Architectural News

A  masterplan  drawn up by architecture firm  Snøhetta  envisions an "island" neighbourhood for 12,000 students off the Danube river in south  Budapest . Snøhetta  won the  Budapest South Gate International Masterplan Design Competition  with its design, which involves creating a new channel of water off the Danube branch to form a new peninsular. Accommodation for 12,000 students is proposed across the 135-hectare site. There will also be education and sporting facilities, set between parks and recreation areas. An athletics arena in the South Gate will have the capacity to seat 15,000, and the district will be connected to the upcoming Danubias railway station. Snøhetta, which has offices in Oslo and New York, was selected to design the new neighbourhood ahead of 17 other invited applicants including  UNStudio ,  Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios ,  Adept  and  Squire and Partners . The co...

The Berthold Lubetkin-designed Penguin Pool at London Zoo, an icon of  modernist  architecture, should be demolished says the architect's daughter. The pool, created by Lubetkin and the Tecton Group in 1934, has been empty for 15 years, because penguins contracted bumblefoot infection from walking on the  concrete . Sasha Lubetkin  told local paper the Camden New Journal  that the pool should be destroyed as it is now useless. "It was designed as a showcase and playground of captive penguins, and I can't see that it would be suited to anything else," she  told local paper the Camden New Journal . "Perhaps it's time to blow it to smithereens." "Latest thinking in the 1930s has long been superseded" The Penguin Pool is regarded as a landmark project, both in terms of architectural design and engineering. It saw Lubetkin – who emigrated from Soviet-era Georgia to London in 1931 – and structural...

The  Taipei Performing Arts Center , a  theatre  complex with three auditoriums that plug into an corrugated glass cube designed by  OMA , is nearing completion in the capital of  Taiwan . The latest photos released by  OMA , the Rotterdam, Hong Kong and New York-based practice led by Rem Koolhaas, show the 50,000-square-metre complex's sphere-shaped auditorium without scaffolding for the first time. Named the Proscenium Playhouse, it is one of three aluminium-clad auditoriums in Taipei Performing Arts Center (TPAC), along with the Grand Theatre, and the Multiform Theatre. They will all protrude out from the main body of TPAC, a central cube with a facade of corrugated glass, which can also be seen in the photos. The building will be lifted off the ground to create a public plaza under the building. On completion, the auditoriums will be used separately or together, catering for a variety of configurations that wi...

The  Calvin Klein flagship store  in New York City that fashion designer  Raf Simons decked out in yellow is set to close, following news that he is leaving the brand as creative director. Located at 654 Madison Avenue, the Calvin Klein flagship was overhauled by  Simons and American artist Sterling Ruby in 2017 after the Belgian designer to the helm of brand in 2017. But it will now close after less than two years, with  Simons departing  eight months ahead of the end of his contract. "The 654 Madison Avenue store will be closing in spring 2019," said a statement from Calvin Klein. "The company is evaluating options for future retail locations, and will also be unveiling new consumer experiences both online and offline." The store's bold new interior, featuring yellow surfaces and scaffolding, was unveiled shortly after Simon's appointment as Calvin Klein's chief creative officer. His first collection for the brand, named Fa...