Courtesy of Forum Studio

Forum Studio has released plans for “The Pearl of Istanbul”, a mixed-use development situated along a natural bluff overlooking the Marmara Sea that will provide residential, cultural and retail venues for the city of Istanbul. The project’s centerpiece will be the new marina, a string of man-made islands for boat parking that will function as an alternative to a seawall, protecting the development from harsh weather.

Courtesy of Forum Studio

The chain of islands are centered around a central “pearlescent” node activated by a variety of uses including nightlife, entertainment, family activities and marine research facilities. The marina will contain slips for up to 500 yachts as well as a cruise ship dock, and has been formed to evoke the character of the natural landscape.

Courtesy of Forum Studio

“The islands that shelter a tranquil marina resemble a string of pearls; a cascade of terraces on land is an homage to a shell’s undulating ridges,” the architects explain.

On land, six sculptural towers rise from a podium containing public spaces, restaurants, cafes and retail areas. Terraces in the base step gently down to the water, mimicking natural plateaus of the region and creating outdoor areas for residents and visitors.

Courtesy of Forum Studio

The residential towers have been designed to optimize visual corridors, so each unit receives ample natural light and views out to the surrounding scenery. A range of residential options will be available, from luxury condos to lower priced apartments to hotel rooms, ensuring a diverse mix of people will occupy the complex.

The project is expected to be completed by July 2023.

Courtesy of Forum Studio

Courtesy of Forum Studio

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© Gabriel Heusi

• Architects: Vigliecca & Associados
• Location: Deodoro, Rio de Janeiro – State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Area: 53500.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Gabriel Heusi, Andre Motta, Miriam Jeske, Ricardo Cassiano

• Seating Capacity: 7.250

© Andre Motta

The National Shooting Centre (Brasil2016.gov.br) was built for the Pan American Games in 2007. This is an award-winning project done by the architecture office BCMF Arquitetos (Brasil2016.gov.br ) that has been carefully renovated by Vigliecca & Associates to meet Olympic standards without changing the identity of the original structure.

Plan

Although it is a recent construction, the building had to attend more specific standards established by the International Shooting Sport Federation and also needed maintenance upgrades for the target system as well as the air conditioning, hydraulic and electrical systems.

© Andre Motta

The project focused on meeting Olympic requirements, which included three times more seating capacity as well as making sure it would be useful after the Olympics once left as a legacy.

Diagram

Diagram

Since the required Olympic geometries were very different from what was found in the existing building, simply adapting the building seemed unworkable. The only solution would be to build a temporary shooting range for the finals next to the existing range. Once the cost estimate was found to be quite high, Vigliecca & Associados analyzed different ways of reconciling the requirements of the Olympic Games with the situation and was able to presented an innovative solution regarding the standardization of the finals range, using a lower visibility curve profile that adapted perfectly to the existing ceiling height and building geometry.

© Gabriel Heusi

For this, a 2.000 seat temporary grandstand was placed over the existing 600 seats. Once the triple of seats was placed in the same area, the overall visibility angle also had to be reconsidered in order to guarantee visibility to all seats. The result was a softer angled grandstand. The best seats turned out to be the top ones instead of the first ones, just as in permanent stands, and will be designated to press members, also a requirement from the International Shooting Sport Federation. It’s worth mentioning that the first Olympic Medal will be given for this sport modality and surely the entire world will have their eyes on this facility.

This solution proved to be the most suitable for maintaining architectural harmony as well as being the most economical solution, since it only required the range to be expanded, without interfering much with the existing structure.

© Gabriel Heusi

In order to increase the internal area, the shooting area was also expanded and placed under a temporary roofing system. Overall, the design allowed the internal space to be increased simply by being reconfigured instead of having to demolish any portion of it.

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via Xinhua News Agency

A few years ago, Chinese company Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment envisioned a unique solution to address congestion issues spurred by rapid population growth in many of China’s cities: a straddling bus that would bypass traffic by simply driving over top of it. The design captured the attention of people worldwide, though many were skeptical the idea could ever come to fruition. But now, that pipe dream has become a reality.

World's first transit elevated bus, TEB-1 on its launching test Tuesday in Qinhuangdao, N China's Hebei http://pic.twitter.com/yMepYWD1kD

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) August 2, 2016

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A real life version of the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) has began testing in Qinhuangdao, China. The bus, measuring 72 feet long by 25 feet wide (22 meters x 7.8 meters), has the potential to carry up to 1,200 passenger at a time at estimated speeds of 40 miles per hour (60 kilometers per hour), increasing transportation turnover at a fraction of the cost of installing a new subway or elevated train line.

via Xinhua News Agency

But the TEB isn’t ready to deal with competing traffic just yet. For now, the TEB is limited to a 300 meter long test track that will evaluate the braking system, drag and power consumption. Once complete, the straddling bus will move on to further testing stages.

Despite it still being an unproven system, the TEB has already attracted interest from countries from around the world including Brazil, France, India and Indonesia.

News via Shanghaiist and Xinhuanet. H/T Gizmodo.

via Xinhua News Agency

via Xinhua News Agency

Straddling Bus / Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment
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© Felix Gerlach

• Architects: Juul Frost Architects
• Location: Malmö, Sweden
• Client : Midroc Property Development
• Area: 20000.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Felix Gerlach

• Landscape : Juul Frost Architects
• Area : 18.500sqm + underground parking / atrium of 1,500 m²

© Felix Gerlach

MALMÖ’S NEW SKYLINE
World Trade Center Malmö is a new multifunctional housing project being constructed in the centre of Västra Hamnen, incorporating both dwellings and commercial facilities. Sjöjungfrun consists of187 dwellings comprising flats interspersed with public access shops at the lower levels. The housing project forms the boundary of the WTC area facing Stora Varvsgatan, the location of JFA’s award-winning Media Evolution City, and Kockumsparken directly opposite. 

© Felix Gerlach

Sjöjungfrun is the visual marker placing the WTC area firmly on the map of Malmö. Dwellings are placed in two free-standing buildings, together forming a tenement block structure, but also an independent volume reaching its pinnacle in the WTC area’s north-eastern corner. The block structure forms an inner, semi-public atrium serving as an informal meeting point. The layout of the complex suggests through-going flats and secures an optimal daylight intake from the inner atrium. From the atrium, there is access to the flats via private access balconies. Access to the upper levels is provided by these balconies, creating a semi-public arrival situation. The uppermost flats in the complex have recessed roof gardens overlooking the city of Malmö. Sjöjungfrun responds well to the urban life of Malmö, linking Kockumsparken’s recreational environment with the inner semi-public atrium.

Plan

Section

SOCIAL MEETING POINT
The atrium will be home to many functions and activities, creating a lush oasis comprising facilities for social gathering, individual gathering facilities for each stairwell, and private patios for ground-level flats. The through-going passage is accessible to everyone – an open invitation to the city. The elements of the atrium comprise a layered structure of terrain and planting in mutual harmony, combining to form a variety of spaces, structures, and uses. The central garden is easily accessible from all sides forming a social space where residents and visitors can come together. The paving in the atrium consists of concrete tiles with differentiated modular dimensions, which contributes to accentuating the level of public access in the atrium. 

© Felix Gerlach

MODERN LIVING ENVIRONMENT
At one and the same time, Sjöjungfrun relates to the urban life of Malmö, Kockumsparken with its recreational facilities, and the internal, semi-public atrium – a central urban oasis for the residents. In this way, Sjöjungfrun embodies a modern living environment in one of the large housing developments currently being constructed in Malmö. Sjöjungfrun has been awarded a Silver Certificate for being an environment-friendly and sustainable building complex.

© Felix Gerlach

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In this interview, presented in collaboration with PLANE—SITE, Frédéric Bonnet of Obras Architecture and Grichka Martinetti of PNG, curators of the French contribution to the 2016 Venice Biennale, discuss their commitment to celebrating meaningful architecture in various contexts, and the ways in which this passion was translated into their exhibition. The duo explains the concepts driving the exhibition design, including their choice to exhibit small-scale work from throughout France rather than focusing on the large, high-profile architecture found in the major cities.  

“We wanted to show that at every level, from the first step, let’s say everyday life in the transformation of our surroundings, there’s an opportunity to think about global challenges,” explains Frédéric Bonnet.

Grichka Martinetti adds, “One thing architecture should address is architecture itself within daily life. Because it’s very easy when you are an architect to talk about architecture with architects and we have kind of lost the track that architecture matters to everyone.”

See more of the interviews we conducted with PLANE—SITE and the rest of our Biennale coverage at http://archdai.ly/2016biennale.

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