Maggie’s Aberdeen Center by Snøhetta will continue Maggie’s legacy of bringing contemplative architectural to hospital sites; providing the all important right environment for Maggie’s to facilitate their programme of emotional and practical support to anyone affected by cancer.

A string of talented architects have now designed Maggie’s Centres, including the likes of Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas. Snohetta will follow in such footsteps to design the latest Maggie’s Centre, and will draw on local expertise to realise the vision of the Centre.

Laura Lee, Maggie’s CEO, said: “We are so pleased that the application is now under consideration by the council. The design for Maggie’s Aberdeen is really striking and encapsulates the Maggie’s brief in providing a space that is homely and full of warmth, whilst sparking curiosity and imagination from its visitors. This is a building that will first and foremost provide the ideal environment for people facing cancer in the region to gain support, whilst also greatly contributing to architecture within the region. Monty’s Maggie’s Appeal has inspired a fantastic response from the community and I look forward to entering 2012 with such a tenacious and supportive team.” Read the rest of this entry »

The White Elephant is a building inside a building. It’s a 10’x10’x10’ object which can assume different positions and orientations in space, while maintaining its basic purpose. “Somewhere between a super-furniture and a small house”, as the creators state, it is robust and sheltering, but also soft and inviting. Through use of digital fabrication, the piece is assembled, with its core accessible to visitors. It is a small scale experiment that engages with general issues of spacial versatility- the ability of built space to transform, conforming to its users as well as surroundings. The object is exhibited at Land of Tomorrow (LOT) Gallery in Louisville and designed by Jimenez Lai, Thomas Kelley, Cyrus Penarroyo, Andrew Akins, with Jimenez Lai as design leader. Read the rest of this entry »

©Marcos Betanzos - Acapulco Chair

The Acapulco Chair is one of the most celebrated chair designs of the 20th Century. It is an anonymous design that emerged in the 1950’s in Hollywood’s favorite beach destination: Acapulco, Mexico.

The chair was born next to the famous “La Quebrada” divers cliff, a place visited by Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and where John and Jacqueline Kennedy headed for their honeymoon.

The design enjoyed continuous success for almost five decades – being a designer’s favorite for its clean lines and comfort. It was manufactured by several artisanal workshops in Mexico, slowly disappearing from the market at the turn of the 21st Century.

After several design improvements, the chair is once again available with Electrostatic powder-coated steel frame and recycled UV filtered PVC woven cord shell, which makes it ideal for indoor and outdoor use.

The chair is available at thecommonproject, a design initiative based in Los Angeles, Barcelona, and Mexico City. In addition to this classic design, thecommonproject offers a stunning rocking chair version, as well as a kid’s size in both designs. Subtle and vibrant cord colors are the perfect accessory for any location. Read the rest of this entry »

Under rapid housing developments in the past years, Hong Kong has benefited much in terms of economy. However, important values such as value in sense of community and individual identity were lost. This thesis hereby critically reviews current and past housing projects in Hong Kong and stating the notion of verticality as the only solution. The ambition is a new alternative high-rise residential typology, in which its inhabitants are given unique units and allocations in accordance to specific zoning strategy within a tower structure, thus creating a phenomenal living experience through bonding and acquiring needs by each and every single individual. It is a re-interpretation of the balance between genericity and specificity aiming at formulating an extraordinary democratic living concept. Read the rest of this entry »

Combining urban scales with landscape planning, the concept for Netanya city center proposes a space for a wide range of activities and services: cultural, commercial, social etc. Designed by Yaniv Pardo Architects, the building will emphasize accessibility and transparency of the municipal and communal services. It will link the existing city landmarks, the city square and shopping center and will also comprise a large car park servicing not only the municipal building but also the surrounding facilities. The redesign will hopefully activate the somewhat dormant city core and provide an inviting public space to its residents. Read the rest of this entry »

“Architecture has to perform as an ecosystem within the organic tissue of the city.”

The intention of the Bionic Tower is to explore the array of ways in which natural and architectural can merge, creating the ultimate inhabitable structure. It starts at the basic level. Using references to the biological organization of the ecosystem, the design works its way from the smallest unit to the intelligence of the overall system.  By use of parametric modeling of a behavioral logic the system gets constantly optimized. Designed by LAVA, this biomorphic project is inspired by nature, and attempts to conceive a structure of great lightness, efficiency and elegance, using advanced design techniques. Read the rest of this entry »

The new architecture for The Bogota International Convention Center, proposed by Saucier+Perrotte Architectes, is meant to act as a reflection of the majestic topography surrounding the site. The signature building for Bogota and for Colombia-CICB, takes root in the physical and cultural landscape of the city. Cradled between the mountains and the river, this stunning landscape gives the urban environment and architecture its unique identity. This conceptual, broad horizon defining the space of the new project contains the geology of the site, its artifacts, both large and small, and the “veins” of precious metals, such as gold, that run beneath the city. Read the rest of this entry »

In approaching the design for the new Kimball Art Center, we found great inspiration in the urban development of Park City, the Kimball site, and the citys mining heritage. We feel the form of the new Kimball Art Center emerges where these rich stories overlap. We were particularly moved when a long-time resident of Park City spoke nostaligally about the former Coalition Building, which once stood just south of the Kimball site.

It stood 80 feet tall for 80 years as an iconic landmark for Park City and a monument to the mining heritage, until a fire tragically brought it down on 1982. We wanted to recreate some of its attributes in the new Kimball Art Center – not only the proportions and materiality but the history it represented. Historically, timber was the primary construction material of the first miner settlers in Park City. Inside the mines, heavy timbers were stacked into retaining walls. The same technology was applied outside the mines as primary structure for most residential construction. We conceived the new Kimball Art Center as an evolution of this construction technique basically a highly-evolved log cabin at an unprecedented scale. Read the rest of this entry »

The proliferation of device culture, social networking, and cloud technology is changing the way we work and connect on a daily basis. For designers, this means that technology is not only transforming the process of production, but also the processes through which we share, critique, and organize ourselves around the work we do. It has been predicted that in 2020, there will be 50 billion mobile internet connections worldwide, the equivalent of seven devices per person. Morpholio is not simply about the existence of technology, but rather is a tool for and an experiment in how we might better harness its power.

What is the future of critique, the driver of design culture, in this increasingly connected world? Is the speed at which images circulate around the globe, advancing the level of conversation within and amongst design disciplines? When placed in opposition, the time honored design school tradition of convening public debate around a set of images and ideas, presents a stark contrast to the typical comment forum found in social media. Taken together, however, a new spectrum of valuable means of gathering feedback about one’s work becomes visible. Its continued evolution will be impacted by the tools we create for sustaining and magnifying meaningful conversation, critique, feedback, and debate with a global community.

The Morpholio Project begins by re-imaging the portfolio. “Although essential to design culture, the current methods of creating and sharing design portfolios and presentations still ultimately rely on fixed notions of time, media and outdated technologies of sharing,” says Anna Kenoff, Co-Creator. The design world lacks the tools needed to understand how our work is consumed and experienced by those we most want to reach. The project ultimately asked, what would happen if you could merge processes of presentation, critique and collaboration into a single elastic platform? Read the rest of this entry »

JDS’s proposal for the Bicycle Park in Chongming, China, consists of three landmark buildings, each portraying different aspects of the culture of cycling. With their spiraling shapes and sloping sides, the structures are accessible by bike, and offer a varied experience to visitors. The Park aims to inform and stimulate biking as an expression of social awareness, while illustrating the relationship between sport and technology through its distinctive architecture.

The Visitor Center acts as an entry landmark, serving as main access point and providing information about the park. The Bike Museum is a double helix, with its exterior portion used for the ride downwards. Swirling ramps provide excellent views of the surroundings, while the interior leads the visitors on a tour through the historical development of the bicycle. The multipurpose building is shaped as an island that can be used by people for various purposes. It can be used for holding conferences, competitions and even concerts. The slopes are at the disposal for biking enthusiasts to navigate. Read the rest of this entry »