It is finally revealed that Dubai has been chosen to host the 2020 World Expo. HOK, teamed with Populous and Arup, has developed the master plan for the expo and more then 25 million visitors are expected to be drawn from October 2020 through April 2021. The plan is futuristic but it also pays homage to Emirati heritage and culture. Dubai will become the first Middle Eastern city to host this event in its 150-year long history.

HOK’s plan reflects great qualities of the city and the form and spirit of a World Expo, with its mixture of education, innovation and entertainment. The site is on the southwestern edge of Dubai in Jebel Ali, near Dubai’s new Al Maktoum International Airport and Jebel Ali Port. Read the rest of this entry »

Jenny Sabin’s Greenhouse and Cabinet of Future Fossils was Commissioned by the American Philosophical Society Museum, funded by Heritage Philadelphia Program, a program of The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. This greenhouse for the 21^st century is located in the garden of American Philosophical Society. It is conceived by artist, researcher and architectural designer Jenny Sabin and it is an outgrowth of the Museum’s current exhibition.

Sabin’s ecologically savvy structure re-envisions greenhouse architecture using digital design tools while it also represents a striking and playful work of art. It is made of recycled and recyclable materials and it is 52’-long. The structure has no glass and requires no heat. The curving, structural ribs are the structural support of this futuristic greenhouse and they hold 110 translucent, jewel-toned cold frames – mini-greenhouses, filled with edible and ornamental plants. he 2’ x 1’ x 1’ cold frames are removable and portable, intended for winter gardening in small urban spaces. Read the rest of this entry »

Deployability is a project by LabStudio, that features a structure – a deployable system that combines two types of connections that allow for a locally responsive deployment. the first connection type – the scissor joint, has one degree of movement. The opposing top and bottom joints are connected by a strut which requires a simultaneous movement between every top and bottom connection. A structure built with purely scissor joints is limited to even deployment.

Deployable structure is understood through its surface packing and its part to part connections. These two readings of deployable structures are applied to two main points of connections with in an acini that effect surface conditions. First one is cell to stromal extracellular matrix (ECM) connection and second one is cell to cell adhesion.

During the morphogentic process in breast cell duct formation, in the words of the researchers from LabStudio, the extra-cellular matrix responds and reacts to various stimuli from the external and internal environments, continuously transforming the surface depending on site specific conditions. The internal cells are connected to the ECM and respond to these changes creating a continuous feedback loop. This response system is explored through abstracting the packing behavior and cell – cell relationships of two different cases 1. tenascin- C untreated breast cells 2. tenascin- C treated breast cells. Read the rest of this entry »

The architecture acts in and upon the city through mediums of code-building codes, zoning codes, civil, social, environmental codes,etc. It should be less considered the simple design of objects – it is more the configuration of multiple and differentiated codes into new sequences and relations. The code is a systematic arrangement of relationships that specifies the legitimate and illegitimate function of the objects and behaviors. The contemporary city is one dense mesh of codes, overlapping into frantic dialogue. Whatever the design begins from –  politics, economics and finance, the codes always exist in advance.

Unlike in a conventional design method, this design project required to encode and test whether the intended code worked properly or not. In order to encode the specific code, the group of GSD Harvard students, authors of this project, researched Tokyo city. Unlike other cities, Tokyo has evolved based on train transportation system, and it has diversified local culture at every station. The interesting fact is that Tokyo still has a form of livable city, despite his very dense populated condition. Read the rest of this entry »

BIG Architects won the competition for designing the Museum of Human Body in Montpelier, France. Le Cité du Corps Humain, as the project title is in French, is conceived as a confluence of the park and the city – or the nature and architecture – bookending the Charpak Park along with the Montpellier city hall. The urban pavement and the parks turf flow together in an embrace, while forming pockets of terraces, overlooking the park and elevating islands of nature above the city.

The form of the museum resembles the seismic fault line, and the architectural crusts of planet earth are lifted and mingled in order to form an underlying continuous space of niches and caves, lookouts and overhangs. The series of singular pavilions weave together to form a unified institution, almost as individual fingers united together in a grip. Read the rest of this entry »

A new architecture slowly redefines the urban landscape of Rome historic center. Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas are the architects behind the project of refurbishment of the ex “Unione Militare” building situated between Via del Corso and Via Tomacelli that crosses the four floors of the building from the ground-floor up to the panoramic terrace with a view of the dome of the Basilica of Saint Ambrose and Carlo al Corso.

Outside interventions are minor – the architecture of the facades has been highlighted through alight design intervention, which gives a touch of contemporary to the building whilst putting it in connection to the city. However, the large “Lantern” is the symbol of the project – the very heart of the intervention. It contains the vertical connections, the service and accessory rooms as well as part of the plants. The full-height void created by lantern offers a glimpse along the structure. The part of it which acts as a roofing reaches height of 7.5 meters and accommodates huge panoramic restaurant space. Viewed from the city, the lantern appears as an irregular mirror during the day, while at night it takes on the shape of a large lamp. In the evening, the facades of the building light up and look like a theater set, the atmospheres change and the audience can enjoy from the outside the internal show of lights and colors. Read the rest of this entry »

On November 21 OMA finally marked the completion of De Rotterdam, mixed-use vertical city on the river Maas. Efficiency has been very important or even central design parameter from day one, as they stated in OMA. The extreme market play directed the course of the project, but that has been far from a design constraint and in fact has reinforces the original concept. The overall result is a dense, vibrant building for the city, in words of Ellen van Loon, partner in charge. With the completion of the building, a critical mass has been established on the Kop van Zuid, realizing the long-established vision of a second city center south of the Maas.

The building – De Rotterdam – is named after one of the ships on the Holland America Line, which transported emigrants from Europe to New York from the Wilhelmina Pier, next to which the building is located.

The high-rise is composed of the three stacked and interconnecting towers, 44 floors high and with a width of over 100 meters. The building is highly compact, and program mix is organized into distinct, overlapping blocks of commercial office space, residential apartments, hotel and conference facilities, restaurants and cafes. Office employees, residents and hotel guests are brought together in conference, sport and restaurant facilities. The building’s shared plinth is the location of the lobbies to each of the towers, creating a public hub by means of a common hall. Read the rest of this entry »

Surya represents a solution for Dallas – an option which didn’t require changing the construction of Museum Tower or the Nasher, due to intense “hot spot” caused by the tower’s very reflective skin. Designed by New York based practices REX and Front, this 400-foot sun-responsive proposal shields Nasher from the Museum Tower. The dynamic, ever-changing structure carefully tracks the daily reflections caused by the Museum and generates unique compositions, therefore presenting an icon, an identifying symbol for the Dallas Arts District.

In order to precisely determine the intervention’s extents, the harmful reflections for the Museum Tower were mapped at each time of day, every day for one year, on a vertical plane which separated Museum from the Nasher. As a result, analyses gave the rough shape of the 343 feet tall and 168 feet wide silhouette which would act as a perfect shield. Read the rest of this entry »

3xLP by Christopher Romano and Nicholas Bruscia has finally been announced as the winner of SKIN – the international digital fabrication competition, organized by TEX-FAB Digital Fabrication Alliance. Regarding the jury, TEX-FAB invited five leading figures in the world of digital fabrication and parametric design to jury the competition with a global understanding and presence within the digital design and fabrication communities. Their goal was to enable the role of digital fabrication and parametric design at the speculative level.

The competition began with 68 entries from 14 countries and the first round ended in July. It seems it was no hard task for the jury back then – the entry was selected without much deliberation and with just few comments on how small undulations or changing panels can have dramatic impact from the viewing standpoint moving around the building, boldness of the prototype and super clean design. The jury was impressed by the depth of their engagement with the primary concepts and the way they have engaged with the manufacturer in order to test and investigate those ideas. Read the rest of this entry »

BBK Bank Headquarters in Bilbao, Spain, by Zaha Hadid Architects is under construction. This 25,000 square meter tower represents the future headquarters for a socially-conscious savings bank and it will be sited at the south-eastern end point of Zorrotzaurre peninsula, facing central Bilbao, offering wide views onto the river and the famous Guggenheim Museum. At Zaha Hadid Architects, they consider this project eventual continuation of what they have started while ago with their master plan for Zorrotzaurre.

The tower will contain office support spaces – shared meeting rooms and seminar rooms, amenities, charitable activities space and an auditorium, in addition to their own office facilities. As the site called for strong architectural statement, the proposal set out very sculptural form derived from two star-shaped plans rotated 45 degrees from each other, at the top and the bottom of the tower. The outcome of their merger is the profile that changes as the view angle changes.

The very visible structural exo-skeleton serves both as primary structure and the sub-structure for the curtain wall. Together with structural core it acts as the only structure needed – interior columns are completely eliminated. Read the rest of this entry »