The recently completed Cubus building designed by Woods Bagot boasts exclusive open decks of differing sizes throughout various locations in the building, creating a strong identity that differentiates itself from surrounding structures.

“The development of ‘Podium Tower’ buildings continue to prevail in Hong Kong due to local site coverage regulation, however, the design team transformed this potential constraint into an opportunity by creating exclusive open decks through the reduction of the lower-level floor, floorplate sizes,” said Stephen Jones, Principal, Woods Bagot.

Visitors experiencing exciting retail and restaurants on offer, or travelling inside the glass elevators will be able to enjoy striking views towards the city. The design of this vertical retail building with original façade features, and lighting effects is inspired by ice cubes.

“The value proposition for this project was to create a landmark building exhibiting a strong identity that differentiates itself in the market. The project team has fulfilled the client’s vision, with the building set to become a landmark in this busy area of Hong Kong Island,” continued Stephen Jones, Principal, Woods Bagot. Read the rest of this entry »

The urban night club designed by Tiffany Dahlen and Virginia Melnyk responds to the vibrant and eclectic youth culture of Harajuku and balances the high end fashion of Omontesando. The urban club consists of a large meet and greet entry area, sushi restaurant, sake bar, music lounge and two VIP lounges; Pockets of unique intensities are held within a white framework, creating zones of spatiality, surficiality, and crenalation. Five distinct qualities corresponding to the specific programs and aesthetic desires, transform between the different spaces through the medium of the framework and are embedded within it. They differ from a sweet salivating sushi restaurant to a soft pillowy lounge space. Read the rest of this entry »

The project is a proposal by Italian architect Tommaso Casucci for the new library of the school of architecture, located at the limit of the old town of Florence. It is part of a renovation plan of a large area used until recent times as convent and later penitentiary. Pre-existing spaces are converted in archive, the new addition provide study areas, meeting spaces, auditorium, exhibition spaces in a continuous varying experience.

The project explore the emergent qualities derived from surfaces modulation in an intensive fields, aiming to equilibrium states of program, structure and function trough morphodynamical processes. Form, structure, function and decoration are emergent qualities of the same coherent system strictly related to his environment.

At a global scale the system explore how the modulation of isosurfaces, based on intensive field from site analysis data, can achieve highly differentiated spaces and performative structures. The research uses a generative methodology to test multiple solutions based on the same process from which was selected the one that represent the best compromise between structural performance, program and connections. Read the rest of this entry »

Isaie Bloch experimented with form production at the Excessive studio II, Urban strategies, Die Angewandte Wien in Austria to produce a music pavilion that embraces monstrosity as a design tool.

How boring has perfection become?

Evidence of this lies in the fact that our contemporary design obsessions are based on an appreciation for the perversity of mutant form, a taste learned from the movies and set to work on architecture.

By subverting the logic of perfection and beauty, non-perfect images coming from controlled methodologies are generated. What used to be about mastering the result of a non-perfect process is now about the production of monstrosity and the grotesque throughout accurate mechanisms.

Key elements coming from Romanticism such as: ruinification, untamed wilderness, the unfinished and the validation of obscure perceptions are used as modus operandi. Intruding botanical gardens functioning as structure, dens calcified structures organizing circulation, decaying metal formations forming apertures and growing organic tissue transforming the internal morpholgy are all contributing to the architectural qualities of the design. Read the rest of this entry »

The House of the Future designed by  Kuangyi Tao from Texas A&M University,  College of Architecture is a project reacting to the problems emerging during modern times: overpopulation, resource shortage and virtual world development.

Inspired by images of “body cells” depicted in the Matrix, the house is based on a similar system of energy and information exchange. The major difference is that people will be in control.  Memory alloy tubes of infrastructure system can be stretched apart to create the basic skeleton of the house. The overlaying skin acts like a heart. The material, which is electro-responsive, is able to expand or contract under different electrical stimulation, just like cardiac muscles. It is responsive to changes in program and daylight. For example, higher occupancy in a room will result in higher voltage, causing the skin to expand and allow more space. STEM algae, embedded in the skin, react to different amounts of sunlight, allowing the skin to become either more opaque or translucent. In addition, they also generate oxygen to purify the atmosphere. Overgrown algae can be composted as bio-fuel, and extra fuel is feed back to the city. Other tubes buried in the skin distribute water and energy throughout the house. Space pattern of the house is much like a klein bottle, twisting the traditional space sequence. Read the rest of this entry »

Prechteck’s design for the extension of the National Library of Austria located at the Hofburg in Vienna contains a number of cultural facilities including a 1200sqm underground core exhibition hall, a smaller 600sqm multifunctional hall, creative studios, a restaurant, and shops.

The design is to be seen as an extension of the bordering park and takes off at its north-west end to cross over the fire / drop-off lane with a twist that after crossing arches back to the ground level to melt into the landscape. All the  facilities are housed in one seamless structure, creating at each point a different spatial experience towards the Hofburg and directing its visitors intuitively to the foyer and to the different programs. Read the rest of this entry »

BIG is selected to design the new Waste-to-Energy Plant that doubles as a ski slope for Copenhagen’s citizens and its many visitors by 2016.

Located in an industrial area near the city center the new Waste-to-Energy plant will be an exemplary model in the field of waste management and energy production, as well as an architectural landmark in the cityscape of Copenhagen. The project is the single largest environmental initiative in Denmark with a budget of 3,5 Billion DKK, and replaces the adjacent 40 year old Amagerforbraending plant, integrating the latest technologies in waste treatment and environmental performance. The shortlisted offices included Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Dominique Perrault Architecture, 3xN, Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects & Gottlieb Paludan Architects who were selected to compete out of 36 international proposals in Fall 2010. The winning team is announced by an unanimous judge panel.

”BIG’s proposal contributes to the city with something useful and beautiful. We see this creating a lot of opportunities and with this unique building, we can brand the Danish knowledge and technology to show the world our abilities within environmental and energy issues”, – Ulla Röttger, Director of Amagerforbraending. Read the rest of this entry »

The Spanish architecture firm MADE IN unveiled their winning design for the Maritime Cultural and Popular Music Center in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The project will start construction in a few months and will be one of the most important developments ever built by a Spanish firm outside of Spain with a surface of more than 100,000 square meters and a budget of 100 million Euros.

The project will accommodate two auditoriums, one exterior for 12,000 people that will enjoy the bay views and an interior for 3,500 seats. In addition, the complex will have a maritime museum, a music museum, markets and other cultural facilities. The project proposes a series of buildings and public spaces that will articulate and animate the Love River Bay which is one of the most important parts of the city.

MADE IN is lead by Manuel Alvarez Monteserin and Beatriz Pachón with the collaboration of the Javier Simó, Andrés Infantes, Antonio Alejandro and the support of the firm Corona and P.Amaral Architects and Studio Leon 11. Read the rest of this entry »

The two main aims in UNStudio’s design for the Urban Library of the Future and Centre for New Media in Gent are to create a dynamic, flexible and open knowledge environment, whilst simultaneously strengthening the character of the location with the introduction of a building with a distinct architectural identity. Sustainability is the guiding factor in the design, based on the conviction that not only must the environmental and user-friendly design of the Urban Library of the Future be able to evolve along with new media, but it must also offer the possibility for future change of use. Withan open landscape, spaciousness, extensive views, alternative circulation routes, several meeting areas and a public plaza, the design for the library affords a renewal of its urban context.

The building is both fluid in form and accommodating to its surroundings. This is evidenced by its appearance – which varies according to the orientation – as well as from the decision to lift the building volume above ground level, thereby creating light, transparency and expansive sightlines. However the layered structure and low construction volume ensure that the impact of the design on the urban profile is minimal and that views to the characteristic towers of Gent are preserved. The structure also makes it possible to introduce (green) roof terraces whilst also ensuring low levels of direct sunlight penetration. Read the rest of this entry »

Carpal Skin is a prototype designed by Neri Oxman for a protective glove to protect against Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, a medical condition in which the median nerve is compressed at the wrist, leading to numbness, muscle atrophy, and weakness in the hand. Night-time wrist splinting is the recommended treatment for most patients before going into carpal tunnel release surgery. Carpal Skin is a process by which to map the pain-profile of a particular patient—its intensity and duration—and to distribute hard and soft materials to fit the patient’s anatomical and physiological requirements, limiting movement in a customized fashion. The form-generation process is inspired by animal coating patterns in the control of stiffness variation. Read the rest of this entry »