Arch Daily |
- Work and Live / RUST architects
- Le Nova Galaxy / HPL Architectes
- Cherry Orchard Residence / Bureau XII
- Shibuya Apartment 202 / Hiroyuki Ogawa Architects
- Scent House / Toob Studio
- ROOM Concept Store / Maincourse Architect
- PI House / Gaztelu Jerez Arquitectos
- This Photographer Brightens Up Mundane German Architecture with a Jolt of Color
- House in the Woods / COCCO Arquitectos
- Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture Will Maintain Accreditation
- Berges - 28 Social Dwellings / ODILE+GUZY architectes
- Emerging Architects Vargo Nielsen Palle Beat Out BIG, SANAA in New Aarhus School of Architecture Competition
- 4 Important Things to Consider When Designing Streets For People, Not Just Cars
- Call for Entries: Architecture-Themed Easter Egg Design 2017
- Bravos House / Jobim Carlevaro Arquitetos
- Umea University Develops Low-Cost, Flexible 3D Printer
- Reflective Ranch-Style House Captures the American West in New Installation
| Work and Live / RUST architects Posted: 17 Mar 2017 10:00 PM PDT  © Yoav Peled
 © Yoav Peled From the architect. RUST architects designed a small 53 sqm apartment in an International Style building at the heart of Tel-Aviv. The building, which is a part of the White City World Heritage Site, was built 85 years ago. It is characterized by small apartments with high ceilings and wide strip windows.  © Yoav Peled The owners, a young couple who works from home, wanted to create a living space alongside a work space, while maintaining both intimacy and clear separation. The design challenge included mixing different functions, creating storage areas and maximizing natural light in a small space - without demanding a complex operation.  Floor Plan The apartment was divided into two parts: a private area which includes a bedroom, bathroom and service closet, and a public area with the living room and kitchen.  © Yoav Peled A box containing the work space was placed between the two parts of the apartment. The box contains two comfortable work stations which are defined by iron frames, glass partitions and a wooden library, which also serves as a media center. The library contains the apartment's communication systems, allowing to control the entire home media systems.  © Yoav Peled To facilitate the parallel use of the different functions, the finishing materials were chosen according to their acoustic quality: double layered wooden floors, insulated walls, exposed bricks and acoustic ceiling tiles in the work space.  © Yoav Peled Due to the large amount of details in such a small apartment, the architects chose to use classic construction and finishing materials such as a grayscale color palette, steel and wood. The variety of materials is combined to create a warm and rich but also pleasant and relaxed atmosphere.  © Yoav Peled The size of the apartment demanded the architects to fully design the carpentry details, including furniture, kitchen, storage areas and doors. Worm light gradient and technical light fixtures were used to create a pleasant feel and to emphasize Israeli light designer Asaf Weinbroom's decorative light fixtures.  © Yoav Peled  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Le Nova Galaxy / HPL Architectes Posted: 17 Mar 2017 07:00 PM PDT  © Denis Lacharme
 © Denis Lacharme From the architect. The stakes are high, mark with affirmation the arrival at the center of the City of Mérignac. In the midst of the transformation and redevelopment of the city, new urban landmarks have to be restructured, giving a new dimension to the strategies defined. Today the crossroads between Avenue de Pierre Mendes France and the Avenue de Verdun do not "initiate" the true beginning of the city center. No structural element announces the arrival of the heart of the City.  © Denis Lacharme The operation presented makes it possible, by its size, its size and its architecture to assert on the contrary the very existence of the coming arrival of the Center. The image is resolutely contemporary with a strong and vibrant graphic expression strongly affirming the contemporary arrangements developed for several years by the agency HPL Architects The marking of the base is ensured for the implementation of engraved metal grids inspired by the works of Matisse where curves and against curves stand out from the landscape. The upper part is a double façade with several vocations. The first is urban and vibratory to give an aesthetic sense to the operation,  © Denis Lacharme This contemporary expression and the reflection of a galaxy, symbol of the grouping of planets and diversity, or we seek behind this unification to regroup under a single signature the dwellings in accession and helped, all called "GALAXY".  Ground Floor Plan I wanted to privilege not only by the constraint of orientation but also for the comfort of the occupants of the apartments crossing oriented North / South with all the living rooms oriented South and directed on the garden inside the operation sheltered by the mask Of the facade. Thus almost all the dwellings will have vast terraces and loggias.  © Denis Lacharme The two fault lines accompany the view in the heart of the island and the fittings that will be made there and leave to the pedestrian the transparency on the spaces imagined in the center of the landscaped garden. Thanks to these flaws we come to articulate the second group built around a set of passageways and bridges symbols of the links of the space of the land and the landscape.  © Denis Lacharme  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Cherry Orchard Residence / Bureau XII Posted: 17 Mar 2017 03:00 PM PDT  © George Palov
 © Tsvetomir Dzhermanov From the architect. The restoration and extension of the existing pre- 1945 era building aims to provide a guest house with restaurant and recreation zone as a supplement of the property's natural setting and future sport facilities.  © Tsvetomir Dzhermanov The site for the project is located on eleven acres of orchard land nestled between the Iskar River and Vitosha Mountain, 12 kilometers from the city center of Sofia. The owners purchased the plot with an existing pre- 1945 era building, which was used as a military quarters by the German and Russian Armies due to its strategic location. The program requirements are to extend the existing building with a new built structure providing space for guest rooms, kitchen with restaurant saloon, lounge, recreation zone, gym and small spa unit.  Ground Floor  Section  Floor Plan  Floor Plan The program envisages the uniqueness of the location, the relation to the nature and the planned future sport facilities. The old house with its simple look and facades, tiled alpine roof and deep eaves expresses the familiar image of a mountain home. The monolithic building with its strong presence in the property, surrounded by age-old trees demands a sensitive design approach. The new created volume is connected through new openings in the existing façade merging the interior spaces between old and new. A two story atrium with glazed roof provides day light to the central part of the ground floor and a panoramic elevator is going to the top terrace. The façades of the old and new buildings have the same plaster structure and white color therefore the disposition between old and new is displayed by the volume composition. On its north side the new building has two levels. The second one accommodates the guest rooms and partly cantilevered it extends towards the green surrounding. On the south side is located the "salon" - a large bright room, wide open with sliding façade glazing which provides views towards the adjacent garden. This multifunctional area is foreseen for different scenarios such as restaurant, event place, conference room etc. On the second floor over the atrium is located a small gym with spa facilities and a large terrace on two levels. On top of the building is located a small "belvedere" open air bar and swimming pool with amazing view to Vitosha mountain. In the basement are situated the wine cellar and the kitchen. The interior of the old building is leaning on historical materials  © Tsvetomir Dzhermanov – wooden floorings, brick walls, terrazzo stairs and corridors, the attic is refurbished and the old roof's wooden structure is fully restored. In the new extension natural materials like wood, exposed concrete and steel suggest continuity and provide environment for different scenarios.  © George Palov Product Description. The generous glazing of the extension building is done with Reynaers Aluminum system CP155. The south façade has a large scale (300x300cm CP155 LS) lift and slide element allowing to merge the inner space with the adjacent garden. The sliding glass door has a weight of around 400 kg nevertheless the door is easy to handle. According the manufacturer this should be the largest lift and slide system mounted in Bulgaria.  © Tsvetomir Dzhermanov  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Shibuya Apartment 202 / Hiroyuki Ogawa Architects Posted: 17 Mar 2017 01:00 PM PDT  © Kaku Ohtaki
 © Kaku Ohtaki We renovated our apartment building in Shibuya, Tokyo for vacation rental services such as AirBnB.  © Kaku Ohtaki We designed this space so that it will be a clean, quiet place for rest, opposite from the feeling of the city its located in and for tourists who will be enjoying all the excitement of Shibuya, one of the most cutting-edge downtown areas in Asia.  Floor Plan The entire room is designed to be a quiet space like a cave by finishing the walls and ceilings in a dark-colored plaster.  © Kaku Ohtaki The raised floor one step up from the main floor has been covered with a soft, plump carpet to be a comfortable resting space. Neon lights are mounted on the walls, reminding guests of the exciting experiences they will have in the city of Shibuya.  © Kaku Ohtaki  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 17 Mar 2017 12:00 PM PDT  © Vũ Ngọc Hà
 © Vũ Ngọc Hà From the architect. Time – sometimes plays role as a material itself. We came visited this house after 2 years of using to see things remain the same since last day we left. Up to our expectation, trees have been growing up and living up the house.  © Vũ Ngọc Hà Located on a convenient site - a junction, this moderate-sized house has good view as an advantage. However, the houses look out westward, which seems quite annoying because it always receives a lot of sunbeams is another disadvantage. As a result, we had covered up the house by a parallel steel frame in order for lianas grow green all over the front side.  © Vũ Ngọc Hà Inner plan is allocated simply but satisfying enough for 3 generations to use in a modest area. Although materials used are all easy to find, in the process of construction we had always paid high attention on design, structure estimation, as well as workmanship's skills.  First Floor Plan  2º Floor  3º Floor  4º Floor Altar area of the house placed separately, up in the central highest floor. There is only one entrance through the garden, which sounds quite inconvenient, but for those who live and visit would figure out the reason. Mess of life could be cleaned out of daily activities, walking through natural space to come in this quiet and sacred space.  © Vũ Ngọc Hà  Section  © Vũ Ngọc Hà This house is called "scent house" because of the sweet osmanthus tree planted, while we are taking pleasure the freshness of a space full of green trees and enjoying peacefulness of a new home commodity.  © Vũ Ngọc Hà  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| ROOM Concept Store / Maincourse Architect Posted: 17 Mar 2017 10:00 AM PDT  © Ketsiree Wongwan
 © Ketsiree Wongwan From the architect. ROOM Concept Store takes inspiration from the idea of a "designer's studio", a place where designs are derived and processed, where visitors explore, experiment, and appreciate creative thinking in an intriguing way.  © Ketsiree Wongwan The challenge is how the store could display these products in harmony without compromising their outstanding identities. The store is located in renovated space with limitation in width and height. Physical challenge of the site is to circulate traffic efficiently within the low-ceiling elongated site.  Plan By dividing the space into three main corridors lengthwise and connecting them sporadically through openings in between, this creates a large space in the center which people can move around. The center space is then elevated to create multi-level platforms that showcase products and double as circulation links between the main corridors. The platforms take shape in the form of the "tables" which visitors can step on, offering visitors a unique store-browsing experience of moving not only horizontally, but also vertically. This allows visitors to have different viewpoints of a product. Various products benefit from the enhanced point of observation.  © Ketsiree Wongwan Polycarbonate shelves are used to define the corridors. Besides displaying products, the translucency and transparency of the shelves give the visual connection between the outside and the inside, and also between the corridor and the "tables" area. Changeable polycarbonate sheets can be rearranged to emphasize certain products and create a fresh look.  © Ketsiree Wongwan  Diagrams  © Ketsiree Wongwan Special know-how is applied in construction of the Polycarbonate shelves as the material came in its own dimension. Therefore, it results in modular system that articulate each polycarbonate sheets together using only uniquely designed teakwood joint made by local craftsmen to hold polycarbonate sheets into sturdy shelves, with the help of metal rods inserted perfectly into gaps between sheet's structures to reinforce the shelves.  © Ketsiree Wongwan  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| PI House / Gaztelu Jerez Arquitectos Posted: 17 Mar 2017 08:00 AM PDT  © Javier Bravo Jabato
 © Javier Bravo Jabato P and I are our clients, a couple who owned a house with a piece of land at this district promoted by Obra Sindical del Hogar (OSH), inaugurated in 1946 and located in the southwest of the city of Burgos.  © Javier Bravo Jabato The original houses are modest, rational, have a simple construction and are based on what could be considered as a vernacular or popular architecture. Unfortunately, nowadays the district is very deteriorated, given that many new houses have been built without any link nor sensitivity to the pre-existence. So, sometimes, the district is unrecognizable.  Axonometrica Beyond giving a specific answer to a particular problem, the project proposes a posible solution for future interventions at this district, trying to coordinate new construction with respect for original architecture and urbanism. The project assumes some principles from traditional architecture to adapt them to the present. This way, the old and the new establish a dialogue based on logic, naturalness and tolerance.  © Javier Bravo Jabato Given than P and I’s old house was almost in ruins, together with its small dimensions (50m2 in one floor), it was necessary to build a new house according to their needs. One of the most singular needs was the presence of 2 studios, one for print with a press (for P) and the other for carpentry (for I).  © Javier Bravo Jabato Like the old house, which consisted of 2 pieces with an open space between them, the new house is based on a central patio which links the different spaces around it. Trying to take advantage of the strict urban regulations, which demanded that the new house should be attached to its neighbour, this connection is made by the garaje, allowing to free the main volumen, with 2 floors, and open windows in every façade.  Planta 0  Planta 1 The main volumen, to the northern street, contains the print studio and the night area, while the secondary volumen, to the southern garden, brings the day areas together in an only space. Both volumens are related spatially and visually through the patio, that welcomes people in the pedestrian access and works as a filter between the garden and the print studio, always through the living room. From the main volume’s second floor, and over the secondary volume’s roof, it is possible to enjoy Arlanzón’s wooded riverbank, which flows in the south of the site.  © Javier Bravo Jabato Environmental principles are very important in this project, thanks to its high insulation (15-20cm), adjustable solar protection to the south (blinds, sunshades, grape leaves), natural air circulation or biomass and firewood heating.  Sección transveral 01  Sección transversal 02 The metal structure can be seen in the main spaces thanks to profiled steel deckings, painted white. At the same time, there is a lower ceiling at the level of the doors and the windows, linked to storage (wardrobes and shelves), systems and circulations.  © Javier Bravo Jabato Remembering the original ones, the new house has whitewashed façades, Campaspero limestone wainscots and reddish tile roofs. Inside the house, spaces with water are covered by traditional green tiles. Above all, we have tried that P and I identify with their house, and that with the use and the passing of time they turn it into their home.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| This Photographer Brightens Up Mundane German Architecture with a Jolt of Color Posted: 17 Mar 2017 07:00 AM PDT In any city across the world, there are countless examples of unsung architecture – well-designed if inoffensive buildings that strive to please by not standing out from the crowd. For German photographer Paul Eis, these buildings provide the perfect canvas for his work. Displayed on his Instagram account, the_architecture_photographer, Eis captures these buildings in their best light, and then digitally adds in bright colors, elevating these structures from mundane to magnificent. Mainly shot in cities throughout Germany or Austria, Eis gives the buildings new life by presenting them against a flat blue sky, giving them the appearance of popping right off the page. "Cities in Germany or Austria, where my images are mainly from, are full of modern architecture," writes Eis on his website. "But those buildings are often just characterized by shape and held in a monotonous white or gray. The result is a not very interesting, cityscape with a lack of color. I color the buildings to make the architecture more interesting for the viewer or to show how interesting they are already. It should criticize the often very boring housing estates growing everywhere in the cities where the developers take little interest in design. Check out some of his best work below. To see more of Eis' work, visit his instagram page and website.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| House in the Woods / COCCO Arquitectos Posted: 17 Mar 2017 06:00 AM PDT  © Alejandro Souza
 © Alejandro Souza PLOT. Immersed in a wooded area full of trees and lush vegetation, the terrain has a large slope which can be used to generate a view of everything around it.  © Alejandro Souza LEGAL RESTRICTIONS. They delimit the area to move the construction, they affect the optimum area, from which we wanted to keep all the trees of the land.  © Alejandro Souza OPTIMAL SURFACE. We look for the surface in which no tree is removed, from this location we take advantage of the immediate context and the whole natural environment of the terrain.  © Alejandro Souza  Floor Plan  © Alejandro Souza SUNNING. By the arrangement of the trees there was a point in which the sunning was too powerful in the public area so it is plated to section the volume.  © Alejandro Souza SECTIONAL. It is separated into 2 main volumes, one of private use and one of public use, with this we guarantee the best illumination of each space without sacrificing the comfort of the inhabitants.  © Alejandro Souza VOLUMES. There are areas of coexistence between the volumes, in this way the land is much better used, as it distributes spaces along it. SLABS. In the public volume we raise the slab to take advantage of the views to the bottom of the land taking advantage of the same inclination, in the private volume we generate a terrace on the roof to take advantage of the higher area of the land and the views that are around, both During the day and during the starry nights.  © Alejandro Souza The construction is distributed along the land to take full advantage of it and at the same time leave natural open areas and leave areas to be necessary to develop future growth, within which there is planned an annex for swimming pool, a guest house with areas Divisible and movable panels to hold up to 15 people simultaneously, houses in the trees for children, indoor and outdoor cinema, and a small auditorium, since most of the family plays musical instruments and when The whole family gets together make small personal and group presentations for the visits.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture Will Maintain Accreditation Posted: 17 Mar 2017 05:30 AM PDT  Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West, where students spend half of the year studying.. Image © Flickr user cmichael67. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 After a several year battle, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture has been approved to maintain its accreditation as an institute of higher learning. The school's status had earlier been threatened due to new laws by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) that require universities, colleges and other institutions to be financially and administratively independent from "larger institutions with multi-faceted missions." With the decision, the school will be able to continue to offer its 3-year Master of Architecture program, as well as its additional education programs such as its 8-week-long non-degree Immersion Program. "This action is a result of a collaborative process between the Higher Learning Commission, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, and the School," commented Stuart Graff, CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. "We are pleased this decision results in the continuation of a legacy of education that Frank Lloyd Wright began in 1932 with his apprentices." The school's initial application, submitted last year, was originally denied due to lack of evidence that they would be able to meet several key standards, such as maintaining a full long-term staff. After revision with help from the HLC, the application was resubmitted this past November, with new plans to found a K-12 program and an expansion of its STEM curriculum. "Together, the Foundation and the School are now able to extend this approach throughout the education continuum," continued Graff. "As the Foundation creates unique K-12 experiences that challenge students to think about the world in new ways, the School will continue to provide exceptional programs for advanced education." While the Foundation will continue to be a supportive partner, the school will now work toward transitioning to an independent entity by August 2017, while preserving the seamless educational experience for both existing and incoming students. "Frank Lloyd Wright established his apprenticeship program to encourage innovative and creative thinking that furthers the School's mission of learning how to create a more sustainable, open, and beautiful designed environment," Aaron Betsky, Dean of the School. "We look forward to working with the Foundation and building on this legacy at his homes, Taliesin and Taliesin West." News via Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.
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| Berges - 28 Social Dwellings / ODILE+GUZY architectes Posted: 17 Mar 2017 04:00 AM PDT  © David Foessel
 © David Foessel From the architect. This portion of the Dessous des Berges street is rather unusual as the adjacent office constructions are all set back 5m from the common Parisian street alignment.  © David Foessel To integrate the new building into this context without penalizing its feasibility, the project plays with both the programmatic and urban constraints to produce quite a creative proposal. Suspended over a front garden, the buildings front facade is carved and sculpted to create volumes that connect with the different planes of the street facade.  © David Foessel This allows the project to integrate into its surroundings while subtly contrasting with the neighboring static masses. The different distortions on the buildings front facade create generous alternating apartment balconies. These balconies are orientated south-west and overlook the street, they offer various framed views and direction whist also providing sun protection during the summer months. Behind the lattice screen, the inner facade is clad with white lacquered perforated aluminium panels.  © David Foessel An Inhabited Garden  © David Foessel Beyond that threshold, the courtyard is a small heaven of calm amongst the greenery of the vegetation. Pushed up against the site limit, each of the courtyard units benefit from a south facing orientation and unimpeded views overlooking the planted terraces behind the adjacent buildings.  Floor Plan The inhabited garden emphasizes individual scale and access. Fragmented volumes, house-like buildings, patios and external staircases emerge from the vegetation and its landsacpe. Clad in timber, the courtyard facades creates a conscious contrast with the street side.  © David Foessel Its horizontal strips slide under the entry porch to connect the front and the back gardens while stressing the depth of the plot . Made of Retified wood on a black rain screen, the future grey facades will enhance the golden metallic windows and frames.  © David Foessel The landscaped areas include a broad range of trees, shrubs and plants : Prunus Serrula and its remarkable bark, Ace Davidii, Cornus Siberica and Phornium Terraxto preserve the privacy of the units, Stipa Grandifolia as perennial grasses. The courtyard also includes a shared planted roof terrace, accessible to all inhabitants via an external metallic staircase.  © David Foessel Dwellings  © David Foessel The east-west orientation of the site allows each living room to benefit from a south exposure. The bedrooms are located on the quiet courtyard side with clear views over the back gardens and beyond. The interior circulations are kept to a minimum to increase the size of the living rooms.  Floor plan All apartments have spacious private outdoor areas adapted to each specific situation that preserve their intimacy : loggias-balcony on the street, ground terrace in a garden behind vegetation, patio...  © David Foessel The quality of the apartments extend beyond interior spaces. Great attention has been paid to outdoor areas. Conceived as an open place which gives access to all the facilities, it offers a pleasant living environment for social interaction.  © David Foessel Sustainability  © David Foessel  Detail  © David Foessel  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 17 Mar 2017 03:30 AM PDT  via Arkitektskolan Aarhus Competing against a shortlist of internationally acclaimed architects, newly established practice Vargo Nielsen Palle has been selected as the winners of the NEW AARCH competition, which sought designs for several new buildings for the Aarhus School of Architecture and the development of the surrounding area in Aarhus known as Godsbanearealerne. The restricted competition consisted of three invited practices – BIG, SANAA and Lacaton & Vassal – and the three winners of the earlier open qualifying competition, Vargo Nielsen Palle, Erik Giudice Architects, and ALL (Atelier Lorentzen Langkilde). Vargo Nielsen Palle's proposal was chosen as the unanimous winner.  via Arkitektskolan Aarhus "It is a powerful project that interweaves with its surroundings, Ådalen, the city and the surrounding neighbours in the area," , said the happy rector of Aarhus School of Architecture, Torben Nielsen. "The new school of architecture will be a cultural hub that encourages interaction and dialogue. An open, pragmatic, flexible structure that allows for continuous change and adaptation to changing needs, and which focuses on the future life and activities inside the building. It will be a factory for architectural experimentation that will set the stage for cooperation with the city, the profession and our neighbours – just as we wanted."  via Arkitektskolan Aarhus  via Arkitektskolan Aarhus The jury had been given the choice of nominating up to three projects to continue into the negotiation process, but found Vargo Nielsen Palle's proposal to be so compelling, they declared it the sole winner. "[Vargo Nielsen Palle's entry] provides the most optimal starting point for constructing a new school for Aarhus School of Architecture in terms of architecture, functionality, and economy," stated the jury in their concluding report.  via Arkitektskolan Aarhus "In terms of scale, the winning project relates well to Carl Blochs Gade and plans the many uses as a 'city within the city', where visual contact between the school's diversified users encourages cooperation and mutual inspiration. The building structure is stepped down in height towards a central urban space that opens up the school towards the city and the neighbouring institutions."  Godsbanearealerne, site of the new Aarhus School of Architecture. Image via Arkitektskolan Aarhus The winning project was conceived as a result of close interdisciplinary cooperation between Vargo Nielsen Palle and ADEPT, Rolvung & Brøndsted Arkitekter, Tri-Consult and Steensen Varming. The development will replace the Aarhus School of Architecture's outdated premises in the old merchant's house at Nørreport; originally intended as a 'temporary' home, they have been the primary facilities for the school for more than 50 years. See the full jury report, including designs from the other competing firms, here.  The winner was announced at an event 17 March at Aarhus School of Architecture. Image via Arkitektskolan Aarhus  Brian Vargo, Jonas Snedevind Nielsen and Mathias Palle. Image via Arkitektskolan Aarhus
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| 4 Important Things to Consider When Designing Streets For People, Not Just Cars Posted: 17 Mar 2017 02:30 AM PDT  Perkins+Will's proposed plan for Mission Rock in San Francisco. Image © Steelblue/Perkins+Will/San Francisco Giants Go to any medieval European city and you will see what streets looked like before the advent of the car: lovely, small narrow lanes, intimate, and undisputedly human-scale. We have very few cities in the US where you can find streets like this. For the most part what you see is streets that have been designed with the car in mind—at a large scale for a fast speed. In my native San Francisco, we are making the streets safer for walking and biking by widening sidewalks, turning car lanes into bike lanes, and slowing down the cars. We are working with the streets we have; a typical San Francisco street is anywhere from 60 to 80 feet (18 to 24 meters) wide, as compared with a medieval, pre-car street which is more like 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 meters) wide. As an urban designer, I work on lots of projects where we take large parcels of land and subdivide them into blocks by introducing new streets. These new streets are a rare opportunity to take a fresh look at the kinds of car-oriented roads that we are used to, and instead try to design streets that prioritize the safety and comfort of pedestrians. These projects give us a chance to design streets that are just for people. Imagine that we made these people-only streets into narrow, medieval-style lanes that are intimate and human-scaled. But even as we try to design streets that might not ever see a single car, we find that the modern street design has become so much more than just places for walking or driving. There are therefore a number of things for socially-minded designers to consider, beyond the commonly talked about pedestrian-car dichotomy.
First, the street is where utilities goAsk any civil engineer and they will tell you a street is a highly engineered easement filled with a variety of pipes, connectors, backflow preventers, and other feats of modern science bringing us water, energy, and communication. Streets provide a linear system for organizing this network of utilities both horizontally (there are required distances between different kinds of utilities) and vertically (water—in all its forms—needs to flow downhill, even in seemingly flat streets). What is more, there are established, well-tested conventions for how to design these systems so that they operate every day without us even noticing. Our reimagined, car-less street, in whatever form it takes, needs to manage the way we are connected into this vascular, subterranean system. With new technologies, we are finding efficient ways to manage some of these utilities with less reliance on the grid. For example, there are now a handful of buildings that treat and reuse their own sewage. This "blackwater" is treated and the liquids are used for flushing and irrigation, while the solids are used by bio-digesters for energy to help power buildings. We can go even further and connect a few of these high performing buildings together into eco-districts, and find that the amount of utilities that we need to accommodate in the streets might eventually decrease.  Perkins+Will's proposed plan for Mission Rock in San Francisco. Image © Steelblue/Perkins+Will/San Francisco Giants Second, the street is a drainage systemGet your civil engineer together with your landscape architect and you will begin to understand the demands on streets for handling stormwater. In fact, you will learn that from their perspective, the principle purpose of a curb is not to separate pedestrians safely from cars, but to control flooding. Curb heights are set relative to the slope of a street and the size of the storm drain to prevent flooded sidewalks and buildings. However, in some ways this is a self-made challenge. An impermeable street and gutter actually stops water from soaking into the ground and forces it to move faster and at greater volumes across the surface. We know that permeable paving works much better to alleviate flooding, and reducing areas of paved surfaces and increasing planted areas is even more effective. Many cities are retrofitting their streets with both permeable surfaces and raingardens to help alleviate this problem. By designing our streets to handle water in a more holistic way, with natural drainage and infiltration, we can start to peel away the curbs and see signs of plant life moving back into our new street section.  © Perkins+Will Which leads to this next point: a street is an ecosystemIn a city with an urban grid, streets take up as much as 30 percent of the total area of the city, which represents a significant amount of land in the public realm. So it should be no surprise that streets end up being where we find much of the biomass that is found in cities, in the form of street trees and sidewalk plantings. Beautiful old streets mostly have one thing in common: beautiful old trees. Large, healthy, mature trees can make for amazingly lovable streets, even if the roads and sidewalks are nothing special. Case in point: Saint Charles Avenue in New Orleans has some of the most impressive potholes and impassable sidewalks in the city, but its arching canopy of centuries-old oak and fig trees firmly cements it into visitors' memories as one of the most beautiful streets in the city. But trees can also perform in ways beyond aesthetics, to act as habitat for wildlife in the city. Two great examples of this are the Pollinator Pathway in Seattle and the tiger swallowtail butterfly rookery along San Francisco's Market Street. Landscape architects typically select street trees for their durability, height, and canopy size, but increasingly they are selecting for their contribution to a larger ecosystem. Given that street trees follow the connected network of streets, by default they can create a rich, connected network for the fauna that rely on them as well, linking from park to park across a city. The good news is that street trees are usually selected, installed, and maintained by a single city agency, which means that adding ecological performance to the species selection criteria could be quite an effective way to implement such wildlife corridors on a larger scale, and converting streets into ecological corridors benefiting all critters... humans included.  Perkins+Will's Warm Springs Community Plan in Fremont, California. Image © Perkins+Will Finally, of course, a street is a public right of wayIn other words, a street is publicly owned land, which the public has the right to occupy. In a democratic country, the streets are a place where people come together to be seen as a group, to stand up and be counted. We are seeing the importance of this fact in cities all over the country (indeed, the world) where people are once more taking to the streets to find their voice; New York Mayor Bill De Blasio recently said that protest is one of the important functions of New York City's streets. Even though at times this may conflict with other functions, such as moving traffic easily, it remains a critical and fundamental purpose of a city's streets. What is more, in every country, everywhere, the streets are the place where public life is lived every day. From Algiers to Zurich, streets are filled with people doing everyday things like chatting with their neighbors, hanging laundry, watering flowers, buying food, and socializing their children. If we are to rethink the idea of the street, we would need to find a way to ensure this vitality of public life has space, in all its forms, and in all its public-ness.  © Perkins+Will When drawing a street on a plan, you start with a centerline and offset it on two sides. It is quite literally a line connecting two places with a certain width. This width is almost always determined by an engineer who is trying to match an algorithm for how many lanes are needed for the cars that will drive down this street, and how many utilities will need to comfortably fit here. Instead, we should think about streets and all their various uses—as places for gathering, finding our way, living more healthfully, with nature, and with each other... and build from there. Kristen Hall is a senior urban designer and planner at Perkins+Will in San Francisco. She specializes in complex urban infill projects.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Call for Entries: Architecture-Themed Easter Egg Design 2017 Posted: 17 Mar 2017 02:25 AM PDT  We want to see your designs for an architecture Easter Egg! Download the design template below and illustrate/animate/build a small celebration of springtime. We'll be accepting entries until April 12th, at 12:00 pm EST and we'll publish our favorites by April 14th! Download template: Template.ai Competition Guidelines:
How to share a link to your submission: Any submissions that do not conform to the guidelines will not be considered.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Bravos House / Jobim Carlevaro Arquitetos Posted: 17 Mar 2017 02:00 AM PDT  Courtesy of Jobim Carlevaro Arquitetos
 Courtesy of Jobim Carlevaro Arquitetos Bravos House was designed in 2013 and built from 2013 to 2015 at the Porto Riviera Condominium, in Brava Beach, city of Itajaí, Southern Brazil. The organization of the 937-square-meter house opens its best views to the east sector of the site, where Brava beach is located. The living areas are positioned on the lower floor, the bedrooms on the upper floor and garage and services are situated on the basement floor.  Courtesy of Jobim Carlevaro Arquitetos A green area in front of the site surrounds the entrance to the house. By the garage, Bravos House can also be accessed by a staircase. The garage is located on a lower level than the street. This way, the ground floor is on a higher position and allows the clear interpretation of the house’s program. It displays a wooden vertical brise soleil, made of Cumaru, a Brazilian tree species. The same wood is repeated in the moving panels of the upper floor.  Courtesy of Jobim Carlevaro Arquitetos  Floor Plan  Courtesy of Jobim Carlevaro Arquitetos The pool is located on the ground floor as an extension of the living and dining areas allowing an intimate space along with the landscaping solutions.  Courtesy of Jobim Carlevaro Arquitetos The constructive solution with ribbed slabs and apparent concrete pillars allow the appropriate spans for the organization of the house and separation of the structure and the glass plan of the facade.  Section  Section Bravos House materials are the combination of wood, apparent concrete, transparent glass and dark gray aluminum. Jobim Carlevaro architects use this combination in various designs creating a simple color palette with a strong visual impact.  Courtesy of Jobim Carlevaro Arquitetos  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Umea University Develops Low-Cost, Flexible 3D Printer Posted: 17 Mar 2017 01:00 AM PDT  © Linnéa Therese Dimitriou Sliperiet, Umeå Arts Campus has developed a new type of 3D printer that features increased printing flexibility at a lower cost. Called Hangprinter. The system is suspended by a series of thin fishing lines, it does not require a frame or rails, but rather, it can be attached to any stable surface, for instance, a ceiling. As a part of the +Project innovation initiative, the Hangprinter is in the process of making a "Tower of Babel," a project that currently measures almost three-and-a-half meters tall, making it the tallest object the system has made, as well as "much taller than the scope of any commercially available large format printer." Invented by Torbjørn Ludvigsen, who began the project while a student at Umeå University, the Hangprinter's design was originally formulated to reduce costs. "The frame or box was almost half the cost of the final 3D printer, and I thought I could do without it," said Ludvigsen. Hangprinter can be put together for about 200 Euros.  © Linnéa Therese Dimitriou Without the constraints of a frame or box, the printer is limited only by the vertical height of whatever it is suspended from.  © Linnéa Therese Dimitriou "I find this technology very exciting as it gives us new and increased flexibility," said Linnéa Therese Dimitrou, Creative Director at Sliperiet. "Opportunities include printing over vast areas and printing large volumes – horizontally and vertically – without the need to build rails or frames. The setup could also be scaled up and adapted for other materials. Future versions of the device could be equipped with sensors for greater precision and outdoor use. The tower project at Sliperiet, where attachment points are moved along as we ascend, shows that this is a feasible idea."  © Linnéa Therese Dimitriou "As far as I know," noted Ludvigsen, "the HangPrinter is the only 3D printer of its kind. There are parallel cable-driven robots and other cable-driven 3D printers, but the HangPrinter is unique in that all the parts except the energy source are mounted on the mobile device, and that it can use existing structures–in this case, the walls–as a frame." In an effort to encourage collaboration, blueprints for the Hangprinter are available for free download. News via: Umeå University.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Reflective Ranch-Style House Captures the American West in New Installation Posted: 16 Mar 2017 11:00 PM PDT  © Lance Gerber Marrying the great expanses of the American west with a series of mirrored faces, MIRAGE is an installation situated in the Southern California desert and the work of Doug Aitken, an American artist, and filmmaker. An experimental adaptation of the traditional suburban ranch-style house, the sculpture hones in on architecture's relationship with its landscape, manifesting itself as a life-sized kaleidoscope. The California Ranch Style house was first designed by a small collective of architects in the 1920s and 30s, inspired by the spatial fluidity of Frank Lloyd Wright's work and melded with the local single storey homes that belonged to ranchers. Following the Second World War, the simplicity of this housing typology resulted in its quick rise in popularity, adopted by commercial builders to match the rapid urbanization of the American countryside.  © Lance Gerber  © Dakota Higgins "MIRAGE is reconfigured as an architectural idea: the seemingly generic suburban home now devoid of a narrative, its inhabitants, their possession," states the Doug Aitken Workshop. "This minimal structure now functions entirely in response to the landscape around it. The doors, windows, and openings have been removed to create a fluid relationship with the surrounding environment." With this in mind, the installation adopts the recognizable form of the ranch-style home and uses the strictly reflective surfaces to transform the structure into a framing device that concurrently absorbs and reflects its environment. Its transitional location lies between the San Jacinto Mountains and the Coachella valley while overlooking a developed site in the distance.  © Dakota Higgins  © Lance Gerber
Given its unique character and location, the space can be experienced at any moment in time, providing different distortions and reflections for every viewing, be it under the darkness of the night sky or the endless expanses of sunlit desert.  © Dakota Higgins  © Lance Gerber Designed by Doug Aitken, MIRAGE is one feature of the Desert X contemporary art exhibition, which runs from February 25 to October 31. Aitken's work has been showcased at renowned international locations, including the Museum of Modern Art, Vienna Secession, and the Serpentine Gallery in London, among others. He is also a former winner of the Venice Biennale's International Prize in 1999. More on this reflective installation, including directions for visiting the site, can be found here. News via: Doug Aitken Workshop. New Oslo Installation Reflects Norwegian Landscape in Miniature  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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