ponedjeljak, 12. prosinca 2016.

Arch Daily

Arch Daily


45 BBC Housing / a-LTA

Posted: 11 Dec 2016 09:00 PM PST

© Stéphane Chalmeau © Stéphane Chalmeau

© Stéphane Chalmeau © Stéphane Chalmeau © Stéphane Chalmeau © Stéphane Chalmeau

  • Architects: a-LTA
  • Location: ZAC du Moulin Hérel - Îlot 6, Boulevard François Mitterrand, 44800 Saint-Herblain, France
  • Project Team: Le Trionnaire (x2) - Tassot - The Chapelain - a / LTA  architects + TPFi  + Paysage de l'Ouest
  • Label: BBC EFFINERGIE RT 2012
  • Area: 3091.0 m2
  • Project Year: 2016
  • Photographs: Stéphane Chalmeau
© Stéphane Chalmeau © Stéphane Chalmeau

From the architect. We sought a neat volumetry with a cut of the templates to frame the views.
Transparencies and porosities on the city block (layout, crossing hall) offer views of the landscape.
The cutting of the constructions converses with the distant foliage.
The operation consists of 4 housing buildings marking the corners of the plot.

© Stéphane Chalmeau © Stéphane Chalmeau

The dynamic implantation of buildings allows  conservation of existing trees.
Volumetric cutting offers altimetry variations and visual clearances on the ground.

© Stéphane Chalmeau © Stéphane Chalmeau

The whole is articulated by a landscaped space with vegetable and mineral nuances (landscaped parking, collective space and private gardens).
We think that "beautiful" dwellings are luminous, well-oriented and with great views.

© Stéphane Chalmeau © Stéphane Chalmeau
Diagram Diagram
© Stéphane Chalmeau © Stéphane Chalmeau

This is what we have developed for the 4 buildings with views towards the town center of Couëron or towards the green landscape or the heart of the plot.

© Stéphane Chalmeau © Stéphane Chalmeau

Every housing benefits of large external space, South oriented (garden, balcony or terrace).
The periphery of the buildings is treated with polished raw aluminum (cladding and louvre) and the inside of the plot is in gray coating.

© Stéphane Chalmeau © Stéphane Chalmeau

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

What Exactly is Matti Suuronen's Futuro House?

Posted: 11 Dec 2016 08:00 PM PST

© Gili Merin © Gili Merin

The Futuro House looks more like an alien spacecraft than a building. Designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in 1968 as a ski chalet, the radical design was subsequently marketed to the public as a small prefabricated home, easily assembled and installed on virtually any topography. Its plastic construction and futurist aesthetic combined to create a product which is identifiable with both the future and the past.

© Gili Merin © Gili Merin © Gili Merin © Gili Merin

© Gili Merin © Gili Merin

The original project brief which led to the Futuro House called for a small chalet which could be relocated from its initial site as, and when, needed. In order to produce a design that would be easy both to transport and assemble in varying conditions, Suuronen reasoned that a light, prefabricated structure was the ideal solution.[1] The main bulk of the house was supported by a metal ring with four legs that could be adapted for up to a twenty degree incline, obviating the need for arduous grading and excavation before relocation.[2]

© Gili Merin © Gili Merin

While the support legs were wrought of metal, the habitable space was built of what was—at that time—a relatively novel building material: fiberglass-reinforced plastic. A number of factors motivated this unusual choice, namely the reduction of weight – a Futuro House could be lifted by a helicopter should the need arise. Plastic also performed well as insulation, a key concern for a ski chalet. More prominently, however, the material could easily be molded into the rounded, circular form that was considered cutting-edge in the early Space Age.[3,4]

© Gili Merin © Gili Merin

Visitors to a Futuro House climb a stairway through a hatch cut into the underside of the plastic hull. Despite their small floor area of 50 square meters (538 square feet), each unit was built with an open plan living, dining, and kitchenette space, a restroom, and a private bedroom.[5] Other than the metal legs, the entire house comprised eight identical plastic modules—four on top and four on bottom—which could be delivered separately and bolted together on site. Once the design was adapted for mass production, the creation of specialized furniture allowed the houses to be marketed as fully-furnished packages.[5]

© Gili Merin © Gili Merin

Although Suuronen believed the Futuro House's low production cost and adaptability made it an ideal solution to housing shortages across the globe, the houses never truly caught on with the wider public. Less than a hundred were built before production ended in 1973 when the skyrocketing cost of plastic due to the oil crisis suddenly made the Futuro prohibitively expensive to both manufacture and purchase. Approximately sixty Futuro Houses can still be found today, performing a number of different functions and in varying levels of repair.[6]

© Gili Merin © Gili Merin

While they did not become the new standard in affordable housing that Suuronen envisioned, the impact of the Futuro Houses has been felt far more in the ingenuity of their design than in the volume of their production. Although they were designed fully fifty years ago, their elegantly simple geometry and novel structure ensures that they continue to give the impression of modernity. Somehow, the Futuro House has long outlasted the cultural mindset in which it was conceived, commanding a fascination that survives to this day.

References
[1] Robson, Simon. "Concept, Design, Manufacturing and Marketing." The Futuro House. Accessed December 8, 2016. [access].
[2] Engelsmann, Stephan, Valerie Spalding, Stefan Peters, and Ria Stein. Plastics: In Architecture and Construction. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2010. p152.
[3] Robson.
[4] Vogler, Andreas. The House as a Product. Amsterdaml: IOS Press, 2015. p23.
[5] "Futuro Houses: A Failed 1960s Attempt at UFO Living." Atlas Obscura. December 8, 2014. [access].
[6] Robson.
[7] Engelsmann et al, p152.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Living Space / Ruetemple

Posted: 11 Dec 2016 07:00 PM PST

Courtesy of Ruetemple Courtesy of Ruetemple

Courtesy of Ruetemple Courtesy of Ruetemple Courtesy of Ruetemple Courtesy of Ruetemple

  • Architects: Ruetemple
  • Location: Moscow, Russia
  • Project Team : Alexander Kudimov, Daria Butakhina, Evgeny Dagaev
  • Area: 48.0 m2
  • Project Year: 2016
  • Photographs: Courtesy of Ruetemple
Courtesy of Ruetemple Courtesy of Ruetemple

We propose creating a multifunctional space where you can make a choice: either to retire or be together with everybody. The space, clear of all unnecessary items, will take you to another dimension and help you to get tuned to a calm repose.  Lot's of light and air. 

In the center of the room there is a functional zoning volume, a white cube, dividing the entire living room into 5 zones: active pastime area, TV area, dressing area, secluded relaxation area and the central area - relaxation area, located inside the white volume.

Courtesy of Ruetemple Courtesy of Ruetemple

Under the cube there are withdrawable soft modules, and inside the cube there is a live tree that is illuminated from the above roof window. This is a place for solitude, meditation and relaxation. Thus, with the help of withdrawable modules, you can create different zones for conversations, board games, and the one who needs to retire can go and have a rest under the tree.

Courtesy of Ruetemple Courtesy of Ruetemple
Section Section
Courtesy of Ruetemple Courtesy of Ruetemple

Also, we do not forget about a place for storing clothes. There is a cabinet along one of the walls.

The project was made for« COTTAGE SOLUTION » (" NTV Broadcasting Company ")"

Courtesy of Ruetemple Courtesy of Ruetemple

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Aitoku Kindergarten / Kengo Kuma & Associates

Posted: 11 Dec 2016 06:00 PM PST

© Katsumasa Tanaka © Katsumasa Tanaka

© Katsumasa Tanaka © Katsumasa Tanaka © Katsumasa Tanaka © Katsumasa Tanaka

© Katsumasa Tanaka © Katsumasa Tanaka

From the architect. Aitoku Hoikuen is located in a residential district of Saitama City. Aitoku is a Center for Early Childhood Education and Care, which combines nursery school and kindergarten, and it takes care of 150 children. In formulating the design, we assembled small houses to make a big 2-story house closer to a human townscape.

© Katsumasa Tanaka © Katsumasa Tanaka

Each roof is pitched differently in order to express natural sequence from the landscape of the town. The interior is made with wood and fabric, which can help to create a gentle and varied space. 

© Katsumasa Tanaka © Katsumasa Tanaka

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Courtyard House / Architecture Paradigm

Posted: 11 Dec 2016 12:00 PM PST

© Anand Jaju   © Anand Jaju

© Anand Jaju   © Anand Jaju   © Anand Jaju   © Anand Jaju

  • Architects: Architecture Paradigm
  • Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
  • Design Team: Vimal Jain, Sandeep J, Manoj Ladhad, Prajwal Krishna, Anupama Prasad, Sudeep Bhoopalam
  • Area: 10625.0 ft2
  • Project Year: 2015
  • Photographs: Anand Jaju
  • Structural Engineers: Base Consultants, Bangalore
  • Civil Contractors: Enkon Engineering, Bangalore
  • Landscape Consultants: Dhruva Landscape Architects, Bangalore
© Anand Jaju   © Anand Jaju

From the architect. The site for the house is located on the fringe of a fast developing area of Bangalore, which has a rocky hillock as the backdrop. Located on a T junction in a gated community the site steps up away from the road towards west in three levels. These three levels became the basis for establishing the house and its connection to the ground. A house is often a complex assemblage of disparate functions and desires; Collective vs individual, public vs private, formal vs informal, immediacy vs slowness, largeness vs intimate. The house for a soon to be retired doctor sought to embrace this complexity. Programmatically, three bars were conceived to hold public, semi-public and private spaces arranged around a large courtyard. Circulation spine meanders around the courtyard offering connect to the outside.

© Anand Jaju   © Anand Jaju
Section 1 Section 1
© Anand Jaju   © Anand Jaju

The courtyard itself is a marvelous device that blends disparate entities into a coherent whole. It mediates between the uncontrollable nature and the stable built form and adds another layer to the binary distinction of in or out. In this house, three layers of open spaces provide three different zones; front yard for transition, courtyard for congregation and backyard for retreat. Openings, windows and slits are carefully choreographed to provide connect to these open spaces. These connections from inside to outside circumvents the serial nature of circulation space along a path and blurs the boundary between set programmatic spaces.

© Anand Jaju   © Anand Jaju
Ground Floor Plan Ground Floor Plan
© Anand Jaju   © Anand Jaju

The overall built form is wrapped by a series of facets that unites the three programmatic bars and suggests comforting togetherness and ceaseless continuity perhaps evocative of the multiple horizons the initial stepped site offered. The facets negotiate between the 'hard' rocks and the 'soft' landscape and establish an in-between condition much like the courtyard around which it wraps.

© Anand Jaju   © Anand Jaju

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Finishing Touches Applied to Foster + Partners' Apple Campus 2

Posted: 11 Dec 2016 09:15 AM PST

Following an unofficial update in August 2016, Apple's Campus 2 is entering the final stages of construction. A new drone video, captured by aerial videographer Matthew Roberts earlier this month, shows the 'Research and Development' facility nearing full completion and capped by a vast roof plant, the 'tantau roof' on the security kiosk in place, and an epic effort in landscaping taking place both within the "spaceship's" courtyard and across the company's enormous property. Only one crane now remains on site and the solar installations appear to be around 60% complete, suggesting that the scheduled 2017 move-in date remains on track.

© Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration

In addition to the film, a large collection of photographs have been shared by French blog MacGeneration showing the construction process in closer detail. According to the site, these images were first distributed to Apple employees and show a consistent material palette of stainless steel, marble and large glazing panels. Certain elements, such as the security kiosk roof, are reported to be fabricated using a carbon fiber composite.

© Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration
© Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration
© Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration
© Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration
© Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration
© Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration
© Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration
© Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration
© Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration
© Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration
© Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration
© Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration
© Apple. Image via MacGeneration © Apple. Image via MacGeneration

You can learn more about the project, here.

Photographs via MacGeneration

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

NSK Ltd's "Sense of Motion" Exhibit Celebrates its 100th Anniversary

Posted: 11 Dec 2016 08:00 AM PST

Courtesy of NSK Ltd. Courtesy of NSK Ltd.

"Sense of Motion," NSK Ltd's stunning new exhibition at the Omotesando Spiral, celebrates the prominent manufacturers' 100th anniversary — with lots of color. Designer Emmanuelle Moureaux uses "color mixing" to illustrate the movements of colors.  

Courtesy of NSK Ltd. Courtesy of NSK Ltd. Courtesy of NSK Ltd. Courtesy of NSK Ltd.

Courtesy of NSK Ltd. Courtesy of NSK Ltd.

"When condensing the simple movements in a single space and overlap with colors, it becomes a mind-blowing installation that releases large energy" - Emmanuelle Moureaux. 

Courtesy of NSK Ltd. Courtesy of NSK Ltd.

Using the form of the Spiral slope, Moureaux transforms the space into a vibrant shimmering of colors in flower motifs. Visitors are allowed to stand in the middle of the installation, while the range of colors surround them. Using 25,200 flower motifs arranged in a 3-D grid, NSK allows their guests to truly immerse themselves in the exhibition.  

Courtesy of NSK Ltd. Courtesy of NSK Ltd.
Courtesy of NSK Ltd. Courtesy of NSK Ltd.

News Via: NSK Ltd.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

UC Irvine Announces Plan for Sustainable Active Learning Building in the Heart of Campus

Posted: 11 Dec 2016 06:00 AM PST

Courtesy of LMN Architects Courtesy of LMN Architects

The University of California, Irvine has selected LMN Architects and Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction to design and build a new $46 million classroom and office building project. In the campus's central greenspace, the new 70,000-square-foot building will promote diversity, group learning, and social interaction. 

LMN's creative approach of unlocking the site and rearranging the program led to a bold design solution that enhances the overall experience for both students and faculty, said UCI Campus Architect Brian Pratt, LEED AP. We are delighted with the results.

The design comprises three main masses. An elliptical pavilion is to feature two stories of lecture halls, whose seating arrangements are particularly suited to group work. The pavilion will anchor the entry plazas, with an exterior loggia to meet a pedestrian level while vertical windows wash the interior with an animated glow. A three-story classroom wing is framed by a student mixing hall, bathed in natural light that filters through the exterior sunshade latticework. A series of community spaces within the building capture views of the expansive surrounding landscape. Finally, a bridge with vertical circulation and gathering spaces connects these two structures.

Courtesy of LMN Architects Courtesy of LMN Architects

Based on best design and best value, UCI's system provides a unique opportunity for flexibility and creativity in the design process, said Rashmi Mehta, Senior Vice President of Hathaway Dinwiddie. They have developed one of the most sophisticated design-build processes in the industry, which has resulted in high-quality yet cost-effective, sustainable architecture on their campus.

Courtesy of LMN Architects Courtesy of LMN Architects

Indeed, sustainability was a key concern for this proposal, which aims to become the 15th LEED Platinum building on a campus that was first to win the Sierra Club's distinction of Greenest University two years in a row. The project will be the latest in LMN Architects and Hathaway Dinwiddie's design-build collaboration, which has also resulted in the recently completed Paul Merage School of Business addition and Department of Continuing Education Classroom Building on UCI's campus.

News via: LMN Architects

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Montbau Library Rehabilitation / OliverasBoix Arquitectes

Posted: 11 Dec 2016 05:00 AM PST

© José Hevia © José Hevia

© José Hevia © José Hevia © José Hevia © José Hevia

© José Hevia © José Hevia

From the architect. The Albert Pérez Baró Library is located in the Montbau housing estate. It was founded in the 1980s by the neighbours themselves as a popular library. Initially it occupied two of three former school buildings which had been constructed in the 1950s during the first phase of the estate. The passage of time and successive modernisation and extension programmes, which had often been barely integrated into the whole, had left the building in a state of considerable deterioration.

© José Hevia © José Hevia

The project was based on the need to extend and modernise the library with two approaches up for consideration. 

1. Demolish the existing building and construct a new one in accordance with the established plan and the new requirements.

2. Restore the existing library, enlarge it by incorporating the third existing building, until then used for other purposes, and build a new space to give it the desired size.

Axonometric Axonometric

The available budget was quite modest and from the outset we recognised that there was a certain historic and sentimental value in the site. Despite its dubious heritage claims, it is one of the few standing public amenities buildings which was part of the original plan drafted by Giráldez, López-Iñigo and Subías. The local activism also gave it a strong symbolic value. After analyzing the pros and cons of the two options we chose for renovation.

© José Hevia © José Hevia

The project deals with the renovation of the library and its enlargement to the required size. The expansion was achieved by incorporating the third building and by constructing a new space in the courtyard between buildings 2 and 3.

© José Hevia © José Hevia

The operation chose to rehabilitate the structure and to recover the original appearance of the building by freeing it from the additions accumulated over the years. Removing the partitions from the interior allowed a reinterpretation of the spaces formed by the existing structure which shows now, for the first time, its true transparent nature.

© José Hevia © José Hevia

A metallic structure was chosen for the new area which follows the geometry of parallel frames of the original. This new body spills outside through two large windows at either end which contrast with the opacity of the side walls of the existing buildings. 

Elevations Elevations

It was also brought up to date on energetic aspects. The exterior (the roof, walls and windows) was completely renovated in order to substantially increase the building's insulation. All the installations were replaced to meet energy efficiency and savings criteria. The new machinery has been placed on the roof of the extension to be as least visible as possible.

© José Hevia © José Hevia

On a functional level the main point of access was moved and a total redistribution of the different areas was carried out. The building was to function through a scheme taking the form of a spine with a central corridor which connects the different spaces to one another and the backbone is drawn from the different installations.

© José Hevia © José Hevia

Inside, inspired by the original use of the building, the use of colour and materials has searched the return to a certain atmosphere typical of Nordic school types. Light steel and glass partitions were chosen to allow visual continuity between spaces and the different buildings.

© José Hevia © José Hevia

The intervention on the landscaping, the courtyard paving and its perimeter fence provides transparency and encourages these spaces to be used for reading and outdoor activities.

Floor Plan Floor Plan

Finally, the renovation of the existing small garden on Carrer de l'Arquitectura creates a new small square giving access to the facility which greatly improves its relationship with the public space and the neighbourhood.

© José Hevia © José Hevia

The project represents the chance of a third life for this architecture which, having already been converted once before, highlights its strengths. The rediscovery of the interior spaces generated by the clear and powerful geometry of existing structure creates a completely new spatial experience.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Dean & Deluca's STAGE by Ole Scheeren Debuts at Design Miami 2016

Posted: 11 Dec 2016 04:00 AM PST

Courtesy of Dean & DeLuca Courtesy of Dean & DeLuca

STAGE, a protoype for a new chef-led fast food concept, has debuted last week at Design Miami. Designed by internationally renowned architect Ole Scheeren for New York-based gourmet market and food supplier Dean & DeLuca, STAGE highlights interactive preparation, presentation, and consumption of food as a dynamic cultural and social experience. The new service format will become part of Dean & DeLuca's expansion throughout key north American cities in 2017.

Courtesy of Dean & DeLuca Courtesy of Dean & DeLuca Courtesy of Dean & DeLuca Courtesy of Dean & DeLuca

The object, which combines kitchen and dining functions, is a rectangular volume composed of two horizontal plates of reflective stainless steel. The lower plate houses white corian to showcase food, while the top plate appears to float like a glowing cloud—an altogether dramatic composition that encourages social interaction customers and chefs, creating an exhibition out of the process.

Courtesy of Dean & DeLuca Courtesy of Dean & DeLuca

"We had to think about what we could do with Dean & DeLuca as a whole and how we could expand its mission," said Scheeren. "We had to understand what it was, what it is now and how we could project it forward into the future. I think food is a very important social and sensual experience and STAGE is a powerful tool to amplify that."

Courtesy of Dean & DeLuca Courtesy of Dean & DeLuca

Dean & DeLuca has identified strong design as one of the brand's core values in order to establish itself as a visionary leader in the international industry. In accordance with this mission, Ole Scheeren conceptualized the design for STAGE to combine a strong contemporary identity with a spotlight on global relevance.

News via: Büro Ole Scheeren

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

"Ice Breakers" Exhibition to Bring Wintertime Art Installations to Toronto's Waterfront

Posted: 11 Dec 2016 02:00 AM PST

Courtesy of Ice Breakers Courtesy of Ice Breakers

Between January 21st and February 26th, five wintertime art installations will enliven Toronto's waterfront on Queens Quay West. In a collaboration between Winter Stations and the Waterfront Business Improvement Area, the "Ice Breakers" exhibition was created "to inspire exploration of the urban Waterfront in the colder months."

"The Waterfront is one of Toronto's busiest communities in the summertime but, like The Beach, it can be under-appreciated as temperatures drop," explains Roland Rom Colthoff, principle at RAW design and a Winter Stations co-founder. "Like Winter Stations, Ice Breakers is an interactive celebration of public art. We want to nudge Torontonians back outside and inspire them to keep engaging with the city."

The five installations will be on display at Harbourfront Centre, HTO Park, Rees Street Parkette, Peter Street Basin, and the Music Garden East. Read on to see all five proposals.

Leeward Fleet / RAW (Canada Square, Harbourfront Centre)

Leeward Fleet / RAW. Image Courtesy of Ice Breakers Leeward Fleet / RAW. Image Courtesy of Ice Breakers

Celebrating Toronto's rich harbour history, design studio RAW introduces three pivoting structures to Canada Square. Inspired by ice and sailboat technology, enamel masts hold up brightly coloured sails, each of which serve as sculptural references to the days prior to ferry transportation.

ICEBOX / Polymetis (HTO Park)

ICEBOX / Polymetis. Image Courtesy of Ice Breakers ICEBOX / Polymetis. Image Courtesy of Ice Breakers

The Canadian winter is a landscape of contrasts: between empty blank whiteness and things not fully shrouded in snow and ice; between the (more-or-less) static physical world and the temporal surfaces of frozen water that accumulate and dissipate over it; between being inside, in the warmth, and being outside, in the cold. "ICEBOX" seeks to manifest these contrasts and provide space for introspection, social interaction, and shared appreciation of winter.

Winter Diamonds / Platant (Music Garden East)

Winter Diamonds / Platant. Image Courtesy of Ice Breakers Winter Diamonds / Platant. Image Courtesy of Ice Breakers

The shimmering lights emitted from "White Diamonds" attract contemplation of these fragile, yet solid structures. The viewer is invited to engage with a poetic and dreamy focal point, in a vast winter landscape.

Incognito / Curio Art Consultancy and Jaspal Riyait (Rees Street Parkette)

Incognito / Curio Art Consultancy and Jaspal Riyait. Image Courtesy of Ice Breakers Incognito / Curio Art Consultancy and Jaspal Riyait. Image Courtesy of Ice Breakers

Using architectural massing models as the inspiration for the structures, "Incognito" explores what happens when you make the City's architectural interventions invisible. Adopting the same camouflaging technology used by warships, the wintery environment will render the installation truly incognito, shaping the public's interaction with the piece.

Tailored Twins / Ferris + Associates (Peter Street Basin)

Tailored Twins / Ferris + Associates. Image Courtesy of Ice Breakers Tailored Twins / Ferris + Associates. Image Courtesy of Ice Breakers

A set of faceted wooden hands rise three metres from the lookouts at the Peter Street Basin. Their gold-mirror palms bath the basin in a warm sun-like glow.

Project descriptions via Ice Breakers.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Leyda House / Alfredo González Briceño + Ignacio Rojas Hirigoyen

Posted: 11 Dec 2016 01:00 AM PST

© Rodrigo Daza © Rodrigo Daza

© Rodrigo Daza © Rodrigo Daza © Rodrigo Daza © Rodrigo Daza

© Rodrigo Daza © Rodrigo Daza

Leyda Valley is located on the west side of Chile’s central coastal mountain range. About 7 km. from the Pacific Ocean sea side. 95 km. to the west of Santiago.

© Rodrigo Daza © Rodrigo Daza

The Leyda Valley is reknowned because of it's proximity to the coast, in the area there is an important development of viticulture. Because of their vicinity to the sea, their varieties are very special. From the other side, by the coast, there’s an expansion of large areas for shipping containers; they are unloaded at San Antonio’s Port, this activity is pushing the city limit towards the East.

Leyda raises as a frontier between this two situations.

© Rodrigo Daza © Rodrigo Daza

We were commissioned to design a weekend house, on top of a group of hills, within a large countryside lot. We were asked to take special care, with an emphasis on austerity, a very low-budget was mandatory. 

Floor Plan Floor Plan

On the other hand, we found ourselves in this border situation between two kinds of activities, this seemed to us a project trigger.

© Rodrigo Daza © Rodrigo Daza

We had exceptional panoramic views towards the vineyards located to the Southeast. By contrast, there’s an expansion of the industrial quarters, from the coast, displacing rural houses. For this side, we wanted a hermetic project, but this would at the same time make it difficult to get the best Northwest sunlight.

© Rodrigo Daza © Rodrigo Daza

As a first approach we tried to synthesize the project as a simple volume that we took from the ephemeral shelters used on the nearby strawberry crops. These kind of shelters can be found across the land from here down to the east side of Rapel Lake. We saw on these light constructions a very strong formal guide, with a very impressive visual value, on how this low-cost countryside house could be solved. A synthetic form, solves all economic issues by its lack of particularities. That’s how the equation between views / sun light became an opportunity, and its solution gave identity to the project.

© Rodrigo Daza © Rodrigo Daza

We solved the program in a very simple way. At the ends, the bedrooms, each one with its own bathroom, at the middle, the living and dining areas. In opposition to the usual orientation on this geographic location, we designed the house facing to the South, giving protagonism to the views towards the vineyards, which spread like blankets, over the valley with the coastal mountain range on the background. We injected light from the North through openings in the roof, that’s how we achieved a space that looks toward the landscape with a gentle sunbath from its rear side.

© Rodrigo Daza © Rodrigo Daza

In terms of materiality, this house was structured with traditional timber frames. As a cladding we used an asphaltic membrane that is elastic and continuous. The volume was thought as monolithic block without any recognizable parts. There are no eaves, no rain gutters, no seams or joint lines of any kind; this is how we generated a synthesis of the expression. 

© Rodrigo Daza © Rodrigo Daza

This block was worked as a solid, a bar that in its sheer simplicity reached the economy required by the clients brief. Mass was subtracted and moved vertically through the volume, this operation generated the openings that solve the views, the natural lighting and the general implications suggested by the surroundings and the location. The synthesis of all of this aspects, formally determine the project.

© Rodrigo Daza © Rodrigo Daza

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Film "The Architect" Satirizes the Profession with Egocentric Protagonist

Posted: 11 Dec 2016 12:00 AM PST

"The Architect", directed by Jonathan Parker, is a film that moves between drama and comedy. It features a humorous (and some would say believable) satire of architects. In the film an egocentric, and grandiose architect named Miles Moss, played by actor James Frain, works with a couple who wants to build their dream home. 

Colin and Drew, played by Eric McCormack and Parker Posey, hire Moss, who throughout the movie ends up exhausting their patience as well as their bank accounts. In one of the scenes, Moss complains, "I don’t know why people hire architects, and then tell them what to do," referring to the famous quote from Canadian architect Frank Gehry.

However, the film doesn’t only portray the self-centered side of architects. Moss sometimes takes a break from his ego and shows his more human aspects, for example when he says: "As an architect, I have the job of transforming hopes and dreams into wood, glass, steel, and concrete." 

Check out the trailer below:

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Nema komentara:

Objavi komentar