“Theatre of the Public Realm” by Moshe Safdie

The new Kauffman Center for Performing Arts designed by Moshe Safdie & Associates, with BNIM Associates, Associate Architects, aims to reaffirm the role of the arts in public life, and to give Kansas City, Mo., a pair of world-class performance venues.

Safdie Architects was hired 12 years ago by Julia Irene Kauffman, a prominent Kansas City philanthropist whose mother first proposed the idea, and provided the initial funding. From the beginning, Safdie was enthusiastic about the site: 13 acres crowning a slope that extends south into the city’s Crossroads Arts District. 

It was the prominence and visibility of the site that allowed him to conceive the project as an exercise in “urban extroversion,” a move to connect the performing arts to the city, and the city to the celebrating public.

CTBUH 10th Annual Awards Symposium

The CTBUH 2011 award winners will be recognized and awards conferred at the CTBUH 10th Annual Awards Ceremony & Dinner on November 3rd, 2011 at Illinois Institute of Technology. All of the winning projects and finalists will be celebrated at this gala event. Additionally from the four regional best tall building winners, one "Worldwide" winner will be chosen and announced to close out the Dinner event.

More Information: CTBUH

World's Most Expensive Building Being Built in S. Korea

It is more expensive than the Burj Khalifa, which cost around W11.5 million per 3.3 sq.m and costs 40 percent more than the Samsung Group headquarters in Seocho-dong, which cost W8.5 million per 3.3 sq.m.

The skyscraper will be packed with cutting-edge equipment and facilities. The structure was designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano, who created the Pompidou Center in Paris and London Bridge Tower.

Samsung Corporation, which also served as the main contractor on the Burj Khalifa and Taipei 101 (101 stories, 508 m), the latter in Taiwan, will build the new architectural landmark in Yongsan.

Scheduled to be built inside the international business district in Yongsan, the tower will not quite measure up to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (162 stories, 828 m) or the Lotte Super Tower being built in Jamsil (123 stories, 555 m), but it will be the most expensive building per square unit.

OODA's Twisted Cubic for Taipei City Museum of Art Harvests Rain and Sun

The Portuguese design firm enables the cubic building to harvest both rainwater and sunshine. And further demonstrating their commitment to sustainability, they intend to plant a mini forest around the museum in Taiwan in order to offset their anticipated carbon footprint.  Read more: OODA's Twisted Cubic Taipei City Museum of Art Harvests Rain and Sun.

Source: INHABITAT

THE NEXT GENERATION ® 2011 DESIGN IDEAS COMPETITION

Winning Design to be Awarded $10,000; Entry Deadline is January 31, 2011

Metropolis, the leading magazine for architecture and design professionals, announces the theme for its annual Next Generation® Design Competition, in partnership with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The challenge is to take an ordinary GSA office building in Los Angeles, apply immense skill and creative energy, and GET ZERO - Zero Environmental Impact. 

Casalgrande Ceramic Cloud by Kengo Kuma, Italy

This wonderful project of architecture designed by the Japanese master Kengo Kuma, a ceramic tile structure called "Casalgrande Ceramic Cloud". The monument is situated in front of the tile manufacturing headquarters in Padana, Italy.

Choi+Shine Wins BSA Unbuilt Architecture Award For ‘Land of Giants’

© 2010 Choi+Shine Architects, LLC

 Brookline, MA-based Jin Choi & Thomas Shine of Choi+Shine recently received the 2010 Boston Society of Architects Unbuilt Architecture Award for their “Land of Giants” project. The project was originally submitted for an Icelandic pylon competition, where it received an honorable mention. The competition was to find a new typology for Iceland’s high voltage power lines and pylons.

© 2010 Choi+Shine Architects, LLC

LAMP LIGHTING SOLUTIONS AWARDS ‘11

LAMP LIGHTING SOLUTIONS values the creativity, innovation and sustainability of the lighting projects, regardless of the manufacturer or the brand of lights used in the project.

The awards are divided into 4 categories:

1. Architectural Exterior Lighting
Lighting projects for exterior illumination such as: facades, sport facilities, monuments, canopies, etc.
2. Interior Lighting
Lighting projects for interior illumination such as: shops, restaurants, museums, exhibition halls, single buildings, offices, etc.
3. Urban and Landscape Lighting
Lighting projects for urban illumination such as: squares, roundabouts, avenues, streets, parks, bridges, etc.
4. Students Proposals