Awards

Royal Belge wins at MIPIM

Cannes, France

14th March 2024

mipimawards.com

Royale Belge has won plaudits at the annual MIPIM real estate fair in Cannes. The project was shortlisted in two categories at the MIPIM Awards, Best Conversion and Best Mixed-use, and triumphed in both.

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Owen Hatherley takes an in-depth look at the first two volumes of Caruso St John's Collected Works for Sidecar, the blog of the New Left Review, charting the practice's origins in 1990s London and its 'principled refusal' of the tenets of the so-called starchitects that rose to prominence during that decade.

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Lecture

Transformations

19th March 2024

hda-graz.at

Florian Zierer will give a lecture on Caruso St John's recent work repurposing historical buildings, as part of Architecturtage 2024 at Haus der Architektur, Graz.

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A+U magazine has published a second issue dedicated to the work of Caruso St John. The publication covers projects undertaken since 2015, with a particular focus on the practice's work with existing structures.

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Symposium

Continuity and Innovation

London, United Kingdom

2nd February 2024

aaschool.ac.uk

Rod Heyes will give a talk at the Architectural Association as part of a symposium focusing on adaptive reuse. The symposium brings together a group of leading architects to present their projects, with the intention of stimulating discussion around their lessons for education, practice, and policy.

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This second volume in Caruso St John’s Collected Works is published this month by MACK. The publication traces an interlacing set of themes through the practice’s work over the first twelve years of the twenty-first century. Its unique approach to history is revealed as a rejection of the myth of relentless novelty in favour of an understanding of the past as present and an interest in working with the existing. The influences of Milan, Chicago, and Rome on understandings of the city are explored, as well as the use of ornament and the place of Switzerland in shaping the practice’s evolving trajectory. Throughout these contexts, collaborations with contemporary artists including Thomas Demand and Damien Hirst continue to shape the practice's relations to the materiality and drama of space.

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Book launch, Milan

Caruso St John: Collected Works
Volume 2, 2000–2012

Spazio, Milano

7th December 2023

spaziomilano.org

Milan's Spazio gallery and bookshop hosts an event to celebrate the publication of Caruso St John's Collected Works Volume 2. Adam Caruso will discuss the themes explored by the book, notably how the practice's work has been influenced by the architecture of 20th century Chicago and Milan.

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Exhibition

What if?
Unbuilt Architecture in Switzerland

SAM Basel

25th November 2023 – 7th April 2024

sam-basel.org

Two competition-winning projects by Caruso St John feature in What if? Unbuilt Architecture in Switzerland. The exhibition at Schweizerisches Architekturmuseum Basel offers a glimpse of an alternative Switzerland with a showcase of significant unbuilt projects from across the country.

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Planning permission

Twentieth Century Theatre

London

Planning permission has been granted for the redevelopment of the Twentieth Century Theatre —a Grade II listed former music hall on Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill— into a new venue for classical music.

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Planning permission

Düngerbau, Uetikon am See

Zurich

Planning permission has been granted for the conversion of a 19th century fertilizer factory at a former industrial site in Uetikon am See on the banks of Lake Zurich.

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Project update

New addition, Warehouse, Wiedikon

Zurich, Switzerland

The second floor of the Wiedikon Warehouse has been reorganised to welcome a new family member.

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Under construction

Office Building, Stampfenbachstrasse

Zurich, Switzerland

Construction has started on a new office building on Stampfenbachstrasse in central Zurich. The building, for multinational insurance company AXA, houses around 4,000 square meters of office space over seven floors.

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Rhythm is a Dancer

Tate Britain
Strictly Come Dancing

23rd September 2023

Tate Britain features prominently in the BBC's trailer for the 2023 series of its Saturday night dance show, Strictly Come Dancing.

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Lecture

Brussels Urban Lunch – Royale Belge

Brussels, Belgium

12th September 2023

urban.brussels

Peter St John is joined by Dirk Sommers of Bovenbouw Architectuur for a talk on the practices' newly completed renovation of the Royale Belge insurance headquarters. The event is organised by Urban Brussels as part of the Urban Lunch series and features presentations of three milestone projects that have recently been undertaken in the city.

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Opening

Royale Belge

Brussels, Belgium

28th June 2023

mix.brussels

The project for the renovation of the Royale Belge in Brussels has now completed. An opening event was held on 28th June, hosted by Mix – a new venue encompassing a hotel, restaurant, gym and co-working space. The food hall and terrace on the ground floor has also opened, creating a new destination for the Watermaal-Bosvoorde area of Brussels. The project’s diverse functions are brought together by the new hall and staircase which creates a new centrepiece for the iconic building.

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Exhibition

The Whole City
Hamburg Competitions and Procedures 2017–2023

Hamburg, Germany

23rd June – 14th July 2023

dieganzestadt.de

Several designs by Caruso St John feature in an exhibition by Hamburg's Department of Urban Development and Housing, presenting architectural competitions and procedures undertaken in the city from 2017 to 2023.

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Published by Mack Books, The Triple Folly presents an account of the collaboration between Thomas Demand, Caruso St John, and textile manufacturers Kvadrat, which led to the construction of the new pavilion at Kvadrat's headquarters in Ebeltoft, Denmark.

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In a publication presented by ETH Studio Jan De Vylder, Adam Caruso reflects on his experiences growing up in Montreal and family visits Mount Royal, the mountain located directly west of downtown and one of the city’s largest green spaces.

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This year Unit 12, led by Peter St John, investigated the theme of Second Life, in the context of the design of buildings. Based on the belief that almost everything can have a second life, the project intends to address London's pressing need for more housing and the complex solutions for the shortage of land. The proposals for the reuse and densification of existing post-war housing stock in South London show how this can be a better solution than redevelopment.

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The Swiss Life Arena is featured in Casabella 944. Federico Tranfa introduces the project and discusses its key references – the ruins of an ancient mosque in Syria and the 18th century Guards Tent in the gardens of the summer palace at Drottingholm in Stockholm.

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Project review

Building in Hamburg

In a talk for the Architecture Foundation, Associate Ben Speltz presents Caruso St John's work in Hamburg over the past decade, focusing on the practice's approach to working within the urban fabric of the city centre and introducing two recently completed projects, the Gortz Palais and Grosser Burstah Office Building.

The Swiss Life Arena is reviewed in the March edition of Werk, Bauen WohnenBenjamin Muschg takes in the atmosphere at a sold-out game, as the ZSC Lions triumph over HC Davos, and describes the building's unconventional organisation and approach to minimizing energy consumption in use.

Marco Biagi explores the approach of international practices to decommissioned industrial buildings. Citing a range of recently completed projects, including Caruso St John's Veemgebouw, he discusses the rise of adaptive reuse. Biagi explains through our urgent environmental crisis, the reuse of industrial plants and depots is more necessary than ever, offering a new challenging creative outlet for contemporary architects.

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Project update

Office Building Zurich

Zurich, Switzerland

Caruso St John has received the building permit for the AXA Office building, located on Stampfenbachstrasse in central Zurich. The building, for multinational insurance company AXA, houses around 4,000 square meters of office space over seven floors.

Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2023, with a façade mock-up already completed for quality control of the materials and joints.

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