The architectural and museological projects of the Ethnographic Museum and the Kadare House Museum in Gjirokastra enter their definitive design phase.

The two existing buildings will be restored and fully upgraded to international contemporary museological standards in order to improve tourism and local economy in the UNESCO city of Gjirokastra.

The reconstruction of Shiroka Square in Shkodra lake has started and will cover an area of 20.000 m2.

As the client states: 'The reconstruction of the square of Shiroka is a project that is expected to be joined in the future with the other project related to the reconstruction of the western shore of the Lake Shkodra. The investment aims to turn the village of Shiroka into an important recreational, cultural and tourist center, urging activities that take place near the lake and to renew the history and tradition of the area.'

Helena Casanova has participated as an expert in devising and implementing urban planning processes that are inclusive and that give residents and other stakeholders a greater role than in standard top-down planning during the workshops of the Lab#5 held in Nissewaard on Feb 20-21 and organized in the framework of the "New Towns, Arrival Cities" programme 2017-2019.

Thursday February 25, 2019
De Vuurvogel School (tbc), Nissewaard

The Marubi National Museum of Photography has been selected for the BIG SEE Architecture Award 2019. The project has also been nominated for the Best Project (Grand Prix) in the category Public and Commercial Architecture.

Big Architecture Festival on April 17, 2019
Ljubljana, Slovenia

The project named Design and Supervision Gjirokastra System of Museums, in the UNESCO protected city of Gjirokastra is part of the Project for Integrated Urban and Tourism Development (PIUTD) program.

It includes among others the re-qualification of the Castle of Gjirokastra / Museum of Gjirokastra / National Museum of Armaments / Prison Museum / Ethnographic Museum / Ismail Kadare House / The Cold War Tunnel.

The project consists of the designing and the supervision of the building site of a tourist-friendly museum system and includes the restoration, renovation and definition of new uses of the existing museums; curatorial projects; exhibitions design; business models for all the museums; definition of activities program for the museums; thematic interpretative paths (public spaces) among museums; and the activity program in the study area.

The proposed strategy for the regeneration of the site aims to provide varied recreational and cultural programs in the different parts of the site attractive for all kinds of target groups. It reuses existing structures and creates new landmarks, all of them characterized by a specific identity and storytelling.

The strategy recreates the three historical and cultural landscapes of the site: the natural landscape, the fishery landscape and the industrial landscape through three thematic paths: the Forest Path, the Fishermen Path and the Dockyard Path.

Helena Casanova has been invited to participate as a Panel Member in one of the round tables of the International New Town Day organized by INTI in Rotterdam.

Thursday, November 15, 2018 / 14.45
http://www.newtowninstitute.org/spip.php?article1285

Frampton Marsh is on the Lincolnshire shore of The Wash, the most important estuary for wildlife in UK. The reserve is an internationally important place for wintering wildfowl and a crucial place for both migrating and breeding waders.

CHA will realize will realize some landscape interventions where culture, history and nature will be combined.

Casanova+Hernandez has been invited by Het Nieuwe Instituut to be part of their first series of Studio Visits. During this visit, the office will show their work, will explain their position as international designers and their design methods.

Studio Visits is a series of evenings dedicated to contemporary architectural practice, its challenges and possibilities.

Friday June 15, 2018 / 17.00
Lombardkade 23a, Rotterdam

Jesus Hernandez will give a lecture and will participate in a round table at the Bizkaia Aretoa auditorium within the frame of the BIA congress about Landscape and Territory / Productive Landscape: How to produce taking into account distribution, waste, consumption? How to generate short cycles, local productions and eco-sustainable territorial strategies? What role can urban agriculture play in the redefinition of country-city boundaries?

Wednesday June 20, 2018
Bizkaia Aretoa / Abandoibarra Etorb. 3, Bilbao / Spain

Short-listed proposals have been selected based on their innovative and sustainable approach.
The public presentation will take place on March 22nd at Factory Berlin in Mitte. The presentations are scheduled to start at 20.00

Frampton Marsh is on the Lincolnshire shore of The Wash, the most important estuary for wildlife in UK. The reserve is an internationally important place for wintering wildfowl and a crucial place for both migrating and breeding waders.

Helena Casanova will give a lecture at the School of Architecture of the University of Navarra in Pamplona.

Friday February 16, 2018 / 12.30 PM
School of Architecture. University of Navarra / Calle Universidad, B33 / Pamplona, Spain

The Marubi National Museum of Photography has been shortlisted as one of the candidates for the Big Architecture awards, category of landscape architecture.

Helena Casanova and Jesus Hernandez, guests professors at the University of Navarra, Architectural Design Department.

Presentation of the course at the Main Auditorium of the School of Architecture on Friday January 12, 2018 / 9.30 AM

Helena Casanova will give a lecture at Ryerson University, Toronto. The lecture will form part of the Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson, 2017/18 lecture series.

Thursday January 25, 2018 / 6:30 PM
Ryerson University / 325 Church Street / Toronto, Ontario

Marubi National Museum of Photography is presented by Jesus Hernandez in the 10th Regional Restoration Camp in Gjirokastra, Albania. The event is organized by the Albanian brunch of the Cultural Heritage Without Borders organization.

Casanova+Hernandez architects has been selected to participate in the New Town Lab of Alamar organized by INTI (International New Town Institute). During the New Town Lab, a team of international designers and experts will come up with a convincing and innovative concept for the future of Alamar, combining three topics: participation, food production and water.

This task combines the technical and architectural issues of water collection, the design and incorporation of food production in the district, and the social question of the mobilization of residents. The purpose of the workshop is to unite all these aspects in the design of public space.

The design phase of the master plan for the requalification of the western part of the Shkodra Lake has started comprising a study area of 115 Ha.

79,300 m2 of recreational areas, beaches, public spaces and facilities will be built together with the new Shkodra Lake Museum and the renovation of the waterfront facade of Shiroka village.

With pleasure we would like to share with you that the Marubi National Museum of Photography has been nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture Mies van der Rohe Award 2017.

As the organizers self state in their website: the prize, that is granted every two years, aims to recognise and commend excellence in European architecture in conceptual, social, cultural, technical and constructive terms.

The proposal works as an urban connector articulated around a rich public space designed for linking citizens to nature and to the industrial heritage, but also for linking the inhabitants living in the different districts of the Hybrid City among them.

The project aims to mix urbanity with nature thanks to a new sinuous and iconic lakefront that maximizes the views over the lake. The plan proposes a hybrid mobility system that seeks to reduce daily commuting and it also minimizes the use of private vehicles in the area.

With pleasure we would like to share with you that the Marubi National Museum of Photography has been nominated for the EMYA 2017 (European Museum Year Award).

Forty six museums have been shortlisted this year. The award ceremony will be held in Zagreb in May 2017.

The article written by Casanova+Hernandez "The Future of ADL dwellings: Innovation at multiple levels" has been published by the architectural magazine De Architect.

The article analyzes the importance of the ADL dwellings for the social integration of handicapped people, and underlines the crucial role of design innovation, social innovation and financial innovation to create a new generation of ADL dwellings.

The Korean publisher Damdi has released a new architectural monograph focused on the work of 18 design teams around the world.

The book analyzes the relation between architectural conceptualization and its presentation to the public. The publication illustrates the communication tools of the different offices with 18 PowerPoint presentations and interviews to the architects.

The competition is focused on the transformation and extension of an abandoned military bunker built by the Japanese army in the city of Busan. The proposal extends the existing bunker with a star-shaped land-art intervention named "Open Bunker" that works as a public plaza excavated in the hill, equipped with cultural and recreational facilities.

The intervention is a new urban landmark that marks the access to the site, makes the bunker visible to the public and brands the new cultural complex and the city of Busan.

After its opening to the public, the Marubi National Museum of Photography in Shkoder has become the focus of attention of the Albanian media being visited by hundreds of Albanians and tourists during the first days.

The new building and its museographic project open a new generation of contemporary museums in Albania, which not only aims to restore and protect the Albanian cultural heritage, but also to work as an attraction pole for local and foreign visitors with the final objective of spreading locally and internationally the richness of the Albanian Culture.

Casanova+Hernandez has initiated the diffusion of the research "The Future of the ADL-cluster: social integration of people with disabilities". The research aims to arise the public debate about the social integration of handicapped people in the Dutch society via ADL dwellings and to promote new projects and programs in this field in collaboration with municipalities, health organizations, housing corporations and organized groups of people with special needs.

The spreading will consist of a series of lectures, debates, articles and a publication on the topic.
Parties interested in the diffusion of the research can download a short resume in the attached link.

The Prime Minister of Albania, Mr. Edi Rama, and the Minister of Culture, Mrs. Mirela Kumbaro, have opened officially the Marubi National Museum of Photography designed by Casanova+Hernandez Architects in Shkoder.

The public ceremony has been programmed during the day of Europe, May 9th, and has been followed by many European representatives such as the ambassador of the Netherlands Mrs. Dewi van de Weerd, the European Union ambassador, Mrs. Romana Vlahutin, and representatives of other European embassies.

This 2-years research has been financed by the Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie and developed by Casanova+Hernandez in collaboration with the sociologist Dr. M.I.M. Schuurman and the economist Prof. Dr. Van de Klundert, from the Erasmus University.
The research focuses on the complete social integration of handicapped people thanks to the Dutch ADL housing program that allow people with severe physical handicaps to live autonomously in adapted houses, within clusters where standard houses and a 24-hour care unit are also available. A short essay can be downloaded in the attached link.

Building Knowledge in Interdisciplinary Design

Tuesday 29th March 2016 (15.00)

School of Architecture at Alcalá University. Master en Proyecto Avanzado de Arquitectura y Ciudad

Helena Casanova, together with Olof van de Wal (architecture curator), André Kempe (Atelier Kempe Thill, Rotterdam), Madir Shah ( Urbanoffice Architects, Amsterdam) and Jonathan Woodroffe (S333, London-Amsterdam) are the new board members of the Europan organization in the Netherlands and the founders of the new Europan NL foundation.

Public Space Acupuncture

Tuesday 1st March 2016 (19.00)

Kent State University. Florence program. Palazzo Vettori. Lecture Hall. Via Cavour 26. Florence

Building Knowledge in Interdisciplinary Design

Thursday 18th March 2016 (12.30)

Auditorium School of Architecture of Valencia (ETSAV). Camino de Vera s/n. Valencia

Casanova+Hernandez in collaboration with the local partner SON engineering & construction has won the international competition for the renovation of a central historical building and its transformation into an experimental cultural center that will encourage the active participation of citizens in a vibrant cultural program.
The project, the same as the National Historical Museum which has been recently won by Casanova+Hernandez, is part of a new cultural, educational and tourist infrastructure of Tirana named Culture Quartet focused on the restoration and activation with new cultural programs of relevant historical buildings of the city.

Public Space Acupuncture

Wednesday 27th January 2016 (20.00)

Gele Gebouw. Zomerhofstraat 90. Rotterdam