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 AR on Social Networks |
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| Jameson House in Vancouver by Foster + Partners |
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February 7, 2012
 Jameson House is a new 35-storey mixed-use tower in the heart of Vancouver and includes the first residential development to be completed by the practice in North America – completed at the end of last year, already the building is now almost fully occupied. The project combines the restoration of heritage buildings with new construction: the lower level offices and shops knit with the existing streetscape to reinvigorate the downtown neighbourhood, while the apartments above face dramatic views of the bay and create a new landmark on the skyline.
Fusing old and new, the site connects the city’s financial centre with its emerging creative hub, and the scheme integrates two 1920s Beaux Arts structures: the entire internal double-height volume of the A-listed Ceperley Rounsfell Building has been returned to its original configuration and the facade of the B-listed Royal Financial Building has been retained.
The development comprises eleven storeys of offices and shops, topped by twenty-three storeys of apartments. The tower’s form articulates these different functions: the first two storeys continue the row of shop units at street level, while the uppermost office floor aligns with the cornice line of the adjacent building. Contrasting with the flush facade of the offices, the residential floors curve outwards in four wide bays, which are staggered to allow daylight to reach neighbouring buildings and oriented to provide uninterrupted views of the landscape. |
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| Sports Concert Complex, Baku, Azerbaijan by gmp |
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February 5, 2012
 In May 2012, the Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku at Crystal Hall. Alpine Bau Deutschland GmbH, the general contractor for the project, was contracted on August 2nd, 2011 to design and implement a multipurpose event-venue that is meant to accommodate 25,000 spectators.
This challenging task was undertaken by combining the efforts of gmp · Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner, Alpine Bau Deutschland AG, and Nüssli International AG.
The Eurovision Song Contest takes place every year, which means that this striking crystal-shaped building on the peninsula near the city centre, right in the Caspian Sea and in the direct vicinity of one of the world’s highest flagpoles, had to be designed and constructed within a period of just eight months. The building is not a concert hall in the classical sense but a multi-functional indoor arena, which is intended to be a longer-term facility. Normally, event venues of comparable size, such as a football stadium, will require 4 to 5 years for design and construction. |
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| New Design Museum in London |
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February 4, 2012
 The Design Museum unveiled plans to create the world’s leading museum of design and architecture at the former Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington, London. Designs for the site have been produced by two of the world’s most innovative architectural practices: John Pawson has redesigned the interior of the Grade 2* listed building and OMA has planned the surrounding residential development.
The move will allow the new Design Museum to become a world class centre for design, nurturing British talent and its international influence on design of all kinds. It will bring the museum into Kensington’s cultural quarter, where it will join the V&A, Science Museum, Natural History Museum, Royal College of Art and Serpentine Gallery, creating a platform for the promotion and support of the next generation of creative talent.
The new building will open to the public in 2014, giving the Design Museum three times more space to showcase its unique collection. The museum aims to double its visitor numbers to 500,000 a year, and will greatly expand its education and public events programme with state of the art facilities. |
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| Give more. Schmidt Hammer Lassen architects exhibition opens in Berlin |
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February 2, 2012
 On the 3rd of February 2012, renowned Architecture Forum Aedes Gallery in Berlin opens an exhibition with the title Give more featuring projects by schmidt hammer lassen architects. Give more features nine selected architecture projects paraphrasing nine visions on how architecture can give more by adding value and positive change for people, places, and communities.
The approach of schmidt hammer lassen architects is that architecture creates change – architecture is not a goal in itself. schmidt hammer lassen architects strives to design buildings that meet the challenges of modern society; that shape the life for people and organisations; that make people come together in new ways.
“With the exhibition, we would like to focus on the significance of architecture as a tool for designing the framework for life. The essence of architecture is not merely a question of aesthetics, but to a greater extent a question of the value and meaning which architecture offers its users and society,” said Founding Partner at schmidt hammer lassen architects Mr. Bjarne Hammer.
The exhibition will run from 3rd February to 15th March 2012. |
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| Louvre Museum, Department of Islamic Arts |
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January 20, 2012
 After the 80s enlargement planned by I.M. Pei, the Louvre Museum in Paris continues to expand and be renewed thanks to a new contemporary architectural work.
As a matter of fact in the Summer of 2012, the Department of Islamic Arts opens in the Cour Visconti. Two new exhibition floors have been built to the plans of 2005 competition winners Rudy Ricciotti and Mario Bellini. The two-storey wing will be covered with a glass "veil", wrapped in a gold metal mesh. A perfect background for the exhibits: different from the Museum façades, yet elegantly integrated with them. |
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| Foster + Partners wins competition to design Ourense AVE Station |
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December 27, 2011
 Foster + Partners, in a joint venture with engineers, G.O.C. and Cabanelas Castelo Architects, has won an international competition to design a new high-speed rail station in the city of Ourense in Galicia, north western Spain. The design combines transport infrastructure with a new park, which will create a major new public space in the city and open up pedestrian links between the districts on each side of the tracks.
The high-speed AVE train station is located over the existing track level and integrates a bus station and parking area below. Above ground, the station’s presence is discreet and transparent, with glazed facades that allow views through to the mountains beyond. The concourse is sheltered beneath a sequence of lightweight roof canopies, which rise in a sweeping arc over the station and extend to shade the plaza and entrance to the park. The underside of the roof is reflective to bounce daylight down to the platforms, and between each canopy is a glazed, linear opening.
The park extends from the station plaza and is intersected by pools of water and a formal network of pedestrian walkways, which echo the alignment of the tracks and connect the streets of Barrio del Puente to Barrio Veintiuno. |
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| Chinese/German Eco-Park in Qingdao by gmp |
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December 12, 2011
 An ecologically designed city quarter for living and working is currently being developed in China’s Qingdao, on the coast of the Yellow Sea, to plans by architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp). The foundation stone was laid by Ernst Burgbacher, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Wang Chao, the Chinese Vice-Minister of Economics. The construction of the Chinese/German Eco-Park in Qingdao goes back to an agreement between the two countries, which was signed by the Federal Ministry for Economics and the Federal Ministry for the Environment during Angela Merkel’s state visit in July 2010; it is scheduled for completion in 2015.
With support from the German Society for Sustainable Building (DGNB) and Transsolar Consultants, gmp developed a list of criteria and measures integrating the highest possible proportion of regenerative energy sources into the master plan: in addition to wind and water power, as well as geothermal energy, the Eco-Park focuses particularly on solar energy. The conditions for this are very good in Qingdao as it has an above-average number of days of sunshine. |
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| BIG + OFF win the competition to design the Research Centre of the University of Jussieu in Paris |
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December 8, 2011
 BIG + Paris-based architects OFF, engineers Buro Happold, consultants Michel Forgue and environmental engineer Franck Boutte is the winning team to design the new 15.000 m2 research centre for Sorbonne’s Scientific university Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris.
The new multidisciplinary research centre, Paris PARC, located between Jean Nouvel’s Institut du Monde Arabe and the open green park of the Jussieu Campus will become a significant addition to the campus, strengthening the international appeal and openness of the leading French University for Science and Medicine. The facility will bring together academic scholars and the business community, while re-connecting the university physically and visually with the city of Paris. The winning team was honored as the best design among proposals from MVRDV, Lipsky Rollet, Mario Cucinella and Peripherique.
Paris PARC is located in the visual axis of the Notre Dame Cathedral in a dense context of university buildings from different historical periods. |
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| Schmidt Hammer Lassen. Office Tower in Warsaw |
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November 23, 2011
 schmidt hammer lassen architects has won the international architectural competition to design a 188 meter office tower in the financial district of central Warsaw, Poland. The 60,000 m2 high-rise building is to replace the existing ‘Ilmet’ building and will stand out as a modern landmark clearly identifiable in the Warsaw skyline by its unique elegant shape and appearance.
“The object of the competition was to design an office tower that will be a new landmark in the Warsaw skyline while at the same time capturing the full potential of the outstanding historic location,” said Founding Partner of schmidt hammer lassen architects, Mr John Lassen.
The building consists of three individually stepped rectangular volumes with increasing heights towards the east. The façades create a subtle rhythm in the cityscape by slightly shifting inwards and outwards, and the inclined rooflines preserve optimal light conditions for the adjacent buildings. |
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| McLaren Production Centre by Foster + Partners |
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November 21, 2011
 The McLaren Production Centre, the second building designed by Foster + Partners at McLaren’s Woking site, has been officially unveiled by Prime Minister David Cameron. The 34,500-square metre facility will house the assembly of all future McLaren Automotive road cars, including the recently- launched MP4-12C high-performance sports car; it has already led to the creation of a large number of skilled manufacturing jobs.
The state-of-the-art McLaren Production Centre is located to the south-west of the existing McLaren Technology Centre. The two buildings are connected by a subterranean walkway and share a common language of details and materials. The entrance, echoing the existing building, is a circular glass drum beneath the overhang of the roof canopy.
As a manufacturing facility, the building is inherently flexible, with a wide span between columns and fully integrated services.
» Read more |
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| Sarpi Border Checkpoint in Georgia |
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November 17, 2011
 November 2011 marks the completion of Sarpi Border Checkpoint. Designed by J. MAYER H. architects the customs checkpoint is situated at the Georgian border to Turkey, at the shore of the Black Sea.
With its cantilevering terraces, the tower is used as a viewing platform, with multiple levels overlooking the water and the steep part of the coastline.
In addition to the regular customs facilities, the structure also houses a cafeteria, staff rooms and a conference room.
The building welcomes visitors to Georgia, representing the progressive upsurge of the country. |
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| Steve Jobs 1955-2011 |
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October 6, 2011
A tribute from Lord Foster to Steve Jobs, Chairman of Apple
With my colleagues I would like to pay tribute to Steve Jobs. Like so many millions our lives have been profoundly and positively influenced by the innovations pioneered by Steve and Apple, names which are inseparable.
We were greatly privileged to know Steve as a person, as a friend and in every way so much more than a client. Steve was an inspiration and a role model. He encouraged us to develop new ways of looking at design to reflect his unique ability to weave backwards and forwards between grand strategy and the minutiae of the tiniest of internal fittings. For him no detail was small in its significance and he would be simultaneously questioning the headlines of our project together whilst he delved into its fine print.
He was the ultimate perfectionist and demanded of himself as he demanded of others. We are better as individuals and certainly wiser as architects through the experience of the last two years and more of working for him. His participation was so intense and creative that our memory will be that of working with one of the truly great designers and mentors.
Norman Foster
Architect
Chairman + Founder of Foster + Partners |
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