World’s tallest skyscrapers could be built in Wuhan, China. British architectural practice Chetwoods proposed Phoenix Towers – iconic landmark within an ambitious environmental master plan for the capital of central China. At one kilometer high the Phoenix Towers will be the tallest pair of buildings in the world. Arching bridge-like over the surrounding boulevards, each tower will have a unique personality and attributes: the Feng tower will lean towards the commercial zone, the Huang tower towards the cultural and recreational zone.

The project’s key emphasis is on the harmonious combination of 21st century Western technological know-how and experience with Chinese tradition and culture. In response to the Client’s wish to develop a new style of architecture that emphasizes Chinese identity, the use of a pair of towers reflects the dualist elements of Chinese culture in contrast to a more Western monolithic form.

The scheme will provide the environmental catalyst to re-invigorate the city, actively avoiding the disastrous consequences of developments elsewhere in China. It will form the nucleus of a wider green strategy linking Wuhan’s lakes environmentally and socially with the region’s landmark destinations and lake district along a 20 kilometers Green Wall of China to a new lakeside cultural tourist destination. Environmental features used in design include lightweight photo-voltaic cladding; thermal chimneys; suspended air gardens; wind turbines; water harvesting/recycling; waste recycling via biomass boilers; hydrogen fuel cells at ground level. The towers will generate their own power requirement while contributing to the surrounding district. Read the rest of this entry »

Barkow Leibinger’s “Kinetic Wall” is a prototype created for the 14th International Architecture Biennale „Fundamentals“ in Venice. The installation revisits the utopian dream of an architecture that can move, kinetically, first realized in the 20th century through modernism. This addition culminates an historical evolution of wall making – stone, brick, wood, glass partition, in the context of the Wall Room at the „Elements of Architecture“exhibition.

Surface – the wall – movement is activated by a series of motorized points which extend and retract that transform an elastic translucent synthetic fabric into a topographical section of peaks and valleys. This movement transforms the exhibition visitor’s corridor between the “Kinetic Wall” and the adjacent glass partition wall into a differentiated arch-like space. The limited and changing width of the passage ensures an immediate, intimate, and corporal relationship with the viewer-visitor. A digitally controlled choreography enables endless surface patterns, which emerge slowly then recede and change. This visual- surface effect is further enhanced by the two layers of grid fabric which when shifted over each other produce a moiré effect, a second scale of movement that is translucent and ephemeral.

This surface supported by a space frame containing a mechanical plenum produces a new kind of malleable poché – a material thickness. The lightweight laminated timber scaffolding – space frame is an anchoring framework for the fabric and houses the mechanisms that activate the surface. The wall has an apparent front and back but one where both sides of the skin are visible simultaneously. A “Kinetic Wall” offers an alternative future, an architecture that is materially and spatially dynamic of both natural and synthetic and recycled materials. Read the rest of this entry »

Dutch practice Mecanoo Architecten worked together with Delhi’s Archohm, in order to design pavilions for the design campus at the Design Village in Delhi, India. The idea was that The Design Village would be generated along a central spine called the Ducth path, where pavilions will be placed with the aim of creating social catalysts by solving the daily needs of the users this campus.

One of the focus points of the Dutch path pavilions is to analyze and criticize their conventional program and function and reinvent them in a new innovative point of view to the typical functions required in a university campus. This way the designers would influence the future designers and show them that design can be a tool to solve people’s primary needs, and innovation is a continuous process for progress.

Rather than simply addressing the typical function of a convenience store – buying and selling, the pavilion aims at creating social encounters around it. Reinventing the conventional Indian “kinara store” by the opposition to the concept of closed introvert convenience store, exposing its most primary function to the exterior, it becomes the shopping social center of the Dutch path that is a magnet to attract interaction and enable chance of encounters.

The pavilion design and concept is based on modesty, openness, transparency and sustainability by using the natural resources that provides its surroundings, academic architecture principles and local construction system. With the motto that form follows anything, it criticizes the current trending of irresponsible iconic architecture. It solves first issues of shelter, shield, light, ventilation, function, structure, construction, etc. Form will come, it will follow its principles, avoiding pretentious forms and making it typical it will become special. The project pretends to be an example of simplicity and architecture principles, serving as a learning experience for the future students of the Design Village which will be the users of this building. Read the rest of this entry »

Zaha Hadid Architects competed 3,000 square-foot Stuart Weitzman Flagship store in Milan. It is created in playful dialogue of geometries which further create a rhythm of folds and recesses, shaped by functional considerations. Central design pieces and display units have been designed to showcase the collection while also providing seating. The design creates interior landscape, rooted in monochromatic palette. An intricate combination of materials and construction technologies has defined the spatial experience in the store. The modular seating and display elements have been constructed in fiberglass, dipped in rose gold.

The store walls and ceilings are made in glass-reinforced concrete, which shows solidity together with precision of complex curvatures, which generate focal points and areas for display. The design concept of the store is divided into variant and adaptive elements. Enabling the design to establish unique relationship within each world-ride location, the space had to be recognized at the same time as Stuart Weitzman store. Additional flagship stores are planned to be strategically located around the world – starting from Hong Kong, Rome and New York.

This vivid interior, chic and joyful but shaped after ergonomic needs is a statement design,which offers breathtaking experience to the customer, due to both fashion and architectural pieces. At Stuart Weitzman they state that this was a major new initiative that will help achieve the next phase of growth and raise brand recognition worldwide. They believe that the marriage of Zaha Hadid’s architecture and the very collection will create one-of-a-kind retail experience. Read the rest of this entry »

LAVA– Laboratory for Visionary Architecture designed Jeju Hills Hotel Resort for Korea – the island will house a luxurious hotel designed as another landform. JeJu is a mountainous volcanic landform located in the south east of South Korea. The island acts as a major holiday destination for South Koreans, as well as the Chinese and Japanese, as a result of its unique location between the three East Asian nations. The beautiful natural landscape and its seasonal variation attracts locals and holidaymakers alike. The island is home to the world heritage Hallasan volcano and lava tubes, a national icon and tourist destination.

The hotel is designed as a landform. ‘Valleys and canyons’, generated as a topological structure, form 2000 rooms around a terracing facade and internal courtyard rooms around interconnected open atrium spaces. These spaces connect to form a continuous green landscape throughout the interior of the hotel creating a natural atmosphere. This landscape continues to the canyon between the two sinuous residential zones, accentuating the connection with the beachfront forest over which they look. The whole development forms continuous landscape, within and out. The hotel also houses a cinema, restaurants, aquarium, waterfront promenade and marina seamlessly interact with a continuous shopping and retail experience. These activities seamlessly interact with the natural beauty of JeJu.

The development is 600,000 square meters in total, with the highest volumes reaching 77 meters. Organic in form, it represents the perfect continuation of the natural landscape of the island, minimizing visual impact. Read the rest of this entry »

BIG’s addition to the Maison des Fondateurs will be located among of the historical complex of workshops and factories in Le Brassus, Switzerland, in the heart of La Vallée de Joux. Its organization and architecture embodies the core values of Audemars Piguet. It had to be characterized by the independent spirit of the family owned company that has retained autonomy over the years, making it a game changing innovator in a field governed by rules and traditions.

This spiral proposal is rooted in the heritage of watch-making in La Vallée de Joux that goes back centuries and is nested in the nature and culture of the place and the people of the valley. And finally it had to incorporate the inner tension that characterizes Audemars Piguet and resonates throughout the brand, the craft and the designs as captured in the motto – to break the rules you must first master them. La Maison des Fondateurs is conceived as an oxymoron, striking but subtle, contemporary yet timeless. Functional and sculptural. Floating yet rooted. Local presence with a global resonance.

The spiral landmark is seamlessly integrated in the local landscape. The architecture aimed to be contemporary yet timeless in order to blend with the historical buildings and to create an intuitive sequence of spaces – old and new. A pavilion for the art and science of watch making is conceived as storyline for the visitors – every element governed by the functional requirements of the exhibition, appears as a striking sculpture conceived in a single gesture. Read the rest of this entry »

Arup engineers pushed the boundaries of 3D printing – by using the latest techniques – additive manufacturing – the team has created a design method for critical structural steel elements for use in more complex projects. The work gives a whole new direction for the use of additive manufacturing in the field of construction and engineering. The research also shows that additive manufacturing has the potential to significantly reduce costs, cut waste and slash the carbon footprint of the construction sector, which is essential in an era of environmental awareness.

Salomé Galjaard, Team Leader at Arup, states that by using additive manufacturing it is possible to create lots of complex individually designed pieces far more efficiently. This has tremendous implications for reducing costs and cutting waste. Most importantly, this approach potentially enables a very sophisticated design, without the need to simplify the design in a later stage to lower costs.

They created a redesign of a steel node for a light weight structure using additive manufacturing. Arup has a lot of experience with these kinds of structures, for example the tensegrity structure of the Kurilpa Bridge in Australia. The complex geometry of these kinds of nodes is an ideal showcase of the possibilities of this new technique.

Arup funded the development work and collaborated with a number of partners to realize the designs, including WithinLab (an engineering design software and consulting company), CRDM/3D Systems (the Additive Manufacturing partner) and EOS, who worked on the early development of the technology. Read the rest of this entry »

In an era which could be defined by dominant need of representation of the power and by inevitable environmental awareness on the other side, LAVA’s concept for the Oromia Bank Tower in Oromia, Ethiopia brings the promising compromise – it creates an environmentally responsive icon, inspired by the local cultural identity and uses nature’s fluid geometry to be both efficient and beautiful. The façade design references waterfalls, the fine texture of local woven baskets, whilst the rich colors of opals highlight the significance of this national institution.

High-tech methodology of the tower combined with local construction and delivery techniques create a sophisticated tower borne out of a strong sense of place. Simply organized, the sky-scraper consists of an iconic main banking hall on the ground floor with 20 levels of office space above.

More with less has been achieved by the innovative integration of structure and environmental control systems. A façade of external fins controls solar gain and reflects light deep into the floor space, saving energy. The tower’s upper levels step back to give way to a spectacular rooftop cafe, complete with a solar harvesting open-air roof canopy. Optimized site boundaries, maximized plot coverage, adaptability for future proofing and efficient floor plate dimensions all combine to create a tower that is at once iconic, efficient and forecasts a strong future direction for the city.

Oromia Bank Tower project by Laboratory for Visionary Architecture is a competition proposal, done together with JDAW Battle McCarthy Architects. Read the rest of this entry »

Apertures by B+U. photo: Joshua White

Within the discipline of Architecture, the discussion of fields, networks, and smooth transitions has dominated the dialogue over the past 15 years. Rooted in philosophical models by Deleuze, systems theory, and parametricism, it has influenced many generations of architects. Parametricism promotes a relational ontology in which entities have no autonomous reality and are based on “continuous differentiation;” everything is connected, everything flows.

This position of an architecture rooted in dynamism and deterritoriali-zation is being opposed by a radically different approach, giving way to a contemporary design practice working with discrete figures that cannot be entirely understood through its pristine digital relations. This position is one that is obsessed with capturing qualities that would appear to be incongruous by incorporating analog features into a digital design process. The installation Apertures, designed for the SCI-Arc Gallery, is firmly positioned within this approach.

Apertures are the architectural catalysts for the installation design, being defined as objects within a larger building object that differ from its host in terms of morphology and performance. They are disruptive features to the overall building mass, but are able to interact with their environment, focusing on a symbiotic relationship between nature, building morphologies, and material expression.

Apertures have been an ongoing topic in our work, challenging the notion of an architectural opening as a static object by re-defining the DNA of a window, both in terms of its appearance and materiality, as well as its nature as an object in continuous flux, responding to its environment through movement or sound.

The 16-foot-tall, thin shell structure was designed to solely rely on its extremely thin surface (1/8”) as support, requiring no additional structural elements. Structure and surface are collapsed into a single component supported through its shape, creased surfaces and material strength only. Each one of the 172 panels is unique in terms of its shape. They are CNC milled from polyurethane foam, heat formed out of thermoplastic polymer resin, and then laminated together into a single object.

Unique to this project is the proposal of building as organism, challenging how architecture can interface with its users and its environment in a much more intuitive way. This entails both the use of technology to augment its performance and a design aesthetic that is incongruous and can incorporate analog features into a digital design process.

The project also offers a radically new design approach to sustainable design, emphasizing an Architecture in-between nature and technology that can operate as an interactive building organism where multiple discrete features operate simultaneously and independently. In this case sound is used to bridge the gap between the natural and the artificial, allowing the visitor to experience their own biorhythms.

Baumgartner+Uriu (B+U) Herwig Baumgartner and Scott Uriu, the founders of Baumgartner+Uriu (B+U), are an internationally recognized design duo operating at the forefront of contemporary design. Their design process can be described as driven by digital techniques and advanced computation that utilizes new technologies and material resources. B+U’s work consistently pushes the boundaries of architecture and urban design, experimenting with new spatial concepts, and intensifying existing urban landscapes in pursuit of a visionary aesthetic that encompasses all fields of design.

B+U recently exhibited at the FRAC Center in Orleans, France; the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France; the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, California; and the 12th Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy.

Two monographs have been published on Baumgartner and Uriu’s work. It has also been widely published and discussed in books, magazines and newspapers. The firm was recently awarded with the Maxine Frankel Award for design research, the AIA national award for emerging professionals and the Architizer A+Award for sustainability and the Graham Grant for advanced studies in Fine Arts. Read the rest of this entry »

The Scitech mixed-use redevelopment by UNStudio is located on a crossing point of traditional and modern developments in Beijing, China. The site is adjacent to the city’s east-west central axis leading to the Tiananmen Square. UNStudio’s massing strategy for the plot focuses on creating optimal links between the mixed-use programming of the redevelopment, whilst interweaving a dense low rise development with a high rise component. Simultaneously, through phasing the redevelopment, the existing retail mall is integrated into the design from the outset.

In the low rise portion of the new development, a series of connected courtyards organize the different programs around the user flows to form an urban carpet, providing outdoor and indoor spaces which combine programs through internal and external links. This five to seven storey high podium is designed as an undulating landscape that organizes the traffic flows on its perimeters, whilst providing interior green and sheltered spaces for pedestrian access. The towers emerge from the low rise base and provide singular usage for hotel and office premises. In the intersection with the low rise podium, functions are allocated accordingly to create maximum synergy between activities in the low rise zone and the towers. The public zones in the towers are highlighted by connected atria and voids.

The podium is primarily dedicated to retail function with five levels underground and eight levels above ground, including spa and conference facilities located within the upper floor and roof-scape. Three underground levels provide parking facilities, and the remaining two house a supermarket, food court and programmatically arranged drop offs to sustain the ground level for pedestrians. These levels have visual links and vertical circulation to the upper levels through a series of voids. The main circulation concept utilizes clustered atriums instead of one central atrium. This concept enables stretched diagonal visual and physical links as well as local aggregations of varied atmospheres. Read the rest of this entry »