MAG Landscape

03 Jul 2020 18:01

​Fast forward

Can worms replace workers?
Silk doesn`t seem like the sturdiest building material, but a group at MIT turned to 6,500 live silkworms to build a structure that connects nature with technology in a whole new way. They programmed a robotic arm to create a framework across a metal scaffold that gave the silkworms a roadmap to follow. When the worms were let loose on the structure, they responded to light, heat, and geometry, producing patterns that were a reflection of their environment. The resulting dome could inspire researchers to design and make man-made fiber structures never before imagined.
Silk Pavilion. Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.
MIT Media Lab Mediated Matter Group

Architecture can imitate the beautiful efficiency of nature

MAG Landscape

26 May 2020 18:50

​Fast forward

Can mushrooms replace stone?
These bricks are made of mushrooms. Mushrooms! The “bio-bricks” were grown inside of reflective trays made out of a mirrored film. These reflective containers were later used at the top of the tower to bounce daylight into the structure and the space around it. The tower`s shape is designed to be efficient, too, cooling itself by pushing hot air out at the top. In contrast to the energy-gobbling skyscrapers on New York City`s skyline, Hy-Fi offers a thought-provoking glimpse of the future. Hope you like mushrooms.
Hy-Fi: 2014 MoMA/PS1 Young Architects Program winner. Queens, New-York, United States

We can grow the future

MAG Landscape

03 Apr 2020 10:47

​Fast forward

Can a skyscraper be built in a day?
Building a skyscraper used to take years. But a group in China is changing everything we know about construction, building a fifteen-story hotel in six days, then a thirty-story hotel in just over two weeks. The secret is prefabrication: Large sections of the building were assembled in a factory, eliminating waste and delays at the building site. According to the China Academy of Building Research, the tower is five times more earthquake-resistant than a similar one built with traditional methods.
(Т30 Hotel, Broad Group. Hunan Province, China)

Even if buildings can happen in the blink of an eye, they should still stand the test of time

MAG Landscape

26 Oct 2019 17:01

​Can architecture pop-up?
A temporary social hub on Governors Island at the Figment arts festival is made of 53,780 recycled bottles – the amount thrown away in New York City every hour.
(Head in the Clouds. Governors Island, New York, United States)

MAG Landscape

24 Oct 2019 22:37

​Can architecture pop-up?
Designed with emerging chefs and food truck culture in mind, a lightweight, corrugated plastic shell can expand to accommodate dinners for two or fifty.
(PDU (Portable Dining Unit). San Francisco, California, United States)

MAG Landscape

18 Sep 2019 20:35

Scientists have laboratories? Architects have pop-ups. These temporary structures are tiny experiments in form and space.

MAG Landscape

30 Aug 2019 17:01

​How do you turn a grain silo into an art museum?
An ancient Elevator on the waterfront of Cape Town, consisting of forty-two concrete cylindrical towers-became a Museum. Because this structure did not have an open internal space with which to work, the architects carved it directly in eight Central towers (new technologies cutting in reinforced concrete allows to keep a smooth cut edges and enrich the space with new textures). The result was an oval atrium surrounded on all sides by concrete structures. In the underground tunnels of the Elevator arranged workshops in which artists work.
(Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. Cape Town, South Africa)

The building that used to feed the body now feeds the mind.

MAG Landscape

28 Aug 2019 17:01

​Can rubble tell a new story?
Rubble from natural disasters is reborn, fittingly, as a history museum in China. Architects used the debris accumulated through earthquakes to build the façade of this building, commissioned by the city of Ningbo. Built in this way, the architects vision becomes an icon of the past while advancing sustainable ideas of adapting existing materials to contemporary needs.
(Ningbo Museum. Ningbo, China)

Bricks don`t have an expiration date.

MAG Landscape

26 Aug 2019 17:01

​Can historic cities have futuristic public spaces?
When Seville decided to replace lot and bus station at its city center, officials were surprised to discover Roman ruins beneath the surface. What to do? Metropol Parasol was the winning scheme in an international competition that manages to protect the ruins, provide space for shopping and cafes, and create a grand new public square for the still-vibrant city. The six mushroomlike shading devices provide relief from the intense Andalusian sun, and visitors can climb to the top to take in a panoramic view of the walled city. Yet the craziest part of this swoopy landmark isn`t its form: It is made mostly of wood and is the largest glued structure on Earth.
(Metropol Parasol. Seville, Spain)

Cities are not time capsules.

MAG Landscape

22 Aug 2019 17:01

​Can ugly be pretty?
Newtown Creek is the largest of New York City`s fourteen wastewater treatment plants. The city could have easily stuck with a utilitarian design, but instead it decided to put $4,5 billion into overhauling the outmoded and environmentally unsound wastewater treatment facility, following a design that is sensitive to the surrounding residential neighborhood. Working with a team that included lighting artists and an environmental sculptor, the architects created a complex that uses form, material, and color to create a striking visual composition.
(Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. Brooklyn, New York, United States)

Industrial architecture doesn`t need to hide anymore.

MAG Landscape

19 Aug 2019 17:01

​Can you shop in a cathedral?
As the number of brick-and-mortar bookstores in the world dwindles, the ones that remain have become sacred places to retreat. So what better place for a Dutch bookseller to reimagine itself than inside a thirteenth-century Dominican cathedral? The soaring nave allows ample space for a three-story-high bookshelf, which spans the length of the space and contrasts with the Gothic stone architecture around it.
(Selexyz Dominicanen. Maastricht, Netherlands)

Retail therapy can be a holy experience.

MAG Landscape

11 Aug 2019 16:46

​Can architecture be from outer space?
The quickly growing city of Dalian asked architects to create a functioning conference and opera center, but also a visual landmark for the city – something that could become an icon for the local community and excite an international audience. The result is almost entirely self-referential, as if an alien ship landed on the banks of Dalian`s port. The building doesn`t look to context for its reference, it looks to the future. It`s a hopeful symbol of what the city will become: a place activated by visitors, commerce, and culture.
(Dalian International Conference Center. Dalian, China)

Architecture doesn`t predict the future, it creates the future.

MAG Landscape

06 Aug 2019 21:25

​Can balconies make waves?
Architectural innovation can take huge amounts of resources and time to bring to fruition. Sometimes though, the answer is in the smallest details. Underneath its exuberant form, this 82-story hotel and apartment building is really just a traditional rectangular skyscraper. When it came time to design the balconies, though, the architect became a sculptor and created curvy and changing platforms that jut out from the building up to 12 feet. From a distance, this minor alteration creates a huge spectacle – a sensual cloud floating on the Chicago skyline.
(Aqua Tower. Chicago, Illinois, United States)

Opportunity is in the details.

MAG Landscape

02 Aug 2019 17:01

​Can architecture be an Olympic sport?
Ski jumping is a death-defying sport; athletes risk life and limb to launch themselves impossibly high into the air. The village of Holmenkollen, in Norway, has been to the most legendary jumps of the last century, and a recent international competition aimed to raise its reputation even higher with a new sports campus and jumping hill. Clad in stainless steel mesh and cantilevered 226 feet, the ski jump is the longest of its kind, making sure it is always the center of attention.
(Holmenkollen Ski Jump. Oslo, Norway)

Architecture gives you wings.

MAG Landscape

30 Jul 2019 17:01

​Is pretty a public amenity?
In case you were wondering, this shape is called a rotated rhomboid. Clad in sixteen thousand hexagonal tiles, this Rodin sculpture museum`s muscular structure is wrapped in a shimmering mirrored skin. The pattern references Mexico City`s traditional colonial ceramic-tiled building facades and, like those buildings, changes in appearance with weather and the viewer`s vantage point, becoming a sculpture itself.
(Museo Soumaya. Mexico City, Mexico)

A museum can be as important as the art within.

MAG Landscape

02 Jul 2020 20:01

​Fast forward

Can skyscrapers be made of wood?
The idea of a wooden skyscraper raises eyebrows – and a lot of questions: Can it stand up in an earthquake? What if it catches fire? But this design competition winner proposes a thirty-four-story wooden skyscraper that would have the safety attributes of steel or concrete, with less construction waste and better acoustics than traditional high rises. The idea is more than speculation; Sweden`s largest housing association plans to complete the tower by 2023.
HSB Stockholm competition winner (concept). Stockholm, Sweden
Berg | C.F. Møller Architects & DinnellJohansson

New ideas can grow on trees

MAG Landscape

22 May 2020 20:32

​Fast forward

Can bacteria be your architect?
A 6,000-kilometer-long inhabitable wall in the Sahara Desert isn`t built – it is grown, with the help of a bacteria that turns sand into sandstone. This is the concept behind Dune, a naturally generated sand structure that relies on a biological reaction: The sandstone is grown with the help of Bacillus pasteurii, a bacterial microorganism found in marshes and wetlands. Once introduced, the bacteria might be able to create a structurally sound and livable structure in less than a week, opening new possibilities for rapidly deployable refugee housing in the desert.
Dune (Concept). Sahara Desert, North Africa. Project by Magnus Larsson

The desert is a living place

MAG Landscape

01 Apr 2020 13:29

​What if a cow built your house?
To create this experimental structure, cleverly named The Truffle, a group of architects dug a hole, packed it with hay, and then poured concrete around it. After the concrete dried, a calf named Paulina moved in, eating the hay for a year and hollowing out a small cave in the process – all that was left in the end was the scratches and imprints of how the place was made. It is a fantastically hideous little building that became the most sublime place to watch a Spanish sunset. It`s also a true melding of the most important tenets of future building: reliance on known techniques, forward-thinking environmentalism, whimsy, and brilliant simplicity. Moo.
(“The Truffle”, Ensamble Studio. Costa da Morte, Spain)

The future of architecture will surprise you.

MAG Landscape

25 Oct 2019 17:01

​Can architecture pop-up?
A temporary floating wedding pavilion barely touches the ground, thanks to a balloon canopy filled with helium and draped in diaphanous fabric.
(Floatastic. New Haven, Connecticut, United States)

MAG Landscape

18 Sep 2019 20:37

​Can architecture pop-up?
Off-the-self acrylic tubes are assembled to create a rigid pavilion whose shape is inspired by a rough gemstone.
(Bulgari Art Pavilion. Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)

MAG Landscape

12 Sep 2019 17:01

​Can a brick become a healing force?
In 2011, Butaro Hospital opened a 150-bed medical facility that serves nearly 350,000 people in this region of Rwanda. The solution came in the form of these charming doctor`s homes, which give foreign staff a permanent residence just five minutes from the hospital. In building the homes, architects took a truly holistic view of the community`s needs and used the project as an opportunity to teach new skilled trades to the local community. On-site workshops taught local teams to make compressed stabilized earth blocks – bricks that are earthquake-safe and sustainable. These teams also learned to make the hospital`s custom furniture and light fixtures, as well as the earth-stabilizing landscaping techniques crucial to bringing agriculture to the region. With a total of nine hundred skilled laborers trained during the construction process, the effort brought better building practices, not to mention better medicine, to Rwanda for generations to come.
(Butaro Doctor`s Housing. Burato, Rwanda)

Buildings build futures.

MAG Landscape

29 Aug 2019 17:01

​Can a bunker become a power plant?
In the landmark ruins of the World War Two-era Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg flak bunker, a drastic reimagining of the structure`s purpose has taken place. It`s now a green machine that converts heat to energy and almost wipes out its own carbon footprint. But its history hasn`t been forgotten – located in the middle of a residential area, the bunker is also publically accessible as a memorial with a café.
(Energy Bunker. Hamburg, Germany)

Architecture reminds us that our memories are powerful.

MAG Landscape

27 Aug 2019 17:01

​Can a subway station make you want to be underground?
This Budapest subway station extension was planned during the 1980`s, but wasn`t implemented until the new millennium. New construction techniques allowed the architects to excavate of columns, beams, and escalators is illuminated by the sun through a glass ceiling, making this the subterranean space feel like a three-dimensional traffic intersection and transforming it into a valued public space.
(M4 Fovam ter and Szent Gellert ter stations. Budapest, Hungary)

Good architecture is worth the wait.

MAG Landscape

25 Aug 2019 13:27

​Can superhighways make good houses?
We have all driven on highways without realizing their enormousness. This house awakens us to the scale of our transportation infrastructure. It`s made using huge precast concrete beams that are traditionally fabricated for highway construction. A series of seemingly impossible cantilevers make us rethink our perceptions of gravity and scale. And check out that swimming pool!
(Homeroscopium House. Madrid, Spain)

Rethinking the obvious can create something entirely new.

MAG Landscape

21 Aug 2019 17:01

​Would you eat dinner in a sewer pipe?
Just try not to think about it – stacked precast concrete pipes traditionally used for wastewater become a dramatic, sculptural addition to an existing pub. Lined with wood, they create intimate dining nooks for those inside, and a sense of voyeurism for those who pass by.
(Prahran Hotel. Melbourne, Australia)

Function follows form.

MAG Landscape

17 Aug 2019 18:48

​Can a skyscraper bend over?
The headquarters for China Central Television (CCTV) combines the entire process of TV-making – administration, production, broadcasting – into a single loop of connected activities. The building`s form offers an alternative to the traditional skyscraper, encouraging collaborative activities inside, and offering an unprecedented amount of public access to China`s media production syctem.
(China Central Television headquarters. Beijing, China. OMA)

New public engagement creates new forms.

MAG Landscape

09 Aug 2019 21:55

​Can architecture swoop?
The Soviet Union was well known for its imposing and rigidly monumental architecture. When Azerbaijanis looked to create a new cultural center in their capital, they made an extreme departure from precedent. The building rises out of the landscape in a series of undulating curves to enclose over 57,000 square meters of space. The design represents the fluid relationship between the city and what happens inside the cultural center.
(Heydar Aliyev Center. Baku, Azerbaijan)

Architecture can create new landscapes.

MAG Landscape

05 Aug 2019 22:02

​Can architecture drip?
An international airport is an opportunity for a city to showcase its identity to visitors. That`s why the architects of Terminal 2 in Mumbai`s airport chose to reference the patterns of local jail window screens along its 17-acre roof. (Jali is the term for a perforated stone or latticed screen, usually with an ornamental pattern, often found in Indian architecture.) The coffered ceiling`s pattern that drips into columns lets in light from above with skylights, creating a strong visual gateway to the nation`s capital.
(Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Terminal 2. Mumbai, India)

Architecture lets you know you`ve arrived.

MAG Landscape

31 Jul 2019 17:01

​Can stone flow like a river?
Inspired by the geomorphology of the Louisiana region`s ancient riverbed, this museum`s sculptural foyer uses 1,100 cast stone panels to form a pathway to the museum`s interior galleries. The panels were designed and assembled using a custom automation process.
(Louisiana State Museum and Sports Hall of Fame. Natchitoches, Louisiana, United States)

Technology is the new alchemy, turning rocks into water.

MAG Landscape

29 Jul 2019 20:54

​What if an office building turned inside out?
Office design can be hard. Columns and pipes often get in the way of the much-vaunted “open-plan” design that, in turn, can get in the way of cubicles and conference rooms. Not so at O-14, an office tower that relies on a white concrete bearing wall three feet away from the windows to carry the building`s load. That means there are no columns in the space. The structural wall creates a chimney effect that pulls hot air away from the building (good in the Dubai heat), and with 1,326 holes in five different shapes arranged artfully along the building`s length, it makes an elegant statement about this new type of skyscraper design.
(O-14. Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

A hole new way of looking at structure.