Title: Waterfront Synopsis
Location: Stavanger, Norway
Link out: Click here
Description: Nordic Urban Design Association (NUDA) and Project for Public Spaces (PPS), i n partnership with City of Stavanger, Cities of the Future (Framtidens Byer), Urban Sjøfront and network collaboration with STAS, Grønn By, Amiando, greenspace scotland, and Stavanger Architects Association, are organizing the first international “Waterfront Synopsis” conference in Stavanger, Norway on the 14th – 17th September 2010.

“Waterfront Synopsis” will focus on the topic of Placemaking and Sustainability, bringing the forces of environmentalism, climate change, and sustainability together with the ideas of community, livability, health and Placemaking. Many people around the world are realizing the impacts of “Place” and “Placemaking” as a transformative agenda for creating change in cities.

The goal of the conference is for participants to learn about waterfront developments that create a sense of place, strategies to incorporate local entrepreneurs into projects, and how developers and city agencies can work together more effectively to implement a common vision. The intent is to provide practical ideas for people who want to “do” and not just “talk.”

Start Date: 2010-09-14
End Date: 2010-09-17

Nüvist Architecture & Design, an Instanbul based practice, has revealed their entry to the Izmir Opera House Competition, which they call “Artistic Foyer”. More info and images after the break.

Art has a great role in showing what happens in human beings’ life. Soul, intelligence and the emotions are the reflections of the community, and Art forms the social identities of communities. It also shows us the difference between the various social identities. Global influences effect the types of knowledge acquisitions or the social values in the art, and the artists determine the standards of modern life.

Thus, art centers have many roles beside their fundamental functions that should be participant, shared with society and create a modern level in connection between the citizens and the artists’ works. This concept is the key criteria for the Izmir Opera House Project. The project should be reflecting the history, the culture and the modern life in Izmir, furthermore it should be an identity for the city of Izmir.

In this context, we have started to design an urban art dome that we call Artistic Foyer. The urban power effects the functional system, and the  functional system defines the artistic foyer. As a result, all these things together create a parametric topography which forming the dome.

Via: Nüvist Architecture & Design

Project: Houseboat on the Eilbekkanal
Architect: Rost Niderehe Architects
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Photography: Jens Kroell
                                  Amelie Rost

The original idea has been to design a houseboat that essentially has the character of a boat in combination with the comfort of a traditional family home.

The formal architectural language should be clear and simple. This is reflected both in the floor plans as well as in creation of the individual rooms. Using a single wall that wraps like a spiral from the outside to the inside, the rooms are developed from public use on the outside (kitchen, dining room) to private use on the inside (bedroom, bathroom).

The spaces for public use are located on the upper deck, this being the entrance level; spaces for private use (work, living- and bedrooms) are located on the lower deck.

The chosen materials (mainly steel and wood) are influenced by both areas of provenance of the design – naval architecture as well as normal building construction. The residents work and live on the houseboat – in the middle of the city of Hamburg, surrounded by the green belt of the Eilbek-canal. When the mooring area has to be changed, it is easy to move the houseboat to its new destination with the help of a tug.

The demand for this form of living is high, which is also shown by the huge amount of positive feedback both from the population of the surrounding area as well as from the city’s urban development agency. Right now official mooring areas for permanent residences on water are missing, but the process has been started: Germany’s first settlement with a new houseboat generation has been completed.

Via: Contemporist

Project Title: Kona Residence
Author: Belzberg Architects
Principal: Hagy Belzberg
Project Manager: Barry Gartin
Location: Kona, Hawaii
Project Team: David Cheung, Carina Bien-Willner, Barry Gartin, Cory Taylor, Andrew Atwood, Chris Arntzen, Brock DeSmit, Dan Rentsch, Lauren Zuzack.
Year: 2010
Interiors: MLK Studio
Photography: Benny Chan (Fotoworks), Belzberg Architects.

Nestled between cooled lava flows, the Kona residence situates its axis not with the linearity of the property but rather with the axiality of predominant views available to the site.  Within the dichotomy of natural elements and geometric hardscape the residence attempts to integrate both the surrounding views of volcanic mountain ranges to the east and ocean horizons westward.  The program is arranged as a series of pods distributed throughout the property, each having its own unique features and view opportunities.  The pods are programmatically assigned as two sleeping pods with common areas, media, master suite and main living space.

A central axis becomes the organizational and focal feature for the entire house, connecting each of the pods through an exterior gallery corridor.  To help maintain the environmental sensitivity of the house, 2 separate arrays of roof mounted photovoltaic panels offset the residence energy usage while the choice of darker lava stone help heat the pool water via solar radiation. Rain water collection and redirection to 3 drywells that replenish the aquifer are implemented throughout the property. Reclaimed teak timber from older barns and train tracks are recycled for the exterior of the home.

Together with stacked and cut lava rock, the two materials form a historically driven medium embedded in Hawaiian tradition. 3-D modeling and digital fabrication through CNC machinery was incorporated to further enhance traditional elements in a contemporary arrangement.

Local basket weaving culture was the inspiration for the entry pavilion which reenacts the traditional gift upon arrival ceremony. CNC milled ceilings and screens throughout the house continue the abstract approach to traditional Hawaiian wood carving.

Via: Contemporist

Autodesk has issued a press release confirming that AutoCAD will be available in Mac OS X system in October at a MSRP of $3,995. Autodesk also announced AutoCAD WS a mobile application for iPad and Iphone which will let you view, edit and whare DWG files on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.

Autodesk is bringing its AutoCAD architecture, design, and engineering software back to the Mac OS after an 18-year absence, the company announced this evening. But the company plans to do more than offer a Mac OS X version of AutoCAD: It says it will release a free version of the software, dubbed AutoCAD WS, for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch that lets users review, edit, and share AutoCAD files on those popular mobile devices.

The company says AutoCAD for Mac OS X is a fully native application, using Mac OS X libraries and native UI features. AutoCAD for Mac takes full advantage of Mac OS X, including graphical browsing of design files with Cover Flow and use of multitouch gestures on Mac notebooks, the Magic Mouse, and the Magic Trackpad for intuitive pan and zoom features, a spokesman said. User-experience design patterns, such as the visual approach to drawing and layout management, have also been incorporated into AutoCAD for Mac.

Last thursday, August 26, NYC studio SOFTlab opened and installation at the bridegallery in New York City. The installation was made with over 4,600 panels each one with a unique color. The project was crowd-financed via kickstarter and for everyone who pledged for the projet their name was laser atached in one of the panels, which will be sent to the donator once the installation comes down. [More images after the break]

Design Team:
Michael Szivos, Jose Gonzalez, Carrie McKnelly, Elliot White, Tyler O’Rielley, Troy Zezula, Sean Madigan, Corey Kingston

Installation:
Julia Schleppe, Andrew Manart, Simon Kristak, David Gonzalez, Andrew Chen, Anthony Buccellato, Laura Vincent, Michael House, Brandt Graves, Austin Smith, Andrew Sutton, Alan Tansey, Mac Glovinsky, Robin Jones

Photos:
Andrew Manart

Via: Bustler

Project: The Galilée Office Building
Author: STUDIO BELLECOUR, SAS d’architecture
Architect: Wilfrid Bellecour
Location: Blagnac, Toulouse, France
Client: Altarea COGEDIM
Owner: Crédit Suisse
Surface area: 11,102 sq.m.
Estimated Cost: M€ 20
Construction work: April 2008
Delivery: 2010
Photography: Christophe Pici
             Nicolas Borel
             Quentin Jeandel
             Denis Gliksman
             Studio Bellecour

The project Galilée is one of the debut projects realized in the UDZ (Urban Development Zone) Andromède, in Blagnac, near Toulouse in France. The particular urban details of this UDZ in Blagnac provided a unique climate for the development of a quality architectural project.

The aesthetic of Galilée results from a combination of an interpretation of these urban rules, the immediate aeronautical context, and from the environmental requirements given in the specifications of the UDZ. The plan is centered on two distinct buildings which are connected by a long white concrete veil. The veil, the primary visual feature of the overall plan, blends vertical and horizontal motions as it slowly curves in a helical movement. This veil achieves the double feature of insuring the continuity between each building while allowing one to discover the rear landscape in all its depth. Thus this long concrete helix, which  recalls the aeronautical context of the site, both protects the building by marking the front of street as well as welcomes us by its inviting view. Two covered buildings wrapped in special insulating material and canopies, modulated according to the illumination, confer on the operation the environmental  characteristics.

A unique formal style distinguishes and individualizes these buildings. Nevertheless, the coherence and balance of the whole is maintained by the homogenous treatment of the façades. The difference of shape and the resemblance of materials make fraternal twins out of these two buildings, which works to maintain options for future users of the space. That is, the distinctions between the buildings would allow multiple tenants to maintain an air of individuality while at the same time the continuous architectural themes provide an appropriate environment for one single occupant.

A central square constitutes the central space, the place of privileged pedestrian access towards both halls. The square is slightly heightened to allow for a level of half-buried parking lots organized around a central garden with natural air circulation. A large white concrete form looking like a shingle offers space for bikes within the landscape. The sun shade, a major element of the façades’ composition, bring the bright comfort crucial to the offices and open-spaces of the building.

For fire access, on the side of the building, the sun shades become delicately blurred on certain windows, allowing openings for the appropriate safety officials.

Via: Contemporist

© hertha hurnaus

Project: Flag
Architect: propeller z
Location: Fahndorf, Austria
Budget: 70,000 Euros
Photography: © hertha hurnaus

           
© hertha hurnaus

© hertha hurnaus

propeller z, a vienna based architecture office, completed an addition to 200 year old farmhouse in Fahndorf, Austria. The addition, which was completed with a budget of 70,000 Euros, negotiates the conditions and features of the pre-existing structure while remaining quiet in its presence from the nearby street.

© hertha hurnaus

The farmhouse is a traditional u-shaped structure with a courtyard between the living space and the barn and stable. Buried into the slope the south wing leaves its pitched roof exposed establishing no relationship with the acreage to the back. The new dwelling, which accomodates a kitchen and living space, stands elevated on the terrain and stablishes a relationship with the surrounding farmland.

© hertha hurnaus

To remain within the allowed budget, much of the materials that were used on “flag” are local and readily materials, the ceiling and the entrance platform are clad in warm wood, while the internal insulation is made from recycled newspaper. The north side of the addition features a wood stack that spans the entire length of the facade, which is both a reinterpretation of the local farmhouse typology.

© hertha hurnaus

Project: TED Building
Architect: BIG
           Bjarke Ingels, Jakob Lange
Project leader: Cat Huang
Team: Gaetan Brunet, Xu Li, Alysen Hiller, Xi Chen, Espen Vik, James Schrader, Kuba Snopek, Riccardo Mariano, Johan Cool, Takuya Hosokai, Daniel Sundlin.          
Collaborators: Realities United, Arup
Location: Taiwan
Type: Competition
Client: TLDC
Size: 43,000 sq. mt.

The Public Street
TED contains an almost urban mix of programs with no obvious hierarchy. We propose to organize the shops and showrooms, offices and hotelrooms, conference rooms and exhibitions spaces, restaurants and galleries along an internal extension of the pedestrianized street to the south. To remain with the site and the maximum building volume, the public street is coiled up in an ascending spiral leading from the ground floor to the roof garden.

The spiraling street of media programs is consolidated into a 57×57x57m3 cube of program permeated by a public trajectory of the people life. The cube is finished in concrete lamellas serving as solar shading as well as public access.

The lamellas recede inwards forming a generous public staricase allowing the public walk into the fecade and all the way to the roof. At the roof of the cube, the trajectory expands forming a big informal public arena. All restaurants on the penthouse floor open to the arena making it a natural gathering point for Taipei teenagers for social hangout and informal performances.