Arch Daily |
- House HC / Wim Heylen
- Deaconry Bethanien / e2a
- Smart Home / Green Sheep Collective
- Chubby Cat House / aoa architects
- Sun Plaza 2 / Poonsook Architects + Normalstudio
- PRODUCE Workshop's "Fabricwood" Named World's Best Interior of 2017
- Terrence Zhang Wins Arcaid Award for World's Best Building Image 2017
- Guangming Post-Earthquake Reconstruction Project Wins World Building of the Year 2017
- Naver Imae Nursery School / DㆍLIM architects
- MACH House / Luciano Kruk
- Tesla Unveils Electric Cargo Truck that Could Change the Future of Shipping
- Boardwalk Cabin Compound / DYNIA ARCHITECTS
- Mecanoo and Beyer Blinder Belle Unveil $317 Million Masterplan for the New York Public Library's Main Branch
- END THE ROC / nook architects
- A Real-Estate Development and Culture Company Has Created an Exhibition Highlighting the Need to "Fight for Beauty"
- Victor Legorreta: “Sometimes, Architects Take Themselves Too Seriously”
- D&D Art of Tasting / João Tiago Aguiar Arquitectos
- Studio Libeskind's Military Museum Through the Lens of Alexandra Timpau
- Spotlight: Rem Koolhaas
| Posted: 17 Nov 2017 09:00 PM PST  © Wim Heylen
 © Wim Heylen Text description provided by the architects. The terraced house is located in a housing project from '58 in Wondelgem, Belgium. The project has the typical combination of identical row houses with alternately mirrored ground plans. All of them have a single-storey extension and a semi-private road at the back of the plot connecting the various garages and garden storages. Over the years many residents have filled up the open space between the extensions with verandas and secondary buildings, and by thus have lost relationship with the exterior space.  Unfolded Facade For this reason, the veranda, a secondary extension and the garden storage of this rowhouse were broken down. The building was returned to its original state as the starting point of the new volume. It connects with the main structure across the entire width of the plot, but then works towards the line of the original extension and opens again towards the garden. Due to this compression and decompression of interior and exterior space, the house unfolds into the garden and brings green and daylight into the interior, without the use of light domes or patios. Because of this configuration, the interior space could be orientated as desired: the dining area turns towards the west to capture the evening sun. The terrace is a continuation of this movement: it flows from the interior floor into a path to the dirt road.  © Wim Heylen The total experience differs from the expected look and feel of a row house through the wide parama offered by the unfolded façade: it is not a row house with tunnel view, but .one with different spaces in an open relationship with each other and the exterior  Diagram  Diagram The architect deliberately chose to preserve the atmosphere of the existing home. Kitchen, dining room and bathroom were the focus point of the renovation, the remaining spaces could maintain virtually unchanged. On the ground floor, the new extension is in symbiosis with the existing house; rather than making a break with the past, a reference was made to specific materials and elements to bring the past and present together. The bricks of the demolition were recycled and crown the concrete structure as a continuation of the back facade of the main building. The flagstones of the terrace and the kitchen breathe the spirit of '58.  © Wim Heylen In the same sense, the plan of the upper floor remained largely preserved, but the bathroom was moved to a new, broader location. This space is further increased visually by a parallel placement of mirrors that create an infinite replay of reflections. Behind one of these mirrors a wall curves around the bath creating a shower space.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 17 Nov 2017 06:00 PM PST  © Rasmus Norlander
Text description provided by the architects. The plane-like building volume can be interpreted as a solitary gesture. The orthogonal form of the plane plays off of the typologies present in the surrounding urban fabric, which is characterized by manufacturing plants. The diagonal relationships resulting from this strategy create the basis for the structure of the exterior spaces.  © Rasmus Norlander  Typical Floor The deaconry consists of a complex set of interrelated functions; this arose out of necessity in the coordination of the intended nursing and assistance programs, particularly in regard to the extensive infrastructure required to create the most possible synergies. As such, the program includes a palliative care facility, daycare, specialized medical facility, classrooms, service areas, and a hotel with a conference room, bar, and restaurant. A complex and efficient infrastructural core services these various functions. Some are finished with self-contained vertical circulation, allowing parallel and simultaneous operations to occur without causing conflicts of interest between these separate functions. The interplay of the programmatic elements results in a ground floor highly connected to the adjacent open space. The functions themselves create a public destination animated by the activity of the site, thus giving the space an urban quality.  © Georg Aerni The slight widening of the volume's cubic form benefits the organization of the floor plans. With a linear core zone and load-bearing exterior walls, a column-free plan was developed and can be arranged in many configurations. In response to the vertical sequence of the functions, a robust structure with a high level of flexibility was created. The façade receives consistent treatment on each side with repetitive patterns of external sliding glass windows. Similarly to the structure of the floors, each of the various programmatic elements will manifest themselves through the use of the openings, generating an intriguing building skin. Individually adjustable sliding shutters on the façade create a playful variability, allowing the grid of the windows to temporarily disappear and hinting at the simultaneous existence of multiple functions  © Rasmus Norlander  © Rasmus Norlander  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Smart Home / Green Sheep Collective Posted: 17 Nov 2017 02:00 PM PST  © Emma Cross
 © Emma Cross Text description provided by the architects. Smart Home is a renovation and extension to a two-bedroom single-fronted timber Victorian cottage in inner Melbourne. It utilizes a wide range of social, healthy, environmental and passive solar design principles and products to create a high-level environmentally sustainable home that is also modestly-sized and affordable. We aimed to create a project that achieves: An outstanding, affordable home: It was important to us to create an example of best-practice environmentally sustainable design that is both achievable and affordable for many Australians. The final build cost per square meter for this project is $2,300/m2 +GST. We believe this is an excellent result for a home designed to high-level environmentally sustainable design principles.  © Emma Cross A small, smart result: More space, however environmentally designed and constructed, still creates environmental impact. Thrive Research has shown that every 12-meter square room built in Australia creates the equivalent of 80,000km worth of car exhaust emissions, consumes 90 years'€™ worth of drinking water for four persons, and costs $24,000 in construction and energy bills over its lifetime Through carefully assessing the need for every additional square meter of home (and utilizing a mezzanine instead of a second story) we added 20% more usable indoor space to their existing home with only 13m2 additional footprint. Almost 50% landscape coverage: We aim to maintain as much landscape in our projects '€" particularly in highly urbanized environments '€" to enhance the wellbeing of ecosystems and inhabitants.  © Emma Cross Our clients requested a more thermally comfortable home with best-practice environmental credentials. This project faced a number of critical challenges that had to be overcome in order to meet these sustainability and design targets. The constraints included overshadowing, poor orientation and a small 7.5 metre wide east-west block built close to the boundary. The existing home was dark and leaky with a lean-to at the rear. We needed to demolish the lean-to and create a whole-home solution that connected existing home with new renovation while improving the thermal performance of the home as a whole. We had to modify our clients'€™ initial brief for the second story to achieve sustainability (and budget) targets.  © Emma Cross Our clients were unaware of the environmental, spatial and fiscal costs of '€œgoing up'€: the additional space required for the second storey to house the staircase and associated circulation spaces; '€œhidden'€ costs for labour, scaffolding, insurances, materials, engineering, and design to accommodate overlooking legislation; heating, cooling, cleaning and maintenance requirements and ongoing costs, and so on. Our response creates interesting volumes for architectural beauty, and minimises idle space by ensuring the floor plan is utilised to its full capacity through clever storage solutions and split level living. The single storey addition includes open plan living, dining and kitchen opening via large openable glazed doors to an outdoor deck.  Ground Floor Plan A mezzanine over the pantry and study nook utilizes the volumes created by the cathedral ceiling, while large openable skylights increase the perception of light and space, and double as 'thermal chimneys' to assist natural ventilation processes in summer. Storage is integrated into built-in dining seating, while the study can easily be closed off by operating a large sliding door. The mezzanine stair is also integrated into this space, where it can slide in and out of a bookshelf. Brick planter boxes are located directly outside windows to bring the garden closer to the house, and allow for a herb garden directly outside the kitchen window. This smart storage combines with beautiful material selections, natural light and exciting form to transform the cottage into a high performance, healthy, and comfortable modern residence.  © Emma Cross  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Chubby Cat House / aoa architects Posted: 17 Nov 2017 12:00 PM PST  © Hyosook Chin
 © Hyosook Chin Text description provided by the architects. Since the site was located at the end of a dead-end street and surrounded all over by buildings, it needed something that allows the building to be recognized at least from the main road. As shown in a typical Seoul neighborhood, Seongsan-dong is also full of irregular buildings by unknown developers and local builders, so if one elevation of the building becomes one large flat surface, it could not only highlight the presence of the building giving it a unique impression, but also be helpful to promote sale of units. Since the land owner was also a typical local developer, he undoubtedly demanded a unit-configuration that would maximize profits for the given conditions. Attempt to squeeze in a maximum number of units given the floor area ratio resulted in somewhat uneven floor plans, and the building section also had to be in accordance with the lines of the setback regulation of solar access right. This results in the typical consequence of the 'economic necessity' to accommodate as many units as possible in a relatively small plot and the complicated "auto-generative mechanism" created by the setback lines of building regulation which are inherent in many medium-size residential buildings in Seoul.  Axonometric  © Hyosook Chin If this mass of capital and functions generated by the structure of the Korean real estate market coexist with the large flat surface reacting to the surrounding, it could be interpreted that the building, like a man wearing a mask to conceal his face, wears a mask to veil a heap of greed behind. The flat surface seen on the road becomes an exaggerated free-standing wall, thereby becoming a kind of 'decorated shed' which denied the proposition of modernism 'form follows function' and thus broke the typical cohesion of form and space. Furthermore, the representative building elevation, 'the facade' adds some satirical humor by associating certain shape or figure. One day, if a giant cat or owl appears reminding of a scene in a Japanese animation, it will be sure to liven up the neighborhood adding fun and pleasure.  © Hyosook Chin While the ground floor is reserved for parking, the upper floors consist of 13 units in total: 4 units each on the 2nd and 3rd floor, 2 units with terraces on the 4th and 3 units with attics on the 5th. For privacy and convenience, main layout is designed around corridors on the one side of the building. Although each unit is quite small, all rooms are standardized without jagged corners for maximum efficiency and equipped with big windows for openness. The ceiling is left without light fixtures and the door height is slightly reduced than usual to achieve the sense of openness. In consideration of its complex form, the exterior was finished simply with white stucco and partially with blue tiles for concerns of contamination.  Elevation Sketch  © Hyosook Chin  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Sun Plaza 2 / Poonsook Architects + Normalstudio Posted: 17 Nov 2017 11:00 AM PST  © Soopakorn Srisakul
 © Soopakorn Srisakul Text description provided by the architects. The building is located in a typical urban scene of Bangkok, a heterogeneous context, an ensemble comprising of skyscraper complexes, tiny wooden houses or even temporary shelters for food stalls. The architect confronts the need for maximum commercial space while maintaining an architectural quality within the tightness of the site. The project is a multi-phase construction task; a two-story annex is first constructed while the existing, one-story building still operates as a food court. After the completion of the annex, the roof of the existing building is raised up to cover the new-built upper floor plate constructed on the existing foundation. A ground floor provides spaces for a minimart, rental shops, parking and a common hall for temporary kiosks. The design of the ground floor is based on an existing structural grid of 3.5 x 3.5 m.  Cross Section  © Soopakorn Srisakul An upper floor is dedicated to a food court, a rectangular dining hall flanked on one side with a raw of individual food parlors. The food parlors are backed with a common service corridor leading to a central washing area. This arrangement maximizes the seating capacity and creates a non obstructed floating façade along the public road leading to a visual connection between the dining hall and the pedestrian downward. A long servery counters are projected slightly inclined to introduce a dynamic line into a rigid shape of the dining hall.Two free-standing kiosks are placed deliberately in the dining hall dividing it rhythmically while maintaining the interaction of divided spaces bringing a perception of flowing space into the hall.  © Soopakorn Srisakul A main outdoor stair directs pedestrian from a small open square on the ground level up to the food court in the upper floor. Two escalators in scissor arrangement regulate the user between commercial area and food court. The building is projected align with the neighboring buildings, the façade harmonizes to an adjoining building giving the visual continuity of perspective view in urban context. Four "Pop-up" parts of façade accent the lengthiness of the building.  Longitudinal Section  © Soopakorn Srisakul The floating façade is cladded with a repetitive module of the various sized fiber cement panels. The different shade of the panels helps to pixelate a gigantic building mass into a mild appearance while keeps stating an existence of the building at the same time. In contrast to the colorful outer skin, the interior is dominated by white creating a strict boundary between inside and outside of the building.  © Soopakorn Srisakul  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| PRODUCE Workshop's "Fabricwood" Named World's Best Interior of 2017 Posted: 17 Nov 2017 10:30 AM PST  Overall & Display Winner: Fabricwood; Singapore / PRODUCE Workshop. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival PRODUCE Workshop's flexible plywood "Shop-in-Shop" interior for Herman Miller at the XTRA flagship store in Singapore has been named the world's best interior of 2017 at the INSIDE World Festival of Interiors, which took place alongside the 2017 World Architecture Festival in Berlin. The overall winner was selected from a list of 9 nine category winners announced over the first two days of the event, which themselves were selected from a shortlist of 78 projects. Dubbed "Fabricwood" by its designers, the winning space comprises a 20-meter arched structure constructed of plywood panels modeled to give the appearance of fabric. The installation was also the winner of the Display category. Last year's top honors were awarded to Hangzhou AN Interior's Black Cant System. Read on to see all of the category winners. CATEGORY WINNERSDisplay & Overall Winner: Fabricwood; Singapore / PRODUCE Workshop Overall & Display Winner: Fabricwood; Singapore / PRODUCE Workshop. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival Creative Re-Use and Overall Highly Commended: The Garage: Beijing B+ Automobile Service Center; Beijing, China / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office Creative Re-use Winner and Overall Highly Commended: The Garage: Beijing B+ Automobile Service Center; Beijing, China / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival Bars & Restaurants: Big Small Coffee and Guestroom; Beijing, China / Office AIO Bars & Restaurants Winner: Big Small Coffee and Guestroom; Beijing, China / Office AIO. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival Civic, Culture & Transport: Mary Rose Museum; Portsmouth, United Kingdom / Perkins+Will Civic, Culture & Transport Winner: Mary Rose Museum; Portsmouth, United Kingdom / Perkins+Will. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival Health & Education: Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal; Montréal, Canada / CannonDesign + NEUF architect(e)s Health & Education Winner: Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal; Montréal, Canada / CannonDesign + NEUF architect(e)s . Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival Hotels: Ir-On Hotel; Bangkok, Thailand / Hypothesis Hotels Winner: Ir-On Hotel; Bangkok, Thailand / Hypothesis. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival Offices: Airbnb European Headquarters; Dublin, Ireland / Heneghan Peng Architects Offices Winner: Airbnb European Headquarters; Dublin, Ireland / Heneghan Peng Architects. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival Residential - Sponsored by Miele: Cleveland Rooftop; Sydney, Australia / SJB Residential Winner - Sponsored by Miele: Cleveland Rooftop; Sydney, Australia / SJB. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival Retail: ROU by T HAM Concept Store; Taipei, Taiwan / WZWX Architecture Group Retail Winner: ROU by T HAM Concept Store; Taipei, Taiwan / WZWX Architecture Group. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Terrence Zhang Wins Arcaid Award for World's Best Building Image 2017 Posted: 17 Nov 2017 09:30 AM PST  Gymnasium of the New Campus of Tianjin University, China / Atelier Li Xinggang. Image © Terrence Zhang Terrence Zhang has been named the winner of the 2017 Arcaid Images Architectural Photographer of the Year Award for his "striking image" of the Swimming Pool at the New Campus of Tianjin University in China, designed Atelier Li Xinggang. Announced on the final day of the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Berlin, the image was lauded for its ability to capture the shafts of sunlight entering through the clerestory and interacting with the water. "The image is framed beautifully by the curved ceiling arches of the structure's roof," commented WAF. Zhang will be presented with a $3,000 prize at the 'Building Images' exhibition at Sto Werkstatt, London in February, where all of the shortlisted images will be displayed. News via Arcaid.
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| Guangming Post-Earthquake Reconstruction Project Wins World Building of the Year 2017 Posted: 17 Nov 2017 09:15 AM PST  Post-Earthquake Reconstruction Project in Guangming Village / The Chinese University of Hong Kong & Kunming University of Science and Technology. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival The Chinese University of Hong Kong & Kunming University of Science and Technology's Post-Earthquake Reconstruction Project in Guangming Village has been named the World Building of the Year for 2017 at the finale gala of the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Berlin. The project becomes the 10th to hold the title of World Building of the Year. Last year, the award was given to Robert Konieczny + KWK Promes' National Museum in Szczecin - Dialogue Centre Przełomy. Due to the "high standard of category winners presented in the first two days of WAF", the super jury has also awarded a Director's Special Award to Superlofts Houthaven in Amsterdam by Marc Koehler Architects. Winners of the year's Future Project, Landscape, Small Project, Iran Special Prize and Best Use of Colour awards were also announced. Continue after the break to see the winners. World Building of the Year: Post-Earthquake Reconstruction Project in Guangming Village / The Chinese University of Hong Kong & Kunming University of Science and Technology. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival The project was initiated in response to the catastrophic Ludian earthquake in 2014, which destroyed most of the traditional rammed-earth buildings in the village of Guangming. When replacement materials such as brick and concrete proved to be too costly for most of the village's residents, the architect team developed a new technique of constructing rammed-earth homes that will be more resistant to future seismic activity. A prototype house built for an elderly couple was completed last year, proving the method could provide a safe, economical, comfortable, and sustainable reconstruction strategy for the village and the wider region of Southwest China. From the WAF: The judges believed this to be an extraordinary project in terms of the scope of ambition, exemplified in the addressing of profound problems facing ordinary people. They applauded the re-use of traditional material and construction methods but with the addition of new technology - combining ancient wisdom with modern know-how. The judges were also impressed by the iterative research process which could be re-applied to anywhere in the world affected by seismic problems and low levels of wealth. "The architects succeeded in translating 'four walls and a roof' into something which, through architectural commitment, becomes a project that is much more profound," WAF Programme Director Paul Finch commented. "This building is a demonstration that architecture is just as relevant in the poorest of communities as it is in the richest." Director's Special Award:Superlofts Houthaven; Amsterdam, Netherlands / Marc Koehler Architects  Superlofts Houthaven; Amsterdam, Netherlands / Marc Koehler Architects. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival A new co-housing concept that aims to create a global network of local building co-operatives, judges said the concept is "a game changer - a replicable and transferable model which could extend in terms of scale." Future Project of the Year:Sydney Fish Markets; Sydney, Australia / Allen Jack + Cottier Architects  Sydney Fish Markets; Sydney, Australia / Allen Jack + Cottier Architects . Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival WAF's Future Project super jury selected the project for "the great transformation it offers to the area" commending it for its vision beyond the brief." Its success stems from the engagement and collaboration with politicians, developers and land owners." The Sydney Fish Market won as the project transforms a world bigger then itself. The architects executed their role in an exemplary and inspiring fashion. Small Project of the Year:Streetlight Tagpuro; Tacloban, Philippines / Eriksson Furunes + Leandro V. Locsin  Streetlight Tagpuro; Tacloban, Philippines / Eriksson Furunes + Leandro V. Locsin. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival "A genuine good news story, whereby a community engagement process led to an authentic and high quality result." The project involved the relocation of NGO Streetlight's office, orphanage and study centre in the wake of super-typhoon Haiyan. Landscape of the Year:The Recovered Archaeological Landscape of Chengtoushan; Lixian County, China / Turenscape  The Recovered Archaeological Landscape of Chengtoushan; Lixian County, China / Turenscape. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival The judges felt that this project reflected a hopeful and creative mixture of archaeological history, rice production and tourism. The landscape project is based around a live 6,500 year-old archaeological site which has been protected by the local government of this rural province. The judges were impressed with the "productive engagement between visitors and farmers who are able to maintain their traditional livelihoods". Iran Special Prize for Completed Buildings:Pars Hospital; Rasht, Iran / New Wave Architecture  Pars Hospital; Rasht, Iran / New Wave Architecture. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival The project topped a shortlist of eight Iranian projects. Completed in 2016, the hospital was praised by judges as "a design that understands and confidently solves the puzzle of a large hospital and reaches a resolution of public spaces, links and views that makes a delightfully coloured and light place of repair and recovery." Best Use of Colour:Fitzroy Crossing Renal Hostel, Australia / Iredale Pedersen Hook Architects  Fitzroy Crossing Renal Hostel; Fitzroy Crossing, Australia / Iredale Pedersen Hook Architects. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival The judges found the use of colour to be "sensitive, elegant and well balanced." The building provides a long term accommodation facility for Aboriginal people from outlaying communities receiving renal dialysis. The aim of the centre is to humanely support the needs of the residents, who may be self sufficient and independent, or may have a carer living with them. The architecture facilitates a safe environment to wander and gather with occupants, family, friends and the community. Light is filtered through the coloured screens that run along the side of the structure. Judges praised the practice for "a design that uses holistically integrated colour relative to the landscape and the local community. As the project's main function is healing, the use of colour creates an emotional context that is deeply supportive and nurturing." See the Day 1 category winners here, and Day 2 winners, here. News and project descriptions via WAF.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Naver Imae Nursery School / DㆍLIM architects Posted: 17 Nov 2017 09:00 AM PST .jpg?1510612980 "© Joonhwan Yoon") © Joonhwan Yoon
 © Joonhwan Yoon  First floor plan Text description provided by the architects. The Naver Imae Nursery School, established on the eastern edge of Bundang, is a nursery school that teaches 300 students. with a college scale garden, a slope that extends more than ten metres across the site, and the requirement of a 20% legal building coverage ratio within a green area, a design plan for a new type of nursery school was initiated.  © Joonhwan Yoon  © Joonhwan Yoon Utilizing the naturally graded site, the building was organised into three levels: the parking lot and support facility on the lowest level, and the nursery facility on the upper two levels. The children were given a safe school where its confines accommodate all parking demands and bus turns. By using the sloped site in an efficient way, an underground space of the same conditions as the ground level receives natural light was made possible during planning, and except for the top level, al floors are in contact with the ground, meaning almost every nursery classroom has a front yard. 300 students are dispersed across three different building units, connected through the underground stylobate.  Elevation 01  Section 01  © Joonhwan Yoon These three buildings are placed in a row from east to west, with the playground at the centre, embracing the warm sunlight from the south. Modularized plies were placed between classrooms to compose the rest room and playroom. As the building's height gradually escalates following the incline upward, it naturally assimilates with the surrounding mountain scene. The physical properties of the achromatic cement bricks and exposed concrete finishing become nature's background and goes along with the surrounding green.  © Joonhwan Yoon  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 17 Nov 2017 07:00 AM PST  © Daniela Mac Adden /
 © Daniela Mac Adden / Text description provided by the architects. Mach House is a suburban permanent home located in a gated community in Maschwitz, in northern Greater Buenos Aires.  Ground Floor Plan The curved streets layout defines the shape of the neighborhood’s lots and the one in which Mach House was built is a trapezoid with curved front and rear sides.  © Daniela Mac Adden /  Floor Plan Located in the community’s border and in its highest area, the plot’s plain terrain was originally free of tree vegetation.  © Daniela Mac Adden / Having experienced what it feels like to spend some time in an exposed concrete summer house the Studio had built for his father, the commissioner requested a home for himself that shared its materiality and esthetic language.  © Daniela Mac Adden / The commission consisted in a minimum square footage house whose program of uses had to be organized in a single floor plan containing one en suite master bedroom, one secondary bedroom, a kitchen and a dining area in direct relationship with a living room that was also linked with a semi covered gallery, and a smaller living room that would function as a TV/cinema area. The commissioner also expressed his desire that the house should harbor an inner patio with plants and water.  Section A square floor plan with almost blind side walls was designed according to the Studio’s strategy, making the house turn inside, and open out towards the front and the rear, thus generating crossed views between the street and the back garden.  Section The house’s different areas were organized on a three-by-three orthogonal grid, whose central module housed the inner open space the client requested, with its reflecting pool, raw terrain and vegetation.  © Daniela Mac Adden / Sunlight enters this open module through the opening in the roof and the water surface within reflects the sunrays, producing different light effects throughout the day. These project into the house through the glazed windows and, together with the vegetation, bring a calm and intimate atmosphere to the inside.  © Daniela Mac Adden / All the framing was materialized in dark bronze anodized aluminum and is double glazed.  Axonometric  © Daniela Mac Adden / With the kitchen and the entrance laying on the south-eastern facade, and the bedrooms and the bathrooms laying on the north-western, the house’s side walls have small openings strategically located according to the particular needs of each area. In contrast, the front and the rear of the house open out through big glazed panes.  © Daniela Mac Adden / With the intention of generating enough privacy, a reflecting pool separates the house from the street and aquatic plants were set in front of the bedroom.  © Daniela Mac Adden / When open, the big glazed sliding panes of the rear link the indoor spaces with the semi covered deck that lies just outside.  © Daniela Mac Adden / Thus, the opening allows this part of the house to expand into a generous space closely related to the green exterior. The semi covered areas in front of the transparent planes regulate both how much direct sunlight gets in and the thermal incidence. Besides passive sun control provided by the house’s architecture itself, Split air conditioners and radiating floors heating systems were installed.  © Daniela Mac Adden / The rear of the house is endowed with long views of an exuberant grove. Facing the possibility that in time these views might be reduced by the neighborhood’s growth, a private green space with a reflecting swimming pool was designed.  © Daniela Mac Adden / The expressive substance of the exposed concrete, modeled by means of a wooden formwork, gives the house a more pure bearing. The sheltering sensation produced by the concrete’s stony essence and its monomaterialty, present on the floors, the roof and the building shell, reinforces the house’s ambiance and the way the light effects, the air, and the smells are perceived.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Tesla Unveils Electric Cargo Truck that Could Change the Future of Shipping Posted: 17 Nov 2017 06:00 AM PST  Courtesy of Tesla At last night's keynote address, Tesla unveiled the company's first electric-powered large cargo vehicle, the Tesla Semi, providing a first look at how the shipping industry of the future could operate. Employing the same sleek forms that define their roadster and sedan models, the Tesla Semi is designed "specifically around the driver," with ergonomically-designed stairs for easier entry and exit, full standing height interior, and a centrally-position driver's seat for optimal visibility. Touchscreen displays will provide the driver with heads-up navigation and data monitoring, while a blind spot protection will increase driver awareness on the road.  Courtesy of Tesla The Semi was also lauded as "the safest truck ever," thanks to features such as Automatic Emergency Braking, Automatic Lane Keeping, Lane Departure Warning, event recording, and Tesla's "Enhanced Autopilot" system. "It's not like any truck that you've ever driven," said Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the Los Angeles event.  Courtesy of Tesla The truck will be able to go from 0 to 60 mph in 20 second when at full legal capacity of 80,000 pounds, and will be able to travel approximately 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) on a single charge. And when hooked up to the newly revealed Megacharger (which could be installed along popular travel routes), the battery will be able to add about 400 miles in just 30 minutes. While these travel distances don't quite measure up to a more traditional diesel-powered truck, Tesla notes that a majority of shipping routes will still be able to be made on a single charge, given that 80% of freight in the U.S. is moved less than 250 miles.  Courtesy of Tesla Price, too, may be a hindrance to full adoption of the Tesla Semi. According to a Carnegie Mellon study, the Semi's battery pack alone is estimated to cost about $200,000, nearly $80,000 more than the cost of the average diesel truck. But Tesla is banking that companies will consider the long-term return on investment of the electric-powered vehicle. According to the company, based on current electricity and fuel prices, owners can expect to save $200,000 or more over a million miles. Production of the Tesla Semi is set to begin in 2019. Several companies, including Walmart and shipping giant JB Hunt, have already announced plans to preorder a number of the trucks. Learn more about the Tesla Semi, here.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Boardwalk Cabin Compound / DYNIA ARCHITECTS Posted: 17 Nov 2017 05:00 AM PST  © Ron Johnson
 © Ron Johnson  Floor Plans Text description provided by the architects. Located near the foot of the Teton Mountains, the site and scale of the intended architectural program influenced the placement of buildings within the compound. With mountains rising to the northwest and a stream cutting through the southeast corner of the lot, the placement of the main house and guest cabin define a courtyard, which is visually enclosed by the prominence of the mountains beyond.  © Ron Johnson  Section and Detail At a more intimate scale, the garden walls of the main and guest cabin, articulated with spaced wood slats and a pattern of horizontal windows that include glass along the floor, define a south lawn for family activity. The wall treatment and the varied placement of windows also create a unique natural light pattern within the house.  © Ron Johnson A board formed the concrete wall, extending into the landscape marks the entrance and defines the circulation through the main house leading to the guest cabin. Public spaces open off this axis toward views to the mountains. Secondary spaces branch off to the north and south forming the private wing of the main house and the guest cabin. With design regulations of the subdivision restricting the gabled roof forms, the structural trusses are shaped to lift the ceiling planes toward the light and the views of the landscape.  © Ron Johnson An exterior boardwalk extends west, past a spa, to a contemplative sitting area between a wetland and a stand of aspen trees. The use of boardwalks on the property mimics the pedestrian walkways around Jackson's town square – a classic western feature. Its pier-like extension into the landscape is inspired by the owner's beach house on Fire Island, NY.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 17 Nov 2017 04:00 AM PST  The master plan for the flagship building of the New York Public Library includes creating a new entrance on 40th Street, near Fifth Avenue. Image Courtesy of Mecanoo with Beyer Blinder Belle The New York Public Library has revealed plans for the transformation of their iconic main branch on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Led by Mecanoo with Beyer Blinder Belle, the $317 million masterplan will increase accessibility to the library as well as increase public space for research, exhibitions and educational programs by 20%. "For over a century, the Schwarzman Building has been a beacon of open access to information and a tireless preservationist of the world's knowledge," said New York Public Library President Tony Marx. "We have a responsibility to preserve its architectural wonder and its role as an important civic space, while also preparing it for the future, and another century of best serving the public. We believe this plan does just that." Unlike an earlier scheme by Foster + Partners (scrapped in 2014) that would have significantly altered the library's existing spaces, the Mecanoo and Beyer Blinder Belle design will approach the renovation with a particular sensitivity, taking advantage of currently underutilized areas. Former staff and storage spaces will be transformed into public research, exhibition and educational rooms, including a new Center for Research and Learning and the new Lenox and Astor Room, which will contain books and artwork donated to the library by longtime benefactor Brooke Astor. Existing essential program, such as the bathrooms, will be improved and modernized, while a new cafe and expanded library store will be introduced.  The new Lenox and Astor Room will house books and artwork bequeathed to the library by Brooke Astor, a longtime benefactor. Image Courtesy of Mecanoo with Beyer Blinder Belle  The new 40th Street entrance will lead to the Center for Research and Learning, where students will be able to work with materials from the library's collections. Image Courtesy of Mecanoo with Beyer Blinder Belle To reduce congestion through the library's main Fifth Avenue entryway, a new entrance will be created along 40th Street along with a new plaza and elevator bank. The library's historic Gottesman Hall will also receive a revamp as it becomes the home of a new "permanent but rotating exhibition of NYPL treasures. "We have developed a Master Plan that inherently adheres to the logic of a Beaux-Arts building," said founding partner of Mecanoo Francine Houben. "Our changes are both subtle and clever—to direct the flow for different user groups, for example, or to improve the quality and function of currently underused spaces."  The renovation at the Public Library will include new exhibition spaces, like this one planned for an area currently used as the gift shop. Image Courtesy of Mecanoo with Beyer Blinder Belle These new program elements will ensure the library is prepared for the future while complementing beloved spaces such as the the Maps, Periodicals, and Genealogy reading rooms; Astor Hall; and the recently reopened Rose Main Reading Room. "The Master Plan builds on the framework of this historic building and icon of New York City architecture," said Beyer Blinder Belle's Elizabeth Leber. "We are seeking to instill clarity and ease of circulation, and to support new uses and programs, while only enhancing its significant architectural features."  The connection between the Mid-Manhattan Library, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building and Bryant Park is an important aspect of the campus plan. Image © Mecanoo Architecten Mecanoo and Beyer Blinder Belle are also currently working on the renovation of Mid-Manhattan Library across the street, the NYPL's largest circulating branch. While renovations are in-progress, the stacks at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building are housing circulating books. Once work on the Mid-Manhattan Library is complete, Mecanoo and Beyer Blinder Belle will complete an additional study examining possibilities for the 175,000-square-foot stacks space. "The Library, through this study, plans to evaluate as many options as possible, with the primary goal of best serving the researchers who rely on this great institution now and in the future," said William Kelly, the Library's Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries. Learn more about the project in the New York Times, here.
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| Posted: 17 Nov 2017 03:00 AM PST  © Yago Partal
 © Yago Partal Text description provided by the architects. Some years after our first commissioned work at CASA ROC, followed by TWIN HOUSE, ROC CUBE and G-ROC, we carried out the final apartment renovation in the same property, located in the Barcelona neighbourhood of Gótico.  Axonometry With the experience of the previous projects in mind, this time we decided to do away with anything that we considered to be superfluous, leaving us with a clean, structural enclosure and granting a greater degree of freedom.  © Yago Partal The functional brief, similar to that of the previous apartments, was to develop a house with a double bedroom, kitchen area, dining room, living room and complete bathroom.  © Yago Partal Each of the different uses have been arranged in such a way as to be connected directly with the outdoor space via the existing windows. Just as with the previous projects, the daytime area was positioned along the main façade, capitalizing on the nature light from the balcony and window.  © Yago Partal The bedroom, located at the much quieter rear of the apartment, is ventilated thanks to a restored window. There is also access to rear balcony via the adjacent bathroom, which itself doubles up as a laundry room.  © Yago Partal Steel profiles were installed to strengthen the structural walls, which had developed cracks. We used these profiles not only to define the layout of the bathroom and kitchen, but also to house the installations and lighting systems. At the same time, this allowed us to optimize the volume of the rooms and create spacious, overhead storage areas.  © Yago Partal In smaller houses, where the arrangement of the main structural elements leaves limited space for storage on the same level, overhead storage can prove to be an effective alternative. The construction of the mezzanine level above the bathroom and kitchen, is the ideal place for storing less frequently used possessions.  © Yago Partal In terms of materials, we made use of a pre-existing wall covering with plant prints. This retained the sense of depth and also created a visual effect, juxtaposing real plants with the printed images behind them.  © Yago Partal We were also able to retain the floor tiles throughout most of the property. Where this was not possible, we used portland cement. In line with the previous projects, we employed finishings such as small format tiles and wooden furniture, as well as the black colour of the storage spaces and draws. This colour theme was continued in some of the partitions in the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.  © Yago Partal The approach of our intervention at END THE ROC, as with those at CASA ROC, TWIN HOUSE, ROC CUBE and G-ROC, revolved around the restoration and consolidation of the building's original character. The space was split into the daytime area - in the noisier part of the house - with the bedroom to the rear.  © Yago Partal Finally, we made the most of the height of the property by dividing the space of some rooms into two levels. This maximised the actual volume of the house and resulted in the creation of restful areas.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 17 Nov 2017 02:30 AM PST  Courtesy of Westbank "Beauty," as Umberto Eco tells it, "has never been absolute and immutable but has taken on different aspects depending on the historical period and the country." So how is beauty defined today in our increasingly globalized world? Perhaps a more interesting question to ask is whether arriving at such a conclusion remains relevant to our society. Ian Gillespie believes it does. The founder of Westbank, a Vancouver-based real-estate development and culture company, Gillespie has undertaken a great number of projects throughout his career, building along with them a peculiar idea of beauty that has permeated every new endeavor and shaped his company's mission to produce more layered, complex and enriching outcomes. Projects such as BIG's Vancouver House or Kengo Kuma's Alberni by Kuma propose a new dynamic for the city of Vancouver—one in which the developer looks beyond mere return on investment, focusing instead on buildings' potential to spark social engagement and change or, as Bjarke Ingels stated in the foreword he wrote for Westbank's book Fight for Beauty "where buildings look beautiful purely because they perform beautifully." The book has taken on a new form as an exhibition in Vancouver bearing the same name and featuring a slew of Westbank-commissioned projects as well as objects from the firm's collection. Architecture, art, and fashion come together in the space as evidence of beauty's place and value in our contemporary society. "All too often beauty is mistaken, and therefore diminished, as a decorative frill, a final touch or a camouflage of what is really at work underneath," writes Gillespie in the book's introduction. "We have never seen beauty as anything less than essential."  Courtesy of Westbank At the entrance to the exhibition, the poem Fight for Beauty, brought to life in neon, lays a thought-provoking foundation as visitors begin an audio or self-guided tour. Running through the center of the pavilion is the iconic sculptural glass forest created by Omer Arbel, 16.480, which has just been expanded to occupy the full length of the plaza for which it was custom-created. The installation's "trees" rise out of a landscape constructed of burnt wood blocks and form an immersive canopy of light that reaches up to six meters in height. This dramatic piece shares the spotlight with a signature custom-made piano and The Butterfly Fazioli designed by Venelin Kokalov, Design Principal at Bing Thom Architects, the maquette of Rising by Zhang Huan, and the lanterns of Martin Boyce that hang suspended from above. Iconic architectural models and milestones, including Alberni by Kuma and BIG's Vancouver House and Serpentine Pavilion, are found throughout the pavilion.  Courtesy of Westbank The exhibit succeeds in immersing visitors in an environment that extols beauty's role in our everyday lives, leading to the question: what is it we're fighting for when we "fight for beauty"? If, as Eco says, beauty is defined and transformed by its context, it is futile to insist on a puristic and romanticized conception of the term. The "fight for beauty" then is actually a fight for a new construction of its definition, one that reflects a more democratic view of what has value beyond aesthetics. Fight for Beauty is open to the public from October 14 to December 17, 2017 and is located on the plaza outside the Fairmont Pacific Rim.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Victor Legorreta: “Sometimes, Architects Take Themselves Too Seriously” Posted: 17 Nov 2017 01:30 AM PST  Pavilion Hacienda Matao, 2014. Image © Cristiano Mascaro As the son of famed Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta, and now the leader of the firm which he joined under his father in 1989, Victor Legorreta is one of Mexico's most visible architects. In this interview, the latest in Vladimir Belogolovsky's "City of Ideas" series, Legorreta discusses the complexities of following in the footsteps of his father and how, in his view, good architecture is made. Vladimir Belogolovsky: What kind of projects are you working on at this moment? Victor Legorreta: We work on a variety of projects—about 60 percent are in Mexico and the rest are abroad. Mexico City is increasingly becoming a vertical city in its attempt to reverse its tendency of growing into an endless and dysfunctional sprawl. We are working on several mixed-use towers with retail, entertainment, restaurants, offices, and residential uses in a single building to enable people to find everything they need within easy reach, to lessen the pressure on traffic, which in the city is now among the worst in the world. We are also working with The Aga Khan Foundation on two projects—a university in Tanzania and a hospital and university in Uganda.  BBVA Bancomer Tower, 2016 / LEGORRETA + Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Image © Lourdes Legorreta VB: Could you talk about growing up as the son of Ricardo Legorreta? Do you think you had no choice but becoming an architect? VL: I am the youngest of six kids—three boys and three girls. I am the only architect. One of my sisters studied architecture but became a photographer. We lived in a house right next to the office here, so I was in the thick of architecture, and books on architecture, and design my entire childhood. Still, my father never tried to push me into architecture, and I was hesitating as well because I knew that people would always compare us. They could say—look, you are not as good as your father or something like that. [Laughs.] Then, I started liking it a lot, and when I decided that architecture was what I wanted to do, he supported me, of course. In the beginning, I was a rebel. When I was at school, I resisted showing him my work. When I graduated he said "why don't you start working with some of my friends?"  BBVA Bancomer Tower, 2016 / LEGORRETA + Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Image © Ma. Dolores Robles-Martinez Gómez VB: Before you came to work for your father, you worked in other places internationally. I read that you apprenticed with Oriol Bohigas in Barcelona, Fumihiko Maki in Tokyo, and you also worked with Aldo Rossi. Is that right? How conscious were these choices? VL: Well, I wanted to experience different cultures and because my father met so many architects around the world, I could choose places where I wanted to work. First, I went to Los Angeles to work for Leason Pomeroy Associates, then to Barcelona, and finally, to Japan. Unfortunately, I never worked for Rossi. I went to see him in New York where he had his office in the 90s, but at that time, my father received an invitation to take part in a competition for a Children's Museum here in Mexico City, so he asked me to come back to work on that project together. He said that he didn't have a team for that project, so he asked me to come and bring some of my friends to put together a team. I brought my friends and we won the competition. [Laughs.] The museum, Papalote Children's Museum and Planetarium was built in 1993, and we were hired for its remodeling, in 2016.  Papalote Children's Museum and Planetarium, 1993, planetarium 2003, renovation 2016. Image © Ma. Dolores Robles-Martinez Gómez VB: So it was a project that ultimately made you come back to work for your father. Was there a fear of being too much in his shadow? Because there was a resistance initially, as you mentioned. VL: Yes. Well, my father was still quite young and he was open to new ideas. On the other hand, he had a very strong personality. He was dominating and he had his own ways of doing things. I was just 24 when I started working here. I was very excited and, sometimes, I would even do my own sketches on top of his, just to do some things differently. [Laughs.] Overall, we had a very good relationship. We worked together for about 24 years. Of course, in the beginning, he was making all major decisions because I was just a kid, but soon I began to be completely involved and became a full partner. At the end, our roles flipped. He became my mentor and advisor, while I started running the office. He worked here until the very end. I miss him being around and being able to discuss work and ask for his advice.  Visual Arts Center, Santa Fe, 1999. Image © Lourdes Legorreta VB: How would you summarize his influence on your architecture and how did it affect your work? VL: Of course, although it is not very popular to admit it now, he had a very strong and recognizable style of architecture. That, surely, influenced me, but what affected me a lot more is the passion he put into his work. Architecture was constantly on his mind, and he often worked on weekends. He devoted all his efforts and passion to work. He always tried to improve his work and he was open to new possibilities.  San Antonio Central Library, 1995. Image © Lourdes Legorreta VB: Have you ever tried to invent your own distinctive style in opposition to your father's? VL: I never thought of inventing my own style, but I always tried to challenge what I thought of as my father's architecture. I tried to use forms and materials that he typically avoided, such as curved walls, domes, or brick. He was receptive to my ideas. But I didn't really want to do something completely different or my own signature style architecture; the idea was to open up possibilities.  BBVA Bancomer Tower, 2016 / LEGORRETA + Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Image © Ma. Dolores Robles-Martinez Gómez VB: Your father was a disciple of Barragan but he never worked for him. What was the relationship like? VL: They were very good friends. While my father was on the advisory board at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, he suggested doing an exhibition on Barragan's work. At the time, it was very unusual to focus on non-European or American masters. That was the show that was curated by Emilio Ambasz, after which Barragan became famous. But my father was more a disciple of José Villagrán García, a pioneer of the modern movement in Mexico who designed the Architecture School Building for the Autonomous National University of Mexico or UNAM. My father worked for him for ten years before starting his own practice in 1963. He met Barragan then. Barragan was completely different. He didn't study architecture; he studied engineering and he practiced architecture as an artist. He had great sensibilities and was a complete opposite from Villagrán who was very efficient and was advocating for rational architecture. Barragan was a true poet and romantic who would break at five o'clock every afternoon to drink tea and watch birds gathering at his garden fountain. And I think my father was really clever by taking something from both. He took discipline and organizational skills from Villagrán and great sensibilities from Barragan. And of course, he was also influenced by Mexican roots.  San Antonio Central Library, 1995. Image © Lourdes Legorreta VB: Did your father and Barragan ever collaborate on projects? VL: Yes, but nothing was ever realized. They once collaborated on a small fountain for a client who gave them carte blanche. It took many months for Barragan to come up with the design because he was constantly changing something. Finally, they went to see the client and during the presentation Barragan said that he was still not quite sure if he liked the result, so the client said—well, take your time and come back when you are ready. They never finished that project. [Laughs.] VB: He was such a perfectionist. VL: His intention was to create spaces to be absolutely perfect. He did mainly small projects but he succeeded in leaving the biggest legacy of any Mexican architect.  Pavilion Hacienda Matao, 2014. Image © Cristiano Mascaro VB: In one of your interviews you said, "The most important thing for us is to create spaces that are able to trigger an emotion." Could you talk about the intentions behind your work? VL: Well, of course, architecture has a function. It needs to shelter us and protect us from the rain and wind. That is important, but what is even more important for architecture is to move you emotionally. Good architecture can be felt when you are inside the space—it makes you feel at home. Architecture is only good when it is able to transmit such feelings as comfort, serenity, calm. That comes with great effort. Architecture should evoke feelings and emotions. There are many architects who can do good efficient buildings, but that is not enough.  Papalote Children's Museum and Planetarium, 1993, planetarium 2003, renovation 2016. Image © Ma. Dolores Robles-Martinez Gómez VB: You once remarked that "educating a client is nonsense." Why is that? Wouldn't you agree that an architect should always try to do more than what a client may ask for? VL: [Laughs.] Well, you are right; it was not the right way to say it. What I meant is that educating a client is nonsense because it sounds very arrogant. It sounds like the architect knows more than the client does.  Visual Arts Center, Santa Fe, 1999. Image © Lourdes Legorreta VB: About how to design a building—for sure. The issue here is that the architect may not know but by asking the right questions he will initiate the research, and the knowledge acquired in that process would be shared with the client. VL: Sure, I agree with that approach. But to me, it's important for every client to have a good relationship with an architect and even friendship. In my office, we learn from our clients. We want to know everything about our clients because that informs our projects. What I intended to say was that we, architects, need to design buildings that clients ask us to do and not tell them what we think they really want. There are architects who take advantage of their clients. For example, you may want to design a cylinder not because it would benefit the project but because you never used it before. Then the client would end up with that cylinder for the rest of his life. Architects need to understand that they design buildings for their clients, not to win a prize. The important thing is to make the client happy. Of course, any design process is mutually educating, and it should be mutually satisfying.  Papalote Children's Museum and Planetarium, 1993, planetarium 2003, renovation 2016. Image © Jaime Navarro VB: It is also true that clients come and go but great architecture remains. If you had to pick one-word terms to describe your work what would they be? VL: Emotional, happy, timeless, rooted in culture, site-specific. VB: Do you have a secret about making architecture that would bring joy and happiness? VL: [Laughs.] Well, what I would argue is that architects often try to over-intellectualize their theories about making architecture. I often wonder whether these theories come before or after the design is done. So I think, sometimes, architects take themselves too seriously. But at the end, buildings are for people. Buildings have to have solid thinking behind them and they have to age well. Having said that, I am also convinced that buildings have to have an element of surprise. They need to provide an emotional experience. Again, we should try not to be too serious about theory behind buildings.  Postgraduate Building, Faculty of Economics, UNAM, 2010. Image © Allen Vallejo VB: Wouldn't you also agree that for people to be happy within buildings architecture needs to, well, step back, disappear. Is making people happy the right goal for architects? VL: Well, what I know is that good architecture should not be imposing; it should not make people uncomfortable or restricted. Architecture should make us happy, comfortable, safe. VB: I think architects and clients do have different goals and it is that tension and the architects' determination to challenge their clients and conventions that lead to the kind of architecture that is both intellectually and emotionally adventurous. Happiness is a relative term. Does the fact that someone is happy inside a building make it good architecture? Do you equate comfort with good architecture? VL: Yes, comfort is an important quality of good architecture. But for sure good architecture goes beyond comfort. Good architecture is about enjoyment. Good architecture is a kind of place where you want to keep coming back.  Pavilion Hacienda Matao, 2014. Image © Cristiano Mascaro 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 |
| D&D Art of Tasting / João Tiago Aguiar Arquitectos Posted: 17 Nov 2017 01:00 AM PST  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG
 © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG Text description provided by the architects. Located on the ground-floor of a modern housing complex in Laranjeiras, this gourmet store is integrated into a core of various commercial services. Although situated in a space of 60m2 only, relatively slim for the desired ambitious programme, a solution was reached that solved in a pragmatic and efficient way the challenge posed. Being a theme in the expansion, the one of the gourmet shops, a project that would stand out of this stereotype was required. In addition to a varied selection of gourmet products, the other strong idea was one of the tasting dinners cooked by an invited chef. It was then necessary to conciliate two programmes in one single space.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG The floor plan was defined over the depth of the store, assembling laterally the refrigeration and exposing cabinets together with the storage ones. These side panels were coated in cherry wood thus emphasizing the depth of the space and giving a homogeneous and welcoming atmosphere. In contrast with the warm look and feel of the wood, a Lioz marble stone tabletop was applied over a long community table which extends for almost the whole depth of the space and serves as well as a displayer. Such as a pulpit all coated in the same Lioz marble stone, the registration box/bar volume tops this table, thus punctuating the edge of the space. A tear in one of the wooden walls allows the creation of visual communication with the kitchen namely the food preparation area in order to promote "show-cooking" events.  Floor Plan  Section A The suspended ceiling is an important part of the project since its design in "light beams" perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the space, offers an ambient lighting, slight and indirect, proper of a living and tasting. These transversal beams serve as well to break and slow the crossing of the venue. The beams' orientation equally induces the client in the products visual direction exhibited on the side walls. On the other hand, at dusk, the stripes of light set the pace and draw the attention of the passers-by in a discreet way over the inside of the store.  © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Studio Libeskind's Military Museum Through the Lens of Alexandra Timpau Posted: 17 Nov 2017 12:00 AM PST  © Alexandra Timpau The complications of war and violence demanded a bold piece of architecture to provoke the public's understanding of the impact it had on Germany. Daniel Libeskind chooses to engage with such events in his extension to Dresden's Military History Museum, by crashing a huge steel and concrete structure through the neoclassical facade, tearing apart the symmetry of the original building. Photographer Alexandra Timpau has captured the sharp edges and harsh angles of the museum's extension that convey the pain and the stark reality of war Libeskind and the museum refer to.  © Alexandra Timpau
In her photographs, Timpau plays with the materiality as natural light bleeds down the cast concrete interior from small slits in the building's face and studies the details that Libeskind has minutely considered over the last decade since first winning the commission in 2001.  © Alexandra Timpau  © Alexandra Timpau Built in 1897, the Military History Museum has lived many lives as a Saxon armory, a Nazi museum, a Soviet museum and an East German museum, finally being deserted in 1989 until the government saw potential in a museum for the military history of a united and democratic Germany. The new extension shines a new light on violence whilst taking an anthropological approach, considering the human causes and effects.  © Alexandra Timpau  © Alexandra Timpau Protruding out from the main body of the building, the 200-ton extension holds a 99ft viewing platform that offers views across the historic city. The 21,000 square feet exhibition space makes it Germany's largest museum, holding the title of the official central museum of the German Armed Forces. A survivor of war, the building avoided any damage during the allied bombing of World War Two thanks to its location on the outskirts of Dresden, it is an ode to the past as a veteran that has experienced the events of violence itself.
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| Posted: 16 Nov 2017 10:00 PM PST  Casa da Musica. Image © Philippe Ruault With the extensive list of acclaimed alumni of his firm, OMA, it is not a stretch to call Rem Koolhaas (born 17 November 1944) the godfather of contemporary architecture. Equal parts theorist and designer, over his 40-year career Koolhaas has revolutionized the way architects look at program and interaction of space, and today continues to design buildings that push the capabilities of architecture to new places.  © Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/strelka/6504213361'>via Flickr</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/'>CC BY 2.0</a>  Maison Bordeaux. Image © Hans Werlemann, courtesy OMA Remment Koolhaas was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. At the age of eight, Koolhaas' father was given a position running a cultural program in Jakarta, Indonesia and subsequently moved his family to Asia. The family returned to Amsterdam three years later, where Koolhaas would later pursue filmmaking (a phase he believes still impacts his work today), until enrolling at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London in 1968. Following continued studies at Cornell University and the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York City, Koolhaas returned to London to open his firm, OMA, alongside his wife Madelon Vriesendorp and Elia and Zoe Zenghelis. He also began teaching at his Alma Mater, during which time he met a young Zaha Hadid. Hadid soon joined OMA, and together the group began working on a series of highly conceptual, predominantly unbuilt projects, highlighted by the Dutch Parliament Building in The Hague.  Seattle Central Library / OMA + LMN. Image © OMA During this period, Koolhaas penned Delirious New York, an urbanist manifesto that would come to define his future architectural strategy. In the book, Koolhaas celebrates the city's hyper-dense "culture of congestion" as a cultural incubator, a place where unprescribed interaction could lead to innovation and creativity. It was in this text that Koolhaas first proposed the idea of "cross-programming," intentionally introducing unexpected program types within buildings of different typologies, such as running tracks within skyscrapers. The idea has since returned in various forms, such as in his unsuccessful proposal to include hospital units for the homeless within his design for the Seattle Central Library. The book is still considered today to be an essential piece of the architectural canon.  CCTV Headquarters. Image © Iwan Baan Following Hadid's departure from the firm, OMA received its first major commission, the Netherlands Dance Theater in The Hague. Completed in 1987, the building was a manifestation of many of the ideas from Delirious New York; the design features volumes of varying form and materiality colliding in unique ways to create new types of space and a visually stimulating composition. The success of that building, as well as continued acclaim for their unbuilt competition entries, gave OMA increased international recognition.  Kunsthal. Image © <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/70647624@N00/3672411925/'>Flickr user kleiobird</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/'>CC BY 2.0</a> The 1990s saw projects of widely varying scale for Koolhaas and OMA, from city master plans, in Euralille, France, to the Rotterdam Kunsthal (1992) to residential projects. The most widely renowned of these residential projects were the Villa Dall'Ava in Paris (1991) and the Maison Bordeaux (1999). In these houses, Koolhaas took cues from Modernist classics, in particular Villa Savoye and the Farnsworth House, blowing their designs into parts and reassembling them to suit the unique needs of the clients. Villa Dall'Ava featured a rooftop pool and a dynamic collage of materials raised 3 stories above the ground by slender, irregularly placed columns and a poured-in-place concrete wall. Private apartment units were connected by a shared glass living space below and the pool above. The design of Maison Bordeaux contained three floors of varying opacity relating to program type, connected by an oversized elevator that doubled as an office for the husband, who was a wheelchair user.  Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre / REX | OMA. Image © Tim Hursley The following decade saw a massive expansion within OMA, with the founding of architectural think-tank and research group AMO in 1999. AMO has since contributed to designs for numerous exhibitions and events, including stores and runway shows for fashion house Prada. Key buildings from OMA in the 2000s include the Casa da Musica in Porto (2005), the Wyly Theater in Dallas (2009), the IIT-McCormick Tribune Center in Chicago (2001), and the Seattle Central Library (2004). In particular, the Seattle Library has had a profound impact on architectural approach and diagramming in architecture—the word-bubble programmatic diagram used to outline spatial relationships has since been utilized by architects worldwide. The library's pivoting planes highlighting views of the city have also convinced critics that elegant form can be derived from focusing on user experience. Since then, Koolhaas has had a hand in designing buildings worldwide, including the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, mixed-use building De Rotterdam, Millstein Hall at Cornell University, and the Fondazione Prada in Milan.  De Rotterdam. Image © Michel van de Kar In recent years, Rem Koolhaas' discourse has ranged from breaking down architecture into its fundamental elements in his lauded directorship of the 2014 Venice Biennale, to the feasibility of smart cities, to studies on urbanization in Lagos, Nigeria. He has also often delved into the realm of skepticism, such as his claim that "people can inhabit anything. And they can be miserable in anything and ecstatic in anything. More and more I think that architecture has nothing to do with it. Of course, that's both liberating and alarming."  Shenzhen Stock Exchange HQ. Image © Philippe Ruault These claims have led to Koolhaas' being called "the most controversial figure in architecture" and "an anti-architect," but those descriptions fail to capture the career of a man who is always chasing the next step in architecture and how he can think bigger. By helping to spawn the careers of Bjarke Ingels, Ole Scheeren, Farshid Moussavi, Jeanne Gang, Winy Maas, and many many others, Koolhaas has perhaps found another way of thinking bigger: by creating the future. See all of the work featured on ArchDaily by Rem Koolhaas' firm OMA via the thumbnails below, and further coverage of Koolhaas below those: Rem Koolhaas Asks: Are Smart Cities Condemned to Be Stupid? Why is Rem Koolhaas the World's Most Controversial Architect? Review: "REM" - A Retroactive, Redacted Study of the World's Greatest Living Architect Rem Koolhaas' Current Fascinations: On Identity, Asia, the Biennale, & More Chasing Rem: One Journalist's Journey to Pin Down Koolhaas 13 Things You Didn't Know About Rem Koolhaas Koolhaas' Career in Film: 1,2,3 Group Why Rem Koolhaas Switched From Scriptwriting to Architecture A Biennale of Knowledge: Rem Koolhaas on The Importance of the Archive Rem Koolhaas on Prada, Preservation, Art and Architecture Video: Rem Koolhaas Answers Questions From Fans as Part of 'REM' Kickstarter Tomas Koolhaas On "REM" - A Film About Architecture, Celebrity, and Globalization Rem Koolhaas Sheds Light on Lagos The Berlage Archive: Rem Koolhaas + Kenneth Frampton (1998) Watch Rem Koolhaas Present S,M,L,XL at the AA in 1995 Video: Rem Koolhaas and Peter Eisenman on today's critical architectural discourse issues 17 Excerpts from OMA Publications To Read and Download OMA's 15 Most Outrageous Unbuilt Skyscrapers  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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