The following is a design proposal for the iSymphony Comprehensive Building Design Studio by Garrett Ryan Miller and Mike Atherton, Master of Architecture students attending California College of the Arts in San Francisco, California

The design proposal is a redefinition of the conert hall typology through past, present, and future parameters. The reason for this approach is that there is a movement towards open sources, highly accessible music rather than a music industry of exclusivity and ownership. Geographical, Climatic, and Experiential parameters were chosen to inform the project at each phase of design. The form of the building was derived by both speculative and current conditions. Susceptible to flooding in the near future due to elevation, poor soil quality, and rising sea levels, the site will have to deal very intimately with a fluctuating water table. By raising up the building, the flooded terrain can exist underneath the building, requiring less of an architectural resistance. Wind patterns have helped derive the shape of the building’s swooped stance, while a twisting of the form allows for the building to orient itself with views of the new master plan and the East Bay. Read the rest of this entry »

The Heart of the Metropolis is a proposal for a new central library in the city of Helsinki. The building takes its inspiration from the city and nearby surroundings. It is a volume shooting out from the ground, like many other places in Helsinki rocks naturally appear as popping out in the city centre.

The building is interacting with people on a human scale, by making it possible for people to walk on top of the sloped roof. The sloped roof drags the surrounding park on top of the building, and connects the building with its surroundings. The building is pointed towards the surrounding parkland and the bay, which gives a great view from the inside and from the roof. Read the rest of this entry »

The Tumamac Habitat Center designed by Daniel Caven is situated near the foot of the Tumamac Hill, within Tucson Arizona. The site is between the city and the Tumamac Hill, creating a disconnection between city and natural environment. The center is designed around the idea of adaption to its surroundings and its inhabitants.  Just as plants and animals in the desert have to adapt to changing environments through water retention and swelling, the Tumamac Habitat Center adapts and evolves to its daily usage. Read the rest of this entry »

Chroma[RED] is an interactive installation designed by architect Carlos Moncada at Sci-Arc which has placed in public and semipublic spaces in Los Angeles, California. This project is focused on the perception of the object inside the space in order to stimulate people to experience a new recreation of it through interaction. Each individual experience makes invisible tangible limits, developing a dialogue that induces the observer to create new limits, dynamics and interpretations of the space. Read the rest of this entry »

Commissioned by the Centre Pompidou for its permanent collection, the wooden model suspended within a glass case explores the principles of responsive architecture. When the humidity level within the case rises, the system reacts by ventialting the air without any equipment or electricity.

The project is a result of a five year long research, exploring architectural systems that respond to climatic changes without any additional technology. The breathing of the structure is enabled by using wood and relying on anisotropy (physcical properties related to grain direction), and hygroscopicity (wood’s ability to absorb moisture when dry and releasing moisture into the atmosphere when wet). The sensitivity to moisture generates shape changes. Read the rest of this entry »

Anticipating the unpredictable climate conditions, the future Thai house is composed of different  levels of resilient segments. It allows water to flood an entire area, without causing damages. The roof is a detachable element that can become an emergency floating structure, once the water gets too high for residents to survive in the house. On regular circumstances, the roof is a terrace with a garden. Read the rest of this entry »

Design group N55 teamed with architect Anne Romme to create a lightweight, easy to assemble greenhouse based on un-repeating cellular structures. The SPACEPLATES Greenhouse, South Bristol Skills Academy at City of Bristol College, is a part of a series of structures that use low tech materials to create modular greenhouses without substructure supports. Read the rest of this entry »

10 DESIGN and Buro Happold have won the international design competition for the key signature gateway bridge for the new Shizimen Business District in Zhuhai, China. The feature bridge is the gateway entry to south China’s new planned commercial hub and also marks the connection of the Shizimen Canal to the Pearl River Delta.

Working together in one of their first collaborations the 10 and Buro Happold team set out to create a simple and elegant structural solution for a bridge that would be a visual focal point both within the Shizimen District itself and along the Pearl River Delta coastline. Read the rest of this entry »

A team of 3XN architects, Aarhus Architects, Nickl & Partner Architechten, Grontmij and Kirstine Jensen Studio has won the prestigious competition for the expansion of Copenhagen’s main hospital, Rigshospitalet, which is expected to be completed in early 2017

The winning proposal for the 76,000 m2 extension of Copenhagen’s most centrally located hospital ensures efficient and timesaving logistics, while daylight, green spaces and views of the neighboring park contribute to the wellbeing of patients, staff and visitors.

The building’s shape is characterized by a series of folded v-structures together with a transversal fast track. This unique structure receives praise from the competition’s jury committee: “The benefits for the hospital’s core services are immense. The structure will have a positive impact on the everyday of the staff in the wards, it will give the service personnel the opportunity to effectively move around in the building, and not least, it will give the hospital the opportunity to offer patients more calm and clarity ( ..)” Read the rest of this entry »

X|Atelier is organizing an international intensive workshops of Advanced Architectural Design, part of an ongoing academic research, which introduces participants into contemporary discussions of formal exploration in Architecture and Art, through technical attainment of design and production. Omni(progra)chromatic by X|A is under the auspices of Benaki Museum, the Hellenic Institute of Architecture and the Athens School of Fine Arts. It is an opportunity for architects, students of Architecture and Art, professionals, designers and artists to challenge new territories. Read the rest of this entry »