Articles by Andreea Cutieru

The 17th Venice Architecture Biennale invited architects to ponder the question “How will we live together”, eliciting a variety of answers, readings and interpretations. The International Exhibition unfolding in Giardini, the Arsenale and Forte Maghera presents 112 participants in the competition, coming from 46 countries, whose contributions are organized into five scales: Among Diverse Beings, As New Households, As Emerging Communities, Across Borders, and As One Planet. Answering “How will we live together as a community? “ is Chilean office ELEMENTAL and Archdaily met in Venice with Alejandro Aravena to discuss the idea behind the project KOYAÜWE, which creates a space that recovers the tradition of parleys, as a means to address the historical Chilean-Mapuche conflict.

After completing One Vanderbilt, the tallest office building in New York, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates has unveiled plans for a new skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The 320-metre high office tower at 343 Madison Avenue makes the most out of its relatively small plot and the silhouette mandated by the New York City zoning laws, featuring a series of receding volumes that leave a way to gardens and terraces at different levels. When completed, the project will also create an important new transit entrance to the Long Island Rail Road and the Grand Central Complex.

Construction work began for Herzog & de Meuron’s transformation of a former power plant building in San Fransico into a mixed-use project. Designed in collaboration with California-based practice Adamson Associates, the adaptive reuse of iconic Station A is part of the Portrero Power Station project, the redevelopment of a 29-acre industrial site into an extension of the Dogpatch neighbourhood. Herzog & de Meuron’s design retains and repurposes various features of the industrial building while adding a lightweight, steel-framed structure on top, thus giving new life to one of San Francisco’s landmarks.

The 17th Venice Architecture Biennale is currently unfolding, revealing a wide range of answers to the question “How will we live together”. With 60 national pavilions, numerous contributions of invited architects from all around the world and several collateral events, this year’s edition restates the Biennale’s role as a platform for inquiry, exploration, and disruptive thinking in architecture. Curator Hashim Sarkis’ original statement called upon architects “to imagine spaces in which we can generously live together.” Recent circumstances have made the question even more relevant, prompting a holistic re-evaluation of how the world as a collective can face changes and challenges of an unprecedented scale from the disrupting role of technology, to inequality, mass migration and climate change. The following national contributions reflect on “how will we live together” amidst climate change, exploring ideas for a more sustainable future.

Cobe’s winning design for the new library of the University of Gothenburg proposes a light, clean volume, whose slightly curved facades are a nod to the pages of an open book. The Danish architecture studio translates the concept of knowledge as the heart of a library into the interior spatial configuration of the project, while the architectural image evokes the idea of a lighthouse. Featuring a transparent and open ground floor, the new repository of knowledge creates a strong connection with the surrounding park, becoming a mediator between the city and the university.

After several postponements and numerous challenges, the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale is finally taking place, bringing into focus a diverse array of answers to the question “How will we live together”. The theme gained even more relevance in the context of the pandemic and this year’s edition restates the importance of the Biennale as a platform for inquiry and collective exploration. Archdaily had the opportunity to meet in Venice with the curator of the French Pavilion, architect Christophe Hutin to discuss the thinking behind “Communities at Work” and the immersive experience of the exhibition.

Catering to the Danish capital’s aspirations regarding infrastructure and green space, the new IKEA store in Copenhagen designed by architecture studio Dorte Mandrup features a richly plated rooftop park that doubles as a new pedestrian route stretching one kilometre within Vesterbro neighbourhood. Located in one of the city’s busiest area, neighbouring the central station, the historic Meatpacking District, and the inner-city harbour, the project’s elevated public space offers a respite from the bustling streets, providing the area with a much needed green space.

Scottish architecture firm Kettle Collective has revealed plans for a 703-metre skyscraper in St. Petersburg, making it the second tallest building in the world after Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. The Lakhta Centre II will have the highest occupied floor, and while the exact site is yet to be confirmed, it will sit alongside Lakhta Centre, currently the tallest building in Europe and the headquarters of energy firm Gazprom.

Last week, Apple opened its largest store in Europe, housed inside Rome’s 19th century Palazzo Marignoli. Designed by Foster+Partners, Apple Via del Corso celebrates the historic building by revealing its 1890s murals, frescos, and graffiti works from the 1950s, hidden from view for decades. The project creates a juxtaposition between the historical layers, the artwork and the signature minimalist aesthetic of Apple stores.

The City Council of San Jose recently approved Google’s “Downtown West” mixed-use corporate campus, an 80-acre net-zero environment, also set to feature the largest multimodal transit hub on the west coast. A departure from the tech campuses of Silicon Valley, the masterplan designed by San Francisco-based SITELAB urban studio is envisioned as an integrated part of the urban environment, an extension of Downtown San Jose open to the local community.