School 'Le Marais du Billet' by Graeme Mann & Patricia Capua Mann
The Lausanne based architects Graeme Mann & Patricia Capua Mann realised this new school complex for the community of Cheseaux, north of Lausanne. Built in the heart of the village on the same lot as the municipal building the two volumes form, protected from automobile traffic, a new “village square” that allows to organise major events and underscores the school’s public function.
Taastrup Theatre by COBE Copenhagen
The Danish architectural practice COBE recently unveiled this extension of the 1970s local community theatre, situated in a social housing neighborhood of Taastrup closed to Copenhagen. First the architects were commissioned to improve the energy consumption of the building but they used this opportunity to improve the general appeal and functionality of the building by introducing a second (isolating) theatre curtain around the rough concrete structure.
Centro Abierto de Actividades Ciudadanas by ParedesPino Arquitectos, photo by Jorge López Conde and Paredes Pino
The Madrid based ParedesPino Arquitectos recently completed this urban installation of permanent parasols, the Centro Abierto de Actividades Ciudadanas (CAAC), in Cordoba in the south of Spain.
The central piazza is located close to the train station and is venue for a market twice a week. The prefabricated parasols shade this higly frequented open space, solve the artificial lighting and allow drainage of water inside.
'Knocktopher Friary' by ODOS Architects
The Irish practice ODOS Architects realised this extension and refurbishment of an existing protected friary building in Knocktopher, Co. Kilkenny. Since the original collection of extensions and structures to the rear of the Friary building and adjoining Church were demolished the Dublin based architects were commisoned to design a new master plan for this small complex of buildings around a new central courtyard.
The 1929 Michigan Theater in Detroit now serves as a parking lot, the disonnance between its architecture and current usage symptomatic of the former industrial boom city's inexorable decline; photo Sean Hemmerle
When Joni Mitchell sang that ‘they paved paradise and put up a parking lot’, she neatly expressed our none-too-positive relationship with that most modern of building types, the car park. Architonic invites you to pull up to the bumper and take a look at a number of recent parking-garage projects that attempt to put a bit of love back into it all.
Seafarer's Centre by ARK-House Architects
The Finnish based practice ARK-house Architects recently realised the new building for the Seafarer’ Centre close to the main entrance to the Helsinki’s Vuosaari harbour. With its organic shape and the use of mailny natural materials it forms a strong contrast to the crushing hectare-sized steel warehouses, and the artificial landscape of tarmac fields and container seas which dominates the area. As the only public building in the area, its role is to serve as a place of respite; a small multipurpose building for the seamen that arrive at the harbour form afar.
Universita Luigi Bocconi by Grafton Architects, photo by Federico Brunetti
The Dublin based architectural practice Grafton Architects was founded by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara in 1978. Not long ago, in 2008 they realised the new building for the private Università Luigi Bocconi which hosts most of the research centers and institutes. When you pass the imposing monolith you will notice its beautiful materiality. The facade is constructed in a robust material, Ceppo, the local stone of Milan.
'Dream Cube' by ESI Design, photo by Basil Childers
The New York based architectural practice ESI Design realised the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion (SCP) which is characterised by its illuminated façade – an unique 3D display surface comprised of a 65 km long grid made from plastic tubes, each spaced half a meter apart with LEDs every ten inches. Heart of the pavilion is the Dream Cube Control Room, an immersive, interactive 360-degree theatre experience where the visitors’ collective movements trigger changes to millions of LED lights on the Dream Cube’s façade.
European Nature Reserve Observation Tower by terrain:loenhart&mayr
Recently the Munich based architectural practice terrain:loenhart&mayr unveiled The Murturm Nature Observation Tower at the Mur river in Austria. Following the principles of a double-helix the architects realised a sculptural structure of 27m height which allows scientific monitoring as well as visual access to the river renaturation project. The tower is the inital project of the larger scheme for the MUR NATURE RESERVE, designed by terrain:loenhart&mayr.
Middle East Technical University Modsimmer Modelling and Simulation Research Center, photo by Yunus Özkazanç – Kerem Yazgan
The Turkish architectural practice YAZGAN Design-Architecture-Construction designed the Modelling and Simulation Research Center for the Middle East Technical University Modsimmer in their hometown Ankara. The building’s composition is based on consecutive functional strips: sun shading steel frame, the eye-catching facade strip made from painted glass in five different colors, the strip of work spaces, storage, counter, shaft, door band, circulation band, atrium and the mirror coated pool base.
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