#22 July/Aug 2008

News and observations

• Residential harbour developments in Copenhagen (DK)
• European Prize for Urban Public Space to muf's Barking Town Square in London (UK)
• Helsinki harbour plans cause a stir (FI)
• Will the new Hermitage Guggenheim put Vilnius (LT) on the cultural map?
• Milestone in Serbian social housing (RS)
• Reality check: Palais Thinnfeld, Graz (AT)
• and more…

New projects

• Museum, Gardabaer (IS) by PK Arkitekar
• Oris pavilion, Zagreb (HR) by Andrija Rusan
• Bungee jump platform on water tower, Ploubalay (FR) by Igor Lecomte and Espace Gaïa
• Public centre, Lviv (UA) by Domorinthos
• Hotel, Lernacken (SE) by Space Group
• Department store extension, Graz (AT) by Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos

Ivan Kucina: Acting responsibly

Vesna Vucinic interviews Ivan Kucina about the difficulties of being an architect in Serbia. Nevertheless, Kucina remains optimistic: 'There is something positive about transition and that is the absence of control.'

New buildings

• Camping ground, Rimigliano Natural Park (IT) by Archea Associati
• Auditorium and theatre, Villajoyosa (ES) by Jose M. Torres Nadal and Antonio Marquerie
• House, Salzburg (AT) by Flöckner Schnöll Architects
• Social housing, Budapest (HU) by Péter Kis and Csaba Valkai
• Cultural centre, Aarhus (DK) by SLETH Modernism and ET Architecture
• Temporary theatre, Iasi (RO) by Angelo Roventa
• Urban intervention, Bilbao (ES) by ACXT
• School of Economics, Murska Sobota (SI) by Rok Benda, Primoz Hocevar and Mitja Zorc
• Outlet store, Metzingen (DE) by Blocher Blocher
• Town houses, Amsterdam (NL) by Atelier Kempe Thill
• Pavilion, Grammichele (IT) by Marco Navarra
• Cinema, Liège (BE) by architects V+ and engineering firms BAS and B-B

Metal skins

In architecture metal has traditionally been associated with structural properties, with strength, large spans and great heights. Recent decades have seen the development of a new and different approach to the use of metal. Instead of being confined to robust loadbearing structures for utilitarian buildings, steel, aluminium and iron are starting to be used in facades and interiors, including in homes. These are designs which highlight metal's 'softer' side in subtly worked skins and stylish textiles.

Focusing on European countries, cities and regions

• The power of words: European architectural policy is built on a superabundance of words
• A changing coast: an architectural tour of Croatia
• Profile: Stalker (IT)
• Office: Henning Larsen Architects' innovative office in Vesterbro, Copenhagen (DK)

Buildings from the margins of modern history

Axel Simon takes us to Eduard Neuenschwander's 1964 studio in Gockhausen, near Zurich (CH).