MAD Architects just unveiled plans for a high-density village near the Huangshan Mountains (Yellow Mountain) in Anhui Province, central China. The low-rise residences echo the contours of the surrounding topography and offer unequalled access to one of China’s most famous landscapes. Their design affirms the inherent significance of this landscape. Composed in deference to the local topography, the village provides housing, a hotel and communal amenities organized in a linked configuration across the southern slope of Taiping Lake. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Located in a forested area of Brasschaat, Belgium, the competition winning proposal for the Officierenwijk Residential Zone consists of 23 single-family houses, of which 17 can be classified as social housing and 6 as affordable housing. Designed by META Architectuurbureau, the different dwellings form, both on a functional as well as aesthetic level, a coherent whole with the façade playing an integral role to achieve this. More images and architects’ description after the break.
In honor of Rem Koolhaas' birthday today, we are printing a fascinating piece on his life and work written by Nicolai Ouroussoff, architecture critic for The New York Times from 2004-2011.
Rem Koolhaas has been causing trouble in the world of architecture since his student days in London in the early 1970s. Architects want to build, and as they age most are willing to tone down their work if it will land them a juicy commission. But Koolhaas, 67, has remained a first-rate provocateur who, even in our conservative times, just can’t seem to behave. His China Central Television headquarters building, completed this past May, was described by some critics as a cynical work of propaganda and by others (including this one) as a masterpiece. Earlier projects have alternately awed and infuriated those who have followed his career, including a proposal to transform part of the Museum of Modern Art into a kind of ministry of self-promotion called MoMA Inc. (rejected) and an addition to the Whitney Museum of American Art that would loom over the existing landmark building like a cat pawing a ball of yarn (dropped).
Koolhaas’ habit of shaking up established conventions has made him one of the most influential architects of his generation. A disproportionate number of the profession’s rising stars, including Winy Maas of the Dutch firm MVRDV and Bjarke Ingels of the Copenhagen-based BIG, did stints in his office. Architects dig through his books looking for ideas; students all over the world emulate him. The attraction lies, in part, in his ability to keep us off balance. Unlike other architects of his stature, such as Frank Gehry or Zaha Hadid, who have continued to refine their singular aesthetic visions over long careers, Koolhaas works like a conceptual artist—able to draw on a seemingly endless reservoir of ideas.
Pritzker-Prize Laureate Remment Lucas Koolhaas (you probably know him as "Rem") turns 68 today. The co-founder of one of the world's most renowned architecture firms, OMA, and an urban-planner/philosopher whose theories have provoked admiration (and ire) for over thirty years, Koolhaas is undeniably one of a kind.
In honor of Rem Koolhaas’ birthday today, we are bringing you all things Koolhaas: 14 Fun Koolhass quotes; a fabulous article by former New York Times critic, Nicolai Ouroussoff; this ArchDaily original editorial; and, later today, a Round-Up of all of OMA's latest works. Stay tuned!
Imagine London, but not the way you know it. Imagine it physically separated, much like Berlin once was, into two zones: one of pleasure and one of practicality. Consider how the city would eventually appear as inhabitants rushed to the pleasure zone; how the zone of practicality would eventually, inevitably become bereft.
This is the London of a young Rem Koolhaas’ imaginings, written for his Thesis at the Architectural Association School in London in the late 60s. Before Delirious New York, before OMA, and much before the CCTV Tower, Koolhaas was inspired by this idea of the divided city - and it’s a fitting image to start thinking about the ever provocative, often controversial Rem: a man who stands with one foot in the world of desire and the other, reluctantly, in that of practicality; a man who would perhaps prefer the title of urban thinker, despite clearly being one of architecture’s great masters.
It’s exactly this in-between-ness, this reluctance to fit into one supposed role, that has been Koolhaas’ greatest asset, that has allowed him to approach the profession from such unlikely angles. Using the city’s freedoms as his inspiration, and rejecting as given the expectations of what architecture is(even questioning its relevance at all), Koolhass, the “reluctant architect,” is also the most radical of our time, and the most vital for our future.
With the challenge of creating a new landmark on a floating platform, the ‘U-Topos’ proposal for the Faliro pier competition proposes a constructed “place”, a new “Land-” and a new “-mark”. Designed by Ksestudio, in an attempt to optimize climatic conditions, views and generate events, while developing an iconic identity, their project bends the given square platform to a “U” shape. The design is essentially a shell, an empty vessel, that frames the view towards the city and the sea, while signifying a gate, as small boats are allowed to park at the perimeter of the platform. More images and architects’ description after the break.
As we announced in early October, British powerhouse Foster + Partners have been declared as winner of the six-month long, all-star competition to design the next “landmark” high rise on the prime site of 425 Park Avenue in New York City. The tapered, steel-frame office tower is planned to rise 687 feet to claim a spot on the New York City skyline by 2017. Upon competition, the world-class high rise is expected to achieve LEED Gold status and serve as an exemplar for sustainable office design.
Foster’s concept succeeded visions from Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid and Richard Rogers (view all the proposals here). Construction is expected to begin in 2015, shortly after the completion of Foster’s first U.S. residential high rise, which broke ground this week in New York.
Cook County Judge Neil Cohen has granted Bertand Goldberg’s Prentice Woman’s Hospital a temporary reprieve after preservationist filed a lawsuit against the city and the Chicago Commission on Public Landmarks yesterday afternoon. Plaintiffs, Landmarks Illinois and the National Trust for Historic Preservation claim that the commission “acted arbitrarily and exceeded its authority,” after granting and subsequently revoking Prentice landmark status in just a short afternoon on November 1. These proceedings, which typically takes months, followed Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s decision to publicly support Northwestern University’s plan to demolish the vacant icon.
Nabito Architects + ACTAR shared with us their design proposal for the “Les Portes de Collserola” international competition held by the government of Barcelona. As a finalist, the architects were challenged to create an ambitious strategical plan to regenerate the entire Park of Coillserola in the North of the city. The architects were then selected to take part in the 4B door called: ‘LES PLANES IN-PARK UNA PORTA, VÀRIES CLAUS’. The Project is a Master plan for the re-interpretation of one of the doors from Collserola Mountain going into the city of Barcelona. It is a space in between a complex superposition of different elements: urban, natural, rural and infrastructural. The perfect mix to ordinate the territory for a contemporary project. More images and architects’ description after the break.
As processes evolve, architects and designers need superior tools to transition their designs from vision to reality. Answering that call is the Vectorworks® 2013 product line from Nemetschek Vectorworks, Inc. This multi-dimensional software suite helps users implement Building Information Modeling (BIM) techniques and workflows and gain an edge in drawing, 3D modeling, integrated rendering, and high-quality presentations.
The ZEZEZE Architecture Gallery recently launched their open design competition for the design of a day care center for adults with developmental intellectual disabilities, to be established in the city of Beer Sheba. Held on behalf of the Beer Sheba municipality and the Shalem Fund, while managed by ZEZEZE Architecture Gallery, the winner of the two-stage competition will have the unique experience of entering into agreement with the city of Beer Sheba for the design of the center. The deadline for submissions is February 3rd, with the second stage following shorty after. To register and for more information, please visit here.
MONU magazine on urbanism is continuously looking for interesting contributions. The current open call for submissions for MONU #18 is on the topic of “ Communal Urbansim” with submissions due December 31. This new issue aims to focus on contemporary communal living in cities in general and on contemporary communal housing projects in particular. Nevertheless, we are interested in the history of communal housing and communal living in general as well, whether in the Western world or anywhere else. Today, communes or communal housing projects probably appear to be by far less naïve than in the past, more pragmatic and economic, better organized, and built up around serious and professional financial strategies.More information after the break.
It's only been a few weeks since she turned 62 but it's already shaping up to be Zaha Hadid's year. Yesterday, she was announced winner of the Japan National Stadium Competition earlier this week, her latest US project, the Eli & Edythe Broad Museum opened; and the beginning of the month saw much fanfare and frenzy surrounding her extraordinary work in Beijing: Galaxy Soho . We've already brought you images and video of the project, but the latest images from Hufton + Crow truly allow you to experience Galaxy Soho - in all its curvaceous glory - like never before.Check out all the latest images of Zaha Hadid's Galaxy Soho, after the break...
Designed by architect Eli Gotman, the proposal for the “Yad Labanim” (“A Memorial to the Sons”) is dedicated to commemorating the fallen soldiers in Israel’s wars and helping the bereaved families. The Yad Labanim building in Ramat Yishay, is in itself a monument, which begins with the wall buried in the ground carrying the names of the fallen perforated in it, continues to emerge out of the ground as a building, and ending as an illuminated library hovering over the square. More images and Gotman’s description after the break.
“Cube Light” has made it’s debut in Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum, along with collection of Ai Weiwei most famous works in the retrospective “Ai Weiwei: According to What?”. Although one of China’s most prolific and provocative contemporary artists, Weiwei is best known in the world of architecture for his work with Herzog & de Meuron on Beijing’s famous “Bird’s Nest” and, most recently, the 2012 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion.
Tucson, Arizona firm Line and Space recently shared with us their competition proposal for the new National Museum of Afghanistan developed over the summer of 2012. Inspired by the basin and range geology of Kabul and incredible archaeology, the design features architecture that is derived from Afghan soil by means of stone clad conical elements rising from the landscape that are evocative of an atypical approach to the standard museum typology. Designed to provide a dramatic yet serene and secure place for visitors to learn about the country’s amazing and complex history, the various strategies employed by Line and Space offer up some interesting concepts that celebrate the incredible treasures housed within. More details after the break.
Imagine driving down a road at night without street lights with the light-emitting road guiding your way. As the temperature outside drops the road starts to reveal images of ice crystals, signaling to you, the driver, that conditions are now icy and slippery. This futuristic concept may soon be a reality as Dutch design firm Studio Roosegaarde and the engineers at Heijmans Infrastructure team up to develop “Smart Highways” – a design agenda for interactive, sustainable and safe roads. The concept won the two firms Best Future Concept at the Dutch Design Awards 2012. Join us after the break for more.
Located in Valdespartera Ecocity, a newly built neighborhood located in the residential expansion south of Zaragoza, the design for the Kindergarten by Magen Arquitectos is characterized by its strong expression of horizontality. The definition of the platform floor and the importance and extent of the roof form a broad continuous porch into the yard, supported structurally in tension with cantilevered decks at the top.When projected to the outside by the porch continuum becomes more intense the horizontal relationship with the outside center. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Already built in the Center for Contemporary Art, based in the old Turkish bathhouse in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, the |CON|Temporary Library Installation by Studio 8 ½ contains solely books of contemporary art. It provides many comfortable places to sit/lay, bookcases, magazines and newspapers’ shelves, as well as a computer with very rich and detailed multimedia and video archive of contemporary artists.Built using wood, the entire installation is created with a tremendous respect for its surrounding area, since without it, this effect would not be as strong. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The aim for the design of the Varaždin University Student’s Restaurant and Home was to connect the new building with the old student’s home with the restaurant treated as a separate pavilion. This first prize winning design by SANGRAD Architects + AVP Arhitekti creates a new square between both buildings, which is defined by the main entrance to the existing building and the new restaurant volume. Along with the student’s home on the west side, the restaurant has a visual connection with all three buildings through an access plaza, while the student’s home towards the east continues the structure of the existing house forming a block. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Battery Conservancy Americas Design Competition 2012: Draw Up A Chair, which we published a couple months ago here, has received an impressive number of registrations to-date and continue to receive wonderful design submissions. Due to the impact of SuperStorm Sandy on many of their registered and would-be participants, they recently announced that they have extended the competition submission deadline to Monday, November 19. For more information, please visit here.
