The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the shortlist of six finalist projects in the running for the inaugural RIBA International Prize. The first RIBA Award open to any qualified architect in the world, the International Prize seeks to name the world’s “most significant and inspirational” building. Criteria for consideration include the demonstration of “visionary, innovative thinking and excellence of execution, whilst making a distinct contribution to its users and to its physical context.”

The six finalists were named from a longlist of 30 buildings, from which a further selection of 21 projects have been recognized by the jury for the RIBA Award for International Excellence. The jury has also named the winner of the RIBA International Emerging Architect prize recognizing “the achievement of architects in the earlier stages of their career who are working on global projects.”

The Grand Jury is lead by Richard Rogers and includes Billie Tsien, Kunlé Adeyemi, Philip Gumuchdjian, and Marilyn Jordan Taylor.

“Our panel of jurors have been particularly impressed by the way in which each building reacts to, resolves and assimilates into the varying geographies and contexts – from dense urban cities to a small town in the Arctic Circle,” said RIBA President Jane Duncan on the naming of the finalists. “Each project resolves the complex demands of its context with ingenuity, exceptional detail and finishing and a sensitivity to the needs of the users and communities which will inhabit these spaces.”

Finalists 

Arquipelago Contemporary Arts Centre, Ribeira Grande, The Azores / Menos é Mais Arquitectos Associados and João Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto

Arquipelago Contemporary Arts Centre, Ribeira Grande, The Azores, by Menos é Mais Arquitectos Associados and João Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto. Image © Jose Campos

Arquipelago Contemporary Arts Centre (Menos é Mais) is located in The Azores, an archipelago of nine small islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Restoring the site of an 1890s sweet potato distillery, the building expertly combines restoration, reconstruction and new build, drawing on the history of the building and its distinctive black Basalt exterior to create a restrained, industrial character. Constructed over the course of three years, the process revealed a complex of cloisters and cells in the basement of the old distillery, which have been transformed to display artwork – an ancient backdrop for very contemporary use. The building has become a beacon for progress both locally and internationally, and has made a substantial impact on the local community – showing respect for its past and ambition for the future.

Heydar Aliyev Centre Baku, Azerbaijan / Zaha Hadid Architects and DiA Holding

Heydar Aliyev Centre Baku, Azerbaijan, by Zaha Hadid Architects and DiA Holding. Image © Hufton + Crow

Designed to celebrate Azerbaijan’s independence and first president Heydar Aliyev, Zaha Hadid Architects’, Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku was completed in 2013 and offers a vibrant programme of arts, music and performance to audiences in the vaulted spaces and distinctive wave-like form that dominates the eastern aspect of the city. The building represents a break from tradition – not least in the post-Soviet landscape of Baku, and now welcomes over 1000 visitors a day as both a public social space and a cultural nucleus for the city.

The complex landscape has been brought together into a single, fluid composition which appears out of the hill. The building is distinctive not only for its scale and undulating form, but for its use of white cladding and paving, a marked departure from the traditional architecture and aesthetic of the city. The heart of the building is found in its sophisticated and welcoming central auditorium; a warm performance space whose innovative use of oak to line and sculpt the interior showcases a sophistication in both vision and joinery.

Museo Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico / David Chipperfield Architects and Taller Abierto de Arquitectura y Urbanismo

Museo Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico, by David Chipperfield Architects and Taller Abierto de Arquitectura y Urbanismo. Image © Simon Menges

A structure that celebrates the industrial heritage of its site context in Mexico City, David Chipperfield Architects, Museo Jumex is home to the largest private collection of Latin American contemporary art in the world. Centrally located in a bustling and overcrowded city, the building offers a contemplative space in which visitors can escape the rush of the city.

A large public space is divided across three spacious levels; a glazed Piano Nobile gallery and a flexible secondary space punctuated by a single large window flooding the space with light. The top floor opens out to present the museum’s collection under a soft diffused daylight through original factory roof lights. The quality of light distinctive to Chipperfield’s practice defines the space, as does the consistent sense of quality in the materials and subtle detailing that separate public from work space. A characteristic dialogue of travertine and timber marks the Museo Jumex as a remarkable building.

Stormen Concert Hall, Theatre and Public Library, Bodø, Norway / DRDH Architects

Stormen Concert Hall, Theatre and Public Library, Bodø, Norway, by DRDH Architects. Image © David Grandorge

Stormen Concert Hall and Library has created a new community focus for a small town, with two new civic buildings in Bodø, 100km inside the Arctic Circle. DRDH’s first major building commission, the scheme is expertly stitched into the existing urban fabric, playing off the link to the town centre as well as the nearby harbour and the luminous experience of the Arctic sunshine. With rigorous attention to detail, material and the user’s experience of both the space of the library building and new concert hall spaces, the architect’s design is matched with technical ambition. The concert hall houses three music venues within its structure, and is considered comparable to the New York’s Carnegie Hall as one of the best in the world for symphonic music.

The Ring of Remembrance, International WWI Memorial of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, France / Agence d’Architecture Philippe Prost

The Ring of Remembrance, International WWI Memorial of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, France, by Agence d'Architecture Philippe Prost. Image © Aitor Ortiz

The Ring of Remembrance memorial in Notre-Dame-de-Lorette near Arras commemorates the thousands who died in the region during World War I. The unification of former enemies is the strong idea that underlines AAPP’s design scheme of the ring, inscribing all 600,000 names irrespective of their nationality, creed or rank. Located on the Hill of Lorette the location has long views over the battlefields of the plain of Artois, the piece sits lightly in the landscape, rooted at one end but cantilevers out precariously as the landscape falls away, and representing the fragility of peace.

UTEC Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia, Peru / Lima Grafton Architects and Shell Arquitectos

UTEC Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia, Peru, by Lima Grafton Architects and Shell Arquitectos. Image © Iwan Baan

The UTEC in Lima is a new faculty for a 50 year old engineering university to enable young Peruvians to gain engineering qualifications and to encourage social mobility. This powerful statement of a building symbolises a bold and positive future for Peru, and draws on the temperate climate of the city and cultural environment. Grafton Architects have created an innovative solution to the architectural program in the design of a vertical concrete campus, with open ended spaces of circulation interlinked with a series of suspended platforms that flow in between the structural frame, offering a balance between enclosed spaces and permeability to the exterior.

RIBA Award for International Excellence

Selected from the award longlist, these 21 projects have been selected as a testament to the high quality of nominated projects:

• Angdong Hospital, Baojing County, China / Rural Urban Framework
• Arquipelago Contemporary Arts Centre, Ribeira Grande, The Azores / Menos é Mais Arquitectos Associados and João Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto
• Buenos Aires Ciudad Casa de Gobierno, Buenos Aires, Argentina / Foster + Partners, Berdichevsky Cherny Arquitectos and StudioMinond
• DLR Lexicon Dún Laoghaire Co, Dublin, Ireland / Carr Cotter Naessens
• Europaallee Baufeld E, Zurich, Switzerland / Caruso St John Architects and Bosshard Vaquer Architekten
• European Hansemuseum Lübeck, Germany / Studio Andreas Heller Architects & Designers
• Fine Arts Museum of Asturias, Oviedo, Spain / Mangado y Asociados
• Fulton Center New York, USA / Grimshaw, HDR and Page Ayres Cowley Architects
• Heydar Aliyev Centre Baku, Azerbaijan / Zaha Hadid Architects and DiA Holding
• Invisible House, Hampton, Australia / Peter Stutchbury Architecture
• Jockey Club Innovation Tower, Hung Hom, Hong Kong / Zaha Hadid Architects
• Museo Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico / David Chipperfield Architects and Taller Abierto de Arquitectura y Urbanismo
• Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Oita, Japan / Shigeru Ban Architects
• Public Library of Constitucion, Constitución, Chile / Sebastian Irarrazaval Arquitectos
• Saint Louis Art Museum, St Louis, USA / David Chipperfield Architects and HOK
• SkyTerrace Soo Khian Chan, Singapore / SCDA Architects
• St Angela’s College, Cork, Ireland / O’Donnell + Tuomey
• Stormen Concert Hall, Theatre and Public Library, Bodø, Norway / DRDH Architects
• The Ring of Remembrance, International WWI Memorial of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, France / Agence d’Architecture Philippe Prost
• Tula House Heriot Bay, Quadra Island, Canada / Patkau Architects
• UTEC Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia, Peru / Lima Grafton Architects and Shell Arquitectos

In addition, Rural Urban Framework has been named as the RIBA International Emerging Architect for their ambitious plan for Angdong Hospital in Baojing County, China.

The buildings will now be visited by the Grand Jury to evaluate their candidacy. The winner will be announced on Thursday 24 November 2016. 

News via RIBA.

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© Charly Broyez

• Architects: SAM Architecture
• Location: 31 Avenue de Paris, 78000 Versailles, France
• Architect In Charge: Boris Schneider, Guillaume Picard, Aurélien Clovis

• Area: 1528.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Charly Broyez

• Structure And Hbac: Mizrahi
• Industrial Kitchen Design Office: Process Cuisine
• Construction Firms: SNRB (general contractor)
• Métalobil : carpentry
• Ragueneau: kitchen equipment
• Illico : modular construction

© Charly Broyez

La Bruyère high school is composed of four buildings erected at different times. The school canteen was achieved in 1980 as an extension of the historical building constructed at the end of the nineteenth century. As the high school is built on a steep slope site, the canteen is half buried and enlightened only by zenithal openings. 

© Charly Broyez

The purpose of the operation is the kitchen’s upgrading, the creation of a second line of distribution to respond to an increase of requests and the refurbishment of the teachers and students’ refectory. The school restaurant takes place in a 70m long, 14m wide and 6m high volume divided into three parts : the kitchen East, the refectory West and in the center the distribution line, the laundry and access to garden by the roof terrace. 

Plan

The main asset of the project is the realization of a mezzanine at the center of the volume: first it allows spreading the flows coming from the roof of the refectory on both lines of distribution and avoiding crossing flows out of the restaurant, while ensuring continuity between the kitchen and the canteen for the staff. Afterwards, the mezzanine provides an additional relaxing and meeting space, offering a stunning view on the refectory throughout large windows. 

© Charly Broyez

The project stands out for the implementation of two wooden parts, in birch precisely, defining the atmosphere and different spaces: on one hand, the balloon frame false ceiling that connects the refectory with the mezzanine and on another hand, the alcove which forms the teachers’ dining hall. 

© Charly Broyez

These two elements aim to qualify each space in a different way while providing a reading of the existing volume the widest and most generous way possible. This is why, the teachers’ dining room was designed as a cocoon within the students’ refectory, a cocoon formed by a two meter high furniture both visual barrier and seat. Meanwhile, the false ceiling is lowered as if it was drawn above the alcove, providing more privacy to this space and improving the acoustic features. 

Section

The game between the two components, ceiling and alcove, offers an alternative to the traditional partitioning by proposing a richer and more subtle relationship between the two refectories, redefining thereby the concepts of intimacy and communication. 

© Charly Broyez

The expression of raw materials – colorless varnished wood, polished concrete floor et galvanized railings, the care giver to their implementation as well as the visibility of the structure and of the technical bodies express the particular attention to the raw material, the one that was already there, the one used to build and which is too often hidden from public view. The ceiling is like a veil that shows what is going on behind the scenes.

Detail

Product Description. The principal material of this project is the birch plywood, used for the false ceiling and the alcove of the teacher’s refectory. The digital die-cutting of the birch plywood panels made it possible to achieve in an economic way the complex geometry of these two elements. 

© Charly Broyez

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via Apple Special Event Streaming. October 27, 2016.

Apple has unveiled a new version of their professional-level portable computer, the MacBook Pro, making steps towards defining the laptop as a tool for those in the creative industries. With a full 500 days since these devices were last refreshed by the company, the standout feature of this latest incarnation is a new, application-specific Touch Bar – a touch-sensitive display band at the top of the keyboard which becomes an “intuitive” part of the user interface, which also includes a Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Oh – and there’s still a headphone jack!

via Apple Special Event Streaming. October 27, 2016.

The laptop’s display is now 67% brighter than its predecessor, with a 67% higher contrast ratio and 25% more visible colors. The computer is also 130% faster in rendering 3D graphics, and is able to be connected to multiple 5K displays making the device ideal for CAD, modeling, and high-quality video editing. But perhaps the most useful update for architects is the touchbar’s integration with many designer’s favorite tool: Adobe Photoshop.

via Apple Special Event Streaming. October 27, 2016.

Adobe Photoshop and the new MacBook Pro

The display and interactivity of the new Touch Bar adjusts to display only the controls needed for a particular task, such as using the Brush or Mask tools – and even provides a unique way to pick colors. You can also use it for simple tasks, such as resizing photos; “it’s a two-hand way of working. Hands and eyes work in concert,” a representative from Adobe said. According to Adobe, this new version of Photoshop will be in the hands of customers before the end of the year.

via Apple Special Event Streaming. October 27, 2016.

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© Federico Cairoli

• Architects: TDA

• Location: Lambare, Paraguay
• Project Architects: Miguel Duarte, Larissa Rojas
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Federico Cairoli

• Collaborators: Magali Ibarrola, Luis Landivar, Miguel Duarte (p), Enrique Granada

© Federico Cairoli

An elderly mother decides to build two compact houses along with her daughter, upon her own recent state of widowhood, giving up the large-sized house in which the family used to live.

Site Plan

This project reflects on compactness. (This can be defined as the ratio between the usable space of buildings and the space occupied by the surface).

© Federico Cairoli

Typically the amount of square meters guarantees social position, the more square meters we built, the more socially accepted we were, she commented.

Plan 1

Plan 2

The passing of time is fast. Children migrate building new places and that home becomes a museum, dark and silent.

© Federico Cairoli

Fearing abandonment and especially oblivion, this proposal restates coexistence based on practicality but especially constituting a new concept of compact use of space.

© Federico Cairoli

Based on functional requirements and especially the qualification of space rather than quantifying square meters.

© Federico Cairoli

We define a load bearing structure in reinforced concrete (efficiency and low maintenance cost, as requested by the future user) that optimizes the occupation giving emphasis to the void.

An upper beam 25 meters long. 2 columns located in a 1 to 5 relation. A side wall.

© Federico Cairoli

This basic and combined structure builds 3 habitable blocks and 2 intermediate courtyards. Two overlapping houses 4 meters wide and 25 meters deep in a 12×30 meter plot.

The front block is suspended 7 meters, generating the garages on the ground floor. The central block (fully suspended) houses living room and kitchen. The rear block houses the suite of the mother, also catilevered. Upstairs the daughter’s dwelling, with 3 bedrooms en suite and private living room.

© Federico Cairoli

All the blocks have intermediate light and ventilation courtyards. A house that occupies a minimum area of land, giving the possibility to enjoy the garden. The exterior image results from the interior spatial search. Structural abstraction and dignity, rich spatiality, controlled lighting and human scale.

© Federico Cairoli

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Courtesy of Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

In the latest episode of what has become a dramatic narrative worthy of its own space opera, The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art has revealed plans for their two newest hopes: prospective museum designs, one in Los Angeles and one in San Francisco, that could serve as the new home of filmmaker George Lucas’ eclectic personal collection of artworks, costumes and artifacts.

After their failed proposal for a mountain-shaped museum along the Chicago Waterfront, the museum has again tapped architect Ma Yansong and his firm, MAD Architects, to design both proposals for the California sites, the first along the water on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, and the second for a site in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, adjacent to the city’s Natural History Museum and the Coliseum.

San Francisco Proposal. Image Courtesy of Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

The two proposals feature similar specs (between 265,000 and 275,000 net square feet and 90,000 – 100,000 square feet of gallery space), and a similar fluid architectural language. As opposed to the soaring tent-like museum envisioned for Chicago, both designs are relatively low-lying and compact. Yet each reacts to its context in appropriately unique ways.

San Francisco Proposal. Image Courtesy of Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

On the Treasure Island site, the museum has been placed along the water within a larger master plan for the island designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. To combat the site’s blustery seawinds, MAD has chosen to move the majority of the public space inside, instead providing large, glazed surfaces that look out over the water and toward to San Francisco skyline.

Los Angeles Proposal. Image Courtesy of Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the bulk of the museum would be lifted above ground level, preserving a large percentage of the ground area for a brand-new park. The vegetated outdoor areas would continue onto the building roof, adding 6 to 7 acres of green space to a site currently occupied by a surface parking lot. To accommodate for the lost parking, an 1800-vehicle garage would be constructed under the museum.

Los Angeles Proposal. Image Courtesy of Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

Both proposals have already gained the support of their respective city’s mayors, but their support doesn’t make the museum a shoe-in for public acceptance; in Chicago, despite vocal endorsement from Mayor Rahm Emanuel, museum plans were still undone by the efforts of local activist groups.

The Lucas Museum is expected to decide upon a site by early 2018, after which they will continue to refine the design for realization.

News via Los Angeles Times, SFGate, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.

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© Christa Lachenmaier

• Architects: HPP, ASTOC
• Location: Mülheim, Germany
• Area: 40500.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Christa Lachenmaier

© Christa Lachenmaier

From the architect. The Hochschule Ruhr West – University of Applied Sciences in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany, in short the HRW, is part of a nationwide development of new universities. With a total of eight buildings and about 62,000 m² of GFA, the university has the dimensions of an autonomous district: four institute buildings, a canteen, a lecture hall and a library as well as a multi-storey car park have been built on the former railway site in the Broich district. The HRW functions not only as a new educational institution, but also as an important component of the urban development concept for the entire university surroundings. For this reason, the various campus buildings reflect the heights and volumes of the surrounding development and the campus itself deliberately opens up towards the quarter and to the adjacent buildings.

Site Plan

The residential area and the infrastructure along Duisburger Strasse will be enlivened and enriched by events and uses of the new university. At the same time a number of different public spaces have been created on the campus that invite one to stop and sit for a while and that are also available to residents for recreational activities.

© Christa Lachenmaier

HPP / ASTOC’s design for the new college campus on Duisburger Strasse was the winner of a Europe-wide, 2-stage competition with a total of 15 participants.

© Christa Lachenmaier

Due to the technical orientation of the courses at the Mülheim location (Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Science and Economics) special attention was paid to services and supply planning and the technology used thereby as well as the climatic impact of the overall development. The project was realised on the basis of a general planning contract; a total of 15 specialist engineering offices were involved.

© Christa Lachenmaier

The grand campus was opened with a speech from Hannelore Kraft, State Prime Minister of NRW and the Ruhr West University presented the work of its institutes and range of courses on offer.

© Christa Lachenmaier

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© Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd., Basel, Switzerland Landscape architects Vogt AG, Zurich / Berlin

Three winning firms have been selected in the competition for the Museum of the 20th Century to be located in the heart of the Berlin Cultural Forum in Berlin, Germany. The 200 million euro building and site plan will serve as the new home of multiple internationally significant art collections, including the National Gallery’s Marx and Pietzsch collections, sections of the Marzona collection, and a collection of works from the Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings).

In 2015, the competition was launched, aimed at finding a design scheme that would encompass the site layout, architecture and landscaping around the museum.

Facing stiff competition from a list of 42 renowned finalists, Herzog & de Meuron together with Vogt Landscape Architects has emerged victorious for their brick, warehouse-inspired design. Runner up prizes were given to Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects with SCHØNHERR A / S, and Bruno Fioretti Marquez with Capatti Staubach Landscape Architects, while four jury recognitions were awarded to proposals from OMA, SANAA, Staab Architekten, and Aires Mateus e Associados.

First Prize

Herzog & de Meuron

© Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd., Basel, Switzerland Landscape architects Vogt AG, Zurich / Berlin

The winning design is conceived as an interaction of two inner roads, dividing the museum into four thematic quadrants. The interior “boulevards” invite visitors to linger to view art or socialize.

The building’s large gable allow diffuse light to penetrate deep into the building, which can be controlled at select locations for optimal art viewing conditions.

© Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd., Basel, Switzerland Landscape architects Vogt AG, Zurich / Berlin

“As in the city, the central intersection is the most well-trafficked place. At the center of the museum, you are able to view the whole of the building and its structure at a glance,” explain the architects.

“We see connecting and networking as the major goals of our project. The museum is the place where different paths cross, where different mentalities and worlds allow an encounter The museum has several entrances, as it is oriented in all directions one could say, the museum of the 20th century is the goal for the far outlying Piazzetta and draws attention to the local collection building for art. “

© Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd., Basel, Switzerland Landscape architects Vogt AG, Zurich / Berlin

Second Prize

Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects

© Lundgaard & Tranberg Arkitekter A / S, Copenhagen, Denmark with SCHØNHERR A / S, Copenhagen, Denmark

© Lundgaard & Tranberg Arkitekter A / S, Copenhagen, Denmark with SCHØNHERR A / S, Copenhagen, Denmark

© Lundgaard & Tranberg Arkitekter A / S, Copenhagen, Denmark with SCHØNHERR A / S, Copenhagen, Denmark

Third Prize

Bruno Fioretti Marquez Architekten

© Bruno Fioretti Marquez Architekten, Berlin, Germany with Capatti staubach Landscape Architects, Berlin, Germany / Winfried Mateyka

© Bruno Fioretti Marquez Architekten, Berlin, Germany with Capatti staubach Landscape Architects, Berlin, Germany / Winfried Mateyka

© Bruno Fioretti Marquez Architekten, Berlin, Germany with Capatti staubach Landscape Architects, Berlin, Germany / Winfried Mateyka

The finalists included:

• 3XN Architects, Copenhagen, Denmark with Henrik Jørgensen Landskab as, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Aires Mateus e Associados, Lisbon, Portugal with PROAP Lda, Lisbon
• Beatriz Alés + Elena Zaera, Castelló, Spain
• Arga16, Berlin, Germany with Anne Wex Berlin, Germany
• Barkow Leibinger GmbH, Berlin, Germany with Professor Gabriele G. Kiefer, Berlin, Germany
• BAROZZI/VEIGA GmbH, Barcelona, Spanien with antón & ghiggi landschaft architektur GmbH, Zürich, Switzerland
• Behnisch Architekten, Stuttgart, Germany
• Bruno Fioretti Marquez Architekten, Berlin, Germany with capatti staubach Landschaftsarchitekten, Berlin, Germany
• David Chipperfield Architects, Berlin, Germany with Wirtz International nv, Schoten, Belgium
• CHOE HACKH/NETTER ARCHITEKTEN, Frankfurt am Main, Germany with Park Design, Kejoo Park, Seoul, South Korea
• Christ & Gantenbein Architekten, Basel, Switzerland with Fontana Landschaftsarchitektur GmbH, Basel, Switzerland
• CUKROWICZ NACHBAUR ARCHITEKTEN ZT GMBH, Bregenz, Österreich with Studio Vulkan, Landschaftsarchitektur GmbH, Zürich
• Pedro Domingos arquitectos unip. Ida + Pedro Matos Gameiro arquitecto Ida, Lisbon, Portugal with Baldios arquitectos paisagistas Ida, Lisbon, Portugal
• Dost Architektur GmbH, Schaffhausen, Switzerland with Bösch Landschaftsarchitektur, Schaffhausen, Switzerland
• Max Dudler Architekt, Berlin, Germany with Planorama Landschaftsarchitektur, Berlin, Germany
• Sou Fujimoto Architects, Tokyo, Japan with Latz + Partner LandschaftsArchitekten Stadtplaner, Kranzberg, Germany
• gmp International GmbH, Berlin, Germany
• Grüntuch Ernst Planungs-GmbH, Berlin, Germany with sinai Gesellschaft von Landschaftsarchitekten mbH, Berlin, Germany
• Zaha Hadid Limited (Zaha Hadid Architects), London, UK with GROSS.MAX. Ltd., Edinburgh, UK
• HASCHER JEHLE Architektur, Hascher Jehle Planen and Beraten GmbH, Berlin, Germany with Weidinger Landschaftsarchitekten, Berlin, Germany
• Heinle, Wischer und Partner, Freie Architekten, Berlin, Germany with Prof. Heinz-W. Hallmann Landschaftsarchitekt BDLA, Aachen, Germany

• Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd., Basel, Switzerland with Vogt Landschaftsarchitekten AG, Zürich/Berlin
• Florian Hoogen Architekt BDA Mönchengladbach, Germany with h e r m a n n s landschaftsarchitektur/umweltplanung, Schwalmtal, Germany
• LACATON & VASSAL ARCHITECTES, Paris, France with CYRILLE MARLIN, Pau, France
• Lundgaard & Tranberg Arkitekter A/S, Kopenhagen, Dänemark with SCHØNHERR A/S, Kopenhagen, Dänemark
• MANGADO Y ASOCIADOS SL., Pamplona, Spanien with TOWNSHEND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS LIwithED, London, UK
• Josep Lluis Mateo – MAP Arquitectos, Barcelona, Spanien with D‘ici là paysages & territoires, Paris, France
• Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA); Rotterdam, Niederlande with Inside Outside, Amsterdam, Niederlande
• Dominique Perrault Architecture, Paris, France with Agence Louis Benech Paysagiste, Paris, France
• REX Architecture PC, New York, USA with Marti-Baron+Miething, Paris, France
• Sauerbruch Hutton Architekten, Berlin, Germany with Gustafson Porter, London, UK
• Schulz und Schulz Architekten GmbH, Leipzig, Germany, Petra and Paul Kahlfeldt Architekten, Berlin, Germany with POLA Landschaftsarchitekten, Berlin, Germany
• Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa/S A N A A, Tokyo, Japan with Bureau Bas Smets, Brüssel, Belgium
• Shenzhen Huahui Design Co., Ltd., Nanshan (Shenzhen), China with Beijing Chuangyi Best Landscaping Design Co., Ltd., Beijing, China
• Snøhetta architects, Oslo, Norwegen
• SO – IL Ltd, New York, USA with Stoss Landscape Urbanism, Boston, USA
• Staab Architekten GmbH, Berlin, Germany with Levin Monsigny Landschaftsarchitekten, Berlin, Germany
• TOPOTEK 1, Berlin, Germany/Pordenone, Italy with TOPOTEK 1, Berlin, Germany
• Emilio Tuñón Arquitectos, Madrid, Spanien, Tuñón & Ruckstuhl Architekten GmbH SIA, Rüschlikon, Switzerland with Benavides Laperche Paisajismo, Madrid, Spanien
• UNStudio, Amsterdam, Niederlande, Wenzel + Wenzel Freie Architekten, Berlin, Germany with Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl GmbH, Überlingen, Germany
• ARGE Weyell Zipse Architekten/Hörner Architekten Basel, Switzerland with James Melsom Landschaftsarchitekt BSLA, Basel, Switzerland
• Riken Yamamoto & FIELDSHOP Co., Ltd., Yokohama, Japan, Holzer Kobler Architekturen Berlin GmbH, Berlin, Germany, Holzer Kobler Architekturen GmbH, Zürich, Switzerland with vetschpartner Landschaftsarchitekten AG, Zürich, Switzerland

All of the finalists designs will be on display as part of an exhibition on the competition from 18 November 2016 to January 8, 2017 in the Cultural Forum.

News via National Galerie 20.

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© Adrià Goula

• Architects: Josep Ferrando
• Location: Carrer de Bailèn, 232 bis, 08037 Barcelona, Spain
• Area: 225 sqm
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: Adrià Goula

• Client: Miriam y Eduard
• Builder: ROOM S.L.
• Technical Architect: Toledo-Villarreal
• Structural Engineer: Josep Nel.lo
• Collaborators: Marta Arias, Carol Castilla, Jordi Pérez, Félix Platero, Goun Park, TaeGweon Kim, Adrià Orriols, Clara Vidal, Borja Rodríguez
• Budget: 300.000 €

© Adrià Goula

From the architect. Located in the historic center of Sant Cugat del Valles, a house between party walls becomes a city project and a way of life.

Site Plan

A piece that fits complex urban conditions: Monastery surroundings, Cultural Heritage, the main facade and the roof to preserve, 5 meters width and topographical unevenness that leaves the plot in between two streets in different heights.

Inside the existing space, a concrete block house is inserted. It party walls increase their thickness to serve as a filter and server space, generating storage space  in one side and “promenade” space in the other.

Model

Model

Model

These thicknesses creates interior facade walls in the longitudinal direction that increase the spatial feeling in the transverse direction of the house.

© Adrià Goula

Inside the concrete house the wooden plans adapt to the topography and the gaps of the existing facades.

© Adrià Goula

Section

© Adrià Goula

The offset is used to generate visual cross and flood with light all plants to the basement through the vacuum of the upper bounds.

Model

The house program is fragmentated avoiding the continuity of the horizontal plane of the floor as Adolf Loos’s “Raumplan”.

© Adrià Goula

The sequence of houses within the house goes from more urban materials to domestic materials, constructing an empty space that lets light in and configures visual spaces all together. The inner emptiness becomes the square or public space of the house. That space where all eyes are crossed and relationships are built through railings furniture-turn to it.

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© Everton Ballardin. Via Colossal

Made from a combination of tangled and woven red wool, Brazilian artist Tatiana Blass’ installation, “Penelope,” flows inside and out of the Chapel of Morumbi in São Paulo, Brazil. 

The installation was inspired by the Greek myth of Penelope, who was Odysseus’ wife in Homer’s Odyssey. In the story, Penelope weaves and destroys a burial shroud for her husband, in a tribute to the power of love and to weaving. 

At the altar of the church, a large pedal-loom is attached to a 45-foot red carpet that extends to the courtyard, representing power and nobility. From the other side of the loom, a matrix of tangled red wool burgeons outwards, and through the walls of the building, covering the gardens outside.

© Everton Ballardin. Via Colossal

© Everton Ballardin. Via Colossal

© Everton Ballardin. Via Colossal

© Everton Ballardin. Via Colossal

Like with the myth of Penelope, it is unclear whether the carpet is being constructed or unraveled in the building, creating a merging “of the religious with the architectural and the enigmatic.”

© Everton Ballardin. Via Colossal

© Everton Ballardin. Via Colossal

Learn more about the project here. 

News via Trend Tablet, H/T Colossal.

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This article was originally published by Archipreneur as “5 of the Most Innovative Architecture Firms.”

The AEC industry is notoriously slow to adopt new technologies. Cumbersome organizational structures and high financial stakes make it difficult for AEC professionals to experiment. Due to the limited role of architects in the project development process, innovative design solutions and experimentation with new manufacturing techniques are still confined to academic circles and research institutions.

However, some architecture firms are utilizing their high profiles, international success and the influx of talented, young designers to establish in-house research divisions and incubators that support the development of new ideas in the AEC industry. The following five companies are consistent in pushing the envelope and helping architecture adopt some of the latest technologies:

1. BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group

BIG's design for the Amager Bakke waste-to-energy power plant in Copenhagen. Image © BIG

One of the most renowned architecture firms in the world, BIG, is a great example of architects keeping step with pop culture and new business trends. Both their design and company culture reveals a nimbleness and experimental attitude that allow them to explore different avenues for practicing architecture. BIG’s founder, Bjarke Ingels, is a rare example of an archipreneur attuned to the latest media trends and business strategies. He embraces social media, invests in new enterprises, and implements innovation in his projects.

Recently, BIG teamed up with aerospace organization Rumlaboratorium, the Danish Technical University and artists from realities:united to launch a Kickstarter campaign to design a prototype of a unique steam-ring generator that would be part of the “cleanest power plant in the world.” The initiative shows a readiness to invent and extend their involvement in the construction process to engineering. In 2014, they launched a new division within the company and called it BIG Ideas, which was intended to act as a research and development lab where the firm could create products and new building materials. Several other independent projects are currently underway, many of which are focused on finding new engineering solutions to be incorporated into BIG’s projects.

2. SHoP Architects

SHoP's proposal for the Domino Sugar Factory Master Plan in New York. Image © SHoP Architects

SHoP Architects and SHoP Construction (SC), collectively known as SHoP, are among New York’s 10 largest architecture firms. What makes them stand out among other mainstream architecture firms is their interest in addressing the gap between real estate development, architecture and engineering. A hybrid business model allows them to function as a combination of a real estate development firm, a think tank, and a one-stop shop for clients.

Five people with individual backgrounds in design, construction, business, marketing and development founded the firm in 1996. The team was led by Gregg Pasquarelli, who had previously worked as an investment banker on Wall Street. They first experimented with trading fees for equity on their Porter House project, and went on to develop several other projects, as well as their own, and collaborating with other architects.

SHoP is a trailblazer when it comes to redefining the way architecture is practiced. They are rethinking the role of architects in the project development process and looking for ways to get more autonomy, better pay, and innovative design projects off the ground, all while cutting construction costs through smart fabrication.

3. Perkins + Will

Perkins + Will's Shanghai Natural History Museum. Image © James and Connor Steinkamp

Perkins + Will is one of the United States’ leading architecture firms in healthcare design, delivering buildings that focus on better patient experience and high performance. Their new in-house Innovation Incubator program aims to “foster, through micro-grants of money and time, a culture of innovation, creativity and experimentation by supporting small research projects proposed by individuals.” The program has already selected 19 entries from the firm’s global offices and awarded several micro-grants to groups of participants with the most innovative proposals.

The firm also formed the Perkins + Will Building Technology Laboratory, which is focused on developing new technological solutions that boost the performance of buildings. Their annual design competition encourages talented designers to experiment. Design solutions selected through the contest are often further developed through the Innovation Incubator system.

4. NBBJ

NBBJ's biodome design for the Amazon headquarters in downtown Seattle. Image © NBBJ

One of the first architecture offices to fully embrace Virtual Reality (VR), Seattle-based NBBJ, developed its self-contained venture Visual Vocal to build a VR platform integrated into the firm’s design process. By using VR, NBBJ hopes to speed up collaboration and communication between designers and allow them to make decisions based on client feedback. The new productivity tool will allow architects to build VR versions of 3D models that can be explored on a smartphone.

Together with mobile and cloud-based solutions, VR is expected to replace conventional communication such as email. The team, led by John San Giovanni and Sean House, raised $500,000 for Visual Vocal, which will be developed as a tool not only for architecture but also for other industries. Future plans for these platforms include solutions for working in the aerospace industry, product design, and biotech.

5. HOK

HOK's Dalí Museum in St Petersburg, Florida. Image © Moris Moreno

Recently, HOK partnered with the Biomimcry Guild in order to foster bio-inspired innovation in the field of architecture. The partnership began in 2004 and the two companies have collaborated on several projects since, including HOK’s proposal for the “City of the Future” competition in 2008.

“We believe biomimicry will not only help us significantly reduce the environmental impact of our projects, but also has the potential to help define a whole new sustainable standard for our profession,” said HOK Sustainable Design Director, Mary Ann Lazarus, “Because biomimicry addresses critical environmental issues at the habitat scale, it gives us lessons on how to achieve significant results even restorative outcomes at all scales.”

HOK is also a great example of an architecture firm embracing new media tools, as one of the most active users of social media in the architectural industry. The firm launched Life at HOK in 2008 as a supplementary resource to the company’s main site. It is an employee-authored blog, dedicated to showing the processes behind their projects and office culture. HOK employees from around the country post different types of content, such as links to YouTube videos, Facebook profiles and Flickr images. The site aggregates several social media platforms and encourages feedback and interaction with and between its users.

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These five firms are consistently showing a readiness to adopt new design and communication tools, design strategies, and business models. This attitude allows them to remain flexible and absorb various cultural and technological shifts instead of simply trying to keep up with the world. Which other architecture firms do you find innovative?

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