Arch Daily |
- Selestranda House / bark arkitekter
- Sun Rain Room / Tonkin Liu Architects
- Safadasht Dual / Nextoffice
- Vanke Future Town Pavillion in Xuzhou / Continuation Studio
- MALPYO Factory / URBANTAINER
- Elite English Training School / B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio
- Aarhus School of Architecture Reveals Winners of Drawing of the Year 2017
- Joinery Box House / Foomann Architects
- Landkolonien Jomsborg / Cubo Arkitekter
- Explore Heatherwick Studio's Vessel in This 360 Video
- Valley House / David Guerra
- Construction Halts on Calatrava's St. Nicholas Shrine at the World Trade Center
- Design Society Shenzhen / MVRDV
- Good Design Does Have Economic Value—No Matter What Critics of Contemporary Architecture Say
- Sculpture Studio / Modus Studio + El Dorado
- How a Sabotaged Model Can Become an Architectural Masterpiece
- Corte Bertesina / traverso-vighy architetti
- Competition Winning Scheme Weaves Kindergarten and Nature Together
| Selestranda House / bark arkitekter Posted: 12 Dec 2017 07:00 PM PST  © Lise Bjelland
 © Lise Bjelland Text description provided by the architects. At Sele, on the southwest coast of Norway, a fifty-year-old cottage by architect Atle Sørby needed a total renovation and reorganisation. It was essential to recreate the cabin with a modernized standard, and balancing this need with a respectful approach towards the original architecture.  © Lise Bjelland Built in '61, the architecture contains a symbiosis of elements referencing modernist and local architecture. The main volume's pitched roof with pulled down gables is a reinterpretation of the traditional «Jærhus», a housing typology typical for the region, adapted through centuries to withstand harsh local weather conditions.  Floor Plan Two volumes make up the cottage. The new annex contains a bedroom, a bathroom and a storage room while the main volume now only consist of one large common room, with a shared kitchen, eating and living area.  © Lise Bjelland The surrounding landscape is relatively flat, consisting of long sloping fields, dunes and beaches, only separated by narrow roads and old drystone walls. Because it is situated in a landscape-preservation area, close to the shoreline, the local government paid close attention to the building process.  © Lise Bjelland Local craftsmen carried out every part of the operation, which required substantial tailored solutions. The roof tiles, coming from local brick-factories in Sandnes, were carefully taken down, stored and put up again, one by one.  © Lise Bjelland In the common room, the walls and ceiling has been taken down, creating and an open, airy space. Standing there, gazing through the ribbon window, one has panoramic view across the moody North-Sea horizon.  © Lise Bjelland  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Sun Rain Room / Tonkin Liu Architects Posted: 12 Dec 2017 06:00 PM PST .jpg?1513056991 "© Edmund Sumner") © Edmund Sumner
.jpg?1513057046 "© Edmund Sumner") © Edmund Sumner Text description provided by the architects. The Sun Rain Rooms is a two-storey extension and restoration of a Grade-II Listed Georgian townhouse. The extension re-frames the rear of the building by amplifying the characteristics found within its fabric. Designed and constructed by Tonkin Liu in collaboration with local craftspeople, it serves as both a studio for the practice and a home for the partners' family. The perimeter walls of the rear courtyard support a plywood roof, curved in plan and section to allow maximum light into a patio garden.  © Edmund Sumner  Floor Plans .jpg?1513057220 "© Edmund Sumner") © Edmund Sumner Rainwater gathered at the top of the townhouse falls through a pipe, following the roof's curving leading edge to a spout over a long rainwater harvesting tank. The tank floods the patio at the push of a button, transforming it into a reflecting pool. The roof's thin 110mm structural shell is an insulated stressed-skin, joined by round coffered skylights that echo the wave pattern of raindrops landing in the pool. It is a good place to be on a bad day. The extension accommodates both prosaic and poetic aspects of domestic and studio rituals. Under the roof, a garden room offers a living space for the home and a meeting space for the studio. .jpg?1513056593 "© Edmund Sumner") © Edmund Sumner  Section 2 .jpg?1513057276 "© Edmund Sumner") © Edmund Sumner A mirrored wall in the covered outdoor area beyond conceals a workshop, cooking area, potting shed, store, and deep planter for the small trees in the green roof above. Below the patio, the existing basement has been extended to create a bedroom, two bathrooms and an enlarged plant-filled light-well. Animated by the sun and the rain, the extension a landscape that harbours a family of carefully selected specimen plants. The green roof, garden room, reflecting pool and sunken light-well form a multi-layered urban garden, both celebrating and bringing people closer to nature.  © Edmund Sumner  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 12 Dec 2017 04:00 PM PST  © Deed Studio
 © Parham Taghioff Text description provided by the architects. Having always been a controversial issue, generation gap has widened even further today. This gap along with other cultural and social gaps have led to the belief that living in Iran is the coexistence of diverse or even contradictory lifestyles which create a heterogeneous society. This diversity in lifestyles, particularly in such cases as private versus public, conventional versus modern, masculine versus feminine, seems to be bolder, the effects of which, in approaches to architectural design throughout history, can be observed on the relationship between mass and void, hierarchy, and spatial sequencing. These differences can be viewed in the architecture of various regions in Iran – differences that normally originate in various cultural and religious ideologies alongside diverse regions in Iran.  Concept Diagram  Section A This issue has manifested itself in the architecture of various geographical areas in Iran due to the fact that these areas had been influenced by their religious viewpoints and regional conditions. In the northern regions where social interactions could develop more freely, life flowed more commonly in public areas, and the semi-public spaces surrounding the rigid hearts of the houses. However, in the central regions of Iran, empty spaces would be situated inside the buildings, and to access them one had to pass through convoluted spaces. In the twofold project of Safadasht, we tried our best to realize these dissimilarities and come up with varying methods of coordination focusing on differences in lifestyles, and link them.  © Parham Taghioff The client demanded an edifice on the first lot for his religious family who practised religious rituals in the lunar months of Moharram and Ramadan, and another one on the adjacent lot intended for late-night parties. The construction which has been built in two separate adjoining structures is comprised of two buildings connected by a bridge. The first building, made of bricks, was designed for the parents, while the second building, intended for parties, and predominantly made of glass, was mostly at the disposal of the junior member of the family. The construction was designed in such a way that if the opportunity presented itself could be separated and sold.  © Parham Taghioff The diagram of the first building is based on a central yard with the construction surrounding it, and to accept the boundaries, brick walls and numerous windows have been employed. The diagram of the second building features a rigid core surrounded by public and semi-public spaces. Furthermore, in the party building, it has been attempted to create a fluid open space through connecting the rigid core to a suspended ceiling so as to stress the dissimilarity of these two structures. Displaying and reflecting the paradox prevalent in our daily life had been the principal challenge in this project, and the incongruity present in the structure of the project is perfectly in keeping with its contrasting applications in a way that each group with their conflicting characteristics is able to live on without disturbing the other, just as it runs through the everyday life of a single family.  © Parham Taghioff  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Vanke Future Town Pavillion in Xuzhou / Continuation Studio Posted: 12 Dec 2017 02:00 PM PST  © SHIROMIO Studio
 © SHIROMIO Studio Text description provided by the architects. Located by the Yunlong Lake in Xuzhou, occupying over a million square metres, the launched project Vanke Future Town is a grand community with abundant landscape resources, wherein the demonstration area, as the first set of architectures to make an entrance to the land, will set the tone for the whole ongoing project.  © SHIROMIO Studio The sales exhibition centre (which will later be converted into a community centre) is designed to be in proportion with and reflects the vast scale of Future Town and the geographical structure of the city. Small spaces for the entrance hall, screening rooms, separate meeting rooms and rear services, etc., is compressed into the east wing, ensuring a single piece of large – scale space for exhibition in the main building. This layout has granted the main building an open floor plan to achieve the multiple functions that it requires for exhibitions and as a community centre. Meanwhile, the abundant glazing of the facade gives views out to the city, reducing the architectural volume as it connects with the external space, enhancing its public characteristic.  © SHIROMIO Studio However, in contrary to its sheer appearance, inside of the main building is a set of exceedingly complex and exquisite structure. In 2009, I visited a few ancient timber arch bridges (Beijian Bridge, Xidong Bridge, Xuezhai Bridge and the Santiao Bridge) in Taishun, Wenzhou, and its surrounding area in person. Looking up to the overlapping short timbers constructing a long-span structure, I was smitten by the beauty of its form, scale and the wisdom of the craftsmen. I since then had been revisiting them in later years.  Equipment Diagram Yet, unfortunately, in 2016, less than a month later after my last visit, Xuezhai Bridge was demolished by the flood.  © SHIROMIO Studio As in this project, the bridge structure is introduced into the large-scale exhibition space, as a piece of expressive element to be viewed from below, as a demonstration of Vanke's technical strength and value. It is also reflected in the water patio in front of the main space.  © SHIROMIO Studio 600mmx200mm glued laminated timbers with different lengths are used as basic components. Moreover, the part works as a horizontal fulcrum between the upper and lower timbers in the original bridge structure is replaced by steel tubes, which now support the timbers by weaving in where they interlock together. With this approach, different from the unidirectional arch the original structure performs for pressure-bearing, it establishes a system of continuous triangles and inverted triangles, which slopes rather gently in comparison to the original.  External Features of Structure When this set of wood structure is finally put up as a permanent art piece inside of the showcase that is this exhibition space with pellucid glass curtain walls on all sides, it is felt as though the history and traditions had been lost in time is recalled to our present.  © SHIROMIO Studio The Authenticity of the Structure and the Recreation of the Spatial Impression  © SHIROMIO Studio As we attempted to apply the structure as a ceiling that acts as a part of a force bearing structure, its stiffness and bearing capacity has gone through calculation to meet the requirements. However, the force bearing structure it forms with a group of pillars is still not able to resist lateral force when being up in mid-air. In addition, in our original proposal, the glass curtain walls with group of glass ribs was adopted, which was suspended from the timber structure ceiling (said approach was eventually replaced by the current proposal that is to support the glass curtain walls with steel studs). To achieve this vision, the requirements on the timber structure's bearing capacity would be raised, which would lead to the significant alteration of the piece's appearance.  Archetype Therefore, the timber piece does not act as the major structure in the force bearing system. Instead, it is supported by a group of 8 steel columns and suspended from steel beams hidden in a roof above. The latter reinforcement dismisses the lack of lateral resistance in the previous approach as the piece hits mid-air. It, although, has been a great pity, since the timber piece does not physically act as a bridge, by which it is inspired.  © SHIROMIO Studio If it weren't for this trade-off, however, the construction wouldn't have been simplified, in order to be accomplished with the given time as short as 7 months. It also endows a visual sensation of floating to the space, when the suspended lumbersome looking timber piece appears to be levitating in the air, making a striking contrast with the lightsome roof above. The recreation of impression on the place from where I gazed upon the bridge underneath is effectuated.  © SHIROMIO Studio  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 12 Dec 2017 12:00 PM PST  © Seungbok Lee
 © Seungbok Lee Text description provided by the architects. Malpyo, a family business with a long history spanning over three generations, is expanding into the cosmetics sector. URBANTAINER's mission is to capture the spirit of the company's transition to a modern and trend-oriented brand with the new company headquarter. The starting point for the design concept was to overcome the literal notion of a factory as a place of production by creating a space that symbolically carries the energy of the company's new brand identity, by effectively utilising shipping containers in emotion-evoking colours. Malpyo's new headquarter consists of two parts, the office area and the production facilities. In order to create an efficiently built space with a unique character, the office area was built with shipping containers.  © Seungbok Lee Due to its large scale, the production facilities are based on a steel-frame structure, coated with container skin. What makes this building unique is the arrangement of the two parts–the office area is angled as if it diagonally protruded from he the production hall. Before the redesign, the factory was a typical production, completely shielded to the outside world, and with a clear separation between office space and production area. In this setup, machinery served the sole purpose of manufacturing goods. An important part of URBANTAINER's design strategy is aimed at breaking up this dichotomy. The separating wall between the office and production areas is made of glass and provides a transparent view from the office to the factory and vice versa.  © Seungbok Lee The machinery now becomes part of the interior design of the space. All procedures that make up the heart of the factory, from manufacturing to logistics, are made visible and become a crucial part of communicating the brand essence to visitors. The design also extends to the functional dimension of the production process. In order to maximize production efficiency, the space layout now accommodates the flow of the complete production chain from arriving raw materials to manufacturing to the finished product by taking into account workers' movements and optimising space utilisation. With the new design layout, separate delivery and loading zones for the raw materials and the finished product section guarantee a smooth un-interrupted workflow.  © Seungbok Lee  Sections  © Seungbok Lee Another point of optimization for the workers is the addition of direct access to their rest facilities to cut unnecessary passages. One early challenge for the construction of the Malpyo headquarter building was the characteristic position of the building. While located between a main and a side street, access from the main road was not possible due to local traffic regulations. The resulting necessary detour to access the building from the side street and confusing facade alignment presented an enormous inconvenience for visitors. This problem was solved by aligning the building mass along a steep diagonal axis which opens up the facade view from the main road, allowing visitors to instantaneously find easy access to the main entrance.  © Seungbok Lee  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Elite English Training School / B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio Posted: 12 Dec 2017 11:00 AM PST  © Ruijing Photo
 © Ruijing Photo Text description provided by the architects. The project is located in an office building with good vision, the owner rent three rooms as the office and training area. the designer opened it up into a whole room in order to integrate the use of all the space,  © Ruijing Photo In this case, the design idea of the space is different from the traditional training classroom. The key concept of it are to build a community, it consists of five different materials boxes, surrounded by different functional areas of space, such as study area, kitchen, office communication and other common space. The five room of inside view is the classroom with a good vision and light.  Diagram Two 2000mm wide door was designed at the entrance area, the interior and corridor formed a relatively open space when the glass door opened.  © Ruijing Photo  © Ruijing Photo The five rooms use different materials, such as, galvanized steel, cement board, wood and red brick, as the surface. The material of gray bricks in ground shows a sense of rough，in contrast to other five materials, involving a strong visual impact.  © Ruijing Photo  © Ruijing Photo  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Aarhus School of Architecture Reveals Winners of Drawing of the Year 2017 Posted: 12 Dec 2017 09:01 AM PST  1st prize - The One Day Unit / Charles Weinberg and Shai Ben Ami (Click Image for Full Size). Image Courtesy of Arkitektskolan Aarhus The Aarhus School of Architecture has revealed the winners of their drawing competition, Drawing of the Year 2017, which asked architecture students around the globe to submit their best digital, hand-drawn or hybrid drawings under the theme of "Everyday Utopia." More than 230 submissions were evaluated by an esteemed jury of architects, which consisted of Moon Hoon, founder of Moon Hoon Architects; Trine Berthold, associate partner at schmidt hammer lassen; and Torben Nielsen, professor at Aarhus School of Architecture. The jury was impressed by the "overwhelming burst of creativity and clever concepts demonstrated in the drawings," calling out the high level of craft and experimental approaches to drawing. Three winners were selected: First PrizeThe One Day Unit / Charles Weinberg and Shai Ben Ami, Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design  1st prize - The One Day Unit / Charles Weinberg and Shai Ben Ami. Image Courtesy of Arkitektskolan Aarhus Drawing Description: 29 globes organized in a grid depict the numerous possibilities of organizing buildings, animals, and people that create our life and surroundings. Everyday experiences are composed into everyday utopia. The drawing is well composed and works in different scales - from a distance and close up, where the rich details can be explored. Playful and artistic it connects content, message, and illustration into a strong, beautiful drawing. It is open-minded and open-ended. We imagine that the two people on the final globe only went to sleep to wake to continue the story.  A close-up of "The One Day Unit". Image Courtesy of Arkitektskolan Aarhus Jury Comments: "The drawing is well composed and works in different scales – from a distance to close up where the rich details can be explored. Playful and artistic the drawing connects content, message, and illustration into a strong, beautiful drawing. It is open-minded and open-ended."  A close-up of "The One Day Unit". Image Courtesy of Arkitektskolan Aarhus Second PrizeAmazonia / Richard Morrison, University of Westminster  2nd prize - Amazonia / Richard Morrison. Image Courtesy of Arkitektskolan Aarhus Drawing Description: The axonometric drawing is created digitally and creates a coherent and consistent image of our world organized for shopping and distribution. Our houses are the same, somewhat traditional, but the section gives us a view of the layers of advanced technique and structures supporting this way of living. The concept is overpowering, putting forward a precise idea, and question. It is simultaneously political, architectural, detailed and explained. It is polemical. Our reliance on Amazon is already a reality, and the drawing of everyday utopia becomes an extension of a future life we somehow already live, but whose price and potential we might not fully recognize. Jury Comments: "The concept is overpowering, putting forward a precise idea and question. It is simultaneously political, architectural, detailed and explained. It is polemical. Our reliance on Amazon is already a reality, and the drawing of an everyday utopia becomes an extension of a future life we somehow already live." Third PrizeCinderella's Lost Shoe / Ifigeneia Liangi, The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL  3rd prize - Cinderella's Lost Shoe / Ifigeneia Liangi. Image Courtesy of Arkitektskolan Aarhus Drawing Description: The drawing is a 3D rendered drawing on historical myths and well-known fairy tales. The collection of odd objects creates a surreal and playful universe. A world that does not exist but which we still recognize - and it invites us to enter and wonder. The drawing itself holds the energy of contradictions. Is it moving? Is it water? It is technically highly skilled and precise and supports the concept. Here the everyday utopia is a quest - removed from society and normality to follow a dream. Just follow the fish. Jury Comments: "The drawing itself holds the energy of contradictions. It is technically very skilled and precise and supports the concept. Here, the everyday utopia is a quest – removed from society and normality to follow a dream." Learn more about the award here.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Joinery Box House / Foomann Architects Posted: 12 Dec 2017 09:00 AM PST  © Willem-Dirk Du Toit
 © Willem-Dirk Du Toit Text description provided by the architects. The extension to this inner-city heritage home is intended as a tidy, fastidious timber clad structure. An opportunity for meticulous details. The inhabitants moved from their own homes into this new house together; consolidating their extensive art collections and large extended families. Art, furniture and objects were scheduled and located during the planning process. The Dining Room comfortably accommodates twenty-four diners, located in a prime position facing the garden, and features an acoustically treated ceiling.  © Willem-Dirk Du Toit The original part of the house was respectfully upgraded and restored with a new openness that connects sitting and study areas. A restrained palette was used throughout with slight shifts between spaces, creating a subtle transition between new and old and providing each room with its own feel and identity. The design balances a desire for transparency and solidity that is illustrated in the execution of the stair. At the literal and figurative centre of the house, the cranked staircase is a substantial object that permits views to the north courtyard and acts as furniture facing the kitchen.  Ground Floor Plan  © Willem-Dirk Du Toit  First Floor Plan The extension features cedar cladding and straps that create a grid and detailing challenge the rest of the building responded to. The language extended to a new facade on the existing rear two-storey studio that is the primary focus of views from the main house. This exacting timber detailing made the project a challenging carpentry exercise that the builders were equipped to achieve.  © Willem-Dirk Du Toit  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Landkolonien Jomsborg / Cubo Arkitekter Posted: 12 Dec 2017 07:00 AM PST  © Martin Schubert
 © Martin Schubert Text description provided by the architects. Landkolonien Jomsborg is a new facility for girl and boy scouts located near Isefjord, Denmark. For more than a hundred years, Landkolonien Jomsborg has formed the life and activities for the unique community of FDF. The new building contains a central arrival area with an open fireplace, a dining room with attached kitchen, a multifunctional area and a wing of bedrooms. The project is based on the landscape at Jomsborg and desires to create a greater contact both visually and physically between the arrival side and the unique coastline.  © Martin Schubert  Ground Floor Plan  © Martin Schubert The sloping roof addresses the large common room towards the sky above the Isefjord. The new main building of Landkolonien Jomsborg naturally fits the landscape with its scale and materials. The choice of wood as the primary material leads the mind to the forest and the activities that unfold here. Wood is a sustainable material with its variations in surfaces which ranging from the rough timber trusses to the smooth wooden veneers in the built-in furniture.  © Martin Schubert In the heart of the building warmth and atmosphere spreads from the open fireplace. The arrival area is characterized by being a space with an almost invisible transition between the inside and outside. The dining room contains 150 seats for guests and it orientates itself toward the fjord through the old pine trees. At the same time, the ceiling slopes and the room embrace to the sky.  © Martin Schubert  Panoramic View 1  © Martin Schubert  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Explore Heatherwick Studio's Vessel in This 360 Video Posted: 12 Dec 2017 06:10 AM PST
In the latest video in their Daily 360 series, The New York Times takes us inside Heatherwick Studio's "Vessel" at Hudson Yards. After topping out last week, the full 154 flights of stairs that make up the unique public structure are now in place, offering some pretty extraordinary views of the Hudson River and west Manhattan. In the video, Thomas Heatherwick discusses the design concept behind the monument, as well as the long journey the pieces took from the Italian studio where they were manufactured, to their final home in New York City. So make sure to turn your volume on!
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| Posted: 12 Dec 2017 05:00 AM PST  © Jomar Bragança
 © Jomar Bragança Text description provided by the architects. A couple with two grown up sons approached us having a generous site with an almost 360° view and the idea of building a modern and cozy house. The house needed to be a good place to entertain guests and friends and at the same time maintain the panorama created by the garden. Thus, the house was built with fluid spaces, with generous lighting and crossed ventilation, that could be easily integrated or isolated to be used together or independently changing integration and privacy as needed.  © Jomar Bragança The landscape that unravels in the horizon along with the garden all around the house, and on the inside with a winter garden, makes so that the house lives harmoniously with the landscape allowing for contemplation in every direction.  © Jomar Bragança On the ground floor, there are the social, leisure and service areas of the house. As soon as you enter the house there are four pivoting open to an ample hall, from which you see the winter garden, the kitchen, the verandas, the living room and the stairs to the second floor. The living and dining rooms are integrated with the verandas, garden, kitchen and home theater, of which the last two can be closed. The kitchen as the heart of the house is open to all 4 sides, dining room, living room, terrace and pool deck. The living room itself is integrated to an outdoors gourmet kitchen, a washroom, game room, pool deck, spa, sauna and the winter garden. Upon entering the house to the left we have a washroom, with patchwork of blue tiles exclusively designed by the architect, the winter garden and the office, which is connected to the winter garden. The idea of the integrating spaces brings the flow of a connected house that embraces nature. The stairs that lead to the second floor is constructed over the winter garden and brings to the vertical and horizontal circulation a view of the house and of the garden itself.  © Jomar Bragança  Ground Floor Plan  © Jomar Bragança On the first floor, the bedrooms have a view to the horizon and have private terraces. The master bedroom has a very wide view and a terrace. The closet in spacious and the bathroom has a small garden.  © Jomar Bragança A modern house that is deeply founded in the affective memories using stone, wood, brick, raw cement and tiles, also using color and landscaping to build a warm and cozy environment, design for relaxation and rest, but also being able to sustain good encounters and meetings.  © Jomar Bragança In the décor side of things the materials purpose was to make the house a refuge from idleness a place to awaken. The furniture designed by both Brazilian and International designers, Tibetan carpets, linen curtains, paintings from local artists, objects brought from trips and a mix of natural materials such as linen, leather and wood bring richness to the décor also seeking a Brazilian identity.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Construction Halts on Calatrava's St. Nicholas Shrine at the World Trade Center Posted: 12 Dec 2017 04:00 AM PST  The St. Nicholas National Shrine at the World Trade Center as seen in May 2017. Image © Flickr user rexblog. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 Construction on the Santiago Calatrava-designed St. Nicholas National Shrine at the World Trade Center has halted, after the church failed to make a series of payments over a several month period to contractor Skanska. As revealed by the Pappas Post, last week the construction company distributed a letter to its subcontractors informing them that the building contract had been terminated after The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America defaulted on making payment. In the letter, Skanska directed subcontractors to stop all work and to remove all tools and materials from the site, or risk not being able to recover them. A follow-up statement from Skanska confirmed the cease of construction, and added that they will "remain available to the Archdiocese as they continue to evaluate how to proceed at the site." "In light of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America's ongoing funding challenges, Skanska regrets that we must cease construction on the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at the World Trade Center," reads the statement. "Skanska is proud of our long history of work at the World Trade Center site, which ranges across half a century from the construction of the original towers to the recently completed Oculus. This site is important to us—as it is to many people—and we have worked with the Archdiocese throughout its well-documented, recent financial difficulties to extend payment deadlines and discuss alternatives, all while continuing to construct the Shrine." Earlier this year, the Pappas Post uncovered "gross financial mismanagement and out-of-control spending" by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America that saw restricted funds allocated for various projects (including the National Shrine) raided to pay for day-to-day operations, travel expenses and other administrative costs. In response, the Archdiocese has hired a new chairman to lead the church's finance committee and commissioned an audit. The church also plans to form an investigative committee to determine paths to continue construction on the National Shrine. Designed to replacing a chapel destroyed during the 9/11 attacks, the National Shrine will sit on land owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and is leased to the church for $1 per year. News via Commercial Observer, Pappas Post
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| Design Society Shenzhen / MVRDV Posted: 12 Dec 2017 03:00 AM PST  © Zhang Chao
 © Zhang Chao Text description provided by the architects. Design has become and will be more and more the keyword of our world and our next worlds. The word will be the carrier of the thinking processes towards new societies. It is about the phase before production. It is about the thinking before the making. Design products change our world and so do the machines that produce new products. A society led by design is under endless construction and in an expanding smartening universe, there is an emergence of a new world of digitized making.  © Zhang Chao How to convey that thought? How to experience that? That small thing are able to change the world..... and that big things can change small ones sequentially. What changes can we imagine? How do they interrelate?  © Zhang Chao MVRDV's design for the main exhibition hall of the Sea World Culture and Art Center located in Shekou, Shenzhen responds to the biennial theme; 'Minding the Digital' and considers the myriad forms of digital creativities that are critical to China's shift from a historic manufacturing centre to its current reinvention as an innovative hub. The design draws on and also reflects upon the central question of how to identify multiple design directions generated by digital thinking? To answer this, MVRDV has developed a labyrinth located over two floors that individualise and differentiates the display environments for designs and designers, whilst at the same time creates a synergy between both floors which gives different perspectives and experience from either within the exhibition hall or viewing from above.  © Zhang Chao The exhibition hall comprises of two levels: LEVEL 1: THE PRODUCTS On level one, a labyrinth of ideas is made. This floor is designed as a maze of rooms that each show of designers and designers are contributing the making of a new world. They all have individualised foucs so need individual rooms to reflect on this. Visitors however can go from room to room to get further acquainted with their works and understand them. All of the rooms have black interiors to give central focus products on display.  © Zhang Chao LEVEL 2: THE MAKERS On the second floor and above the individualized display spaces below, stairs lead to an upper level with a glass floor showing off the makers, products and designers below. It becomes akin to a 'dance floor' where visitors can experience walking over (hi)stories. Here the visitor can interact with what goes on below as well as encountering a space for future products. It is a beautiful space illuminated from below.  © Zhang Chao THE GENERATOR The inventions of the past somehow interrelate and this is somehow described as an open source society that promotes showing. and an awareness of what others are doing and thinking. The generator is a place for encountering the interrelatedness of the past and present whilst looking to the future.  © Zhang Chao TROY, THE EVOLUTIONARY CITY Layer after layer new societies are being built and the proposal here for Design Museum might be likened to Schliemann's excavations in Troy, that showed the evolutions of history and the making of the city. The future is made by inventive ideas that can lead to the emergence of the evolutionary city.  © Zhang Chao All these rooms, ideas, products and makers might be seen as offering a panoramic view on the current making culture and how design/designers help construct a brave new world.  © Zhang Chao  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Good Design Does Have Economic Value—No Matter What Critics of Contemporary Architecture Say Posted: 12 Dec 2017 01:30 AM PST  Yale University Sculpture Building / Kieran Timberlake. Image © Peter Aaron/Esto This article was originally published by Common Edge as "What Critics of Contemporary Architecture Are Missing: The Value of Design." "The reason that highly designed contemporary architecture almost exclusively manifests in iconic structures is that it's the only way that investing in design and aesthetic quality can turn a profit." This is the central assertion of "The Politics of Architecture Are Not a Matter of Taste," published in Common Edge a couple of weeks ago (and republished as "Hate Contemporary Architecture? Blame Economics, Not Architects" on ArchDaily). Marianela D'Aprile's impassioned essay takes issue with a Current Affairs piece from October, "Why You Hate Contemporary Architecture," in which the authors, staff writers Brianna Rennix and Nathan J. Robinson, hate on the current state of the design industry. Both articles confuse me. "Good buildings recede seamlessly into their surroundings," Rennix and Robinson claim, but the buildings they praise—figural structures such as London's St. Paul's Cathedral and the Moorish palace of The Alhambra—stand out prominently. D'Aprile criticizes the authors' imprecise use of terminology, but, as the opening passage above shows, her own language can be vague, relying on words such as iconic, ubiquitous shorthand among architects. (If it's intended to convey "distinctive," the irony is that most buildings described with that term have a similar sculptural character, so in our mind's eye they all sort of blend together—the opposite of distinction.) She defines architecture as "buildings that have been designed for construction in the physical world." Aren't all buildings constructed "in the physical world"? And are all unrealized designs necessarily relegated to something other than architecture?
Nevertheless, I'm mostly concerned with D'Aprile's basic argument: If there's a problem with contemporary architecture, "the problem is actually not aesthetic. It is, fundamentally, a problem of economics." Capitalism doesn't accommodate architecture well, she explains, because society doesn't value design much, except when famous architects generate marketing buzz for developers to turn a profit. Yet, since the value of the built environment accounts for some 40% of global GDP every year, it's preposterous for D'Aprile to maintain that "architecture... does not fit as a commodity into capitalist economic structures." More specifically, while some developers do seek out renowned designers to command higher sales prices, many universities and other institutions hire the same architects, largely because their name recognition can kickstart fundraising for a museum or other marquee structure that otherwise might not get built. Misguided or not, these clients' motivation isn't greed—it's survival. Even if we concede that architecture is driven primarily by economics, D'Aprile misses the mark when she claims that good design can't create value through aesthetics, other than in those rarefied cases where the architect's fame draws attention. The enjoyment and experience of buildings have no inherent value, because, she insists, "there is no 'feeling' that makes a developer money." This ignores a growing wealth of evidence about the economic benefits of buildings. As expensive as they are to build, the initial costs can account for as little as 5-10% of what an owner will pay over the lifetime of a building, and high-performance design actually can cost less while creating a significantly higher return on investment, cutting operating costs by up to half and increasing sales, rents, occupancy rates, and property value. Research shows that every 10% reduction in a building's energy consumption can yield an additional 1% rise in market value. Applied globally, best practices in energy efficiency could save nearly $500 billion annually, according to the World Green Building Council. The vast majority of these gains come not from the choice of materials, methods, and systems, but from simply sizing and shaping buildings intelligently. The earliest design decisions can determine up to 90% of the eventual impact of a building. Design is the key. Moreover, in a workforce-driven organization, facilities accounts for less than 10% of annual operating costs, the other 90% or more coming from human resources, so the real money is in how buildings affect people. Abundant research demonstrates that designing a workspace with good daylight, fresh air, and connection to the outdoors can significantly improve the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of workers, resulting in higher productivity, lower absenteeism, and better staff attraction and retention. Various studies quantify the potential gains as more than $3 per square foot or $3,000 per employee. Surveys show that 93% of companies with high-performance workplaces report a greater ability to attract talent, and 81% report greater employee retention. For a 1,000-person company, a 5% improvement in retention alone could easily be worth over $5 million per year. These benefits extend beyond the quality of light, air, and views. As I show in my 2012 book, The Shape of Green: Aesthetics, Ecology, and Design, over the past couple of decades a growing number of revelations in environmental psychology, sociobiology, and neuroscience have given us more clarity about the effects of form, space, pattern, color, and texture—the designer's basic toolkit. For example, certain patterns can lower stress by as much as 60%, just by being in our field of vision. By alleviating stress-related ailments and their associated healthcare costs, the economic value could be nearly $200 billion a year in the US alone. Imagine if the entire built environment were shaped not just to look good but to be good for us. All of these financial benefits rely on design strategies that improve the experience of people in and around buildings—ie, their "feeling," the very thing D'Aprile says can't make money. And the same strategies also enhance the social and environmental impact of buildings through better wellness and conservation. Aesthetic or sensory experience is arguably the most potentially valuable aspect of buildings. By and large, architects and designers are not sufficiently trained to understand the impact of their actions. If there is a "crisis" in contemporary architecture, as D'Aprile and Rennix and Robinson suggest, it is not merely that too many buildings are "ugly" or that architecture and capitalism don't mix—it's that architects fail to grasp the relationships between those things. We think of design as the icing, not the cake. Fully unpacking the social, economic, and environmental value of aesthetics could revolutionize our profession, if we're willing to rethink the purpose and practice of design. Lance Hosey oversees design for the San Diego office of Harley Ellis Devereaux and chairs the firm's Design Excellence program. His latest book is The Shape of Green: Aesthetics, Ecology and Design (2012). Follow him on Twitter: @lancehosey.
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| Sculpture Studio / Modus Studio + El Dorado Posted: 12 Dec 2017 01:00 AM PST  © Timothy Hursley
 © Mike Sinclair Text description provided by the architects. The new sculpture studio facility for the University of Arkansas Art Department is the first and defining building for a new remote district of campus appropriately located in a 3.8-acre raw industrial brownfield block in south Fayetteville. In a design partnership between modus studio and el dorado inc, an existing warehouse structure is transformed and expanded into a stark and simple form, yet housing complex and technical programming for the art department. The existing frame is made efficient by introducing a second floor within the volume. The bright palette, purposeful use of natural daylight, and highly sophisticated spaces for the crafting of various media are underscored by the simple use of plan and section to interconnect students, faculty, and the public between studios, galleries, and exterior porches.  Floor Plans  © Timothy Hursley The 33,000 square foot program houses open and well-lit studio space, generous corridors providing ample display and critique space, and walls designed to be durable in accommodation of presenting student work. The lighting is efficient and flexible. The environments are purposefully designed to be neutral, to serve as a backdrop to the work being done. The project resides along the Tsa La Gi trail, part of the recently expanded green network of the city, linking the communities of Northwest Arkansas. Being on the trail offers an opportunity to connect the Art Department, and eventually other departments in the District, with the broader Fayetteville community in non-traditional ways.  © Mike Sinclair As the pioneering project in the new district, the building and site design work collaboratively to allow proper access for material manipulation, manage hydrology, overcome brownfield conditions, and celebrate the emerging art and design community. The project is a chance to connect with cultural activities going on outside of the university, exposing students and faculty to a unique set of learning opportunities. Through a process of select renovation and careful addition, the result is an architecture that transcends its humble origins, setting the tone for an ambitious new academic district beyond the traditional campus.  Sections  © Mike Sinclair  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| How a Sabotaged Model Can Become an Architectural Masterpiece Posted: 12 Dec 2017 12:00 AM PST  Courtesy of The Leewardists Sometimes all your project needs is that little push or three. Travelling on public transport with a model you have spent hours painstakingly fussing over is one of the more stressful situations for an architecture student, especially when you must present it to your tutor. The violence that occurs on a busy bus inevitably predicts the end of your creation, your only hope left is to photoshop what remains. However, the tutor's response can be somewhat unpredictable (much like the demise of your model) and you can find yourself in a rare situation where they actually like it. Who knows what is going through their heads, but at the end of the day, they are the ones marking it so I wouldn't argue. The Leewardists have perfectly illustrated in their comic the pain that consumes us as we watch our most pride possession deteriorate in front of our eyes.
Centuries of civilizations built on structures designed by architects and yet, their voice is lost among the countless stories of rulers and armies and sometimes wondrous monsters. The Leewardists are rewriting the contemporary history of our civilization through the voice of this elusive being, The Architect. For more of The Architect Comic Series follow them on Facebook, Instagram or visit their website.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Corte Bertesina / traverso-vighy architetti Posted: 11 Dec 2017 11:30 PM PST  © Alessandra Chemollo
 © Alessandra Chemollo Text description provided by the architects. Located on the outskirts of Vicenza and only 3km from Piazza dei Signori, Corte Bertesina is a typical, rural, nineteenth century Venetian courtyard connected to a 17-hectare country estate with certified organic gardens of vegetables, grains and fodder. The gardens are protected inside a vast area planted in 2001 with trees native to the Po Valley. Since 2010, the estate also functions as a social farming center, offering job opportunities to young people with Down Syndrome. The objective of the project has been to regenerate and complete the existing building core with the intention of developing new functional relationships: cultural and educational activities for the enhancement of the forest landscape, social farming activities through the involvement of young people with Down Syndrome, collaboration with local social cooperatives, preparation and sale of agricultural products, residences, bed and breakfast.  © Alessandra Chemollo Additionally, the project aims to intervene into the natural context as lightly as possible, absorbing from the surroundings visual, energetic and wellness potential for its future inhabitants.  Diagram The concept of sustainability was a driving force behind the social intentions of the project, encompassing the wellbeing of its users, the choice of building materials and construction techniques, and energy production and use.  © Alessandra Chemollo The space of the historic courtyard is defined on the south edge by a long, linear wall in local stone built using traditional methods. The wall acts as a "filter" between public, social functions that occur in the courtyard and the private programs of the new residences.  © Alessandra Chemollo The new residential volumes are articulated linearly: light structures, hinged onto a stone wall which sits on a large, underground floor conceived to house the residents' vehicles. A visual connection with the exterior landscape, the sun's orientation and the control of natural ventilation are the main factors that informed the design solution.  © Alessandra Chemollo The roof covering is shaped to control natural light and maximize its photovoltaic potential.  © Alessandra Chemollo On the southeast, a simple volume clad in irregular larch planks completes the courtyard: it holds the cultural center, dedicated to the education and appreciation of the surrounding wooded landscape. Its glass wall guides the visitors' attention towards the outdoor scenery and a network of trails inside the woodland.  © Alessandra Chemollo From a construction standpoint, the intervention was approached with an innovative spirit, using the development of light, prefabricated construction methods which allowed the project to be concluded in a limited time frame. The design process resembled that of an industrial product and defined various construction components in wood, steel and stone built off-site by a group of local industrial companies and artisans. The components were than assembled on-site using tectonic connectors.  © Alessandra Chemollo The materials, produced by numerical control systems, are traditional and chosen to easily blend into the surrounding environment. Larch wood, conventionally used for its durability, was chosen as the main construction material. Throughout the project it can be found in the form of glued laminated beams and columns, interior and exterior enclosures, in door and window framing and shading, as flooring and in the design of custom-made furniture.  © Alessandra Chemollo  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Competition Winning Scheme Weaves Kindergarten and Nature Together Posted: 11 Dec 2017 10:00 PM PST  Courtesy of AUT Winning the Italian Ministry of Education's design competition: Scuole Innovative, AS.IN.O is a proposal for a kindergarten and botanical gardens inspired by local materiality and historic context. The team from aut- -aut in Italy, comprised of Gabriele Capobianco, Edoardo Capuzzo Dolcetta, Jonathan Lazar and Damiano Ranaldi, based the layout of the scheme on the typical double courtyard house typology of the Campidano Meridionale area. The competition called for a design for one of 51 sites for innovative and sustainable schools dotted around the country. The entries would be judged on their architectural quality; environmental and sustainability considerations; practicality in regards to material selection and programmatic function, handling of teaching needs and the accessibility, usability, and safety of the structure and all its environments.  Courtesy of AUT The Municipality of Selargius requested the design of a nursery school and botanic garden. aut- -aut noted a decline of the urban form in the latest expansions of Selargius and wanted to ensure the project reflect a practice of studying the vernacular and the traditional local typologies of the area.  Courtesy of AUT  Courtesy of AUT The form of the project is generated by a folding, weaving perimeter wall that demarcates the various program, articulating the interior spaces of the school, an agora, and the entry foyer. The kindergarten, acting as the house in the double courtyard typology, splits the plot in half, allocating the larger portion to the garden and the smaller to indoor and outdoor space for the children.  Courtesy of AUT  Courtesy of AUT The use of rammed earth for this wall would ground the project in its local context, connecting the building to its place as well as utilizing the low-cost of construction and the thermal and environmental performance of the material. The supporting structures made of timber and glass would rest lightly in comparison, drawing the gardens in.  Courtesy of AUT The botanical garden is inspired by medieval hortus conclusus – where gardens are connected to a cloister or monastery by a high continuous wall. The wrapping of the perimeter wall generates continuous and connected spaces and evokes the mystery of these medieval gardens from the exterior.  Courtesy of AUT The kindergarten and garden scheme plays with contrasts, the heaviness of the rammed earth against the lightness of the garden and agora, the prospect and refuge of the spaces generated by the winding perimeter wall, and the use of traditional forms and materials for contemporary formal conditions and architectural solutions to teaching practices. The project clearly answers the innovative brief, and would no doubt be an asset to the local and wider community of Selargius. News via: aut- -aut.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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