Arch Daily |
- RBIDZ Entrance Gate / Jeremy Steere Architect
- Seven Coffee / dongqi Architects
- Mohammad Rasul-Allah Mosque / Paya Payrang Architectural Group
- 168 Sale Gallery / Ayutt and Associates Design
- A Sneak Peek into Jean Nouvel's Louvre Abu Dhabi as It Prepares for Fall Opening
- Paseo de las Lilas / Taller David Dana
- Francisco de Aguirre Building / Stein-Suazo Arquitectos
- Main Entrance and Terrace in Miraflores / Ghezzi Novak
- Elon Musk’s Boring Company to Drill 1.6 Mile Test Tunnel Under Los Angeles
- AdGear Technologies Headquarters / ACDF Architecture
- The New Normal: Benjamin Bratton on the Language of Hybrids
- #donotsettle Visits MAD’s "Out-of-this-World" Harbin Opera House
- Rehabilitation of a Traditional Housing in Moscoso / LIQE arquitectura
- 10 (More) Beautiful Staircases, Part II
- Paris Opens Its First-Ever Public Swimming Pools
- Figueras International Seating Design Center / Miriam Castells, Joaquim Rigau, Núria Moliner, Riaz Forghani
| RBIDZ Entrance Gate / Jeremy Steere Architect Posted: 25 Aug 2017 07:00 PM PDT  © Mlungisi Mathe
 © Mlungisi Mathe From the architect. Commissioned by the provincial KwaZulu-Natal government as its business entity, the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone is a world class, fully serviced industrial estate located on the north-eastern coast of South Africa. The Industrial estate is a special economic zone set up to attract export orientated investment. This estate is ideally located, boosting prime rail and road access; it is also linked to the deep water port of Richards Bay. The Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone is envisioned to be a trade portal to the world.  © Mlungisi Mathe The brief required a landmark gateway into the industrial estate as a bold statement of arrival by the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone. The landmark gateway needed to be both environmentally sensitive and architecturally bold. Our initial proposal was a light weight Saligna timber 'box' structure with clear sheeting which was dismissed as not being architecturally bold enough.  Ground Floor Plan The resulting fluid concrete form is a not so subtle reference to the municipality's animal, the fish eagle, shown in the municipality's emblem with its wings wide open gliding towards its next meal. The fluid concrete form could also perhaps be interpreted as a subconscious reference to the ocean 1km away on which ships sail into the port bringing in raw products like bauxite for processing in the industrial estate and leaving with processed/formed aluminum. The building's form is a counter-point to the rigid, orthogonal geometry of the typical industrial steel shed typology which will be the predominant form within the estate.  © Mlungisi Mathe Raising the building by 1m off the ground, not only allowed for a much more pronounced entrance and reception but also allowed for air vents in the slab. The slab vents are part of an intricate passive cooling system. This passive system includes a planted courtyard which acts as the building's thermal chimney. The courtyard also serves the purpose of being the building's organizational structure; the office, boardroom and reception are all physically and visually connected to it.  Section A  Section F  Section C The long term sustainability of the building was extensively considered which in turn, informed and affected the form. For instance, all the roofs were designed to collect rainwater into the pond. The collected rainwater is then cleaned and pumped to underground water tanks. The water tanks are used to provide water for the toilets and garden. The Solar panels together with the diesel generator are primarily used as the back system for the building but could, if needed keep the building off the grid for up to 6 days.  © Mlungisi Mathe  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Seven Coffee / dongqi Architects Posted: 25 Aug 2017 03:00 PM PDT  © Raitt Liu
 © Raitt Liu From the architect. Dongqi Architects transformed and enlarged an old café into a new space with coffee, craft beer, food and bakery in the downtown of Changzhou.  © Raitt Liu The interior space is an overall "L" shape space. Coffee, craft beer and bakery zones take places separately in the three corners of the "L". Coffee and craft beer zone have white ceilings and floors，and the bakery zone is a space with black covered all surfaces. The black and white spaces is divided by the curvy ceiling edge and steel wire. The heights of the ceilings on the two sides are different，which not only differentiate the spaces according to their functions, but also naturally merge the old space and the new space together into an indivisible whole.  Courtesy of dongqi Architects The surface of the coffee counter and part of the walls are mainly made of matte stainless steel. The section edge of the counter is tilted to make the surface of the counter looks quite skinny. The thinnest part of the edge of the counter is only 10mm. Steel wires with same gaps are like growing out of the floor and going through the inner steel frames, in the end fixed tightly up on the ceiling. Therefore, from a distance the customers would see counters "floating" in the air. The steel plate looks light while the steel wires are full of tension and strength. The counter is like a ballet dancer standing on her tiptoes. The architect hopes that the customers could feel the balance of power and grace in this space.  © Raitt Liu The coffee counter as a solid steel massing is designed delicately. The scale in the hand drip zone and the cup rinser are combined together. The filter of the cup rinser is designed to have a lot of laser-cut holes with shapes of "7". The ice-bath and the cup rinser are welded and embedded into the surface of the coffee counter. All these design strategies are aiming to give the counter a cleaner and simpler look and give baristas a more professional experience when they are using it.  © Raitt Liu The pump of the coffee machine is totally exposed on purpose. The pipes of the coffee machine are hidden by wrapping mirror finished stainless steel plates around them. On the other side the pipes of the water filter are hidden in the cavity of the coffee counter. All these details aim to create a lighter feeling and a lightsome atmosphere.  © Raitt Liu The shelves for display are put in an eye-catching place facing the entrance. A single steel wire goes through all the shelves from ceiling to floor and makes sure the gaps are of the same distance. At human's eye level, circles are laser-cut on the steel plate and the filter-drip coffee makers could perfectly fit in them. Since they are only supported by the 6mm steel plate, these filters are like floating together with the shelves and create a fascinating visual focus at the entrance.  © Raitt Liu The big steps pushed against the wall are made with steel plates sprayed yellow. The elevation sides are pushed inward to let the surface of the steps jut out and give a feeling of lightness. The bottom part of the steps are covered with mirror stainless steel. The use of this material here conceals the elevation parts to emphasize the feeling of floating of the yellow surfaces.  © Raitt Liu The facade are composed of two layers of steel wire screens. The 2.5 mm steel wires are pulled through the steel plates like threads on a soft piece of leather, and form beautiful hand sewn stitches on the steel.  © Raitt Liu The five sash windows on the street side could be totally open. When they are open, with the yellow window sills, they could form a relaxing seating area for the pedestrians and merge the boundary of indoor and outdoor space.  © Raitt Liu  © Raitt Liu Steel wire is the main design element and plays the role of soul in the project. With all kinds of beautiful forms , steel wire is as a thread running through the whole space. The wire on the facade is curvy like a silky dress; the wires supporting the coffee counter filled with tension; the wires as screen to divide the black and white spaces are graceful like harp strings and functionally balance the two spaces. With all kinds of techniques and forms, the architect plays around with this material and puts on different masks for it. The "thread" helps add another layer of translucency and weightless for the overall atmosphere and the whole space turns out neatly as a whole.  © Raitt Liu  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Mohammad Rasul-Allah Mosque / Paya Payrang Architectural Group Posted: 25 Aug 2017 01:00 PM PDT  © Ahmad Mirzaee
 © Ahmad Mirzaee From the architect. The client asked us to design a mosque with the maximum capacity for prayers in the area of the old prayer hall at the site, being surrounded by 70-year-old trees and the hospital's main streets. The primary idea was formed on four challenges; the maximum capacity for prayers, preserving the trees, proximity to the main axis of the pavement and the old prayer hall. In the first step, considering the project conditions, the pattern of a mosque without court was chosen where the whole area between the trees was regarded as the designing area. Considering the oldness of the prayer hall as part of the site's history, its plot plan formed the plan of the new mosque's dome. Regarding the access of Patrons, two entries were designed for the mosque.The two entries are connected together by the linking element of Riwagh, which is traditionally considered as an important element in designing Persian mosques. In addition to creating Visual communication, the openwork wall of Riwagh organizes the association of mosque with the northern crowded passage. Beside the entries, two minarets have been designed in a rotating configuration. The minarets have contributed to the invitation of the entries and the symbolicicons of the mosque, two minarets on both sides of the dome. Nevertheless, this image would change as you move around the building, diversifying the observer's vision.  © Ahmad Mirzaee The prayers would pass from an open space towards a semi-open space as they enter the mosque which is a common pattern in Iran's traditional architecture. This form allows us to open an orifice against the southern half of the sky so that the sun irradiate the dome through it at noon time all year round. The facade of the mosque is covered with stone to demonstrate a heavy, strong, and simple face among the trees at the site creating an appropriate contrast in association with the copper coating. The simplicity of the form, material and geometry along with employing spatial patterns of historic mosques and traditional details such as openwork walls and indoor epigraphs represents the general approach in designing the mosque, i.e. paying attention to Islamic traditions in building mosques and expressing it by the modern language.  Section  E2 Plan  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 168 Sale Gallery / Ayutt and Associates Design Posted: 25 Aug 2017 12:00 PM PDT  © Soopakorn Srisakul - Ayutt Mahasom
 © Soopakorn Srisakul - Ayutt Mahasom From the architect. 168 Sale gallery is a new modern design Sales gallery for one of the most recent luxury Low-rise condominium called 168 residence, which located on Sukhumvit36 Road, Bangkok, Thailand. Ayutt and Associates design (AAd) got a commission to design the gallery, which contains a reception area, mock up units and staff office, plus the surrounding landscape. These functions are compressed into one triangle-like box measured 50 meters long and 8.5 meters wide. Usually, most sales gallery in Bangkok is quite similar.  Exploded View Diagram The clients would want to see some stunning architecture standing in the impressive surrounding. The gallery is specifically designed for eye-catch sculpture and 1:1 Mock up the facade of the Main building. It is composed of 400 sqm internal space. Even though the land is limited and triangle shape, but the owner still wants to maximise the function area and a large landscape for their private outdoor event.  © Soopakorn Srisakul - Ayutt Mahasom 168 Sale gallery reflects the main development's clean lines and sculptural form for the art of living. The gallery is designed for exhibition space and work space, as well as 3 typical fully furnished units. The gallery spans over two levels connected by a spiral blacked steel staircase. This staircase is also enclosed in a curve-glass box floating over the underlying front garden as a main feature for the entrance.  © Soopakorn Srisakul - Ayutt Mahasom After numerous hours of a design study, the designer proposes cantilevering practically half of the building over the open area on ground floor. This would liberate more space in the landscape for outdoor activity. The gallery is designed in compact shape to enhance the usable space and mock up units. One side of the wall is designed to close to an adjacent plot of land to maximize the internal area while following the regulations.  First Floor Plan During the rush hours, Sukhumvit road is famed as one of the most traffic jam in Bangkok. The designer takes this issue for the design advantage by allowing the passerby, who pass or jam on the road can look directly to the show units.  © Soopakorn Srisakul - Ayutt Mahasom Thus, Most of the glass walls are maximized the view directly to the road by design the glazing spanning the full height of its length on the ground floor. In addition, almost 100 percent of the land is an open space and glass window that can be visible from every angle of the road. Its main purpose is to attract the potential buyers who drive pass.  © Soopakorn Srisakul - Ayutt Mahasom The sale gallery is designed in a Triangle shape to create feature architectural element and vision impact almost like a spaceship. The design does not only enhance the aesthetic element, sculpture form but also provide shading and rain protections to the internal space. To incorporate a feature-look to the design, AAd designs the customized silver-gray perforated aluminum panels on the facade. This perforated pattern is designed in varying size holes and patterns, from small to bigger, vary to the function inside and level of privacy. These perforated aluminum panels do not only serve as architectural elements, but also help to block the ambient noise from the busy road below, and allow light and air to enter without sacrificing privacy. This facade makes the gallery look like a feature box floating on a clear glass window sheet below.  © Soopakorn Srisakul - Ayutt Mahasom The aluminum facade is also designed for air buffer insulation to cool down the internal space. Yet, the facade is also intended to function as the 1:1 Penthouse mock up for the facade design of the main building. This is to emphasize the characteristic of the main building in which the main highlight is the sharp age triangular and panoramic view.  © Soopakorn Srisakul - Ayutt Mahasom For the main building, this facade is openable with 100% ventilation and allow the unit owners to take the panorama view of scenery when fully opened, or they can completely closed for privacy, sun-shade control and obtaining security. This facade is an excellent concept for adding a visually stunning element to interiors and exteriors alike. The result is a constantly changing building facade, almost the feature sculpture.  © Soopakorn Srisakul - Ayutt Mahasom Inside the main lobby space, space is cladded by the white marble stones contrast with the black granite reception counter. Passing by through this lobby, the visitors arrive at the 2-bedroom show suite. The gallery's second floor houses the meeting room, material gallery, and the 1-2 bedroom show suites. Just as the rest of the building's interiors, the show suites are fully designed and styled by AAd team, creating a holistic experience and offering a fresh take on modern-contemporary Thai lifestyle.  © Soopakorn Srisakul - Ayutt Mahasom The intermediate spaces between each show suites are defined by pocket gardens and courtyard, allowing the palette of nature and direct sun light to flow to each space. These pocket gardens also give rises to the visitor feel connected between inside - outside and provide a dramatic green vision for the corridor and show suites. The interaction of the living spaces with the lush gardens and courts engenders a sensuous engagement with the elements, resulting in a calming, peaceful environment which is the main concept of the 168 Residence.  © Soopakorn Srisakul - Ayutt Mahasom  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| A Sneak Peek into Jean Nouvel's Louvre Abu Dhabi as It Prepares for Fall Opening Posted: 25 Aug 2017 10:01 AM PDT  via Twitter user Ludovic Pouille The long-awaited Louvre Abu Dhabi, designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel, is getting ready for a grand opening, with images showing the metal-domed building in the final stages of construction. Officially started in 2009, work on the museum is nearly complete, with a rumored opening date scheduled for this November.  via Twitter user Ludovic Pouille  via Twitter user Ludovic Pouille The images, posted to Twitter by French ambassador to the UAE Ludovic Pouille following a recent trip to Abu Dhabi, show the building's 7,700-ton dome as well as some of the interior gallery spaces and the concrete steps leading to the site's waterfront. The ambassador was given a private tour of the museum, noting he was "amazed by progress made by great teams working 24/7."
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| Paseo de las Lilas / Taller David Dana Posted: 25 Aug 2017 10:00 AM PDT  © alessandro bo
 © alessandro bo From the architect. Based on a traditional program, it was agreed to project the house with a strong contemporary language, straight lines and pure volumes, inviting nature at all times to be an important part of the spaces inside the house, in this way the first level serves as the area of common areas where the kitchen and dining room are related directly The Rimadesio glass sliding doors allow flexibility in the configuration of the kitchen space providing privacy when needed.  © alessandro bo The upper floor of the house contains the private areas. The height of the ceiling and the depth of the space presented an opportunity that we decided to tacke with wood oak beams & a floor to ceiling bookshelf.  © alessandro bo  Second Floor Plan The architectural program of the ground floor N +112.35 consists of Room. Dining room, bookshelf, staircase, guest bathroom, storerooms, kitchen, pantry, vertical nucleus hall, elevator, service staircase.  © alessandro bo  First Floor Plan The architectural program of the upper floor N +115.620 consists of office, lobby area, master bedroom, master bath-dressing room, secondary bedroom, secondary bathroom, bedroom 1, bathroom 1, and Family Room.  © alessandro bo  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Francisco de Aguirre Building / Stein-Suazo Arquitectos Posted: 25 Aug 2017 08:00 AM PDT  © Aryeh Kornfeld
 © Aryeh Kornfeld From the architect. The project is a seven level office building. To reach an appropriate insertion of the building in a garden city model neighborhood, we performed several architecture operations.  Planters From a pedestrian point of view we solved the relationship between the building and the corner at the street level by sinking the access which allows the separation of the public circulation from the building access. This whole level is provided with a unitary view where the full-empty relationship is leveled with the use of concrete walls which at the same time grant a basis connotation to the office space and a unified view to the commercial use of the building.  © Aryeh Kornfeld On this concrete base rests a wooden U which surrounds and contains the office crystal box. Apart from separating uses, this wooden element is a climate regulator that protects the building from the north sun; in the south it decomposes in a horizontal view of the balconies which contain the green elements, the tree and the climbing plants which act as ending and filter, respectively. The green elements are also a replacement of the vegetation which previously existed in the area.  Elevations 01 Additionally, the use of these wooden elements enables the elimination of shafts inside the free space of the office area allowing at the same time a smooth vertical development of the installations. In this way the future user of the spaces can maximize the distribution flexibility of the spaces inside the office.  © Aryeh Kornfeld  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Main Entrance and Terrace in Miraflores / Ghezzi Novak Posted: 25 Aug 2017 06:00 AM PDT  © Renzo Rebagliati
 © Renzo Rebagliati From the architect. This project is about entering. A new entrance for a house surrounded by buildings.  © Renzo Rebagliati The entrance takes distance from the street to arrive to a vaulted, low and heavy volume. A purifying transition between outside and inside.  © Renzo Rebagliati This volume hides a secret and private place. A quiet interior that is a long terrace filled with plants.  Section Here the project is about being in a space. Being in a terrace underneath a totora canopy.  © Renzo Rebagliati  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Elon Musk’s Boring Company to Drill 1.6 Mile Test Tunnel Under Los Angeles Posted: 25 Aug 2017 05:15 AM PDT  Courtesy of The Boring Company Already having tackled electric vehicles, space flight, and high-speed vacuum tubes, benevolent mad scientist Elon Musk's latest foray into transportation infrastructure is ready to get off the ground, or rather, under it. The tech mogul's newest startup, the Boring Company, focuses on designing a subterranean network of tunnels beneath the streets of Los Angeles that could shuttle pedestrians and vehicles on electric sleds connected to a system of rails at speeds of up to 125 mph. Now, the company has announced approval by the LA County city of Hawthorne to construct a 1.6-mile-long tunnel that will allow the technology to be tested in-full for the first time. According to the Verge, the 12.5-foot-diameter tunnel will be located up to 44 feet below ground, making a 90 degree turn as it extends from a parking lot on the SpaceX headquarters to Hawthorne Boulevard at 120th Street. Construction on the project is expected to take about five months, with the company's namesake boring machine digging approximately 60 feet per day. According to senior director of facilities and construction for SpaceX, Brett Horton, the construction will be completed unnoticeable from aboveground: "They won't even know we're there." Learn more about the Boring Company on their website, here. News via the Verge.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| AdGear Technologies Headquarters / ACDF Architecture Posted: 25 Aug 2017 04:00 AM PDT  © Adrien Williams
 © Adrien Williams From the architect. AdGear – a fast-growing digital marketing agency founded in Montreal in 2010, and now an independent branch of Samsung Electronics – commissioned ACDF Architecture to design its new headquarters located on McGill Street, in Old Montreal.  © Adrien Williams AdGear is a young and innovative firm, and they wanted ACDF to provide them with a functional space for the company's 60 employees, that would play up the contrast between their historical setting and their innovative company culture.  Second Level Plan  Third Level Plan Originally built in 1886 as a dry goods warehouse, the property was transformed into office space in the late 1990s. ACDF developed the space comprised of two adjoining buildings using the party wall to designate two distinct zones in the office. On one side, a casual, open area unfolds, while the other side is devoted to offices and workspaces.  © Adrien Williams Throughout the two floors, the rough red brick and stone of the central wall contrast with new materials such as the newly polished glass panes used to separate the individual offices. Like a mirror, the slick and elegant surfaces reflect and showcase the richness of the building's rough clay bricks and wood beams. ACDF deliberately exposed the beams, stone inserts, the brick patterns, and celebrated their imperfections, enjoying how they narrate the history of the building.  © Adrien Williams They added sections of golden, textured wallpaper that provide the space with a surprising air of nobility and underscore the elegantly embossed tin ceilings. Throughout, they created black Gypsum walls to provide contrast and create a velvet-like frame to the shiny wallpaper.  © Adrien Williams Black chalkboard walls located at the center of the open space are handy communication tools for the employees, and whiteboard panels cleverly positioned against the surrounding brick encourage staff to have impromptu stand-up meetings and give them the ability to literally write on the walls and take ownership of their environment.  © Adrien Williams One of the challenges with this 10,000-square-foot space was to draw natural light into the deep floor plates. By keeping an open floor plan and using the glass panels, ACDF's design invites light from both the front and the rear of the building to meet in the center and illuminate the space. The main staircase – clad in robin's egg blue perforated steel – allows sunlight to pass through, further maximizing the natural light. The new staircase evokes the building's industrial past, while its angular geometry nods to a more contemporary era.  © Adrien Williams Bringing together straight lines with finesse, and sheer volume with transparency, the staircase plays with the different depths of its materials, continuing the theme of contrast that defines AdGear's headquarters. The staircase also possesses a unifying nature: more than just a connection between two large areas, it encourages employee cohesion and team building.  © Adrien Williams ACDF's design of this engaging, functional environment makes the most of space's brick-and-timber shell and historical features while inserting contemporary elements to a create a thoughtful union of old and new, symbolizing AdGear's rich and textured past, present and future.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The New Normal: Benjamin Bratton on the Language of Hybrids Posted: 25 Aug 2017 03:15 AM PDT  © Dmitry Smirnov The New Normal, a three year-long educational programme at Moscow's Strelka Institute of Architecture, Media and Design, is focused on "the opportunities posed by emerging technologies for interdisciplinary design practices." In this short essay, taken from a new book of the same name, course director Benjamin Bratton lays out the thesis behind the project. Something has shifted, it seems. We are making new worlds faster than we can keep track of them, and the pace is unlikely to slow. If our technologies have advanced beyond our ability to conceptualize their implications, such gaps can be perilous. In response, one impulse is to pull the emergency brake and to try put all the genies back in all the bottles. This is ill-advised (and hopeless). Better instead to invest in emergence, in contingency: to map the new normal for what it is, and to shape it toward what it should be.  Benjamin Bratton. Image © Dmitry Smirnov At Strelka, the previous program's research theme was called "Hybrid Urbanism," based on the idea that physical/virtual mixtures are still a novel hybrid. But this interlacing is not a hybrid; it is a normal thing, and if we don't have the right words to name it, then let's make them. Our theme for this three-year research project is The New Normal. The term can have several connotations and I like that slipperiness. The first is that design must map these bizarre circumstances anew if it has a hope of ever designating their futures. From there a second connotation, working to enforce new normative claims, is clear. Design's reaction to the new normal can't be phrased only in terms of acceptance or resistance, but of re-determining what norms will be. Despite appearances, this is still possible (what seems insurmountable may be a hollow). The language of hybrids is part of the problem. When something new appears, we may understand it as a combination of familiar things. A car is a "horseless carriage." A handheld computer + camera + wireless data is a "mobile phone." A metropolis woven with sensor networks and information technology is called a "smart city." A blockchain is, more or less, "digital money." And so on. Our formal and vernacular languages are strewn with horseless carriage metaphors. In the short term, hybrids may make sense by way of analogy and continuity, but soon they create confusion, and even fear, as the new evolves and resembles the familiar less and less. Hybrid terms delay recognition and defer understanding of what requires our most audacious attention.  Benjamin Bratton. Image © Dmitry Smirnov So instead of piling on more hybrids, exceptions and anomalies, we need a glossary for a new normal, and for its design and redesign. But why is that so hard, and what is the new normal anyway, or better, what should it be? I ask this because much of the new normal doesn't seem "new" at all. To the contrary it seems like a nightmarish regurgitation of history-themed vulgarities: stupidity locked in to a long winter 's ground war against reason. As 2016 is pulled remorselessly on into 2017, we are dumbstruck. Sometimes things are not as they seem (and sometimes they are even more what they are than they appear to be.) To see things new again, strange and marvelous, requires our most adventurous faculties of imagination. The new normal condition twists distant sites, one into another. Discontiguous megastructures cohere from molecular to urban to atmospheric scales into de facto jurisdictions. Ecological flows become sites of intensive sensing, quantification and governance. Cloud platforms take on the traditional role of states, as states evolve into cloud platforms. Cities link into vast discontiguous urban networks as they also multiply borders into enclaves inside of enclaves, nested in gated communities inside of gated communities. Interfaces present vibrant augmentations of reality: now address, interface, user. In my book The Stack: On Software and Sovereignty (one diagram with a 500-page caption) this is described as an accidental megastructure of planetary-scale computation.  Rem Koolhaas. Image © Dmitry Smirnov Strelka is a school of design and also a school of thought, and so a language of and for the urban, a new language for the new urban reality is essential. The New Normal program frames not just cities and their relationship to information technologies but (even more) of emergent economics, politics, and cultural norms: a multipolar Anthropocenic precipice, unfolding crises of authority (too much, too little), genomic flows and flux and fundamentalisms, financial melodramas, and a videogame-like geopolitics full of hidden trapdoors and Easter eggs. How to name these directly? It is not just hybrid terms that are suspect, but good words too, like "sovereignty," "politics," "identity," "human," "organic," "citizen," "home," "modern," "authentic," "progressive," "natural," etc. What do these words mean anymore? Or rather, does what they mean describe what is actually happening? When does the gap between what they mean and what is happening become so wide that we need to move on to new words? Can we invent a conceptual language fast enough to describe what we need to? How to design a more effective glossary? Can we do it fast enough? In order to articulate new normative claims, perhaps the most valuable thing we could hope to design is a viable glossary with which to name our situations directly. To assume that the future will be like the present—only more so—is a risky bet. The historical evidence is against it. The value of emerging technologies may be less that they bring new solutions, but that they pose essential problems and questions: automation of what? Machine vision of what? Recognition of what pattern? Whose artificial intelligence about what? The future city when? Who is included and excluded from the new norm; on what terms will we be included in each other's worlds, or not? We do not know what these technologies are for good for yet; they remain open to definition. That is the good news.  © Dmitry Smirnov  © Dmitry Smirnov  © Dmitry Smirnov
 The New Normal  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| #donotsettle Visits MAD’s "Out-of-this-World" Harbin Opera House Posted: 25 Aug 2017 02:30 AM PDT Welcome to the latest installment of #donotsettle extra, the series in which Wahyu Pratomo and Kris Provoost accompany some of their #donotsettle videos with in-depth textual analysis of the buildings they visit. After last month's visit to OMA's first building in Shanghai, we stayed in China and headed north—far north. We are happy to take you to a building that has been high on our "to-do list." Harbin, a provincial capital city in the north-east of China, has previously only been known for the large-scale ice sculptures that appear during the winter months. In the past two years, this has changed, at least for the architecture geeks spread around the world. Ma Yansong and his team at MAD Architects designed and built the Harbin Opera House in a new part of the city. First announced in 2013, the building was completed at the end of 2015. Since then, an endless stream of breathtaking photos has been shared on the internet. We had to see this project with our own eyes! We ventured out to Harbin and spent a day at the Opera.  © Wahyu Pratomo and Kris Provoost The ApproachSeemingly rising up from the landscape, two buildings become visible from afar. In a vast open landscape, the Harbin Opera House forms the centerpiece of a new Culture Island. Driving closer, we could not stop staring at the organic lines and shapes forming the buildings. We were dropped at the foot of a large staircase leading up to a welcoming plaza. Walking up, we were full of anticipation and curiosity about how this Opera House is perceived at first sight.  © Wahyu Pratomo and Kris Provoost The Social SpaceArriving in the early morning, the plaza was already bursting with activity. What a beautiful sight for our still slightly tired eyes. From young kids to the elderly, the plaza proved to be a popular spot for Harbiners and tourists. And why wouldn't it? With this architecture as a backdrop, we could spend days on end observing every corner of this building. (But wait! There is not one corner in this building. Everything blends together!) The same curiosity we felt was also visible in the early morning visitors. Snapping along, touching and walking across the large plaza, everybody seemingly enjoying their time in the sun with MAD's building as the ultimate destination.  © Wahyu Pratomo and Kris Provoost Interaction With The BuildingWe ventured along the "mountain flanks" making our way up the building to arrive at a viewing platform overlooking the city and the open landscape. It felt like a proper mountain hike. Wherever you look, there are people using the building in creative ways to snap that unforgettable photo. Seeing the visitors interact with the building was the absolute high point of this visit. If there is one building that deserves to be described as "Instagrammable," it's this one. Every angle, every perspective is crafted to create a new dimension, a new world.  © Wahyu Pratomo and Kris Provoost Blending Inside With OutsideSpeaking of a new world, the interior was that and so much more. Boundaries are thrown out of the windows, largely thanks to those large, well, windows. There is no beginning, no end; it all blends together. The foyer is filled with light, merging interior and exterior. The Grand Hall is, well, grand. In every possible meaning of the word. The interior forms space after space, each with its own views, own feelings, evoking different emotions. Imagine an endless space where feelings transform from grand to intimate, from excitement to calmness, and from overwhelming to encouraging as you walk through. A space with no walls and doors, but a journey into a new dimension.  © Wahyu Pratomo and Kris Provoost An Up-Close ExperienceYears after seeing the first models and construction photos, we stood in front of the new Harbin Opera House. After years of anticipation, excitement, enthusiasm, and eagerness, we sat on a bench observing people interacting with the building. This project is so much more multilayered than any picture can give away. Looking back at the footage, we get the chills. This building isn't just a building. It's an out-of-this-world experience, a mesmerizing journey. Thanks to the great team at MAD Architects for making this visit possible. We can't wait to immerse ourselves in more MAD architecture soon. #donotsettle is a project about Architecture and Experience. Watch 100+ more videos related to Architecture on our YouTube Channel, or see what we are up to on Instagram and Facebook. Harbin Opera House / MAD Architects Iwan Baan's Photographs of the Harbin Opera House in Winter  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Rehabilitation of a Traditional Housing in Moscoso / LIQE arquitectura Posted: 25 Aug 2017 02:00 AM PDT  © Roi Alonso
 © Roi Alonso From the architect. Usually, a project involves creating something out of nothing; but sometimes, as in this case, it is about strengthening something that was already there. A long stone building, with a powerful balcony facing the valley, to the north.  © Roi Alonso An elevated shed leaning on a warped and also excessively long wood beam, with three facades made out of stone and one out of wood, to the south. The Cruceiro Grande, where three religious processions become one, is out on the street, to the east. And an impressive Hórreo supported in stone beams under which one enters the garden, to the west.  © Roi Alonso  Floor Plans  © Roi Alonso And then, in the center: the "eira", the work yard, sheltered from the wind, the main focus of everything around it. This time the project is about prolonging the life of these elements in a world that is no longer their own. Hórreo and Cruceiro will remain as traces of the past. The patio will become the entrance to the home, the hub of human activity. The shed is no longer needed as a warehouse, and it transforms into a bedroom. For this purpose a linking piece is born: a bridge that links both bodies in a transparent continuum that snaps into the stone façade of the house, that covers two existing windows, and that continues until absorbing the new supporting facade with a wooden structure that marks off the shed.  © Roi Alonso A single gesture that brings transparency; and with its light, natural heating, and visual connection; while at the same time being integrated with the traditional building and filtering from the outside through fins that continue the Hórreo façade throughout the house and towards the balcony roof and the garage wall, unifying the work.  © Roi Alonso The current staircase sitting in the courtyard is moved to the interior of the house, placed on the opposite face of the same wall, easing the transition between outside and inside, taking form with the gradual transformation of granite into Chestnut wood: from the cold exterior to the warm interior. Once inside, three large sliding panels work as a second privacy filter, closing a dining area and a kitchen that evoke the cellars and stables that originally occupied the lower levels of the house, by using rows of concrete vaults for the ceiling. Ceramic floor tiles are combined in gray tones with items made of wood in doors, windows, and pavements, enhancing the transition to the upper floor, where wood presence grows larger.  © Roi Alonso Above it all, a large corridor in the inside replicates the one located outside, defined by the constant search for spatial continuity: Vertically a double height space is generated towards the office located in the attic, and a cascade of light is eased towards the ground floor with a transparent pavement. Horizontally the patio is inserted into the house thanks to the transparency of the walkway, giving birth to a light continuum that contrasts with the pre-existing small openings in the first floor.  © Roi Alonso  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 10 (More) Beautiful Staircases, Part II Posted: 25 Aug 2017 01:00 AM PDT We’ve already presented a selection of staircases made from beautiful materials, and are back for round 2! With different types of materials and support techniques, some stairs give us the feeling of being suspended in the air, while others play with the exposed elements that sustain them. In this round-up, we’ve got some seriously spiraling stairs, both in public and private buildings. We’re also showcasing some unique metal staircases so thin they look almost see-through – a feat of architecture and structural design. Check out ten more unique staircases from our archive below: Bank of London and South America / Clorindo Testa + SEPRA  © Federico Cairoli Duurzaamheidscentrum Assen / 24H > architecture House in Byoubugaura / Takeshi Hosaka  © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners  © Carlos Eguiguren IENOVA / Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos  © Ewout Huibers Artist's Residence Room On The Roof / i29 interior architects  © Žiga Lovšin Dominion Office Building / Zaha Hadid Architects  © Hufton+Crow  © Earl Carter Chang Ucchin Museum in Yangju / Chae-Pereira Architects  © Thierry Sauvage  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Paris Opens Its First-Ever Public Swimming Pools Posted: 24 Aug 2017 11:00 PM PDT
On July 15, the city of Paris announced the opening of three natural swimming pools that receive their water supply from the Seine River, located in the La Villette Basin in the 19th arrondissement of the city. Spanning a total of 1,600 square meters, the new attraction is divided into a children's area, with depths of up to 40cm; an area of medium depth of 1,2m; and a larger pool, with depths of about two meters. The swimming pools are part of the "Swimming in Paris" project, presented for the first time by the City Council of The French Capital in June 2015, with the goal of "encouraging the practice of swimming for Parisians and Tourists." According to an official statement from the city government, the project aims to allow, by 2020, the "modernization of water parks and the creation of new swimming pools and areas for bathing." According to a report by RFI, the project is emblematic because it will be the first permenant public swimming area in Paris. After organizing a series of "dives" (temporary swimming pools on the banks of the Seine), the realization of the swimming pools in the La Villette Basin is an important step for the "Swimming in Paris" project. The City Council is expecting the pools to attract about 75,000 visitors per day. News via: rfi.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 24 Aug 2017 10:00 PM PDT  © José Hevia
 © José Hevia From the architect. Figueras International Seating, the company specializing in the design and manufacturing of high-end fixed seating and movable seating solutions for public spaces, inaugurated a new Design Centre designed by Miriam Castells Studio. The company wanted to update the facility at the core of all new product design and development, this coinciding in time with a renewal process of its corporate image.  © José Hevia The renovation had to consider the ultimate purpose of the centre which is, from this space, to study market trends, consumer needs as well as design, materials and finishes of Figueras new product generation. The whole project had to be conceived around that idea.  © José Hevia For the site of the Design Centre, an old warehouse was chosen, found in one of the factory premises, located in the outskirts of Barcelona, seeking to emphasize its "Industrial Design" tradition.  Section The connection between the different factory spaces creates a tangible union between the product design process and the product production process. In the same facilities are also found, in an adjacent building, Figueras International Seating headquarters.  © José Hevia In this context, the Design Centre's concept seeks to preserve intact the space's physiognomy and place a new module, non-invasive with the environment, where the new services needed by the client are found. The project sought a luminous and ample space that dialogues with the rest of the facilities in a friendly way.  © José Hevia For that purpose, the pillar and metal truss structure, roof skylights, windows openings and concrete pavement have been preserved. At the same time an open space loft comprising a new matte white metal structure and a composite metal deck is created. The ground floor spaces are delimited by glazed pine wood frames.  © José Hevia The space is divided into 2 floors. The lower one houses a historic and current product showroom, a meeting room, the photography set, the model workshop and the office and bathrooms area. On the upper floor is the open space studio, open to the whole.  © José Hevia To give the whole space more natural light, the project redesigns the main entrance access. Originally, it was opaque metallic in corporate red and is replaced by an iron and glass on which is printed the Design Centre graph. The entrance angles towards the interior which invites the user to enter.  © José Hevia At entrance level, the original industrial concrete flooring hosts the showroom area. The brand's iconic designs are on display on minimal pine wood shelves. The latest news is exhibited on a white platform with geometric shapes.  © José Hevia When leaving the showroom behind, the space is divided into three zones of identical proportion: the office area and bathrooms, the model workshop and the photography studio. The access doors to these spaces follow the discourse of the main entrance door, with large glazed woodwork frames which provide natural light and harmony to the whole space. In front of the stairs, just on the right side of the door, the meeting room is located.  © José Hevia Climbing up the stairs we find the design studio floor. It is an open space which is enclosed by a parapet of concrete blocks completed by a pine wood handrail, acting as a balcony from which the lower floor can be viewed. The dominating piece in this room is the large white working desk, and like other spaces, the ancillary furniture is made in pine wood.  © José Hevia  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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