Arch Daily |
- Treves & Hyde / Grzywinski+Pons
- Understanding British Postmodernism (Hint: It’s Not What You Thought)
- Conversation in Grey / Anagram Architects
- House H / HAO Design
- Dr. Kallam Anji Reddy Memorial / Mindspace
- Adorable House / FORM | Kouichi Kimura Architects
- Backlight Apartment / 2BOOKS design
- Santo CLT Office / Junichi Kato & Associates
- DROR's Parkorman Park in Istanbul Will Let Visitors Trampoline through the Treetops
- Itapuã House / ESTUDIOFAROL
- New Renderings Revealed of SHoP and West 8's $3.5 Billion Schuylkill Yards Project
- House L1 / Jonas Lindvall A & D
- Snøhetta Unveils Plans for World's First Ship Tunnel in Norway
- V-House / Reload Építészstúdió
- Why the Suburbs Will Be America's Next Great Architectural Testing Ground
- Huma Klabin / Una Arquitetos
- Gensler to Complete 200,000-Square-Foot Renovation of New York's Citicorp Center
- FUX – Collective Housing in Vienna / trans_city
- Factum Arte on Preservation, Recording and Recreation
| Treves & Hyde / Grzywinski+Pons Posted: 28 Mar 2017 10:00 PM PDT  © Nicholas Worley
 © Nicholas Worley From the architect. Treves & Hyde is a new restaurant and bar that we designed near Whitechapel in East London. The environment is also intended to accommodate both formal and casual occupation, staying open for interstitial use between meal service. It was also important to us and our client that the space could function without compromise from early morning through late night while maintaining its functional variability. So we provided ample and flexible seating, power points and areas geared equally towards both privacy and the happenstance run-ins increasingly found in modern workspaces or a cafe. We postulated that while guests might feel comfortable working or socializing in a space seemingly appropriate for dining, they could feel less at ease dining in an environment geared towards co-working. Accordingly the aesthetic typology is unabashedly that of a restaurant.  © Nicholas Worley The space is heavily glazed and washed in sunlight throughout the day so we were conscious of creating texture and relief in many of the surfaces while mixing materials with a sheen or luster and those that were soft and matte to augment the kinetic quality of the light while providing comfort. We designed the restaurant to be as warm, welcoming and happy (and even appetizing) at night as it is during the day, and created the joinery and furnishings to look better with some wear and tear after heavy use. Natural stone, ceramic, brass, timber, concrete and blackened steel feature heavily in a bold but limited palette and we designed in a lot of room to accommodate generous amounts of vegetation in aged terra cotta.  © Nicholas Worley  Diagrams  © Nicholas Worley Whether enjoying a casual solo breakfast over a laptop, having a cocktail at the bar, or dining formally in a party of eight, our design decisions for Treves & Hyde were predicated on inclusivity and flexibility without concession.  © Nicholas Worley  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Understanding British Postmodernism (Hint: It’s Not What You Thought) Posted: 28 Mar 2017 09:00 PM PDT  Staff Accommodation block at St Paul's Girl's School, by John Melvin (1985), photographed by Martin Charles. Image © John Melvin In this essay by the British architect and academic Dr. Timothy Brittain-Catlin, the very notion of British postmodernism—today often referred to as intimately tied to the work of James Stirling and the the thinking of Charles Jencks—is held to the light. Its true origins, he argues, are more historically rooted. I grew up in a beautiful late Victorian terrace with ornamental brickwork, shaped 'Dutch' gables and pretty arts and crafts stained glass windows – and so I didn't think then, and I don't think now, that I had much to learn from Las Vegas. It turns out that I wasn't the only one. Of British architects who made their names as postmodernists in the 1980s, not a single one would say now that they owed much to Robert Venturi, the American architect widely considered to be a grandfather of movement.  St Paul's Girl's School, Brook Green, Hammersmith, by Gerald Horsley (1904). Image © Timothy Brittain-Catlin It's well over thirty-five years since Charles Jencks introduced us to 'postmodern classicism'. That startling 1980 edition of Architectural Design with Michael Graves' Portland Building on the cover defined the period, as did the list of names on the back (Jeremy Dixon and James Stirling being the British representatives). It's common knowledge that Jencks claims to have coined the term, and he indubitably defined the movement. But thirty-five years is a long time and it is possible now to look at the whole story a little differently – and without Jencks in it. He himself will see, I hope, that it is a compliment to imagine that the movement of his own creation has developed a life of its own without him. Nearly all the British postmodernists I speak to tell me that what that had really motivated them at the time was Edwardian architecture: powerful, rich, sculptural, stylistically ambitious, technically and constructionally accomplished. Take John Melvin, for example. In the 1970s he designed two terraces of brick houses in Islington that sat parallel to the line of the street and had front doors with arched fanlights above them. Someone who worked for the Mercers' Company—one of the old City of London guilds which had become a major landowner—saw them and was struck by this audacious deviation from the modernist principle of designing a building, often of a largely abstract shape, in the middle of a lawn. As a result Melvin was commissioned to design a block of staff accommodation on Brook Green in Hammersmith – almost directly opposite, as it happens, the beautiful terrace where I had grown up.  Mercers' House, Essex Road, Highbury, London, by John Melvin (1992), photographed by Martin Charles. Image © John Melvin These flats were built for teachers at St Paul's Girls' School further on down the same street. This building really is something. It was designed by Gerald Horsley, a founding member of the Art Workers' Guild, in 1904, and is pressed right up against the railings, radiating an elegant power across the street: a little bit, I always thought, like a crouching tiger. It's built of red brick with stone panels and dressings, and covered with free detailing. Behind the façade there is a large barrel-vaulted roof with ornamental plasterwork, a recurrent Edwardian motif. From this ensemble Melvin derived his own little block; a small lunette roof-light stands in for Horsley's vault. In fact, on the way to the site from the tube station, Melvin would have passed not only the fine local central library (in Edwardian baroque by Henry T. Hare and the same age exactly as the school) but also a particularly lush fire station of 1913 with a warm wall of red brick, slightly in the manner of the early eighteenth-century but reborn on a city scale for a modern building type. Then Melvin went back to Islington and built for the Mercers' Company the stupendous block of red-brick flats in Essex Road for one of the most venerable of all uses: sheltered housing, that is, what were formerly known as 'almshouses'. He knew what he wanted to avoid—the shapelessness and lack of domestic identity of the 1960s' flats opposite designed by one of the most admired modernist architectural practices of the era. As a tribute to the memory of the many terraces of old houses demolished in the area in the preceding decade, Melvin designed his block with ornamental front doors, fanlights, chimneys, railings – the things that made a building a home. Exactly as Norman Shaw had done in 1879 in his huge, cliff-like blocks of flats beside the Albert Hall in Kensington: "they have worn so well," Melvin said. Around the corner he designed a doctors' surgery in a style that almost directly reflects that of St Paul's Girls' School.  Mercers' House, Essex Road, Highbury, London, by John Melvin (1992), photographed by Martin Charles. Image © John Melvin As Melvin's first Hammersmith building was going up, visitors to Cambridge were staring with some disbelief at the new library building affixed to the street side of Newnham College. It took the form of a simple barrel-vaulted rectangular block clad in vibrant stripes of red and blue. It had a dollhouse quality and contrasted (outrageously) with its dreary neighbour that had been recently designed by one of those exceptionally puritanical Cambridge practices many of whose buildings, however lauded by the local architecture school at the time (and I was there), were so thin and mean that they soon leaked, fell down or were demolished. This was Cambridge's first postmodern building and it is still the best one. The architects were Van Heyningen and Haward and, according to Josh McCosh, one of the practice's current leaders, the inspiration came from the gentle, pretty and popular, and extremely well constructed, late Victorian buildings by Basil Champneys that still looked fresh and of which two, at least, had their own ornamental, creamy, spreading barrel vaults.  Epping Forest Civic Offices, by Richard Reid (1984-90). Axonometric by Richard Reid. Image © Richard Reid & Associates It didn't take long to find other architects working at the time who could provide similar examples from same period. Richard Reid, whose Epping Forest Civic Offices of 1984-1990 provides one of the most striking and enduring successes of British postmodernism, told me that he had taken his cue from G.F. Bodley's nearby church tower (of 1905) and from a tough late Victorian water tower further along Epping High Street. He talked to me of the importance of drawing and of John Ruskin, as if he were an Arts and Crafts man himself – as indeed the critic Trevor Garnham was perceptive enough to recognise when he wrote about Reid's building in the Architects' Journal at the time.  Mercers' House, Essex Road, Highbury, London, by John Melvin (1992), photographed by Martin Charles. Doctors' Surgery frontage to Mitchison Road. Image © John Melvin The thing is, as Piers Gough said to me recently, these Edwardian buildings were extremely good. They represented, he said, "the high point of architectural ability in this country." And Piers Gough is the ultimate British postmodernist: in fact, he was the only architect I spoke to who described himself as one, and few would disagree. Those architects were enormously inventive – as Gough said, they would vary the fenestration on every floor; they were built well at a time when quality building was valued. Yet you could recognise easily the features on them that spoke to everyone. Garnham's hero W.R. Lethaby knew that if the ornamentation of a building reaches back in time to distant, symbolic things, everyone will somehow understand it, however complicated it is, and like it the more for it. Which, in fact, is not that far from what Charles Jencks was proposing in his enjoyable book The Iconic Building – except it's a lot more organised and rather more profound. But, as it turns out, British postmodernism is not about Charles Jencks, or about Robert Venturi. Nor is it about being the cheap British imitation of what the expensive Americans were doing. Looking back, it was a magnificent Edwardian revival – and a movement that deserves to be recognised as such.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Conversation in Grey / Anagram Architects Posted: 28 Mar 2017 08:00 PM PDT  © Suryan//Dang
 © Suryan//Dang From the architect. Artrovert is our project to design a studio in a peri-urban artists' colony, Kaladham, in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The 280 sqm. studio is built on a 300 sqm trapezoidal plot which is one of 216 arranged in an octagonal grid. Our client-collaborator is a multi-media artist whose politically charged works interrogate binaries, challenge representation and explore the anti aesthetic. Equally unconventionally, her vision for her studio was not the typical introverted artist's "cave" but rather an extroverted residency where the creation of art and the living of the artist are shared with her precinct. Acutely aware of Kaladham's location at the urban edge, she hopes such an outward expression and blurring of territory would lay seeds of well-knit social networks for a growing community.  Floor Plan  © Suryan//Dang  Floor plan Program  © Suryan//Dang Form and Materiality  © Suryan//Dang Performance  © Suryan//Dang  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 28 Mar 2017 07:00 PM PDT  © Hey!Cheese
 © Hey!Cheese From the architect. This project is a multipurpose space that combines a studio and exhibition space featuring furniture for sale. The property, a unit in a row of old townhouses, is located in Kaohsiung City's Zuoying District. The 36 year-old house has a retro, warm and inviting exterior and retains the split-level floor plan popular in the 1960s. Past occupants have made additions according to their needs, including a sheet metal shack and windows with iron grating.  © Hey!Cheese The first floor of the building is 11 ping (approximately 36 square meters). It has a narrow facade and hence the interior does not let in a lot of light, obscuring the building's original beautiful exterior. We removed the interior staircase, the iron grated windows facing the street and the sheet metal shack (which was a kitchen) added to the back of the first floor. We spruced the space up by adding exterior stairs and a courtyard, in order to let the old house regain its original style and charm.  Diagram  Diagram The space was originally designated as a studio and exhibition space for Japanese furniture, but because of the floor plan, the building's three rooms were all separated by solid walls and blocked by staircases. The entire space was fragmented and incoherent. First, we removed the solid walls separating the staggered floors and moved the stairs outdoors to expand the interior space of the structure so that light from the courtyard can enter. We expanded the space by using glass which allows light to penetrate freely, thus improving interactivity. Now, each space can interact with their neighbors. In order to highlight the beautiful characteristics of the townhouse, such as the circular chamfer of the windows, we used the color white as our base to create a clean, uncluttered space for exhibiting furniture.  © Hey!Cheese  Section  © Hey!Cheese As for the stairs, they are now the only thing connecting the individual floors. In order to add something new to climbing up and down stairs, we added a slant to the French windows on the second floor so that people will step on a triangular platform when they move outside via the exterior stairs. This also creates a livelier facade. The path through the house is strung together by the exterior stairs so occupants and visitors weave in and out, enjoying the excitement of exploring all the various boxed spaces.  © Hey!Cheese  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Dr. Kallam Anji Reddy Memorial / Mindspace Posted: 28 Mar 2017 03:00 PM PDT  © Sebastian Zachariah
 © Sebastian Zachariah From the architect. Scientist, philanthropist and entrepreneur, Dr. K Anji Reddy's passion for drug discovery and his pioneering contributions to making medicines affordable are legendary.  Diagram Born in Tadepalli in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, India, in a farming family, he grew up watching his father make herbal pills that he distributed free. Little did he realize the prophetic significance of what he saw.  © Sebastian Zachariah After working at the state owned Indian drug and pharmaceuticals limited for six years, he established Dr.Reddy's laboratories in 1984.  © Sebastian Zachariah Dr Reddy's life cannot be summed up in one word – his life was rich and made up of multiple strands. In his public life, he was a scientist, an entrepreneur, a pioneer, a collector and a philanthropist who cared enough to turn away from conventional modes of giving in order to make the less privileged feel secure in a skill that they were encouraged to master. The Dr. Anji Reddy Memorial was conceived in order to celebrate his life.  © Sebastian Zachariah Dr.Anji Reddy Memorial takes us to contemplate different aspects of Dr Reddy's life, its unique and bold message: no matter how humble our beginnings, it's up to us to transform our lives and reach for something larger than ourselves. Dr Reddy's life is marked by an intense attentiveness to learning and application. His scientific life was engaged in ways that could alleviate suffering by making affordable medicine. He also stands tall as an example of a deeply compassionate human being who actively tried to rethink the idea of charity and how to unlock potential in the disadvantaged. This memorial presents multiple ways of navigating Dr Reddy's life, following it and tracing its patterns in order to reach an understanding of the lessons it holds out.  Plan Client requirement was to create a memorial for Dr.Reddy that would stand an inspiration for the forth coming generation. Location chosen for the memorial was a 1.2 acre piece of land in a 100 acre site.This location was chosen to immortalize the path taken by Dr.Reddy from his residence to the lab.Location identified with its existing trees became the reference to the design. Avenue of silver oaks,grid of gulmohar trees, avenue of Ashoka trees ,avenue of palm trees and colonnade of casuarina was transformed to entrepreneurial path, path to samadhi, pradakshna path, path of discovery, path of philanthropy respectively.  © Sebastian Zachariah 1.Entrepreneurial Path: Avenue of silver oaks portrays Dr.Reddy's life journey from a humble start to a successful enterpriser with his bike and car is displayed either side of the path with a gradual slope. A walk along this path would motivate and inspire one to set and reach higher goals.  Diagram 2.Path of reflection void/samadhi: A grid of gulmohar trees with a linear water body culminates into his samadhi.As one walks towards the Samadhi, the waterbody reflecting the sky seen through the cut in the wall behind, evokes a sense of his absence .A void in the center of samadhi represents the end of an era to the realm he has built and the presence of his absence in the lives he inspired and nurtured.  © Sebastian Zachariah 3.Pradakshana path:It is around the samadhi along avenue of palm trees.The cycle of his life "from" nature and "to" nature is represented through walls and voids between the palm trees.The voids eventually increase in number reaching towards the sky and finally merge into the sky.  Section 4. The Path of discovery and enlightenment along the Ashoka trees shows his journey of challenges and growth from a farmer's son to an entrepreneur. The texture of flooring from rough, semi polish, polish to merging into lawn finally culminates into Bodhi tree which is a symbol of Enlightenment.  © Sebastian Zachariah Path of philanthropy: "I came up with a little help here and there and whenever possible, I try to return it. If by giving help you can transform it into opportunity for someone to show his ability, it is the greatest satisfaction" -Lt.Dr.Kallam Anji Reddy  © Sebastian Zachariah 6.Water channel and Spout: The overflowing water reaches out as an offering of oneself, a prayer, a defining aspects of Dr. Anji Reddy was his desire to give back to society he has grown from.  © Sebastian Zachariah It is a narrow colonnade of casuarina, lies along north-south axis.it is a glimpse of display panel engraved on stone wall along the casuarina trees axes to explain the giving nature of Dr.Reddy. Dr Reddy's memorial, a non-building set amidst the nature, connects and communicates with its natural surroundings creating a serene atmosphere.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Adorable House / FORM | Kouichi Kimura Architects Posted: 28 Mar 2017 01:00 PM PDT  © Yoshihiro Asada
 © Yoshihiro Asada From the architect. The house was designed for a couple and children on 97 m2 of relatively a small ground in an urban district of a city center. The site is surrounded by newly built apartment buildings and various types of houses mixed together. Across the street, there is a park where parents can have their children play.  © Yoshihiro Asada For this project, it was requested to build a house that incorporates both functionality and design properties even if it may be small, while maximizing the environment of the site.  © Yoshihiro Asada The appearance has been designed to include both massive and floaty feel that is generated by manipulating volume and proportion of configuration. The piloti space under the cantilevered eaves is used as a parking space, porch, and approach to entrance.  © Yoshihiro Asada The space between the porch and the border of the street is used for planting to effectively display the building as well as to give a feel of linkage with the park. A small room positioned at the center of the site is used as a atelier by the client.  © Yoshihiro Asada The room is connected to the entrance hall to secure a smooth traffic line for residents. An opening is provided on the approach side so that one can check who comes in/out or what happens outside. The internal space on the second floor that has secured a maximum height in accordance with the roof shape is produced by light coming in from a top light and space continuity, which results from eye-conscious design.  Floor Plan The distinctive large window facing the park is composed of a high window that introduces enough natural light, and an opening that takes in gentle light and breeze while blocking eyes from outside. he house fixture designed to be incorporated in the window frame connects the spaces, and fills the room with dignity.  © Yoshihiro Asada Scenes of children appearing at the small window facing the park resemble little birds poking their heads out of a nest, which looks so adorable. This house produces various beautiful scenes in daily lives of the residents.  © Yoshihiro Asada  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Backlight Apartment / 2BOOKS design Posted: 28 Mar 2017 12:00 PM PDT  © highlite images
 © highlite images From the architect. The project is a very common type of apartment in Taiwan, the customer hopes that we can give a solution for the problem of the darkness in the interior space, and provide enough storage for kids toys, picture books and most camping equipments .  Floor Plan In this regard, we try to use a smaller partition wall to distinguish the space, make it more spacious and open, and the use of wall space to produce storage cabinets, without affecting the daylighting function.  © highlite images From the beginning of the discussion, the choice of main material is focus on the use concrete from the original space, and leave it as floor and wall. the light showing a warm and simple feeling through the texture of concrete which is slightly rough . this approach can make reduce tones house feel warmer and more open.  © highlite images The aesthetic characteristic of concrete, become more and more important through the development and progress of the case.  © highlite images As a reference point, concrete becomes "the driver "who decides all the other materials. The extension part of the facade is made of beige, and the interior is made of grey oak wood. Both of them provide the necessary contrast, warmness and richness for the smooth texture of concrete.  © highlite images  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Santo CLT Office / Junichi Kato & Associates Posted: 28 Mar 2017 10:00 AM PDT  © Kei Sugino
 © Kei Sugino From the architect. It is an office building that uses CLT(Cross Laminated Timber) as a structural and finishing material. Based on the three concepts of showing the cross-section of CLT, giving a finish with CLT and using CLT in curves, I have explored ways to utilize CLT's unique nature.  © Kei Sugino  Floor Plan  © Kei Sugino By using an arch-shaped continuous frame made possible with CLT panels, the building has been given a vault-like, gentle and warm working space.  Section In addition, with the building's continuous arch, I have aimed to make it suggestive of the original landscape with the climbing kiln in Shigaraki, which is famous as a town of ceramics, so that the local residents can find the building appealing.  © Kei Sugino  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| DROR's Parkorman Park in Istanbul Will Let Visitors Trampoline through the Treetops Posted: 28 Mar 2017 09:15 AM PDT  © DROR In Istanbul, a city with few existing green spaces, studio DROR is proposing something radical – a park filled with innovative interventions as a way to encourage collective experience and gathering. Envisioned as "a love story between people and nature," the Parkorman forest park will give people a chance to swing through the forest, play in giant ball pits, relax by reflecting pools, and even bounce several stories above the ground on canopy-level trampolines.
Located six miles north of the city center, DROR was faced with the challenge of providing an active incentive to draw residents out to the park. The solution was to preserve the existing forest life, and supplement it with delightful and surprising structures that allow people to play.  © DROR  © DROR "We set out to create a park that dissolves the anxiety and fear that often accompanies an unfamiliar environment through a network of conditions that fosters unconditional love," explain the architects. "We imagined the most profound experience delivered through the lightest touch; an effort that preserves the lush forest and leaves every tree in place, as mandated by the city."
The masterplan is broken into five main zones, each designed to provoke their own emotion. Interaction and play are fostered in each zone through the series of interventions: At the park entrance, "The Plaza" introduces visitors to nature and provides open space for gathering and socializing; in "The Loop," swings and hammocks float above the forest floor as a relaxing retreat from urban life; giant ball pits, inspired by the vibrancy of a Turkish spice market, make up "The Pool"; at "The Chords," adventurous guests have the chance ascend into the treetops on a twisting footpath, and bounce on giant trampolines located within.
 © DROR  © DROR For a more reflective experience, "The Grove" offers a maze-like sculpture trail leading through the landscape. "The Fountain of Clarity," a cube-shaped frame from which water showers down on all four sides, uses a sensor module and hydraulic piston to open upon approach, allowing the structure to envelop visitors in a watery room.  © DROR Non-linear pathways weaving between the trees connect the inventions together, and allow guests to choose their own route through the park. Via DROR.  © DROR  © DROR
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| Posted: 28 Mar 2017 08:00 AM PDT  © Exídio Correia
 © Exídio Correia From the architect. Located on a small cross street to Dorival Caymmi Avenue in Itapuã, the house that bears the same name as the fascinating neighborhood of Salvador was born by the necessity of the owner to live and work in the same place. The house holder, Dj and company owner that provides physical structure for small and medium events, wanted above all a practical residence, durable and easy to maintain.  Planta Baixa The estudiofarol proposal was for the building to be executed in two stages, the first one (currently built)is the initial embryo of the residence together with the space destined to the company and the second stage would be the enlargement of the residence in a superior floor that will be executed in the future.  © Exídio Correia The house is located on the west side of the building, opening to the north, south and east faces. The neighboring building on the west together with the blind wall of this face protect the house of the solar incidence from the west of the location but allows the access of indirect illumination coming from the north and east faces. The northbound front recoil makes it possible to park both the owner's vehicle on the east side and the truck´s company on the west side, which is higher so that the trunk of the truck is protected from rain while unloading.  Sol Inverno Poente  Sol Verão Poente The access to the company is done directly in front of the building while the access to the house is done by the side through a strip of reinforced concrete plates that lead the user to the living room and service area.  © Exídio Correia The entire layout of the needs program, extremely compact, is made using as few internal divisions as possible. The part of the residence has only the walls of the toilet that make the living room / bedroom division while the company area has only one wall that isolates the toilet from the deposit and administration that share the same space. There is also an external service area that connects the kitchen and the leisure area and is slightly away from the company wall so that ventilation of the same is protected.  Perspectiva The constructive system was designed for a little and easy maintenance, with all the structure apparent, as it came out of the forms of plasticized plywood receiving only three coats of silicone to protect it from the weather. The slabs have small swings of 50 cm, around the whole building, to protect the masonry and the frames of heavy rains.  © Exídio Correia It was decided to use ceramic brick masonry, eliminating some stages of the conventional system such as slabs and plaster. Conventional masonry was used only on the walls where there would be hydraulic installations that would need to be embedded.  © Exídio Correia The electrical and rainwater installations were left apparent and painted black to contrast with the brown of the pottery and the white of some of the internal walls.  © Exídio Correia All the frames of the house were executed in a simple system of anodized aluminum with a black color except the large access door to the company that was executed in galvanized steel structure and the door leaf in perforated plate in the same material, both painted in synthetic enamel in red color. The perforated plate allows a constant renewal of the air inside the deposit minimizing possible typical odors of this type of area.  © Exídio Correia The Itapuã house is part of a line of thought of the estudiofarol that seeks the fundamental aspects of construction stripping it of any superfluous or unnecessary aspect in order to bring the architecture to its fundamental role of shelter.  © Exídio Correia  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| New Renderings Revealed of SHoP and West 8's $3.5 Billion Schuylkill Yards Project Posted: 28 Mar 2017 07:30 AM PDT  © SHoP Architects / West8. Courtesy Brandywine Realty Trust New renderings and information have been revealed for SHoP and West 8's Schuylkill Yards masterplan envisioned for University City in Philadelphia. Announced last March, the project comprises 14 new buildings on a 14-acre site off the Schuylkill River and around 30th Street Station, the country's third busiest Amtrak station.  © SHoP Architects / West8. Courtesy Brandywine Realty Trust Focusing on public areas, the plan calls for 6.5 million square feet of revamped green space and streetscapes, including the elliptical Drexel Square; a "shared esplanade" along JFK Boulevard; new cyclist infrastructure on the main thoroughfare of Market Street; and an indoor public space called "The Wintergarden." Also on Market Street, a 627,000-square-foot office tower named "3101 Market East" and a 247,000-square-foot hotel will be constructed.  © SHoP Architects / West8. Courtesy Brandywine Realty Trust  © SHoP Architects / West8. Courtesy Brandywine Realty Trust In total, the scheme is estimated to cost $6.5 billion, offering an abundance of new amenities to the neighborhood of University City, so named for its many universities and institutions including the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, and several other science and medical institutions.  © SHoP Architects / West8. Courtesy Brandywine Realty Trust  © SHoP Architects / West8. Courtesy Brandywine Realty Trust  © SHoP Architects / West8. Courtesy Brandywine Realty Trust The plan will presumably be integrated into the adjacent 30th Street Station Precinct masterplan announced by SOM last fall. For more information, check out Schuylkill Yards' new brochure, here. News via Brandywine Realty Trust.  © SHoP Architects / West8. Courtesy Brandywine Realty Trust  © SHoP Architects / West8. Courtesy Brandywine Realty Trust
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| House L1 / Jonas Lindvall A & D Posted: 28 Mar 2017 06:00 AM PDT  © Åke E:son Lindman
 © Åke E:son Lindman From the architect. Built on a 925 m2 plot in the centre of Limhamn in southern Sweden, House L1 consists of two apartment blocks containing seven homes, centred around a private courtyard. Within the courtyard on the left hand side is a communal swimming pool, which is hidden from the entrance.  © Åke E:son Lindman The street-facing building harmonises in scale with the characteristic brick cottages of the former fishing village. The block consists of five split-level apartments laid out over four levels, ranging from 72-141 m2. To the back of the plot, the second block contains two three-storey apartments measuring 167 m2 and 207 m2.  Axonometric Each home is laid out over two or three levels. Four of the apartments have mezzanines with double-height sliding windows measuring up to five metres, offering optimal natural light and the possibility to interact with the courtyard, which is integral to the design. Although each home has one or more private outdoor areas – such as a large balcony or terrace – the courtyard offers residents the possibility to meet and interact.  © Åke E:son Lindman Each apartment is different, in terms of both layout and design. Within the two three-storey apartments, behind the kitchen lies a double-height area with a skylight, while one of them also has a private atrium and a garage. In the adjacent building, some homes feature small lounge areas with open fireplaces placed near the bedrooms.  © Åke E:son Lindman There are some common features throughout, for example, the choice of materials and the orientation of the bedrooms, most of which are north facing. Oak flooring is used on the upper levels, with sandstone for the kitchens and bathrooms, as well as private terraces and the courtyard, which link the interior and exterior. The project was completed in 2012.  © Åke E:son Lindman One of the most important materials used in the project was the Indian sandstone, used in the kitchen, bathroom and ground floor indoor areas, as well as outdoor spaces. The stone was used to create a seamless connection between indoors and outdoors. Indoors, the stone is smooth and soft, while the stone in the courtyard was blasted to create a rough surface that provides a better grip when wet.  © Åke E:son Lindman  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Snøhetta Unveils Plans for World's First Ship Tunnel in Norway Posted: 28 Mar 2017 05:15 AM PDT  Examinations of the bedrock in Kjødepollen shows that there is more sediment than first expected. That means that the portal must be built on a larger area than previously planned. For practical and safety reasons, the entrance is proposed built as terraces. The terrace surfaces can be established by known principles for withdrawal of loads, with a combination of construction methods such as wire-cutting and blasting.. Image © Norwegian Coastal Administration/Snøhetta The Norwegian Coastal Administration has revealed visualizations of the world's first full-scale ship tunnel that would link two fjords on either side of the Stad Peninsula in Norway, allowing ships to bypass the "most exposed, most dangerous" waters on the Norwegian coast. With the project now in the feasibility stage, architecture studio Snøhetta has produced a series of rendered design concepts to help the project gain traction within the Norwegian government.  Above the tunnel entrance at the Moldefjorden side, it is proposed to establish a new overhead bridge. The fly bridge cross the portal will also be available to the public. From the sidewalk the public can watch the ships entering and coming out of the ship tunnel.. Image © Norwegian Coastal Administration/Snøhetta The Stad Ship Tunnel would measure 1.7 kilometers long, 36 meters wide and 49 meters tall – large enough to accommodate full-sized boats such as large cruise ships, sailboats, and coastal steamers. Traffic would pass through one way at a time, but even with a waiting period, the tunnel would chop off significant time and hazard from the existing route around the peninsula. Estimates show that between 70 and 120 ships could use the tunnel on a daily basis.  Moldefjorden: Bridge, with access for the public. Image © Norwegian Coastal Administration/Snøhetta  Given the scope, a multi-functional facilitation is an important part of the planning. There is a need for a longitudinal guiding structure through the tunnel and on both sides of the tunnel. These will protect the vessel against impact, but can also be used as escape routes during evacuation, and access road for inspection and maintenance of the facility.. Image © Norwegian Coastal Administration/Snøhetta Working with Olav Olsen of Norwegian consulting firm Norconsult, Snøhetta has designed the two entrances to the tunnel using the material palette of the peninsula, with both wire-cut and blasted stone walls making up the opening arches. On the Moldefjorden side, the design would utilize the steep landscape to create a dramatic entrance. A more sensitive, terraced opening would pop out at Kjødepollen, where a small village is located.  The illustration shows a cross section of the ship tunnel as planned with the relevant measurements.. Image © Norwegian Coastal Administration/Appex  The illustration shows where Stad Ship Tunnel is planned; with southern entrance in Moldefjorden and northern entrance in Kjødepollen. Image © Norwegian Coastal Administration/Appex The idea for building a ship tunnel through the Stad Peninsula has been discussed for over 100 years, with original plans documented as far back as the 1870s. Historians have even discovered that Vikings often preferred to portage their ships over the 1.7 kilometer stretch than sail through the dangerous seas.  Moldefjorden, where the southern tunnel entrance is planned.. Image © Norwegian Coastal Administration  The illustration shows where Stad Ship Tunnel is planned; with southern entrance in Moldefjorden and northern entrance in Kjødepollen. Image © Norwegian Coastal Administration/Appex Initial cost estimates for the project come in at 2.3billion Kroner (~$270 million USD). The Norwegian Coastal Association is hoping to receive a final political decision soon. If approved, construction could begin as early as 2019. News via Norwegian Coastal Association.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| V-House / Reload Építészstúdió Posted: 28 Mar 2017 04:00 AM PDT  © Krisztián Bódis
 © Krisztián Bódis From the architect. V-House was built on one of the highest-lying parcel of Üröm – Rókahegy, a hilly area North-East of Budapest, at the end of 2015. We were assigned to design a two-generation family house while keeping eye on the best possible utilization of land installation indicators, and creating a demanding and innovatively built environment that adequately represents the characteristics of the suburban living environment of today.  © Krisztián Bódis  Ground Floor Plan  © Krisztián Bódis It was important not only for the designers, but also for the client that typical building proportions, roof form and substance use of the suburban living environment can be displayed in the building design and mass shaping, all of this reinterpreting the traditional, adding contemporary flavour to the building's appearance and raising the quality of the built environment of the settlement as well.  Section Together with our client we wanted to show that with the habitual gabled form and proportions, playing with the amount of the traditional building materials (plaster, wood, glass) a new and demanding suburban architectural quality can be created as opposed to a peculiar "Mediterranean" style that became prevalent in Hungary during the past decades - in spite of lacking local roots.  © Krisztián Bódis V-House is a "house-shaped house" We knew at the beginning of the planning process that we would follow quite a simplistic design, emphasizing the spirit of the place and the superior panoramic view rather than the shape of the house. We were to ensue the "less is more", "simple and great" principle. After all, this schematic building form, this house-archetype fitted into the idea that refreshes and makes the traditional modern.  © Krisztián Bódis That is why the form-shaping of the building seems not very complicated (and it was not a goal) and everyone recognizes the archetype of the traditional gabled building.  Elevation Thus, we deprived the form of all frippery and allowed the walls, the pitched roof and the glass surface opening towards the street dominating the outer view. The architectural details are, however, the pledge of freshness and re-interpretation. Elaboration of each node required significant technical knowledge, a lot of coordination and strategic technical planning, so that we could create a new quality with no compromises.  © Krisztián Bódis The building opened with south glass walls towards the street is orientated to the city, so that the living room and the bedroom have a perfect view of Gellérthegy (an iconic hill on the Buda side of Budapest), the Parliament, the meandering Danube and the whole bustling downtown of Pest.  © Krisztián Bódis In terms of engineering we speak about a low-energy, A + energy rated building designed to use renewable energy sources. The energy aspects of the wall and roof meet the near-zero energy classification standards. Solar panels are placed to certain individual parts of the building, this is how we produce the energy demand of the domestic equipment. For the needs of heating / cooling and hot water there is an air-to-water heat-pump system that works on GEO-tariff. The building components are individually prepared for solar panels. The electric meter spins back and forth, that is, the excess energy generated by solar panels is fed back to the ELMŰ (Budapest Electricity Company) system, and when the house needs extra energy you buy it from the ELMŰ system. The apartments have a smart home control installed. With the temperature, humidity and wind sensors the building can control itself, it operates the shielding, the heating and cooling systems and other consumer electronics.  © Krisztián Bódis  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Why the Suburbs Will Be America's Next Great Architectural Testing Ground Posted: 28 Mar 2017 02:30 AM PDT  The American suburbs are the next fertile ground for architectural and urban experimentation. Seen here: One Connecticut town <a href='https://archpaper.com/2017/01/meriden-green-mall-connecticut/'>swaps a derelict mall for a 14.4-acre, community-centered green space</a>. Image © Clem Kasinskas This article was originally published by The Architect's Newspaper as "The American suburbs are the next fertile ground for architectural and urban experimentation." The last twenty-odd years may have seen the remarkable comeback of cities, but the next twenty might actually be more about the suburbs, as many cities have become victims of their own success. The housing crisis—a product of a complex range of factors from underbuilding to downzoning—has made some cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, a playground for the ultra-wealthy, pushing out long-time residents and making the city unaffordable for the artists, creatives, and small businesses who make vibrant places. While it is impossible to cast a national generalization, in a broad sense, the cities' loss could be the suburbs' gain. Many young people and poorer residents are moving to the suburbs, although not necessarily because they want to. This is creating a market on the fringes of the city for a more vibrant mixed-use development based on public transportation and urban amenities. The traditional American suburban model of sprawling single-family homes and clusters of retail is not necessarily the only way these territories are developing, as even the big box mall models are taking new forms.  The exterior of the new <a href='https://archpaper.com/2017/01/jgma-kmart-cristo-rey-st-martin-college-prep/'>Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep campus</a> will be unrecognizable as a former big box store. Image © JGMA In some ways, the urban and the suburban are flattening, as Judith K. De Jong argues in her book New SubUrbanisms. Culturally, formally, and conceptually, they share more than we typically think. While suburban residents crave quasi-ersatz urban experiences, many in the urban areas are living as if they are in the suburbs, in more insular developments that minimize their interactions with the city and other citizens. In the suburbs, on the other hand, there is potential for an increase in mixed-use and mixed-experience living.  Changing demographics and new technologies promise to reshape American suburbs. Seen here: Colorado Springs Suburbs. Image © <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/chriswaits/7285246358'>Flickr user Chris Waits</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/'>CC BY 2.0</a> Adding to this new "intersectional suburb," which we consider in our feature, are the demographic shifts that are continuing to upend the notion of classic post-war suburbs. We examine how a recent report by the Urban Land Institute surveys the new landscape on which the formation of new suburban projects will take place. A recent study by urban planner Daniel D'oca and his students at the Harvard Graduate School of Design even called this phenomenon "black flight." What makes these changes so loaded with potential to provoke new types of suburban development and living is that the suburbs already cover an enormous amount of land in the US. University of Michigan professor of landscape architecture Joan Nassauer cites Major Uses of Land in the United States, 2007, a 2011 US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service study that shows that 3 percent of all land in the US is covered by "cities," while upward of 5 percent is taken up by suburbs. This means that while there are new tracts of land being built, much of this experimentation will be transforming what is already there, but with new technologies and understanding of what a healthy urbanism looks like environmentally, culturally, and economically. It is an incredibly fertile ground for architecture and urban design to imagine how to retrofit the suburbs and make them part of the next generation of cities.  The Six apartments by Brooks + Scarpa is Skid Row Housing Trust's first development outside <a href='https://archpaper.com/2017/01/measure-hhh-los-angeles-homelessness/'>Los Angeles's downtown area</a> and is designed around a central courtyard to facilitates social interaction, passive ventilation, and natural lighting. Image Courtesy of Skid Row Housing Trust / Tara Wujcik When discussing his vision for the future of cities, Vishaan Chakrabarti cites Paul Baran's 1962 diagram "Centralized, Decentralized, and Distributed Networks," which argues that a distributed, rhizomatic network of nodes and connections is the most resilient way to organize a system. If the affordability crisis in urban areas drives more people out of city centers, then maybe mixed-use centers could be located all around a periphery, creating new conditions that are very well suited for the new technologies and environmental challenges that face the suburbs.  Urban farming in suburban Phoenix becomes the basis for <a href='https://archpaper.com/2017/01/dsgn-agnc-phoenix-spaces-of-opportunity/'>an entire community hub</a>. Image Courtesy of DSGN AGNC As the suburbs adapt to technologies—such as self-driving cars and solar power—to update their inefficient and problematic infrastructures, they will have new opportunities to address new transit options that connect them to the rest of the urban landscape. They will also be fertile ground for more industrial and commercial uses.  New plans for Market Mile north of Houston, Texas, include <a href='https://archpaper.com/2017/01/swa-airline-improvement-district/#gallery-0-slide-0'>revamping the existing flea market</a> with food trucks, street furniture, and increased pedestrian access. Image Courtesy of SWA These changes in the suburban landscape can only be fruitful for architects and urbanists if they allow themselves to see the suburbs not as a "deplorable," ecologically destitute place, but rather as a design challenge that offers a culturally rich and diverse set of problems that can help a variety of families in varying socio-economic conditions. Once we shed our preconceptions, we can start to analyze them on the terms that have already been set, and we can start to remake the suburbs in the image of a progressive, 21st-century city.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 28 Mar 2017 02:00 AM PDT  © Nelson Kon
 © Nelson Kon From the architect. In a city like Sao Paulo, the address signifies a large part of the qualities associated with urban life. Vila Mariana is a neighbourhood where mixed use ensures the vitality of daily activities, it is endowed with public transport, commerce and leisure. The land is located at Calixto da Mota Street, lug central, close to Domingos de Moraes Avenue, which ensures extensive views. Tall buildings that generate gaps allow enjoying these visuals surround the lot.  © Nelson Kon Proposed scheme has assumed a structure capable of switching the opening direction of the apartments, ensuring the best orientation for all: views, aeration and sunshine. This strategy is systemic in a metropolis whose towers current model are isolated in their small lots, establishing a giant and generic city silhouette. This deployment respects all neighbours, because it preserves appropriate distances between apartments.  © Nelson Kon In practice, the operation is the opposite of generic projects stamped on any site, indiscriminately. The building adapts itself to the lot with slopes in two directions. The street level difference (more than two meters from one to another) facilitates access to two underground parking lots, with reduced earthwork.  © Nelson Kon Above the highest access level is located the residents leisure area with a ballroom, collective laundry and gymnastics, which in its coverage houses a swimming pool and solarium. Thus, this escalation results in a construction that extends common areas, respecting original topography and neighbouring buildings. The front setback, required by planning legislation, has been incorporated as a garden offered to the city.  © Nelson Kon  Site Plan  © Nelson Kon The horizontal volume establishes limit and folds vertically, forming one block with 12 floors of apartments. The other tower has 11 levels and it is a little set back to the street. Unit's entries connect these two towers, which is also the waiting area for elevators, opened to the city, with light and fresh air. The reference floor plan has four apartments of 44,00m2 and a larger apartment with 67,00m2.  © Nelson Kon Generous balconies increase apartments, protected by translucent roll panels, to control incidence of sun, wind and rain. All penthouse units have access to a solarium, by its balconies. The construction will be in reinforced fair-faced concrete, in other words structure, finishing, volumetry and expression come of technical quality and rationality of constructive systems. Each material was conceived from the perspective of its qualities: suspended ceilings in wooden boards, inner panels in plaster (for thermo-acoustic efficiency) and glass opening to the balconies.  Cross Section  © Nelson Kon  Detail This building, designed for real estate market, intends to deploy as a rule, not exception, in the city.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Gensler to Complete 200,000-Square-Foot Renovation of New York's Citicorp Center Posted: 28 Mar 2017 01:00 AM PDT  © Gensler Gensler New York has revealed designs for a 200,000-square-foot renovation of the recently landmarked 601 Lexington Avenue, commonly known by its former title, Citicorp Center. The plans will update the entry plaza as well as add a new atrium space housing a range of dining and retail options, giving the site a rejuvenated space for the entire neighborhood to utilize. The project will be the biggest change to the unique building since its construction in 1977 and famed engineering crisis the following year.  © Gensler "Gensler's design was driven by the desire to create a destination. We wanted to redevelop this prominent public space to be truly approachable, creating an amenity for both the tenants and the community," Gensler Principal Joseph Lauro told ArchDaily.  © Gensler The project, approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission last week, will result in the demolition of the existing Hideo Sasaki-designed fountain, which has caused some concern amongst preservationists. "While the original design of the public plaza and atrium was striking, the spaces were not inviting to public and lacked connectivity," explained Lauro on Gensler's design approach. "We believe our design will bring vibrancy to the Midtown East neighborhood by seamlessly integrating these public amenities while respecting the iconic architecture."  © Gensler Previous changes to the building include a lobby renovation in 2010, and a renovation of the open-air concourse and existing atrium 20 years ago. News via Gensler, Architect's Newspaper.
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| FUX – Collective Housing in Vienna / trans_city Posted: 27 Mar 2017 10:00 PM PDT  © Hertha Hurnaus
 © Hertha Hurnaus From the architect. Supervised housing for adolescents and young men. This project for group housing may be small in size, but its objectives are generous and substantial. Here, young men with special needs can find a place to call home: a supervised and supportive living environment with opportunities for shared activities as well as places for private retreat.  © Daniel Hawelka The layout of the building supports its unusual program, and connects it with its heterogeneous surroundings. The house's eight individual rooms are located on the uppermost floor. In the middle is the shared living room, the kitchen and a suite for the counselor; cantilevered in front of these rooms is a large, private terrace for the residents. The ground floor is given over to a community room that is shared with the adjacent public housing estate, as well as a broad, open passage, which connects the courtyard of the estate to the public street.  Floor Plan The FUX community housing building mediates between the differing scales and building styles of Vienna's heteromorphic, rapidly developing XI District. The house uses precise massing and haptic, inviting materials to integrate itself harmoniously into the existing, sympathetically ramshackle buildings of the Fuchsenröhrenstraße. The structure is clad in iridescently-stained, larch-wood siding; the undersides of the passage are rendered in stucco. The cladding's tactile edges and shimmering surfaces stand tête-à-tête in dialog with the surrounding milieu.  © Hertha Hurnaus Towards the street, the building expresses itself as a powerfully articulated and sculptural form whose various edges correspond to the fronts and heights of its neighbors. Seen from the courtyard of the adjacent housing estate, the building's front appears as a planar surface, which is subsequently interlocked with the estate's outbuildings to create a single, integrated composition.  © Hertha Hurnaus  Section  © Hertha Hurnaus  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Factum Arte on Preservation, Recording and Recreation Posted: 27 Mar 2017 09:00 PM PDT  In this fifth episode of GSAPP Conversations, Jorge Otero-Pailos, Director of Columbia GSAPP's Historic Preservation Program, speaks with Carlos Bayod Lucini and Adam Lowe (Factum Arte). Based between Madrid, London and Milan, the practice was founded by Lowe and has become internationally renowned for setting new standards in digital documentation and redefining the relationship between originality and authenticity. Here they discuss Factum Arte's work, including the creation of the first high resolution digital record of the Tomb of Seti I in Luxor, Egypt, the importance of teaching students not only practical skills but also a conceptual understanding of how new technologies can be applied, and the importance of recording of artefacts during times of peace.  GSAPP Conversations is a podcast series designed to offer a window onto the expanding field of contemporary architectural practice. Each episode pivots around discussions on current projects, research, and obsessions of a diverse group of invited guests at Columbia, from both emerging and well-established practices. Usually hosted by the Dean of the GSAPP, Amale Andraos, the conversations also feature the school's influential faculty and alumni and give students the opportunity to engage architects on issues of concern to the next generation. GSAPP Conversations #5: Carlos Bayod Lucini & Adam Lowe with Jorge Otero-PailosJorge Otero-Pailos: I wanted to talk to you both about the work in the studio in relationship to your work. You went out with the students and documented the Church of San Baudelio de Berlanga. Can you tell us a little bit about why you chose to do a high resolution, digital recording of this particular building? Adam Lowe: From the time that you asked us to come and teach, Carlos and I started thinking about what would be a project that would bring together all of the different skill sets that are emerging in this field of digital preservation and digital recording, with the intention of increasing the level at which it's studied, the number of levels on which it's studied and the number of ways in which it's studied. So the idea of taking the hermitage of San Baudelio, which is an absolutely extraordinary story – it plays with how cultural heritage management changes over time, how values change over time. It's partly a detective story, it's partly a conservation story. it's partly a story about technologies and techniques that change. Otero-Pailos: Some of our listeners might not know where San Baudelio is, so maybe we should start there. Lowe: The Hermitage of San Baudelio is a Mozarabic hermitage in the province of Soria, so about 100 kilometers away from Madrid on the River Duero. So for many, many years during the Caliphate in Spain, this area was on the front line constantly changing hands, and is probably best known from things like El Cid and other Hollywood movies where there's an awareness and a realization that politics and history are not black-and-white and simple, and are always much, much, much more complicated than we imagine. The Mozarabs were the Arabic-speaking Christians that effectively ran the civil service in Spain, and the Christian hermitage was built some time in the 11th or early 12th century. So that's about as much as we know of the very early years of the hermitage itself. But what we do know is from an expert of Arabic Spain, Heather Ecker – one of the people that Carlos and I brought into the course – who has done a lot of work when she was within Factum on the history of the removal of the paintings that filled the hermitage and their dispersal around America and then their partial return back to Madrid. Otero-Pailos: Is that what made this church interesting to you, the fact that parts of it were in other places? Lowe: Well, what made it really interesting is that Columbia is up on 116th Street, and The Met Cloisters is up just a little bit further. And the Cloisters still has three of the panels. So as Carlos and I wanted to run a really practical course that was teaching the students a lot of new skills - so again, we had no idea when we started what skill level we were going to encounter, what intellectual level we were going to encounter, what level of curiosity we were going to encounter. But what seemed to be great was to take a practical start, going into the hermitage recording using the Lucida Laser Scanner, which is a high resolution laser scanner, recording using photogrammetry and recording using composite photography. So we could teach them very, very quickly three emerging technologies, which still aren't totally stabilized. The whole protocol and practice and use of these technologies is still deeply misunderstood. So what we really wanted to do was to use this as an absolutely practical working exercise where they could understand that they're both being taught practical physical and concrete things, but they're also being taught to think about how those things can be applied, how those technologies can be applied, how such a framework and points of access around those technologies both limit their use, but also give them enormous potential. So what I wanted to do when Carlos and I first talked was to throw the students in the deep end and let all the pedagogical levels come up through the course. I did a number of sessions throughout the semester, but Carlos was the person who really held it together and structured a very remarkable I think series of practical, intellectual, and philosophical ways of looking at the same subject, and brought together a very diverse group of specialists who came in and worked alongside us, so from Griffith Mann at the Cloisters, to Ron Street at the Met, to Heather Ecker, who was previously at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto and then came to Factum, to Alexander Nagel who was there yesterday. You've got a great group of people who could help the students, could nurture them. And I think if we did one thing that's important over the last semester, it's to motivate a group of students, to get them excited, and to get them to realize that they are the future who are going to be applying this technology and shaping these discourses. So basically the end point was the students actually get to be shaping the discourse in the future. So we weren't just teaching them absolutely concrete facts. We were teaching them a whole framework that can be used to think about how technologies can be applied, how technologies have been applied, and what can come from them. Otero-Pailos: There was a really interesting dimension of the first idea of the studio, which was: Here's this medieval church, parts of which are at the Met, parts of which are in Boston. How do you use technology to bring these together somehow? And I know that you've been working on this in other projects. A lot of the projects you've been involved with, like for example the scanning of the different pieces of the tomb of Seti I, have to do with this attempt to almost bring together the dispersal of a monument. How did that come to you? Lowe: Well, it came because effectively the 19th century saw the formation of the British Museum and many of the great collections - next year is the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the Tomb of Seti I – but it's about the time that the Valley of the Kings was being discovered, and whether it's Champollion, whether it's Belzoni, whether it's Rosellini, whether it's any of the great first generation of Egyptologists, they went in and they saw these amazing things. And the kneejerk reaction was to remove them and take them back to show them to the people from the countries they came from, which is why there are so many great Egyptian things in England, in France, in Italy, and to some extent in the States (but that's slightly later). And for me, the question is now we're in an age of mass tourism, when people go to the sites. And actually Egypt needs visitors on site, on the ground to support the local economy. But the Valley of the Kings was designed to last forever, but never to be visited. So Howard Carter, many people noticed very early on that the presence of visitors were destroying these tombs. And if you go to Tarquinia, if you go to other tomb sites around Europe, this is a well-known fact. I mean, they can't take large visitor numbers. So what started to become apparent was that in making a facsimile, we could not only show the whole biography of the tombs, why they look like they do now, but we could also show that the fragments from Seti's tomb that were removed - and taken to Paris or taken to the archeological museum in Florence or taken to the British Museum or taken to Boston or taken to any of the other big repositories - have all had an independent biography since their removal. So particularly the image of Hathor and Seti that's in the Louvre, which was a matching door frame to the one that's in Florence, those two fragments now look nothing like each other. They look vaguely like each other, but in details they look very different from each other. And they also look very different from the original tomb. So if you can start to get people to look at the history of an object, to look at its movement, its trajectory, what it's been subject to, how it's been valued, how it's been cared for, how it's been conserved, then you can actually start to show different attitudes at different times to what's important about that object. And so it's not just trying to present objects as fixed things in museums, where they're revered for their aesthetic value that may be a part of them. But it's actually trying to look at them as complex subjects that reveal many things about us – as many things about us as it does about the original object itself. Our perspective is very local, limited, and framed within our understanding, and that understanding is constantly changing. So the idea that we could make a facsimile that in some way is more complete than the original tomb because we can bring back elements that were removed and show the biography of all those elements and why they look like they do was the beginning of the project. Otero-Pailos: This idea of completeness is really interesting. I'm curious to what degree your training as an artist influenced your ideas about what a complete object is. You were trained as a painter. Could you tell us a little bit about that? Lowe: Yes - my training as a painter and my work as a painter up until the mid-'90s was very much concerned with making objects that reveal the process of how they're made, as well as the subjects that are contained within them. And I remember sitting in the Genius of Venice exhibition in 1984 looking at Titian's Flaying of Marsyas. And it was a painting that you could almost always find many different artists from Frank Auerbach to Craigie Aitchison to Leonard McComb, so a wide variety of different artists were always in front of that painting. And it was quite an interesting moment because of course there were probably 150 – I can't remember the exact number of paintings in the exhibition – so there were many great paintings on show, but why was it that everyone was attracted to this one painting? Every painter was attracted to it. It was quite an important point. It wasn't just the public. It was people who apply paint, who use it, who know the language, who know what they're trying to do, who know the subtleties. And the answer became quite obvious with a little bit of research – it was the only painting in the show without an extensive restoration history. So what you were actually looking at is the way the oil paint had aged over time, but not with a large number of interferences or interventions, which change the nature of the surface. So you were actually able to see to some degree the way the fluid dynamics of the paint were reflected in the way the paint had aged. And whether you were reading this consciously or unconsciously, there's a number of things about the speed of a mark, so again to me it's a fascinating thing. A mark made fast and gesturely is very different from a mark made with a double-0 brush spotting in, even if what you're trying to do is a kind of Glenn Brown to make this thing look like a Frank Auerbach. So there are different levels of language, and that was when my obsession with recording surface began. But what I think is incredibly important about what is happening within Factum Arte and Factum Foundation is really this skill, these skills – of recording, of looking, of using different technologies, of developing different technologies, of applying different technologies – are dependent on a large number of different skills. So I trained as a painter, but Carlos trained as an architect. Otero-Pailos: How was your training as an architect influential in your work at Factum? Bayod: In a way – and this is something that we are also trying to develop with the students – it's this approach to objects and buildings as complex trajectories, not just trying to simplify what is in fact a composition of layers and that are per se very complex. So in the case of the Church of San Baudelio, that's the case study we used for this semester, that is very obvious because it's a monument that exists in fragments. So what we were trying to develop with the students is this approach towards preservation, analysis, and active proposal to a complex building through the use of digital technology. So it is not the same if you are trying to analyze what is still remaining in the structure in the building in Spain. You would use different technology to analyze it, to understand it. It's different than if you are going to analyze the paintings that are in the museums. For example in the Cloisters in the Met or in the other museums in which the paintings are scattered. We were really trying to not simplify the subject, but on the contrary trying to make the students aware of how technology can help them to understand complex trajectories. Lowe: And in the crit yesterday, it's very, very interesting. As Carlos says, it's a building in fragments. So a lot of the wall paintings that can be seen in the Cloisters or in the Prada or in Cincinnati or in Boston or in blah, blah, blah, were clearly ripped off the wall, have been remounted, have been presented as pictures. But what came up in the crit yesterday is the next layer. So all the things that are on the wall of the hermitage as it is now were also removed and taken to Madrid and restored by Patrimonio Nacional and put back on the wall. So the layers that seem obvious, like one lot's been stripped off and one lot's still there, is actually a much more complex issue than even I imagined when we began the research into the church. And if I start questioning it as a painter, you know, I used to use strappato techniques within my own paintings to go back to reveal what was on previous layers and to actually demonstrate that painting was never purely lamina. And yet you go into San Baudelio and they've ripped the top off, but you've still got the residue of all the paint underneath, so you have a ghost of it, a pentinente of what is now here, visible in the church. But on a normal strappato method, you have to break the underlayer, so you wouldn't normally see it like you see it in the church. And so there was one or two interesting moments when I thought we were going to have a very good conversation with the guest critics - with Michelle and the other conservators who were here who were picking up marks that are clearly anomalous. So why are there hack marks as if the wall was going to be refrescoed, recovered? And yet you can see this underdrawing, which wasn't underdrawing. It's the latent trace of something that was painted on top. Or is it an underpainting? And why is it so coherent? And can you really see the bits of strappato that were ripped off and are now here that didn't come away and are still on the wall? And the answer is yes. So can you actually walk into that building and look at these things and start reading the biography of the building? And, yes, like every object it gives up its secrets in many, many different ways, and often it's very surprising. So there are bits, like the little – I don't know what you'd call it – arcs or the little curved bay on the raised floor on the landing area, on the balcony area, is actually in remarkably good condition on two sides, but in disastrous condition on the third. Why? The paintings on the wall which haven't been strappatoed tend to be in very bad condition. Then when you start looking back at the historical photos – and I loved it where the students had done the properly with the Calvary photos that Heather started showing them. And there's a great image, and when you look it's easy to see. So you go to the church and you can see the figure of the man with the hawk on his arm riding a horse, and on the wall of the church it's completely disfigured. You look at the strappato bit, and it's completely right. You look at the photo of what it looked like in the '20s, and it's completely disfigured. So what we know is that horse and rider, the rider and his hawk is painted in the 20th century in London. The bit of the puzzle we haven't been able to put together is who painted it. But what fascinates me is, you know, everyone says they read the pictures. And this is a 20th century painting mimicking a 12th century or 11th century depiction. So is it actually showing us what was there, or is it a falsification of what was there done by a restorer in London so that the paintings could be sold to the client we now know through research was probably Archer Huntington, but to be sold here in America. So they spent a lot of money getting these paintings out, and the paintings were at Patrimonio Nacional, so they were bought off the villagers who of course sold them. If you go to villages in poor, rural Spain where the hermitage is being used as a goat shed or a sheep shed, you offer them the equivalent of 60,000 euros – which is several years' money for the whole village - and do they say yes? Exactly the same things go on now all over the world. What I love in the diversity of Factum's projects is - or Factum Foundation's projects is what you were saying about bringing things back together. On one hand we've got Seti's tomb. On the other hand we're doing all the work with the Polittico Griffoni, which is one of the great 15th-century altarpieces from Bologna. But we were in the Cross River State in Nigeria recording monoliths last week - or last month - and what we actually found was during the Biafran War, which is the late '60s, many of these were sold. Late '60s, early '70s. Many of these stones were being stolen and sold to pay for the civil war. And there's half of one of these stones in the Met. So while I was here, I was talking to the Department of African Art at the Met, who have agreed in principle that we can record the top half of this stone and bring it back to raise an awareness in the Cross River State working with Calabar University about how important it is to document these objects in case they get stolen. Otero-Pailos: You're making me think of André Malraux's photographic museum and this idea of bringing the world together in pictures for people's education. And there is a part of what you're saying that has this encyclopedic dimension where every bit of every museum is connected somehow to every other museum and somehow it is now a little bit by the kind of connections that you're personally making being connected. You're producing digital data. You're thinking about this. You're thinking about the afterlife of this data. Do you envision it as a type of museum of its own, like the Cast Courts would have been a type of museum? Lowe: Well, I was about to say - you cite Malraux and Les Voix du Silence is clearly the reference at the Museum Without Walls. But the Museum Without Walls is not really a Malraux idea specifically. It grew out of Henry Cole and the Viennaise. I'm very glad you brought the debate back to the Cast Courts. So these are ideas that are of that time. Henry Cole is half a century or a little more earlier than Malraux - or a century. So you have ideas that are really made possible by technology. So the Victoria and Albert Museum if you read Henry Cole's Convention – and it's the 150th anniversary of the Convention next year. So if you read that Convention, his big claim is that it's the technologies of the time that make possible the recording. And the technologies he cites are casting, photography, and electroforming. And he makes the claim that all of these are totally safe and harmless. Well, we know now that's not true. I mean, casting is absolutely not harmless. But we can also be very grateful that they did cast so many things because now we have evidence of things that have changed since in the plaster casts. And, you know, I think the work that people like Ian Jenkins are doing is incredibly important, who knows and can study copies of let's say the Pantheon from antiquity to plaster casts done in the 18th century to plaster casts done in the 19th century to plaster casts done in the British Museum after the Restoration, when the only models had been cleaned. But cleaning at that time meant reworking the surface with effectively a hammer drill, which removes the dirt mechanically. So there what you're not looking at are the original anymore and is the original surface. You're looking at a surface that's been chipped off. So which layer does the originality lie on? And of course is something that's aged over time less original than something that once was pristine? Well, all we know by looking at ourselves in the mirror is we change every single day. If you've had a bad day, if you drink too much, if you smoke too much, you look terrible the following morning. So we know we're original, and we know we're dynamic. So at what point do we interfere with it? Well of course any cleaning treatment or any consolidation treatment or any restoration treatment or any repainting treatment are collectively made decisions that will in some degree change the object. But they're decisions made socially. They're decisions made collectively. What I think we're trying to do is to say, "Please, let's have documentary evidence." So Malraux had photographs because he was working in a time of photographs. Malraux could easily have had photo sculptures because he was also in a time of photo sculptures. So there were photo sculpture, commercial photo sculpture practices in Regent Street in London in the 1930s doing good quality, photogrammetric portraiture. But everything is of its time. And the use of x-ray, the use of infrared, the ability to read under the surface is something that's been part of conservation practice for so many years that nobody questions it. Bayod: I think it's important to mention as well that all these stories are possible and we can discover new things about the objects because we are talking about high resolution recording. So some of the technology we have been using in the semester, for example 3D scanners, are meant to obtain information not just of the general shape of an object, but also of the details of the relief, of the texture. And this is what is allowing us to discover more and more layers of histories inside the objects. Otero-Pailos: It was really amazing the contrast that you – you made two scans of the building, one with a FARO scanner, and the other one with a Lucida scanner. And it was so stark, the difference between the level of resolution. Lowe: But we actually made three. The FARO scanner records the internal volume at millimetric accuracy. And it's a remarkable long – medium-to-long-range scanner that can do incredible things. So it's used in architecture all the time. It's used in reverse engineering, and so it's a very clever system. And we use it on almost every project that we work on. But it's not something that's recording surface. It's something that's recording shape. And in most cases, most architectural cases, shape is much more important than the detailed grains of decay or whatever else on the front of a limestone building, for example. Then we use photogrammetry to demonstrate that this is the emerging technology. So on a section of a wall, you can compare the FARO data, the photogrammetric data, and the laser scan data, and you can really see what's meant by correspondence to surface. So what we got the students to do was to do the recording, then to prepare the data in the most objective way possible, then to send it to the CNC milling machines downstairs here in Columbia, to get the data milled with a resolution that's the maximum resolution possible. And what you can see on the FARO data is a triangulated surface, very beautiful. It looks a bit like an Agnes Martin painting or something. It's got its own qualities. But it's a transformation. You look at the photogrammetric data with a raking light, it starts to mimic the surface of the wall. But it's still not the surface of the wall. And you look at the Lucida data, and the correspondence between the Lucida data and the surface of the wall is breathtaking. It's still not the surface of the wall. But in photography we know that a 1-megapix camera is not called a high resolution camera. It's something that's very simple. And if you photograph an image from close up with a macro lens using a composite method of photography, you can build an image which can be gigapixel. And if you have a low resolution camera, you'll never do that. So there are horses for courses, there's techniques for every different thing. And what we're really concentrating on at the moment is to say which technologies would be satisfying the needs of the next five years. So I would still argue there will be a place for a scanner like the Lucida scanner. There will be a place for the FARO scanner. But there will be an even bigger place for photogrammetry because with just a camera and a tripod, you can record objects in difficult situations, so in the desert in North Africa; in Syria, where Iconem went in recently and did very good photogrammetry; in Iraq; in Dagestan; in Jordan; in Israel; in Lebanon. So you can do it in places that are not entirely peaceful and that the foreign office recommends you not to go to. You can train people and equip them, and they don't need logistical support to get to the sites. So the future of one level of recording will definitely lie with photogrammetry. But that still won't answer all the needs. I mean, it's doing color and 3-dimension together. Can it match the Lucida? No. Are there times when you'll need something that's different? Will it be able to match the Lucida in five years if people put the effort into writing the software and the programming? Probably. And so all of these things are not fixed. The recording technologies are as dynamic as the applications that are used. But I would rewind and add one thing to that: that if you're recording in a war zone, it's already too late. So recording is something that should be done in times of peace, and it should be something that every government, every heritage body is working to do. And it should be something that should be done with accepted notions of what constitutes the standard that's needed, and with a shared frame of reference. These are the things that your department here I think is really needing to work towards helping to find a shared terminology. Otero-Pailos: On that note, I think it's been a really wonderful discussion, and thank you so much for joining me for this podcast. You can listen to every episode of GSAPP Conversations, here. This particular episode is available to listen to directly on Soundcloud and through the iTunes store and iOS Podcasts app, where you can also Subscribe. GSAPP Conversations is a podcast produced by Columbia GSAPP's Office of Communications and Events in collaboration with ArchDaily.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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