New United Arab Emirates Parliament Building Complex By Ehrlich Architects

Los Angeles-based Ehrlich Architects have been awarded the grand prize in the international architectural competition to design the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) Federal National Council’s (FNC) New Parliament Building Complex.

Fourteen firms representing nine countries had been invited in early 2010 to submit entries in Phase 1 of the competition for the new FNC building. A short list of four finalists was selected to continue to the more detailed Phase 2: Ehrlich Architects (USA), Foster + Partners (UK), Massimiliano Fuksas Architects (Italy), and Zaha Hadid Architects (UK).

Ehrlich Architects (who teamed in Phase 2 with U.A.E.-based architecture firm Godwin Austen Johnson [GAJ] and landscape architecture firm ValleyCrest Design Group) created a scheme for the FNC’s New Parliament which embodies the unique identity of the United Arab Emirates:  a modern society moving boldly into the future while retaining a strong connection to its history and traditions.

“The New Parliament Building Complex will balance Islamic Heritage with U.A.E.’s global contemporary aspirations, where modernity and tradition are in harmonious balance,” explains Ehrlich Architects’ Design Principal, Steven Ehrlich, FAIA, RIBA. “The architecture for the FNC’s new home will communicate its increasingly vital role in the lives of all United Arab Emirates citizens.” 

The winning entry for the new Parliament building melds familiar Arabic design language with contemporary form and the latest technological advances, creating meaning, maximum functionality and environmental sustainability.  The design is anchored by a striking 100-meter-diameter dome structure, a soaring “flower-of-the-desert” which will create a shaded micro-environment while casting Islamic patterns of dappled light onto the white marble Assembly Hall.

The flanking Parliamentary buildings that house the majority of the offices, meeting halls, and visitors’ program, abstract the colors and textures of desert sand; the exterior expression of these structures is indebted to local historic buildings. In total, the complex will be a proud landmark for public gatherings as well as a model for conservation of the region’s precious resources.

The site of the new Parliament conveys its significance as a public institution. It is located on Abu Dhabi Corniche, one of the grand processional boulevards in the country’s capital, where important civic events and celebrations take place. Facing the Arabian Gulf, the body of water shared by six of the seven Emirates, the new FNC complex will establish a governmental face at the seafront. Its dome will be visible for miles across the water and will glow dramatically at night.

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Waalse Krook, Urban Library of the Future by UNSTudio

UNStudio have sent us their entry for Waalse Krook, Urban Library of the Future and Centre for New Media in the Belgian city of Gent. Even though this design by Ben van Berkel/Caroline Bos-led Amsterdam practice was eventually not chosen to be the winning design, we are very excited to share it with you.

Project Description from the Architects:

The two main aims in the design for theUrban Library of the Future and Centre for New Media in Gent are to create a dynamic, flexible and open knowledge environment, whilst simultaneously strengthening the character of the location with the introduction of a building with a distinct architectural identity.

Sustainability is the guiding factor in the design, based on the conviction that not only must the environmental and user-friendly design of the Urban Library of the Future be able to evolve along with new media, but it must also offer the possibility for future change of use. Withan open landscape, spaciousness, extensive views, alternative circulation routes, several meeting areas and a public plaza, the design for the library affords a renewal of its urban context.

The building is both fluid in form and accommodating to its surroundings. This is evidenced by its appearance - which varies according to the orientation - as well as from the decision to lift the building volume above ground level, thereby creating light, transparency and expansive sightlines. However the layered structure and low construction volume ensure that the impact of the design on the urban profile is minimal and that views to the characteristic towers of Gent are preserved. The structure also makes it possible to introduce (green) roof terraces whilst also ensuring low levels of direct sunlight penetration.

Based on the functional organisation the volume is lifted in order to create public space around the Library. In conjunction with the promenade along the quays, this results in interaction with the surrounding water and thereby the revival of the Waalse Krook.

The internal organisation of the building is based on an open central void, around which the circulation takes place. This internal void enhances the spatial experience and creates clear orientation through the building.

In addition to providing an extension of the urban context and the junction of the circulation routes, the internal void also functions as a link between the various functional clusters in the design. The void fulfills a bridging function between the city and the Municipal Library, and as such acts as a metaphor for public perception.

Project Details:


Client: CVBA Waalse Krook
Location: Gent, Belgium
Building surface: 19,498.6 m2
Programme: Library and Centre for New Media
Status: Competition entry

UNStudio: Ben van Berkel, Caroline Bos, Gerard Loozekoot with Jacques van Wijk, Wesley Lanckriet and Jordan Trachtenberg, Ren Yee, Wendy van der Knijff , Bartek Winnicki, Aurélie Krotoff, Patrik Noome, Marcin Koltunski, Joerg Lonkwitz, Miguel Noë, Imola Berczi, Elena Scripelliti

Structure: ABT, Antwerp and Netherlands
Installations: ABT, Netherlands
Fire: ABT, Antwerp and Netherlands
Costs: ABT, Antwerp and Netherlands

Local architect: Crepain Binst Architecture, Antwerp
All images courtesy of UNStudio.

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4 creative workplaces designs

Offices have become domestic, the relationship between workmates has become closer and their workplace seems increasingly like a club or house in which they spend the greater part of the day. These projects feature inspiring ideas of designing more efficient, modern and more pleasant working environments each with a different creative twist ...

Moving Picture. L.A Office by Tighe Architecture

Kult Offices

Escada Head Office - Munich by studio Carbondale

 Ogilvy & Mather Guangzhou Office - A Carnival of Ideas by M Moser and Associates



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GOOD DESIGN Award 2010

A long list of winners of the 2010 GOOD DESIGN Award was recently announced by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design together with The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. Founded in Chicago in 1950 by architects Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames, and Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., GOOD DESIGN bestows international recognition upon the world's most prominent designers and manufacturers for advancing new, visionary, and innovative product concepts, invention and originality, and for stretching the envelope beyond what is considered ordinary product and consumer design.

A total of over 500 Awards were given in late December of 2010 by a New York jury, representing the work of thousands of designers and manufacturers in fields like Electronics, Medical, Robotics/Bionics, Textiles, Transportation, all the way to Children's Products, Tools, and Graphics/Identity/Packaging.

Following are the winning projects in the category Environments (click here for the complete list of winners in ALL categories):

View this competition brief:

2010 Green Good Design Awards

Fornari Group Offices, Milan, Italy, 2008-2008

Designers: Giorgio Borruso, Giorgio Borruso Design, Marina Del Rey, California, USA
Client: Fornari SpA., Civitanova, Marche (MC), Italy

Dialogue Café Pod Design, 2010

Designers: Matt Round and David Sutton, Tangerine, London, Great Britain
Client: CISCO Systems, Inc., Middlesex, Great Britain

Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia, 2008-2009
Designers: Ranjit Wagh and Mappaudang Ridwan Saleh, WOHA., Singapore, Republic of Singapore
Client: PT Bukit Uluwatu Villa, Jakarta,

Deutsche Telekom T-Gallery, 2009

Designers: Deutsche Telekom Product Design, Deutsche Telekom AG, Bonn, Germany
Client: Deutsche Telekom Product Design, Deutsche Telekom AG, Bonn, Germany

Reconnection Strategies: BQE Trench In Brownstone Brooklyn, 2006-2010
Designers: Rebecca Hill (Project Manager), Yong Kim, Anne Clark, Delia Kulukundis, and Phil Lee, dlandstudio llc., Brooklyn, New York, USA
Client: New York State Council on the Arts, New York, New York, USA

smart urban stage 2010-2011, 2010

Designers: Manfred Braunwagner, Braunwagner, Aachen, Germany
Client: Daimler AG., Sindelfingen, Germany

BIXI Montreal’s Public Bike System, 2008-2009
Designers: Michel Dallaire, Dominic Arbour, Yolaine Turcotte, Laurent Descamps, Charles Khairallah, Colin Côté and Cycle Devinci (engineering & technical team), Michel Dallaire design Industriel inc., Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Manufacturer: Société de Vélo en Libre-service inc., Lachine, Quebec, Canada

ADDWALL Scalable Moveable Wall Solution, 2010
Designers: Inscape Design Team, Inscape Corporation, Holland Landing, Ontario, Canada
Manufacturer: Inscape Corporation, Holland Landing, Ontario, Canada

Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, 2010
Designers: Ralph Appelbaum Associates, New York, New York, USA
Client: Anchorage Museum/Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, Anchorage, Alaska, USA

TKTS Booth and the Redevelopment of Father Duffy Square, New York, NY, 2004-2008

Designers: Perkins Eastman (Architect), Choi Ropiha (Concept Architect), William Fellows Architects now PKSB Architects (Plaza Architect), Perkins Eastman, New York, New York, USA
Client: Times Square Alliance, New York, New York, USA

"Paris Illumine Paris" The Recycling: A Bright Idea, 2009
Designers: Fabrice Peltier, P'Référence, Paris, France
Client: Coco-Cola, Co., Issy les Moulineaux, France and The City of Paris and Designpack Gallery, Paris, France

 



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The Corinthian Club, Glasgow

When it was built, back in 1842, The Glasgow Ship Bank was one of the city’s most elaborately ornate buildings – following its original restoration in 1999, The Corinthian Club has recently re-opened, following another eight-month multimillion-pound refurbishment. Led by Graven Images, the ltion brings a touch of contemporary elegance into the gaming room with exquisite glass balconies overlooking the Elsewhere, modern touches are fused with the building’s original decedent glamour – delivering a shamelessly opulent venue that quite simply cannot be ignored…

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