Architecture articles http://www.archinnovations.com Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:47:30 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=308&Itemid=174 eVolo invites architects, engineers, and designers to continue exploring on new ideas and concepts for vertical density. Skyscrapers have been springing up in fast-developing countries without careful consideration of the urban fabric, environmental effects, and quality of life. The 2009 competition calls for innovative designs for the XXI Century which takes into consideration the historical and social context, the existing urban fabric, the human scale, and the environment. Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:39:38 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=307&Itemid=120 As we explained in our previous articles on the Baupiloten, this is a group of students at the architectural faculty of the TU Berlin, that produce real life projects under the supervision of founder, Suzanne Hoffman. In this fourth featured project, the Baupiloten create an all-day “home-away-from-home” for grade-schoolers The Baupiloten – together with the schoolchildren – expanded upon the concept of a comfortable learning environment to include the school’s hallways and classrooms. Until recently, the hallways of the school building (designed by Ludwig Hoffmann in 1915) embodied the sterile and authoritarian educational atmosphere of the... Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:20:36 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=306&Itemid=120 The design of the new School of Architecture and Planning at the University of New Mexico, as explained by the architects, is intended as a source of inspiration to the young minds on the road to discover the intricacies of Architecture, teaching the students through a living example a good doze of healthy concepts. Intersecting the original directive, and somehow complementing it, is the desire to shape the building according to specific surrounding environmental, urban and campus form-givers. The timeless relationships between building and environment from the cliffs of Canyon de Chelly to the mute,... Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:11:43 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=304&Itemid=165 Having seen the Poll question (poll/turning-shipping-containers-into-houses-is.../) that we are currently posing about the pertinence of re-utilizing shipping containers in construction, Ben Leffler pointed us to an article that was published on their Blog, called Ship Happens, that addresses the issue. The Article, entitled Living Inside the Box: Creative Eco-Friendly Design Using Shipping Container (http://www.uship.com/blog/archive/2008/10/02/living-inside-the-box-creative-eco-friendly-design-using-shipping-containers.aspx) , talks about the environmental impact the shipping contaners are having and displays creative samples of projects recycling those enclosures and using them as high-end condos, office buildings, low-income housing, or even relief shelters. Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:38:10 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=303&Itemid=122 Here is another innovative project by dutch architects of the Office of Metropolitan Architecture. CCTV will be one among many towers in Beijing’s new Central Business District, all striving to be unique – all different expressions of the vertical dimension. The tragedy of the skyscraper is that it marks a place as significant, which it then occupies and exhausts with banality… This banality is twofold: in spite of their potential to be incubators of new cultures, programs, and ways of life, most towers accommodate merely routine activity, arranged according to predictable patterns. Formally, their expressions of verticality have proven to stunt... Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:25:58 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=302&Itemid=120 Svalbard, Norway is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean north of mainland Europe, about midway between Norway and the North Pole. This archipelago is the northernmost part of Norway. Three of its islands are populated: Spitsbergen, Bear Island and Hopen. The largest settlement is in Longyearbyen. This project is an addition to an existing university and research facility, which get extended approximately four times their original size. The project, which was commissioned through an invited competition, also provides new facilities for the Svalbard Museum. The project became the largest building in Longyearbyen and Spitzbergen. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:29:21 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=301&Itemid=178 Since 1980, Bing Thom Architects (BTA) has been collaborating with and advising cultural institutions, corporations, universities, governments, developers and communities around the world to help them successfully achieve their building aspiration. These projects have garnered a prodigious number of important design awards. More significantly they have all enjoyed broad popular appeal, along with operational and financial success. Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:03:15 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=300&Itemid=122 When leading UK eco architects, Architype, grew out of their old office they decided that their new West of England office would be a model of sustainable workplace practice and contemporary design. In 2007 Architype was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects’ prestigious National Sustainability Award for the recently completed new office building, a resounding endorsement of their achievement. Architype was also named Building Magazine’s Sustainable Architect of the Year 2007. Architype required a property in the West of England that could accommodate an expanding office staff of 17 (the practice also supports a 20 strong office in London). Photographs... Fri, 03 Oct 2008 06:49:07 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=163&Itemid=165 Lecture + Dialog 10/06/08 7:00pm Galapagos Art Space 16 Main Street Brooklyn, NY 11201 English Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=299&Itemid=62 As a part of the Greater Vancouver Regional District and one of the fastest growing cities in Canada, the City of Surrey in British Columbia has the catalyst for a new urban core in the Central City project. Challenging the context in which it is situated with its form and scale, this large mixed-use project integrates 450,000 square feet of academic space for Simon Fraser University, 500,000 square feet of office space and 50,000 square feet of retail space with an existing 700,000 square foot regional shopping centre. Photographs courtesy of Nic Lehoux Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:19:39 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=298&Itemid=165 September Month in Review Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=296&Itemid=73 Weiss/Manfredi Surface Subsurface by Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi (Authors,) Introduction by David Leatherbarrow, Foreword by Mohsen Mostafavi, and interviews conducted by Detlef Mertins 11 x 9 inches (27.9 x 22.9 cm), Hardcover, 208 pages 300 color illustrations Since being founded in 1987, WEISS/MANFREDI has been dealing with a wide variety of projects in the fields Architecture, Landscape, and Urbanism. The firm judiciously transcends the virtual barriers that separate these disciplines. Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:59:11 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=294&Itemid=120 The Vogaskoli secondary school was first built in 1958. The number of students has varied greatly over the years and during the late sixties it was the largest school in the country. Following this expansion the school was split with the creation of the new sixth form college Menntaskólans by Sund. In 1975 a new building was added to Vogaskoli. In 2004 as a result of a new increase in the number of students and changes in pedagogical thinking the city decided to demolish the 1975 building and build a new extension. Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=295&Itemid=165 Ambitious hotel marks Copenhagen on the international conference scene. Recently proclaimed best city in the world to live in by Monocle, a leading lifestyle magazine, and hosting the upcoming COP15, United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009, Copenhagen insists on challenging much bigger world cities on the metropolis turf. The ambitious and spectacular Bella Hotel will cement Copenhagen’s dawning position as a natural centre of international events. Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:38:37 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90&Itemid=165 Interesting articles published around the Internet. de Meuron’s Le Projet Triangle, Herzog de Meuron (http://architect-studio.blogspot.com/2008/09/de-meurons-le-projet-triangle-herzog-de.html) architect studio in architect studio Herzog de Meuron's new project raises up in Paris, by lifting of a ban on tall buildings in the city Paris reveals its first inner city tower since 1977. Waterford Crystal's History Made Clear (http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/people/waterford_crystals_history_made_clear_95842.asp?c=rss) mediabistro.com: UnBeige Glass master Miroslav Havel (pictured at right, holding a cat that may or may not be made out of glass), the longtime chief designer of Waterford Crystal, died earlier this month in Waterford, Ireland at the age of 86. Other Bathing Machines (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Pruned/~3/404149329/other-bathing-machines.html) Alexander Trevi in... Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=293&Itemid=165 Construction is under way on a new early childhood center (ECC) at the site of PS 94X, 3530 Kings College Place in the Bronx. The project was designed by Gran Kriegel Associates on behalf of the New York City School Construction Authority. Citnalta Construction Corp. of Bohemia, New York is serving as the general contractor. The Bronx center is among the first schools in New York City to have been designed in compliance with Local Law 86, following the NYC Green Schools Guide and Rating System. This system is based on the LEED Green Building Rating System, and was deemed equivalent... Sun, 28 Sep 2008 06:32:32 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=292&Itemid=123 I was reading recently in an architectural magazine some comments that an architect was uttering about prefabricated construction, putting the whole industry in a single bag and qualifying the results as “ugly”. As I find the comment to be out of touch with the reality, I believe that the esthetics of a prefabricated house lies in the skills of its designers and builders. A great example of fabulous prefab is this latest house by New York based Res4 Architecture. Overlooking the Great Peconic Bay in the south fork of Long Island, this compact house is sited beyond a wildlife... Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:23:12 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=291&Itemid=62 Archinnovations.com is proud to feature a series of projects by one of the most prestigious and innovative firms in the world: Foster + Partners. We start with one of Beijing’s recentlly completed landmarks; the new Terminal at Beijing Capital International Airport, considered as the world’s largest building and most advanced airport. This new terminal offers an unparalleled traveling experience, not only technologically, but also in terms of operational efficiency, passenger comfort, sustainability and access to natural light. Completed ahead of this summer’s Summer Olympics and conceived as the gateway to Beijing for athletes participating in that great event, it... Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:07:31 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=245&Itemid=165 When: From September 23 to November 21 2008 Where: ArchiCenter's ATRIUM GALLERY, Santa Fe Building 224 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois The exhibition contrasts Chicago’s late 19th-century building boom with the exploding mega-cities of Asia and the Middle East today. As recently as the 1970s, the port city of Shenzhen, China, was a fishing village with 25,000 inhabitants. By 2005, more than 8,000,000 people were making it their home. In the city of Abu Dhabi, the first paved road wasn’t completed until 1962, and traditional mud-brick huts still lined the streets. Today the average net worth of the citizens of... Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.archinnovations.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=290&Itemid=62 The location of the apartment block is in the centre of Nova Gorica (population 32.000) located in the west of Slovenia, adjacent the Slovene – Italian border. It lies 92 meters above sea level. The town has also very specific climate conditions – it is renowned as the hottest town in Slovenia in summer and very strong winds in winter. © All photographs courtesy of Tomaz Gregoric Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:13:34 +0100