JVS

Fotografias via http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=421438&page=3

Projecto Integrado de Valorização do Centro Histórico de Pombal O ano de 2011 vai ser marcado, na cidade de Pombal, pelas obras do PRU (Parcerias para a Regeneração Urbana), um programa ambicioso de remodelação urbana numa escala nunca vista no concelho de Pombal. As obras, que ascendem a um total de mais de 13 milhões de euros, são financiadas em 80% pelo FEDER e foram objecto de candidatura ao programa MaisCentro, surgido com o actual QREN. O processo de regeneração urbana da cidade de Pombal é um processo de participação, nas acções, nos projectos e nos investimentos. É também um processo de responsabilidades, de colaboração activa e de valorização da economia urbana. Os parceiros do PRU são o Município de Pombal, a Junta de Freguesia de Pombal, a Associação Comercial e de Serviços de Pombal, a Fábrica da Igreja Paroquial de Pombal e a ADILPOM. A área de intervenção é, essencialmente, o Centro Histórico da cidade de Pombal, dividindo-se o programa de acção pelas seguintes obras e investimentos: * Requalificação e Reestruturação da Área Histórica de Pombal - 3.852.793,95€ Projecto elaborado pela empresa Geoestrutural - Consultores de Engenharia, Lda com sede na Guarda * Passagens Pedonais Inferiores à Linha Férrea - 953.843,05€ Projecto elaborado pela empresa Perry da Câmara e Associados - Consultores de Engenharia, Lda com sede em Lisboa * Jardim das Tílias - 333.666,40€ (Obra concluída) Projecto elaborado pela Arquitecta Nélia Fragoso - Divisão de Urbanismo do Município de Pombal * Valorização Paisagística do Castelo de Pombal e Área Envolvente - 3.083.914,23€ (Obra a decorrer) Projecto elaborado pela empresa Luís Miguel Correia - Arquitecto, Lda com sede em Coimbra * Recuperação da Ponte D. Maria - 618.678,91€ Projecto elaborado pela empresa Central Projectos, Lda - Consultores de Projecto com sede em Coimbra | Arquitectura Paisagística - Arquitecto Braulio Ferreira - GreenArq * Intervenção no Largo S. Sebastião - 3.014.473,48€ Projecto elaborado pela empresa Trimétrica Engenharia, Lda com sede em Lisboa * Centro de Negócios - 991.093,56 € Projecto elaborado pela empresa Reis de Figueiredo - Arquitectos da Beira, Lda com sede na Figueira da Foz * Reabilitação e Conservação da Igreja Matriz - 90.629,00€ * Projectos de Animação de Parceria e Eventos - 360.000,00€ O Impacto das Obras na Cidade O número de obras do Plano de Acção e as características de toda a Zona de Intervenção irão condicionar, durante o ano de 2011 e parte de 2012, o normal funcionamento da cidade, afectando os processos de mobilidade, o trânsito, os transportes urbanos, as cargas e descargas e a recolha de resíduos sólidos urbanos e recicláveis, bem como afectará o dia-a-dia normal quer de residentes quer de visitantes. O Município de Pombal, ciente dos impactos que as obras trarão à normal vivência da cidade, determinou que cada projecto seguisse um rigoroso plano de procedimentos, por forma a diminuir estes impactos. Durante as obras, tanto a população como todos os intervenientes, serão informados dos constrangimentos que possam ocorrer, tomando-se todas as medidas necessárias, quer ao bom andamento dos trabalhos, quer ao funcionamento da cidade e das actividades urbanas. Neste sentido, importa sintetizar os trabalhos que decorrerão em cada projecto, salientando aqueles que mais directamente intervirão na vida da cidade. Requalificação e Reestruturação da Área Histórica de Pombal * Esta intervenção é a obra base de todo o Plano de Acção que se gizou anteriormente e englobará a reestruturação da rede eléctrica com enterramento das cablagens, a reformulação das redes de saneamento e águas pluviais, a reformulação das redes de telecomunicações com enterramento das cablagens, o lançamento de rede de gás natural e uma reestruturação global dos pavimentos dando resposta às orientações da legislação sobre a mobilidade. * A área de intervenção está contida no perímetro composto pelo Largo do Cardal, Rua Dr. António José Teixeira, Rua Conde de Castelo Melhor, Rua de Albergaria dos Doze e Largo 5 de Outubro. As principais incidências serão no Largo 5 de Outubro, na Rua Almirante Reis, na Rua Capitão Tavares Dias, na Travessa do Cardal e Rua Dr. António José Teixeira. * O Largo do Cardal será globalmente reestruturado de modo a garantir uma melhor adequação do seu desenho e das suas funções aos tempos actuais e será acompanhado pela colocação de novo equipamento urbano e sinalética. Passagens Pedonais Inferiores à Linha Férrea * Esta obra pretende colmatar os diversos constrangimentos urbanos e económicos que as actuais passagens provocam. O tecido urbano reivindica a construção de novas passagens pedonais inferiores à Linha do Norte assegurando uma adequada articulação entre a zona do rio Arunca e o Centro Histórico. * As principais incidências destas obras serão o Largo 5 de Outubro e a Rua de Albergaria dos Doze. Recuperação da Ponte D. Maria * Esta obra para além da necessária recuperação patrimonial criará condições para permitir a passagem da ciclovia que virá de jusante e se prolongará ao longo das margens do rio Arunca até à Ponte das Barrocas.* As principais incidências desta obra serão a Rua da Fábrica Velha, a Rua de Leiria e parte do Arnado. Intervenção no Largo S. Sebastião * Este Largo situa-se na articulação entre a Rua da Albergaria dos Doze e o Centro Histórico. A intervenção neste local passa por resolver imensas questões do actual desenho urbano, de concordâncias, resolver o caos do estacionamento com a construção de um parque de estacionamento coberto e dar resposta a um conjunto de funções relacionadas com a actividade comercial e habitacional. * As principais incidências das obras serão na Rua de Albergaria dos Doze,Largo S. Sebastião e Rua Conde de Castelo Melhor. Centro de Negócios * A recuperação de dois edifícios junto ao Museu Marquês de Pombal permitirá a criação de condições para que o Centro Histórico também possua um edifício (Centro de Negócios) em condições para receber empresas ou organismos estatais que aqui se pretendam instalar. * As incidências da obra serão a Rua do Cais, o Largo do Carmo e a Rua Conde de Castelo Melhor. Reabilitação e Conservação da Igreja Matriz * Serão realizadas, na Igreja Matriz, obras gerais de reabilitação e conservação. Estas obras incidirão sobre a impermeabilízação da cobertura com limpeza da telha, substituição de cantarias degradadas e lavagem de outras, colocação de sistema de dissuasão de pombos e pinturas gerais. * As principais incidências da obra serão a Praça Marquês de Pombal, a Praça Faria da Gama e a Rua Conde de Castelo Melhor. in http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1323889

Hotel, escritórios e área comercial junto à Boavista, num investimento de 25 milhões. A Civilria pretende desenvolver um centro de negócios de média dimensão no Porto, designado Francos Hotel & Business Center. Segundo Artur Varum, administrador da empresa, este projecto está localizado num terreno com uma área total de 7.025 metros quadrados no Nó de Francos, próximo da Boavista, junto à Via de Cintura Interna, e será composto por área comercial, escritórios e um hotel, numa área de construção de 10 mil m². O projecto resulta de um investimento de 25 milhões de euros e deverá abrir as portas no final de 2011. De cariz multifuncional e com “claros objectivos de constituir um marco arquitectónico”, o primeiro hotel, com uma área total de construção de 9.800m², com traço e cariz contemporâneos, recorre à utilização de materiais nobres como o vidro, pedra e o metal. Contará com 152 quartos, um lobby com bar, um restaurante, um ginásio com cerca de 3.000 m² e um supermercado com 2400 m². Conta ainda com quatro caves para estacionamento, uma das quais de uso exclusivo do supermercado, com cerca de 110 lugares. No seu conjunto, e sendo um edifício multifuncional, “originará um fluxo elevado populacional que contribuirá para a promoção de toda esta estrutura. A sua localização, junto ao nó de Francos é por si só também, um dos eixos de passagem mais movimentados da cidade, dotando esta unidade de uma capacidade singular em termos de acessos rodoviários”. O projecto conta com a construção de várias unidades hoteleiras em algumas das principais cidades, tendo sido o Porto a cidade eleita para a implantação do primeiro. Braga, Aveiro e Coimbra serão cidades que verão nascer também, a médio prazo, um inovador conceito de Hotel & Business. Fonte: Público in http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=838818&page=2 Empresa

in http://listings-portugal.eur.cushwak...display/100633

I stayed in a really old hotel last night. They sent me a wake-up letter. Vidago Palace Hotel below may look very antique, but I bet it has fine pieces of furniture and stylish accessories in the bathrooms. They wanted to avoid a luxurious impact and to be more discrete yet with a modern touch for the interior design. The old and the new doesn’t contrast as they chose modern but not fashionable furniture. Grace Leo of GLA International has worked with architect Álvaro Siza Vieira and interior designers Bastidor to complete a renovation of the historic Vidago Palace hotel for its new owner, Portuguese drinks firm Unicer. in http://www.designrulz.com/spaces-for-living/bathroom-product-design/2011/02/guy-dittrich-photograph-courtesy-of-vidago-palace/

CHAVES/CULTURA: Siza Vieira projectou Fundação Nadir Afonso com "neutralidade" para que obra do pintor "possa viver" O arquitecto Álvaro Siza Vieira projectou o edifício da sede da Fundação Nadir Afonso, a construir em Chaves, sem conhecer o artista e sem se preocupar em reflectir a sua obra, uma maneira de garantir "neutralidade". Classificando o edifício de "obra expositiva contemporânea", o arquitecto português de maior prestígio internacional defende "que um projecto deste tipo deve ser pensado com grande neutralidade", primando por "salas grandes mas também salas pequenas". Apesar de considerar-se "satisfeito" se o projecto reflectir, em parte, a natureza da obra do artista Nadir Afonso - pintor, filósofo e com um passado também de arquitecto - Siza Vieira defende que não é essa a preocupação fulcral das suas obras. "Não há uma referência directa à sua obra, mas a criação de condições para que a obra de Nadir Afonso possa viver", sustenta o arquitecto. Além das salas de exposições, Siza Vieira desenhou um espaço para o atelier do artista, de dimensões generosas. Na resposta a uma pergunta da assistência, acerca da relação entre a obra do arquitecto e a obra do artista plástico, Siza explicou: "este tipo de projectos devem ter abertura e neutralidade, mas devem ter forma, devem ser espaços conformados". Afirmando-se satisfeito por o edifício poder contribuir para a requalificação de uma área histórica da cidade de Chaves, numa das margens do rio Tâmega, Siza Vieira explicou a sua concepção, os espaços criados, as entradas, a funcionalidade e a ligação aos parques de estacionamento. Álvaro Siza Vieira, nascido em Matosinhos há 75 anos, é o arquitecto português mais prestigiado internacionalmente, tendo concebido projectos em numerosos países e obtido importantes prémios, com destaque para o Prémio Pritzker (1992), considerado o Nobel da Arquitectura, três prémios Secil (1996,2000 e 2006) e Prémio Wolf, categoria de Artes (2001). As obras mais emblemáticas, das centenas que já projectou em Portugal e no estrangeiro, são o Pavilhão de Portugal para a Expo98, a Casa de Chá da Boa Nova (Matosinhos), a Igreja de Santa Maria (Marco de Canaveses), Museu de Arte Contemporânea em Serralves (Porto), Boujour Tristesse (Berlim, Alemanha) e mais recentemente a sede da Fundação Iberê Camargo (Porto Alegre, Brasil). Mais considerado no estrangeiro do que na sua pátria, como referiu o moderador Carlos Magno, durante a apresentação da fundação, sexta-feira à noite na biblioteca de Chaves, o pintor Nadir Afonso "é o maior expoente vivo da cultura flaviense", na escala de João Batista, o autarca social-democrata que preside à câmara municipal desde 2002. O presidente da câmara justifica dessa forma a parceria que Câmara Municipal e Fundação Nadir Afonso estão a realizar para a construção deste novo espaço cultural na cidade, que receberá a ajuda de fundos comunitários. "Nadir Afonso é um símbolo, um exemplo que queremos preservar. A construção da sede é a forma de Chaves prestar tributo ao pintor", enfatiza o autarca. João Batista salienta, ainda, que a obra, orçada em 8,5 milhões de euros, se transformará "num ponto de atracção arquitectónico da cidade de Chaves", como inevitavelmente se transformam todos os projectos de Álvaro Siza Vieira. Na apresentação da obra, sexta-feira à noite na biblioteca de Chaves, Nadir Afonso, muito bem disposto, deliciou a assistência com as suas histórias e até fez poses para os fotógrafos. Depois, contou porque abandonou a arquitectura em 1965, aos 45 anos de idade, para se dedicar inteiramente à obra plástica. Durante duas décadas trabalhou como arquitecto no Brasil (com Óscar Niemeyer) e em França, com Le Corbusier, mas nunca pôs de lado a pintura. Instado a falar do seu trabalho de artista plástico, Nadir Afonso afirma que sente dificuldade em definir a sua obra, em apanhar-lhe as qualidades. "Quando aparecia uma crítica à minha obra, eu ficava espantado", confessa. "Tenho dificuldade de escolher na obra de arte. Na obra de arte há várias qualidades, mas há uma, que não evoluiu, que é contínua. É a componente que existe numa obra de arte que não é originalidade, não é perfeição", refere o artista. "É a parte matemática, não se pode traduzir em palavras", responde. Nadir Afonso aprofunda o raciocínio: "o que é específico na obra de arte não é traduzível por palavras. É matemático, não tem objecto". Nadir é conhecido sobretudo pela sua obra plástica, mas ainda assim deixou alguns vestígios na sua cidade natal da sua fase de arquitecto. Durante a cerimónia, Carlos Magno deixou um pedido ao autarca João Batista "para que mande colocar uma placa a proibir os camiões de estacionar em frente à panificadora". Os flavienses, defendeu, "merecem ver uma obra de Nadir Afonso arquitecto", queixando-se de nunca poder fotografar o edifício por estar permanentemente tapado por veículos pesados. Entre os espaços que compõem o edifício da fundação, que deve abrir ao público no segundo semestre de 2011, destacam-se um auditório com capacidade para 100 pessoas, salas de exposições temporárias e permanentes, arquivo, biblioteca, cafetaria, loja e o atelier do Mestre Nadir Afonso. O edifício acolherá o espólio do artista e, segundo os promotores, contribuirá para dinamizar a vida cultural da cidade fronteiriça, organizando exposições temporárias e permanentes. A fundação vai também instituir o prémio Nadir Afonso para trabalhos de investigação na área da produção artística e científica. [Marão Online/Lusa] in http://www.maraoonline.com/marao/marao_online/A0B9E6A5-60BC-4169-906E-F3C6F90E9B85.html

Fotografias in http://www.arqf.net/imgs/houses/lsf/

GLOBAL PROJECT. Create an urban continuum linking the two projects through the village. Conceptually this public space would be a big foyer that gave access also to existing cultural buildings, in particular the hotel Sra da Guia, Teatro Diogo Bernardes, Villa Morales and former building of tourism / current Gabinete Terra. Establishing a civic and cultural network important in the management of events and buildings. PROJECT I – SALA DE ESPECTÁCULOS. The essay of a new sculptural building that rests in the park, as a piece of art in a garden, lost in time behind a tree that blocked the view. We blazed through the field to this outcome of discovery of what can be now seen when we arrive to Ponte de Lima, light, loose and enigmatic. The terrain is in a lower elevation than the street, allowing it to connect to an outdoor parking area that is across the street. The project area is “filled” with a new topography, a green park, adjacent to the street. The new access is digged, as a hand off the earth and stone, is a print that stays on the ground. It is a path and an amphitheater, as a hand and fingers in the park. The new topography is made hollow and the various programs fill up the underground space. The car park has the dignity of a living room, the foyer is split into two floors, the stage and the rehearsal room rise up from the ground. The rest adds up by functions in the space left over, looking for space in the ground, like a cave. PROJECT II – PARQUE DE CAMPISMO. The main concept is a square that deforms in terraces, creating the platforms where the main buildings and bungalows are placed. There is a movement of defragmenting and reducing the volume of construction to the more wooded park, where the tents are placed on free deployment. The bungalows come metaphorically as large granite blocks stored at the site. Symbolically represent themselves as the pseudo-blocks removed in the excavation of a theater (other project), consolidating the twinning nature of the projects. To the gruff exterior character of prevailing granite opposes the interior in warm wood-, comfortable and intimate. This allows the interior of the bungalows work differently from each other, adjusting the environment to different types of customers. The main buildings are built with cleaner volumes, slightly detached from the pavement, thus symbolically referring also to the main volume of the other project. Together they create a square, which serves as the collective reception and holding events to be associated with the camping park or the village of Ponte de Lima. in http://europaconcorsi.com/projects/157719-Sala-de-espect-culos-e-parque-de-campismo via http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1324723

Apartment No.1 in Mahallat designed by AbCT A contemporary residence that blends uniquely with its surroundings designed by AbCT (Architecture by Collective Terrain) The project utilizes recycled stone to connect with local traditions in a modern sustainable way. This project is built in Mahallat, a small town in the center of Iran, where more than 50% of the economy is engaged in stone cutting business. By recycling left-over stones from Mahallat’s main stream of business, we are able to connect ourselves and our project to the unique context of the town. The recycled stones used for the exterior create a subtle effect on geometry of the project, which consist of façade with emphatic angles. Slight roughness of mixed recycled stones creates somewhat warmer texture, effectively complementing sharply tailored façade. As a result, the project, which speaks the language of modern architecture, uniquely blends with verdant trees and surroundings of Mahallat, an old town which has seen more than a thousand year of history. Such coherent theme of locally-recycled stones is also reverberated in the interior of the project, where simple structure is accentuated by stone walls, creating a space that is expressed in a natural yet intimate manner. The energy intensive local stone cutting industry in Mahallat largely depends on fossil fuel. Huge amount of energy is used to excavate and cut the stones. Yet, due to the inefficiency in the stone cutting technology, less than 50% of the stones are utilized, and the rest of the unused stones are thrown away as trash, further polluting the natural environment. In this project, we recycle these left-over stones and use them for both exterior and interior walls. In doing so, we demonstrate how an architectural solution can help us preserve precious natural resources in a creative way, and significantly reduce the cost. This project is located in downtown Mahallat, a town where the architect spent most of his childhood. Such familiarity, and understanding of what makes Mahallat so unique and special to the residents, constitute the core quality this project brings forth.High construction cost and low selling price of residential units were big barriers for this project to happen. In order to solve this problem, we added some retail space on the ground floor, making the project financially feasible. The project consists of retail space on the ground floor, and eight residential units on the four floors above. Two of these residential units are located on each floor and each of them is a three bedroom apartment. The coherent theme of locally-recycled stones of exterior walls is also reverberated in the interior of the project, where simple structure is accentuated by stone walls, creating a space that is expressed in a natural yet intimate manner. These shutters can be freely opened or closed depending on weather conditions. During the summer, closed shutters can act as a cooling device by providing shades for the unit, whereas during the winter, open shutters can act as a warming device by enabling the sun to penetrate through the windows. This flexibility offered by these shutters will enhance the quality of living for residents, and will also help them to save energy all around the year. Design: Ramin Mehdizadeh Design associates: Omid Khodapanahi, Mohsen Abrishamkar Client: Ramin Mehdizadeh, Mehdi Mehdizadeh, Hosein Sohrabpour Other associates: Hyeoun Kim, Hanna Lee ,Janghee Yoo, Namjoo Kim Construction: Mehdi Mehdizadeh Structure: Reza Mehdizadeh Stone Affairs: Mehdi Mehdizadeh Start and completion date: 2008-2010 Total built up area: 1300 sqm Graphic: Omid Khodapanahi, Ramin mehdizadeh Movie and Photo: Omid Khodapanahi

Foi dada uma especial atenção à forma como um visitante acede ao edifício, pois é limitado a apenas uma via pedonal que teve por objectivo observar o relacionamento dos edifícios, com o extraordinário vale do rio Tua. Localizado em Murça, Portugal, o Centro de Interpretação Arqueológica camufla-se na paisagem, proporcionando aos visitantes a recepção necessária. O edifício foi construído como infraestrutura de apoio ao sítio arqueológico de Crasto de Palheiros. É constituída por uma área de recepção, centro de interpretação, espaço para exposições, estacionamento e caminhos para visitar o local com sinalização correspondente. O espaço interior é aberto e fluido, compartimentado apenas quando necessário, para as instalações sanitárias e depósito de água. O espaço abriga uma pequena exposição composta de diferentes materiais e objectos da escavação arqueológica, e tem uma vídeo-instalação onde passar o tempo explicando a recuperação local. in http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1258999 Este belo prédio é o Centro de Interpretação do sítio arqueológico “Crasto de Palheiros“, ou “Fragada do Castro”, uma montanha de quartzo que foi sendo paulatinamente esculpida e construída pelas populações da região a partir do início do terceiro milênio a.C. Segundo o site do sítio, “entre 2900 e 2300 antes de Cristo, toda a crista, com 2,5 ha, foi transformada num grande monumento pétreo, pré-histórico”. O Centro traz uma cafeteria, centro de informações e algumas peças retiradas das escavações, além de banheiros. Uma característica interessante da arquitetura do prédio é que uma das paredes é a própria rocha da montanha. O sítio arqueológico fica em Murça, Portugal. in http://www.viajandaunblog.pop.com.br/post/2833/centro-de-interpretacao-do-crasto-em-portugal Interpretation Centre by Paulo Gomes October 4th, 2010 Photographer Nelson Garrido has sent us his photographs of a visitors’ centre by Paulo Gomes that’s nestled into the rock face at an archaeological site in Murça, Portugal. The back wall of the interior is formed by the rock itself, while a glazed facade affords views down the hill. The concrete structure houses an information point, reception, cafe and toilets, plus a display of objects excavated from the site. The text that follows is from the architect: This building project works for the infrastructure to support the archaeological site of Crasto Lofts, consists of building for the reception and interpretation center, parking, paths to visit the site and outdoor equipment and safety signage route. The archaeological site is located on a hill with 590m elevation on the ridge, southeast of the village of Haystacks, and the area of the “hot land” of the county Murça. In September 1995 held the first archaeological work to support IPPAR, the National Board for Scientific Research and Technology and the Municipality of Murça – City Hall. The draft recovery of archaeological study and dissemination of archaeological site was the construction of a building for the reception of visitors and interpretation of the site, defining the routes of access, signage and support equipment and a car park. Location of archaeological and occupation process The Castro Lofts is situated in the parish of Haystacks, county Murça and occupies the summit of an imposing quartzite massif located between the villages of Haystacks, and Monfebres Varges. The perspective view of the sunset, we can retain from the cold land of the county, shows a lot of sharp ridge as a gray crystal. Incorporates an archaeological area exceeding 2.5 hectares in area bounded by a stone embankment. The Crasto was occupied during the following periods: 1 – In the Chalcolithic from the beginning to the end of March. Rd millennium, the structures are implanted a constructive upper deck (sort of “Acropolis”), between 575m and 590m in elevation, much-upright, sustained and flanked by a powerful stone embankment . Another platform, bottom, between 565m and 570m in elevation, is developed around that slope, surrounding the central hill district in north-east, and is, in turn, bounded by an even more powerful stony slope, which separates this built space surrounding area. In both structures are residential structures in the 3rd millennium BC. 2 – During the Iron Age, in 300 BC, the site was chosen for implementation of a “village”. This is a village of farmers, shepherds, metallurgists and manufacturers of glass ornaments. During the year 400/500 that their occupation lasted, on both platforms space “urban” has been subject to constant changes. 3 – Around the first century, its inhabitants built a system of walls on the top line of the embankments of the Chalcolithic period. There are two walls: an inner, fitted with a monumental entrance and surrounding the upper deck or “Acropolis”, one external, which borders the village from outside. Central reception and interpretation The building intended to accommodate the interpretive center of the archaeological site, located northwest of the fort hill. The concept of the project study is organic food demand and an installation process of animal “asado”. The shape is a parallelepiped long to prepare a route. It nests in the depression between two hills, squeezing his hard parallelepiped shape against the rock mass and seeing the gross cubic structure torn threads against the laminated shale. If we see, who first built here, superimposed stones to the slopes to define an “outside” and an “inside”, who came here later built small vertical walls on the tops of hedges and stone walls in place to defend itself. At present, this structure is here to welcome, explain and explain. The place is not just a refuge, the village, the factory. It is place to find men, spaces and times that are a part of us. The building is worked in the constructive expression of mater as a tent, reinforced concrete, supported by the front glass and metal sections with my back to the burrow fraga. The entrance is where the curtain rises. Is made by the glass surface, directly into the reception and exhibition hall, which also serves as access to outdoor living space overlooking the entire landscape north of Castro. The space hosts a small exhibition consisting of different materials and objects from the archaeological dig, and has a video installation where they spend several times the recovery site. The building will have sanitation facilities for visitors as well as a space bar linked to the reception. The interior space is open and fluid and enclosures are the only sanitary facilities and space for the water tank. Access to the parking building will be only pedestrian and road winds its aim is to lead the visitor to observe more carefully the site and relationship with the extraordinary air gap Tua River valley. The technical building is located 30m north of the main building, would be fully buried. This building will install a generator capable of supplying electricity to the main building. Architectural project: Paulo Alexandre Gomes Fernandes Project Expertise: Norvir-Consultores de Engenharia, SA in http://www.dezeen.com/2010/10/04/interpretation-centre-by-paulo-gomes/

steven holl architects: V&A at dundee shortlisted design steven holl architects is one of the six shortlisted teams for the international design competition of a new cultural and design center in scotland, 'V&A at dundee'. organized by london's victoria and albert museum, abertay and dudee universities, dundee city council and scottish enterprise, the winning design is planned to open in 2014. aiming to restore and regenerate the earl grey harbour as the foreground to the new museum, steven holl's design proposal includes a new landscape and water public space that can seamlessly integrate the new center to the city of dundee. the structure, which rises out of the river tay, reflects the royal arch in dundee, a monumental gate built in 1853, with a vertical hight equal to the original gate. during the night, the building is lit by a system of automated lights which becomes a measure of time by the sequence in which it shimmers. a wide bridge connects the shore promenade to the museum's open portal which overlooks the river tay. the vertically open main hall leads the visitors up to the loft-like galleries, studios, and exhibition spaces. glass-walled elevators located in the center of the museum and open stair circuit provide clear orientation and connectivity between the various levels of galleries and design activities. by dividing and organizing the various programs along this vertical circuit, galleries can be maintaine without interrupting the public flow. the free circulation also offers the visitor choice and unexpected discoveries. the new museum's sail-shaped geometry features a floating translucent skin of fine, stainless steel mesh. not only does this material provide a windshielding effect, it diffues direct sunlight by serving as a semi-transparent membrane over openings to the galleries. at night, this screen has the capability to glow with reflected light. the design features three 'floating landscapes'. at the river level, the first is a green platform with a cafe that rises and descends with the moving tide. the second is along the entry, where a landscape of local vegetation floats above a utility space for museum receiving and storage. the third is in the restored earl grey harbour where a floating park bring the public to water leve. all three 'floating landscapes' aims to provide visitors with an intimate connection to the river. in http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/11710/steven-holl-architects-va-at-dundee-shortlisted-design.html

Petzinka Pink’s parabolic timber hybrid. The North Rhine Westphalia state offices, Berlin All photo’s courtesy: Petzinka Pink Architekten Towards the end of the century Germany’s largest regional land Rheinland-Westphalia decided on a timber showcase to represent the region in Berlin, the new heart of political power. The result, completed in 2002, was Petzinka Pink’s striking glass-timber hybrid. lamella A one-off, for sure, though one which would win Germany’s 2003 Wood Construction award. The centre of Berlin city is humming with building works. Vast sites around Potsdamer Platz are being cleared, while already opened, glass encased steel and concrete behemoth’s compete with hectorage of new build towers on their way up. A mile away the main view from the public gallery of Norman Foster’s Reichstag adaptation and the cityscape is equally feverish, the skyline pulsating with new buildings and their attendent cranes. Look to the south of the Tiergarten, the park at the city’s heart, and it seems quieter. Showing through trees, the roofline of a few buildings can be seen: the Diplomatic Quarter. Actually this has seen a constant stream of new buildings in the years since the wall came down as foreign government invested in prestige offices to represent their interests and image in Germany’s revitalised capital. Here in the Diplomatic Quarter, building work is mainly finished. But amidst the embassies, there is one recent latecomer which when you get to see it alongside its neighbours, rather than in isolated photographic form, is a vivid and stark contrast to the quarters many buildings. Home-grown, this is the North Rhine Westphalia state offices, an iconoclastic glass and timber hybrid double facade, which represents the interests and political clout of the country’s most populous state and was completed in 2002 at just under 30 million Euros. The architects were the major Dusseldorf based German practice, Petzinker Pink, best known for hi-technology offices and commercial projects. North Rhine Westphalia wanted an ecological showcase building, which would show-off design and a lower energy brief, to wow the political and cultural communities, and reinforce the image of their state being at the edge of technological “ and green – innovation. After competitive tendering Petzinka Pink were chosen with their hybrid design which coupled a steel frame to house the main core of the building, with an elegant parabolic timber system for the outer facade. The double facade enables the building to make the most of natural ventilation, and although well versed in such techniques, using wood was a departure for the architects, and involved close work with engineers DE-Plan from Mulheim, Ruhr and builders Agenda 21. Together, they developed the double facade system to ensure that the two facades load bearing structures complemented each other, the inner ten steel frame structure holding the vertical loading of the four floors, while the outer parabolic timber carries the facade glazing, and the wind loads which are then distributed across the longitudinal facade or the cross bracing of the roof. the facade parabola’s under construction at Stephan Holz carpenters Some of the building’s photographs convey an optical illusion of the timber facade parabolas rolling right over the building. In fact they arch up vertically on all four sides, numbering thirteen on the east and west wings, twenty to the north and south. Using multilayered ply fir each of these laths measures 14 by 22 cm squared. These were prefabricated offsite by German carpenters, Paul Stephan and Co, and reach 16 metres in total height, from a 2.70 metre base width.They first cross at 7.35 metres, extending outwards before re-crossing twice again at 15.155 metres. This scissor hand effect, is connected onto the complementing steel frame at each of the of node points. The effect, close up, is of a glass box, rigged on all fronts by the elegant parabolic vertical timbers, held aloft by the double-facade frame and providing the outer shell of the building. Once inside, the building opens into the airy spare look of the interior atrium, with wall to wall basque pine panelling covering 4800 m squared of floors, ceilings and walls. In contrast to the distinctive external parabolic organicism, the interior emphasises an orthogonal floor storey and room plan, encompassing two conference rooms, eight suites for visitors from the state, plus a warren of further offices, as well as two wintergardens. Along with the glass skin, an open ceiling bathes much of atrium in natural light, though on a winters day this can feel somewhat underlit and overcast. The timberbuild and double facade environmental emphasis is complemented in a range of low energy technologies, from fuel cells to optimising natural gas, for the buildings heat, cooling and electrical requirements with the micro-temperatures monitored across the building, responding to external weather. This combination of ingredients is a first for Petzinka Pink. The practice are keen to relate this experiment in parabolic geometry and engineering back to the German engineer, Friedrick Zollinger. It was Zollinger who originated Lamella decks in the 1920’s, and built several, particularly in his home town of Merzeberg. Lammellas have been returning into currency in Europe, at least as experiments. But Zollinger Lamella decks emphasise small timber for bending arch forms, while here the system is vertical. Given this it would have been far easier “ and economic – to use a straight post and beam system, although had this been the case Berlin would have lost this expression of the geometric mind at work, a unique hybrid marriage of timber, glass and steel, integrated into the poetic, sinuous form of the parabola. This was a piece written after a visit to Berlin in late 2004, which the Canadian magazine Wood Building and Wood Design were to publish, but didn’t. For those of you who read German and are interested in a comprehensive essay on the work of Frederick Zollinger, download Bauzeitung Holz’s pdf portrait of the engineer in http://www.fourthdoor.org/annular/?page_id=451

Integrated Teaching Building, Chinese University of Hong Kong / URBANUS 21 OCT 2009 By Karen Cilento — Filed under: Educational ,News , Chinese University, Hong Kong, Matthias Wolff, Urbanus URBANUS was awarded with the 1st prize on the competition for the new integrated teaching building at the Chinese University in Hong Kong. Entitled “Windows on Community,” the building strives the link the two parts of the campus together, while also providing a visual connection with those who approach. Through the implementation of a Moebius Strip, the design mixes the inner circulation of the building with the exterior circulation of the streets. “This loop of circulation and urban internal street for us is not only a vertical linkage but more the heart of the college-a lively community space at the center of it all,” explained the architects. Within the building, there are many different options users can take to reach a destination. Different stairs lead to different lobbies, peaceful outdoor settings, or academic centers. Balconies to the sides of the main stairs offer glimpses of people studying or socializing with the harbor and mountains set as the backdrop. The building has 3 cores that provide support for the upper floors. These cores are fully visible in the building and are covered with unique materials, art or different surfaces, “thereby turning them into addresses for the 3 buildings and also easy landmarks for orientation.” The lower floors can remain column free because the spaces rest between the four staircases and follow the slope of the street. This open plan provides enough flexibility to allow the programs to be mixed or shifted depending upon the university’s needs. Copper was chosen at the material for the building as it seemed to reflect the site conditions with the green and Northwest side clad in green copper, and the more sloped stone side to the southeast in red brown copper. Architect: URBANUS Team: Design Director : Liu Xiaodu, Meng Yan | Project Manager: Matthias Wolff, Fu Zhuoheng | Designers: Yang Qili, Lihui, Ding Yu, Thomas Joshua Roberts Location: Hong Kong, China Year: Competition in 2007 (2 Phases, 1st prize), unbuilt Size: 40, 200 sq. m. Client: Chinese University of Hong Kong Collaborator: Cypress consultant International Ltd. in http://www.archdaily.com/38495/integrated-teaching-building-chinese-university-of-hong-kong-urbanus/ Imagens

This is the Ningbo Historic Museum in Ningo China designed by Wang Shu and his firm Amateur Architecture Studio. The new museum was built out of “collected and recycled building materials from the area” said Wang Shu who his ” architecture to tell people what life in this city used to look like” and was designed “as a small city in it’s own right”. The building’s rough and almost prehistoric nature is meant to stand in stark juxtaposition to the modernization of this once small and beautiful harbor town. http://volume-control.tumblr.com/post/239527147/i-heart-wang-shu-amateur-architecture-studio

Description: Restoration of a Middle Ages bridge over the River Tordera, destroyed during the Napoleonic Wars Client: Sant Celoni Borough Council Dates: 1997-2003 Scope: Concept Design Structural Engineering Site Supervision Awards: Footbridge 2005 Awards. Joint winner category aesthetics, span up to 30 metres. Puente de Alcantara Awards 2002-2004. Highly Commended. Construmat 2005 Awards. Highly Commended. Europa Nostra 2006 Awards. Medal AR Awards for Emerging Architecture 2006. Highly Commended Bonaplata Awards 2004. Shortlisted Ciencia en Acción 2006 Awards. Shortlisted The Restoration of the Pont Trencat (Broken Bridge) In 1811, during the Napoleonic Wars, the "Pont Trencat" bridge suffered the destruction of one of its two arches, the main one. No one tried to repair it for almost one hundred and ninety years, until 1996 when people from the two villages the bridge links, Sant Celoni and Santa Maria de Palautordera, situated fifty kilometres away from Barcelona, decided to raise founds to carry out its restoration. At the beginning of 1999 we were commissioned to develop the bridge restoration project. We first carried out archaeological works and documentary research in order to obtain the information available about the history and the construction sequence of the bridge. We found the remains of the disappeared arch as well as part of the old pavement on the left bank. It is said to be a Roman bridge since it is placed on the Roman Via Augustea (Augustus Way); however we didn't find any Roman remains. We are not sure when the existing part was constructed, but we found documents that revealed that in 1453 important changes were made. It is quite possible that the current shape, with its Gothic arch, dates from then. Afterwards, the main issue we had to deal with was about what kind of action we should carry out. We had to choose between a reconstruction (giving the damaged monument its original shape back) and a restoration (building the monument in a totally new way, different from what it looked like before). It was a difficult decision and we knew that both options would be controversial. Since the bridge was destroyed a long time ago, nobody knows what it really looked like before it collapsed. If we had tried to give the bridge its original shape back we would have had to invent all the information we lacked. Also, people are used to seeing its broken shape. Its name, "El Pont Trencat", means The Broken Bridge. Following the ideas of some famous restoration theoreticians, such as the Austrian Alois Riegl (1858-1905) and the Italian Camillo Boito (1835-1914), we decided to carry out a restoration. We thought that it would be better to recover its functionality only for pedestrians by reerecting the missing part in a way that reflects the contrast between the new work and the existing remains rather than trying to make a mimetic reproduction. Thus, we proposed to restore it using modern materials and techniques. Steel, along with concrete, is the most representative structural material of our time. We chose to construct the missing part with a box girder deck, 3.36 meters wide, supported by a hollow box arch spanning 24 meters, both made in corten steel. The work began in July 2000 and was divided in three phases: The first phase consisted of reinforcing the old part, made of stone. We also built the new in concrete. The second phase consisted of constructing the steel structure that was erected in four pieces. The arch was lifted in two pieces welded to each other in the crown. The beam was also lifted in two pieces. The third phase consisted of constructing the pavement and installing the street and monumental lighting. The bridge was opened to public in September 2003. We think this is a proper and original use of steel, which have been chosen, not for economical or structural reasons, but for its aesthetic quality of complementing granite stone. in http://www.bierot.net/treinf.htm

Queensland Children's Hospital in joint venture with Conrad Gargett Architecture Located in Brisbane's Southbank precinct, this new twelve level quaternary facility accommodates specialist acute and sub-acute services together with research and teaching facilities. The project is designed around the idea of a 'living tree'- a network of 'trunks and branches' which punctuate the building and connect inside and outside. The building sits in a generous urban park which serves as a gathering place for the local Southbank community. Client: Queensland Health Site: Stanley Street, South Brisbane QLD 4101 in http://www.lyonsarch.com.au/queensland-children-s-hospital/?b=1

John Curtin School of Medical Research Stage 3, Australian National University Stage 3 of the John Curtin School of Medical Research project involves the development of a new three level purpose-designed facility, enabling the Eccles Institute and JCSMR Structural Biology Division to deliver world-class research and to be recognised internationally as a place of research excellence. Each of the three stages is connected via a 'central street'. Client: The Australian National University – John Curtin School of Medical Research Site: Garran Road, the Australian National University, Canberra ACT 2000 Project Name: John Curtin School of Medical Research Stage 1-Australian National University Construction year: 2009 Website: Address: 131 Garran Road , CANBERRA - Australia Architect(s) : Lyons (www.lyonsarch.com.au) Project Category: Education Latitude: -35.2823 Longitude: 149.116 Imagens no site

Besix: we expect Binladin to win Kingdom Tower The Belgian contractor in the running for the world’s tallest tower contract has said it expects its Saudi-based competitor to win the deal. Dubai-based firm Besix in partnership with El Seif Engineering & Contracting, is up against the Saudi Binladin Group for the 1-km high ‘Kingdom Tower’ in Jeddah, and is hoping to hear back from the decision-makers soon. The contractors, which are both renowned for their flagship projects, were actually meant to find out which firm had been awarded the contract in September, but as yet as still waiting. Speaking about the firm’s geographical expansion plans, Philippe Dessoy, general manager of subsidiary firm Six Construct, told Construction Week: “For more than a year we have been looking at Saudi Arabia. "We put a tender together for the Kingdom Tower, and we’re on the shortlist with Binladin, but I expect the job to go to Binladin.” That said, the GM of the Burj Khalifa builder, and firm responsible for Abu Dhabi’s recently-completed Sheikh Zayed Bridge, did add that he hoped to win a contract in Saudi by the middle of next year. “We hope to win a project in Saudi as soon as possible, but we don’t expect anything for another few months. We hope to have a project before summer next year.” With more than 200 floors, Kingdom Tower will stand higher than the Burj Khalifa, which is currently the world's tallest man-made structure at 828m. Last year, developer Emaar, also responsible for the Burj Khalifa, was selected by Kingdom Holdings Company (KHC) to supervise construction of the tower and surrounding city development, estimated to cost a massive US$40 billion to build. In September 2010, the two contractors competing for the project had to revise their prices due to changes to the design. Source in http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=5064856&postcount=247 Bloomberg Alwaleed Picks Burj Khalifa Architect Adrian Smith to Design Kingdom Tower Oct 22, 2010 3:01 PM GMT+0800 Kingdom Holding Co. has awarded the design contract for its mile-high Kingdom Tower in Jeddah to Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architecture, Dubai-based Gulf News reported, citing an official it did not identify. The development of the tower is being managed by Emaar Properties PJSC, the United Arab Emirates’ biggest real-estate company by market value, the newspaper said, citing the official. Emaar is the developer of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s tallest tower and which the Kingdom Tower will overtake. Adrian Smith designed Burj Khalifa when he was working for Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Gulf News said. in http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=5026389&postcount=201 Skyscrapernews.com Emaar Sign Agreement For 1000m Tower 22-10-2010 Despite an economic slowdown in much of the world and falling oil prices design work has continued on the Smith and Gill penned Kingdom Tower in Jeddah. The scheme will be the landmark building for a new urban quarter called Kingdom City that's being developed via a subsidiary of Kingdom Holding, Jeddah Al Eqtisadiah. The company has signed a development agreement with Emaar, the construction company that has built much of Dubai, to continue the development of the scheme and reunite the team that constructed the Burj Khalifa, formerly the Burj Dubai, in Dubai. The intentions are to create what will be the tallest building in the world, although as of yet no one has much idea of just how tall it will be. Heights mentioned have gone all the way from 1,001 metres upwards. One possible answer to these could be the same approach as taken to be Burj Khalifa that grew and grew in height as it was constructed with the public having an idea of how tall it would be precisely until the spire was finally erected. This isn't the first time that the world's tallest building has been shrouded in mystery - the Chrysler Building was erected under similar circumstances with the developer mindful that if the height was publicized before completion someone else may have wanted to beat them to the title. The vague plans that have so far surfaced, which are no doubt at an early stage, show a needle shaped building above it rising to a pinprick at 1001 metres. Within the scheme could be something similar to the plan the architects previously did at Skidmore Owings and Merrill. That contained office space, a hotel, serviced apartments, and three groups of residential apartments plus penthouses up to 694.4 metres with a function room at the height of 781.5 metres. Smith and Gill have long seen supertall buildings as more than just standard skyscrapers full of accommodation. Here the plans could include some clever power generation by harnessing the speeds at the top of the tower to provide it with power, something that would have dramatic results if you have 300 metres of space to install a vertical wind farm in. At the same time, the height of the building guarantees that the air temperature at the top of it is significantly lower than at ground level, and this too can be exploited and recycled around the structure to reduce the need for air conditioning. Of course, much of this is theoretical and subject to change as the project gets fleshed out but if Kingdom City does go ahead, the models have always shown the megatall building at its very heart that will finally push mankind above 1 kilometre. in http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=5029370&postcount=211 «Kingdom Holding Company» announces the official launch in building the tallest skyscraper in the world within 3 weeks Prince Alwaleed bin Talal told «Middle East»: All engines of growth in the company's momentum going strong Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Riyadh: Assistant Zayani Revealed billionaire Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz, President of the Board of Directors «Kingdom Holding Company», for the formal launch of the ad in real estate project in Jeddah (western Arabia), which includes the tallest skyscraper in the world, as announced earlier. Said Prince Alwaleed bin Talal told «Middle East» The announcement of the official launch in building real estate project that includes a skyscraper highest in the world will be in 3 weeks, did not give more details about the subject, which noted that this will be announced at a press conference soon. The company «Kingdom Holding Company» announced the creation of two real estate projects in Saudi Arabia, the first in the province of Jeddah, which is a mixed-use project, in the middle skyscraper, and described by Prince Alwaleed as the longest in the world, and would amount to invest about 75 billion riyals ($ 20 billion) , is located in the north of Sharm el-sailed, on an area of 3.5 million square meters. While the second project lies in the Saudi capital Riyadh and the volume of investment about 25 billion riyals ($ 6.6 billion), and will be a huge project consists of a park, hotel and all other entertainment facilities, in addition to more than 10 thousand housing units are designed according to the latest designs and requirements modern. The interview Prince Alwaleed bin Talal at the time of declaring the company «Kingdom Holding Company» a net consolidated income for the third quarter of this year, up through 160 million riyals ($ 42.6 million), up to 52.6 per cent, while total net income at home during the past nine months, to 370.7 million riyals ($ 98.8 million) increased by 50 per cent. And Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the results by saying «Company (KHC) is characterized by its investments diversified locally and globally, and therefore out of the world economic crisis will contribute to the recording (Kingdom Holding) profit, in light of what Taechih real estate, hotels and banking sector, in addition to the tourism sector and the media , from the Renaissance and continues to grow ». Invests «Kingdom Holding Company» and listed in Saudi stock market in various commercial sectors, and spread their investments in various countries around the world, while investing heavily in the local market in Saudi Arabia. And more sectors that will contribute to the recording company «Kingdom Holding Company» a profit, said its chairman, Prince Alwaleed «all sectors will contribute to enhancing profits Kingdom Holding Company, the banking sector and the tourism and hotel and real estate and media, in addition to the industrial sector and the aviation sector and sectors entertainment, retail and finally agriculture» . He said «One of the examples is the National Manufacturing Company, which posted a profit historical in 9 months of this year, at a time when the aviation industry developed well, which proved by the results of airline« people »a, which has a strong desire to achieve strong results and achieved profit for the first time, in addition to the petrochemical sector ». And on the contribution of the results of the Bank «Citigroup» that have achieved historic results exceeded all expectations of analysts through reached $ 2.2 billion in the third quarter and more than 9 billion dollars during the past nine months, and their impact on the results of the company «Kingdom Holding Company», called by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, the Saudi investor to realize the importance of what we achieved Bank «Citigroup» outcome, which makes the company «Kingdom» in the development of an investment is very strong, and will impact on the share price. He stressed that the investment sector around the world face challenges on an ongoing basis, stressing the need to be invested in the development of Mstnfr for all energies. He stressed that all the engines of growth in the company «Kingdom Holding Company» go push a strong streak, stressing that the achievement of 50 per cent profit is considered a great, but unfortunately did not understand the local investors that the results so far, and wishing at the same time to absorb, sooner or later, showing great optimism about the financial results for the remainder of this year, adding to the optimism of the financial results for the year 2011. The magazine «Forbes» World has ranked Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Chairman of the Board of Directors of «Kingdom Holding Company», in the order of 19 between the rich world in 2010, for the year atheist in a row and the first in the Arab world, a wealth valued at $ 19.4 billion, in the annual poll for the fourth century. in http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=5024982&postcount=189 REUTERS Saudi Kingdom to build world's tallest tower- report Thu Oct 21, 2010 2:25am EDT * World's tallest tower part of $20 bln project in Jeddah * Plans another project in Riyadh valued at $6.67 billion DUBAI, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Saudi-based Kingdom Holding Co 4280.SE plans to build the world's tallest tower as part of a project worth 75 billion riyals in the city of Jeddah, a newspaper report said on Thursday. Alsharq Al-Awsat newspaper, citing Kingdom's Chairman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, said the company will officially announce the project at a press conference in three weeks. The skyscraper will be at the centre of the mixed-use project, which will stretch over 3.5 million square metres of land, the newspaper added. It also said Kingdom Holding plans another development in the capital city of Riyadh with an estimated investment value of 25 billion riyals. It will include a park, a hotel and other entertainment elements, as well as 10,000 residential units. Kingdom Holding, the investment firm of the Saudi billionaire prince, posted a 52.6 percent rise in third-quarter earnings on Monday, driven by higher investment returns. [iD:nLDE69H1MA] Kingdom, 95-percent owned by the nephew of Saudi ruler King Abdullah, has minority stakes in some of the world's top companies the most valuable of which is Citigroup (C.N). The world's tallest building at present is Dubai's 828-metre Burj Khalifa, developed by Emaar Properties (EMAR.DU). (Reporting by Tamara Walid; Editing by Dinesh Nair) http://business.maktoob.com/20090000...r_/Article.htm Emaar to build 1.1km tall tower Angela Giuffrida Last Updated: June 14. 2009 12:00AM UAE / June 13. 2009 8:00PM GMT Emaar Properties has won the contract to build a tower higher even than its own Burj Dubai, at present the world’s tallest building. In a deal worth 100 billion Saudi riyals (US$26.6bn, Dh98bn), Kingdom Holding chose Emaar from a list of five bidders to build the 1,100m tower and surrounding Kingdom City in Jeddah, according to a statement on the Kingdom website yesterday. “The alliance between Kingdom Holding Company and Emaar is strategic,” said Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, the chairman of Kingdom Holding. “Emaar was selected ... for its previous proven experience in the development of mega- projects, its knowledge of the area and social set-up.” The Kingdom City development will be one of the largest and most ambitious projects to be built in Saudi Arabia. With Kingdom Tower as its centrepiece, the development will be spread over 23 million square metres and will be modelled on a design similar to Emaar’s Downtown Burj Dubai community, including a mixture of residential, commercial and entertainment facilities. Kingdom City is expected eventually to house 80,000 people. In a report released yesterday Jones Lang Lasalle, the property consultant, said Saudi Arabia’s property market would be the strongest in the region over the next one to two years. Emaar, which is the largest developer in the UAE, is nearing completion on the 818m Burj Dubai, with an expected opening in September. The company is also developing the King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia. From: http://www.thenational.ae/article/20...706139834/1010 Mammoth KHC projects unveiled King Abdullah, custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, inaugurated two colossal projects of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) being built at a total investment of over SR100 billion ($26.6 billion) in Jeddah. The designs and plans of these projects - Kingdom City and 1000-metre high Kingdom Tower, which is to become the tallest tower in the world - were unveiled for the first time at the opening of a major international architectural exhibition “Towards the First World” in Jeddah on Saturday. The launch was held in the presence of crown prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, prince Khaled Alfaisal governor of Makkah Province, prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) and Adel Muhammad Faqih, mayor of Jeddah and other members of the royal family. KHC was the main sponsor of this historical event. The two iconic projects from KHC were the highlight of the exhibition. During the event, King Abdullah and Prince Alwaleed toured KHC’s exhibition of the master plan and designs of the project. Alwaleed said the KHC has many grand investments in real estate in Saudi Arabia and this was one of them. 'We are extremely delighted at the unveiling of the designs and plans of KHC’s iconic Kingdom City and Kingdom Tower projects in the city of Jeddah by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz which will signify KHC’s contribution in placing Saudi Arabia at the forefront of the first world and reaffirming KHC as one of the world leading real estate developers.” 'King Abdullah has previously inaugurated the Kingdom Tower in Riyadh during which Prince Alwaleed presented the King with the awards that Kingdom Centre had received: the Best New Skyscraper of the Year 2003 for Kingdom Tower and The Innovative Design & Construction of a New Project 2003 for Al Mamalaka Mall,' he added. Talal Al Maiman, executive director for development and domestic investments and a member of KHC’s investment committee said KHC make use of its resources to the utmost potential to lead to outstanding achievements and make future visions a reality through leading and challenging projects. Organized by the City of Jeddah, the exhibition features sixteen projects currently planned for the Makkah and Jeddah regions. Kingdom Tower is part of the Kingdom City development which will be one of the largest and most comprehensive real estate projects to be built in Saudi Arabia located at Obhur, North of the creek of Jeddah and the mountains to the east. Prominently located on a prime site, the master plan, encompassing 7.1 sq km, Kingdom City is 20 km from the old city of Jeddah near King Abdulaziz International Airport. The area that comprises of buildings is 23 million square meters includes commercial, residential, institutional, educational, entertainment, retail and hotel facilities. The centerpiece of the development will be the landmark Kingdom Tower. Kingdom City is expected to house 80,000 residents and accommodate 250,000 visitors who will enjoy its facilities; lakes, canals, water sports and other leisure activities. Kingdom Tower will include five-star hotel accommodations, office space and luxury residences that encompass dramatic, sweeping views of the Red Sea, Obhur Creek and the mountains to the east.-TradeArabia News Service in http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=3852308&postcount=128

Frank Gehry interview on Playboy 16 DEC 2010 By David Basulto — Filed under: ArchDaily Interviews ,Architects ,Featured , Frank Ghery, Playboy “Ninety-eight percent of buildings are boxes, which tells me that a lot of people are in denial. We live and work in boxes. People don’t even notice that. Most of what’s around us is banal. We live with it. We accept it as inevitable. People say, ‘This is the world the way it is, and don’t bother me.’ Then when somebody does something different, real architecture, the push-back is amazing. People resist it. At first it’s new and scary.” “The thing is, I hate the celebrity architect thing. I just do my work. The press comes up with this stuff and it sticks. I hate the word starchitect. Stuff like that comes from mean-spirited, untalented journalists. It’s demeaning. It’s derisive, and once it’s said, it sticks. I get introduced all the time, ‘Here’s starchitect Frank Gehry…’ My reaction: ‘What the **** are you talking about?‘” Don´t miss Frank Ghery’s epic interview on the January issue of Playboy. More snippets of the interview after the break: On the resistance he faced from local residents in Bilbao when building the Guggenheim: “Immediately there was a vigil in the street. Steelworkers, dockworkers, other union people and many others all against me created a phalanx with candles…There was a threat in the newspaper, ‘Kill the American architect.’…They didn’t want it built. They hated it. They were appalled. They didn’t understand it. They didn’t want the change it represented. Now that it’s built they run over and want their pictures taken with me. ‘Señor Gehry, Señor Gehry…!’ I should live there. It’s a love-in, though they’d probably get tired of me. Before, however, they reacted as if I was taking their city away.” On the strip malls, “McMansions,” and tract-houses commonly seen in suburban America: “‘Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky-tacky.’ There’s the old song about it. It’s a metaphor for what we’re being told: ‘Just stay in the box, kid, don’t muddy the water.’ Parents say it to their kids. Teachers say it. Schools do. And so people become immune to the sameness…it’s so common it’s accepted. We can’t imagine it any other way. It’s dehumanizing, and we don’t even notice it.” On whether people really care that much about architecture or design: “I think people care. If not, why do so many people spend money going on vacations to see architecture? They go to the Parthenon, to Chartres, to the Sydney Opera House. They go to Bilbao…Something compels them, and yet we live surrounded by everythingbut great architecture. Why do we stand for it? People are searching for something they don’t have in their lives. There’s an unfulfilled need. My question is, What creates that need, and why doesn’t it translate into more of a demand for better design in our lives?” On the source of big ideas, and whether it’s true or not that his vision for Disney Hall came from a crumpled-up piece of paper: “That’s mythology. I wish I could do that, but it’s not true. That’s from The Simpsons. On the show I crumple up a letter and there’s the concert hall they asked me to design. If only it were that easy. The Disney Hall was never a crumpled piece of paper. The fact is I’m an opportunist. I’ll take materials around me, materials on my table, and work with them as I’m searching for an idea that works.” On mankind’s impulse to build things bigger and better, such as skyscrapers: “There’s a drive in us to express ourselves in some way or form. We pick up whatever material is available. It’s primitive. Kids see sand on the beach, build something and show their parents: ‘Look what I did, Mama.’…Ultimately you can’t repress individuality, even though you can try. People live and work in uninspiring environments, but look inside those rooms. Look at the painted walls and the decorations. People rebel even in the most controlled office environment in which they’re not allowed to do anything. You see the little bulletin board in front of a person’s desk with their photos, clippings, cartoons and whatever else.” On responding to criticism that he has a big ego: “In the Sydney Pollack documentary about me, Tom Krens, the former Guggenheim director, says I have the biggest ego in the world and that it manifests itself when you come to me and say ‘I don’t like this’ or ‘I want a change.’ He says I relish that because my ego’s so big I think I can solve whatever you throw at me and make it even better. I enjoy the interaction and the challenge.” On whether or not he cares about how the interiors of his buildings are decorated: “It’s up to [the designers]. It’s why I don’t micromanage the interiors. People ask me to and I say no. I don’t want to control everything like Mies and Frank Lloyd Wright did. I’ll say, ‘I’m going to design the container and the interior spaces. You bring your own stuff to it and make it your own.’ I don’t impose myself in that way.” On if he has a favorite of all the buildings he’s built: “That’s like asking which of your kids is your favorite. Even if I had one I wouldn’t say.” On newer buildings by other architects that he considers favorites: “At first I didn’t cotton to Mies’s Lake Shore Drive towers in Chicago, but when I went there and saw how they come down on the slab of one-and-seven-eighths-inch thick travertine, I turned around. I think that was an incredible statement of modesty and power…It was so subtle, understated and powerful as hell. Rem Koolhaas certainly achieved an incredible piece of sculpture in the CCTV tower in Beijing. Also in Beijing, of course, the Bird’s Nest stadium [built for the Olympics] by Herzog and de Meuron. I like a lot of young people, such as Zaha Hadid, who did the MAXXI Museum in Rome. They’re finding their way, and I have great respect for them.” On the perpetual race to build the world’s tallest buildings: “Yes, the race continues in a way. My tallest is the Beekman in New York; it’s being finished now. The client said that at 76 stories it is the tallest apartment building in New York, and I said, ‘Why don’t we make it two stories shorter so it’s not, because if Trump hears that, he’ll try to beat it, and I don’t want to bother him.’ Already somebody’s doing a taller one. It’s a hilarious thing about erections…” On “green” building, and the need for architects to be environmentally responsible: “Many people put a green button on their collar and feel good, just like a lot of people put an American flag on their lapels and feel patriotic. It’s not enough…I’ve been concerned about these issues since the 1960s…For years good architects were dealing with environmentally responsible design—materials, energy efficiency, all that—before it became a trend. Frank Lloyd Wright always did. I just don’t think it’s enough to solve this monumental problem. We have to do more.” On the “Bilbao” effect—how art and architecture can completely transform the identity of a city and its people: “It’s not new. The Bilbao effect is the Parthenon effect, the Chartres Cathedral effect, the Notre Dame effect. The press labeled it the Bilbao effect; I didn’t name it. It’s not new that architecture can profoundly affect a place, sometimes transform it. Architecture and any art can transform a person, even save someone. It can for children—for anyone. It still does for me.” in http://www.archdaily.com/97117/frank-gehry-interview-on-playboy/

The proposed skyscraper designed by Marie-Alice Kacou and Khanh Do, students at the Savannah College of Art and Design, seeks to become iconic edifice that helps to raise the awareness of recycling and sustainable development in terms of material reuse and water efficiency in the city. Located in south-east Raleigh, the site could be perceived as an abstracted edge of the downtown landscape as well as a transitional locus in the urban context. The parti is based on the converging points of three dynamic forces that meet at the site: the urban transition, the edge condition, and the human interaction. The investigation began with the metaphor of infinity underlying the concept of sustainable recycling and the interpretation of the universal symbol of recycling. The Symbol consists of three arrows pointing back at each other, denoting an abstraction of infinite cycles. Therefore, the infinity sign is being dissected in 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional configurations to establish the structure and fabrication of the building. What is proposed is a prototype for a mix use skyscraper acting as an architectural locus where these three forces will interact and generate interaction. The project focuses on new ways to utilize domestic metal and plastic waste. This project goes further to analyze the relationship between the container and what is being contained, water in particular. The idea is to encourage innovation while integrating successful sustainable techniques to create a recycling machine. The many design strategies include water harvesting on the roof and the skin of the building at the West and North façades to maximize rain water conservation. A system called solar water disinfection is implemented within the building skin to store water. After being filtered by the sun, the collected water is releases using natural gravity and directed to designated tanks located on every 10th floor throughout the building to optimize pumping energy. in http://www.evolo.us/architecture/recycling-awareness-center-in-raleigh-north-carolina/#more-6075

When you say the word skyscraper, do you always think of a tall rectangle? Is it freestanding? Is there one main entrance? Australian architecture student Josephine Turner takes issue with these, and other assumptions about what skyscrapers are, whaSkyscraper in Chile Filters The Mapocho River BY: DANIELLE DEL SOL | OCTOBER - 24 - 2010 It’s like the largest, most attractive Brita pitcher ever created – and you could live in it. By placing their skyscraper directly in the Mapocho River, which flows directly through Santiago, the capital of Chile, five architecture students from the Universidad de Chile have designed a modern, honeycomb-like structure that not only provides space for housing and commercial endeavors, but filters the water as it flows through its lower levels. The dirty river’s pollution manifests problems throughout the capital city, the students say. So as the murky river reaches their skyscraper, networks of microscopic filaments clean the water; the structure continues horizontally to create a giant “L,” with polygonal forms to hold vegetation so that the area acts as a lagoon. This manmade wetland completes the processes of decanting and phytoremediation, cleansing the river and city simultaneously. To celebrate the restored environment, a large city park is then planned for the banks of the purified Mapocho River. The building’s whole is actually a sum of individual cells; this allows for optimum ventilation and creates ample “viewpoints” to admire the clean river and surrounding Santiago. Its position in a river with new wetlands adjacent provides the added benefit of a pleasant climate for residents. Their plan “takes green to the vertical,” say the students, and brings a whole new dynamic to the downtown skyscraper. By continuously cleaning the city’s most precious resource, this structure services the community throughout its lifetime. Designed by: Víctor Alegría Corona, Enzo Córdova Rivano, Alejandro Cortés Abrigo, Thomas Fell Rubio, and Javier Moya Ortiz. in http://www.evolo.us/architecture/skyscraper-in-chile-filters-the-mapocho-river/#more-6119

Belo Horizonte, Brazil architect Tiago Viegas has designed a skyscraper for his city, which is the third largest city in Brazil with a metro area population of 5.4 million, that will serve as a hotel, a commercial center and a public park. The city is set to boom both residentially and commercially when the World Cup is hosted there in 2014, and Viegas seeks to design a building that is “fluid and permeable,” and that will allow public use of typically private areas. For example, he proposes allowing a street to run though the building’s base, and allowing public access to the building’s roof. The building is ideally located on an empty lot surrounded by the region’s major train and light rail station, the Arrudas River, and the city’s Museum of Arts and Crafts. The building’s design is an open stacking of units, with access to units only available on every third floor. Keeping access at a minimum has two distinct advantages, says Viegas: less materials are needed in the construction of the building, and also, wind will be able to pass through the open areas, bringing better air circulation for the building. The improved wind circulation also positively affects the city, he says, as tall buildings block the natural wind patterns on the landscape. in http://www.evolo.us/architecture/a-new-brazilian-skyscraper-in-time-for-the-world-cup/#more-6579

Erick van Egeraat Builds the New Roskilde Incineration Line Posted: Wednesday, October 06, 2010 | ↓ post a comment The board of Danish waste to energy supplier KARA/Noveren recently signed a contract with Dutch Architect Erick van Egeraat for the realization of their new incineration line at Roskilde, Denmark. Erick van Egeraat won the design competition for this incinerator in 2008 with his proposal seeking to embrace both the historic and industrial heritage. "It is a contempoprary cathedral, close to the ground we shaped the building to reflect the angular factory roofs of the immediate surroundings”, says Erick van Egeraat. “We then let the building culminate in a 100 meter tall spire, which is an articulation of a fascinating and sustainable process in creating energy.” The large, outspoken, amber-colored design is likely to become a new icon for the wide and open landscape of the Roskilde area. After its completion in 2013, the facility is not only processing a large part of the local waste. This process produces both electricity and heating for the Roskilde district. Today, waste to energy transition can be regarded as one of the environmentally-friendliest methods of creating heat and energy. The new incineration line 6 will use the latest techniques and have a processing capacity from 260,000 to 350,000 ton per year. This will generate an output of electricity for 60,000 households each year. Erick van Egeraat aims to give insight in the mostly hidden processes of transforming waste into energy. Laser-cut circular openings cover the raw umber-coloured aluminium façade. At night, backlighting of the perforated facade transforms the incinerator into a glowing beacon, symbolizing the energy production inside the facility. For a few minutes every hour, a spark gradually grows into a blazing flame eating up the entire building. The metaphoric fire then ceases, and the building falls into a state of burning embers. The façade is composed of two layers, the inner layer ensures the daylight entry and air circulation. This ‘liberates’ the outer layer to be flexible in the patterning. The Roskilde project is one of a series of new projects for Erick van Egeraat, who recently signed contracts for the designs of the Moscow Dynamo stadium (recently on Bustler), the Sberbank Universtiy Campus in Moscow and the Moika apartment-complex in Saint Petersburg. Project Facts: Project address : Håndværkervej 70, DK-4000 Roskilde Client : Kara/Noveren Program : new incineration line 6 including reception hall, waste bunker, control room Gross floor area : approx. 7,400 m2 (façade: 29,500 m2) Volume : n/a Storeys : n/a Height : 99 m Building costs : confidential Price index : 03/2008 Start competition design : 03-2008 Start design : 03-2008 Design phase : 2009-2012 Development time : 2007-2013 Construction time : 2011-2013 Realization : 2013 Scope of work : full assignment Fee : confidential Remarks : competition first prize 2008 in http://www.bustler.net/index.php/article/erick_van_egeraat_builds_the_new_roskilde_incineration_line/

L’AND Vineyards abre ‘hospitality’ em Março de 2011 O aldeamento turístico de cinco estrelas L’AND Vineyards, em Montemor-o-novo, que resulta da parceria entre a Sousa Cunhal Turismo e o Grupo Lágrimas, vai abrir ao público a parte hoteleira em Março do próximo ano. Segundo José Sendim Cunhal, presidente da Sousa Cunhal Turismo, ao ambitur.pt, “temos 50% das unidades vendidas da primeira fase (…) e temos já a parte hoteleira, a parte ‘hospitality’ em construção, que deverá abrir ao público em Março do próximo ano”. Este empreendimento turístico vai contar com um serviço de hotel, particularmente no núcleo central do aldeamento, que terá uma adega, um restaurante, recepção, spa, jardim e 31 ‘townhouses’, “das quais 25 farão parte do hotel”. Para além do núcleo central, os 66 hectares da propriedade estão divididos por cinco núcleos, que totalizam 75 unidades residenciais, divididas em 44 ‘serviced villas’ - T3 a T6 - e 31 ‘serviced townhouses’ – T1 a T3. Os proprietários das ‘villas’, alguns que já terão a respectiva chave também no início de 2011, podem optar por entregar à entidade gestora do empreendimento, neste caso o Grupo Lágrimas, a exploração turística das suas moradias, obtendo um rendimento anual que resultará dos resultados anuais globais da exploração turística do empreendimento. Projectos de qualidade dão a conhecer Alqueva No que diz respeito ao segundo projecto do grupo Sousa Cunhal Turismo, o L’AND Reserve, no Alqueva, desta vez em parceria com a cadeia asiática Banyan Tree, José Sendim Cunhal revela-se “muito optimista. Temos um produto que é diferenciado, quer em termos de marca quer em termos de factores de diferenciação, desde a arquitectura, a parte do vinho e da vinha, a sustentabilidade ambiental e temos uma cadeia muito forte”. Quanto à possível concorrência dos restantes projectos turísticos no Alqueva, o presidente da Sousa Cunhal Turismo é peremptório: “Acho que é óptimo que haja mais projectos, haver um golfe no projecto da Alila Resorts, por exemplo, é excelente para nós, é um desafio. É dar a conhecer o Alentejo Interior como destino turístico lá fora. Dramático era que houvesse muitos projectos não de qualidade, temos parceiros que são credíveis e têm uma imagem forte em termos de qualificação, o que é óptimo.” Em fase de conclusão e aprovação do projecto, José Sendim Cunhal prevê que “no primeiro trimestre de 2011 estamos a entrar em construção das infra-estruturas e a iniciar a parte comercial [do L’AND Reserve]”, adianta. in http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=850682 Terra, vinhas e casas por CLÁUDIA MELO30 Agosto 2009 Promontório Arquitectos, João Luis Carrilho da Graça, João Paulo dos Santos e João Ferreira Nunes são alguns dos nomes que assinam projectos de arquitectura e paisagismo para um aldeamento de características vinícolas que vai nascer em Montemor- -o-Novo, no Alentejo. O conceito do conjunto, designado L'AND VINEYARDS, é o de criar habitações e espaços verdes qualificados "para quem pretende usufruir da vivência do mundo rural, com o máximo de sofisticação" com uma "uma arquitectura marcadamente contemporânea do concilia a tradição cultural mediterrânica com a sofisticação sustentável", defende o promotor. Os lotes variam de cerca de 2000 metros quadrados até perto de 15 000 e as casas de 300 a 600 metros quadrados de área bruta de construção. O suíço Peter Markli e o atelier Segison Bates Architects , do Reino Unido, fecham o colectivo de arquitectos, que assina cinco núcleos habitacionais cada. Distintos e personalizados, os núcleos têm em comum o facto de respeitarem "a morfologia e topografia do terreno, as casas moldarem-se ao seu meio envolvente, permitindo um relacionamento aberto e privilegiado com o ambiente rural". O núcleo de Carrilho da Graça compõe-se de oito lotes e, conforme o arquitecto, descreve, : "Longilíneas e horizontais, as casas organizam-se num movimento radial em torno de um eixo, estabelecendo elas próprias os limites de cada lote, conformando grandes pátios/jardins e espaços de lazer privados. Esta organização garante a privacidade e enfatiza a relação visual com o território envolvente. À horizontalidade que evoca a arquitectura da região, contrapõe-se a verticalidade das torres que se erguem nas extremidades e conquistam a vista sobre a cidade e castelo." Para o atelier Promontório, "a artificialidade é uma das características evidentes das implantações regionais alentejanas. A proposta refere este tema na implantação do núcleo. As casas acompanham as cotas, mas usam o terreno como suporte para a criação de um basamento onde assenta a casa. Cada unidade tem uma sala ampla que funciona como elemento central e organizador da tipologia. À volta da sala, desenvolvem-se vários pátios, criando diferentes mundos de privacidade, numa relação franca com a paisagem". O colectivo de arquitectos projecta em oito lotes e é ainda o responsável pelos núcleos de serviços e equipamentos e os apartamentos do aldeamento. Já José Paulo dos Santos " trabalha o ritmo, a proporção, a luz, os enquadramentos, o significado de cada material na caracterização dos espaços e volumes, intimamente relacionados com o contexto. Sem ostentação, mas com grande rigor (…). O património e o tempo constituem o principal ponto de partida das suas obras que, num equilíbrio de continuidade temporal,surgem como se desde sempre o conjunto fizesse sentido", conta o arquitecto portuense. A rematar o conjunto, e tão importantes como os espaços construídos, os arranjos exteriores, da autoria de João Ferreira Nunes, são caracterizados da seguinte forma: "Abrangendo quer o espaço colectivo, quer as envolventes privadas de cada núcleo habitacional, o desenho paisagístico imprime áreas de vinha, olival, laranjal, pomar e montado, num modelo de gestão global que garante a manutenção do coberto vegetal espontâneo e natural do território". in http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=850682

Primeiro grande centro comercial de Beja terá um investimento de 30 milhões de euros Negócios 08/11/10, 15:16 OJE/Lusa A construção do primeiro grande centro comercial do Baixo Alentejo, o Vivaci Beja, com quase 100 lojas, deverá arrancar em 2012, num investimento previsto de 30 milhões de euros, diz à agência Lusa fonte do promotor. O Vivaci Beja "encontra-se em fase de licenciamento" e, "se em 2011 houver sinais de retoma da economia, proporcionando-se uma conjuntura financeira mais favorável, antevemos que a construção se inicie em 2012", precisou Fernando Rocha Pereira, administrador da FDO Imobiliária, do grupo FDO, promotor do projecto. A confirmarem-se as estimativas, o Vivaci Beja, que vai "nascer" na Estrada das Apolinárias, na zona nordeste de Beja, perto da rotunda do Itinerário Principal 8, importante via de acesso à cidade, deverá ser inaugurado "no final de 2013", prevê. Segundo Fernando Rocha Pereira a FDO Imobiliária mantém "todo o interesse estratégico" no Vivaci Beja, que já sofreu vários atrasos e que deveria abrir este ano, segundo as anteriores previsões do promotor. O Vivaci Beja, com uma área bruta de construção total de quase 50.000 metros quadrados e uma área bruta tocável de cerca de 20.500 metros quadrados, terá quase 100 lojas, quatro salas de cinema, um supermercado, restaurantes e 800 lugares de estacionamento. Entre as lojas já comercializadas, a FDO Imobiliária destaca a presença de insígnias como Modelo, Worten, Sportzone e Modalfa, do grupo português Sonae, Max Mat, Zippy, Book it e Loop e Cinemas Vivacine. "Sustentável do ponto de vista socioeconómico e urbanístico", o Vivaci Beja, que poderá criar 1.500 postos de trabalho directos e indirectos, "apresenta-se como um centro comercial moderno, adequado à cidade e à sua respectiva área de influência", refere a FDO Imobiliária. Em 2007 a FDO Imobiliária apostou na marca própria Vivaci e previa construir dez centros comerciais em Portugal até 2010, em Guarda, Caldas da Rainha, Maia, Évora, Setúbal, Covilhã, Felgueiras, Braga, Beja e Gaia. No entanto, "tendo em consideração o período conturbado que a economia nacional e mundial está a atravessar e as alterações de que foram alvo as regras deste mercado", a FDO Imobiliária "reviu" o seu programa de investimentos e "constatou, de forma prudente e muito ponderada, que alguns dos projectos anunciados deixaram de ter interesse estratégico", explica Fernando Rocha Pereira. Actualmente a FDO Imobiliária, através da marca Vivaci, tem em operação e funcionamento três centros comerciais, os Vivaci da Guarda, das Caldas da Rainha e da Maia, que "representam mais de 50.000 metros quadrados de área bruta locável e cerca de 250 lojas". Os Vivaci de Beja e de Barcelos "são os centros comerciais que constam no planeamento de inaugurações futuras", diz Fernando Rocha Pereira. in http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=624343 Vivaci Beja deverá arrancar até final de 2011 A Câmara de Beja reuniu ontem com a FDO-Imobiliária, empresa promotora do Shopping Vivaci. De acordo com Jorge Pulido Valente a FDO aceitou as novas condições impostas pela autarquia depois do processo ter parado devido às propostas feitas pelo anterior executivo. O promotor assegurou ontem que as obras deverão iniciar-se até ao final de 2011. Se não surgirem dados novos que coloquem em causa a actual estratégia comercial o investimento será assumido e o Vivaci ficará concluído até 2013, anunciou o presidente da Câmara de Beja. O investimento ronda os 30 milhões de euros. O centro comercial ficará situado na Estrada das Apolinárias, na zona nordeste da cidade, próximo da rotunda do IP8 – principal via de acesso ao centro da cidade. Neste momento tem previstas 82 lojas. 02 de Novembeo de 2010 Rádio Pax - Beja in http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=624343