Artist Anish Kapoor has won the commission to design a 115m high public artwork at Olympic Park in London, to be built as part of London’s Olympic Games in 2012.

The sculpture, called ArcelorMittal Orbit, has been designed in collaboration with structural engineer Cecil Balmond of Arup.

The sculpture – the largest in the UK– will consist of a continuous looping lattice of tubular steel mimicking the orbital trajectory of space objects. The tower will offer views of the  Olympic Park and London’s skyline from a viewing platform. Visitors will be able to take a trip up the structure in a large elevator and will have the option of walking down the spiralling staircase. Read the rest of this entry »

Ruwan Fernando
Australia

This design by Australian architect Ruwan Fernando is an open skyscraper with five clusters of u-shaped structures for vertical farming. This project is designed for low-depth water bodies – it uses specialized mechanical filaments for tidal energy production.

The shape of the clusters allows maximum sunlight and ventilation. It utilizes wind turbines and solar panels to produce the remaining energy requirements. The idea is to create a network of vertical farms and connect them with monorails, roads, and pedestrian bridges. Read the rest of this entry »

Sang-Yun Han, Cheol Yong Kim, Sung Hoon Park
United States

This proposal is an attempt to redefine skyscrapers as a connecting agent between architecture and the city through the re-composition of the surrounding urban context. Programs decoded from analyzing urban contexts are recomposed and disseminated along the inclined interlinking circulation system in order to enhance human interaction and extend streets throughout the entire building. Read the rest of this entry »

The recently opened design museum in the suburbs of Tel Aviv was built in hopes of transforming the city of Holon into an epicenter of culture and education. To that end they brought in a famous architect and renowned group of international guest curators to make the museum famous. The Design Museum Holon was designed by Ron Arad Architects, led by Tel Aviv born industrial designer and architect, Ron Arad. After four years of construction the museum was inaugurated on January 31st, 2010 and its first exhibition just opened. Read the rest of this entry »

Schweger Associated Architects
Peter P. Schweger
Germany

Dubai Pearl is a new residential and commercial development in Dubai situated in the newest part of the city with magnificent views to the Gulf, the Palm Island, and the Burj Al Arab. The complex has been designed to receive Gold LEED certification and to become a new landmark for the city. Read the rest of this entry »

Rae Won Noh, In Ki Kim, Jeong Tae Kim, Hyo Bin Jung, Jang Ook Lee
South Korea

The Horizontal Scarper main concept is to build a new city-like structure above existing blocks. The main structural elements, also used for vertical circulation, are located on free areas at street level. The rest of the building is a fifteen floors ribbon floating on top of the existing buildings without blocking the natural light. Apart from residential and office spaces it provides a new recreational space for the city; its rooftop is a green garden with sports facilities. Read the rest of this entry »

Set to open to the public this May, the Centre Pompidou-Metz will be France’s newest museum for modern art. The sister museum to the Pompidou in Paris, the Pompidou-Metz was design with a similar spirit and an equally interesting and “out there” design. Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban along with Jean de Gastines from France won the contract to design the structure back in 2003. Inspired by a a Chinese hat the roof is like a giant tent that covers the galleries below and is constructed of laminated timber covered in fiberglass and Teflon. At night, the museum lights glow through the roof revealing the intricately built timber mesh roof. Read the rest of this entry »

The LAVA designed MTV Awards Installation has been shortlisted for the 2010 Australian Interior Design Awards Environmentally Sustainable Design category. Suspended in the Sydney Convention Centre for the 2009 award program, the sculpture provided an intense visual environment for the global TV show.

The design is at once comforting, yet alien. Drawing its design inspiration from natural patterns found perhaps in membranes  and sea anemones, the digital design was realized in lightweight fabric, using the latest digital fabrication and engineering techniques. The design seeks to create more with less. The 108m3 of space is enclosed within a minimal surface area of 568m2 and uses only113.6kg of lightweight material. Yet there is no shortage of eye candy to keep a fickle TV audience glued to their seats as the engaging interior landscape supports the MTV award experience. Read the rest of this entry »

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, partners in the architectural firm, SANAA, have been chosen as the 2010 Laureates of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The formal ceremony for what has come to be known throughout the world as architecture’s highest honor will be held on May 17 on historic Ellis Island in New York. At that time, a $100,000 grant and bronze medallions will be bestowed on the two architects.

In announcing the jury’s choice, Thomas J. Pritzker, chairman of The Hyatt Foundation, elaborated, “This marks the third time in the history of the prize that two architects have been named in the same year. The first was in 1988 when Oscar Niemeyer of Brazil and the late Gordon Bunshaft were so honored, and the second was in 2001, when Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, partners in a Swiss firm, were selected.”

21^st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan.  1999-2004.  Courtesy of SANAA.  Photo credit: Yukio Futagawa.

He continued, “Japanese architects have been chosen three times in the thirty year history of the Pritzker Architecture Prize — the first was the late Kenzo Tange in 1987, then in 1993, Fumihiko Maki was selected, and in 1995, Tadao Ando was the honoree.”

The purpose of the Pritzker Architecture Prize is to honor annually a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanityand the built environment through the art of architecture. Read the rest of this entry »

With the 2010 Shanghai World Expo less than forty days away now, work is quickly being finished on the international pavilions set to grace the city for the expected visitors. Two hundred countries are participating and one of the most interesting contributions is the UK Pavilion designed by Heatherwick Studio out of London. Designed to represent the Expo theme, “Better City, Better Life,” Heatherwick teamed up with the UK Seed Bank to build the Seed Cathedral. The building is made up of 60,000 acrylic rods that encase tens of thousands of seeds, all to promote the UK’s conservation efforts of seeds. Read the rest of this entry »