Cultural: The Latest Architecture and News

More information on these projects and the scheduled events 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.

Afsarmanesh Architects has recently won the suckerPUNCH Long Island Cinema Competition with their unique design process and approach of the theoretical. Further images and a brief breakdown of their design process can be viewed after the break. Additionally, you find a brief interview of the architects at their winning entry domain on suckerPUNCH.

This proposal for the Yongjia Public Center competition was submitted by Kang Chul-Hee of Idea Image Institute of Architects. The cultural facility will be located in the landmark geographic and social center of the city plan of Yongjia, China. The design is approached at an urban scale to provide a symbolic gateway between the past and present development of the city.

Read on for more on this project.

The Karoo Wilderness Center represents a significant shift in perspective and practice, sponsoring and provoking the learning, dialogue, and action necessary to redefine the consequence of human inhabitation on the land. The Center aims to re-establish the connection between the built and natural world as one that is mutually beneficial. Forming an exemplary model of sustainability, the Center generates its own energy, harvests its own water, processes its own waste, and provides thermal comfort using no municipal water or power. Learning from the continuum of life in the Karoo, the architecture of the Center provides a lasting connection to the landscape, and fosters an understanding of the interdependence of ecosystem health, and human well being.

Architect: Field Architecture Location: Karoo, South Africa Project Team: Stan Field, Jess Field (Design Principals), Andy Lin, Erik Bloom, Chris Graesser Structural Engineers: Arup Conservation Management: Wilderness Foundation South Africa Environmental Impact Analysis: Integrated Environmental Management Project Area: 21,800 sqf

The XXI Century Theater which is located in the former Sant’ Anna’s Church in Prague, Czech Republic is a choreographed spatial strategy that begins with the translation of words into actions, and is followed by the manifestation of actions into spaces. Silva & Roth Architects developed the “Angels’ Dance” through the notions of actions and motion, spontaneous behaviors and the architectonic space.

More on this project after the break.