When Michel Rojkind calls Highpark “extroverted,” you might think, “It takes one to know one.” An exuberant character, the Mexico City–based architect is rarely at a loss for words or enthusiasm. His new housing project in Monterrey, a major industrial and business center in northeast Mexico, shares his outgoing personality—engaging its urban context and striking an animated profile on the street.
Surface Tension: A progression of materials from rough poplar bark to smooth bronze panels takes clients through a storefront shop to the inner sanctum of a dermatologist and a plastic surgeon.
Beauty may be skin-deep, but David Jameson's design for the offices of a dermatologist and a plastic surgeon reaches beneath the surface, peeling back layers of intrigue. Inspired by the structure of a tree'with its rough bark on the outside and smoother rings closer to the core' the Washington, D.C.'based architect organized the 3,770-square-foot facility as a progression of spaces wrapped in increasingly refined materials.
A symposium and exhibition in China explore ways of rethinking the countryside. Nan Xiao, Qingyun Ma, and Gary Paige at the symposium. Every year about a million people in China move from rural villages and towns to big cities. Lots of planning efforts—both good and bad—have focused on fast-growing cities, but very little work has looked at the countryside where depopulation and the changing economics of farming threaten the very existence of many villages. With that as a backdrop, the University of Southern California’s American Academy in China (AAC) and its School of Architecture addressed the urban-rural divide in
New projects by Sou Fujimoto and Hiroshi Sambuichi add to the cultural attractions on Naoshima Island. Sou Fujimoto's new waterfront pavilion. On Naoshima, the 3.15-square-mile island in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea that Tadao Ando and other architects have turned into a popular station on the art-world pilgrimage route, the projects keep coming. In March, Sou Fujimoto completed a metal-mesh pavilion on the waterfront that lures visitors and local residents to climb inside its faceted form, while Hiroshi Sambuichi has designed a community center that will serve as a venue for Bunraku, a traditional form of Japanese puppetry, when it opens
When news that Norman Foster’s design for 2 World Trade Center would be swapped in favor of a more eccentric scheme by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), speculation as to the reasons stacked up as high as the glazed volumes in the elected design.
Two libraries in remote locations on different continents demonstrate the impact of small projects on communities in need. Both buildings contribute to the civic realm and create spaces that encourage users to engage with the architecture—and have fun. Photo courtesy Olivier Ottevaere & John Lin The architects used an existing public plaza and retaining wall as key elements in their design. The Pinch Yunnan Province, ChinaOlivier Ottevaere & John Lin Devastated by a major earthquake in September 2012, the Chinese village of Shuanghe in the southwestern province of Yunnan suffered neglect and then misguided governmental attention. After living in tents