Arch Daily |
- Albabel / Masquespacio
- A Garden Pavilion in Zurich / Oliv Brunner Volk Architekten
- The Palestinian Museum / Heneghan & Peng Architects
- SOJA-O / KANIUE
- Liberal Arts Building No.2, Northeastern University / THAD
- Substrate Factory Ayase / Aki Hamada Architects
- Hunters View Housing Blocks 5 & 6 / Paulett Taggart Architects
- Draw Perfectly At Any Scale With This Augmented Reality App
- Field House / Blank Architects
- KXIV Designs Adidas Ultraboost Sneakers Inspired by Herzog & de Meuron's Beijing 'Bird Nest'
- Broadview Loft / Studio AC
- Early Concept Design for New York City Skyscraper by Adjaye Associates Revealed
- Casa Tello / PRODUCTORA
- OMA/AMO-Designed Exhibition lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation Debuts in Milan
- The Tragic Human Cost of Africa's New Megacities
- Southwark Town Hall & Theatre Peckham / Jestico + Whiles
- How To Improve Your SketchUp Skills
- Public Pools or Private Houses - How Should Stockholm Use its Cliffs?
| Posted: 24 May 2017 10:00 PM PDT  © Luis Beltran
 © Luis Beltran From the architect. Antonio Ramirez was managing his pizzeria Albabel during more than 20 years in Picaña when he decided to contact Masquespacio, having a dream to convert his old restaurant in a completely new one. Being passionate about gastronomy both on a national as international level, Antonio since a few years had the wish to offer a new food concept that fusions the Mediterranean kitchen with some Andalusian from its own roots and a touch of international ingredients. For this new adventure, counting with the support of his brother Rafael he aspired to have a space in which he could feel like at home.  © Luis Beltran  Plan  © Luis Beltran That way the new space for Albabel in Picaña is clearly inspired by the Andalusian roots from their founders, through recognizable materials from the south of Spain like raffia, earth bricks, plants and overall decorative elements. The design seeks to fusion the most eclectic part of Andalusia with the sophistication of their craftsmanship. Like usual in many projects from Masquespacio, above the project includes a touch of explosive colors combined with patterns that represent the graphic inspiration of the Spanish creative consultancy.  © Luis Beltran To be enlightened on the other hand is the use of olive wood furniture, including some chairs and stools made exclusively for the project with the most common wood in the south of Spain.  © Luis Beltran  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| A Garden Pavilion in Zurich / Oliv Brunner Volk Architekten Posted: 24 May 2017 08:00 PM PDT  © Eliane Rutishauser
 © Christian Brunner From the architect. The pavilion is situated in the garden of a villa from the 1920s, surrounded by old trees and dense foliage. The two-storey structure leaves a minimal footprint, with its larger upper floor sitting on the smaller ground floor, cantilevering on all sides. In plan it takes the shape of an irregular pentagon, fitting into the corner of the site, minimizing the appearance of the pavilion and maximizing the views from inside.  © Eliane Rutishauser The ground floor is an open-plan kitchen and dining area which can be opened on all sides to the surrounding garden with folding sliding glass doors.  Ground Floor Plan The only wall of the structure acts like a hollow tree trunk and contains a toilet, storage and ancillary space. Along this wall a flight of stairs leads to the upper floor which is used as an open-plan living space, open to all sides with floor to ceiling glazing, maximizing the views into the surrounding trees and garden. The pavilion becomes a treehouse.  © Eliane Rutishauser The asymmetrical position of the wall allows for varying depths within the large space. Starting from the stair landing and moving counter-clockwise the space first widens and then gradually becomes narrower and more intimate, moving from a working and living area to the sleeping and bathing area.  Section Contrasting the narrow vertical frames of the folding sliding glass doors on the ground floor, the large sliding "Sky-Frame" windows on the upper floor maximize the views into the surrounding treetops and the garden. The sliding windows open up all five corners of the upper floor, turning the corners into outdoor loggias, perched among the foliage.  © Eliane Rutishauser The pavilion adapts to and interacts with its surroundings, the weather and the seasons, allowing it to be opened in varying degrees and connecting the different levels of the surrounding garden, from the grass to the treetops.  Upper Floor The structure of the pavilion is built entirely of exposed in-situ concrete. The upper floor is supported by the trunk wall and five thin steel columns. The folded plate concrete roof is held only by the trunk wall, asymmetrically cantilevered on all sides, sheltering the upper floor and freeing the space from any further structural elements. The pavilion provides a very open, informal and unusual living space in tune and in dialogue with its surroundings, the weather and the seasons.  © Christian Brunner Product Description.- Sky-Frame's floor to ceiling sliding glass window system with its minimal profile frames provides the required openness and unrestricted view for the entire upper floor of the pavilion. Glazed with Glas Troesch's (Euroglas) highly efficient triple heat insulating glass "Silverstar EN2plus" with reduced reflectance, it enhances the views while simultaneously protecting birds in the surrounding trees, preventing them from crashing into the large window panes.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The Palestinian Museum / Heneghan & Peng Architects Posted: 24 May 2017 07:00 PM PDT  © Iwan Baan
 © Iwan Baan From the architect. The mission of the Palestinian Museum is to be the leading, most credible and robust platform for shaping and communicating knowledge about Palestinian history, society and culture.  © Iwan Baan To deliver on this mission, the client's intention has been to develop a Palestinian Museum hub located 25km north of Jerusalem (West Bank), and in two phases of building construction.  Site Plan Phase 1 (completed 2016) consists of a built area of 3,500SQM. It includes a climate-controlled gallery space, an amphitheatre, a cafeteria with outdoor seating, a library, classrooms, storage, a gift shop and administrative spaces; all set within 4 hectares of planned gardens. During Phase 2; the Museum will expand to a total of 10,000SQM.  © Iwan Baan The cascade of terraces tells a diversity of stories; citrus brought in through trade routes, native aromatic herbs, a rich and varied landscape with connections east and west.  © Iwan Baan The building itself emerges from the landscape to create a strong pro le for the hilltop both integrated into the landscape yet creating an assertive form that has a distinctive identity.  Ground Floor Plan Largely single-storey; it stretches out along the hilltop from the south to north; overlooking the gardens to the west.  © Iwan Baan The ground floor, comprising entrance reception, museum administration, galleries, screening room and cafe opens out directly to the gardens at its northern end, while overlooking a stone amphitheatre below it at the southern end.  Lower Ground Floor Plan In the lower ground oor there is a public Education and Research Centre with classrooms, workshops and administrative spaces. The education centre opens out to a cut stone amphiteatre to the west.  © Iwan Baan In addition to the Education and Research Centre, the main art collections spaces, photographic archives, and art handling are all located in the lower ground oor. These spaces are not accessible to the public; they open out to a secure delivery yard at the eastern side of the building. The building will be the first LEED Certified building in Palestine.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 24 May 2017 03:00 PM PDT  © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners
 © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners From the architect. This residential complex was developed around 60 years ago from now. Currently, there are places where the early houses are aged and remain, also some vacant lots or new places where new homes are built.  © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners It was an unreliable place with no uniformity. The surrounding environment is supposed to change in the future.  © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners  Plan  © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners The client has no strong image against the way of living. As mentioned above, we looked for the most suitable under very loose conditions.  © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners We thought of picking up the trivial context of the premises and scooping up the client's hidden needs.  © Yosuke Ohtake But it felt like we decided to forcibly. So we thought frankly against the absence of trust in the surrounding environment and lack of image of the owner's life. And we proposed two large spaces of different quality.  © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners One is a space where 12 pillars fall evenly and can be partitioned small.  © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners One is a space where the size of the outer circumference of the building has become the size of the floor as it is and there is no partition. A space that reacts to the surrounding environment and changes.  © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners Then, the space where the surrounding environment does not change even if it changes.  © Yosuke Ohtake Going back and forth between these extreme two worlds, residents look for ways to interact with the surrounding environment. It is like a place to live on this land rather than a house. Here are some things that change and others that do not change.  © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Liberal Arts Building No.2, Northeastern University / THAD Posted: 24 May 2017 01:00 PM PDT  © Shengliang Su
 © Shengliang Su From the architect. Located on the Hunnan New Campus of Northeastern University in Shenyang, this project is a teaching building of the School of Architecture, School of Creative Culture, and School of International Exchange. Adopting a rigorous axisymmetric layout, the campus planning is designed by a Japanese design firm.  Masterplan As one of the four major groups of schools in the central area, the project is subject to the stringent control of campus planning which requires that each of the four major groups of schools be composed of three square buildings with courtyards to form a pattern that looks like the Chinese character "品." In the first phase of construction two square buildings will be built near the central axis, one being four stories high and the other being six stories high. The facades facing the central axis and school gate must be aligned with the line and built of red bricks to inherit the traditional style of the old campus.  © Shengliang Su Being School of Liberal Arts, an open and shared space is needed particularly. Restricted by the rigorous and meticulous campus planning, how to achieve variety within limits is a challenge for us.  © Shengliang Su Our strategy is to "Separate Façade from Volume," i.e., to treat facades, which are strictly controlled by the planning, as independent elements and separate them from the volume of the building. Such separation creates the chance for change and brings on a clear logic by which the facade and the volume play their respective role: the facade functions to meet the demand for a uniform campus image while the volume is liberated from the restrictions to create an open and free environment.  © Shengliang Su After the volume becomes autonomous, we turn the north volume by a certain degree to form two interesting wedge-shaped grey spaces between volume and facade. At the same time, this also separates the two square volumes from each other that originally should have engaged with each other, so as to form a walk path between them. This path is another important consideration in our design. In the initial design stage, we comprehensively analyzed the pedestrian traffic of the campus: a subway station will be built outside the north gate of the campus, and the southwest corner of the campus is the living quarters of students, so there will be a large amount of pedestrian traffic between the two points in the future. In view of this, we wish to provide a short cut between them, which will not only facilitate traffic but also create the possibility of cultural exchange and collision for students from different schools.  Ground Floor Plan  3rd Floor Plan Since the building is to be constructed in Shenyang which is a typical cold area, how to increase the vitality of outdoor space is another challenge for us. We shelter the grey space with a roof full of triangular skylights, which not only keeps out rain and snow but also provides interesting light and shadows. One of the wedge-shaped gray space between the two volumes is part of the walk path; the other is to the north and precisely fits the big, medium, and small workshops of the School of Creative Culture. The roofs of the three workshops constitute a terraced platform which can serve as an outdoor space for exhibiting the works of teachers and students. As for the treatment of inner-yard space, we set the big lecture hall on the first floor of the 6-story courtyard building and lift the activity platform up to the roof, which reduces the depth of the courtyard and increases day lighting. In addition, the courtyard communicates with the highest terrace via a path that runs from the inner yard, through the terraced platform, to the ground. This way, the vitality of outdoor space is maximized.  © Shengliang Su  Section  © Shengliang Su With respect to facade language and material selection, we seek novelty while retaining conservative. As for the facade separated from the volume, we extract the most classic elements of the College of Science and Technology on the old campus and apply them to the new building's east facade facing the main entrance plaza; the facade is built of red bricks in accordance with the planning to respond to the teachers and students' emotional appeal for the old campus. For the façades of volumes themselves, the pedestal is also built of red bricks to form a certain association, while other parts are dominated by functional windows and painted white to achieve a modern look. Spaces with lower day-lighting requirements adopt triangle bay-windows which, lively in style, serve as display windows and places for rest.  © Shengliang Su An open building with walking-through path, integrated with the rigorous campus planning while remaining its inner variety, this is the solution we try to give this time.  © Shengliang Su  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Substrate Factory Ayase / Aki Hamada Architects Posted: 24 May 2017 12:00 PM PDT
 © Kenta Hasegawa From the architect. This is an extension to an existing circuit board factory located near Atsugi base. The first floor area, which had originally been planned as a workshop, was changed to be used as a showroom and a multi-purpose space for local community, and therefore versatility and openness were required. Furthermore, since future reconstruction of the currently used factory building was under consideration, we tried to design an extension allowing for multiple uses, while providing adjustable spaces and programs in accordance with the active involvement of users. This building is constructed of a frame structure model designed to accommodate various conditions and requirements, as well as fitting and hardware elements allowing fine tuning by improving their adjustability and renewability. Those spaces in the building are characterized by the composition juxtaposing those elements without losing their original characteristics.  © Kenta Hasegawa  Section The site is categorized as semi-industrial zone, where factories and residential houses coexist. A factory is a closed program in a city environment, mostly constructed of steel frame structure covered by exterior walls made of industrial materials; a house also has tendency to be closed in order to maintaining its privacy. As a result, those two programs have little chance to get mingled with each other—in a positive sense. The house adjacent to the site has a daily life in which family members sundry the laundry or walk a dog. Then, together with the client, we thought about how a factory should be standing next to such everyday scenery of the neighborhood. As a result, we came up with an image of an "open wooden-structure factory" that mediates the relationship between a factory and a house. We expect that this place will be accepted by the local community as a place where people gather, while changing day by day with the active involvement of various people. Once we came up with the image of the "open wooden-structure factory", the next challenge was to practically realize the building in terms of structural and constructional integrity, without sacrificing the living environment and its comfort level. Then, we set up a program for various elements to be determined by adaptively modifying them according to the conditions—that was named as the "adaptive model". We made final decisions for the output variations in terms of constructional and aesthetic aspects; there are numbers of possible forms in parallel existence, with freedom of going back and force within the process by altering parameters. The living layer is configured with movable elements to ensure possibilities of various conditions of the space.  Axonometric  Detail On the other hand, the environmental layer was given certain restrictions derived from structural evidences considering various possibilities, because it is the area not easily accessible by the users and then supposedly valid final decision was made based on an aesthetic point of view. While we did not conduct a physical model study, we applied a method of parameter modeling allowing a free handling of information; this enabled us to simultaneously study the conditions of the space in terms of aesthetic and structural point of views in higher precision. In this project, it was important to allow free establishing of input format by using general-purpose 3D CAD and programing, rather than utilizing an application such as BIM software with predefined input format for our design process. It is possible even for a small design office to increase the depth and density of architectural design by utilizing certain technology, with objective comparisons and studies of a vast number of variations. During this process, architectural and aesthetic criteria would achieve more significant meanings, and this is where the authorship of small design offices remains, which is the last stronghold that cannot be explained objectively nor verbally.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Hunters View Housing Blocks 5 & 6 / Paulett Taggart Architects Posted: 24 May 2017 10:00 AM PDT  © Bruce Damonte
 © Bruce Damonte From the architect. These two new blocks of affordable family housing at Hunters View are part of the first phase of San Francisco's ambitious HOPE SF program to rebuild the worst of San Francisco's deteriorated, crime- ridden public housing. With a mix of affordable and market-rate housing, the Hunters View Redevelopment is being completed in three phases in order to allow the existing tenants to remain in the neighborhood. Our design for two city blocks organizes 53 units into two L-shaped buildings per block to form continuous street frontages and surround two secure shared courtyards. Each building contains stacked multi-level townhouses that step down with the street's slope and reflect the scale, rhythm, and texture of San Francisco.  Isometric Community Outreach  © Bruce Damonte Responsive Design  Site Plan + Section Throughout the site, safety and security are addressed by maintaining a combination of high visibility and spatial connections. Two openings into each mid-block courtyard are strategically located to provide maximum visibility from the street. The courtyards are the gathering spaces for each block. Common-use laundry and mailrooms are located off the courtyards as well as many unit entries. Feedback from residents has confirmed that the secure courtyards are helping them to get to know their neighbors and build a sense of safety and community within each block.  © Bruce Damonte Sustainability  Section Scheme  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Draw Perfectly At Any Scale With This Augmented Reality App Posted: 24 May 2017 09:00 AM PDT The ability to draw well is one of the most coveted skills in architecture. Unfortunately for those without an innate gift for sketching, it's also one of the most difficult to learn—even if it can, contrary to popular opinion, be learned with commitment and practice. But for those poor souls without such talents, there is now a fix: an app called SketchAR. Available for iPhone and Android devices that incorporate Google's Tango technology, SketchAR can take photographs or other images, convert them into sketchable line drawings, and then use augmented reality to overlay them onto real-world surfaces. With iPhone, the app allows users to trace images onto A4 paper, locating the drawing using 5 circles the user draws on to the border of the paper. However, the real magic comes with Google Tango-enabled devices, which use Tango's various positioning techniques to work on any flat surface, even entire walls. Using this augmented-reality overlay, users see exactly where to take their pencil, pen, or aerosol can to replicate the image, like using trace paper. The app is a great tool for anyone looking to improve their drawing skills or to simply produce a one-off sketch that would normally be beyond their capabilities, while the Android version is also a perfect tool for creating murals. But the people behind the app aren't happy with just this: there's talk of versions for Microsoft Hololens and Google Glass in the works. Get SketchAR for iPhone here and for Android here. H/T Urbanshit  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Field House / Blank Architects Posted: 24 May 2017 08:00 AM PDT  © Piotr Krajewski
 © Piotr Krajewski From the architect. The house is located in the XIX century village that is built among two lines of roads crossing in the heart of the community. The crossing is accented by landmark church. The original backdated cottages are lined regularly among the roads and their brick façades with gable roof always facing the road.  © Piotr Krajewski The village is surrounded by agricultural fields with big population of birds, deer and hares moving around freely. The site is a long strip of land at the end of one road. Further expansion of the village stops by the local graveyard sanitary zone. We have literally marked the edge of village.  © Piotr Krajewski  Axonometric  © Piotr Krajewski The location area we received for work has a long cultivated field from one side and 4 adjacent houses from another side; one of these houses is inhabited by the family of the Client's son. With all above we have been moved by many reflections of life and time passing that area. The location inspired us. The change and the constant. The seasons of fields plowing, crop growing, harvesting vs the neighboring graveyard.  © Piotr Krajewski We designed a house that captures the views in series of shapes to fit the windows view. The windows are lined up to give the house a view - through impression in two directions. This way the house is sitting light in the view from fields and the road. It opens with its kitchen - social dining space towards the relatives' house and closes with private relax space, giving privacy to both families. Dining space has a large view to the field, where you can follow the seasons of the year. Kitchen work space sneakily peeks to the graveyard. The living room view is centered to a garden and the existing largest tree in the area. The master bedroom view goes into the deep garden, designed itself to give the best view.  Plan Diagram  Plan The form follows the window views and the tradition of gable roof facing the road. House was built fully from timber structure with rheinzink scale tiling and Douglas fir facade cladding. The house is fully accessible for wheelchair - one floor, ramps at elevated entrance, wide passages, and accessible bathroom.  © Piotr Krajewski  Section  © Piotr Krajewski The building was shortlisted in the category of " House – Completed Buildings " at World Architecture Festival 2016.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| KXIV Designs Adidas Ultraboost Sneakers Inspired by Herzog & de Meuron's Beijing 'Bird Nest' Posted: 24 May 2017 07:00 AM PDT  © KXIV. Via Sneakernews Architecturally-trained designer KXIV has envisioned a custom pair of adidas UltraBOOST sneakers, inspired by the architecture of Herzog & de Meuron's 2008 Beijing Olympics stadium, commonly referred to as the "Bird's Nest." KXIV's design features a unique lacing system that wraps around the sneaker, held in place with a series of 3D-printed double-loop cinch locks. Underneath, a lycra texture is covered with lace-like lines made from abrasive-resistant polyurethane, giving the shoe a layered look similar to that of the stadium. To get it to hold its form, the upper lace layer the upper lace layer was baked at 300 degrees, creating a structure that is both supportive and elastic.  © KXIV. Via Sneakernews  © KXIV. Via Sneakernews  © KXIV. Via Sneakernews  © KXIV. Via Sneakernews  © KXIV. Via Sneakernews News via KXIV, designboom.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 24 May 2017 06:00 AM PDT
 © Andrew Snow Photography From the architect. Located in a downtown loft in Toronto, Canada we were asked to design a studio loft space for a young professional that wanted something equally fun, functional and unique. We produced a scheme that revolves around an element we call the 'bed box' which features a generous arch entryway and elevation change – a move that produces a signifier for the sleeping quarters and a moment of warmth in opposition to the white and concrete finishes of the rest of the loft. This warmth is achieved through a floor and wall wrapper of finish plywood that holds your feet and eye as you walk in. Initial studies saw this element take on a variety of forms, orientations and materials but the simple arch configuration was a reaction to the clients background, travels and personality. This fed nicely into the form of the curtain track which is the same arch shape in plan as the other is in elevation. This subtle cuing ties the two elements together, one hard and stationary, the other light and dynamic.  Plan In front of the bed box we utilized a gracious full height sheer that conceals the more private functions of the sleeping quarters, closet space and storage. Using the sheer in an architectural way sees it become a way to define space, provide privacy and acoustic dampening - all of which elevates it as an element and turns it into a focal point and a functional conversation piece. This spatial play provides a functional and aesthetic flexibility that allows the relatively small studio loft to feel open while enabling the sleeping quarters to feel cozy and concealed.  © Andrew Snow Photography The shell of the unit was comprised of a grey brick that we painted out white to blend seamlessly with the new "work bench" along the window wall and kitchen island. The 'work bench' provides a long continuous surface that provides a flexible surface for the client, whether they are working, displaying art or hosting a party. The back wall of the kitchen was re-finished in black to visually recede from the objectified elements of the island and bed box.  Elevation In closing the project was a pleasure to design because of an excited, open and interesting client. While the budget was quite modest we pushed ourselves to produce something with identity, character and flexibility.  © Andrew Snow Photography  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Early Concept Design for New York City Skyscraper by Adjaye Associates Revealed Posted: 24 May 2017 05:20 AM PDT  via 6sqft Early design studies have been unveiled of Adjaye Associates' first New York City skyscraper. Developed by the Lightstone Group, the 61-story, 750-foot-tall 'Wall Street Tower' will be located at 130 William Street in New York's Financial District. Uncovered by CityRealty, these initial visualizations show a gold-detailed structure featuring arched windows that expand as the building rises, and an abundance of luxury amenities including sports facilities, a swimming pool, a movie theater, lounge areas and rooftop observatory.  via 6sqft Lightstone purchased the site in 2014 for $60 million spent an additional $15 million the following year to acquire the necessary air rights. The building's 244 condos are expected to range in cost from $630,000 studios to $4.7 million four-bedroom units.  via 6sqft  via 6sqft Adjaye Associates completed their first NYC project, the Sugar Hill Development, in 2014, and are currently working on a new building for the Studio Museum in Harlem. A spokesperson for the firm said "These images only reflect early conceptual studies of the building. We remain in the process of refining and evolving the design, with imagery adjusting accordingly. We look forward to sharing final renderings in the coming months." News via City Realty, 6sqft.  via 6sqft  via 6sqft  via 6sqft Update: Since it was first published this article has been amended, and a quote from an Adjaye Associates spokesperson added, to emphasize that the design is still in its early conceptual stages and thus may be subject to significant changes.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 24 May 2017 04:00 AM PDT  © Luis Gallardo
 © Luis Gallardo From the architect. The program of this single-family dwelling is resolved in four staggered volumes each with a 5 x 5 meter footprint. The staggering occurs both in plan and cross-section, and responds to different conditions. The staggered plan responds to the integration into the project of an existing large tree on the site, and the positioning of a garage.  Plans The staggered cross-section corresponds to the slope of the site, forming connections between the different spaces that are set off from each other vertically. The double-height dining room functions as the home's principal space, articulating the program by means of the central staircase that links all of the vertically staggered spaces. To build the house as economically as possible, the chosen construction system is based on hollow brick load-bearing walls and beam/block floor slabs.  © Luis Gallardo  Sections  © Luis Gallardo Exposed brick was used for the interior, while the exterior has a cement render, creating a monolithic appearance. This unconventional use of exposed brick inverts the finishes: the brick that we usually find on external wall surfaces is employed here in the interior, creating a warmer feel to the rooms. As a result, the interior spaces present a striking texture that is balanced with the simple terrazzo floors and exposed concrete beam ceilings.The external terraces complete the composition, functioning as immediate extensions of the interior spaces with the beam/block floor slabs continuing outside, while the exposed brick is repeated in the floors.  © Luis Gallardo  © Luis Gallardo  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| OMA/AMO-Designed Exhibition lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation Debuts in Milan Posted: 24 May 2017 03:15 AM PDT  lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation. Image © Agostino Osio, Courtesy of OMA A new exhibition by OMA/AMO, lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation, has officially opened in Milan's Palazzo Reale. Marking the 100th anniversary of the classic Italian department store, la Rinascente, the exhibition commemorates the company's long creative history and experimental spirit that has served as an influential part of Italian design, culture and commerce.  lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation. Image © Agostino Osio, Courtesy of OMA On view from May 24 to September 24, 2017, the exhibition has been envisioned by the architects as a "living archive" that takes the visitor through a sequence of different visual and physical experiences modeled after the logic of a department store. Located within 12 rooms at the historic Palazzo Reale, the individual environments and scenographies will cover aspects of the company ranging from industrial design to fashion to communication, creating a retrospective look at Italy's "first and only" department store. In addition, OMA/AMO has envisioned eight window displays referencing the exhibition that will be located at la Rinascente's Milan flagship store throughout the first two weeks of the event. Read more about the exhibition below.  lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation. Image © Agostino Osio, Courtesy of OMA Project text via OMA/AMO What is a department store? What is its role in different urban contexts? How has the digital revolution affected the practice and particularities of its shopping environment? These questions are at the core of recent debates on the future of retail. They resonate among both fashion and architecture historians, and reverberate also through other disciplines – art, design, cinema, theater – to name few, mirroring larger questions of geo-political history and economy.  lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation. Image © Lorenzo Palmieri, Courtesy of Rinascente  Courtesy of OMA There is no precise answer to such questions as there is no way to reduce the notion of "department store" to a single statement. A department store is rather a diverse collection of values and identities, expressing the history of the city it belongs to. More than a place, a department store is an open and adaptable cultural canvas of its location, whether it be London, Paris, New York, Tokyo or Milan. Today, after the first appearance in XIX Paris more than 150 years ago, at a turning point of the digital evolution, department stores are the ideal lab to reimagine our physical relationships to products, cities and our everyday context in general.  lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation. Image © Agostino Osio, Courtesy of OMA La Rinascente is no exception to this tradition. Established in 1917 to replace and renew Magazzini Bocconi with the fire-proof baptism of D'Annunzio, its relentless creative history is both a symbol and evidence of the vibrant Milanese culture, one that has constantly seen the relationship with industry and commerce as an opportunity for daring experimentation and research. Conceiving a historical exhibition on la Rinascente meant diving into the store's history and archive: discovering its heroes, from Dudovich to Ponti, Huber to Munari; understanding its leaders, from the 50-year long direction by Borletti - Brustio to the current management; and decoding its design language and graphic identity. Unfolding the history of fashion and commerce reveals a new perspective on the history of Italy as a whole.  Courtesy of OMA  lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation. Image © Agostino Osio, Courtesy of OMA To mark the 100th anniversary of la Rinascente we have envisioned the exhibition as a living archive that invites the visitor to discover a sequence of wonders. The exhibition unfolds through a series of different visual and physical experiences. Rather than a coherent journey, it is a collage of identities, echoing the same logic of a department store and presenting the many aspects that made la Rinascente a crucial example in the history of European department stores. From industrial design to fashion, art to communication, illustrious collaborations to a never fulfilled search for innovation, each of the 12 rooms at Palazzo Reale will display multiple scenographies and outline a different aspect of the production of the first and only department store of Italy.  lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation. Image © Agostino Osio, Courtesy of OMA The history of la Rinascente is the story of the people who made it (management, creatives and clients), and the story of their ambition to connect art to life. Learn more about the project here. News via OMA/AMO.  lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation. Image © Agostino Osio, Courtesy of OMA  lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation. Image © Agostino Osio, Courtesy of OMA  lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation. Image © Agostino Osio, Courtesy of OMA  lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation. Image © Agostino Osio, Courtesy of OMA
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| The Tragic Human Cost of Africa's New Megacities Posted: 24 May 2017 02:30 AM PDT  A rendering of Eko-Atlantic City, Lagos, Nigeria. Image <a href='http://www.ekoatlantic.com/media/image-gallery/'>via ekoatlantic.com</a> This article was originally published by Common Edge as "Tale of Two Cities: Unravelling the Brutal Backstory Behind Africa's Emerging Megacities." In the last two decades, the African narrative has changed phenomenally. The tired, age-old storyline—largely woven around the stereotypes of poverty, disease, and bloody civil wars—has been replaced with one celebrating the continent's unprecedented economic growth and relative political stability. This new narrative is also about Africa's gleaming skyscrapers, massive shopping malls, and ambitious "smart" cities being designed and built from scratch: Ebene Cyber City in Mauritius; Konza Technology City in Kenya; Safari City in Tanzania; Le Cite du Fleuve in DR Congo; Eko Atlantic in Nigeria; Appolonia City in Ghana, and others. There are currently at least twenty of these new cities under construction in Africa and about twice that number in the works. These developments have permanently altered the continent's urban outlook, and have offered it something different from the bland pastiche of colonial architecture that it was once known for. As a designer, I was initially excited by the quality of some of the architecture. Though I must admit that these new cities are eerie mimicries of similar developments in China, Singapore and even the UAE, and that they're largely bereft of any cultural connection to Africa. Tragically, this new narrative depicts just a small piece of a much bigger and more disturbing picture. These developments are available to a small segment of Africa's vast population. As a result, the euphoria that greeted the birthing of these new cities is gradually being replaced with anger and fear. Most Africans have become disenchanted by the high social cost of these urban makeovers. They're now seen as the prize or spoils of war, from the ongoing battle between those at the top of the social pyramid and those struggling at the bottom. The living conditions in these upscale neighborhoods are starkly different from those found in low-income communities, which all-too-often lack basic infrastructure: roads, a public water supply, even efficient waste management systems. This uneven distribution of public amenities has become distressingly typical of most African cities. And, as if that weren't bad enough, many poor communities are now being ruthlessly annexed and their residents pushed out, to make way for these new developments. A few weeks ago the residents of Otodo-Gbame, a fishing settlement in Lagos, awoke at dawn to the sounds of gunfire and the sight of more than sixty policemen, accompanied by bulldozers and a demolition task force, sent in by the Lagos State Government (LASG). The group proceeded to pull down all of the houses standing on land, while those erected on stilts in the water were set ablaze, forcing terrified residents to scurry out of their homes to safety through a thick haze of smoke and tear gas and a hail of bullets. Residents then watched helplessly from afar as thick smoke billowed over the remains of what they once called home.  The forced eviction of Otodo-Gbame by the Legos state government. Image Courtesy of Justice & Empowerment Initiatives via Common Edge According to Justice & Empowerment Initiatives, a group that advocates on behalf of endangered waterfront communities in Lagos, the forced evacuation resulted in the death of one resident from gunshot wounds to the neck; several others were shot; about 4700 people lost their homes and personal belongings. The demolition—Amnesty International called it "a brazen land grab"—was the ugly climax to long-simmering land disputes between the LASG and the Otodo-Gbame community, who claim to have lived on those lands for close to a century. Although the residents obtained an injunction from a Lagos High Court restraining the LASG from demolishing their settlement pending the final determination of a lawsuit, the government went ahead and destroyed it in absolute disregard of the court. Otodo-Gbame has become a lightning rod, a symbol for the brutal, settlement-clearing demolitions taking place across Africa on a daily basis. Most residents of low-income communities in Nigeria live in constant fear of eviction. Mpape, a poor neighborhood in Abuja, borders two of the capital city's more affluent neighborhoods. It is an extremely dense area, with an estimated population of at least 500,000 (although residents insist the correct figure is at least twice this number, given the daily influx of uncounted people into the settlement).  The brutal eviction of Otodo-Gbame in Lagos. Image Courtesy of Justice & Empowerment Initiatives via Common Edge I first visited Mpape in 2005 as an architecture student intern. I had been asked by my supervisor to accompany a land surveyor and sketch out a proposed site for a telecommunication mast and base station. Even then, the living conditions in Mpape were grim; with the steady influx of still more people into the district in the last decade, they have deteriorated even more since. The sole access into this huge settlement is a narrow two-lane road riddled with potholes. Dense and vibrant, the settlement is very much ad hoc urbanism. The houses typically stand swearing at one another on all sides of the dusty, narrow streets, which are often bordered by open shallow earthen drains. There are no clear delineations of activity. People simply build whatever they want, however they want, wherever they find land. Because of its proximity to the city center, Mpape occupies prime real estate. The slum has also become a crucial source of affordable housing for Abuja's large army of blue-collar workers, low-cadre civil servants, taxi drivers and artisans. Today, a court injunction is all that stands between the settlement and the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA)'s bulldozers. The residents of Mpape instituted a lawsuit in 2012 to stop the demolition and since then have been locked in a legal battle. The FCDA, for its part, insists that the residents are squatters; they have neither legal title to the land nor building permits for the houses they constructed. Eventually they plan to proceed with demolition of the settlement. Despite the legitimacy of FCDA's legal claims—the residents are squatters—the forced demolition of Mpape, without either compensation or a smart resettlement plan, would be socially catastrophic. It has the potential to set off a chain reaction of destabilizing events. Imagine displacing, in one grand and ugly swoop, the entire populations of cities the size of Kansas City, Omaha, Minneapolis, New Orleans, or even Miami. Given the sheer number of people and families involved, the likelihood of social fragmentation, economic upheaval, and unrest would be extremely high. And where, ultimately, does this policy lead? Displaced residents will simply set up new slums elsewhere in the same cities, if only for a brief moment before they are sent packing again. They will be unable to afford the new homes being built on the land where their old homes once stood. This insane cycle of demolition and development has resulted in large swaths of empty, upscale real estate scattered all over Abuja. Many houses have never been occupied, because the owners can't find tenants for them. Of course there is no shortage of people to live in these new homes, just a dearth of people who can afford them. Winning in court will not absolve city authorities of their responsibilities to the people in settlements such as Mpape. These communities have become vital parts of our city's social fabric. They work, pay taxes, and contribute in their own way, to the growth of our local economy. They simply can't be dismissed by the wave of the hand. Besides: these slums are a direct byproduct of official neglect, which is what has fueled their emergence and subsequent growth in the first place. Sadly, I believe that these demolitions will continue, because Africa's new urban ideology is built on the singular premise of keeping out of sight the poor, the unsightly, and everything that reminds it of its difficult past. We seem to be in a haste to erase all of the unpalatable epithets to which it was forced to answer for several decades. As a result, we're deploying massive resources to fund an ephemeral urban vision, regardless of the cost. This approach is not only corrupt and disingenuous, but does little to promote peace and good neighborliness (an attribute Africans are known for). And because it deploys too many communal resources for the advancement of a select few, it negates the first principle of social equity. Ultimately, this strategy attacks the symptoms of Africa's dysfunctional cities by short-circuiting its natural growth process, while failing to acknowledge the underlying factors that created them. Every new city we design and build must be a patchwork of compromise and sacrifice from both sides of the social divide. We must learn to build our cities around our people, rather than structures. Cities should be vehicles for social integration, not tools for division. It's in this light that I would beseech fellow designers and architects and the entire AEC industry globally: in spite of the allure of working in Africa, designers must be wary of the sordid back-stories behind some of these ambitious urban projects, as well as the moral liabilities that comes with them. If the global design community stayed away from these kinds of blood-tainted briefs, it would not only send out the desired message to city authorities across Africa, but would also compel them to act more humanely in dealing with victims of forced demolitions. Atrocities committed against communities like Otodo-Gbame can never be fully erased by the gleaming waterfront villas, promenades and marinas that will soon rise from the ashes of the demolished slum. It doesn't matter what new names the communities will be christened with tomorrow; their erstwhile residents will always look across the beautiful "new" skyline, searching for the place where their homes once stood. Mathias Agbo, Jr. is an interior architect and design researcher; he is an alumni of the Florence Design Academy, in Italy. He runs a small design-build consultancy in Abuja, Nigeria and periodically writes on design and architecture. Find him on Twitter @Mathias_AgboJr  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Southwark Town Hall & Theatre Peckham / Jestico + Whiles Posted: 24 May 2017 02:00 AM PDT  © Matt Clayton
 © Matt Clayton From the architect. Jestico + Whiles was appointed in 2013 to design a new student accommodation-led development of the former Southwark Town Hall on Peckham Road for Alumno Developments.  © Matt Clayton Southwark Town Hall has played an important role in Camberwell and the wider South London area for several years. Jestico + Whiles' scheme preserves the character of the building and is aimed at regenerating the site as a creative arts hub and community theatre, serving as a mixed-use arts based building with accommodation for Goldsmiths College students and the new Theatre Peckham. The student accommodation has 166 rooms, private student gardens and generous common spaces and lounges. It has been designed to support a high level of community usage – including twelve self-contained artists' studios, an independently managed gallery space and a café, as well as a contemporary sky lounge which provides social space for students and gallery space for artist exhibitions.  © Matt Clayton  Floor Plan  © Matt Clayton The proposals included the demolition and re-provision of Theatre Peckham, a community theatre which has operated for more than two decades and whose alumni includes the actor and new star of the Star Wars franchise, John Boyega.  © Matt Clayton The original Theatre Peckham was situated within the community hall adjoining the former Southwark Town Hall building. The scheme features a new studio theatre complex comprising a 200- seat auditorium, rehearsal space and dance studios which can be accessed from the new public piazza.  © Matt Clayton  Section 2  © Matt Clayton The new facilities allow Theatre Peckham to bring all of its work together under one roof for the first time, and provides space for an array of new classes, performances and events within the local community, in addition to its existing programme of workshops offering affordable performing arts classes to three to 18-year-olds.  © Matt Clayton  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| How To Improve Your SketchUp Skills Posted: 24 May 2017 01:00 AM PDT  3D Model: Fabian Dejtiar via SketchUp. For decades, SketchUp has been one of the most well-known 3D modeling programs in the design world, owed to its intuitive working tools and labyrinth of user-generated accessories, from open source libraries to plugins. Quite often, SketchUp is the software of choice for engaging children with architecture, due to its availability, flexibility, and ease of use. Later in your design career, you could be forgiven for dismissing SketchUp as a 'rookie tool', a beginner's level below the advanced stages of Revit, Rhino, and AutoCAD. However, as SketchUp has evolved throughout the years, it now contains a formidable array of functions, capable of producing complex, exportable results in an organized, efficient manner for students and senior partners alike. From geo-location to sun-paths, here are 10 very useful tips to make you the model SketchUp user of the office. 01. Use the 3D Warehouse gallery: check and purge models before importing them. 3D Model: Fabian Dejtiar via SketchUp. There is a universe of downloadable 3D models made by other users that can fast-track the construction of your own models. To avoid adding additional information such as lines, layers, and materials, which will only increase file sizes, purge the model's components before saving them. 02. Position the model correctly in space. 3D Model: Fabian Dejtiar via SketchUp. Geo-referencing a project allows you to consider it in relation to location, an inherent quality for any successful architectural scheme. If you want to position a 3D model, you can access it from the window> model information> geolocation> add location / define location manually. 03. Use plugins and check out the new stuff in Extension Warehouse. 3D Model: Fabian Dejtiar via SketchUp. SketchUp users develop a variety of plugins that not only solve problems in each version, but also exploit the potential of existing tools, and incorporate new 3D modeling equipment. Extensions range from Solar North, which provides tools to set the orientation for the angle of sunlight and shadows, to Sketchy FFD, a mesh defined by a series of control points in its vertices and edges that allow the manipulation of dimensions of the selected object. View and download 10 useful Sketchup plugins (explained in GIFs) by clicking here. 04. Organize and save your toolbar settings. 3D Model: Fabian Dejtiar via SketchUp. Having a work environment customized to your needs and preferences is no small matter. It takes considerable time to organize a toolbar, so ensure that your ideal settings are saved for future use. The result will be an ability to execute tasks more efficiently, allowing you to invest more time in concepts, design, and detailing. 05. Use groups and components to simplify editing and constructing a model. 3D Model: Fabian Dejtiar via SketchUp. Organizing models into groups of objects, lines or figures are one of the most useful characteristics of SketchUp. Creating a group is quick and simple (secondary button> create group) and allows you to alter a particular section of your model (by double-clicking on it), without affecting other figures near the object. A good tip is to double-click on the newly created surface, thus selecting both faces and edges, and create a group before you start using the push / pull tool or any other modification. 06. Use layers, but not too many. 3D Model: Fabian Dejtiar via SketchUp. Establish a small number of layers for your 3D model in order to control what elements display on the screen. Hiding the layers you are not using (from Window> Layers) is a useful tip for accessing certain parts of the model, while at the same time allowing your model to respond more smoothly. 07. Reference other points on the model and make guides. 3D Model: Fabian Dejtiar via SketchUp. When creating or duplicating elements in a SketchUp model, the use of points, objects or reference guides is a good option to increase precision and accuracy. 08. Keyboard shortcuts. Wikipedia UserYomik70 Under Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Image Like any 3D modeling software, using the keyboard allows quick access to tools and tool variations. While SketchUp already has preset shortcuts, they can be customized and edited (by accessing Window> Preferences> Shortcuts) according to your personal preference. 09. Use the appropriate visual style each time. 3D Model: Fabian Dejtiar via SketchUp. SketchUp has built-in visual graphic styles to generate artistic effects, or to alter hidden geometries and back edges. You'll need to identify specifically what you want to visualize when making your 3D model because each style demands a greater processing of information by your computer, which translates into a reduction in performance. 10. Use scene manager to set and save views. 3D Model: Fabian Dejtiar via SketchUp. Scene manager options, accessed from Window> Scenes, allow you to add, update and delete viewpoints proposed by the original user; creating different camera angles to communicate, understand, and animate the project.
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| Public Pools or Private Houses - How Should Stockholm Use its Cliffs? Posted: 23 May 2017 11:00 PM PDT  Courtesy of UMA / Manofactory. Image Infinity Pool vs Nestinbox One of architecture's most delightful anomalies is the diversity of solutions generated by any given site. From hypothetical university projects by architecture students to professional international design competition entries, the differing perspectives, stances, and experiences brought to rest on one site by several design teams can wield a bounty of contrasting ideas. Recently, we reported on Nestinbox, a proposal by Swedish architecture firm Manofactory to attach a series of simple, functional houses to a cliff face in Stockholm, addressing the demands of increased populations and land prices in cities across the world. Now, the cliffs of Stockholm have been the subject of an entirely different, though just as evocative concept by Swedish firm UMA. Rather than private housing, UMA proposes the Stockholm Infinity Pool, a public pool 1km along the Sodermalm cliffs of Sweden's capital.  Courtesy of UMA  Courtesy of UMA The Infinity Pool offers a 1km stretch of public space along the Sodermalm cliffs, hosting sweeping vistas of the magnificent Baltic inlet, where an archipelago slowly blends into the urban landscape of Stockholm. During Spring, Summer, and Autumn, a rooftop swimming pool is heated by waste heat, with water supplied from the Baltic Sea via a treatment facility. During colder winter months, the water freezes to create a surface ideal for ice skating.  Courtesy of UMA  Courtesy of UMA The structure underneath the pool contains dressing rooms, showers, and saunas, also offering unobstructed views towards the Baltic Sea. Similar to Nestinbox, the load-bearing steel structure of the Infinity Pool is bolted to the bedrock of existing cliff faces, while a modular, concrete secondary structure can be mounted and secured to the steel structure by crane.  Courtesy of UMA  Courtesy of UMA Nestinbox and the Infinity Pool address identical site conditions from entirely different standpoints. Nestinbox sees the cliffs of Stockholm as an untapped resource for addressing a global growing demand for housing, creating a residential community above ground level. By contrast, UMA sees the cliffs as an opportunity to invest in inclusive, attractive public space, enhancing the touristic appeal of Stockholm as a city of creative innovation.  Courtesy of UMA / Manofactory. Image Infinity Pool vs Nestinbox For such an expansive cliff, perhaps there is room for both. Who wouldn't be excited by the prospect of strolling along a cliff-face from their very own Nestinbox for a morning swim amidst unrivaled views of Stockholm?  Courtesy of UMA News via: UMA.
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