Archinect - News

MoMA's next exhibition will explore the role architecture played in shaping post-colonial South Asia

2021-11-11T16:53:00-05:00

MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design has announced a forthcoming new exhibition that will examine the way in which the modern architecture of former colonial enterprises helped shape the post-independence era of self-determination politics in latter South Asia.

Woman carrying cement at the Capitol Complex, Chandigarh, India, in front of the Secretariat (1951–58) designed by Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, 1887–1965). 1956. Photograph: Ernst Scheidegger.

Comprised of over 200 photos, architectural models, and other media taken from institutions in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, the exhibition highlights key projects from some of the region’s most prominent designers, including Mahendra Raj and 2018 Pritzker laureate Balkrishna Doshi.

Chittagong University, Chittagong, East Pakistan (Bangladesh). 1965–71. Vastukalabid (est. 1964). Muzharul Islam (1923–2021). Master plan. Ink and pencil on paper. Muzharul Islam Archives.

The exhibition was organized by MoMA...

Construction update: Three new buildings by Safdie Architects represent the legacy of Habitat 67

2021-08-14T09:00:00-04:00

Safdie Architects has an update on three ongoing projects it says are direct ties to the lineage of founder Moshe Safdie’s seminal work that opened 54 years ago in Montreal.

New buildings in Ecuador and Sri Lanka are nearing completion, and a new development is about to break ground on the next phase of a contemporary version of the Habitat in Qinhuangdao, China.

Qinhuangdao Phase II. Courtesy of Safdie Architects.

The three projects together represent “the realization of more than 50 years of study on how to improve urban living.” Each development is marked with the same stepped profile, privacy, and garden terrace design taken from the original Habitat. The sum total is a reflection of the eye-opening realizations about urban life the 83-year-old Safdie says were brought on by the pandemic.

Qinhuangdao Phase II. Courtesy of Safdie Architects.

Per the architect: “Over the past year, there has been a rediscovery of the interdependence between nature and society. We have seen an outcr...

Architect Minnette de Silva pioneered Sri Lankan modernism, yet her work has been largely forgotten

2019-04-29T18:58:00-04:00

These setbacks toughened her demeanour. [...] Her toughness soon gave her a reputation for being a “difficult woman”. Following an intense period of building in the 1950s, De Silva’s contracts dried up, while [Geoffrey] Bawa’s rocketed. Ismeth Raheem, an architect who worked closely with Bawa in the early years, recalls De Silva telling him on several occasions: “I was dismissed because I am a woman. I was never taken seriously for my work.”

While Minnette de Silva's influence can be seen in the more progressive architecture in Colombo in her native Sri Lanka, “her contribution to architecture has been only belatedly – and sometimes begrudgingly – acknowledged,” writes Shiromi Pinto in The Guardian.

Throughout her career, de Silva wasn't taken seriously as an architect, and her studio and her surviving built works remain in a precarious state 20 years after her death. However, close associates like architect C Anjalendran are ensuring that her work isn't forgotten.

2015 Holcim Awards grand prizes given to Colombia, Sri Lanka, and U.S.-based projects

2015-04-20T19:46:00-04:00

The Holcim Foundation finally announced today the three winning projects for their global 2015 Holcim Awards. Every three years, the awards competition seeks architectural design interventions that address sustainable building and construction issues worldwide. As a global competition, the Holcim Awards highlight people's different lifestyles and draws attention to their specific communal issues.

At the same time, it promotes the innovative sustainable strategies that architects and designers can create in effort to improve a community's quality of life. The Holcim Awards jury -- chaired by Harvard GSD Dean Mohsen Mostafavi -- chose the three grand-prize winning teams, who each won a trophy and shared the $350,000 prize.

The $200,000 Gold prize went to "Articulated Site: Water reservoirs as public park | Medellín, Colombia" by Colombian team Mario Camargo, Luis Tombé, Colectivo720, with Juan Calle and Horacio Valencia, and EPM Group (Empresas Públicas de Medellín). Their proposal tra...

Commerce Department Award To Help Architects Increase U.S. Exports & Create Jobs

2012-10-23T13:51:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) today announced that it had accepted an award from the U.S. Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration’s Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP) to promote the export of American architectural services to India and Sri Lanka.