Arch Daily |
- Greiner Headquarter / f m b architekten
- Shaolin Flying Monks Theatre / Mailitis Architects
- BIG, Adjaye Among 7 Shortlisted for Ross Pavilion Design Competition
- House (digeut-jip) / aoa architects
- MICR-O / Superimpose
- Nivim House / architecture R/T
- Wheat House / Damian Rogers Architecture
- CTBUH Crowns Ping An Finance Center as World's 4th Tallest Building
- Fos Bos / Kyncl Schaller Architekten
- BIG Designs Yin-Yang Shaped Panda Enclosure for the Copenhagen Zoo
- Kapor Center for Social Impact / Fougeron Architecture
- Vendsyssel Theatre / schmidt hammer lassen architects
- Wang Shu: "Architecture is Not Just an Object That You Place in the Environment"
- 20 Things Your Non-Architect Friends Secretly Think About You
- Impala House / Ariel Galera
- Construction Halted on Heatherwick's Pier 55 in New York
- 6 Tips for Designing Accessible and Safe Bus Stops
- "Are.na" is an Online Tool for Contextualizing the Internet – Here's Why It's Useful to Architects
- Spotlight: Mies van der Rohe
| Greiner Headquarter / f m b architekten Posted: 27 Mar 2017 08:00 PM PDT  © Brigida González
 © Brigida González From the architect. The Greiner Company, a family based business founded 1922 in the small town Pleidelsheim nearby Ludwigsburg, Germany, is known for its high quality chairs and seats and is selling products all over the world in the fields of beauty, healthcare and automotive – at its own brand or as supplier.  © Brigida González With its well manufactured products and sustainable services the company is growing for years. The old headquarter with its small client-center and showroom couldn't hold up with that progress any more.  © Andreas-Thomas Mayer A new headquarter had to be build! Originally located at the edge of the town, the company area with its production- and storage-halls was overgrown by the development of the town and is now part of the near city-centre. The site of the old, inconspicuous headquarter did not represent the company's address very well.  © Brigida González The new office- and exhibition-building, by contrast, is located near the city-centre at the north-south cross-town link. Being on the chosen construction site, the old House of the company founder, later used as a tannery, had to be torn down. Therefore the location of the new headquarter also refers to the company's history and benefits both, the identity of the company as well as the public space.  © Brigida González The surrounding of the site is characterized by several building-types, mixed with industry-, residential- and old agricultural-buildings. So how should a new building respond to that context and simultaneously transport some kind of corporate identity?  © Brigida González We decided jointly with the client to create a pure, reduced Shape that is inspired by the timeless qualities of classical modernism. The façade of building is worked in exposed concrete, giving the structure a modest but individual impact to that heterogenic place.  © Brigida González The cut out roof-terrace reduces the shape at the main-roads intersection so that the volume of the structure reacts sensible to the height of the surrounding buildings. At the intersection the building opens its exhibition-floor over the corner through big showcase-windows to the public - not primarily to catch new clients, but stimulating the public space.  Level 0 Scheme  Level 1 Scheme The actual address, the entrance, is placed a little bit hidden to the east and reached over a small, clearly defined square, which is also used for parking. The square surface, worked in site-typical recycled cobblestones, is "washed around" the building, connecting the adjoining street- and sidewalk-surfaces and strengthen the idea of a sculptural and solitaire city structure.  © Brigida González Organized on four levels, the flexible and multifunctional exhibition-room and customer-center is reached on entry-level and can also be used for special events when needed.  © Andreas-Thomas Mayer However, the headquarters representative "heart" is reached over the low entrance-room: A triple storied, open space reception-hall made out of exposed concrete walls with poured in lamps - hosting a sculptural spiral staircase.  © Andreas-Thomas Mayer It connects the upper floors with offices, conference-room, accounting-area and the roof-terrace.  Section In Addition to the spiral staircase, the whole building is connected to an elevator and a necessary evacuation staircase, which provides a short internal connection for the staff and a shortcut to the nearby production-hall.  © Brigida González This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Shaolin Flying Monks Theatre / Mailitis Architects Posted: 27 Mar 2017 07:00 PM PDT  © Ansis Starks
 © Ansis Starks From the architect. The Songshan Mountain known as spiritual "Centre of Heaven and Earth" features a significant Buddhist presence. It is home to the Shaolin Monastery, traditionally considered to be the birthplace of Zen Buddhismand Kung-Fu martial arts. Being rich in its extensive history and significant in its cultural impact on the world the place was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.  © Ansis Starks Standing on the top of the Cypress Hill, the Shaolin Flying Monks Theatre's architectural and conceptual image pays respect to the beauty of surrounding nature and the historical heritage of the site. Developed in the shape of two symbols – mountain and tree – it serves as a platform for any kind of scenic arts focusing especially on flying performances. The building method combines modern and ancient technologies – laser-cut steel superstructure supports stone steps handcrafted using local quarry resources.  © Ansis Starks  Plan  © Ansis Starks  Section  © Ansis Starks The building has four basic functional zones: exterior surface, the stage, interior area and engine room. The exterior combines both aesthetical and functional aspects. Stair surface, apart from its usual purpose, is designed to continue the topography of territory, to adjust natural lighting for interior and to provide massive air flow for engines. Upper levels of stairs shape the embracement for the stage – an amphitheatre with a wind tunnel in the middle. The interior of the theatre is organized in three floors and includes all the necessary premises and facilities for visitors and performers. Technical devices are developed by Aerodium team and anchored in the engine room under the stage.  © Ansis Starks This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| BIG, Adjaye Among 7 Shortlisted for Ross Pavilion Design Competition Posted: 27 Mar 2017 05:01 PM PDT _Malcolm_Reading_Consultants_and_David_Springford.jpg?1490671842 "© Malcolm Reading Consultants / David Springford") © Malcolm Reading Consultants / David Springford The Ross Development Trust, in collaboration with the City of Edinburgh Council and Malcolm Reading Consultants, has announced the seven finalists teams that will compete for the design of the new Ross Pavilion in the heart of Edinburgh, Scotland. Located in West Princes Street Gardens below Edinburgh Castle and at the intersection of the UNESCO World Heritage recognized Old and New Towns, the £25 million project will feature a landmark pavilion to replace an existing bandstand, a visitors center with cafe, and a subtle reimagination of the surrounding landscape. The new pavilion will host a range of cultural arts programming. From an entry pool of 125 teams, the following seven were unanimously selected to continue on to the second stage of the competition: _Malcolm_Reading_Consultants__David_Springford.jpg?1490671898 "© Malcolm Reading Consultants / David Springford") © Malcolm Reading Consultants / David Springford
_(c)_Malcolm_Reading_Consultants__David_Springford.jpg?1490671862 "© Malcolm Reading Consultants / David Springford") © Malcolm Reading Consultants / David Springford "We were absolutely delighted by the response of designers from around the world to the competition's first stage. The quality of the 125 teams on the longlist sent a strong signal that the international design community regards this as an inspirational project for Edinburgh that has huge potential to reinvigorate this prestigious site," said The Chairman of the Ross Development Trust and Competition Jury Chair, Norman Springford. "Selecting the shortlist with our partners from City of Edinburgh Council was an intense and demanding process. We're thrilled that our final shortlist achieved a balance of both international and UK talent, emerging and established studios. Now the teams will have 11 weeks to do their concept designs – and we're looking forward to seeing these and sharing them with the public." _Malcolm_Reading_Consultants__David_Springford.jpg?1490671931 "© Malcolm Reading Consultants / David Springford") © Malcolm Reading Consultants / David Springford Finalists will have until June 9, 2017 to complete concept designs for the pavilion, visitor's center and site, which will need to fully integrate into the existing Gardens, which are of outstanding cultural significance and operated and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council as Common Good Land. A public and digital exhibition will follow in mid-June, with a winner expected to be announced in early August. Construction is expected to begin in 2018. For more information, visit the competition website, here. News via Malcolm Reading Consultants. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| House (digeut-jip) / aoa architects Posted: 27 Mar 2017 03:00 PM PDT  © Hyosook Chin
 © Jaewon Suh From the architect. It is a very romantic imagination to build a house in the middle of a green rice field, but the reality was not so easy to get sentimental. The house could not be free from the gaze of others because the intercity bus terminal was in the vicinity. Therefore, the most important thing for the family was a protected exterior space where they can enjoy outdoor activities of the rural life with their two young children. The house had to be one and at the same time two because they are supposed to live with grandparents. And also another desire, that the house should look bigger than the actual one, reminded us a single-story house with the Korean letter 'ㄷ' shaped floor plan, where the courtyard in the middle seemed to be part of the inner space.  © Hyosook Chin  First Floor  © Hyosook Chin Compared to 'ㅁ' shape, 'ㄷ' shaped plan could be easily divided into two areas for the privacy of the family and the area in the middle could be used as a public space in the house which connects two areas. The inner space is divided into three areas with their own orientation: the family area, the grandparents or the guest area, and the living, dining areas which connect the two areas. On the other end of the courtyard that is enclosed by the 'ㄷ' shaped space stands a wall with a large gate which can protect the outdoor activities from the outside and also welcomes the neighbors when the gate is open. The courtyard in the center of the house becomes integrated with the inner space while changing the impression of the house occasionally as a water playground for children on summer days, a barbecue yard under a moonlit in the autumn night and a snowy landscape in winter. The roof, which slopes very low toward the courtyard so that the top plane of the roof is even visible from inside, not only adds to the openness of the courtyard but also blurs the boundaries of the inner space and the courtyard, making the house look more spacious than it actually is.  © Hyosook Chin Country house Thinking a new house in the countryside had to be somewhat different from the houses in the residential development area of the city. Having the common scenery in mind such as the single-storey houses with the gabled roof, the warehouses, and the simple vinyl greenhouses, familiar forms and materials are used in somewhat unconventional ways, which makes the house not so boring and foreign in the neighborhood. By using the corrugated galvanized steel plate for the roofing which is very common in the countryside and by stretching the wooden rafters lightly on the solid brick walls it was intended to give the intermediate sensibility between the Traditional Korean House (Hanok) and vernacular folk houses. In the courtyard, the concrete wall painted in white and the rough wooden gate with its exposed supporting structure reveal more the feeling of the countryside with its rough soil on the ground. In addition, the exposed ceiling with the cement-plaster, the concrete pillar with its traces of the formwork and the rough white-painted chimney are balanced with the white-painted walls inside and the elegant windows while showing more contrast.  © Hyosook Chin Greeny brick house With the lighting in the circular opening on the south which can light up the courtyard and the street at the same time, the front facade of the house highlights its presence creating a unique impression. However, because of the green brick surrounding the house coherently, it does not lose the unity of the whole. The greenish exterior of the house, which is unusual to be seen in the city, becomes part of surroundings while hiding in the green rice field in the summer and contrasting with the golden field in the autumn. The large opening on the main entrance, the stone frame surrounding the big windows and the high chimney create the effect of obscuring the dimension of the house from the distance and making the house somewhat smaller than its actual size. It is another characteristic of this house that the used material is same on the exterior but all four elevations are quite different within this very simple floor plan. That the high chimney doesn't act for the heating, but rather stands as a mere decorating element, has the meaning of symbolic representation which recalls the memories of childhood in the country house.  © Hyosook Chin  Section  © Hyosook Chin This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 27 Mar 2017 01:00 PM PDT  © Marc Goodwin
 © Marc Goodwin Inside the rural Tai Yang Valley, West of Hangzhou, the Sun Commune is a local initiative raising awareness of sustainable farming and promoting healthy living and outdoor activities for the increasing urbanization of China.  © Marc Goodwin Within the sun commune, Superimpose Architecture Studio designed MICR-O to be a learning platform for city dwellers.  © Marc Goodwin The valley, with bamboo and rice fields, is home to one hundred local farming families. Sun Commune initiates a bottom up strategy to sustain farmers while promoting organic food production. It further extends as an education platform for children from the city. Throughout the year, kids from Hangzhou and Shanghai will camp and learn about nature at MICR-O and allow them to be part of a rural micro-community.  Axonometric Structure The central outdoor patio creates an enclosed platform to host learning activities and events. The white canvas 'ring' houses camping accommodation subdivided into segments by the three entrance points. The external corridor blends with the surrounding bamboo forest and offers an alternative circulation route while activities are happening in the central patio. The structure is elevated, keeping the ground nearly untouched. The structural A frame, a ninety-degree angled triangle, gives the design an externally pure shape, while internally the patio opens towards the sky and surroundings.  © Marc Goodwin  © Marc Goodwin The construction is an example of time-and-cost-effective design. The simplicity of repetitive structural 'A' frame creates a bold gesture in the valley. Locally reclaimed pinewood is used as the main structure and floor decking.  © Marc Goodwin On site workshops and physical models by the architects were used as communication tools to teach the local villagers how to realize the design. The architects are still involved by organizing architectural workshops for villagers and visiting kids and will keep supporting the Sun Commune.  © Marc Goodwin This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Nivim House / architecture R/T Posted: 27 Mar 2017 12:00 PM PDT  © Bharath Ramamrutham
 © Bharath Ramamrutham Nivim is Goa’s first Gold rated green building certified by the IGBC – Indian Green Building Council in October 2013. It sits on a 1025 square meter property on a hill in a sleepy village in Goa. Before construction, the site had 14 fully mature trees- two jackfruit trees, one mango tree, two tamarind trees and one telful tree. The design of the house incorporates all these existing trees. Two trees in particular were located right in the center of the property and one of them rises up almost 15 meters.  © Bharath Ramamrutham The house is designed such that two walls in each room can completely open to make the rooms a part of the surrounding landscape. Each bedroom is designed like a pavilion in the garden with its own private verandahs and green space as well as large bathrooms that can only be built in the countryside with their own dedicated open space and open baths. The remainder of the property is designed with overlapping courtyards and gardens.  © Bharath Ramamrutham An important criterion at Nivim was to employ green practices without sacrificing the luxury lifestyle for its occupants and architectural design of the house. Impact on the environment was a key factor while designing the house. During construction, Nivim Goa minimized use of energy and resources by using local materials and materials with high recycled content while also minimizing waste. During operations, the house will consume less energy and water, use solar energy, recycle and reuse rain water and grey water on-site while providing a healthy environment for occupants.  © Bharath Ramamrutham The building with natural stone textures blends well with the surrounding vegetation and wilderness. The rear portion of the property was more or less flat where an old crumbling house existed, this was retained to make an effective visual buffer and screen partly open areas of the toilets/baths, kitchen and other circulation spaces.  © Bharath Ramamrutham Existing trees have been retained and provide shade to the building thereby reducing energy costs. Old wood salvaged from elsewhere in Goa from demolition sites have been used (25% of total wood needed) in the building thereby saving trees from being cut. New trees both fruiting and woody have been planted. Bamboo has been planted at many places to provide for the future. A special feature of the house is a unique pavilion overlooking the pool that is designed to be a self contained unit with a bathroom, bedroom and a covered sit-out.  © Bharath Ramamrutham The wooden screens are effectively used to enhance and replicate effect of filtered light streaming in from surrounding trees. The building is located at highest point for privacy and with vantage views of pristine landscape. The old crumbling wall at rear restored and used as effective buffer to living / dining spaces. The partly open to sky bathrooms enhance airiness and connect to nature.  © Bharath Ramamrutham The buildings have been built using materials naturally available like stone, wood, adobe fillers and new materials made from recycled wastes like fly-ash bricks, tetrapac sheets, etc. For one, the hill slope has been retained and the building integrated within its natural slope. The natural and locally available basalt stone and its un-plastered finish makes the building blend well with the surrounding landscape as well as offer thermal cooling to the building. The open plan with minimal walls allows for maximum natural ventilation and day lighting minimizing the use of artificial systems to cool and ventilate the building. The adobe and terracotta pot fillers also reduce the thermal heat effect and effectively help in limiting the heat absorbed by the roof/terrace slab. The china mosaic finish also helps in reflecting sun’s heat. The solar water heater reduces energy consumption. All waste water from the kitchen and the bathrooms is routed to a waste water treatment system with reed beds, settlement and polishing pond. A large underground tank harvests 1,00,000 liters of rain water and replenishes the swimming pool. There are tangible benefits of the above systems in energy and water savings. Some materials like laterite rubble, mud for adobe fillers, have been recycled/reused from within the site. Load bearing system of construction has been employed for all the stone masonry. Stone walls reflect heat; cool the building, so no artificial cooling is necessary. Percolation of rain water through percolation pits or pipes has been installed at certain points on the site to improve the ground water table of the area and the well water on the lower stretches of the hill. Since subsurface is hard laterite, rain water from the plot is channelized to an underground tank for storage and use for the swimming pool and secondary uses. The floor is finished with cudappa mirror polished in the main living/dining and kitchen areas for better durability and in rough Kota finish in the ground floor verandah areas and swimming pool hard landscape for a rustic look. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Wheat House / Damian Rogers Architecture Posted: 27 Mar 2017 10:00 AM PDT  © Alessandro Cerutti
 © Alessandro Cerutti From the architect. The bold form of the extension linking the two existing buildings, has been abstracted from the existing roof forms and respectfully acknowledges the heritage dwelling and streetscape. The play of sunlight filtered by the trees embraces the building as part of the landscape.  © Alessandro Cerutti The glazed roof floats as if it were a leaf on a tree branch and connects the interior to the external landscape, capturing views of the trees and sky. The dwelling will continually change with the landscape.  © Alessandro Cerutti  Site Floor Plan  © Alessandro Cerutti The roof is utilized as an edible garden adding a deep intrinsic soul to the space, expanding the understanding of how a suburban dwelling can function and what it can give back. There is a harmonious warmth between the old and the new. It feels as though the building has evolved over time.  © Alessandro Cerutti This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| CTBUH Crowns Ping An Finance Center as World's 4th Tallest Building Posted: 27 Mar 2017 09:20 AM PDT PingAnFinanceCenter.jpg?1490644691 "© Ping An Finance Center") © Ping An Finance Center The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has announced the completion of the Ping An Finance Center in Shenzhen, China, according to CTBUH tall building criteria. At 599 meters (1965 feet), it is now officially the second tallest building in China and the fourth tallest in the world, behind only the Burj Khalifa, Shanghai Tower and Makkah Royal Clock Tower. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), the Ping An Finance Center is located in the heart of Shenzhen's Fuitan District. The building contains over 100 floors of office space located above a large public podium, with a multi-story atrium providing retail, restaurants and transit options to the city and greater Pearl River delta region. CTBUH.jpg?1490644682 "© CTBUH") © CTBUH The CTBUH describe the form of the tower as a "taught steel cable, outstretched by the sky and the ground at once. At the top of the tower, the façade tapers to form a pyramid, giving the tower a prismatic aesthetic." The form is further emphasized by eight composite "megacolumns" along the building envelope that streamline the building for improved structural and wind performance, reducing baseline wind loads by 35 percent. The facade of the building is one the project most innovative features; its use of 1,700 tons of 316L stainless steel make the envelope the largest stainless steel facade system in the world. The specific material was chosen for its corrosion-resistance, which will allow the building to maintain its appearance for decades even in the city's salty coastal atmosphere. Read more about the project here. News via CTBUH.
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| Fos Bos / Kyncl Schaller Architekten Posted: 27 Mar 2017 08:00 AM PDT  © KSA Architekten
 © KSA Architekten From the architect. In the green belt of the city, the Professional and Technical High School has been renovated and extended. The design is functional, economical and it responds to social demands.  © KSA Architekten Comparable to a campus, it comprises of single free-standing buildings in a rural setting. The new extension of the building reinforces the courtyard. Simultaneously, a permeability to the surrounding open space is preserved.  © KSA Architekten  © KSA Architekten The result is an extension of the existing building to a compact system that consists of distinct but linked volumes. These are are divided into different functional areas. The character of the existing buildings are kept and underlined.  © KSA Architekten This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| BIG Designs Yin-Yang Shaped Panda Enclosure for the Copenhagen Zoo Posted: 27 Mar 2017 06:15 AM PDT  © BIG BIG, in collaboration with Schønherr Landscape Architects and MOE, has revealed designs for a new yin-yang-shaped panda enclosure at the Copenhagen Zoo that will serve as the new home of two Chinese giant pandas upon their arrival in 2018. Located between several existing buildings, including the award-winning Elephant House by Foster + Partners, the circular shaped habitat will be split to create separate enclosures for the male and female pandas; to increase the probability of mating, partnered pandas should not be able to see, hear or even smell each other for the majority of the year.  © BIG "Copenhagen Zoo's idea-driven organization was key in defining the team we wanted to work with on the new Panda House project," said Steffen Stræde, Director of the Copenhagen Zoo. "It's part of our DNA to let everyone from zookeepers, to gardeners and vets, influence the design and function of the facilities to secure the well-being of our animals. The team understood our approach and successfully integrated it into their design process to create a world-class home for these adored Pandas."  © BIG  © BIG To provide the pandas with as peaceful a living environment as possible and to provide the ideal conditions for mating (one of the major challenges associated with panda preservation), the enclosures have been designed to feel like "humans are the visitors in the pandas' home, rather than pandas being the exotic guests from faraway lands." The interiors will resemble the animal's natural terrain, with both a dense 'mist forest' and lighter green bamboo forest that will allow the pandas to move back and forth depending on season and temperature – just like they do on the hilly slopes of western China.  © BIG The design of the Panda House also optimizes the human experience. Two separate levels – a ground floor with a restaurant and access to interior spaces, and an upper floor leading around a rocky slope with Nordic plantings – will give visitors a variety of perspectives into the habitat, and allow for a full sense of immersion within nature. Barriers and functional spaces are carefully hidden or integrated into the landscape, giving both guests and the pandas a natural, non-distracting viewing condition. By lifting the earth at both ends of the male and female enclosure, the yin and yang shape is created, offering an undulating landscape with direct views. In addition, the building will give unique insight into the work of the zookeepers.  © BIG  © BIG "Architecture is like portraiture. To design a home for someone is like capturing their essence, their character and personality in built form. In the case of the two great Pandas, their unique solitary nature requires two similar but separate habitats - one for her and one for him," said Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner, BIG. "The habitat is formed like a giant yin and yang symbol, two halves: the male and the female, complete each other to form a single circular whole. The curvy lines are undulating in section to create the necessary separation between him and her - as well as between them and us. Located at the heart of the park, we have made the entire enclosure accessible from 360 degrees, turning the two pandas into the new rotation point for Copenhagen Zoo."  © BIG  © BIG The new Panda House will encompass a total of 1,250 square meters of indoor space and 1,200 square meters of outdoor space. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year, after approval of the 150 million DKK ($22 million USD) construction budget. The project will be completed prior to the pandas arrival in 2018. News via BIG.  © BIG  © BIG  © BIG  © BIG  © BIG  © BIG  © BIG  © BIG
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| Kapor Center for Social Impact / Fougeron Architecture Posted: 27 Mar 2017 06:00 AM PDT  © Bruce Damonte
 © Bruce Damonte For its new headquarters, The Kapor Center commissioned Fougeron Architecture to transform an existing 1920s-era office building in downtown Oakland into innovative workspace. The Kapor Center for Social Impact works to improve access to opportunity, participation and influence in the United States for historically underrepresented communities through investments in information technology and partnerships with nonprofits. The new headquarters had to be an architectural manifestation of the Kapor Center's core values: connectivity, openness, and democracy. Fougeron Architecture crafted a space to foster collaboration between the Center, its partner organizations and other like-minded nonprofits.  © Bruce Damonte  © Bruce Damonte The design is modern and harmonious, blending high-tech and humanism. Open spaces encourage collaboration and camaraderie, as well as flexibility. The clean interiors cater to informal social spaces that invite the interaction of staff, partners and visitors. Efficiency is paramount in the design, creating operational spaces that use human and technological resources sensibly, economically but imaginatively.  © Bruce Damonte  First Floor Plan  © Bruce Damonte The LEED Gold building had to express the center's vision for a connected, open, and democratic world, which is why the unified aim of the Kapor ethos is echoed through a circular volume at the heart of the structure. This circular volume carries an open stair upward through the building's original three floors to a fourth-floor addition and organizes the spaces within, linking floors and connecting a range of workspaces. Throughout the building, the circular volume acts as an organizing and integrating principle, linking the various floors and functions while maintaining the separations needed to meet code and maintain privacy.  © Bruce Damonte On the fourth floor, a modern dome and oculus establishes the Center's presence and its role to grow outward and upward within the community. The dome signals the center's mission to leverage tech-driven innovation with the highest goals of social transformation and equality. It also floods the building with daylight and incorporates channel glass and LED lighting—contributing to building's overall energy. The space is not only environmentally efficient, it is also conducive to pioneering work.  © Bruce Damonte This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Vendsyssel Theatre / schmidt hammer lassen architects Posted: 27 Mar 2017 04:00 AM PDT  © Adam Mørk
 © Adam Mørk From the architect. A successful premiere marked the beginning of a sold out season at Denmark's first newly built theatre in over a century outside of the Danish capital Copenhagen. The 4,200 m2 theatre and culture building is designed as a dynamic and multifunctional complex that includes a Music hall, Black Box, Rehearsal hall and a 430 seat flexible hall which includes an"in-the-round" theatre. In addition, the building houses offices and spacious lobby area with café and backstage area with workshop and dressing rooms. With its central location in the heart of Hjørring, the theatre will become a dynamo for the entire region's cultural life.  © Adam Mørk  Section  © Adam Mørk The building appears as a composition of cubic blocks. The warm rusty red corten steel facades correspond with its surroundings during the day, whilst the LED backed frosted glass facades illuminate in various colors during the evening; thus, creating an aesthetic link between the town, the front plaza and the theatre building.  © Adam Mørk "It is our ambition that the building will manifest itself as a new living organism in the cityscape," says Founding partner John Foldbjerg Lassen. "It is a building which stands by its cultural significance and which dares to be different without taking focus away from the town's existing qualities."  © Adam Mørk  Ground Floor Plan  © Adam Mørk Architectural, functional and experiential emphasis has been placed on five main themes: Anchoring in the town, transparency, functionality, flexibility and materiality. The result is a striking building, which relates pragmatically to its function and which invites both active use and quiet breaks.  © Adam Mørk The approach to the building's design has been a pragmatic view of culture as an opportunity and experience for all. Therefore, space has been created for both scheduled and ad hoc events outside at the plaza, inside the foyer and on the grand staircase where visitors can choose to be spectators or even participate in the activities.  © Adam Mørk  © Adam Mørk Inside, an open plan solution ensures visual and physical connections across the building. The boundaries between publicly accessible areas and the more traditional theatre functions are blurred.  © Adam Mørk "We've designed emphasis on the interaction between artists and spectators. Inside, all the major halls can be opened to the foyer, the use of glass and windows in different rooms creates visual connections and the performers can get a glimpse of the public from their lounge on the top level."  © Adam Mørk This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Wang Shu: "Architecture is Not Just an Object That You Place in the Environment" Posted: 27 Mar 2017 03:30 AM PDT
In this video from the Louisiana Channel Chinese architect, Pritzker Prize Laureate and co-founder (with Lu Wenyu) of the Amateur Architecture Studio Wang Shu shares his perspective on contemporary architecture and what it means to be an architect today. "Architecture is not just an object that you place in the environment," Shu explains. "Your experience of the architecture starts far away from the building. Architecture is not only the house in itself; it also includes a big area around it. All of this is architecture."  Amateur Architecture Studio, Regeneration of the Wencun village, 2016. Image © Iwan Baan. Image © Louisiana His studio focuses on designing buildings and urban spaces that foster community and work from the bottom up: "We think that a society that is good for people to live in starts from the ground. Real culture starts from the ground." Wang Shu was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark, in March 2017. Until April 30th, the museum is exhibiting the work of Wang Shu. Via Louisiana Channel.
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| 20 Things Your Non-Architect Friends Secretly Think About You Posted: 27 Mar 2017 02:30 AM PDT  © Ariana Zilliacus Maybe it's a result of long studio hours, the fact that architectural thinking tends to seep into every aspect of life, or a combination of other factors—but it's certain that architects have a culture all their own. Weird obsessions feel so commonplace in our closed social circles that it's easy to forget how bizarre some of our little quirks can appear to people on the outside. If you're an architect with a friend whose architectural knowledge pretty much stops at the Franks (Gehry and Lloyd Wright), here are some secret thoughts about you that they might be harboring. 1. "You are an absolute hoarder for keeping those old issues of Architectural Record and Dwell for 'reference.'"  © Ariana Zilliacus 2. "You must be getting paid a ton for all those overtime hours." 3. "You're lucky to have a job whose necessity will survive any economy." 4. "Why is your Instagram filled only with buildings instead of beaches and food? Sad."  © Ariana Zilliacus 13. "You're going to kill me if I ask about the difference between modern and contemporary again—but I can never keep them straight." 6. "You must secretly hate me—why else would you never be able to meet for drinks or dinner?" 7. "You're going to die an early death. Between all the coffee, stress, and awful clients you can't stop talking about, there's no way you're making it past 50." 8. "You're ridiculous for owning a laser measure. How much did that thing cost again?" 9. "You are definitely exaggerating about how terrible your clients are. Really, can't you just drop them?" 10. "Brutalist architecture is the stuff of nightmares, and you're a monster for enjoying it."  © Ariana Zilliacus 11. "You make the best tour guide. You always find something insightful to say about any building you come across." 12. "But you're also awful to travel with. You stop and ogle at every other building and can't seem to stop sharing just how much knowledge you have about each one." 13. "It's cool how you singlehandedly mastermind and build entire design projects."  © Ariana Zilliacus 14. "You're spending way too many years in school." 15. "You're the easiest person on my holiday gift list." 16. "Why are you still single? Aren't architects supposed to be super dreamy?"  © Ariana Zilliacus 17. "You're the only voice that matters when it comes to praising my kid's LEGO creations." 18. "If I ever want to build a house, I know who to call to design it." 19. "Your job is supposed to be like a mix between artist, engineer, and construction worker—but all you've actually done is become super pretentious about the use of the word 'design.'" 20. "You are seriously dedicated to your craft." This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 27 Mar 2017 02:00 AM PDT  © Diego Medina
 © Diego Medina From the architect. Impala House is a box, a big container, built in the forest of Cariló, in front of a forest reserve. The residence indirectly touches the terrain with a plinth that nestles the services.  © Diego Medina The lot, which presents a strong transversal change of level, inspired a spacious public plan that takes full advantage of the terrain. From the top of it, the landscape dominates the views and then melts away with the lot in the solarium/swimming pool.  Diagram The house, set as a strip, is oriented to the north and connects to the lot at the time that secures views of the forest reserve. Bearing this in mind and occupying the widest length between setbacks, a 'piano nobile' which goes through the public area of the house was projected.  © Diego Medina In order to reach the entrance height, the access was prioritized by turning it into a path where water and different materiality create a sensory experience.  1st Floor The program is ordered in different plans: services/public areas/private areas. This, added to the multiple possible accesses, creates great flexibility and secures privacy in each space.  © Diego Medina  © Diego Medina The initial requirements included three en suite bedrooms, service bedroom, playroom/ screening room and barbecue area; and then, a sauna, a Scottish shower and a massage room were added to the list. The residence demanded a large amount of square meters, to avoid fragmentation of the program and to maintain a large percentage of the lot free from construction, all the areas were assembled into a compact box, a volume measuring 21 m long by 7,5 m wide and 7 m high supported on a half buried plinth  © Diego Medina The barbecue area becomes an extension of the living room/dining room as the interior blends with the deck and the swimming pool. This area becomes the heart of the house in summer as it can welcome a great number of guests, connecting what goes on inside and outside the house.  © Diego Medina In the search for a sensitive experience and the perception of the constant change of space, different games of light were created –concrete skylights, glass brick floor in the access, concrete pergolas and zenithal lighting in the bathrooms.  © Diego Medina The studio looks for the use of an honest materiality. Iron, stone, aluminum, wood and concrete adapt to the environment and collaborate to a low maintenance.  © Diego Medina This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Construction Halted on Heatherwick's Pier 55 in New York Posted: 27 Mar 2017 01:00 AM PDT  © Heatherwick Studio via Curbed Construction on Heatherwick Studio's undulating Pier 55 in New York has come to a screeching halt, following a ruling by a United States District Court judge last week that will require the project to undergo an intense wildlife impact review. Last April, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave the project, located on the Hudson River in West Chelsea, the go-ahead, allowing initial construction to begin. But the district judge found that the Army Corps of Engineers had failed to properly consider the wide effects of the projects on the river wildlife. The ruling is a major victory for the City Club of New York, who have been mostly unsuccessful in their fight against their park up until now. Although the park has already received the support of Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and a range of local officials, ballooning cost estimates (from $130 million to $200 million), has lead to some skepticism in the community, and caused the project to be slightly redesigned earlier this year.Read more about the ruling and how the project will move forward, here. News via the New York Times.
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| 6 Tips for Designing Accessible and Safe Bus Stops Posted: 27 Mar 2017 01:00 AM PDT  © NACTO Designing urban spaces to improve mobility for all inhabitants is one of the main objectives of NACTO, the National Association of City Transportation Officials. Founded in 1996, this non-profit organization brings together more than 40 US and Canadian cities to share their advice and design practices seeking to raise the design standards in public policies for public spaces, mobility, and transportation. They've developed a series of guides in which they propose design guidelines to make streets, cycle paths, intersections and other urban spaces more accessible and safe for all road users. One of the most recent is the "Transit Street Design Guide" in which they offer, among other things, 6 recommendations to take into account when designing bus stops. Find out what these recommendations are below. 1. "Stations are Gateways."  © NACTO The relationship vehicular traffic has with sidewalks and buildings is one point that should receive special attention when designing a bus stop or station. This is because the way a stop interacts with its environment determines whether or not it's an appropriate access point to the transit system. In addition, if the stops have elements to make the passengers' wait more pleasant such as trees, seats, and a shelter to protect them from the rain, it is possible to positively influence the perceptions of public transport for the pedestrians and drivers in the surrounding area. 2. "Facilitate Movement, Ease Interactions."  © NACTO The role that public transport stations can play in a neighborhood goes much further than just being where people get on and off a bus. In fact, if the design and location of the stops are well planned, it is possible to reduce travel times and thus increase confidence in the transit system. This is possible if the stops become intermodal centers distributed throughout the city that offer public bicycle rentals as well as opportunities for ride shares and other services. By doing so, any investments that are made will benefit the operation of the station and activity at street level. 3. "In-lane Stops Save Time."  © NACTO Stops in bus-only lanes make it possible to reduce delays for the other traffic by concentrating stops in traffic flow to a single lane. This also offers an opportunity to create a safer space where passengers can board buses more calmly. They also contribute to condensing activity to a single point on the sidewalk without affecting the flow of pedestrians. 4. "Universal Design is Equitable Design."  © NACTO It's possible to ensure that differently-abled passengers and people of any age can safely board buses if the bus stops' designs are people-centered and accessible to all from the outset. That's why NACTO believes that intelligent design improves trip experience on public transport not only for those who have reduced mobility, but for all users. Planning a design well from the start can reduce time spent on future overhauls as well as costs for upkeep or accident repairs. 5. "Design for Safety."  © NACTO NACTO defines having traffic safe and socially safe pedestrian routes from places of origin to stops as an element that is "vital to achieving a safe [transportation] system." For that same reason, they offer some design elements that help to achieve this, including taking into consideration that the stops be close to areas of all-hours activity, that shelters and stands are seen as places for waiting and human-scale lighting, in other words, light fixtures designed for people and not cars. In doing so, the organization states that passengers can make better decisions when planning where and when to take public transportation. 6. "Integrate Vehicle and Platform Design."  © NACTO Designing stops to be level with buses and the sidewalks is a basic feature so that boarding is first and foremost accessible and fast. This situation, which NACTO considers as a key part of any system, requires that they have a flexible design able to be used with different types of buses. If you want to know more about NACTO, click here. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| "Are.na" is an Online Tool for Contextualizing the Internet – Here's Why It's Useful to Architects Posted: 27 Mar 2017 12:00 AM PDT  "The intention behind Are.na is to build a platform that helps people continually recontextualize information into new ideas and help us all understand the vast amount information we face on a daily basis". Image © Are.na Outside of our familiar feeds, social or otherwise, the Internet can be a daunting place. While information and interaction have never been easier, developing ways to get a handle on the quantity and pace of this crowded, if not valuable, world can often be difficult – it's all too easy to find your digital life unintentionally isolated. In the architectural sphere, shared knowledge and a broad understanding of history and contemporary practice are all-important; discourse and conversation even more so. Are.na, a platform for collaborative and independent research, provides a new lens when surfing, capturing and contextualizing the content of the Internet.  An image-based 'Block'. Image © Are.na Why Are.na's Model is UsefulA drawing of Grundtvig's Church outside Copenhagen, for example, can have the same significance for an architect as a story by Hans Christian Andersen – they both, in their own distinct ways, reveal important and aspects of 20th Century Danish culture and society. Anything and everything is relevant when it comes to the processes of designing and building, and the expansion of Internet access has augmented this. When practitioners or students of architecture discover a drawing, a photograph, an essay or an article, their inclination is to collect it; to save it as a project reference. "If it's not useful right now, it probably will be soon!" – or so the mantra goes. But material searched for and stumbled upon in the digital realm can all too easily drown and disappear; bookmarking a webpage or downloading an album of images can be both laborious and inhibiting. To add to that, personal archives (both on or offline) are notoriously time consuming to build and maintain and, ultimately, difficult to share and be enriched by others. The most efficient current model for delivering and consuming information online is that of the stream: a chronological cascade of bits and bytes ad infinitum, presenting information continuously and coherently. It's the model employed by the likes of Twitter and Facebook and almost every website which regularly updates (ArchDaily included). When it comes to collaboration, however, the stream in its conventional format can often bridle meaningful connection.  'Channel': Stones. Image © Are.na  'Channel': Stones. Image © Are.na  'Channel': Land Art. Image © Are.na  'Blocks' can be simply text-based. Image © Are.na How Are.na WorksThe founders of Are.na—New York-based Charles Broskoski, Daniel Pianetti and Chris Sherron—have employed the stream (the 'Feed' in this case) in an unconventional way. Their catch-all term for saved media (including images, text, hyperlinks, and files) is a 'Block', which can be connected by users from across the entire scope of the Internet into 'Channels' (flexible thematic containers). Within these Channels you can choose to archive material related to a particular theme: housing projects in Belgium, for instance, public domain essays on architectural theory, or 18th Century Persian textiles. You might decide to create a Channel called 'Architectural Collage' in order to collate interesting examples of that representational style, for example, or one called 'Houses in Nature'. These Channels and their self-curated content—which can either be shared with collaborators and visible to the world or visible only to you—are places to store and categorise material gathered on your digital explorations. Unless you specifically hide them from public view your Channels are open to the entire community of Are.na users and, by extension, the wider community of the Internet. Others users of the platform can connect your examples of architectural collages, for instance, into their Channel, 'Drawings of Rooms' – and so the connections proliferate. In this sense, Are.na is not simply about conventional forms of sharing and scaling but about collecting, connecting and—importantly—contextualizing information media. When you save a Block from the web, the URL sticks with it as does its source. However far that Block mushrooms from its starting point, its origin is not discarded along the way. The intentions behind Are.na are greater than the sum of its parts. Its founders recognise that those reliant on the Internet as a source of information and inspiration are faced by a vast amount of information and, without the right attitude and tools, nigh-on impossible to usefully harness. In this way, Are.na aims to facilitate the continual re-contextualization of information into new ideas and thereby help to make sense out of the 'data deluge'. As a society, we should "think about what mainstream tools we have for unpacking our own perspectives," the founders argue. Is 'sharing' enough? What about 'Likes'? The platform responds directly to questions like, "What happens to the things you shared last year?" and "How can the tools we build today help us understand how our thinking has changed over time?" While easy to perceive Are.na as an evolution of Tumblr, or a less image-centric incarnation of Pinterest, it's ultimately neither nor in-between. Unlike a 'Like', a 'Favorite' or a simple 'Share', the platform demands a degree of cognitive effort. This encourages a more complex and, ultimately, a more rewarding thought process between your decision to save a photograph, for example, and its possible future use. In the same way that a conventional filing cabinet requires you to choose where to file that photograph in a finite collection of categories, Are.na requires a similar process of self-editing and mutual generosity. The difference is that you can file it more than once and others can come to your filing cabinet, nab it in the spirit of sharing, and refile it in their own. If this sounds like too much to think about, it's isn't in practice. At a moment in which even the smallest online thought processes are being coded out of other platforms which offer similar services, blind and simplistic reactions to content (such as Facebook's 'Sad', 'Wow' and 'Angry') are not what Are.na has been designed to facilitate. It rather provides an opportunity to self-organise your own digital life, to think a little about what or why you're storing and sharing. As a result, you have more agency over your online world and, when it comes to creative collaboration, the path is a little clearer for productive accumulation and conversation.  Picasso's 'Constellation Drawings' (1924) shown here as a 'Block' with eight other connections. Image © Are.na How Do I Begin?This is our initial selection of architecture, urbanism and representation-related Users and Channels that you might find interesting:
Are.na is free to use (but has a Premium offering). You can find out more, here.  "The intention behind Are.na is to build a platform that helps people continually recontextualize information into new ideas and help us all understand the vast amount information we face on a daily basis". Image © Are.na
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| Posted: 26 Mar 2017 11:00 PM PDT  Barcelona Pavilion. Image © Gili Merin Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (27 March 1886 – 17 August 1969) is one of the most influential architects of the 20th century, known for his role in the development of the most enduring architectural style of the era: modernism. Born in Aachen, Germany, Mies' career began in the influential studio of Peter Behrens, where Mies worked alongside other two other titans of modernism, Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. For almost a century, Mies' minimalist style has proved very popular; his famous aphorism "less is more" is still widely used, even by those who are unaware of its origins.  Mies van der Rohe with smoke, 1957; photographed for Life magazine. Image Courtesy of Frank Scherschel/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images Mies began to develop this style through the 1920s, combining the functionalist industrial concerns of his modernist contemporaries and an aesthetic drive toward minimal intersecting planes—rejecting the traditional systems of enclosed of rooms and relying heavily on glass to dissolve the boundary between the building's interior and exterior. The decade was bookended by his proposal for the Friedrichstraße skyscraper, an unrealized all-glass tower designed in 1921 which cemented his fame within the architectural avant-garde, and by his 1929 German Pavilion at the Barcelona Exposition (more commonly known as the Barcelona Pavilion) which remains one of his most well-known and popular works.  Chicago Federal Center. Image © Samuel Ludwig In 1930, Mies took over from Hannes Meyer as director of the Bauhaus—the school founded by and most commonly associated with its founder Walter Gropius—serving as its leader until it was forced to close in 1933 under pressure from the Nazi government. In 1932, the work of Mies formed a cornerstone of the Museum of Modern Art's exhibition on "The International Style" curated by Philip Johnson and Henry-Russell Hitchcock, an exhibition that not only reinforced Mies' role as a leader of the modernist movement, but also brought the movement itself to a wider, more international audience.  The Farnsworth House. Image © Greg Robbins After the closure of the Bauhaus and the continued rise of the Nazis in Germany, Mies found work in his home country increasingly difficult. He eventually decided to emigrate to the United States in 1937, where he settled in Chicago and became the head of the Illinois Institute of Technology. During his 20 years at IIT, Mies developed what became known as "the second Chicago school of architecture," a style of simplified, rectilinear high-rise buildings exemplified by projects such as 860-880 Lakeshore Drive and the Seagram Building. Alongside this new skyscraper typology, he also continued to develop his low-slung, pavilion typology that he first tested in projects like the Barcelona Pavilion—with his entirely transparent Farnsworth House, completed in 1951, probably the most enduring example in the United States. At times, Mies was also able to combine both of these typologies into one composition, as he did in the three-building complex of the Chicago Federal Center. Check out all of Mies van der Rohe's classic designs featured on ArchDaily via the thumbnails below, and more coverage of Mies through the links below those. A Virtual Look Into Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House A Virtual Look Into Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion Step Into Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion in this Virtual Walkthrough Infographic: Celebrating Mies van der Rohe Mies van der Rohe: "Architecture as Language" From Mad Men to Mies: Why Modernism Holds Sway Mies, the Modernist Man of Letters Material Masters: Glass is More with Mies van der Rohe The Story of Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House to Become Hollywood Film Last Is More: The Miesian Lesson Thanks for the View, Mr. Mies: Lafayette Park Detroit This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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