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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

THUR 6.30PM 31MAR: Jane Jacobs at Museum of the City of New York

Reconsidering Jane Jacobs; Thursday Evening Lectuire at MCNY

Type: LECTURE
Date: 3/31/2011
Time: 6:30pm
Address: Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue
NY , New York



Fifty years after publishing The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs is perhaps the most widely read urbanist ever. She transformed urban planning and with it our cities and neighborhoods. And yet, we no longer live in the world of Death and Life, even as urbanists of all political persuasions claim Jacobs's mantle and all but deify her.



Max Page, co-editor of Reconsidering Jane Jacobs (APA Planners Press, 2011), along with urban planners, historians, and critics go beyond the usual discussion of Jacobs and take an unsentimental look at her continuing relevance—or lack thereof—to planning in New York today.



RESERVATIONS REQUIRED

$12 Non-Members

$8 Seniors and Students

$6 Museum Members



*A two dollar surcharge applies for unreserved, walk-in participants.



For more information please call 917-492-3395.

Museum of the City of New York website

Monday, March 28, 2011

April 2011 Architectural Competitions

31MAR11: NEW SCHOOL OF PHARMACY IN SEVILLA

Sponsor: Universidad de Sevilla
Type: Open Ideas
Location: Spain
Language: Spanish
Eligibility: Spanish architects
Submission Deadline: March 31, 2011

Awards:
First prize – 30,000 EUR
Second prize - 15,000 EUR
Third prize – 10,000 EUR

Design Challenge:

Ideas competition for the selection of a technical proposal for the design of the School of Pharmacy to be located next to the University Hospitals Virgen del Rocio
For more information, go to: http://www.us.es
Email: contratacion@us.es





01APR11: TULLAMORE COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

Sponsor: RIAI, Offaly County Council
Type: Open 2-stage
Location: Ireland
Language: English
Fee: E121.00
Eligibility: Architects

Timetable:
March 4, 2011 – Questions deadline
April 1 – Registration deadline
April 8 – Submission deadline
Awards:
E10,000 for shortlisted entries
Jury:
Pat Gallagher - County Manager, Offaly County Council
Declan Harvey - Councillor, Tullamore Town Council
Molly Buckley - Councillor, Offaly County Council
Sinead O’Reilly - Arts Officer, Offaly County Council
Brian Gunning - Tullamore Musical Society
Eddie Conroy - County Architect, South Dublin County Council
Marguerite Murphy - County Architect, Fingal County Council
Bernadette Solon - Architect, Westmeath County Council

Design Challenge:

The vision and intention of developing a multidisciplinary community arts centre in the heart of Tullamore, stems from a much documented need to converge and focus the creative potential of Tullamore; its artists, its young people and the wider community. The activity at the centre will harness and be a catalyst for this creative potential by providing opportunities for participation in the arts as well as presenting a dynamic programme of local, regional, national and international arts events.

Submission Requirements:
one A1 size sheet and technical report
For more information, go to: www.riai.ie
Email: koneill@riai.ie






04APR11: BOGOTA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTER

Sponsor: Bogota Chamber of Commerce
Type: International Two-stage
Location: Bogota, Colombia
Language: English and Spanish
Fee: Free
Eligibility: Professional architects

Timetable:
March 24, 2011 – Questions deadline
April 4 – Stage one submission deadline
May 2 – Stage two opens
July 27 – Stage two submission deadline
August 1 – Winner announced

Awards:
$30,000 each for five shortlisted teams
Jury:
Consuelo Cladas Cano, CEO of Bogota Chamber of Commerce
Andres Lopen Valderrama, CEO of CORFERIAS
Juan Pablo Ortiz, Columbian Society of Architects
Rudolfo Machado, Machado and Silvetti Associates
Carlos Kimenez, architect, Houston, Texas
Carlos Cubillos Camacho, architect, SOM

Design Challenge:

The built area of the facility is estimated to be approximately 25,000 m2 in programmed space plus two levels of underground parking. A detailed program will be available in the Stage 2 design brief for shortlisted firms. It is expected that this building will meet or exceed the USGBC standards for LEED GOLD or similar. It is the intention of CCB to have the CICB built, and operational in May of 2014.

Submission Requirements:

Digital submission of RFQ less than 60 pages
For more information, go to: http://www.ccb.co/conventioncenter/




28APR2011: ISTANBUL DISASTER PREVENTION AND EDUCATION CENTRE

Sponsor: ThyssenKrupp
Type: Open Ideas
Location: Istanbul
Language: English
Fee: Free
Eligibility: Any team led by an architect

Timetable:

April 28, 2011 — Registration deadline
September 19 — Submission deadline
November/December — Announcement of results


Awards:

First prize - $100,000 (and possible commissioning to carry out the final design)
Second Prize - $50,000
Third prize - $20,000
Jury:
Jaume Duro y Pifarre, Former Chairman, International Union of Architects
Rafael de la Hoz Castanys, Architect
Dalila ElKerdany, Architect
Nabil Gholam, Architect
Sulan Kolatan, Architect
Mehmet (Aires) Mateus, Architect
Antonio Ortiz Garcia, Architect
Suha Ozkan, Architect
Han Tumertekin, Architect
Alfonso Vegara, Architect
Ali Riza Parsa, Architect

Design Challenge:

This International Architecture Competition is called in order to select the design of an Istanbul Disaster Prevention and Education Centre, which is to be the first institution in Turkey with the intended facilities.
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality is willing to establish a centre fully equipped with adequate technology and facilities in order to be prepared against a disaster that may affect Istanbul and to develop public consciousness about the disasters and specifically about earthquakes. The centre will also be hosting relevant courses, congresses and seminars.
Equipped with visual and audio educational appliances and simulation systems, the centre will allow experiencing earthquake, hurricane, fire fighting, smoke, liquefaction, tsunami, first aid and emergency communications. It is also intended to offer information to the visitors through a planetarium, library, seminar/meeting halls, information boards, etc. which are to be designed using the latest technology.

Submission Requirements:
A maximum of 5 rigid A1 panels and an optional written description of up to 2 A4 pages

For more information, go to: http://www.thyssenkrupp-elevator-architecture.com/

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Extreme Architecture to be key element of Sustainable Design



Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and floods spark a rethinking of building designs


In full light of events in Indonesia, New Orleans, Haiti and Japan, it is time for architects the world over to begin defining and developing a crucial new discipline, Extreme Architecture. To differentiate from the "extreme architecture" that signifies out-of-the-ordinary, sometimes into-the-woods building technologies at the fringes of humanity's habitats (a positive contribution, however in this context we are dealing equally with larger urban projects), I shall use a capital E as in Extreme to signify the architectural techniques that allow buildings to withstand extreme weather and catastrophic events. It is likely that Extreme Architecture will soon become a core component of Sustainable Design, and in time may ascend to the dominant new architectural form of the 21st Century. Skyscrapers may become relics, and earthscrapers innovative and intriguing.


The book Extreme Architecture explores building in the most challenging environments

In her book Extreme Architecture, author Ruth Slavid equates it to designing buildings for "extreme environments" with architecture that responds to its environment, and that's a great start. Her survey of close to fifty projects is divided into five sections (Hot, Cold, High, Wet, Space) that delineate the extremes architects must respond to.

According to an online review of Slavid's book Extreme Architecture, John at A Daily Dose of Architecture, the book is a worthy look / see / read:

The selection ranges from variations on the vernacular to far-fetched proposals that seem to exist only to push the envelope by pushing the limits of human existence. What is constant is Slavid's exemplary writing, descriptive and informative to be sure, but also able to hold the reader's interest project after project. Be it a school for a poor community, a ski jump, a floating house, or even a dirigible, Slavid's perspective on how the architecture responds to its conditions is consistent, not seduced by the fastastical nature of the most extreme of the extreme.






Svalbard global seed vault


Sustainable design means more than just greenness

If you really think about it, how sustainable is a building if it only stands for fifteen or even thirty five years? Extreme Architecture will spring to life and become the bridge between traditional sustainable design, and the more extreme architectural discipline of arcology, which comprises self-contained ecospheres generally designed to survive in space or on water. Extreme architecture will be almost entirely ground-based, and will have deep foundations and flowing structures.

The lessons learned from building in challenging environments all over the world need to be combined in a new sub-discipline of Sustainable Design. Crucial infrastructure buildings must respond to their environments, be able to handle extreme weather, and in certain areas be built with the understanding that catastrophic events like earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and tornadoes may occur.


Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt

While the buildings of Santiago Calatrava may be among the most inspirational of all time, some works of architects like Mario Botta and Steven Holl at least appear to have more substance, a deeper physical permanence. Where Frank Lloyd Wright and Calatrava point the way, others will come along and add weight and durability. My point being, even in a world where an architect must design a liveable, energy-efficient, green building that can withstand weather perhaps not yet seen by man, she must still retain and exhibit a core and spark of creative genius.

In the nineteenth century we looked to the skyline and saw steeples, and thought of God. In the twentieth century, we saw bank towers and thought of money and the good life.

In the twenty-first century, we will look to new city skylines for ingenuity and artistry, for composition and balance, for innovation and brilliance. Extreme Architects, bring it on!!!

Joseph Edward Trainor
July 15th, 2011
Toronto, Canada



Toronto Portlands competition - Architect David Butterworth, Visualization and Design Samuel Zeng







Izmir Opera House in Turkey, by Nuvist Architecture and Design

Master of Science in Sustainability Management offered at Columbia U

Columbia University offers Masters in science of sustainability

Columbia University is now offering a Master of Science in Sustainability Management that is based upon years of experience in bridging research and practice. In response to the increasing global challenges all organizations face, from limiting their carbon emissions to managing their water resources, the program melds academic leadership, scientific rigor, and professional practice to form a unique interdisciplinary community dedicated to making lasting advances in global sustainability practice.

The Earth Institute and the School of Continuing Education involved in curriculum

The Masters program is co-sponsored by The Earth Institute and the School of Continuing Education. It includes new and existing courses at the University, taught by faculty and researchers who are leaders in the fields of earth science, engineering and environmental management. The program utilizes environmental and sustainable development research to provide practical training to a new generation of professionals who will address critical interdisciplinary issues.


For more info on new Masters of Sustainability Management program:

Columbia's Master of Science in Sustainability Management is designed for those who want to learn how to address the pressing and complex issues of environmental and sustainability management.


Master of Science in Sustainability Management
School of Continuing Education
Columbia University
203 Lewisohn Hall, MC 4110
2970 Broadway
New York, NY 10027

Online info and application, Master of Science in Sustainability Management

Monday, March 14, 2011

Mario Botta rocks! Iconic, emblematic visionary architect



Mario Botta shows the way for futuristic architecture

Born April 1, 1943, Mario Botta is a Swiss architect at the forefront of 21st Century Architecture. His style is emblematic of the flowing, sustainable buildings that will increasingly be at the forefront of twenty-first century architectural design.

Together with leading modern architects such as Santiago Calatrava, Frank Gehry, Daniel Libeskind, Moshe Safdie, Rem Koolhas, Steven Holl, Coop Himmelblau and Pelli Clarke Pelli, Mario Botta is considered to be one of the most forward-thinking, inspirational arhitects of this 21st Century.

Botta studied at the Liceo Artistico in Milan and the IUAV in Venice. His ideas were influenced by Le Corbusier, Carlo Scarpa, Louis Kahn. He opened his own practice in 1970 in Lugano. He designed his first buildings at age 16, a two-family house at Morbio Superiore in Ticino. While the arrangements of spaces in this structure is inconsistent, its relationship to its site, separation of living from service spaces, and deep window recesses echo of what would become his stark, strong, towering style.


Le Corbusier's influence on young architect Mario Botta

Le Corbusier has been characterized by Mario Botta as being, for him, "the history of architecture." Corbusier represents, in Mario Botta's early training, most of his impressions of modern architecture as well as the notion that the profession of architecture can assist society. Mario Botta worked in the master's studio with Jullian de la Fuente and Jose Oubrerie on a new hospital project for Venice. Mario Botta was there six months, but the master died at the beginning of his tenure.

Mario Botta's designs often include a strong sense of geometry, often being based on very simple shapes, yet creating unique volumes of space. His buildings are often made of brick, yet his use of material is wide, varied, and often unique. His trademark style can be seen widely in Switzerland particularly the Ticino region and also in the Mediatheque in Villeurbanne (1988), a cathedral in Évry (1995), and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art or SFMOMA (1994).




Tschuggen Bergoase Spa by architect Mario Botta








Cathedral of Resurrection, France






Bechter Museum in Charlotte, NC





Harting Technologiegruppe head office in Minden






Way to go, Mario! Stick with innovative, uplifting buildings, and you will keep inspiring humanity to higher heights.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Frank Lloyd Wright: Ahead by a century?


Frank Lloyd Wright's studio in Oak Park, IL, viewed from Chicago Avenue


20th Century architectural visionary's buildings belong in 21st

Frank Lloyd Wright (1893-1959) was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 projects, which resulted in more than 500 completed works. Wright promoted organic architecture (exemplified by Fallingwater), was a leader of the Prairie School movement of architecture (exemplified by the Robie House, the Westcott House, and the Darwin D. Martin House), and developed the concept of the Usonian home (exemplified by the Rosenbaum House). His work includes original and innovative examples of many different building types, including offices, churches, schools, skyscrapers, hotels, and museums. Wright also often designed many of the interior elements of his buildings, such as the furniture and stained glass.



Massaro House - 1955 sketch by Frank Lloyd Wright


Massaro House - Constructed in 2005


Wright authored 20 books and many articles, and was a popular lecturer in the United States and in Europe. His colorful personal life often made headlines, most notably for the 1914 fire and murders at his Taliesin studio. Already well-known during his lifetime, Wright was recognized in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects as "the greatest American architect of all time".



Guggenheim Museum by architect Frank Lloyd Wright





Organic Architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright - Falling Water house

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Online Guide to 21st Century Architecture

Futuristic buildings, sustainable architecture, green design

Please enjoy this wide range of website and blog links leading to brilliantly creative green buildings, innovative feminine architecture, top architectural colleges and architecture universities, plus sustainable design principles in action from the major architects of the 21st Century.



Leading Architectural Schools

2010 Greenway group Architecture School Rankings


Ten Best Undergraduate Architecture Schools

1. Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
2. Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.
3. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
4. Virginia Polytechnic institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.
5. University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
6. Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kans.
7. University of Oregon, Eugene, Ore.
8. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, R.I.
9. Rice University, Houston, Tex.
10. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.

Top Ten Graduate Architectural Universities

1. Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
2. Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
3. Columbia University, New York City
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
5. University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
6. University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
7. Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
8. Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, Va.
9. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
10. University of California, Berkeley, Calif.


Architectural colleges in USA, UK, Ireland, Scotland, Canada




3 Leading-edge Modern Architecture Studios




Futuristic buildings by Calatrava, Libeskind, Pelli Clarke Pelli

Santiago Calatrava

Pelli Clarke Pelli

Daniel Libeskind



1. Visionary architectural creations of Spain's Santiago Calatrava



Architectural Rendering of new World Trade Center Transportation Hub, designed by architect Santiago Calatrava






Santiago Calatrava offers architectural vision of 21st Century

A master of conceptual art and design, Santiago Calatrava is likely to be remembered as the first great architect of the 21st Century. Nothing captivates the mind and inspires the soul like the elegant buildings designed by Calatrava.

Here are some of the exquisite structures created by Santiago Calatrava:



Valencia; Calatrava's hometown





Tenerife Opera House





Valencia





Milwaukee Art Museum





Valencia, Spain


Official website of architect Santiago Calatrava





2. Gorgeous 21st Century Architecture from Pelli, Clarke, Pelli



Pelli Clarke Pelli has been a leader in environmentally sustainable design for over a decade. PCP Arch designs included sustainable strategies even before the U.S. Green Building Council established its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. PCP designed the country’s first residential tower to achieve LEED Platinum, the program’s highest rating. Their vision of sustainability extends beyond the technical concerns of reducing a building’s energy consumption; they believe that to be truly sustainable, a building's design must address the economic and cultural factors that make a project successful long into the future.

Photos and renderings of buildings designed by Cesar Pelli / Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects



Miami Center for the Performing Arts








Jingui Li in Wuxi, China







San Francisco Transbay Terminal


Pelli Clarke Pelli new projects:

PCP Arch designs new computer science complex at the University of Texas at Austin

PCP Architects' Vietcom Bank project in Vietnam breaks ground

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects designs Jingui Li green development in Wuxi, China




3. Cutting edge new architecture by Daniel Libeskind





New meets old: Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto, Canada

Daniel Libeskind's buildings are imaginative and daring, and his creations push the boundaries of architectural design to the point where technology and materials allow advances in building construction. Like Calatrava, engineering becomes paramount.

The Daniel Libeskind Studio is also developing and implementing sustainable design policies is like cream cheese icing on a delicious pineapple carrot cake, just keeps getting better.



MGM Mirage hotel/casino complex in Las Vegas, Nevada





Grand Canal Square in Dublin, Ireland





Competition rendering for Gazprom headquarters in St. Petersburg, Russia




Daniel Libeskind's pre-fab sustainable home





Modern Architecture Fine Art Photography


Architectural photography of Philip Castleton

Architectural photographer Ted Van Cleave




20 Best Architectural Company Websites



Bjarke Ingels Group - Copenhagen

With BIG, Bjarke Ingels has continued the ideology from PLOT and has several major projects under construction or development both in Denmark and abroad. These include BIH House in Ørestad and the new Danish national Maritime museum in Elsinore, hotel projects in Norway, a highrise designed in the shape of the Chinese character for 'people' for Shanghai, a masterplan for the redevelopment of a former naval base and oil industry wasteland into a zero-emission resort and entertainment city off the coast of Baku, Azerbaijan, shaped as the seven mountains of the country, and a museum overlooking Mexico City.

Under the BIG Banner Bjarke recently published "Yes is more - an archcomic on architectural evolution".




Santiago Calatrava Architect - Zurich

Santiago Calatrava Valls (Valencian pronunciation: [santiˈaɣo kalaˈtɾava], born 28 July 1951) is an internationally recognized and award-winning Valencian Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zürich, Switzerland. Classed now among the elite designers of the world, he has offices in Zürich, Paris, Valencia, and New York City.

Calatrava's style has been heralded as bridging the division between structural engineering and architecture. In the projects, he continues a tradition of Spanish modernist engineering that includes Félix Candela and Antonio Gaudí. Nonetheless, his style is also very personal and derives from numerous studies of the human body and the natural world.



C F Moller Architects - Denmark

C. F. Møller Architects is one of Scandinavia's oldest and largest architectural practices. Our work involves a wide range of expertise that covers programme analysis, town planning, master planning, all architectural services including landscape architecture, as well as the development and design of building components.

Simplicity, clarity and unpretentiousness, the ideals that have guided our work since the practice was established in 1924, are continually re-interpreted to suit individual projects, always site-specific and based on international trends and regional characteristics.



Coop Himmelblau Architects

Coop Himmelb(l)au (1968-) is a cooperative architectural design firm primarily located in Vienna, Austria and which now also maintains offices in Los Angeles, United States and Guadalajara, Mexico. The firm's name Himmelblau translates from German into English as 'sky blue', Himmelbau translates to 'heaven construction'. The term Coop in the title is pronounced as is the business abbreviation for cooperative, co-op. Coop Himmelblau was founded by Wolf Prix, Helmut Swiczinsky and Michael Holzer.



Hariri Pontarini Architects - Toronto

Hariri Pontarini Architects, established in 1994, is a Toronto-based architectural practice drawing on the collective skills and expertise of over 45 registered and intern architects, and support staff. HPA’s portfolio builds upon learnt knowledge, technical innovation and design excellence of each successive project, revealing the conception of refined architecture with crafted details. The firm excels in creative design and managing complex projects within strict timelines and budget.


JDS Architects - Copenhagen

Julien De Smedt (born 3 December 1975 in Brussels) is a Belgian-Danish architect based in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 2001 he went to Copenhagen to set up the architectural practice PLOT together with OMA colleague Bjarke Ingels. The company fast achieved success and received significant national and international acclaim.

In spite of the success and attention, PLOT was disbanded in January 2006 and Julien De Smedt founded Julien De Smedt Architects (JDS, first called Julien De Smedt Design], while his former partner founded Bjarke Ingels Group. In 2007 JDS won their first major project when they won the international competition for the New Holmenkollen Ski Jump in Oslo, one of the city's major landmarks. Other major competition wins include a residential project in the old docklands of Århus, Denmark, and a Harbour development project in Copenhagen.



Kirkor Architects - Toronto

Kirkor Architects + Planners was founded in 1990 by partners Steven Kirshenblatt and Clifford Korman. It has developed into a firm of nearly 60 architects and is a multi-faceted architectural design and planning firm with an award winning reputation for design excellence and client service. We are a highly collaborative, partner driven team of about 60 architects, designers, planners, technical and support staff working on projects across North America and around the world.




Daniel Libeskind Studio - New York and Zurich

Daniel Libeskind is the Principal Design Architect in Studio Daniel Libeskind and solely responsible for all design decisions. Every project is developed with a consistent core team, which works together throughout the design process toward the eventual realization of the project. Within the Studio, teams are set up in individual project rooms and great emphasis is placed on working together.

Design and planning issues are sketched by Mr. Libeskind, alternatives drawn up by the team, discussed and reworked with Mr. Libeskind through regular internal presentations which act as in-house critiques and then reworked until the solution is agreed upon by him. The Project Architects coordinate the work of the team and maintain continual design contact and development with Daniel Libeskind ensuring the ongoing quality of the work in the well-recognized Studio tradition.



Richard Meier & Partners Architects - New York and Los Angeles

Richard Meier & Partners Architects has offices in New York and Los Angeles with current projects ranging from China and Tel Aviv to Paris and Hamburg.
Much of Meier's work builds on the work of architects of the early to mid-20th century, especially that of Le Corbusier and, in particular, Le Corbusier's early phase. Meier has built more using Corbusier's ideas than anyone, including Le Corbusier himself. Meier expanded many ideas evident in Le Corbusier's work, particularly the Villa Savoye and the Swiss Pavilion.

His work also reflects the influences of other designers such as Mies Van der Rohe and, in some instances, Frank Lloyd Wright and Luis Barragán. White has been used in many architectural landmark buildings throughout history, including cathedrals and the white-washed villages of the Mediterranean region, in Spain, southern Italy and Greece.



Morphosis Architects - Los Angeles and New York

Founded in 1972, Morphosis is an interdisciplinary practice involved in rigorous design and research that yields innovative, iconic buildings and urban environments. With founder Thom Mayne serving as design director, the firm today consists of a group of more than 50 professionals, who remain committed to the practice of architecture as a collaborative enterprise. With projects worldwide, the firm’s work ranges in scale from residential, institutional, and civic buildings to large urban planning projects. Named after the Greek term, morphosis, meaning to form or be in formation, Morphosis is a dynamic and evolving practice that responds to the shifting and advancing social, cultural, political and technological conditions of modern life.



Olson Kundig Architects - Seattle WA

Olson Kundig Architects began its creative existence with architect Jim Olson, whose work in the late 1960s explored the relationship between dwellings and the landscape they inhabit in the Northwest. Olson started the firm based on some simple ideas: that buildings can serve as a bridge between nature, culture and people, and that inspiring surroundings have a positive effect on people’s lives. Rick Sundberg joined the firm in 1975, and its commitment to urbanism and civic life became evident as they began designing and developing modern urban buildings in and around Seattle’s national historic districts Pike Place Market and Pioneer Square.

In 1996, Tom Kundig joined Olson and Sundberg as an owner, taking the firm to another level of creative exploration and helping it grow into an office with an international reputation. Alan Maskin and Kirsten Murray joined the owners group in 2008, continuing the evolution of the firm and furthering its commitment to the experience around architecture, articulated in exhibit design, interiors, and connections to urban and rural landscapes.



Philip Johnson Alan Richie Architects - New York

The firm of Philip Johnson/Alan Ritchie Architects has been recognized as one of the most creative and innovative architectural firms for over half a century. Philip Johnson's leadership in the modern movement, and later playing a seminal role in the introduction of post-modernism and deconstructivism, has helped to form new ideas and exciting directions in design and architecture around the world. Now, under the leadership of Alan Ritchie, who worked with Philip Johnson for over twenty-five years, the firm continues to explore and present new and cutting edge designs. In 2004, when Philip Johnson retired, he expressed his confidence in passing on his legacy on to Alan Ritchie.

Philip Johnson/Alan Ritchie Architects is a New York Professional Corporation, with a staff of over twenty people and an in-house interior design group. The firm also has a registered architectural office in Shanghai, China with a staff of eighteen.

Alan Ritchie, the managing partner of the firm, is a respected designer in his own right and has been responsible for the implementation of many of the office's most important designs.



Steven Holl Architects - New York

Steven Holl Architects (SHA) focus on Design Excellence and Green Innovation, and is a 50 person innovative architecture and urban design office working globally as one office from two locations; New York City and Beijing. Steven Holl leads the office with partners Chris McVoy (New York) and Li Hu (Beijing). Steven Holl Architects is internationally-honored with architecture's most prestigious awards, publications and exhibitions for excellence in design. Steven Holl Architects has realized architectural works nationally and overseas, with extensive experience in the arts (including museum, gallery, and exhibition design), campus and educational facilities, and residential work. Other projects include retail design, office design, public utilities, and master planning.



OMA Rem Koolhaas Studio - The Netherlands

OMA is a leading international partnership practicing architecture, urbanism, and cultural analysis. The office is led by seven partners – Rem Koolhaas, Ellen van Loon, Reinier de Graaf, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, David Gianotten and Managing Partner, Victor van der Chijs



Pei Cobb Freed and Partners - New York NY

Since its formation in 1955, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners (formerly I. M. Pei & Partners) has completed more than two hundred projects in over a hundred cities across North America and around the world. The firm's clients have included major corporations, private developers and public authorities, as well as educational, cultural and religious institutions. Among its best known works are the John F. Kennedy Library, John Hancock Tower and John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse and Harborpark in Boston; the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and Fountain Place in Dallas; Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong; First Interstate Tower in Los Angeles; First Bank Place in Minneapolis; Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York; National Constitution Center on Independence Mall in Philadelphia, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.




Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects - New Haven CT

Founded in 1977, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects has earned a reputation for designing buildings that express the core values of our clients. We have designed many of the world’s most recognizable buildings, including the World Financial Center in New York, the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, and the International Finance Centre in Hong Kong.


REX Architecture Studio - New York City

The implementation of good ideas demands as much, if not more, creativity than their conceptualization. To execute vision and retain the insight that facilitates architectural invention, REX re-engages responsibility. Processes, including contractual relationships, project schedules, and procurement strategies, are the things with which we design.


Studio Under Manufacture - Oakland CA

Studio Under Manufacture was founded in 2002, in an effort to merge disciplines of architecture and design alongside emerging methods of making and management techniques necessary to implement unique solutions.


Bernard Tschumi Architects - New York and Paris

Dedicated to the interface between 21st-century culture and architecture, Bernard Tschumi Architects is an international architectural and urban design services firm with over $1 billion worth of projects for institutional, private, and civic clients, with offices in New York and Paris.


UNStudio Architects - Amsterdam

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.



Architecture and Green Design related links:

Top architectural visualization 3d rendering companies


World's Top Architecture Websites and Blogs


Modern architecture in North africa and the Middle East


The Economist report World's 10 Most Livable Cities


Spain's Architectural Marvels: Modern Buildings in Barcelona, Bilboa, Valencia, Zaragoza


Architecture in China; Dalian International Conference

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.

- John F Kennedy, 1962

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

3 Leading-edge modern architecture studios

Futuristic buildings by Calatrava, Libeskind, Pelli Clarke Pelli

Santiago Calatrava

Pelli Clarke Pelli

Daniel Libeskind



1. Visionary architectural creations of Spain's Santiago Calatrava



Architectural Rendering of new World Trade Center Transportation Hub, designed by architect Santiago Calatrava






Santiago Calatrava offers architectural vision of 21st Century

A master of conceptual art and design, Santiago Calatrava is likely to be remembered as the first great architect of the 21st Century. Nothing captivates the mind and inspires the soul like the elegant buildings designed by Calatrava.

Here are some of the exquisite structures created by Santiago Calatrava:



Valencia; Calatrava's hometown





Tenerife Opera House





Valencia





Milwaukee Art Museum





Valencia, Spain


Official website of architect Santiago Calatrava





2. Wondrous 21st Century Architecture from Pelli, Clarke, Pelli



Pelli Clarke Pelli has been a leader in environmentally sustainable design for over a decade. PCP Arch designs included sustainable strategies even before the U.S. Green Building Council established its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. PCP designed the country’s first residential tower to achieve LEED Platinum, the program’s highest rating. Their vision of sustainability extends beyond the technical concerns of reducing a building’s energy consumption; they believe that to be truly sustainable, a building's design must address the economic and cultural factors that make a project successful long into the future.

Photos and renderings of buildings designed by Cesar Pelli / Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects



Miami Center for the Performing Arts








Jingui Li in Wuxi, China







San Francisco Transbay Terminal


Pelli Clarke Pelli new projects:

PCP Arch designs new computer science complex at the University of Texas at Austin

PCP Architects' Vietcom Bank project in Vietnam breaks ground

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects designs Jingui Li green development in Wuxi, China






3. Cutting edge new architecture by Daniel Libeskind





New meets old: Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto, Canada


Love them or hate them, nobody can say that Daniel Libeskind's buildings lack imagination and daring. Though it's been said that some of Daniel's creations are better for viewing than for living or working (hello ROM...) in, Libeskind's output pushes the boundaries of architectural design to the point where technology and materials allow advances in building construction.

The fact that the Daniel Libeskind Studio is also developing and implementing sustainable design policies is like cream cheese icing on a delicious pineapple carrot cake, just keeps getting better.



MGM Mirage hotel/casino complex in Las Vegas, Nevada






Grand Canal Square in Dublin, Ireland






Competition rendering for Gazprom headquarters in St. Petersburg, Russia









Libeskind-designed house in Connecticut






Daniel Libeskind's pre-fab sustainable home

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