This project is a contemporary interpretation of the architecture of the 16th-century courtyard of the State University of Milan, translated and transformed from rigid Cartesian geometries into the linear fluidity of dynamic space.

Adapting to the natural contours of the courtyard and the forces that converge towards its center, the project emphasizes the slope of the arches, creating a powerful vortex of spatial distortion that favors dialogue with the surrounding colonnade.

The development of the complex three-dimensional curved geometries of the installation, starting with the flat ceramic tiles, adds another level of complexity to the whole. Visitors are encouraged to explore the sculptural sensibility and formal dynamic of different elements in which the balanced relationship between solids and voids expresses the project solution. Each individual piece can be interpreted not only as a whole, but also as a captured fragment of a magnetic field. A certain margin of strangeness introduces a stimulus that has evolved between latent force and physical material. Read the rest of this entry »

In cooperation with BET architects from Ethiopia, Söhne und Partner won the international design competition for Ethiopian Airlines New Headquarter in Addis Ababa. The airline has shown progressive development since its establishment and is now one of the fast growing and reputed airlines in Africa. The new Head Quarter is, therefore, planned to address the need of its growth, dynamic operation and attaining its Vision-2025.

The landscape, being an important part of the interior design, is flowing through and underneath the building. The office blocks are cantilevered above the street level as a floating form. It recalls to mountains, canyons or rocks. Bridges are the connecting elements as a symbol of connecting cultures and nations. Like the landscape is flowing into the building, the lobby itself is floating and rising. Like the landscape is coming into the building, there are always connections from the inside to the outside. You always feel like being in nature. The gardens in between the office blocks are landscaped areas with trees, benches and art sculptures. Read the rest of this entry »

The project is located in one of the largest wholesale trade of Santo Domingo where both merchants and consumers go there in large numbers of people. This is the architect thesis project of Abel Castillo at the UNPHU University (Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña ) and was advised by Architect Juan Mubarak.

The semiotics of Villacon market environment are a mixture of colors, patches, and “spontaneous and chaotic” organizations, for this reason we try to apply all these physical and cultural patterns so the user would be able to adapt more easily to this solution, using color mixtures and natural distributions applying chaotic and random space distributions.

In this project we have made a solution that tries to maintain the natural and economic resources, where also the building will make earnings for the improvement of the surrounding communities. Born with the need to reinstate a market which construction stopped in 2002, the project try to enhance the great commercial cluster where is located that lacks the economic resources for its proper maintenance. Read the rest of this entry »

How to integrate an opera theater into the historic urban fabric of Vienna? This project seeks to develop a middle ground between excessive un-architecture and conventional opera theater. One of the strategies is to create a new vertical transition part as the coherent between the opera theater and the concert hall. It was designed as a solution to the substantial decrease of earth specially which site is located in a high density residential district. This tower proposes an intensive, yet ivy romantic environment with an Opera Theater, a Concert Hall and a Panoramic Restaurant where you will be able to find little squares, picturesque sightseeing to this city, parks, hanging garden, and many cultural facilities.

Tang Fei experimented with form production at the Excessive Studio II, Urban Strategies, Die Angewandte Vienna in Austria to produce an Opera Theater or a Concert Hall in the Karmelitermarket. Read the rest of this entry »

Following the international competition held in 2006, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) were chosen to create initial conceptual proposals for the Civic Centre of the City of Elk Grove, California, a fast-growing suburb of Sacramento.

The main objective of the Elk Grove Civic Centre Design Study was to explore a wealth of possible ideas for programmatic distribution; incorporating the city’s requirement for initial ‘visioning’ proposals that identify all the project components while keeping the opportunities for flexibility.

The city commissioned AECOM to provide ZHA a brief for the 76ha site consisting of 3 main aspects: Civic, Commercial and Recreational. The civic aspect includes a library, children’s discovery centre, community and performance centres. The commercial aspect included a hotel, retail and conference center, while the recreational aspect include gym, tournament fields, park and a wetland. Read the rest of this entry »

Designed by FREE Fernando Romero EnterprisE, Museo Soumaya opened to the public on March 29, 2011 after four years of development. The Museo Soumaya houses one of the most important art collections in Latin America with over 6,200 artworks and 60,000 square feet of exhibition space.

The Soumaya Museum is located in a former industrial zone dating from the 1940’s which today presents a very high commercial potential. The Soumaya Museum plays a key role in the reconversion of the area: as a preeminent cultural program, it acts as an initiator in the transformation of the urban perception. Its avant-garde morphology and typology define a new paradigm in the history of Mexican and international architecture.

From the outside, the building is an organic and asymmetrical shape that is perceived differently by each visitor, while reflecting the diversity of the collection on the inside. Its heterogeneous collection is housed in a continuous exhibition space spread over six levels, representing approximately 60,000 ft². The building also includes an auditorium for 350 people, library, offices, a restaurant, a gift shop and a multi-purpose gathering lounge. Read the rest of this entry »

The first regional headquarters branches for Moroccan bank, BMCE (Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur) have opened in Rabat and Casablanca, with a further branch in Fez due to complete shortly – they are the first buildings by Foster + Partners to be completed in Africa. The banks’ contemporary interior is wrapped by a traditional, energy efficient envelope and their design is based on a modular system, which utilises local materials and craftsmanship to create a striking new emblem for BMCE.

The design follows a ‘kit-of-parts’ approach, with variations in colour and scale according to the bank’s location. Each building comprises a concrete frame, with an entrance colonnade and a series of bays repeated on a modular grid. The bays are enclosed by glazed panels and 200mm-deep screens, which provide shade and security. The screens are cut from sheets of stainless steel – a special low-iron mixture that does not heat up in the sun – which are curved to create a geometric design, based on traditional Islamic patterns.

All BMCE flagship branches feature an ‘earth tube’, an electricity-free cooling system: fresh air is drawn into an empty pipe that encircles the building underground, where it is naturally cooled by the earth and released into the branch. Read the rest of this entry »

The design of the Z-Chair Chair summarizes the essence of contemporary design and the research developed by Zaha Hadid Architects over the last three decades. A simple three-dimensional gesture zigzags in the space as part of the continued discourse between form and function, elegance and utility, differentiation and continuity.

Geometric abstractions inform the design’s linear loop, which is articulated along its path in a language that alternates thin wire streams and large surfaces to provide both ergonomic affordances and inherent stability to the overall shape. The dichotomy between the elegance of the composition and its articulation is negotiated through a subtle play of contrasting angular corners and wide, smooth curves. Read the rest of this entry »

A new, 92 meter tall complex of soft, undulating curves marks the skyline of Groningen. This asymmetric, aerodynamic construction is set amidst small, ancient woodland, sheltering rare and protected species. The project includes the design, construction and financing of two public institutions; the national tax offices and the student loan administration. The commission from the RGD (National Buildings Service) includes, besides the architecture, the management and building maintenance and care of facilities and services for a period of 20 years. Accommodating 2,500 workstations, parking facilities for 1,500 bicycles and 675 cars in an underground garage, the building will be surrounded by a large public city garden with pond and a multifunctional pavilion with commercial functions.

The architecture aims to present these institutions with a softer, more human and approachable profile. Tall buildings are generally associated with mid-twentieth century modernism. Their harsh, businesslike exteriors contain powerful, inaccessible-seeming strongholds. By contrast, the DUO and Tax offices deliberately cloak a commanding public institution in an organic, friendlier and more future-oriented form.

“The design contains numerous new innovations related to the reduction of materials, lower energy costs and more sustainable working environments. It presents a fully integrated, intelligent design approach towards sustainability.” – Ben van Berkel Read the rest of this entry »

Atelier Thomas Pucher has won the international competition for the new seat of the world renowned Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra in Warsaw. The 20.000m² cultural centre is housed on the site of a former Veterinary Institute with existing – yet dormant – buildings and a fairy-tale like park. The area occupies a 1.800 seat symphonic hall with first class acoustic properties, large rehearsal areas, merchandise facilities, musical workshops and a small hotel for artists in residence and music lovers on vacation. The project gives a precise answer meeting the demands of the orchestra as well as the given site with its historical buildings. By enveloping the entire site with a floating wall it serves as an indication to the park as its new centre and creates a distinctive place of silence – the basic principle for an orchestra to perform – full of ambience and drama. The park becomes an open public place and the wall the building that serves it.

The symphonic hall including all rehearsal areas are found within the floating wall. Floating above the foyer it creates a seamless extension of the park into the building that holds several mysteries and miracles: hidden rooms and stairs, a narrow surveillance path at the top and a span of 140m without a single column.

The Concert Hall is a fusion of a Shoebox Hall and an Arena. While the traditional shoe box hall is known for its excellent acoustics but often offers poor visual conditions, the Arena has its advantages with regards to visibility and is hardly applicable when it comes to its acoustic conditions. Read the rest of this entry »