Arch Daily |
- Roteta House / Estudio Peña Ganchegui
- Banca di Credito Cooperativo "G. Toniolo" Auditorium / FABBRICANOVE Architetti
- House in Macau / Millimeter Interior Design
- Healing Through Design - HENN and C.F. Møller's Competition-Winning Hospital for RWTH Aachen
- Spotlight: Richard Neutra
- Villa Comano / Attilio Panzeri & Partners
- Spotlight: Jean Prouvé
- This Underground Bathhouse on the Korean Border Questions Architecture's Role in Geopolitical Tension
- The White Snake / Space4architecture
- Boa Nova Tea House by Alvaro Siza Through the Lens of Fernando Guerra
- Spotlight: Kisho Kurokawa
- AUB Design Studios and Workshops / Design Engine Architects
| Roteta House / Estudio Peña Ganchegui Posted: 08 Apr 2017 10:00 PM PDT  © Edorta Subijana
 © Edorta Subijana From the architect. The particular attributes offered by the plot shape he house: Its level 3 meters above the street, the astonishing layered rock wall at the bottom of the plot, the beautiful existing palm, and the presence of two car-parks located South and West of the plot. All of them have been, along with the orientation (N-S, following the elongated form of the plot) and the program of needs (a house for a two-children family), determining factors in the Roteta House formalization.  © Edorta Subijana Taking distance from the West limit, which is excavated at street level to organize the entrance, the building is developed in a linear way. The sequence starts from North with the children's rooms, continues with the toilet rooms and the parents' room, and ends in the kitchen, from where the living-room grows, linked with the garden through a porch open to the South.  Ground Floor The white concrete wall that protects the house is replaced on the South side by a glazed closure, along the living-room wing. The external appearance of this space contrasts with the linear volume, whose curved geometry, coated with zinc, stands out from the previous one, seeking the Eastern light.  © Edorta Subijana  © Edorta Subijana The house situation on the plot divides the exterior space into 4 different areas: the entrance courtyard already mentioned (which organizes both the road and the pedestrian access) on the West, a private garden linked to the secondary rooms (characterized by the presence of the quarry) on the North, another linked to the main one (around the palm tree) on the East, and the main garden linked to the livingroom, on the South.  © Edorta Subijana This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Banca di Credito Cooperativo "G. Toniolo" Auditorium / FABBRICANOVE Architetti Posted: 08 Apr 2017 07:00 PM PDT  © Filippo Romano
 © Filippo Romano From the architect. The new Auditorium of the Banca di Credito Cooperativo (BCC) "G. Toniolo" of San Cataldo, near Caltanissetta in the Sicilian hinterland, is the evidence of a possible coexistence between urban memory and contemporary architecture. Designed by FABBRICANOVE Architetti, architectural office founded in Florence in 2009 by Enzo Fontana, Giovanni Bartolozzi, and Lorenzo Matteoli, the new Auditorium born from the client's desire to create a public space for cultural events open to the public and for hosting business private meetings. Then, a space for the residents to meet and share new cultural opportunities, and for the bank activities.  © Filippo Romano The location of the project is an important issue for the design approach: San Cataldo, a small town in the middle of Sicily, is composed of traditional houses. The auditorium is a new urban and contemporary design 'object' that comes as an alternative to the consolidated historical centre.  © Filippo Romano  Ground Floor Plan  © Filippo Romano The project is situated along the main central street, where there was a cluster of houses with a single front facade, characterized by elements of classical architecture: the restriction of the Superintendence imposed the reconstruction of the original facade that in the project becomes a scenic backdrop. A new volume, designed like a dark and compact monolith, stands behind the restored facade, but it is not hidden. The entire auditorium is designed as a massive embedded diamond that is revealed on the side face, the rear face, and upward: the past and the present come together and invite for a new reading of the urban context and its architecture.  © Filippo Romano The auditorium has an area of 1.300 square meters, divided into four levels and a basement for the archives of the bank and technical rooms. On the first level there is the foyer that opens on the main street through five portals; the second level includes the auditorium hall with about 280 seats; the third level is dedicated to a gallery for 130 seats; at the last level there is a meeting room and a terrace between the facade and the monolith.  Section FABBRICANOVE chose a grey anthracite cladding for the skin of the new volume in order to make it visible and to create a dialogue with the white plaster of the reconstructed facade. The coating of the external volume has been realized with vertical cut panels, to obtain a precious texture, which works as a ventilated facade. The project arises into the context as a decisive and clear overlay. The structural system is a significant element of the project. The structure is concentrated in the perimeter of the monolith, and this allows to have an open space with spans of up to 20 linear meters. This solution creates a void, a gap between the reconstructed facade and the monolith, where all the distribution system is located: stairs, elevators and entrances.  © Filippo Romano This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| House in Macau / Millimeter Interior Design Posted: 08 Apr 2017 01:00 PM PDT  Courtesy of Millimeter Interior Design
 Courtesy of Millimeter Interior Design From the architect. This 11,000 square-feet house is located on Taipa Island in the Southern side of Macau. The owners live with one elderly and three children. Understanding the needs of the owners, the designer transformed the space into a more practical and suitable home for the family to settle in.  Courtesy of Millimeter Interior Design  Ground Floor Plan  Courtesy of Millimeter Interior Design Functionally, the designer relocated the staircase in the living area in order to create an effective and spacious living space for its owners. Apart from expanding the living area, the designer also designed two bedrooms for two sons, two sizable ensuite bedrooms for daughter and grandmother. A full level for a master ensuite bedroom, with an open roof top sitting area as a sky garden with a spectacular sea view, a spacious walk-in closet, and stereo room. The designer purposely designed a study room in the basement for their three children. The study room is connected to the garden, but the full height wall in the existing garden has blocked all the natural sunlight and cannot reach into the basement. The designer demolished the wall and created an artistic staircase to link up the split garden, thus, allowing the sunlight to go into the reading room. The other side of the basement is a wine cellar which can store more than 500 bottles.  Courtesy of Millimeter Interior Design Conceptually, the designer used geometry form as main design concept. The rectangular shape exterior in contrast with the curved lines used in interior area, creates an energetic movement through out the entire house. The whole house uses natural materials, veneer and marble for the walls and floor and a decorative green wall to embellish the home to create a natural ambience.  Courtesy of Millimeter Interior Design This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Healing Through Design - HENN and C.F. Møller's Competition-Winning Hospital for RWTH Aachen Posted: 08 Apr 2017 09:00 AM PDT  The competition called for the expansion of an existing listed 1970's hospital. Image Courtesy of HENN + C.F. Møller Architects HENN and C.F. Møller Architects, of Berlin and Aarhus respectively, have jointly won an international competition to extend the iconic University Hospital RWTH Aachen in Germany. The winning entry, chosen amongst twelve others, responds to RWTH Aachen's existing listed 1970's hospital with a partially-underground extension embedded in the landscape, seeking to minimize visual impact whilst creating lush green parkland for patients, staff, and the public.  A public entrance features considered views across green parkland. Image Courtesy of HENN + C.F. Møller Architects The principles of 'Healing Architecture' were central to the design process of HENN + C.F. Møller's 35,000 square meter scheme. Although large parts of the design are pushed underground, new operation and care facilities have been organized to enjoy extensive natural light, and access to green space. Rising with a sweeping gesture across the landscape, the building's form creates an inviting, warm, bright public entrance, with carefully-designed views of the rooftop green parkland enabling intuitive wayfinding for patients and visitors.  The building's submerged massing allows for rooftop green space. Image Courtesy of HENN + C.F. Møller Architects  A sweeping motion across the landscape creates a bright, warm public entrance space. Image Courtesy of HENN + C.F. Møller Architects A considerable addition to Aachen's healthcare provision, the new extension will include a central surgery with 31 units, a day clinic with four units, and three intensive care units. In the interests of openness and efficiency, a series of specially-designed staff hubs puncture the versatile operations floor, promoting teamwork and inter-staff relations.  The building provides ample natural light despite being partially embedded in the landscape. Image Courtesy of HENN + C.F. Møller Architects  The building provides ample natural light despite being partially embedded in the landscape. Image Courtesy of HENN + C.F. Møller Architects
 A low profile reduces visual impact on the existing listed hospital. Image Courtesy of HENN + C.F. Møller Architects  The winning proposal forms an extension to the existing listed hospital at RWTH Aachen. Image Courtesy of HENN + C.F. Møller Architects News via: C.F. Møller Architects.
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| Posted: 08 Apr 2017 07:00 AM PDT  Lovell House, 1929. Image © <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lovell_House,_Los_Angeles,_California.JPG'>Wikimedia user Los Angeles</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a> Though Modernism is sometimes criticized for imposing universal rules on different people and areas, it was Richard J. Neutra's (April 8, 1892 – April 16, 1970) intense client focus that won him acclaim. His personalized and flexible version of modernism created a series of private homes that were—and still are—highly sought after, making him one of the United States' most significant mid-century modernists. His architecture of simple geometry and airy steel and glass became the subject of the iconic photographs of Julius Schulman, and came to stand for an entire era of American design.  © Klaus Meier-Ude <a href='https://www.architonic.com/en/story/susanne-fritz-exhibition-richard-neutra-in-europe-1960-1970/7000507'>via architonic.com</a> Born in Vienna to a wealthy family, Neutra's early career is a who's who of European architecture: he studied under Adolf Loos at the Vienna University of Technology and took a job in the office of Erich Mendelsohn after briefly being the chief architect of the German town of Luckenwalde in 1921. After emigrating to America in 1923, Neutra continued to mingle with the biggest stars of architectural society, working under Frank Lloyd Wright before establishing himself as the West Coast architect by completing his Lovell House in 1929.  An original post card of the Cyclorama. Image © <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/fauxto_dkp/2335537917'>Flickr user fauxto_dkp</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/'>CC BY-NC-ND 2.0</a> Neutra's classic mid-century houses proved incredibly popular both then and now; popularity that was aided by the prefabricated elements of his designs. The essential airy lightness of a Neutra house could be easily replicated across the West Coast, and then personalized by the attentive Neutra to create a house that fit the client and the landscape in a way that other mass-produced styles struggled to achieve. Though Neutra once tried to move to the Soviet Union to bring his prefabricated style to workers' housing, Neutra's homes perhaps ironically became emblems of the American Dream on the surging mid-century West Coast.  Lovell House, 1929. Image © <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/aseles/6149131597'>Flickr user aseles</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/'>CC BY-ND 2.0</a> The famous Schulman photographs of Neutra's homes embodied American optimism, blending sales with art and showing a vision of a glamorous lifestyle that entered the public mind in a way that few modernists can claim to have achieved. The Objectivist philosopher Ayn Rand once lived in his now demolished von Sternberg house, something that Neutra himself might not have been too keen on. Given his enduring popularity, it is surprising that a large amount of Neutra's work has recently been demolished, but recent efforts by his son mean that his designs are now once again being built—it seems his vision of life is one that still holds currency.  Kaufmann House, 1947. Image © Barbara Alfors 2000 <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kaufman_House_Palm_Springs.jpg'>via Wikimedia</a? licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a> Find out more about Richard Neutra's most well-known projects via the thumbnails below, and more coverage of Neutra via the links below those: A Virtual Look Into Richard Neutra's Unbuilt Case Study House #6, The Omega House A Virtual Look Into Richard Neutra's Unbuilt Case Study House #13, The Alpha House Monocle 24 Visit Richard Neutra's Residences in Los Angeles Farewell to Richard Neutra's Cyclorama Center in Gettysburg The Neutra Embassy Building in Karachi, Pakistan: A Petition to Save Modernism This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Villa Comano / Attilio Panzeri & Partners Posted: 08 Apr 2017 06:00 AM PDT  © Alessandro Crinari
 © Alessandro Crinari From the architect. We we're called upon to project this villa which rises out of an enchanting little corner, on the hills that pose as the crown of Lugano, a Swiss-Italian city which boasts a breathtaking view stretching from the Lugano Lake itself, to the mountains of high Capriasca. The criteria and materialization of its insertion were objects of long reflection.  © Alessandro Crinari The peculiar morphology between terrain and orientation – naturally towards the lake – convinced us to design a compact block shunning its dorsal access, remaining completely open on the remaining three sides, prioritizing the panorama.  © Alessandro Crinari Conceived as a monolith, the giant solid mass was subsequently excavated where revealed necessary to sculpt the voids designated to inhabitation.  © Alessandro Crinari Upon much consideration and pigment sampling, the choice of color to clothe the concrete skin was black, cased in very rough-grained wooden boards; not only for the facades, but to excavate the inhabitable voids as well.  © Alessandro Crinari Attaining such result was no simple feat; it was only possible through extensive collaboration with chemical engineers and other competent specialists in material manipulation. Thanks to everyone's efforts, after many attempts, we achieved the desired result.  Floor Plan Level 00 Despite material opacity, the large openings allow abundant light to gently invade its interior, and diffuse throughout.  © Alessandro Crinari The sculpted staircase purposefully accentuates the excavated atmosphere of the large mass.  © Alessandro Crinari Special attention was given to architecting the landscape, which, thanks to the great sensibility of our designer exalts our choice of backdrop, drawing attention to a solitary immersed in greenery. The villa, completed in 2013, is inhabited by a family of four.  © Alessandro Crinari This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 08 Apr 2017 05:00 AM PDT  One of Jean Prouvé's Demountable Houses on display. Image Courtesy of Forward A figure whose work blurred the line between the mathematical and the aesthetic, French industrial designer, architect, and engineer Jean Prouvé (8 April 1901 – 23 March 1984) is perhaps best remembered for his solid yet nimble furniture designs, as well as his role in the nascent pre-fabricated housing movement. His prowess in metal fabrication inspired the Structural Expressionist movement and helped to usher in the careers of British High-Tech architects Richard Rogers and Norman Foster. .jpg?1460054318 "© <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jean_Prouv%C3%A9_(1981).jpg'>Rob C. Croes via Wikimedia</a>, licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a>") © <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jean_Prouv%C3%A9_(1981).jpg'>Rob C. Croes via Wikimedia</a>, licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a> Born in Paris to artist Victor Prouvé and pianist Marie Duhamel, Jean Prouvé grew up surrounded by the ideals of L'École de Nancy, the Art Nouveau school of which his father was a member. The school stressed the importance of utilizing industrial technologies in the creation of art, as well as spreading its products to the masses by treating art as an industry in itself. Embracing these values, from ages 13–16 Prouvé studied at the school of fine arts in Nancy, and subsequently was apprenticed to both a blacksmith and a metalworking shop in Paris. In 1924 at the age of 22, Prouvé opened his first studio. Working in wrought iron and steel, he fabricated lamps, chandeliers, and handrails, and designed his first furniture piece, La Chaise Inclinable. The reclining chair was the first to use the technique of flat steel tubes that Prouvé had developed in his studio, which allowed the chair to be folded and stacked. This technique was concurrent to that of bent steel tubes developed by Prouvé's contemporary Marcel Breuer. Production of the chair continued until 1930, and during this time Prouvé produced details for various buildings throughout France, including the gates for the Verdun Memorial, and several houses designed by Robert Mallet-Stevens.  A selection of Jean Prouvé's furniture designs. Image © <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/jmarquez/3031451589'>Flickr user jmarquez</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/'>CC BY-NC-ND 2.0</a> These early successes led to the expansion of his studio, renamed "Ateliers Jean Prouvé," and a reinvigorated mission to produce highly industrialized pieces for the building industry along with mass-produced furniture. This period saw the invention of many of Prouvé's most notable furniture pieces, including the Cité set, which consisted of furniture for university students, and the Bureau CPDE, a black lacquered desk. By 1936, Prouvé had standard outfittings for hospitals, offices, and schools. The following year, Prouvé collaborated with Le Corbusier to design a bathroom unit and released his first standalone prefabricated structure, BLPS. The structure was intended to be used as a vacation home, whose simple assembly and light weight allowed it to be constructed or deconstructed by five workers in four to five hours. During World War II, Prouvé's studio was commissioned to design prefabricated barracks for the French army, which would allow him to develop his signature structural system that became a key to his later architectural designs. To give a higher degree of stability and permanence, these buildings were given beefier structural pieces—large A-shaped columns that a ridge beam could be slotted into to support the roof and walls.  Prouvé's Demountable House after being updated and adapted by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2015. Image Courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners  Prouvé's Demountable House after being updated and adapted by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2015. Image Courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners After the war, an influx of more widely-available materials coincided with a boom in need for new housing. To meet this need, Prouvé collaborated with Pierre Jeanneret, Le Corbusier's cousin, to develop the first in the line of Demountable Houses. The design combined the ease-of-assembly of the BLPS and the structural integrity of the army barracks to provide quick, durable housing for homeless war victims. The signature structural column was split and widened and placed in the center of the floor to act as an interior portal, then linked to the wall panels with slender steel beams. Houses were available in 6 by 6 meter, 8 by 8 meter, and 6 by 9-meter sizes. This series culminated in the Ferembal Demountable House (1948), a longer building designed as an office for a tinned goods manufacturer, where the steel portal frames aligned with the building's long axis to create a spatial hallway. The original Ferembal House was nearly demolished before being purchased by gallery owner Patrick Seguin, who in 2007 hired Jean Nouvel to restore the structure to its former glory. Later efforts in pre-fabricated structures included multi-use designs for African colonies. These structures could be catered to their tropical climate with attachable louver systems and panels featuring portholes. A large number of these structures were built in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, where in some cases numerous structures were connected or bridged together. Other prefabricated structures included a temporary school in Villejuif (1956), the Métropole House (1949, winner of a competition for a mass-producible rural school with classroom and teacher accommodation), and a filling station for energy company Total (1969).  Jean Prouvé's petrol filling station on display at the Vitra campus in Germany. Image © <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vitra_petrol_station,_Jean_Prouv%C3%A9.jpg'>Wikimedia user Sandstein</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a> Prouvé's designs later provided a strong influence on young architects across the globe. In 1971, Prouvé was president of the jury that selected Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano's Pompidou Centre, handing over the baton to a new generation of architects with an interest in exalted structure.  One of Jean Prouvé's Demountable Houses on display with an Easy Armchair by Pierre Jeanneret. Image Courtesy of Forward Many of Prouvé's furniture pieces are still manufactured by Swiss furniture retailer Vitra, and his prefabricated houses remain preserved and regularly displayed thanks to Galerie Patrick Seguin. The Paradoxical Popularity of Jean Prouvé's Demountable Houses RSHP Adapts Jean Prouvé's 6x6 Demountable House for Design Miami/Basel 2015 Video: Time Lapse Construction of Jean Prouvé's Demountable House 'Jean Prouvé Architecture', at the Galerie Patrick Seguin This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 08 Apr 2017 02:30 AM PDT .jpg.jpg?1490953296 "Courtesy of Studio M.R.D.O.") Courtesy of Studio M.R.D.O. Since 1953, the 160-mile (260 kilometer) strip of land along the Korean Peninsula's 38th parallel has served as a Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. The DMZ is more than a border; it's a heavily guarded, nearly four-mile-wide (6 kilometer) buffer zone between the two countries. Each military stays behind its own country's edge of the zone, perpetually awaiting potential conflict, and access to the interior of the zone itself is unyieldingly limited. Apart from the landmines and patrolling troops, the interior of the DMZ also holds thriving natural ecosystems that have been the subject of studies on what happens when wildlife is allowed to flourish in the absence of human contact. In a competition that asked participants to design an underground bathhouse near the Kaesong Industrial Park, a (currently suspended) cooperative economic project that employs workers from both North and South Korea, research initiative Arch Out Loud imagined a DMZ that accommodates non-military structures that are typically seen as out of place in areas of such sensitivity and tension. The winning proposal by Studio M.R.D.O and Studio LAM utilizes the performative element of a bathhouse, where visitors are both audience members and actors, to the address the tensions—both geopolitical, from its surrounding environment, and personal, from the related emotions visitors carry with them—between both groups.  Courtesy of Studio M.R.D.O. From the beginning of the experience, visitors from North and South Korea move through the bathhouse in the same way they move through the Korean Peninsula: separately. Visitors enter the small above-ground portion of the bathhouse via two different entrances that correspond to their respective sides of the 38th parallel. While checking in, they may catch a glimpse of a visitor from the other side, but immediately move to separate changing rooms where they put on contrasting robes.  Courtesy of Studio M.R.D.O. After entering, they begin a winding journey down the bathhouse's underground dome structure, descending down a set of two spiraling ramps. As they walk, visitors from each side of the DMZ remain on their separate paths. North and South nearly meet, where the two ramps cross, and view each other from across the space at others. The process physically confronts each participant with their own apprehensions, bringing them close enough to touch the other side before pulling them apart and back into the role of spectator and spectacle.  Courtesy of Studio M.R.D.O. At the bottom, after being guided through an exacting and meditative experience, visitors from each side join in the waters of the bath. The emotions that have been conjured and processed on the walk down dissipate through the liquid, and tensions from North and South blend and drift away.  Courtesy of Studio M.R.D.O. The space creates its own narrative through the movement of bodies, one that defies the parallelism of the DMZ outside. It makes no attempt to ignore or chase away the nerves that visitors will inevitably carry with them from outside, but rather provides a physical means by which to explore them. It speaks to the intensely personal component that the conflict carries for many Koreans: family members trapped on one side of the 38th parallel, a feeling of loss in the separation of a country that used to be one unit, or even general disdain for the other side. The firm's renderings focus on the older generation of Koreans, who are perhaps closer to the emotional fallout from the split and continued conflicts after having spent their childhoods in and out of war.  Courtesy of Studio M.R.D.O. Studio M.R.D.O and Studio LAM's commitment to creating this narrative experience for Korean visitors also makes the project unsuccessful for visitors who bring a different background to the space. To put aside for a moment the feasibility of building a cultural project in the DMZ, there remains one key issue with the site. Unlike the ability of a museum or monument to provide viewers with a shared context, the bathhouse relies on the expectation of a certain unity—even if it is one that comes from disunity. Although the DMZ is one of the most heavily visited destinations for tourists in the area, the spatial experience of the bathhouse as it was designed is, psychologically, almost entirely inaccessible to foreigners. This decision is a politicized one: what does it mean to make space for one cultural group, to prioritize the needs of locals over the potential for colossal tourist revenue? The bathhouse proposal is humbly unapologetic in setting its scope to fully encompass only the people closest to its context, and is all the more poignant because of it. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The White Snake / Space4architecture Posted: 08 Apr 2017 02:00 AM PDT  © Beatrice Pediconi
 © Beatrice Pediconi From the architect. Our challenge for this project was to create spatial continuity within a narrow historic townhouse in the Upper West Side of New York City.  © Beatrice Pediconi  Basement and First Floor Plan  © Beatrice Pediconi Our clients, a young couple with two small children, had always lived on a single floor New York apartment. Intrigued, yet uncertain of the different lifestyle their newly acquired 5 story townhouse had to offer, we proposed, in a similar manner modern day apartments do, a fluid and open space throughout the floors.  Section Our design intention was to recall the concept of a loft, in this case a vertical loft. To emphasize this feeling of ' openness', we had to work simultaneously on a horizontal and vertical plane.  © Beatrice Pediconi Horizontally we enlarged the first two levels towards the rear garden and fully glazed the back facade to provide continuity between the interior and exterior. While vertically we designed a spacious and evolving staircase, around which the proposed program hinges and the five floors are connected. The staircase's white oak treads are laterally wrapped by a curved, pristine white solid parapet. At the lower levels, where the most public spaces are located, such as the entry hall, kitchen and living room, the staircase is very generous and exposes it's L-shape configuration to it's surrounding. While it winds up the upper floor, the configuration transforms and tightens into a U- shape to provide maximum floor area where the bedrooms, bathrooms and study spaces are located.  © Beatrice Pediconi The stair ends on the fifth floor, which is a new addition that accommodates a private lounge where our clients can entertain their guests while having uninterrupted views of north and south Manhattan.  © Beatrice Pediconi This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Boa Nova Tea House by Alvaro Siza Through the Lens of Fernando Guerra Posted: 08 Apr 2017 01:00 AM PDT
The following photo set by Fernando Guerra focuses on Boa Nova Tea House, a project by Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira. Completed in 1963, it was one of the first works done by the 1992 Pritzker Prize winner. Built on the rocks that hang over the sea in Leça da Palmeira, the tea house is in close proximity to another iconic project by the same architect, the Leça Swimming Pools, both classified as National Monuments in Portugal. The Boa Nova Tea House was the result of a competition organized by Câmara de Matosinhos in 1958. The architect Fernando Távora won the competition and then gave the project to his young collaborator, Alvaro Siza, who was just 25 years old at the time.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG Away from the main avenue, the building can be accessed from the parking lot, which is about 300 meters away. Through an arrangement of slabs and steps integrated into the rocks, the architect constructs the visitor's path revealing and hiding the maritime landscape through carefully designed dramatic perspectives. The path culminates at the entrance of the Tea House, where the low eave of the roof directs the visitor's gaze to the sea.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG Inside the building, it is well worth taking the time to contemplate the apertures, meticulously planned to frame the local landscape as great living pictures. This strong relation between interior and exterior is quite remarkable in the design, reinforced with large completely open glass panels, confusing the boundaries between the building and nature.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG We can also see that, through its materiality, the building both blends with and rises from the landscape. While the concrete walls have a color very similar to the rocks, the roof - a concrete slab with overlapping red Roman tiles - and the vertical volumes painted in white stand out visually, but clearly connect to other Portuguese buildings. Internally, the striking presence of the wood, on the floors, walls, and ceilings, gives a warmth to the building and shows Siza's fascination with Alvar Aalto, especially in the details.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG In 2014 the building was reopened, after lying in a state of ruin for several years because of lack of upkeep, as well as weather damage, like strong winds, and the ocean air. The renovation was carried out by the building's creator, while the exterior, the frames, and construction details were restored, In addition, the furnishings from the original drawings and specifications were added. The building is currently a restaurant.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG
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| Posted: 07 Apr 2017 11:00 PM PDT  Nakagin Capsule Tower, Tokyo. Image © <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nakagin.jpg'>Wikimedia user Jordy Meow</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a> Kisho Kurokawa (April 8th 1934 – October 12th 2007) was one of Japan's leading architects of the 20th century, perhaps most well-known as one of the founders of the Metabolist movement of the 1960s. Throughout the course of his career, Kurokawa advocated a philosophical approach to understanding architecture that was manifest in his completed projects throughout his life.  Image via <a href='http://www.media.ritsumei.ac.jp/culture2013/exhibitions/exhibitions2.html'>ritsumei.ac.jp</a> After completing his studies at the university of Tokyo under Japanese master Kenzo Tange in 1959, Kurokawa helped to establish the Metabolist movement, a loosely-affiliated group including Kiyonori Kikutake and Fumihiko Maki, with Tange himself connected to the group as both a member and a mentor. The principles of the Metabolists revolved around ideas of impermanence and change, and as the name suggests the movement was intended to have more in common with natural processes. These ideas were developed to be an elaboration of—and also a reaction to—the principles of the architects affiliated with CIAM, which had its final meeting in 1959.  Toshiba-IHI Pavilion at the 1970 Osaka Expo. Image © <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/m-louis/1209773173'>Flickr user m-louis</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/'>CC BY-SA 2.0</a> Kurokawa commented that the ideals of the Metabolists were inspired by a Japanese conception of building. In particular, the fact that most Japanese buildings were timber meant the devastation of the Second World War completely obliterated cities in Japan—at least compared to Western cities where, at the very least, stone or brick remnants remained where buildings once stood. This observation, combined with the frequency of natural disasters in Japan, has meant that the Japanese are used to rebuilding cities from scratch, leading to what Kurokawa described as "an uncertainty about existence, a lack of faith in the visible, a suspicion of the eternal."  Nagoya City Art Museum. Image © <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KurokawaNagoyaCityArtMuseum.jpg'>Wikimedia user Chris 73</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a> The first opportunity to explore these ideas in depth as built forms came at the 1970 Osaka Expo, for which Kurokawa designed two pavilions, the Takara Beautillion and the Toshiba IHI pavilion. However, perhaps the most complete built example of Kurokawa's design principles—indeed of the entire Metabolist movement—was the 1972 Nakagin Capsule Tower, a building made up of pre-fabricated micro-apartment "capsules" that were designed to be added and replaced as necessary during the building's lifespan.  Van Gogh Museum Exposition Wing, Amsterdam. Image © <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/14174853@N04/4192474953/'>Flickr user kmaschke</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/'>CC BY-SA 2.0</a> That the Nakagin Capsule Tower has recently been embroiled in a preservation debate, with few serious proposals to replace the units as the original design intended, demonstrates how well the theory of the Metabolists translated to the real world of property and construction. After the original Metabolist group disbanded in the early 1970s, Metabolist ideals came to be seen as a historical product of utopian 1960s thinking.  Interior of the Nakagin Capsule Tower. Image © <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nakagin_Capsule_Tower_03.jpg'>Wikimedia user Wiiii</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a> In spite of this, Kurokawa never fully abandoned his commitment to Metabolist thought, adapting the ideas of natural systems and the life cycle of buildings to become a significant advocate for sustainable design in his later years. In 2007, he established the Kisho Kurokawa Green Institute at Anaheim University. Also in 2007, he ran to become governor of Tokyo, and although his bid was ultimately unsuccessful he was instrumental in establishing the Green Party in Japan. AD Classics: Nakagin Capsule Tower / Kisho Kurokawa This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| AUB Design Studios and Workshops / Design Engine Architects Posted: 07 Apr 2017 10:00 PM PDT  © Jim Stephenson
 © Jim Stephenson From the architect. The AUB Design Workshops & Studios Conversions consist of the transformation of two former on-campus halls of residence, originally constructed in 2001, into modern studio and teaching space for Arts University Bournemouth's internationally renowned higher education courses.  Courtesy of Design Engine Architects The success of the institution, and the wider changing demands of higher education, instigated a reappraisal of the Halls' use as part of Design Engine's 2009 vision for the future masterplan for the University.  © Jim Stephenson The outline brief was to facilitate the wider transformation of the campus with the re-use of buildings whose original function had become redundant, but whose structure and envelope remained largely sound.  © Jim Stephenson Collaboratively, the design team undertook a programme analysis that demonstrated how through the retention of the existing buildings the University could both achieve delivery of new teaching space each year, and at significant saving against that of a new building.  Floor Plan The university's Model-Making, Performance Make-Up and preparation for Higher Education departments were identified as having commonality in their specialised and technical requirements, and by sharing facilities could reduce unnecessary duplication. Design Engine led a series of stakeholder design forums, helping formulate a brief for their needs within the constraints of working with an existing building.  © Jim Stephenson Heavyweight, highly-serviced mechanised modelling and prosthetic workshops are concentrated on the ground floor. This enables a structural strategy for a new steel frame to be inserted with the outer masonry skin, thus allowing the removal of cellular loadbearing partitions to create large open plan studios, which in turn facilitate the proposed natural ventilation strategies.  Section  Section A series of ground floor extensions for 3D printing spill out onto re-landscaped courtyards. These extensions act as shop windows advertising the output for the courses; fulfilling a desire to showcase work and continue the cross-fertilisation of ideas across the wider campus.  © Jim Stephenson The buildings are capped by a series of saw-tooth north-facing roof lights atop a raised roof podium providing even natural daylighting to new drawing studios for model-making, illustration and fashion design students. Clad in telemagenta pink, they point to a concept of feature surfaces and planes that highlight new interventions into the existing fabric.  © Jim Stephenson The transformation of the building is completed with a perforated aluminium veil over the existing building at first and second floor. A pattern of two sized circular apertures is formed into a randomised arrangment that extends across the upper façades. Working within the grids of both the former window arrangements and new steel structure, the 50% overall free area pattern allows continued venting whilst regulating excessive solar gain.  © Jim Stephenson Delivered on programme, the project has been a huge success for the University, allowing it to build on the success of its oversubscribed creative courses and facilitating a wider strategic programme of campus renewal. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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