eVolo

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“eVolo Magazine announced the winners of the 2010 Skyscraper Competition. Established in 2006, the annual Skyscraper Competition recognizes outstanding ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the use of new technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organization. The award seeks to discover young talents whose ideas will change the way we understand architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments.

The Jury of the 2010 edition was formed by leaders of the architecture and design fields including: Mario Cipresso, Kyu Ho Chun, Kenta Fukunishi, Elie Gamburg, Mitchell Joachim, JaeYoung Lee, Adelaïde Marchi, Nicola Marchi and Eric Vergne. The Jury selected 3 winners and 27 special mentions among 430 entries from 42 countries.”
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Globalization, sustainability, flexibility, adaptability, and the digital revolution, were some of the multi-layered elements taken into consideration. The first place was awarded to a project for a vertical prison designed by architecture students Chow Khoon Toong, Ong Tien Yee, and Beh Ssi Cze, from Malaysia.

Their project examines the possibility of creating a prison-city in the sky, where the inmates would live in a “free” and productive community with agricultural fields and factories that would support the host city below.
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The recipients of the second place are Rezza Rahdian, Erwin Setiawan, Ayu Diah Shanti, and Leonardus Chrisnantyo, from Indonesia, whose project ‘Ciliwung Recovery Program’ aims to purify and repair the Ciliwung River habitat. The building is designed as an ingenious habitable machine that would collect garbage, purify water, and provide housing to thousands of people that live in the slums along the river.

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The third place was awarded to Ryohei Koike and Jarod Poenisch, from the United States, for their project ‘Nested Skyscraper’ that explores robotic construction techniques for a novel structure of carbon sleeves and fiber-laced concrete. The building is a system of multiple layers of composite louvers which thicken and rotate according to solar exposure, ventilation, and materials performance.

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Among the special mentions there are skyscrapers used as bridges that link different territories, cities in the sky powered by renewable energies, instant deployable buildings for disaster zones, skyscrapers that purify and desalinate sea water, or high-rises that commemorate historic dates. Other proposals create new pedestrian layers for existing cities. Some use the latest building technologies and parametric design to configure environmentally conscious self-sufficient buildings, while others create city-like buildings where different programs are mixed in one structure.

Special Mention: Hermit Mountains – Towers of Ancient Dreams

“We intend to create the mountains for hermits’ lives.

Hermit means to live in remote mountains with scenic landscape, to make oneself as the integral part of nature. This can be regarded as an essential idea in Chinese classical culture, as a standard literatus always dreamed to be a hermit or farmer to some extent. Usually, the literatus expressed their dreams on landscape paintings. In the near future, this dream could be realized in our skyscraper design in the world famous place of interest, Lijiang.”

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Special Mention: Sky Table – A Social Implant

“This project is not only about design, it is about people.

It is regular for US settlement system that people are separated, so natural people relations are broken. But relations, thoughts and ideas are the essence of people society, the basis of modern science, art, politic and all aspects of human life. I want to solve this problem by creating a large public space, the place where people would meet and relate with each other.”
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Bustler

“The Design Museum in London today announced the seven category winners of the Brit Insurance Design Awards 2010. Collectively they celebrate everyday design, reflecting international trends, current themes of sustainability and social enablement.

In the Architecture Category, Chilean studio Elemental won the first prize for Monterrey Housing, a new model for social housing in Mexico, a project which was first trialed in Chile. An international ‘do-tank’ based in Chile, Elemental focuses on finding solutions to the challenge of housing the world’s ever-increasing population.”
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Project Description:
Restrictions: Santa Catarina is a city of 230,000 inhabitants, located in the state of Nuevo León, in the northwest of Mexico. This project is Elemental’s first outside of Chile.

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Video: Monterrey from elementalchile on Vimeo. (Video: Ramiro Ramirez)
http://www.vimeo.com/8765305
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The Government of Nuevo León, México, commissioned us to design a group of 70 homes on a site of .6 hectars in a middle class neighborhood in Santa Catarina. The required density suggested the application of the typology we developed for Iquique. However, the climate in Santa Catarina is very different from the northern dessert climate of Chile. The 600 mm of annual rainfall required us to adapt our proposal to this new question……..” More On Bustler
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Bustler

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“U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Louis B. Susman, and Acting Director of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, Adam Namm, announced today that KieranTimberlake of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has won the design competition for the New London Embassy.

KieranTimberlake’s design met the goal of creating a modern, welcoming, timeless, safe and energy efficient embassy for the 21st century. Their concept most fully satisfied the requirements outlined in the design competition’s mission statement. The concept holds the greatest potential for developing a truly iconic embassy and is on the leading edge of sustainable design. KieranTimberlake is an architectural firm known for its commitment to innovation and environmental responsibility.”
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“Starting with 37 architectural submissions, the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations narrowed the number to a shortlist of nine firms. A distinguished jury of both American and British leaders in the fields of architecture, academia and diplomacy selected four firms for the final phase of the competition.
The four firms explored the symbolism of the embassy, its presence and position in the cityscape of London. Their goal was to create a building and site complex with a timeless quality to appropriately represent the United States of America in the United Kingdom.

The four competing architectural firms KieranTimberlake, Morphosis Architects, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, and Richard Meier & Partners worked for nearly a year and made presentations to the jury which then recommended the winning design.”
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“As KieranTimberlake moves forward with the design of the building, the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations and KieranTimberlake will be actively engaged in the consultation and planning process involving the Mayor’s office, the Wandsworth Borough Council, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, as well as residents in the area to ensure that the new embassy provides an appropriate home for the United States of America in London.

The anticipated ground breaking on this landmark embassy will be in 2013 with a goal to complete the construction in 2017. ” Bustler
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Bustler
Check the images of the competition’s First Prize winner: New York-based Reiser + Umemoto RUR Architecture PC with their Taiwanese partners FEI & CHENG ASSOCIATES.
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Project Description:
“Pop music, while a global phenomenon, is regional in its definition. The Taiwanese Pop music scene typifies the phenomenon; while it crosses borders and cultures and dialects, it nevertheless has produced styles and genres with distinct transnational form and appeal. Though many aspects of pop culture exist in a hyper-technological or virtual realm, there is a need for a defined physical hub dedicated to the production and reception of pop.”

“The Taipei Pop Music Center features a gradient of mixed-use spaces, from the fully public realm to the interior of the auditorium, allows the visitor to partake of the event dynamic however they choose to visit this complex. Whether they plan a night of music or are browsing the myriad shops, markets, cafes, and restaurants, the complex will be a 24-hour attraction independent of the schedule of performances in the theaters. The TPMC features a new elevated public ground, which bridges the two building sites presently divided by Xinsheng Rd. Corridor. The elevated public space is a pedestrian zone creating a coherent public space distinct yet connected to the life of the city, and effectively joining the three major zones of the complex, the Main Concert Hall, Outdoor Amphitheater, and the Hall of Fame. The public space is in itself a focus for outdoor events, surrounded by cafes, restaurants and shops. Here, the spectacle of pop music can be celebrated and broadcast to the world.”

“The Main Hall features a 3000-seat indoor auditorium and a tower dedicated to the pop music industry. This hybrid of theater and tower will allow direct communication on an everyday basis between producers, artists, and the music industry community. In effect, this hybrid is a cultural incubator bringing the entire music community, production and performance, together under one roof.”

“The Hall of Fame becomes an ongoing daily destination – an outlet to track the T-Pop industry, linked with performances, hall of fame induction ceremonies, outdoor spaces, and media projections. Within the Hall of Fame is the main exhibition space, digital media center, two lecture halls, and the Sky View Lounge with commanding views from box seats of the entire event space. Lining the street adjacent to the Hall of Fame, live houses provide smaller performance venues and a vibrant street front that is integrally connected to the street life of Taipei.”

“The form of the Outdoor Amphitheater is a hybrid of circus and city, and with the addition of a mobile stage, The Robot Theater, the design can adapt to a spectrum of event scales, public uses and mass events. The four docking positions of the Robot Theater along the elevated public ground allow for multiple event scales, accommodating a range of audiences from 16,000 people to smaller shows operating simultaneously or with other functions such as day or night markets. In its most compact crystalline form, the Robot Theater docks with the Hall of Fame, creating an intimate performance space for Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and other VIP events. A technological net provides solar screening and LED lighting to the Outdoor Amphitheater, and connects the Hall of Fame, Robot Theater, and Main Hall together.

As opposed to a singular or inflexible performance venue, the TPMC allows both high-end, in-demand performances to coexist with small, up-and-coming artists. This has consequences not only for the diversity of concert-goers that the center will attract, but can also have important collaborative effects on pop music production in Taipei. We envision the Taipei Pop Music Center as a coherent environment, not merely a collection of performance spaces but a vibrant new part of the city itself. As Hollywood is to world cinema so the Taipei Pop Music center will be to Asian Pop.”

Images: Reiser + Umemoto RUR Architecture PC
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DEVE Architects

The proposal “The Modern Castle” by Danish practice DEVE Architects has won the EUROPAN 10 contest for Augustenborg, Denmark in the category Urban Plan and Buildings.
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Project Details:
YEAR: 2009 -
TYPE: COMPETITION
CATEGORI: URBAN PLAN AND BUILDINGS
STATUS: 1ST PRIZE
SIZE: 103.500 m²
LOCATION:AUGUSTENBORG, DENMARK
TEAM: MORTEN VEDELSBØL, SCOTT GRBAVAC, AXEL THEMAN, CADMAN
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THE MODERN CASTLE
“How can Augustenborg revitalize the local connection to its unique natural environment while asserting itself as a significant cultural node within the region?

With its rich history and beautiful natural landscape, Augustenborg has the potential to play an important role in the further growth and development of Als.

The city lies at an important point along the main traffic artery connecting the ferry terminal at Fynshavn across the island, and benefits from a close proximity to thriving Sønderborg. This relationship to Sønderborg, as well as its location compared to other Als cities puts Augustenborg in a unique position to be a significant node within the middle of the island. The existing natural landscape, which includes dense forests and the scenic Augustenborg fjord, also contributes to the city’s unique character.
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Video-interview with Morten Vedelsbøl at DAC

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The predominant social characteristic of modern Augustenborg, is the yacht culture which has developed due to the ideal sailing environment in the fjord. Historically, Augustenborg Palace was the driving force behind the growth and development of the city of Augustenborg, and it remains a prominent building and even place of employment in the region. The industrial facilities which currently define the harbor once played a more important role in the economy of Augustenborg, however the scale and use of those structures are now the primary barrier between the residents and the water that has such a profound influence on the culture in the city. While the large structures are particularly imposing, that physical presence has left an indelible mark on the city that is an important aspect of Augustenborg.

By preserving some of the existing industrial structures, and infusing them with some of the cultural relevance of a castle, it is possible to create a vibrant new extension of the city. Historic Augustenborg Palace initially dictated the shape and growth of Augustenborg, but now a Modern Castle is required to establish a true city center in Augustenborg that can serve the entire region’s cultural and technological needs. The new city center will seize the waterfront from industry and provide more intimate moments of interaction for all people within the natural environment.”
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Cultural Epoch
Augustenborg Palace shaped the growth of the city with its symmetry and axes. The industrial facilities currently define the city’s relationship to the fjord. By concentrating new and upgraded cultural institutions within the existing industrial infrastructure, the repurposed buildings can assume the gravity of a medieval castle in order to influence Augustenborg’s morphology. The new cultural node then serves as a physical city center that also establishes a strong relationship with the water.

Medieval city in the Landscape
Construction on the marina side is to be kept low and green in order to preserve the continuity of the distant landscape. The city side of the harbor is built into a dense urban core, inspired by medieval walled cities. The buildings create a perimeter around a variety of connected public spaces with the exposed grid structure acting as the gate.

Promenade as a Social Spine
The public plazas of the medieval city maintain a link to Augustenborg Palace and connect the path across the embankment to the different utility spaces and a nature path on the marina side. The two different uses are defined individually by wood and concrete and collide at a harbor bath located on the embankment.

Connecting views
The views of the adjacent housing is kept undisturbed by the new structure. Lines from the southern piers penetrate the cityplan and establishe a strong visual connection between the two sides, ‘knitting’ them togerher.

Infrastructure
The new area is built as a pedestrian-oriented environment, with cars kept in the background. Parking is located in the dark areas of the plan which are otherwise unused. Pedestrians and bikers can thereby roam free, establishing a vibrant and friendly city.

Environmental Plans
The two sides of the fjord utilize their contrasting natures to harvest energy in complimentary ways, and the embankment acts as a conduit for the transfer of energy between them. On the marina side, the open landscape is farmed for energy using ground source heat pumps, windmills, and biogas. The urban side uses the roofscapes to harvest solar energy and kinetic plates in the parking area to generate energy.
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WORKac

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“WORKac and ZhuBO recently won an invited competition to redesign a 1-kilometer section of Hua Qiang Bei Road. Hua Qiang Bei has emerged naturally from an industrial district to become Shenzhen’s premier shopping and electronics street. This success has also unfortunately created traffic problems, and the street needs a new contemporary expression to reflect its destination status. A single solution – as proposed by Shenzhen’s Planning Bureau – that covers the entire length of the street, could overwhelm this vibrant character. For this reason, we proposed a series of strategic interventions, rather than a single approach.
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We have taken the idea of the 3D Street and created five iconic “lanterns” by twisting the required program into sinuous bands, creating unique, visible destinations through a process of “urban acupuncture” – strategically affecting change where required. These lanterns are high enough to maintain views across the street, while still providing shade and bridge connections. At night, the Lanterns glow with colored light and activity. Each Lantern contains special destination public programs. From an electronics museum at the south, to an urban information hub in the electronics district to an elevated public park at the center, a “figure eight” observation pavilion and a fashion and design museum at the north.
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Underground, new connective spaces provide public amenities – a public library, a food court, and a series of performance and gallery spaces – and provide connections across the street and between four newly created metro lines. Terraced steps create generous entrances at each of the Lanterns. The underground spaces are connected by a wide shopping “boulevard” at mezzanine level.

The project is a collaboration with Arup as consulting traffic, sustainability, structural and MEP engineers and Balmori Associates as landscape architect.”
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Schmidt Hammer Lassen

“schmidt hammer lassen architects have won a competition for a Congress and Hotel Centre on the central harbour front of Helsingborg in Sweden, which is a 15-minute ferry trip from Elsinore in Denmark. The property development competition was won in conjunction with Swedish developer Midroc and engineering/architect consultants Sweco.”
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Project Details:
Address: Ångfärjan, Helsingborg, Sweden
Client: Midroc Property Development (Sweden)
Area: Hotel and congress 16,900 m2/ Housing and shops 17,100 m2
Competition year: 2009
Competition type. Property development competition
Architect: schmidt hammmer lassen architects
Project Partner: Kim Holst Jensen, schmidt hammer lassen architects
Project Architect: Kristian Lars Ahlmark, schmidt hammer lassen architects
Contractor: Midroc Property Development
Landscape architect: schmidt hammer lassen architects in collaboration with Masu Planning Landscape (Denmark)
Executive consultants: Sweco (Sweden)
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“The project consists of a 16,900 m2 congress and hotel facility and 17,100 m2 housing on the most attractive area of Helsingborg – the former central ferry dock Ångfärjan in the city centre. The new facilities will play an important part in the ongoing development of the promenade running the length of the city waterfront.

The building is characterized by a deformation of the grid into a crystalline expression that has coined the nick name “The Salt Crystals”. The 12-storey hotel volume in the south east corner with its light, generic and broken facades will become the new landmark of the city.

The congress centre starts in three stories at the opposite end and grows gradually to become the 12-storey hotel. The hotel has 230 rooms. The Congress and Hotel Centre run along the sea promenade to meet the apartment blocks that are separated from the congress centre by a small pedestrian street. The apartments have the same ‘salt crystal’ grid, while the facades have a shifting rectangular pattern to reinforce their open and light structure.
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The two new structures will be an important catalyst for the city life in the harbour area with cafés, shops and several squares and green spaces for citizens and visitors.
The façade of the hotel with its broken expression is extended in the pavement across the plaza to the water edge connecting the vertical and horizontal surfaces.
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The apartment blocks vary from two to nine stories. The highest unit is placed in the north corner of the block to provide sun and daylight from the south to all 130 apartments. ”
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The presentations for the Green Arch Competition that took place in Khatib & Alami – Beirut were announced this week.
The participants were: Abed Kaddoura; Ali Hatoum; Elie Chakib Khoury; Etienne Bastormagi; Hani Mansour; Maher Abadan; Khaldoun AbouChakra; Maher Ibrahim; Nawar Abdallah; Youssef Yassine; Ahmad Shreim
The Jury members were: Mr. Faisal Alami, Dr. Omar Mardambey, Mr. Younes Khatib, Mr. Jamal Kreidieh, Mr. Nabil Bidawi & Mrs. Rima Hervouet.
Check below the boards of the Winning entry by Etienne Bastormagi:

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Eriksen Skajaa Architects

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Project Details:
Project: Shuffle – Europan 10 competition
Location: Oslo, Norway
Year: 2009
Type: Competition
Category: Urban plan and buildings
Status: 1st prize
Size: 15000 m²
Architect: Eriksen Skajaa Architects
Team:Arild Eriksen, Joakim Skajaa
Contact: mail@eriksenskajaa.no
Introduction:

Eriksen Skajaa Architects, a small architecture practice run by Arild Eriksen and Joakim Skajaa has won the Europan 10 competition in Oslo with their project Shuffle. The project is exploring low rise/high density urban planning as a way to reinforce local identity, making use of passive-house concepts to shape the buildings
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Project Description:
Weave, Shuffle, Flip, Intensify….Study area strategy

The main challenges in the study area are the homogenous zones that undermine cross connections and permeability. In the perspective of sustainability and ecology, large areas in the study area are under-utilised. We have developed three main strategies to facilitate a new development in the study area:

Weave
The forested paths on Haugerud are places of natural beauty and create a strong sense of place and identity. We propose to extend the network of forested paths through the study area to facilitate interconnections and permeability; both through the new development and through existing homogenous strips like the school area or the social housing.
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Shuffle
We propose to shuffle the existing program in the study area to enhance the life in the area and intensify the utilization of space. Low quality space will be upgraded through this strategy. Examples could be the colonisation of garden allotments, sports programs found in the middle of housing areas and an activity center in the new development shared by the school. Penetrating these boundaries is an important step in the groundwork for a new identity.
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Flip
Flip is a strategy for turning the buildings in the area towards the public space. The school buildings and the centre all turn their back on the public space. By creating public spaces we also want to give them a clear direction. In our proposal we remove most of the existing centre and make facades that open up towards the new public space.

Intensify
Some key points in the study area will be used for more specific program to create specila points of interest. The metro station is already one such point and will be given an upgrade and modern bike parking facilities. The high rise building will be converted into a health/ wellness centre. Public activity centres will be points of special interest to the young and old people that spend time in the area.
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Inventing urbanity. Ecology versus intensity.
We propose a new development on the site based on sustainable ecological principles and the need for a semi -urban typology that can cater to the dual need of new housing typologies (young/ elderly/ small families) and a restructuring of the local retail economy. Grid orientation, formal characteristics, facades and construction methods where determined by the passive house standard. The shaping of the volumes brings light in between the streets and to the solar facades, but it also gives houses individual character.

Through this process we have developed a clear urban typology consisting of a relatively small scale urban unit that is combined in a dense configuration. The unit can accommodate both the existing and proposed programs such as health and recreations centers. There is flexibility within the modules to develop a wide range of housing solutions ranging from individual houses to blocks of flats. The ground floors have all been made as flexible as possible so that they can shift between housing and retail functions.
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Through a high degree of fragmentation we open up possibilities that the large scale existing structures can’t cater to. We foresee in the beginning that a few small scale shops could function in the area, but we also see that this can be the framework for a development where retail and recreation colonise the entire development. This is the concept we call shuffle. Another possible outcome is that the area becomes more a housing area and that people continue to do their shopping in the neighboring areas. We create flexibility within the framework of a strong urban typology.

Urban intensity in this context means not so much an extreme number of people on a small lot, it means living and working in close proximity to each other and shared public space. Larger types of public space such as school yards, fields, football pitches and parking lots are abundant in the area, so we have deliberately tried to make the public spaces small enough to generate types of proximity that will be an addition to the whole area. As permeability is a strategy of the project we will add smaller volumes to create a town or Medina with buildings that can easily fit into the fabric with another program. We believe the feeling of the small scale village will strengthen the identity of Haugerud, as well as offering an attraction. ”
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OMA

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The Office for Metropolitan Architecture in collaboration with Leigh & Orange Architects has won the competition for the new campus for Chu Hai College of Higher Education in the New Territories in Hong Kong. The campus will give Chu Hai College, established in 1947, a new identity as well as a new site.
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“The project, with a gross floor area of 28,000m2, consists of education facilities for three faculties – arts, science and engineering, and business – containing 10 departments and two research centres. Chu Hai College has traditionally emphasised a multidisciplinary and wide-ranging education for its 4,000 students engaged in the four-year degree curriculum. Accordingly, OMA’s design generates abundant communal spaces that will facilitate encounters between students from different departments.
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OMA conceived a building that consists of two parallel horizontal slabs connected by a ‘mat’ of social and educational facilities. The slabs, each eight stories high, contain flexible space for classrooms, studios, and offices. Their aerated structural facades provide a visual unity for the campus, and allow views into the inner workings of the buildings and out over Castle Peak Bay and its verdant surrounding hills. The slabs are oriented to maximise natural ventilation, reducing air conditioning demands by 15–30 per cent and contributing to an efficient, sustainable design.

Connecting the two slabs, the mat contains the library, cafeteria, gym, and lecture theatres. On top of this mat OMA has designed a shaded area of steps, platforms, and ramps that acts as a circulation system between the various facilities. Crucially, this ramp coincides with the slope of the existing hill on the site, grounding the new campus firmly within the landscape.
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OMA’s concentrated design for the campus allows several of the original British army buildings on the site to be preserved. These buildings will be used for accommodation, student union and canteen facilities.

The design, led by OMA partner Rem Koolhaas, General Manager of OMA Asia (Hong Kong) David Gianotten, and associate Chris van Duijn, was chosen from eight submissions by internationally renowned architecture offices. The Chu Hai College selection committee chose OMA’s design because it provides a strong visual identity for the college, flexibility in use and an environment conducive for multidisciplinary education. They called the design ‘the bookstand’.

David Gianotten commented: “OMA’s design for the new campus features both pure geometric forms with the two slabs, and subtlety and intricacy with the mat that connects them. We aimed to create a sustainable, integrated, and open platform for the future of Chu Hai College.”

The project will be executed by OMA Asia (Hong Kong), which opened in the summer of 2009. The office is currently also working on a conceptual plan for the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong, design development of the Taipei Performing Arts Centre in Taiwan, construction of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and the interior design of the Edouard Malingue Gallery in Hong Kong.”
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Bustler

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“SAMOO Architecture PC, the New York studio of SAMOO Architects and Engineers based in Seoul, Korea, announced today that it has won an international competition for the design of The New York Korea Center, a new home for the Korean Cultural Service in New York. The eight-story, 33,000 square foot facility will offer spaces for exhibitions, performances, lectures, and administration. Korea House will be located on East 32nd Street, extending the vibrancy of Manhattan’s Korea Town to the Murray Hill neighborhood.”
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“Korea Center will provide an international gateway to Korean culture, travel, and events,” said Mr. Myung Gi Sohn, President and CEO of SAMOO Architects and Engineers “It is a great honor to participate in a project of this significance”
The winning design, submitted by SAMOO Architecture PC, New York City, in collaboration with SAMOO Architects and Engineers, embodies the modern Korean sensibility of innovation in harmony with tradition. A multi-layered glass façade creates a screen wall that illuminates three sculptural figures within—composed of polished ceramic, rough terracotta, and milled wood—representing Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. The iconic figures embrace the building’s three distinct zones: soaring public spaces, semi-public lecture rooms, and private administrative offices and artist studio.
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“Layered behind the glass façade, an open frame will provide a canvas for display panels that convey a changing visual message to the passers-by. This dynamic architectural composition creates a welcoming space for the community. The street level of Korea Center, for example, will focus on exhibits related to current popular trends in Korean culture, including music, movies, food, technology and TV dramas – a phenomenon known as the “Korean Wave.” Visitors can also enjoy a library, café, and gardens, as well as performances in a 240-seat theater.”
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“The transparency of the façade opens the buildings activities to street life and energizes the surrounding area,” said Mr. Soon Woo Kwon Principal at SAMOO Architecture PC.

The site occupies 6,400 square feet on 32nd Street between Park and Lexington Avenues. Construction is scheduled to begin at the end of the year. LEED accreditation will be pursued in this project.

Images: SAMOO Architecture PC

Bustler

“A team led by planning, design and engineering firm AECOM has won an international competition for a concept design and feasibility study for Seoul Grand Park in Korea. The winning entry, Gaia: The Living World, envisions an integrated entertainment and educational experience that revitalizes the urban realm and showcases Korean heritage.”

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Seoul Grand Park, a 560-hectare destination with an existing zoo and an amusement park, has provided an important entertainment and recreational function to the community for thirty years. The Seoul Metropolitan Government-sponsored competition drew 21 entries from around the world, with ideas to improve the public space for citizens and better position the site as a regional and international tourist destination. The AECOM team, which included local firms Ga-One Landscape Design and Group Han Associates, as well as Thinkwell Design & Production and Bernard Harrison & Friends, conducted an economic analysis and created a design that combines the amusement park, zoo and botanical garden with new attractions into a one-of-a-kind destination.
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“The new Seoul Grand Park vision reinforces the park’s dual commitment to the living environment and entertainment,” said Joe Brown, FASLA, chief executive of Planning, Design + Development at AECOM. “The Living World aspires to be a place of excitement and reflection, encounter and education, where the lines between zoo and theme park disappear in a celebration of ecosystems, culture and history.”
The AECOM team brings together multidisciplinary experts from the region and worldwide, including master planners, landscape architects, architects, zoo designers, themed-content developers, and economists. The proposal opens the entire lakefront for community use, reconnecting the city to the waterfront and breaking down the traditional segregated organizational structure of visitor attractions and programming.
The new design combines conventionally separate experiences into one. Lush botanical displays, exotic animal exhibits, and exciting rides are woven together to provide a comprehensive, informed experience of our Living World. The plan proposes new attractions, including Seoul Walk and Lakeside Park, a Night Safari at the Great Savanna, Korean Forest, Jungle Cruise, and an entry Winter Garden complete with a giant waterfall.”
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“AECOM is renowned for a broad range of planning and design services for cities, public realms and urban parks, including the 2012 London Olympics Legacy Master Plan framework and Saadiyat Island master plan. The company also has extensive experience with theme parks, including planning and design services for the Universal Studios Island of Adventure Theme Park in Florida, Disney’s California Adventure Park in Anaheim and Disneyland Paris as well as economic analysis for the Busch Entertainment Parks, Universal Studios in Singapore and San Diego Zoo.
AECOM’s connection to Seoul Grand Park extends to its former companies EDAW, a landscape architecture and planning firm which developed the original theme park plan in the 1980’s, and ERA, an economic consulting firm who conducted the economic feasibility study of the original Seoul Grand Park in the late 1970’s and a revitalization program for the Seoul Zoo in 2001.”
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“Howard Altman, Senior Vice President with AECOM’s Design + Planning practice, directed the original design and participated in the current competition. “This is a unique opportunity to re-think Seoul Grand Park, taking amusement and zoo attractions into a new paradigm of leisure, entertainment and learning for the future.”

Images: AECOM
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Bustler

‘Perkins+Will’s Master Plan for SANY Beijing was selected as the first place winner in the “Conceptual Design” category at the 8th International Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism. The judging committee based their award selection on four central themes of the exhibition: spatiality, connectivity, originality and sustainability.”
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The Perkins+Will submission featured the SANY Beijing Master Plan which consolidated existing plans into one. SANY, the largest heavy equipment manufacturer in China and one of the top 10 heavy equipment manufacturers in the world, wanted to achieve a higher degree of efficiency in their manufacturing process and create a memorable visitor experience. These elements along with a great degree of environmental efficiency were major guiding principles behind the design.
Perkins+Will’s solution came from a truly collaborative and interdisciplinary effort, led by the Urban Design group, Corporate + Commercial + Civic architecture group and the Shanghai office. They worked under one umbrella goal: the campuses should exist in harmony with nature. By following this concept the team achieved the following:

* Created and preserved wetlands
* Protected sensitive watersheds
* Buildings designed for optimal solar orientation and community interaction
* A distinctive brand image defined for SANY, while providing for exponential growth in their manufacturing base

The design also took local culture into consideration by emulating the Peng, a Chinese mythological bird. Perkins+Will used the Peng as inspiration to unify the three main buildings for both design and operational functionality.
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“The new building for Hamburg’s Behörde für Stadtentwicklung und Umwelt/BSU (Office for Urban Development and Environment) consists of one high rise and two wing buildings. Public BSU facilities, like areas for exhibitions and restaurants, are located in the street level floors. The foot of the high rise structure will house a central lobby. Like an amphitheater, it is envisioned to host the exhibition of Hamburg’s urban model which will be highly visible through the large glass facade. From here, the library and conference center can be accessed as well.
Besides the high rise, the concept is structured in seven separate ‘houses’ which are connected via an access ‘road’ that is lit with natural light. Each house has its own open staircase atrium which enhances easy orientation, efficient vertical access, good distribution of natural light into interior spaces, and natural cross-ventilation. Reducing the building’s energy consumption by combining passive and active measures was one of the key ideas behind the concept. Besides enhanced thermal insulation, reasonable transparency, and protection from intense sunlight in the facades, the compact building volume uses renewable resources like natural lighting, natural cross-ventilation, and sun-powered heating. Energy harvested from geothermal and solar equipment is being combined with a gas-powered combined heat and power unit.
The design of the building’s spaces and surfaces supports the quantitatively measurable comfort with an architectural and environmental quality that is appropriate for the agenda of sustainability.”
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Source: Bustler
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