Articles by Maria-Cristina Florian

Danish Maritime Architecture Studio MAST has developed the “Land on Water” project, a system that provides an adaptable solution to building almost anything on the water: floating homes, campsites, even small parks, and community centers. The project represents a response to the acknowledgment of raising sea levels and increased risks of urban flooding, which has led to a growing interest in adapting architecture to be built on water. The “Land on Water” proposes a flexible and sustainable solution, a departure point from previous solutions, which are proven to be difficult to adapt, transport and are often using unsustainable materials such as polystyrene-filled concrete foundations or plastic pontoons. The project is developed with the support of Hubert Rhomberg & venture studio FRAGILE.

Selldorf Architects have released a revised version of the plans to remodel the National Gallery and the Sainsbury Wing, both classified as Grade-I-listed monuments. The plans for the Sainsbury Wing, designed by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown and opened in 1991, have faced intense criticism, with former RIBA Journal editor Hugh Pearman calling the remodeling plans “unnecessarily destructive”. The plans to remodel were first revealed earlier this year as part of the NG200 Project to celebrate the National Gallery’s bicentennial in 2024. The project proposes the remodeling of the Sainsbury Wing’s front gates, ground-floor entrance sequence, lobby, and first-floor spaces.

The promise of the metaverse, this new type of three-dimensional and immersive digital space, is proving to become more and more appealing to architects eager to explore the new realm of virtual creations. As it currently stands, the metaverse does not have a singular definition but is composed of many narratives and explorations. This unknown land is however fruitful ground for architects, who have to opportunity to shape not only the new environment but also the experiences of future users. The SOLIDS project represents one response to these conditions. Developed by FAR, an architect and engineer working with digital environments, SOLIDS uses a generative process to design unique, metaverse-compatible buildings.

The Transportation Alternatives and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have initiated a new digital tool, Spatial Equity NYC, to help users understand how space is distributed and restricted across the neighborhoods of New York City. The tool asses the use of streets, sidewalks, and public spaces, as they are key factors that influence data such as pollution, traffic fatalities, accessibility, or air quality. The data collected shows a direct correlation between neighborhoods with low-income communities and communities of color and the detrimental ways in which public space is used, leading to health and mobility issues in those communities.

Architecture office Partisans have recently revealed the design of a new high-rise planned for downtown Toronto, on 15-17 Elm Street. The shape of the tower takes inspiration from the process of cloud formation, more specifically from the cirrocumulus, a meteorological term describing the curl-like shapes that form cloud systems. The 32-storey building will accommodate 174 residential units equipped with personal balconies and necessary amenities.

Architecture and design practice Brooks + Scarpa has announced that the new Ramos Collaboratory Building for the University of Florida’s School of Design Construction and Planning has broken ground. This extension will add nearly 50,000 square feet (4,600 square meters) of educational spaces to the existing college, which is also undergoing significant remodeling. The new building will include reconfigurable, multi-functional spaces where the students, faculty, and staff can collaborate both formally and informally. The building is anticipated to be completed in early 2025.

The “Women in Architecture “exhibition by the Danish Architecture Center aims to open the conversation about women in architecture and showcase their often overlooked, yet substantial contributions to the field. The historical part of the exhibition celebrates untold stories and forgotten accomplishments of women in Denmark from the 1920s to the 1970s. The exhibition also gives the floor to contemporary architects, asking them to share their experiences as architects in Denmark today. To further explore this position, Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, Siv Helene Stangeland from Helen & Hard , and Ensamble Studio explore the theme of the event inspired by Virginia Woolf’s 1929 essay, “A Room of One’s Own”, in which she asserts that women must be financially independent if they are to be able to create works of significance. They must have a room of their own, in both a physical and metaphorical sense.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the Hackney School of Food, designed by Surman Weston, as the winner of the Stephen Lawrence Prize 2022. The award aims to encourage new architectural talent and to reward projects with a budget of less than £1 million. RIBA has also awarded the Neave Brown Award for Housing 2022 to the Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road by Henley Halebrown. The award is given in honor of social housing pioneer Neave Brown (1926-2018) and it recognizes affordable housing initiatives in the UK.

Architecture criticism and journalism are often expected to announce “the good, the bad, and the ugly” in architecture and the built environment. Its purposes go however further than that. As Michael Sorkin put it, “seeing beyond the glittering novelty of form, it is criticism’s role to assess and promote the positive effects architecture can bring to society and the wider world”. In other words, by telling us what they are seeing, critics are also showing us where to look in order to identify and address the issues plaguing our built environment.

BDP Quadrangle has revealed the design of a 54-storey, mixed-use tower in downtown Toronto, Canada. The project will replace an existing 10-storey office tower built in the 1960s. The new tower will contain office and residential units, with amenities and outdoor terraces on the 11^th floor and at the ground floor. The building is planned to accommodate a total of 278 apartments with penthouses on the 52^nd and 53^rd floors. The project is currently in the pre-construction phase.