LEAF Review : All issues

"If you use architecture as a weapon to get through new ideas then that is good," says Professor Wolf D Prix, co-founder of internationally celebrated practice, Coop Himmelb(l)au. Prix discusses his practice's work including the new European Central Bank and how he has kept his design philosophy radical after 42 years.

One of the most progressive architects in the world, Alejandro Aravena's Elemental, a self-proclaimed "do tank", is as an extraordinary partnership between an architect, an oil company and a university that is solving problems of housing the world's poor. Aravena explains the practice's work to the Leaf Review.

A Rem Koolhaas protégé and co-founder of PLOT, at just 25 and now five years into running one of Europe's most exciting practices, Julien de Smedt does not appear to be a man with much experience of crises. However, as he tells us, there may never be a better time to learn.

"We made the rules," Ron Arad says of his most pivotal project to date, Design Museum Holon. Given a brief to create a building that would appear on a postage stamp, he came up with a sinuous design of five ribbons of weathered Corten steel that band around the two main gallery buildings.

Inspired by its neighbourhood, by its institution's unique programme and by classic spacecraft, provocateur architect Thom Mayne's 41 Cooper Square brings fresh thinking about progress, community, and contextuality to New York City.

Finally, in an exclusive interview to discuss his latest museum projects, the recently completed Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco and the Military History Museum in Dresden, Daniel Libeskind explains his approach to designing for memory and why architecture is the greatest communicator of all.

"At the beginning I was not quite sure where it was going to lead to," David Chipperfield says of his recently completed Neues Museum refurbishment in Berlin in this edition of The Leaf Review. The neo-classicism of Friedrich August Stüler's original building allowed Chipperfield to bring a universal humanity to a building that 20 years before at the fall of the Berlin Wall was still a bombed-out ruin.

As new creative horizons open up in the midst of the global slowdown, young practices are coming to the fore. We talk to ten practices that are going to make waves in 2010.

The best design of the 21st century is both green and smart. As new systems enable architects and lighting designers to do unprecedented things with light, the challenge is to not make lighting flashier but to make it smarter. Bill Millard examines projects, including the acclaimed New York Times Building, that blur the border between the artistic and the functional.

The success of LEAF and the unique community of architects created by the event has resulted in the launch of a new publication specifically targeting this elite group. The LEAF Review intelligently captures the opinions, ideas and philosophies of Europe’s foremost architects in a diverse mix of articles, case studies, interviews and profiles.

The LEAF Review No.5 examines new building exteriors, proving that they can be more than just a pretty face. We reveal how building façades are entering an unprecedented era of innovation and fashion consciousness.

With the upcoming Beijing Olympics putting the focus on China, and Western architects flocking to the East, we speak to Meinhard von Gerkan of GMP Architects about what European designers can gain from the experience.

The urban landscape is changing, and shortages of space present unique challenges for architects. Jacob van Rijs, one third of Rotterdam-based MVRDV tells us about their particular take on crowd control.

Dr Chris Luebkeman, Arup's director for global foresight and innovation, gazes into the future and explains how it is intimately tied to the way our cities are created. We also get a guided tour of the new Oslo Opera House and take an advance look at the forthcoming LEAF Dublin event.

The fourth edition of The LEAF Review includes a special section on all the winning projects of the fourth annual LEAF Awards, including the overall winner – ARB Bank Headquarters designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.

The opening of SANAA's New Museum has re-energised lower Manhattan and provoked considerable interest in new Japanese architecture which is enjoying an extraordinary renaissance at present and setting architectural agendas way beyond Japan. We visit the New Museum and talk to Kazuyo Sejima about their highest-profile project to date. To put Japanese design innovation into perspective, we also chair a debate between leading lights including Kengo Kuma and Hitoshi Abe.

Other features include: Erik Schotte of LIAG, Julien de Smedt of JDS and Susanne Hofmann of Berlin-based Baupiloten discussing the challenges of designing for children; an exclusive interview with Swiss architect Mario Botta and a profile of Make Architects.

Out now, The LEAF Review No. 3 has the latest news, projects and exclusive opinions from the European architectural industry. This latest edition includes a preview of the next LEAF event in Rome and looks forward to the LEAF Awards 2007, held in London in November 2007.

Features include: the class of 2007 – era-defining architects from UNStudio’s Ben van Berkel to JDS’s Julian de Smedt discuss their latest projects, German architectural light Jürgen Mayer talks about why designs need to provoke and participate and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners 175 Greenwich Street in New York is examined, incorporating an interview with the project’s designer Richard Paul.

We also speak to Ricky Burdett, the Olympic Delivery Authority's chief adviser on architecture, as he answers London 2012’s critics.

The second issue of The LEAF Review is bursting with captivating content, lending a voice to Europe’s architects, from the big names to the young guns, drawn together by their passion for the finest and most imaginative designs.

The LEAF Awards 2006, held in Dubai last September, were a highlight of our year, and we profile all the winners and their projects.

This issue includes an interview with Santiago Calatrava, who discusses his World Trade Center Transportation Hub, and 2006’s most striking European project - Frank Gehry’s surreal Marqués de Riscal hotel. We talk to the Marqués de Riscal’s project designer Edwin Chan about what the project means to him.