Articles by Paula Cano

Grimshaw has been commissioned to develop the busiest transport hub in the UK, as well as London’s surrounding Southbank area. The master plan will improve the traffic of 5 connections and renovate the terrain, home to world-famous attractions like the London Eye and the Tate Modern. The project is aligned with Lambeth Council’s and the Network Rail’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2030, through the extension of pedestrian and cycling routes.

The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is celebrating its 25th anniversary this October 2022. Set on the edge of the Nervión River in the Basque Country, Spain, Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim boosted the city’s economy with its astounding success and changed the museum’s role in city development. Twenty-five years on, the Bilbao Effect continues to challenge assumptions about urban transformations and inspires the construction of iconic pieces of architecture that uplift cities’ status, calling investors and visitors.

Urban Agency, in partnership with COBE, won in 2019 a competition to transform a former steel factory into an 850,000 square meters car-free mixed-use district. The industrial site is planned to become a mixed-use district, with housing for over 8,000 new residents, office spaces, schools, workshop spaces, and 268,000 square meters of landscape, including a reactivated river area. The master plan strategies focus on urban nature, renaturalization, preservation and reuse, car-free streets, and an adapted dense mix of buildings and functions.

The construction of the new building of Palmer Museum has begun. Located at Penn State, USA, and scheduled to open in the fall of 2023, the new 6600 square meters complex will expand nearly double the space of the current gallery to host the growing collection of more than 10,000 pieces. The design features a series of pavilions, educational areas, and courtyards to boost accessibility to the art collections for students, staff, and the public. The construction aligns with the 50th anniversary of the museum along with a multitude of events, including the exhibition of Allied Works’ pieces of the design process for the new Palmer Museum.

Foster + Partners has revealed the designs of the Marine Life Institute on Saudi Arabia’s northwestern coast. As part of Triple Bay development AMAALA, a luxury tourist destination on the Red Sea coastline, the project will accommodate a research center, labs, galleries, and educational spaces to give visitors a glimpse into the wonders of the marine environment of the coastline. Reproducing the forms of coral formations, the building will be the world’s first fully immersive marine institution where visitors can walk underwater, snorkel with rare species and experience a coral exhibit inside the building.

Brink Tower by Mecanoo was just granted planning permission and construction works are planned for mid-October 2022. Located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the 90-meter-high building, developed by Xior Student Housing and DubbeLL – winners of the competition for this tower together with Mecanoo Architecten in 2020- will offer a mixed program, including spaces to live, work, and relax in a healthy environment. The residential tower is set to create an” energy-positive, green, and inclusive neighborhood” and contribute to the development of Overhoeks in North Amsterdam.

Brink Tower by Mecanoo was just granted planning permission and construction works are planned for mid-October 2022. Located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the 90-meter-high building, developed by Xior Student Housing and DubbeLL – winners of the competition for this tower together with Mecanoo Architecten in 2020- will offer a mixed program, including spaces to live, work, and relax in a healthy environment. The residential tower is set to create an” energy-positive, green, and inclusive neighborhood” and contribute to the development of Overhoeks in North Amsterdam.

Projected by 2023 and selected by competition, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) designs a 142 meters high-rise, the third tallest building in Berlin. Located close to the Warschauer station and the Mercedes-Benz Arena, The EDGE East Side will be a vertical hub of 65,000 square meters that connects two of Berlin’s most vibrant and artistic suburbs: Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg.

Jeanne Gang, Studio Gang’s founder, has been named the 2023 recipient of the Charlotte Perriand Award by The Créateurs Design Awards. From skyscrapers to museums, including the Aqua Tower – the tallest woman-designed building in the world at the time of its completion- and the recently opened Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Gang has demonstrated her dedication to creating and implementing better practices in sustainable reuse, ecological biodiversity, and social equity. Jeanne Gang, the first woman architect to get the Charlotte Perriand prize, joins the CDA AWARDS laureates list along with Sir David Adjaye and Tadao Ando.

Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, The Robert Day Sciences Center at CMC in California breaks ground and is expected to be completed in 2024. Featuring an open auditorium, labs, research spaces, and multifunctional roofs with 360-degree views of Mt. Baldy, the building will serve a community of 1,400 students. By literally stacking disciplines together in a Jenga-like composition, the framing of a column-free bar will serve as a multilevel gathering hub of collaboration and a crossroads for scientific thought and also stimulate the rest of the liberal arts students to take a deeper interest in the sciences and vice versa.