OMA’s entry for 425 Park Avenue competition, awarded to Foster and Partners, in their own words proposes one aesthetics, oscillating between nearly exhausted orthogonality and a still immature curvaceousness. Shohei Shigematsu, in charge of New York office, and Rem Koolhaas were project leaders for the competition that brought together international practices such as Atelier Christian de Portzamparc, Ateliers Jean Nouvel, Herzog & de Meuron, KPF, Maki and Associates, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Richard Meier, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects.

The form of the high-rise was the response to Manhattan’s zoning laws for commercial buildings, requiring a silhouette from which it is almost impossible to escape. OMA’s interpretation was slightly different – the three cubes are connected by curved planes of the envelope, reflecting the city and the sky, and creating smooth transition from cubes of different sizes. Stacked, one on top of another, cubes alter in dimensions – the lowest one is a solid block on Park Avenue while the smallest one is on top, rotated 45 degrees. Read the rest of this entry »

This small scale experimental theater in Taiyuan, China, is one of the latest projects of Los Angeles based practice, Yaohua Wang. Located at a cross road in Taiyuan Yin Ze District, this mechanical wonder is an investigation, setting new standards for theater design. Due to its interactive nature, it offers one dynamic space experience – as the audience climbs up the stairs to get access to the theater, the entire site context around the theater is changing and revealed.

The theater building consists of two main spaces, stacked vertically. The envelope of the performance space is sound proof glass, therefore providing great view to the city and creating exiting relationship between private, art activity and the public space.

The structural system lifts the theater up from the ground, in order to create public outdoor shelter space. The structure of the stage can be lowered down, through a mechanical system so it connects to the backstage, which is under the performance space. Simultaneously, artists can elevate and disappear in front of the audience, through the same system. This active and surprising theater experience opens whole new horizon of opportunities for architects, designing performance facilities. Read the rest of this entry »

“Lotus Dome,” interactive artwork by artist and architect Daan Roosegaarde, is a living dome made out of hundreds of ultralight aluminum flowers that fold open in response to human behavior.

When approached, the big silver dome lights up and opens its flowers. Its behavior moves from soft breathing to dynamic mood when more people interact. The light slowly follows people, creating an interactive play of light and shadow. The graphic representations of the lotus flower on the walls, and the deep bass sound, transforms the Renaissance environment into a “Techno-Church.”

The smart Lotus foil is specially developed by Studio Roosegaarde and their manufacturers, and is made from several thin layers of Mylar that fold open and close when touched by light. This high-tech craftsmanship is similar to the innovative thinking of the church’s architecture of the 16th century. Roosegaarde: “We’re updating Renaissance.” Read the rest of this entry »

An experimental music hall as an extension of old power plant building in Bratislava is a narrative in itself proposed by Miro Straka from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava. It tells a story of architecture as well as story of its own, fairy tale celebrated by a modern man – cinematic cliché. How to reinvent figurative ornamentation in architecture in a way it would engage our imagination? Greek mythology is no longer common knowledge – just a nostalgic memory of the past. However, new symbols and meanings arose with birth of pop-culture. Stories which everyone can understand and interpret – Optimus Prime as new atlas, carrying weight of humanity on his shoulders, Or Darth Vader as symbol of despotic power.

Straightforward principles (of old building) in contrast with restless and surprising organization, where linear structure is replaced by unexpected spaces and the austerity of reinforced concrete twisted into constantly changing mass without any visible language logic. Seemingly useless and unreadable object opposed to repetitiveness and predictability of present and planned design. With mass customization and big scale printing modularity loses its present reasons, that is where blending come in, connecting not fitting or related objects not based on their shape but rather on their meaning, where bricks are used in modularity anything(batman) can be used in blending. Read the rest of this entry »

This winning proposal for Musée de la Romanité in Nimes, France, by Elizabeth de Portzamparc had to deal with a fragile situation which required respectful and exceptional dialogue – the building is located on the gate of the old city of Nimes, and emerging from the archaeological remains the it had to establish complex relation, made both of opposition and complementarity, with the two thousand years old antique Arenas of Nimes. The creation of the museum building was only a part of wider project, including urban regeneration of the „Grill“ plot, the museography, the archaeological garden landscaping and a feasibility study of a congress center and a hotel.

Two geometries coexist successfully – in contrast with the magnificence of the static, great stone volume, the Museum’s offers light and luminous presence of one fluid architecture. Acting as a gate of an urban promenade, museum reveals the Arenas through its transparent ground floor, which attracts and invites visitors inside. The building of the museum was designed to generate coherence in the city, the inventive museography within it and the archaeological garden that extends it. Read the rest of this entry »

The Chicago office of SOM | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP won an international competition for the Greenland Group Suzhou Center in Wujiang, China. This 358 meters high split-core tower is their sixth project with the Greenland Group. Key design feature for this high-rise is semi-controlled atrium acting as the “lung” of the building, maximizing daylight penetration and natural ventilation in the public spaces and the lobbies. Series of high efficiency measures were taken along the design process, with the objective to achieve a 60% savings in energy consumption and a 60% reduction in potable water use. This highly efficient landmark is a result of interdisciplinary collaboration and the serious commitment to elegant high performance design.

A set of high performance energy saving strategies include high performance façade – using cooler air at the higher levels for the natural ventilation, natural light harvesting, energy recovery systems, demand controlled ventilation and onsite energy center to capitalize on the overall load diversity of the development. The building is oriented to harness the stack effect and prevailing winds, through the east and west facades of the atrium. 30-story tall operable window provides significant environmental performance of the lakefront development, corresponding with the hotel and residential floors. Read the rest of this entry »

Architects at international office Sériès et Sériès believe that experiencing the drama of opera must begin with its vessel and therefore they advocate new role of opera house in creating a dramatic experience that begins before the curtains draw open and lasts well after. The Opera today not only represents cultural identity but is there to create and shape growing cultural awareness. It is no longer just a passive playground for elite but an interactive experience, responsive to our aspirations and expectations. It is place to meet and socialize in a common cultural context, a spectacle that requires whole new attractive, open and inviting typology.

Their competition proposal for Busan Opera House in South Korea aimed to create an “anomaly” in the sky – through the strategic use of standard building materials, the orientation of the masses and the deployment of specific programmatic sections. Desired castle in the sky is wrapped in a pattern of laminated, mirrored glass panels, creating continuum of illusions – of the public slipping beneath the sky and the building being erased by its own skin. Read the rest of this entry »

Inauguration of the new station took place in late 2012, six years after the restricted international competition was held. First phase of this winning entry is now completed – High speed train station in Logrono, by Abalos+Sentkiewicz Arquitectos, has finally welcomed its excited users.  This is only the beginning – wider redevelopment project consists of bus station, parking, housing, park and urbanization of the area. The park and the urbanization are still under construction.

Advocating the idea that the train station should actually act as a catalyst for urban continuity instead of disruptive element causing urban and social segregation, Iñaki Abalos, Renata Sentkiewitz and Alfonso Miguel designed a successful prototype for the new hybrid typology. Due to the fact that inter-modal station represents great opportunity for city transformation – creation of new public spaces, promotion of various means of mobility and an opportunity to create whole new topography of the given area, architects used this project as a tool for intensifying the experience of the city as a collective process. Read the rest of this entry »

In their design for Helsinki Central Library, PAR | Platform for Architecture + Research and Arup re-investigate public space and its relation to the important city landmarks. Their competition proposal was inspired by Helsinki’s expansive skyline, the urban development of Töölönlahti district and the rich Finnish heritage of social openness.

Prismatic volume of the library building, conceived in careful play of stacked spaces extruded to the maximum height, offers great variety of atmospheres. Public void on the ground level mimics urban surrounding, inviting visitors in. Programmatic strips are superposed and create very narrow building, optimized for Helsinki climate conditions as well as the library program. Six floors of the building are pointing in different directions – positioned along six main axes, all levels afford thoughtfully chosen views.

Strips feature 11.5 meters deep plates which enable flexibility in collections layout and maximize diffuse natural light – of crucial importance for the ideal reading environment of the library. The broad, undulating shape of the roof rises to a total height of 31.8 meters, sloping down to the northwestern end, where the roof is 22 meters lower.

The program of this glacier-like library is flexible, due to constantly changing, almost immaterial ways of accessing and sharing knowledge. Flexibility of the interior affords necessary level of adaptability to future alternatives. Open plan zones and freestanding shelving enable spontaneous configurations of the used space.

Led by zero carbon emission objective, the design of the Library was directed by package of necessary environmental analysis, aiming to optimize sustainable performance of the building form and crystal envelope. Used passive and active strategies such as site integration, natural light autonomy, high thermal performance facade, micro turbine cogeneration, recycled materials and natural summer ventilation reflect highest level of environmental awareness.

Inspiring entry for the Taiwanese Keelung Harbor Building competition by LA-based PAR | Platform for Architecture + Research and SES | Sériès et Sériès was one of five finalists, along with four international teams – Neil Denari, Asymptote, Mecanoo and ACDF. The aim of the architects was to propose highly contextual design solution which would generate and structure the open space it was part of. The outstanding form is a successful outcome of combining maximum efficiency with serious artistic aspirations – cantilevering edifice of the tower frames the space of the harbor, becoming its landmark.

Located at the end of Keelung’s harbor master plan, this proposal for the Terminal provides continuous open space, linking public and waterfront facilities. Green roof of the Terminal building generates landscape condition. By establishing continuity of the network, the waterfront and the port terminal development are planned to be within easy reach of many residents in the central city.

Prismatic structure of this proposal articulates permanently changing scenery and multiple angles of vision, therefore providing engaging and interactive user experience. Second architectural element, the Marine Plaza, is designed to bring the outside in, while the third – Harbor Tower, dominates the space, acting as a gate for the harbor. Terminal interiors and the roof are conceived as hybrid spaces, flexible and adaptable to various programs. Elevated public plaza encourages pedestrian flow, enabling continuous circulation. Read the rest of this entry »