Articles by Andreea Cutieru

Housing is one of the core functions of architecture, circumscribing numerous typologies and encompassing a variety of issues. This week’s curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights different forms of housing submitted by the ArchDaily Community. From urban developments to micro homes, from a deep connection with the landscape to high-end technologies, this article explores the topic of residential architecture, presenting different approaches from around the world.

Work has begun for MVRDV’s renovation of Shenzen Women & Children Centre, a mixed-use tower featuring an array of public functions, now in need of a comprehensive transformation. Constructed during the city’s explosive growth following the Special Economic Zone designation in the 1980s, the building is one of the many nearing the end of their initial lifespan, and MVRDV’s adaptive re-use project sets an important precedent for repurposing these buildings by bringing colour, greenery and a new layer of public spaces.

Completed in 2020, amidst the pandemic, ANOHA- The Children’s World designed by Olson Kundig for the Jewish Museum in Berlin is finally opening its doors to the young public. The design reinterprets the myth of Noah’s Ark and furthers the concept and ideas of a similar installation at Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, created by the firm then named Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen. More than a museum experience, the project is a space for community building, a place for imagination and play that enacts a universal story, creating an inclusive environment for children and families of all cultures and backgrounds.

A geographic discovery game based on Google imagery, GeoGuessr requires players to guess various locations worldwide using only the clues provided by a Street view. Created in 2013, the game has taken on new relevance amidst the pandemic, as it provides a virtual travel experience. From desolate roads to famous sites, the game teases deductive reasoning, requiring players to make use of any clue, from signs, language, flags, landscape, to pinpoint their surroundings.

London Design Biennale is currently unfolding at Somerset House, with 38 exhibitions from across six continents showcasing the role of design in addressing global challenges. Curated by Artistic Director Es Devlin, the event centres around the theme ‘Resonance’, inviting designers and artists to consider the ripple effect of “ground-breaking design concepts on the way we live, and the choices we make”. At the third edition of the London Design Biennale, the national pavilions highlight new perspectives on world issues, exploring sustainability and the environment, globalisation and migration, history and daily life.

A new shared facility for Indiana University’s Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, materialises a recently rediscovered design by Mies van der Rohe. The 1952 project was intended for a fraternity house on the same IU Bloomington campus where it is currently being built, and the design incorporated the same white steel frame and expansive glass panes aesthetic as the Farnsworth House, created around the same time. After being forgotten for six decades, the design resurfaced in 2013, and the two-storey building will open its doors this fall.

The little-known and remote area of North Caucasus is an intricate assemblage of territories, ethnicities, languages, religions, and, consequently, architectures, from Tsarist-era buildings to mosques, traditional bas-reliefs, and Soviet Modernism. The setting of controversial events and a heterogeneous cultural environment, in many ways, North Caucasus is a borderland between Europe and Asia, the former USSR and the Middle East, Christianity and Islam. Photographs by Gianluca Pardelli, Thomas Paul Mayer and Nikolai Vassiliev provide an introduction to the architectural landscape of the region.

Highlighting an untapped spatial resource, MVRDV has recently produced a catalogue of 130 innovative ideas to make use of Rotterdam’s empty flat roofs, showcasing a potential new phase in the city’s development. Commissioned by the City of Rotterdam and developed together with Rotterdam Rooftop Days, the Rooftop Catalogueillustrates how reprogramming rooftops can help with issues such as land scarcity and climate change while also addressing the practical side of repurposing these spaces in terms of construction options and suitable sites.

OMA’s research and publication branch AMO has taken over the fences of the United Nations Headquarters in New York for a public exhibition showcasing a follow-up of the 2020 Countryside, The Future project. Curated by Rem Koolhaas and Samir Bantal, director of AMO, Countryside at the United Nations, invites reflection and public discussion on the topics of agricultural innovation, ecological change and food production in anticipation of the UN Food Systems Summit taking place in September 2021.

MVRDV has revealed the design of an exhibition and visitor centre for the Port of Rotterdam, which would tell the story of Europe’s largest port. Scheduled to open in 2024, The Harbour Experience Centre features a stack of five rotated exhibition spaces framing views of the surroundings, and outdoor staircases wrapped around the structure provide visitors with a route up the various terraces and to the rooftop. The project is the successor of FutureLand, a temporary information centre from 2009, whose success prompted the creation of a permanent exhibition.