Transforming a Helsinki Harbor Site

The Makasiiniranta South Harbor Competition Helsinki South Harbour and Tori Quarter Suomen Ilmakuva Helsinki. Image credit/ Tietoa Finland, Janne Hirvonen

 

As a prelude to a competition for the design of a new Architecture and Design Museum to be located in Helsinki’s South Harbor, the City of Finland staged an open competition to establish a

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The Rural Countryside as Classroom

 

Countryside Dilemmas – New Rural Planning

 

1st Place – ©Tianjin University Team

 

Planning used to be at the bottom of Chinese students’ lists of design priorities. One western architect, whose firm was at the forefront in the design and implementation of numerous planning projects in China, surmised that planning was

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Reimagining the Thompson Center

 

Public Pool Image: ©Perkins&Will

 

The Chicago Architecture Club Shines the Spotlight on

Another Endangered Landmark

 

What do Bertrad Goldberg and Helmut Jahn have in common? Besides having high-profile buildings threatened by demolition, both served as subject matter for two competitions sponsored by the Chicago Architecture Club (CAC)—raising public

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High Density Housing in the Suburbs?

 

An Ideas Competition in Berlin Seeks Answers

 

Winning entry perspective Image: ©AllesWirdGut Architekten

 

Berlin developer HOWOGE recently staged what was regarded as a “planning Laboratory” competition for a model satellite in northwest Berlin. The brief for this invited competition noted that the urban sprawl, which had accompanied the reunification of

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A Russian City Sets Its Priorities in the Public Realm

 

Astrakhan Looks to Raise Its Quality of Life Index

 

Aerial view of downtown Astrakhan

 

 

Planning competitions with a strong landscape component take many forms, including some for plazas and gateways to major town centers, city neighborhood sites with multi-story housing units, university campus plans and finally, comprehensive city plans—the latter

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Hightech Designs as Low- and Mid-Rise Research Models

 

Siemens Healthineers Campus, Bengaluru

 

Aerial View of site, Rendering: ©Eller + Eller Architekten

 

Siemens new Healthineers campus in Bengaluru, India, is hardly a milestone in the design of major R&D facilities. Although the winning design by Eller + Eller Architekten did include the necessity to go higher than the

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A New Meeting Place for Moscovites

 

SWA/Balsley Wins Paveletskaya Plaza Landscape Competition

 

Aerial view at night – courtesy SWA/Balsley 5+ Design

 

0f the nine railway stations in Moscow, Paveletskaya is the largest and one of the last of those that opened around the turn of the century. Compared to other Moscow stations, Paveletskaya, designed by Alexander Krasovsky

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An Urban Icon Emerges

 

The Urban Confluence Silicon Valley Competition

 

Urban Confluence Silicon Valley winner: ©SMAR Architecture Studio

 

After several stops and starts over an extended period of time, the winner of the Urban Confluence Design Competition was named in early March, 2021. SMAR Architecture Studio’s The Breeze of Innovation, which prevailed over two other

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Modular Wood Construction in the Spotlight: Urban Adaptation Competition

 

Image ©Francesco Allaixand Julio Orduña

 

Recently we are beginning to see a resurgence of wood as a primary building material, not only for detached residential housing, but also for multi-family and commercial urban structures. Masonry, steel, and composite materials are still the bread and butter of the construction industry; but wood

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San Jose’s Search for an Urban Icon

 

The Urban Confluence Silicon Valley Competition

 

Image ©SMAR Architecture

 

After several stops and starts, a decision to name the winner of the Urban Confluence Design Competition appears to be nearing its conclusion. In 2017, three founders of a local non-profit established The San Jose Light Tower Corporation (SJLTC). The founders

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