Archinect - News

Daniel Libeskind designs new exhibition at Auschwitz-Birkenau

2019-05-23T16:02:00-04:00

Daniel Libeskind, the architect famous for the Jewish Museum Berlin, has added another holocaust memorial project to European soil.

Rendering of 'Through the Lens of Faith,' by Daniel Libeskind

On July 1st, Libeskind will present a new temporary exhibition at Auschwitz-Birkenau, perhaps the most infamous concentration camp used during World War II. Titled 'Through the Lens of Faith,' Libeskind designed a corridor-like structure adjacent to Auschwitz's main gate, complete with portraits of Auschwitz survivors taken by photographer Caryl Englander. Photos of the survivors are accompanied by text descriptions of how faith was critical to their survival during their time in Auschwitz.

Rendering of 'Through the Lens of Faith,' by Daniel Libeskind

Libeskind's design for the exhibition is uncharacteristically restrained, allowing visitors to focus less on his design than on the portraits of the survivors and the stories they share in text.

OMA's design for 2017 Australia's MPavilion is revealed

2017-06-19T09:00:00-04:00

MPavilion is an Australian architectural commission and design event that annually erects a new temporary pavilion, designed by a leading international architect, in Melbourne’s historic Queen Victoria Gardens.
This year's structure, designed by OMA, is inspired by ancient amphitheaters. Blurring the lines between the inside and outside – and between audience and performer, OMA's pavilion creates a flexible civic space that can function as a stage, auditorium or even a playground.

Image courtesy OMA

Echoing the ideals of amphitheater typology, the pavilion comprises static and dynamic elements that allow for multiple configurations.

Image courtesy OMA

"The pavilion’s ground plan is shaped by two grand stands; one
fixed, the other movable, which together determine the setup of the performance space. The larger static grand stand is excavated from the surrounding landscape and embedded in 12 different species of indigenous plants, giving a sense of the Australian setting. The smaller gra...

Cult of the temporary: is the pop-up phenomenon good for cities?

2015-07-20T12:05:00-04:00

These projects could be life changing for the vulnerable people they support. Yet in celebrating pop-ups as the solution to urban problems, are we simply distracting from the lack of structural public provision in these areas – and worse still, normalising, even glorifying, its absence through passionate avowals of temporariness?

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And so, as pop-ups become an everyday feature of global cities, we should be alert to the conflicting ideologies embedded within them. As we seek to build on the innovation, resourcefulness and inclusion they enable, we must remain conscious of their potential to normalise and even glorify the precariousness of urban life.

Shigeru Ban: Beauty as a basic human need

2015-06-23T14:56:00-04:00

Aesthetics is a primary concern for Ban—not despite, but especially in humanitarian scenarios. He believes that beauty is a basic need, an aspect of a person’s dignity. Erecting beautiful, if simple, structures can ensure that a refugee camp is not labeled a slum. So, when examining available materials in Kobe, he fussed about the color of the beer crates, choosing Asahi’s more neutral plastic bins over Kirin’s glaring red crates.

Last week, Ban visited several U.S. cities on a brief lecture tour, captivating audiences with his thoughts about "the Temporary and the Monumental." Read Archinect's report from his Los Angeles lecture at LACMA here.

Ibañez Kim Studio wins Folly 2015 with "Torqueing Spheres"

2015-03-18T20:40:00-04:00

The architectural folly is an opportunity for architects to bring out their eccentric side in the design process, which makes it an entertaining approach when creating a (temporary) public installation. In this spirit, the Socrates Sculpture Park and The Architectural League of New York hosts the international Folly competition. Launched in 2012, the competition calls for early-career architects and designers to submit proposals that are described as contemporary interpretations of the architectural folly. The winning entry is then constructed as a temporary public outdoor installation at the Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, New York City.

Cambridge and Philadelphia-based practice Ibañez Kim Studio was announced as the Folly 2015 winner with their design, "Torqueing Spheres". IK Studio's distinctive proposal features a series of connected spherical forms that form a social-interactive space.

More project details below.

"Torqueing Spheres combines a simple concept – a straig...

YAP 2015 winner Andrés Jaque/Office to install "Cosmo" at MoMA PS1 this summer

2015-02-05T19:06:00-05:00

MoMA PS1 announced today that "COSMO" by Andrés Jaque/Office for Political Innovation is the winner of the 2015 Young Architects Program competition. Every year, the YAP winning design is realized into a temporary outdoor installation placed in the outdoor courtyard of MoMA PS1 in Long Island City, New York during the annual Warm Up summer music festivities in late June. YAP proposals have to provide seating, shade, and water, and also follow guidelines that address environmental issues and sustainability.

Made of customized irrigation components, COSMO is described as a moveable party artifact that is also biochemically engineered to filter and purify 3,000 gallons of water in a period of four days. The structure will continuously eliminate suspended particles and nitrates, balance pH levels, and increase the level of dissolved oxygen. As a result, the same body of water will become more purified with each cycle.

Similar to last year's winning installation "Hy-Fi", COSMO is more t...

Register now for the Field Constructs installation competition in Austin, TX

2015-01-30T20:50:00-05:00

The international Field Constructs Design Competition is currently open to all emerging architects, designers, landscape architects, and artists for temporary installation proposals for the Circle Acres Nature Preserve in Austin, Texas. If you haven't registered yet, now's the chance: the early-bird deadline is February 15.

The FCDC jury will select 5-8 proposals to be realized and then publicly exhibited at the nature preserve during a week-long series of creative community events in November. Aside being innovative, proposals should also be engaging minimal-impact outdoor installations that reflect the cultural and natural characteristics unique to the evolving city of Austin.

All submissions are due on April 1, 11:59 p.m. EST.

Winners will be announced on June 1. They'll receive a US$5,000 reimbursable budget to build their proposals. Authors of the winning proposals will be honored during a public reception.

FCDC Jury:

Benjamin Ball, Ball-Nogues Studio, Los Angeles
Eva Franch i Gilabe...

INsite by Luftwerk turns Mies' Farnsworth House inside-out with light and sound

2014-05-15T13:23:00-04:00

Whether you're a diehard Miesian fan or could care less about the modernist architecture canon, we've heard of ol' Farnsworth time and time again since its completion in 1951 in Plano, Illinois. But Chicago-based artists Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero of Luftwerk want the public to see the historic Farnsworth House in a whole new light — literally — with their digital installation project called INsite.

INsite highlights the house's characteristic clean lines through site-specific digital video projections and original music compositions, thus rendering it into a new structure of light, sound, and space. In addition to recent preservation efforts to protect the Farnsworth from more floodwater damage in the future, INsite could help revive public interest in an eye-catching way that is suitable for these tech-friendly times.

Illuminating modern architecture landmarks is nothing new for Gallero and Bachmaier, who have collaborated with video designer and programmer Liviu Pasare and co...

Temporary pavilion by J. MAYER H. as centerpiece for Karlsruhe’s 2015 City Jubilee

2014-03-03T16:03:00-05:00

It's party prep time for the City of Karlsruhe in Germany. Berlin-based architecture firm J. MAYER H. and Rubner Holzbau were recently commissioned by the city to design a temporary pavilion for its 300th anniversary in 2015. The wooden pavilion will be built in Schlosspark and serve as an event venue for the celebration. Construction will begin in March 2015.

Find out more on Bustler.

FABRIC Wins Competition for a Temporary Pavilion in the King’s Garden in Copenhagen

2013-05-23T17:04:00-04:00

The entry Trylletromler by Dutch practice FABRIC has won the international design competition for a temporary pavilion in the King's Garden in Copenhagen. The completed pavilion is scheduled to open to the public on September 13.

Corrugated Cardboard Pavilion by Miguel Arraiz García / David Moreno Terrón

2013-05-07T16:49:00-04:00

We have received photos and a video of a pretty stunning temporary pavilion built with 3,000 corrugated hexagonal cardboard boxes for the annual “Fallas” festival in the Spanish city of Valencia. The pavilion design was a collaborative effort between Miguel Arraiz García of bipolaire arquitectos and David Moreno Terrón of Pink Intruder.

Davidson Rafailidis Wins 2013 IDEAS CITY StreetFest Competition

2013-04-25T14:46:00-04:00

The submission "MirrorMirror" by Buffalo-based architecture practice Davidson Rafailidis has been selected by Storefront for Art and Architecture and the New Museum as the winning entry of the 2013 IDEAS CITY StreetFest Tenting Competition.

Surface Design Award Winner: Kebony KREOD Sculpture

2013-02-21T15:27:00-05:00

KREOD, a portable wooden structure revealed in London last September, has recently been recognized with a Surface Design Award for Temporary Structure.

Warming Huts v.2013 - Five Winners Selected

2012-12-04T13:52:00-05:00

Warming Huts: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice has unveiled the five winning projects of its 2013 edition. Like in previous winters, the selected huts will be built in early January on site and placed on the Assiniboine Credit Union River Trail in Winnipeg, Canada - the longest naturally frozen skating trail in the world.

The reUNION Public House

2012-07-13T21:27:00-04:00

Remember how four years ago French architecture collective EXYZT and filmmaker Sara Muzio created the acclaimed Southwark Lido, a temporary bath in the heart of London? Well, they're certainly back - this summer with...BEER! The reUNION Public House sets out to celebrate a "cornerstone of British life" and will be serving a selection of London's finest micro-brewed beers while hosting neighborhood feasts, live music, and film screenings.

According to the organizers, "The reUNION will go further in testing the economic sustainability of pop-ups, and their potential influence on permanent urban development."

The reUNION is free and open to everyone. Check the event website for opening hours and directions.

Click here to revisit the Southwark Lido Showcase Feature from July 2008.

Ikea home away from home comes to Paris airport

2012-07-13T17:43:00-04:00

Ikea has opened a pop-up lounge at Paris's Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport for passengers to relax in between flights during the busy summer travel season. The lounge, situated in the airport's terminal 3, is open from July 13 to August 5, and includes various spaces laid out like bedrooms, a living room and a play area for children. Covering a total of 220 square meters, the Ikea space is open to all passengers.

OMA Designs a Pyramid for Kanye West

2012-05-28T20:03:00-04:00

An OMA-designed temporary pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival was inaugurated today with a screening of Kanye West's debut short film Cruel Summer. The pavilion, with a design led by Shohei Shigematsu, is a raised pyramid containing a seven-screen cinema invented by West's creative team, Donda.

A Room for London: London’s most exclusive hotel opens its doors - Telegraph

2012-01-03T12:45:08-05:00

Named A Room for London, the accommodation is also an art installation commissioned by Living Architecture and Artangel. Living Architecture is a social enterprise that operates a handful of holiday homes throughout the UK and aims to provide members of the public with the opportunity to experience contemporary architecture at first hand. The Artangel organisation commissions creative projects by contemporary artists.

Shaped like a boat and moored above the Southbank Centre, this one-off, one-bedroom hotel has room for just two guests and is only open for one year.

Warming Huts Competition: „POLAR HEN“ by mjölk architekti

2011-12-21T15:18:00-05:00

Czech firm mjölk architekti has shared with us their fascinating proposal "POLAR HEN" which was - under the title "ICE PILLOWS" - just recently named one of the five winners in the internationally acclaimed Warming Huts v.2011, An Art +Architecture Competition on Ice (...with one of the other four winners being Frank Gehry!). For only one winter, the five winning huts will be created and placed on the frozen Assiniboine River in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Embracing Impermanence: Why Some Architecture Should Be Temporary

2011-12-20T00:01:02-05:00

For most of the first decade of the 2000s, architecture was about the statement building. Whether it was a controversial memorial or an impossibly luxurious condo tower, architecture’s raison d’être was to make a lasting impression. Architecture has always been synonymous with permanence, but should it be?

BLUETUBE BAR by DOSE

2011-12-14T17:31:01-05:00

Portuguese collective DOSE has sent us images and a fascinating time-lapse video of their project BLUETUBE BAR, a temporary bar to operate at the annual academic festival in Oporto, Portugal, Queima das Fitas. The project won the student competition sponsored by the School of Architecture at Oporto University.