bangladesh, New-Zealand, Turkey, Italy, Poland, USA, Austria, Lithuania, Estonia and other countries.

The architects from WTARCH describe their winning proposal:

“Our concept is to develop a street which connects as many people and ideas as possible through the use of landscape strategies with a simple "user interface". This new Boulevard will connect the historic City to the beachfront, provides a strong edge to the port area, and seeks to unify the disparate existing but undefined open spaces into the collective use of the entire district as a large pedestrian park. The street will form a new entry to Tallinn for visitors and a place to enjoy the city outdoors with physical activity and street vending.”

The jury, comprising Eva Castro (AA School, Plasmastudio, Groundlab, UK) and Endrik Mänd (Chief Architect, City of Tallinn), reflected on the winning entry with the following:

“"Peer-to-Peer” investigates the problematic described in the competition brief in its entirety. The street that is described is in human scale and characteristic to Tallinn and the functions proposed on the sides of the street are well thought through and clever.”

STREET 2020 exhibition presenting all the competition entries will open on August 17th at the basement hall of the Estonian Architecture Museum.

STREET 2020 awarding ceremony together with the catalogue presentation will be held during the Tallinn Architecture Biennale on September 8th at the Estonian Architecture Museum.

STREET 2020 AWARDED WORKS:

1st prize €3000 – pseudonym „Peer-to-Peer“

Authors: Warren Techentin Architecture (WTARCH): Warren Techentin, Brent Nishimoto, Christina Hwang, Andrew Kim, Ahad Basravi, Carrie Smith, Aaron Yip

2nd prize €2000 – pseudonym „The Urban Lobby“

Authors: Kenneth Li, Mark Craven, Fraser Moor

3rd prize €1000 – pseudonym „Street Magnetism“

Authors: Kristi Gri?akov (Aalto University Centre for Urban & Regional Studies), Liis Bormeister, Kristjan Männigo, Joonas Saan / OÜ Ars Projekt

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

– pseudonym „Jack the Rabbit“

Author: Pawel Artur Pietkun

– pseudonym „Le Corb“

Authors: Joanna-Maria Helinurm, Michael Thomas Lamprides II

– pseudonym „Meter and Demeter“

Author: Alvin Järving

More information at STREET 2020: http://www.tab.ee/#competition

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / GSAPP Alumni Weekend 2011, April 15-17 by Columbia University

Death by Architecture — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation announces their 2011 Alumni Weekend Event from April 15-17. Centered around the theme of "Smart Infrastructure: Negotiating the Future of Design", the event offers a weekend of networking, learning, and catching up with old friends over a series of panel discussions and receptions.

To register for Alumni Weekend, call 212.854.2834 or visit http://www.arch.columbia.edu/alumni/alumni-weekend-2011.

----------

SUMMARY OF THE EVENT (MORE INFO AT GSAPP WEBSITE)

ALUMNI KEYNOTE LECTURE:

Howard Slatkin '00MsUP, Director of Sustainability for the Department of City Planning, New York

Introduction by Mark Wigley, Dean, GSAPP

PANEL DISCUSSIONS:

1. Urban Infrastructure: Contemporary Investigations into City Politics, Futures, and Preservation

Kate Ascher, Adjunct Professor at the Wagner School at NYU

Styliani Daouti '05MsAAD, Founder and Principal at AREA (Architecture Research Athens)

Craig Dykers, Senior Partner/Director/Architect, Snohetta

Robert Lane '82M.Arch, Senior Fellow for Urban Design at Regional Planning Association; Partner, Plan & Process LLP

Deike Peters '95MsUP, Director, Urban Mega-Projects Research Group, Center for Metropolitan Studies, TU Berlin and Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Policy, Planning, and Development, USC

Seth Pinsky, President, New York City Economic Development Corporation

Moderator: David King, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, Columbia University

AND

2. Communications Infrastructure: How New Media is Changing the Nature of Public Space

David Benjamin '05M.Arch, Director of the Living Architecture Lab, GSAPP

Frank Hebbert, Product Manager, Community Planning Tools, OpenPlans

Daniel Kidd '09M.Arch, Designer/Project Leader, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)

Kazys Varnelis, Director of the Network Architecture Lab, Columbia University

Shin-pei Tsay, director of the Leadership Initiative for Transportation Solvency, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Moderator: Troy Conrad Therrien, Creative Digital Consultant, Bruce Mau Designs

AND

3. Education Infrastructure: Discussing New York City’s Biggest Developers of Mind and Land

Maxine Griffith, Executive Vice President for Government and Community Affairs at Columbia University and Special Advisor for Campus Planning, Columbia University

Eve Klein, Associate Vice President for Planning and Design, New York University

Philip Pitruzzello, Vice President, Manhattanville Construction, Columbia University

Meghan Moore-Wilk, Director of Space Planning and Capital Budget, CUNY

Moderator: Carol Loewenson, Partner, Mitchell/Giurgola Architects, LLP

TOURS:

Tour NYC infrastructure: Bring your friends!

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park

Gowanus Canal

Croton Aqueduct

Grand Central Station Terminal

NOTES:

NEW THIS YEAR: CES/Continuing Education Credits will be offered for Saturday’s panels!

We will have alumni work displayed digitally on Saturday, April 16th. Please share images of your current work! The submission instructions are below:

» Please submit 3 images maximum, in TIFF or JPEG format.Minimum size is 5" x 7" at 200dpi, RGB color.

» Please keep your images below 5 mb each if sending by e-mail, otherwise submit them on a cd at under 10 mb each and send the cd by mail.

» You MUST name your files with the following format: Firstname_Lastname_program_year_01.tif,...02.tif, etc. (ie: Lindsay_Dorrance_AAD_81_01.tif)

» Be sure to provide the name and location of the work.

Please send your work to:

LD2282@columbia.edu

GSAPP Alumni Weekend 2011

Attention: Lindsay Dorrance

404 Avery Hall

1172 Amsterdam Avenue

New York, NY 10027

Images will be shown looped in a display during the weekend. Some images may be edited or cropped for space. Improperly formatted images will not be used.

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / Winner in "Place Lalla Yeddouna" Competition in Fez, Morocco Announced by Commune Urbaine de Fes

Death by Architecture — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Morocco, Fez: March 19th, 2011:

The winner of the International Design Project Competition for the Rehabilitation of Place Lalla Yeddouna in the Medina of Fes has just been identified: Mossessian & Partners, London/UK.

Task

The aim of the project is to revitalize Place Lalla Yeddouna, a public square and surrounding buildings at a central crossroads in the Medina of Fez, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. The key objective is to revitalize the site and its surroundings, adapting modern distinctive architecture into an area that is full of tradition, vibrancy and functional diversity. Physically the site comprises small alleyways, a nicely shaped square with a tree, a river, a bridge dating from the 14th and 15th Century, some dilapidated buildings that will be replaced and others that are historically and architecturally significant and will be rehabilitated. In the future the area of Place Lalla Yeddouna shall serve as a vibrant mixeduse urban hub for the community as well as visitors to the Medina. The site is expected to become a major catalyst for artisan development, with spaces for educational programs, residences, artisan production, shops, restaurants, cafés and other services. The new complex must support activities for youth and adults.

Competition Procedure

Between August and October 2010, approximately 1,400 architects from all over the world registered at the Competition website and expressed their interest in the project. Delegations from more than 100 architectural firms visited the site on September 30, 2010. At the beginning of November 2010, approximately 175 competition entries had been submitted anonymously. In December 2010 the international jury, including representatives of the Prime Ministers’ Office, the Ministry of Culture, the “Secrétariat d’État chargé de l’Artisanat”, the “Wilaya de la Région Fès Boulemane », the “Commune Urbaine de Fès” and the “Commune Urbaine Méchouar Fès Jdid” and the Conseil National de l’Ordre des Architectes du Maroc selected the eight projects with the greatest potential for further development in the second phase of the competition – the finalists. These eight participants were sponsored to carry out the second phase of the competition.

Decision

On March 18, 2011, the jury chose the winner after an intense and open discussion. It was decided to allocate the following prizes, according to the competition rules:

1st prize: USD 55,000 Mossessian & Partners, London/UK Michel Mossessian with Yassir Khalil Studio, Casablanca/Morocco Yassir Khalil

2nd prize: USD 40,000 Ferretti-Marcelloni, Rome/Italy, Laura Valeria Ferretti, Maurizio Marcelloni and Bahia Nouh, Fez/Morocco

3rd prize: USD 25,000 Moxon Architects, London/UK Ben Addy with Aime Kakon, Casablanca/Morocco

Recommendation

The jury unanimously recommends the promoter of the competition to commission the team of authors of the project that was awarded the first prize with the services as stated in the competition brief.

Jury Members

The jury was composed of notable and experienced international architects with qualifications in Islamic architecture, the Medina of Fez, cultural and historic preservation, urban design, landscape architecture and project feasibility, as well as officials representing the Moroccan authorities and Ambassador Samuel L. Kaplan of the United States of America. The jury was supported by a number of local and international technical, environmental experts and social specialists.

The competition was managed by [phase eins]., Berlin (Germany).

Exhibition

An exhibition of all design proposals of both phases opens free of charge at the Palais des Congrès in Fez on March 20, 2011 at 8 p.m.. The exhibition will run until Wednesday, March 30, 2011 and is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 8 p.m. The public is invited and encouraged to attend.

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / eVolo 2011 Competition Winners Announced by eVolo Magazine

Death by Architecture — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

eVolo Magazine is pleased to announce the winners of the 2011 Skyscraper Competition. Established in 2006, the annual Skyscraper Competition recognizes outstanding ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the use of new technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organizations, along with studies on globalization, flexibility, adaptability, and the digital revolution. This is also an investigation on the public and private space and the role of the individual and the collective in the creation of a dynamic and adaptive vertical community. The award seeks to discover young talent, whose

ideas will change the way we understand architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments.

The Jury of the 2011 edition was formed by leaders of the architecture and design fields including: Juan Azulay [principal Matter Management, professor at Southern California Institute of Architecture], CarloMaria Ciampoli [port director Live Architecture Network], Mario Cipresso [principal Studio Shift, professor at University of Southern California], Ted Givens [principal 10 Design], Eric Goldemberg [principal Monad Studio, professor at Florida International University], Jose Gonzalez [principal Softlab, professor at Pratt Institute], John Hill [editor Archidose], Mitchell Joachim [principal Terreform

One, professor at New York University], Andrew Liang [principal Studio 0.10., professor at University of Southern California], Javier Quintana [principal Taller Basico de Arquitectura, Dean of IE School of Architecture], Rezza Rahdian [Architect, Second Place 2009 Skyscraper Competition], Michel Rojkind [principal Rojkind Arquitectos], and Michael Szivos [principal Softlab, professor at Pratt Institute]. The Jury selected 3 winners and 32 honorable mentions. eVolo Magazine received 715 projects from all five continents and 95 different countries.

The first place was awarded to Atelier CMJN (Julien Combes, Gaël Brulé) from France for their ‘LO2P Recycling Skyscraper’ in New Delhi, India. The project is designed as a large-scale wind turbine that filters polluted air with a series of particle collector membranes, elevated greenhouses, and mineralization baths.

The second place was awarded to Yoann Mescam, Paul-Eric Schirr-Bonnans, and Xavier Schirr-Bonnans from France for a dome-like horizontal skyscraper that harvests solar energy, collects rainwater, and preserves the existing urban fabric at ground level thanks to its large skylights and small footprint. The recipient of the third place is Yheu-Shen Chua from the United Kingdom for a project that re-imagines the Hoover Dam in the U.S. as an inhabitable skyscraper that unifies the power plant with a gallery, aquarium, and viewing platform that engages the falling water directly.

Among the honorable mentions there are “waterscrapers” that clean oil spills and desalinate sea water, inverted skyscrapers for a floating Olympic villa, recycling towers, research skyscrapers that harvest lightning power, vertical cemeteries and amusement parks, sports skyscrapers, fish farms, and “living mountains” for desert climates. Other proposals use the latest building technologies and parametric design to configure environmentally conscious self-sufficient buildings.

eVolo Magazine would like to acknowledge all the competitors for their effort, vision, and passion for architectural innovation and the members of the Jury for their knowledge, time, and enthusiasm during the long review process.

eVolo Magazine is also pleased to announce the publication of a Limited Edition book (only 500 copies) that celebrates the sixth anniversary of the prestigious international Skyscraper Competition. With more than 3,000 projects received, we are showcasing the best 300 proposals from the past six years, including 2011, in a large-format hardcover book. Our goal is to edit a true gem of contemporary architecture printed in over one-thousand full-color pages.

For more information and to view all the winning and honorable mention receiving entries, visit http://www.evolo.us/category/2011/.

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / The New Holmenkollen Ski Jump by JDS Architects

Death by Architecture — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Press Release:

Along with Wimbledon’s All England Club and the Wembly Arena, Holmenkollen Ski Jump is often cited as one of the world’s most recognizable sports facility. Nevertheless it is one of the smallest hills in the World Cup tournament, and in September 2005, the International Ski Federation decided that the current hill does not meet the standards to award the city the 2011 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. In December 2005 Norway’s Directorate of Cultural Heritage approved the demolition of the ski jump and in April 2007 the Oslo municipality announced an open international competition for a new ski jump. JDS Architects based in Copenhagen and led by Belgian-French Julien De Smedt, beat out 103 other firms and was awarded the commission the following year.

Working closely with city officials, JDSA established an office in the capital and collaborated with Norwegian engineering firm, Norconsult, to bring to fruition their elegant serpentine form that will become a beacon for the city and a new showcase for the sport of ski jumping. Rather than having a series of dispersed pavilions on site, their design unifies the various amenities into one holistic diagram. The judges booths, the commentators, the trainers, the royal family, the VIPs, the wind screens, the circulations, the lobby, the entrance to the arena and the arena itself, the lounge for the skiers, the souvenir shop, the access to the existing museum, the viewing public square at the very top, everything, is contained into the shape of the jump. The resulting simplicity of the solution improves the experience of the spectators and brings clear focus to the skiers.

The ski jump is clad in aluminum and glass and rises 58 meters in the air. It cantilevers an impressive 69 meters and on the first day of jumping tests; the record of the longest jump made at Holmenkollen was broken.

Atop the ski jump is a platform where visitors can take in some of the most breathtaking views of Oslo, the fjord and the region beyond. It’s a new form of public space, using an unlikely architectural form as its host, affording the same spectacular vantage point for everyone who comes to Holmenkollen. The Lonely Planet agrees, the travel publication recently declared the new Holmenkollen Ski Jump as one of the ten top destinations to visit in 2011.

More information at JDS Architects.

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / Interboro Partners Winner Of 2011 MOMA PS1 Young Architects by MOMA New York

Death by Architecture — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Press Release:

NEW YORK, February 16, 2011—The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA PS1, and the National Museum of XXI Century Arts of Rome announce Interboro Partners of Brooklyn, NY, as the winner of the 12th annual Young Architects Program in New York, and start, of Rome, as the winner of the first annual YAP_MAXXI Young Architects Program in Rome. Now in its 12th edition, the Young Architects Program at MoMA and MoMA PS1 has been committed to offering emerging architectural talent the opportunity to design and present innovative projects, challenging each year’s winners to develop highly innovative designs for a temporary, outdoor installation at MoMA PS1 that provides shade, seating, and water. The architects must also work within guidelines that address environmental issues, including sustainability and recycling. For the first time, MoMA and MoMA PS1 are partnering with another institution, MAXXI in Rome, to create the first international edition of the Young Architects Program. Interboro Partners, drawn from among five finalists, will design a temporary urban landscape for the 2011 Warm Up summer music series in MoMA PS1’s outdoor courtyard. stARTT has been chosen from among five European finalists to create an innovative event space in the MAXXI piazza. Both installations will open in June.

Interboro Partners’ Holding Pattern brings an eclectic collection of objects including benches, mirrors, ping-pong tables, and floodlights, all disposed under a very elegant and taut canopy of rope strung from MoMA PS1’s wall to the parapet across the courtyard. Creating an unobstructed space, the design incorporates for the first time the entire space of MoMA PS1’s courtyard under a single grand structure, while creating an environment focusing on the audience as much as the Warm Up performance. A key component of the theme is recycling; objects in the space will be donated to the community at the conclusion of the summer. The designers met with local businesses and organizations including a taxi cab company, senior and day care centers, high schools, settlement houses, the local YMCA, library, and a greenmarket to determine what components of their installation could be used by those organizations following the Warm Up summer music series. Incorporating objects that can subsequently be used by these organizations is a means of strengthening MoMA PS1’s ties to the local Long Island City community.

The other finalists for this year’s MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program were FormlessFinder (New Haven, CT/Brooklyn, NY, Julian Rose and Garrett Ricciardi), MASS Design Group (Boston, MA, Michael Murphy), Matter Architecture Practice (Brooklyn, NY, Sandra Wheeler and Alfred Zollinger), and IJP (London/Cambridge, MA, George L. Legendre). An exhibition of the five finalists' proposed projects as well as YAP_MAXXI’s five finalists’ proposed projects will be on view at MoMA over the summer. It will be organized by Barry Bergdoll, MoMA Philip Johnson Chief Curator, with Whitney May, Department Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art.

Mr. Bergdoll explains, “Simple materials that transform a space to create a kind of public living room and rec room are trademarks of this young Brooklyn firm. Interboro is interested in creating elegant and unpretentious spaces with common materials. Their work has both a modesty and a commitment quite at odds with the luxury and complex computer-generated form that has prevailed in the city in recent years. With a few gestures they transform parts of the city to achieve new temporary atmospheres and attract new participants.”

Klaus Biesenbach, MoMA PS1 Director and MoMA Chief Curator at Large, adds, “MoMA PS1 is very excited about the innovative architecture of Interboro, which describes the famous MoMA PS1 courtyard as one architectural volume, especially since the YAP 2011 opening will coincide with the much anticipated opening of the new MoMA PS1 entrance kiosk by Andrew Berman Architects."

WHATAMI by stARTT is based on the manufacturing of an artificial archipelago-hill, generating smaller green areas in the garden and potentially outside the museum. The hill works as a garden, injecting “green” into the concrete plateau of the museum’s outdoor space, allowing it to serve as a stage and/or parterre for concerts and other events, or as a space to rest and look at the museum itself. The artificial landscape will be punctuated by large “flowers” providing light, shadow, water, and sound. The materials proposed for the installation involve a two-fold recycling process, the supplying of the materials for the construction (straw, geo-textile, plastic) and the dismantling of the “hill” (turf, lighting).

Opened in May 2010, MAXXI was designed by Zaha Hadid and awarded Royal Institute of British Architect’s (RIBA) Stirling Prize for architecture, and has already gained a place among the elite international contemporary art and architecture museums. The other YAP_MAXXI finalists were Raffaella De Simone/Valentina Mandalari (Palermo); Ghigos Ideas (Lissone/Mi, Davide Crippa, Barbara Di Prete and Francesco Tosi); Asif Khan (London, United Kingdom); and Langarita Navarro Arquitectos (Madrid, Spain, María Langarita and Víctor Navarro).

Pippo Ciorra, Senior Curator of Architecture at MAXXI, explains, “We’re very happy with the results of this program for three main reasons. First, the collaboration with MoMA proved as effective and productive as we hoped, finally allowing us a surprising insight into the most recent research in terms of architecture, public space, and landscape. Second, we were able to discover an unexpected positive quality of answers by the

Italian and European young (under 35) architects involved in the project, all proposing fascinating, innovative and well developed proposals. Third, we’re delighted that we were able to choose a winning proposal which incorporates a MAXXI_specific approach to the issues of ecology, recycle, and public space.”

http://www.interboropartners.net

http://ps1.org/

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / BOOM: A Bold New Community by BOOM Communities

Death by Architecture — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Press Release:

boom is a new, master-planned community rising in the spectacular desert surrounding Palm Springs. At a cost of over $250 million, it changes America's idea of urban life. The brainchild of ten international architects, boom was conceived for the gay community but readily extends its embrace to all. boom is pedestrianoriented, culture-driven, and designed to inspire its residents to better themselves and others.

The architects range from the well-known - Diller Scofidio + Renfro in New York - to such emerging stars as the Berlin-based Juergen Mayer H. Coordinating the project is Matthias Hollwich, of hollwich kushner in New York. The developer is boom Communities, Inc., a Los Angeles-based, real estate investment company formed in 1959.

The first phase of construction starts in 2012. 300 residences will be built in eight unique neighborhoods, each designed by a different architect. Pathways and plazas, set in a landscaped desert environment, connect to the social and geographic heart of boom: the entertainment complex, a boutique hotel, the gym+spa, and boom's wellness center. The health and wellness services cater to the health needs of all generations. Upon completion of Phase 2, boom will expand to over 700 residences.

boom is more than a revolution in design. In the twenty-first century, urbanism is not created by cutting-edge architecture alone. Social and communal engagement are vital. With www.boomforlife.com, designed by the renowned Bruce Mau Design, boom is growing its community online - now. This use of a website is ground-breaking when it comes to a new architectural project. Social media is being utilized to move participants from a virtual community to one constructed out of bricks and mortar.

The website allows boom's design team to collaborate with prospective residents, incorporating their ideas into the design of the boom community. These 'crowd sourcing' efforts also encourage boom members to shape the social programs and lifestyle for boom. When construction is completed, boom will already be a vibrant and functioning community.

See more at Architizer, http://www.architizer.com/en_us/projects/view/boom/17638/

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / BIG Wins Competition to Design National Gallery of Greenland by BIG, TNT Nuuk, Ramboll Nuuk

Death by Architecture — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Press Release:

BIG + TNT Nuuk + Ramboll Nuuk + Arkitekti is the winning team to design the new National Gallery of Greenland in the country’s capital Nuuk, among invited proposals totaling 6 Nordic architects.

Located on a steep slope overlooking the most beautiful of Greenland’s fjords, the 3000 m2 National Gallery will serve as a cultural and architectural icon for the people of Greenland. The new museum will combine historical and contemporary art of the country in one dynamic institution The winning proposal was selected by a unanimous museum board among 6 proposals, including Norwegian Snøhetta, Finnish Heikkinen?Komonen, Islandic Studio Granda and Greenlandic Tegnestuen Nuuk.

As a projection of a geometrically perfect circle on to the steep slope, the new gallery is conceived as a courtyard building that combines a pure geometrical layout with a sensitive adaption to the landscape. The three?dimensional imprint of the landscape creates a protective ring around the museum’s focal point, the sculpture garden where visitors, personnel, exhibition merge with culture and nature, inside and outside.

“The Danish functionalistic architecture in Nuuk is typically square boxes which ignore the unique nature of Greenland. We therefore propose a national gallery which is both physically and visually in harmony with the dramatic nature, just like life in Greenland is a symbiosis of the nature. We have created a simple, functional and symbolic shape, where the perfect circle is supplied by the local topography which creates a unique hybrid between the abstract shape and the specific location”, Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Partner, BIG.

The slope opens up the sculpture garden towards the city and the view, framing both the sculpture garden and museum functions. A rough looking external façade of white concrete will patina over time and adjust to the local weather, while the circular inner glass façade will consist of a simple and refined frame which contrasts the rough nature and compliments the beautiful view.

” The building will with its simplistic coarseness and harmony with the landscape become a symbol of the current independent Greenlandic artistic and architectural expression.”, Andreas Klok Pedersen, Partner & Project Leader, BIG.

The circular shape of the gallery enables a flexible division of the exhibition into different shapes and sizes, creating a unique framework for the museum’s art. Visitor access to the exhibition happens through a covered opening created by a slight lift in the façade into a lobby with a 180 degree panorama view towards the sculpture garden and the fjord as well as access to the common museum functions, including ticket counters, wardrobe, boutique and a café. The new gallery will create more activity at the waterfront by attracting the whole area is interconnected by a path which like the museum, forms after the shifting inclinations of the terrain. The locals and visitors will be able to admire the clear shape of the gallery which appears as a sculpture or a piece of land?art.

“Greenland National Gallery for Art will play a significant role for the citizens of Greenland and the inhabitants of Nuuk as a cultural, social, political, urban and architectural focal point that opens towards the city and the world through its perfect circular geometry and shape”, Bjarke Ingels, Stifter & Partner, BIG.

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Been Laid Off? The Easiest Way to Reinvent Yourself by Cardsofchange.com

Death by Architecture — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Over the last 3 years we have seen many of our colleagues laid off as a result of the massive recession or maybe it was you. No profession or field was left unaffected and no profession was hit harder than architecture. Some estimates have the unemployment rate for architects at as much as 25 percent! Crazy times. But good times always follow crazy times.

Cardsofchange.com wants you to make the best of a bad situation. They want you to take that huge stack of leftover business cards from your last employer, grab your writing utensil of choice and use it as a canvas for reinvention. Upload it to the site and let the transformation begin.

There are some very clever submissions that should prompt a chuckle or two. So, even if you are still employed, it's definitely worth a look. Just don't let your boss catch you browsing the site at the office, otherwise the markups you make will be on your old business card.

CARDSOFCHANGE.COM

Review by Mario Cipresso

Article / Provisional-Emerging Modes of Architectural Practice USA by Edited by Elite Kedan, Jon Dreyfous and Craig Mutter

Death by Architecture — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Timing is everything, so they say and this book arrives on shelves at a moment in time when the future of architectural practice is in question on the covers of the two premier architectural journals in the United States. Architectural Record queries, "What Now?". Architect magazine posits "What's Next?" Under the soul-crushing pressure of the GFC (Global Financial Crisis, the best acronym I've heard for the recession) the architecture profession has apparently been sent reeling and just now appears to be regaining some of its footing with reports of increased architectural billings nationwide. The discussion centers around the current, unsustainable model of practice that has been serving unsustainable building and development practices worldwide.

Seeking that new form of architectural practice is the book, 'Provisional'. Composed of a series of interviews taking place largely between 2005 and 2008, Provisional profiles nine architects/firms practicing in various capacities within the broader field of architecture. The firms are a blend of established practices and some relative newcomers. Of the several common themes that appear to tie the practices together, those at the forefront are an interest in hands-on investigation, a willingness to take on responsibility with regards to fabrication and construction and experimentation with emerging technologies and software that leads to the creation of the digital tools of architecture themselves.

The interviews are all quite unique in that each architect comes at the topic from a different background and perspective which I found quite valuable in that it reveals moments of transition and revelation at different points in their careers. A worthwhile read for emerging and well-seasoned practitioners, you'll come away with a notion of how your ideal architectural practice might operate..... then you'll just have to find some work to test your ideas!

Review by Mario Cipresso

Article / DesCours 2010 : 15 Installations in New Orleans, Dec 3-12 by AIA New Orleans

Death by Architecture — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

New Orleans, La. (December 3-12, 2010) Join AIA New Orleans for DesCours, our 4th annual architecture, art and design exhibition featuring nightly live musical performance and

special events. This presentation explores the latest design and technology innovations through 15 large-scale, site-specific installations in 14 ‘hidden’ locations across the French Quarter and downtown New Orleans.

This year’s installation teams are comprised of more than 28 architects and artist representing four local teams, eight national teams and two international teams. This year’s installation teams include: Eric Bury + Farid Noufaily’s Flicker, Elizabeth Chen + Arthur Terry’s Systemics of Super-Saturation, Chimera+’s Offshore, Clark I Richardson Architect’s L’ouvert, Michael Cohen + Sarah Weisberg’s Microbial Palette #1, Hamilton Anderson Associates’ DICH2OTOMY, Haruka Horiuchi’s Breathing Boundary, John Kleinschmidt + Andy Sternad’s Drip, Luftwerk’s Driftless, Eric Nulman’s Night Flowers, Protostudio’s Modulemobil, Gernot Riether’s Intense Correlations, Doris Sung’s WAIST TIGHTENING, Wendy Teo Boom Ting + Mingli Chang’s The Living Garden, and TZCO’s The Union.

DesCours also features live musical performances and nightly special events, including three landmark parties celebrating the opening, mid-point and conclusion of the event. This year’s performances will include the following musicians: Daron Douglas + Sinead Rudden, DJ Joey Buttons, John Paul + Friends, James Westfall Trio, The Generationals, Talk Hassan Trio, Tom Marron, plus three surprise guest performances.

DesCours installations activate historic, private or abandoned spaces, providing an opportunity to engage with them from a new perspective. This year six installations are located in the lower Canal Street area, which bridges the French Quarter and downtown New Orleans.

With a focus on lower Canal, a place which is on the brink of economic revitalization, DesCours’ presence aims to boost the awareness and overall cultural economy of this historically active, but currently devoid area. DesCours also has global relevance in the architecture, design, and art fields by providing a platform for experimentation for young and emerging designers.

Now in its’ fourth year, DesCours, “aims to showcase both local and international contemporary design work, feature the unique historical architectural identity of New Orleans, and puts our city on the map with other major art destinations worldwide,” said Melissa Urcan, DesCours founder and curator as well as the Executive Director for AIA New Orleans. “DesCours also provides a unique platform for experimentation for new and emerging design talent for the public to witness, something rare in the world of built architecture projects.”

AIA New Orleans presents DesCours in partnership with the Downtown Development District (DDD), City of New Orleans, Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, and in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council and New Orleans Arts Council. In addition, DesCours is supported by numerous private businesses, organizations and individuals including aos, The Azby Fund, Letterman’s Blue Print & Supply, The Lupin Foundation, Pyramid Audio Productions, and The Vinyl Institute.

Complete details regarding this year’s DesCours presentation is available by visiting http://www.DesCours.us

Posted by Mario Cipresso

Article / Los Angeles Cleantech Corridor Competition Winner by SCI-Arc

Death by Architecture — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT

From the First Prize winners, Aleksandra Danielak, Ralph Bertram, Constantin Boincean:

Project Umbrella was awarded first price in the LA Cleantech Corridor and Green District competition, presented by SCI-Arc and Architect’s Newspaper in partnership with the Office of the Mayor of Los Angeles, the Community Redevelopment Agency and a host of public and private sponsors.

By implementing an acupunctural strategy for urban renewal three young Oslo-based designers; Constantin Boincean, Ralph Bertram and Aleksandra Danielak prepare LA for a sustainable future that stimulates an alternative use of the city’s public domain.

Mushroom-like structures named solar evaporators are implemented within LA’s existing grid. They clarify black water from the sewage system and distribute it through a process of evaporation and condensation, transforming conventional streets into green webs of lush, cultivated landscapes that generate incentives for sustainable developments within and around them.

As part of an evolutionary strategy each evaporator will become a focal point of transformation that will locally diversify the surrounding urban tissue. They become platforms for social activities and form nodes within a growing transportation network that will stimulate the use of public and non-motorized modes of transportation as a valid and joyful way to explore the future city of LA.

According to jury member Stan Allen, dean of the School of Architecture at Princeton University and Pricipal of Stan Allen Architect, the project “initially appears to be an oversized piece of functional street furniture that turns out to be connected into a larger network of water purification and resource distribution. The project is highly memorable as an image, at the same time as it transforms the way the city will treat its resources in the future."

Posted By Mario Cipresso

Article / Taiwan Port & Cruise Service Center Finalists Announced by Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau

Death by Architecture — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Five teams were selected to continue to the second stage of the competition. The teams are:

HMC Group (USA)

Asymptote Architecture (USA)

Jet Architects / CXT Architects (CANADA)

Ricky Liu & Associates / Takenaka Corporation (TAIWAN/JAPAN)

Fei & Cheng / Reiser+Umemoto (TAIWAN/USA)

For more information visit the competition website at http://www.pncsc.com.tw/main_e.html.

Posted by Mario Cipresso

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

Death by Architecture — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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

Death by Architecture — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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

Death by Architecture — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

'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

Death by Architecture — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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

Death by Architecture — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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]

Death by Architecture — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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

Death by Architecture — Thu, 06 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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

Death by Architecture — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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

Death by Architecture — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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)

Death by Architecture — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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

Death by Architecture — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

[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

Death by Architecture — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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

Death by Architecture — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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