Articles by Niall Patrick Walsh

The New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects has announced “Salvage Swings” by Somewhere Studio as the winner of the 2019 City of Dreams competition. The temporary art structure is now the subject of approvals and fundraising, with the goal of constructing the scheme on Roosevelt Island in the summer of 2019.

Renowned auction house Sotheby’s has unveiled a dramatic OMA/Shohei Shigematsu-designed expansion and re-imagination of their New York City headquarters. Together with OMA Associate Christy Cheng, Shigematsu has redesigned the headquarters to include vast new exhibition galleries for fine art, precious objects, luxury goods, and more. Comprising 40 galleries of varying size across four floors, the new space will increase Sotheby’s exhibition space from 67,000 square feet to 90,000 square feet.

The American Institute of Architects Los Angeles Chapter has announced the winners of their 2019 Architectural Photography Awards. The 18 images, awarded in the Honor, Merit, and Citation tiers, were selected from 450 submissions of stellar quality, a two-fold increase on the 2018 edition.

The renowned Centre Pompidou in Paris is to open its doors to two living sculptures, embodying the future forms of spatial intelligence. The exhibition, titled “La Fabrique du vivant” [The Fabric of the Living], will feature “H.O.R.T.U.S. XL Astaxanthin.g” by ecoLogicStudio in collaboration with Innsbruck University – Synthetic Landscape Lab, CREATE Group / WASP Hub Denmark – University of Southern Denmark, and “XenoDerma” by Urban Morphogenesis Lab directed by Claudia Pasquero at The Bartlett UCL.

Six “Winter Stations” have been installed along Toronto’s beachfront, injecting new life into the shoreline during the Canadian city’s winter months. Completed as a result of the annual Winter Stations design competition, the six projects responded to this year’s theme of “Migration,” which sought installations that engaged with “complex social issues that surround humanity’s shaping of our global society, the flight of animals and the exchange of ideas.”

Reiulf Ramstad Architects will inaugurate a new exhibition series “In the World of an Architect” at The Utzon Center, focusing on “architecture and design created in the tension field between local and global.” The exhibition will consist of a number of spatial installations spread across five rooms, setting out the concept of “Nordic” and appreciating the importance of the architects’ standpoint.

Milan-based Studio PARE has won a competition for the design of a small concert hall in Valsolda, Lake Lugano, Italy. The competition called for a new space to house the 40-person Valsolda Philharmonic Orchestra, with Studio PARE responding with a scheme inspired by the music box: a mechanical device prevalent in the 19th century which could generate melodies without the need for live musician.

Turkish practice Melike Altınışık Architects (MAA) has won an international competition for the design of a Robot Science Museum in Seoul, South Korea. Hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the competition called for a “world first” museum to support public education in robotics, and increase public interest in robots.

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners have gained planning permission for the proposed extension and full refurbishment of the Grade II-listed Hammersmith Town Hall in London. A joint venture with Hammersmith & Fulham Council and commercial partners a2Dominion, the scheme seeks to promote “the creation of a new high quality civic mixed-use development” derived from the historic structure.

Studio NAB has released details of their proposed Superfarm project, a six-story exercise in indoor urban farming that “focuses its production on the culture of foods with a high nutritional value.” The project is founded on the principles of pragmatic implementation, high-yielding foods, reducing health risks, promoting short circuits, reviving economies, energy self-sufficiency.