Arch Daily |
- Industrial Brewery Pub In Saigon / T3 Architecture Asia
- Brother's House / 5X Studio
- UC San Diego - Galbraith Hall Interior Renovation / Kevin deFreitas Architects
- Trillium Secure Adolescent Inpatient Facility / TVA Architects
- Construction Underway on Renzo Piano's Columbia University Academic Center
- University of British Columbia Engineering Student Centre / Urban Arts Architecture
- Zaha Hadid's "Explosive" Paintings, Drawings and Sketches Are Now on Display in London
- Kogake / Obra Arquitetos
- Stefano Boeri Architetti Unveils Plans for Vertical Forest Towers in Nanjing
- Sole Houses / SANTOSCREATIVOS + VTALLER
- Fly Through Mecanoo's Final Designs for Washington D.C.'s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library
- Forgotten Futures and Abandoned Ambitions: How the "Never Built" Franchise Took New York
- Casa dos Abraços / Marlene Uldschmidt
- Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY Uses Intensive Curvature to Create Suspended Self-Supporting Structure
- Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Langemark / Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects
| Industrial Brewery Pub In Saigon / T3 Architecture Asia Posted: 03 Feb 2017 02:00 PM PST  © Brice Godard
 © Brice Godard From the architect. T3 designed the new Brewery Pub Concept of Saigon, BELGO, which proposed "homemade" Beers following Belgium recipe. The main idea was to create a North European Industrial atmosphere from the early 20th Century, as to create a unique environment to appreciate Beers and Belgium fusion food.  © Brice Godard From of poor existing Concrete structure, T3 turned the Building in an industrial contemporary style, with very interesting Volumes and a large place given to contemporary Art to highlight Belgium Culture and its specific "Twist". Of course, because the project in located in South Vietnam, T3 adapted the European design to the tropical climate, to make it comfortable for Customers and save energy as much as possible, by having some area naturally ventilated (or only by ceiling fans). And as to reduce the carbon print and also to get an "old" effect, all bricks are second-hand bricks sourced directly in Saigon. Of course, T3 decided to keep the big existing Tree in the courtyard to bring freshness and shadow. Both outdoor walls have been cover by plants to become 2 green walls!  © Brice Godard T3 highlighted the Industrial character of the Pub by giving a special place to all brewery equipment and technical elements. The 2 staircases as well as all handrails have been specially designed by T3 who decided to paint all in old copper green color, in reference to the famous Brewery from Brussel, "la Quincaillerie".  Axonometric T3 invited some artists to collaborate on Belgo project, as to bring the Belgium Twist into the Pub. First, we have a motorbike sculpture suspended between the 2 floors, with a driver loosing many objects from is backpack, with reference to the Belgium culture: comics, etc. The tube lights around look completely messy, but, if you look at the motorbike from the front, it creates a kind of HOOP around which prove than Culture shock can be considered from different point of view…Then, we have several photography about Belgium culture. Mathias just paint directly on it to bring humor and the "crazy" Belgium side. We also decided to paint 2 corners with red and yellow colors from Belgium flag to break the perspective and create special effect with floor, wall and ceiling merging together. At last, 3 Manneken Pis have been located in the courtyard as a fountain and a wink to Belgium.  © Brice Godard All furniture (made by metal and oak wood) and decorative lighting (made from original "Magritte" hats, beer bottles or metal pieces) has been specially designed by T3 Team for Belgo. All metal works have been tailor made by local contractor, especially the polished metal panels with mirrors on walls (to create reflection and enlarge the space) and the 2 bars (Belgo signature). Enjoy!  © Brice Godard Product Description. T3 decided to used second-hand bricks for the whole project, to get the "historical" touch in terms of design, then, to make the project as green as possible by recycling existing materials sourced directly in Saigon. To avoid overloading on structure, we cut in 2 pieces a part of the bricks to use it as wall finish for interior design.  © Brice Godard  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 03 Feb 2017 12:00 PM PST  © Ice Lo
 © Ice Lo "In daily life, close to experience the subtle changes brought by four seasons, closer to the distance with the clouds, the mood as open as the boundless sky".  © Ice Lo This project is newly built addition to the original house. The owners wants their sons grow up to have their own independent living space, in response to their need, the design strategy is to match the original structure to the Vertical moving linen and the bathroom, remaining areas are divided into two separate spaces.  For the external environment to take a more closed approach, the internal is relatively open. Two main bodies enclose a corridor and semi-outdoor platform. Plant as a flexible wall, the sky to bring people open-minded, climb up the ladder overlooking the mountains.  © Ice Lo To the natural environment and interaction between each other to increase the richness of this living space. Hope that the future of independent living conditions between brothers, still maintain the emotional connection.  © Ice Lo  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| UC San Diego - Galbraith Hall Interior Renovation / Kevin deFreitas Architects Posted: 03 Feb 2017 11:30 AM PST  © Darren Bradley
 © Darren Bradley From the architect. This project involved adaptively repurposing a local University's 1960's era library into a new diverse mixed-use program. 30,000 s.f. of the former reading room and book stack areas were transformed to accommodate a new 420 seat lecture auditorium, a pair of student study halls, three theatre & dance practice studios, shared conference rooms, faculty offices, new ADA restrooms and typ. support spaces.  © Darren Bradley Respecting the original mid-century design, layers of dated remodel work was removed to expose the building's concrete structure, specifically the beautiful waffle slab. There were several existing constraints that the new lecture hall had to accommodate, a confined 70' square footprint in plan, the necessity of connecting the upper and lower floor plates, and somehow working around the oddly rotated free-standing elevator. Taking this context into consideration it made sense to pinch the plan like an hour glass and construct the walls slightly out of plumb to incorporate the elevator and to allow the abundant natural day-light from the skylights to wash down to all areas of the floors below. This move not only improved the quality of the space, it also dramatically reduced energy consumption while also enhancing the acoustical performance of the auditorium and adjacent interior spaces.  Before  © Darren Bradley The constructability of this renovation was further complicated by the fact that the floors below the project were fully occupied during the entire construction process. This meant vital systems had to stay "live" despite being relocated, upgraded, and reconfigured. Essentially building a tall-masted ship inside a bottle, the design team had to devise a way to construct the new lecture hall structure inside the shell of the existing building with all the materials and equipment having to fit through a 9' tall by 30' wide opening of removed storefront. University classes scheduled in the space well in advance dictated a tight delivery schedule of only six months.  © Darren Bradley Where your eyes go, so goes the rest of you! With this in mind the material palette, textures, lighting, and splashes of color are strategically placed to draw users through the building. Visible from the entry, and nearly everywhere else inside, the tall abstracted stainless blades of grass anchor the central light well creating a point of reference and help users intuitively navigate the space. The white auditorium walls are clad in a custom break-metal geometric pattern, which riffs on mid-century era shadow blocks, subtly marking the passage of time as the sun's movement changes the tone-on-tone color throughout the day.  © Darren Bradley This re-energized interior is bright, airy, dynamic, and comfortable, meant to feel more like a living room than a laboratory; a terrific place for students and faculty to engage, discuss, practice, and learn.  © Darren Bradley  Galbraith Floor Plan  © Darren Bradley Product Description. The porcelanosa tiles in matte white were used to capture the subtle variations of natural light that moved throughout the day, adding warmth, texture, and a reference to time-  © Darren Bradley  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Trillium Secure Adolescent Inpatient Facility / TVA Architects Posted: 03 Feb 2017 09:00 AM PST  © Charles Chestnut
 © Charles Chestnut From the architect. This ground-up building provides private beds, therapy spaces, and classrooms in a single-story inpatient clinic for adolescents suffering from substantial behavioral and mental health issues. Sited at The Children's Farm Home near Corvallis, the building is the client's first building specifically designed for higher acuity clients, as the campus originally functioned as an orphanage. The original "cottages" at the Farm Home were not well-suited to the safety and security concerns posed by this acute population, so a new facility was top priority.  © Charles Chestnut In studying precedent facilities at the outset of the design process, the design team was faced with some bleak precedents, generally consisting of little more than concrete block walls and institutional/correctional grade fixtures and furnishings. The brief for this building was to create a facility that would match the performance and safety of those precedent projects but to also create a warm, welcoming, recuperative atmosphere that respects the dignity of the patient while appealing to a teenage clientele.  © Charles Chestnut The building is sited to integrate with the existing Farm Home facilities, becoming the first new building of what will eventually become a fully secure campus quad. Within this quad, the majority of secure enclosure are provided by buildings rather than fences. Careful consideration was given to existing oak, redwood, and sequoia trees to seamlessly integrate the new construction with the existing site and maintain all existing substantial trees.  Program Staff, patients, and facilities groups were engaged throughout the design process to help envision and define a building that met physical and emotional needs of the youth while keeping staff safe and operations efficient. Construction details and product selections were vital in designing a secure environment, and the design team worked to integrate institutional-grade fixtures and hardware in a manner that would not feel oppressive. Views through skylights and clerestory windows are used extensively, connecting patients with nature while minimizing the potential damage and safety issues inherent with glazing at lower levels.  © Charles Chestnut The ability to separate populations of patients by acuity (or level of agitation) drove a requirement for flexibility and space redundancy that became central to the facility design. The use of operable partitions and eight-bed pods allows units to be scaled down to four-bed units with their own "living room," or left open where all 16 patients can occupy one "day room." This kind of scalability is crucial in responding to myriad situations and clientele, which can change on a daily basis. The layout also encourages staff to be out with the patients, offering opportunity for positive staff/patient interactions.  Diagram The building is intended to blend the qualities of a first class mental health facility with traditional vernacular forms, acknowledging the rural location and providing residential symbolism. Common areas, staff areas, and classrooms join the sleeping pods around two enclosed, secure courtyards. The exterior palette is a modern play on the Farm Home aesthetic, with rich cedar siding, warm metallic cladding, and bright accent colors.  © Charles Chestnut  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Construction Underway on Renzo Piano's Columbia University Academic Center Posted: 03 Feb 2017 08:00 AM PST  via Harlem + Bespoke Construction is now underway on Columbia University's new University Forum and Academic Conference Center, designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Dattner Architects. Located at the school's new Manhattanville campus at the corner of West 125th Street and Broadway, the 55,980 square foot building will serve as a new home for academic conferences and a meeting place where scholars from many fields can gather to share ideas.  via Harlem + Bespoke As reported by Harlem+Bespoke, the steel structure of the building has already reached two stories above street level. When complete, it will contain an information center, offices, meeting and conference rooms, two auditoriums and a cafe. The project will serve as an anchor building of Columbia's Manhattanville Campus. The first phase of the project recently completed, with two buildings by Renzo Piano Building Workshop now in operation. Learn more about the project, here. News via Harlem + Bespoke. H/T NY Yimby. Two Buildings by Renzo Piano Near Completion at Columbia University's New Manhattanville Campus  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| University of British Columbia Engineering Student Centre / Urban Arts Architecture Posted: 03 Feb 2017 07:00 AM PST  © Martin Knowles Photo Media
 © Martin Knowles Photo Media From the architect. The 935 sqm University of British Columbia Engineering Student Centre is a home away from home - a place to collaborate, create and build a community. Established in collaboration with the Engineering Students, the vision was to create an iconic building that celebrates the science, skill and art of engineering.  © Martin Knowles Photo Media The design is rooted in Engineering culture and tradition while looking to the future. It is founded on the Engineering Undergraduate Society's new paradigm –supporting engagement in local and global initiatives while embracing a multi-disciplinary and sustainable approach to Engineering. In response, the Student Centre has been designed as a "living lab" to showcase innovative engineering strategies. Key concepts included pushing the limits of wood construction, implementing passive design strategies, demonstrating building systems through absence, and creating a healthy, inclusive social space.  Site Plan ESC demonstrates a sustainable engineering mandate through a minimal systems approach - highlighting innovation through absence.  © Martin Knowles Photo Media The passive design approach maximized the environmental benefits of the site and created a vibrant social zone at the heart of the Engineering Precinct. Located in an existing courtyard and surrounded by 2-6 storey concrete buildings, the ESC is a transparent beacon displaying the social activities within. Designed to host events from 2 persons to 400, the building was sited to maximize sunny exterior courtyard areas for gathering supporting indoor-outdoor connectivity.  Structural Diagram ESC is also sited to take advantage of the micro-climate of the courtyard, using the shading from the existing buildings and optimizing the use of localized wind patterns. The cantilevered Nail-Lam roof and 2nd floor address the seasonal sun paths, permitting winter solar gains while limiting solar exposure in the summer, and equally demonstrating the innovative use of the prefabricated Nail-lam roof and 2nd floor structure.  © Martin Knowles Photo Media Natural ventilation is achieved through the stack effect, harnessing the constant wind in the courtyard. The radiant heating systems are tied directly to a District Energy System for the heat source, minimizing energy consumption.  Diagram Defined by the wood trusses above and the warmth of the exposed NLT ceiling, the ground floor social spaces are the "raw spaces"- a fluid gathering zone for parties, competitions, frosh events, relaxing and gaming. The second floor houses the Engineering Undergraduate Society offices, the study zone, and a roof terrace. These spaces are the "cooked" spaces – a more refined series of linked spaces for meeting, interviews and study.  © Martin Knowles Photo Media As a living lab, didactic moments are layered through the project: NLT panels are left visible to reveal their orientation and bearing on the structure. The trusses showcase connections and provide a clear structural diagram of how tension and compression forces are carried through the space. The whole rewards the curious with an opportunity to unpack the structural "magic" that makes the upper floor float and the roof soar  Section Product Description. Wood was selected as the primary building material to demonstrate the use of renewable local resources; create healthy, compelling spaces; and to display engineering prowess through the use of a mass timber prefabricated structure. The warmth of the wood structure creates a durable, welcoming environment necessary in small pavilion open 24/7.  © Martin Knowles Photo Media To condense construction time and to facilitate building in a constrained site, an off-site prefabrication strategy was implemented, including the Nail-lam roof and floor structure and glulam trusses. The trusses suspend the 2nd floor from the roof, creating a column free, open flexible "party" space at the ground floor. Evoking railway trestle bridges, the trusses spatially define the public spaces while framing views within and out. The 2nd floor study zones are located between the trusses, with filter views through the warm wood structure to the atrium below and out to the courtyard.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Zaha Hadid's "Explosive" Paintings, Drawings and Sketches Are Now on Display in London Posted: 03 Feb 2017 06:15 AM PST In a recent episiode of Section D, Monocle 24 visit a new exhibition at London's Serpentine Galleries presenting the paintings of Zaha Hadid. The show, first conceived with Hadid herself, "reveals her as an artist with drawing at the very heart of her work." According to the gallery, it "includes the architect's calligraphic drawings and rarely seen private notebooks with sketches that reveal her complex thoughts about architectural forms and their relationships." This episode takes the listener on a tour of the display with commentary from the exhibition's curator.  © Hugo Glendinning Find out more about Monocle 24's Section D here.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 03 Feb 2017 05:00 AM PST  © Rafael Schimidt
 © Rafael Schimidt From the architect. Building designed to house a real estate company, with extensive needs program. The site of 300m² had limitations of hight so and we chose the alternative of projecting the building growing down. Access by street level is an intermediate level of the building  © Rafael Schimidt The real estate company, which makes use of the city to be able to exist, intends to be completely open to the city creating a free space with the sidewalk.  © Rafael Schimidt All places are visible. It was designed a building without excesses, with the maximum of objectivity to reduce both the necessary investment and the time of construction.  © Rafael Schimidt In the underground, with double-legged stretch, the programs of greater concentration of people were sheltered. The access from the street is the intermediate level, housing the reception and a small real estate financing agency. In the upper, we have the administrative sector  Section Openings with adequate size and positions guarantee natural light in most of the building.  © Rafael Schimidt  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Stefano Boeri Architetti Unveils Plans for Vertical Forest Towers in Nanjing Posted: 03 Feb 2017 04:00 AM PST  © Stefano Boeri Architetti Stefano Boeri Architetti has released plans for their first "Vertical Forest" project to be realized in Asia, two mixed-use towers to be located near the Yangtze River in the Pukou District of Nanjing, China. In total, over 1100 trees will cover the building, helping to regenerate local biodiversity while cleaning the air.  © Stefano Boeri Architetti Following the prototype first realized in the studio's Milan Vertical Forest project, the Nanjing Vertical Forest will be characterized by a high density of lush vegetation supported by balconies along the building facade. More than 600 tall trees and 500 medium sized trees from 23 local species will be used, along with 2500 cascading vines and shrubs, to cover a 6,000 square meter surface area. The plantings are estimated to absorb 25 tons of carbon dioxide per year, while contributing 60 kg of fresh oxygen to the atmosphere per day. The two towers will be organized by program type, connected at their bases through a publicly-accessible podium. The taller of the structures, at 200 meters high, will contain 28 floors of office space, along with a museum and "green architecture school." An ultra-dense "green lantern" will crown the building, and will surround a rooftop private club. The second tower, at 108 high, will house a 247-room Hyatt hotel and will be capped with a swimming pool on its roof. The 20-meter tall podium will be dedicated to commercial, recreational and educative functions, and will feature retail space, a food market, restaurants, a conference hall and exhibition spaces.  © Stefano Boeri Architetti As Stefano Boeri Architteti's first Vertical Forest in Asia, the Nanjing Vertical Forest will continue to develop the studio's landmark construction system first employed in Milan and Lausanne. The firm is planning on translating the model to cities all of the world, in particular in other Chinese cities such as Shijiazhuang, Liuzhou, Guizhou, Shanghai and Chongqing. A forthcoming publication on the Vertical Forest project, titled "A Forest City," is scheduled to be released this April. The Nanjing Veritcal Forest is expected to be completed in 2018. News via Stefano Boeri Architetti.
Stefano Boeri Architetti Designs Vertical Forest Hotel in Remote Chinese Valley  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Sole Houses / SANTOSCREATIVOS + VTALLER Posted: 03 Feb 2017 03:00 AM PST  © Miguel Valverde
 © Miguel Valverde From the architect. Sole Houses are two twin houses located in a private residential development in Guadalajara City (Mexico). These houses were designed for a real state group for sale. For such reason, Sole Houses should accomplish a very specific program that could in general terms "take into account" the main needs of upper middle class families according to market standards, without knowing who will inhabit the house. At the same time, the project was looking forward to offer 2 unique facades that could identify each house with nevertheless they had same program, same orientation and same lot measures. The program initially consisted on: three rooms, studio, living room, dinning room, kitchen and two parking lots for each house.  Plans These houses were conditioned also to a very specific system of rules established by the private residential housing development (two level house max., front and back terrain restrictions, specific materials and forms).  © Miguel Valverde The proposal breaks the program, suggesting a "Patio" in the middle of both houses, creating in this way not only an open space inside the house, but a place that could work as a visual, physical an emotional communication spot between the areas (program) inside both houses. Both patios consist of a two level wall that bends into the floor, giving the sensation of always looking up into the sky, a non limited space. Taking this into account, the sensation of looking at the "patio" from the second level feels like being also on the patio as it goes up into the wall. The patio can be seen from the kitchen, living room, dinning room, studio, principal room, secondary room, and an extra add program called "flexible área", located in the 2nd floor in front of the patio.  © Miguel Valverde Both houses were sold when they were still in progress, just in time the "patio" was being finished, so the program added worked out not only as an space that connected visually and phisically the house, but as a market strategy, and a spatial tool that could provide crosswind, proper lighting for spaces and a heart for the house.  © Miguel Valverde  Section  © Miguel Valverde  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Fly Through Mecanoo's Final Designs for Washington D.C.'s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library Posted: 03 Feb 2017 02:15 AM PST The District of Columbia Public Library authority has unveiled a fly-through video tour of the final design for the renovation and intervention of its main downtown branch, the Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library. According to the architects, Mecanoo and D.C.-based Martinez+Johnson Architecture, it shows "a modern library that reflects a focus on people, while celebrating the exchange of knowledge, ideas and culture." Slated for reopening in 2020, the designs will add 9,300 square feet of additional space for the public, including a rooftop event space and a landscaped terrace.  Mecanoo's primary intervention - 5th Floor. Image © Mecanoo
In order to undergo the $208 million work the library will close on March 4, 2017. Construction will begin in the summer and is expected to take three years.  Exterior Bird's Eye. Image © Mecanoo  Inside the lobby. Image © Mecanoo New Images Released of Mecanoo's Plan to Modernize Mies' D.C. Library Mecanoo, Martinez + Johnson Selected to Redesign Mies' MLK Memorial Library  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Forgotten Futures and Abandoned Ambitions: How the "Never Built" Franchise Took New York Posted: 03 Feb 2017 01:30 AM PST  Paul Rudolph's City Corridor design, commissioned in 1967 in response to Robert Moses' failed Lower Manhattan Expressway. Image Courtesy of Metropolis Books In 2013 former Los Angeles Magazine architecture critic Greg Goldin and journalist Sam Lubell co-wrote and co-curated Never Built Los Angeles. The acclaimed book and accompanying exhibit at the Architecture and Design Museum of LA celebrated hundreds of projects that never quite reached fruition. Following its success, the duo published a second installment: Never Built New York. Having just sold out of its first pressing, the book has garnered similar praise as its predecessor. Goldin and Lubell are currently planning an accompanying exhibit at New York's Queens Museum that will debut this fall. Fresh off their NYC book tour, I sat down with Mr. Goldin to discuss his latest book and the future of Never Built. Thomas Musca: You've been able to snag two high-profile architects to write the foreword for each book: Thom Mayne for Never Built LA and Daniel Libeskind for Never Built NY. Why do you think they're so willing to help? Why are they so interested in the unbuilt? Greg Goldin: I think architects feel that a lot of the work they do is the stuff that we would describe as "on paper." It's not something that got realized. So, I think that there's a natural sympathy for this subject matter in general. We didn't have to convince anyone: "Oh, overcome your worst fears, you're going to be included in this book that is consigning you to the dung heap of history." I don't think anybody ever felt that way. I think that they feel like these are things that they don't want to see just disappear into the archives. There's a sympathy that already exists. Sam and I knew Thom Mayne and we thought Thom would be good for this and he just said yes. The same is true with Daniel Libeskind. Our editor, Diana Murphy, is friends with him. We felt fortunate because he has an amazingly positive attitude for a guy who's been batted about by how things work in the real world of trying to get stuff built. You can have the dream project, Freedom Tower, and get ground down by it. But Daniel, bless his heart, is kind of upbeat about the whole thing, and that comes across in what he had to say in the foreword.  Daniel Libeskind's 2008 proposal for One Madison Avenue. Image Courtesy of Metropolis Books TM: You've focused on two American cities in which the bulk of unbuilt content comes from the 20th century. Would a "Never Built Rome," with centuries of history to consider, be too grandiose a project? GG: If it's an interesting project, we don't care what epoch it comes from. That can be weighed in different ways. It can be purely an aesthetic proposition, but it can also be a proposition that in some way pointed toward a different kind of future or ideas about the future that people were grappling with, let's say after the French Revolution. There's a lot of great material immediately after the revolution, just like after the Russian Revolution. There are all of these propositions for "what should the built world look like?" and, of course, none of them were realized. So yeah, that can be 200 years old, that can be 100 years old. We're coming up on the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, and we're almost 240 years on from the French Revolution. I think it's true for Rome. If we found drawings of something from the Renaissance, why not? I don't think it's excluded by age, let's put it that way. But then you do have to look at it and say "well, does it have meaning for how we relate to the city now?" If it's just a bauble I supposed we'd be less inclined, but if it's an entertaining enough bauble we might still go for it.  Frank Lloyd Wright's Key Project for Ellis Island, proposed in 1959. Image Courtesy of Metropolis Books TM: How serious does a project need to be to qualify for consideration in the book? GG: The criteria that we've developed is: it has to have been a proposition that had some kind of backing, that did have some prospect of actually being built, whether that was because a developer was attached to it or there was a realistic building site available for it. Sometimes we chose a few things because they were competition entries that, as frequently happens with architectural competitions, not just in the 20th and 21st centuries but also in the 19th century, the losers often are more interesting than the winners. That's not always the case. Central Park is probably the biggest exception to that, but in other instances you go "wow, how come Rem Koolhaas didn't win this or Zaha Hadid, and instead it's a Norman Foster thing that nobody really likes"—to name names. So, we feel like there has to be something fairly realistic about the possibilities.  Santiago Calatrava's proposed gondola connecting Manhattan, Governor's Island, and Brooklyn. Image Courtesy of Metropolis Books TM: Would Frank Lloyd Wright's Mile High Tower be considered serious enough or is that too much of a vision? GG: That's very tough, because clearly it is just a vision. On the other hand, it pointed the way for skyscrapers that continue to get—if you're in Qatar—taller and taller and taller, or as an aspiration. So, then the question is what is the nature of the Frank Lloyd Wright proposal, not just in terms of its height, but what was he really proposing? To give you a smaller example of that, there were these skyscrapers that he wanted to build called St. Marks in the Bowery. What's interesting about them is how he treats the skyscraper, and not so much how tall they are. I think it can kind of cut both ways. There are NYC proposals to burrow into the ground a mile deep, but they can be interesting because they point you towards a set of ideas that have currency and may still be, if not essential, not so unrealistic, or not so much of a dream that they belong in a Marvel comic strip.  William Zeckendorf's 1946 proposal for a Rooftop Airport. Image Courtesy of Metropolis Books TM: So, continuing off the idea of the Middle East here, a "Never Built Dubai" would almost exclusively take place in the 21st Century. Because of the overly enthusiastic ambitions of oil sheiks, the city has racked up a large number of canceled projects in recent years. Is a decade and a half a long enough time frame to pull from? GG: No. I don't think so. If you look at Dubai, that's just the influx of radical amounts of money in a compressed period of time. I think that if the oil spigot were turned off, that place would blow away and revert to what it always was. I don't think it's a model for any city in particular. Now, perhaps I'm wrong because I don't know every one of those projects intimately, but I think as a rule you could describe them as vanity. I don't think that they are a model for either where cities are going, or even how cities should be built. I think you have to apply some sort of test to see that it could actually be a city before Sam and I would put that between binders.  Victor Gruen's Welfare Island proposal for Roosevelt Island, designed in 1961. Image Courtesy of Metropolis Books TM: Are there any egregiously bad projects in the book that New York's better off without? GG: There's two that come to mind. The first is one of the losing propositions for Central Park by John Rink. I describe it as kind of paisley. It's this totally sort of ordered but unhinged sequence of French Gardens—completely formal and symmetrical that would have never been... TM: ...appropriate. GG: Yes, and it's just the pendular opposite of the Central Park which is the clearing in the distance. The other one that comes to mind is approximately 100 years later, a Marcel Breuer tower that would have driven enormous piles right through Grand Central Terminal and would have hovered over it like one of the spaceships from the Martian Chronicles, except that it was a thoroughly modern building in the mold of the Pan-America building. So, you would've had this Bauhaus-ish thing hovering over this vaguely neo-classical remnant of Grand Central, and it would've been a hideous mashup. I think New York would've regretted that as much as it ever regretted tearing down Penn Station.  Towers proposed for Battery Park City. Image Courtesy of Metropolis Books TM: Do you have a sense of the kind of space you'll be using in the Queens Museum? Is it too early to ask about what elements you intend to include? GG: We're pretty much on track. We've developed a fairly clear sense of the exhibition. The big moment in the Queens museum is what's known as the "Panorama of New York City." The panorama is actually a model of all of New York City built for the 1964 World's Fair and it's housed in part of the museum that's just a huge hangar space—you could probably park a 747 in there. What they are letting us do is insert our own Never Built projects into the model itself. The model is a scale of 1:1200, so it's big enough so that you can actually see stuff, but it's small enough that it's going to be tricky to do what we want to do. What we're hoping to do with the space is give people a kind of other-worldly feeling. We're not trying to give you all the particulars of 150 potential Never Builts for all the Boroughs of New York. We're going to build these models that'll get inserted into the panorama, and they're just going to be to scale massing models illuminated from within and made of frosted plexiglass, so you'll see these objects scattered about. We are also working with a lighting designer to transform this room, which really has the feeling of an airplane hangar, into a more conditioned space where visitors can experience a simulated sun cycle over New York's five boroughs.  The NYC panorama model which will feature at the Queens Museum exhibition. Image Courtesy of Metropolis Books There's also a catwalk that surrounds this whole thing; what we're planning to do there is to use these virtual reality viewers called "Owlized" pointed at specific spots within the panorama, and those individual projects will come to life. So what you'll be seeing is New York as it presently is and then, through animation, the Never Built will morph into a different kind of presentation, it might be an interior or an exterior, or a flyover, all different ways of seeing an individual Never Built. So you might be looking at Grand Central Terminal and out of that will emerge IM Pei's proposal from the early 1950's to tear down the train station and build this incredible hyperbolic tower. There's also a gallery next to the panorama that's super tall and narrow that will hold a more conventional combination of architectural models, original drawings, and reproductions. We're hoping to make that space as kinetic and dynamic as possible, where you'll just be moving through a kind of cacophony of the never built. Then there's one more space that is completely different and difficult to work with. It's a sunken area that used to be an ice rink where we can't put up any original artwork because of the light flooding in from the skylights. Our proposal for the space is to actually have a bouncy castle made just for kids and it'll be for an Eliot Noyes Never Built that would've been for the 1964 World's Fair.
TM: Never Built Los Angeles was simultaneously developed as a book and physical exhibition, whereas Never Built New York's Exhibition is coming several months (Fall 2017) after the book. How did the research processes for the two projects differ? GG: With Never Built Los Angeles, the Getty approached the A+D (The Architecture and Design Museum of Los Angeles) and said we have these four models of unbuilt projects, would you guys be interested in putting them on display. That was the whole package, that was the overture, there was nothing more to it than that. Tibbie Dunbar, the director of the museum asked Sam Lubell and I if were we interested in curating a show around these four models. When we looked at it we said yes, but that's not really the subject of an exhibition, that's just kinda putting some models on display. And that led to a huge research project for an exhibition, which in turn gave us the idea to do a companion book. So, with LA, the exhibition came first, then the book derived from the research we were doing for the exhibition. With New York we realized that there's sort of a franchise here maybe, and our publisher wanted us to do a book. As a result, the Never Built New York book will have been out for almost a year before the exhibition. In many ways, while the show is informed by the projects in the book, the exhibition's going to have its own life independent of the book. The book is no way a catalog for the exhibition; they're just complimentary. TM: Is Never Built now officially a series? Do you and Sam plan on adding a third city? GG: We do—we are looking at Paris. France, not Texas.
Thomas Musca is the assistant curator for the Queens Museum's upcoming exhibition Never Built: New York, and the Architecture and Design Museum's 2013 exhibition Never Built: Los Angeles. He is currently studying architecture at Cornell University and is a contributor to ArchDaily and Metropolis Magazine.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Casa dos Abraços / Marlene Uldschmidt Posted: 03 Feb 2017 01:00 AM PST  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG
 © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG From the architect. Casa dos Abraços is situated in the fishing village of Ferragudo, Algarve, Southern Portugal. The historic center of Ferragudo is an extremely sensitive area to work and we believe that our intervention should be balanced harmonious and above all integrate with the surrounding architecture.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG The plot is embraced by an alley. The studio decided to explore the concept following this movement. The exterior walls of the building follow the irregular shape of the alley as a consequence of the embracing gesture. The interiors reflect this movement which is enhanced by the strategic positioning of the staircase achieving fluidity and openness throughout the building.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG Connection To take advantage of the visual connection with the village and the river, social areas were located on the upper floors as private areas are situated on the lower floor connected to patios secluded from the public space.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG Levels The inclined topography of the site allowed developing an open concept where from the entrance – on a half level – the upper and lower levels interconnect.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG Materials White rendered walls, Estremoz marble, white furniture and solid chestnut elements compose a minimalist theme reflecting the simplicity of the surrounding vernacular architecture.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG  Section D  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY Uses Intensive Curvature to Create Suspended Self-Supporting Structure Posted: 03 Feb 2017 12:00 AM PST  © Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY A giant, smooth coral? A cloud-like barnacle? A woman's floral swimming cap?" Such phrases are how art and architecture studio Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY attempts to describe it's latest curvilinear project, Under Magnitude. Suspended within Orlando's Orange County Convention Center, the installation is a two-storey structure, formed from a network of branches that are synthesized by a single, smooth white surface. The form expresses the studio's aim to "unite surface, structure, and space in order to create a new kind of experience." The whiteness of the piece allows for dynamic shifts in tone and light at different times of day. Often, it achieves the effect of lacking edges or boundaries, amplified by the flowing curvatures. From a distance, the structure could be perceived as one single mass, yet upon closer inspection, it reveals itself to be the conglomeration of a number of sub-elements. The complex surface also serves as structure, as a result of the tubular branches intertwining to create 'columns' and 'beams'.  © Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY  © Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY While its material thickness is a mere 1mm thin, the structure itself is sturdy enough to be walked on. This is based on the fundamental concepts of intensive and extensive curvature, the latter of which was explored in Frei Otto's Soap Bubble Model.
 © Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY  © Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY Under Magnitude is also a further realization of 'Structural Stripes', an aluminium-based material system invented by Fornes and developed over the past 10 years. Each cut stripe is fastened together and represents units of building material, yet is unique in terms of location and is conscious of adjoining stripes. In the case of this project, 4,692 parts were used.
 © Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY  © Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY Such work is characteristic of Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY, which continues to conduct explorations of material, surface, structure and computational assembly within the context of defining architectural space. News via: Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY MARC FORNES/THEVERYMANY Design "Spineway" in San Antonio  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Langemark / Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects Posted: 02 Feb 2017 09:00 PM PST  © Luc Dewaele
 © Luc Dewaele From the architect. The 'Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Langemark', situated in Langemark, is a cemetery for soldiers. The lateral format of the site is the fundament op the landscape and the architectural concept. Original is the lateral format based on the line of defence (Hindenburglinie Langemark-Geluveld) parallel with the width of the cemetery. The line is visualised with concrete block along the three bomb shelters aligned to the north.  © Luc Dewaele The further process of Langemark is based on the architectural walk through the cemetery. The accent of the circuit is put on the sequential approach of the reception facilities and the cemetery. The walk is divided in different fazes that creates a global spatial experience. The first lateral area is the parking and the slope of the landscape. This area is closed with a half-height wall, materialized in black smooth concrete. The wall creates a transition to the sacral space. The third lateral area is surfaced with boulders leading to the pavilion.  © Martine Neirynck The pavilion is designed as a long black open box. It's monolithic character embodies the modesty on an abstract way. The volume is located on the front side of the line of the mass grave. This grave is surrounded with basalt stones and with blackgreen copper plates. It refers to the black volume. Every 6 meters is there a interstice based on the modulation of the grave stones of the biggest green zone. This has a double function: on the one hand for extra light and on the other hand for more view to the cemetery. They refers to the embrasures of the bomb shelters.  Detail Site Plan Finally, there is a small square designed as a key point to the port building of the cemetery.  © Luc Dewaele Product Description: - The 'Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Langemark', situated in Langemark, is a cemetery for soldiers. The lateral format of the site is the fundament op the landscape and the architectural concept. Original is the lateral format based on the line of defence (Hindenburglinie Langemark-Geluveld) parallel with the width of the cemetery. The line is visualised with concrete block along the three bomb shelters aligned to the north.  © Martine Neirynck The further process of Langemark is based on the architectural walk through the cemetery. The accent of the circuit is put on the sequential approach of the reception facilities and the cemetery. The walk is divided in different fazes that creates a global spatial experience. The first lateral area is the parking and the slope of the landscape. This area is closed with a half-height wall, materialized in black smooth concrete. The wall creates a transition to the sacral space. The third lateral area is surfaced with boulders leading to the pavilion.  © Martine Neirynck The pavilion is designed as a long black open box. It's monolithic character embodies the modesty on an abstract way. The volume is located on the front side of the line of the mass grave. This grave is surrounded with basalt stones and with blackgreen copper plates. It refers to the black volume. Every 6 meters is there a interstice based on the modulation of the grave stones of the biggest green zone. This has a double function: on the one hand for extra light and on the other hand for more view to the cemetery. They refers to the embrasures of the bomb shelters.  © Luc Dewaele Finally, there is a small square designed as a key point to the port building of the cemetery.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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