Spaceworkers is a studio in Paredes, in northern Portugal, that likes to work out connections between emotion and forms through contemporary architecture. One project it is known for is the Information Center of the Romanesque Route, near the town of Lousada. Through its play of volumes the building maintains the town’s urban continuity, tying in closely with the church and square – the Church of Senhor dos Aflitos and the Praça das Pocinhas. It also tries to forge a link between current architecture and the Portuguese Romanesque tradition. Volumes varying in dimensions form a unity while showing the diversity of features typical of Romanesque style. Each one contains a distinct exhibition space and is entered from an inner courtyard, the roof of which is a glass structure that ensures natural lighting and further unifies the complex. Inside, the monumentality of the space and the finishes, with the ceilings of the various volumes taking on the forms of Romanesque roofs, all contribute to the visitor’s sense of being transported to the past. Furthering the symbiosis of past and present, the facade presents surfaces of exposed concrete with a natural finish.
 

The design philosophy of Tomohiro Hata Architects & Associates involves creating spaces that adapt to the topography of the site and can maintain their essence as the years go by. The Japanese firm endeavors to make each project unique, and with the idea that the building is to be inhabited for a long time.
‘House in Maitamon’ rises on the slope of a mountain outside a quiet residential district. Taking advantage of a 4-meter clearing in the woods, the wooden dwelling is raised over the ground to give it expansive views. It progressively inserts itself into the forest, growing in height and emerging amid the foliage. Nature is treated with respect: the project refrains from altering the geological features of the place, as well as from felling trees. 
The facades are almost entirely glazed, and the transparency makes the interiors merge with the surroundings. The house is only 3.6 meters wide, enabling the branches of the nearest trees to embrace it, not to mention the privacy provided by natural means. The long volume is held up by a structure of pinewood (selected and treated by local carpenters), a steel-reinforced framework of ‘flying 3D trusses’ that can move and bend, designed to withstand earthquakes and wind pressures.
Inspired by tradition, Tomohito achieves a modest work of modern architecture in harmony with its environment.

The owner of an old farmhouse on the slope of a mountain close to the town of Bera, in Navarre, joined hands with the architect Jordi Hidalo Tané to give the place a makeover. While creating a dialogue of new and old, the project made a clear differentiation: the original building on one hand, and on the other a modern construction anchored to the slope, facing the breaktaking landscape of the Navarrese mountains.
The preexisting stone caserío maintains its long-time relationship with the surroudings, cutting a figure in keeping with the architectural tradition of the area, but we are in for a surprise inside, where rooms for use by guests present new concrete walls and oakwood claddings. 
The other building becomes part of the mountain as it is embedded into it. Connected to the caserío by a glazed passageway, it contains a large living room and a kitchen with views of the exterior. Concrete and wood reappear in the bedrooms to reinforce the project’s discourse, pursuing the rapport between traditional and contemporary, past and future.

 

The firm Gianni Botsford Architects puts itself at the service of the user. In every project it tries to adapt to the context and culture of the place, proposing solutions to meet the needs of clients through details, leaving aside the ego to work side by side with them. In 2007 arose the idea of taking advantage of a Victorian-style urban block’s inner courtyard, then occupied by a 1960s bungalow. Studies of the impact of sunlight on its roof led to the ‘House in a Garden’ project, which would not be carried out until years later, when the plot was acquired by the client, who gave the studio the go-ahead. The starting point was a rigorous analysis of the site. Surrounded by buildings of more than five floors and facing north, the small plot has a lighting problem. The solution is a roof designed to maximize incoming daylight through a glass oculus on top. With a curved, copper-plated wooden structure, its oblique shape makes for optimal illumination of the interior space and the garden around, besides ensuring that views of the adjacent buildings are not blocked. Under a ground-level floor, two basement levels complete the domestic program, making the most of the lighting conditions, and rest on two inner courtyards. The house’s atypical configuration strikes a contrast with traditional London constructions, decongesting the block’s interior space and showing a peaceful ground level that acts like a roof terrace.

The strict and original geometry, an extruded horseshoe-shaped arch, of the new market in the city center of Rotterdam, designed and built by the studio MVRDV, addresses very specific demands regarding the program and the construction process, but it also follows the Dutch studio’s innovative approach when it comes to designing new spaces for cities. A legal restriction set the point of departure —according to European regulations it is now compulsory to cover meat and fish markets for hygiene and health reasons—, and based on this premise the architects proposed a building that uses the roof to accommodate the complementary program whilst preserving the traditional role of market squares as gathering places. The 100,000 square meters of the project comprise the 228 apartments — which cover the private investment needed — the over100 market stalls and restaurants, and the 1,200 parking spaces, which make up an interrelated whole. All the apartments comply with the strict demands of Dutch law: with double facade, ensuring that there is sufficient natural light in the rooms that need it the most, and orienting the kitchens, storage zones and dining areas towards the market. The intervention is rounded off with the participation of artists Arno Coenen and Iris Roskam, who color the 11,000 square meters of the vaulted interior with the largest artwork in the Netherlands: a huge mural showing the fruits, flowers and vegetables that can be bought in the market.

The renovation of the Rijksmuseum, built at the end of the 19th century by Pierre Cuypers, has been carried out in different stages. The first one reassesses the programmatic structure of the museum by recovering the two courtyards of the main building, through which the galleries are organized. These courtyards, now filled with natural light thanks to the transformation of the roofs into glass surfaces and directly linked to a public square, emphasize the building’s virtues, and make it more accessible and attractive to passers-by. Later on, with the Philips Wing project, the architects came across a similar problem and opportunity. Again a scarcely lit courtyard is transformed by adding a glass roof and moving the services, which went under the roof, to the basement. The intervention includes the construction of the entrance to this wing, which was slightly cut off from the rest of the museum. To address this situation, at the end of the Asian Pavilion a tight passageway because of its low ceilings contrasts with the bright atrium it flows out to.
_x005F_x000D_ The main material used for the spaces in both phases of the refurbishment is limestone, the finish of which aims to relate the old and the new. Lighting and acoustic buffering are entrusted to the ‘chandeliers,’ a series of lightweight structures that hang _x005F_x000D_ over the courtyards, and which contrast with the eclectic decoration of the building that, thanks to a meticulous restoration, has recovered the splendor of its original colors.

Hanging over the huge glazed ceiling of the museum’s new main entrance hall are the so-called chandeliers, light metallic structures that simultaneously perform acoustic and lighting functions.
_x005F_x000D_ An important part of the project has involved restoring the decoration of the exhibition galleries and regaining their natural illumination, both of which had been lost in below-par renovations.

With hundreds of researchers, professionals, representatives of the business world, institutions, society, technical professionals, city representatives and international organizations meeting in Barcelona for the World Sustainable Building Conference 2014, after three days of intense and inspiring exchange of ideas and knowledge, we are coming to declare:

In the professional world there is a capacity to do so. A lot of work has been done in our sector, and very good indeed, we must admit. The 144 sessions of this Conference, the hundreds of papers from all around the world, the dozens of exciting proposals we have received from the architects of the future participating in the Universities Competition (‘Powering Transformation’), all show that we have the ability to do much more in the future.
_x005F_x000D_ We have capabilities, resources, and will. We have listened to our local and national politicians assert it. It is time to use all these skills, integrating knowledge, the ability to work together, and learning fast. And it’s not easy, it requires making important leaps.
_x005F_x000D_ First of all, to count more on people. We have heard how political regulations and market proposals amount to only 50% of the solution. This is why we are not moving faster. The other 50% is made up by adding information and communication – effective, credible, and practical – to citizens. The renovation programs of the developed world, about which much has been said (and which have so many resources) will only be viable if people get involved in them. Housing projects in emerging countries will only be viable if people take ownership. We have seen how thousands of new homes in emerging countries are abandoned by their dwellers, who return to their slums. Dialogue with citizens on the local level is crucial. Communities worthy of the name are essential. Only on them can we build a market and a building policy that live up to the challenges ahead. They are the ones which will bring, to a large extent, the sensitivity and local character needed for building, both related to the practical needs and priorities, and in relation to cultural identity and connection to the anthropological foundations on which new developments should be built. We need this dialogue on the local level.
_x005F_x000D_ We need, where possible and practical, concerted national strategies, for a long enough period to ensure their vision and continuity.
_x005F_x000D_ And meanwhile we need a dialogue on a global scale. The one we are having at this conference needs to be transferred to other global forums tackling the big issues that affect us (the new agenda for the further development of the Millennium Development Goals, the new urban agenda, the post-Kyoto global energy roadmap, the biodiversity preservation agenda, the agenda to control demographic explosion).
_x005F_x000D_ This global dialogue requires active involvement of this Conference’s actors, working together. One of the main messages emerging from this Conference is that we need and want to work together.
_x005F_x000D_ We will need to develop our annual Global Vision Report much further; we will need to update it constantly. We have to turn it into a mechanism that helps us work together.
_x005F_x000D_ To be honest, we will not know if this Conference has been a success until one year or two or three have passed, which is when we will be able to ascertain if the momentum of three days in Barcelona (preceded by many months’ work) results in mechanisms to do so, to work together in the global dialogue, so that we can provide the global sector roadmap which we are proposing and promoting.
_x005F_x000D_ We are summoning these local dialogues, the global dialogue. We are inviting you all to join this Barcelona Manifesto and work according to its spirit.

The new Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SSE) building is a rigorous prism resting on a large podium that floats 36 meters above ground, evoking in this way the no less volatile character of financial capital. The SSE rises 46 floors and is 254 meters high, with an area of 265,000 square meters (85,000 of them below ground), and the main technical challenge was to offer an economically feasible solution for the construction of the podium’s colossal overhang (22 meters). The solution was to combine the plinth structure and the tower in a single group. The tower’s typical floor plan, of 45 x 45 meters, consists of a double structural ring – a rigid interior tube of reinforced concrete; and an outer one of steel pillars – that continues all the way to the foundation, crossing the podium (100 x 160 meters) so that the structure of large trusses rests on the core to form a rigid whole with compensated arms. This structural solution is exposed to the exterior in the strict facade grid, which evokes the finest tradition of corporate architecture. While the generic square shape of the tower blends with the homogeneous buildings of the surroundings, the facade is differentiated from the rest through its materiality: a translucid layer of glass wraps the building, generating a mysterious image and at the same time revealing the structure there is behind. This enclosure changes continuously with the weather, reacting to light and thus becoming a reflection of the landscape around it.

Client: Shenzhen Stock Exchange
Architects: Rem Koolhaas, David Gianotten (partners in charge), Ellen van Loon, Shohei Shigematsu (in collaboration with), Michael Kokora (associate in charge)
On Site Team: Yang Yang, Wanyu He, Daan Ooievaar, Joanna Gu, Vincent Kersten, Yun Zhang
Design Team: Kunle Adeyemi, Ryann Aoukar, Sebastian Appl, Laura Baird, Waichuen Chan, Jan Dechow, Lukas Drasnar, Matthew Engele, Leo Ferretto, Clarisa Garcia Fresco, Alasdair Graham, Jaitian Gu, Matthew Haseltine, João Ferreira Marques Jesus, Matthew Jull, Alex de Jong, Santiago Hierro Kennedy, Klaas Kresse, Miranda Lee, Anna Little, Luxiang Liu, David Eugin Moon, Cristina Murphy, Se Yoon Park, Ferdjan Van der Pijl, Franscesca Portesine, Idrees Rasouli, Korbinian Schneider, Wolfgang Schwarzwalder, Felix Schwimmer, Richard Sharam, Lukasz Skalec, Christine Svensson, Lukasz Szlachcic, Ken Yang Tan, Michela Tonus, Miroslav Vavrina, Na Wei, Xinyuan Wang, Leonie Wenz, Su Xia, Yunchao Xu, Yang Yang, Yun Zhang
ECompetition Team: Konstantin August, Andrea Bertassi, João Bravo da Costa, Tieying Fang, Pei Feng, Katharina Gerlach, Carlos García González, Martti Kalliala, Klaas Kresse, Anu Leinonen, Anna Little, Jason Long, Beatriz Mínguez de Molina, Daniel Ostrowski, Yuanzhen Ou, Mauro Paraviccini, Mendel Robbers, Mariano Sagasta, Bart Schoonderbeek, Hiromasa Shirai, Kengo Skorick, Hong Yong Sook, Christin Svensson, Xinyuan Wang, Dongmei Yao
AMO: Todd Reisz, Brendan McGetrick

Collaborators
_x005F_x000D_ Bertie van de Braak, Caroline Kaas, Renz van Luxemburg, Theo Rijmakers —DHV Building and Industry—(level acoustic), Petra Blaisse, Rosetta Elkin, Aura Melis, Jana Crepon with Laura Baird and Carmen Buitenhuis (landscape), Michael Rock, Sung Joong Kim, Ji Won Lee, Evan Allen, Celine Fu —2×4— (signage), Law Hing Wai, Melody Huang —L&B— (quantity surveyor), Michael Kwok, Rory McGowan, Nancy Huang, Chas Pope, Kai-Sing Yung, Oliver Kwong —Arup— (engineering consultant), Chas Pope, Goman Ho, Xiaonian Duan, Chris Carroll, Robin Ching, Guo-Yi Cui, Andrew Grant, Yue Hao, Jonathan Kerry, Di Liu, Peng Liu, Hui-yuan Long, Alex To, Fei Tong, Matthew Tsang, Yu-Bai Zhong, FX Xie, Liang Xu, Ling Zhou (structural engineering), Andy Lee, Gerald Hobday, Fanny Chan, Raymond Cheng, Kimi Shen
_x005F_x000D_ _x005F_x000D_ Front: Richard Green, Marc Simmons —Arup— (facade engineering), Mingchun Luo, Dagang Guo, Li-Li Ma, Feng Rui, Yan-dong Wang (fire engineering), Oliver Kwong, Kai-Sing Yung, Kenneth Chong, Alba Xu, Li Shen, Johnson Chen, WH Au, Michael Bradbury, Kitman Chan, Johnson Chen, Yong Guan, Andrew Lerpiniere, Eddycol Li, Yong-qiao Luo, Yi Ren, Lewis Shiu, Kenneth Sin, Julian Sutherland, Lu-peng Wang, Qi Wang, Yue Wang, Chris Wong, Sabrina Wong, William Wong, Tie-Jun Xiao, Dong Yan, Juliet Zhang, Li-ping Zhang, Lipy Zhang, Xue-li Zhu, Yue-Hui Zhu (services engineering), Nancy Huang, Wei Gao, Penny Liu, Jerry Zhang (client liaison), Matthew Tang, Julian Olley (vertical transportation), Vincent Cheng, Isaac Tang, Raymond Yau, Rumin Yin (física de la construcción building physics), Patrick Leung, Michael Tomordy, Sam Tsoi, Henry Chan, Mark Chen, Jacky Lo, Wing-Shan Mak, Edwin Wong (building intelligence), Mark Choi, Maggie Qing-Min Meng, Jason Ng, Wei-Guang Ruan (geotechnical engineering), Steve Walker, Florence Lam, Sacha Abizadeh, Francesco Anselmo, Katie Davies, Junko Inomoto, David Lakin, Melissa Mak, Siegrid Siderius, Imke van Mil, Kevin Womack (lighting), Yuan Chao, Jing Chen, Jun Chen, Wen Deng, Bo Hong, James Hong, Zhen Hu, Ming Huang, Hanguo Li, Wenming Lin, Zhenhai Lin, Chen Liu, Qiongxiang Liu, Jianlin Mao, Jianmin Meng, Zhijian Qiu, Xiaoheng Shen, Xingliang Shi, Luming Shu, Nan Sun, Xiaohong Sun, Qiwen Wang, Yishan Wang, Chao Wu, Fenghua Xiao, Chuangui Xie, Baozhen Yang, He Yang, Hui Zhen, Wenxing Zhen —SADI— (local design institute)

About 100,000 people live in the stilt dwellings of Makoko, a lagoon-side neighborhood in the heart of the African continent’s second most populated city, Lagos. Constructions here are very precarious, hardly able to resist the inclemencies of nature (torrential rains, floods, strong winds, and so on), which because of climate change are especially aggressive in the area. In this context, the studio NLÉ, founded in 2010 by the Nigerian architect Kunlé Adeyemi and established between Amsterdam and Lagos, designs the new school of the community with a double mission: to provide residents with and educational facility and a civic reference, and to serve as a typological and constructional model for further building. Rising ten meters over a rectangular base, the school is built with a timber structure whose pyramid geometry, because of its low gravitational center, is highly stable as well as resistant and very rigid; after all, it is intended to take in a hundred people in adverse weather conditions. Unlike traditional water structures, where the posts are firmly set on the bottom of the body of lake or river, the Makoko school rests on a floating base made of plastic drums that were salvaged from one of the city’s numerous dumps, held together with the help of a robust wooden lattice. This unsubmersible plinth is formed by several modules constructed on land but assembled on water. And all this with the active participation of Makoko local community.

The three floors of the school house an open play area for the breaks on the ground floor, classrooms for 100 students on the second level and a semi enclosed workshop space on the third. _x005F_x000D_
_x005F_x000D_ Because it floats on water, the school can withstand the high tides of the area. Its structure is formed by a mesh of wooden beams that rest on a floating base of empty drums made of recycled plastic.

The work of Candida Höfer, like that of Andreas Gursky, Axel Hütte, or Thomas Struth, is closely tied to the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and the teachings of Bernd and Hilla Becher. _x005F_x000D_ The exhibition features large-format interiors of libraries and corridors of monasteries and Benedictine abbeys in Austria, aside from a photograph of Linz State Theater. The absence of human figures makes the architecture stand out even more, and the apparent austerity _x005F_x000D_ of her images conceals a complex reading of the buildings in relation to their _x005F_x000D_ current uses and functions.