Archinect - News

Coworking real-estate empire We Company announces smart cities initiative

2019-03-19T17:17:00-04:00

We Company, formerly known as WeWork, has announced plans to launch a smart cities program. Since its founding in 2010, the real-estate empire has collected an enormous amount of data on how people work and live, using that information to shape its more than 600 spaces. As the global coworking company expands its brand to tackle residential real estate (WeLive) and education (WeGrow), it is hoping to use its aggregated information to reenvision the future of our cities.

To do so, We Company has hired Di-Ann Eisnor, the former Waze executive, and Dror Benshetrit, the designer and futurist whose eponymous studio is known for their pioneering object and installation designs. Together, the two (alongside engineers, architects, data scientists, biologists, and economists) will use their innovation of the tech sector to address problems of urbanization and climate change.

WeGrow NYC, We Company's first elementary school; designed by Bjarke Ingels Group. Photo by Dave Burk.

In recent years,...

Dror and Gensler propose underground cruise operation for Istanbul's Galataport masterplan

2017-05-04T18:11:00-04:00

Imagine combining the movable gangway employed for airplane passengers with the slender above-ground urban footprint of a subway station, and you have the basic concepts behind Gensler and Dror's proposed underground cruise operation in their masterplan for the Galataport in Istanbul. Using a hydraulic boardwalk that deploys a rising gangway when and only when a ship docks, the system only takes up 3.5 meters of boardwalk.

The architects wanted to free up the now mainly inaccessible-to-the-public 1.2 kilometer Bosphorus abutting boardwalk while still servicing cruise ships, so they invented this underground system in combination with interdisciplinary firm BEA.

As Dror Benshetrit, principal of Dror explains, “Through the collaboration of our partners, we’ve been able to relocate the cruise terminal in an unprecedented way and design a plan that respects the cultural texture of Istanbul. It is our hope that the revitalized neighborhood will reconnect local residents and visitors with n...

Dror's plan for Istanbul's Parkorman offers the city a love story with nature

2017-03-21T18:38:00-04:00

The lack of public greenery is a concern troubling many urban areas around the world. For city-dwellers living in increasingly dense neighborhoods, nature often becomes synonymous with a singular tree or two as existing green spaces are few and far between. Istanbul, as the heart of Turkey, is one of the most congested cities in the world and has been struggling with the loss of public greenery due to privatization and population growth. Back in 2013, a riot over Gezi Park broke out as citizens desired to protect one of the cities last remaining green spaces from development.

Dror, the NY-based design practice, has plans to address this dearth with their new master plan for Istanbul’s Parkorman. Located six miles north of the city center, Dror plans to counter the industrialized city-scape by “designing a love story between people and nature in a city with no Central Park.”

From the architects: We set out to create a park that dissolves the anxiety and fear that often accompanies an...

Dror envisions second geodesic dome in Montreal's Expo 67 site

2016-04-26T14:24:00-04:00

Originally built as the U.S. Pavilion in the memorable World Expo of 1967, the steel structural frame of Buckminster Fuller's Biosphere remains standing to this day as a sole landmark in Montreal's Parc Jean-Drapeau. In planning for the 50th anniversary of Expo 67 as well as Montreal's 375th anniversary next April, designer Dror Benshetrit of the New York-based practice Dror came up with the idea for adding, what do you know, a second geodesic dome near the Biosphere.

After touring Montreal's Île Sainte-Hélène with the Buckminster Fuller Institute, Benshetrit thought of a second dome as a way to help reinvigorate the seasonally used Expo 67 site grounds and evidently pay tribute to Fuller's landmark. Compared to the Biosphere, which is 76 meters in diameter and 62 meters high, Dror's proposed dome is a 150-meter-wide aluminum latticed sphere with a planted canopy.

The studio describes that its vegetated cover would act as a natural sound buffer and provide an enchanting public enviro...

Fairy Tales 2016 winners highlight real architectural issues through fictional storytelling

2016-03-23T13:48:00-04:00

Fantastical fiction and harsh reality aren't so far apart in the winning narratives of the 2016 Fairy Tales Architecture Competition. Living in a time when the inevitable future is constantly on everyone's mind, this year's stories beautifully visualize and perhaps forewarn of what possibly awaits. Created by Blank Space, the international contest invites architects, artists, writers and the creatively inclined to pen their own architectural fairy tale narrative.

Since Blank Space revealed their first set of winners in 2014, the competition's rapid growth can be worthy of its own story. The 2016 edition reeled in more than 1,500 entries from 67 countries — the largest pool of submissions in the competition's history by far. Plus, the level of creativity was as strong as ever, with poignant tales based on recent real-world incidents to thought-provoking critiques on architecture's current state — and future, of course.

Blank Space's "Fairy Tales: Volume 3"

This year's jury also included...

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.

Dror's Vision for HavvAda

2012-09-28T13:00:00-04:00

New York firm Dror today unveiled designs for a collosal artificial island to be created right off the coast of Turkey, not far from Istanbul. The project, dubbed HavvAda, is envisioned to rise from the sea by piling up one billion cubic meter of soil carved out of the main land from the construction of the proposed Canal Istanbul, another ambitious mega project currently proposed to run parallel to the Bosporus. Inspired by Buckminster Fuller, six gigantic geodesic domes will lift up artificial hills on the island which will be covered with residences and commercial buildings for a population of several hundred thousand people.

Find a detailed project description and images courtesy of Dror below.

A century after the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed; Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan presents the Canal Istanbul project and offers to re-visit the map of the city. One billion cubic meter of soil may be carved out of the main land in order to create the canal. Turkish deve...