Cultural: The Latest Architecture and News

Today Amsterdam city planning councilman Maarten van Poelgeest announced the winner of the adaptive reuse design competition for the two former sewage treatment silos in Amsterdam’s Zeeburg district: the Annie MG Schmidt House. Annie MG Schmidt (1911-1995) is Holland’s most famous author of childrens books.

The winning plan is a mutifunctional cultural center, housing a wide range of diverse activities, including a spectacular open rooftop playground on one silo, and restaurant Praq op ‘t daq built on the rooftop of the other. The doors to the exhibition spaces and media center, movie theater and theater hall, tower room and shops, as well as those of the restaurant, are open seven days a week the whole year through, welcoming visitors and locals alike. The project breathes new life into the silos, transforming them into an inspiring and lively place which will help shape the character of the new Zeeburgereiland housing district.

The plan is the result of the inspired cooperation between the development companies AM and De Alliantie, the Annie MG Schmidt Huis foundation, restaurant Praq, Arons en Gelauff architects, landscape architect Rob Aben, and Janneke Hooymans (This is Jane-interior design).

The Annie MG Schmidt House is expected to be completed in 2011. Images by Arons en Gelauff architects / Pixel Pool, after the break.

Italian architect Alberto Catalano of Teknoarch has just won the international competition to design the New Arts and Culture House in Beirut, Lebanon. Catalano won a $75,000 prize and a comission for the project. The Arts and Culture House will be the first of its kind in Lebanon and is funded by a $20 million gift from the Sultanate of Oman. The project should be complete in 2013.

The second prize went to Beatriz Ramo Lopez de Angulo with STAR strategies+architecure, from The Netherlands. The third prize went to Grigoryan Yury with Project Meganom from Russia.

Seen at Bustler. More images after the break.

Architect: Beckmann-N’Thépé architects – Aldric Beckmann, Françoise N’thépé Landscape design : TN+ / Bruno Tanant & Jean-Christophe Nani Location: Helsinki, Finland Project Manager: Wilfried Daufy Project Architect: Anne-Catherine Dufros Assistant Architects: Constance Héau, Jessica Pallatier Landscape design team: Guillaume Derrien & Agathe Turmel Zoo expert: Jean Marc Lernould Constructed Area: 26,2 ha

The zoological island of Korkeasaari will be cut off again. Its architectural interventions will be concentrated to make it wild and mysterious once more – a park / garden as a place of popular privilege, the nobility of the future city.

The Taipei Performing Arts Center design was finally won by OMA. However, we already feature other two proposals. One by NL Architects, other by Ábalos + Sentkiewicz. Now, we bring you the futuristic design by Morphosis Architects.

More information about the proposal here. Images after the break.

The folks at Art & Seek published a video with interesting insights on the construction of the Wyly Theater in Dallas, TX designed by REX | OMA, which is almost complete.