The Shard: Vertical City Will Tower Over London

Construction has begun on the Shard, a skyscraper that will be the tallest building in Western Europe and will provide amazing views of London. Designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop (who was also responsible for the California Academy of Sciences), the Shard was inspired by towering church spires and the masts of ships that once anchored on the Thames. The new mixed-use development is located in the heart of London Bridge Quarter and will sit adjacent to the London Bridge Station, one of the busiest train stations in London.

from Inhabitat » Architecture by Bridgette Meinhold

zaha hadid architects: burnham pavilion, chicago

The burnham pavilion by zaha hadid architects triggers the visitors’ curiosity and encourages them to consider the future of chicago. the design merges new formal concepts with the memory of burnham’s bold, historic urban planning. superimpositions of spatial structures with hidden traces of burnham’s plan are overlaid and inscribed within the structure to create unexpected results.

from Designboom - Weblog

Housing project in Helsingborg by Wilhelmson Arkitekter

Stockholm architects Wilhelmson Arkitekter have designed a housing project with windows that look like gilded picture frames. (more…)

from Dezeen by Zaynab D. Ziari

Colegio San Sebastian / Tidy Arquitectos

The College of Saint Sebastian Melipilla is a private institution with government funding of preschool education, elementary and middle school founded in 1997. Currently the facilities do not represent the level of academic excellence as the institution holding the indicators of the Ministry of Education. Precariedadsu addition to infrastructure, presents the problem of dispersion of venues, being physically separate sports facilities, pre-school levels, elementary and middle.

from Plataforma Arquitectura by David Basulto

j mayer h: metropol parasol - less than one year to go until completion

summer 2010 marks the opening of ‘metropol parasol’, the redevelopment of
plaza de la encarnacíon in seville, designed by j. mayer h. architects. after finishing
the concrete works in 2008, the parasols are under construction now. visiting the site
at the moment gives an impressive imagination of the final dimension and appearance.

from Designboom - Weblog

Biochemistry Center / Hawkins Brown

Oxford University’s science center was way behind the times. Although the center was equipped with state of the art technology and some of the brightest minds, its fragmented and independent research areas made any attempt at interaction between scientists impossible. Working off academic J Rogers Hollingsworth’s theory that when scientists can frequently converse and exchange ideas, major breakthroughs are bound to happen, Hawkins Brown’s new biochemistry building is a step in the right direction for Oxford.

from Arch Daily by Karen Cilento

rafael vinoly architects: bard college center for science and computation

the gabrielle h. reem and herbert j. kayden center for science and computation designed by rafael vinoly architects is located on the campus of bard college in annandale-on-hudson, new york. the building features spaces for biology, computer science and mathematics over its more than 49,000 square feet. there is additionally a number of laboratories, classrooms and auditorium. the exterior features a curving metal faНade that cantilevers over the ground. large expanses of glass allow light to flow through the open concept interior. the plan is arranged around a central spine with corridors connecting the two sides. within the building’s lobby are four pods clad in a different metals that contain the auditorium, two lecture rooms and a seminar room. the center’s design was awarded an AIA new york state citation for design.

photograph by brad feinknopf
from Designboom - Weblog

MAD architects: erdos museum, china

erdos museum by chinese MAD architects is located in the new city centre of erdos. driven by a booming economy, the municipal government of erdos are determined to create this new city, dozens of kilometers away from the current city, on a site that until recently was nothing but the gobi desert. the urban masterplan drew a symbolic but empty image of the ever rising sun on the grassland: a rigid and precise series of urban landscapes radiating from a central plaza, and ymbolizing the sun. this ordered plan fulfilled the wishes of the government, but shows no real consideration for the people who live in the city.

from Designboom - Weblog