Archinect - News

Sam Lubell on cultural institutions’ newfound embrace of landscape architecture

2024-04-23T18:30:00-04:00

[...] such projects have fundamentally transformed in recent years, reflecting, among other things, seismic shifts in both museums’ priorities and the profession of landscape architecture, as well as a surge in interest in outdoor space because of the pandemic. The first rule: don’t dare call them gardens. These are sophisticated landscapes integrating — and enhancing — institutions’ missions while also encouraging education, sustainability and a much-needed sense of civic welcome.

Sam Lubell of the New York Times talks to Walter Hood, William Fain, and Kate Orff for a survey focused on the expanding role of landscape architecture in major American cultural sector projects.

He says: "The ascension of landscape in the museum world shows no signs of abating." Projects of note include the Hirshhorn Museum’s debated Hiroshi Sugimoto-led sculpture garden redesign, Studio-MLAand Frederick Fisher and Partners’ work for the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, and the forthcoming Calder Gardens in Philadelphia from Piet Oudolf and Herzog & de Meuron.

"Museums are places where you can say something about the culture. Where we can begin to vet some of these things that we don’t want to talk about. It goes back to the idea of these being the new civic spaces, where honest conversations can be had," Walter Hood told him. (A look at his firm's contributions to the new International African American Museum in South Carolina by Moody Nolan and Pei Cobb Freed can be found ...

10 new architectural landscapes & outdoor spaces we liked this week

2024-04-06T08:00:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Outdoors.

Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles.

↑ 10K Hill South in Washington, D.C., by MA | Morris Adjmi Architects

↑ Powell Residence in Palm Springs, CA, by Studio AR&D Architects

↑ Greenwich Village School Green Roof—PS41 in New York, NY, by MBB Architects; Photo: Charles de Vaivre

↑ LAND Community Center in Xi'an, China, by Atelier Ping Jiang | EID Arch; Landscape: GZ.S.P.I. LANDSCAPE DESIGN CO.,LTD; Photo: EID Arch

↑ Long Island Estate Main House in East Hampton, NY, by BMA Architects

↑ Liminal House in West Vancouver, Canada, by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses; Landscape: Botanica Design; Photo: Hufton + Crow

↑ The Wizard of Oz | KINCANG Modern Pre-School in Shaoxing...

Ronald Lu & Partners completes Hong Kong tower offering ‘nature on every doorstep’

2023-12-28T12:34:00-05:00

Hong Kong-based Ronald Lu & Partners has completed a residential development in Kowloon described as a “real forest building.” Named Garden Crescent, the scheme was designed with the philosophy of “nature on every doorstep.”

Image credit: Ronald Lu & Partners

Externally, the building features slanted structural supports to create solid and void spaces that are designed to create multiple avenues for natural ventilation and passive cooling. On the podium level, the scheme’s biophilic elements include a landscape of trees, shrubs, and plants aimed at improving air quality, reducing the urban heat island effect, and enhancing the local microclimate.

Image credit: Ronald Lu & Partners

As the tower rises, voids in the form create six multi-layered green courtyards. Designed to be fully accessible to birds and insects in an effort to repopulate the area’s biodiversity, the courtyards are also intended to give residents imme...

Maya Lin to design Glenbow Museum's new rooftop garden in Calgary

2023-10-30T16:57:00-04:00

Maya Lin Studio has been attached to a new rooftop garden terrace project at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta.

The 13,000-square-foot design will complement the new $120 million renovation and expansion scheme from DIALOG that was announced in September of 2021. It will include an all-season pavilion structure, event spaces, and sculpture gardens surrounding a central oculus skylight that doubles as a lightwell for the new JR Shaw Centre for Art & Culture. Lin says the space will “afford a welcoming place that will invite visitors to connect to art, landscape, and the city of Calgary.” The project will be her first-ever work in Canada.

Rendering courtesy of Maya Lin Studio

“This idea that we are recycling a building in the center of downtown Calgary and making something new out of it while utilizing as much of the old building was a huge draw for me. If we can use an existing building in a better way, it is a lot more energy-efficient, it is a lot more material-efficient, and ...

Architecture Research Office reveals plans for Frederic Church Center for Art and Landscape in Upstate New York

2023-09-21T19:38:00-04:00

Architecture Research Office (ARO), in partnership with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYS OPRHP) and The Olana Partnership (TOP), has today revealed a new plan for the Frederic Church Center for Art and Landscape at the Olana State Historic Site in Upstate New York.

The new Center is the centerpiece of a larger master plan designed in 2015 by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW). The scheme includes a restoration of the famed Hudson River School painter’s self-designed farm and homestead, which was constructed on the property between 1860 and 1900. ARO’s Center will serve as the new visitors arrival gateway overlooking the Catskills range at the site’s historic core, ensuring that their experience will be compatible with the surrounding landscape and vistas beyond.

Featuring a mass timber design, the total 4,500-square-foot structure includes a broad outdoor terrace and large bird-safe glazed windows. CLT roof panels combine with e...

Shma's rippling landscape adds to Neri&Hu-designed hotel in Zhengzhou

2023-08-21T15:21:00-04:00

Bangkok-based landscape architecture firm Shma Company Limited has introduced an elegant, small-scale landscape intervention in front of a Neri&Hu-designed hotel called Le Meridien in Zhengzhou City, China.

Image: Arch-exist

The renovation project comprises approximately 65,000 square feet of space in a densely populated area. The architects were tasked to create a hotel frontage landscape that improves the site’s overall appearance, in addition to enhancing ground parking and vehicular movement.

Image: Arch-exist

The project design pays tribute to Zhengzhou’s historical textile weaving industry through its sculptural landscape weaves and folds. A series of undulating lawn stripes represent silk being woven. The landscape and the existing building seamlessly integrate with each other. A water feature situated in front of the hotel’s lobby drop-off area serves as the main welcoming element.

Image: Arch-exist

Two colors, bronze and black, were used for the finishing of the stainless st...

Sasaki Associates will lead in designing the largest public park in Athens, Greece

2023-08-03T13:52:00-04:00

The city of Athens is preparing for a groundbreaking addition to its already historic city. Thanks to the efforts of Lamda Development, the city will welcome Ellinikon Metropolitan Park, set to not only be the largest park in Athens but also "Europe's largest coastal park."

Urban Land's Bennett Voyles reports that "after 3,400 years, Athens will soon get its first big park [...] When completed in 2030, Ellinikon Metropolitan Park will be 600 acres (243 ha), about three-fourths the size of New York City’s Central Park, an enormous addition of public green space that may prove as important to Athenians as Central Park is to New Yorkers."

Project render of Ellinikon Metropolitan Park shows design details inspired by the Olympic venues. Image courtesy of Sasaki Associates.

Spearheaded by international planning and design firm Sasaki Associates, the site acts as another unique factor to the development, with areas of the new park being "leftover remnants" of venues from the 2002 Summer Ol...

Landscape architecture is now officially a STEM discipline, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

2023-07-12T17:03:00-04:00

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has designated degrees in landscape architecture as a science, technology, engineering, mathematics (or STEM) discipline upon the advice of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), announced by the organization today (July 12).

The designation helps both academics and practitioners in the expanded field gain recognition for the scientific nature of their work, which increasingly helps both government and private interests mitigate against the impact of climate change while performing other tasks that are critically important to the health and safety of the environment for citizens throughout the country.

"The STEM designation finally reflects the reality of the discipline of landscape architecture. Our work is fully dependent on science and technology, from understanding soils at the level of microbial interactions and nutrient exchanges, which keep our urban canopy alive, to coastal adaptations informed by continuously evolving ...

This Japanese housing project utilizes regenerative architecture to support its natural surrounding environment

2023-07-10T18:37:00-04:00

Japanese regenerative architectural design studio tono Inc. has designed a sustainable residence noted for its positive impact on the surrounding environment.

Image: Rui Nishi

Located on the southern Japanese island of Yakushima, Sumu Yakushima applies regenerative architecture to reconceptualize the relationship between human habitation and the natural environment.

Image: Rui Nishi

The project’s design takes a holistic view of the surrounding river basin, mountains, and sea. It combines traditional Japanese civil engineering with contemporary technology.

Image: Wataru Aoyama

The key aims of the design included designing the underground environment, orienting buildings based on a thorough understanding of water and air flows through the landscape, and creating an ongoing connection with nature through architecture.

Image: Rui Nishi

Sumu Yakushima consists of several separate buildings that are organized in a layout that respects the pre-existing nat...

Worrell Yeung designs sleek porous spa shed for family home in upstate New York

2023-06-28T13:41:00-04:00

As part of a residential project within the agrarian landscape of Westchester County in upstate New York, Worrell Yeung designed a simple, yet striking, sculptural spa shed. The structure joins a collection of new and existing buildings for this family home.

The firm’s North Salem Farm project combines a renovated and expanded main home, a new photography studio/garage, and spa shed on the northwest side of a 8.7-acre triangular lot. The home is integrated into the landscape as it slopes downwards from the street towards a pond and hillside.

Drawing: Worrell Yeung

The team employed a site strategy that shields the main house from the adjacent street and focuses views from each structure toward the landscape. The three buildings reflect the archetypal form of the American barn, however, they are distinguished by various approaches to cladding and material detail.

Photo by Naho Kubota

“We didn’t want a monotonous experience of moving from one dark clad building to the next,” says co-p...

Renewed modernist Esplanade Place Ville Marie opens in Montreal

2023-04-18T14:46:00-04:00

A comprehensive overhaul of Montreal’s Esplanade Place Ville Marie by Sid Lee Architecture and Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Architectes (MSDL) is now complete, marking the end of a $200 million revitalization project that’s brought much-needed civic life back to a busy section of the city’s downtown commercial core.

Originally constructed in 1958 and designed by I.M. Pei and Henry Cobb, who had opened their practice in New York just three years before, the site had become shopworn since its last redevelopment was completed in the 1980s.

Image: David Boyer

The new Esplanade PVM comes with improved pedestrian access, a modernized shopping mall, and reconfigured underground entrance to public transit. MSDL worked to enact new monumental staircases and a horizontal floating glass structure it says is the longest in North America. The perimeter of the plaza area is also reopened to attract circulation between the street and raised public level, and the original parking lot entrance ...

MVRDV reveals 'ecology-first' master plan for health and technology campus

2023-04-18T08:00:00-04:00

MVRDV has designed what the firm describes as a “pointillist” master plan for a health and technology campus in the Dutch city of Nijmegen.

The project aims to reimagine the Noviotech Campus by unifying the currently disjointed campus buildings and adding new buildings in the empty spaces between them while merging the site into the surrounding city. The design team says it's taking an “ecology-first” approach by transforming the campus into a nature-inclusive landscape that connects the neighboring Goffertpark, one of the city’s largest green spaces, and the adjacent Jonkerbos War Cemetery to designated green corridors nearby.

Image © MVRDV

The master plan preserves six of the seven pre-existing large buildings on the site, including one that will be renovated. The buildings will serve as a grid into which new buildings are added over time over three phases of development. The campus aims to eventually expand to approximately three million square feet of leasable space.

A green sp...

MVRDV’s Winy Maas to curate biennale on threatened Van Gogh landscapes

2023-04-17T13:36:00-04:00

MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas has been selected as curator for the Van Gogh Homeland Biennale. Set to launch in 2025, the event will draw attention to the Brabant landscapes in the Netherlands which featured in many Vincent Van Gogh paintings more than a hundred years ago and are now under threat from climate change.

Image credit: MVRDV

The Biennale is part of a broader collaboration between Midpoint Brabant, MVRDV, and the Van Gogh Homeland Foundation, which aims to raise public awareness of the challenges faced by the Dutch landscape, where the number of flood events is increasing, and tensions are rising between farmers, cities, industries, and nature lovers over land use.

The team hopes that a blend of architecture, landscape design, sustainability, and leisure backgrounds will “show in an attractive and accessible way how the landscape that inspired Vincent van Gogh 150 years ago can be made more sustainable and greener in the future.”

Image credit: MVRDV

The Biennale will in...

Turenscape's 'floating forest' reshapes a former wasteland into a multifunctional urban landscape

2023-01-11T12:20:00-05:00

Beijing-based landscape architecture firm Turenscape has completed the transformation of a former 126-acre dumping ground into a “dreamlike floating forest” in the eastern Chinese city of Nanchang.

The new Fish Tail Park operates a triple function as a habitat for wildlife, a recreational area for the city, and a stormwater regulator, creating what the design team calls a “replicable model of designed urban nature for regions with monsoon or variable climates that can address the multiple challenges of floods, habitat restoration, and recreational demands.”

Image credit: Turenscape

To create the landscape, the team recycled coal ash previously dumped on the site, mixing it with dirt from fish pond dykes to create numerous islets. At the same time, a new lake was created to accommodate over 35 million cubic feet of stormwater inflow. In anticipation of fluctuating water levels, a selection of native trees and wetland plants capable of surviving the varying conditions have been plante...

Snøhetta unveils new urban farm design in Hong Kong

2022-12-21T18:26:00-05:00

Snøhetta is nearing completion on a trio of clubhouse designs set in the densely populated center of Hong Kong’s Pavilia Farm residential development in Tai Wai.

As a space for social interaction and shared experiences, the project serves residents of Pavilia with a vital piece of communal infrastructure while also providing urban farming capabilities and a contemplative connection to nature in what can otherwise be considered a hyper-urban environment.

Image: New World Development

“Pavilia Farm is a project that highlights the importance of creating new green, urban neighborhoods. More people live in cities than ever before — and that trend is likely to continue to increase in the future — so we need to build in a way that can make it sustainable — both environmentally and socially,” Robert Greenwood, the Managing Director of Snøhetta Asia said in a press release.

Image: New World Development

“The Pavilia Farm and the clubhouses are small but perfect examples of how that can be don...

10 architectural landscapes & outdoor spaces we enjoyed this week

2022-12-10T09:00:00-05:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Outdoors.

Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles.

↑ Rustic Canyon in Los Angeles, CA by Walker Workshop

↑ Arrival in Shanghai, China by Wutopia Lab; Photo: CreatAR Images

↑ Washington State University Everett in Everett, WA by SRG Partnership; Landscape: Site Workshop; Photo: Benjamin Benschneider Photography

↑ Casa Malandra in Puerto Escondido, Mexico by TAC Taller Alberto Calleja

↑ Yujidao Park in Nanbu, China by BLVD International; Photo: Shining Laboratory

↑ Field Office in Portland, OR by Hacker Architects; Landscape: Lango Hansen; Photo: KuDa Photography

↑ Whiting Forest of Dow Gardens in Midland, MI by Metcalfe Architecture & Design

↑ Silver Oak Alexander Valley W...

Adjaye Associates designs major 35-acre master plan for Cleveland waterfront

2022-12-06T12:03:00-05:00

Adjaye Associates has designed a major master plan along the Cleveland riverfront in collaboration with real estate firm Bedrock. The Cuyahoga Riverfront development spans 35 acres and is described by its designers as a “15-to-20-year vision” that “prioritizes accessibility, equity, sustainability, and resilience with the development of an 18-hour, 15-minute downtown.”

Concept rendering © Adjaye Associates

Under Adjaye’s plans, the waterfront development will host over 3.5 million square feet of space, including 2,000 residential units, 850,000 square feet of office space, 12 acres of public space, and supporting hospitality, retail, and entertainment venues.

“Our redevelopment strategy for the downtown Cleveland Riverfront taps into the lost heritage of the city, establishing a new relationship between the urban core and the shore,” David Adjaye explained. “As I became more deeply immersed, the need to build a more tempered flow of movement through the city became immensely clear.”

...

10 pools & ponds we liked this week

2022-08-27T11:00:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Pools & Fountains.

Tip: Use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles.

↑ Maui Residence in Hawaii by Walker Warner Architects; Landscape Architect: Lutsko Associates; Photo: Matthew Millman

↑ HT Residence in Manhattan Beach, CA by Laney LA; Photo: Joe Fletcher

↑ GIORIO CASA Store in Xuzhou, China; Interior Design: CATANIAN; Photo: Jin Weiqi

↑ Diagonal House in Aveiro, Portugal by Frari-architecture network; Photo: Ivo Tavares Studio

↑ Modern Bungalow in Los Angeles, CA by RIOS

↑ Mountain House in Aspen, CO by RO | ROCKETT DESIGN; Landscape Architect: Lift Studio; Pool Design: Modern Design & Build; Photo: Draper White Photography

↑ Kohala Coast Residence on Big Island, HI by de Reu...

Michael Heizer’s land art masterpiece 'City' finally sets an opening date

2022-08-22T10:00:00-04:00

City, a vast complex of outdoor structures and landmasses the Land artist Michael Heizer began constructing in the desert of Nevada in 1970, will finally begin welcoming public visitors next month. The site’s opening on 2 September, more than 50 years after work at the site began, marks the fulfillment of Heizer’s most ambitious and career-defining project.

Get ready to weep (assuming you are among the select art tourists willing to travel to the site-specific installation, as Heizer intended): The 50-year saga surrounding the National Mall-sized sculpture is over, and the Triple Aught Foundation, which manages the site, will begin accepting up to six visitors a day in an outcome that has at times seemed impossible.

Heizer's masterpiece has been the subject of an Obama-era protective designation (a measure first proposed by the late Senator Harry Reid) and later the failed Trump Administration attempt to open up the 740,000-acre tract to mining and development. Plans were originally for the earthwork to be made public in 2020. LACMA director Michael Govan says it is "an artwork aware of our primal impulses to build and organize space."

As the artist, who began the piece in 1970, told the Los Angeles Times in 2012: "The size thing is not some gimmick or attention-getting trick but a genuine undercurrent of the work. Frank Gehry for ins...

A look at the Inflation Reduction Act’s potential impacts on the Landscape Architecture community

2022-08-16T12:45:00-04:00

A new report from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has outlined the potential impacts and trade benefits of the provisions included in the Biden Administration’s recently passed Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, that is set to be signed into law in the coming days.

The $369 billion bill includes many grants and other types of funding for a host of green GSA-owned properties, Federal Highway Administration projects, and affordable housing developments. Over on the ASLA’s The Dirt blog, Roxanne Blackwell and Caleb Raspler broke down what it might entail for the landscape architecture community in separate practice and client areas.

Among the relevant provisions included in the overall package are:

More than $4.5 billion to be directed toward water infrastructure (dams, water treatment facilities, etc.). This includes the $4 billion in drought relief funds, another $15 million to "provide technical assistance for climate change planning, mitigation, adaptation, and r...

Frank Gehry gets back in on the LA River action with a new Headwaters Pavilion design

2022-08-08T18:04:00-04:00

A few short weeks removed from the greenlighting of its proposed Ocean Avenue project in Santa Monica, Gehry Partners has revealed a new design for a Headwaters Pavilion to the LA River Greenway located within a city-owned plot in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Canoga Park.

Image courtesy Gehry Partners, LLP

Urbanize LA is reporting the firm will present its proposal to the city’s Cultural Affairs Commission on Wednesday. It was designed in collaboration with OLIN and will reportedly entail a sculptural shade canopy and public restrooms which frame the park entrance from the north-facing Bassett Street and Alabama Avenue. The total estimated cost of the design is $5.1 million.

Image courtesy OLIN

Pedestrian improvements and added seating amenities are planned for the site as well, along with added water retention infrastructure. Both entities have been involved in the LA River project since its inception seven years ago. Gehry’s role in the project has been heavily-scrutiniz...

Cristina Iglesias’ Landscape and Memory taps into the forces lying just beneath our urban grid

2022-06-03T16:55:00-04:00

The Madison Square Park Conservancy’s second 2022 commission has opened with a new installation by Spanish artist Cristina Iglesias called Landscape and Memory.

In a harken back to the time when the eastern edge of Manhattan island was dominated by natural features like Collect Pond and other wetlands, Iglesias’ exhibition hinges on the arrangement of five subterranean bronze sculptures connected to a flowing stream whose presence is meant as a reminder of the unchanged ancient systems lying beneath the feet of 8 million New Yorkers.

Cristina Iglesias, Landscape and Memory, 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Madison Square Park Conservancy. Photo: Rashmi Gill.

"Madison Square Park has a rich history, witnessing and participating in several hundred years of New York City’s growth and evolution," the Conservancy’s Executive Director Keats Myer said of the significance of the site, which before the 19th century had been called Cedar Creek. “[Cristina’s] commission digs deep into this his...

Biophilia: 10 new examples of nature and the built environment coexisting harmoniously

2022-04-22T07:00:00-04:00

Happy Earth Day! In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Biophilia.

Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!

↑ Field Office in Portland, OR by Hacker Architects; Landscape Designer: Lango Hansen; Sustainability Consultant: YRG; Photo: Josh Partee

↑ Nanbo Bay Reception Center in Yinchuan, China; Interior Design: SUNSON Design; Photo: Kanghui Zeng

↑ Restaurante 34 in Guimarães, Portugal by REM'A; Photo: Ivo Tavares Studio

↑ Lazy House in Zlín, Czech Republic by Petr Janda / brainwork; Photo: BoysPlayNice

↑ Restaurant Terrace [ Azuma ] in Odessa, Ukraine by JK Lab Architects

↑ Wine Cave in Texas Hill Country by Clayton Korte; Photo: Casey Dunn

↑ Art Villa in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica by Refuel works; Interiors: Fo...

Mecanoo converts former urban railway line into green corridor in Taichung, Taiwan

2021-10-22T14:56:00-04:00

Mecanoo, in collaboration with S.D. Atelier Design & Planning, has completed the redevelopment of a 1.7-kilometer-long former railway line into a green corridor featuring an herb garden, fitness areas, playground, viewpoint, and waterpark in Taichung, Taiwan.

The aim of the project was to reimagine and reconnect a historic, disused railway that, due to its challenging location, has served as more of a barrier, impeding circulation from each side of it. The design, thus, opens the railway to the city via a green corridor that fosters biodiversity in order to meet the needs of the community. Bike and pedestrian lanes were also added to meet this goal.

As per the architects: “Within this linear site, the sustainable development covered a wide range of planning and design factors including urban regeneration, public participation, historic preservation, green and water resources, and circulation routes for pedestrians and bikes. Relying on Mecanoo’s extensive urban planning experience...

Delugan Meissl completes Taiyuan Botanical Garden featuring timber-based domed greenhouses

2021-06-02T19:16:00-04:00

Vienna-based firm Delugan Meissl Associated Architects (DMAA) has completed the Taiyuan Botanical Garden, a project that introduces a vibrant artificial landscape, defined by three timber-based, domed greenhouses.

Located in Taiyuan, China, the botanical garden occupies the site of a former coal mine, which the client wanted to transform into a landscaped park and museum. The architectural concept is based on the pre-existing landscape and altogether balances the natural landscape, architecture, technological, and ecological solutions. The artificial landscape features hills, lakes, waterfalls, paths, and buildings.

The greenhouses are the project’s centerpiece, fostering suitable climates for plants from different regions. In addition, the botanical garden encompasses an entrance building, which contains a nature museum and administration facility, a restaurant tea house, a bonsai museum, and a research center.

The greenhouses are situated near the entrance of the site and are con...

MAD Architects unveils design for sinuous, multi-use civic center

2021-05-11T19:28:00-04:00

MAD Architects has unveiled its design for the Jiaxing Civic Center. Led by Ma Yansong, this is the firm’s latest major public project in Jiaxing since the unveiling of the Jiaxing Train Station earlier this year.

The Jiaxing Civic Center is situated along the city’s central axis, taking advantage of the river views and the lush vegetation that surrounds the area. The project has a significant position, sitting adjacent to the South Lake, a historic lake in the South of Jiaxing, and the Central Park, the largest park in the city. Spanning nearly 130,000 square meters, the site contains three venues: the Science and Technology Museum, the Women and Children Activity Center, and the Youth Activity Center.

Image: MAD Architects

For this project, MAD Architects has envisioned an artistic entity on an urban scale, where architectural forms and landscapes coalesce. The civic center is at once open and intimate. With its large circular lawn as the centerpiece, both people and the building...

10 architectural landscapes & outdoor spaces we liked this week

2021-04-16T14:18:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Outdoors.

Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles.

↑ Vertical Loft in New York, NY by SKOLNICK Architecture + Design Partnership; Landscape Architect: Diane Scharff; Photo: Thomas Loof

↑ Shoreland Overlook in Squam Lake, NH by Murdough Design; Landscape Architect: Richardson Associates; Photo: Chuck Choi

↑ Free Spring Morning in Suzhou, China by Lacime Architects; Landscape Architect: Shanghai Marine Landscape Environmental Design Co., Ltd.

↑ Steel Stacks in Seattle, WA by Hybrid ARC; Photo: Rafael Soldi

↑ LA Garage in Beaverton, OR by SRG Partnership; Landscape Architect: PLACE; Environmental Graphics: Ambrosini Design; Photo: Andrew Pogue

↑ Art Barn in Manhattan Beach, ...

Kengo Kuma turns literary fantasy into an exciting spatial experience with the new Hans Christian Andersen Museum

2021-03-12T15:08:00-05:00

Kengo Kuma & Associates' new design for the Hans Christian Andersen Museum is underway. Pulling reference from Andersen's tales Kuma and his team bring the famed author and his writings to life in an exciting spatial experience. "The museum will provide a unique artistic experience, which combines landscape, architecture, and modern exhibition design, and it will offer new perspectives on one of the most beloved and creative thinkers in world history," shares the museum team.

The firm was selected for the museum project after winning first prize for the international design competition in 2016. Slated to open Summer 2021, visualizations of the project's dreamy outdoor landscapes complement Andersen's fantastical tales. The 60,277 square foot (5,600 square meters) museum site contains a children's house and an underground museum that intertwines with the garden.

Kuma was inspired by the author's fairytale "The Tinderbox" which tells the story of a soldier who learns of a magical un...

Dorte Mandrup's winning museum design is a stunning cultural landmark within the Arctic Circle

2021-02-03T17:40:00-05:00

Resulting from a design competition initiated by The Whale AS back in 2019, the organization sought design proposals that created a unique experience for spectators to enjoy large underwater visitors common to the area. The site's location is a popular whale-watching site in Andenes just north of Andøya, an island in Norway 186 miles within the Arctic Circle.

After beating out other big-name firms like Snøhetta and BIG, Dorte Mandrup was named the winner. Børre Berglund, CEO of The Whale AS, expressed much praise towards the design proposal. He's shared with the press "the project from Dorte Mandrup is a clear winner [...] It is poetic and low-key and at the same time a very exciting and unusual building."

As we enter 2021, visuals for the project have already made their rounds in the media thanks to Bergen-based studio Mir who provided visualization renders for Dorte Mandrup and the project.

Praises for the museum's seamless structur...

Frank Gehry proposes capping parts of the LA River with elevated platform parks

2021-01-11T15:52:00-05:00

Critics, including some influential environmental groups, would prefer to see naturalization of the river itself. But during a recent Zoom call from his Los Angeles studio, a grin crossed the Pritzker Prize winner’s face as he shared his plans to transform the forlorn industrial confluence of the Los Angeles River and the Rio Hondo in South Gate into an urban cultural park like no other.

It's been relatively quiet around the ambitious Los Angeles River revitalization project since Frank Gehry's firm was selected to lead the master plan effort in 2015.

Now the Los Angeles Times has revealed an update — although sparse in detail — which instead of the naturalization of the 51-mile LA River concrete channel many were expecting proposes a few elevated platform parks capping stretches of the river bed as well as a $150-million cultural center near the confluence of the Los Angeles River and the Rio Hondo in South Gate.

"Constructed on hulking concrete planks and enormous girders, the earthen parks would stretch nearly a mile over both rivers and support a lush landscape of trees, grass, scenic ponds, horse trails and walking paths," reports Louis Sahagún for the paper.