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Cheering Restaurant / H&P Architects

Architects: H&P Architects
Location: Hoàn Kiếm, Hanoi, Vietnam
Architect In Charge: Doan Thanh Ha & Tran Ngoc Phuong
Area: 1000.0 sqm
Year: 2014
Photographs: Nguyen Tien Thanh

A’ House / Wiel Arets Architects

Architects: Wiel Arets Architects
Location: Nishiazabu, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Project Team: Wiel Arets, Satoru Umehara, Alex Kunnen
Collaborators: Jörg Lüthke, Jean-Jacques Jungers, Sadamu Shirafuji, Ilze Paklone
Area: 136.0 sqm
Year: 2014
Photographs: Jan Bitter

Surgeon’s Rooms / FMD Architects

Architects: FMD Architects
Location: Melbourne VIC, Australia
Design Team: Fiona Dunin, Andrew Carija, Robert Kolak, Owen Castley
Year: 2014
Photographs: John Gollings

New City Square in Perth Reconnects Urban Landscape, Honors an Indigenous Warrior

Courtesy of Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority

The Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority of Perth has released conceptual images for what is to become the city’s latest public space, designed by a team comprised of Aspect Studios, Iredale Pedersen Hook, and Lyons Architecture. With construction to begin in mid-2015 and slated for completion in 2017, the square takes its name from Yagan, an Indigenous Australian warrior of Perth’s local Noongar people. Integral to early resistance against British colonization, Yagan’s tenacity, leadership, and subsequent execution by settlers have cemented his role in Indigenous Australian folklore. Read more about this significant acknowledgement of Indigenous history after the break.

District Hall, Boston’s Public Innovation Center / Hacin + Associates

Architects: Hacin + Associates
Location: 75 Northern Avenue, Boston, MA 02210, USA
Design Team: Gary Hilderbrand, Chris Moyles, Ryan Wampler, Leslie
Landscape Architect: Reed Hilderbrand Associates, Inc
Photographs: Gustav Hoiland

One of four shortlisted proposals (click to view them all). Image Courtesy of The Architects' Journal

Four Shortlisted for Sessay Sports Pavilion

Sutherland Hussey, Faed Brown Architects, Daykin Marshall Studio, and Gibson Thornley Architects have been announced as finalists in the RIBA-backed competition for a new community hub and sports pavilion for the Sessay Cricket Club in North Yorkshire. The four shortlisted competitors, selected from over 80 entrants, will be reviewed by a judging panel on January 8. A winning team is expected to be announced shortly after.

Demolished: The End of Chicago’s Public Housing

NPR journalists David Eads and Helga Salinas have published a photographic essay by Patricia Evans alongside their story of Chicago’s public housing. Starting with Evans’ iconic image of a 10-year-old girl swinging at Chicago’s notorious Clarence Darrow high-rises, the story recounts the rise and fall of public housing, the invisible boarders that shaped it and how the city’s most notorious towers became known as “symbols of urban dysfunction.” The complete essay, here.

Tower 41 / Alberto Kalach

Architects: Alberto Kalach
Location: Avenida Constituyentes 41, San Miguel Chapultepec, Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México, D.F., Mexico
Project Architect: Alberto Kalach
Design Team: Alberto Vargas , Gabriel Mancera, Patricia Lazcano, Iván Ramírez, David Martínez
Project Area: 1820.0 m2
Project Year: 2014
Photographs: Yoshihiro Koitani

Herzog & de Meuron Considered for London’s Chelsea FC Stadium Expansion

Herzog & de Meuron's — Herzog & de Meuron’s “Bird Nest” in Beijing. Image © Flickr CC License / DPerstin

Herzog & de Meuron is said to be collaborating with Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands to explore options for expanding the Chelsea Football Club’s Stamford Bridge home stadium in west London. According to a report by the Architects’ Journal, news of the possible expansion first broke last June, after considerations of relocating the stadium were heavily criticized by the public.

The stadium, originally designed by Scottish architect Archibald Leitch and built in 1876, has already undergone several renovations. Chelsea FC hopes to increase its capacity from 41,837 to 60,000, as well as provide a new decking over the railway line on the east and north sides of the building.

More from Chelsea FC regarding the expansion, after the break.

House Renovation in Boston / Intadesign

Architects: Intadesign
Location: Boston, MA, USA
Architect In Charge: Manuela Mariani
Area: 170.0 sqm
Year: 2014
Photographs: Gustav Hoiland, Flagship Photo

‘An Installation In Four Acts’ – Exploring Structuralism At Rotterdam’s Nieuwe Instituut

Structuralism: 'An Installation In Four Acts'. Image © Het Nieuwe Instituut — Structuralism: ‘An Installation In Four Acts’. Image © Het Nieuwe Instituut

Great movements in architecture are usually set in motion by a dull societal ache or as a response to a sudden, unforeseen reorientation of a community at large. The Dutch city of Rotterdam - vast swathes of which were cast into oblivion during the blitz of May 1940 – has been at the forefront of many shifts in approach to the built environment. It is therefore fitting that the latest exhibition at the Nieuwe Instituut (formerly the NAi), simply titled Structuralism, is being held in the city that was recently named Europe’s best.

Furthermore, Dutch Structuralism is a timely subject for Dirk van den Heuvel and the Jaap Bakema Study Centre (JBSC) in Delft to tackle. With major civic buildings like OMA’s extension to Rotterdam’s City Hall taking shape, it appears that a resurgence of Structuralist formal thought is appearing in the contemporary city. The exhibition seeks to shine a new light on the movement by uncovering drawings, models and texts which profoundly shaped 20th century architectural thinking.

MR House / Luciano Kruk Arquitectos

Architects: Luciano Kruk Arquitectos
Location: La Esmeralda, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Collaborators: Belén Ferrand, Ekaterina Künzel, Federico Eichenberg, Pablo Magdalena
Project Area: 150.0 m2
Project Year: 2014
Photographs: Daniela Mac Adden

Caruso St John Appointed to Renovate Asplund’s Stockholm Public Library

The City of Stockholm has named Caruso St John, working with Swedish practice Scheiwiller Svensson, as the architects for a renovation of Gunnar Asplund‘s 1928 Stockholm Public Library. The work will see alterations to the interior spaces of the main building and annex, as well as the three additional “bazaars” built to the west of the original building between 1930 and 1953, however there will be no alterations to the external appearance of the building.

Read on for more about the renovation.

ArchDaily: What Happened In 2014, And Where We Are Heading In 2015

Dear Readers,

Now that the frenzied holiday season has passed, I’d like to take a moment to recap some of the things that happened at ArchDaily during 2014, and share what will happen in 2015.

Once again we had a great year in terms of traffic, reaching more than 350,000 daily readers, who generated more than 50,000,000 pageviews (projects, drawings, diagrams, etc) per month. This means that we are reaching more architects, all around the world, who are using ArchDaily as their source for inspiration, knowledge, and tools.

We’ve been busy working on our new publishing platform — it’s already working for our local sites Plataforma Arquitectura (soon to be ArchDaily en Español), ArchDaily Brasil and ArchDaily México – along with a new country-specific version for one of the biggest markets in the world (coming soon!). We expect to implement this new platform by Q2 at ArchDaily, which will be much faster, with a better responsive version for mobile devices and tablets. It will also include a faceted search (so that in three easy clicks you can find things as specific as “houses built in stone in Portugal”) and a revamped version of My ArchDaily with lots of new features, firm profiles, and more!

During this past year we also had many changes in our editorial and projects teams. Our editorial side, led by our Executive Editor Becky Quintal, has tackled today’s important stories with a global angle, and also detected issues that are crucial for the future of our profession. During the Venice Biennale we were on the ground covering what has surely been one of the most discussed versions of this important event. For this, we developed a specific sub site with all the news, pavilions, interviews, books, and more. On the other side, the projects team, led by Nico Saieh, implemented a series of new methodologies to track down projects and engage architects from all over the world. With a specific focus on what is happening in emerging countries and regions where innovation is happening in the less is more spirit, they are bringing bringing new ideas for a sustainable future in terms of design to inspire our readers. And once again, our readers will help us highlight and recognize the best buildings in our 2015 Building of the Year Award initiative that launches in the next few days.

ArchDaily Materials, our new materials catalog, was launched in the US to bring more technical content that can help you materialize your ideas, creating a place where architects and manufacturers can connect.

These three areas will see several improvements during the year, both in terms of content and in the technology that makes it a useful resource for you — the architect — in your day-to-day work.

We also gave a series of lectures in the US, China, Mexico, and Colombia (countries where architecture is experiencing exciting times), helping us maintain a broad and diverse point of view to share with you. Definitely one of the highlights was our lecture at the Center for Architecture in New York, where we had the chance to connect directly with our readers and discuss the issues that our cities will need to focus on. See you at the AIA Convention Atlanta 2015!

In our interview section, we’ve had the chance to discuss important issues with a diverse group of architects from all over the world. Our AV team is working hard to edit the interviews in a suitable format for the web and on-the-go.

As you can see we’ve been working hard, and we will continue to do so this year: from better content and a new platform, to e-learning, the new dimension of Oculus Rift, mobile apps, and more! Got feedback or ideas? Leave them in the comment section below so you can help us shape ArchDaily into the tool for the architect.

Best regards,

- David & the team at ArchDaily

O’Donnell + Tuomey Selected to Design Student Hub for Cork University

University College Cork's main quadrangle. Image © Flickr CC user Meg Marks — University College Cork’s main quadrangle. Image © Flickr CC user Meg Marks

University College Cork has selected O’Donnell + Tuomey to design the university’s new student hub, which will house learning, student support and administration spaces in a new building adjacent to the campus’ Victorian Windle Medical Building, to the West of the main quadrangle. Selected for their ability to work within and around the historic buildings, the project will also see O’Donnell + Tuomey restore the medical building.

The new student centre will be the second building designed by the practice for University College Cork, a decade after the completion of their Stirling Prize-shortlisted Lewis Glucksman Gallery.

Guna House / Pezo von Ellrichshausen

Architects: Pezo von Ellrichshausen
Location: Llacolén, Concepción, Biobío, Chile
Architect In Charge: Mauricio Pezo, Sofia von Ellrichshausen
Area: 410.0 sqm
Year: 2014
Photographs: Courtesy of Pezo von Ellrichshausen

Viñoly’s London Skyscraper “Bloated” and “Inelegant”

20 Fenchurch Street ('Walkie-Talkie) / Rafael Viñoly Architects. Image © Jason Hawkes — 20 Fenchurch Street (‘Walkie-Talkie) / Rafael Viñoly Architects. Image © Jason Hawkes

In a review of Rafael Viñoly Architects’ 20 Fenchurch Street, which is also known as the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ or ‘Walkie Scorchie’ after it emerged that its façade created a heat-focusing ray strong enough to melt cars, Rowan Moore questions London’s preoccupation with iconic buildings and its money-driven planning schemes. Using 20 Fenchurch Street as a key example, Moore argues that not only does the building seem “to bear no meaningful relationship to its surroundings,” but its Sky Garden - a terrace at the top of the building which claims to be “the UK’s tallest public park” – is a symbol of a bewilderingly unbalanced economy.

House in Guimarães / Elisabete de Oliveira Saldanha

Architects: Elisabete de Oliveira Saldanha
Location: Guimarães, Portugal
Preparation Of Design Work: Elisabete Saldanha, Filipe Santos, Paulo Castro
Area: 2010.0 sqm
Year: 2014
Photographs: Fernando Guerra | FG+SG