Archinect - News

SOM presents 'ready-to-build' Urban Sequoia NOW design at COP27

2022-11-08T17:53:00-05:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has revealed an update to its Urban Sequoia project it says can be built right now, during a presentation that took place today at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

SOM Partner Chris Cooper was on hand to make the presentation of his firm’s refined design for a carbon-sequestering building that can be used as a weapon in the fight against carbon emissions globally, three-quarters of which are generated from urban areas alone.

“We recognize the need to alter the trajectory of climate change by going beyond net zero,” Cooper said during the presentation. “We need to take carbon out of the atmosphere through the built environment, and we have developed a design to do just that.”

Image: © SOM | Miysis

Despite some considerably less-marketable obstacles to its effective implementation, the technology for carbon sequestering has come a long way in its development to offer itself as a plausible answer to the challenge posed by the need to a...

Architensions takes over Coachella with a playful new subversion of vertical design

2022-04-18T18:02:00-04:00

After two years of cancellations and wait, the exciting re-opening of Coachella took place over the weekend with a new installation by Architensions titled The Playground.

The studio’s installation joins others by Estudio Normal, Kiki Van Eijk, Oana Stanescu, Christopher Cichocki, and LosDos and is meant to evoke a “vibrant urban landscape” based on the ideas of play expressed by the prolific Dutch intellectual Constant Nieuwenhuys in his visionary idea for a speculative anti-capitalist mecca called New Babylon.

Photo by Michael Vahrenwald/ESTO

Composed of four separate steel towers totaling 42 and 56 feet in height respectively, the installation hinges on a visual grid meant to “an open space that opposes the isolation and homogeneity of technologically mediated experiences” in ways similar to that of Cedric Price’s seminal early-60s Fun Palace design.

“The Playground is a fragment of a city,” Architensions co-founder Nick Roseboro explained, “a node for engaging festival-goers in ...

Child Studio designs an imaginary summer hideaway fantasy for our stay-at-home reality

2020-05-08T18:47:00-04:00

London-based Child Studio, led by Che Huang and Alexy Kos, has designed a contemplative oases in an imaginary project spurred by our current "lockdown world." The conceptual project explores ideas of wellness, escapism, and connection with nature through a series of curated images showing key moments within the imagined architecture.

Named "Casa Plenaire," the cottage-style environment's name Plenaire means "in the open air," a term meant to address the quarantined nature of much of the world during the coronavirus pandemic. The space has plenty of windows, providing seamless connectivity to the outdoor landscape.

Inside, one notices the sculptural structure and the organically defined zones of the lounge, terrace, bedroom, and circular pool. "The project was an opportunity for us to explore new ideas and test new concepts for the post-lockdown world. The seaside location is a collage of memories, dreams, and visual references, for the period when travel has become unattainable," s...

Lars Büro creates Tesla Cybertruck-inspired CYBUNKER

2019-12-17T13:25:00-05:00

Inspired by the recently unveiled Tesla Cybertruck, Lars Büro has imagined a Cybunker, "a modular architecture that can be deployed as a hi-tech depot, an ADU, or an off-grid residence." Made with a rigid steel "monocoque" structure, the aerodynamic module is able to withstand grueling environmental conditions.

The photovoltaic-covered roof gives the Cybunker self-sustaining capability in remote locations or as a complimentary system for on-grid residences. The depot is designed to carry a variety of equipment and vehicles, including oversized trucks. With a 1,800 square-foot interior, the Cybunker allows flexible programming. "Cybunker can be customized to serve limitless functions, including an apartment, shelter, storage, or other commercial uses," Lars Büro writes of the project.

Christophe Benichou designs extreme balconies for extreme climbers

2019-12-06T18:12:00-05:00

The Verdon Gorge is one of the most popular climbing destinations in France. As climbers ascend the limestone cliff walls of the canyon they are able to look down upon the Verdon River that shoots through the void. With over 1,000 feet to scale, climbers are likely to want a place to rest and regroup along the way. That's where Christophe Benichou Architectures comes in.

Verdon Balconies. All renderings via Christophe Benichou Architectures

Called Verdon Balconies, the group has conceived a theoretical resting space for climbers of the gorge. "At the heart of this vertical universe, suspended platforms offer a welcome horizontal rest. They can welcome climbers for a simple break or for the night, basically sheltered from the wind and the falls of stone," the studio writes about the project. The structures are entirely metallic, offering a light minimalist product for the fatigued seeking refuge.

Luca Curci Architects imagine a self-sustaining vertical 'city-building'

2019-12-06T08:54:00-05:00

In an effort to explore the architectural possibilities in addressing sustainability and population density, Luca Curci Architects have imagined Vertical City, a conceptual project proposal for a vertical "city-building" settled in a body of water.

The group began by analyzing the contemporary skyscraper, which it sees as "a compact element, smooth and alienated from the surrounding [landscape]" and reimagines it as an open structure, realized through modular prefabricated construction. The concept structure is encased by a membrane of photovoltaic glazing, intended to enable the city-building for energy-independence.

Green zones and exterior perforations encourage light on each level as well as a natural circulation of air. Standing 180 floors (750 meters) high, Luca Curci sets Vertical City at a total volume of 3,750,000 cubic meters, with over 200,000 square meters of green area. Aimed to host up to 25,000 people, the ambitious thought experiment is a what the architects call "a ...

Architects present their Homes of the Future at the 2018 China House Vision Exhibition

2018-10-04T15:36:00-04:00

Coinciding with Beijing Design Week, the China House Vision exhibition asked ten Chinese and Japanese design studios to envision the future of living. Presenting a diverse range of living environments that address issues such as population crowding, space travel and climate change, firms such as MAD and OPEN Architecture showcased pavilions that challenge the way we currently think about living, and explore how we might inhabit the world of tomorrow.

House Vision is a cultural research project initiated in 2013 by Japanese graphic designer and curator Kenya Hara. The recent Beijing-based edition, sited just meters from Beijing's iconic Olympic Stadium, is the first one to be held outside of Japan. Below, take a look at the futuristic designs.

Concrete Vessel by Atelier FCJZ:

Photo: Nacása & Partners Inc. © HOUSE VISION

House ATO by Atelier Deshaus:

Photo: Nacása & Partners Inc. © HOUSE VISION

e-Vege House by Yang Design:

Photo: Nacása & Partners Inc. © HOUSE VISION

Mars Case by OPEN ...

Zaha Hadid Architects' conceptual rendering for Chicago Spire site

2018-01-02T13:43:00-05:00

While 2017 saw developer Related Midwest remain tight-lipped on its plans for the site of the defunct 2,000-foot-tall Chicago Spire project, a rendering showing a pair of very tall skyscrapers rising at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive recently reignited speculation regarding the site’s future redevelopment. The rather slender image surfaced online, credited to Britain’s Zaha Hadid Architects.

Another rendering for the vacant Chicago Spire site recently surfaced online. The image was confirmed as a proposal from Zaha Hadid Architects; however, the developer Related Midwest will not be pursuing the design.

While the project will not be built, the organic towers are certainly a stunning site to behold. Characteristic of ZHA's work, these sci-fi shaped towers appear to break the 984-foot tall supertall threshold. For now, future plans for what will be built at 400 N. Lakeshore Drive are still anyone's guess.

Image note: the previous image has been removed by request, as it was not intended for publication.

Watch "Ex of IN House," an unusual, compelling new video from Steven Holl

2017-01-24T12:43:00-05:00

Poetry, abstracted Venn diagrams of spheres, and a love for natural materials are just some of the components that go into this video from Steven Holl, who acts as a kind of a hyper-thoughtful Huell Howser as he explores a gorgeous new home parented primarily by concept. Entitled "Ex of IN House," the video explores the formulation, execution, and daily reality of a home built on a splendor of acreage in Rhinebeck, New York. Likening program to a bunch of bananas, Holl advocates for abstraction in the design process, explaining that with the concept of IN, "all space is sacred." With a soundtrack that seems to combine the plinkiness of Thomas Newman with the urgency of Clint Mansell, it's a bit of a wonder (click here to view).

One brick per Bible verse in Napp Studio's enormous, lightbulb-infused "Archive of Light"

2017-01-05T14:44:00-05:00

The imaginary realm of architecture frequently ventures off into scales that are improbable, if not outright impossible, on the politically and gravitationally constrained Earth (think Étienne-Louis Boullée, or Lebbeus Woods). In a similar if less secular vein, Napp Studio has conceived of an enormous, walkable brick wall that would feature every verse of the bible and/or other spiritual texts inscribed on titled, lightbulb-illuminated bricks. The idea here is to create the sensation of leafing through a book page by page, with each page being loosely represented by a brick.

As the architects note, "The bricks are books written with text of living stories of the everyday reality, yet, a reality with hope. Hope is the most significant spiritual grain we rely on when facing the sometime harsh life, it provides us with strength and will – the light to live on." The massive scale of the project does not place it beyond the realm of the possible, although there's no word yet of an officia...

Kengo Kuma, Herzog & de Meuron, Álvaro Siza in MoMA’s “Conceptions of Space”, opening July 4

2014-07-03T17:13:00-04:00

If you're on the hunt for some Fourth of July plans, the Museum of Modern Art in New York will celebrate the opening of its "Conceptions of Space: Recent Acquisitions in Contemporary Architecture" exhibition tomorrow. Featuring recently acquired projects from international and emerging architects and artists, the exhibition highlights the evolving role of space through the context of architecture as an art form, and how it serves as a response to broader cultural issues.

Find out more on Bustler.

Skyscraper with trees trend: The architectural drawing fad is fantasy.

2013-03-08T18:57:00-05:00

Want to make a skyscraper look trendy and sustainable? Put a tree on it. Or better yet, dozens. Many high-concept skyscraper proposals are festooned with trees. On the rooftop, on terraces, in nooks and crannies, on absurdly large balconies. Basically anywhere horizontal and high off the ground.

Lebbeus Woods: The Architect Who Dared to Ask ‘What If?’

2013-02-16T18:37:00-05:00

San Francisco Project: Inhabiting the Quake, Quake City, 1995; graphite and pastel on paper; 14.5 inches by 23 inches by 0.75 inches; Collection SFMOMA.

Lewis Wallace previews the new exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Lebbeus Woods, Architect. While not a full retrospective of Woods’ career, the exhibit shows off three decades of his work in the form of drawings, paintings, models and sketchbooks filled with bold ideas, raw concepts and cryptic inscriptions.

Archinect - News

SOM presents 'ready-to-build' Urban Sequoia​ NOW design at COP27

Architensions takes over Coachella with a playful new subversion of vertical design

Child Studio designs an imaginary summer hideaway fantasy for our stay-at-home reality

Lars Büro creates Tesla Cybertruck-inspired CYBUNKER

Christophe Benichou designs extreme balconies for extreme climbers

Luca Curci Architects imagine a self-sustaining vertical 'city-building'

Architects present their Homes of the Future at the 2018 China House Vision Exhibition

Zaha Hadid Architects' conceptual rendering for Chicago Spire site

Watch "Ex of IN House," an unusual, compelling new video from Steven Holl

One brick per Bible verse in Napp Studio's enormous, lightbulb-infused "Archive of Light"

Kengo Kuma, Herzog & de Meuron, Álvaro Siza in MoMA’s “Conceptions of Space”, opening July 4

Skyscraper with trees trend: The architectural drawing fad is fantasy.

Lebbeus Woods: The Architect Who Dared to Ask ‘What If?’

SOM presents 'ready-to-build' Urban Sequoia NOW design at COP27