The first regional headquarters branches for Moroccan bank, BMCE (Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur) have opened in Rabat and Casablanca, with a further branch in Fez due to complete shortly – they are the first buildings by Foster + Partners to be completed in Africa. The banks’ contemporary interior is wrapped by a traditional, energy efficient envelope and their design is based on a modular system, which utilises local materials and craftsmanship to create a striking new emblem for BMCE.

The design follows a ‘kit-of-parts’ approach, with variations in colour and scale according to the bank’s location. Each building comprises a concrete frame, with an entrance colonnade and a series of bays repeated on a modular grid. The bays are enclosed by glazed panels and 200mm-deep screens, which provide shade and security. The screens are cut from sheets of stainless steel – a special low-iron mixture that does not heat up in the sun – which are curved to create a geometric design, based on traditional Islamic patterns.

All BMCE flagship branches feature an ‘earth tube’, an electricity-free cooling system: fresh air is drawn into an empty pipe that encircles the building underground, where it is naturally cooled by the earth and released into the branch. Read the rest of this entry »

The design of the Z-Chair Chair summarizes the essence of contemporary design and the research developed by Zaha Hadid Architects over the last three decades. A simple three-dimensional gesture zigzags in the space as part of the continued discourse between form and function, elegance and utility, differentiation and continuity.

Geometric abstractions inform the design’s linear loop, which is articulated along its path in a language that alternates thin wire streams and large surfaces to provide both ergonomic affordances and inherent stability to the overall shape. The dichotomy between the elegance of the composition and its articulation is negotiated through a subtle play of contrasting angular corners and wide, smooth curves. Read the rest of this entry »

Oyler Wu Collaborative and Michael Kalish have recently completed a traveling installation dedicated to Muhammad Ali.

From the Designers: “Designed as collaboration between Oyler Wu Collaborative and Michael Kalish, this traveling installation is built as a tribute to the life and cultural significance of Muhammad Ali.  The project is aimed at exposing a new generation to this larger than life character by building an appreciation for the nuanced emotional, aesthetic, and technical principles that collectively form experience – a concept that holds true as much for human persona as it does for architecture.

Conceived of as an experiential 2-D image, the core of the project is a seemingly random field of 1300 boxing speed bags that, when viewed from a single vantage point, form a pixilated image of the face of Muhammad Ali.  The structure is designed with the intention of simultaneously supporting the clarity and focus from that vantage point, while enriching the experience of the piece from all others, through a combination of dense structural bundles, material effects, and geometrical repetition.

The need for viewing the image from a single vantage point set in motion a series of essential design decisions.  First, the overall form of the piece is defined by the cone of vision between the viewer and the image, growing from front to back both in plan and in section.  In order to minimize the impact of the structure from that vantage point, its form from that location can be seen only as a simple frame that surrounds the image- one that is careful not to detract from that likeness.  Once the viewer moves away from that location, even the slightest, the bags explode into an unrecognizable array, with the surrounding structure serving as a complimentary and integral part of the system.

As a way of further highlighting the 3-dimensionality of the field of bags, the structure is split down the middle, with half of the bags pulled forward and the other half pushed backward, effectively elongating the field of bags.  Similarly, the structure is divided in such a way as to cantilever both forward and back, creating the rotational effect of the overall form.  In addition to supporting the bags, this strategy allows for portions of the bags to be viewed separately from the structure in elevation. Read the rest of this entry »

A new, 92 meter tall complex of soft, undulating curves marks the skyline of Groningen. This asymmetric, aerodynamic construction is set amidst small, ancient woodland, sheltering rare and protected species. The project includes the design, construction and financing of two public institutions; the national tax offices and the student loan administration. The commission from the RGD (National Buildings Service) includes, besides the architecture, the management and building maintenance and care of facilities and services for a period of 20 years. Accommodating 2,500 workstations, parking facilities for 1,500 bicycles and 675 cars in an underground garage, the building will be surrounded by a large public city garden with pond and a multifunctional pavilion with commercial functions.

The architecture aims to present these institutions with a softer, more human and approachable profile. Tall buildings are generally associated with mid-twentieth century modernism. Their harsh, businesslike exteriors contain powerful, inaccessible-seeming strongholds. By contrast, the DUO and Tax offices deliberately cloak a commanding public institution in an organic, friendlier and more future-oriented form.

“The design contains numerous new innovations related to the reduction of materials, lower energy costs and more sustainable working environments. It presents a fully integrated, intelligent design approach towards sustainability.” – Ben van Berkel Read the rest of this entry »

Atelier Thomas Pucher has won the international competition for the new seat of the world renowned Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra in Warsaw. The 20.000m² cultural centre is housed on the site of a former Veterinary Institute with existing – yet dormant – buildings and a fairy-tale like park. The area occupies a 1.800 seat symphonic hall with first class acoustic properties, large rehearsal areas, merchandise facilities, musical workshops and a small hotel for artists in residence and music lovers on vacation. The project gives a precise answer meeting the demands of the orchestra as well as the given site with its historical buildings. By enveloping the entire site with a floating wall it serves as an indication to the park as its new centre and creates a distinctive place of silence – the basic principle for an orchestra to perform – full of ambience and drama. The park becomes an open public place and the wall the building that serves it.

The symphonic hall including all rehearsal areas are found within the floating wall. Floating above the foyer it creates a seamless extension of the park into the building that holds several mysteries and miracles: hidden rooms and stairs, a narrow surveillance path at the top and a span of 140m without a single column.

The Concert Hall is a fusion of a Shoebox Hall and an Arena. While the traditional shoe box hall is known for its excellent acoustics but often offers poor visual conditions, the Arena has its advantages with regards to visibility and is hardly applicable when it comes to its acoustic conditions. Read the rest of this entry »

Bruno Tanant et Jean Christophe Nani – Landscape designers TN PLUS, Aldric Beckmann et Françoise N’Thépé – Architects Beckmann N’Thépé, win the international compétition for the completion of the Primorskiy’s new zoological Park, Saint-Petersburg (Russia).

Founded in 1865 Saint-Petersburg zoo is the oldest zoological park of Russia. As most of other parks across Russia, it suffers today from a cruel lack of space, being located in the heart of the historical town center. The city has hence decided to create a new zoo, which will range over 300 hectares, on the town’s outskirts, escaping this way the high population density of the urban area. The project preserves a large strech of land, and implements an environmentally beneficial approach.

The project offers a symbolic sample of every continent in an attempt to recreate the illusion of a reunited Pangea within the very zoological park of Saint-Petersburg. The archipelago therefore created will be made of islands representing South East Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, North America and Eurasia, the two latter being linked with each other by the pack ice of the Arctic Pole. The chosen site enjoys a profuse water supply, and hence is particularly fitted for such an insular organization of the various environments. Read the rest of this entry »

Moritz Mombour has designed a music pavilion for the Karmelitermarkt in Vienna. The concept for the project revolves around the notion that qualities typically deemed as un-architectural can be purposefully employed in order to abandon the typical ambition of creating and preserving a perfect aesthetic moment. Attributes such as decay, tenuousness and collapse are harnessed to produce an atmosphere that can embrace emotions ranging from the uncertain to the romantic. The cellular logic of the project allows for continuous expansion and, in turn, a continuous evolution of these qualities and emotions. Read the rest of this entry »

The new Central Institute of Technology building on Aberdeen Street in Perth, to be officially opened this week, has been designed to become the centrepiece and “social heart” of the city‟s training precinct. The $62million 11,000 m2 building presents a striking, colourful, angular façade and grand entrance, and features state of the art teaching and learning facilities, flexible research spaces and a library.

The project brings together at the Northbridge site teaching programs for architectural, engineering and beauty technicians that were previously located on CIT campuses at Leederville, Subiaco and Mount Lawley. The building was designed by Melbourne-based architects Lyons, in partnership with Perth company T&Z.

Lyons director, Neil Appleton says a key element of the design brief was to connect the existing buildings on Aberdeen Street and the 1970s landscape to give the urban space a new focus.

“The idea of the social heart as a connecting device was a central design driver. We moved the library out of the basement across the road and next to the foyer in the new building, making it a centre-piece, clearly defining Central as a leading training institution committed to its city location,” Mr Appleton said.

Visually the building design was influenced by references to Western Australia‟s indigenous natural environment and the local mining industry – both elements of the building‟s educational function. Read the rest of this entry »

When the Bella Sky Hotel launches in Copenhagen May 16th guests are greeted in the foyer by The Bella Chandelier – a living scenography of light and color created by GXN, the R&D department of Danish architects 3XN.

With the aim of bringing art and science together in one unique light and color experience, the multidisciplinary team of GXN has been on a journey exploring the realm between structure, technology and design. After a development of various phases the journey has come to an end and the light sculpture will be installed this week at the Bella Sky Hotel designed by 3XN. Read the rest of this entry »

The Green Pavilion_Restaurant is a gently placed development on a green field, co-located with the existing mature trees. Located in Zagreb, Croatia, 3LHD Architects took care in carefully studying the existing conditions and designed a  footprint built around the exiting canopy and raising the ground to the building’s roof. Two restaurants and a small multi-use space makes up the lower program. Glass walls and doors look out to the courtyard allowing spill over seating outdoors. The building also splits to allow pedestrian traffic egress. The atrium allows light and vision lines throughout the complex and relies on natural breezes for much of it cooling. The persevered canopy and green roof also contribute significantly to reduced cooling needs. Read the rest of this entry »