Architects invited to register interest in designing new Crystal Palace

12:36pm Friday 13th December 2013 in News By Robert Fisk

Designing a Crystal Palace which evokes the spirit of the original while being fit for the future is no mean feat.

But the job is up for grabs, with ZhongRong Group wanting to hear from any architects who think they can take on the challenge.

Anyone interested in creating a landmark in the spirit of Joseph Paxtons original, has until January 20 to express their interest to the property developer.

A short list of three architect teams will then be drawn up in the spring, when the trio will be invited to prepare a detailed submission including initial concept designs.

The selected architect who will be appointed in the summer, will work closely with the lead consultant Arup.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "Creating a Crystal Palace for the 21st century is a truly unique opportunity.

"I am confident this search will attract some of the world's finest creative minds, many of whom we know are home grown talents.

"The key to the success of this exciting regeneration project, which is set to generate a significant number of jobs in London, is high quality design working in harmony with the rich heritage of this historic site."

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Architects invited to register interest in designing new Crystal Palace

2013 Boston Society of Landscape Architects ACE Legacy Project video

By: ray dunetz

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2013 Boston Society of Landscape Architects ACE Legacy Project video - Video

Johannesburg calls for architects #39; visions
December 6 - Johannesburg #39;s population is increasing by 10000 people a month. And the city is calling on urban designers and architects to help shape their ...

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Photographer: Grant Turner/Bloomberg

The Australian dollar surged almost 50 percent against the greenback from 2009 to 2012,... Read More

The Australian dollar surged almost 50 percent against the greenback from 2009 to 2012, making exports less competitive and boosting the appeal of imports. Close

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The Australian dollar surged almost 50 percent against the greenback from 2009 to 2012, making exports less competitive and boosting the appeal of imports.

Architects of the float of Australias dollar, trading at a similar level to when exchange controls were lifted 30 years ago, say the currency must devalue and economic reform be renewed to avert a recession.

Peter Jonson, who advised the central bank chief of the time, and Ross Garnaut, who counseled then-Prime Minister Bob Hawke, say the resource investment boom has rendered Australia uncompetitive. General Motors Co. this week cited an elevated exchange rate in deciding to stop making iconic Holden cars in the nation, as did Qantas Airways Ltd. on Dec. 5, when it flagged a record first-half loss and 1,000 job cuts -- announcements that echoed the economys early 1980s malaise.

There are some quite strong parallels, said Jonson, a former head of the Reserve Bank of Australias research department who has observed the nations economy for more than 40 years. When you look at Qantas, look at the vehicle industry, look at manufacturing generally, look at education, look at tourism, its a tough time.

The Aussie is trading at about 90 U.S. cents, around the level in 1983 when Hawkes government removed exchange controls and embarked on an economic overhaul that freed up the finance industry, cut tax rates and slashed tariffs. Garnaut and Jonson now call for the government to moderate spending, lawmakers to scrap taxes they say deter investment and employers to keep wage gains at less than the pace of inflation.

The Aussies strength has made everything uncompetitive in Australia except pulling iron ore and coal out, said Garnaut. A big adjustment in the exchange rate has to be part of the improvement in competitiveness.

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Aussie Float Architects Urge Devaluing 30 Years After Peg

Daria Onokhova / Moscowidea.ru

A computer rendition of a proposal to transform the citys currently grey Novy Arbat into a multi-level green zone.

Muscovites were asked toimagine what would make Moscow an"awesome" place tolive andhad their dreams visualized in84 sketches byprofessional architects as part ofthe "What Moscow Wants" exhibit, which was ondisplay atthe Moscow Urban Forum last week.

As much as getting people's voices heard, this project was about giving young professionals theopportunity toshowcase their talent ararity ina city where thearchitectural market is dominated bya few strong firms.

Moscow residents had tocomplete three simple statements: "It would be awesome if ," "this way people will be able to ," and"this way thecity can become ." All three ofthese were used toset anoptimistic tone andprevent people fromusing theplatform tocomplain about their neighbors or other mundane problems, said theproject's director Olga Polishyuk.

"This is astory about ideas. Not about problems or about complaints," she said.

More than 2,000 people left their ideas onthe website Moscowidea.ru fromJuly 10 toSept. 22, andarchitects voluntarily responded tospecific pitches with 84 sketches.

Proposals ranged fromambitious plans tobuild new bridges andtheme markets, tosimple adjustments like creating aroof shield forthe people waiting inlines outside thePushkin Museum, tothe offbeat idea ofthree-story heated homes forstray cats.

Theproject provided arare platform forthe country's young architects todisplay their work, Polishyuk said. These architects often shy away fromcompetitions either because they do not think they can win against thefew prominent firms that dominate theindustry or because they are afraid oflosing ownership oftheir ideas.

Thecity's chief architect Sergei Kuznetsov told TheMoscow Times onFriday that he has not seen the"What Moscow Wants" exhibit yet, but noted its value forthe capital.

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Young Architects Visualize an 'Awesome' Moscow

The developer behind a controversial plan to build approximately 61 townhouses on 2.5 acres in Queen Anne has released a first look at the plan ahead of an initial design-review meeting.

Camwest, a part of national home builder Toll Brothers, would put the homes on the block bounded by Ninth and 10th Avenues West, West McGraw Street to the north and mostly single-family houses to the south. The site has been home to the Seattle Children's Home since the orphanage's founding in 1905. Most of the current buildings date to the 1960s.

The site is zoned for townhouses, as is abutting land to the south and across the street to the west and east. But the area to the north is zoned for single-family houses on 5,000-square-foot lots.

Opponents of the plan have organized, creating the group "Future Queen Anne." That group's next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday inQueen Anne Lutheran Church,2400 Eighth Ave W.

Click through the gallery above to see details on the site and several options for the development that Camwest andNicholson Kovalchick Architects prepared.The first design-review meeting is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Dec. 18 in Room One of Queen Anne Community Center, 1901 First Ave. W.

Read more real estate news. Visit seattlepi.com's home page for more Seattle news.

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Developer releases first look at plans for Queen Anne Children's Home site

Lisa Armstrong meets the fashion designers taking inspiration from Istanbul for the V&A's Jameel Prize

BY Lisa Armstrong | 11 December 2013

Architecture and clothes - one way or another, they're both dressing the human body, the former on a grand scale, the latter far more intimately.

Even so, it's a brave designer who bases a line of clothes around famous national landmarks. But Ece (pronounced Eecchay) and Ayse (Eyesha) Ege (Edgay), the two Turkish sisters behind Dice (Deechay) Kayek, have done just that with their Istanbul Contrast Collection. The results are spectacular, not least because they couldn't be further from those half-hearted attempts to incorporate some decorative drawings of buildings into dress fabrics that some labels pass off as "architectural".

Preview to the V&A's Glamour of Italian Fashion exhibition

On the contrary, this is a full-blown deployment of some of Turkey's most stunning structures. There's the ravishing white organdy cocktail dress composed of diagonal folds that replicates Istanbul's famous Blue Mosque, for instance, and the weighs-a-ton, but exquisite, angel-winged evening coat, hand embroidered with antique blown glass beads and clearly inspired by Istanbul's Hagia Sophia Mosque.

Impressive, they're probably not primarily intended for wearing, since they're part of the sisters' victorious submission for the Jameel Prize, an international award presented bi-annually to an artist or designer inspired by Islamic tradition.

This year's judging panel includes Zaha Hadid, Thomas Heatherwick (designer of the new Routemaster bus and the Olympic cauldron) and Martin Roth, director of the V&A. The Ege sisters, who were named as winners last night, are the first fashion designers ever to be nominated.

In some ways this is a natural evolution for them. When I visited their labyrinthine studio in Paris in October, I saw at first hand how sculptural the clothes for their Dice Kayek label are - full of sumptuous A-line silhouettes in beautiful duchesse satins and silks. Matchka, a less expensive label they design and sell only in Turkey, is more of an everyday collection, with floaty, fluid pieces in lovely fabrics. I wish it were sold here.

White on: the dress inspired by the Dolmabahe Palace PHOTO: DICE KAYEK

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Dice Kayek: Architects of Style

Acton Ostry Architects Success Story
Acton Ostry #39;s three-phase expansion of The Sauder School of Business reflects the world-class education it houses.

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Acton Ostry Architects Success Story - Video

Architects in the Schools at Washington Mill ES, FCPS
Students at Washington Mill ES are studying architecture with professional architects who volunteer their time to work with the class.

By: Fairfax County Public Schools

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Architects in the Schools at Washington Mill ES, FCPS - Video

Architects of change: #39;Real estate sector has drastically changed #39;
Over the last two decades the Indian real estate sector has gone from being disorganised, fragmented and poorly governed to an organised, transparent industr...

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