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  BUSINESS IS BOOMING IN BEIJING

  Beijing is a city that just keeps growing, and so with this is mind, the world renowned Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) were recently handed the task of creating an impressive new central business district. Integrating aspects of the existing urban setting, SOM’s design aims to improve the surrounding transportation whilst simultaneously establishing environmentally friendly buildings and a green space available to the public. Their plan will see the formation of three new areas, set around various parks and passageways. The focus on green living will ultimately see up to a possible 50% reduction in both energy consumption and carbon emissions, 48% in water consumption and a whopping 80% of landfill waste. The updated transportation system will eventually incorporate an express commuter rail system linking the CBD with the Beijing Capital International Airport, enhancing possible touristic opportunities as well.
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  The Shard By Renzo Piano

  Construction has begun on Renzo Piano’s new London skyscraper, The Shard. At 306 metres it will be the tallest building in Western Europe, and will feature office space, luxury residences, a world-class hotel, a spa, restaurants, retail space and a 15-storey public viewing gallery that is expected to attract over half a million visitors each year. Planned as a “vertical city” to address London’s growing population, a public piazza with restaurants and cafés will occupy the ground level, as well as areas for art installations. The office spaces were first developed by Piano for his Sydney skyscraper, Aurora Place. Each floor is multifunctional and includes naturally ventilated winter gardens surrounded by glass to capitalise on natural lighting and premium views of the city. Inspired by London’s church spires and the masts of ships that used to sail on the Thames, the 72-storey building features multiple glass facets that form shards which narrow as they rise into a point at the very top, but never meet. The result is a soaring structure that disappears into the sky, making for a striking new addition to London’s skyline when it is completed in 2012.
  
  
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  Kazakhstan's New National Library by BIG Architects

  Awarded first prize in an open international competition, BIG Architects have revealed their colossal design for Astana’s new national library in Kazakhstan. The impressive design combines four archetypes: the circle, the rotunda, the arch and the yurt, which merge to form a Möbius strip. A vertical core allows visitors to freely move between floors. BIG made use of advanced computer modelling to create a geometric pattern to regulate solar impact since some parts of the building are exposed to more daylight than others due to the structure’s twisting form. And you won’t just find books here, with the new 33,000 sqm development set to become a leading multifunctional cultural centre open for events, meetings and historical record keeping all aimed at further developing the country. IMAGES: BIG Architects
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  Nanjing Automobile Museum by 3GATTI

  Who better to design a car museum than the Italians? Last year Italy-based architecture firm 3GATTI were announced as winners of a competition to design the Automobile Museum in Nanjing, China. Not far from completion, Francesco Gatti’s museum is sure to attract car lovers from all over. Gatti was inspired by the ancient art of origami which lends itself to interesting shapes and forms, totally reflected in the museum’s design. Comprised of two concentric helicoidal ramps, visitors will drive up the external ramp in their own cars, becoming part of the exhibition themselves, and walk down the internal ramp where futuristic and vintage cars will be on display. When visitors arrive at the bottom level an elevator will zap them back to the top level car park. Being a car museum and all, perhaps a chauffeur would’ve been more fitting? IMAGES: 3GATTI
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  Germany's ECO CITY

  Germany’s new ECO CITY, located on the shores of Hamburg-Harburg Harbour will be the first entirely sustainable development for creative and industrial use in the country and will feature ten main structures made up of studios, warehouses, production facilities, a luxury hotel, office and retail space. International design firm tecARCHITECTURE collaborated with Arup to design a progressive city that challenges our ideas about conventional urban environments. The project takes advantage of strong winds to generate about 10% of the complex’s power through two large wind turbines. Solar heating and technology, as well as green roofs, vertical gardens and environmentally friendly materials will be made use of to ensure the city lives up to its name. IMAGE: tecARCHITECTURE

   

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  Soumaya Museum by LAR / Fernando Romero

  The Soumaya Museum, designed by LAR / Fernando Romero, is set for the title of Mexico City’s first avante-garde art museum when it opens next year. This state-of-the-art facility will not only draw in visitors for what it holds on the inside, but also for what it looks like on the outside. Unlike your typical box-like structures, this museum boasts an amorphous shape finished with translucent concrete and steel columns of different shapes and diameters. The bold new museum will feature 20,000 square metres of exhibition space spread over five levels. IMAGE: LAR / Fernando Romero
  
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  Bloomframe®

  Designed by Hofman Dujardin Architects and manufactured by Hurks geveltechniek, the Bloomframe® transforms from a window to a balcony, just like that! Perfect for apartments, offices and hotels, it can be installed in new and existing buildings. Bloomframe® is operated automatically and comes in a range of colours, sizes and materials. IMAGE: Matthijs van Roon
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  MAKE Architects' Chelsea Commission

  Planning permission has been granted to MAKE architects’ Mansour Namaki commission in Chelsea, London. Dubbed the Brompton Crystal, the building will replace a 1960s modern box amid historic terraces, and will feature a daring triangulated upper section made of glass. Hailed the area’s most controversial design since Daniel Libeskind’s Spiral extension to the Victoria and Albert Museum, the project, which evokes debate about old versus new, comes at a time when Prince Charles has pleaded for a return to traditional architecture.

   

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  Mecanoo To Build In Shenzhen

  Dutch architecture firm, Mecanoo, are the latest foreigners set to work their magic in China and have designed the masterplan for Longgang, a new CBD in Shenzhen. The development includes a new commercial business district with about 8,000 houses and 400,000sqm of commercial and cultural facilities, including a 100,000sqm shopping complex, a new market hall, a 16,000sqm school cluster, hotels and office buildings. Such a grand masterplan comes as no surprise with Shenzhen being one of the fastest growing cities in China. With a population of 14 million, the city has grown from a humble fishing village to the richest city in the country over the last 20 years.
  
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  Goettsch Partners design Saudi Arabian Hotel

  Chicago-based Goettsch Partners have been commissioned to design a new 5-star, 214-key business hotel in the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The 17-storey tower will hold a business centre, executive club, a resort-style spa and health club and more. Goettsch’s hotel is designed as a prism-shaped tower with a 9-storey opening that allows for views and light to penetrate the mass of the building. Designed to achieve LEED certification, the hotel aims to combat heat with its stone-clad south façade and saw-toothed east and west façades that provide maximum shade from the desert sun. The hotel is scheduled for completion in 2011.