Located in a new area of expansion in Orio, just north of the Cantabrian motorway that connected San Sebastian to Bilbao, the Auditorium and Cultural Facilities Proposal by SOMOS Arquitectos won the first prize in an open competition. Taking advantage of the freedom regarding the position of the building according to the open regulations, they wanted to develop and fix their proposal based on three key decisions: built volume integration, the connection between urban plaza and marina, and an open independent structure. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Istanbul based architecture office Suyabatmaz Demirel designed the Walk-in Cinema inside the SALT Beyoglu building which is almost a cul-de-sac attached to Istiklal Street, one of the most important pedestrian zones of Istanbul. The 19th century apartment located here was refurbished to be the home of SALT, a non-profit cultural institution which opened just last month and in a very short time became one of the most active cultural institutions in the city. This open platform is designed to host the events, screenings and impromptu public projects that SALT will program and encourage. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Architect Djordje Alfirevic shared with us his proposal for the Beton Hala Waterfront Center in Belgrade, Serbia which promotes an idea of visual and functional merging of the newly designed part with the existing Beton Hala building. The design team consisted in Djordje Alfirevic, M.Phil., Dusan Trifunovic, M.Arch, Petar Tufegdzic, M.Arch, Djordje Nikolic, M.Arch, Milica Vujosevic,M.Arch, Bojana Stankovic, M.Arch. In addition, this design aims to create a unique center for exhibition and commercial use in the city which also communicates, in a mimetic way, with the Kalemegdan fortress and Sava river’s waterfront. More images and architect’s description after the break.

With the general aim to create an integrated urban infrastructure, the proposal for the Beton Hala Waterfront competition by office ReduX creates a way to produce a provocative architectural vision. As programs, spaces and typologies are interwoven, this center is a vision of the future progression of Belgrade as a hub for business and culture. As a result, this allows residents and visitors to experience an ultimate experience of the past, present, and future. More images and architects’ description after the break.

As the first prize winner in the Hangzhou Gateway Competition, JDS Architects shared with us their building concept, which is to create a gateway that is neither closing-off or dividing the city. The 15-story tower features offices, restaurants, post office, a terraced roof garden and a sunken passage that leads through a shopping center. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Winning the third prize in the national architectural design competition, iki shared with us their proposal for the Troy Museum located in the village of Canakkale, Turkey and to be exhibited for the protection of historical monuments from the area to be established. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Built in 1968 for second and third cycle students who are between 10 and 15 years of age, the intention of the rehabilitation of the EB23 Luis  Verney António (LAV) school was understood as a chance to renew the presence and importance of the school as a reference not only for its users but to the whole community. Consequently, doing so would turn it into a center for meeting and learning.

The winning proposal, designed by LGLS Arquitectos, takes the existing school in the Madredeus area of Lisbon, Portugal to create a reference building in which old and new merge into a single entity. More images and architects’ description after the break.

A conceptual proposal for the retrofit of an old grain silo in Center City Philadelphia, Interface Studio Architects aims to integrate an existing, vacant structure into an urban, mixed-use project. Additionally, it raises interesting questions about old building reuse and innovative tactics for sustainability. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Located in a national landmark, the proposal for the Interpretation Center of Andalusian Prehistory by Luis Machuca Associates strengthens and takes care of this feature by its presence on the existing territory. The object of their design was that the other landmark, the museum and the park, could be distinguished from their immediate environment, both during the day and at night. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Situated at 587-589 Elizabeth Street in Melbourne, Australia, E589 is the latest residential development helping to transform the northern part of Elizabeth Street. E589 will burst into the vibrant and energetic 3000 postcode, offering residents a cosmopolitan lifestyle just north of the city’s buzzing epicenter.

Architecturally unique, Architects EAT have created a geometric facade to the building; contemporary in design, yet stylishly understated so as not to weary over time. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The “Haugen” project is a proposal by Control New Arkitektur (ctrl+n) in order to start a discussion on how to make better use of the public spaces in Oslo, Norway all year round. So they are here to pose two questions. Firstly, how can we maintain such use throughout the rest of the year? Secondly, how can we offer some much needed rehearsal and performance space back to the city? This proposal will engage and evoke through taking us back to our parks all year round. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The design proposal for the extension to the National Library of Austria by Prechteck is to be seen as an extension of the bordering park and takes off at its northwest end to cross over the drop-off lane on 4.5m with a twist. The design then arches back to the ground level to blend into the landscape. More images and description after the break.

Intended as a catalyst and model for the ongoing redevelopment of Cairo, Egypt, ZELLNERPLUS, OLIN, PACER, MR+E, and Nelson Nygaard proposed a scheme that seeks to bridge the gap between the medieval, or Islamic, and the axial, or European Cairene cities. They would do so through the evacuation of the competition zone of its current disconnected fabrics. In their place, they proposed a green urban archipelago made up of a new connective tissue that will weld together the competition site’s disparate functions, flows and neighboring fabrics. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The Agency for development of Municipality of Herceg Novi in association with the European Chess Union have launched a single stage international competition for the European Chess House in Herceg Novi. ACID Group shared with us their proposal in order to find the best solution for the mixed use development. The program consisted of facilities devoted to promotion and development of chess including a library, museum and tournament halls, and of hotel facilities which include 50 guest rooms, a restaurant and lobby. The site is located on the corner between two streets, on steeply sloping terrain. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Godwin Austen Johnson Architects shared with us their proposal in an invited international competition held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their design for the Celebration Hall is situated in the socially and architecturally significant Diplomatic Quarter of Riyadh and takes into consideration the local roots of the city. The proximity of the local Aga Khan award winning landscaped edge to the Diplomatic Quarter provides direction for prestigious architecture and a high degree of creativity. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Research and urban project, Up Side Down Bangkok, was driven by the need to understand the morphological phenomena of specific urban situations which can be read as a multitude of accidents that slit the urban fabric. In this case, resultant wastelands under the massive concrete expressways are often left in a rough state in the heart of the city. Convinced that these types of in-between spaces have a huge potential in terms of appropriation and reconnection of the divided neighborhoods, Parallel Lab put forward a strategy to convert the negative impact of these leftover spaces into positive icons for a new Bangkok identity. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Volta Arquitectos, Patrick López and Augusto Arias shared with us their proposal for the XIII Arquine International Contest, which asked participants to design a Media Park, an environment for free and safe interactions that can also be a space for culture and learning.

This design is aimed to be much in the tradition of the successful library parks in Medellin, Colombia , while reactivating an emblematic, but semi-abandoned site of Ciudad Juarez, the PRONAF polygon (National Border Program of Mexico), built in 1961 with the intention of attracting people from the neighbor city of EI Paso, Texas. The 1961 project saw two of Mexico’s most prominent architects of the time -Pedro Ramirez Vazquez and Mario Pani-design buildings which in the past 2 decades have become surrounded by parking lots, and eaten by a now decaying mall respectively. More images and description after the break.

New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward represents a rather new phenomenon in American urbanism; physical tabula rasa paired with a metaphysical fabric of emotion, history, and tragedy that is no less significant than the physical emptiness. That emptiness has boldy been broken by the Make It Right foundation. Regardless of one’s opinion of their planning or design practices, the context that MIR has created in the 9th Ward has it’s own richness that is redefining the neighborhood’s physical presence while ensuring the continuity of the metaphysical through resident outreach. It is this new context that should now be respected and preserved. Unwittingly, MIR has sparked and nurtured the NOLA movement, defined by contemporary material, formal, and tectonic gestures with a thoughtful respect for regional typologies. This proposal by GOATstudio, for the DesignByMany challenge which ArchDaily sponsored, is the next entry in the soon to be expanding catalogue of NOLA. More images and description after the break.