Arch Daily |
- Understanding the "Public Interior," From the Palace to the Garden
- Pfaffenthal Lift / STEINMETZDEMEYER
- Summer House on the Baltic Sea Island / Pluspuu Oy
- BE Friendly Space / H&P Architects
- 22 Toh Yi Road / Ming Architects
- Hermès Gion-mise / ODS
- The Whyte House / buck&simple
- Palermo Named Italian Capital of Culture for 2018
- Edmunds.com Headquarters / M+M Creative Studio
- RIBA Awards 2017 Royal Gold Medal to Paulo Mendes da Rocha
- Winning Times Square Valentine's Day Installation Will Celebrate NYC's Immigrants
- Haus D / EBERLE Architekten BDA
- Adjaye, Chipperfield Among 6 Shortlisted in Competition for Edinburgh Concert Hall
- Out of the Box / Arjen Reas Architects + Van Voorden Architecture
- Future Architecture Platform Reveals 2017 Laureates
- Layers and Lighting: How Top Architects Design Fashion Stores to Turn Heads by Day and Night
- Città del Sole / Labics
- 10 Brilliant Tiny Houses that are Revolutionizing Micro-Living
- Call for Submissions: Architecture-Themed Valentine's Day Card 2017
| Understanding the "Public Interior," From the Palace to the Garden Posted: 01 Feb 2017 08:00 PM PST  Courtesy of Jap Sam Books In this article, which originally appeared on BD, Nicholas de Klerk (a London-based Associate Architect at Aukett Swanke) reviews The Public Interior as Idea and Project – a new publication by the Netherlands-based Canadian artist, architectural historian and educator Mark Pimlott. Mark Pimlott's new book, The Public Interior as Idea and Project (2016), expands on prior publications, notably Without and Within (2007). In this earlier book, Pimlott explored the concept of a 'continuous interior'—examining repetitive spaces which share characteristics—for example, shopping malls and airports, and which, collectively, set about the urbanisation of the American territory. Public Interior is no less ambitious. It looks closely at the development of a series of themes—the garden, the palace, the ruin, the shed, the machine and the network—all of which formed the subject of a series of lectures given to Masters Students in Architecture at the Delft University of Technology. Through these themes, Pimlott examines different types of interior spaces, which are considered public, not necessarily in terms of ownership, but in terms of their capacity to be taken as 'public, even though they may be privately owned and operated'. Pimlott first introduces the concept of interiority which emerges from early settlement patterns, and is iterated at every scale – whether "a dwelling, a temple, a settlement, a city or a continental territory." The idea of the interior as relational is one that runs throughout the book, and one of architecture's fundamental roles is to "situate and bind" its sheltered interior to the world. The book performs much the same function, taking each of the public interiors identified in the book and relating them to a wider historical, geographical and social context. This, then, is the project: It shows a city's public interiors as a collection of spaces that reveal something about the city itself and the people who live in it, and how vital these are to civic life and, indeed, survival. The corollary to the relational process of creating an interiority is the ideological process of othering, which is often none too subtly reinforced by cities and their planning, architecture and its interiors. This introduces a thread of political thought to the book which underpins much of the work, emerging clearly again at its conclusion.  The Winter Palace. Image © Marius Grootveld  The Winter Palace. Image © Marius Grootveld  The Winter Palace. Image © Marius Grootveld In the first chapter, Pimlott traces an arc that begins with the idea of landscape and the designed, picturesque garden: "a potent site for contemplation of the world, one's place in it and the conceit of one's dominion over it." The chapter concludes with an exploration of the workplace interior (office landscapes or Bürolandschaft) and internal atria. The office environment is concerned with planning and organisation inasmuch as it describes implicit and explicit power relations. Picturesque landscapes worked in a similar fashion, using vistas and architectural fragments or follies set within pastoral contexts to suggest hierarchies and other forms of control using visual and spatial relationships. This conception of the designed environment finds one of its greatest forms of expression in the great glass houses, such as Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace built for the 1851 Great Exposition in London's Hyde Park. These glass enclosures were also replicated in greenhouses, conservatories and smaller vitrines and caskets across the country. The building of structures such as these coincided with the rise of bourgeois culture in Northern Europe which was itself, as Pimlott notes, "driven by colonialism, and the subjugation, exploitation and removal of resources from faraway lands by force." These structures and spaces created an internal environment that could contain and sustain plants as well as a wide variety of other objects and artefacts. They demonstrated the empire's reach while also reflecting a mythical, but nonetheless enduring, national self-image of power, influence and beneficence. Urban parks function in a not dissimilar fashion, as "public interiors within the body of the metropolis" whose carefully crafted, utterly fictional, bucolic landscapes offered a counterpoint to soften and ameliorate their host's urban project. It did this while also suggesting that the countryside outside of the city could be managed or controlled. Office atria, such as in Roche and Dinkeloo's 1969 Ford Foundation in New York, embraced "the idea of a contained pre-urban fragment, representative of indigenous hinterlands – much like the fiction of Olmsted's Central Park."  Palazzo Ducale Urbino IV. Image © Marius Grootveld  Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. Image © Mark Pimlott The Crystal Palace appears again in Pimlott's chapter on The Shed. The author draws links between it and other typologies such as market halls and transport terminals. Each of these spaces have their own qualities as 'public interiors' and these new associations enable us to understand the glass house from a slightly different perspective. This occurs a number of times in the book; Lina Bo Bardi's SESC-Fábrica de Pompéia, for example, is examined both in the chapter on ruins and, once again in the chapter on sheds. The approach creates a textured, multivalent analysis which prompts you to read, re-read, page backwards and forward, examining and re-examining, thinking and rethinking. The book is impeccably researched and referenced, and written with a generosity and openness that evidences Pimlott's deep knowledge of the subject. It is beautifully illustrated (many of the photographs are the author's own) and each chapter ends with a comprehensively referenced visual index, which appears again at the end of the book. Most of the chapters finish with a very recent built example of the theme explored, but only the last chapter—on the network as public interior—offers a conclusion. Pimlott observes how many 'network' spaces are under threat from creeping commercialisation and surveillance and offer little respite from the increasingly consumer-driven character of public life. He suggests that a public interior 'might place us in profound contact with our own material culture, with what we have made in the world, with the natural world and with each other'. The network, which 'enables or structures connections in cities' and is 'bound to its experience' offers that potential. This observation reads as propositional and perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay the book is that it will undoubtedly influence my own work (which often involves the design of public interiors as conceived here). It has already influenced the way in which I read, understand and navigate the city that I live in.
 The Public Interior as Idea and Project About the AuthorMark Pimlott (Montréal, 1958) is an artist, architectural designer and writer, whose practice encompasses installation, photography, film, art for public spaces and architecture, particularly, interiors. He has taught architecture and visual arts since 1986. He was Professor in relation to practice in Architecture at TU Delft (2002-2008), and is now Assistant Professor in TU Delft's Chair The Architecture of the Interior. He is the author of Without and within: essays on territory and the interior (episode publishers, 2007) and In passing: Mark Pimlott photographs (Jap Sam Books, 2010). His articles and essays are published in numerous journals of architecture, and he lectures widely. Realised works include Neckinger Mills interiors, London (1988; 1994); Red House interiors, London (2001; 2004; 2011; 2014) in collaboration with Tony Fretton architects; Guinguette, Birmingham (2000); La scala, Aberystwyth (2003); restaurant Puck, The Hague (2007), in collaboration with Zeinstra Van Gelderen architecten; and World, a public square at BBC's Broadcasting House in central London (2013). Solo exhibitions include Studiolo and 1965 (Todd Gallery, London (1995; 1998); Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, (NAi, Rotterdam, 2005) and All things pass (Stroom, The Hague, 2008). The installation Piazzasalone (in collaboration with Tony Fretton) was shown in the Corderie dell'Arsenale at the 12th Biennale internazionale di Architettura di Venezia.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Pfaffenthal Lift / STEINMETZDEMEYER Posted: 01 Feb 2017 07:00 PM PST  © Paulo Lobo Luxedit  © Boshua - Bohumil Kostohryz From the architect. The construction of a public lift between the historic district of Pfaffenthal and the upper city of Luxembourg was a multi-challenges project: to promote soft mobility (pedestrians and bicycles), to open up a valley floor district with a free and fast mean of transportation, and to create a work of art, emblematic for the district and harmoniously integrated in this landscape protected by UNESCO.  © Boshua - Bohumil Kostohryz This public facility attracts a wide range of users from mid-2016. From cyclists going to work, to tourists or regular residents, everyone has discovered the city from one of the most spectacular perspectives!  © Paulo Lobo Luxedit The success of this project, carried out by the City of Luxembourg and designed by STEINMETZDEMEYER in collaboration with INCA Associate Engineers and Jean Schmit Engineering is also due to its location. The lift's foundations are in the heart of the historic district of Pfaffenthal and it directly arrives in the park Pescatore, where the user will find a direct connection to the cycle and pedestrian paths of the City. Moreover, these connections highly contribute to the development of the touristic and cultural trail Grund-Clausen-Pfaffenthal-Upper City.  © Boshua - Bohumil Kostohryz The architects aimed at maximizing the comfort and the experience of the various users. In order to facilitate the movement of the cyclists, the cabin is equipped with two large opposite doors. Thus, they do not have to maneuver back and forth between the top and bottom accesses.  © Boshua - Bohumil Kostohryz Suspended above the valley, the cabin is entirely out-sheath and is glazed from floor to ceiling on half of its surface. It thus offers to the users a journey through the landscapes of a quarry, the supporting walls, the wood on the side, to finish after 30 seconds on a magnificent panorama of the Alzette valley and the Kirchberg plateau.  Detail At the upward exit of the lift, a footbridge is hung on the side of the tower. This footbridge is launched above the valley by an overhang of more than 9 meters, in order to offer fantastic panoramic landscapes on the architectural and contemporary heritage of the City of Luxembourg: the medieval district of Pfaffenthal, the sixties artwork Pont-Rouge ("The Red Bridge"), the Kirchberg district in a continuous urban development and the Bock, witness of the City's origins in 963. The most reckless ones can contemplate this wonderful view through a sheet of glass at more than 60 meters above the district!  © Boshua - Bohumil Kostohryz Practical, sustainable, aesthetic and offering an unforgettable experience, STDM architects always targeted these qualities while designing this public lift, which today constitutes a landmark in the valley and confers a new identity to the historical district of Pfaffenthal.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Summer House on the Baltic Sea Island / Pluspuu Oy Posted: 01 Feb 2017 06:00 PM PST  © Samuli Miettinen
 © Samuli Miettinen From the architect. This unique rocky Island on the Baltic Sea belongs to the family living in Helsinki. The Island is 5,5 hectares and located in outer sea with huge sea views. The starting point to architectural planning was Pluspuu models Isokari and Luoto - villa and sauna. The houses were planned to different places on the island - distance about 900 m.  Site Plan House models were modified according to family's wishes and hopes and were fitted to the building sites rocky terrain and nature. The target was to plan houses like birds do their nests - they have to see everything from nest but no one has to see the nest.  © Samuli Miettinen Both houses are in two parts under the same roof. In the main house the rooms for quests are separated with handy decked intermediate space. And in the sauna house the sauna and washroom are separated from dressing room.  Floor Plan  Elevations  Sauna Floor The most important thing in architectural design was naturally to catch the sea view and rocky nature to the part of houses. Only large and simple windows separates those.  © Samuli Miettinen The height positions of the houses were carefully planned. The house, large terrace made of Siberian larch and the rocky beach are in great harmony.  © Samuli Miettinen The circumstances in this island are really hard. In winter there may be snow one meter or more and temperature -25 degrees. In the summertime may easily be +30 degrees and sunshine whole day - on the other hand the wind and rain may be 35 meters/second.  © Samuli Miettinen Both houses are made of Pluspuu logs with special modern shape. There are no traditional log corners or overlaps. This makes possible modern architectural design. Log is an excellent material for this kind of buildings in hard circumstances - it is strong and lasting and it breaths - you can leave the building without heating even in the winter if you don't use the it. In addition to architectural design there's been paid great attention to engineering design. There is a special sealing between logs to keep the rainwater outside. Also in the eaves there are special wind deflectors. All the insulation materials are natural and breathing wooden fiber and linen. Plastics are not used. There are no nails also on outer surface.  © Samuli Miettinen Log is the most used wall material in Finnish summer houses. This project represents modern Finnish and Scandinavian log cottage design at its best.  © Samuli Miettinen Product Description. Both buildings are made of modern logs without traditional log corners. The main houses walls are made of log frame + additional wooden fibre insulation + internal surface made of plasterboards. Sauna walls are made of solid log – inside painted white.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| BE Friendly Space / H&P Architects Posted: 01 Feb 2017 02:00 PM PST  © Doan Thanh Ha
 © Nguyen TienThanh From the architect. Initiated by H&P Architects in a combined use of the two major materials Bamboo & Earth since 2013 (BES pavilion in Ha Tinh, 2013) in a series of projects to create "a friendly space in suffocating urban areas", BE (Bamboo & Earth) friendly space presents an open space for the community, with importance being attached to aspects of culture and art (exchanges, exhibitions, cuisines, ..). BE friendly space is, thereby,expected to undertake the mission to improve the stormy relationship between man and nature in modern times.  © Nguyen TienThanh  Ground Plan  © Doan Thanh Ha Located in the centre of Mao Khe town, BE friendly space is made of locally available friendly materials, in simple building operations and with the participation of local builders. The entire project is made of earth-rammed walls (thickness 40cm) adjacent to each other in a zigzag pattern that spares valuable green spaces for common use. These open spaces are also connected to each other through randomly placed windows (110cm X 220cm). Above the used space is a double alternate layer of bamboo- made roof to regulate light and air as well as to blur the boundary between the interior and exterior, architecture and landscape.  © Doan Thanh Ha  Axonometric  © Doan Thanh Ha The objective of BE friendly space is to help raise social awareness of the need for friendly spaces for community in the context of urbanization and concretization which is gradually suffocating Mao Khe - one of the most populous towns in Vietnam, thereby making contributions to shaping actions of community in the process of creating sustainable spaces for the future immediately from today's friendliness.  © Doan Thanh Ha  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 22 Toh Yi Road / Ming Architects Posted: 01 Feb 2017 12:00 PM PST  © Edward Hendricks
 © Edward Hendricks From the architect. Flanked between the koi pond and the swimming pool, the double volume courtyard - a fulcrum to the house, was introduced to break the monotony of spaces in this linear house. Horizontal and vertical movements are endless and ample daylight floods the key living spaces. A 3-storey high feature steel staircase floats above the koi pond, with a vertical feature wall of black river pebbles as its backdrop. A slim bridge suspends over the courtyard and ties the front and rear wings of the house.  © Edward Hendricks The house composes of sleek, robust linear architecture with multiple punctuation of varying sizes, completed with balconies and timber screens on its façade. Featuring a consistent chamfered wall detail, the cool sleek white façade is complemented by warm timber elements and further soften with landscaping. Together, they cohesively create a simple yet sophisticated outlook.  © Edward Hendricks Termed as a visual feast, the interior is a visual layering of spaces, of which spaces superimposes one after another. One traverses through these spaces fluidly, devoided of the typical experience of corridors. When the sliding-folding doors are fully tucked away, the boundaries blurs between the spaces and activities spills over to one another.  Plans The house being positioned on higher ground, naturally accommodates an unobstructed view of the surrounding greenery. Capitalizing on this view, coupled with the activation of the roof plane into a roof terrace, allows the client – who frequently entertains guests – to extend their entertainment areas beyond the ground plane and onto this roof, through the pebble-walled feature staircase.  © Edward Hendricks Product Description. One key feature of the architecture is the hand-made feature wall of black polished river pebbles, which acts as a backdrop for the floating steel staircase. The feature wall stands 3 stories high, and ties in the main common areas where the family entertains and gathers. The pebbles were specially selected accordingly to their shape, size and color. 5 workers painstakingly installed each pebble by hand over a period of 3 months to create the visual effect that we specified. The black textural quality of the wall serves as a contrast to the white polished marble flooring and painted walls of the rest of house.  © Edward Hendricks  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 01 Feb 2017 11:00 AM PST  © Takumi Ota
 © Takumi Ota From the architect. This was an architectural project for the design of Daimaru Kyoto, Gion Machiya, as a part of Daimaru's 300th anniversary for its foundation. We also conducted the interior design of <Hermès Gion-mise> as the first shop opened in this traditional Japanese house.  © Takumi Ota The site is located along Hanamikoji Street, which goes through the center of Gion area in Kyoto city with traditional townscape. We renovated and transformed a town house previously used as a tea house/ residence into the store.  © Takumi Ota Since the area is designated as the Historical Landscape Preservation and Improvement District, the building's exterior design visible from the street remains with its original condition. The former building used as a residence was composed of partitioned small rooms, narrow hallways and several spot gardens; therefore, it was required to link those small spaces to make them function as a store, while maintaining the framework of the building.  © Takumi Ota Then, we connected those separately allocated spot gardens to be reconfigured into an exterior "alley", which leads visitors to the shop directly from the storefront street, to the 1st floor shop space located along this alley.  Floor Plan Register area and fitting room area are gathered at the west side of the building, while an elevator and a staircase are newly built at the east side. This enabled the central area for product sales to become a single room without any partition―a space with a feel of continuity to the "alley" produced by a large glass surface and eaves.  © Takumi Ota In the sales area on the 1st floor, a Japanese wood joinery technique called "kigumi", which is often found in traditional Japanese buildings, is utilized for furniture and fixture, and it is placed along the wall surfaces of the space. "Kigumi" is the technique to apply mortises and tenons on wood pieces to fit them together without using any nail or adhesive.  © Takumi Ota While the furniture and fixture built by 50mm x 50mm square wood pieces appears to be arranged randomly, its 150mm grid unit allows the furniture to be easily disassembled and freely reconfigured into different shapes. Since the < Hermès Gion-mise> is a temporal store for a limited period, we proposed the design using "kigumi" technique, so that the furniture and fixture can be reused at other locations in different forms after this temporal store is closed.  © Takumi Ota The shop, mainly the central area surrounded by the furniture and fixture, is designed as the space to hold various events on a regular basis. For that purpose, one of the surfaces of the sales space is designed as an illuminating surface with a capability to change brightness and colors of the lighting, so that the atmosphere of the space can be created differently depending on the event held in the space.  Floor Plan The 2nd floor to be used as a gallery and a lounge has an open ceiling space along the roof shape, while those tie beams are exposed to the main part of the space. Wiring duct is embedded in the beams from which fixtures can be hung, and this helps the space to be utilized for multiple purposes.  © Takumi Ota Kyoto city, the center of handicraft and performing arts for more than one thousand years, boldly maintains the presence of traditional culture even today. At this site where tradition and innovation coexist, we intended to produce a kind of "stage" to communicate and transmit the voices of various new experiments to the world.  © Takumi Ota  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 01 Feb 2017 09:00 AM PST  © Tim Pascoe Photography
 © Tim Pascoe Photography From the architect. House Justice involves alterations and additions to a two storey, semi-detached, Edwardian Queen Anne/Arts and Crafts style house listed on the state heritage inventory. The project begun with our client requesting that we add a carport and an awning reacquainting the rear yard with their home.  © Tim Pascoe Photography Their decision to downsize and remain local to the civic and social places they love, thankfully, had positive repercussions on the design process.  © Tim Pascoe Photography The practicalities of downsizing encouraged the existing building fabric to achieve maximum efficiency. Every family room has been arranged to allow social flexibility, modestly scaled for the interconnecting spaces. The individual functionality of each area required an ability to function as a quiet space for one person or as a platform for entertaining multitudes.  © Tim Pascoe Photography The carport structure is the view from the outdoor spaces, the outdoor spaces are the view from the living areas and the living areas are the termination point of this sequence, the interconnectivity dictates every element must offer an aesthetic that has to be considered, consistent and not overbearing, a part of the whole.  © Tim Pascoe Photography An emphasis on materials, inherent in their own character, proficient to withstand the desired function and location was encouraged, showing pride in each element. External timbers are either painted white to prolonge lifespan or made from teak capable of enduring harsh environments. Roofing is naturally weathering zinc sheet, folded in a traditional double standing seam as is best for rigidity. Sandstone adds texture and was hand-selected from a local quarry to create a consistent aesthetic with existing heritage elements.  © Tim Pascoe Photography  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Palermo Named Italian Capital of Culture for 2018 Posted: 01 Feb 2017 08:00 AM PST  Palermo. Image © Flickr user madeva71. Licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0 The city of Palermo has been named the "Italian Capital of Culture" for 2018 by Italy's Ministry of Culture, following the city's selection of host for "Manifesta 12", the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, this past November. With the decision, Palermo will receive a million euro award for promotion and public investment, which will likely result in a surge of tourism in the next year. Home to a wealth of historical and cultural sites, Palermo was selected from a shortlist of eleven cities including: Alghero, Aquileia, Comacchio, Ercolano, Montebelluna, Recanati, Settimo Torinese, Trento, and a joint Elima-Erice bid. "We saw that this virtuous competition creates a system of communal participation," said Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, "Being on the shortlist is a bit like receiving an Oscar nomination: it allows them to do a lot of work, in terms of planning and promotions." The European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Manifesta 12, will be led by "Creative Mediators" OMA, who will investigate the role of governance in the Italian city, and address how contemporary urban centers are affected by tourism, gentrification, migration and climate change. Other initiatives for the city include promoting the newly-granted UNESCO Heritage Arab-Norman route connecting Palermo with Cefalù and Monreale, and a slate of world-class opera performances for the city's Teatro Massimo. This year's capital of culture is Pistoia, with Mantua serving as the 2016 representative. News via Il Sole 24 Ore. OMA Announced as "Creative Mediators" for Manifesta 12 in Palermo  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Edmunds.com Headquarters / M+M Creative Studio Posted: 01 Feb 2017 07:00 AM PST  © Benny Chan
 © Benny Chan From the architect. Our client's brief was straight-forward … the CEO of this "Silicon Beach" automotive information and car buying online site – Edmunds.com - wanted an inventive space, focusing on his 600+ person team … a space where they could collaborate, team, create, define, recruit, discuss, focus and work however they felt best fit their current assignments.  © Benny Chan  Before - After  © Benny Chan Working with two floors totaling 145,000 SF, we started with the larger moves; first, we harnessed the perimeter of the existing rambling internal atrium as the circulation 'expressway' for both floors, second, we concentrated the larger meeting spaces throughout the 1st floor – anchored by a 'main street' of program/design elements – main entry, reception and 'the hub' (i.e. 'hubcap'), their one and only coffee bar for their entire company) and third, because it was critical to the CEO for each team member to have their own individual desk (i.e. 'parking spot'), the bulk of the 2nd floor is comprised of a plank-desking system that allows flex in linear feet per person where required, with additional smaller meeting rooms dispersed throughout and miscellaneous programmatic requirements such as quiet rooms ('rest stops') and the IT service desk (the 'pit stop').  © Benny Chan Necessity and pragmatism are the basis of design for any car (getting from point 'A' to point 'B'), it is in the details that the designers strive to set each apart from the next – this is the very thinking that fueled and drove our entire team. Beyond the programmatic ease of use and neighborhood groupings, the design is meant to immerse all in the client's newly branded world, eliciting motion through fluid shapes and shimmering materials, complete with 'roadway graphics' to assist in way-finding. Details include mounting two Corvettes (they turn in unison clockwise above the reception desk – because cars are meant to be in motion) above the mirror-polished stainless steel reception desk (a '1966' [the year the company started] and a '2016' [the year this project opened]) – a meaningful recognition of their past and future. Additional automotive design elements include a chrome hubcap chandelier, chrome exhaust pipes creating the backdrop texture for the welcoming/'on ramp' monitor (playing loops of test track footage), a 1948 Cadillac (the coffee station from their very first office) re-imagined to be the happy hour bar and 2,472 individual 'matchbox' cars creating their 'car' logo.  © Benny Chan In addition, the 10,000 SF exterior central atrium was completely re-envisioned – a newly dynamic outdoor space with both larger social and more intimate spaces – connected to the adjacent interior spaces with over 130 LF of retractable glass doors. Inside the atrium itself, the multiple 15' long raised linear planters (planted with lavender, jasmine and kangaroo paws) and gurgling water features – all run in parallel lanes (like cars seen from above on a super-sized highway), weaving among the embedded LED strip lighting that, like a highway at night, race and change color with a varying choreography.  © Benny Chan  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| RIBA Awards 2017 Royal Gold Medal to Paulo Mendes da Rocha Posted: 01 Feb 2017 07:00 AM PST  © Morley von Sternberg Update: Paulo Mendes da Rocha was today awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal at a ceremony at the RIBA headquarters in London. The article below was originally published when the award was announced on September 29, 2016. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has awarded its 2017 Royal Gold Medal to Paulo Mendes da Rocha. The 87-year-old is among Brazil's most celebrated architects, known for his special brand of Brazilian Brutalism which has had a dramatic effect in his home country, particularly in the city of São Paulo. The award continues a spectacularly successful year for Mendes da Rocha, who won the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale in May, and was announced the 2016 Premium Imperiale Laureate just weeks ago. Mendes da Rocha has also previously received the Pritzker Prize in 2006 and the Mies van der Rohe Prize for his Pinacoteca de São Paulo project in 2000. Mendes da Rocha becomes the second Brazilian to win the RIBA's Gold Medal, after Oscar Niemeyer received the award in 1998. He joins other luminaries such as Zaha Hadid (2016), Frank Gehry (2000), Norman Foster (1983), and Frank Lloyd Wright (1941).  MuBE / Paulo Mendes da Rocha. Image © Nelson Kon  Patriarch Plaza / Paulo Mendes da Rocha. Image © Nelson Kon Born in Vitória, Brazil in 1928, Mendes da Rocha first received acclaim in 1957 for the Athletic Club of São Paulo. Since then, he has built a number of other seminal works in including the Saint Peter Chapel (1987), the Brazilian Sculpture Museum MuBE (1988), Patriach Plaza (1992-2002), the Pinacoteca do Estado gallery (1993) and the FIESP Cultural Center (1997). Outside São Paulo, notable buildings include the Serra Dourada football stadium in Goiás (1973), Lady of the Conception Chapel in Recife (2006) and Cais das Artes arts centre in Vitória (2008). Outside of Brazil, his most notable projects are Brazil's pavilion at Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan, and his Museu dos Coches in Lisbon, completed in 2015.  Capela de S.Pedro / Paulo Mendes da Rocha. Image © Cristiano Mascaro  Pinacoteca Estado / Paulo Mendes da Rocha. Image © Nelson Kon "Paulo Mendes da Rocha's work is highly unusual in comparison to the majority of the world's most celebrated architects," said RIBA President Jane Duncan. "He is an architect with an incredible international reputation, yet almost all his masterpieces are built exclusively in his home country. Revolutionary and transformative, Mendes da Rocha's work typifies the architecture of 1950s Brazil – raw, chunky and beautifully 'brutal' concrete." Responding to the award, Paulo Mendes da Rocha said: "After so many years of work, it is a great joy to receive this recognition from the Royal Institute of British Architects for the contribution my lifetime of work and experiments have given to the progress of architecture and society. I would like to send my warmest wishes to all those who share my passion, in particular British architects, and share this moment with all the architects and engineers that have collaborated on my projects."  Museu dos Coches / Paulo Mendes da Rocha. Image © Armenio Teixeira  Pinacoteca Estado / Paulo Mendes da Rocha. Image © Nelson Kon The RIBA Gold Medal jury comprises RIBA President Jane Duncan with Sir Peter Cook, Neil Gillespie OBE, Victoria Thornton OBE and the 2015 Royal Gold Medallist Sheila O'Donnell. Mendes da Rocha was nominated by Neil Gillespie OBE and seconded by John McAslan CBE. Read on for John McAslan's full citation.  MuBE / Paulo Mendes da Rocha. Image © Nelson Kon  MuBE / Paulo Mendes da Rocha. Image © Nelson Kon
 Pinacoteca Estado / Paulo Mendes da Rocha. Image © Nelson Kon  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Winning Times Square Valentine's Day Installation Will Celebrate NYC's Immigrants Posted: 01 Feb 2017 06:00 AM PST  Courtesy of The Office for Creative Research The Office for Creative Research has been announced as the winners of the 2017 Times Square Valentine Heart Design Competition. Their winning design, titled We Were Strangers Once Too, is a public data sculpture in the shape of a heart that "highlight[s] the role that immigrants have played in the founding, development, and continued vibrancy of New York City."  Courtesy of The Office for Creative Research The design comprises 33 colored metal poles that create a visual representation of data from the 2015 American Census Survey outlining the origins and shifting populations of foreign-born NYC residents. As visitors travel around the sculpture to a designated observation point, their perspective will line the poles up to create an iconic heart shape. "Conceived as both a striking visual object and as a point of dialogue and conversation, We Were Strangers Once Too champions the value of diversity in the city, and specifically the city's immigrant populations, new and old, at a time when they are increasingly under siege," said competition-organizer Times Square Arts.  Courtesy of The Office for Creative Research "Now more than ever New Yorkers need to stand up and say we are proud to live in a city of immigrants," explained The Office for Creative Research. "We Were Strangers Once Too is our way to acknowledge and say thank you to the diverse communities of NYC for their many contributions historically, currently and into the future." Other invited finalists for the 2017 Times Square Valentine Heart Design included: AWED Alan Waxman Ecosocial Design, Ekene Ijeoma, Future Firm with Andrew Heumann, Jaklitsch / Gardner Architects, McEwen Studio | V. Mitch McEwen, Partner & Partners with Annie Barrett, and Young New Yorkers. This year's competition was curated by the Urban Design Forum.  Courtesy of The Office for Creative Research This is the 10th edition of the Times Square Valentine Heart Design Competition. Previous winners have included: Collective-LOK (2016); Stereotank (2015); Young Projects (2014); Situ Studio (2013); BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) (2012); Freecell (2011); Moorhead & Moorhead (2010); and Gage / Clemenceau Architects (2009). The sculpture will be unveiled on February 7, and will be displayed throughout the month at Father Duffy Square, between 46th and 47th Streets adjacent to the TKTS booth and the Red Steps. Visitors are invited to use the hashtag #oncestrangersTSq to share their experiences on social media. News via Times Square Arts. Collective-LOK's "Heart of Hearts" Takes Shape in Times Square  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Haus D / EBERLE Architekten BDA Posted: 01 Feb 2017 05:00 AM PST  © Rainer Retzlaff
 © Rainer Retzlaff From the architect. A three-storeyed „tower" is the answer to the difficult corner-property. The kitchen, dining area and living area are all located on the ground floor. The first floor belongs to the children. The second floor, consisting of a bedroom, an office, and a reading area, is reserved for the parents. The concrete garden wall on the exposed corner of the property provides both privacy and security.  © Rainer Retzlaff The position and orientation of the building on the property guarantees an optimal exposure to sunlight from the south and the west. The solid brick construction was plastered and then finished using a special technique – one that has almost been forgotten in the area in and around Augsburg.  © Rainer Retzlaff After lengthy and detailed discussions with talented and dedicated plasterers, the plaster was applied to the forty two and a half centimeter thick brick walls (standard exterior brick wall), then combed vertically using a trowel with a notched edge. This method resulted in a structured and well-defined pattern on the facade.  © Rainer Retzlaff All in all, an optimal addition to the existing situation, one that ideally responds to the needs of a young family, came into being  Sections Product Description. - After lengthy and detailed discussions with talented and dedicated plasterers, the plaster was applied to the forty two and a half centimeter thick brick walls (standard exterior brick wall), then combed vertically using a board with a patterned edge. This method resulted a structured and well-defined pattern on the facade.  © Rainer Retzlaff  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Adjaye, Chipperfield Among 6 Shortlisted in Competition for Edinburgh Concert Hall Posted: 01 Feb 2017 04:00 AM PST  The new building will be located behind the existing Royal Bank of Scotland / Dundas House, a category A listed building built in the 18th century. Image © Flickr user kaysgeog. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 The International Music and Performing Arts Charitable Trust Scotland (IMPACT Scotland) has announced a shortlist of 6 teams in the running to design a new concert hall and arts center in the heart of the Edinburgh New Town World Heritage Site. The building, estimated to cost up to £45 million ($57 million USD), will house a 1,000 seat auditorium that will become the new home of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. From 69 expressions of interest in the competition, six teams have been selected by IMPACT Scotland's judging panel as finalists for the commission. The firms are as follows (in alphabetical order):
Sir Ewan Brown, who is the Chair of IMPACT Scotland's judging panel said, "We have an extremely strong shortlist to choose from. The submissions we received show that this project will transform the resource available to Edinburgh's Festivals and provide new opportunities for music groups across Scotland by building for greater inclusivity and access." The new building will be located behind the existing Royal Bank of Scotland / Dundas House, a category A listed building built in the 18th century. In addition to the auditorium, the complex will contain rehearsal studios and recording space, adding to Edinburgh's growing arts scene. "It is being located, conceived and designed so as to complement, rather than compete with, the city-owned and operated Usher Hall; to provide Edinburgh with additional possibilities for cultural expansion; and to launch the next stage in the city's artistic growth," added Impact Scotland. "There will be major benefits to the wider community of Edinburgh and the surrounding regions by providing access for all forms of popular music, jazz, folk, chamber and other small classical music and dance groups as well as solo and song recitals, traditional and Celtic music, and high-end experimental rock, pop and electronica." A winning team is expected to be selected in April. News via The Edinburgh Reporter, Scottish Construction Now, Herald Scotland.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Out of the Box / Arjen Reas Architects + Van Voorden Architecture Posted: 01 Feb 2017 03:00 AM PST  Courtesy of Arjen Reas / Martijn van Voorden
 Courtesy of Arjen Reas / Martijn van Voorden From the architect. Villa Out of the box is situated on the edge of Zoetermeer, next to the Bentwoud Park. The design is a contemporary interpretation of the rural surroundings. Inspired by the local building typology, the villa closes itself off from the busy street, only to open itself up to the garden via several carefully designed terraces.  Courtesy of Arjen Reas / Martijn van Voorden For their home, the owners wanted en rustic and robust building that at the same time was light and spacious. Therefor the main core of the house is designed as to resemble an old barn, with a black timber exterior and a recessed thatch roof. The extensions for the kitchen diner, the study and the garage form a strong contrast to the barn. Sleek white boxes, interconnected by a robust white wooden beam.  First Floor Due to the specific layout of these boxes, outside spaces are formed with several unique characteristics, so that the owners can enjoy the gardens all year round.  Courtesy of Arjen Reas / Martijn van Voorden Large openings in the wooden façade create a smooth transition between the terraces and the interior and flood the house with natural light. This interior is characterized by a large degree of spaciousness while at the same time providing intimacy and diversity. The large kitchen diner is connected seamlessly to the main living area, but by slightly offsetting the spaces an element of surprise is created adding to the feeling of space.  Second Floor Designed as a well-tailored suit the house adepts effortlessly to the needs of its inhabitants. Whether enjoying a glass of wine at the large kitchen island, relaxing in front of the fireplace or sunbathing on one of the terraces Villa Out of the box is above all a home in which to enjoy life.  Courtesy of Arjen Reas / Martijn van Voorden Product Description. - To express the difference between the two volumes, we used Cape Cod as wooden cladding against the typical plastering. This Board and Batten system is used in three sizes to make the pattern.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Future Architecture Platform Reveals 2017 Laureates Posted: 01 Feb 2017 02:15 AM PST  Courtesy of Future Architecture Platform Following a second call for ideas from the Future Architecture Platform (MAO), a total of 337 ideas by 594 authors from 56 countries were submitted and distributed for public vote. 14,381 valid votes were logged by the organisation, and Assembling Narratives by Danai Toursoglou Papalexandridou (Greece) was chosen the favorite. She is one of a further 24 selected creatives who will be invited to participate at the Matchmaking Conference in late February at the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO) in Ljubljana. The top ten ideas (and their corresponding votes) include:
The complete list, selected by Future Architecture members, includes the following authors:
The Future Architecture alumni of 2016 selected the following authors:
Future Architecture is the first pan-European platform of architecture museums, festivals and producers, bringing ideas on the future of cities and architecture closer to the wider public. Find out more, here.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Layers and Lighting: How Top Architects Design Fashion Stores to Turn Heads by Day and Night Posted: 01 Feb 2017 01:30 AM PST Flagship stores excite both fashion shoppers and designers alike due to their role as visionary laboratories for the latest trends and stimulating retail experiences. Architects have developed various ways to dress haute couture stores, from distinctive icons in the day to seductive night-time images. The images accompanying this article, created by the Portuguese architect and illustrator André Chiote, help to explore the graphic potential of famous brands like Dior, Prada and Tod's. The illustrations clearly reveal the various techniques of playing with diaphanous layers, intimate views inside or the contrast of light and shadow. For Tod's Omotesando Building in Tokyo, Toyo Ito created a tree-like concrete structure around the L-shaped glass volume. He wanted to avoid a conventional uniform dress and therefore developed a structure that expresses the flow of forces with interlocking branches, evoking a sense of nature. During the day the glass reflects the bright sky and does not allow a view of the interior. But with dawn and the interior lighting it requires, the building opens to the public with an intimate view through the branches. The branches themselves emerge as a dark silhouette as potential customers look through the tree-like skin for the latest fashion trends. In contrast, the nearby Dior store reveals strictly nothing of the interior with its translucent dress. By day the elegant white skin reminds the visitors of a couture dress with overlapping layers, and the facade creates a link to traditional Japanese shoji walls. SANAA composed this diaphanous brand image with a sophisticated double-skin: A transparent glass façade for the outside and undulating white acrylic panels for the second layer. White horizontal bands subtly divide the building volume into segments of different heights. At night these bands turn into a distinctive pattern of dark lines framing the luminous lantern of white and bluish shades. For special events, the lighting infrastructure between the double skin can even turn the flagship store into a colorful energetic volume with red light, or into an ice block with blue. Herzog & de Meuron envisioned a crystalline look for the Prada Aoyama store in Tokyo, with a rhomboid-shaped grid for the façade comprising convex, concave and flat panels of glass. During the day the people encounter distorted reflections due to the glass shapes - comparable to a contact lens resting on the façade. The bright environment reflected in the glass façade makes it difficult to see of the inside. But by night, when warm light fills the interior, the flat skin transforms into a transparent layer and reveals a spatial experience. The distorted view vanishes and grants a clear sight of haute couture. The Dior flagship store in Miami abstains from the glass effects used by many of its contemporaries. Barbaritobancel Architectes transformed the form of a plissé dress into slightly curved façade elements. As the sun moves during the day, the shadow patterns change slowly and elegantly. The white dress creates a clean canvas to absorb the sun and enjoys an interesting play of light and shadow. By night the interior lighting reveals the fine cuts between the façade elements. The vertical light structure thus recalls the linear aspect of plissé. Light matters, a monthly column on light and space, is written by Thomas Schielke. Based in Germany, he is fascinated by architectural lighting and works as an editor for the lighting company ERCO. He has published numerous articles and co-authored the books "Light Perspectives" and "SuperLux". For more information check www.erco.com, www.arclighting.de or follow him @arcspaces.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 01 Feb 2017 01:00 AM PST  © Marco Cappelletti
 © Marco Cappelletti City of Sun, winning project of a competition held by the Municipality of Rome in 2007, consists in an intervention of urban regeneration, aimed at the creation of a new centrality, through the insertion of an articulated mixitè - office, commercial and residential - and, above all, a system of public spaces conceived as common and collective domain.  Model  Study Model of Urban Relations The project emphasizes the site conditions: located on the edge of the consolidated city, it pursues the aim of building an open and porous fabric, thus confirming the character of the site as a place of transition with privileged access to the historical city.  © Marco Cappelletti  © Marco Cappelletti In response to the context features and to the competition brief, the City of Sun presents a clear and coherent morphological and programmatic structure:
 © Marco Cappelletti Based on the belief that the project of the public space has to be the fundamental urban structure, in the City of Sun the project of the open spaces is never residual but, on the opposite, it is the structure along which the volumes are built, in a sequence of solids and voids on different levels looking for spatial and morphological relation with the context.  © Marco Cappelletti  Elevated Public Place  © Marco Cappelletti Following the aim of building an urban system able to put in place structured relation with the existing, the project takes shape starting from the scale, the alignments and the solid/void relation of the overlooking Tiburtino II, a qualitative neighborhood of the early XX century.  Ground Floor Plan  Section The project builds a long facade towards the city confirming the role of the street, while it opens towards the outskirt, incorporating a series of public spaces, the main of which, just opposite the main entrance of Tiburtino II, represent the turning point of the entire intervention: a wide open space which connect all the project sites and programs. Finally, the elevated terraces on the 2nd floor gives back to the city the area occupied by the buildings: looking from the public/private point of view City of Sun is a zero-foot print project.  © Marco Cappelletti Product Description. The facade system represents an important element of the project: the neutrality of the building envelopes – made of glass and/or aluminium brise soleil - allows, on an urban scale, a background perception of the different volumes. Only at a closer distance the façades reveal their differences and singularity giving each building a different identity.  © Marco Cappelletti  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 10 Brilliant Tiny Houses that are Revolutionizing Micro-Living Posted: 01 Feb 2017 12:00 AM PST Inspired by the increasingly popular micro house trend, these 10 project designs came about for various reasons. In addition to being a cheaper option when compared to larger homes – both for construction and in maintenance – they are an ideal solution for people who want to reduce their material possessions and the space they occupy. Tiny houses have evolved far beyond cramped quarters into a custom being adopted both as a viable alternative to the unaffordability of housing and a source of freedom. These selected houses, each under 40 square meters, serve as perfect examples of innovative designs that provide a simpler life, while fostering social interaction between people and dialogue with their environment. Check out the 10 examples below. Forest Retreat / Uhlik architektiArea: 16.0 m²  © Jan Kudej Quebrada House / UNarquitecturaArea: 40.0 m²  © Natalia Vial Colorado Outward Bound Micro Cabins / University of Colorado Denver"To satisfy clients’ lodging and storage requirements, and to facilitate completion in three weeks of on-site construction, the cabins were conceived as two separate elements, a “box” and a “frame."  © Jesse Kuroiwa Minimod / MAPAArea: 27.0 m²  © Leonardo Finotti Portable House ÁPH80 / Ábaton ArquitecturaArea: 27.0 m²  © Juan Baraja Diogene / Renzo PianoArea: 7.5 m²  Julien Lanoo © Vitra Micro-house / Studio Liu Lubin"The form of the Micro-house is designed to act as a combination of furniture and architecture elements."  Courtesy of Studio Liu Lubin Love House / Takeshi HosakaArea: 33.0 m²  © Masao Nishikawa KODA / Kodasema"KODA is a sustainable and movable mini house with built-in IT that enables the house to learn from and adjust to its surroundings."  © Paul Kuimet Cabanas no Rio / Aires MateusArea: 26.0 m²  © Nelson Garrido  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Call for Submissions: Architecture-Themed Valentine's Day Card 2017 Posted: 31 Jan 2017 11:00 PM PST  © ArchDaily Roses are red, violets are blue; we'd love to receive a valentine from you! Following the overwhelming response to last Valentine contest, we can't wait to see (and share) the love this year. Competition Guidelines:
How to share a link to your submission: Any submissions that do not conform to the guidelines will not be considered. Want to see our past favorites? Check 'em out! The Best Submissions to Our Valentine's Day Card Contest Send These Valentines To the Architects You Love  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| You are subscribed to email updates from ArchDaily. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
.jpg?1485852009){kind=link}
_Doan_Thanh_Ha_-_(7).jpg?1484825488){kind=link}
_Morley_von_Sternberg_reduced.jpg?1485965617){kind=link}
Nema komentara:
Objavi komentar