ION Architecture - NEWS

Hut near Bergen, Norway Submitted by Emily Clarke via Cabin Porn http://bit.ly/2GHNAtS

Today’s libraries have also evolved into complex institutions compressed into small spaces, making their design needs equally intricate. ... In the end, the problem of how to build good public architecture briskly and frugally has little to do with design and everything to do with bureaucracy. Virtually no one feels the urgency or has the clout to reform a sclerotic system. Justine Testado via Archinect - News http://bit.ly/2E8imqy

Timber Towers are on the rise, propelled by the growing availability of new wood technologies that promise major environmental benefits . Today, proposals for increasingly tall wooden structures are sprouting up everywhere from  Portland to Brisbane , with the world's tallest wooden tower recently completing in British Columbia , and another on its way in Norway . Amidst the enthusiasm, George Brown College announced plans last summer for a 12 story timber-framed building as part of the school's Toronto Waterfront expansion. Dubbed "the Arbour," the building will not only be a living example of sustainable design, but will also house a new Tall Wood Research Institute, alongside George Brown's Centre for Information and Computer Technology, a new child care facility, and additional research facilities. To do so, the college conducted an invited design competition, for which the finalists were recently revealed. The chosen proposals include a tree-like struct...

An architectural theorist, educator, and specialist in architecture’s transforming relationship to technology has been appointed as the new Head of the University of Technology Sydney’s School of Architecture. Professor Francesca Hughes has more than 25 years experience in the field of architectural education, theory and practice and will join UTS’s School of Architecture in October 2018. Alexander Walter via Archinect - News http://bit.ly/2uvUkq5

We get it. It can get a little overwhelming keeping up with the dozens of new  architecture competitions  launching worldwide on any given week — let alone having to stay on top of the multiple deadlines for each and every one. That's why  Bustler  is here to help! At the end of every week, we'll share a quick selection of our newest design  competition submissions  that we think are worth a look, as well as some ongoing ones you might have missed the first time. Check out our latest competition recommendations below. Bustler Editors via Archinect - News http://bit.ly/2GmYhik

Find the perfect metal cladding for your next project through Architizer’s new community marketplace for building-products .  M anufacturers:  Check out the latest construction leads  and  sign up now . Years before Thom Mayne founded Morphosis Architects , and decades before he became a Pritzker Prize laureate, he began cultivating a reputation as a maverick, the “bad boy” of architecture. Through his acerbic writings and radical unbuilt projects, he inspired a generation of young Southern Californian architects to buck convention and push the boundaries of building design. Always ahead of the curve, it wasn’t until later in life that digital modeling and computer-aided manufacturing finally caught up with his avant-garde style. Today, through long-standing relationships with companies like Zahner , a leading producer of architectural metal, Morphosis is able to bring their futuristic designs to fruition. Together, they create otherworldly buildings which appear...

Homer Bedel homestead in the Bruneau Canyon, Idaho Photo by Dennis Klein via Cabin Porn http://bit.ly/2E629lO

Each year, Jacob’s Pillow campus  in rural Massachusetts, USA, hosts a summer dance festival with more than 200 free performances and other uplifting events. The cultural center challenged  Flansburgh Architects  to design a 6,000 square foot (557 square meter) dance studio, able to meet the growing needs of the artists all year round. The new building on the site is inspired by the rural barns in the area, but offers the latest in high tech. Its flexible design incorporates multiple program spaces and functions. It will serve as a warm-up and rehearsal space, instructional space, informal performance area and a residency venue for visiting programs. Wood and glass are the main components of the design, which the architects employed to create a farm-like aesthetic. At the same time, these elements have the ability to create a more natural and laid-back environment for the artists and their performances. “Oversized barn windows and doors create a strong linkage to th...

The 2018 Global LafargeHolcim Awards competition was as big as ever, attracting more than 5,000 submissions this time around. When the regional competition winners were selected, the 15 regional finalists went on to compete for the big global prizes. The global awards jury awarded the gold, silver, and bronze cash prizes to projects in Mexico, Niger, and the U.S., respectively. Plus, as diverse as the winning projects are, they were all designed by teams led by women. For the first time, the jury picked three LafargeHolcim Awards Ideas cash prizes out of the 40 Acknowledgement- and Next Generation-winning projects, which were selected during regional competitions. “We felt that they offer exciting and novel ideas, even within proposals that are not yet fully developed,” jury head Alejandro Aravena stated. The prizes went to “Refrigerating Jar” in Ghana, “Cooling Roof” in California, and “Territorial Figure” in Argentina.   Read on to see the winning p...

Leaving Pyongyang’s grand architecture, showcase avenues and spotless public spaces for the unvarnished reality of North Korea’s countryside is a sobering experience. Despite years of sanctions and increasing international isolation, Pyongyang looks wealthier in 2018 than I have ever seen it in 15 years of travel to the North. [...] But once the train rolls past the industrial belt around the capital, it’s a story of grinding poverty that clashes with the official image projected in Pyongyang. Berlin-based travel writer Tom Masters gets the rare opportunity of a train ride from the bustling metropolis (by comparison) of Pyongyang through the northern backcountry of the secretive nation across the border to Vladivostok in Russia: "Every station along the way is almost identical, with two giant portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il hanging on its exterior, both smiling incongruously against the bleakness of their sur...

The Australian Interior Design Awards  has released their mammoth, 199-project shortlist for 2018. Featuring projects from around the country as well as Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe, the awards recognize interior design excellence across seven categories from residential to public and commercial properties. Celebrating its 15th anniversary, the program this year is the largest in the awards history, garnering more than 600 entries.  The full list of final award recipients will be announced at a gala presentation in May. Below, a look at some of the best designs from the shortlisted projects. Mackenzie Goldberg via Archinect - News http://bit.ly/2GhJjhn

Click here to enter the 2018 A+Awards today and get your best projects recognized by communities around the world. “Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.” Frank Gehry’s words speak to many architects’ desire to conceive truly iconic buildings, the kind that will remain as a legacy to their ingenuity long after their authors have gone. But what makes a building timeless or iconic? For some, the answer lies in innovation: A+Awards juror Patrik Schumacher asserted that great architecture must involve the “compelling application of new ideas,” and buildings that are considered iconic often possess a groundbreaking aspect, something that had not been seen before. For Gehry’s Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, it was the application of parametric design on a huge scale. For the Burj Khalifa, it was unparalleled height. For the Eiffel Tower, it was the grand use of steel in a city defined by stone. Beyond pure innovation, there are many other properties ...