Arch Daily |
- Retreat in Finca Aguy / MAPA
- Villa Meijendel / VVKH architecten
- Griss Equine Veterinary Practice / marte.marte architects
- Karuizawa Tunnel / O. F. D. A.
- SimplyWork 3.0 Co-working Space / 11architecture Ltd.
- House in Futago / Yabashi Architects & Associates
- Dickinson Public Safety Center / Roth Sheppard Architects
- Wolfgang Buttress’ UK Expo Pavilion, "The Hive," Wins 2016 Landscape Institute Award
- 480 House / D’Arcy Jones Architecture
- World’s First Solar Panel Road Debuts in France
- OD Blow Dry Bar / SNKH Architectural Studio
- Eero Saarinen-Designed US Embassy in Oslo to Be Preserved After Sale by Government
- House Architecture Rifa G’09 / María Inés García + Maximiliano García
- 22 New Year's Resolutions for Architects
- QL House / Visioarq Arquitectos
- Translucent Wood and Light Installation Brightens Children’s Hospital in Australia
- d3 Announces Winners of 2016 Natural Systems Competition
| Posted: 26 Dec 2016 09:00 PM PST  © Leonardo Finotti
 © Leonardo Finotti From the architect. Dwell in productive landscapes Made to maximize new landscape experiences, Retreat in Finca Aguy was prefab-born in a factory near Montevideo and transported 200km to its final destination in Pueblo Edén on the edge of an olive field. Perfect combination of industry and landscape: new kinds of landscapes deserve new ways of dwelling.  © Leonardo Finotti Remote Landscapes To build in far away territories from the surroundings in which we usually live is a great challenge. Remoteness not as a limit but as a possibility, as a value, as a generator of fields and conditions. Remote landscapes confronts us with the awareness of immenseness. It puts us in our role in reality.  © Leonardo Finotti  © Leonardo Finotti Prefab In landscapes of high natural value, it is fundamental to respect their original condition and so it is essential a reversibility condition. Prefabrication allows us to work with industrialized materials that enable high-precision processes. Thus amortizing the impact of construction on the ground, minimizing waste, staff in situ and displacement: a perfect combination of nature and industry.  Floor Plan Eppur si muove! Houses do not move. They are made of heavy materials, put together with mortar, concrete must be used. These prejudices are hard to break, as the immobility of constructions.  © Leonardo Finotti  Section  © Leonardo Finotti On the other hand, Prefab Houses are produced in a controlled environment and carefully made. They are born in a factory and taken to its final destination. Houses do not move, however...  © Leonardo Finotti This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Villa Meijendel / VVKH architecten Posted: 26 Dec 2016 07:00 PM PST  © Christian van der Kooy
 © Christian van der Kooy From the architect. A dense forest opens to a dune valley. Sunlight casts shadows of branches and leaves against tree trunks. In the distance, a golfer walks through the empty surreal landscape. This unique environment – trees, light and dunes – influences the design of "villa Meijendel" in such a way as if it has sculpted the house. This in concrete constructed house is literally built into the dunes. The entrance is on the midlevel, where an office and two bedrooms are situated. The next level opens to a huge living room and kitchen. On ground level are a wellness room and the master bedroom. Encapsulated in the dune is a garage and technical room. The concrete construction of the villa establishes the vigorous character of the house. All materials are unpolished: concrete, steal, wood, burned wood and anodised aluminium. They refer to the unspoiled landscape. The burned wood at the exterior, and the wood used for the ceiling of the main space is Douglas-Fir, a specific wood type growing in coastal areas. In the flat sawn pieces used for the interior of the house, the wood exhibits wild grain patterns. The burning procedure, influenced by Japanese tradition, conserves the wood in a particular way. The blackened façade seems to change by the light. Sometimes the house is almost invisible against the dark edge of the forest, sometimes it sparkles in the sunlight because of the glittering charred wood as such forming a background for the play of shadows of tree trunks and branches. The villa hides and reveals itself in the landscape.  © Christian van der Kooy  Level 1  © Christian van der Kooy Regulations stipulated that only a small and compact volume was allowed to be built on this relatively narrow parcel, on the edge of nature reserve Meijendel. Therefore, the house is half buried in a high dune, with the effect that every side of the house can be experienced in a different way. This is enhanced by the contrast between open and closed facades. The height difference of the dune and the various split levels inside the house create interesting spatial and visual relations from interior spaces towards the environing dune landscape. Each opening in the house has been shaped, sized and positioned in a certain way, related to the functions associated to each space and its relationship with trees, light and dune. From the living room, located at the top floor, there is a breath-taking view over the dune valley in front of the house, but through a low window the forest at the back is visible as well. In addition, roof windows provide special light effects. The bathroom is half-sunken into the ground and has a window along the slope of the dune, generating a view from eyelevel on sand and grass. The master bedroom is situated next to the garden. A set-back and an alternation of burned wood and openings in de façade create a buffer zone providing shelter. Through the opening between the dark trunks, the pool and dense forest are visible.  © Christian van der Kooy Through an intensive dialogue between the architect and client, a tailor-made design of the house was made. Sustainability and materiality were prevalent. The house is energy-neutral, because of the use of solar panels, heat pumps and the monolith concrete structure. Every detail, such as door handle or stairs, is precisely thought through and designed. Villa Meijendel is a fascinating artefact, a sort of wooden forest hut fully integrated in the landscape and with a strong connection between the interior spaces and immediate surroundings. Trees, light and dunes have sculpted this remarkable house.  © Christian van der Kooy This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Griss Equine Veterinary Practice / marte.marte architects Posted: 26 Dec 2016 06:00 PM PST  Courtesy of marte.marte architects
 Courtesy of marte.marte architects Sturdy, earthy, yet subtly sophisticated, the "Griss Equine Veterinary Practice" is located where the village of Rankweil (A) meets the wide Rhine Valley. On the horizon, the rugged peaks of the Alpstein massif pierce the sky. .jpg?1482441804 "Courtesy of marte.marte architects") Courtesy of marte.marte architects  Floor Plans .jpg?1482441756 "Courtesy of marte.marte architects") Courtesy of marte.marte architects The clear-lined building, made of rough reinforced concrete and untreated wood, is home to animals as well as humans. An apartment for the veterinarian is combined under one roof with the equine practice - including an in-house pharmacy, treatment rooms, lab and stables – in such a functional way that the private and public areas are able to coexist without any problem: In short, a finely tuned interaction between work and life, a place of bustle and wellness, both functional and comfy.  Courtesy of marte.marte architects To arrange all these different rooms on just one floor with a surface of 27 x 19 meters and still build it as one unit, the pavilion principle was applied. A base plate, a reinforced concrete floor of the same size and four solid vertical concrete wall plates – turned towards each other in an exciting composition – make up the supporting structure of the building. The partly recessed façade is made of prefabricated wood frame elements (spruce). The continuous surface is interrupted rhythmically by ceiling-high windows. A sheltered passage and a barn-like space separate the working area from the accommodation wing. The clean and direct form is continued in the interior. .jpg?1482441780 "Courtesy of marte.marte architects") Courtesy of marte.marte architects The clients and their horses enter the practice, which is set back from the street, from the north side. The big open sliding door, which is part of the façade, reveals the centre of the equine practice: the examining room. All the practice's other rooms are grouped around this central point. Directly behind it is the operating room and anesthesia box, which are lined with black rubber mats. The in-house pharmacy, laboratory and office area, which is also accessible from outside, is located in the east wing of the building. All of the flooring, built-in furniture and single wall coverings in this area are made of silver fir. The warm and soft effect of this wood is an appealing contrast to the hard and rather cool concrete. The outdoor boxes, three in number, face west – towards wide meadows and fields, the round pen and the small trotting track. The above-average ceiling height of almost four meters keeps the animals safe even when they rear up and lends an almost sacred charm to this "place of healing".  Courtesy of marte.marte architects The apartment faces southwest away from the access road. Big ceiling-high glass sliding doors in the living room offer a wonderful view of the natural landscape. The flooring and wall coverings, made out of silver fir, create a warm and safe environment. The glass elements and concrete wall plates are set well back from the edge of the roof, creating a covered veranda. The dominant base plate and concrete floor draw a clear boundary between inside and outside. Despite this, or perhaps just because of it, the sparsely furnished living room – which is rather small compared to the high ceiling – exudes transitory qualities: It brings the garden into the house and conversely extends the living space into the open air.  Courtesy of marte.marte architects This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Karuizawa Tunnel / O. F. D. A. Posted: 26 Dec 2016 02:00 PM PST  © Hiroshi Ueda
 © Hiroshi Ueda From the architect. This is a vacation home project in Karuizawa. The project site sits on the south of Karuizawa train station, its north side borders on a local street, and the other sides are bounded by the neighbors' properties. Before the project started, there was a good view of a neighbor's villa to the east. A villa in the south was almost hidden behind the trees. No building had yet been built on the west side. An important request from the client was to keep the surrounding buildings out of sight from his home as much as possible. After examinations of numerous alternative designs, the finished building has a megaphone shape, with its opening facing toward the south.  © Hiroshi Ueda One of the reasons to have chosen this shape has a lot to do with the consideration to the view from the home, as mentioned above. As a matter of fact, from the beginning, I wanted to investigate a tunnel-like shape with an entrance to the north and the opening to the south.  © Hiroshi Ueda Architecture is an immovable, inorganic object fixed to the ground. It is different from organic matters such as plants and human bodies, or even from inorganic objects that are movable, such as a piece of furniture. The difference between them are similar to that between a recorded image and a live image. Live images are fresher, as they constantly change. I wanted my architectural works to maintain this freshness, and this idea lead me to regard architecture as a frame that frames the scenery, residents, or furniture, as live images. This is what I wrote in a book titled Architecture as Frame about six years ago.  Ground Level In the process of developing ideas about architecture as frame, I was influenced by sculptures, paintings, and novels in which I sensed similar motifs. One of them was a novel by Haruki Murakami. In his early works, stories developed inside his closed world, but in later novels, various holes were created in his world to establish connections with other worlds. A symbolic case is a well in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. It functions as a transporter, with which the main character moves from the world he lives to a different world. Actually, in this novel, the worlds on both sides have more significance than the well itself.  © Hiroshi Ueda In this project, I was thinking about creating a big frame – in this case, a tunnel-like structure – that goes from an entrance on the north side with a big roof, to the opening in the south facing greenery. This tunnel is just like the well in Murakami's novel, a transporter to take the residents to a nature-filled world when they arrive from the city.  © Hiroshi Ueda  Section  © Hiroshi Ueda This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| SimplyWork 3.0 Co-working Space / 11architecture Ltd. Posted: 26 Dec 2016 12:00 PM PST  © ZC Architectural Photography Studio
 © ZC Architectural Photography Studio From the architect. A portion of the ground floor in an industrial building was renovated into a co-working space that consisted of small office rooms, individuals' dedicated desks, and a series of shared spaces including a meeting room, a drink bar, and lounges. As the given space had a high ceiling, we partially made it into two stories while considering the reach of natural light to the deep area. The floating lounge or "cloud seats" was one of unique design features that made the best use of the ceiling height and created a dynamic scene in the space.  © ZC Architectural Photography Studio  First Floor Axonometric  © ZC Architectural Photography Studio The afternoon sun light softly comes into the lounge through a lace curtain, creating a relaxing environment.  © ZC Architectural Photography Studio We purposefully used some outdoor construction materials for interior space. For example, lightweight concrete blocks were laid to the full ceiling height with patterns in order to create feature walls at important shared spaces; red bricks were paved for both exterior and interior spaces blurring the boundary and dealing with the level difference in between; and concrete columns standing in the middle of the site were shaved off and their original rough surfaces were exposed. These design decisions were certainly made to create a kind of taste, but it also reflected our design philosophy to resist the transient reality of commodified office environment. We used outdoor construction materials and their tectonic expression, and tried to create a stable identity to this project and anchor it to this specific location.  © ZC Architectural Photography Studio The space provided various types of working environment for the members to choose from: such as, an enclosed room, a duplex, with a private garden, and a desk at an open floor.  © ZC Architectural Photography Studio  Second Floor Axonometric  © ZC Architectural Photography Studio The "cloud seats" is a relaxing lounge next to the drink bar. It was formed by steel members and covered by OSB boards, and raised to the upper floor level by a number of supporting steel columns. Through the design process, we tried to make this object visually detached from the space and float in the air. Firstly, we gave a unique form to the object, a zigzag passage with six finger-like seats attached irregularly. Its form refused to merge into the dominant interior perspective framed by the modernism factory building. Secondly, the edges of OSB boards were cut in sharp angle and joined perfectly without showing material thickness. The tectonic reality and construction process were purposefully hid, which visually detached the object from the site context. Thirdly, the columns were irregularly placed and painted in four different colors. They were dissociated from each other, and thus the whole object visually lost structural coherence. It was meant to reinforce the idea of floating. Fourthly, The bottom of the floating object was finished by mirror-effect material. Its reflection hid the structural reality and the floating object was dissolved in the air. All these designs made the "cloud seats" float in the air and detached from the working section, and created a relaxing environment.  © ZC Architectural Photography Studio The use of such design elements as water, greenery, concrete, and red brick brought an outdoor walking experience into the interior working environment.  © ZC Architectural Photography Studio This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| House in Futago / Yabashi Architects & Associates Posted: 26 Dec 2016 11:00 AM PST  © Tetsuya Yashiro
 © Tetsuya Yashiro From the architect. It is a small house project. There are Japanese homes around the site with a certain density and there is a row of cherry blossoms on the side of the site. The client wanted to live while watching the cherry blossoms.But it isn't able to avoid a private problem to grant the request in this land near a road.So we proposed a simple answer.I made them reverse the construction of the floor.  © Tetsuya Yashiro The stairs in this housing are characteristic. A void like a crevasse is separating inside and outside gently. The stairs where soft light on the north side falls play abstract beauty.  © Tetsuya Yashiro The construction of the 2nd floor is simple. Each several offices which line up parallel to cherry blossoms. We answered a request of the client who would like to live while always feeling a cherry blossoms.The simple composition and the beautiful figure are derived consequently, and construction has been completed.  © Tetsuya Yashiro We thought about a house like living with cherry blossoms while paying attention to the surrounding houses.  © Tetsuya Yashiro The roof, material, proportion are designed to follow the surrounding context and participate in the city-scape.On the other hand, symmetrical façades are slightly away from the surrounding context. A design that combines autonomy and heteronomous awakens the surrounding poetic level. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Dickinson Public Safety Center / Roth Sheppard Architects Posted: 26 Dec 2016 09:00 AM PST  © James Flario
 © James Flario From the architect. As you approach the Dickinson Public Safety Center from the south, a sweeping earthen-toned wall emerges from the gentle rolling hillside. The building is nestled in a wide-open landscape on the edge of a growing community. As daylight fades, the dark façade gives way to two luminous boxes, a symbol of the two departments housed within that serve to protect the citizens of Dickinson, North Dakota.  © James Flario The concept for the Dickinson Public Safety Center was inspired by both the local Native American history and Dickinson's nickname, 'The Western Edge'. A conceptual 'edge' element evolved into a large, curved wall – a nod to the Mandan 'on a slant' villages that had been thoughtfully protected from nearby water by tall, rounded fences. The topography of the site and the undulating curves of the stream signified this connection, and the curve became central to the building's design.  Sketch Plan  Sketch Plan In contrast to the opacity of the arced wall, glassy orthogonal elements convey the importance of the interior programmatic functions. The transparent apparatus bays penetrate through the corten-clad surface, allowing fire operations to be highly visible and showcased to onlookers. Further to the east, the wall opens up to reveal the glazed lobby area and create a dynamic public entry. The lobby is pulled back from the curved wall, inviting visitors to walk through the partition and be welcomed into the facility's public component. At the entry to the west and the courtyard, sections of the curved wall are turned perpendicular to create dramatic openings for staff using secure portions of the facility.  © James Flario This combined fire and police facility includes 42,501 SF of individual entity and shared-use space, including space available for public use. Dickinson Public Safety Center's construction is unique in that it thoughtfully combines traditional construction with a pre-engineered metal building. The materials used for the building were chosen in order to accomplish the city's desire for an 'iconic' building that fit the surrounding landscape and enhanced the local context. The weathered steel exterior was chosen for its gritty, yet beautiful, patina as it ages through the years. This public safety facility was designed to be both beautiful and efficient, and to serve the city of Dickinson far into the future.  © James Flario This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Wolfgang Buttress’ UK Expo Pavilion, "The Hive," Wins 2016 Landscape Institute Award Posted: 26 Dec 2016 08:00 AM PST  © Nick Caville BDP. Courtesy of the Landscape Institute BDP and Wolfgang Buttress' pavilion, The Hive, has been awarded the 2016 Landscape Institute Award for Best Design for a Temporary Landscape as part of their 2016 awards program. Judges for the award noted the project's ability to interact with its site, remarking that they were 'impressed by the quality and simplicity of the design and execution, in particular the way in which the design works with a sensitive landscape to provide a beautiful and functional temporary setting for the installation, and a longer-term facility for events and education."  Image Courtesy of Kew "The submission engages with the idea of 'temporary' in an interesting way. It uses the temporary opportunity of the installation to engage thoughtfully with the purpose, and short and long-term needs of the site," the judges' statement continued. Originally designed for the Milan Expo 2015, The Hive has since been relocated to Kew Gardens in central London for two years as part of a larger event space. Designed to provide visitors with a glimpse into the lives of working bees, the pavilion is constructed of 169,300 individual aluminum components equipped with hundreds of LED lights. As the meadow surrounding the structure develops, various plant species will begin to flower, bringing with them the sights and sounds of real bees and creating a layered, multi-sensory experience. Each year, the Landscape Institute presents landscape professionals with awards honoring "the most innovative projects to have shaped, restored and protected the natural and built environment." Awards are given in 16 categories. You can check out the full list of this year's winners, here. News via the Landscape Institute. Gallery: Wolfgang Buttress' Relocated Expo Pavilion, The Hive, Photographed by Laurian Ghinitoiu Wolfgang Buttress' Celebrated UK Pavilion, "The Hive" Moves to Kew Gardens UK Pavilion - Milan Expo 2015 / Wolfgang Buttress This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 480 House / D’Arcy Jones Architecture Posted: 26 Dec 2016 07:00 AM PST  © Sama Jim Canzian
 © Sama Jim Canzian From the architect. When the project started, this 105-year old house on a narrow 25' wide lot had been an unheated and neglected shelter for an elderly occupant. It was overrun with rats and was almost tipping over sideways. The new owners met D'Arcy Jones on the street at a real estate open-house, when he was considering buying it as a new of office for his practice. The cost to restore the house seemed too high, so D'Arcy declined to make an offer on the property. A few days later the new owners tracked him down via the web, and asked if his office could modernize the house. The architects rolled up their sleeves, ate their words, and got to work.  © Sama Jim Canzian The basement floor was lowered, becoming a new living, dining, kitchen and entry area. A new heated concrete slab was poured, to offset the chill of having the main living spaces of the house built on the ground. By exposing the existing floor joists, the main level is a raw and simple space, carved from under this narrow house. Bedrooms, bathrooms, storage and utility spaces are on the second and attic level. Rotted exterior walls were replaced only where required, with a new 2-storey tall raked window on the front and back replacing the walls that had the most decay.  Section All new interior cabinets, handrails and fittings are white, to create a timeless backdrop in contrast with the rusticity of the existing house. The existing exterior stucco was patched and repaired, then painted black. Like a film that switches between colour and black / white footage, the minimal exterior of this renovation exaggerates the colours of textures of this working class East Vancouver neighbourhood. The silhouette and massing of the existing house was completely retained, keeping the architectural history of the existing house alive.  © Sama Jim Canzian The sunken wells at the front and back were planted with new native plants, species uniquely suited to the shade of a massive maple tree in the city boulevard. Sinking the rear terrace to be flush with the new lower level's floor height created a private refuge that will become a green cocoon as the landscape matures.  © Sama Jim Canzian Product Description. New Douglas Fir plywood floors were installed on the second and attic levels, to match the wood of the existing house's old Douglas Fir floor joists. Through material continuity, the distinction between 1911 and 2016 is intentionally blurred.  © Sama Jim Canzian This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| World’s First Solar Panel Road Debuts in France Posted: 26 Dec 2016 06:00 AM PST  The world's first solar panel road has officially opened in a small village in Normandy, France. Built in the small village of Tourouvre-au-Perche, the 1 kilometer route, dubbed the "Wattway," is covered in 2,800 square meters of photovoltaic panels. It is designed to be used by up to 2,000 motorists per day, while providing an average of 767 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per day, enough energy to power all of the street lighting in the 3,400-resident village.
To protect from wear, the panels have been coated in a resin containing five layers of silicon. The road's construction is part of a push by French ecology officials to install 1,000 kilometers of solar roads throughout the country within the next 5 years. Constructed at a cost of €5 million (about $5.2 million), directors view the project not as a finished product but as the next step in the development of the technology. "We are still on an experimental phase. Building a trial site of this scale is a real opportunity for our innovation," said Wattway Director Jean-Charles Broizat in a statement. "This trial site has enabled us to improve our photovoltaic panel installing process as well as their manufacturing, in order to keep on optimizing our innovation." The road will now begin a 2-year testing period, in which the feasibility of adapting the technology will be measured. News via The Guardian. H/T Inhabitat. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| OD Blow Dry Bar / SNKH Architectural Studio Posted: 26 Dec 2016 05:00 AM PST  © Sona Manukyan & Ani Avagyan
 © Sona Manukyan & Ani Avagyan "OD" is the first blow dry bar in Yerevan, Armenia, created by a group of young and enthusiastic entrepreneurs. The primary goal was to create a new model of a beauty salon and to outline the lifestyle through the interior, to create an atmosphere that the customer is not used to.  © Sona Manukyan & Ani Avagyan The OD Blow Dry Bar lies in a 1930's neoclassical building, in the very center of Yerevan, near Republic Square. Previously this space hosted a luxury boutique and it faced radical changes since we started the design process. Everything possible was demolished besides the natural travertine floor which had a big impact on the final design. The old ceiling had two covers: the original one from the 30's and the second one – from the last renovation. All the layers were demolished to expose the original concrete ceiling construction with its vintage texture and tone. As a result we've got an extra 1.5m height.  © Sona Manukyan & Ani Avagyan The shape of the floor plan allowed us to divide the space into two parts. The first – entrance zone with the bar/reception, three mirrors and a little lounge zone, the second zone hosts two mirrors, shampoo backwash and a small area for the storage in the back of the interior.
"Od" means air in Armenian, that is why the sky blue was chosen as a main color for the interior which gently contrasts with the brutality of concrete elements in the interior. The stylist's desks and the coffee table are custom made of concrete and plywood. All the five mirrors have different shapes to give a dynamic and personalized feeling to the interior.  © Sona Manukyan & Ani Avagyan This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Eero Saarinen-Designed US Embassy in Oslo to Be Preserved After Sale by Government Posted: 26 Dec 2016 04:00 AM PST  US Embassy in Oslo. Designed by Eero Saarinen. Image © Flickr user A.Curell. Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 The Eero Saarinen-designed US Embassy in Oslo is set to be placed under historic preservation orders following the building's sale by the US government. The US embassy to Norway since 1959, the building will change hands once staff are moved into the new US embassy building at Huseby, which is expected to complete in early 2017.  US Embassy in Oslo. Designed by Eero Saarinen. Image © Wikimedia CC user Bjørn Erik Pedersen. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 Located across the street from the Norwegian Royal Palace and the Nobel Institute, the triangular embassy building was described by Saarinen as "a gentleman" in formal attire. In its early days, the building was accessible to the public, and was known for its extensive music library containing jazz and rock-and-roll favorites. Later, as security concerns rose, the building was shut off from locals, earning it the nickname "Fortress America."  Screenshot via U.S. Embassy in Oslo. ImageNew US Embassy at Huseby. Designed by EYP Architecture & Engineering  Screenshot via U.S. Embassy in Oslo. ImageNew US Embassy at Huseby. Designed by EYP Architecture & Engineering Residents hope that following the sale, the building will be returned to its "Cultural House" roots. Other floated plans include a police station or office building. "It's only when the Americans actually sell the building that we legally can protect it," Morten Stige, a department leader at Oslo's Byantikvarentold Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) told the English-language Norwegian publication NewsInEnglish.no.  Screenshot via U.S. Embassy in Oslo. ImageNew US Embassy at Huseby. Designed by EYP Architecture & Engineering "[The embassy] is one of the foremost examples of international architecture in Oslo from the post-war years. The building also has an historic function as an American embassy. Those two things together make it clearly subject to historic preservation." The new, 80,700 gross square foot embassy, designed by Albany, New York-based EYP Architecture & Engineering, will be located in nearby Huseby and will accommodate approximately 200 employees. The building has been designed to meet ambitious security and environmental standard. News via NewsInEnglish.no, Portland Press Herald. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| House Architecture Rifa G’09 / María Inés García + Maximiliano García Posted: 26 Dec 2016 03:00 AM PST  © Marcos Guiponi
 © Marcos Guiponi From the architect. In a long building lot, the house is conceived as an answer to that and follows that proportion. The width - almost half the width of the terrain - turns the sides into areas of opportunity, so the more pronounced projections of the interior space occur in directions perpendicular to the parcel.  © Marcos Guiponi The social area of the home is defined as a "thorn" that is gaining privacy as one moves from the front to the back. This area is structured when it's combine with the volumes that harbor more contained and / or private activities. Once the social area is segmented, a succession of subtle diagonal visual connections are created and show how the spaces interconnect each other and at the same time, the projections-expansions to the outside are settle.  © Marcos Guiponi The projections are accompanied by pavements that are defined according to the adjacent program inside the house and the kind of the activity that could be carried out in this one. The pavements characterize the outer space and generate diferent areas that favor the interaction between themselves and the virgin portions of the terrain.  © Marcos Guiponi  Floor Plan  © Marcos Guiponi The space-material logic that defines these expansions is the interaction of each space with one of the massive volumes to its back and a closing of curtain wall forward, which accentuates the flow towards the sides. Other types of spatial sequences appear when these volumes are perforated and allow visuals that cross transversally.  © Marcos Guiponi After contest descriptive memory The contest proposal show some ambiguities that were the subject of revision in the adjustment process. In this sense we understood that the project could take, among others, two well-differentiated courses. In the first one the boxes adopte an ethereal character being materialized with the minimal thicknesses and their presence doesen't give evidence of permanent elements. The other way was completely opposite: increase the mass, this was the one we chose.  © Marcos Guiponi Now the boxes would be anchored to the floor, they would emerge from it. Accordingly, the roof is pulled up and rests on the boxes, since at the beginning it was an element that was between them. The boxes became carriers and the pillar and beam structure proposed in the competition was abandoned. We noticed that in that gesture we could make the façades the very image of the structure, as elemental as a dolmen. From here came the decision of build the walls with rustic bricks.  Section The social space of the house is defined by three elements: the volumes of brick that came from the floor; The concrete roof which massive character go with the idea of giving shelter; The floor of gray monolithic and concrete that flows between the volumes and that confer the house a strong relation with the exterior. The private, service and annex areas were distributed in the different boxes, the white color of the interior of them maximizes the illumination capture through the square windows while intensify the passage of space-between to space-within.  © Marcos Guiponi This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 22 New Year's Resolutions for Architects Posted: 26 Dec 2016 01:30 AM PST  Courtesy of Sharon Lam New year, new me! Or perhaps for architects, new Moleskine, new me? While a lot has happened in the world of architecture this year, it's just as important to reflect on your own personal architectural practices. Whether 2017 ushers in the start or end of a degree, a new job, a new project, or just more architectural life as usual, there's no better time to make a resolution or two. As we approach the calendar change, here are 22 ideas for how you could improve yourself in the new year. 1. Introduce friends to your favourite buildings around town. 2. Cut down on the "final_render," "final_render_final," "new_final_render" file naming. 3. Declutter your hard drive. Digital feng shui is important too. 4. Take up a new non-architectural hobby and see how it helps your architectural side (further possible suggestions: krav maga, pickling things, origami, banjo).  © Sharon Lam 5. Share your new non-architectural hobby with your firm.  © Sharon Lam 6. Use words like "tectonic" and "activate" less. 7. Go for more walks. 8. Go for more walks to the bakery to surprise your colleagues or studio-mates with croissants. 9. Obsess over Bjarke Ingels less (it's just getting creepy at this point).  © Sharon Lam, using images via screenshot from Wikimedia user <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bjarke_Ingels_in_Frankfurt.20150617.jpg'>Epizentrum </a>, Wikimedia user <a href='https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjarke_Ingels#/media/File:Bjarke_Ingels_2012_designboom_interview.jpg'>Valmistatud</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, Flickr user <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/eager/13571946144'>eager</a>licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 2.0</a> 10. While getting over Bjarke, make an effort to learn about architects you hear less about. 11. Finally sort out your time management issues (this year will actually be different this time). 12. Chill on the use of triangles in designs.  © Sharon Lam 13. Sketch by hand more - your hoard of unused notebooks is begging for it. 14. Learn about the architecture of a country you know nothing about. 15. Freshen up your wardrobe. Who knows, you could set the new architectural fashion trend... is #FFA500 the new black?  © Sharon Lam 16. Be less judgmental of parametric architecture. It's ugly because it's good in other ways, right? 17. Start an architectural book club. 18. Start an architectural wine and cheese club. 19. Design a house for a dog.  © Sharon Lam 20. Consider a new go-to font—you've been using Garamond/Helvetica for way too long. 21. Sleep more. Architects deserve just as much sleep as any other discipline, so snooze away tired old attitudes.  © Sharon Lam 22. Only stay up late for architectural reasons if it involves nailing studs or butt joints... This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| QL House / Visioarq Arquitectos Posted: 26 Dec 2016 01:00 AM PST  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG
 © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG The QL House is located in one of the most exclusive areas of Algarve, on the Portuguese southern coast, a singular presence in an essentially residential neighbourhood. From where it was erected it is possible to see captivating surroundings: golf courses, residences, the estuary and, dominating the background, the Atlantic Ocean.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG The QL House project was an exercise in balancing spaces and landscape integration. The articulation of two overlapping and perpendicular spaces generated not only a particular spacial dynamic, but also different visual relations between full and empty, light and dark - caused by the dynamic of shadows - between private areas, semi-private areas and the view of the surrounding landscape.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG Two stories and a basement encapsulate a precise functional program: garden, swimming pool, sun room, living and dining room, bathrooms, a regular kitchen and a summer kitchen, four bedrooms, an office and space for a playroom.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG Circulation takes place through a continuous stairway along the indoor garden, which illuminates all the indoor spaces in this home. This nuclear garden structures the direct interaction between the entire indoors and the outdoors, gifting all spaces of the QL House with the luxury of natural lighting.  Floor Plan The spaces were designed to create constant and singular relations between the indoor and outdoor spaces, in a permanent and multifaceted dialogue.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG The bedrooms, on the first floor, face the green surrounding landscape, and take advantage of the terrace on the roof of the living room and summer kitchen in order to create areas for contemplation on the top floor. The space occupied by the bedrooms extends in both directions beyond the bounds of the first floor, hovering over the empty space, in a serene and quiet balance.  Section  Section On one side, a balanced veranda greets the main entrance to the house, on the other side, a pergola provides shade for the living area by the pool and living room, making particularly hot summers more enjoyable.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG The main entrance to the house is through a door of unusual dimensions, in line with the imposing scale - one of the singular features of this architectural piece.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG White concrete walls formalize the spaces in the QL House, in a chromatic mimicry of the buildings in this region of Portugal – designed with a particularly hot climate in mind. The natural cork lining, a traditional Portuguese material, is articulated in the connection between the space and the land. The bedrooms, on the other hand, feature slats and motorized metallic shutters in their lateral openings, which filter light without making it impossible to contemplate the surrounding landscape, surely one of the valuable assets of the QL House.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG The project was structured primarily with the goal of valuing the relationship between the indoor and outdoor spaces, the creation of complicities between the user and the landscape, and the former with the created space. As built, the QL House exceeded expectations and once again endorses the work of Visioarq- Arquitetos.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Translucent Wood and Light Installation Brightens Children’s Hospital in Australia Posted: 26 Dec 2016 12:00 AM PST
For children especially, hospitals can be anxiety-inducing and overwhelming space. New media studio ENESS aims to change that experience with their installation LUMES, a light-emitting wood piece, the first of which is now on display at Cabrini Hospital in Malvern, Australia. LUMES is designed to engage patients in a positive, calming environment. The interactive material straddles the worlds of art and technology, coming to life as people walk past. According to the designers, animals peek their heads out of grass that grows with movement, animated raindrops fall on passers-by, rockets launch and animated runners follow human movements—all in bright colors displayed on natural materials.  Courtesy of ENESS "Our goal was to maximize the space with interactive experiences that children could intuitively use," said Andrea Rindt, Nurse Director for Women and Children at Cabrini Hospital. Next, ENESS hopes to expand LUMES, spreading its interactive whimsy to other programmatic spaces, such as hospitality and retail. By leveraging its specialties in lighting, software, interactive media, product design, sculpture, and architecture, ENESS intends to collaborate with interior designers to broaden LUMES's material palette and integrate LUMES into new architectural concepts.  Courtesy of ENESS Learn more about LUMES, here. News via ENESS. Translucent Wood? Meet the New Material Developed by KTH This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| d3 Announces Winners of 2016 Natural Systems Competition Posted: 25 Dec 2016 10:00 PM PST  Courtesy of d3 Awarding the top ecological projects of the year, d3 has announced this year's winners of its Natural Systems competition. Established in 2009, the annual competition has grown into one of the most notable awards in speculative, performance-based design. The brief challenges architects, designers, engineers, and students to develop ideas for sustainable living by exploring natural processes. This year's program was co-directed by Ji Young Kim of Shigeru Ban Architects and Gregory Marinic of the Syracuse University School of Design. Read on to find out about the jury's picks for the top three projects and seven special mentions. First Prize: Hydrological Cluster / Anna Budnikova (Russia) Courtesy of d3  Courtesy of d3 The Hydrological Cluster is dedicated to one of the natural environment's most global problems—water resource depletion and rising sea levels. Climatic disasters and anthropogenic impact cause a gradual depletion of water resources. Biomimicry is a modern response to global environmental problems. Second Prize: ABIOGENESIS 0.1 / Georgia Skartadou & Christos Nasioutzikis (Greece) Courtesy of d3  Courtesy of d3 Self-reproducing automata is a process of design that occurs after a theoretical investigation about the intercourses and the exclusions between dipoles—subject and object, natural and artificial, intention and randomness, design and not-design. The design tools that are chosen are non-dimensional points. The design shifts from the conceived object to the processes that materialize the object. The main principles that are finally chosen are those that condense the phenomenon of life (movement, metabolic exchanges, reproduction). Third Prize: Delta Raefiguratoria / Jose Alberto Gonzalez Martin (Spain) Courtesy of d3  Courtesy of d3 The Ebro Delta, one of the most unique productive landscapes in the Mediterranean Sea, is sinking. The massive construction of reservoirs all over the Ebro River basin in the 20th century has caused the sand needed to sustain the Delta to stay in the mountains. DELTA Raefiguratoria (Delta del Ebro Low Tech Architecture Reconfiguration) is an architectural treatise from the past for the future. With a retrofuturistic language, DELTA Raefiguratoria is meant to be a manifesto for low-tech architecture: for more than two thousand years it has achieved everything we know so far, why not give it a chance in this high-tech world to keep building our future? Special Mention - Building Performance: Hybrid Skytree / Teymour Benet (Spain)  Courtesy of d3  Courtesy of d3 Special Mention - Urban Strategy: Taking it to the Ex-Stream / Abi Haire, Ed Gant (UK)  Courtesy of d3  Courtesy of d3 Special Mention - Performative Landscape: Floating Polder System / Hyeeun Kim, Haerang Jung (Korea)  Courtesy of d3  Courtesy of d3 Special Mention - Alternative Typology: Wallmorphology / Ka Wai Cheung (Hong Kong)  Courtesy of d3  Courtesy of d3 Special Mention - Urban Adaptation: Vorte(x): Lightwell Symbiosis / Chenyu Pu, Mengxing Wang (China)  Courtesy of d3  Courtesy of d3 Special Mention - Oceanic Intervention: Hyperatoll / Shao Xutao, Wang Jingyi (China)  Courtesy of d3  Courtesy of d3 Special Mention - Landscape Urbanism: Migratory Landforms / Dana Cupkova, Colleen Clifford, Thomas Sterling (USA)  Courtesy of d3  Courtesy of d3 News and project descriptions via d3 Natural Systems 2016. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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