1. 62 U r b a n La N D n o v e m b e r / d e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8
ulx R o n N y r e n
EmergingDesigners
Projects by ten designers/
design duos in their 30s and
40s provide a glimpse into the
future of architecture.
Designers coming into their
own in 2008 operate in a signifi-
cantly different world than those
emerging ten years ago. Urban con-
texts have become denser while
natural environments are shrinking,
which, along with climate change,
has pushed sustainability to the
forefront of architectural—and
global—consciousness.
At the same time, economic
expansion in fast-developing coun-
tries like China has allowed for
unusual experimentation on the
forms of large-scale buildings, in
many cases aided by the availability
of new digital design technologies.
The world still values icons,
yet many architects coming into
prominence recognize the vital
role that structures play—not just
as symbols, but also as partici-
pants in the civic realm. In a time
when people increasingly rely
on electronic communications to
stay in touch, attractive physical
environments for public gathering
may be more necessary than ever
to seduce people away from their
BlackBerrys, iPods, and virtual
online worlds.
Ron Nyren is a freelance architecture and urban
design writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
1.RafiqAzam
Shatotto
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dhaka, Bangladesh, where
44-year-old Rafiq Azam was
born and raised, has one
of the world’s highest population densities. For
several decades, the historic two-story courtyard
houses of Old Dhaka have been subject to demoli-
tion, replaced by high-rise apartment blocks that
crowd together along the narrow streets, cutting
off natural light and air.
Azam, who studied with Australian architect
Glenn Murcutt, founded his firm Shatotto in 1995
with a focus on “architecture for green living.” His
design for the Kazedewan Apartment Building is
representative of his mission to bring tenets of
healthy living back to his native city. Completed in
2002, the five-story, 14-unit structure incorporates
indigenous plants throughout, including a rooftop
garden where inhabitants can gather (right). Sun-
shades block direct sunlight during the hot sum-
mers but let in breezes for ventilation. The ground
floor is set back to give space back to the street.
Azam’s other built work includes multifamily
and single-family housing, office buildings, and a
hospital for the Centre for the Rehabilitation for the
Paralysed in Dhaka.
Md.RafiqAzamandHassanSaifuddinChandan
UL NovDec 08 ULX.indd 62 11/17/08 3:38:27 PM
2. 62 U r b a n La N D n o v e m b e r / d e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8
ulx R o n N y r e n
EmergingDesigners
Projects by ten designers/
design duos in their 30s and
40s provide a glimpse into the
future of architecture.
Designers coming into their
own in 2008 operate in a signifi-
cantly different world than those
emerging ten years ago. Urban con-
texts have become denser while
natural environments are shrinking,
which, along with climate change,
has pushed sustainability to the
forefront of architectural—and
global—consciousness.
At the same time, economic
expansion in fast-developing coun-
tries like China has allowed for
unusual experimentation on the
forms of large-scale buildings, in
many cases aided by the availability
of new digital design technologies.
The world still values icons,
yet many architects coming into
prominence recognize the vital
role that structures play—not just
as symbols, but also as partici-
pants in the civic realm. In a time
when people increasingly rely
on electronic communications to
stay in touch, attractive physical
environments for public gathering
may be more necessary than ever
to seduce people away from their
BlackBerrys, iPods, and virtual
online worlds.
Ron Nyren is a freelance architecture and urban
design writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
1.RafiqAzam
Shatotto
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dhaka, Bangladesh, where
44-year-old Rafiq Azam was
born and raised, has one
of the world’s highest population densities. For
several decades, the historic two-story courtyard
houses of Old Dhaka have been subject to demoli-
tion, replaced by high-rise apartment blocks that
crowd together along the narrow streets, cutting
off natural light and air.
Azam, who studied with Australian architect
Glenn Murcutt, founded his firm Shatotto in 1995
with a focus on “architecture for green living.” His
design for the Kazedewan Apartment Building is
representative of his mission to bring tenets of
healthy living back to his native city. Completed in
2002, the five-story, 14-unit structure incorporates
indigenous plants throughout, including a rooftop
garden where inhabitants can gather (right). Sun-
shades block direct sunlight during the hot sum-
mers but let in breezes for ventilation. The ground
floor is set back to give space back to the street.
Azam’s other built work includes multifamily
and single-family housing, office buildings, and a
hospital for the Centre for the Rehabilitation for the
Paralysed in Dhaka.
Md.RafiqAzamandHassanSaifuddinChandan
UL NovDec 08 ULX.indd 62 11/17/08 3:38:27 PM
3. n o v e m b e r / d e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 U r b a n La n D 63
2.AnthonyBernheimerandJaredDellaValle
Della Valle + Bernheimer Design
New York, New York
Della Valle + Bernheimer Design formed back in 1996 when Anthony
Bernheimer (above left) and Jared Della Valle (above right)—in their 20s
at the time—won the commission to redesign San Francisco’s Federal
Building Plaza. Completed in 2000, their transformation tilted the entire
400-foot-long (122-m-long) site into a gradually rising ramp (top left), a
novel approach to blocking cold winds—with a ten-foot-high (3.05-m-high)
western edge, satisfying ADA requirements, and enhancing security.
The firm has gone on to design residential, commercial, hospitality, and
civic projects. Recently, it served as codeveloper of Glenmore Gardens,
five semidetached condominium buildings in Brooklyn, New York, com-
pleted in 2007. The duo designed two of the structures (left) and brought
in three other firms to collaborate on the design of the others. Developed
under the auspices of the city of New York’s department of housing pres-
ervation and development, each of the two-family rowhouses has its own
look, even though facades all use the same materials: 90 percent recycled
corrugated aluminum, fiber cement panels, and renewable cedar siding.
RichardBarnesRichardBarnes
3.ChrisBosse
Laboratory for Visionary
Architecture
Sydney, New South
Wales, Australia
Born in 1971 in Stuttgart,
Germany, Chris Bosse has
long been fascinated by the intersection of
virtual design and architecture. As a project
architect at PTW in Sydney, Australia, Bosse
played a strong role in developing the now-
famous bubble concept for the exterior of
Beijing’s National Swimming Center, designed
by PTW, Arup, and China State Construction and Engineering. Nicknamed “the Water Cube,” the National
Swimming Center has a skin made of transparent plastic in a pattern modeled after soap bubbles (right).
Bubbles, like organic cells and mineral crystals, represent the most efficient subdivision of three-
dimensional space in nature, and Bosse’s other work often uses digital technologies to capitalize on
these forms. While at PTW, Bosse was behind the Moët & Chandon Marquee for the Melbourne Cup
2005 horseracing event, creating a 32.8-by-32.8-foot (10-by-10-m) Lycra pavilion that weighs 77 pounds
(35 kg) and can be put together in an hour (above).
In 2007, Bosse left PTW to form the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture with fellow principals Tobias
Wallisser and Alexander Rieck. The firm has offices in Sydney, Stuttgart, and Dubai.
ChrisBosse
ChrisBosse
UL NovDec 08 ULX.indd 63 11/17/08 3:38:36 PM
4. n o v e m b e r / d e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 U r b a n La n D 63
2.AnthonyBernheimerandJaredDellaValle
Della Valle + Bernheimer Design
New York, New York
Della Valle + Bernheimer Design formed back in 1996 when Anthony
Bernheimer (above left) and Jared Della Valle (above right)—in their 20s
at the time—won the commission to redesign San Francisco’s Federal
Building Plaza. Completed in 2000, their transformation tilted the entire
400-foot-long (122-m-long) site into a gradually rising ramp (top left), a
novel approach to blocking cold winds—with a ten-foot-high (3.05-m-high)
western edge, satisfying ADA requirements, and enhancing security.
The firm has gone on to design residential, commercial, hospitality, and
civic projects. Recently, it served as codeveloper of Glenmore Gardens,
five semidetached condominium buildings in Brooklyn, New York, com-
pleted in 2007. The duo designed two of the structures (left) and brought
in three other firms to collaborate on the design of the others. Developed
under the auspices of the city of New York’s department of housing pres-
ervation and development, each of the two-family rowhouses has its own
look, even though facades all use the same materials: 90 percent recycled
corrugated aluminum, fiber cement panels, and renewable cedar siding.
RichardBarnesRichardBarnes
3.ChrisBosse
Laboratory for Visionary
Architecture
Sydney, New South
Wales, Australia
Born in 1971 in Stuttgart,
Germany, Chris Bosse has
long been fascinated by the intersection of
virtual design and architecture. As a project
architect at PTW in Sydney, Australia, Bosse
played a strong role in developing the now-
famous bubble concept for the exterior of
Beijing’s National Swimming Center, designed
by PTW, Arup, and China State Construction and Engineering. Nicknamed “the Water Cube,” the National
Swimming Center has a skin made of transparent plastic in a pattern modeled after soap bubbles (right).
Bubbles, like organic cells and mineral crystals, represent the most efficient subdivision of three-
dimensional space in nature, and Bosse’s other work often uses digital technologies to capitalize on
these forms. While at PTW, Bosse was behind the Moët & Chandon Marquee for the Melbourne Cup
2005 horseracing event, creating a 32.8-by-32.8-foot (10-by-10-m) Lycra pavilion that weighs 77 pounds
(35 kg) and can be put together in an hour (above).
In 2007, Bosse left PTW to form the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture with fellow principals Tobias
Wallisser and Alexander Rieck. The firm has offices in Sydney, Stuttgart, and Dubai.
ChrisBosse
ChrisBosse
UL NovDec 08 ULX.indd 63 11/17/08 3:38:36 PM
5. 64 U r b a n La N D n o v e m b e r / d e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8
TimGriffith
ulx
4.JamesDayton
James Dayton Design Ltd.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
In 2007, the MacPhail Center for
Music, a 100-year-old nonprofit
community music school, opened
its new home in downtown Minneapolis, a playful yet
coherent collage of Cor-Ten steel, galvanized steel
panels, glass curtain wall, and brick (right). Its contem-
porary design stands out amid the renovated buildings
of the city’s historic Mill District, but its massing and
use of industrial materials harmonize with the context.
That combination of architectural kinetics and prac-
tical midwestern restraint characterizes the work of
James Dayton, who worked in Frank Gehry’s office for
five years before founding his own firm in 1997. The
design touches emphasize daylight and community,
as in the MacPhail Center’s atrium, which includes triple-height
steps for casual sitting and gathering and a performance nook
to provide a less formal venue for playing music outside the
225-seat concert hall.
Dayton first came to prominence with his design for the Min-
netonka Center for the Arts in Wayzata, Minnesota, which opened
in 2002. He continues to work in cultural facilities as well as
commercial and multifamily residential projects.
AndreaRugg
5.RichardHassellandWongMunSumm
WOHA Architects
Singapore
With Newton Suites, WOHA Architects combine modernism with sensitiv-
ity to the climate of the tropics in their approach to the high rise. The
exterior of the 36-story residential tower, built in 2007, is alive with green
walls and “skygardens” and protected from the sun with horizontal, metal
mesh screens that are angled to preserve views (left). Ample balconies take
advantage of cooling breezes for outdoor living and facilitate natural ventila-
tion. Creepers enclose the above-ground parking structure, soaking up car
exhaust.
WOHA’s founders, Australian Richard Hassell (above left) and Singaporean
Wong Mun Summ (above right), first forged their cross-cultural partnership
working at Kerry Hill Architects, which has offices in Singapore and Fremantle,
Australia, in the early 1990s. They formed WOHA in Singapore in 1994, and
have completed numerous multifamily residences throughout Asia, as well as
the Church of St. Mary of the Angels in Singapore, completed in 2003, and
the Stadium MRT Station, which opened this year near Singapore’s National
Stadium.
TomBerthiaume
UL NovDec 08 ULX.indd 64 11/17/08 3:38:42 PM
6. 64 U r b a n La N D n o v e m b e r / d e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8
TimGriffith
ulx
4.JamesDayton
James Dayton Design Ltd.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
In 2007, the MacPhail Center for
Music, a 100-year-old nonprofit
community music school, opened
its new home in downtown Minneapolis, a playful yet
coherent collage of Cor-Ten steel, galvanized steel
panels, glass curtain wall, and brick (right). Its contem-
porary design stands out amid the renovated buildings
of the city’s historic Mill District, but its massing and
use of industrial materials harmonize with the context.
That combination of architectural kinetics and prac-
tical midwestern restraint characterizes the work of
James Dayton, who worked in Frank Gehry’s office for
five years before founding his own firm in 1997. The
design touches emphasize daylight and community,
as in the MacPhail Center’s atrium, which includes triple-height
steps for casual sitting and gathering and a performance nook
to provide a less formal venue for playing music outside the
225-seat concert hall.
Dayton first came to prominence with his design for the Min-
netonka Center for the Arts in Wayzata, Minnesota, which opened
in 2002. He continues to work in cultural facilities as well as
commercial and multifamily residential projects.
AndreaRugg
5.RichardHassellandWongMunSumm
WOHA Architects
Singapore
With Newton Suites, WOHA Architects combine modernism with sensitiv-
ity to the climate of the tropics in their approach to the high rise. The
exterior of the 36-story residential tower, built in 2007, is alive with green
walls and “skygardens” and protected from the sun with horizontal, metal
mesh screens that are angled to preserve views (left). Ample balconies take
advantage of cooling breezes for outdoor living and facilitate natural ventila-
tion. Creepers enclose the above-ground parking structure, soaking up car
exhaust.
WOHA’s founders, Australian Richard Hassell (above left) and Singaporean
Wong Mun Summ (above right), first forged their cross-cultural partnership
working at Kerry Hill Architects, which has offices in Singapore and Fremantle,
Australia, in the early 1990s. They formed WOHA in Singapore in 1994, and
have completed numerous multifamily residences throughout Asia, as well as
the Church of St. Mary of the Angels in Singapore, completed in 2003, and
the Stadium MRT Station, which opened this year near Singapore’s National
Stadium.
TomBerthiaume
UL NovDec 08 ULX.indd 64 11/17/08 3:38:42 PM
9. 66 U r b a n La N D n o v e m b e r / d e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8
ulx
8.XuTiantian
DnA_Design & Architecture
Beijing, China
China’s architects are coming of age in a
whirlwind of development, and sometimes
they have to create structures within a con-
text that is still coming into shape.
With a master’s degree in urban design
from Harvard and experience working for
Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, Xu Tiantian
set up DnA_Design & Architecture in Beijing
in 2004. Already she has a number of com-
pleted projects under her belt, including the
Songzhuang Art Center (above left) in the
“art village” of Songzhuang outside Beijing.
Completed in 2006, it is the village’s
first public art facility, designed to give
artists a place to gather—while the spaces
remain flexible to meet different needs as
the city grows. The glass-enclosed ground
level consists of a multipurpose space
for socializing, with gallery space on the
second level clad in brick.
Other recent and ongoing projects
include the Ordos Art Museum (left) in Inner
Mongolia—the first building of the city of
Ordos’s civic center—and the Changbaishan
Public Activity Center, centerpiece for the
developing resort town of Baixi.
SavoyePhotographySavoyePhotography
UL NovDec 08 ULX.indd 66 11/17/08 3:38:53 PM
10. n o v e m b e r / d e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 U r b a n La n D 67
10.PeiZhu
Studio Pei-Zhu
Beijing, China
The design for the Digital Beijing Building
(left), by Pei Zhu and his partner, Wu Tong, is
less dramatic, perhaps, than its compatriots
on Beijing’s Olympic Green—Herzog & de Mueron’s exuberant
National Stadium and the glowing bubbles of PTW’s National
Swimming Center. But it is no less high-concept: designed to
house all the control technology for the 2008 Olympic Games—
and exhibitions after the games—its four concrete and steel frame
slabs rise 11 stories above ground, stacked parallel to suggest a
bar code when viewed from the side. The voids in between are
also functional, facilitating ventilation for the electronics packed
within. The western facade’s recessed lines of glass etch out
a pattern reminiscent of computer motherboards; the eastern
facade incorporates animated LEDs.
Zhu’s experimentation with materials shows up in other proj-
ects like the Blur Hotel in Beijing, which refurbished a former
government building with a facade of fiberglass-reinforced
plastic, recalling Chinese paper lanterns. His design for the
forthcoming Art Museum of Yue Minjun in the Sichuan Prov-
ince’s Qingcheng Mountains, along the Shimeng River, takes
the shape of a river pebble, coated with reflective metal to
disappear into the landscape. UL
9.MingZhang
MulvannyG2 Architecture
Bellevue, Washington
Born in China in 1963 and equipped with a U.S. graduate degree in archi-
tecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Ming Zhang
straddles East and West, combining a focus on sustainability with a high-
tech spirit. He joined MulvannyG2 Architecture in 1998. As senior partner and design director,
he is responsible for several high-rise designs in China, such as the Fujian Provincial Electric
and Power Company, a 31-story headquarters completed in 2007 and topped by a 22-story
communications tower modeled after a lightning bolt (left). Sus-
tainable elements include a glass curtain wall for natural light,
natural ventilation, and energy-efficient glass.
At a smaller scale, the Redmond City Hall (right) in Redmond,
Washington—home of Microsoft Corporation and Nintendo—
reflects officials’ desire to represent the fast-growing municipal-
ity’s aspirations, exemplify governmental transparency, and
provide a “living room for the public.” Limestone panels and
a copper entrance canopy complement extensive glass that
provides views through the building to the Sammamish River.
Opened in 2006, the edifice incorporates gardens and a park,
as well as local and recycled materials, water-efficient land-
scaping, bike storage, and electric vehicle charging stations.
ShenZhonghai
SteveKeating
MarcGerritsen
UL NovDec 08 ULX.indd 67 11/17/08 3:39:04 PM
11. n o v e m b e r / d e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 U r b a n La n D 67
10.PeiZhu
Studio Pei-Zhu
Beijing, China
The design for the Digital Beijing Building
(left), by Pei Zhu and his partner, Wu Tong, is
less dramatic, perhaps, than its compatriots
on Beijing’s Olympic Green—Herzog & de Mueron’s exuberant
National Stadium and the glowing bubbles of PTW’s National
Swimming Center. But it is no less high-concept: designed to
house all the control technology for the 2008 Olympic Games—
and exhibitions after the games—its four concrete and steel frame
slabs rise 11 stories above ground, stacked parallel to suggest a
bar code when viewed from the side. The voids in between are
also functional, facilitating ventilation for the electronics packed
within. The western facade’s recessed lines of glass etch out
a pattern reminiscent of computer motherboards; the eastern
facade incorporates animated LEDs.
Zhu’s experimentation with materials shows up in other proj-
ects like the Blur Hotel in Beijing, which refurbished a former
government building with a facade of fiberglass-reinforced
plastic, recalling Chinese paper lanterns. His design for the
forthcoming Art Museum of Yue Minjun in the Sichuan Prov-
ince’s Qingcheng Mountains, along the Shimeng River, takes
the shape of a river pebble, coated with reflective metal to
disappear into the landscape. UL
9.MingZhang
MulvannyG2 Architecture
Bellevue, Washington
Born in China in 1963 and equipped with a U.S. graduate degree in archi-
tecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Ming Zhang
straddles East and West, combining a focus on sustainability with a high-
tech spirit. He joined MulvannyG2 Architecture in 1998. As senior partner and design director,
he is responsible for several high-rise designs in China, such as the Fujian Provincial Electric
and Power Company, a 31-story headquarters completed in 2007 and topped by a 22-story
communications tower modeled after a lightning bolt (left). Sus-
tainable elements include a glass curtain wall for natural light,
natural ventilation, and energy-efficient glass.
At a smaller scale, the Redmond City Hall (right) in Redmond,
Washington—home of Microsoft Corporation and Nintendo—
reflects officials’ desire to represent the fast-growing municipal-
ity’s aspirations, exemplify governmental transparency, and
provide a “living room for the public.” Limestone panels and
a copper entrance canopy complement extensive glass that
provides views through the building to the Sammamish River.
Opened in 2006, the edifice incorporates gardens and a park,
as well as local and recycled materials, water-efficient land-
scaping, bike storage, and electric vehicle charging stations.
ShenZhonghai
SteveKeating
MarcGerritsen
UL NovDec 08 ULX.indd 67 11/17/08 3:39:04 PM