Articles by Maria-Cristina Florian

The American Institute of Architects has elected Kimberly Dowdell as the 100th president of the organization, making her the first Black woman to hold the position in AIA’s 165-year history. Delegates at the AIA’s annual meeting voted Dowdell to serve first as vice president for 2023. Afterward, she will become president in 2024.

Grimshaw has revealed the final design for City Rail Link, or CRL in short, a large infrastructure project in Auckland, New Zealand. The project includes four new train stations and a 3.45km twin-tunnel underground rail up to 42 meters below the city center. It was developed in collaboration with WSP as part of the Link Alliance, a consortium of seven companies tasked with delivering the main stations and tunnels for the CRL project. The design of the stations is also developed in partnership with Mana Whenua, a local tribal authority that aims to integrate the narrative of the Māori creation story, Te Ao Marama, into the design. Each station’s image and identity are a result of this collaboration, and it responds to the characteristics of each location as defined by Tāmaki Makaurau, the Māori name for the geographical region of the city of Auckland.

Designed for an insurance company, The Centraal Beheer building by Herman Hertzberger in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, is widely recognized as one of the high points of the structuralist movement. MVRDV, in consultation with Herman Hertzberger’s office AHH, is transforming the celebrated building, making it the centerpiece of a new sustainable residential neighborhood while preserving its structure and core principles. The project is part of a larger area of development, a three-hectare site near the city’s train station. MVRDV’s design proposal introduces approximately 650-800 homes while keeping the focus on preservation, greening, and innovation.

The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) announced the 48 outstanding projects selected by the MCHAP 2022 jury. From the body of nominated projects, the jury elected 38 entries in MCHAP as outstanding among other submissions. The fourth prize cycle considers built works completed in the Americas between January 2018 to December 2021, nominated by an anonymous network of international experts and professionals.

Dock A, the largest dock of the Zurich Airport, was the subject of international competition. BIG forms the winning team as design lead with HOK as aviation architect, 10:8 architects, engineer Buro Happold, timber experts Pirmin Jung, and aviation consultant NACO. Their design proposal centers on passenger experience and movement through the airport. A pared-back material palette reveals the loadbearing system of the building: V-shaped timber columns provide both a structural function and a distinctive identity true to its place and era, according to the jury.

Architects’ registration boards in UK and US have reached an agreement that will enable architects to benefit from a more straightforward process to get licensed in both countries. The Mutual Recognition Agreement results from a negotiation between the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) in the United States and its United Kingdom counterpart, the Architects Registration Board (ARB).

Harvard University Graduate School of Design (Harvard GSD) has announced Marina Otero as the winner of the 2022 Wheelwright Prize. The 100,000 USD grant funds two years of research and travel to support contemporary architecture’s investigative approaches, with an emphasis on globally minded research. The winning proposal, “Future Storage: Architectures to Host the Metaverse”, examines a new architecture paradigm for storing digital data. The project looks at how reimagining digital infrastructures could provide answers to the unprecedented demands facing the world today. The field research, data collection, and prototype development will result in an open-source manual for data center architecture design containing examples of ecological, circular, and egalitarian data storage models.

The “Reconstructing the Future for People and Planet” Conference, hosted by Bauhaus Earth and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS), has begun at the Casina Pio IV in the Vatican Gardens. The conference opened with a speech from Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. The extensive program brings together renowned scientists, architects, spatial planners, and policymakers to discuss the transformation of the built environment from a driver of climatic and societal crises into a force for regeneration.

Offering short-term accommodation to travelers, hotels represent one of the main elements supporting the hospitality sector. They often aim to create a serene environment, isolated from the bustle of city life, yet representative of the local identity. Boutique hotels represent a rising sub-sector of hospitality design. These are small hotels typically between 10 and 100 rooms with carefully chosen interior design, providing a memorable experience to their guests. From historic renovations to contemporary ground-up hotels, hotel projects represent a great opportunity for architects to create unique environments centered around leisure and relaxation.

The 21st Serpentine Pavilion, Black Chapel, designed by Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates opens today, on June 10, 2022. On display until the 16^th of October 2022, the project is realized with the architectural support of Adjaye Associates with Goldman Sachs’ patronage. In 2021, the Pavilion events program was planned to reflect Gates’ concept of interlinking architecture and music, particularly emphasizing artistic explorations of monastic sounds and hymns. The pavilion will act as a platform for Serpentine’s live program throughout the summer, offering the public space of reflection, connection, and joy.