Arch Daily |
- Chapel of Resurrection / Samuel Netocny Architects
- Cultuurpark Westergasfabriek / Gustafson Porter + Bowman
- Juno Academy / Ken Min Architects
- AIA Announces 2017 Thomas Jefferson Award and Collaborative Achievement Award Winners
- AGi Wins Competition to Transform Galician Roman Ruins into Sensual Museum
- The Brazilian House - Six 1 Eight 8 / Debaixo do Bloco Arquitetura
- The Architectural League Announces Emerging Voices of 2017
- The Record Company Headquarters that Revived 1950s Hollywood with Iconic Architecture
- Capriole Café / Bureau Fraai
- ANSKA Unveils Floating Platform Design for Paris Olympics
| Chapel of Resurrection / Samuel Netocny Architects Posted: 28 Jan 2017 09:00 PM PST  © Samuel Netocny
 © Samuel Netocny From the architect. The Chapel of Resurrection is a formulation of answers of a contemporary architecture to the eternal questions of god and faith. Since we arrived to the time, where only simple emotions and the ephemeral moment matter, the chapel invites us to stay longer. The only connection to the beautiful nature outside is light, sound and wind.  © Samuel Netocny The project started back in 2011, when coincidentally architect, priest and representative of the local authority met with the same dream. The vision was to open up the council forests to the local residents. As a pilot project the Stations of the Cross path with a chapel on top of a small hill located between High and Low Tatras was selected. As a freely financed project we spent two years raising the money. Shortly before leaving the chapel on the paper, we met a private person who supported us with 2/3 of the needed money. In 2014 we built the wooden part and waited another two years to finance the rest of the costs. Every year we organize pilgrimages to this magic place. At the beginning we were 30, now we are more than 300.  Site Plan The project strengthens the local community and introduces contemporary architecture to the places out of the centres of architectural discourse. It is a project of calmness.  © Samuel Netocny The concept of the chapel is based on a metaphor of the finite world and an endless divine space linked together only by light. Everybody can decide to follow it or not. The architectural materialisation resulted in small intimate space divided from nature by massive wooden walls without windows. A window is a clear statement where the light comes from. We positioned more than 100 wooden columns. They are dense enough to create an intimate space for prayer and meditation, but the precise sun light penetrates the solid wall and starts the vivid play of light and shade.  © Samuel Netocny The path to the chapel begins in the valley at the church built at the beginning of the 20th century in alpine style. It continues through the woodlands to the top. The last third is opened to the view to the Tatras and north Slovakia. At the very end the path enters the chapel. After the last turn in the corridor the pilgrim enters the sacred space. The whole movement on the path follows a spiral and slows down.  Structure Every minute the light quality changes. Sometimes there are rays only in the corridor. Five minutes later there is a pattern of wide and narrow shadows on the floor. The visitor's curiosity forces him to stay longer.  © Samuel Netocny To root the chapel to the site, we decided to use the wood of the same forest on the hill. Selected larches were transported only 20 km to produce the wooden beams and columns. The advanced BIM planning allowed the precise CNC fabrication. Four weeks later the trees came back to the site in form of the chapel.  Diagram Wood is a passing material. Because of that the concrete fundaments are creating a cultural trace in the landscape. The next generation can build a new church on the old fundaments and the original chapel will be still incarnated.  The wooden part levitates 20 cm over the landscape. It consists of 3 elements weaved into one piece. In order to strengthen it, floor and roof beams are not parallel in the top view, but they are crossing. Every column has a different height. The combination of different column lengths connected with one roof beam makes the construction strong against wind. Therefore no other reinforcement is needed.  © Samuel Netocny The light roof is transforming the big sculpture into a small piece of architecture. Next to the wood are the transparent glass fibreboards, the most used material in traditional Slovak villages. The fine wave mollifies the strict geometry of the wooden part.  © Samuel Netocny  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Cultuurpark Westergasfabriek / Gustafson Porter + Bowman Posted: 28 Jan 2017 06:00 PM PST  © Thomas Schlijper
 Courtesy of Gustafson Porter + Bowman Westergasfabriek, a nineteenth-century factory on the outskirts of central Amsterdam, halted operations in the 1950s. In 1981 the site was rezoned as recreation space. Of five design firms invited in 1996 to envision the open space component of the new culture and recreation park, Kathryn Gustafson won the commission with "Changement," a proposal produced in collaboration with Francine Houben of Mecanoo. In 1997, Kathryn opened an office in London and with partner Neil Porter and began to translate this concept into detailed design.  © Thomas Schlijper  Courtesy of Gustafson Porter + Bowman "Changement" responded to the park's master plan by offering diverse spatial and temporal experiences. According to the master plan, grounds were to have a green, recreational park function, local residents would be the main users, natural environmental qualities had to be strengthened, and a one hectare open-air events area must be included. Gustafson Porter + Bowman developed a refined plan that is faithful to the original proposal in its creation of park zones that relate specifically to existing site elements and contexts. At the renovated Stadsdeelraad (town hall), the plaza's layout is a cultivated expression of order. Along the Haarlemmervaart canal, a popular access point for neighborhood residents, a wide, linear plaza provides public recreation space and connection to the adjacent Market Square. To the southwest, two historic gas holding structures adjacent to the Cité des Artistes complex, frame displays of aquatic plants, fish and reflective water. At the park's northwest corner, proximity to an active agricultural polder generates an explicitly ecologically-oriented circulation scheme and water feature. In its attentiveness to external circumstances, the design is a conglomeration of uses – civic, social, commercial, cultural, recreational, ecological -- that operates as a synecdoche for the city rather than the sequential circuit or continuous fabric of a conventional park.  © Thomas Schlijper  Courtesy of Gustafson Porter + Bowman Cultuurpark Westergasfabriek is one of Gustafson Porter + Bowman's defining projects, and is considered as a model of brownfield reclamation within a physically dense urban context and a complex set of stakeholders. The scheme establishes a delicate balance between contamination and accessibility, invention and interpretation, revelation (of the potential of post productive lands) and renovation (of obsolescence into functionality).  Site Plan  Plan Product Description. On the Marketsquare is a tree grid underneath the trees a layout is reinforced by a further layering of grids: a grid of 2 x 2 metre stelcon paving.In this way there is a reference to the industrial character of the sites past. The lines of insitu concrete and ductile steel form a structuring element and these lines point at important features in the buildings and the new concrete retaining walls. The Theatresquare has a rythm of 2x3 metre stelcon plates which are interrupted by lines of 50 cm in-situ concrete strips.  © Thomas Schlijper  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Juno Academy / Ken Min Architects Posted: 28 Jan 2017 12:00 PM PST  © Jaeyoung-Song
 © Kyungsub-Shin From the architect. A company with a big market share in the Korean beauty industry wanted to build an institution for education in human resources in order to secure continuous growth their employees. Aside from maximizing the efficiency of a building on the expensive site in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam district, the client hoped that their whole staff would not only have opportunity to learn and enjoy in their new training, but also feel proud of working at a great company in a space for various programmes like lectures and meetings. Moreover, their requirements also included and enhanced brand value of the company and a space where executives remain to communicate with employees.  © Kyungsub-Shin A two-metre wide transfer beam was used to support the load of the upper levels in the second basement level to make a single large space without a column inside. This enabled the creation of a large multi-purpose space including staff training. A straight staircase was used to make a core as corridor and the walls of public space, designed as exhibition spaces for the history of Juno Hair as people pass by. In the course of going down through the straight staircase from the main gate on the first floor, the glass door of the elevator ahead reflects the sunken space in the basement, which gives depth to the space and the open view.  © Kyungsub-Shin The transparent steel curtain wall on 1st and 2nd floor give a feeling of openness and the steel frame stairs exposed to the outside plays a role of 'an Objet'. The 3rd through 7th floors serve as an educational spaces to provide the professional training programs for the employees. The 5th and 6th floor, especially, as the core spaces for the training are recessed from the main volume so that the floors above could be recognized as a 'floating' in a way of massing. The two floors are vertically opened to provide special spatial quality.  © Seho-Ahn The eighth floor is actually an open space rooftop where people can enjoy its garden landscaped which gives people a feeling of being surrounded by 'a forest' during their varied events.  © Kyungsub-Shin Its simple form and the consistent design vocabulary of the exterior makes it distinct from the surrounding buildings but a steel curtain wall and coloured stainless steel louvre on the façade enhances its identity and presence. Louvers on the façade blocking out west sunlight were designed following a substantial research project. Seen from the street, the dense louvre plays the role of a screen. On the contrary, the wide-open view of downtown could be enjoyed from the inside. The different direction of the louvre with same section naturally changes depending on the altitude of light to give vitality to the building's image.  Model  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| AIA Announces 2017 Thomas Jefferson Award and Collaborative Achievement Award Winners Posted: 28 Jan 2017 08:00 AM PST  Cherokee Studios; Los Angeles / Brooks + Scarpa. Image Courtesy of Brooks + Scarpa The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the winners of the 2017 Thomas Jefferson Award for service to public architecture, and the 2017 Collaborative Achievement Award for distinguished achievements of those who have had a beneficial influence on or advanced the architectural profession. Alan Greenberger, FAIA, and former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the City Planning Commission, has been selected to receive the 2017 Thomas Jefferson Award. During his time as Deputy Mayor and Chairman, Greenberger was responsible for 11 agencies including the Department of Commerce and spearheaded Philadelphia2035, a comprehensive plan for the city's renaissance. Greenberger additionally completed and approved plans for all 37 miles of the Philadelphia's waterfront. Now a Fellow of the Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation and a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Architecture Design & Urbanism at Drexel University, Greenberger remains active in the city as the chairman of the Philadelphia Art Commission.  Step Up; Santa Monica, California / Brooks + Scarpa. Image © John Edward Linden The Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship and architect Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA, have been selected as the 2017 recipients of the Collaborative Achievement Award. Launched in 2000 by affordable housing and community development organization, Enterprise Community Partners, The Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship cultivates architects committed to bringing economic, health, and education benefits of quality design to low-income communities, particularly within the realm of housing.
Lawrence Scarpa, of Brooks + Scarpa, has worked in architecture for 30 years, developing a distinct mix of "design excellence, social responsibility, stewardship, and service to the profession." In 2001, Scarpa co-founded Livable Places, a nonprofit organization that actively promotes affordable and sustainable communities, and that has played an instrumental role in a number of policy changes in California.  Santa Monica Parking Garages / Brooks + Scarpa. Image © John Edward Linden Moreover, Scarpa co-founded the Los Angeles A+D Architecture and Design Museum, which for the past 15 years has run "progressive exhibitions, youth-oriented education programs, and community events." Scarpa is additionally a driving force behind the Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute, which "assembles leaders in affordable housing for a two-and-a-half-day seminar focused on innovation and best practices." Greenberger, The Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship, and Scarpa will all be honored at the AIA Conference on Architecture 2017 in Orlando. News via: The American Institute of Architects (AIA).  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| AGi Wins Competition to Transform Galician Roman Ruins into Sensual Museum Posted: 28 Jan 2017 06:00 AM PST  Courtesy of AGi Architects AGi Architects has won a competition to transform 18 ancient Roman sites into a natural museum in Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain. The winning proposal, entitled In Natura Veritas, was selected from 26 submissions in a competition organized by the Spanish Ministry of Public Works. The AGi scheme, due to be realized in the coming months, aims to preserve the memory of the natural environment chosen as a living place by the Roman settlers hundreds of years ago and to treat the visitor to a multi-sensual journey through the 18 sites across the Pontevedra landscape.  Courtesy of AGi Architects The AGi proposal aims to bring visitors close to nature and to expose their senses to an imagined Roman settlement in operation. An orthogonal grid, resembling that of an archaeological site, catalogs the landscape containing the 18 settlements. Pikes are placed at the vertices of the grid, emitting music, information, and light. Through AGi's strategically placed interventions, the user experiences the rustling of soils, the murmur of wind through branches, and the changing texture of pavement from wood to gravel to soil at key moments. Slopes, excavations, and plant species are restored, allowing the visitor to experience the colors and scents of ancient vegetation.We are very proud of this project that integrates landscaping, renovation and  Light, sounds, scents and textures change throughout the journey. Image Courtesy of AGi Architects  The scheme connects 18 Roman settlements. Image Courtesy of AGi Architects
 The scheme is formed from layered interventions. Image Courtesy of AGi Architects  An archaeological grid structures the landscape. Image Courtesy of AGi Architects Through considered, strategic, informal interventions across the landscape, In Natura Veritas entwines the visitor not only with nature, but an ancient, imagined, abstract world.  Materials and textures respond to their context within the journey. Image Courtesy of AGi Architects
News via: AGi Architects.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The Brazilian House - Six 1 Eight 8 / Debaixo do Bloco Arquitetura Posted: 28 Jan 2017 05:00 AM PST  © Joana França
 © Joana França From the architect. In a house built by the master of Architecture in wood, Zanine Caldas the office Debaixo do Bloco Architecture had the role of requalifying the residence. Built in Brasilia in 1988, with 3.800 m², it has a privileged view where it is possible to see the main architectonic works of the capital of the country.  © Joana França The initial idea of the project was to maintain the identities of Zanine's trait along with iconic elements of the Brazilian house. With that its apparent structure in wood was maintained to exalt the symmetry and to be the main aesthetic and architectonic element. It is a consequence of the design of the roof where it is clear in the plants that its structure is defined with harmony between the pillars beams and roof of the residence.  © Joana França The interventions appear in the openings of more frames to privilege the view and the lighting that invades the surroundings, an escape of the city without losing of sight of. The excess of glass from all angles is purposeful is that it creates a harmony between architecture and nature and causes the areas to undergo a constant mutation. The glass walls make the house have different colors as time passes, Dawn | Sunset | Dusk, three possible scenarios during the day.  © Joana França The floor remained the original green ston ardosia, plus a way to bring the exterior to the interior of the house, so that when the doors are open is the impression there is no limit between one and another becoming a large balcony, typical feature of the Portuguese house.  © Joana França The timbers were once again the natural shade that had been lost with the varnish applications, frames that were once fixed now flip as another natural ventilation option that along with the roof eave brings the optimum thermal comfort to a fully translucent environment.  Plan 1 Already the furniture is an exaltation the modernist architecture and the national design in raw tones mixed with stone and natural fabrics Iconic pieces by Niemeyer and Lina Bo Bardi fill the space with more contemporary designers.  © Joana França The art is on account of the local Pedro Ivo that superimpose dramatic images, next to a palette of colors that marry the rusticity of the environments that only have hydraulic tiles and exposed bricks as a coating.  © Joana França Already the mezzanines that are in the adjacent of the work. On one side it is open to compose with collective areas. Where you have a new view - aerial - and in a sense it integrates with common space, Room | Kitchen | Dinner, the connection becomes visual and dynamic when one has meetings with friends that hour play pool while the others enjoy to dinner or kitchen. Ordered for the young couple of customers who had how to receive one of the basics points for the renovation.  © Joana França In the isolated mezzanine are the suite and office, that use walls of 2.50 cm without touching the lining and searched with apparent bricks. One of the reasons the office stays in this same sector was the pleasure of being able to work with the privileged view that the land offers.  © Joana França In the external area, the giant puffs give color and contrast between the floor of the pirenópolis stone, typical of the cerrado.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The Architectural League Announces Emerging Voices of 2017 Posted: 28 Jan 2017 04:00 AM PST  ReUrbano / Cadaval & Solà-Morales. Image © Miguel de Guzmán Each year, The Architectural League of New York awards its prestigious Emerging Voices award to eight practices across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, whose work "represents the best of its kind, and addresses larger issues within architecture, landscape, and the built environment." This is Emerging Voices' 35th year running, with the competition organized by League Program Director Anne Rieselbach and reviewed by an esteemed jury. "The 2017 Voices personify the versatility of contemporary practice. Many firms take on multiple roles of designer, developer, and/or builder to address pressing issues in housing, institutional design, and the public realm. They embrace material experimentation, challenging sites, and an economy of means within budgetary constraints to create exemplary architecture," said Rieselbach. This year's recipients are… Brian Bell and David Yocum Principals, BLDGS, Atlanta, Georgia  Congregation Or Hadash / BLDG. Image © Jonathan Hillyer
Eduardo Cadaval and Clara Solà-Morales Principals, Cadaval & Solà-Morales, Mexico City and Barcelona  MA House / Cadaval & Solà-Morales. Image © Sandra Pereznieto
Roy Decker and Anne Marie Duvall Decker Principals, Duvall Decker Architects, Jackson, Mississippi  Mississippi Library Comission / Duvall Decker Architects. Image © Timothy Hursley
Frida Escobedo Principal, Frida Escobedo, Taller de Arquitectura, Mexico City  La Tellera / Frida Escobedo. Image © Rafael Gamo
Chris Leong and Dominic Leong Founding Partners, Leong Leong, New York City  Anita May Rosenstein Campus at the Los Angeles LGBT Centre / Leong Leong . Image © Leong Leong
Thomas F. Robinson Founding Principal, LEVER Architecture, Portland, Oregon  Treehouse / LEVER Architecture. Image © Lara Swimmer
Jonathan Tate Principal, OJT, New Orleans, Louisiana  7510 Zimple / OJT. Image © William Crocker
David Scott and Susan Scott Directors, Scott & Scott Architects, Vancouver, Canada  Whistler Cabin / Scott and Scott Architects. Image © Scott and Scott Architects
Each of the eight Emerging Voices will feature in a lecture series in March. The schedule can be found here. Members of this year's jury included Sunil Bald, Mario Gooden, Lisa Gray, Paul Lewis, Jing Liu, Thomas Phifer, Bradley Samuels, Billie Tsien, and Ian Volner. News via: The Architectural League of New York. How The Architectural League Gave a Platform to 30 Years of Emerging Voices Watch Prominent Architectural Lectures and More from The Architectural League of New York  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The Record Company Headquarters that Revived 1950s Hollywood with Iconic Architecture Posted: 28 Jan 2017 01:30 AM PST  Courtesy of TASCHEN This essay by Alan Hess about the iconic Capitol Records building in Los Angeles was originally published as "The Architecture of the Capitol Records Tower." It is part of the book 75 Years of Capitol Records, published by TASCHEN, which is scheduled for release in February. The president of Capitol Records was certain that a serious company could not operate out of a building that looked like the stack of records in a jukebox. So when Welton Becket, the new headquarters' architect, showed him a model of the multistoried circular tower, Wallichs was annoyed. It would look like an advertising gimmick, Wallichs said, in a city where hot dogs were sold out of buildings shaped like hot dogs. Becket countered that the circular floor plan was more cost-efficient for the amount of usable space than a standard rectangular office building. Unimpressed, Wallichs told Becket to go back and design a conventional building. The myth that a stack of records inspired the Tower has never died, though. As soon as the building opened, Hollywood columnist Bob Thomas wrote about it as "a monstrous stack of records." Wallichs went on a public offensive from the start: "There was no intentional relationship between the shape of phonograph records and the circular design of the Tower" he insisted to the Chicago Tribune.  Blueprints of the design. Image Courtesy of TASCHEN But maybe the symbolic association was meant to be. The Capitol Records Tower struck a chord in the public imagination that has never diminished. Its distinctive profile has been as synonymous with Los Angeles as the nearby Hollywood sign. It's a mark of popular success that it's usually the first L.A. landmark to be demolished by tornadoes, earthquakes, or aliens in disaster movies. Los Angeles architecture has always been known for pushing boundaries and inventing new ideas, from restaurants shaped like hats to airports that look like futuristic space stations. Even if it wasn't based on a stack of shellac records, the Capitol Records Tower was certainly innovative: an all-new headquarters for the rapidly changing high-tech recording industry. Its sleek unconventional form also symbolized a new way of living, a new way of doing business, and a new popular culture. It was also an attempt to revive downtown Hollywood. When the Capitol Records building opened in 1956 a block north of Hollywood and Vine, Hollywood was on a slow decline as an entertainment district. Just like the young families moving into new ranch house tracts in the suburbs, film and television production was moving to suburbs like Burbank. No one knew exactly how traditional downtowns like Hollywood would change in this new era. Yet the shiny new tower could be a symbol of a hopeful future: electronic technology was changing as high fidelity recording was introduced, and stereo sound for the mass market was around the corner. The Tower's architecture was just as bold, unconventional, and modern. Los Angeles itself was being transformed as a city by modern technologies. Once the mass production of houses had been refined, the agricultural land of the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys became suburbs. Once most families owned at least one car, the design of gas stations, coffee shops, supermarkets, drive-in banks, department stores, and movie theaters began stimulating architects' creativity. So did the design of the new workplace — especially for the growing entertainment industry. When architects Welton Becket and his University of Washington classmate Walter Wurdeman first partnered in the 1930s, they had established ties with the entertainment industry by designing homes for the movie colony; then their 1935 Pan-Pacific Auditorium became the city's principal venue for exhibits, car shows, and concerts. After the end of World War II, Wurdeman and Becket built a reputation for innovations responding to the needs of booming businesses: Bullock's Pasadena (1947) reinvented the department store for the new suburbs. Downtown they built General Petroleum's office building (1947) featuring modular walls that could be shifted as the workforce changed, and an entirely up-to-date headquarters for the Los Angeles Police Department (1955, later named Parker Center). Out on Wilshire's Miracle Mile, they built the handsome Prudential Building (1948), and further out they built Conrad Hilton's flagship hotel (1953) in Beverly Hills. Throughout the city, Wurdeman and Becket were creating new architecture for a new kind of city. Capitol Records itself was also burgeoning as a business; from offices over Wallichs Music City record store at Sunset and Vine in 1942, the record company was ready by 1954 to leap into a 13-story tower. Capitol Records embodied Los Angeles' global power in media, entertainment, and popular culture, and Becket's design for their headquarters would become a landmark of a defining moment in the city's history. By the early 1960s, Welton Becket Associates (renamed after Wurdeman died unexpectedly in 1949) would become the largest architecture firm in the country. Organizing around the concept of Total Design, the firm developed the skills and organizational finesse to design and build the complex campuses, planning projects, and technical facilities that the growing region demanded. Under one roof, design, interiors, planning, and construction for enormous projects could be accomplished smoothly and efficiently. Becket himself encouraged fresh thinking by hiring a young workforce and giving them opportunities to prove themselves. Lou Naidorf was only 24 years old, just three years out of the University of California, Berkeley's architecture school, when Becket gave him the chance to design "Project X" — the code name for the Capitol Records headquarters.  The Capitol Records Tower at night — its trademark spire lit to look like a Christmas tree. Photograph taken by Daniel Catherine, 1977 © Capitol Photo Archives. Image Courtesy of TASCHEN Under the supervision of Becket's director of design, Maynard Woodard, Naidorf designed the office tower without knowing exactly what kind of business would occupy it. He was given a list of requirements; the base was a large windowless box; the offices in the tower would be mostly equal-sized offices, without the usual large administrative floor filled with dozens of gray metal desks. Naidorf reached back to an architecture school project he had developed just a few years before. He had analyzed the modern office building, and decided that it was a new kind of factory: data went in, decisions came out. And even in 1950, it was clear to close observers that the computer would be replacing the huge data-crunching staffs of most businesses. From that school project, Naidorf developed the circular plan for the office floors. Wallichs budget was tight, and the efficiency of costs in building a circular structure compared to the usable floor area produced looked very good — especially when the core services (elevators, stairs, utility chases, bathrooms) could be clustered efficiently in the central core. As Naidorf calculated, 20 percent of a standard rectangular office building was devoted to utilities; his round building would require only 14 percent for utilities; radiating out from the central core, pipes and ducting didn't have to be as long. A building without squared-off corners would save 13-20 percent in the cost of building the perimeter wall, he showed. Becket liked fresh ideas, and agreed. The structure would be poured concrete for the ring of structural columns standing just inside the skin of the building; each floor slab, 90 feet in diameter, would be concrete too, with a slight cantilever extending outside the skin. Wallichs initial disapproval of the scheme failed to discourage Becket. First he told Naidorf to design a more conventional, rectangular scheme; then he told Wallichs to see what his lenders, an insurance company, thought of each proposal. The bean counters liked the cost savings from the circular plan, and convinced Wallichs to build it. They even encouraged him to add more floors (13 stories was the maximum then allowed in L.A.); the lender had faith that the notable building in the center of Hollywood would attract renters that would justify extra floors. The building would be 91,900 square feet of area, with 6,300 square feet per floor. But for all the beauty of its rational, cost-effective efficiency, the stocky cylindrical form was a problem. "Bland is the kindest thing you can say about it," Naidorf admits; it had "the proportions of a Campbell's tomato soup can." The design needed to be shaped and polished. The second floor at the base of the Tower was inset six feet, allowing the upper floors to appear to float in the air. Another pragmatic feature helped to make the Capitol Records Tower memorable: the porcelain-enameled sunscreens ringing each floor. They grow, as does all good modern design, from their function; the building was an early adopter of air conditioning for an office in Los Angeles, but before the invention of tinted, solar-heat-reducing glass, a music agent sitting at his desk in the direct sunlight would have been uncomfortably hot. Windows could be opened, but the sunshades ringing each floor would help cool the building — what we call passive solar design today. The sunshades were designed to be a system separate from the structure itself, adding a light weight, practical-yet-ornamental feature to the Tower. The shades of porcelain-enameled metal were bolted onto steel frameworks holding them out from the surface of the building. Like thin leaves, angled downward and hovering around the curving façade, these functional elements become an intriguing, ever-changing decorative element, animating the façade as sun and shadows move around the building and slivers of light play across the façade through the day.  Model of the building. Image Courtesy of TASCHEN Another key element of the design is the steel-framed spire that rises from the roof. For those who like to see the building as a stack of records, it is an abstract stylus, the needle playing the pressed grooves of a 78 record. In fact it's a vestigial broadcast tower, a remnant of Capitol's scheme to include a radio station in their new headquarters. Usually these towers were open frame steel derricks, looking roughly like a small Eiffel Tower; two typical broadcast towers still rise from the roof of the 1928 Warner Bros. Theater nearby on Hollywood Boulevard. But those were old fashioned. The spirit of modern Los Angeles demanded something new; Naidorf instead designed the Tower as a piece of abstract sculpture, an asymmetrical pyramid-shaped steel framework balanced on three legs. To hide the steel frame and emphasize the modernistic volume, perforated metal panels clad the volume. Beneath it, a wide metal ring holding the "Capitol Records" name also floats out from the building on a steel armature. The spire is placed jauntily off-center, as counterpoint to the emphatic centrality of the cylindrical tower. It is a piece of integral modern art and perfectly tuned to the energy of the city. The floors were ringed by offices, each with a secretarial desk and open to tremendous views through an uninterrupted band of windows. Corridors hug the curving central core holding elevators, stairs, restrooms, and services. As designed by Welton Becket Associates, the offices featured built-in and modern furniture to match the building, And of course the building was wired to play soft music throughout. The main lobby off of Vine Street was also a set piece of modern design; it was an abstract composition of marble walls, thick circular columns, floating beams supporting dropped pinpoint can lights, and planters bringing the outdoors indoors. The receptionists sat in chairs designed by Charles and Ray Eames. A screen of expanded aluminum hung outside to shade them from the western sun. The heart and soul of the building, though, are the three recording studios, partly excavated into the earth on the ground floor. These lofty spaces occupied the mysterious windowless base that originally piqued Naidorf's curiosity. The legendary aura of the Capitol Records Tower owes a lot to the artists who recorded there, but it also owes a lot to Wallichs insistence on the highest technical standards for those studios. The echo chambers dug under the parking lot to the east were part of that. Wallichs himself was an expert in sound engineering, but they also hired acoustical engineers, and Capitol artists such as Les Paul were consulted on the equipment and sound design of the space. "There are seven layers of wall so that there will be absolute silence, and the floors are floating on an asphalt-impregnated cork to eliminate all vibration," Wallichs reported to the press. The result is a legendary sound studio, but also one of the most impressive (and rarely seen) modern designs in midcentury Los Angeles. It's the definition of modernism: form elegantly following function. Each element exists to create great sound. The room was designed with no parallel surfaces, so sound is not trapped and deadened, but that also results in a remarkably energetic, asymmetrical space. Hinged panels lining the walls have soundreflecting birch wood on one side, sound-absorbing acoustical panels on the other; each can be arranged to tune the entire room, like a grand piano, to any quality of sound, bright or soft, that the musicians and producers desired. The control room window is angled, and adjustable ceiling baffles float at random angles. In seeking the perfect acoustic functionality, the room's jagged planes, movable baffles covered in colorful cloth, and the polished wood floor create an agile, kinetic, ever-changing, ever-new, ever-modern space of tremendous abstract beauty. Ground was broken for the Tower in September 1954, and the building opened in April 1956. A Capitol press release pegged the cost at $2 million. The Tower's lithe and practical form, its sunshade haloes, its comfortable offices with tremendous views, the spire crowning its roof, the recording studios at its heart: put them together and you have one of the most effective pieces of modern architecture in L.A. from a period when the city was known for groundbreaking modern design. It was a model for the workplace in a new era of electronics. In Southern California history, Capitol Records stands both in contrast to the sharp functional precision of Richard Neutra's modern architecture, and as prophetic of Frank Gehry's exuberant geometries. Yet so tradition-bound was the architecture profession that it would take years for the Capitol Records Tower to be recognized as something other than an advertising gimmick; rectangular boxes remained the industry standard for office towers until fairly recently. Still, the Capitol Records Tower found its way into the popular consciousness much more quickly. The term "iconic" is thrown around too freely today, but it applies to the Capitol Records Tower. It captured its place, times, and function perfectly: the boldness to be inventive and purposefully different, the symbol of the music industry swelled by the youth culture, and revolutionizing global commerce and culture. That's an icon that can never be dislodged.  Cover of 75 Years of Capitol Records. Image Courtesy of TASCHEN  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 28 Jan 2017 01:00 AM PST  © René van Dongen
 © René van Dongen From the architect. Amsterdam based architecture studio Bureau Fraai has converted a former paint factory in The Hague into a coffee bar, restaurant and business centre with a fully steel bar element as an interconnecting eye-catcher.  © René van Dongen The restaurant and coffee experience named Capriole Café is one of the first hospitality concepts in the upcoming industrial neighbourhood the "Binckhorst" in The Hague, which will be developed into a residential and business area the coming decade.  © René van Dongen The existing small windows of the building were replaced by 5 meter high steel window frames with doors opening up the interior towards the terrace and marina in front of the café.  © René van Dongen The main goal of the design of the café was to create a total experience of every aspect of the making and consumption of "coffee". While the ground floor functions as a coffee roastery, coffee bar and restaurant, the first level contains a barista training centre, a showroom, an office and a meeting room for Capriole Coffee Service.  © René van Dongen By introducing a central void with a 4,5 metre high black steel bar element, these two levels were visually connected with the meeting room as "lantern" overseeing the restaurant.  © René van Dongen The prefabricated interconnecting bar element is completely composed of heavy structural steel beams and frames the roastery downstairs and the barista training centre upstairs. Also the entrance volume containing the Capriole logo, the toilets, and wardrobe is completely composed of steel.  3D Model In contrast with the black-and-white interior, the designers introduced oak and brass in their designs for all the tables and the cabinets.  © René van Dongen Also the hanging lamps in the void and the pedestals presenting the companies future high-end coffee machines were custom-designed by Bureau Fraai.  © René van Dongen Product Description. Mindow > The slim aluminum window frames create a sophisticated and at the same time industrial look which matches the characteristics of this former paint factory.  © René van Dongen  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| ANSKA Unveils Floating Platform Design for Paris Olympics Posted: 28 Jan 2017 12:00 AM PST  © ANSKA ANSKA has unveiled Spots, a series of temporary floating platforms to host micro-events for the Paris Olympic Games of 2024. Intended as an alternative to classic river typologies like barges or heavy structures, Spots are modular systems that can easily be assembled or disassembled, allowing them to become durable programmatic solutions. While Spots was designed for the Paris Olympics, where modules would be hooked to the riverbanks to create a complimentary route for the Games, facilitating a greater exploration of the city, the micro-typology of the project could be applied "to any river and city," as well as to Parisian suburbs and industrial areas.  © ANSKA  © ANSKA Each "spot" will feature a different program, for example, sporting events, demonstrative matches, small concerts, information centers, historic information centers, or exhibitions.  © ANSKA Depending on the width of the river and various related logistics, some "spots" would be detached from the riverbank to float in the Seine.  © ANSKA  © ANSKA
 © ANSKA  © ANSKA Spots is a part of ANSKA's research project entitled Invisible Potential, which explores how more than ¼ of Paris could be reactivated. News via: ANSKA.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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