High Attendance at ExAC Info Session & Social Event

Congratulations to the Intern Architect Committee on the successful turnout for the June 11 ExAC information session. Over 70 people participated, with 50 attending in person at the AIBC Vancouver office and the rest connected through the online webinar.

Special thanks to Jenny Chow, Architect AIBC from the Intern Architect Committee for introductions, and to Antonio Rigor, Intern Architect AIBC and Duff Marrs, Architect AIBC for presenting at the session. They shared invaluable advice on study strategies and answered questions from participants.

Visit AIBC’s Flickr account to view full size photos from the session.

For more information and to download the registration form, please visit the ExAC website.

For questions and to submit the registration from, please contact Admissions Coordinator Belinda Chao at bchao@aibc.ca.

ExAC Key Dates:
June 1- July 15 – Application period for eligible ExAC candidates
June 30 – Deadline for submitting CERBs
November 2-3 – ExAC held in Vancouver and Victoria

TREEHOUSING International Wood Design Competition

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and DBR | Design Build Research School are now seeking entries for TREEHOUSING, an international wood design competition.

Housing for the world’s growing urban population and the threat of deforestation are two of the most significant issues facing humanity today. TREEHOUSING challenges architecture students, professional architects and designers to develop innovative wood housing and urban building solutions through two distinct open competitions:

Competition 1: TREEHOUSING DURBAN | Tall Wood Housing
Competition 2: TREEHOUSING GLOBAL | Affordable Wood Housing

The registration deadline is August 15, 2015 and all submissions are due August 31, 2015 at 5 p.m. CET. Winners will be selected by an international jury and announced on September 10, 2015 at the XIV World Forestry Congress in Durban, South Africa. A grand prize of $6,000 USD will be awarded in each category, in addition to second and student prizes. For more information, please visit www.treehousing-competition.com.

This ideas competition is sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and coordinated by DBR | Design Build Research School.

44th Annual Royal City Builders’ Awards

Nominations are now open for the 44th Annual Royal City Builders’ Awards being hosted by the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce on October 7, 2015.

These Awards have been a mainstay in our community for 43 years, and we are proud to host them. Our newly added VIP Builders’ & Developers’ Appreciation Reception is a highlight of the event where nominees, builders, developers, sponsors, VIP’s and guests have the opportunity to walk the red carpet and network from 6-7 p.m., prior to the Awards dinner and ceremony which commences at 7 p.m. Dress is business formal for the event.

Our Judging Panel has made some updates to the categories and are pleased to provide an online template for submissions. Entries are to be submitted by 5 p.m. August 24 via our online application, which can be found on the Chamber’s website at www.newwestchamber.com. We apologize that submissions received later than the specified date and time cannot be accepted.

Our Judging Panel will review all submissions by September 9 and finalists will be notified no later than September 11. The New Westminster Chamber of Commerce is pleased to offer one (1) complimentary ticket to the VIP Builders’ & Developers Appreciation Reception and the Awards Ceremony and Dinner to each Owner/Developer finalist. Additional tickets may also be purchased for guests, project team members and other project supporters from the Chamber’s website. These should be purchased at your earliest convenience to ensure availability.

For further information, please view our website at www.newwestchamber.com or contact our event coordinator, Pamela Buck at info@eventfulinnovations.com.

Vancouver’s GBL Architects Takes Second Place in Portland’s AIA Annual International Design Competition

(Image: Courtesy of GBL Architects)

Vancouver-based GBL Architects have taken second place in Portland’s AIA annual international design competition, entitled Stitch II.

GBL have named their scheme “Entwine” to describe their efforts to adapt and reappropriate existing marginalized sites within city centres, in the context of limited expansion opportunities within our increasingly densifying urban cores. The linear arrangement of vacant lots below the 405 bridge in downtown Portland present a series of impermeable spaces that in their existing state contribute little to the connection between the adjacent Alphabet Neighbourhood and Pearl District.

For additional information on the Portland AIA competition and GBL Architects.

Daring & Inspirational Architecture Around the World

by Edward Goldman
Huffingtonpost, June 2, 2015

(Image: (L) Frank Gehry, courtesy of the Getty Museum. (R) Frank Gehry’s Fondation Louis Vuitton, photo by Edward Goldman)

In today’s world of art and architecture, there is one name that unquestionably tops the list of greats, and that would be, who else? — of course — the one and only Frank Gehry. A few weeks ago, upon returning from my trip to Paris, I raved about his latest project there, the Fondation Louis Vuitton. Great architect, as we’ve known him for years, the 86-year-young Frank Gehry — with this spectacular, architectural glass fantasy in Boulogne Forest — has certainly earned the rare honor of being called… a Genius. So, when a few days ago the J. Paul Getty Trust announced that Frank Gehry will be awarded the third annual Getty Medal, I was delighted to hear this news. To quote Getty Trust President James Cuno: “[Gehry] effectively reinvented architecture with his use of new technologies in the design of beautiful and iconic buildings. And architecture will never be the same as a result.”

The front page of Monday’s LA Times announced another exciting architectural development in the very heart of our City of Angels. The old historic bridge — a “nostalgic wreck” that connects downtown to Boyle Heights — will be demolished and replaced with the Sixth Street Viaduct, a futuristic structure consisting of 10 concrete arches that rise and fall on both sides of the bridge. Looking at the model by the design team of Michael Maltzan Architecture, Inc., it’s impossible not to be impressed by this airborne structure, which will undoubtedly bring a new energy to the city when it is completed in 2019. Read more…

Ole Scheeren’s Vancouver Skyscraper Will Offer a “New Typology for Vertical Living”

By staff
Dezeen, June 12, 2015

(Image: The design by architect Ole Scheeren for a landmark residential tower at 1500 West Georgia St. in downtown Vancouver features horizontal elements jutting out. The development is by partners Bosa Properties and Kingswood Properties. Courtesy of Buro Ole Scheeren)

Architect Ole Scheeren has unveiled his first solo project outside of Asia – a Vancouver skyscraper that will feature a series of offset apartments protruding from the facade in a cluster of irregularly stacked glass boxes (+ slideshow).

Proposed for 1500 West Georgia Street in one of Canada’s most densely populated cities, the skyscraper is described by Bruo Ole Scheeren as a “new typology for vertical living in Vancouver”.

Its form, with multiple cuboid projections piled on top of each other, reflects the irregular arrangement of the living spaces inside, making the project the latest in a series that use this stacked-box approach.

Earlier this week Danish firm BIG unveiled its stacked design for its World Trade Centre Tower, and other examples include SANAA’s New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, which was completed in 2007. Read more…

China Set to Open World’s Longest and Highest Glass-Bottom Bridge

by Katie Watkins
Archdaily, May 28, 2015

(Image: Courtesy of Haim Dotan Ltd. Architects and Urban Designers)

China will soon finish construction on what will be the world’s tallest and longest glass pedestrian bridge, floating 300 meters above a canyon in the Zhangjiajie National Park. Designed by Israeli architect, Haim Dotan, the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge will be 380 meters long, six meters wide and feature a transparent glass floor.

“The Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge was designed to be invisible as possible–a white bridge disappearing into the clouds,” said Dotan.

The bridge will comprise two side steel beams, a structural glass deck, handrails and side suspension cables, with the capacity to hold up to 800 people at a time. The Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge will also contain a bungee jumping spot and be used as a runway for fashion shows. Read more…