All images courtesy of Shiro Studio

In one of the most courageous re-wilding schemes since the Netherlands’ Oostvaardersplassen, the UK’s Great Fen Project proposes to transform 3,000 hectares of arable land back into fen, a unique type of British wetland. This new collection of woodland, scrub, wetland, ponds, and grasses needed, of course, a new visitors center to welcome and educate nature lovers. Luckily, the winners in an associated RIBA-run competition have just been announced!

Shiro Studio, in collaboration with Mesh Partnership and Equals Consulting, has designed a poetic series of intersecting volumes to be sited in the Great Fen. Clad in bog-black oak to fit with vernacular structures, the building presents a strong contrast to winter landscapes, while its subtle reflectivity introduces an interplay with the water. The building also makes strides toward energy self-sufficiency, with PV panels and geothermal heating.

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Van Alen Institute’s ground floor space at 30 West 22nd Street

Van Alen Institute has just announced Ground/Work, an international architecture competition seeking innovative designs for a new street-level venue that will house the Institute’s work space and public programs.

Since 1982 the New York City nonprofit, which is dedicated to promoting innovative thinking about the role of architecture and design in civic life, has made its sixth-floor location at 30 West 22nd Street home to a diverse program of competitions, curatorial projects, and public events, becoming a venerable hub for design innovation.

Now, building on the success of its ground-floor bookstore, Van Alen Books, the Institute is moving its entire operation to the street level. In the process, Van Alen is putting its public-oriented mission at the core of its own office and event space, transforming the ground floor and lower level of its building into a home that is more visible, accessible, and participatory in public life, with a clear connection to the street and the city at large.

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BIG’s masterplan (top) and OMA’s (bottom)

Miami Beach is heating up as two of the biggest international architecture firms compete for the masterplan of its convention center area. High-profile competitions between high-profile firms are nothing new; usually involving four out of the ten usual contenders, these matches happen on almost a weekly basis. What makes this instance more captivating, though, is the strong frisson of oedipal tension at play between contenders BIG and OMA: Bjarke Ingels, founder and head of BIG, used to work at OMA. More after the jump!

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The Architectural League has announced the winners of its 32nd annual Prize For Young Architects + Designers. This year’s theme, Range, prompted participants to show work that they feel pushes the limits of the profession, perhaps even in radical new directions. Judged based on submitted portfolios, competing designers have to be less than ten years out of school. Winners were selected by a jury that included Teresita Fernandez, Paul Lewis of LTL Architects, Thom Mayne of Morphosis, Charles Waldheim of the GSD, and Meejin Yoon of Howeler + Yoon.

And the winners of the 2013 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers are: Luis Callejas, Lcla Office, Cambridge and Medellín; Brandon Clifford and Wes McGee, Matter Design, Boston and Ann Arbor; Marc Fornes, MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY, Brooklyn; Rafael Luna and Dongwoo Yim, PRAUD, Boston and Seoul; Skylar J.E. Tibbits, SJET, Boston; and Bryan Young, Young Projects, Brooklyn. Check out their awesome projects after the jump. 

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It’s back and better than ever. The 7th iteration of the “Changing the Face” architectural competition launches this May! The DuPont-sponsored contest, which asks architects to reimagine the facade of an aging iconic structure, has generated hundreds of ideas from architects all around the world since its founding in 2008. In 2011, Architizer partnered with DuPont to launch Changing the Face: Moscow, where designers submitted proposals to turn a modernist cinema into everything from a shimmering jewel case and monumental silver screen to an amusement park attraction and even what could be conceivably be Mr. Freeze’s headquarters. The competition was open-ended, with loose parameters that sparked all kinds of exciting, if fanciful, ideas like these. But now, things are different.

Changing the Face: Warsaw asks architects to develop a new facade for the city’s much-loved Rotunda building. The owners of the Rotunda, the PKO Bank Polski, are seeking to revitalize the structure with a new facade; along with Architizer, Dupont, the Polish Green Building Council, and the Warsaw branch of SARP, they’ll sift through all the entries to select a winner. The top design will then be built.

If you’re immune to bold text like me, that means it’s a really big deal. It’s a great opportunity for all architects, small and large firms alike, so you’ll make sure you’ll register when the competition officially kicks off next month. Stay tuned for more!

Click through for more about Changing the Face: Warsaw, and more about the Rotunda! 

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Photo: Iwan Baan

Calling all NYC architects! We’re looking for the next revolutionary, innovative scheme that will revitalize and make a big impact on the city. (Think High Line, Plus Pool, or Brooklyn Bridge Park.) And it could be yours!

We’re collaborating with the Municipal Art Society of New York on Pitching the City, a singular event that’s part of the New Museum’s Ideas City 2013 festival. The event will explore new urban initiatives, and we need young designers to present their projects!  We’ll choose five architects to pitch their ideas to our esteemed jury of experts, as well as to an audience of urban enthusiasts. The designers will receive feedback from jury members, as well as be featured on Architizer!

So, think you’ve got an amazing plan that will transform New York? Send a brief description (250 words max) and four to six low-res images to editorial@architizer.com with the subject line “Pitch the City.” Deadline is Friday, March 8. We’ll be in touch if your idea is selected for the event.

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My Micro NYC; image: nARCHITECTS

On Tuesday we wrote about the new exhibition “Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers,” which opened yesterday at the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY). The exhibition–full of dollhouse-sized studios and apartmentlets of the future–includes several of the designs submitted for New York City’s adAPT competition. The winning submission, My Micro NYC, by nARCHITECTS, Monadnock Development LLC, and the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation, will be  developed on a site on East 27th Street in Manhattan. The structure will include multi-purpose spaces, lounges, and even an attic garden, providing luxuries not typically associated with efficiency apartments while encouraging interaction among neighbors. But while a lot of attention has been given to the winning proposal, there were actually 33 entries in total, a record within the Housing and Preservation Department. We’ve collected a few of the other submissions for your viewing. Click through to check them out!

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All images: Richard Meier & Partners Architects

When you think of Richard Meier, you think mostly of white-plastered walls and voluptuously modeled plastic forms, not prismatic towers of glass, right? Well, as it turns out, Meier is well-versed in the material. Case in point: the winning design for the Engel & Völkers Headquarters, a mixed-use complex rendered in all glass. The project, to be built in the Hafencity District of Hamburg by 2015, privileges “transparency” over plasticity, with large expanses of glass framing the experience of the spaces. It’s the interiors that hold the more sculptural elements we’ve come to expect from Meier and his team. Continue.

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2011 Residential Winner: Kona House, by Belzberg Architects

You don’t get to 20 years without doing something right. The 2013 Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is clearly doing something right. Over the last two decades, Ceramics of Italy (CoI) has forged a unique relationship with architects and designers, consistently championing their work through mass (i.e. global) publicizing and, just as important, cash prizes ($15,000 in all), not to mention (3) free trips to Italy. This year’s iteration is a milestone for the architecture and design community to be sure, but also another opportunity for practitioners to get their work out there. Click through for more on how to enter!

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Here at Architizer we love celebrating winners (A+ Awards, anybody?). That’s why a few weeks ago we launched our first-ever Gingerbread Competition, and boy was it a sweet moment. (See what we did there?) We tasked our readers to create a work of edible architecture, whether it be a re-interpretation of an iconic building or their own unique design.

Well, the deadline has come and gone, and after sifting through countless entries, the Architizer staff has picked a winner! With architects and design enthusiasts submitting everything from candy tree structures to sushi tea houses, believe us, it was not easy. And so, ladies and gentlemen, drumroll please: Winning our admiration (and a brand new iPad Mini!) is Team Jacussi for their cookie construction of Oscar Niemeyer’s famed National Congress of Brazil. The edible edifice was not only meticulously assembled, but also serves as an entirely functional candy dish. Plus, it pays tribute to the legendary architect, who passed away this month.

While there may be only one grand prize winner, we were so impressed with the quality of the entries that we couldn’t keep them from our readers. We rounded up five additional favorites, including pueblo homes and hedonistic museums, to present for a tasty Tuesday treat. Click through to see the extremely delicious architecture from our Gingerbread Competition!

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