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Mecanoo's National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts in Taiwan celebrates grand opening

2018-10-19T19:22:00-04:00

Opening night finally arrived for Taiwan's new National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts on October 13. Located on a former military training base in Weiwuying Park, the Mecanoo-designed building houses a 2,236-seat Opera House, a 1,981-seat Concert Hall, a 1,210-seat Playhouse, a 434-seat Recital Hall, and an Outdoor Theater. At the heart of the building is the publicly accessible Banyan Plaza, where events can take place.

Photo: Iwan Baan.

“Inspired by the beauty of the local Banyan trees with their iconic canopies of leaves, the vast, undulating structure is composed of a unique skin and roof under which generous free spaces can flow,” Mecanoo Founding Partner Francine Houben previously described.

Photo: Shawn Liu Studio.

Photo: Sytze Boonstra.

Photo: National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying).

Photo: Ethan Lee.

Opening festivities began with a special ceremony featuring addresses from President of Taiwan Tsai Ing...

Kengo Kuma's V&A Dundee Museum opens; interiors revealed!

2018-09-13T14:04:00-04:00

The V&A Dundee Museum opens its doors tomorrow with the 3D Festival, a free two-day event on September 14 and 15. The grand opening will include performances, dance, design, and lighting collaborations.

V&A Dundee Museum by Kengo Kuma, located in Scotland. ©HuftonCrow

The museum was designed by Kengo Kuma and is his first building in the UK. Along with the forthcoming opening, the museum has unveiled the interior architecture revealing a light filled wooden design.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Oak Room at the V&A Dundee ©HuftonCrow

Scottish Design Galleries V&A Dundee ©HuftonCrow

As Scotland's first design museum, the space features 300 exhibits drawn from the V&A’s collections of Scottish design, as well as from museums and private collections across Scotland and the world.

V&A Dundee Museum by Kengo Kuma, located in Scotland. ©HuftonCrow

Scottish Design Galleries V&A Dundee ©HuftonCrow

Free tickets to the 3D Festival on ...

3 World Trade Center by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners officially opens

2018-06-12T16:59:00-04:00

NYC's fifth tallest tower, 3 World Trade Center was officially opened yesterday by real estate firm Silverstein Properties. Designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, 3 WTC will accommodate over 6,000 new employees from tenants GroupM, McKinsey and IEX. The 80-story, 2.5 million-square-foot office building is the second-to-last tower within the 16-acre World Trade Center site.

3 World Trade Center by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Image: DBOX.

Featuring a reinforced concrete core encased by a steel structure, the LEED-certified Gold office tower is defined by its load-sharing system of K-shaped bracing. The building incorporates floor-to-ceiling glass and column-free floor plates, creating unobstructed 360-degree panoramic views of New York City.

Herzog & de Meuron's Elbphilharmonie celebrates its grand opening

2017-01-12T12:54:00-05:00

After months of antici.............pation, Herzog & de Meuron's Elbphilharmonie has finally opened, and a slew of luminaries, including Angela Merkel and the architects themselves, were in attendance to celebrate the inaugural concert.

The event featured the debut of “Zum Raum wird hier die Zeit,” a composition by Wolfgang Rihm specifically commissioned for the hall's opening.

Steven Holl's Visual Arts Building opens Oct. 7th at University of Iowa

2016-10-06T19:34:00-04:00

On Friday October 7th, Steven Holl and Senior Partner Chris McVoy will be on hand to officially open the firm's Visual Arts Building for the University of Iowa, which in addition to being the only building in the United States that uses an integrated hydronic radiant heating and cooling system in combination with a cast-in-place "bubble deck" (thereby eliminating the need to cool or heat air mechanically), is simply gorgeous.

In a signature Steven Holl move, the interior is illuminated by seven vertical cutouts that are defined by the slide and jostle of the four floors against one another. This shifting dynamic creates opportunities for a series of balconies and informal working spaces.

Check out our conversation with Steven Holl from earlier this week:

For the latest on Steven Holl:

Rio Olympics 2016: how to watch, and what to expect at the opening ceremony

2016-08-05T13:42:00-04:00

It's finally arrived: the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is tonight. Technically, the Games are already underway (soccer competitions began on August 3), but the bulk of events will take place after the ceremony. And chances are for those in the U.S., you're nowhere near attending, and you'll be beholden to the broadcasters. Here's what you can expect.

The opening ceremony will be significantly cheaper than historically has been the case—the entire budget for the opening and closing ceremonies for both the Olympics and Paralympics is $55.9 million, less than half of what it had been originally. The ceremony's creative director Fernando Meirelles, the Brazilian director of City of God (2002), has incorporated three thematic "pillars" into the show: sustainability (partially an ode to the Amazon rainforest), smiling (!), and "gambiarra"—a Portuguese expression of resourcefulness.

The ceremony is also scheduled to include legendary soccer player Pele...