Shigeru Ban’s Metz museum opens

July 1, 2010  |  Exteriors

Called a number of pet names—Smurf House, Chinese Hat, White Toadstool— because of its unusual white undulating roof, the new Centre Georges Pompidou outpost art museum in Metz, France, is a serious work of design by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban and French architect Jean de Gastines (a…
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Green and blue together in Shanghai

July 1, 2010  |  Exteriors

An ETFE cushion roof covers the Shenzhen East Huaquiao amusement and indoor water park. Since part of the roof is retractable, the ETFE cushions and corresponding air circulation systems were designed to move with the retractable roof. The project garnered a 2009 Award of Excellence, Architectural S…
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Participatory environment features flexible poles and bungee cords

July 1, 2010  |  Exteriors

The eleventh year of the Museum of Modern Art /P.S.1 Young Architects Program (MoMA/PS1 YAP) will see the installation of “Pole Dance,” a participatory environment composed of a system of flexible 7.6m-high poles on a 3.7m by 3.7m grid connected by bungee cords. Designed by Brooklyn arch…
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Ken Smith’s fabric WallFlowers bloom in New York

July 1, 2010  |  Exteriors, Features

Draped over the elegant façade of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Ken Smith’s temporary city garden grows with some surprising fabrics. By Frank Edgerton Martin Ken Smith is known for challenging old assumptions about landscape architecture. In his adopted hometown of New Yor…
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Shade canopies benefit Arizona campus plaza

July 1, 2010  |  Exteriors, Features

Phoenix-based architects Studio Ma, has a track record of successfully improving life for Arizona State University (ASU) students at the Tempe campus. Besides completely redesigning a student union building that dates to the early 1950s (by upgrading the facility and adding classrooms to create the …
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Sun valleys and cable-membrane roof define Shanghai’s Expo Boulevard

July 1, 2010  |  Case Studies, Exteriors

By Zou Bin Taking center stage at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai is Expo Boulevard, a 1km-long and 110m-wide north-south transportation axis that extends from Riverside Expo Park to Yaohua Road and serves as the main entrance to the Expo complex’s main pavilions. In addition to its traffic an…
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New aquatics Down Under

May 1, 2010  |  Exteriors, Features

A regional aquatic center in northern New South Wales zips up the place with tensioned fabric A revamped Tweed Regional Aquatic Centre in Murwillumbah—near the Queensland and New South Wales border and 132km south of Brisbane—serves the area well with an interior lap pool, an outdoor int…
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Canopy forms a crucial link at New York college

May 1, 2010  |  Exteriors, Features

Bard College gets it right with a helical connector canopy By Mason Riddle Size isn’t everything, we are told. But as with so many things, when something is just right—not too big and not to small, as Goldilocks reminded us—all of the planets snap into alignment. Such is the case w…
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London hospital’s ETFE skylight

May 1, 2010  |  Exteriors, Features

A redeveloped hospital complex links buildings with a membrane roof St. Bartholomew’s Hospital is the oldest established hospital in the United Kingdom and is located on a tight city center site within 500m of St Paul’s Cathedral. The redevelopment of St. Bartholomew’s (Barts) and …
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Shade structure allows fun in the sun

May 1, 2010  |  Exteriors, Features

A shade structure at a city water park allows Minnesotans to enjoy long-awaited summers By Abbie Yarger In Minnesota, summers are a celebration. After months of being confined to snow-covered houses in frigid temperatures, Minnesotans relish every warm, sunny day that comes along. Water activities a…
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