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CONFLUENCE PARK, 2019 RECIPIENT OF THE ARCHITECTURE AWARD, AUSTIN, TEXAS, LAKE | FLATO ARCHITECTS + MATSYS
Each year, AIA celebrates the best buildings and spaces—and the people behind them—with some of the most prestigious awards in the built environment.
AIA Honors
When: Jun 30, 2021 from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM (ET)
Associated with Committee on Design
The AIA Committee on Design, in collaboration with the Young Architects Forum, is proud to bring you an inspirational discussion that bridges the worlds of emerging professionals with the minds of some of the industry's most accomplished and revered Architects, representing the prism of small-to-large firms. Through this discussion, we explore journeys, philosophies, and the career-defining achievements and collaborative approaches that continue to influence, nurture and shape the future leaders in architecture.
Learning Objectives:
Evaluate effective strategies that foster collaboration, innovation, and interchange of diverse perspectives between emerging professionals and seasoned practitioners in architecture.
Analyze and discuss creative philosophies that lead to an elevated design that is functional, safe, and aesthetic.
Incorporate professional practice methodologies that are conducive to the mentorship and career development of emerging professionals in architecture.
Through lessons learned, evaluate how emerging professionals in architecture may set strategic career milestones to develop presence, leadership, and authority in the architecture profession, both in traditional and non-traditional practice.
Speakers:
Susan Chin, FAIA
Curt Fentress, FAIA
Ronette Riley, FAIA
Moderators:
Alex Morales, Assoc. AIA
Dr. Jason Takeuchi, AIA
The 2021 series of the AIA UK Chapter’s “Virtual Building Tours” continued on 8 April with a visit to Leeza SOHO in Beijing China. Zaha Hadid Architects’ (ZHA) Satoshi Ohashi, Director, and Philipp Ostermaier, Associate, led us through an insightful tour of the building, one of the last projects Zaha Hadid personally contributed to before her death in March 2016.
Leeza SOHO boasts the world’s tallest atrium (194,16 meters), which rotates in two opposing directions, upwards around the building. The iconic building tower, located in the Chinese capital’s Fengtai business district, contains 172,800 square meters covering 45 floors above ground and four floors below. It is comprised of both office and retail spaces with direct connections to the mass transit underground system.
In his remarks, Satoshi discussed ZHA’s long standing relationship with the Chinese building developer, SOHO China. Given their mutual success on three previous projects in China, ZHA has developed a deep professional relationship with the distinctive developer, which, in Satoshi’s opinion, is a fundamental ingredient to building iconic architecture.
He further highlighted the site’s physical constraints; a space bisected by a subway service tunnel. To accommodate the tunnel, the building was divided into two equal towers. The two towers are structurally connected by sky bridges set at four different altitudes, forming a sculptural atrium at the centre of the building volume. Leeza SOHO’s atrium provides a public square for the new business district by linking all the spaces within the tower and by crafting a civic space that has direct connectivity to Beijing’s transport network.
The deliberate positioning of the cores and the twisting of the floor plates through the atrium, facilitates stunning views of the city as well as views that are unique to each floor of the tower. The sculptural atrium also allows a significant amount of natural light to permeate through the public domain and into the office spaces. The two towers of the building also assist in shading the atrium’s public spaces. The double-insulated, low-e glazing contributes to a comfortable indoor temperature all year round.
Philipp Ostermaier provided very detailed insights into the development of the project’s sustainable design elements. He emphasised Leeza SOHO’s double-insulated, unitised, glass-curtain wall system that positions the glazing units on each floor at an angle, thus providing ventilation registers to draw outside air through operable cavities, creating an efficient environmental control system for each floor. The atrium also has a built-in system for regulating and filtering in coming air. The advanced 3D Building Information Modelling (BIM) management system monitors environmental controls and drives energy efficiencies. The project also boasts a number of unique characteristics such as an insulating green roof with a photovoltaic array to harvest solar energy that is atypical for a skyscraper. As a result of the combination of innovative and proven technologies to reduce energy consumption and emissions, Leeza SOHO has earned a variety of sustainable credentials, including LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.
In constructing a building with the such complex geometries, Zaha Hadid Architects exhibits its position at the forefront of 3D BIM applications - not only in design, but also in construction management and building operations. During the tour, Philipp showed how the use of technology enabled ZHA to optimise the complex façade geometries of the external unitised cladding and internal atrium stick system, resulting in the efficient construction of the building on time and within SOHO China’s budget.
ZHA took a building site that may have been otherwise compromised due to the need to incorporate an operating subway tunnel and literally “twisted” it to their advantage. The result is a testament to their innovative design approach and eloquent use of technology.
The AIA UK Chapter continues to host its virtual building tour series for the 2021 season based on Winners of AIA UK 2020 Excellence in Design Awards. The series offers architects and interested parties the opportunity to visit notable buildings that have particular design interests in the UK and abroad. Follow this link for further information to participate in the next tour of Nyp Guesthouse by Bua Architects on 13 May 2021.
Written by Gregory Fonseca, AIA
June 24, 2021 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm EDT - Virtual
AIA Committee on the Environment
Each year COTE gathers to talk about a few of the issues that architects are addressing in their practices, communities, and AIA components. In 2021, the COTE Open Forum will examine how pursuing climate action and climate justice are occurring in four realms of activity: advGAF Roofingocacy, commitments, electrification, and resilience.
Join us on June 24 (3:30-5pm EDT) for a lively discussion! We welcome AIA COTE members and any and all who work with them to advance climate action and climate justice in the building and placemaking field – owners, city officials, policymakers, engineers, planners, and others. Come for the interactive discussion and actionable takeaways.
This networking event is not eligible for AIA continuing education credit.
Register from the link here.
To register | Click Here
In the past few years, the twin challenges of climate adaptation and mitigation and equitable communities have risen to the top of the public agenda. Cities are facing incredible challenges to plan effectively to reduce carbon emissions, adapt to climate vulnerabilities and achieve more equitable communities for all their residents. Many smaller communities are struggling to develop effective strategies that marshal resources and build momentum towards addressing these complex challenges. Northampton, Massachusetts and Dubuque, Iowa have frequently outperformed larger jurisdictions on these issues and have emerged as leading municipalities. Northampton was the first jurisdiction in the nation to achieve the coveted 5-STAR sustainability rating and has been the recipient of numerous related awards. Dubuque has similarly been recognized for its achievements with dozens of awards, including 5 All-America City Awards in just a dozen years for imaginative collaborations to address their key challenges. Their experiences provide insights to frame a future direction for other communities seeking to build the civic infrastructure and strategies that will lead to success. This session will present perspectives from city officials in each of these leading municipalities about the mechanics of planning for sustainable futures.
Explore how to tackle climate adaptation and mitigation in small cities from project to city perspectives.
Apply key tools to maximize resources and support for climate efforts that improve the lives of communities.
Adapt practical lessons learned from small city experiences in planning for and implementing their own climate action initiatives.
Analyze how the intersections between climate change and equity and public participation and partnerships form a key platform for solving critical built environment issues.
Can't make it live? This session will be available on demand.
‘Safi Military Barracks, Malta’ - Sketch Copyright: Mark E Breeze, AIA
It is not always easy for AIA UK members outside London to make an enduring impact on the Chapter. Perhaps the first Chapter awareness of Mark E Breeze, AIA, was his jury involvement and subsequent presentations of the 2019 Design Awards. Later that year, he enticed the London membership to his adopted city Cambridge for what was billed as a Super Saturday CES Extravaganza. His commitment to architecture, design and sustainability thus firmly established, a place on the AIA UK Chapter Board as the inaugural Sustainability Chair quickly followed.
Lest Mark’s association with the University of Cambridge produces images of sleepy academia, the release of the book Structures of Protection? Rethinking Refugee Shelter and the film Shelter Without Shelter, (see the film trailer HERE) give further insight into Mark’s interests in realities of shelter. Both the book and film come out of the University of Oxford ‘Architecture of Displacement’ research project, a collaboration between Mark and Tom Scott-Smith at the Refugee Studies Centre, examining refugee accommodation across Europe and the Middle East.
The book (published by Berghahn Books) opens up the world of forced migrants as it draws on a range of disciplines – sociology, anthropology, law, architecture and history. Each chapter describes a particular shelter and uses this to reflect on the ‘relationship between architecture, place, politics, design and displacement’.
The film – awarded RIFA Best Research Film of 2020 – explores the hopes and challenges of providing temporary housing for refugees. Images below and at the end of the article illustrate some of the shelters Mark and Tom encountered during their research.
‘Improvised sheltering, Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan’ – Photo Copyright: Mark E Breeze, AIA
‘Azraq Refugee Camp, Jordan’ – Photo Copyright: Mark E Breeze, AIA
'Interior view of the former International Convention Centre (ICC), Berlin, converted to a refugee shelter’ – Photo Copyright: Mark E Breeze, AIA
As there is always the danger that even a good book or film - however thoughtful and comprehensive – might not engage with actual practice, Mark is currently co-directing an Architectural Association design studio exploring new forms of shelter and domesticity. He has also recently formed his own collaborative design-research practice Spatial Realities.
As the founding chair of The Sustainable Shelter Group – a research and design collaborative in Cambridge - he is in a position to bring together ‘professional design expertise, academic research and experienced humanitarian practitioners to create integrated, sustainable and relevant sheltering solutions at any scale and in any geography’ and make a determined impact on the real world.
'Beyond the fence, Azraq Camp, Jordan' - Sketch Copyright: Mark E Breeze, AIA
Written by: Lorraine King, AIA
This article has been written as part of the AIA Newsletter’s commitment to member news. If you are aware of UK Chapter members’ involvement in newsworthy projects, research or events, please bring them to our attention via secretary@aiauk.org and we will publish the story. We will not know what has been achieved unless someone tells us! We welcome pictures as well as stories…