Have It Norway: Proposals by Snøhetta, BIG (pictured above), and MVRDV are among the six shortlisted entries for the new government quarter in Oslo, an atypical competition for which there will not be a single winner. Although architecture sites have focusedon the renderings, it’s also worth remembering the sociopolitical background of the competition: “The project will ultimately replace the office space lost when three of the buildings housing government ministries were severely damaged in the [2011] bombing.” Statsbygg, the government agency that oversees of municipal buildings, is also planning a memorial to the 77 people who lost their lives during the horrific attack.
L: Wanda Vista Tower; R: Nanning Resources Center Tower
Supertall Tales: Studio Gang‘s undulating, Brancusi-esque Wanda Vista Tower is moving forward following its latest revision. Topping out at 1,100–1,200 feet (accounts vary), it will settle for the title of third tallest building in Chicago, though it is significant for a number of other reasons, including the fact that Wanda Vista marks a milestone for foreign investment. Meanwhile, Chicago-based Goettsch Partners announced that construction of the 445m mixed-use Nanning Resources Center Tower, set to become the tallest building in the capital of Guangxi province. (We recently took note of this trend, which reaches its apotheosis in China.)
Container Store: Outlook good for cargo-tecture, if an interview with SG Blocks’ Paul M. Galvin is any indication. The company, which repurposes shipping containers for building construction, is on deck for a project in Manhattan, and his diction alone is edifying: “It’s an 11-container [building], so around 2,300 square feet. We just did the first seven containers between 8 o’clock and 12 o’clock today.” And if there’s any truth to this AP report on “Why Your Rent Will Rise Again This Year,” he might be on to something: “The marketplace seems to be heading toward smaller-footprint living and working spaces, particularly for millennials who are coming into the economy and having a rough time of it. We think our product lends itself to those kinds of creative spaces.”
New York Public Library via Davis Brody Bond; R: Kartell’s Milan storefront, via T Magazine
In Brief
Reading Into It: The Foster plan was shelved last year, but the New York Public Library is reportedly issuing another RFP for a reno to eight shortlisted firms (including RAMSA and Studio Gang. (h/t to Curbed)
Memphis via Milan: It seems that design world is increasingly jaded about the Salone, but if the glut of novelty isn’t your steez, Kartell is officially revisiting the Pomo-moment by getting Sottsassy this year.
A Mirage of a Metropolis: The Capital Cairo plan was met with skepticism since it was first announced a month ago; as these things go, setting impossibly high expectations is, to put it mildly, a bad plan. The latest analysis reveals further cracks in the façade of the ambitious SOM proposal.
Non Sequitur
How to Dig Out of a 76-Foot Hole: Where Calatrava’s soaring Chicago Spire was once set to rise, a topographical curiosity has inspired full-fledged architectural fiction. Like a giant manhole, visible from above (it’s just northeast of the Loop), a circular excavation has festered for the last seven years as a scar from the financial crisis; Gizmodo has a brief history of the site.
“These are meat cleavers”: NOWNESS has just published an entertaining, if somewhat obtuse, video interview with Peter Marino from Design Miami:
Image at top: BIG’s proposal for the Oslo’s New Government Quarter, via ArchDaily