With the installation of a girder on the 100th floor, the One World Trade Center has become the tallest building in New York. Currently standing at 1,271 feet (387m) tall, the “Freedom Tower” has surpassed the 1,250 foot Empire State Building. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the One World Trade Center will become the tallest building in the US and the third tallest in the world upon completion.

Continue after the break for more.

SADAR + VUGA, in collaboration with LENS°ASS Architecten, has been selected as winner of an invited competition to design three new buildings on the Campus Schoonmeersen of the University College Ghent in Belgium. The campus development master plan will include a new building for the Study of Social Work (SOAG), a Sports Hall Extension and the Renovation of Building B that includes the adjoining Student Plaza. This highly anticipated project is expected to commence in late May. Continue after the break to learn more about each new facility.

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Villa Korsmo is a single family house designed for a couple at Nesodden just outside Oslo. It’s situated on a beautiful plot, characterized by natural vegetaion, pine trees and rugged terrain. The main idea for the project was to make a house that could connect the two sides of the plot, which is divided by a natural height in the terrain. More images and architect’s description after the break.

The project for the FFS Train Station District by Dominique Perrault Architecture was born from a simple action: covering the small station of Locarno-Muralto by a large balcony platform on Lake Maggiore. So, on the infrastructure, lays a large public space, the Piazza Grande, an void space that allows to freely cross the city and create a new centrality. More images and architects’ description after the break.

For decades the suburbs and the American Dream went hand-in-hand: a house with a yard and a white picket fence. It was the alternative to the hustle and bustle of urban living, a peaceful place to raise a family. Instead of letting the suburbs dwindle away, resulting in unkempt ghost towns, we should begin thinking about how to retrofit the suburbs for the needs of our changing culture, reinventing Suburbia as a sustainable alternative to urban life.

For more on understanding the reality and difficulties of redesigning Suburbia check out this two part series on Saving Suburbia by Vanessa Quirk: Saving Suburbia Part I: Bursting the Bubble and Saving Suburbia Part II: Getting the Soccer Moms On Your Side.

The Treehouses in Paradise competition, among many competitions featured on our site, unfortunately turned out to be a scam. Many architects not only lost their time, but their efforts and money as well. Many competitions arise such as these and unfortunately, the work of the architects are often gone to waste. Therefore, ArchDaily is requesting any proposals you may have so that we can conduct our own poll on our website. We are giving those who participated the opportunity to feature their proposals so our readers can vote on them, provide comments, feedback, etc. We don’t want to see all of the work invested get left behind without giving the credibility it deserves and honoring such efforts. If interested, you are encouraged to submit through our contact form.

Terreform ONE is now accepting submissions for the 2012 ONE Prize Competition: BLIGHT TO MIGHT. The competition is a call to put design in the service of disenfranchised communities, to reinvigorate deindustrialized and depressed urban areas, and to repurpose spaces for economic growth and job creation. Situated in the context of a struggling U.S. economy and the tension of stagnant unemployment, ONE Prize 2012 aims to explore the socially, economically, and ecologically regenerative possibilities of urban transformation and design. The competition is powered by the idea that social, ecological, and economic struggles can simultaneously be addressed through collaborative action and innovative planning. Deadlines for submissions is June 30. For more information, please visit their official website here.

Located in close proximity to the central zone of the Futian District in Shenzhen, China, 10 Design‘s main design concept for the Yabao Hi-Tech Enterprises Headquarter Park was to try and integrate the complex into the natural landscape. Defining a strong urban edge on the southwestern edge of the site, the buildings begin to dissolve into nature as they move northeast across the site towards the lake. This mix-used complex is designed for a multifaceted community, which includes living, working, shopping recreation, and tourism. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Filmed back in 2009, this TED Talk by Daniel Libeskind has yet to diminish in popularity. Once a free-verse poet, an opera set designer and a virtuoso musician, Libeskind has evolved into an internationally-renowned architect with an illustrious style that has been praised and criticized by many. In just seventeen words, Libeskind describes what inspires his unique approach to architecture. Believing that optimism is what drives architecture forward, he begins by stating, “Architecture is not based on concrete and steel and the elements of the soil. It’s based on wonder.”

Enjoy the talk and continue after the break to review Libeskind’s seventeen words of architectural inspiration.

Just over four months ago, President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia announced a plan to build a new city named Lazika in the Anaklia Region of northwest Georgia. The news was driven by the desire to propel Georgia into a world market with an identity for the economic trade hub that its geographic location warrants. Aside from a promotional video and a few scattered images on various Georgian websites, little has been exposed about the master plan that will give birth to the economic engine on the coast of the Black Sea, which leaves many wondering if this new city will in fact be built to solve Georgia’s economic and social problems.

According to a New York Times article by Ellen Barry, On Black Sea Swamp, Big Plans for Instant City, interviews with Georgian citizens indicate a variety of opinions about the viability of this “Instant City”. While some are excited about the prospect of a city strewn with skyscrapers, advanced infrastructure, and glitzy hotels, others warn of the design challenges and flaws associated with building in the Anaklia Region, which Barry describes as “a stretch of marshy land”. But looking at the city from the perspective of urban design, many critics, from Lewis Mumford to Jane Jacobs will agree that the complex social, economic and political characteristics of a city develop over time, and most effectively when they occur organically after a series of trials and errors as a city develops its identity. Historically successful cities have acquired their identities not by spontaneous rapid growth but by the personalities of its citizens, planners, economists and politicians over many years. What is striking about this planning of Lazika, indicated by Barry’s report, is that “only one official is working on the planning of Lazika full time” with 10 to 15 part time workers, and the idea “came to President Mikheil Saakashvili just over four months ago while researching the China’s development”.

More after the break…

The iconic nature of the winning proposal for the Planetarium, Centre for Eco Tourism, and Science and Technology Centre is balanced by a rational response to the brief and the constraints of the site. By isolating the planetarium and the activities linked closely to it the design by JB Ferrari & Associates is able to exploit the strong potential for volumetric expression. This allows for a more subdued intervention to the historic buildings. Seemingly evident, such a direction is not an obvious reading of the brief but is made possible through astute reinterpretation of the district plan. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The New York Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (nycobaNOMA) will be hosting the ‘Crafting the Interview 3.0′ event which will take place at FXFOWLE on May 19 from 11am – 5pm. In order to provide the necessary tools to craft a successful interview, they have planned a Portfolio + Resume Review Day for graduating college students and young professionals seeking feedback on their portfolio. A panel presentation will provide information about the job hunting process and current market trends. The event will offer constructive one-on-one feedback to participants and a panel discussion comprised of professionals representing different sectors of the architectural + design community. To register for the event and for more detailed information, please visit here.

Rialto Cinemas and Design OnScreen, a non-profit organization that produces, distributes and preserves high-quality films on architecture and design, are pleased to announce a collaboration that has secured 20 exciting films from the world of Architecture and Design to play in Auckland, New Zealand. The Resene Architecture & Design Film Festival will play from May 10 – 20 at Rialto Cinemas Newmarket and includes a number of New Zealand premieres as well as the return of some favorite films. The Resene Architecture Film Festival brings together an eclectic selection of films that showcase the best in architecture and design around the world. In addition, architects are able to apply to The New Zealand Institute of Architects (Inc) for CPD Points for movies seen in the festival. For more information on the event, please visit here.

The Buchmann Galerie is pleased to announce its third exhibition with the architect Zaha Hadid to coincide with Gallery Weekend in Berlin. The focus of the presentation is on eight Silver Paintings, three Dot Paintings, and the large furniture-sculpture Iceberg and Gyre.

More information after the break.

On April 19th, architect Richard Meier, known for buildings such as The Athaneum, the Douglas House and thd Getty Center was honored with the 2012 Ellis Island Family Heritage Awards by the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation at Ellis Island in New Jersey. Meier was one of two recipients, the other former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, whose grandparents emigrated through Ellis Island. Angela Lansbury was honored as well, having immigrated to America herself at the age of fourteen.

Continue reading for more after the break.

Proposed by Knafo Klimor Architects, Agro-Housing was the winning project in Living Steel – Competition for Sustainable Housing (2007) for China. Part housing, part greenhouse, the proposal provides agricultural freedom to city dwellers. A combination of rural and urban amenities, the proposal is an exciting take on individual urban farming.

For a closer look at this innovative way of thinking about a sustainable urbanity, join us after the break.

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The Girardota’s Metropolitan Coliseum Competition winners were announced. First Prize goes to the team of Juan Sebastián Larrota, Felipe Robayo, Sebastián Gaviria, AlcuboArquitectos (Alejandro Martínez, Marcela Marulanda) and G-Arquitectura (Juan David García, Natalia Mejía). More images and architect’s description after the break.

Henning Larsen Architects and a team consisting of Signal Architects and SLA Landscape Architects have won the competition for Nordea Bank’s new office building of 40,000 m2 in Ørestad North, Copenhagen, next to the premises of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation and the Concert Hall – Koncerthuset. The building will comprise Scandinavia’s largest trading floor of 5,500 m2 with a view of the green area of Amager Fælled. More images and complete press release after the break.

The Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA|DC) recently announced the 2012 winners of the 4th Annual Washington UNBUILT Awards competition.

This year’s judging yielded eight winning submissions from local design professionals and students with the grand prize awarded to Christine Chlebda, a student at The Catholic University of America (CUA). More information on the awards after the break.

Situated in the Karancs-Medves landscape area in North-East Hungary, the aim of SAGRA Architects for their design of the ‘Dance Floor’ Recreation and Memorial Park is to preserve and strengthen this special character of the place. The park would function as an exhibition for the mining memorials and as a natural recreational area. Embraced by the surrounding hills and huge hillside trees, the organising element in the park is a wall providing covered space which can be used for exhibitions and performances. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Manhattan Mountain, by Ju-Hyun Kim, is a design speculation over five of the most debated plots of vacant land in New York City. Collectively known as SPURA, the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area, the five parking lots on the Lower East Side, just South of Delancey Street near the Williamsburg Bridge, were once the site of tenement housing until they were acquired by the Urban Renewal Plan in 1965 and demolished. Since then, the other lots that suffered a simular fate and have been developed into various iterations of low-income and mixed-use housing developments. But, for nearly 50 years these five sites have remained vacant as a continued debate rattles the community boards. As the debate rages on between low-income housing developments, mixed low-income and commercial housing, and strictly commercial housing, these five lots serve as parking. This is the largest undeveloped city-owned development south of 96th street.

We’re getting closer to the 80,000 photos on our Flickr Pool, so keep submitting them! Remember you can submit your own photo here, and don’t forget to follow us through Twitter and our Facebook Fan Page to find many more features.

The photo above was taken by Klaas5 in Zwolle, The Netherlands. Check the other four after the break.

Just two years after its opening, the Maxxi Museum in Rome is threatened with closure. The country’s current economic crisis has resulted in major cuts in cultural funding, causing a great deal of stress on the arts. As BD reports, earlier this month the museum was told that the government’s contribution to its €11 million budget would fall to less than €2 million for 2012. Now, as the museum officials failed to set a budget for 2013, the government has reportedly begun proceedings to put the high-profile museum under special administration.

Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the 2010 Stirling Prize winning national art and architecture museum has attracted more than 450,000 visitors per year. Hadid has described the museum’s success as “remarkable”, as it quickly built a prestigious, international reputation within the world of contemporary art.