plug and play
Soria is a small city in north-central Spain. The city was founded in the 4th century BC in the banks of the Duero River. At that time the location along the watercourse was strategic for defence, however, now the valley is not a priority in the city’s development. Several historical buildings are located along the […]
lecture at the Iterate workshop
Last February 7th AQSO participated in the ‘Iterate’ workshop in Beijing with a lecture about the changing conditions of the Chinese cities and the progress of the ongoing research program ‘Hutopolis’.
learning from Dashilar
Organized by ‘Beijing Design Week’, Dashila(b) and Capital M, the event included speakers such Kenya Hara, designer from Nippon Design Center and director of design for MUJI, Fang Zhenning, curator of the Chinese pavilion of the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale, Liang Jingyu, architect from Approach Architecture, Giannantonio Bongiorno, curator of Hutopolis and Luis Aguirre from […]
hutopolis restrospective
Beijing Design Week is scheduled to be an annual event composed of several sections: a design forum, design exhibitions, workshops, a guest city program, design hops and an annual design award. ‘Next stop: Hutopolis’ is a retrospective on the urban condition of Beijing and specifically its Hutongs.
prefabricated construction in Anguix
The construction works for this multifunctional building designed by AQSO have recently started with the assemblage of modular concrete elements to be part of the structure and façade.
(un)made in China
The exhibition (un)made in China, organized by Cannon Design opened last Thursday at the ‘Ide@s gallery’ in Shanghai. The retrospective features a selection of twelve projects developed by international offices and aims to show not only the value of the architecture itself, moreover the process and the experience of these architects when facing the challenge […]
a map of hutopolis
AQSO is pleased to announce the publication of the book ‘A Map of Hutopolis‘, a monograph comprising the projects developed during the Hutopolis research program and a series of articles written by researchers and professors on the topic of Chinese urbanisation.
Lisbon Architecture Triennale
Next October AQSO will participate at the third edition of the 2013 Lisbon Architecture Triennale presenting the documentary ‘3×3 projects in contexts’ at the ‘Expo 7×7 Iberian Architecture’.
round table at 751
Cannon Design organized a roundtable at the 751 lecture hall coinciding with the exhibition ‘Unmade in China’ presented at the 2012 Beijing Design Week. The event featured projects developed by the architectural firms featured in the exhibition followed by a discussion about the particular characteristics of the design process in the Chinese market.
our analysis of the Chinese market for El País
El País correspondent in China has interviewed Luis Aguirre to learn more about the architecture market in China and the opportunities it offers to Spanish architects.
lecture at the Global Pioneer design forum
AQSO was invited to participate at the Global Pioneer Design forum organised by the Galaxy arts centre and 5cats editors in Shenzhen, China, last May 26.
3×3 projects in contexts
Last October AQSO presented the short documentary ‘3×3 projects in contexts’ at the Lisbon Architecture Triennial. The event was complemented with a lecture where the latest works done at the office were presented.
identities in comparison
What is the influence on urbanism when a planned economy shifts to a new model of development? How to promote an urban evolution based on soft elements? Can social interactions catalyse strategies of urban regeneration?
city visions
City Visions is an exhibition that collects one year of research, experiments and events organized in China and Europe by the Hutopolis research program. Soft and physical urban planning strategies, visions and ideas have been developed taking Beijing as a case study.
’ramp up the mun’ shortlisted for e10
AQSO’s proposal for the Boilerhouse studios in Dublin, an urban regeneration project including cultural and residential spaces in Ballymun, has been shortlisted for the 10th edition of Europan.
Carola furniture series
On the last few months, we have been working on an exciting outdoor furniture project: the Carola Collection, a minimalist and simple furniture design inspired by the bright colours of the sunny Mediterranean regions.
striking ship-like hotel proposed as new Shoreditch landmark
A new mixed-use building, which includes a hotel, cinema and retail space, could become the latest eye-catching landmark in London’s most creative neighbourhood.
possible architecture
The project for a music centre in Soria has been selected for inclusion in the ‘Arquitecturas posibles’ exhibition organized by agoras.arq. The exhibition will be held in the MUVa Museum, Santa Cruz Palace, Valladolid, Spain, from October 3rd.
architects at work
The second edition of the Architects@Work festival, an event showcasing architecture and industry-related products with a special focus on innovation and education, took place in Beijing last December 5th and 6th. AQSO participated both at the ‘Spanish design in China’ seminar and the conference ‘Hutong to Hutopolis’.
the people’s urbanism
Last Saturday 22th took place in Hong Kong the presentation and discussion entitled ‘The People´s Urbanism’, an event organized by AP+E about bottom up approaches part of the last edition of the Hong Kong/Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture (UABB).
(un)made in China exhibition in Shanghai
The Xubeihong foundation project proposed by AQSO has been selected for the exhibition ‘(un)made in China, architecture undone in the P.R.C’. The retrospective aims to celebrate the best missing Chinese projects from the last decade.
tierra de cultivo in Gorizia
The proposal for a strategic masterplan in Gorizia presented by AQSO and G. Damiani under the title ‘S.A.R.A, una tierra de cultivo’ will be exhibited along with the rest of participants of the international contest ‘spazio giovani alla frontiera’ (Youth Space at the border) in the event entitled ‘30×1, Trenta progetti per una mostra‘.
open arte-fact exhibited in Beirut
The proposal for the house of arts, a large cultural building to be built in Lebanon, will be exhibited along with the rest of participants of the international competition between 23 March & 14 April 2009 at the Forum de Beyrouth.
special mention for atienza hall
AQSO has been awarded an honorable mention for the restoration of Santa Maria de Atienza in Huete, Spain. A simply folded steel piece covers the remains of the church and creates a space from which to contemplate the landscape.
Harvest Home awarded by the IaaC
The self-sufficient house Harvest Home has been given an award in the ‘2nd Advanced Architecture Contest’, an international competition organized by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia.
from policies to design
Modern urbanism involves several disciplines beyond architecture and sociology. Often the rules guiding urban development are established taking into account economic and political factors. In a complex scenario where the future of urban areas is more difficult to predict, how policymakers can take into account public participation?
lecture at the Dashilan design hop
Giannantonio Bongiorno, curator of the exhibition ‘Next stop: Hutopolis‘, presented together with Luis Aguirre Manso the contents of the research that will start next fall about the Chinese urban conditions.
Iberian architecture in Beijing
AQSO participated at LAMIPA, an audiovisual exhibition about Spanish and Portuguese architecture which opening took place in Beijing on September 25.
E9 forum in Santiago de Compostela
Lynn McMahon participated in the European Forum in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, which discussed the findings of Europan 9. The prize-winning project ‘Interactive Flexibility’ was exhibited at the Forum. This proposal for the development of Slatina Square in Opatija, Croatia, was included in the ‘Public and Private Spaces’ discussion.
AQSO launches urban research Hutopolis
“Hutopolis” is a research program that aims to investigate new boundaries for the urban development in China. The study intends to re-use and enhance the existing urban framework and networks as a key idea to generate a new evolution of the city. AQSO organises an exhibition curated by Giannantonio Bongiorno and Luis Aguirre, with the […]
W salon opening
The interior of a hair salon in Beijing designed by AQSO has been recently completed.
aqso and cca awarded for Liuzhou museum
The proposal for the new Industrial museum in Liuzhou presented by CCA and AQSO has been awarded the 3rd prize in the restricted competition organised by the local government. The museum is intended to use a 62000 sqm old factory near the Liu river in the second largest city in the Guangxi province (China).
old is new at Today Art Museum
On the occasion of the the 70th Anniversary of John Lennon’s Birth, Beijing-based Today art museum organized last October 16th an outdoor event including multimedia video projections, poetry readings, music performances and discussions under the name “old is new“.
transformations
Transformations, a dialogue about the evolving city is the title of a documentary recently presented by AQSO at the 2013 Beijing Design Week. The movie is conceived as the conclusive chapter of the Hutopolis reseach program launched in 2011 for studying the urban changes on Chinese cities.