Arch Daily |
- Millennium Park Village Residence / Tsimailo Lyashenko and Partners
- Doppelgänger / KARST architecture
- A House in Yarmouk / Studio Toggle
- Zancheng Center / gmp Architekten
- OASIS Veterinary / Betwin Space Design
- Mindalong House / Paul Wakelam Architect - A Workshop
- Studio Gang's "Hive" Opens at the National Building Museum
- Old Scuola Rotterdam HQ / Instability We Trust
- Royal Academy of Arts Adds Permanent Architecture Gallery to Chipperfield Renovation Plans
- T House / Teófilo Otoni Arquitetura
- OMA New York to Design Mixed-Use Menlo Park Campus for Facebook
- Albion Library / Perkins+Will Canada
- Christian de Portzamparc: “No One But an Architect Can Solve the Problems of the Contemporary City”
- Between Two White Walls / Corpo Atelier
- Winners of Tenancingo Square Competition Addressing Human Trafficking Announced
- House of an Architect L-D / ALT architectuur
| Millennium Park Village Residence / Tsimailo Lyashenko and Partners Posted: 07 Jul 2017 10:00 PM PDT  © Ilya Ivanov
 © Ilya Ivanov Task Connect contradictive circumstances and goals: preserve the privacy of the dwellers while achieving transparent and minimalist image of the villa on the small site exposed to neighboring houses. Make the building look unique and outstanding.  © Ilya Ivanov Solution Glass was used as the material that allows us to react differently to different conditions. Opaque, translucent and transparent glass alternately opens and closes views from inside and outside.  © Ilya Ivanov Triangular windows were proposed to solve the task of protection from views of the neighbors. Narrow lower part prevents the dwellers from being visible. At the same time, wide upper part of the windows lets the daylight in.  © Ilya Ivanov  Ground Floor Plan  © Ilya Ivanov Rooms of the villa are oriented towards tiny inner courtyards thus solving the problem of the small site with unfriendly vicinity.  © Ilya Ivanov The boundary between the interior and exterior is dissolved: ambient atmosphere flows between spaces.  © Ilya Ivanov  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Doppelgänger / KARST architecture Posted: 07 Jul 2017 07:00 PM PDT  © Amélie Labourdette
 © Amélie Labourdette From the architect. Located in a tiny village facing salt marshes on the French Atlantic coast, this wooden house extension is a modest holiday home and a writer's retreat. The client idea for this project was born several years ago when saving a few old, massive oak beams from the demolition of a neighboring farm. The idea appealed to us but it was all we knew when we first visited the site.  © Amélie Labourdette A building plot has its own history. This plot was the site of an ancient traditionally built house of which only a single stone and cob wall survived, incorporated into a newer, unusual development. Standing on site for the first time, we found ourselves looking at a rather odd, amusing, tiny house. It seemed to be a narrow slice cut out from a volume midway between an oversized train model house and a common local dwelling. Moreover, given the building materials used, this surreal appearance was only mimicking traditional architecture while coming straight out from the seventies. This was the starting point of the project.  © Amélie Labourdette So how could we create a dialogue with this intriguing presence, especially so resonant with the habits of long daily usage? We rapidly set a goal: use the extension to create a view over the neighbour's fence across the street, towards the sea in the distance and to place the owner writing desk in this pivotal spot. While doing so, we also wanted to open up the building, creating volume and bringing in precious sunlight and making its practical functioning as simple and easy as possible and everyday living a real pleasure.  © Amélie Labourdette This meant a complete interior remodeling of the existing house, particularly in relation to the new addition. Three different openings were put into the wall linking the two, reorganizing movement within the house. On the ground floor, the ancient fireplace was turned into a central spatial element, anchoring the domestic space. A circular path starts around the fireplace, passing towards the new extension, climbing a flight of stairs and through the mezzanine that takes in the landscape. Furthermore, on the first floor, the path returns to the ancient part of the house and reaches the two bedrooms, now the only private area, separated from the otherwise open volume of the house. The old oak beams at the origin of the project found an appropriate symbolic place by framing all three openings between the old and the new.  Sections The old oak beams at the origin of the project found an appropriate symbolic place by framing all three openings between the old and the new. Technology was kept to a minimum in the hope of a reliable, long lasting and largely autonomous lifespan. The materials used are natural and locally produced: wood wool and cork for the insulation, Douglas fir wood with no chemical treatment either for the structure or for the cladding, zinc and slates.  © Amélie Labourdette The success of this project, despite its small budget, was achieved through a hands-on approach and constant interaction with the client and the artisan builders. In the end, satisfaction for all those involved in the project was the outcome of a comprehensive architectural solution that brought together comfort, light and view.  © Amélie Labourdette  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| A House in Yarmouk / Studio Toggle Posted: 07 Jul 2017 03:00 PM PDT  © Gijo Paul George
 © Gijo Paul George From the architect. The Yarmouk private villa is home to two brothers and their families in Kuwait. The volume is divided in the center of the plot into two identical units housing the independent quarters of each of the two families. A series of light wells and balconies throughout the house, along with a discreet garden space on the ground floor, focuses on the project's main narrative of diffused natural lighting.  © Gijo Paul George The basement of the house and its roof terrace cap the building with elements of unity and interaction, where the siblings and their families are able to get together and socialize. The basement includes a large banquet hall with light wells on either side to bring in ample natural light. The room, covered completely in travertine, sets a more classic and elegant atmosphere for larger gatherings. The basement also includes parking facilities for 10 cars and a staff quarters, also naturally lit.  © Gijo Paul George The independent units follow an identical plan although the form is articulated to disrupt symmetry. The ground floor houses the social areas for each family and is flanked by a very private garden that lights up the interiors through large sliding windows. Vertical circulation is organized along the middle of the house and the living spaces organized along the building periphery to maximize natural light. The first floor houses the bedrooms in a similar way along the outer edge, including a sky-lit communal area and a kitchenette in the center.  Section The materiality of the interiors is driven by the hierarchy of the space, ranging from a dramatic music room finished in an aptly titled scandalous marble, to the almost Scandinavian simplicity of the upper levels that houses the bedrooms, pantry and the informal reading room. Subtle warm tones, achieved by a combination of silver travertine cladding with white oil finished ash parquet, set the mood for the ground floor living and dining areas.  © Gijo Paul George Outline of Client's Vision The clients' vision was very straightforward but challenging as it called for a dense program relative to the plot size on a very restrictive budget. The clients were very specific on the need for two identical yet completely independent units for the two families, and dedicated shared areas for interaction. Parking in the basement was essential due to the dense program and large footprint that would entail. A shared banquet hall, doubling up as the Dewaniya, was also part of client's requirement. Each unit was to have 5 bedrooms ensuite, a formal living / music room, family living and dining area, a kids play room and a large kitchen. Upper floor was also to have a communal reading space and a pantry. Female staff would be on the second floor with their own suites and the male staff next to the parking in a basement suite with clerestory windows to afford natural lighting and ventilation.  © Gijo Paul George The clients requested a simple well-built house that minimizes the need for heavy maintenance and upkeep. Naturally lit, airy spaces were an essential parameter along with private garden spaces scattered around the house.  Section Isometric Context This house is located in Yarmouk, a quiet suburban residential neighborhood in Kuwait. The extremely hot climate and its occasional dust storms and hot desert winds influence the way buildings are designed in these areas. The site faces a suburban residential street, and is enclosed on the other 3 sides by adjacent houses. The surrounding built fabric consists of independent villas with a more traditional design; allowing this house the opportunity to reflect on certain elements of its surroundings, yet provide a new aesthetic to the street it occupies. Pedestrian space is limited because cars are generally parked on the pavements, due to the lack of parking spaces and the high number of cars per capita. This issue was tackled by having a well-defined pedestrian pathway in front of the building, integrated with the landscape and also providing more than adequate parking facilities in the basement of the building.  © Gijo Paul George Design The client's brief called for a very dense program relative to the allowed footprint and also for the two units to be identical and side-by-side. This posed multiple challenges to the architects in terms of finding a balance between enclosed and open spaces, as well as bringing sufficient natural lighting to all areas of the house.  © Gijo Paul George Studio Toggle chose to address these challenges in an incremental manner by creating light wells, balconies and decks affording varied degrees of transparency and porosity throughout the building. This approach resulted in a choreographed sequence of naturally lit spaces with a well-defined hierarchy dictating its degree of privacy  Plans The open-plan ground floor brought natural light into the living and dining area through its wide sliding glass panels leading to the outdoor garden space towards the edge of the plot. While maximizing the natural light, overhangs were employed strategically to decrease direct sunlight and solar heat gain. The garden, with its high walls and louvers fosters greenery and light for the social spaces, including the banquet room in the basement, while affording total privacy from neighboring buildings.  © Gijo Paul George A similar technique is applied on the first floor, placing all bedrooms on the parameter to ensure windows in each room for their own natural lighting. A large skylight lights up the resulting interstitial area turning it into a brightly lit communal reading spot. The exterior of the house is finished in an austere palette of white cement render contrasted against the rough grey finish of the window frames and louvers. The louvers afford necessary privacy to the stepped entrance foyer and the roof garden and soften the impact of the crisp white massing.  © Gijo Paul George Sustainability The design and its requirements birthed a duality between the necessity of natural light and Kuwait's scorching hot climate. Studio Toggle approached this duality with a multi pronged strategy in which light pockets are distributed along the buildings mass, increasing it porosity while avoiding direct sun. These light pockets, by virtue of their strategic locations, helped in lighting up the interiors while avoiding the harsh direct sunlight. White heat reflecting, and self-cleaning exterior paint system was used to reduce the heat gain as well as repel dust, which is a recurring problem. Louvers and overhangs were generously incorporated to avoid and reduce direct sun and glare.  © Gijo Paul George Sensors and smart irrigation systems were incorporated to reduce electricity and water usage and demonstrates a measured saving of almost 20 percent electricity and 40 percent water used for irrigation. Low VOC paint and coating systems were used for better indoor air quality, as the client was very specific in this regard. The project also employs extensive use of eco-friendly cork for acoustic insulation and as underlays below the parquet flooring.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Zancheng Center / gmp Architekten Posted: 07 Jul 2017 01:00 PM PDT  © Hans Georg Esch
 © Hans Georg Esch From the architect. The office building Zancheng Center, which is located in direct proximity to the River Qiantang in the Chinese provincial capital of Hangzhou, makes maximum use of the available site; the U-shaped building extends to the construction boundaries and, to the north, opens up with an inner courtyard to the neighboring buildings.  © Hans Georg Esch The two-story entrance hall is reached via the drive and main entrance to the north, and provides a view to the two landscaped inner courtyards at the center of the building. These courtyards are used to allow day- light to reach not only the foyer and lobby, but – via sunken courtyards – also spaces on the basement floor, creating attractive areas for a fitness club and meeting rooms. On the first floor, along the road facades and hence accessible directly from the road, space has been provided for shops and restaurants.  © Hans Georg Esch The 15 office floors are accessed via two circulation cores with lifts and stairwells. The functional areas of the floors are reached via a U-shaped corridor. The offices have been arranged on both sides of a corridor, measuring between 86 and 230 square meters, and can be flexibly adapted to user requirements.  Floor Plan  © Hans Georg Esch  Floor Plan  © Hans Georg Esch The facade is subdivided into two distinct areas. Above the two-story glass facade in front of the lobby and retail areas, a structure of squares dominates the external appearance of the building – it covers the entire facade like an oversized pattern, with each square being three stories high. The stories can still be recognized through the pattern, thus maintaining a sense of scale. Within the square fields, the vertical windows that are three stories high are emphasized with projecting frame profiles which, at night, are illuminated with LEDs. External aluminum louvres underscore the texturing of the facade and serve as solar screening and fall protection.  © Hans Georg Esch  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| OASIS Veterinary / Betwin Space Design Posted: 07 Jul 2017 12:00 PM PDT  © Yong-joon Choi
 © Yong-joon Choi From the architect. Recently, a number of pet families are increasing constantly, and accordingly, a number of those who want professional diagnosis and treatment of their pets‟ external wounds and diseases is also increasing. Oasis Veterinary Surgical Center is a veterinary clinic for orthopedics and neurosurgery. Based on the philosophy „to restore function, to save life and to contribute to healthy coexistence of human and animal‟, it performs all about pets from intensive care of serious case and rehabilitation treatment to high level operation. Because it is a clinic specialized for nervous diseases and serious external wounds of joint, spin and fracture, client wanted to create a space to provide trust for customers. It had to be not a clinic blurring the boundary between pet café and pet shop, but a definite clinic with professionality and authenticity focusing on function and system.  © Yong-joon Choi Entering the clinic, customers‟ eyes are overwhelmed by tone & manner like research room or laboratory. It boasts its beauty as refined as other commercial spaces, but it strengthened its basis of planning with systematic solution before pursuing beauty. Mies van der Rohe‟s "Less is More" and Louis Sullivan‟s "Form Follows Function". Oasis Veterinary Surgical Center reminds of maxims which have showed the essence of modern design. It established formative beauty of completion for functions and systems with the trust that there are more stories in simpleness.  © Yong-joon Choi  Floor Plan Rooms Details  © Yong-joon Choi First, its shapes and finishes were chosen considering propensities and behavior patterns of customers‟ pet. Tempered concrete floor is selected for maintenance and sanitation, and round corners are made for dogs‟ peeing behavior. Space composition reflects the features of larger dogs, smaller dogs and cats respectively. Ward for larger dogs is completed as double room with front room, because they bark loudly and need wide action radius, and applies water system for efficient disposal of their excretion. The designer focused only on system in terms of floor planning, and also concentrated on deciding each functional room‟s area and location reasonably.  © Yong-joon Choi  Process  © Yong-joon Choi Besides, the designer planned all the processes of treatment to be exposed and produced spatial atmosphere with professionality in order to give the feeling of trust and relief to patients‟ owners. They can observe whole processes naturally such as examination, treatment, hospitalization, operation, rehabilitation treatment and research. Different compositions by rooms form rhythmical massiveness within a space in the consistent tone. With this, Oasis Veterinary Surgical Center which emptied and filled up in a simple method, keeps its spatial identity and plentifulness even though it is completed with same finishing materials.  © Yong-joon Choi  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Mindalong House / Paul Wakelam Architect - A Workshop Posted: 07 Jul 2017 10:00 AM PDT  © Luke Carter Wilton
 © Luke Carter Wilton From the architect. The Mindalong House occupies a semi-rural block on the edge of John Forrest National Park, at the base of the Darling Scarp in Western Australia. Arrival is through a screen door under a large Mari tree and the entrance roof extends over to give you protection. Walking through you find yourself located to the hill beyond with large decking area with pool raised out of the ground, it is at that point you realize you are on a raised plinth.  © Luke Carter Wilton  Ground Floor Plan  © Luke Carter Wilton The climatic regression house plays with thresholds of what is internal and what is external. Two shed-like pavilions surround the communal gathering area, conceived as a 'cathedral of light'. The timber decks exist at the threshold, and extend from these dispersed living spaces, allowing access throughout the building. The communal gathering area breathes through two passive light towers, regulating the internal climate. The body is continually being turned to open up to the hills beyond. To access the sleeping pavilion is through the external communal space protected by the court of native plants and raised pool plinth. Views of the horizon, punctuated by existing granite rock formations and scattered trees, penetrate to the heart of the central living spaces.  © Luke Carter Wilton The timber deck circulation allows different perspectives of the landscape and proximity of the creek at the north western edge of property. All accesses to pavilions is via deep roof overhangs giving a freedom of space and extending the internal floor out to blur the threshold of internal and external. The poetics of Mindalong House are a strong shed with sculptural entrance by day and a series of light boxes in the landscape by night.  © Luke Carter Wilton  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Studio Gang's "Hive" Opens at the National Building Museum Posted: 07 Jul 2017 09:10 AM PDT  © Tim Schenck Hive, Studio Gang's 2017 Summer Block Party installation, has opened to the public at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Constructed from 2,551 silver-and-magenta wound paper tubes, Hive invites visitors to explore their senses in a series of dome-shaped chambers, each scaled to reflect a unique sound signature. Utilizing structural paper tubes commonly used in construction as concrete formwork, Hive takes its form from the catenary physics that have inspired some of the world's great structures such as the the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and Brunelleschi's Dome at the Florence Cathedral in Italy, and vernacular buildings such as Musgum mud huts in Cameroon.  © Tim Schenck The installation plays with scale in surprising ways, its colossal exterior presence giving way to enveloping intimacy inside. Sited within the expansive space of the museum's Great Hall, the mountain-like forms can be inhabited from the ground level or viewed from above from upper-floor balconies. An oculus located at the peak of the three domes draws the visitor's eye up toward the soaring ceilings of Great Hall, while the spiraling pattern of the stacked tubes creates a perspective bending optical illusion.  © Tim Schenck  © Tim Schenck Inside, tubular instruments and chimes created by acoustic engineer John Tewksbury and percussionist Steve Bloom amplify sounds heard within the smaller chambers, resulting in a dynamic auditory experience. "Within the chambers, visitors are invited to explore how a structure can modify and reflect sound," explain Studio Gang. "The whole structure acts acoustically like a clearing in a forest—some sounds are reflected back while others pass through the tubes, creating an intimate space within the large field of the Great Hall."  Courtesy of Studio Gang  © Tim Schenck The sensory journey continues into the visual; the outer surface of each surface is painted in a reflective silver, while the interiors feature a pop of pink inspired by the January's Women's March, which was the largest non-violent protest in U.S. history. "Magenta was so present at the Women's March, when you saw the hats," Gang said at a press preview earlier this week. "You couldn't help but be inspired by the color. We wanted to bring that out."  © Tim Schenck  Courtesy of Studio Gang  © Tim Schenck The installation will play host to a number of formal and informal events throughout the summer, including yoga classes, concerts, lectures and cocktail parties. Check out the full list of events on the National Building Museum website, here. Hive will be on display through through September 4. News via National Building Museum.
Snarkitecture Turns National Building Museum into Massive Ball-Pit BIG Maze Opens at National Building Museum  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Old Scuola Rotterdam HQ / Instability We Trust Posted: 07 Jul 2017 08:00 AM PDT  © Pim Top
 © Pim Top From the architect. Terrazzo bar elements form the epicentre of the 350m2 industrial production kitchen and restaurant, called Old Scuola. The restaurant is founded by two young entrepreneurs to support their quest to create the ultimate pizza and is located in the new creative hub 'Het Industriegebouw' which also houses MVRDV and Groos Concept Store.  © Pim Top  1st Floor Plan  © Pim Top IWT aimed to design a spatial machine, an interplay between the support strip, the bar elements and the acoustic landscape. A metal clad support strip facilitates its fixed program - two wood-fired ovens, kitchen, stairs, toilets and storage - in a minimal programmatic footprint.  © Pim Top The strip is accompanied by three centrally positioned terrazzo bar elements, which, together with the workbenches, double as production area during the day, and eating area in the evening. These different user zones of the bar elements enable unexpected interactions and social encounters between guests and staff.  © Pim Top Custom-made acoustic baffles and adjustable frames with integrated lighting on the ceiling reveal a zoning landscape focussed on a sound- and light intimacy atmosphere in this industrial production environment. The linoleum covered dining tables mark the more secluded areas under and above the entresol, and are enclosed by curtains playing with visual transparency.  © Pim Top  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Royal Academy of Arts Adds Permanent Architecture Gallery to Chipperfield Renovation Plans Posted: 07 Jul 2017 07:00 AM PDT  The Royal Academy's north-facing entrance, Burlington Gardens. Image © Hayes Davidson. Courtesy of Royal Academy of Arts London's Royal Academy of Arts has announced plans for a new permanent architecture-specific gallery and the creation of two new international architecture awards as part of the RA's mission to "garner a wider appreciation and understanding of architecture, bringing to the fore its vital relationship to culture and society." The new architecture space, along with a cafe, will be housed within the Dorfman Senate Rooms in Burlington Gardens, allowing the academy to show architectural exhibition year-round. The architecture rooms join wider renovation plans led by David Chipperfield Architects that will also include a new naturally-lit theater.  Architecture Studio in 2018. Image © David Chipperfield Architects. Courtesy of Royal Academy of Arts  The Dorfman Senate Rooms in 2018. Image © David Chipperfield Architects. Courtesy of Royal Academy of Arts The two international awards, to be held on an annual basis, will consist of the Royal Academy Architecture Prize, "honouring an inspiring and enduring contribution to the culture of architecture," and the Royal Academy Dorfman Award to identify and celebrate new talent in architecture. Award recipients will be nominated and awarded by a jury of esteemed architects, artists, curators and critics. The inaugural Royal Academy Architecture Prize winner and the Royal Academy Dorfman Award shortlist will be announced in January 2018, with a jury chaired by architect Louisa Hutton.  © David Chipperfield Architects. Courtesy of Royal Academy of Arts  Cross-section of the Royal Academy's site in 2018. Image © David Chipperfield Architects. Courtesy of Royal Academy of Arts The awards slate and renovation, estimated to cost £50 million ($64 million USD), will be funded in part by an undisclosed gift from the Dorfman Foundation made ahead of the Academy's 250th anniversary next year.  © David Chipperfield Architects. Courtesy of Royal Academy of Arts "The RA is perfectly placed to lead an inclusive and vital discussion on architecture, championing quality, creativity and courage," said Kate Goodwin, Head of Architecture & Drue Heinz Curator, Royal Academy of Arts. "Architecture is a constant presence in all our lives that is enhanced through wider engagement and vision which together with these awards, the reinvigorated Architecture Programme and our new spaces offer." Learn more about the project here. News via Royal Academy of Arts.
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| T House / Teófilo Otoni Arquitetura Posted: 07 Jul 2017 06:00 AM PDT  © Célio Ricardo
 © Célio Ricardo From the architect. Project inspired by the modernist lines travelling contemporary architecture of the years 70, emphasizing elements leaked as cobógo suggesting an aesthetic with brazilian features using the color to highlight packages and plans. Your plan and spatial distribution in spaces recently a close industry composing the dormitories and a social sector free from walls to distribute if socially spaces, kitchen and balconies in a single social unit, all this integration with the garden and the pool.  © Célio Ricardo  Floor Plan  © Célio Ricardo  Sections  © Célio Ricardo  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| OMA New York to Design Mixed-Use Menlo Park Campus for Facebook Posted: 07 Jul 2017 05:00 AM PDT Facebook has announced plans for a new mixed-use neighborhood adjoining their existing headquarters in Menlo Park, California to be led by the New York office of OMA and Partner Shohei Shigematsu. Known as Willow Campus, the campus masterplan seeks to further invest in Facebook's home community, joining the original campus designed by Frank Gehry. "It's exciting to collaborate with Facebook, whose innovation in networking and social media extends to urban ambitions for connectivity in the Bay Area," commented Shigematsu. "The Willow Campus masterplan creates a sense of place with diverse programming that responds to the needs of the Menlo Park community. The site has the potential to impact the future of regional transportation, housing, and environment."  © OMA The project will comprise a full range of community building typologies, from grocery stores to parks to housing. Early plans call for the construction of 1,500 new residential units, 15% of which will be offered at below market rates. Facebook hopes that including all of the needs of a community will help to strengthen the company's ties to Menlo Park, as well as reduce traffic impacts typically caused by growth.  © OMA  © OMA "Working with the community, our goal for the Willow Campus is to create an integrated, mixed-use village that will provide much needed services, housing and transit solutions as well as office space. Part of our vision is to create a neighborhood center that provides long-needed community services. We plan to build 125,000 square feet of new retail space, including a grocery store, pharmacy and additional community-facing retail," said Facebook's VP of Global Faculties and Real Estate, John Tenanes. News via OMA.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Albion Library / Perkins+Will Canada Posted: 07 Jul 2017 04:00 AM PDT  © Michael Muraz
 © Michael Muraz From the architect. As the urban base for Toronto's diverse Rexdale neighbourhood, Albion is one of the city's busiest public libraries. A responsive design approach by Perkins+Will delivers a tailored solution for a unique community in need of a reimagined social epicenter.  Building Concept Building on information gathered during a series of consultation and a community-driven narrative, Perkins+Will dramatically shifted their original proposal to close down and renovate the existing building.  © Doublespace Photography Recognizing the library was community critical, Perkins+Will and the client Toronto Public Library made a strategic decision to build a new facility on the underutilized parking lot allowing branch operations to continue.  © Doublespace Photography The old site will be transformed into a lush public plaza with a landscaped parking lot and space for a market square.  Site and Floor Plan The result is a library that features a theatre for community empowerment inside and out.  © Michael Muraz Reminiscent of a walled garden, the dynamic façade gives the illusion of a front porch trellis – its privacy veil injecting colour into the street. Punctuated by courtyard gardens and interior pavilions, Albion Library's footprint is a pure square. The perimeter is defined by a screen of polychrome terracotta tiles in bright, unexpected colours. Contrasting the monotone asphalt that surrounds the site, the form offers a respite from the busy arterial context of Albion Road.  © Doublespace Photography Buffering between the residential neighbourhood and busy four-lane road, the façade playfully juxtaposes its surroundings, animating the distinctly concrete streetscape.  © Michael Muraz Stepping inside, transparency fosters community. Strategically placed glass walls separate meeting rooms, while low visual barriers create defined areas for activity and diverse programming. Every space is visibly accessible, yet connected to the library's circulation hub.  © Doublespace Photography Mirroring the community's needs, Perkins+Will's design moves beyond the bookshelf, prioritizing spaces for collaboration and creation. The Urban Living Room resembles an extension of the home, providing an adaptable space for cultural events, concerts and readings, from spoken word to hip-hop battles. The library's Innovation Studio Lab contributes to cultural production and houses a myriad of STEM programming, empowering youth to enhance their technical skills in coding, circuit building and 3D Printing.  © Doublespace Photography Notched light is featured throughout – carefully placed windows and lighting fixtures illuminate each area. The library footprint is divided into a series of open zones. Careful composition of the spaces creates a rich and varied plan that accommodates open, cellular, and private spaces ensuring ease of access and diversity of experience.  © Doublespace Photography Waving nature and natural light deep into the library's interiors, the courtyards also provide secure zones for exterior programming. Bright colours and geometric shapes create a sense of informality and playfulness in the curated greenspace for a multigenerational audience.  © Michael Muraz  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Christian de Portzamparc: “No One But an Architect Can Solve the Problems of the Contemporary City” Posted: 07 Jul 2017 02:30 AM PDT  Luxembourg Philharmonie, Luxembourg, 2005. Image © Wade Zimmerman Of the Pritzker Prize's illustrious list of laureates, the 1994 winner Christian de Portzamparc is perhaps the least covered by the media. However, this relatively low profile belies the subtle and insightful understanding of architectural and urban issues that in many ways puts him decades ahead of the curve – with the sociologically-led principles he has been developing since the early 1980s now becoming widely popular in architectural circles. In this interview, the latest in Vladimir Belogolovsky's "City of Ideas" column, Portzamparc explains the journey that led to this unique take on architecture.  Suzhou Cultural Center Proposal, Suzhou, 2017. Image © Christian de Portzamparc Christian de Portzamparc: …Architecture often comes out of a controversial matter, drawing. In the 60s and 70s, we were contesting the drawing. I went to the Beaux-Arts school here in Paris, in which drawing was an end in itself. But in the Modern teaching to draw was viewed as dangerous, meaning to be absorbed and seduced by the quality of the drawing itself. I was thinking and drawing at the same time. In fact, a drawing may come before a particular imaginative idea sparks. Vladimir Belogolovsky: A drawing to you is a subconscious process. CP: Maybe… It is not necessarily associated with thinking and explaining…  Cite de la Musique West Wing, Paris, 1990. Image © Christian de Portzamparc VB: Is there continuity in your work from project to project? Do you see it that way? CP: Sure. I am always attracted to something new but I think about things that interest me continuously. And when I work on new projects I often realize that I am solving a problem which I tried to resolve five or ten years before. Certain ideas or formal relationships come up again and again.  Paris Opera Ballet School, Nanterre, 1987. Image © Atelier Christian de Portzamparc VB: What sparked your initial interest in architecture? CP: Well, when I was 15, I discovered drawings and projects by Le Corbusier. His Open Hand drawing and images of Chandigarh made an impression on me. I was drawing and painting before that, but I did not realize that a drawing could be a place, that a drawing could become something real; something in which people can live or work. I was also fascinated by the city. Around the city of Rennes in Brittany where I was living, I saw new, white, rational buildings arriving as a new concept of a city; they were like an army fighting against the old concept. There was a clash of old and new, like Le Corbusier's famous 1922 proposal "La ville sans lieu" for three million inhabitants, which literally translates as "The city without place."  Flagship Dior, Seoul, 2015. Image © Nicolas Borel VB: Did you revolt against this radically new vision? CP: Not at all, not then. It was only in 1966 when I was living in New York and later when I worked with sociologists that I started learning about the inhabitants' reactions to all these urban changes. VB: I read that in the 1960s you were interested in inventing new neighborhoods and the idea of sequences, as well as the relationship between the city and the film – the city as "scenario." Could you talk about that? CP: Going back to before the time I was living in New York, I was excited about the ideas for new, perfect cities but I realized that imagining the future is not necessarily about erasing the past, which was the motto of Le Corbusier. In the films by Jean-Luc Godard and Michelangelo Antonioni from this period I found an image of the real modern city: the camera was moving from the idealized, perfectly geometric suburbs of Milan and Paris, towards historical neighborhoods and back. In the 60s, here in Paris the urban rules were to widen the roads to adapt to the automobile and to clear space for new housing. The traditional street was under attack, but the idea of the street has been around for thousands of years and it is more powerful than we are.  Cidade das Artes, Rio de Janeiro, 2013. Image © Nelson Kon VB: Around 1966 you began to feel that "architecture alone was dry and unrelated to real life in the city." And in 1967 you even decided to quit architecture altogether. You were just 23. What happened and what made you stay with architecture? CP: I was in New York for a year in 1966. There I was, involved in artistic life such as painting, music, theater, reading, and I was thinking about becoming either a painter or a writer. It was the time when I wanted to experience many possibilities. I was supposed to work in an architectural office, meet Paul Rudolph and Edward Larrabee Barnes, but then instead I chose to work part-time as a bartender on 57th Street, making more money than I could possibly make as a draftsman at an office, so I could enjoy the city and meet many people. I stopped believing that I would be an architect. My interest in architecture was reignited through my interest in politics and sociology, concern for people who were not happy in their crowded neighborhoods and claustrophobic apartments. And I never stopped perceiving space as an artistic medium. I understood that no one else but an architect could solve the problems of the contemporary city.  Cidade das Artes, Rio de Janeiro, 2013. Image © Nelson Kon VB: You understood that architecture could be more than just an object. CP: Exactly, but more than that. When I came to New York in 1965, I was under the impression that architects were obsolete. I thought the city of the future would be designed by sociologists and computers. Houses would be assembled in factories, people would buy what they like, and sociologists would assemble them. Why would you need architects then? It would all become like a living process, just as Archigram and the Metabolists envisioned. That's why I was losing interest in architecture. I didn't want to become an engineer to assemble these plug-in cities. Then by working on new urban developments in France, and visiting new cities, I realized that space is a problem of perception, which is not far from conceptual art that was also my interest. I understood that the idea of space is crucial in the new world where the street has vanished and cars are everywhere, and people now feel lost.  Cite de la Musique West Wing, Paris, 1990. Image © Nicolas Borel VB: When you won the Pritzker Prize in 1994 the Jury citation said, "Every architect who aspires to greatness must in some sense reinvent architecture." Is that something that you try to do? Is your work about reinvention or is it more subtle? CP: I remember that from 1966 to 1971, I was still searching and constantly asking this question – what is architecture for? And I thought that an architect who is not asking this question is not an interesting architect. You have to understand why you do what you do and how useful it is. What is it that makes you passionate artistically or sociologically? Once you understand this, you have a chance to be understood by others. I think I understood in the early 70s why I would want to do this project and which way. But reinventing is a very pretentious position. Instead, we recreate things through an intense dialogue between generations and ideas. We start again.  Les Hautes Formes Housing, Paris, 1979. Image © Nicolas Borel VB: Would you say that you felt capable of bringing another vision, a personal stand? CP: Yes. Well, I did not think then that I had a personal vision, but I thought I had a vision for how to make space perceivable, something lost in new developments; how we could integrate new with old, how we could improve the existing city. In the past, architecture succeeded as far as a form of a singular building and how these buildings would line up along the street and around the plaza. In 1975, in my competition project for a residential complex on Rue des Hautes Formes I proposed not one building, as my competitors did, but seven. They were planned around a void that was organized into walkways and small plazas. In fact, I always thought of space as void. In his famous verse Lao Tseu said, "My home – it is not the ground. It is not the walls. It is not the roof. It is the void between all these elements because it is exactly where I breathe and what I inhabit."  Les Hautes Formes Housing, Paris, 1979. Image © Christian de Portzamparc VB: In other words, a void is not a mere definition, but experience. CP: Sure, and sensitivities, and traditional values are important. But to Modernists, architecture was a tabula rasa. Modernism to Le Corbusier was like Christianity to Saint Paul. There was no tolerance for anything that was existing before. I realized that if we have inherited this word "Modern," the artistic banner of the 20th century, its meaning is lost. This word cannot have the same meaning now as when Apollinaire declared one century ago, "I never want to stop being amazed by the locomotive." We cannot have the same basic experience that Le Corbusier had when asserting: "We, the first in history, saw the machine." The meaning of the word "Modern" has to be reinvented. Modernism is a disruption in something existing and we live in an era of constant change and willingly or unwillingly architecture reinvents tomorrow from project to project. I believe that the best projects are about reinventing this confidence in the future.  Credit Lyonnais Tower, Lille, 1995. Image © Nicolas Borel VB: In one of your earlier interviews, you said that you "see a fundamental evolution in which the expression of individuality over collectivism is coming to the fore." What do you think about this now that our society is less and less willing to celebrate individuality? What do you think about the fact that architects' voices are becoming less pronounced and more and more indistinguishable and less personalized? CP: The celebration of the individual came with such artists as Andy Warhol who popularized this notion with his irony. In architecture, the desire to express individuality started in the past, when Modernism stopped being the only model. We may see the inauguration of the Pritzker Prize in 1978, marking the end of International Style. It was meant to celebrate an architect as author.  Nexus II Housing, Fukuoka, 1991. Image © Nicolas Borel VB: And even before the Pritzker, it was Venturi with his Complexity and Contradiction book that first blew up this model of puritanical, religiously obeyed Modernism back in 1966. CP: Absolutely. And the Pritzker could not have existed in the 1940s or 50s. Both Venturi and the Pritzker unleashed a new epoch in architecture when architects began questioning everything. It was a new evolutionary turn, very different from the architecture of Le Corbusier or Aalto.  Les Hautes Formes Housing, Paris, 1979. Image © Nicolas Borel VB: Let's go back to your residential project on Rue des Haute Formes. Was that also your attempt to break away from the anonymous character of architecture? CP: Exactly. I tried to provide different types of dwellings with several different types of windows and balconies. I felt it was important for people to identify with their place within the complex. There was a shift. My teacher Georges Candilis taught that if you are designing a residential block, you need to provide exactly the same situation and condition to everyone. Equality was a major concern. Yes, equality is an idealist notion but you learn with architecture and urbanism, and you realize that by treating things equally you ruin everything. Equality ruins everything because east and west is different from north and south. You must provide a variety of qualities – more gardens or more openings, etc. Only if you adapt to the specificity of the place and acknowledge its different qualities will you provide richness and character. This urge for varieties came out of 1968, which exploded this thinking; individuality became more and more acknowledged. In this first residential project if I had several types of windows it was a challenge for my contractor and 10-15 years later I could have as many variations as I wanted; it was no longer a challenge. And now almost anything is possible!  Luxembourg Philharmonie, Luxembourg, 2005. Image © Wade Zimmerman VB: If you were to describe your architecture what words would you choose? CP: Overture, opening, opening in different interpretations, open block, softness, pacification, continuity, site-specific, happiness, individual character. VB: You mentioned the Pritzker Prize. Curiously, at this time the Pritzker is no longer giving its coveted prize to architects concerned with individual character. CP: It is still a glorification of one creative individual achievement, even if it is the concern we all share now about our planet and ecology, and the situation with public money, which is lacking everywhere. In my own work, my concern is in how to repair and continue building our cities – how to make them accessible and livable for everybody.  LVMH Tower, New York, 1999. Image © Nicolas Borel VB: Yet, you combine these concerns with work on such pleasure projects as a sculptural building for a luxury brand Christian Dior in Seoul or Opera houses by the Lake of Suzhou and Shanghai. CP: We do both. And we continue working on urban neighborhoods and affordable housing here in Paris. By the way, we are losing money on these projects. But I don't see a conflict here. Every project presents opportunities for solving technical problems or expressing artistically.  Cidade das Artes, Rio de Janeiro, 2013. Image © Hufton + Crow VB: You said, "The raison d'être of architecture is not to be found in language. When designing a project, I think in terms of space, figure, distance, shadow and light. As an architect, I work in an area of thought which is not accessible through language. I am thinking directly in terms of forms and figures." CP: When I draw or paint, I don't try to reason my moves and preferences. It is not always necessary to tell why certain things are designed the way they are designed. Language becomes important when I involve my team to communicate my ideas and develop projects. Architecture cannot be reduced to language. Language is about communication but space is about presence, a primitive, ancient, and archaic way to relate to the world and express how we see it. Architecture can communicate because it goes beyond language.  Section of water tower, Seine-et-Marne, 1974. Image © Christian de Portzamparc VLADIMIR BELOGOLOVSKY is the founder of the New York-based non-profit Curatorial Project. Trained as an architect at Cooper Union in New York, he has written five books, including Conversations with Architects in the Age of Celebrity (DOM, 2015), Harry Seidler: LIFEWORK (Rizzoli, 2014), and Soviet Modernism: 1955-1985 (TATLIN, 2010). Among his numerous exhibitions: Anthony Ames: Object-Type Landscapes at Casa Curutchet, La Plata, Argentina (2015); Colombia: Transformed (American Tour, 2013-15); Harry Seidler: Painting Toward Architecture (world tour since 2012); and Chess Game for Russian Pavilion at the 11th Venice Architecture Biennale (2008). Belogolovsky is the American correspondent for Berlin-based architectural journal SPEECH and he has lectured at universities and museums in more than 20 countries. Belogolovsky's column, City of Ideas, introduces ArchDaily's readers to his latest and ongoing conversations with the most innovative architects from around the world. These intimate discussions are a part of the curator's upcoming exhibition with the same title which premiered at the University of Sydney in June 2016. The City of Ideas exhibition will travel to venues around the world to explore ever-evolving content and design.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Between Two White Walls / Corpo Atelier Posted: 07 Jul 2017 02:00 AM PDT  © Ricardo Oliveira Alves
 © Ricardo Oliveira Alves “Sky of a fainting blue - beneath, a slap of whitewash. Reverberation of sun and the bluest blue, the whitest white. Cubes, geometric lines, animal light that trembles and vibrates like the wings of a cicada.” Raul Brandão in “Os pescadores”  © Ricardo Oliveira Alves  Sketch  © Ricardo Oliveira Alves Empty plots of similar shapes and sizes are aligned along a golf course, setting a frame for new urbanization of detached houses. Nothing was built. Due to the degree of uncertainty regarding future constructions, the house becomes introverted.  © Ricardo Oliveira Alves  Ground Floor Plan  © Ricardo Oliveira Alves Two white walls (almost) completely withdraw any direct contact from future neighbors, setting clear boundaries. Between them, an architectural inner landscape of cubic shapes, each arranging a single function, provides a sense of security and protection while carefully framing the distant landscape. Only a horizontal volume, containing the swimming pool, contradicts this logic projecting itself to the South, emerging from the walls to offer a possibility of volunteered exposure, for a brief moment, before returning to the house.  © Ricardo Oliveira Alves  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Winners of Tenancingo Square Competition Addressing Human Trafficking Announced Posted: 07 Jul 2017 01:00 AM PDT  Architectural research initiative Arch Out Loud has released the winners of the Tenancingo Square Mediascape international open-ideas competition aimed to engage architects with the topic of human trafficking. The competition challenged participants to reimagine the town square of Tenancingo, Mexico in response to the prevalent issues of sex trafficking existing in the area. "With proposals from both regional designers and designers from other parts of the world, the competition brought forth a large variety of approaches to an extremely sensitive, but immediate, societal problem" Arch Out Loud said in a statement. "Being the first architectural competition to address human and sex trafficking, Arch Out Loud hopes that the culmination of this exploration is only the beginning of the field's examination of its' role in the matter." In the competition designers explored the "catalytic potentials" of architectural intervention, aiming to bring positive change through the introduction of what Arch Out Loud has termed a "transformative mediascape." "Mediascape" is a program that suggests being defined as the combination of a public landscape with connective media technologies - two important components in the modern square
Read on for images and summaries from the winning proposal and four runners up below: 1st Place: Parallel Realities Participants: Paweł Kuczyński, Mikołaj Cierlak, Wojciech Losa (Politechnika Śląska) Location: Gliwice, Silesia, Poland  Courtesy of Arch Out Loud From the Architects: This is penetration of two worlds, the real and digital one, which enriches reality. Presence of another culture in public space has immediate feedback on quality of these places. It fulfils events such as carnivals, outdoor concerts or marketplaces. This solution is aiming to avoid stigmatization of places like Tenancingo. It is easy to point out that it is the place where human trafficking happens, but we can't forget that it is reaction to existing "demand". Anyway, despite of issues, the main function of the proposed structure is creating the bond and dialogue with various public spaces.  Courtesy of Arch Out Loud Due to that fact we can adapt program to variety of needs, grid is virtual space division - which expands and shrinks as we are shaping space with urban furniture. Nonetheless all of specified functions can be fruitfully introduced without sacrificing existing local context. Education is straightforward connected with interaction; the fact that we interact with people around the world gives us an alternative view. The function of the marketplace is going to be divided by grid, stands can be organized between them and heads of poles may carry lightweight material shading. Events such as carnivals where the square should be able to accommodate big amounts of people are not going to be restricted by volumetric architecture. Runner-up: Under Construction Participants: Nikolaj Salaj, Tin Troha, Žan Šabeder (Fakulteta Za Arhitekturo Ljubljana) Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia  Courtesy of Arch Out Loud From the Architects: Why erect a static structure when the building process is far moretransformative and engaging in itself? A continuously changing environment induces an equally constant transformation in its society as well. A minimal addition creates countless new scenarios in a space left mostly untouched, preserving its familiarity. This superposition of ready-mades integrates into its new context by housing and complementing its existing programmes but remains subversive and transformative through its omnipresent mediascape elements. The constant presence is extended to the entire city by the crane itself, functioning as a symbolic marker. Always present, far and near. Always active. Runner-up: Seeing Voices Participants: Roberto Rosales, Barbara González Miranda Location: Mexico City, Mexico  Courtesy of Arch Out Loud From the Architects: Sex trafficking is based in human objectification. We believe that in order to stop this abuse we need to engage both victims and felons and confront them in a way that celebrates the human aspects of the survivors by empowering them and starting a healing process. We created a program that reactivates community life with green and recreational areas. The lampposts that cover the entirety of the plaza serve also as sensors that capture the surrounding noise and regulate messages displaying in the pavilion's façade. This phrases are delivered by those affected by exploitation giving them back their humanity. Runner-up: You Are Everywhere Participants: Soohyoun Nam, Hyejin Lee, Kyungjo Choi Location: Gyeonggi, South Korea  Courtesy of Arch Out Loud From the Architects: An Apparatus to integrate Place of Trafficking, and that of Community: In a sad region where acceptance and commitment of human trafficking prevails, restoring sense of community in every space is the key. The breaking of everydayness of vice begins with subversion of 'business' area where the unfortunate events occur, and the safe space of community and family. By forming a coexisting condition of the two separate places, one will realize the irrationality of respecting family on one hand, and violating others with the other. To undermine the boundary, we propose a media-wall that works in tandem with surveillance cameras. News via: Arch Out Loud.
 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| House of an Architect L-D / ALT architectuur Posted: 06 Jul 2017 11:00 PM PDT  © Filip Dujardin
 © Filip Dujardin From the architect. This is the first house I built for my family and office. This house has a prefabricated concrete structure. Steel and wood are used for the windows and dark-colored roof tiles create a shell.  © Filip Dujardin  Section  © Filip Dujardin The prefabricated concrete structure results in a plan libre. Wooden vertical boards cover the techniques and serve as an extension of the hardwood floors. A slanting rear-end fits to the envelope to fully benefit from the orientation towards the sun.  © Filip Dujardin The home expresses its character through the use of materials. It is an attempt to tell a coherent tale with a minimum of materials. Coherence is obtained by assigning each material its well-determined place.  © Filip Dujardin Every material has its place as one piece of a puzzle: tiles, steel, wood outside, wood inside, concrete, natural stone. This coherence is further present in the tactile hierarchy. One will refrain from touching cold materials. The open carpentry is solid wood, framed in steel. Switches are fixed to wooden skirting boards. Feet will always walk on wooden floors or flashed natural stone. Even though one would be reluctant to touch concrete, here the tactility is of a more visual nature. By polishing it, the result will be a soft, velveteen effect, emphasized all the more in the evenings by artificial light. The outside will have the sharp, edgy scale effect obtained by the superposition of the tiles. The shape of the building as a whole will be jagged, unruly. Only by looking at it from closer-up the entrance is revealed as framed in wood.  © Filip Dujardin  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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