#21 May/June 2008

News and observations

• Expo Zaragoza under construction (ES)
• Graeme Massie wins Reykjavik master-planning competition (IS)
• Transparent designs share first prize in PermMuseumXXI competition (RU)
• Update: Spring in Dublin (IE)
• Award-winning Museumplein in Amsterdam (NL) ripe for a makeover
• Reality check: Mixed-use complex, Budapest (HU)
• and more…

New projects

• Office building, Sofia (BG) by Aedes Studio
• Shipping terminal, Herceg-Novi (ME) by Studio Grad
• Centre for the contemporary arts, Aberdeen (UK) by Brisac Gonzalez
• Two churches, Litomysl / Cernosice u Prahy (CZ) by Zdenek Fránek
• Academy of performing arts, bridge and square, Sarajevo (BA) by
• Archipelagos

Turányi & Turányi Architects: Father and son

Within the changing Hungarian context, father and son Turányi combine their different approaches to architecture in their office T2a: 'It is most inspiring when we have a continuous dialogue about our work. We need to be flexible'. An interview by Emiel Lamers.

New building

• Housing, Bilbao (ES) by Eduardo Belzunce, Juan Garcia Millán and Luís Diaz Mauriño
• Music centre, Watford (UK) by Tim Ronalds
• Covered sports ground, Jurmala (EE) by Substance
• Operational centre, Lisbon (PT) by GLCS Arquitectos
• Golf club, Sempachersee (CH) by Smolenicky & Partner
• Commercial and residential centre, Zagreb (HR) by Igor Franic
• Community centre, Dublin (IE) by Hasset Ducatez
• Housing, Stavanger (NO) by Helen & Hard
• Apartment building, Amsterdam (NL) by hvdn architecten
• Museum, Freiberg (DE) by AFF
• Pavilion, Grammichele (IT) by Marco Navarra
• Office building, Ankara (TR) by Cirakoglu Architecture

Beyond transparency

The development of glass and architecture has for centuries been dominated by the pursuit of maximum transparency.But in recent years architects have been exploring and exploiting other properties of the material. Glass, always having been associated with fragility, is now being used as a structural material. Whereas the use of glass was for a long time problematical because of the associated overheating, special UV-resistant glass or glass to which a screen print or film has been applied, actually functions as a protective or light-reflective layer.And whereas glass once symbolized openness or even voyeurism, there are now all kinds of coloured, translucent and matt types of glass capable of delivering various gradations of openness or privacy.

Focusing on European countries, cities and regions

• Political symbolism: Monuments and history in the new Europe
• An architectural tour of the province of Tarragona (ES)
• Profile: ROBERTNEUN™ (DE)
• Home: Piotr Smierzewski’s clear and formal home in Koszalin-Lubiatowo (PL)

Buildings from the margins of modern history

Daria Ricchi unveils Giovanni Michelucci's 1950s Cassa di Risparmio in Florence, which is hidden behind a fake Renaissance facade.