Opera house features award-winning design

March 1st, 2009

Art and architecture comingle in the new Oslo Opera. Norwegian architects Snøhetta are winners of the World Architecture Festival 2008 for their design of the Oslo Operahouse. The building’s arresting forms, integrated mix of materials and the designer’s close collaboration with artists convinced the jury of the project’s worth, winner of the culture category of […]

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Canopies shield students from extreme desert heat

March 1st, 2009

Studio Ma recently completed a substantial redesign of the plaza adjacent to the student union on the Arizona State University, Tempe campus. Key to their redesign is a network of modular shade canopies that enhance the usability of the busy campus. With more than 30,000 students a day passing through the Memorial Union Plaza, the […]

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World’s largest awning casts wide shadow

March 1st, 2009

In an attempt to enter the Guinness Book of Records during the recent R+T trade show of rolling shutters, doors and gates, and sun protection equipment, the Stuttgart, Germany international trade fare unveiled an enormous retractable awning. Measuring 14m by 7.4m, the fully functioning articulating arm shade opened and closed every four minutes during the […]

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World’s first permanent tensioned fabric structure turns 35

March 1st, 2009

The world’s first permanent tensioned fabric structure remains in good condition 35 years later at the University of La Verne in La Verne, Calif. The tensioned membrane roofing system covers the university structure officially known as the Sports Science and Athletics Pavilion. A state-of-the-art design at the time of construction in 1973, the facility recently […]

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Venue hosts traveling exhibit of design studio’s projects

March 1st, 2009

Exhibition, March 11; April 30 — Architecture and Vision: From Pyramids to Spacecraft The Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago is the first venue to host a traveling exhibition of selected projects by the design studio Architecture and Vision, founded by Italian architect Arturo Vittori and Swiss architect Andreas Vogler. Works on display include a model […]

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Architect’s Workshop presents opportunities for students

March 1st, 2009

‘How to get started with fabric structures’ By N. Jane Hurt and Annemarie Jacques The Architect’s Workshop: “How to Get Started with Fabric Structures,” sponsored by the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI), the Lightweight Structures Association (a division of IFAI), and Fabric Architecture, October 22 in Charlotte, N.C., was a wonderful opportunity for our architecture […]

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Navigating the complex world of building codes

March 1st, 2009

There are no simple answers, but there are successful strategies. By Juli Case It’s a story that’s becoming all too familiar: An awning company takes a job fabricating a simple entrance canopy. It’s the type of installation that this company has done hundreds of times before—but this time, that company is given a veritable laundry […]

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Lighting the way

March 1st, 2009

Fabric’s traditional role in architecture has centered on shading, with awnings or other fabric constructions tempering the sun. Yet today, sunlight — the natural light form — has competition. By Todd Willmert Writing in the early 1900s, the noted Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier struggled — along with other designers and architects — with the new […]

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Structure encloses open area of hotel

March 1st, 2009

Port Douglas Sailmakers Pty Ltd. | Cairns, Queensland, Australia The purpose of the project, which won an Award of Excellence in the tensile structures, under 6,000 sq. ft. category of the 2008 International Achievement Awards, was to design and construct a structure to enclose an open area of the Central Hotel Port Douglas, Port Douglas, […]

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Cantina design incorporates tensile structure

March 1st, 2009

FTL Design Engineering Studio, New York, N.Y., United States | & H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, New York, N.Y., United States The Santa Fe Opera Cantina, Santa Fe, N.M., is a new food service and outdoor dining facility for the Santa Fe Opera’s Ranch campus, serving breakfast and lunch for the Opera company and lecture dinners […]

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