Archinect - News

Ground/Work: A Design Competition for Van Alen Institute’s New Street-Level Space

2013-05-17T19:02:00-04:00

Looking for a nice design competition to participate in this month? Our friends at New York's Van Alen Institute just announced the launch of Ground/Work, an international architecture competition seeking innovative designs for a new street-level venue to house the Institute’s work space and public programs. The competition started accepting entries earlier this week, submission deadline is June 13, 2013.

Gia Wolff wins $100,000 Wheelwright Prize

2013-05-17T18:46:00-04:00

Gia Wolff, Brooklyn-based architect, wins $100,000 travel grant for her proposal Floating City: The Community-Based Architecture of Parade Floats

Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, is pleased to announce that Gia Wolff, an architect based in Brooklyn, New York, is the winner of the inaugural Wheelwright Prize, a $100,000 traveling fellowship dedicated to fostering new forms of architectural research informed by cross-cultural engagement.

The Wheelwright Prize jury—Mostafavi, Yung Ho Chang, Farès el-Dahdah, K. Michael Hays, Farshid Moussavi, Zoe Ryan, and Jorge Silvetti—selected Gia Wolff from among 231 applicants from 45 countries, including Afghanistan, Brazil, Burkina Faso, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria, and Spain. Applicants were asked to submit portfolios along with a research proposal and travel itinerary, outlining an extended field investigation and its anticipated benefits for the field of architecture. “The positive response to the Wheelwright Prize has been extraordinary,” said Mostafavi. “It is inspiring to see so many talented architects with clear agendas...

Prishtina Central Mosque Entry by Paolo Venturella Architecture

2013-05-17T17:42:00-04:00

Italian Paolo Venturella Architecture is sharing with us their rather unusual spin on mosque design. The solar panel-covered "Wall-Dome" concept was the firm's entry to the highly debated architecture competition to design the Central Mosque of Prishtina, Kosovo.

Previously: No Clear Winner (yet) in Kosovo’s Central Mosque of Prishtina Competition

Four Design Teams Shortlisted for Major Rehabilitation of Gropius-Designed Athens Chancery

2013-05-15T19:26:00-04:00

Four design firms have been shortlisted by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) for the major rehabilitation of the Athens Chancery project. The iconic modernist embassy building, designed by Walter Gropius with consulting architect Pericles A. Sakellarios, was constructed between 1959 and 1961 and is a protected architectural landmark.

The shortlisted firms are:

Ann Beha Architects, Boston, MA
DesignLab Architects, Inc., Boston, MA
Machado Silvetti / Baker, Boston, MA
Mark Cavagnero Associates, San Francisco, CA

NEW CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR MONU #19 - GREATER URBANISM

2013-05-15T11:36:00-04:00

Are cities becoming "greater" these days? (Bernd Upmeyer, Editor-in-Chief, May 2013)

Are cities becoming "greater" these days? When two years ago, in our 14th issue of MONU Magazine entitled "Editing Urbanism", we claimed that in the Western world, the need for new buildings and city districts was decreasing or even ceasing to exist altogether due to demographic changes and financially difficult times, we did not believe in all those new, big-scale, and long-term urban development strategies for the metropolitan areas of certain European cities that were being proposed at the time. The growth numbers that plans such as "Greater Helsinki" envisioned for the year 2050, trying to brand the city as one of the most dynamic metropolises in Europe, predicting a population growth from 1.3 million to 2 million, were too exuberant and too vast. However, other European cities, such as Paris, seem to be changing substantially within their metropolitan areas, their "greater" areas. Paris needs to build 70.000 new housing units per year. Mainly because of such requirements, but...

BIG & Design Partners Propose Miami Beach Square as Massive Convention Center Redevelopment

2013-05-14T19:09:00-04:00

BIG together with West 8, Fentress Architects, John Portman & Associates (JPA), Revuelta Architecture International and developers Portman-CMC have unveiled the urban planning proposal Miami Beach Square, the centerpiece of a 52-acre Miami Beach Convention Center District development. Portman-CMC is one of two development teams currently in the race for the project.

Archinect talks wtih Ivan Blanco, winner of the LA Film Festival Director's Lounge Design Competition

2013-05-14T18:55:00-04:00

Each summer Downtown Los Angeles is home to one of the most creatively-energized film festivals - The Los Angeles Film Festival. This year the festival, hosted by Film Independent, will be taking place from June 13-23. Archinect had the honor to co-host a competition to design the VIP Director's Lounge for this year's event, alongside Film Independent and Designer Pages, with an esteemed jury consisting of director Alexei Tylevich (Logan & Sons/LOGAN); architect Barbara Bestor (Bestor Architecture); actor Nick Offerman; Kimberly Brooks, from Huffington Post Arts; Megan Reilly, from westedge Design Fair; and architect Shawn Gehle (Gensler).

We talked to Ivan Blanco, designer of the competition-winning entry. Ivan heads LA-based multi-disciplinary design studio Blnko Design Labs.

What is your professional background? Where did you study?

Ivan Blanco: My professional background is a bit varied. I went to Architecture school at USC. However, before, during and after that I have ...

Prishtina Central Mosque Entry by OODA + AND-RÉ

2013-05-14T14:19:00-04:00

Since we announced that the international architecture competition to design the Central Mosque of Prishtina, Kosovo had not (yet) turned out a clear winner, we have received many, many mosque design entries, some of which we have published here on Bustler. Another entry well worth featuring is this design collaboration between Portuguese firms OODA and AND-RÉ with AFA CONSULT / Rui Furtado as the engineering partner.

Previously: No Clear Winner (yet) in Kosovo’s Central Mosque of Prishtina Competition

DawnTown Announces Landmark Miami Competition Winners

2013-05-09T18:08:00-04:00

Three winners and one honorable mention have been announced in DawnTown Miami's 2013 ideas competition entitled Landmark Miami. This year’s theme focused on how cities are instantly identified by the individual structures within them. [...] architects and designers were tasked with creating an iconic architectural piece that contributes to the image of Miami.

Winner of 2013 Mock Firms International Skyscraper Competition

2013-05-06T16:54:00-04:00

Winners have been announced recently at the fifth annual Mock Firms International Skyscraper Competition, organized by Chicago Architecture Today. [...] The top title of International Skyscraper and Mock Firm Champion (a combination of architectural and marketing efforts) was awarded to the team AZAHAR Architecture composed of five architecture students and one professor from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain.

Winners of Borderless: Designing Future ASEAN Borders

2013-05-02T18:21:00-04:00

Winning design schemes have just been announced in the international competition Borderless: Designing Future ASEAN Borders. The competition brings attention to the spaces along the borders of the 10 members of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, with the aim of improving their existing conditions.

Winners of the 2013 AIA San Francisco Design Awards

2013-04-30T20:59:00-04:00

The AIA San Francisco chapter has unveiled the results of the 2013 AIA San Francisco Design Awards.

Harpa Wins 2013 EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award

2013-04-30T13:37:00-04:00

The European Commission and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation have announced Harpa, the Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Center in Iceland, as the winner of the 2013 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award.

The 'Emerging Architect Special Mention' award goes to María Langarita and Víctor Navarro for the Nave de Música Matadero (Red Bull Music Academy) in Madrid, Spain.

Previously: Five Finalists for 2013 EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award

Davidson Rafailidis Wins 2013 IDEAS CITY StreetFest Competition

2013-04-25T14:46:00-04:00

The submission "MirrorMirror" by Buffalo-based architecture practice Davidson Rafailidis has been selected by Storefront for Art and Architecture and the New Museum as the winning entry of the 2013 IDEAS CITY StreetFest Tenting Competition.

Prishtina Central Mosque Entry by TARH O AMAYESH

2013-04-25T13:25:00-04:00

Here's another impressive entry to the highly popular Central Mosque of Prishtina architecture competition sent to us by Tehran, Iran-based firm TARH O AMAYESH Consultant Architects & Town Planners.

Previously: No Clear Winner (yet) in Kosovo’s Central Mosque of Prishtina Competition

PennDesign Student Wins 2013 RAMSA Travel Fellowship

2013-04-24T18:20:00-04:00

Jonathan Dessi-Olive, a Master's candidate at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, has recently been announced as recipient of the 2013 RAMSA Travel Fellowship. The $10,000 prize is awarded annually by the Partners of Robert A.M. Stern Architects for the purpose of travel and research.

Previously: Robert A. M. Stern Architects announces the RAMSA Travel Fellowship

2013 Berkeley Prize Winners Announced

2013-04-24T16:38:00-04:00

Winners of the 15th annual BERKELEY PRIZE competition have been announced. The 2013 prize program focuses on the topic: 'The Architect and the Accessible City.' 152 architecture students from 26 countries responded to this year’s question: "Provide us with an overview of what is being done in your city to make it accessible to people who have physical disabilities. In your opinion as an architect, what more can be done?"

"The Competition" is a film following 5 celebrity architects competing for the same project

2013-04-24T14:29:00-04:00

An almost uncomfortable but intensely fascinating account of how some of the best architects in the world, design giants like Jean Nouvel or Frank Gehry, toil, struggle and strategize to beat the competition.

The film is scheduled for release in late 2013.

Prishtina Central Mosque Entry by APTUM

2013-04-24T14:23:00-04:00

Swiss/American practice APTUM has shared with us MI’RAJ, its design entry to the Central Mosque of Prishtina architecture competition whose jury recently failed to agree on a clear first prize winner (previously on Bustler). APTUM partner and Assistant Professor at Syracuse University, Julie Larsen, suggests: "Since the competition couldn't pick a winner, maybe there should be a second vote online with the better designs because the jury clearly got it wrong from what we are seeing."

Previously: No Clear Winner (yet) in Kosovo’s Central Mosque of Prishtina Competition

IABR 2014 Urban By Nature: Call for Projects

2013-04-24T12:33:00-04:00

The sixth edition of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, IABR–2014–URBAN BY NATURE–, opens in May 2014 in the Kunsthal in Rotterdam. The Dutch landscape architect Dirk Sijmons is the curator and the theme is Urban by Nature.

The IABR calls for best practices from all over the world to support and substantiate the Biennale’s main exhibition’s narrative. Prospective participants who have designed or are designing concrete projects that deal with the relationship between man, nature and city, are invited to respond to the IABR–2014– Call for Projects–, and submit their applications by June 9, 2013.

Apply Here

Previously on Archinect:

Archinect Interviews George Brugmans, IABR - Part 1, Making City

Archinect Interviews George Brugmans, IABR - Part 2, Arnavutköy, Istanbul

Archinect Interviews George Brugmans, IABR - Part 3, São Paulo, Rotterdam and Beyond

Prishtina Central Mosque Entry by Maden&Co

2013-04-23T14:07:00-04:00

Last week, we had published the finalists of the international architecture competition to design the Central Mosque of Prishtina in Kosovo. One of the very few local firms among the international ones that participated in this competition was Prishtina-based architecture practice Maden Group whose entry is featured here.

Previously: No Clear Winner (yet) in Kosovo’s Central Mosque of Prishtina Competition

AIA Selects 2013 COTE Top Ten Green Projects

2013-04-22T21:13:00-04:00

The top ten examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions have been selected by the American Institute of Architects and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) today. The COTE Top Ten Green Projects program, now in its 17th year, celebrates projects that are the result of a thoroughly integrated approach to architecture, natural systems, and technology.

American Academy in Rome Announces 2013-2014 Rome Prize Winners

2013-04-19T18:45:00-04:00

The American Academy in Rome yesterday announced the winners of the 117th annual Rome Prize Competition. Winners of the prestigious prize are provided with a fellowship that includes a stipend, a study or studio, and room and board for a period of six months to two years in Rome.

Among many other fields, these are the two 2013-14 Rome Prize winners in the field of Architecture:

Thomas Kelley (James R. Lamantia, Jr. Rome Prize)
Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, University of Illinois at Chicago
Partner, Norman Kelley, LLC, Chicago, IL and New York, NY
Economy of Illusions: A (re)Valuation of Rome’s Visual Culture
Catie Newell (Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Rome Prize)
Assistant Professor of Architecture, Taubman College, University of Michigan
Principal, *Alibi Studio, Detroit, MI
Involving Darkness

BIG’s Marknagil Education Center Breaks Ground on Faroe Islands

2013-04-18T21:31:00-04:00

It seems to be big groundbreaking week for Danish firms right now: yesterday we reported about schmidt hammer lassen architects kicking off construction of their enormous International Criminal Court campus in The Hague, The Netherlands, and now we're also hearing of BIG breaking ground on the Marknagil Education Center—soon to become the biggest building on the Faroe Islands.

Together with local architects Fuglark and a team of consultants, BIG had won the competition for the 19,200 sqm / 206,667 sq ft educational facility back in 2009.

Prishtina Central Mosque Entry by Taller 301 and L+CC

2013-04-18T18:51:00-04:00

In our previous post, we published the three finalists of the international architecture competition to design the Central Mosque of Prishtina, Kosovo—which ended without a clear first prize winner. Following outstanding mosque design entry was submitted to us as a collaboration between Colombian firm Taller 301 and Dutch practice Land+Civilization Compositions (L+CC).

Previously: No Clear Winner (yet) in Kosovo’s Central Mosque of Prishtina Competition

Crusade commenced to convince MoMA not to demolish American Folk Art Museum

2013-04-18T14:26:00-04:00

Can it be saved? A grassroots crusade to persuade MoMA not to tear down the architecturally significant 12-year-old American Folk Art Museum at 45 W. 53rd St. has erupted, igniting the passion of architects, designers, preservationists and ordinary citizens.

Robert Stern refuses to sign petition for Pritzker to grant joint prize to Denise Scott Brown

2013-04-18T14:25:00-04:00

Robert A. M. Stern, the dean of Yale’s Architecture School, said he declined to sign the petition because he objected to its use of the word “demand,” but that he backed it in principle. “It would be wonderful for the Pritzker committee to review the situation and to offer her the prize,” Mr. Stern said. “The nature of the collaboration was so intense on every level.”

Architects Dream up Alternatives to MoMA’s Tear Down Plan

2013-04-18T14:24:00-04:00

Architects and designers, responding to the news that the Museum of Modern Art intends to demolish a former museum, have some ideas for MoMA.Their concepts, some earnest and others tongue-in-cheek, are being compiled on a tumblr called #FolkMoMA, created to challenge MoMA’s assertion that the former American Folk Art Museum building is not compatible with its expansion plans.

Design Community Responds to Museum of Modern Art Decision on Folk Art Museum

2013-04-18T14:23:00-04:00

Almost as soon as the news broke last week that the Museum of Modern Art planned to demolish the former American Folk Art Museum, a movement emerged to save it. Members of the design community—including the architects who designed the building—are registering their discontent with the decision. More than one petition is now circulating to rescue the Folk Art building as a result.

Campaign to Crowdsource Ideas for Saving American Folk Art Museum Building

2013-04-18T14:21:00-04:00

When news broke this week that the Museum of Modern Art in New York intends on demolishing the former American Folk Art Museum building next door, a cry went up in the architectural and preservationist community. Now, a group of advocates is not only collecting protests to save the building, but also crowdsourcing design ideas for integrating the two adjacent museum structures. Using the hashtag #FolkMoMA, those concerned with the demolition can submit proposals via social media — Twitter, Flickr, Instagram, the usual suspects — with the best to go up on the effort’s Tumblr page.