68 Mannheim Court / Florian Budke

Mannheim, a city in southwest Germany, is known for its square-grid layout, its palace, and its city landmark – the Wasserturm (water tower) and its baroque gardens. In the northern part of Mannheim, the city center – interrupted by the Neckar River – borders the districts of Neckarstadt West and East. This direct location on the river has led to the development of a green corridor – the Neckarwiese – as an urban open space, which is used by the city’s citizens for leisure and sports activities. Upstream, in the direction of the university hospital, there is a publicly accessible basketball court on Hermann-Heinrich-Ufer, which has been badly damaged by various floods in recent years.

Holzbox House / HGA Henning Grahn Architektur

The existing small family house with a saddle roof is renovated and expanded by the architects with a new volume to offer appropriate space and a contemporary configuration for the young family. As the existing floor of the old house is lifted up one meter, the attached wooden box is elevated as well to ensure accessible internal connections. As a result, the box is furthermore protected against flood to the small brook beside the garden.

Doha City Guide: 15 Contemporary Projects to Explore in the Capital City of Qatar

Doha is the capital of Qatar and the county’s most populated area, accommodating more people than the rest of Qatar combined. Located on the coast of the Persian Gulf, Doha is a relatively young city, founded in the vicinity of another settlement, Al Bidda, sometime during the 1820s. In recent years, the city has seen rapid population growth, an image reflected in the architectural landscape. During the 1960s and 1970s, many of the old districts in Doha have been demolished to make space for new developments, while a number of schemes have been deployed to advocate for the preservation of the city’s cultural and architectural heritage.

The Transformation of the Former Qianshao Weaving Factory / TJAD Original Design Studio

We first visited the site in an early winter afternoon. Driving through the neat sequoias on both sides of Qianshao Road, we can see the water tower hidden in the dense trees. Stepping into the factory, a group of quite large-scale sawtooth-shaped factory buildings on the north side of the site conveyed the grand story with the memory of the weaving factory, while the rest of the small dilapidated buildings were scattered among the overgrown greenery and faded into the environment. This iconic group of factory buildings and water towers were kept as a memory of the site, stripped from the environment.

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