April '09 in Review:
 Seattle-based LMN Architects designed the Vancouver Convention Centre West as a compelling vision of what a civic building can be—a celebration of people and place and a model of sustainability. One of the greenest convention centers in the world, the project is in on track to achieve LEED® Canada Gold certification. LMN worked in collaboration with Vancouver-based Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership and DA Architects & Planners to design the convention center.
 The new city library in Turku is located at the historical centre of the city. The building is the latest addition to a block with the old library and several other historically valuable buildings. The historical and cultural value of the site presented a great challenge for the planning of the new building. The objective of the project was to create a new construct, which would harmonize with the historically invaluable setting while also manifesting an architecture of its own age.
 The complex is situated in the southern portion of the prestigious 16eme arrondissement of Paris, bordering the Seine. The entire block surrounding the project is dedicated to different sports and cultural activities. The way that the building was oriented provides a complete and quite unique view on the river Seine. The opening towards that view came at a price, since it has also exposed the building to the noise and commotion of the dense traffic of the close-by Saint-Exupery wharf as well as the Parisian ring-road.
 The historic masterpieces of the New Acropolis Museum—including the archaeological remains of ancient Athens left visible beneath the building and portions of the Parthenon frieze installed at the top— will be displayed in total for the first time when the Museum celebrates its much-anticipated official opening on Saturday, June 20, 2009.
 Located on Congress Street in the Fort Point Historic District of Boston’s emerging waterfront, this 140,000 square foot project encompasses the adaptive reuse of two historic structures, the construction of a new building on an adjacent lot, and a three-story rooftop addition above all three structures. The program includes 99 condominium units [with 8 affordable units, including 3 artist live/work studios], two levels of restaurant/retail and a lobby/art gallery.
 Saxo Bank is a young dynamic internet bank with focus on online-trade with currencies, shares and futures on the bank’s self-developed platform, Saxo Trader. Saxo Bank was founded in 1992 in Denmark and counts around 850 staff members of 35 nationalities who serve customers from 115 different countries.
 The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is proud to announce the opening of the Prada Transformer pavilion, a pioneering temporary structure that will be picked up by cranes and rotated to accommodate a variety of cultural events. The pavilion was opened in Seoul today by the Minister of Culture of South Korea and the Mayor of Seoul in the presence of Miuccia Prada and OMA founder Rem Koolhaas.
The project was won in 2001 after a national competition organized by the Conferenza Episcopale Italiana for the construction of new churches, the jury explains the reasons for choosing this project;, perceiving it "...as a sign of innovation that meets the latest international research, becoming a symbol of rebirth for the city after the earthquake. "
The designer wanted to break away from the rigid scheme of industrial architecture prevailing within the surrounding area, by producing a free flowing space rich in curvilinear elements that is highly visible from the outside; “an oasis in which to work in a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere”.
Torys is a highly respected international business law firm with 300 legal professionals in its Toronto and New York offices. In Toronto, the firm has occupied nine and a half floors in the south tower of the Toronto Dominion Centre, some of them since the 1980’s.
Houses
This project testifies about the longevity of a good house design, and the enjoyment that it brings to its owners. Thirty-five years after the firm originally designed this vacation residence, its new owners sought to rejuvenate the house while preserving its spaces, seasoned tones, and texture.
This house for a family of five explores spatial gradation from communal to private, in an urban domestic condition: children’s bedrooms on the third floor lead to a collective play space for the three children, which is connected to the communal family spaces on the ground floor via a stair, skylight and aluminum screen.
Family house K is situated on a large residential plot on a moderate eastern-facing slope at the edge of a forest near the base of Sljeme hill. By placing the object next to the street in the north-western corner of the plot, preference was given to a beautiful forest view; the uneven terrain was used as a means of developing the object’s volume.
The house is located within great surroundings, on Wolfback Ridge Road, in Sausalito, California. The south-facing ridge top site abuts the GGNRA, and is a gently sloping swale with panoramic views from east to west including the East Bay hills, the city of San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands, and the Pacific Ocean. The site flows into the natural habitat of the Headlands, and affords maximum solar exposure, bracing maritime breezes and cloaking fogs.
One of the recipients of the 2009 AIA Housing Award, the goal of this project was to create a modern, eco-sensitive, urban retreat that was kid tough and kid friendly. The owners, a family of four, were both architect and builder.
This is quite an enjoyable new modern house that BUILD LLC has designed and built in Bainbridge Island, Washington. Bainsbridge is a small beautiful looking island reachable from Seatle in 30 minutes by ferry.The house strategically addressed this client’s varied lifestyle of family activities, entertaining, Great Dane exercising, winemaking and kayaking on Murden Cove below.
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