Designed by GENETO, a Japanese firm,the Ivy Building is quite complex to the effect that the program changes so frequently. Although a small scale building, the programmatic needs shift from retail to office to residential, yet a wrapping staircase connects the fragment pieces into a whole. ”We wanted to create a new type of building by combining different kinds of program and propose a building that is opened to the society,” explained the architects.
When the Trenton Parking Authority proposed a design challenge to improve the area, KSS Architects responded with an adaptive re-use strategy that transforms an existing structure to activate the site’s surroundings. Currently, the site is occupied by an old brutalist parking garage dating back to the 1970′s and lacks any recognition of its important history – just south of the project site is Mill Hill Park, where American and British soldiers fought the first and second battles of Trenton during the Revolutionary War. The architects’ proposal acknowledges the site’s rich history while adding a sense of vitality to the prominent edge of the downtown area.
As we are inching closer to the weekend, perhaps you might find yourself letting your inner child run loose by catching Disney/Pixar’s latest creation, “Toy Story 3″. We just found out some fun news from Architectural Record that the team of animators is supervised by David Eisenmann, an architect. After attaining his architectural degree, Eisenmann was working in San Francisco when he spotted a Pixar job posting. Eisenmann has climbed the ranks from set dressing for Pixar’s previous films, “A Bug’s Life” and “Toy Story 2,” to now overseeing all animation. And there’s a ton of elements to be animated, “We had 2,600 unique models in the daycare center alone,” Eisenmann says. When an artist on “Toy Story 3″ asked Eisenmann what kind of personal artwork he does outside the studio, he answered, “I came here as an architect. My artwork ‘outside,’ is my work in here.”
Dimos Moysiadis + Ioannis Oikonomou+ Xaris Tsitsikas, young Greek architects, have designed a conceptual house where a canal brings the ocean water both next to and underneath the house. Residents can enjoy a dive off the veranda into their natural swimming pool, or an artificial sandy beach just a few steps down from their front door of the house. The eastern concrete side of this canal stands as a strong edge against the property line, as an attempt to “create a “safe” border between our environment and the other properties.” With the long side of the villa parallel to the north coast, and vertically to the canal, the home creates a sense of enclosure around the landscape.
Rotterdam-based firm BOARD (Bureau of Architecture, Research, and Design) has been selected as one of the finalists of the European Competition of Architecture, Design, Realisations in Eco and Agro-Materials for their proposal ‘ATREE?’. “Imagine a project that does not need to be constructed, because – being a tree – it grows by itself. Such a project only needs to be planted,” explained the designer.
More about the winning proposal after the break.
Photovoltaics are slowly making their way into a variety of project typologies. And, now, with new developments from chemist Xiaoyang Zhu at the University of Texas, solar cells can upgrade from their solar efficiency current limit of 30% to more than 60%. To increase the cells efficiency, Zhu studied capturing hot electrons (energy that is too high to be turned into usable electricity which then escapes) with quantum dots.
London’s skyline is about to get a complete makeover. While in the past, almost every tower proposed was stalled due to financial shortcomings, or workers just leaving the job site, now, London is dusting off their old building plans and getting ready to move into a construction frenzy. Thanks to Kieran Long’s article at the Evening Standard we get to know more details about this process:
Ousting 17 other companies from Europe, USA and Africa, SHoP Architects was awarded first prize for their design of the Botswana Innovation Hub. The 270,000 sqf office and research building will be a testament to Botswana’s support of research, as well as her promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship.
More about the winning design after the break.
Check out this new Museum for Contemporary Art designed by Swiss architect, Christian Kerez. Part of a larger master plan to revitalize Warsaw, the $91 million museum will house the country’s largest collection of contemporary art, attracting an estimated 800,000 visitors per year to this fast growing metropolis. The museum is situated in the center of Warsaw which demonstrates what Kerez sees as “a powerful statement” by making a cultural institution, rather than a commercial or residential one, rest at the heart of the city.
More images, another video, and more about the project after the break.
This year’s World Architecture Festival, WAF2010, will take place from November 3rd to 5th in Barcelona. The WAF is an international event to reward excellence in a fully interactive inclusive live format. The festival features seminars and exhibition content, as well as projects from architects all over the world (last year 1507 architects from 71 countries came to Barcelona). To submit an entry, just create an online account here before July 2. Plus, architects are encouraged to submit more than one project.
More information about how projects will be judged after the break.
As Frank Gehry’s Beekman Tower rises in Lower Manhattan, we can’t help but wonder if the apartments in this undulating, rippling building will be snatched up as soon as possible. The tower is scheduled for leasing to begin early spring of next year and, although information regarding floor plans and pricing still hasn’t been released, we are interested to see if you’d take up residence in the Beekman Tower.
Field Operations and DS+R’s High Line has been enjoyed by many ever since its opening, but we’ve been waiting patiently for the next segment to be finished. And, thanks to Curbed.com, we’re able to share some recent construction shots of the progress being made.
Check out more photos and more about the second phase after the break.
As workers labor over the newest development at Ground Zero, moving, bolting and welding the 46,074 tons of steel can be tiresome and, well, make a person hungry. With an allotted 30-minute lunch break, workers wait anxiously for the hoist that descends dozens of stories, making their 30 minutes often times extend to 60. The solution – bring the lunch to the workers. The new sandwich shop, built by DCM Erectors (the same company that is putting up the steel girders and beams), is a movable pod made of stacked cargo containers which sit on either side of two tower cranes.
More images and more about the new restaurant after the break.
In Paris, France, BASE has created an environment for the imagination with their latest playground design. Working with children and adults in different workshops, BASE was able to understand the users’ wishes and visions for the project. ”Our work then consisted in synthetising and interpreting the public’s expectations to provide a spatial response both truthful and original,” explained the designers.
More images and more about the playground after the break.
A-lab just won a competition to design a military base in Norway which will be situated on the northern border with Russia. The design challenge was to create a cohesive complex where work and private life coexist, and where military services meet the civil community.
More images and more about the winning design after the break.
Working collectively, four graduate students have transformed their clients’ traditional and rarely used fireplace into something completely new. Entitled Radiance, the project is intended to exploit the traditional qualities of the hearth by re-centering the focus of the home around a contemporary ambient environment. The clients’ background, one an artist and the other an architect, allowed this project to become more of “a commissioned artwork rather than a client-based architectural intervention” – an opportunity that truly allowed PROJECTiONE to further their theories and interest in their plyLight sketch prototype.
More about the project, including images, after the break.
WE ARCHITECTURE and Sophus Søbye Architects, both young Danish firms, have been awarded first prize for their competition entry for a cultural center in Denmark’s Rudersdahl municipality. “The future Mariehøj cultural center draws a clear profile in the landscape. With a new foyer, the culture center will get a new face that invites in all people in Ruderdahl’s municipality and also a heart that can bring together and highlight the many users and activities in the house,” explained the architects.
More images and more about the proposal after the break.
In his article about Renzo Piano’s revised vision for the Whitney, Nicolai Ouroussoff explains that the neighborhood’s criticism and the museum board’s indecisiveness have continually provided stumbling blocks for the museum during its attempts to expand. Upon agreeing to realize Piano’s design for a satellite museum in the Meatpacking district, hope were high that finally, after 25 years, the museum would complete its much needed expansion.
Yet, it seems that Piano is in the midst of a new struggle resulting from the global economic downturn. While construction costs have dropped, allowing the cost of the project to slide under $200 million (persuading the board to commit to breaking ground), the museum is still struggling to contain costs and begin building before prices rise.