Archinect - News

Two new installations by Ma Yansong reflect MAD Architect's diverse artistic practice

2021-06-07T16:10:00-04:00

MAD Architects founder Ma Yansong has unveiled two new art installations across China for the summer. Together, they reinforce the firm’s multifaceted portfolio and approach to art and design.

"Light". Photo: Tian Fangfang

As part of “Art at Fuliang 2021”, an art festival in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen, Yansong presents “Light”. The festival aims to highlight the character and charm of Hanxi Village in Fuliang County. The region is defined by its porcelain industry, abundant water, and vast tea fields, which have shaped its landscape.

"Light". Photo: Tian Fangfang

“Light” appears to gently float above rolling tea fields. It is meant to be a medium for connecting to nature as it responds and adapts to changing settings. The piece can appear like a cloud in light and darkness, become translucent, glow, or meld with passing fog.

“Forma Fantasia” at Nine-Tiered Pagoda – Spatial and Visual Magic. Photo: MAD Architects

The second work was an exhibition design for “Forma Fantasia”, an i...

Take a look at Exhibit Columbus' 2020-21 Miller Prize Installations

2021-03-31T18:56:00-04:00

Exhibit Columbus recently presented the featured designers of the 2020-2021 exhibition cycle in an accessible four-session virtual format. Curated by Iker Gil and Mimi Zeiger, this year's theme New Middles: From Main Street To Megalopolis, What Is The Future of The Middle City? highlights the work of the most recent J. Irwin and Xenia Miller Prize winners, University Design Research Fellows, and a Columbus High School Design Team.

To learn more about the thirteen design teams, check out Archinect's coverage of the March 19th and March 26th Design Presentations.

2020-21 Exhibit Columbus J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize Installations

In Part 1 of Archinect's installation preview, we took a look at the upcoming creations by the seven University Design Research Fellows and the High School Design Team.

Listed below are the proposed site-specific installations by the five 2021 Miller Prize-winning designers, Dream the Combine of Minneapolis, ecosistema urbano of Miami and Madrid, Fut...

Exhibit Columbus' 2021 site installations showcase the work of University Design Research Fellows and nine high school students

2021-03-31T09:00:00-04:00

Exhibit Columbus' virtual presentations allowed the public to join in online and listen to thirteen presentations from the event's University Design Research Fellows, High School Design Team, and J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize winners.

Exhibit Columbus has shared project renders for eight site-specific installations developed by the University Design Research Fellows and High School Design Team for an exclusive preview.

2020-2021 University Design Research Fellowship Installations

For this year's iteration, seven fellowships were awarded to leading professors of architecture, landscape architecture, and design from seven universities. Each installation highlights the research of each individual. Fellows were selected for their "ability to tackle specific sets of issues germane to the future of the city and the Mississippi Watershed region, such as sustainability and material reuse, non-human habitat, watershed ecologies, emergent technologies, and migration."

Derek Hoeferlin — W...

The 2021 Exhibit Columbus Design Presentations take center stage in an exciting virtual format

2021-03-01T21:35:00-05:00

The highly anticipated Exhibit Columbus 2021 Design Presentations invite the public to experience a virtual and public exhibition. Curated by Architect Iker Gil and critic Mimi Zeiger the third iteration of Exhibit Columbus expands on a theme fit for the current social climate, New Middles.

Archinect, and our sister site Bustler, are the official media sponsors for Exhibit Columbus' Design Presentations this year. Stay tuned for upcoming coverage of the event and participating designers.

"Over the course of four sessions on March 19 and 26, Exhibit Columbus will host the 2021 Design Presentations" explains the Exhibit Columbus team. "The second public event in the 2020-21 cycle of Exhibit Columbus New Middles: From Main Street to Megalopolis, What is the Future of the Middle City? invites the public to preview design concepts of thirteen site-specific, future-oriented public installations and experience the design process first-hand."

Anne Surak, director of Exhibit Columbus, share...

Interested in designing public installations and art exhibitions? Here are 9 firms offering architectural job opportunities

2019-08-01T15:56:00-04:00

This week, Archinect has selected jobs with firms whose work focuses on creative and imaginative public installations and art exhibitions. Whether permanent or temporary, these spaces allow for experiences outside of people’s daily interactions through art and the built environment. Below are 9 firms located in Los Angeles, Brooklyn, and Manhattan looking to hire the right candidate to join their team.

Fluidity Designs Consultants seeks a Junior Designer
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Fluidity Design Consultants is a Los Angeles-based leader in water feature design and engineering. The firm collaborates with many of the world’s most respected architects, landscape architects, institutions and developers in the realization of creative and technically refined installations around the world, mostly in the public realm.Work will entail concept development, modeling, visualization, materials research, the exploration of architectural assemblies, and related efforts. Candidates must have profici...

Japanese architect Junya Ishigami announces plans for design of 2019 Serpentine pavilion

2019-02-14T13:40:00-05:00

Japanese architect Junya Ishigami, known for his experimental works that blend nature and fantasy, has been tapped by the Serpentine Gallery to design their popular summer attraction, the Serpentine Pavilion. The highly sought-after commission follows the success of previous iterations by rising stars in the world of architecture, Frida Escobedo (2018) and Diébédo Francis Kéré (2017).

Junya Ishigami, KAIT Workshop, Kanagawa Institute of Technology, Japan, 2008 © Junya Ishigami + Associates

At 44, Ishigami, who worked at SANAA before starting his own practice, has amassed a unique body of work. In 2010, he was awarded the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale for his installation “Architecture as Air," praised by the jury for pushing the "limits of materiality, visibility, tectonics, thinness, and ultimately of architecture itself.” Described by Oliver Wainwright as a magician of materials, Ishigami's gift for creating unfeasibly light structures is obvious in o...

Doug Aitken's 'Mirage' to be installed in downtown Detroit's State Savings Bank building

2018-09-13T14:51:00-04:00

The historic State Savings Bank in downtown Detroit will soon play host to the award-winning artist Doug Aitken's latest site-specific work. Opening to the public on October 10th, the former bank building will see a ranch-style suburban home erected inside its century-old walls.

The project titled 'Mirage Detroit' is a continuation of the California artist's ongoing investigation into what he calls 'liquid architecture,' described by the desire of wanting to make 'the Building' disappear.

Last year, for the inaugural Desert X event which saw various artworks scattered across the Coachella Valley, Mr. Aitken created a sculptural installation in the form of a typical ranch house, fully covered in mirrors inside and out. A riff on this elaborate structure will now be presented inside the archaic bank building.

Image by Doug Aitken Workshop.

Entirely reflective, the mirrored installation transforms the classic one-story house into a 'human-scale kaleidoscope'. Placed within the Beaux-ar...

Bjarke Ingels's giant mirrored Orb rises at Burning Man

2018-08-29T18:31:00-04:00

Now a global phenomenon, the annual Burning Man festival's biggest allure is the site's complete transformation into a temporary city filled with installations and large-scale constructions that are burned at the end of the week-long event.

Grabbing media attention every year, one of 2018's most anticipated structures has been Bjarke Ingels' pet project—a massive reflective ball hovering above the playa. Together with fellow BIG partner Jakob Lange, the two set up an Indiegogo campaign back in July to raise the last leg of funding for the installation.

Asking $50,000 to help with materials and construction, the campaign is still live as the pair have yet to meet the total goal. Despite not reaching it, however, the Orb still managed to make it to Burning Man this year. Kicking off over the weekend with thousands of burners descending upon Black Rock City, the large metallic sphere has successfully risen above the arid desert. Below, you can see the progress shots of its constructi...

Bjarke Ingels is crowdsourcing funds to bring a giant mirrored orb to Burning Man

2018-07-05T12:49:00-04:00

Bjarke Ingels, along with fellow BIG partner Jakob Lange, are heading to Burning Man this summer with the ORB, a giant reflective ball installation scaled to 1/500,000 of the earth’s surface. With a diameter of nearly 100 ft, the ORB will hover above The Playa, reflecting everything around it. According to Ingels, the idea behind the project is to "turn public life into public artifact."

With the festival just under two months away, the ORB is nearly complete. Carried out by the BIG Ideas project unit, they have funded the majority needed for 30 tons of steel and 1000 hours of welding of the structure as well as 1500 sewing hours. But, to raise the last $50,000 USD for the project, the team has launched an Indiegogo campaign. In exchange for support, donors can receive a range of perks, including postcards, posters, an engraved mini, steel version of the ORB, and come Burning Man, a private visit inside.

Light artist Daan Roosegaarde gives 85-year-old Dutch dike a futuristic upgrade

2018-01-03T14:55:00-05:00

For the legendary, 32-km Afsluitsdijk dike's 85th birthday, the Dutch government commissioned creative designer and innovator Daan Roosegaarde to spruce things up and transform the famous Dutch causeway into something more than a flood protector and road link. Built in 1932 as part of the Netherlands' famed sea defenses, the dyke is one of the country's landmark engineering projects.

For Icoon Afsluitsdijk, as the initiative is called, Roosegaarde wanted to "enhance the innovative character of the legendary 32 kilometer Dutch dyke whilst highlighting its key functions: water protection & heritage, energy and mobility as an exemplary model of a smart landscape for today and tomorrow." Given a €13 million budget, Roosegaarde has turned the monumental site into a beautiful and sustainable art installation with three separate projects that celebrate the historical site and inspire the country towards an innovative future.

'Gates Of Light’ by Daan Roosegaarde

'Gates Of Light’ by Daan Roo...

French architect will use robotic tools to build 2018 Burning Man Temple

2017-12-28T16:22:00-05:00

Mamou-Mani, the French architect chosen to build the 2018 Burning Man Temple, believes that robots can only further the possibilities in his field, and he plans to enlist the help of a number of robotic tools this year in creating Burning Man's most sacred structure.

Burning Man is known for its over-the-top installations and structures that pop up in the middle of the the Nevada desert for a week, one of the most important being the Burning Man Temple. Next year, the temporary structure will be built by the French architect Mamou-Mani along with the help of students at the University of Westminster where he teaches. In addition, Mamou-Mani has discussed plans on enlisting the help of robotic tools as well.

Kéré-designed Serpentine Pavilion extends opening due to popular demand

2017-09-25T13:42:00-04:00

Due to popular demand, the 2017 Serpentine Pavilion will now remain open for an additional six weeks, through November 19th. This year's installation was designed by Diébédo Francis Kéré and inspired by the community tree of his native Burkina Faso. The award-winning architect from Gando responded to this year's brief with a bold, innovative structure, engineered by AECOM, that brings his characteristic sense of light and life to the lawns of Kensington Gardens.

Central to the Kéré's design was the shift from day to night, in which the Pavilion becomes a beacon of light. AECOM worked closely with Kéré to envision the mood and ambience from multiple points of view to craft a subtle and inviting glow. The end result: daylight streams into and through the structure during the day, while at night artificial lights reverse the process, flowing out of the structure and inviting people to come and visit.

Amy Koerbel, the Regional Director at AECOM, commented: “This year’s program has been...

Ai Weiwei's massive public exhibition, set for October, receives opposition from the Washington Square Park Association

2017-08-29T14:41:00-04:00

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's newest project, "Good Fences Make Good Neighbors," is set to open in October of 2017. The famous provocateur was commissioned by the Public Art Fund, in celebration of its 40th birthday, to build one of his largest public works ever. In total, the project will included ten major fence-themed installations as well as smaller works spread throughout Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.

One of the bigger pieces for the massive citywide art exhibition was set to land under the Washington Square Park Arch; however, the Washington Square Association released a statement on Friday asking the Public Art Fund to withdraw its plans to house this particular piece under the Arch.

The neighborhood association's objections to the installation as stated in their letter signed by President Trevor Sumner are as follows:

The installation will make impossible the erection, under the arch, of our holiday tree that traditionally goes up the weekend after Thanksgiving, and stays u...

Tiny, cartoonish homes by artist Richard Woods pop up in British seaside town

2017-08-25T15:12:00-04:00

For his latest project, Holiday Home – part of this year’s Folkestone Triennial (2 Sept to 5 Nov) – Woods has created six colorful bungalows, situated in unexpected locations around the town.

Richard Woods is known for his architectural installations that feature colorful, geometric patterns and playful decorative facades. For his latest project, the UK artist has installed six tiny, cartoon-like homes across the town of Folkestone.

In his interview with the Guardian, the artist explained the idea of the project came from visiting the seaside town and receiving a "strange leaflet saying, 'Have you thought about turning your property into cash?'" He goes on the explain, "the idea grew out of that: to make six identical bungalows and install some in very desirable locations, some not, but keeping it very open-ended."

Soft Dome by Atelier YokYok installed in the National Museum of Singapore

2017-07-07T20:08:00-04:00

It seems to be common practice now for museums to bring in installations and works commissioned by architects during the summer months as a way of drawing in the crowds of people whom have a little bit of extra time on their hands and are looking for ways to escape the blazing heat. MoMA PS1's 2017 Young Architects Program kicked off a few weeks ago with a pavilion designed by Jenny Sabin, the National Building Museum's Summer Block Party installation, designed this year by Jeanne Gang, opened over the weekend, and the prestigious Serpentine Gallery, started showing of their summer pavilion designed by Diébédo Francis Kéré in late June.

In Singapore, the National Museum runs a similar summer series during June and July, but their's is catered towards children. Their Children's Season Singapore, is an annual festival now in it's 10th edition, that aims to make heritage content more accessible to younger generations and to encourage inter-generational bonding. In the Rotunda space, a...