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Architecture

Travelling exhibition highlights unsung Black architects

By Zarkon Group,27/02/2023

The racial paradigm in the United States means that Black architects must continue to operate against the grain in order to get projects built, says From the Ground Up exhibition curator Hasaan Kirkland.

Kirkland believes that barriers to entry and recognition continue to disadvantage people of colour in architecture, making it important to highlight the background of architects.

“Extra work is being done to be a Black anything,” said Kirkland, curatorial consultant for the Seattle edition of a travelling exhibition called From the Ground Up: Black Architects and Designers.

“Why can we not just be architects?”

“Why can we not just be architects, why do we have to be Black architects?” he asked.

“Well, it’s because of the paradigm in this country that deals with separation and racism that is originated by a select individual cultural mentality. We will still have to contend with tropes that do no good.”

“There are many unsung heroes, if you will, in the industry of architecture, primarily because they’re African Americans and have to contend with the world and all of the concerns that would prevent African Americans from being able to have a central voice and an opportunity to be recognized.”

Kirkland believes that additional work must be done to shed light on Black architects and their contribution to city skylines as an important part of urban identity, both historically and in the present.

Impressive buildings can often be attributed to white architectural companies by default, which has led to Black architects and studios led by Black architects having less “scope to be recognized”, he argued.

A “feat of courage” for Black architects

“With the history of the country, to be an architectural firm became a feat of courage and of undoing some things that were racially motivated to prevent that from happening,” said Kirkland.

He contends that this context means it is important to have educational programming that informs people about the contributions of Black architects to the built environment.

“Architecture is what creates our skylines for every city, and every state, but it is often unknown how many African Americans are actually contributors to those skylines, to the buildings that we see and drive around every day,” said Kirkland.

“We just assume that they are created by another white architectural company, but there are Black firms.”

Recognising this contribution is part of the work the exhibition is carrying out. Originally conceived via the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the traveling exhibition zeroes in on the architects of specific regions alongside the core programming.

People should “see themselves” in architecture

However, Kirkland pointed out that just because an architect is Black, it doesn’t mean the spaces are necessarily designed for the community – although Black architects often work in areas like social housing that are traditionally ignored in legacy architecture.

“Just because they’re a Black firm doesn’t mean they make the building specifically for Black people,” he said. “If a Black person was never to set foot in those buildings, that’s not the primary concern. The primary concern is to create the building.”

But when people are shown the origin of the building, he says, that provides an added benefit.

“When you begin to have that context into your understanding, then people of color become inspired and empowered by the industry of architecture because they can begin to see themselves not just on the wall but the wall itself,” Kirkland said.

Read on for a look at five buildings worked on by Black architects highlighted in the exhibition.

Tuskegee Chapel — Photo courtesy of Library of Congress

Butler Chapel Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, by Robert R Taylor

Robert R Taylor was the first Black American to receive a formal architecture degree, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Upon graduating, he was offered a position as the director of the Department of Mechanical Industries at the Tuskegee Institute by founder and activist Dr Booker T Washington.

The first building in the county to have interior lights, the chapel was one among many Gothic-style brick buildings designed by Taylor for the institute.

Completed in 1898, the chapel was eventually destroyed in a fire in 1957. The institute’s new chapel was designed almost 70 years later by Paul Rudolph and the studio of John A Welch and Louis Fry, both graduates of the institute.

Arts complex sarah lawrence — Photo courtesy of Ben Schnall

Arts Complex at Sarah Lawrence College, New York, by Edward Durell Stone and Beverly L Greene

In 1952, Beverly L Greene worked with Edward Durell Stone to complete the brick-and-stone modernist art complex at Sarah Lawrence College.

Greene was the first Black woman to receive a degree in architectural engineering in the United States. Born in Chicago, she went on to work on numerous important modernist projects, including the UNESCO Heritage Headquarters by Marcel Breuer in Paris.

Greene also worked on a number of housing developments in New York City and Chicago, including Stuy Town on Manhattan’s east side. After also earning a masters degree in architecture at Columbia, Greene went on to design a number of buildings for NYU.

Theme building LAX — Photo by Eric Salard

Theme Building at LAX, Los Angeles, by Paul Revere Williams

Completed in 1961, the Theme Building at LAX was hailed as a prime example of late modern architecture. It was designed by Paul Revere Williams, a locally-born architect known for his work on homes for celebrities such as Frank Sinatra.

The Theme Building is a domed restaurant suspended by concrete arches. It was part of a major expansion of the airport during that time period and recently underwent structural stabilisation to maintain it.

US embassy Tokyo — Photo courtesy of Rs1421

US Embassy in Tokyo, Tokyo, by Cesar Pelli and Norma Merrick Sklarek

Completed in 1976, the US Embassy Building in Tokyo displayed the modernist sensibilities of American architecture in an international context. Norma Merrick Sklarek also worked with Argentine architect Cesar Pelli on other projects, including the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles.

Born in Harlem, Sklarek was the first Black woman to be listed as a fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Moving her license from New York to California, Sklarek was also the first Black woman to lead a division of a white-owned architecture studio.

MLK branch library Columbus — Photo by Feinknopf Photography

Martin Luther King Branch, Columbus, by Moody Nolan

A branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library in Ohio, the Martin Luther King Branch is an example of architecture explicitly dedicated to the African American community.

The first library branch to be named after King, it was completed in 2018 by Moody Nolan, a local, Black-owned studio run by Curtis Moody and Howard E Nolan. The project won the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) Phil Freelon Professional Design Award in 2020.

Founded in 1982, Moody Nolan is now the largest Black-owned architecture studio in the country and has worked on a number of large-scale projects.

From the Ground Up is on show at MOHAI in Seattle from February 4 to April 30. Visit Dezeen’s Event Guide for more events, exhibits and talks about architecture and design.

Reference

Architecture

Revolutionizing Urban Living: MicroPolis Offers Affordable Housing Solutions in NYC’s Empty Spaces

By Zarkon Group,26/02/2023

MicroPolis – is a proposal for a new housing typology of micro-homes in metropolitan centers such as New York City. It can be installed in already built, empty urban spaces. The staggering of the units creates a push-and-pull relation, generating balconies for most units. Large public outdoor terraces provide social and co-working spaces and safe places for children to play. Installing these complexes in wealthier neighborhoods and business districts improves living standards for communities of color, immigrant groups, and low- to middle-income families.

Architizer chatted with Esther Sperber, Principal at Studio ST Architects to learn more about this project.

Architizer: What inspired the initial concept for your design?

Esther Sperber: MicroPolis is a response to a February 2020 court case that revoked the building permit for the top 20 floors of a Manhattan luxury condominium because it used gerrymandering-style tax lot assembly tactics to justify the request for a very tall building. We suggested that we should not waste these already built floors but rather use them for affordable housing. The aim is to present creative, inclusive and positive design solutions to the urban affordable housing crisis, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The prevalence of unoccupied and unusable space presents an opportunity to rethink affordable housing throughout the city.

This project won in the 10th Annual A+Awards! What do you believe are the standout components that made your project win?

The project is contextual and addresses New York City’s critical issues such as the housing crisis, diversity and inclusion, and lowering the carbon footprint in the construction industry. MicroPolis could help alleviate the affordable housing shortage, which we have a moral obligation to address. The design creates innovative, sustainable and affordable micro-homes within vacant floors of luxury buildings in metropolitan city centers. Cities have always embraced people from all kinds of diverse backgrounds, but the pandemic revealed that the city is more divided than we would like to acknowledge. MicroPolis celebrates NYC’s diversity by increasing equity and valuing the range of people needed to make the city thrive. Adding affordable housing units throughout the city’s higher-end neighborhoods aims to make NYC more integrated, resilient and equitable.

What was the greatest design challenge you faced during the project, and how did you navigate it?

We realize there will likely be resistance to this proposal. Few privileged communities welcome low- and middle- income developments in their neighborhoods, let alone their own apartment buildings. But if we have learned anything during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that our society is deeply intertwined. The communities that suffered most from the pandemic are those that we depend on most to keep our city running. The same resistance to this project is reason enough to take this typology seriously. It is time to stop averting our gaze from those who are less fortunate economically and invite them to be our neighbors.

How did the context of your project — environmental, social or cultural — influence your design?

NYC’s real estate exposes the city’s socio-economic inequities. Manhattan’s luxury residential market seems to be rebounding. However, at the same time, the Department of Housing & Preservation, which is responsible for maintaining affordable housing, experienced a 40% cut during the pandemic, resulting in the loss of 21,000 affordable housing units. Our unique modular system, which aims to create greater social equity, consists of prefabricated, energy-efficient and cost-effective micro-homes, which can be installed in already built empty urban spaces. The proposal demonstrates how to creatively house key workers and other tenants in need by maximizing space on mid-level floors of currently unoccupied luxury condos, which some developers have designated as mechanical voids in an attempt to increase the height of luxury buildings and gain maximum value for coveted upper floor apartments.

How important was sustainability as a design criteria as you worked on this project?

The issue of sustainability was one of the main driving factors of MicroPolis’ design. Reusing built spaces has environmental advantages: it conserves materials and resources, lowers carbon footprint, and brings old, energy-inefficient buildings up to the current code. Carefully selected building materials and cladding ensure thermal insulation to lower energy use and costs for these micro-homes. MicroPolis is also uniquely designed to enable staggered balconies to provide some sun exposure and shade coverage during extreme weather conditions.

What key lesson did you learn in the process of conceiving the project?

The housing crisis in New York City, or any city for that matter, is a complex issue. With some of the world’s wealthiest residents, New York City is also home to thousands who do not have a clean, warm or dry place to sleep. The city is struggling to address its housing shortage for lower-income individuals and families, and to provide shelter to its 60,000-plus homeless. At the same time, New York City has a record number of empty, unsold, new luxury apartments. Unused space, particularly in tall luxury residential towers, can be reconfigured to accommodate more units dedicated to affordable housing within the existing floor area.

How do you believe this project represents you or your firm as a whole?

My firm, Studio ST Architects, strives to focus on sustainable, innovative and responsible design. Our firm combines unique expertise in architecture and psychology to design inspiring buildings and renovate spaces that transform human experiences, build deep and inclusive community connections, and create a sense of health and well-being. MicroPolis directly addresses these pillars of our practice.

How has being the recipient of an A+Award evoked positive responses from others?

It gave us an opportunity to think and explore issues around the multi-family residential typology, particularly within dense urban centers. This also helped us reach a larger audience to raise an issue we are passionate about, which led to more discussions with our clients and collaborators about responsible, compassionate design that addresses not only people’s basic need for housing, but also human connection.

How do you imagine this project influencing your work in the future?

Studio ST Architects has significant experience in apartment interior renovations and religious buildings, but we are excited to do more work in the multi-family residential sector. Our recently completed Jones Street multi-family apartment building holds a similar spirit of ambition to connect people and address the need for housing within Jersey City. Jones Street creates individual homes and a sense of community for the families and young professionals that live in this growing Jersey City community. It targets the swathe of families and young professionals looking for New York-style buildings just across the Hudson River. We hope to continue tackling the housing crisis by taking on more multi-family housing projects.

For more on MicroPolis, please visit the in-depth project page on Architizer.

MicroPolis Gallery

Reference

Architecture

30 Best Architecture Firms in the Netherlands

By Zarkon Group,25/02/2023

The Dutch have long been at the vanguard of architectural discourse. From functionalism and neoplasticism to structuralism and deconstructivism, to the “international” character of the contemporary global context, designers from the Netherlands have been realizing daringly dynamic constructions for over a century. The culture of experimentation that fuses bold aesthetic detail with even bolder engineering feats comes as no surprise in a country that has, for centuries, relied on engineering to make their land liveable by draining water and relying on polders.

Cities across the Netherlands are bursting with innovative design, and in this respect, Rotterdam particularly stands out as a hotbed for experimentation. From the moment visitors arrive through its sleek train station, the city acts as a museum for cutting-edge contemporary design: from Huis Sonneveld and Kubuswoningen to the Erasmusbrug and Markthal, and the recently completed Boijmans Depot. Many of the architectural firms on this list are rooted in this city. They are in good company with those who aren’t.

Contemporary architectural discourse could not be cited without referencing the plethora of Dutch thinkers. Think of Rem Koolhaas, Wiel Arets, Jacob Van Rijs: these innovative and intelligent spirits have founded some of the biggest global firms, proving time and again that Dutch centrality in global design discourse is shatterproof.

With so many architecture firms to choose from, it’s challenging for clients to identify the industry leaders that will be an ideal fit for their project needs. Fortunately, Architizer is able to provide guidance on the top design firms in Netherlands based on more than a decade of data and industry knowledge.

How are these architecture firms ranked?

The following ranking has been created according to key statistics that demonstrate each firm’s level of architectural excellence. The following metrics have been accumulated to establish each architecture firm’s ranking, in order of priority:

The number of A+Awards won (2013 to 2023)
The number of A+Awards finalists (2013 to 2023)
The number of projects selected as “Project of the Day” (2009 to 2023)
The number of projects selected as “Featured Project” (2009 to 2023)
The number of projects uploaded to Architizer (2009 to 2023)

Each of these metrics is explained in more detail at the foot of this article. This ranking list will be updated annually, taking into account new achievements of Netherlands architecture firms throughout the year.

Without further ado, here are the 30 best architecture firms in Netherlands:

30. Benthem Crouwel Architects

For almost four decades, Benthem Crouwel Architects has been creating innovative, flexible and efficient designs in a variety of scales: from universities, museums, bridges, railway stations, metro lines, offices, housing, malls and urban plans to bicycle racks, tiny houses and crossover projects with designers. In all designs, Benthem Crouwel seeks a balance between economic, social and ecological interests, with a particular focus on innovation and sustainability.

Some of Benthem Crouwel Architects’s most prominent projects include:

Bella Donna, Amstelveen, The Netherlands
Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Car Park RAI Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Cuyperspassage, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Stedelijk Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The following statistics helped Benthem Crouwel Architects achieve 30th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	10

29. Kraaijvanger Architects

Creating places to explore. Kraaijvanger strives to create healthy environments for people to work, learn, and enjoy themselves in. Such as public spaces, public buildings, and urban districts, where unique encounters occur, where memories are made, and where important decisions are taken. We take our inspiration from socially relevant themes. And we look ahead as building is a slow process in a rapidly changing world.

Some of Kraaijvanger Architects’s most prominent projects include:

City Hall Venlo, Venlo, Netherlands
Early Childhood Center, Wassenaar, Wassenaar, Netherlands
City Hall Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, Netherlands
Brede School Snijdelwijk, Boskoop, Netherlands

The following statistics helped Kraaijvanger Architects achieve 29th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

A+Awards Winner	2
Featured Projects	4
Total Projects	14

28. cepezed

cepezed is a medium sized, award-winning spatial design specialist. Assignments address the challenges of town-planning, industry, interiors and particularly architecture. cepezed represents knowledge, skill and a stimulating no-nonsense mentality. Combining conceptual skills, contemporary solutions for contemporary problems and ingenious creativity, results are disarmingly sober and inimitably intelligible.

Aesthetics and functionality are logically linked. At cepezed, projects are designed as monuments of function for people, not monuments of thanks to an architect.
cepezed is skilled at managing the complexity behind simplicity. It uses an integral design method with multiple material use in which various aspects such as spatial design, construction and installation techniques are forged into an indivisible whole.

Some of cepezed’s most prominent projects include:

Temporary Courthouse Amsterdam , Amsterdam, Netherlands
International student house, Delft, Netherlands
State Office De Knoop, Utrecht, Netherlands
Graafschap college, Doetinchem, Netherlands
Town hall Woerden, Woerden, Netherlands

The following statistics helped cepezed achieve 28th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	18

27. derksen|windt architecten

derksen|windt architecten is a young and distinctive ambitious architecture studio with its own signature, founded in 2008 by Jeroen Derksen and David Windt. ‘We started our office because we want our vision on architecture translated into projects. We make our designs thinking from the optimal future experience for the users. From the inside as well as from the outside.

This creates a beautiful, often original, sharply detailled design. For every assignment we look for a clear and ideal starting point, a question that needs to be answered for that specific assignment.

Some of derksen|windt architecten’s most prominent projects include:

Cafeteria van Ruyven, Maassluis, The Netherlands
Contemporary extension to a house as an indispensable connection between the inside and outside., De Zilk, Netherlands
EXTENSION AND REFURBISHMENT HOUSE IN AMSTERDAM, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Extension and internal overhaul ’30s house, Heemstede, Netherlands
Concrete split-level house, Capelle aan den IJssel, Netherlands

The following statistics helped derksen|windt architecten achieve 27th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	11

26. Personal Architecture

Personal Architecture is a Rotterdam based architectural firm. P·A works for individual and corporate clients. The expertise is broad: in addition to new construction projects, P·A is involved in the redevelopment and renovation of residential and commercial buildings. The partners of the firm, Maarten and Sander, stand for personal contact with the client, an integrated approach to the project and a transparent but highly organized process.

P·A is strong in taking care of the client, from the initiation phase to construction and management. The love for good design and a passion for building result in projects with high utility value and good architectural quality.

Some of Personal Architecture’s most prominent projects include:

A bold intervention, The Hague, The Netherlands
A second chance, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Back to nature, Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands
Not a box in an empty field, Zevenhuizen, Netherlands
A garden connection, Rotterdam, Netherlands

The following statistics helped Personal Architecture achieve 26th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	10

25. Bloot Architecture

BLOOT is a concept driven architectural studio located in The Hague, The Netherlands. Founded in October 2010 by Tjeerd Bloothoofd. With much pleasure and great dedication we are constantly searching through design for the concept and shape that unites the function, context, actuality and the wishes of the client in an integral sustainable design that appeals to the development of self-awareness and the liberty of choice in life.

Some of Bloot Architecture’s most prominent projects include:

Garden Studio, Voorburg, Netherlands
Transformation Forest House, Hengelo, Netherlands
Pavilion The Hague Beach Stadium, 4, Strandweg, Scheveningen, Den Haag, Netherlands
Patio House, Velp, Netherlands
Fig Tree House, The Hague, Netherlands

The following statistics helped Bloot Architecture achieve 25th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	8

24. Hilberink Bosch Architecten

The various projects of HILBERINKBOSCH architects — ranging from private and project-based housing, offices, renovations and large-scale urban studies — are characterized by a conceptual approach. The base of all concepts is formed by a precise analysis of the history, the urban lot, function, requirements and potentials.

Form, material and colour arises from this concept, representing the poetry of life. The different aspects of study slowly grow into an actual building. The building becomes part of the poetry, part of the memory, it becomes meaningful. We are passionately seeking for the smartest solution for complex cases.

Some of Hilberink Bosch Architecten’s most prominent projects include:

House at the Edge of a Forest, Heesch, Netherlands
Four Houses at Oud-Empel, Oud-Empel, Netherlands
Farm on Wamberg, Berlicum, Netherlands
Huize Vreeburg, Rosmalen, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, NB, The Netherlands
Dune Villa, Utrecht, The Netherlands

The following statistics helped Hilberink Bosch Architecten achieve 24th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	6

23. studio PROTOTYPE

studio PROTOTYPE is an Amsterdam-based architecture, urbanism and research firm. Founded in 2008, the studio believes in breaking from existing trends in order to create structures that withstand the test of time.

Some of studio PROTOTYPE’s most prominent projects include:

Villa Schoorl, Schoorl, Netherlands
Tiny pavilion in Vught, Vught, NB, Netherlands
Ortho Wijchen, Wijchen, Netherlands
Water Villa, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
House W, Duiven, The Netherlands

The following statistics helped studio PROTOTYPE achieve 23rd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

A+Awards Winner	2
A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	5
Total Projects	10

22. design Erick van Egeraat

Design Erick van Egeraat works on projects ranging from entirely new buildings and masterplans to interventions within historic structures. Common denominator in this diverse portfolio is our expertise which lies in striking visionary balances between the intended identity, level of ambition and overall quality of the projects.

Known for formulating unique architectural solutions, Erick van Egeraat creates iconic identities which optimize property values while acknowledging the social, emotional and intellectual impacts on both their environment and users. We provide both public and private clients with architectural and masterplanning services; interior and product design.

Some of design Erick van Egeraat’s most prominent projects include:

Waste to Energy Plant, Roskilde, Denmark
Erick van Egeraat Office Tower Amsterdam, Claude Debussylaan, Amsterdam-Zuid, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Vershina Trade and Entertainment Center, Surgut, Russia
Chess Club, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
Drents Museum, Assen, Netherlands

The following statistics helped design Erick van Egeraat achieve 22nd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

A+Awards Winner	1
Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	32

21. Mei architects and planners

Mei architects and planners realises leading projects in the Netherlands and abroad. Our work is founded on respect for the environment: for the history of the location, the current context and future living environment. Based on our expertise in the field of adaptive re-use of architectural heritage, new build projects and urban development strategies, we work on designs that put the user first.

Our distinct designs tell their own story, which increases the involvement with the building and the connection between its users. With creativity, expertise and courage, we introduce innovative technical applications and user concepts that contribute to social and ecological sustainability.

Some of Mei architects and planners’s most prominent projects include:

SAWA, Rotterdam, Netherlands
residential tower De Verkenner, Kanaleneiland, Netherlands
Schiecentrale 4B, Lloydstraat, Delfshaven, Rotterdam, Netherlands
The Four Worlds
Cheese Warehouse, Gouda, Netherlands

The following statistics helped Mei architects and planners achieve 21st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	18

20. Barcode Architects

Barcode Architects is an international office for architecture, urbanism and contemporary design. The office is led by Dirk Peters and Caro van de Venne, along with a creative team of 70 professionals including architects, urban designers, and technologists. We have building experience in both the Netherlands and abroad.

Our work ranges from urban masterplans to mixed-use public buildings, from high-end residential and office towers to exclusive villas. Our projects are driven by the ambition to realize buildings that revitalize and transform their surroundings, offer a moving experience, awaken an aesthetic awareness and that users can identify with.

Some of Barcode Architects’s most prominent projects include:

Bibliothèque Alexis de Tocqueville, Normandy, France
Villa X, NB, Netherlands
Hyde Park, Hoofddorp, Netherlands
Bijlmer Bajes, Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Robin Bajeskwartier, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The following statistics helped Barcode Architects achieve 20th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	16

19. NEXT architects

NEXT architects is an architecture practice that covers the full spectrum of the architectural field. Since its earliest projects, ‘Holland – Layer by Layer’ and ‘The Image of Metropolis’, NEXT has explored the boundaries of its own discipline, and searched for areas that overlap with other disciplines. This exploratory attitude has resulted in a highly diverse portfolio that ranges from design products to urban plans.

Some of NEXT architects’s most prominent projects include:

Lianjiang Butterfly Bay, Lianjiang, Fuzhou, China
Bloemendaal Town Hall, Bloemendaal, Netherlands
Fuzhou Shouxi Building, Fuzhou, China
Lucky Knot, Changsha, China
House M&M, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The following statistics helped NEXT architects achieve 19th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	13

18. René van Zuuk Architects bv

copyright Luuk Kramer - © René van Zuuk Architects bv

René van Zuuk Architects is an Almere-based practice founded in 1992 by René van Zuuk. Despite the diversity in the designs of René van Zuuk Architects, there are a few constant themes that run throughout. Above all is the desire of both clients and architect alike to create ‘something special.

The office strives to create architecture that challenges conventions. Underlying all of the designs is the continued search for methods to create a building as interesting as possible with minimal cost.

Some of René van Zuuk Architects bv’s most prominent projects include:

Belvedere Tower, Hilversum, Netherlands
ACRAM
De Verbeelding, 25, De Verbeelding, Zeewolde, Netherlands
Project X, 8, De Fantasie, Almere Stad, Almere, Netherlands
Pavilion Roosendaal, Nieuwe Markt, Roosendaal, Netherlands

The following statistics helped René van Zuuk Architects bv achieve 18th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	10

17. GROUP A

We are GROUP A, a Dutch studio for architecture, interior and urban design founded in 1996. Led by the founders Maarten van Bremen, Folkert van Hagen and Adam Visser. In the past twenty-five years we have realized a wide range of projects. From offices to housing and from mobility assignments to transformations.

In our work, the disciplines urban planning, architecture and interior design are inextricably linked. This way we create sustainable environments where people live, work and reside comfortably. As a full service agency, we are responsible for the entire process, from design to completion.

Some of GROUP A’s most prominent projects include:

Central Park , Utrecht, Netherlands
Workshop Steigereiland
Blok 1 Presikhaaf, Zoomstraat, Arnhem, Netherlands
Cultural Educational Centre ‘Het Lichtruim’, De Bilt, Netherlands
Office Building De Schelde, 65, Glacisstraat, Vlissingen, Netherlands

The following statistics helped GROUP A achieve 17th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	21

16. Shift A+U

Shift is a Rotterdam-based design office that focuses on the fields of architecture, urbanism and spatial planning. The office combines a broad engagement in space production with precise and project-specific design interventions.

Some of Shift A+U’s most prominent projects include:

Faculty Club, 2, Warandelaan, West Tilburg, Tilburg, Netherlands
Museumplein Limburg, Kerkrade, Netherlands
Vertical Loft, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
CMY Pavilion, Groningen, Netherlands
Dentist with a view, Best, Netherlands

The following statistics helped Shift A+U achieve 16th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	8
Total Projects	8

15. LIAG architects + engineers

Together with our clients, we create powerful properties with a positive attitude towards the environment and its users. LIAG has strong affinity with the realization of integrated sustainable housing solutions that also take into account the total life of a building.

Functionality, the use of the building including the building operation and the user take the centre stage. Happiness of the user is central.

Some of LIAG architects + engineers’s most prominent projects include:

Rapenburg 65, Rapenburg, Leiden, Netherlands
Niekée Facility Centre, 300, Oranjelaan, Roermond, Netherlands
ROC Rijn IJssel, 2, Middachtensingel, Arnhem, Netherlands
Fire Station and Ambulance Post, Petroleumhaven, Waldorpstraat, Laak, Den Haag, Netherlands
NBHW ALKMAAR

The following statistics helped LIAG architects + engineers achieve 15th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	30

14. Atelier Kempe Thill

Since the nineties, contemporary architecture has increasingly been confronted by two contradicting developments, which can be seen on all levels and working fields. On one hand, architects are requested to design neutral and anonymous buildings that can easily be changed for other uses; these buildings have to be able to respond to changing economic situations and have to be adaptable to different programs.

On the other hand, architects are asked to create very specific buildings that are easy to identify; this kind of architecture has to appeal to the user through a unique use of form and space. Atelier Kempe Thill consciously takes this modern paradox as the point of departure for their work.

Some of Atelier Kempe Thill’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Atelier Kempe Thill achieve 14th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	12

13. MoederscheimMoonen Architects

We are a team of strategic creatives who want to make the world a better place. For us, the big idea plays an important role in how we look at the world, our team and our collaborations.

We think carefully, make informed decisions and make the right connections. We create calm and overview in complex situations. We do what is needed at the right times while always staying focused on the bigger picture.

Some of MoederscheimMoonen Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped MoederscheimMoonen Architects achieve 13th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	8
Total Projects	19

12. De Zwarte Hond

De Zwarte Hond was established in 1985 in Groningen and has offices in Rotterdam and Cologne. It has a staff of more than fifty people with differing backgrounds, competencies and skills. The integral design and realization of architecture and urban assignments is carried out in multi-disciplinary teams. De Zwarte Hond’s portfolio spans the entire spectrum of residential, working and recreational environments, in rural and urban contexts: from villas to row housing, from offices to schools, from cultural facilities to recreational landscape.

Some of De Zwarte Hond’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped De Zwarte Hond achieve 12th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	14

11. Neutelings Riedijk Architects

Neutelings Riedijk Architects was established in Rotterdam in 1987. We offer a strong commitment to design excellence: realizing high quality architecture through the development of powerful and innovative concepts into clear built form. Over the last thirty years Neutelings Riedijk Architects has established itself as a leading international practice, specializing in the design of complex projects for public, commercial and cultural buildings.

The office has great experience in balancing the complex challenges of these projects to meet the ambitions of our client. For our international projects our design force is complemented by technical force through the association with local partners that specialize in architectural engineering, cost calculation and site supervision.

Some of Neutelings Riedijk Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Neutelings Riedijk Architects achieve 11th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	9
Total Projects	11

10. Paul de Ruiter Architects

The keywords innovation, sustainability, identity and interaction characterize the vision of Paul de Ruiter Architects. We believe in the future. Since the foundation of our practice in 1994 we work on sustainable, innovative architecture that focuses on the health and happiness of people.

Sustainable technology and aesthetics go hand in hand. After all, appreciating the beauty of buildings is just as important as energy efficiency or the health of an indoor climate.

Some of Paul de Ruiter Architects’s most prominent projects include:

Villa Kogelhof, Zeeland, Netherlands
Villa K, Thuringia, Germany
Sigmax, Enschede, The Netherlands
Polak Building / Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
The 4th Gymnasium, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The following statistics helped Paul de Ruiter Architects achieve 10th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

A+Awards Winner	2
A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	8
Total Projects	12

9. Borren Staalenhoef Architects

Jacob Borren and André Staalenhoef are modern masters of architecture. Passionate and persevering. Borren Staalenhoef are determined to tackle every aspect of the spatial task; to oversee a large degree of complexity and to reduce it to clear, layered structures. Their ultimate objective is the act of building: the creation of a tangible object that speaks through the details.

Their solutions are the result of a long series of consistent decisions and elaborations: diagrams and matrixes, sketches and artist’s impressions, ground plans and sections, construction models and working drawings. It is in this method of working that the mastery and strength of this architecture lies.

Some of Borren Staalenhoef Architects’s most prominent projects include:

woonhuis Marssum, Marssum, Netherlands
Het Bushok, Kortenhoef, The Netherlands
Villa Juliana, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
Archem Estate, Archem, Netherlands
House Boogert, Epe, Netherlands

The following statistics helped Borren Staalenhoef Architects achieve 9th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	9
Total Projects	13

8. LEVS architecten

LEVS architecten works from the notion that architecture and urban planning have quite a significant impact on our surroundings, on people and society as a whole, as well as the environment. We incorporate this responsibility when detailing our assignments and in our approach to running our enterprise. We welcome the challenge of complex projects in which our aim lies in finding surprising solutions which deliver a result beyond prior expectations.

Our goal is to design buildings and areas where residents will eventually articulate a passion about the places they work, live and inhabit; spaces which express an optimal interweaving of functionality, aesthetics and sustainability. LEVS architecten was established in 1989 as Loof & van Stigt Architecten.

Some of LEVS architecten’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped LEVS architecten achieve 8th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

A+Awards Finalist	2
Featured Projects	10
Total Projects	20

7. atelier PRO architekten

Atelier PRO is an architectural office in The Hague in the Netherlands that continues to innovate in the field of architecture, urban planning, interior design, building management and building cost management. For more than 35 years we create with the greatest of pleasure well-considered designs for challenging locations, often with extraordinary programmes.

Some of atelier PRO architekten’s most prominent projects include:

Graafschap college, Doetinchem, Netherlands
ROC Graafschap College, Doetinchem, Netherlands
Multifunctional community school Krimpen aan de Lek, Krimpen aan de Lek, Netherlands
School, Child and Community Centre O3, The Hague, Netherlands
MFC De Statie, Sas van Gent, Sas van Gent, Netherlands

The following statistics helped atelier PRO architekten achieve 7th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	15
Total Projects	98

6. Wiel Arets Architects

Wiel Arets Architects (WAA) is a globally active architecture and design firm, whose work extends to education and publishing, with studios located in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. Comprised of an international team of architects, designers, thinkers and administrators, the firm is currently involved in large number of projects throughout Europe, North America, Asia and Africa.

The firm’s architecture and design emerges from research and a balance of hybrid-programming solutions, which adapt to and anticipate future contextual change. The output of WAA is acclaimed for both its craftsmanship and tactility.

Some of Wiel Arets Architects’s most prominent projects include:

Jellyfish House, Marbella, Spain
The Hoge Heren, Zalmhaven, Centrum, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Four Towers Osdorp, Jan van Zutphenstraat, Amsterdam Nieuw-West, Amsterdam, Netherlands
V’ Tower, 565, Flight Forum, Strijp, Eindhoven, Netherlands
University Library Utrecht, 3, Heidelberglaan, Oost, Utrecht, Netherlands

The following statistics helped Wiel Arets Architects achieve 6th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

Featured Projects	15
Total Projects	22

5. i29

We are i29, an award winning office for interior and architecture projects. In a world that becomes more and more digital, we shape the physical experiences around us; clear, effective, surprising. We deliver work that stands out for its simplicity. The great diversity in our portfolio gives the possibility to think “out of the box” and to work inclusive for all kinds of clients and users.

We do not provide standard solutions, but we do apply standardized working methods to guarantee quality, efficiency and creativity. We innovate by design, and make work that inspires a better future. We are constantly changing to make relevant work.

Some of i29’s most prominent projects include:

Culture 01, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Felix Meritis Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Floating Home, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Home 10, Paris, France
Museum Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Netherlands

The following statistics helped i29 achieve 5th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

A+Awards Finalist	5
Featured Projects	18
Total Projects	28

4. UNStudio

UNStudio is an international architectural practice, situated in Amsterdam since 1988, with extensive experience in the fields of urbanism, infrastructure, public, private and utility buildings on different scale levels. At the basis of UNStudio are a number of long-term goals, which are intended to define and guide the quality of our performance in the architectural field.

We strive to make a significant contribution to the discipline of architecture, to continue to develop our qualities with respect to design, technology, knowledge and management and to be a specialist in public network projects. We see as mutually sustaining the environment, market demands and client wishes that enable our work, and we aim for results in which our goals and our client’s goals overlap.

Some of UNStudio’s most prominent projects include:

Canaletto, London, United Kingdom
P.C. Hooftstraat 138, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Arnhem Central, Arnhem, Netherlands
Burnham Pavilion, Chicago, IL, United States
Le Toison d’Or, Brussels, Belgium

The following statistics helped UNStudio achieve 4th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

A+Awards Winner	3
Featured Projects	23
Total Projects	29

3. OMA

OMA is a leading international partnership practicing architecture, urbanism, and cultural analysis. OMA’s buildings and masterplans around the world insist on intelligent forms while inventing new possibilities for content and everyday use.

Some of OMA’s most prominent projects include:

Milstein Hall, Ithaca, NY, United States
11th Street Bridge Park, Washington, DC, United States
Rebuild by Design
Faena District, Miami, FL, United States
MPavilion 2017, Melbourne, Australia

The following statistics helped OMA achieve 3rd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

A+Awards Winner	4
A+Awards Finalist	4
Featured Projects	45
Total Projects	61

2. MVRDV

MVRDV is based in Rotterdam and works in the fields of architecture, urbanism and city planning. Founded by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries, the firm has a global scope and approaches each project with a collaborative spirit and through a research-based design method.

Some of MVRDV’s most prominent projects include:

Tianjin Binhai Library, Tianjin, China
Tainan Spring, Tainan, Taiwan
Depot Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands
WERK12, Munich, Germany
Crystal Houses, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The following statistics helped MVRDV achieve 2nd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

A+Awards Winner	8
Featured Projects	62
Total Projects	75

1. Mecanoo

Mecanoo, officially founded in Delft in 1984, is made up of a highly multidisciplinary staff of creative professionals from 25 countries. The team includes architects, interior designers, urban planners, landscape architects as well as architectural technicians and support staff.

Led by Francine Houben (Creative Director & Founding Partner), Mecanoo has extensive experience designing and realizing exceptional buildings which serve client ambitions while creating vibrant end-user spaces.

Some of Mecanoo’s most prominent projects include:

National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts (Wei-Wu-Ying), Kaohsiung, Taiwan
HUBB – Learning Environments, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Delft City Hall and Train Station, Delft, Netherlands
Palace of Justice, Córdoba, Spain
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, DC, United States

The following statistics helped Mecanoo achieve 1st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Netherlands:

A+Awards Winner	9
A+Awards Finalist	10
Featured Projects	71
Total Projects	109

Why Should I Trust Architizer’s Ranking?

With more than 30,000 architecture firms and over 130,000 projects within its database, Architizer is proud to host the world’s largest online community of architects and building product manufacturers. Its celebrated A+Awards program is also the largest celebration of architecture and building products, with more than 400 jurors and hundreds of thousands of public votes helping to recognize the world’s best architecture each year.

Architizer also powers firm directories for a number of AIA (American Institute of Architects) Chapters nationwide, including the official directory of architecture firms for AIA New York.

An example of a project page on Architizer with Project Award Badges highlighted

A Guide to Project Awards

The blue “”+”” badge denotes that a project has won a prestigious A+Award as described above. Hovering over the badge reveals details of the award, including award category, year, and whether the project won the jury or popular choice award.

The orange Project of the Day and yellow Featured Project badges are awarded by Architizer’s Editorial team, and are selected based on a number of factors. The following factors increase a project’s likelihood of being featured or awarded Project of the Day status:

Project completed within the last 3 years
A well written, concise project description of at least 3 paragraphs
Architectural design with a high level of both functional and aesthetic value
High quality, in focus photographs
At least 8 photographs of both the interior and exterior of the building
Inclusion of architectural drawings and renderings
Inclusion of construction photographs

There are 7 Projects of the Day each week and a further 31 Featured Projects. Each Project of the Day is published on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Stories, while each Featured Project is published on Facebook. Each Project of the Day also features in Architizer’s Weekly Projects Newsletter and shared with 170,000 subscribers.

We’re constantly look for the world’s best architects to join our community. If you would like to understand more about this ranking list and learn how your firm can achieve a presence on it, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at editorial@architizer.com.

Reference

Architecture

recessed angular frames form art house cinema’s facade in france

By Zarkon Group,24/02/2023

L’Atalante art house cinema by Farid Azib in Bayonne

Paris-based architectural firm Farid Azib reconstructs L’Atalante art house cinema in the center of Bayonne, France, forming a contemporary white angular facade. Originally built in 1990, the edifice is located on the waterfront of Amiral-Antoine-Sala on the right bank of the Adour, just below the Saint-Esprit bridge leading to the city center. The refurbishment program demanded the conjunction of two cinemas adjoining one building and expanding the dedicated theater plan. Aiming for a design that retains the historical character of the site yet explores the possibilities of architectural modernity, the project shapes contrasting forms and materials displaying its dynamic frame in striking white color, standing out between the rest of the buildings on the embankment.

L’Atalante art house cinema | all images by Luc Boegly

angular frames are a conceptual nod to the Seventh Art

Drawing from a conceptual take on windows and frames in connection to the Seventh Art, the design team at Farid Azib Architects focuses on the main feature of the facade’s openings to form the building’s external identity, sharing ‘the cinema facade is essential in enhancing our visibility with its openings on to the river and its uniqueness which makes it very cinematic-like’.

The frames are exposed to the southwest allowing the light on each side to pass through both the interior and the exterior, regarding natural and artificial light respectively. ‘The facade stands all at once discreet and surprising, integrated and singular, asymmetrical, deconstructed and harmonious, angular and wise, soft and open’. The glass apertures project landscapes, movements, silhouettes, and lights like an ever-changing film scene underlined by the orientations of the different viewpoints. Thus the facade is made up of prismatic projecting volumes, created with light prefabricated elements forming an interaction between the interior and exterior space.

the project sets up a contemporary white angular facade

The cinema hall undergoes specialized interior planning

The interior arrangement of the building consists of a new hall, a bar-restaurant, and cinema zones, combining the reception and dining area through a system of a wooden mesh on three levels channeling the flows and allowing the installation of access control points to the cinema halls. Two apartment units are housed within the plot of L’Atalante, setting sound protection as one of the major planning factors.

The transversal bar-restaurant forms the strategic link between the existing transformed spaces and the extension, shaping a long wooden counter made of oak wood sourced from the original building’s flooring construction. Thus, the cinema and music bar-restaurant rooms are designed as airtight boxes to avoid any sound leaks. Acoustic lining and independent double wall, double frame, uncoupled from the structure, as well as floors with independently treated slabs complement the protected framework. The restoration remodels the screening rooms providing expanded seating areas and larger projection screens. The structure opens toward the city and the riverbank shaping wide frames along with loggias and terraces.

recessed prismatic frames form the building’s external identity

Reference

Bridge over garden at Hosono House in San Francisco

Architecture

Ryan Leidner adds bridge to geometric San Francisco house

By Zarkon Group,23/02/2023

Local studio Ryan Leidner Architecture renovated a 1940s home in the Bernal Heights neighbourhood of San Francisco, resolving entry access with a bridge over the front garden.

Ryan Leidner Architecture completed the 2,500-square-foot (230-square metre) Hosono House in 2021, cladding the house in charcoal-stained cedar siding with a copper, standing seam roof.

The original structure was built at the rear of a steeply sloped 2750-square-foot (255-square-metre) lot, “giving the home a unique sense of privacy and a feeling of being a true retreat,” the studio said.

However, the setback challenged the home’s circulation, causing people to cross the yard, descend a long staircase, and climb back up three flights to access the primary living space.

Ryan Leidner Architecture house in San Francisco — The bridge is arranged over the front garden

During an initial walkthrough with the clients, founding principal Ryan Leidner threw out a “crazy idea” – to redirect access from the street to a new front door with a bridge.

The bridge would span the lush front garden and connect to the house between the top and middle stories.

“The front entrance sequence was totally reimagined,” Leidner told Dezeen.

Blackened facade featuring a circular pivot window — A circular pivot window marks the front facade

The studio rebuilt the front facade – now marked by a circular pivot window that replaced a leaking solarium – gutted the interior and rearranged spaces.

“Wanting to preserve the historic character of the house, the existing wood beams and ceiling were refinished and left exposed while all of the original windows, floors and finishes were replaced, creating a greater sense of material continuity throughout the house,” Leidner said.

Wood-toned interior within Hosono House with skylights — Natural wood tones and white surfaces characterise the interior

The subtle palette of natural wood tones and white surfaces allows the interior spaces to serve as a canvas for the owners’ affinity for design.

“The interior spaces are filled with a mix of vintage Italian furnishings and custom pieces, while the overall sensibility of the space was inspired by trips to Norway and Japan, and the ethos of Californian hippie modernism,” Leidner noted.

Nobuto Suga dining table within Hosono House by Ryan Leidner — A custom Nobuto Suga dining table is framed by statement chairs

The top-floor kitchen, living and dining areas enjoy sweeping views of the San Francisco skyline through a variety of window shapes.

Plant-filled niches that reference 1960s and 70s Italian projects surround a space that holds accent furniture including a custom Nobuto Suga dining table, vintage Guido Faleschini chairs and a Gae Aulenti armchair.

Bedroom by Ryan Leidner — Two bedrooms are on the second floor

The second floor contains two bedrooms, a Venetian-plastered primary bathroom and a lounge space inspired by a Tokyo whiskey bar with warm wide-plank white oak and a custom velvet daybed.

A large opening in the lounge leads to the lower courtyard, which was reimagined by landscape architect Stephen Design Studio.

The lowest level boasts one of the home’s most unique spaces: the guest bedroom.

“A textured hemp-plaster was used on the walls and ceiling, and a custom tiled bed frame and furnishings give a nod to the history of Italian modernism,” the studio said.

Ryan Leidner interiors — Ryan Leidner added luxurious touches throughout the home

Throughout the home, custom fabricated brass details – like countertops, sinks and CNC Dieter Rams-inspired exhaust covers – add a luxurious touch that will patina over time.

Ryan Leidner Architecture had previously collaborated with Stephen Design Studio to remodel a midcentury Eichler home, complete with twin gables and a lush central courtyard.

The photography is by Joe Fletcher.

Project credits:

Architects: Ryan Leidner Architecture
Landscape Design: Stephens Design Studio
General Contractor: DKG Construction
Landscape Contractor: Ground Cover Landscaping

Reference

Architecture

SoHo’s 49 Greene Street Embraces the Modern Concept of Loft Living

By Zarkon Group,22/02/2023

49 Greene Street – a 6-story building in NYC’s historic SoHo district, is an extant example of the mixed iron-and-masonry construction of the post-Civil War era. The client’s brief was to restore the building’s masonry façade and cast-iron storefront, and to convert the interiors into four high-end residential units. To do this, we drew inspiration from the makers and artist ls that once occupied this previously manufacturing building to create units that embrace modern concept of ‘loft living’, in which open, non-programmed flexible spaces meet highly crafted, millworked moments, adding warmth throughout with the use of woods, marbles, and ironwork.

Architizer chatted with Jordan Rogove, Co-Founder and Principal of DXA studio, to learn more about this project.

Architizer: What inspired the initial concept for your design?

Jordan Rogove: We wanted to speak to the various movements that helped form SoHo’s unique character and charm. Much like the artists who were attracted to the neighborhood’s empty lofts in the 1960’s, we too were drawn to the building’s high ceilings, abundant light, and expansive floor plates. For this reason, we are committed to leaving the spaces as open, fluid, and customizable as possible.

However, we were acutely aware that we were designing a home, so introducing a residential scale was important to make the otherwise large space comfortable and inviting. To achieve this, we lowered the ceiling in select rooms and introduced a high level of craft and tactility – our way of communicating with the by-gone manufacturing era of SoHo.

Throughout these rooms, we created a material theme of oak wood paneling, blackened steel, fluted glazing and various marbles. These materials are not only visually exquisite, but very in their tactile qualities, which we believe to be crucial adding warmth and comfort to a home.

This project won in the 10th Annual A+Awards! What do you believe are the standout components that made your project win?

The kitchen and den–the hearth of the home–are the showpieces of each unit, as they are not only beautiful and practical, but speak to each other in their materiality and detailing.

In the kitchen, the appliances, storage, and secondary scullery kitchen are all seamlessly hidden behind white oak paneling with beautifully crafted integrated pulls. This paneling wraps onto the ceiling to cleverly integrate recessed lighting and HVAC diffusers. The island is crafted out of a single slab of Fior di Pesco marble, known for its ability to add calm and serenity to a space, while the upper cabinetry is clad in blackened steel and fluted glass.

This millwork detailing continues into the den, where white oak paneling and a built-in desktop can be closed off from the main living spaces by large blackened steel and fluted glass doors. Alternatively, these doors can perfectly tuck away into the oak millwork to allow flexible space programming.

Many of these materials can be found throughout the unit, creating an overarching theme. For instance, the blackened steel of the den’s custom doors is mirrored in the steel frames of the bathroom vanities, the plumbing fixtures, and even the column cladding.

What was the greatest design challenge you faced during the project, and how did you navigate it?

Renovating a manufacturing building from the 1800’s was an exciting challenge, both in terms of design and coordination. On the design side, we believe that as architects, it is our duty to celebrate the area’s rich history in an authentic yet contemporary manner. This is why we wanted to keep the open nature of these spaces as much as possible. It is also why we used wood and iron in a way that is reminiscent of previous eras, while using contemporary detailing to bring these materials to the present day.

On the coordination side, working with existing buildings in NYC is always a challenge. As precisely as we survey all historic projects, we often encounter surprises during construction that require us to tweak our design on the fly–and 49 Greene was no exception. Furthermore, we had to design an entirely new roof structure, as the existing roof was significantly sloped, which meant giving the 200-year old structure upgrades to account for modern building technologies.

What is your favorite detail in the project and why?

Although it is one of the smallest rooms in each unit, we think the powder room really packs a punch. The vanity and sink are entirely made out of Fior di Bosco marble, which marries well with the ebony black wood veneer panels to create a dark yet calming atmosphere.

In what ways did you collaborate with others, and were there any team members or skills that were essential in bringing this Award winning project to life?

The nature of this project required us to closely collaborate with millworkers, iron workers, and various craftspeople to get the detailing down. We worked with Canova on all of the millwork, Manhattan Steel Door Co. on the large den doors, and with Sage Construction on the stonework and other general detailing. We had many pencil sessions and back-and-forth shop drawing reviews to better understand how to achieve the level of craftsmanship that we envisioned–and we really refined our knowledge of interior detailing along the way.

For more on 49 Greene Street, SoHo, please visit the in-depth project page on Architizer.

49 Greene Street, SoHo Gallery

Reference

Architecture

Buckle Up: 5 Architects and Firms Are Taking the Driver’s Seat in Vehicular Design

By Zarkon Group,21/02/2023

Browse the Architizer Jobs Board and apply for architecture and design positions at some of the world’s best firms. Click here to sign up for our Jobs Newsletter.

Building design is rarely the sole focus of architecture. Being an architect involves exploring the depths of innovation and pushing the boundaries of human experience. For architects, delving into alternative design fields often promises new challenges, the expansion of knowledge and the further development of an array of skills. There are many fields architects have historically branched into (the first that comes to mind is product design). Yet, in the past decade or so, architects have increasingly turned their attention toward a new field of inquiry. Drawing on a long, symbiotic relationship between architecture and engineering, more and more contemporary architects are dipping their toes into transportation design.

From the seas to the skies, architects have brought their unique perspectives and innovative ideas to the table, creating iconic transportation designs that will be remembered for years to come. This collection celebrates the art of transportation design by showcasing five firms that have tackled the unique design challenges of vehicles. From Norman Foster and his slight obsession with all things motorcar to Zaha Hadid Architects’ mesmerizing braided exoskeletons, the level of creativity, innovation and technical skills on display is nothing short of inspirational. So buckle up and enjoy these incredible feats of design and engineering.

McLaren Production Centre by Foster + Partners, Woking, United Kingdom

Foster + Partners have an illustrious relationship with transportation design, having collaborated on many incredible vehicles and vessels over the years, their portfolio is stacked with not only vehicles but airports and stations alike. It’s no surprise really that the team at Foster + Partners has regularly dipped into the motor industry, as founder Norman Foster is well-known for his enthusiasm for cars. Recently the renowned architect put his self-proclaimed obsession on display when curating ‘Motion. Autos, Art, Architecture’ for the Guggenheim Bilbao’s epic exhibition, which linked the history of the automobile with the evolution of modern art.

While the practice have been involved in the design of many yachts, The Alen Yacht in particular is one of Foster + Partners most recent designs. At 68-foot the boat is perhaps not the biggest yacht you’ll ever see but that doesn’t mean it isn’t incredibly lavish, featuring elegant social spaces, a comfortable primary suite, and ample entertaining areas in an open-plan layout allows the luxury vessel to accommodate up to twelve guests. The fast and agile yacht boasts a beautiful interior with a refined palette of materials that emphasize the sense of motion and adventure at the heart of the yacht’s design. The furniture is artfully arranged to follow the curves of the white leather walls making clever use of the space available. It is apparent that throughout the yacht’s design, every detail has been thoughtfully considered and impeccably detailed.

Zaha Hadid Architects have always been known for their relationship with breathtakingly organic forms, and their foray into yacht design is no exception. Before her death, the late Dame Commander, Zaha Hadid, partnered with German shipbuilder Blohm+Vohs for three years, creating a family of seafaring vessels featuring mesmerizing braided exoskeletons. Now, Italian maker Rossinavi is set to celebrate ZHA’s next dive into the industry with its introduction of the electrifying Oneiric.

Oneiric is a 145-foot (44-meter) electric catamaran that is powered through artificial intelligence. Its cutting-edge design, inspired by the rolling waves of the ocean, features a single continuous line that rises from the aluminum hull, spirals up and around three photovoltaic-integrated levels, and undulates into the other hull. The ship’s exterior boasts branching curves that merge and diverge in the hull while the stern slopes down like a giant swimming platform, creating a seamless connection between the water and the yacht edge.

Italian shipyard Rossinavi is collaborating with Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) to bring a new, fully #electric catamaran— ‘Oneiric’. Here’s a peek this yard’s green-technology flagship vessel: https://t.co/LXCEp70lBJ pic.twitter.com/ubXP5BlET9

— YachtWorld (@yachtworld) July 16, 2022

The yacht’s interior is just as fluid, with integrated furnishings blending into adjacent planes and walls, meeting ceilings through uninterrupted coved surfaces. The main cabin offers breathtaking 180-degree views and sunlight is prevalent through the addition of skylights. The interiors are finished with lightweight, eco-friendly materials to reduce drag, and the yacht is powered by photovoltaics during daylight hours. The onboard AI monitors energy consumption and provides navigation recommendations based on environmental impact, allowing Oneiric to complete a day trip on electric power alone with minimal carbon and noise emissions. Rossinavi has calculated that Oneiric can handle over two-thirds of a transatlantic voyage with solar power. The yacht can even charge land-based appliances while docked.

The Moving Kitchen by J.C. Architecture, Taiwan | Photographs by Kuo-Min Lee
Popular Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Transport Interiors

The Moving Kitchen is an excellent example of what we can do with our existing or outdated transportation inventory. Designed by the talented architecture firm J C Architects, the restaurant is housed in a semi-retired 70-year-old train that has been salvaged from retirement and transformed into a moving luxury resturant. The dynamic dining experience seats 54 people and takes its guests on a culinary journey both through the culinary delights and through the scenic beauty of Taiwan.

The concept behind the Moving Kitchen was to merge the flavors of traditional Taiwanese cuisine with the breathtaking views of the island. A multidisciplinary team of designers, chefs, and restaurant operations experts worked tirelessly to bring the vision to life and the result is an unforgettable dining experience that seamlessly blends the taste of Taiwan with the scenic beauty of the island.

Bjarke Ingles Group is renowned for their innovative designs and boundary-pushing ideas. From creating the iconic headquarters of Google to the thought-provoking Danish Refugee Museum, the adept team of architects and designers have proven time and time again that they are not afraid to tackle challenging projects in their own unique way.

Often entering the realm of transportation, BIG have brought their skills to bear on several new and exciting modes of transportation. Yet, unlike many of their peers who opt for superyachts and luxury vehicles, the unpredictable BIG took aim at the electric bicycle. The Biomega OKO is a stylish e-bike made up of clean lines and an efficiency to be envied. Designed and developed by KiBiSi, under the leadership of Bjarke Ingles the bike flipped the often over complicated electric bike model and stripped it back to bare essentials, without compromising on function or aesthetics.

The perfectly balanced, sleek cycle is fitted with a battery in the middle bar and a motor in the front wheel hub. The Biomega OKO is made of carbon fiber and weighs in at a mere 44 pounds, making it one of the lightest electric bicycles on the market at the time. With its energy-efficient operation, the Biomega OKO is not only regarded as a joy to ride, but its eco-friendly design is admirable. The Biomega OKO may be utilitarian in it’s looks but it is truly a seamless example of transportation design.

Germane Barnes

Germane Barnes is an architect and academic whose work explores the intersection of design alongside technology. The groundbreaking architect recently collaborated with motor giant Lexus on a unique project for Design Miami/ that aimed to encapsulate and present the next generation of the automaker’s evolution. The installation, titled “ON/,” is inspired by Lexus’s LF-Z Electrified Concept car and embodies the human-centered, future-oriented approach to design and craftsmanship that the brand and Barnes share.

The immersive installation features a precisely scaled three-dimensional sculptural rendition of the concept car suspended just above the ground and illuminated with embedded LED lighting. The display also includes furniture designed by Barnes and his team specifically for the installation, providing areas for rest and reflection. The entire installation is unified by a unique lighting scheme that allows for engagement from users around the world through an online, interactive virtual model. Participants created their own lighting designs for the display, and Barnes and his team selected a number of the user-generated designs to showcase onsite, encouraging interaction and collaboration while highlighting the creative vision of entries from around the world.

Browse the Architizer Jobs Board and apply for architecture and design positions at some of the world’s best firms. Click here to sign up for our Jobs Newsletter.

Reference

Architecture

cubed skyscraper towers over riyadh in new murabba downtown

By Zarkon Group,20/02/2023

saudi arabia unveils its next monument: new murabba

Dubbed the ‘new face of Riyadh’, Saudi Arabia’s newest monument is set to redefine parameters of urban planning and the shape of its capital with the New Murabba mega project. Transforming the city with a series of immersive cultural, commercial, and residential experiences, New Murabba emerges amid the cityscape as the world’s largest modern downtown, built on groundbreaking digital and virtual technology and rooted in the region’s culture.

At the heart of the futuristic megapolis sits the landmark Mukaab — a cube-shaped skyscraper large enough to fit 20 Empire State Buildings, towering over the city as an icon of the kingdom’s ambitions. Imposing yet intricate, the volume is enveloped by delicately carved geometric motifs emblemizing the kingdom’s Islamic history and recalling traditional Najdi architecture 400 meters high against the skyline.

holographic worlds transport visitors inside the skyscraper

Riyadh’s New Murabba mega project was recently announced by HRH Mohammad bin Salman as the latest initiative of the Saudi Vision 2030 strategy, led by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) authorities. The downtown development will center around the iconic Mukaab supertall skyscraper which will become one of the largest built structures in the world. Architecturally inspired by a modern interpretation of Najdi design elements, Mukaab will become the world’s first immersive destination offering a futuristic hospitality experience realized with digital and virtual technology.

Inside, it will comprise a futuristic amalgamation of modern day luxuries including fine dining restaurants, retail, and residential living, marked by a monumental towering spiral structure composed of stacked organic forms. The outer dome of the atrium encompassing the tower will be fitted with cutting-edge holographics and virtual reality screens, reflecting surreal, scenic vistas to transport visitors and locals into a ‘gateway to another world.’

riyadh to host world’s largest modern downtown

Part of Saudi Vision 2030, the newly launched New Murabba Development Company will accelerate the city’s growth and position Saudi Arabia as a leading global tourism destination. The New Murabba mega project, set to be realized by 2030, will bring together unique living, working, and entertainment experiences, complete with two million square meters of shops, cultural and tourist attractions — all located within a 15 minute walking radius and connected by an internal transportation system.

With over 104,000 residential units, 620,000 square meters of leisure assets, and 1.8 million square meters of space for community facilities, Riyadh’s new downtown will house an iconic museum, a technology and design university, a multi-purpose immersive theatre and over 80 cultural and entertainment venues. The plan is expected to add SAR180 billion (£40 billion) to non-oil GDP and create 334,000 jobs.

Further, Riyadh’s New Murabba will embrace concepts of sustainability to foster wellbeing, enhance quality of life, and promote nature-based community activities for its residents and visitors, weaving green areas and walking and cycling paths throughout the futuristic complex.

video screenshot ‘New Murabba: the new horizon for Riyadh’

Reference

Architecture

Scalloped concrete walls anchor California house by Laney LA

By Zarkon Group,19/02/2023

Undulated concrete walls form the lower portion of this Californian house by architecture studio Laney LA, while its top half is wrapped in glass and cedar.

The aptly named Scalloped Concrete House sits on a hill in the Manhattan Beach neighbourhood, just south of LAX airport, which affords the property sea views.

Its lower storey is mainly constructed from unusually formed concrete. It features a pattern of inverted curved ridges known as scalloping.

The material is exposed both on the exterior and continues across some interior walls, and “reveals its form most strikingly at each corner”, according to Laney LA.

Concrete pool terrace — The back of the house opens onto a pool terrace

“Like cliffs carved from water, the scalloped walls are even engrained with the faint grain of the formwork that shaped them,” said the studio. “Each piece of formwork was custom milled to accomplish the undulating form.”

Some of the concrete sections stretch up to windows on the upper level, while cedar clads any remaining areas that aren’t glass.

wooden Kitchen with bench island — Minimalist millwork wraps around the kitchen

Rooms at ground level feature retractable panels that open the kitchen and living room up to a concrete pool terrace and barbecue area.

More shaded outdoor spaces are created by the deep cedar overhangs from the upper floor and the roof.

Pocket door open to verdant view — A large pocket door frames a verdant view from the dining room

A 16-foot-long (4.9-metre) pocket door frames a verdant view from the dining room.

In the kitchen, millwork hides the majority of the appliances and has no visible handles for a minimal appearance.

Staircase with wooden steps and scalloped concrete walls — The staircase is sandwiched between concrete walls

Concrete forms the backsplash and countertops, as well as that of a large island that incorporates a built-in bench.

The lower level is kept private by the concrete walls, as well as strategically placed fencing and plants.

Meanwhile, the upstairs is much more open, with large windows positioned across all elevations.

Balconies that face the Pacific Ocean are accessed via full-height glass doors from the bedrooms.

Concrete corners — The scalloped pattern is most evident at the corners of the concrete walls

“With its panoramic ocean views and echoes of that element within its own walls, the architectural language of this structure speaks to a beauty shaped by the impermanent,” said the studio.

Laney LA was founded by architect Anthony Laney and was longlisted for the Dezeen Awards 2022 in both the urban house and house interior categories for its HT Residence in California.

Night view of Scalloped Concrete House — The cedar and glass upper floor overlooks the Pacific Ocean

The studio joins a long list of architects that have employed scalloping for their building facades, at varying scales.

Brooks + Scarpa used the pattern vertically for a supportive housing development in Los Angeles.

The photography is by Roger Davies.

Project credits:

Architect: Laney LA
Interior designer: Tim Clarke & Waterleaf
Builder: Silicon Bay
Landscape architect: Stephen Gabor

Reference

Architecture

One Drawing Challenge 2022: The 100 Finalists (Part 2)

By Zarkon Group,18/02/2023

Explore a further 25 extraordinary architectural drawings, each one a Finalist in the 2022 One Drawing Challenge. Let us know which are your favorites on Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #OneDrawingChallenge!

← Previous 25 Drawings Next 25 Drawings →

“Martı” by Pelin Demiryontar

Mount Allison University

“With this ink on paper drawing I explored the relationship of narrative and drawing. Drawn images often tell stories: the strongest stories often create imagery. The imagery I created is about, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a book that I associate strongly with my own life. Jonathan is a seagull who leaves his flock to fly higher, explore, and learn new things. In the end, he finds his freedom and escapes from the cage where the cage represents limitations and a reality that was told to be the only reality. For me, the best way to realize that there are other realities is to travel and see people born and raised in different societies and cultures. The more I explore, the more I become free.”

“iliCity: The Vertical Fantastical” by Anna Kondrashova and Mariana Orellana

Pratt Institute

“The tower of ilicity is an exquisite corpse that explores the duality of urban city life. Similarly to the SoHo block, the tower stitches together familiar, essential and mundane elements into a randomized agglomeration of components that follow a Truchet aperiodic tiling composition. This stitching together of random parts is a social and spatial condition, that challenges the occupant as they experience the assemblage through the lens of dirty realism.

Our project seeks to understand the conditions of the SoHo block, extracting the dynamics of overlayed and adjacent programs, functional elements and remainder spaces. By acknowledging grey zones as essential elements in urban conditions, the tower of iliCity integrates remainder spaces as symbiotic and non-detachable element of its composition. The project blurs the line between built, social, and even political grey zones that exist as a reality within contemporary life, and will continue to exist and grow as humanity evolves.”

“Quiet River – China” by Thomas Schaller

Schaller Architectural Fine Arts

“A semi-fictional view of an evening in Fengjing, China. All hand-done graphite pencil drawing with watercolour wash.
76x56cm”

“Aqueous Rhizome” by Sam Wu

University of Queensland

“Monsoon arrives misery every summer in the City of Chandigarh, Le Corbusier’s modernist metropolis. How does a landscaping intervention protect the city from inundation caused by climate change? Rather than obstruct the water, a network of sunken landforms and water-purifying facilities invites water into the city fabric. Waterscapes are juxtaposed against Le Corbusier’s greenery fingers across the city. Purified water will recharge the deep aquifers, an indispensable water source for commercial and domestic use.

This drawing cuts a section through the main street in Sector 17, which is the centre for street vendors, hawkers, entertainment, and various commercial activities. The red element indicates the new intervention in the city. Stairs and Ramp connect the sidewalk to the canals, which act as an open space and bikeway in the dry season. Pocket open spaces and bridges above water channels allow residents to cross the water after adverse weather.”

“Alzheimer’s. Stage 4.” by Brent Haynes

“Alone. Confused. Frustrated. The more I try to hold on to memories that are slipping away from me, the more afraid I am that someday, there will be nothing left at all—nothing but a memory that has been forgotten by time itself.

I walk through the city, trying to balance what I think is true with what I’m sure I don’t know. As my surroundings disappear, I try to remember what they used to be like. But as time goes on and my mind gets weaker, it’s harder and harder to remember the details of the past.”

“In between” by Anastasia Fedotova

Architectural Association School of Architecture (drawing submission from the final year work 2021-2022), currently employed by Foster and Partners

“Nowadays, demolition waste creates the most significant waste stream in the world. By considering cities undergoing renovation, the author proposes a physical dissection of destructible buildings, their dismemberment and recycling through robotic automation according to their structure, material and condition. Specially designed machines curate and organize virtual and physical (“theatre”) archives of the targeted buildings under the demolition plan. Newly developed tectonic systems and spaces created in this way can be integrated into the urban fabric in close interaction with the existing landscape. In this way, the connection between the past and the future is built, and the identity and memories of previous generations, which are hopelessly erased in modern society, are preserved.”

“Windows to the Future” by Nir Levie

Kloom Studio

“I imagine a future where the only boundaries of architecture are creativity and physics.
The image is a combination of 8 A3 papers.
Ink on paper”

“DELIRIOUS COFFEE PALACE” by Pengcheng Yang

The Melbourne University

“Cafe Palace selected a series of plans of landmark buildings with different cultural backgrounds according to the composition of immigrants in the block, which served as the inspiration and design starting point of the overall underground space layout. Through the redefinition and blend of different architectural styles, an architectural atmosphere similar to the situationist concept was created.

At the same time, the coffee underground palace introduces phenomenological concepts and guides and creates underground circulation ideas from touch, hearing, smell and taste. This architecture can also be seen as an experiment in phenomenology. Elite food etiquette is often quite luxurious, and this program not only summarizes the traditional coffee washing process, but has deliberately designed these machines to be overly fussy in order to satirize the pursuit of the ultimate in coffee culture.”

“Galveston Bay Park” by Robert Rogers, Tyler Swanson and Alex Warr

Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Designers

“The Galveston Bay Park Plan (GBPP) project is a surge flooding protection, navigation enhancement, public recreation and environmental enhancement project that is unique in its scale, impact, innovation, and long-term adaptiveness. The GBP approach will be transformative to the Galveston Bay region by creating a permanent thirty-mile landmark that is central to the region’s resiliency strategy, economic vitality, habitat preservation, and standard of living.”

“The city drowned by coffee” by Pengcheng Yang and Zirui Wang

The Melbourne University

“This is a painting about the concept of architecture expressed through images in a dream world. The theme of the painting revolves around the culture of coffee and the society that is triggered by coffee as a sober dependency of people.

1. A distant coffee factory produced an explosion, and the excess coffee caused great pressure inside the building.
2. The origin of coffee often comes from relatively poor countries, such as Brazil, Ethiopia or Colombia.
3. The shepherds mingling in the line represent the story of how coffee was first discovered by the shepherds of Ethiopia.
4. The fragile console tries as much as possible to hold the balance of people’s coffee intake.
5. There are ads and signs like iLLY and Nespresso for capsule coffee everywhere.
6. The mountains of waste formed by coffee consumption.”

“KEEP OUT” by Alain Linck

Linck

“A new stage in urban sprawl in a context of physical, environmental and energy insecurity: a pioneering and vertical colonization of abandoned places in urban or industrial centers. Of course, properties are being protected and mobility is being adapted, far from the architectural utopias. Factories are still running, weighing down a starless sky that vanity jets cross, each for himself, more than ever. After all, the garden is not doing so badly; as for the fauna, it is less certain.”

“‘Interior Late Afternoon’” by Alan Power

Alan Power Architects Ltd

“This work depicts an interior view of a house we built in Whitechapel. The view is of the main ground floor living space, looking south to towards the courtyard. The space has contrasting volumes, with the large diagrid lantern light glazing contrasting with the lower perimeter spaces. I was interested examining the way in which the space is lit naturally, and how the fall of natural light affects the volumetric impression of the space. I felt that this required an image of high contrast. I tried to depict that wonderful time of day in early summer, when the sun has almost disappeared, but where the light remains vivid, and where the areas of the interior not directly lit recede into the increasing darkness.

The approach to creating the image was reductive, rather than one of architectural detail, and the tones and colours are pushed towards a sense of geometric abstraction.”

“Vanity Fair: Architectural Icons Issue” by Ben Friesen

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

“Iconic architecture enjoys celebrity status, a fame generated by the dissemination of glamorous images presented to the public for admiration and praise. While the formal language of this “star-chitecture” varies widely around the world, these static icons share rarified air in the top-ten lists and google searches where their images are most commonly consumed.

In ‘Vanity Fair: Architectural Icons Issue’ these buildings are collected for a group portrait worthy of their shared esteem. Still as they are, they perform for their audience. Their vanity is apparent. The issue is not.”

“Palimsest_Ghosts + Reincarnations” by Steven Quevedo

School of Architecture, The University of Texas at Arlington

“The process of this drawing relies on previous reiterations from an earlier collage of building constructions, which fragmented into an imaginary landscape of ruins. Using a Xylene transfer of a black and white copy onto plaster, the ghostly images provide a ghost in which new constructions can be developed. The idea of the city as a continuous palimpsest evokes the nature of how cities transform throughout time by demolition, re-use or new construction. This additive transformation builds on the old to re-invent the composition. As an architectural speculation, the generative process of drawing yields new spaces and forms influenced by the pre-existing context of the ghost collage. These graphic ponderings stitch together the fabric of the old and new, complimenting and contrasting the organic and the man-made.

This world is nowhere yet acts as if it has always been, masking behind a fragmented façade, a darker and deeper space.”

“Everything in Between” by Zeb Lund and Samah Al Sarhani

BVH Architecture

“The head, the heart, and Everything In Between. A Charlie Chaplin experience provides us humor, joy, and purpose connecting senses, feelings, and thoughts.

We consider perception as an experience transmitted from a physical world through the lens of an eye. We consider cognition as qualities experienced in our past pitted against the moment in our head. We consider feeling as our soul understands gravity, emptiness, boundaries, and so much more in our heart. Intuition, emotion, and Everything In Between here is illustrated as recollections of the Pantheon.”

“”Every Bud can be Revived”- The Complete Narrative of Burt Hall” by Aman Tair

“Tied to its age-old exclusion of a ‘Colonial Party House’ Burt Hall reminiscences to days that now are gone. The drawing imagines an Adaptive Habitation future, breathing life into this melancholic giant. Home as an ever-evolving skin; shedding yet rejuvenating.

THEIR House now begins to breathe all…

As they chatter and sip tea at the barber’s Sunday visit.
As sun pierces atop saturated May skies,
they find relief midst moss-covered pools.
When monsoon becomes laden with dew & stardust,
they crawl atop towers to see mid-summer lights.
As clouds downpour along rusted roofs,
children dance in watercolor puddles and sail paper-boats.
And when North wind blows loud in cold dark Decembers,
menfolk gathers at the peanut seller, listening to crackles of wood and salt.
As spring glides in her all-bejewelled beauty,
terraces bow heavy with clusters of jasmine

THEIR House now feels the same, that every bud can be revived…”

“Pakistantecture” by Zeeshan Javed

Elisava Escola de Disseny Enginyeria de Barcelona

“Human race is living in the world which has all the impact of socio political, chaotic crisis and environmentally modified world. Weather its pandemic or any other natural disaster which is shaping up our society and climate. It’s the spirit of time which bring the evolution to any entity. No vision can be drawn by itself, it needs to have a situation, which brings the desire to accomplish absoluteness.

Current scene is set in Karachi city,where gravity is effected by climate change hence this organic form of architecture has all the advance properties in terms of materials and technology which is embedded in its soul dna.Pakistantecture is the depiction of well advance highly technological nation striving for the betterment human society giving hope towards perfection. Its communication mediums are the state-of-the-art engineering marvels, buildings are organic living beings, Keeping its traditional and monumental value alive.”

“The 42’s Cradle” by Jason wang

“Humanity has resorted to forsaking their flesh for the planet’s survival, and thus exists as immortal, machine lifeforms, as virtualised consciousness within vessels.

This is a glimpse of a world where materialistic obsessions and temporal limitations are irrelevant. Yet, the environment and the architecture have evolved into cradles, to nurture the non-corporeal inhabitants even though they have forgotten what they once looked like.

Will the humans then debate their philosophical and intellectual fulfilment without bodies and limbs, whilst bathing in existential despair? Will they attempt to search for mortality due to the lack of value in eternity? Are there pleasures to explore without fragility? Or will they transcend beyond dimensions?”

“The Stamper Battery” by William du Toit

Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

“Drawing from EM Forster’s 1909 short story “The Machine Stops”, this allegorical architectural drawing re-presents a seminal tale of environmental devastation caused by the 1860 New Zealand goldrush. Propelling the Otago region into economic prosperity, the mining operations were abandoned once the gold dried up—the forgotten industrial artefacts, environmental scarring, and their historic narratives slowly decaying over time, destined to be lost forever.

The Stamper Battery is the final drawing in a series of 7, each preserving the narrative of a different artefact of the historic goldmining process. It combines orthographic, notation and layering techniques to compose a drawing that shifts restlessly on its page—depicting fragments of architecture as they transform and decay over time. The drawing is intended to be exhibited in sequence, avoiding direct intervention on the site while preserving a national heritage story of place identity—acting as a lesson for future generations to learn from past mistakes.”

“Night City” by Peter Wheatcroft

10 Design

“A Dystopian metropolis constructed with on top of multiple levels of roads, Buildings and Structures. Sky ships deliver cargo from the air, while logistical lorries, tucks and cars services the city from the complex network of elevated highways. A place to explore endlessly.”

“The Choice” by Rachel Powers

Red Rocks Community College

“The Choice” portrays a person standing on the brink of decision. He or she began life in today’s world, which is pictured behind them in a dim cityscape. The reason for the landscape tilt illustrates the uneasy feeling that we often get in life that things are not quite right. The personal decision that every human faces is represented: joining either utopia or dystopia.

Utopia is a future dream where technology, environment, and beauty coincide with people and are fully represented by architecture. Dystopia appears as a blistering, torturous, bland place. Overall, the picture shows a broad timeline of the past, present, and future. The past started wonderful, a lush green place. The present presents the choice that we implement everyday in our own actions. The future is a result of these choices. May we all choose to work toward the utopia rather than the dystopia in our world.”

“The wall. 2021-2022” by Anton Markus Pasing

“The wall wasn’t just there, it was everywhere. My gaze wandered endlessly and yet the wall seemed to move. What did you separate me from? The deeper I looked into it, the less I could grasp it and the more complex its structure became. It seemed to me that the wall was looking for a counterpart. She was a surreal lonely reality and my soul could see no beginning or end. Unlimited truth and infinite questions.

But coupled with the certainty that she was as real as my dream. In some places she reflected, and what I saw, I wasn’t me. It was her almost endless projection of everything I was longing for…it was starting to happen raining.. and I went inside. i am the wall And there is nothing else.”

“God is in the detail” by Farshid Amini

“Nature has always inspired architects. The famous architect Mies van der Rohe suggested that details are essential for architectural drawings as they are essential in nature. He used the term “God is in the detail” to emphasize this point. The infinite level of detail in nature is an abstract concept. In order to visualize this concept, I have drafted an architectural-themed cosmology drawing. This drawing is characterized by some scientific infographic about nature and an artistic interpretation of the universe.”

“Gate” by Naomi Sirb

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY TIMISOARA-Architecture and Urbanism

“Art cannot solve humanity’s problems, but it can be a refuge from daily frustrations or make us temporarily forget about problems by visiting a gallery, listening music etc.

The volume offers a passage between everyday life and the world of art. This gate makes the connection between the world of creation that emanates a feeling of inspiration, hope and the urban world where we experience states of agitation, stress “darkening” our lives

The building is shaped like a hug that exudes the feeling of refuge. This offers a special view, having at the end of the perspective a cathedral that plays an important role in people’s lives.

The rendering expresses the difference between the outside of the art gallery (people “burdened” with problems, the congestion in the city) and the one inside it (when people approach the “gate” that opens to the world of creation, they detach of everyday life).”

“No Title” by Jane Grealy

“Observation and imagination. The white lines are a wireframe perspective of GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) which sits on the Brisbane River at Kurilpa Point (Queensland, Australia). Using early photographs of European settlement, explorers’, convicts’ and botanist’s’ accounts along with indigenous histories, I was able to site this existing building within a landscape which I imagine would be very similar to that the indigenous population experienced pre settlement.

The name of this work, “No Title”, refers to the contested nature of land ownership here in Australia as a result of invasion and colonization. The Native Title Act 1993 is a law passed by the Australian Parliament that recognizes the rights and interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in land and waters according to their traditional laws and customs.”

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Reference

Architecture

MicroPolis Gallery

How are these architecture firms ranked?

30. Benthem Crouwel Architects

29. Kraaijvanger Architects

28. cepezed

27. derksen|windt architecten

26. Personal Architecture

25. Bloot Architecture

24. Hilberink Bosch Architecten

23. studio PROTOTYPE

22. design Erick van Egeraat

21. Mei architects and planners

20. Barcode Architects

19. NEXT architects

18. René van Zuuk Architects bv

17. GROUP A

16. Shift A+U

15. LIAG architects + engineers

14. Atelier Kempe Thill

13. MoederscheimMoonen Architects

12. De Zwarte Hond

11. Neutelings Riedijk Architects

10. Paul de Ruiter Architects

9. Borren Staalenhoef Architects

8. LEVS architecten

7. atelier PRO architekten

6. Wiel Arets Architects

5. i29

4. UNStudio

3. OMA

2. MVRDV

1. Mecanoo

Why Should I Trust Architizer’s Ranking?

A Guide to Project Awards

L’Atalante art house cinema by Farid Azib in Bayonne

angular frames are a conceptual nod to the Seventh Art

The cinema hall undergoes specialized interior planning

49 Greene Street, SoHo Gallery

Germane Barnes

saudi arabia unveils its next monument: new murabba

holographic worlds transport visitors inside the skyscraper

riyadh to host world’s largest modern downtown

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