Amanda Levete Architects designed a major retail and hotel complex in central Bangkok, Thailand. Central Embassy, located on Bangkok’s primary commercial artery Ploen Chit Road, will be a new architectural landmark for the city and region and it near its completion. The 145,000 sqm project occupies the former gardens of the British Embassy in Nai Lert Park, and consists of a 7-storey retail podium and a 30-storey 6-star hotel tower.

The unique design of a mixed-use complex merges the distinct features of a podium and tower into a sinuous and continuously twisting coil. The form wraps around two vertical light wells in the retail podium and at the same time encloses and exposes a series of exterior courtyards and roof gardens for the hotel. Internal spaces break apart to reveal stepped terraces and vertical gardens.

Drawing on motifs and patterns found in traditional Thai architecture, the facade of the building is composed of a dynamic and fluid three-dimensional array of ceramic tiles. Read the rest of this entry »

The CasArts by Christian Portzamparc is the winning proposal of the international architectural competition where the challenge was to breathe life into the vast institutional square and give a contemporary twist to its classical composition. This winning project gives the impression of being composed of several detached houses, like a medina in the city. Instead of an autonomous architectural object, heroic and unambiguous, this fluid ensemble defies symmetry without opposing it, inviting visitors to enter the shadow of another interior universe through several slim, appealing gaps and entrances leading to a vast and lofty cross-cutting public gallery composed of curved red staffs.

Outside, the gaps in the pure whiteness of the architecture draw visitors into the shady interior, the twilight of the passage and its entry point, where one comes to sit in cafés refreshed by natural ventilation. A moucharaby terracotta and resin shear wall floats along the square’s buildings. At the center, one of the houses forms a large entrance, an exceptional entry point and a shelter from the sun. It is also an outdoor theater: when the doors open, the stage appears and the public in the square becomes the audience. CasArts is a transformable urban scenographic device. The facade is already a stage. Read the rest of this entry »

IO Design envisioned KL Gateway to be a peaceful green oasis mixed residential and retail development in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The heart of the project is an outdoor courtyard surrounded by a series of garden spaces. The courtyard is designed to be a public room attracting people from the surrounding neighborhood and city. The ring binds the courtyard to a surrounding retail mall and becomes a gathering spot for the entire mixed use complex. The roof of the ring becomes an outdoor jogging trail and garden for the surrounding residential towers.

Using the latest technology in sustainability, the Corporate Office Towers will be covered in a nano-coating of Titanium Dioxide. This is a photo-catalytic coating that will remove dirt, bacteria and pollution triggered by light. KL Gateway takes bold, responsible steps to be one of the First towers in Malaysia using this green technology. As a green building, it is structured to be environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout its life-cycle, hence able to save energy and resources as well as harmonize with the local climate, traditions, culture and the surrounding environment. KL Gateway acts as one of the climate saviors with environmental-friendly features. Read the rest of this entry »

Zhuhai, China, will host one of the world’s largest retail developments when built by late 2014 – Summer International Retail and Center and Mixed Use Development.  This major destination, designed by 10 Design, contains 360,000 sqm leasable retail space together with commercial, hotel serviced apartment and residential spaces totaling 510,000 sqm of accommodation.  The site of the development is unique in this important growing city, as it is the meeting point between the grid of the city and the natural topography of the surrounding hill range. Read the rest of this entry »

Hidden Wonder is a Hotel and Office Complex in Fort Mc Murray, Alberta, Canada. Designed by David Clovers, this mega structure offers a feeling of an indigenous forest draping over the top of an urban hub, in the center of Fort Mc Murray. On further inspection, one discovers that the forest blossoms into a vertical garden of exotic plants, housed in a green house – atrium. The design is a new hybrid of tower and a podium, landscape and architecture. It acts as an active and multidimensional vertical park that anchors the corner of the block and allows for a combination of urban indoor and outdoor activities.

In the podium, hotel guests have their own private balconies which are calmly nestled among the forest, while retail and gastronomical visitors get oblique glimpses of the landscape through the skylights. In the tower, office employees are engulfed in an enchanting environment of plants and rooms that capture the beauty of the merging rivers beyond.

The materiality of the tower is contemporary – it uses a textured concrete and double glass skin to produce spectacular optical illusions. The sculptural massing appears and disappears by day and by night, reflecting the surroundings and glowing as a beacon in the Northern twilight. The textured double skin acts as a mechanical device, augmenting the building systems of the design by conserving heat through passive solar means and ventilating the building naturally. As additional sustainable feature, planted roof serves as an insulating blanket for both the podium and tower, as well as a device for gray water retention.

Expected completion of the complex is scheduled for late 2014.

Heatherwick Studio designed unique river boat as part of ‘Estuaire’ – an innovative project that has brought about the construction of major works of art along the banks of the River Loire, in France. The vessel will travel between the city of Nantes and the port town of Saint-Nazaire, reinforcing the connections between these towns and allowing up to 200 passengers to see the artworks from the river. The boat had to be designed for flexibility since it will be available for general hire, as well as organized art trips, and used as a venue for civic functions and meetings. It also seemed important to allow passengers to look in all directions, instead of facing forward as they do on a bus.

The boat takes the form of a catamaran, a shallow-draft boat with two hulls, which is stable and agile and travels comfortably at both high and low speed. Read the rest of this entry »

This museum, designed by Kyle Branchesi and Larisa Rus of the Southern California Insitute of Architecture examines interrelated systems which both modify the spatial structure of the building, and articulate expectations of the performance structurally, thermally, acoustically and environmentally. This project creates a contextualized assemblage of spaces for contemporary art to be explored. 
The interior is formed through a series of morphologies looking at the juxtaposition of larger and smaller galleries. The spaces formed between connecting galleries creates a surface which wraps through the museum. This gesture fades the transition between floor and wall. Circulation wraps into and out of the gallery spaces in a similar motion which can be observed in section.The continual motion expands to the facade of the building. A series of design explorations focus on the organization of splines. The facade couples and expands which creates surfaces aligning to interior conditions.
The facade is comprised of multi-layered ETFE panels that are coated and pumped with air. The panels expand both inwards and outwards; filtering sunlight and act in relation to seasonal weather patterns to allow natural ventilation.

“Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we have been ignorant of their value.” Referencing the quote from Buckminster Fuller, Chang Yeob Lee adds that pollution could be seen as another economy; therefore Royal College of Art graduate has developed a concept to transform the BT Tower in London into a pollution-harvesting high rise.

Synth[e]tech[e]cology is Lee’s diploma project from the architecture program at the Royal College of Art in London and he was one of two winners of the Sheppard Robson Student Prize for Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts ‘ Summer Exhibition.

Named Synth[e]tech[e]cology, the project predicts the eventual redundancy of the 189-meter tower – currently used for telecommunications – and suggests re-purposing it as an eco-skyscraper that collects airborne dirt particles and helps to reduce the level of respiratory illness in London. The process would involve extracting the carbon from petrol fumes and using it to produce sustainable bio-fuel. The exterior of the tower would form a giant eco-catalytic converter, while the interior would house a research facility investigating methods of increasing air movement and maximizing the efficiency of the structure. Read the rest of this entry »

Body Raft

The story of New Zealand-based designer David Trubridge is that of a man discovering, experimenting, and understanding nature. David’s professional journey is linked to his ongoing relationship with the landscape as a source of energy and inspiration.

Trained as a naval architect in England, David Trubridge began his career as what he describes a “craftsman-designer-maker” submerged in the study of materials properties and capabilities. His first furniture designs borrowed from the admiration of artists like Brancusi and the Art Noveau movement – a period in his career of interpretation and translation rather than experimentation.

In 1981 David set sail around the world to finally settle in 1985 in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. The five-year experience transformed his vision as a designer; he started to focus on the concept and process behind a product rather than the final outcome. This is the story of one of his most celebrated designs, Body Raft, which borrowed from his nautical background. The rocking chaise lounge fabricated in steam-bent American ash and Australian Hoop Pine plywood was exhibited in 2001 in Milan, Italy becoming an instant success among the media and critics. Italian design powerhouse, Cappellini, licensed and began manufacturing the design, which put Trubridge on top of the international design scene. Read the rest of this entry »

Registration is open to students and professionals alike, who are interested in participating in a 10 day AA Visiting School design workshop focused on exploring the legacy of experimental housing in Los Angeles through the lens of contemporary design methodologies.

Expect to explore computational design strategies, implement digital fabrication processes, work with a global network of like-minded designers, researchers, and educators, and experience the iconic legacy of Los Angele’s mid-century modernist homes.

Confirmed design instructors: