Just west of Chaoyang Park, dog walkers, joggers and local residents have been following the strangely curvaceous metal structure slowly writhing into existence. Hong Kong's Phoenix Media has chosen Beijing to create their mainland headquarters, using an architectural design which boldly expresses its intentions to move away from tradition toward the open ideals of the future. — english.cri.cn
If bookmakers put odds on architecture, they surely would have made Chicago architect Jeanne Gang one of the favorites to win the big design competition to remake the public spaces of Navy Pier. [...]
But when Navy Pier officials winnowed 11 semifinalist teams to a list of five finalists last week, Gang, surprisingly, lost out. And she wasn't the only high-profile name who didn't make the cut.
— chicagotribune.com
A group of consultants in Paris has hatched a plan to turn the Eiffel Tower into a giant tree by covering it with 600,000 plants. Their dream is to literally plant the 324 meter tall aesthetic symbol of Paris with 12 tons of rubber tubing, and gradually add bags planted with greenery all over. — Inhabitat
Is it a building filled with art with some people in it, or a building filled with people with some art in it? There needs to be enough social space to make people feel comfortable in what can be an austere environment, the white box. You shouldn’t feel like you need to be quiet in the public spaces. — New York Times
Oftentimes, United States' military men and women carry the physical and emotional wounds of their service home with them, "find[ing] workarounds to cope with their surroundings based on individual capabilities and preferences." Today, IDEO and Michael Graves Associates see their work come alive as the U.S. Army Fort Belvoir and Clark Realty Capital unveil a new model for building accessible homes on military installations: the Wounded Warrior home. — core77.com
The entries in the Pier Design Contest are in, and the options are as interesting as they are different.
The three architectural firms, selected from a field of nine diverse semi finalists yesterday are Michael Maltzan Architecture, West 8 Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, and BIG.
— I love the 'burg'
The Tower of London and the Palace of Westminster could lose their status as world architectural wonders because of the damage being done by surrounding skyscrapers.
World heritage cultural organisation Unesco has warned that the Tower of London could be downgraded because of the negative impact of the [Renzo Piano-designed] Shard of Glass on its panorama.
— thisislondon.co.uk
Howeler + Yoon won the competition to design the center, named BSA Space, which will include gallery, office, multimedia and meeting spaces for members, potential members and the general public. The two story, 17,000 square foot center will give the BSA a very public presence in an area with lots of foot traffic among restaurants, stores, and public transportation in the Fort Point Channel district. — smartplanet.com
What architectural wonder would you like to see as the next LEGO® Architecture model? Inspire us by voting for some of these suggestions. — architecture.lego.com
In London's case the practicality of the architecture is a reaction to the economic rather than the political excesses of the recent past. The 2012 Games are shaping up, in fact, as one of the clearest signs yet that the architectural boom years of the last decade or so in the West have definitively ended. — latimes.com
Berlin-based practice J. MAYER H. has landed one of two first prizes in a three-level peer review process for an urban planning concept in Düsseldorf, Germany. The concept was developed for the area of what was once the post office on Erkrather Strasse. The so-called "Quartier M" is to serve as the future link between the Hauptbahnhof central station and Tanzhaus NRW/Capitol, becoming a lively city quarter for living and working. — bustler.net
Ben van Berkel / UNStudio's design for the new Transfer Terminal and Air Traffic Control Tower for Kutaisi Airport was officially presented last week by the President of the Republic of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili. Amsterdam-based UNStudio has designed the new Kutaisi Airport which will serve domestic and international flights for use by international diplomats, national politicians and for tourism. — bustler.net
Click here to also check out UNStudio's Firm Profile on Archinect. UPDATE: UNStudio’s Kutaisi International Airport in Georgia completed View full entry
What about revisiting the hardcore shapes of the avant-garde? It has been almost a century since the air was heavily saturated with the combustible gas of ideology. Almost a hundred years have passed since everything from film, through art and architecture, to urbanism was susceptible to the... View full entry
The airport is the result of a frenetic Chinese building boom that has produced numerous architectural marvels, though some of the iconic new projects have been hit by quality and safety problems. — msnbc.msn.com
Terminal 3 was designed by Fosters & Partners. View full entry
Seattle's Olson Kundig Architects has carved a niche for itself designing contemporary cabins that are cozy when occupied and secure when vacant. Here's a collection of their creations, starting with Delta Shelter, built in Mazama, Wash., in 2005. — seattlepi.com
