This competition entry by artist Liu Chien-Sheng for the ” Changing the Face –Pushkinsky Cinema Hall Competition” is a tribute to Александр Сергеевич Пушкин / Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin – it is a poem conceived by architecture. The Pushkinsky Cinema Hall is located next to the Pushkin Square on the urban green line, and the statue of Pushkin stands in front of the cinema hall. The concept of this design is to write a poem as a tribute to Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin by architecture.

“The power of inspiration” – poem

1- Freedom: Against gravity by floating steam. Gravity is one of the great obstacles to artistic design of architectural structure, thus there has been deep desire to construct the architecture without giving sense of gravity. In order to present freedom of architecture, the mist floating in the air performs as a new type of materials for the façade.  The steam floats surround the cinema hall to represent a new type of façade and actually increase the temperature near the building. The rise of steam from horizon – a view of architectural façade extends to unban collage.

2- The warm sun on the snow: The architectural form is originated from an image of sun. Snow country has thirsts for basking in pleasant sunshine, just like the world of poetry need Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin to provide and expand its spirit. The façade starts a primitive geometry with a light materiality to reflect the surrounding. And then, the curves cut it and create the pattern of architectural form. Read the rest of this entry »

a/LTA architectes unveiled their winning design for 142 homes in Nantes, France. The project was conceived as a sustainable neighborhood with green technologies and a highly articulated landscape. The design consists of three housing buildings placed on top of a retail plinth. The whole is articulated by a landscaped garden with vegetal and mineral nuances.

The architects believe that “beautiful” housing accommodations are bright, well-oriented and offer large views. That is why they developed for the three buildings, views to the city center of Nantes and to the river. They used the same codes and registers, but declined for each operation. The aim is to distinguish each entity while having an overall unity. Thus, the staging of homes through their extension outside (loggias, terraces), scripted buildings from public spaces. The inherent quality of the housing draws the facades. The architecture emphasizes the use and the opportunity offered by the housing. Read the rest of this entry »

For the hundredth birthday of the creation of “Taiwan R.O.C.”, the main aim of the Taichung City Government is to honour the local building traditions and symbolize the new Taiwan dynamics into economic, political, social and cultural achievements.

International model of the green building of the 21st century, the innovative and pioneering design of the Bionic Arch by Vincent Callebaut Architecture is part of the new master plan “Taichung Gateway – Active Gateway City”, the future urban oasis for lifestyle, innovation, culture and biodiversity in the heart of Central Taiwan.

The green tower combines and surpasses the nine major indicators defining a green building by law, and intensifies the relation between the building site and the surrounding Taichung Gateway Park, including an environmental integration of the park and the green land, the integration of green vertical platforms, sky gardens and living façades, interaction between human and natural environments. It actively contributes to the development of the use of new sustainable energies (solar and wind generated power, coupled with botanical and bio-technologies), emphasizes cohabitation and respectful attitude in order to reach even higher standards than regular green buildings. Read the rest of this entry »

New York City’s Watershed is in crisis. Not only is there a larger demand for water due to the growth of the population, but due to further suburban development in upland areas, water catchment sites are not as hygienic as before. Within the Croton Watershed lies Carmel,  a suburban town in Putnam County with large basins for water catchment integrated into a developed suburban community. The distributed system currently in place for the dispersal of sewage, though, has a very high risk of contaminating the watershed.

Based on a topological study using sand and cavities to represent the density and area of groundwater contamination risk, a landscape was generated by Carla Lores and Michael Yarisnky. The areas that are highest upland have the highest ground water capacity and lowest contamination risk, and the areas downland have the lowest capacity and highest risk. This relationship is key to the remediation strategy, by creating a topography that channels effluent water to these specific sites. The exo-landscape is then populated with components that not only allow the material flow relationship but can also be modulated to allow for varying lighting conditions and the ability to contain soil and plants. This passive system is then activated by integrated pumps that draw sewage to biogas processing sites. Read the rest of this entry »

Inspired by the jagged and characteristic landscape of Lanzarote the Palacio de Congresos by Henning Larsen Architects emphasises the surrounding nature. The building is an elegant mountain of lava with an inner red glow and a vivacious inner life. The building is designed to become the new cultural converting point for Lanzarote and a showcase of the islands characteristics, the vast nature with mountains, ocean and the high sky. The building is created for this place and this place alone. The crystalline shape accentuates the identity and evolves the profile of the city. As a geological formation it creates a special skyline for the city and the island. With a silhouette similar to a mountain ridge the compo-sition creates a foreground and background in constant change, depend-ing on the different viewpoints.

From Arrecife, the Palacio de Congresos is very visible and significant at the end of the promenade. With no rear side, the building will appear a landmark from the ocean, the city and from all the access roads. The main entrance hall is elevated from the traffic and opens up towards the city and the ocean promenade. It welcomes visitors and shows the inner glow and activity, and the city park is activated as a part of the en-trance plaza, leading the way to the “red carpet area” and a grand entry of the building. One collective foyer, as a cave, accomplishes visual contact to all levels and converts, with precise views back to the city and the city park, the skyline of the mountains, the ocean horizon and the sky. Read the rest of this entry »

Innen Stadt Auen (Inner City Out) is the first solo exhibition by the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson in a Berlin institution. The central theme of the show, which has been curated especially for the Martin-Gropius-Bau by Daniel Birnbaum, is Berlin, the city in which the artist has lived and worked for many years. Here he has set up his multifaceted studio, which combines research, experimentation and production; and as a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts founded the Institut fr Raumexperimente (Institute for Spatial Experiments) in April 2009. The exhibition concerns itself closely with the relationship between museum and city, architecture and landscape, and space, body and time. The site-specific investigations within the museum are amplified through various projects in public space, thus linking the Martin-Gropius-Bau to other places within the city. The entire project includes 28 works, most of which have been created especially for this occasion. Read the rest of this entry »

This opera house designed by Emergent is a synthetic mountain. It stands in stark contrast to the horizontality of the Marine Culture District, and relates to the mountainous topography that bounds and characterizes the city. It can be seen from all over the bay as a strong silhouette.

The mountain contains two nested volumes which house the 2,000 seat Opera and the 1,300 seat Multifunctional Theater. The outer shell of the mountain loosely contains these volumes, sometimes fusing with them, sometimes vaulting over them, and sometimes dissolving away to create views and passageways through a cavernous public space. Openings in the mountain are positioned towards picturesque views of the city and the waterfront.

The manifold skin of the mountain varies from razor-thin and roof-like to extremely thick and spatial, where it is packed with public amenities and private support functions. Elevator cores and other circulation elements also inhabit these poché spaces rather than being expressed. The double-layer mass is therefore an organizational device rather than simply a formal expression. Read the rest of this entry »

Ten architecture students from Columbia University GSAPP have recently completed Polymorphic, a kinetic installation utilizing an innovative design and engineering solution inspired by the kinetic action of a see-saw and the reverberating motion of a slinky. The group consisted of Charlie Able, Alexis Burson, Ivy Chan, Jennifer Chang, Aaron Harris, Trevor Hollyn Taub, Brian Lee, Eliza Montgomery, Vernon Roether, and David Zhai.

The installation is comprised of a double-sided bench which transforms through a series of 119 unique and interconnected sections into a chaise lounge and finally an interactive balance board. These sections are connected via an inventive pivot and bolt system which allows the vertical movement of one section to be picked up by others down the line. Together, this motion allows the installation to transform from a series of leveled sections into an undulating form that becomes activated through interaction with its occupants.

While the overall form of the bench is realized as a continuous landscape, each seating condition was designed according to existing ergonomic profiles in order to maximize comfort and functionality. This is further realized by allowing the tolerance of its motion to conform to the postures of the occupants using simply their weight as a point of activation for the movement of the sections. A series of internal notches linked together by elastic bands and reinforced by couplings located on the central pivot rods prevent lateral movement and ensures safety during motion. Read the rest of this entry »

Anisotropia, the design for the new Busan Opera House by Orproject is based on Klavierstück I, a composition for piano by Orproject director Christoph Klemmt. It is based on a twelve tone row which is repeated and altered by the different voices, in order to create complex rhythmic patterns.

Anisotropia becomes the physical manifestation of Klavierstück I, a frozen piece of music. The design for the Busan Opera House is based on a simple strip morphology instead of a twelve tone row, which creates the facade, structure and rhythm within itself, its repetition happening in space instead of time. Layers of the strips form the façade structure, and the shifting and alteration of these patterns results in the formation of complex architectural rhythms which are used to control the light, view and shading properties of the façade.

Klavierstück I uses a twelve tone row which starts with the lowest key of the piano. After its first cycle the row gets repeated, though shifted up by a halftone. However rather than translating up every tone by a halftone, only the lowest tone of the row is translated up by one octave. Like this the row remains the same, but its range has been shifted. Read the rest of this entry »

OODA’s scheme for the Busan Opera House engages with the natural topography, articulating a multi levelled building and integrating the different cultural activities and program seamlessly. The dominant flow circulation, flexibility and concept strategy enables full accessibility.

The design concept creates spaces that blur the difference between building and landscape, intensifying the fluidity between interior and exterior spaces, indoor and outdoor venues. The formal approach is driven from the natural proportion of the program merged with inspirational themes (like sea shells – music – and butterfly typical pacific fish) that allows the building to assume its own unique charm and identity. The formal image with its vibrant and meaningful presence helps to create a brand new-age landmark for South Korea as a strong symbolic voice to the world.

Iconic shell sound towards the sea

The Opera Auditorium has a pioneering and innovative design concept, it is as flexible and efficient as it is elegantly sculpted. The center area can rotate around itself so in the same space it is possible to have an Opera with all its requirements, but also some more intimate concert and a centered stage venue allowing to have audience all around. Read the rest of this entry »