ARCHITECTURE PROJECT

Location: Beirut, Lebanon
Architects: Herzog & de Meuron
Photographs: Iwan Baan, Bahaa Ghoussainy, Trevor Patt

The city of Beirut lies in the heart of the developing Middle East. Having always been a cosmopolitan city, it is a focal point of the region as a cultural and geographical link between Europe and the Middle East. The history of Beirut could hardly be more diverse; remains of Phoenician, Roman, Mamluk, Ottoman and Colonial rule have shaped the city and its buildings. The design of Beirut Terraces was quite literally influenced by the layers of the city’s rich and tumultuous history. It is a history now also marked by inescapable traces of an eventful present. For generations to come, the people of Beirut will remember the assassination in 2005 of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, when a car bomb detonated in front of St. Georges Hotel. The resultant devastation is still visible as a daily reminder. Despite a scarred history, there is a clear vision to rehabilitate the area, with a master plan well under way that aims to rebuild and revitalize this part of Beirut.

ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION

Register: NOV/29/2019, Submit: NOV/30/2019, Eligibility: Architects, architecture graduates, students, engineers; individually, (interdisciplinary) teams up to 3 members, Fee: Indian nationals 1,200 INR (Indian rupee), foreign nationals 40 EUR (JUL/15/2018 – AUG/31/2019); Indian nationals 1,500 INR, foreign nationals 60 EUR (SEP/01 – OCT/31/2019); Indian nationals 1,800 INR, foreign nationals 80 EUR (NOV/01 – NOV/29/2019); discount for a minimum of 5 teams from one architecture school or university, Awards: 1st Prize 1,00,000 INR (approx. 1,270 EUR), 2nd Prize 60,000 INR (approx. 760 EUR), 3rd Prize 40,000 INR (approx. 510 EUR), 10 Honorable Mentions

What do Tom Ford, Raf Simons, Pierre Balmain, Pierre Cardin, Gianni Versace and Virgil Abloh all have in common? Before kick-starting a flourishing career in fashion, each of these individuals enrolled to study architecture or industrial design. Architects like Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas have repeatedly collaborated with fashion houses and imparted their quirky vision to develop an experimental and bespoke range of products. The worlds of architecture and fashion have many overlaps.

ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION

Register: NOV/28/2019, Submit: DEC/08/2019, Eligibility: Students, professionals, institutions; all design disciplines; individually, teams with unlimited number of members, Fee: Students and professionals 20 USD, institutions (minimum 20 students) – per student 4 USD; (more details on the competition website), Awards: Winner: 5,000 USD; 6 Runner-up (3 students and 3 professional): 1,100 USD each; 4 People’s Choice (2 students and 2 professionals): 600 USD each; 12 Honorable Mentions (6 students and 6 professionals): 500 USD each; (more details on the competition website)

The Arctic Bridge is currently used as only seasonal sea route, which if developed could serve as a major trade route between Canada and Russia. Due to global warming, the rapidly melting glaciers are giving way to new shorter routes across the Arctic. Climate changes at such scale can herald a new era of cargo shipping around the top of the world. An inevitable future of the planet is paving way for an economically potential idea. The Second Edition of Extreme Habitat Challenge competition chooses two major cities (Vancouver, Canada x Moscow, Russia), connected via the fastest mode of land bound transit of the future – Hyperloop that embodies the arctic bridge route to open avenues for trade across the arctic ocean.

ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION

Register: OCT/21/2019, Submit: OCT/26/2019, Eligibility: Architecture students (undergraduate, graduate, master, PhD), young architects and professionals with a degree in architecture studies (≤ 40 years old); individually, (multidisciplinary) teams up to 4 member (architecture students, young architects or  professionals, landscape architects, urban designers, artists, etc.), Fee: 60 EUR + VAT = 73.80 EUR (JUL/08 – SEP/09/2019), 75 EUR + VAT = 92.25 EUR (SEP/10 – OCT/10/2019), 90 EUR + VAT = 110.70 EUR (OCT/11 – OCT/21/2019); VAT 23%, Awards: 1st Prize 2,000 EUR, 2nd Prize 1,000 EUR, 3rd Prize 500 EUR, 7 Honorable Mentions

This international architecture ideas competition is for the design of a  located near the ‘Aldeia da Mata’ dolmen, in Crato, Alentejo, Portugal. The ‘Aldeia da Mata’ dolmen is a landmark of great cultural heritage and historical significance with characteristics that must be fully preserved. When generating a vision for an intervention located within such a spectacular place, it is essential that each design proposal emphasises, respects and celebrates the megalithic monument, while providing visitors with a unique experience.

ARHITECTURE COMPETITION

Register: OCT/04/2019, Submit: NOV/04/2019, Eligibility: Professionals and students in the field: architectural design, interior design, urban planning, landscape design, space planning, engineering, project management, graphics, building information modeling (BIM), communication, economics, sociology, real estate; individually (participants under the age of 35), teams (team leader under the age of 35), Fee: 75 EUR (JUN/25 – JUL/31/2019), 100 EUR (AUG/01 – SEP/15/2019), 150 EUR (SEP/16 – OCT/04/2019), Awards: Winners of the categories – 1. The best approach to architecture: 10,000 EUR, 2. The best approach to sustainability: 5,000 EUR, 3. The best approach to BIM: 5,000 EUR; 3 Honorable Mentions for each category; all prizes are gross

Object of the competition is the urban regeneration of an industrial site of approximately 60,000 square meters in the Italian city of Monza (MB) in accordance with the contemporary sensibility for the values of environmental, economic and social sustainability. The area of competition will be affected by the forthcoming extension of Line 5 of the Milan Metro subway: this creates a common thread with the Greater Milan and makes it a value multiplier for the territory.

ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION

Register: AUG/23/2019, Submit: AUG/23/2019, Eligibility: Professionals, licensed architects, urban planners and landscape architects, Fee: Free, Awards: Phase 1: 240,000 EUR will be equally divided the participants of phase 2; Phase 2: 1st Prize: 40,000 EUR, 2nd Prize: 30,000 EUR, 3rd Prize: 20,000 EUR, Recognition fees: 20,000 EUR; + value-added tax; the winners will be selected from the group of phase 2 participants

EnBW and Stuttgart, Germany: An established relationship rooted in industrial modernity. Both partners have undergone rapid change in recent years. Industry 4.0, influx and growth, digitization, and the Energy Transition are only some of the change drivers that both the city and company must confront. It is time for this relationship to enter a new phase! A unique opportunity has now opened here. The changes to the company are reflected not only in the strategic changes to its business segments, in its sites, vehicle fleets and in the heads of its employees. They have a very tangible impact on the continued development of EnBw’s sites in the city – and therefore also in Stöckach.

ARCHITECTURE PROJECT

Location: Quarteira, Portugal
Architects: Corpo Atelier
Photographs: Ricardo Oliveira Alves

Empty plots of similar shapes and sizes are aligned along a golf course, setting a frame for new urbanization of detached houses. Nothing was built. Due to the degree of uncertainty regarding future constructions, the house becomes introverted. Two white walls (almost) completely withdraw any direct contact from future neighbors, setting clear boundaries. Between them, an architectural inner landscape of cubic shapes, each arranging a single function, provides a sense of security and protection while carefully framing the distant landscape. Only a horizontal volume, containing the swimming pool, contradicts this logic projecting itself to the South, emerging from the walls to offer a possibility of volunteered exposure, for a brief moment, before returning to the house.

ARCHITECTURE PROJECT

Location: El Paso, Texas, United States
Architects: Hazelbaker Rush
Photographs: Casey Dunn

The Franklin Mountains extend into the north end of El Paso like a peninsula of rocky wilderness into the urban landscape of the city, rising 2500 feet above the Rio Grande river valley. The home site is set in the foothills of the Franklins 800 feet above the city perched just above a small canyon with unobstructed views of downtown El Paso and Juarez to the south. As the raw and rugged native landscape comes down the slope and meets the masses of the house the land starts to feel more controlled and cultivated. The steep site becomes a series of terraces that catch and slows the flow of water and the flow of life here. This mountain side oasis becomes enriched with native succulents and cacti, colorful grasses and aromatic herbs. A sustainable ecosystem on a small scale for a family that has turned a “hard” site into their sanctuary on the hillside. 

ARCHITECTURE PROJECT

Location: Bordeaux, France
Architects: BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group
Photographs: Laurian Ghinitoiu, Florent Michel

The new 18,000 m2 Maison de l’Économie Créative et de la Culture en Aquitaine, MÉCA, creates a frame for the celebration of contemporary art, film, and performances, giving Bordeaux the gift of art-filled public space from the waterfront to the city’s new urban room. Centrally located between the River Garonne and Saint-Jean train station, MÉCA, brings together three regional arts agencies – FRAC for contemporary art, ALCA for cinema, literature, and audiovisuals, and OARA for performing arts – into a loop, cementing the UNESCO-listed city as the epicenter for culture. The building is conceived as a single loop of cultural institutions and public space by extruding the pavement of the promenade to become the ramp that leads into the urban living room, the façade with glimpses into the stage towers of OARA and the offices of ALCA, and the rooftop enclosing the sky-lit galleries of FRAC. A series of steps and ramps lead the public directly into the 1,100 m2 outdoor urban room at the core of MÉCA, creating a porous institution for visitors to roam freely between the Quai de Paludate street to the river promenade.

ARCHITECTURE PROJECT

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 

Architects: Design Unit Sdn Bhd 

Photographs: Lin Ho Photography 

The steeply sloping site for this 7000 sf house, orientated approximately east-west, falls by 11.5 m from the road to the rear with rainforest views to the east of this 7000 sf house. The house is designed to ‘float’ over the site – touching it lightly, and allowing the natural slope to remain, heightening our awareness to & informing us about the natural site contours. Consisting 2 independent structures – a 2 storey living & bedroom block constructed of exposed structural steel supported on a ‘forest’ of irregular spaced columns that enhance the feeling of ‘floating’. This steel structure is cantilevered over a lower independent structure housing an art gallery & cinema and is constructed of off-form concrete and includes a green roof garden and swimming pool. The house is supported by a number of seemingly random steel columns irregularly spaced with the intention to enhance this feeling of ‘floating’ – of not being anchored to the ground – only the steel entrance ramps connect the steel box to the ground.