Archinect - News

BIG creates mirrored installation for Audi at Milan Design Week

2024-04-25T11:46:00-04:00

Bjarke Ingels Group has designed an installation for the car brand Audi, installed at Milan Design Week. Titled ‘Reflaction,’ a play on the words “reflection” and “action,” the installation seeks to convey how “our actions in the world reflect the very essence of our existence,” according to Audi.

Image credit: Audi House of Progress

The installation is configured as a ‘plus’ symbol when viewed from above, dividing the site into four spaces constructed from a minimal selection of materials. The walls of the installation are formed of 33 x 28-foot mirrors, which, according to Audi, “creates an immersive spatial illusion, highlighting the brand's continuous effort to overcome the limits of innovation.”

Image credit: Audi House of Progress

Each space is grounded in a particular theme, namely Community, Knowledge, Performance, and Digital. The Community section features a ‘circular forest’ of Japanese maples to provid...

BIG teams up with University of Kansas students and faculty to deliver the new Makers’ KUbe design

2024-04-22T15:24:00-04:00

BIG in partnership with BNIM and the University of Kansas have unveiled plans for a new six-story creative academic space that will help consolidate formerly separate learning environments for students in the School of Architecture & Design. Comprising a diagrid frame, the Makers’ KUbe is a 50,000-square-foot mass timber cube structure connecting the school’s renovated Marvin Hall and Chalmers Hall buildings from 1908 and 1978, respectively.

Mahbub Rashid, the new Dean of the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design, said: "BIG’s willingness to both listen to us and push us has conceived a project that celebrates our history and embodies the ambitious optimism that animates our academic mission."

Image by Kilograph

As Rashid mentioned, the design is the product of a collaborative effort that brought together students, faculty, and board members in order to create a hub-like embodiment of KU’s four primary principles: "to become an emblem of creativity; to create a connec...

Is the architectural design causing serious Wi-Fi issues at Google's new Bay View headquarters?

2024-03-26T17:28:00-04:00

Google has not publicly disclosed the reasons for the Wi-Fi problems, but workers say the 600,000-square-foot building’s swooping, wave-like rooftop swallows broadband like the Bermuda Triangle. [...] But, a Google spokeswoman acknowledged, "we’ve had Wi-Fi connectivity issues in Bay View." She said Google "made several improvements to address the issue," and the company hoped to have a fix in coming weeks.

The roof of the BIG and Heatherwick Studio-designed Bay View headquarters, which opened in 2022, is a key component of the building’s circular design strategy and features 90,000 "dragonscale" solar panels. Some believe they could be causing the interference.

Related on Archinect: Google's BIG + Heatherwick-designed Bay View HQ campus opens. Photo: Iwan Baan, courtesy of Google

The other culprit would be the building’s internal layout and configuration and the density of routers within it (H/t various Reddiors). Google would not publically address the source of the connectivity issues.

Operations at the company's other new headquarters inside the St. John’s Terminal in Manhattan, which opened in February, however, appear to be running a bit more smoothly.

BIG unveils mass timber transit hub design for Toulouse

2024-03-26T12:38:00-04:00

BIG has unveiled renderings for its new Marengo Multimodal Transport Hub project in Toulouse, France’s fourth largest city. The 129,000-square-foot building connects the city center to the UNESCO-listed Canal du Midi and the Périole neighborhood and will be realized adjacent to the existing Gare Matabiau, which was first built in 1905.

The local studio A+ Architecture is also contributing to the project. The design is for a mass timber structure topped with a rose-colored folded roof replete with photovoltaics and finished in the same tone by a low-carbon concrete floor. Both of these reference the vernacular use of "foraine" brick architecture that is endemic to the southern departmental capital.

Rendering courtesy BIG

Rising exponentially to a height of seven stories, users will access the building on one end and be greeted by shops and a subterranean connector to the metro station underneath. Further on, floors one through six include 71,000 square feet of offices for the region...

AI designer and multi-story 3D printer among ICON technologies unveiled at SXSW

2024-03-12T16:00:00-04:00

Construction technologies company ICON has unveiled a suite of new technologies at SXSW, including a multi-story robotic construction system and an AI-powered design system.

At a SXSW event dubbed ‘Domus Ex Machina,’ the company also presented a new low-carbon building material for 3D printing alongside a digital catalog for residential 3D printed architecture containing more than 60 designs.

Phoenix multi-story printer. Image credit: ICON

“In the future, I believe nearly all construction will be done by robots, and nearly all construction-related information will be processed and managed by AI systems,” said Jason Ballard, ICON Co-Founder and CEO, announcing the new systems. “It is clear to me that this is the way to cut the cost and time of construction in half while making homes that are twice as good and more faithfully express the values and hopes of the people who live in them.”

Phoenix multi-story printer. Image credit: ICON

Among the new technologies unveiled is Phoenix, ICON...

Skanska and BIG complete curving terracotta-colored tower in Houston

2024-02-21T11:43:00-05:00

A team led by Skanska and Bjarke Ingels Group has completed a major new office tower in Houston, Texas. Named 1550 on the Green, the 28-story tower is part of a three-block master plan by Skanska, designed by BIG, with interiors by Michael Hsu.

Image credit: Skanska USA Commercial Development, Inc.

The 375,000-square-foot tower is primarily devoted to office accommodation, with ground floor space dedicated to hospitality. Other amenities in the scheme, per the project’s official website, include a 7,000-square-foot fitness center and a 9,400-square-foot tenant-exclusive rooftop event space.

Image credit: Skanska USA Commercial Development, Inc.

Externally, the tower adopts a multi-tiered, curved structure overlooking Discovery Green park. “Vines that will eventually creep along the terracotta-colored tower are meant to help the building blend into the surrounding park,” the Houston Chronicle writes about the tower. “The building's curve allows even tenants on lower levels to view Disc...

BIG unveils design for new Freedom Plaza development along Manhattan's East River

2024-02-12T19:35:00-05:00

Plans for a four-tower scheme designed by BIG for the east side of Manhattan have been announced by developers Soloviev Group and Mohegan in advance of its commencement in Midtown.

Their transformative Freedom Plaza project will be realized on a 6.7-acre plot near the United Nations complex overlooking the FDR Drive and East River between 38th and 41st Street at First Avenue.

Rendering by Negativ

The program calls for two pairs of hotel and condominium towers connected via a skybridge, and addressing the Queens shoreline with a landscaped park and small Museum of Freedom and Democracy forming in the ground-level plaza underneath. A total of 4.77 acres of publicly accessible space will be included therein, flanked by the 1,325-unit residential component to the southern orientation. Nearly half (40%) will be dedicated to affordable housing, according to the project announcement.

Rendering by Negativ

A casino space tied to the developer's bid for one of three available gambling license...

BIG's ‘Mindfulness City’ concept seeks to deliver new forms of prosperity to southern Bhutan

2023-12-20T20:00:00-05:00

Details of a new master plan from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) for Bhutan’s future Gelephu Special Administration Region have been made public this week in the South Asian country.

‘Mindfulness City’ is a multifaceted economic hub designed by the firm’s Landscape and Urban Design Team to coincide with sustainability principles and the pioneering Gross National Happiness Index (GNH) concept that has been championed by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and the Bhutanese government since 2008.

Rendering: Brick Visual

The 1,000-square-kilometer (386-square-mile) plan calls for the construction of a new international airport, hydroelectric dam, railway infrastructure, and university campus near the southern border with India. Ribbons of neighborhood-scale developments will run like tendrils influenced by the confluence of 35 different rivers and streams that pulse through the site, with densities increasing along the gradient from its northern rural highlands to mor...

Foster + Partners, BIG attached to master plan rebuilding effort in Antakya, Turkey

2023-10-31T19:13:00-04:00

The master plan for a new rebuilding project in Turkey’s southeastern Hatay province has been revealed by Foster + Partners in association with the Türkiye Design Council (TDC) in response to the devastating 7.8 magnitude Turkey-Syria Earthquake which displaced thousands and destroyed a majority of structures in the region in early February.

The plan draws in BIG and twelve other local and international practices into a consortium that will together design a revitalization of the city of Antakya with sensitivity to preserving the “cultural heritage and identity” of the 2,300-year-old provincial capital known to antiquity as Antioch.

"Hatay has been destroyed by a major earthquake at least seven times in history — some experts suggest as many as 33. In February, 80% of the city was devastated, putting Hatay in a unique position. Its archaeological and religious mosaic features require special urban planning, which needs to be combined with the creation of self-sufficient, resilient s...

BIG completes award-winning The Spiral tower in Manhattan

2023-10-25T19:57:00-04:00

BIG has shared photos to follow the firm’s completion of the new 2.8 million-square-foot The Spiral office tower in Midtown Manhattan.

Located at the entrance to the High Line Park on 34th Street between 10th Avenue and Hudson Boulevard, the 66-story structure rises to a total height of 1,031.5 feet and offers the neighborhood skyline a distinctive new visual identity taken from its stepped silhouette and a ribbon of outdoor terraces that cascade down the setback facade to a street level podium.

Photo © Laurian Ghinitoiu

The design team, which also included Adamson Associates, made wind- and drought-resistant biophilic elements a central part of the building’s exterior, working to unprecedented new heights for commercial high-rises. Certain plant species were selected for their ability to flower as early as February, in combination with evergreen ivy varieties. The program also creates flexible workspaces and includes an exclusive clubhouse on the uppermos...

BIG designs stepped concave towers for ‘Europe’s largest regeneration project’ in Greece

2023-10-18T12:15:00-04:00

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has designed a major residential complex in Athens, Greece. Named Park Rise and commissioned for LAMDA Development, BIG’s scheme is part of The Ellinikon, described by LAMDA as “Europe’s largest urban regeneration project and a smart city being built from the ground up in Athens.”

Image credit: Bjarke Ingels Group / LAMDA

Park Rise will form the centerpiece of Little Athens, a new residential neighborhood located within the Ellinikon master plan. BIG’s concept will contain 88 residential units across five building cores: two rising to five floors, two rising to eight floors, and one rising to 12 floors.

Image credit: Bjarke Ingels Group / LAMDA

From the outside, the scheme is defined by a curved concave facade which, the architects say, “creatively reimagines the classic Greek column while adding a soft geometry to the aesthetic.” Off-white glass-reinforced concrete with exposed aggregates is integrated into the facade to “harken to the natural landscape.”

I...

BIG unveils a new sofa piece designed for Natuzzi Italia

2023-10-04T12:45:00-04:00

Furniture brand Natuzzi Italia has unveiled a sofa designed by Bjarke Ingels Group. The Colle Sofa, available online, draws inspiration from Natuzzi Italia’s early iconic designs, “known for their inviting, hospitable style that captures the essence of Mediterranean living,” as the company describes it.

Image credit: Natuzzi Italia

The piece is part of the wider Natuzzi Italia project titled ‘The Circle of Harmony,’ which has included a collaboration with dozens of renowned architects, artists, and designers over the past four years. Described by the company as “a physical and mental place that welcomes the most intimate and social moments by hosting quality time with ourselves and others,” the Colle Sofa features a wide selection of fabric and leather coverings.

Image credit: Natuzzi Italia

“Rooted in Natuzzi Italia's core values — Mediterranean flair, design, harmony, Italian character, innovation, comfort, and sustainability — the 2023 iteration of this philosophy, featuring the Co...

Developer behind BIG-designed 670 Mesquit LA project is seeking financial assistance for scheme's hotel

2023-08-22T12:31:00-04:00

The project, slated for a property at 670 Mesquit Street, would include four buildings on a site stretching between 6th and 7th Streets creating more than 800,000 square feet of offices, 420 homes, ground-floor commercial uses, and a 236-room hotel. That last component of the project is the subject of a new motion introduced on August 16 by 14th District City Councilmember Kevin de Leon.

The motion, which was referred to the Los Angeles City Council’s Trade Travel and Tourism Committee for consideration, states that Vella Group, the developer behind the Bjarke Ingels Group-designed 670 Mesquit Street project, is seeking financial assistance from the city for the completion of the development’s proposed hotel. Vella Group would pay $150,000 to cover the cost of an economic feasibility study for the hotel.

Previously on Archinect: Major changes coming to LA's Arts District as BIG and EYRC projects both move forward

BIG’s scheme, which was first unveiled in 2016, aims to be another major addition to LA’s Arts District. The complex will sit just south of the recently-completed Sixth Street Viaduct and its upcoming park space. Councilmember de Leon’s motion also makes note that the hotel would include an outdoor deck that extends over the adjacent rail lines, which could be spurred by a range of public events.

As noted by Urbanize Los Angeles, these types of incentive p...

BIG-designed National Juneteenth Museum receives $1 million grant

2023-08-09T13:45:00-04:00

Bank of America has awarded a $1 million grant towards the development of the National Juneteenth Museum, designed by BIG. The money will contribute to the project’s estimated $70 million price tag. Located in Fort Worth’s Historic Southside neighborhood, the museum will serve as an epicenter for awareness and preservation of Juneteenth’s history. It also aims to revitalize the surrounding area by acting as an economic catalyst.

The 50,000-square-foot museum takes on a handcrafted design, utilizing materials such as heavy timber. It also draws on the local architecture of gabled rooftops. The structure’s undulating roof results in a series of peaks and valleys that combine to form a star-shaped courtyard in the middle of the museum. In addition, the building will feature 10,000 square feet of exhibit galleries, a 250-seat theater to host lectures, a speaker series, performances, and more, a black box, a business incubator for local entrepreneurs, and a food hall featuring local vend...

ICON, Lennar, and BIG reveal first completed Wolf Ranch model home in Texas

2023-07-21T17:55:00-04:00

The first 3D printed model home concept Wolf Ranch development, built by Lennar and ICON and co-designed by BIG, has been completed in Georgetown, Texas.

The initial of what will eventually turn into a 100-home development outside the rapidly-expanding state capital showcases one of eight different floorplans, which range in scale from 1,574 to 2,112 square feet, offering buyers three-and four-bedroom options within an expected price range of $475,990 to $559,990.

Image screen capture from ICON-3D Tech Wolf Ranch Trailer.

Striated walls made using ICON’s Vulcan 3D printing technology and patented Lavacrete material define the residence’s design, which comes complete with polished concrete floors, a rooftop photovoltaic array, and fixtures and furnishings.

Image screen capture from ICON-3D Tech Wolf Ranch Trailer.

The remainder of the development, which features a playful variety of forms derived from the 24 different elevation styles offered by the company, is nearing completion aft...

NYC completes work on East Side Coastal Resiliency project's first phase, Stuyvesant Cove Park in Manhattan

2023-06-02T17:57:00-04:00

This Wednesday marked the long-awaited opening of BIG’s planned Stuyvesant Cove Park in Manhattan, marking an end to what was for some a contentious process that drew ire from various community groups on the two-year path towards its eventual completion.

Commissioned to be a first-line response to the damage caused to the city during 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, the park becomes the second completed phase of the $1.45 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project and will be joined later in the summer by an additional segment between East 18th and East 20th Streets.

The city’s Deputy Mayor of Operations, Meera Joshi, said: “Preserving and enhancing public spaces with waterfront views, must be an objective for all coastal resiliency projects. The opening of this phase of ESCR comes at a time when residents will benefit from its design the most, and not just because it’s the start of hurricane season, but also because the warm weather is here.”

Image courtesy NYC Department of Design...

BIG designs off-grid 'adventure village' Vollebak Island

2023-06-01T14:29:00-04:00

BIG has shared details about their latest collaboration with British clothing company Vollebak to design a self-sufficient, off-grid island off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. Named after the brand, the 11-acre Vollebak Island is intended to be fully powered by carbon-neutral energy.

The island site centers around the 6,426-square-foot Earth House, a village-like series of nine interconnected buildings clustered under a man-made hill, and the 947-square-foot Wood House, a standalone garden suite structure on the island’s eastern shoreline.

View of Vollebak Island's Earth House. Rendering: MIR. Image courtesy Vollebak

Each space on the island is made from material tailored for their specific uses, including stacked seaweed, compacted earth, hemp, glass brick, and locally-sourced stone. The island will be powered through a combination of offshore wind, geothermal energy, and solar power, with the energy stored in Tesla power walls.

The Earth House. Rendering: MIR. Image courtesy Vo...

BIG's Wildflower Studios project tops out in Queens

2023-02-28T18:06:00-05:00

Last week marked the topping out ceremony for BIG’s new $600 million Wildflower Studios venture in Astoria, Queens.

Backed by actor Robert De Niro, the project transformed the famous site of the former five-acre Steinway Pianos warehouse into a seven-story and 760,000-square-foot comprehensive multimedia production facility clad in two-toned pre-cast concrete.

It is the first of two film studios now planned for BIG in the New York area, preceding a newly-announced $400 million “vertical village” design to be constructed in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Image credit: SYNOSIS

“The vertical media production village will be home to storytellers working across all mediums — a three-dimensional hub of collaboration, creativity, and innovation,” Ingels said at the project’s announcement last year. “While New York City is no stranger to being the star of many visual stories — the city effectively a character in itself — this first ground-up vertical production stage complex marks a new chapter in the ...

BIG designs film studio as ‘dynamic vertical village’ on the Brooklyn waterfront

2023-02-03T10:58:00-05:00

Bjarke Ingels Group has designed a new movie studio to be constructed along the Brooklyn waterfront. Commissioned by production company Samson Stages, the Red Hook Studio is imagined as a “dynamic vertical village, where the building structure is created from the stacking of eight stacked stages.”

Image credit: Samson Stages

The 330,000-square-foot building is projected to cost $400 million to deliver and will include green terraces, parking, and a new public park. Internally, the building will feature a cafe alongside the eight stacked stages.

The Brooklyn studios project is separate from the BIG-designed Wildflower Studios development currently under construction in nearby Queens. Designed for the Robert De Niro-led Wildflower Development Group, the Queens project shares Red Hook’s approach of a vertical film studio, with two levels of sound stages.

Image credit: Samson Stages

News of the studio comes weeks after BIG and Safdie completed a jagged new tower in Quito, Ecuador, as well...

BIG and Safdie complete jagged new tower additions to Quito's skyline

2022-12-07T05:00:00-05:00

A pair of landmark projects in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito is now complete, representing firsts for both BIG and Safdie Architects, respectively.

QORNER, the 24-story Safdie-designed tower, is the firm’s first residential project on the continent and serves as an extension of its founder’s indoor-outdoor vision with garden terrace-lined residential offerings from the micro-apartment to the penthouse level.

IQON (left) and QORNER (right). Image courtesy of Uribe Schwarzkopf.

QORNER. Image courtesy of Uribe Schwarzkopf.

Its northern facade features a living green wall that defines a vertical core, while the staggering of its eastern and western facades creates a “hillside” form resembling a “cliff face” with room for double-height corner terraces with views of neighboring La Carolina Park.

QORNER. Image courtesy of Uribe Schwarzkopf.

Finally, a tree-lined infinity pool is placed on the rooftop level in a nod to their iconic Marina Bay Sand...

HWKN's upcoming commercial tower will bring a 'grade A, sustainability-certified workspace' to London's Canada Water Dockside

2022-12-02T14:24:00-05:00

UK real estate developer Art-Invest has announced Matthias Hollwich and the team at HWKN Architecture will be the designers for a new commercial tower at the Canada Water Dockside in London. The tower will be one of three new commercial buildings built on the 4.5-acre development, which will be master-planned by BIG.

The New York-based studio will make its UK debut by reportedly designing a 1.5 million square feet of "grade A, sustainably-certified" office workspace for up to 10,000 workers. The project includes 100,000 square feet of "affordable offices for small businesses, alongside community spaces and other amenities" located on the building's ground floor.

"Having worked with Matthias [Hollwich] and his team previously we knew his visionary and innovate approach would be well suited to Canada Water Dockside, and we’re delighted to be bringing his architecture to the UK for the first time," Luka Vukotic, the Development Director for Art-Invest, said in a statement.

Image court...

ICON receives NASA funding to create 3D printing methods using materials from the Moon and Mars

2022-11-30T14:26:00-05:00

3D printing company ICON has been awarded funding by NASA to develop lunar surface construction systems. The $57.2 million contract was awarded under NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program and will see ICON develop “space-based construction technology” with the aim of creating humanity’s “first-ever construction on another planetary body.”

Concept render of ICON's proposed system. Image credit: ICON

The technology system, which ICON names Olympus, seeks to primarily use local Lunar and Martian resources as building materials. As part of this, the company plans on using lunar regolith samples brought back from the Apollo missions as well as regolith replicas to further understand their mechanical behavior. ICON’s hardware and software will also be tested in a lunar gravity simulation flight to study their potential performance beyond Earth.

If successful, the system may be used to create critical infrastructure on the Moon, including landing pads, blast shields, and roads. ...

BIG's pixelated Telus Sky Tower in Calgary stands 'like a lady in a cluster of cowboys'

2022-11-21T12:04:00-05:00

Bjarke Ingels Group has released newly-commissioned photographs of their Telus Sky Tower in Calgary, Canada. First unveiled in 2013, the mixed-use 60-story residential and commercial project broke ground in 2015 and was completed in 2020. Situated in downtown Calgary among a cluster of corporate office towers, BIG’s scheme incorporates residential units on its upper levels in an effort to create urban activity after the workday finishes.

While the tower’s ground floor adopts the same orientation as surrounding buildings, the scheme undergoes a diagonal shift as it rises, creating terraces and balconies for residents while offering the building its distinctive “pixelated” façade. Above the main entrance, the façade pixels extend beyond the site limits to create a series of canopies and terraces, while at night, a 160,000 sqft art installation, Northern Lights by Douglas Coupland, lights up the north and south façades, creating the largest public art piece in Cal...

Major changes coming to LA's Arts District as BIG and EYRC projects both move forward

2022-11-17T13:01:00-05:00

The skyline of Los Angeles’ Arts District remains on track to be transformed by a series of major developments flanking the LA River. Along Mesquit Street, a Bjarke Ingels Group-designed development of four towers has submitted a final environmental impact report, while a neighboring tower by EYRC Architects recently overcame an appeal which sought to block its construction.

670 Mesquit by Bjarke Ingels Group. Image credit: Bjarke Ingels Group

BIG’s scheme at 670 Mesquit was first unveiled in 2016 and now constitutes four buildings stepping in height along the riverfront, crowned by roof terraces. The tallest tower, measuring 378 feet in height and containing 32 stories, will be dedicated to residential and hotel uses, while the remaining towers will contain a mix of retail, restaurants, gyms, offices, an event space, and a museum.

Between the development and the river, an expansive public realm is proposed, extending over and above the railway line running adjacent to the waterfro...

BIG and ICON’s community of 100 3D printed homes begins construction in Texas

2022-11-10T14:28:00-05:00

Construction has commenced on the largest community of 3D printed residences in the United States. The hundred-home 'Wolf Ranch' development was designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and 3D printing technology group ICON and is being constructed in the city of Georgetown, Texas, just north of Austin.

Concept image courtesy of ICON / BIG

The scheme is comprised of eight floorplans ranging from 1,574 to 2,112 square feet, split between three and four-bedroom units. The interior material palette includes printed wall textures and polished concrete floors, while the homes' exteriors will be chosen from 24 elevation styles. The roof of each home will also include solar panels.

Concept image courtesy of ICON / BIG

The interior and exterior walls will be delivered using a fleet of 3D printing robots, which the team believes will yield less waste and more design freedom. The development partners also see the accelerated construction process behind the community as a precedent for addressing the ...

BIG breaks ground on a transformational new science center at California's Claremont McKenna College

2022-10-05T18:36:00-04:00

A new higher-ed project from BIG has broken ground on the campus of California’s Claremont McKenna College.

The 135,000-square-foot Robert Day Sciences Center provides facilities for a newly-funded program of integrated scientific research into neurology, genealogical studies, and climate change while spearheading a series of improvements aimed at preparing the 76-year-old school for its "next chapter."

Image courtesy BIG

In keeping with this notion, BIG positioned the structure as a gateway to the rest of the campus’ academic buildings. A pair of rectangular block volumes stack on top of one another, outlined along their edges by wood-clad trusses and bookended by a transparent glass curtain facade. Each individual volume is rotated 45 degrees away from the floor below it to enable a sky-lit central glass-covered atrium filled with open spaces that engender collaboration between students and faculty.

Image courtesy BIG

BIG’s founder explains: "The...

View images of BIG and Carlo Ratti Associati's newly completed biophilic high-rise, CapitaSpring, in Singapore

2022-09-28T08:00:00-04:00

BIG and Carlo Ratti Associati, in collaboration with local firm RSP Architects Planners & Engineers, have announced the completion of their new CapitaSpring skyscraper in Singapore’s Central Business District.

After the project broke ground in February of 2018, the completed biophilic tower stands tall at 51-stories. The high-rise includes interior sky garden spaces, a rooftop park, Citadines serviced residences, multiple restaurants, premium office spaces, and a hawker center (food court center) that nods to Singapore’s iconic food culture. The project was commissioned by local developer CapitaLand in an effort to "set a new benchmark for the office of the future" in advance of the ultragreen city's 2030 Sustainability Master Plan.

Image: Finbarr Fallon

"As someone with Singaporean heritage, I have been honored and humbled by the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing evolution of architecture in Singapore as a distinct blending between the contemporary and the tropical," shared ...

Presales commence on Bjarke Ingels' new Nabr development in San Jose

2022-09-27T14:27:00-04:00

Nearly a year after its initial unveiling, Nabr, the housing startup co-founded by Bjarke Ingels, has announced the beginning of presales for the first site in its BIG-designed development in downtown San Jose.

Featuring updated designs for its three-tower block, the firm is promoting the Silicon Valley initiative as a “people-first housing company.” Prospective residents will have the opportunity to purchase a home through either a traditional mortgage servicer or via the Leap lease-to-own alternative.

Ingels has said repeatedly since Nabr's initial announcement that the venture is an attempt to mitigate the barriers to homeownership in America, an issue which has disproportionately affected young people and student loan borrowers, while pushing the broader architectural community to explore new approaches to the concept of housing overall.

Image courtesy Nabr

Prices for a place in SoFA One, the first tower in Nabr's San Jose ensemble to come online, start around $700,000. The firm ...

Three triangle-shaped buildings 'transformed' into tortilla chips as part of new Doritos marketing campaign

2022-08-29T13:29:00-04:00

Apparently, Doritos are everywhere. What you thought was Bjarke Ingels Group’s VIA 57 West is actually a cheesy tortilla chip.

Through a new marketing campaign by Frito-Lay North America titled Triangle Tracker, people can currently utilize Snapchat’s augmented reality software to seek, scan, and convert triangular shapes anywhere, including buildings, into Doritos for the chance to win money and other prizes. The company launched the program by illuminating three triangular-shaped structures in bright orange. Along with the aforementioned BIG building in Manhattan, the upside-down triangle shape at the top of Atlanta’s 101 Marietta Street skyscraper and the Memphis Pyramid were converted into gargantuan chips.

To participate, users need to point their Snapchat AR lens at any triangle in their environment or use TikTok to engage in weekly challenges.

BIG unveils new education complex master plan overlooking the North Sea

2022-08-27T09:00:00-04:00

BIG has just released details for a new project called Masterplan Esbjerg Strand in Denmark they say will host a “completely new education platform that will rethink the traditional education system and campus in the country.”

The initiative will entail the creation of a 90,500-square-meter (974,000-square-foot) multi-use green roof structure sited along the Jutland coastline and placed on an elevated platform 7 meters (23 feet) above the ground to gird against the effects of sea level rise.

Image courtesy of BIG

The firm shares: “As part of an ambitious vision plan Esbjerg of the Future Vision 2025, the city will grow its population and become an attractive educational city; have skilled labor for all; become a sustainable energy monopoly; a digital hub of Northern Europe; become a strong tourist destination on the Wadden Sea with optimal conditions for entrepreneurs.”

Image courtesy of BIG

BIG recently completed its nearby Marsk Watchtower project and will look to further enhance th...