(RE)Configured-Assemblage is a developmental landmark proposal by WE-DESIGNS.ORG in collaboration  with XP& architecture composed of reconfigured traces of shipping containers, through diligently reconnecting, revitalising, and humanizing the accessibility of the City of Long Beach, Long Beach Blvd and Broadway Area. Through proposing three types of innovatively reconstructed modular shipping containers, the overall construct leads to open courtyards, interlocking units, and playfully generated programs that introduce a new innovative topological design that regenerates and reconnects the community.

Bringing together a fusion of technological, economical and cultural entities, and combining a public free space into an interlocked modular construct, which includes an internal courtyard as public landscape, the newly developed (RE)Configured-Assemblage becomes an open playground of hidden gems, which offers the community countless integrated opportunities to develop and harmonise the City of Long Beach, Long Beach Blvd Area. The shifting of the vertical containers on the Intelligent Daylight Façade represents the constant movement of containers in the nation’s busiest container port. Read the rest of this entry »

‘Eleva’, the proposal for the entrances to the new underground of San Sebastian, is based on the idea of the manipulation of the terrain. As the tubes of the metro network are generated by excavating and perforating the ground, the access is created by cutting the pavement in correspondence to the superfitial world.

The concept is to recognize the place to penetrate and – as the Pink Panther would do – cut the surface and elevate it to obtain an access to the subterranean world. Finally the area of intervention is delimited and pointed out by a change of material. As a result the object in sinuos curves emphasizes its strong sculptural character demanding its protagonism in the urban scale. The entrances are conceived as landmarks of the city of San Sebastian, leading the users to recognize them as an inseparable part of the metro and the urban surroundings. Read the rest of this entry »

Moscow Design week – the most important annual design event in Russia, organized by ART TRADING Group, will be starting on October 11, 2011. Intense program of MDW 2011 is dedicated to Design in an extended sense: starting from product-, fashion- and graphic- design to the latest developments in architecture. The project, featuring both Russian and international participants, will occupy the main lecture halls and exhibition spaces of Russian capital. The aim of MDW 2011 is to create a platform for design in Russia and to set international business standards within the industry along with supporting business and friendship worldwide.

«This annual event is overwhelming the entire city. It engages the broadest audience: intellectual elite, art-community, show-business celebrities as well as everybody who is already absorbed by the topic or wants to discover it. Mostly non-profit exhibitions showcase the latest catch-ups in the world of design: visiting them one will explore the unknown sphere, looking, touching and finding things he likes or meeting amazing people» – commented Alexandr Fedotov, the President of organising committee of MDW 2011 and ART TRADING Group.

For the week Moscow will turn into design cluster, bringing up such professionals in contemporary design domain as Maarten Baas, Giulio Cappellini, Luigi Colani, Paola Navone, Li Edelkoort and other stars. Read the rest of this entry »

The design for a modular, deployable, and adaptable bridge using parametric strategies and digital fabrication methods was developed by studio BÄNG. The design was conceived using the following rules:  Four data points were established at the beginning, middle, and the end of the bridge. These 12 parametrized points give the opportunity to steer the crosssection of the bridge at three important areas. Based on these points the defi nition creates three frames one for each end of the bridge and one in the middle.

All frames get connected and the resulting four-point polylines triangulated to get the base of the load bearing framework for each side of the bridge. The triangles get offsetted according to the sun and then moved in direction of their normals. By lofting the two resulting curves a rigid and complex looking shape occurs.

The most important benefit of parametric design and digital fabrication is the optimization of the whole design process. Modularity, the optimization of the construction time as well as saving material were the main goals.  Read the rest of this entry »

Proposal made by the twin brothers of sanzpont [arquitectura] for Busan Opera House Competition. The concept of design is based on the philosophy of Korea, the balance of opposites, the Um-Yang. The fundamental idea is to create an iconic building that represents the culture in which it is immersed, to remind the native people where they come from in order to promote this philosophy to the outside world. Materializing this ancient philosophy in a cutting edge building connects the past with the present, giving long life to a culture that must be projected into the future. The vision of this building is the integration with its natural and urban environment, besides being spectacular, create public spaces and nature, respecting and helping the environment, a sustainable design that promote a city to the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Toxicity/contamination/mutation/distortion is a hybride which synthesizes a library and garden into a one spacial continuum. The project designed by Kadri Kerge at the University of Applied Arts Vienna is located in the Burggarten, Vienna – which served as a private royal garden for the Habsburg family. It is situated between the Austrian National Library and a large greenhouse called Palmenhaus that sits at a right angle to it. The roots of the plants from the greenhouse grow out of the container, break the sealed ground and as a mutants combine nature and building. They overlap with the context in housing part of the program of institutions nearby like The Austrian Film Museum, the National Library, and the Albertina Museum.

Toxic Garden is a self-sustainable building generating heat and power through the plants which are growing in the building. The energy design concept provides a range of microclimatic conditions as interfaces between user, information and nature. The building of the Austrian National library is an opulent baroque structure that has housed the Imperial book collection between 1721 and 1918, that was then nationalized. Read the rest of this entry »

Given the national importance of the public space issues and the opportunity they present  in promoting the city of Soverato, the new project aims to find a solution for city areas which will hopefully enhance the quality of urban life. On the other hand, it aims to establish a strong link with the dynamics of contemporary society through functional solutions that meet the needs of the day and night activities of the neighborhood. Designed by Schiavello Architects, the building attempts to revive an entire urban area through a series of coordinated actions, implementing the best design solution that combines the diverse needs of rationalization of traffic and the revitalization of commercial, industrial and cultural sites. The goal is to create a pole of aggregation that can revitalize the waterfront through the localization of Soverato’s new architecture. The neglected industrial area is currently poorly integrated with the urban context and requires a general reconfiguration, rendering it qualitatively recognizable in the urban landscape. Read the rest of this entry »

Pegs Senior is designed by award-winning Melbourne architects McBride Charles Ryan (MCR). The project is to provide a new Year 11&12 Senior Campus for the school and become the new VCE Precinct at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School in Melbourne.

The layout is based on an ‘infinity symbol’, a shape that allows the facility to be structured around two protected courtyards. This in turn enhances the learning spaces access to light, view and ventilation. At the heart of the infinity has been located the library and student learning center. Specialist precincts, Art, Science, Cafe and huge variety of learning spaces are distributed throughout the form. Each precinct has its own unique quality and yet they are seamlessly connected to the next. The building is an embodiment of the journey of education, and the crossover between disciplines. This planning allows the buildings circulation to constantly return to the library at its heart and in this way it physically echoes the educational ethos of the school. Read the rest of this entry »

Haarlem Canal Pavilion is a multi-functional structure situated in the City of Haarlem in Netherlands. Designed by Xing Wang for the Engineering studio at TU Delft, the project aims to change the typical landscape experience of Dutch canals. It would also generate a large, high and adjustable interior space with cultural and commercial functions.

The pavilion structure is composed of triangle wood components which could be easily assembled on site; all these components are manufactured by CNC milling machine. The complex shell geometry could be built quickly and precisely without the need for special locator devices and high-skilled operators. The basement and supporting structure are also parametric defined according to customized data input. Read the rest of this entry »

This proposal for the Serlachius Museum Extension was designed by PinkCloud Studio, in collaboration with Eero Lunden Architects. The new 4,700 m2 extension for the Serlachius Museum in the Finnish City of Mänttä will have 4 floors and a basement. It will be connected to the adjacent existing museum through a simple entrance, formed in the space between buildings. The extension will be the center of focus when arriving to the new Museum Courtyard, while the old Mansion maintains its position as a dominant within the landscape. Read the rest of this entry »