Compresscity, designed by Master of Architecture graduate Garrett Ryan Miller from California College of the Arts, is a speculative architectural intervention  that allows for a more sophisticated cross-occupation of urban vacancies near commercial and industrial zones along the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle, Washington.

Read the rest of this entry »

Jessica Hernandez, Edgar Garcia, and Bing Bai of the Master of Architecture II, Geofutures Post Professional Program in Architecture and Urbanism at Rensselaer School of Architecture , under the guidance of the following faculty: Chris Perry and Andrew Saunders with Fleet Hower, propose an archipelago of remote islands which support a fragile ecology of marine wildlife, located in the Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii.

This design proposal references two twentieth century urban futurism precedents, Le Corbusier’s Plan Obus for Algiers (1933) and Paolo Soleri’s Novanoah (1969), and incorporates aspects of each while simultaneously proposing something entirely new:a large-scale, floating linear structure comprised of biodegradable materials harvested from the site itself. Read the rest of this entry »

The new regional head office of the United Nations is designed with clear references to the UN’s identity and values; it is a building that physically reaches out to all parts the world, while the sculptural staircase in its core reflects the UN’s work to create global dialogue.

Bringing together the various agencies and functions of the United Nations regional offices in Copenhagen, the new UN City is located at Marmormolen (The Marble Pier) north of Copenhagen’s city center. 3XN’s design is a response to the UN’s wishes for an iconic building expressing the organization’s values and authority. It reflects the independent, efficient and professional nature of each UN unit. Located on an artificial island the building is naturally separated from its immediate surroundings, while still being highly visible from both the city and the water. Read the rest of this entry »

This proposal concerning a housing scheme for the homeless and the creation of an agricultural park, located in the northern suburban area of Athens comes from Dionysis Gonatas and Vangelis Lantavos of Greece.

Lately in Greece, the debate regarding the state-owned property has been intensified. In the case of buildings, many of them are unfortunately in poor condition due to lack of maintenance or complete abandonment. On the other hand as a result of the economic crisis, a large number of citizens are at risk of poverty, while the number of homeless people, especially in large urban centers, has increased dramatically according to recent statistics. Read the rest of this entry »

“The Wave” is the new stand-design and concept for Toyota by German design-agency Déri that had its debut at Geneva-2013. The architecture of the stand reminds one of a wave in motion: dynamic, energetic and pure. Inspired by traditional Japanese paper craft, the idea of The Wave was born by just rolling a sheet of paper. Read the rest of this entry »

The competition for young architects on the Andriivskyi descent in Kyiv, Ukraine, aimed to create a concept for the former Yunist factory. The site redevelopment competition terms determined the cultural space as 10-15 per cent of the area linked to the Andriivskyi descent, and the rest of the one hectare was for commercial use. The competition provided the design of multifunctional cultural space with integrated chamber music hall. Read the rest of this entry »

With their design, von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (GMP) won the 1st prize of the international design competition for the Tianjin Exhibition Centre. Joining Shanghai and Guangzhou, Tianjin will be the third city to have an exhibition centre of internatio­nal importance to be built. With a total square area of 1.2 million square metres and dedicated exhibition floor space of 400,000 square metres, one of the world’s largest exhibition centres will be created in the east of China over the next few years.

The site is located at Tianjin Avenue, the main traffic artery which links Tianjin’s historic centre with the Binhai Development Area at the coast of the Yellow Sea. To the north, the site borders the river Haihe which is instrumental in shaping the character of the city. The exhibition ground’s central access avenue runs between these two poles and generates a spatial connection between the traffic artery and the waterway. Read the rest of this entry »

Deep in the heart of the Dordogne river valley, in the foothills of Montignac lies the Lascaux cave complex with its unique treasure trove of Paleolithic cave art. Discovered in 1940 by 3 boys chasing their runaway dog, the 2000 paintings within caused an international sensation that attracted visitors from every part of the world. In 1963 the paintings were so compromised by environmental exposure that the caves were permanently closed to the public.

Today, a new ambitious “Lascaux IV” is planned to re-establish this extraordinary world heritage site. After an international competition that attracted 88 entries, a team comprising of architects Snøhetta and Duncan Lewis and exhibition designers Casson Mann won the prestigious commission to create the new visitor center. Read the rest of this entry »

Studio BÄNG‘s winning entry for the IBA Basel competition to design a settlement for commuters in Rheinweiler, Germany is located at the Oberreihnische Tiefebene, a lowland plain at the Rhine. The connection to Freiburg and Basel sets the possibility for a commuter settlement. This design is focuses on the last part of the commuters’ daily way back home; the stage from station to bedroom.

The new settlement is composed of 3 different row-housing units. 28 of them form a structure that is slightly denser than the surrounding single-family housing units. Thus, lower building costs and a closer community is established. Various public and semi-public places in combination with private zones provide different stages of intimacy within the settlement. Habitants are free to choose the level of intimacy. Read the rest of this entry »

Sushant Verma and Pradeep Devadass of the AA School of Architecture in London, United Kingdom present adaptive[skins], an investigation into responsive building skin systems. These skins adapt to the dynamic environmental conditions to regulate the internal conditions in a habitable space over different periods of time by exhibiting a state of motion and dynamism. Heat and light are the primary parameters for regulation, leading to energy efficiency and dynamic spatial effects. Read the rest of this entry »