#7 Jan/Feb 2006

News and observations

• Having previously furnished both the Reichstag in Berlin and the British Museum in London with a new roof, Foster & Partners has now done the same for Dresden's railway terminal (DE)
• Vienna's Museums Quartier has been taken over by 114 styrofoam blocks, designed by PPAG, which can be arranged in countless ways forming igloos, seats, stages, catwalks, sculptures and mountain climbing landscapes
• Moscow's 171st metro station connects the centre to the future financial district of Moscow City (RU)
• Four years of research, two years of repeated announcements from different publishers, recurring discussions about the results – the three-volume book, Switzerland, An Urban Portrait, had a turbulent life behind it by the time it finally saw the light of day
• The Sea Organ in Zadar (HR) is a system of organ pipes activated by the kinetic energy of the waves breaking against the shore, producing an ever-changing composition
• Reality check: Aurland's viewing platform (NO)
• Update: Torino 2006. For the Winter Olympics, Turin (IT) has built new premises, revamped old buildings and upgraded entire districts
• and more…

New projects

• Siiri Vallner, Indrek Peil and Katrin Koov's competition-winning college building evokes the baroque past of Narva (EE)
• Gudmundur Jonsson designed a cultural centre in Brogarnes (IS), inspired by the Icelandic saga, 'Egill the Strong'
• With a new gate to Malta, Architecture Project fuses history with renewed urban activity in the harbour of Valletta (MT)
• ARCHTEAM's new entrance to a municipal building in Hradec (CZ) pays tribute to modernist architect Josef Gocar
• Archea insist that their building '4 ever green' in Tirana (AL) should be categorized as an 'urban tower', not a skyscraper
• With their designs for a tea pavilion and a forest tower, architectural firms na-ma and SeARCH won an invited competition for the redevelopment of 'the most beautiful arboretum in the Netherlands'
• Ex-Archigram member Peter Cook designed a housing project in Madrid (ES) with his new practice, CRAB

Urs Primas: The dark side of architecture

Axel Simon talks to Urs Primas about Switzerland and the future. Primas: 'Reflecting sceptically upon the future, addressing undesirable or dangerous plots is necessary. Especially in urban design we should not be operating only with promises of growth but also considering shrinkage or even breakdown scenarios.'

New buildings

• Hans Moor's bridges in Rotterdam (NL) have been conceived by means of a design process based on Darwin's theories
• With his design for a private house in Sigulda (LV), Andris Kronbergs was awarded the best architectural design in Latvia, beating heavyweight rivals
• Lydia Haack, John Hoepfner and Richard Horden have developed 'micro compact homes' which are being tested this year by students in Munich (DE)
• Golden Nugget in Graz (AT) exemplifies INNOCAD's all-encompassing approach: development, design and sale
• That Belgian social housing doesn't have to be stereotypical and impersonal is shown by TEEMA with their project in Merksplas (BE)
• Two villas by Wingårdhs: VillAnn in Kungsbacka and Villa Astrid in Gothenburg (SE)
• Ubaldo & Marisol Garcia Torrente created an urban loft in the heart of Seville (ES)
• JKMM Architects designed a timber church building in Helsinki (FI) with an interior that is both minimalist and invitingly warm
• A remarkably innovative school in Hadsund (DK) by JJW Arkitekter and bjerg arkitektur
• With their design for a private house in Dublin (DE), Boyd Cody Architects prove that a house can be a private refuge and a part of its neighbourhood at the same time
• Allmann Sattler Wappner have converted a listed factory building in München (DE) – mainly for their own use
• In Norfolk (UK), Hudson Architects have built Cedar House – the modern barn par excellence
• Zerozero transformed the greyscale monotony of a housing estate in Presov (SK) with a powerful geometric concept
• Macken & Macken has added a new complex to the Warande Cultural Centre in Turnhout (BE), countering the brutalism of the existing building
• For a double house in Athens (GR), Nikos Ktenas reinterpreted the traditional Greek 'katoikia'

Changing facades

A new feature focusing on specific aspects of contemporary architecture. In this first instalment, a cross-section of changes in the area of the facade.

Buildings that already get their share of media attention

According to Ursula Baus, Phaeno Science Center in Wolfsburg (DE) is further confirmation of what has been emerging in Zaha Hadid's recent projects worldwide: rather than producing over-intellectualized buildings, she is becoming increasingly sensitive to the situation at each specific location, offering tailor-made urban and landscape repair.