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City of London reveals shortlisted candidates for the redevelopment of the Barbican Centre

2022-01-11T17:26:00-05:00

One of the most important renewal projects in recent memory is a step closer to being realized in central London.

The city’s development corporation has officially revealed its competition shortlist of design partners for the highly-publicized Barbican Centre revamp.

Five teams were named to the list featuring a variety of international and local standouts that were tapped to compete for the chance to leave their mark on the capital and what is perhaps the country’s foremost example of Brutalism.

Adjaye Associates led the list in what would be an interesting follow-up to the firm's controversial UK Holocaust Memorial project currently nearing its start two-and-a-half miles away in Westminster. The firm’s bid is combined with assistance from Benetti Architects and PUP and joined on the list by another from BIG, aided by Avanti Architects and POoR Collective and one from DS+R, with McCloy + Muchemwa and Purcell as design partners. Two entries headlined by local firms round out the l...

Here's your chance to win a family-fun overnight stay at the LEGO House

2017-11-08T15:44:00-05:00

For the hardcore LEGO-loving families out there, this one's for you. Airbnb and LEGO are currently running a global contest asking one question: In a response of 50-500 characters, “If you and your family had an infinite supply of LEGO bricks, what would you build?”

The grand prize? The winner and their family (or up to three guests) will be flown out to the new LEGO House in Billund, Denmark for a free one-night stay from November 24-25, 2017.

Photo credit: LEGO House.

The winning guests will embark on an interactive journey through the LEGO House, which Bjarke Ingels designed. The host, LEGO Master Builder Jamie, will lead a tour of the building — including the Tree of Creativity, the Masterpiece Gallery, and the interactive Experience Zones where you can create your own LEGO films, robotic cars, and more.

Tree of Creativity. Photo: Iwan Baan.

Photo: Iwan Baan.

Red Zone, featuring the LEGO Brick Builder Water Fall. Photo: Iwan Baan.

The final stop is a bedroom “floating” in a pool ...

A petition to scrap design for Iron Ring sculpture causes the Welsh government to pause the proposed plan

2017-07-26T18:33:00-04:00

Last week, we covered the newly released designs for a landmark sculpture that would be built at Flint Castle in Wales. The sculpture, designed by George King Architects, was to be a cantilevered bridge structure made of weathering steel and engraved with words chosen from the local community. At first, the design seemed as innocuous as any—turns out, not so much.

The news of the selected design has sparked a lot of controversy and a petition calling for the sculpture to be scrapped has received over 9,000 signatures. The design and name of the sculpture reference the series of castles, built by Edward I, that allowed him to conquer the then, independent Wales. Many are upset, rightfully so, that what should be a celebration of Wales and Welsh culture, has turned into a celebration of its conquest and subsequent oppression by England. In response, the county of Flint has urged the Welsh Government, who ran the contest, to talk with the town before any further action is taken in rega...

2017's 10 best gas stations, worldwide, as ranked by Design Curial

2017-05-18T15:58:00-04:00

Angelenos may be mildly alarmed to learn that local favorites Johnston Marklee Architects's striking Helios House (co-designed with Office dA) has slipped two spots to eighth place from its ranking on last year's top ten global filling stations as assembled by Design Curial. However, it's for a good cause: new entrants are fueling some alternative aesthetic takes on the usually quotidian gas station. Here are the winners:

FIRST PLACE: REST AREA NIEMENHARJU, by Studio Puisto Architects, in Niemenharju, Finland

SECOND PLACE: POPS ARCADIA ROUTE 66, by Elliott + Associates Architects, in Oklahoma, USA

THIRD PLACE: BATUMI PETROL STATION, by Giorgi Khmaladze, in Batumi, Georgia

FOURTH PLACE: NP GAS STATION, by Moneo Brock Studio, in Madrid, Spain

FIFTH PLACE: ORIVAL GAS STATION, by Samyn and Partners, in Orival, Belgium

SIXTH PLACE: ESSO MOBIL STATION, by Eliot Noyes, in Leicestershire, UK

SEVENTH PLACE: HOUTEN SERVICE STATION, by Samyn and Partners, in Houten, Netherlands

EIGHTH PL...