February 10, 2016
A Morphing Desert Pyramid Created by Italian designer Gugo Torelli and Iranian artist Sirin Abedinirad, the Babel Tower, a pyramid of mirrored panels, stood in Dasht-e Kavir, a desert in central Iran, for a few days in October. Sensing changes in the desert’s temperature and light, the tower’s nine tiers spin independently to reflect the structure’s surroundings, creating a kaleidoscope of the environment. [Wired]
Portugal’s Lonely Houses Two years ago, Manuel Pita came across an “architectural strawberry,” a red house set against a vivid blue sky in Cacilhas, Portugal. The picture he snapped became the first of a 50-piece Instagram series, featured under the username @sejkko. In finding houses to photograph, Pita looks for structures that stand alone or have very little around them. Using Photoshop, he removes any extraneous details to create a sense of isolation. [Wired]
Roy Engelbrecht
Marrying Modern and neo-Georgian The new Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, Pennsylvannia, by Ennead Architects. [ARCHITECT]
Diamond Schmitt Architects
Groundbreaking Underway Construction on the National Arts Centre in Ottowa by Diamond Schmitt Architects is now underway. [ARCHITECT]
GSD – MaP+S
A Case for Customization “Ceramic Tectonics” at the Harvard Graduate School of Design explored a low-cost, modular fabrication technique using the material. [ARCHITECT]
New Trimble Growth Trimble has grown its presence in the AEC space again, announcing the acquisition of Sefaira, the developer of the cloud-based, building-performance analysis software Sefaira Architecture and Sefaira Systems. [ARCHITECT]
Jeff Elkins
Tactile Textiles From embossed patterns to flecked cork and svelte velvet, this set of six upholstery and wall coverings surprise with subtle texture. [ARCHITECT]
Awards and Competitions
The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is now accepting submissions to its fourth Wheelwright Prize, an open, international competition for early-career architects that supports travel-based research. The deadline for submissions is Feb. 15, 2016. Read more about the Wheelwright Prize.
The Architectural League has announced a call for entries for its Architectural League Prize for Young Architects and Designers, focused this year around the theme of (im)permanence and time as a defining characteristic of architecture. Entries are due Feb. 17, 2016.
The Buckminster Fuller Challenge recognizes initiatives that take a comprehensive and anticipatory design approach to advance human well-being and the health of the planet’s ecosystem. The Buckminster Fuller Institute awards one $100,000 prize to support the development and implementation of a design solution that addresses complex global problems. The application window will open on Jan. 15 and entries are due by March 1.
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