Arch Daily |
- How Artificial Intelligence Helped to Create a Gaudí-Inspired Thinking Sculpture
- Two Wooden Towers / Sonja Hohengasser & Juergen Wirnsberger
- When Ivory Towers Were Black: Sharon Sutton on the Dual Fronts of Gender and Ethnicity
- Maison 0.82 / PASCUAL Architecte
- Light Folds / WY-TO Architects
- Trio House / AXIS Architects
- Akas Villa / Black Pencils Studio
- YMH Church / Oh Jongsang
- No. 19 / Biasol
- Studio Libeskind Wins Competitions for 2 New Projects in France
- Music+Architecture: This Web Series Invites World-Renowned Musicians to Perform in Celebrated Chilean Buildings
- C-Square Plaza / The Marc Boutin Architectural Collaborative
- Stone Court Villa / Marwan Al Sayed Inc.
- Zaha Hadid Architects Reveals Designs for Supertall Mixed-Use Skyscraper in New York
- Compass House / Superkül
- "False Binaries": Why the Battle Between Art and Business in Architecture Education Doesn't Make Sense
- Concrete Box House / Robertson Design
- 10 Essential Freehand Drawing Exercises for Architects
- This Concrete Furniture Hardware is Inspired by Carlo Scarpa's Architecture
- Pizzeria Massa / FLEXOARQUITECTURA
| How Artificial Intelligence Helped to Create a Gaudí-Inspired Thinking Sculpture Posted: 22 Mar 2017 11:00 PM PDT  Courtesy of IBM IBM and New-York-based design studio SOFTlab have teamed up to create the first thinking sculpture, inspired by Gaudí and developed with IBM's Watson cognitive technology for the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. In order to help design the sculpture, Watson was taught about the history and style of Gaudí and the architecture of Barcelona through volumes of images, literary works, articles, and even music. From these references, Watson helped to uncover critical insights on patterns in Gaudí's work—like crabs, spiders, and color palettes—that the design team didn't initially associate with Gaudí. The resulting four-meter-tall sculpture features a structural surface made of over 1200 unique aluminum parts, and is unmistakably reminiscent of Gaudí's work both in look and feel, yet entirely distinct. The sculpture was on display from February 27 to March 2 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where it interacted with visitors by changing shape in real-time, in response to sentiments from Twitter. To learn more about the sculpture, ArchDaily was given to opportunity to speak with IBM Watson Manager Jonas Nwuke.  Courtesy of IBM  Courtesy of IBM Sabrina Santos: Why was Gaudi's work in particular chosen to inspire the project? Jonas Nwuke: Architects at SOFTlab knew Mobile World Congress 2017 would be hosted in Barcelona, which sparked them to create something they had never done before. The SOFTlab team worked with Watson through the inspiration of legendary Barcelona architect Antoni Gaudi to create a sculpture alive with data. Antoni Gaudi was an iconic architect that shaped the city of Barcelona with his avant-garde architecture that was light years ahead of its time. In turn, the city of Barcelona heavily shaped the work he created. SOFTlab wanted to work with Watson to bring this approach from the past to the present. SS: Approximately what percentage of the project decisions were made by Watson, as opposed to IBM and SOFTlab designers? JN: Watson acted as a guide throughout the design process, uncovering insights from Gaudi's work to inspire the architects, rather than making decisions on its own. Watson's ability to process volumes of information from images and documents sparked new ideas and helped the architects to reimagine their construction. Our vision for Watson has always been to use cognitive computing to augment, rather than replace, human intelligence.  Courtesy of IBM SS: Besides the crab and spider references, were there any other particularly interesting ideas or connections that Watson created? JN: Watson's analysis of thousands of Gaudi-inspired works helped the team pick unique, transformative colors—ultramarine blue, jade green, yellow and orange—which in turn helped SOFTlab select the iridescent dichroic film that brings the sculpture to life. Gaudi's work brings about clear themes like waves, undulations and arches. With Watson, the designers were able to see themes that weren't as obvious previously, such as candy and shells, in addition to crabs and spiders. These elements helped inspire the hanging chains and funnels of the sculpture's design.  Courtesy of IBM SS: How long did it take for Watson to review the images, documents, colors, and so forth? JN: The entire project took a little over one month to complete. SS: Were any of these tools (images, documents, colors, etc.) more influential than others, or do the various mediums integrate evenly as inspiration? JN: Watson reviewed thousands of images, literary works, articles and even music surrounding Gaudi and Barcelona. With this, Watson was able to integrate these mediums evenly to become a Gaudi expert that could help the team understand a century of inspiration to re-inspire the design process.  Courtesy of IBM SS: Who is creating the sculpture this week in Barcelona? How long will this take? JN: Over a dozen SOFTlab designers worked over one week to install the sculpture at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. SS: What are the measurements and materials of the sculpture? The height on the sculpture is 4 meters. The structural surface is made of over 1200 unique aluminum parts. This surface was clad in 3M Dichroic film which has an iridescent quality and was chosen based on suggestions from Watson and inspired by Gaudi's interest in similar colors. This material in combination with data controlled lighting produces a range of coloration and cast light. The Dichroic film was then clad in petal like laser cut aluminum panels that are inspired by some of the tiled forms used by Gaudi. The gravity driven cables underneath are made of 100 meters of ball chain.  Courtesy of IBM SS: How will Tweet tones influence the height of the sculpture (for example, do positive Tweets make the sculpture extend lower?)? JN: The sculpture is responsive to social sentiment and uses the IBM Watson Tone Analyzer API to identify and react to sentiment from Twitter. The tone and sentiment extracted from the tweets will be reflected in the sculpture, which is comprised of 3 funnels representing distinct topics. Each funnel is comprised of rings that will shift in height based on a given 'big 5' personality trait. One funnel contains one ring that addresses how open people are to Artificial Intelligence at Mobile World Congress. The Openness score for each tweet related to AI will drive the ring height. As the confidence Watson determines in people's openness changes, the height of the ring changes as well. The second funnel contains three rings that react to Watson's confidence level in how open people are to the top 3 trending topics of the moment. The third funnel has 5 rings addresses the collective buzz of the event. Each ring represents a 'big 5' personality trait (Passion, Joy, Excitement, Curiosity & Encouragement) and confidence scores will drive ring height.  Courtesy of IBM SS: How do you envision Artificial Intelligence—like Watson—being influential to the architectural world in the future? JN: We envision Watson will serve as an assistant to other architects, acting as an extension of the creative process in the future. Cognitive technologies have the ability to uncover facts and answer questions, and can be applied to invent and explore new frontiers, such as architecture. For example, beyond architecture, Watson is helping professionals in many creative industries. At the 2016 Met Gala, IBM and Marchesa unveiled a cognitive dress worn by model Karolina Kurkova that served as an innovative collaboration with cognitive woven into every step of the creative process – from concept, to R&D, from design and alteration to the finished product. In music, Grammy award-winning music producer Alex Da Kid collaborated with IBM Watson to inspire his breakout song as an artist, "Not Easy." For this partnership, Watson analyzed the last five years of culture and music data to uncover new emotional insights to augment Alex's creative process. We believe Watson will continue to serve as a resource for creative professionals looking for inspiration.  Courtesy of IBM Learn more about the project here. News via IBM. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Two Wooden Towers / Sonja Hohengasser & Juergen Wirnsberger Posted: 22 Mar 2017 10:00 PM PDT  © Christian Brandstaetter
 © Christian Brandstaetter From the architect. New housing developments suffer from a lack of living quality. There are no similarities - neither form nor orientation and material and also no place for community. Autistic buildings arise in total separation and without relationship. These buildings ignore our most precious value - the landscape - it is mistreated by them.  © Christian Brandstaetter Space Our answer to the request for a semi-detached house were given with two similar towers standing near each other and creating a space – in front and in between. The building site is defined by the building restriction line and the definition of the maximum height. It is an experiment to create public space in this area of privacy - qualities known from old villages. A familiar togetherness instead of the anonymous side by side.  © Christian Brandstaetter Organisation The two tower houses are organised in 4 floors. Cellar: wellness area, technic Ground floor: sleeping area  Floor Plan First floor: cooking and living area Attic: view  © Christian Brandstaetter Vertical circulation is organised by a very compact core and a hydraulic ramp for barrier-free usage.  Section Construction The two wooden towers are founded on a common concrete base. They are built of CLT (cross-laminated-timber) plates.  © Christian Brandstaetter All constructive elements, doors and interiors are built with spruce windows and floors are built with larch. The sun-protecting lamellae are made of pine-wood. All wooden surfaces are completely untreated!  © Christian Brandstaetter This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| When Ivory Towers Were Black: Sharon Sutton on the Dual Fronts of Gender and Ethnicity Posted: 22 Mar 2017 09:00 PM PDT  In this third episode of GSAPP Conversations, Columbia GSAPP Associate Professor Mabel O. Wilson speaks with Sharon Sutton about the publication of her new book, When Ivory Towers Were Black, which tells the story of how an unparalleled cohort of ethnic minority students earned degrees from Columbia University's School of Architecture (GSAPP) during a time of fierce struggles to open the ivory tower to ethnic minority students. 
 When Ivory Towers Were Black: A Story about Race in America's Cities and Universities GSAPP Conversations is a podcast series designed to offer a window onto the expanding field of contemporary architectural practice. Each episode pivots around discussions on current projects, research, and obsessions of a diverse group of invited guests at Columbia, from both emerging and well-established practices. Usually hosted by the Dean of the GSAPP, Amale Andraos, the conversations also feature the school's influential faculty and alumni and give students the opportunity to engage architects on issues of concern to the next generation. GSAPP Conversations #3: Sharron Sutton in Conversation with Mabel O. WilsonMABEL O. WILSON: I wanted to start with what led you to write about this topic, which seems very personal, but also quite historical. SHARON SUTTON: So that's actually the story in the prologue. I should say you have to get the book to find out. But I'll give you the short version, which is that shortly after my sixty-fifth birthday I began to reflect and think: So much of my life - which has been quite incredible in terms of the opportunities that I've had, the things I've been able to participate in and contribute to - really comes to this Ivy League education that I got serendipitously because there was a civil rights movement. And since that time, since I've been a professor, which is 41 years, I maybe have had 12 black students. So I have this huge sense of how special that situation was when I was a student at Columbia. And I wanted to somehow give back that privilege that I got. And so I went through a whole series of how I could do that, which is described in the prologue. But ultimately I came to the conclusion that I would write a book about it. And as it turns out, as I researched the book, the story that I had assumed to be true was not exactly the story. And as I continued working in Butler Library [at Columbia University], I began to uncover a very different story and to realize how much of my teaching approach came from that time at Columbia. WILSON: Can you tell us a little bit more about what was unique at that moment, particularly coming out of the civil rights movement, but also you have the rise of black nationalism, there was the assassination of King, the Poor People's Campaign. It seems like there was a clear linkage that rights also had to do with access to health, to housing in particular. And so - what was it that was unique that was asking architecture and architectural education to perhaps change its methods and approaches? SUTTON: Well, it was a unique time. In addition to all of the things that you mentioned, there was a great fear of a racial Armageddon with all of the riots. So people were very motivated to solve the problem. And the problem was an urban one, and so educating people in the city, making professions, was very important. So it was really out of fear that the opportunity was created. And it was created by the Ford Foundation actually long before the famous student rebellion that closed the university down, which I had assumed had been the primary reason that I was here was that part of the student negotiations was that there would be recruitment of black and Puerto Rican students. WILSON: Can you name the year of that? SUTTON: That was 1968. It was April of '68, and the University was closed until the following fall. And what really made the education unique was the commitment of the people who were recruited, but also the revolutionaries who were here, to address the problems in Harlem. And that was part of the Black Power movement. For earlier generations of well-to-do black students or students who got scholarships into universities, the idea was to sort of distance yourself from the working class blacks. But that group of Black Power advocates saw themselves as educating and being part of the black community. And so there was a tremendous push to work in the Harlem community, and that's what so shaped my approach to teaching, which is a community-based approach to teaching which I had never really totally thought about. I had always attributed it to being at Michigan, at the University of Michigan, because Michigan is the place where the Peace Corps started and it has a very strong community-service learning approach. And so I thought, "Oh, that's where it came from." But as I began to learn more about the curriculum at the School of Architecture at Columbia during that time, I realized that this is where it came into my mind that what architecture is about, what planning is about, is improving the surroundings of your campus. WILSON: And how did the numbers swell? SUTTON: You know, you have to read the book! All of this is so beautifully told in the book. But it was quite an ingenious snowball effort. I'm debating what I'm going to read from the book at the book launch. And one of the passages I'm considering is the passage about the snowball, about one person telling another person. It did not happen by accident. It happened with a very concerted effort, especially on the part of the black students who were here and the Puerto Rican students, but it was also the administration who were calling people, who were just out and about getting everyone to come to this one place. And the money was here to support people. Basically I think if I continue studying this, that it will remain the boldest recruitment effort ever. And my proof of that assumption is that as of 2007, Columbia had produced more black architects than any other school except the historically black schools. They have at this point been exceeded by City College and Pratt because the effort fell off and the other schools began working on it. WILSON: I think that's a very important milestone that you wouldn't necessarily associated with an Ivy League at all. But it sounds like there was a storming of the gates. SUTTON: There was a storming of the gates. And the talent that was produced is remarkable. As of today, that group of students now has five Fellows in the American Institute of Architects. And there are only about 100 African-American Fellows in the whole College of Fellows. So that's an incredible accomplishment. Five out of 100 came from that class! A Curriculum for Social Justice WILSON: Yeah, I think that's a real milestone. I think what's amazing about the book is the emphasis on the questions of social justice, which seems really, really kind of critical. Can you just give a hint at what you think the institutional changes were by raising the question of social justice? And do you think there is a current need for institutional recalibration around issues of social justice? SUTTON: Well, social justice in this case is occurring on two levels: the one is opening up the elite professions to historically marginalized students; the other is using institutional resources to improve historically marginalized populations. And again, that has been my life agenda that I didn't realize came from this effort. But how it worked is that by reconsidering the admissions criteria, the School of Architecture, now known as GSAPP, was able to admit students who had other kinds of experiences. They were actually quite qualified but probably wouldn't get in today. They had gone to technical high schools. They had gone to community colleges. They had worked in offices. And it was an undergraduate degree. And so they were able to get in, get their Ivy League credential, and then move up another ladder. So that, with the economic support, allowed people to attend who cannot attend today - the students that have been missing from my classes. On the other level, there was this transformation of the curriculum primarily led by the Division of Planning. Another thing I didn't realize: Why Planning? Because Charles Abrams was here, and Charles Abrams was a social justice advocate. He was a housing activist. And he created the Institute of Environment to do community outreach. There was Ford Foundation money that supported that and allowed another program to develop that actually was doing development in the Harlem and East Harlem communities. They were doing projects and the students were staffing those projects. They were being a source of assignments in the studio. So there were a number of different ways that the school was providing its resources to develop the Harlem community. So those two levels were working together. WILSON: And how do you think Columbia responded to that change? Were there long-term initiatives that existed after the cohort left? SUTTON: It was heartbreaking. I graduated in '73 and the commencement address was basically what it is today. "We're going to make America great again." You know, "we're going to make Columbia what it used to be." And so that was the message that we got going out - the president said, "Students today are looking for a calmer campus. They don't want all of this angst going on, and we're going to replant the lawns and we're going to have the way - we're going to have it again." And the School of Architecture was actually a leader in all of the changes that were made university-wide. They had, in addition to social work, one of the most active recruitment programs. As much maligned as the current dean was, who was Dean Smith, he was seen by the people who were encouraging recruitment, the Urban Center, as being a leader on campus in the recruitment effort. But there was always a split in the faculty. If you look at the faculty votes, there would be a certain number of people who would vote for, against, and then the people who didn't vote. And as time went on and the students graduated who led the rebellion - and actually, you know, when you experiment, if you're not really committed to making experiential learning work, community-based learning is very difficult. And so if you're not developing those skills and willing to put in the extra time, the education is going to deteriorate. And the education deteriorated. And the accrediting board came and, you know, threatened. And the dean resigned and the new dean came in and fixed the school and did what he had to do "to make it be great again." WILSON: So it sounds like what you're saying is that because architecture is a very - although you could say law is very similar, there's a clear connection between the profession and the discipline and what's taught in law school, for example. And so clearly architecture as a profession, the same with medical schools, all the professional schools, journalism - they all have this very, very clear connection. But it sounds like there was something quite resistant in a way in architecture to the question of really contending with social justice, even though both planning and architecture deal very specifically with the built environment - which is fraught with inequalities. SUTTON: Right. WILSON: And that this was an important opportunity to start to open up and transform how everyone in fact is being educated. SUTTON: Right. Well, and how the urban problem is being addressed. And you know, this was also the year of Whitney Young's famous speech at the AIA. There was activism going on in the planning association. So there was a level of activism that was going on at the professional level that was in support of this local thing that happened that very much benefited what was going on in the school. In particular there were scholarships nationally that came into the school. But there was backlash from the society. Nixon came in with a law and order campaign. And people got tired of - you know, it was not only the Columbia students - people got tired of all of the angst of trying to make society be more equitable. It wasn't pleasant. WILSON: You mean there had to be sacrifices. SUTTON: There had to be sacrifices. And so, you know, Nixon came in and showed all of these pictures and started talking about welfare cheats and stirred up a lot of fear about black people in the ghetto. In the meantime, there had been a lot of rioting that went on, and people were being swept up in the law and order campaign, soon to be revisited. And that's when all the people began to be swept into prison who were rioting. And the same youth who were so inspiring in an earlier generation, who really had led the civil rights movement and the black student movement - I don't know what happened to them. I guess the more elite of the group went and got an education. And then people got left behind. Because really it was the black community that became fractured. And so you had no black community. What was left in the black community were the people who had no choice and who couldn't get out and somehow lost hope. WILSON: I think that's an important point about the criminalization of people who were merely fighting for better lives, and that that can be detrimental. And you could see this especially across the ranks of radicals, and very few bounce back. One person I can think of is Angela Davis, for example, who through her educational interest is teaching and still engaged in social justice issues. And who gave a lecture here at GSAPP a couple years ago. SUTTON: Oh, really? WILSON: She sure did. SUTTON: Great. WILSON: But she's connecting these issues to global issues. But on that note, you know, the '60s, the so-called inner city, the ghetto, and you could say that it was Harlem and Hamilton Heights and Washington Heights, which clearly surround Columbia, are rapidly gentrifying as Columbia is the agent in Manhattanville. Teaching Ethical Responsibility WILSON: But as we said, issues pertaining to poverty, health, and housing persist. And as you spoke of there's the wrath of the prison industrial complex. How and what should we be teaching our students today based on your experience as a student at Columbia? SUTTON: Right. Oh, gosh! You know, I think it's a real dilemma because we have an obligation to teach students to join their field. And their field serves capitalism, which is doing the displacement. And so how do you have this kind of almost schizophrenic education where you're teaching them the skills and ways of being that will perpetuate the problem while you're also trying to teach them to undo the problem? I mean, I think that you have to talk very plain and open about it and have discussions such as the one that was here right after the inauguration [The First 100 Days]. And I was very comforted to hear the Master of Architecture students get up and propose a code of ethics and actually I sent them some things that they should add to their code of ethics. I think that's one way to get at it, that we have to give them the skills, but we have to make them aware of their ethical obligation. It's not about making money. It's about serving a society. And I would say the same thing is true of the faculty, that what is the ethical code of the faculty is not to get research grants. And so this whole threat of, you know, if we become sanctuary campuses we won't get our NIH funding. We somehow have to say, "What are our values? And what won't we - what can't we give in on?" And then there is, I think especially in architecture, is learning the skills to serve - you know, expanding the definition of design, expanding the definition of architecture so that you have the skills to serve the many, the billions of poorly housed people. What are the solutions to shelter that you can help people figure out? So the big, flashy projects that they need to have in their portfolios to get that job, somehow we have to empower them to do the other kinds of projects as showing a different kind of skill and to be able to package that as a marketable skill. WILSON: Yeah. I think that that's a really great way of summing up the kind of range of things that we need to think about as we educate the next generation of architects and planners and preservationists, and even real estate developers who are also part of the school. SUTTON: Right, yes. WILSON: And that these are all kind of linked, and many of the students are actually doing dual degrees. They'll do preservation and architecture, planning and real estate development. So it's interesting to see, for example, urban design and real estate development. They're seeing in their own work the necessity to be able to work on many different levels, but also it sounds like what you're saying is they need to kind of recalibrate to think of society on multiple levels. And that you're not just working for wealthy clients, but that you should think about the broad spectrum of who you must engage. SUTTON: And I think the discussion of how you can make a living at this has to be really intense. It began to happen during the recession because people were pushed to the wall, so the whole public architecture and 1 percent for architecture began to be a very - the College of Fellows funded a study of how people were funding pro bono work, how people were staying afloat and doing pro bono work. And there are models. One of my colleagues, Mike Pyatok, did a presentation in my class. His expertise is affordable housing. And he had a consultant come into his office, which was in Berkeley, about ten years ago who said, "You're going to go out of business. You're doing good work, but you're going to go out of business," and advised him to do a combined practice of market rate and affordable housing. And he said the benefit of that was that he was no longer asking people who were committed to affordable housing to work for peanuts, plus they were learning something by doing the two different kinds of housing. So I think that there are strategies that we can inform students of, and then we can create them. WILSON: But it sounds like one of the emerging challenges that wasn't necessarily there perhaps in the '60s - and maybe it did begin with Nixon - is the kind of disinvestment of the state, and actually engaging in its own society and the care of its own society, and sort of moving that toward the private sector so that it can in some respects be partially profitable. And that seems to be kind of one of the outcomes of the last 40 or 50 years. SUTTON: Yes, definitely the outcome. And housing cannot be for-profit. It has to be shelter. WILSON: It should be a right. SUTTON: It should be a right. Right. I mean, health care - it makes a lot of profit, but you don't talk about it as a … I guess it is a business. But somehow you have to give services if somebody walks in and needs it. WILSON: Yeah. And pronounce housing as a right. SUTTON: Yeah. The Dual Fronts of Gender and Ethnicity WILSON: And can you tell us a little bit more about questions around gender and how that might have impacted your own career, and also your own educational experiences, especially as an African-American woman in architecture. SUTTON: In architecture. WILSON: Which meant you were fighting on dual fronts. You were fighting the kind of gender front, but you were also fighting around questions of race and ethnicity. SUTTON: The gender issue was more difficult and I did not develop my gender awareness at Columbia because it was a guy group. When the boys went off and established NOMA [National Organization of Minority Architects], it broke my heart, and I've never joined NOMA because I never got over it - that all my colleagues went and did something and didn't invite me. So the gender awareness was a problem at Columbia. I was originally a musician, so I grew up learning to be one of the boys. And I continued that mode of behavior here at Columbia because it was necessary. So it didn't really happen. And the women's movement happened at the end. So it was more in the '70s that the gender awareness came. And a group led by Susana Torre was my first gender awareness, and becoming part of the women's group here in New York who were organizing to promote women's work. There was an exhibition related to a book that Susana edited called Women in American Architecture that was at the Brooklyn Museum. And that was the first awakening of mine. I recall when Susana called me on the telephone and she said, "We would like to include your work in the book." And I said, "Oh, I don't have any work." And she said, "Yes, you do." We would get together and we called ourselves, I think, The Pinks. The reason being that we concluded about the only thing that we could do about women and the environment - and again, we were thinking on these two levels: how do you get more women, and how do you make better environments for women - that probably the most we could do would be to get $25 and paint the door pink. But I have a list of - it's very old - it's a manifesto with a list of things we wanted to try to achieve. And most of the things on that list - that must have been from about 1977 - have been achieved, like having restrooms that men can take children into. That was on the list. WILSON: Wow! Yeah. So there has been progress. SUTTON: There has been progress. WILSON: So with the new book, can you just give us a summary of why should someone read it? SUTTON: Well, I think it's absolutely frightening the parallels between then and now, and so it's very informative. If you don't know your history, you're going to repeat it. So I think people need to know this history. And there are some real concrete things that happened that could be repeated today that you could do that. So I think it has lessons for today, and it also contextualizes the current problem. WILSON: Thank you, Sharon. You can listen to every episode of GSAPP Conversations, here. This particular episode is available to listen to directly on Soundcloud and through the iTunes store and iOS Podcasts app, where you can also Subscribe. GSAPP Conversations is a podcast produced by Columbia GSAPP's Office of Communications and Events in collaboration with ArchDaily. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Maison 0.82 / PASCUAL Architecte Posted: 22 Mar 2017 08:00 PM PDT  © Marie-Caroline Lucat
 © Marie-Caroline Lucat From the architect. The family house « Maison 0.82 » is situated in the South of France, in the Scrubland near the roman town of Nîmes. The main architecture consists in horizontality. The constant connection between the inside and outside is created by the tall swinging windows in the living room.  © Marie-Caroline Lucat This transparency allows a special lighting during all day, which reflects on the concrete underfloor decking. The gross materiality remains a will of the architect, which harmonizes the house with its close environment.  © Marie-Caroline Lucat  Plan  © Marie-Caroline Lucat On the covered terrace, a large circular direct lighting offers a comfortable and changing light shaft which enlightens the kitchen also during the winter period. Through his 0.82 House, the architect affirms lightness associated with gross materiality, linearity with circular forms and subtlety through its integration into the surrounding nature.  © Marie-Caroline Lucat This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Light Folds / WY-TO Architects Posted: 22 Mar 2017 07:00 PM PDT SVEND_ANDERSEN.jpg?1490133088 "© Svend Andersen") © Svend Andersen
SVEND_ANDERSEN.jpg?1490132918 "© Svend Andersen") © Svend Andersen From the architect. In the heart of a paved courtyard, the studio of a painter occupies a magnificent 1900 glass canopy. The volume being very generous, in winter season it becomes necessary to optimize the heating system by subdividing space. The principle of "workshop in the workshop" meets this expectation. SVEND_ANDERSEN.jpg?1490133014 "© Svend Andersen") © Svend Andersen The quality of natural lighting, precious to the artist, is preserved thanks to the fan-shaped geometry of the new structure, which allows the natural light to penetrate. SVEND_ANDERSEN.jpg?1490133193 "© Svend Andersen") © Svend Andersen When the facades of the volume open, space becomes one: it becomes vast and generous again. While welcoming an exhibition space, the mezzanine offers a new relationship to the canopy and provides a general view of the place. SVEND_ANDERSEN.jpg?1490133314 "© Svend Andersen") © Svend Andersen  Section SVEND_ANDERSEN.jpg?1490132988 "© Svend Andersen") © Svend Andersen The expression of the workshop echoes the lines of the canopy which he declines according to multiple processes: rhythms of the glass roof and the facades with polycarbonate' elements, fine lines of the railings and luminaries. Thus, the new workshop naturally fits into its setting of light. Like a fan, the 3 volumes of the workshop unfold and echo the lines of the canopy. SVEND_ANDERSEN.jpg?1490133115 "© Svend Andersen") © Svend Andersen This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 22 Mar 2017 03:00 PM PDT  © Sun Namgoong
 © Sun Namgoong From the architect. It is a design plan which suggests method to live efficiently and affluently with sharing three generations in one house. I have thought the moment when I encountered client for the first time. The client planned to build a house for leaving children and children who go to studying abroad, grandchild's favorable color that is pink without attention about question, "why do you make house in which two people will live so largely?", and with intention which they can live together, provided they have place to live.  © Sun Namgoong  Section  © Sun Namgoong House is located near Mt. Gwanggyo that is situated on the West of Suji, Yongin-si. Site has been constructed with 4 meter higher than the front road, which is a place where Low Mountain on the South is spread and nature communication very tasteful. Due to law's restriction of natural greens area (20% of the building to land ratio), it has been planned to build 3rd floor which has been unused in current detached house by suggesting space that generation can share in cross section rather than spreading on one floor. With this site condition, the first floor will be made for parents' residential space and all family's space, and the second floor made for leaving children and children who go to studying abroad, which independent residence is possible. With the intervening space in cross section, it can make connection between parents and their children to communicate actively by raising and failing through stairs. The third floor will be created for space (Library and AV room) in which family members can share according to their life style, so that it will make them experience various life values.  © Sun Namgoong Outer volume of the house can make indentations by coming in and out instead of not located in straight line, and this composite comes to each floor with various expressions. Small garden will be made on the first floor which is connected to yard, and space between the second and third floor made to connect with balcony, add depth in the space at the same time while separating function, and attract communication between human and human or human and nature.  Section Daughter and son who doubted for this plan have really expressed their desire to live in the house together after the completion. It is a piece of good news. Single and double households have been increased and living pattern in Korea has been changed due to appearance of "Single Korea". However, different generations that have different life style will become one family under the same roof through direct and indirect experience.  © Sun Namgoong This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Akas Villa / Black Pencils Studio Posted: 22 Mar 2017 01:00 PM PDT  © Spaceshift Studio
 © Spaceshift Studio From the architect. AKAS is a residential project in Aumphur Pakchong, Nakornratchasrima. The project was initiated by the idea of natural scenery appreciation toward Khao Yai National Park, the main scenery of the project, changes seasonally throughout the year; breezy clear blue sky in winter, yellow and brown plantation in summer ,and dramatic mist covering the mountain in monsoon. Transforming the natural inspiration to architectural design concept, to capture 'AKAS'(air), an intangible element represented by the magnificent view of Khao Yai National Park, by creating proportional opening to overwhelm the human scale in comparison to the scenery.  © Spaceshift Studio  © Spaceshift Studio Architectural appearance is presented in a series of extruded frame, with a view as a front elevation completing its enclosure. Daily living area is elevated on the second floor of the house to be able to capture the magnificent view of the national park together with a large scale of veranda for the whole family to enjoy outdoor activities together. The veranda sits on a row of three bedrooms, recessed from living level, allows unblocked view from indoor living area toward outdoor activities and the panoramic view. Bedrooms are attached to the ground, connected to a private garden overlooking the same view.  © Spaceshift Studio .jpg?1489717173 "Plan") Plan  © Spaceshift Studio The scenery is perceived not only from the living space but in every niches and corners. The view is presented from the moment ones enter the house through a car parking block, sneaking through a porous entrance door. Again along courtyard, with a view of the natural park in a vista toward a residence's entrance. The main entrance sits humbly under the shade of the living room above. Thus these series of spatial organisation with the view as a key element compile into a unique sense of place presented in the project.  © Spaceshift Studio Design elements are implied to create seamless continuity from inside to outside. Architectural forms are kept to the simplest in a rectangular form. Series of block stacked up while sitting humbly on a lush landscape. Large, fully-open window maximise an exposure to the scenery and enhances a connectivity of indoor and outdoor surrounding. Tapered wall end and steel trimming add sharpness to all openings presenting a picture of Khao Yai in a sleek architectural picture frames.  © Spaceshift Studio AKAS project does not only concern about the natural scenery, maximise viewing area and functional  organisation for the residents to be able to live closest to the nature within the comfortable living space, but also create co-existence of architecture and mesmerising natural surroundings.  © Spaceshift Studio This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 22 Mar 2017 12:00 PM PDT  © Oh Jongsang
 © Oh Jongsang From the architect. On the day when the design plan was shown for the first time, the pastor awkwardly smiled and said, "Isn't it too simple?" Probably, yes. Actually, I hear the same comment pretty often.  © Oh Jongsang In the era of excessiveness, information, consumption, and expression are overflowing. Splendid building might be desired more. I do not say that excessive expression is bad. Idly imitating others without thinking about meanings and goals is the problem.  Sketch I talked about the essence of a worship space with the pastor. I persuaded the pastor that the moderated form and composition would be consistent, functional, and even cost-saving. Even though he could not understand all, he decided to trust the architect to the end.  © Oh Jongsang There were three given conditions: 1. Small budget.  © Oh Jongsang The small budget is not only a limit, but also an opportunity. Removing complicatedness, only essence was remained.  © Oh Jongsang By simplifying materials for inside/outside as exposed concrete finish and red brick, the process was reduced and even interior finishing was completed at a time.  © Oh Jongsang In the 1st floor, the space for neighbors like cafeteria and playroom was placed. Installing a folding window for a huge gate, it became an architectural installation for welcoming and inviting. For the independence of pastor's house in the 3rd floor, a rooftop garden was installed to separate it from church, so that it could not be directly accessed from the stair hall.  3rd Floor  Section  1st Floor In addition to the psychological and spatial independence, it became a place filled with sunlight and wind.  © Oh Jongsang The worship space in the 2nd floor was filled with natural sunlight. With no help of additional decoration, it is fully beautiful and plentiful just with the sunlight pouring from the ceiling. It would become a space of silence in front of the Creator even after busy daily life.  © Oh Jongsang A small, but solid and fruitful church was built. I like to thank the pastor for trusting and waiting in spite of the initial uncertainty. It is certainly true that 'A great building is made by a great owner'.  © Oh Jongsang This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 22 Mar 2017 10:00 AM PDT  © Ari Hatzis
 © Ari Hatzis Following the success of their first café – St Rose in Essendon – husband-and-wife team Domenic and Diana Caruso secured a new Ascot Vale site, approximately five kilometres north-west of Melbourne's CBD. Their vision was for a sophisticated but welcoming venue that would set a new standard for casual dining – a dynamic addition to Melbourne's much-loved café culture.  © Ari Hatzis Spanning both interiors and branding, our concept was an elegant, timeless space inspired by the Greek delicatessens that flourished around Melbourne in the 1950s. Located in a busy shopping strip, the site offered a promising starting point – 4.5-metre ceilings, skylights that flood the space with natural light, and a deep rectangular footprint.  © Ari Hatzis At the heart of the space, a concrete service counter is accented with beautiful hand-painted green and teal tiles from Morocco that trace along the splashback and wrap around the front of the bar. Warm brass elements – arching custom-designed countertop lamps and a slender foot rail – reinforce the venue's refined aesthetic. Behind the bar, display shelving made from white tubular steel hosts pockets of greenery from Loose Leaf.  © Ari Hatzis Timber-topped tables with banquette seating and Pedrali chairs run the length of the space. At intervals, lightweight steel framing with in-built lighting becomes a sculptural element, providing a sense of intimacy without breaking up the café's openness. Upholstery enhances the pared-back mood of the space – a lush teal for the banquette and a composition of grey, pink and classic houndstooth for the wall-mounted bolster.  © Ari Hatzis Toward the rear of the space, the semi-open kitchen is surrounded by some of the best seats in the house – a concrete bench traces around it, with Afteroom high stools from Menu catching a glimpse of the activity.  © Ari Hatzis At the front of the café, a custom-designed bench with timber tabletops offers street-side dining. We considered the configuration of this seating carefully, to ensure a strong visual connection between diners outside and the energy within. In a similar way, the alcove by the door was tailored to accommodate orders to go.  © Ari Hatzis A key priority in this project was to develop a strong relationship between the interior design and the brand itself. Every element – from the menus and coasters to the deli paper and crockery – has been carefully conceived, reflecting our integrated approach.  © Ari Hatzis This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Studio Libeskind Wins Competitions for 2 New Projects in France Posted: 22 Mar 2017 09:40 AM PDT  Images by Luxigon and Studio Libeskind Studio Libeskind has won competitions for two new mixed-use projects in France, the firm announced at the MIPIM world property market conference this past week in Cannes. The first project comprises a retail, conference and transportation center for the city of Nice, while the second will see the firm complete a 150-meter-tall skyscraper in Toulouse. "With these important projects in two of the main French cities, we unveil our new development strategy to create urban mixed-use buildings. Once completed, both will become new landmarks for Nice and Toulouse. With Studio Libeskind, we are up to great things!" says Philippe Journo, CEO of Compagnie de Phalsbourg, the developer behind both projects.  © Studio Libeskind Gare Thiers-Est, Nice In Nice, Studio Libeskind has collaborated with Fevrier Carre Architectes and landscape architect Jean Mus to design the "Gare Thiers-Est" (East Thiers Station), a keystone project of a major urban redevelopment of Thiers Central station and its surroundings. The sculptural, faceted building will contain 18,300 square meters of luxury commercial space featuring shops, terraced cafes and restaurants with panoramic city views, as well as a Hilton hotel, a 600-seat auditorium and co-working facilities.  © Studio Libeskind  © Studio Libeskind The project will reconnect the severed urban fabric by creating new pedestrian connections between the street and the station, united the North and South neighborhoods currently separated by the railways and the Pierre-Mathis road. "This project represents the forward thinking of the City of Nice to create a major architectural landmark and to rejuvenate the surrounding area near the Theirs Station in this historic city," said Daniel Libeskind. "For Nice, my aim was to create a building that is seen from all angles – that will become the connective tissue between two sectors and reconnect the neighborhoods. It will serve to reflect the city, the light and the landscape."  © Studio Libeskind Drawing inspiration from the mineral forms of azurite, the project will feature a glass and metal facade that will reflect the scenes of the city, landscape and sky, rising 40 meters to obscure the rail tracks. The facade will also allow the building to be visible from the hills above the city, creating a beacon that is a celebration of infrastructure. Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2017, with an estimated completion at the end of 2019.  © Luxigon Occitanie Tower, Toulouse About 450 kilometers to the west, Studio Libeskind have designed the 150-meter-tall Occitanie Tower to serve as a new landmark for the business district of Toulouse. Located on the site of a former postal sorting center, the folding glass form will rise 40 floors, becoming the first true skyscraper in the city.  © Luxigon Also a mixed-use project, the tower will include 11,000 square meters of office space, a Hilton hotel, approximately 120 apartment units, and a restaurant featuring panoramic views, as well as commercial and office space. A ribbon of vertical gardens designed by landscape architect Nicolas Gilsoul will spiral up the tower, acting as a natural extension of the lush park and waterway of Canal du Midi that winds through the city.  © MORPH  © MORPH "With its suspended gardens that change color during the seasons, the slight silvertine of the glazing of the façade will reflect the pink tones of Toulouse and the brightness of this material will change perception of the space, according to the variation of light," explained Libeskind. "The tower becomes a unique object in a vast urban space – the tower will not only become a destination, but also a defining public space."  © Luxigon  © MORPH Sited east of the city centre, the building will feature views of the Garonne River and the Pyrenees, located less than 100km away. The project is hoped to become the gateway to the city's burgeoning business sector. "Toulouse is poised to assert itself as a new business hub in the region," said developer Philippe Journo. " The Occitanie Tower will create both an iconic landmark for the city as well as create a strategic economic generator for the district." Studio Libeskind will collaborate with Toulouse architect Francis Cardete on the project. Construction is slated to begin in 2018 and complete by 2022. News via Studio Libeskind. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 22 Mar 2017 08:05 AM PDT  Caterpillar House / Sebastián Irarrázaval. Image © Sergio Pirrone Architecture and music are two very different art forms – one is visual, tactile and logical; the other audial and emotional. So what happens when you bring these two artistic media together? This is the idea explored by Chilean web series Insigne Sesiones, which aims to "[expose] he ideal mix between contemporary architecture and music, generating the first audiovisual project worldwide that officially joins these two disciplines." For their first season, Insigne Sesiones invited six world-renowned musicians to perform their music in the intimate settings of some of the most celebrated works of Chilean architects across the country. Check out the full first season below. Camila Moreno + Elton & Leniz's Casa Shaw Casa Shaw / Elton & Leniz. Image © Insigne Sessions Prefiero Fernández + Mathias Klotz's Casa Raúl Casa Raúl / Mathias Klotz. Image © Insigne Sessions Niño Cohete + Felipe Assadi's Casa Remota Casa Remota / Felipe Assadi. Image © Insigne Sessions Nano Stern + DRAA's La Leonera Mountain Retreat.jpg?1490209180 "La Leonera Mountain Retreat / DRAA. Image © Insigne Sessions") La Leonera Mountain Retreat / DRAA. Image © Insigne Sessions Los Jaivas + Juan Luis Martínez's Casa en Pendiente Casa en Pendiente / Juan Luis Martínez. Image © Insigne Sessions Travis + Sebastian Irarrazabal's Caterpillar House Caterpillar House / Sebastián Irarrázaval. Image © Insigne Sessions For their second season, Insigne Sesiones is working on securing more artists from Latin America, North America, Europe and Africa to further integrate global music into Chilean architectural works and landscapes. Check out Insigne Sesiones, here.
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| C-Square Plaza / The Marc Boutin Architectural Collaborative Posted: 22 Mar 2017 08:00 AM PDT  Courtesy of Yellow Camera
 Site Plan From the architect. As the City of Calgary continues to cultivate growth within its urban core, the success of new public spaces will be defined by their ability to become entrenched in a continuously transforming context while adapting to the changing seasons and anticipating the unpredictable. C-Square marks a moment in time where a dramatic evolution of the City Centre is taking place. Located in the new East Village development, this project will become a hub for urban connectivity in an urbane condition.  Courtesy of Yellow Camera The existing site is challenged with the anomaly of the C-Train (Calgary's Light Rail Transit) which runs north to south-west through the site. Infrastructure is what drives the existing site condition; in this infrastructural landscape how do we create a dynamic, habitable urban condition? By sharing the function of transit as a utility for movement, and transforming it into a place of social exchange, this project reconceptualizes infrastructure, as the opportunity to influence conditions of social spaces and construct inimitable spatial experiences.  Courtesy of Yellow Camera  Sections  Courtesy of Yellow Camera Two conceptual drivers structure the design of this project. The first is the transformation of the existing C-Train infrastructure into an infrastructure for the animation of the public realm. Here, a new tectonic array of perforated aluminum fins, designed to capture and emit light as a shifting, reflective veil, frame connections to and from the train, project the energy of the train into the public space, and turn an existing site liability into spatial animator.  Courtesy of Yellow Camera  Courtesy of The Marc Boutin Architectural Collaborative  Courtesy of Yellow Camera The second conceptual driver is the creation of a continuous ground-plane that sutures the site as a whole while transforming to adapt to various modes of occupation. Site-specific transformations of the ground-plane anticipate multiple forms of engagement and occupation, facilitating the necessary flexibility to allow the public realm to adapt. Two specific transformations of the ground-plane include folds defining an amenity spine along both edges of the train tracks and a spine of shifted plates along the public space's east side creating a permeable and inhabited edge  Courtesy of Yellow Camera Situating infrastructure as a celebrated social interaction, C-Square's anticipates both informal and structured activity within a variety of habitable conditions creating animation day to night, season to season, year to year. Today C-Square will be known as a prominent evolution of the City's urban core; tomorrow, it will be engaged, reclaimed, and constructed by citizens and visitors alike  Courtesy of Yellow Camera This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Stone Court Villa / Marwan Al Sayed Inc. Posted: 22 Mar 2017 06:00 AM PDT  © Matt Winquist Photography
 © Matt Winquist Photography A ten acre desert site that contains two desert washes. A modern, yet archaic architecture of walls that contain space and space that contains walls. Space becomes thinned out form and form becomes condensed space.  © Matt Winquist Photography Massive walls inscribed in the earth. From above, snake like and calligraphic in form blurring boundaries between outside and inside, courtyards and rooms, container and contained.  © Matt Winquist Photography Wonderful vistas to both nearby desert landscapes and distant peaks. Walls are introduced, repetitively and deliberately, compressed and then elongated as the space or view dictates.  © Matt Winquist Photography Snake like mass walls of light 3" Veracruz Mexican saw cut limestone, moving in and out of the living spaces, blurring boundaries…light fabric overhangs delicately suspended between the mass walls. Walls containing space, life, courts, water, trees, laughter, thoughts and shadows.  © Matt Winquist Photography The stacking of the stone is inspired by both memories of a beautiful Japanese bamboo cutting board, with its even and subtle yet irregular offsets…..as well as the work of abstract painter Agnes Martin….repetitive with subtle differences creating a complex box of depth and surface. The effect is not unlike a mother of pearl box, created by the shimmering variations of the stone and how it is laid, both regularly yet with deliberate variation. Roland Barthes 'repetition differente'.  © Matt Winquist Photography Slowly a pattern emerges, shifts and then unwinds Repetitive but not repeated, Even – here, elongated - there ….extended, here compressed there. Subtle varieties of color, texture, line all effect to create a richness of experiences for daily life.  © Matt Winquist Photography The slicing of stone left exposed, the splash of water, the capture of light…the walls exclude what is weak and undesired so that what is vibrant and alive can flourish in peace.  Floor Plan A modern timeless ruin in the Sonoran desert, inhabited by the softness of the bodies within and the glimpses of shimmering landscapes and light particular to the desert outside.  © Matt Winquist Photography This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Zaha Hadid Architects Reveals Designs for Supertall Mixed-Use Skyscraper in New York Posted: 22 Mar 2017 04:30 AM PDT  © Zaha Hadid Architects/Kushner Companies A 1,400-foot-tall mixed-use skyscraper by Zaha Hadid Architects may be the next supertall structure to hit midtown Manhattan. Located at 666 Fifth Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Street, the project is the brainchild of Kushner Properties, who currently co-own the existing 483-foot-tall building with Vornado Realty Trust. Estimated to cost up to $12 billion, the company is currently negotiating a multi-billion dollar deal with Chinese holding company Anbang Insurance Group to finance the project. If plans to buy out the building go through, Kushner would be in the clear to begin construction on the ZHA-designed tower, which would rebrand the property as 660 Fifth Avenue and offer 464,000-square-feet of residential space, an 11-story hotel, and a 9-story retail podium. Rather than starting from the ground up, the project would be realized by stripping the existing building down to its inner steel core, and then adding the necessary structure for an additional 40 floors. If completed, the tower would be located just a block from Atelier Jean Nouvel's 1,050-foot-tall 53 West 53rd Street, which is currently under construction. For the project to take place, Kushner will need to buy out Vornado's share of the building and the leases of current tenants, as well as refinance existing debt. If these deals are able to occur before the end of the year, demolition and construction work could begin as early as 2019, with an estimated completion following in 2025. News via Zaha Hadid Architects/Kushner Companies. H/T NY YIMBY.
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| Posted: 22 Mar 2017 04:00 AM PDT  © Ben Rahn / A-Frame Studio
 © Ben Rahn / A-Frame Studio Designed as a weekend home for a family of six, Compass House takes its name from the clients' desire to chart a new course as they transition from an extended stay in the United Kingdom to life back in Canada. To achieve this, the design of the home transcends ordinary domestic programming, creating a place of spiritual resonance that orients and heightens one's experience of the surrounding environment. Through its siting, massing, tectonics and materiality, it balances intimacy and expansiveness, light and dark, land and sky.  © Ben Rahn / A-Frame Studio  © Ben Rahn / A-Frame Studio Located on the Niagara Escarpment, Compass House's siting instrumentally establishes orientation. The house sits at the nexus of the land's constituent characteristics: forests to the west, a hill to the south, and 100 acres of fields to the north and east. Set back from the road, it is surrounded by a thicket of trees to provide windbreak and a sense of enclosure. On approach from the existing farm lane, the white exterior helps register the seasons, distinct amidst the green fields of summer, and melding into a winter landscape of waning light and snow.  © Ben Rahn / A-Frame Studio  Floor Plan  © Ben Rahn / A-Frame Studio Landscape manipulations help embed and connect the house to its site: constructed with fieldstone found on the property, low retaining walls create a foundational plinth for the house and an enhanced sectional dynamic. Two perpendicular wings enclose an intimately scaled outdoor courtyard. In response to the building's low-lying horizontality, the totemic form of the outdoor fireplace adds a critical vertical counterpoint, as do the judiciously placed skylights in the soaring pitched roof planes of the house, which allow soft washes of light to illuminate the interior. The eye is drawn upward, establishing an intensified and spiritual relationship to a larger environment of sky, sun and clouds.  © Ben Rahn / A-Frame Studio The form of the main residence innovates on the historical precedent of the longhouse—an inherently efficient typology found throughout Europe and parts of North America. With an elongated narrow footprint, all rooms and spaces enjoy pronounced natural light and ventilation. The length also allows for a balanced and effective distribution of programming, with a generously scaled yet intimate family space—including kitchen, dining and living areas—at the centre of the plan, and bedrooms comfortably separated on either end.  © Ben Rahn / A-Frame Studio Inside, floors and walls made from white oak and knotty white cedar are textured and warm. In contrast, the ceiling above the main space is white, expansive and seemingly boundless. The distinct difference in materiality echoes the meeting of land and sky outside. On the exterior, the firm's commitment to an architecture that endures is manifest in the use of low-maintenance construction materials such as cement-board siding, aluminum windows and a steel roof. Built to age gracefully, the house will sustain for generations. Phase One of the project is already LEED Gold-certified, and its commitment to sustainability carries into Phase Two with a design that prioritizes natural daylighting, passive ventilation, high insulation values and construction waste reduction. The provision of an in-ground geothermal system furthers the goal of what is already exceptional energy performance.  © Ben Rahn / A-Frame Studio This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 22 Mar 2017 02:30 AM PDT  Gone are the days when clients such as The Vatican unquestioningly entrusted architects like Raffaele Stern with large sums of money. Image © <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Musei_Vaticani._Braccio_Nuovo.JPG'>Jesús Moreno via Wikimedia</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a> This article was originally published by The Architect's Newspaper as "Phil Bernstein pens inaugural column on technology, value, and architects' evolving role." This is the inaugural column "Practice Values," a new bi-monthly series by architect and technologist Phil Bernstein. The column will focus on the evolving role of the architect at the intersection of design and construction, including subjects such as alternative delivery systems and value generation. Bernstein was formerly vice president at Autodesk and now teaches at the Yale School of Architecture. This semester, I'm teaching a course called "Exploring New Value Propositions for Practice" that's based on the premise that the changing role of architects in the building industry requires us to think critically about our value as designers in that system. After studying the structure and dynamics of practice business models, the supply chain, and other examples of innovative design enterprises, they'll be asked to create a business plan for a "next generation" architectural practice. I'm agnostic as to what this practice does per se, as long as it operates somewhere in the constellation of things that architects can do, but there is one constraint—your proposed firm can't be paid fixed or hourly rate fees. It has to create value (and profit) through some other strategy.
 Phil Bernstein. Image Courtesy of Phil Bernstein via The Architect's Newspaper I want our students to think critically about this question of value propositions: Where do architects contribute to the making of buildings and how is the resulting value realized, and to whose benefit? Technology has begun to change those value equations. Increasing reliance on design information created as a result of the architect's process—the "big data" of design representations, geometry that drives computer-controlled fabrication equipment, "smart building" telemetry—is but one opportunity to argue that architects are the lynchpin of the building delivery system. But we must both design the methods and protocols that demonstrate our value, and as an important result, reap the financial benefits accordingly. This, it seems to me, is a much more direct route to assuring the relevance of architects to architecture, various television marketing campaigns insisting that clients "look up" to really appreciate their architects notwithstanding. In discussing these ideas with my architectural colleagues I'm often faced with skepticism that puts this perspective in opposition with two perceived realities of practice. First is the assertion that architecture is in essence an artistic, expressive endeavor that will be sullied by considerations of money, business, or even the implications of digital instrumentation on the design process itself. I agree with the first part of this conclusion, but—as you can imagine—I take exception to the second. That design is the core value of the profession isn't arguable, but also isn't the point: The more interesting question is how we best empower clients to understand that value, architects to enable it, and other members of the delivery systems of building to rally behind it. And since architects operate in a supply chain (of building purveyors and consumers) that is a complex web of exchanges of money, information, and risk (and therefore value), how does design make us more valued participants? I recently spoke on a panel with two other architects to a large group of architecture students. When asked what I thought was a critical issue that would face them in their careers, I answered along the lines of the argument above. In response, a panelist declared to the students that architects don't enter the profession because they're interested in money, but rather because of their passion for design—and that he never made much money practicing but was far happier in his career than his very well-paid lawyer sister. The message here was clear: An interest in the business of architecture, or, worse, the resulting financial opportunities, is beneath our dignity as passionate designers. Both of these assertions are false binaries at best, and potentially harmful conclusions to the profession at worst. Every architect wants clients, collaborators, even builders to realize the value of our design work. That's wishful thinking, however, until we can position ourselves in the systems of delivery—the financial and technical protocols by which the architect's ideas are built—and make that case. In subsequent columns I'll explore how we might do so, and design a profession that might better satisfy our passions and, as a result, our pocketbooks. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Concrete Box House / Robertson Design Posted: 22 Mar 2017 02:00 AM PDT  © Jack Thompsen
 © Jack Thompsen The design of The Concrete Box house was begun with three fairly simple concepts as goals: a carefully choreographed entry sequence, material clarity, and a sculptural presence. The building is composed of three elements- a concrete box, a wooden box, and the low concrete wall that encloses the entry courtyard. Fenestration on the front is limited, which adds to the sculptural nature of the building. To enter the building one slips between the two overlapping concrete walls in the front and then passes through the sanctuary-like entry courtyard before arriving at the front door.  © Jack Thompsen  Floor Plan  © Jack Thompsen The door opens into an entry hall that has a low ceiling and is a touch dark. From here one passes through an opening in the concrete box to enter the brightly lit, tall volume of the main space. While passing through the opening, one experiences the thickness and solidity of the concrete walls. The abundant natural light and expansive views into the front courtyard and rear garden surprise as they are initially difficult to reconcile with the blank façade. The first floor is basically a single space where slight level changes delineate function between dining, kitchen, and living.  © Jack Thompsen  © Jack Thompsen There is an office hidden behind sliding walls that allow the owners to work in this space during the day and then literally close the office at times when work is to be forgotten. The simple and bright white rooms of the second floor stand in marked contrast to the downstairs with its wood and concrete walls.  © Jack Thompsen This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 10 Essential Freehand Drawing Exercises for Architects Posted: 22 Mar 2017 01:00 AM PDT  Courtesy of DOM Publishers The following excerpt was originally published in Natascha Meuser's Construction and Design Manual: Architecture Drawings (DOM Publishers). With our industry's technological advances, "the designing architect is not simultaneously the drawing architect." Meuser's manual aims to help architects develop and hone their technical drawing skills as the "practical basis and form of communication for architects, artists, and engineers." Read on for ten freehand drawing exercises that tackle issues ranging from proportion and order to perspective and space. What is beauty? A few years ago, a group of international researchers sought to unravel the mysteries of human beauty. They used state-of-the-art, totally impartial computer technology and a huge dataset to establish once and for all why particular faces are perceived as beautiful, and whether beauty exists independently of ethnic, social and cultural background; in other words, whether it can be calculated mathematically. The scientists input countless photos of faces from all over the world, each described by survey respondents as particularly beautiful, into a powerful computer. The resulting information, they believed, could be used to generate a face that would be recognized by any human being as possessing absolute beauty. But what the computer eventually spat out was a picture of an ordinary face, neither beautiful nor ugly, devoid of both life and character. It left most viewers cold. The accumulated data had created not superhuman beauty, but a statistically correct average.  Courtesy of DOM Publishers But that is precisely what you would expect of a computer. Here, I want to examine the relevance of this anecdote to architectural beauty, and discuss whether drawing by hand, a skill fast disappearing from everyday practice, is one worth preserving. It would appear to be a relic of the past – but does that mean that computer-generated images are the future? Thanks to modern design and display software, the intention of this book may seem quaintly anachronistic. Would any architect today think of presenting a client with a building detail drawn in Indian ink, or a perspective in pencil? Clients often expect designers to produce pixel-perfect images right from the beginning of the design process, looking not unlike photographs at first glance. And even before the ground is broken, a virtual idea has already acquired the authority of a tangible reality that serves as the benchmark during the construction process. Often, the client is disappointed because a detail bears no resemblance to the initial plan. Sometimes, poor-quality rendering ends up provoking a protracted legal dispute: was the balcony supposed to be made of reinforced concrete, or just brightly painted steel? Like it or not, the computer is a handy desktop tool, a creativity machine that translates the most outlandish fantasies into physically realizable, fully costed designs that can be altered at a click of a mouse. The resulting photorealistic printout gives form to an idea that has not really even taken shape in the architect's own mind.  Courtesy of DOM Publishers It is easy to forget that, for all its apparent creative talents, the computer is just a machine. The image that emerges from the printer is like that of the perfect face in the experiment, shaped by complex, soulless programs. Paradoxically, the tool we use in an attempt to make it look less soulless is also the computer. After all, animation means adding life and soul to an otherwise lifeless object, creating a realistic, perhaps even moving image using infallible, invisible and incomprehensible computer code. The spaces inhabited by avatars in computer games are not greatly different to the standard CAD output used by architects to persuade developers, contractors, clients, and competition juries. Precision is the death of thought Courtesy of DOM Publishers Anyone looking for soul in a building or interior design will not find it in these colorful animated digital images. Their impressive perfection is artificial and deceptive, their precision a challenge to the viewer's imagination. To put it bluntly, architects who rely solely on the design skills of their computers are neglecting what was once one of their profession's core skills since time immemorial: the connection of eye, head, and hand to create sketches, drawings, designs and plans. In the old days, prospective architects had to start by learning to use a pen, analyzing structure, proportion, cubature, light and shade to break down the world into its component parts and reassemble them on the paper. To do this, their eyes and hands had to be trained. This can be an enjoyable and intuitive process: as my drawing teacher Heinrich Pittner once said, 'What counts is not knowledge, but inspiration.' His methods were based on clear principles, and he was not only a teacher but also a poetic artist with a philosophical turn of mind, who used simple exercises to teach the complexity of architecture. He made his students feel that they were both artists and architects. The next person I encountered who displayed this passion for architectural education was Alfred Caldwell, a legendary lecturer at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. His personality alone made his lectures worth the metaphorical price of admission, and he used to say: 'The individuality of architecture is always based on personal experience.' The following chapter is devoted to Pittner's methods, which teach the basic principles of freehand architectural drawing in nine steps. The exercises can be carried out in any order, and are anything but comprehensive, but their aim is to introduce trainee architects and other interested readers to one of the most creative areas of architecture. Even experienced draftspeople should find the exercises an enjoyable reminder of their own training. This is also a reminder that the drawing marks the architect's emergence as creator, giving visible expression to a unique idea without the help of computer programs. While many would say it is an outmoded pictorial technique, drawing transforms the idea into the intangible basis of the entire design process. In this context, and at this stage in the project, the image is not a mirror of reality, but it gives the idea credibility.  Courtesy of DOM Publishers A decision that only the architect can takeArchitectural drawing is like photography: it is no good having a high-end, feature-packed camera if you lack the ability to compose images and to capture the essence of the subject. Having the technology to generate preliminary architectural and design ideas does not necessarily mean that the final result will be convincing. The choice of medium, be it 6B pencil, drawing pen or watercolor brush, is no guarantee of good architecture, which demands a basic understanding of proportion, perspective, form, and color. The ability to connect the eyes, mind, and hand when designing details, buildings and cities also requires familiarity with a wide variety of architectural cultures, periods, and styles. It entails knowing, based on practical experience, that ideas build on one another, and -being able to absorb and develop traditions and use one's own outlook and ideas to create distinctive buildings for clients that can be highly valued. Such is the nature of architecture: it is very rarely created in a vacuum and is usually part of a context of variety and difference. Take away the sharp edges of architectural space, and you are left with nothing. The architect's penstroke brings it together and gives it form, which assumes an ability to imagine the space and give it proportion, structure, and beauty. Only the architect can take these decisions. Like all talents, architectural imagination and creativity are God-given, but also born of practice and experience. People who have seen, understood and adapted other people's ideas are more easily able to come up with ideas of their own, drawing on a rich menu of visual and spatial ingredients. A person who uses drawing to explore the built environment sees its variety in a different light, and perhaps with greater respect, than someone who can imagine nonexistent space only by donning 3D spectacles. Architecture and the art of drawing are inseparable – and people who are good at drawing usually make good architects.  Exercise 1: |
| This Concrete Furniture Hardware is Inspired by Carlo Scarpa's Architecture Posted: 21 Mar 2017 11:00 PM PDT  © Sameer Tawde Material Immaterial Studio has unveiled MIRAGE, a series of concrete furniture hardware inspired by the works of architect Carlo Scarpa. The MIRAGE series is made up of concrete handles, knobs, and robe hooks, all of which aim to create character through light and shadow. Some of the pieces, with a zigzag pattern, are meant to reduce the heaviness of the concrete material, making it seem light and delicate, while other pieces are meant to express a sense of solidity.  © Sameer Tawde  © Sameer Tawde  © Sameer Tawde  © Sameer Tawde  © Sameer Tawde
 © Sameer Tawde  © Sameer Tawde  © Sameer Tawde  © Sameer Tawde  © Sameer Tawde  © Sameer Tawde  © Sameer Tawde Previous work from Material Immaterial Studio includes SPACES. News via: Material Immaterial Studio. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Pizzeria Massa / FLEXOARQUITECTURA Posted: 21 Mar 2017 10:00 PM PDT  © José Hevia
 © José Hevia From the architect. The commission consisted of refurbishing a well-known restaurant (170m2 area, 32m depth and 5m centerline) in the Eixample neighborhood of Barcelona to transform it into a pizzeria. Due to the continuity of the restoration activity, the current urban regulations did not allow any considerable changes on the organization of the original, but yet some punctual modifications such as the demolition of certain partition walls, the replacement of technical installations, the necessity of new acoustic adaptations and the implementation of interior floor and wall coverings.  © José Hevia The original premise offered three distinctive zones; the entrance area, the corridor with access to the bathrooms, kitchen and private facilities and the space at the back, built beyond the regulated building depth of the residential building to which it belongs.  Axonometric The proposal resigns, from the beggining, to fully perceive the totality of the interior volume through a panopticon construction and, on the contrary, it's based on a double strategy. One on side, it emphasizes the specify geometry of every single space, understanding the pizzeria as a linear sequence of distinctive connected rooms. On the other side, in order to equip this concatenation of continuity, it arranges the materials in horizontal stripes through the pavement and ceiling in order to accompany the costumer until the end of the premise.  © José Hevia The 30 depth meters of sequence that separates the entrance from the space at the back, are defined by a triple split horizontal division, from the floor to the ceiling, comprised by; chestnut plywood board and black formica benches, that deform itself to generate privative spaces and stimulate different ways of being occupied, a stripe of wood boards overlaid with green formica of vertical joints, and the suspended ceiling that hides the technical installations, solves the acoustic constrains and it deforms differently in each space to embrace the costumer in various ways.  © José Hevia Throughout the visit some unexpected relations are established between adjacent rooms with the use of different resources, circular and triangular die-cut walls, mirrors located in strategic spots, intense red recesses that announce passages or bottle racks and black terrazzo wet bars that, giving continuity to the floor, are defined as stony altars from where the clients are served.  © José Hevia This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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