Architecture firm schmidt hammer lassen architects has just announced that it won the competition to design a 54,000m2 concert, congress and hotel complex in Malmö, Sweden. The competition, where Snøhetta, Baumschlager Eberle and Daniel Libeskind participated, also included the development of additionally 35,000m2 for housing and commercial use. This is the second competition won by schmidt hammer lassen architects in the southern part of Sweden in 2010.

The new building complex is situated on Universitetsholmen in Malmö. The building consists of a composition of cubic volumes that are mutually twisted and given different sizes to meet the directions and building heights of the surrounding city. The facades are designed with a homogeneous expression to make the composition appear as one architectonic sculpture.

Projects showcase excellence in sustainable design principles and reduced energy consumption

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected the top ten examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions that protect and enhance the environment. The projects will be honored at the AIA 2010 National Convention and Design Exposition in Miami. Some of these projects have already been featured on Archinnovations.com, others will be featured in the next weeks.

The COTE Top Ten Green Projects program, now in its 14th year, is the profession's best known recognition program for sustainable design excellence. The program celebrates projects that are the result of a thoroughly integrated approach to architecture, natural systems and technology. They make a positive contribution to their communities, improve comfort for building occupants and reduce environmental impacts through strategies such as reuse of existing structures, connection to transit systems, low-impact and regenerative site development, energy and water conservation, use of sustainable or renewable construction materials, and design that improves indoor air quality.

Earlier this month, we featured OMA's winning project to the expansion of the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (MNBAQ). Another proposal that we found quite interesting was developed by BIG jointly with Fugère Architectes.

The Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec houses extensive collections of historic and contemporary art and hosts major traveling exhibitions from across the globe. At present, the museum is located in three existing structures of varied history, purpose and architectural expression, but its small size has limited the scope of exhibitions it can mount.

Photographs by Adam Mork

Dramatically perched on the banks of the Elbe River in Hamburg, Germany, the 408,880-square-foot structure is the new corporate headquarters for Unilever’s operations in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Unileverhaus is situated in the HafenCity section of Hamburg, a bustling new urban axis founded on sustainability practices that extends from the city center to the harbor.

The new CO Architects-designed Kendall Square Research Laboratory is the latest addition to the Kendall Square mixed-use project, a technology enclave near the campuses of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University.

CO Architects won the design competition for the six-story, 280,000-square-foot private-sector research laboratory tower at 650 East Kendall Street.

“Our design revealed the nuanced use of glass and steel to make a strong visual contribution to Kendall Square,” said Paul Zajfen, FAIA, RIBA, design principal at Los Angeles-based CO Architects. “We treated each façade of the Kendall Square Research Laboratory differently, to explore the opportunities to create an energy-efficient structure and to contribute to visual interest.” The building is currently pre-certified for LEED Gold.