Arch Daily |
- Extension to Primary School / Paul Dillon Architects
- Green Heart. Marina One Singapore / ingenhoven architects
- Serene House HCMC / Module K
- Garú Apartment / Estúdio BRA
- How MASS Design Group’s Approach to Data Could Save the Architectural Profession
- Tolsá 61 / MOCAA ARQUITECTOS
- How Some of New York City's Distinguished Architects Plan To Save The City
- TED Talk: Christian Benimana of MASS Design Group on Founding a Design School for Africa
- Cumaru House / Raffo Arquitetura
- Soar Through Dubai's Cityscape With This Extreme Zipline
| Extension to Primary School / Paul Dillon Architects Posted: 30 Dec 2017 09:00 PM PST  © Ros Kavanagh
 © Ros Kavanagh Text description provided by the architects. This extension of a two-teacher national school in a small village in the west of Ireland provides one new classroom, resource room and three new shelters. The three new shelters are intended to be central to the school and village. They can be used for outdoor teaching or as play houses on an imaginary street. The largest shelter can be used as a stage for open air performances by the school or small local community.  Floor Plan Provision for a future classroom is allowed to the back of the new extension, in an area now used as a ball wall. The project provides for three new shelters overlooking the playing field and the tarmac yards to the front and back of the school.  © Ros Kavanagh The classroom was built in line with the road but set back slightly from the original school. The subtle deviation from the line of the existing building was done so in order to respect it and not compete with it. The extension has a similar architectural language to the existing building regarding scale, form and materials.  © Ros Kavanagh The project won the Highly Commended Award in the Best Education Building section of the 2017 RIAI (The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) Awards, and also won the Special Mention Award in the 2017 AAI (Architectural Association of Ireland) Awards.  Section  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Green Heart. Marina One Singapore / ingenhoven architects Posted: 30 Dec 2017 06:00 PM PST  © HG Esch
 © HG Esch Text description provided by the architects. As an international role model for living and working, "Marina One" makes an innovative contribution to the discourse on mega-cities, especially in tropical regions, which, in the context of increasing population and climate change, face enormous challenges. The high-density building complex with its mix of uses extends to over 400,000 square meters and, with its group of four high-rise buildings, defines the "Green Heart"—a public space extending over several stories. This three-dimensional green oasis reflects the diversity of tropical flora. Aedes presents diagrams and interviews with project participants, as well as a documentary film on the architecture.  © HG Esch  First Level Plan  © HG Esch The central element of the exhibition is a spectacular five-meter high space sculpture which brings to life the unique shape of the "Marina One" buildings. Today, more than 50 percent of the world's population lives in cities. This number will increase to 70 percent in the next three decades. By 2050, the world's population will increase to nine or ten billion. In urban agglomerations, this growth cannot be accommodated without high-rise buildings. The core concept for "Marina One", which consists of a group of four high-rise buildings, is based on a shared central space—the "Green Heart"—which was designed by ingenhoven architects in close cooperation with landscape architects Gustafson Porter + Bowman.  © HG Esch The interaction between the geometry of the buildings and the garden facilitates natural ventilation and generates an agreeable microclimate. The largest public landscaped area in the Marina Bay Central Business District of Singapore provides living space close to nature, the usable area of which is 125 percent of the original site surface area. "Marina One" comprises four high-rise buildings which accommodate office, residential and retail functions and have been rated under the Green Mark Platinum and LEED Platinum schemes. The two office towers each have a usable floor area of 175,000 square meters; the two residential towers provide 1,042 city apartments and penthouses for about 3,000 residents.  Section The organic shape of the building complex with its iconic louvres and the generous planting contribute to an improvement of the microclimate and increase biodiversity. Inspired by Asian paddy field terraces, the green centre formed by the four towers—with its multi-story three-dimensional gardens—reflects the diversity of tropical flora and creates a new habitat. This "Green Heart" comprises over 350 different types of trees and plants, including 700 trees, on a landscaped area of 37,000 square meters. Various types of the animal become part of this biological diversity. Inspired by the natural climate changes at the different vertical levels of a rainforest, the landscape architecture mimics a green valley with its variations in climate according to level.  © HG Esch Restaurants and cafés, retail areas, a fitness club, pool, supermarket, food court, and events areas on the different open terraces not only provide products and services to the residents, office workers, and visitors—they also create a place for social interaction. The compact and efficient layout design is complemented by energy-saving ventilation systems, highly effective external solar screening devices, and glazing that reduces solar radiation into the building. Direct connections to four of Singapore's six mass rapid transport lines, bus stops, bicycle parking facilities, and electro-mobile charging stations ensure that exhaust emissions caused by private transport are significantly reduced.  © HG Esch The colour scheme of the interior and the building facade features calm and earthy bronze shades in order to support the harmonious atmosphere. A space-filling sculpture is a central exhibit in the Aedes Architectural Forum; it models the deliberate design of the building shape so that it can be fully appreciated. A documentary film of the building by architectural photographer HG Esch, interviews with project participants, and explanatory diagrams of the project provide visitors with new ideas for architecture in mega-cities.  Elevation - Residential  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2017 12:00 PM PST
 © Hiroyuki Oki Text description provided by the architects. It mixes modern and Indochine, inside and outside, past and future. Its prefab steel structure is (con)temporary, flexible, sustainable and relocatable. And it only took 3 months from concept to completion. That's the new mixed-use building in HCMC designed by Vietnamese interior design company Module K. The building sits nestled between classic and French-inspired villas in HCMC's hipster district Thao Dien. "We chose a prefabricated steel structure solution, quite uncommon in Vietnam where the traditional construction is bricks and concrete. It's cost-effective, easy to erect and disassemble, extremely flexible and very light and airy. We can easily break it up when our ten-year lease ends and move it to a new location for another serene house of our own. It also helps preserve the initial capital investment", says Jade Nguyễn Kim Ngọc, design director of Module K.  © Hiroyuki Oki The steel creates a three-dimensional puzzle with the spaces filled according to the various and changing needs of the tenants. Double height ceilings alternate with lower mezzanines allowing for a multitude of uses of the light-filled creative space. Housing coffee shop, furniture showroom, apartment and office space, as well as a rooftop terrace, the steel structure and lightweight sliding and folding panel facade elements, allow control of light, shade and air, blurring the boundary between inside and outside. The surrounding garden - with tropical plants, curtain plants draping from the roof and the window planter boxes - brings nature inside and provides a place for rest and informal exchanges between different creatives.  Section A A roof terrace offers views to the surrounding neighbourhood and a relaxation space. Indochine interior and decoration items, collected during many travels throughout the years also play an important role in creating a gentle atmosphere nested inside the modern steel building. "Module K has combined its own furniture designs, inspired by the Indochine history of Saigon, with digitally designed and locally produced futuristic LAVA furniture and lighting," says Module K director Huy Anh. Thao Dien is close to the city centre and near the river, very popular with expats, and full of cafes and designer shops.  © Hiroyuki Oki  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2017 08:00 AM PST  © Maíra Acayaba
 © Maíra Acayaba Text description provided by the architects. The new address of a retired couple on the coast of São Paulo. The architectural intervention in the existing space was based on the  Axonometric After renovation, kitchen, dining room, living room and balcony have become a single space, allowing different possibilities of use in day to day. The subtraction of part of the walls provided, besides the visual permeability, the best air circulation throughout the social area.  © Maíra Acayaba The apartment is now organized in four different boxes of uses, marked by four  © Maíra Acayaba The wood at the multifunctional furniture designed by the architects, marks the  Plan The concrete present in the walls and at the doors, evidences and organizes the  © Maíra Acayaba The white color organizes the program for guests, there are always friends who come to spend the weekend at the beach and enjoy the company of the couple. The blue color marks the volume of the kitchen and laundry area.  © Maíra Acayaba  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| How MASS Design Group’s Approach to Data Could Save the Architectural Profession Posted: 30 Dec 2017 06:00 AM PST On Thursday, December 22nd, an email arrived in the inboxes of ArchDaily's editors that made us sit up, shake off our holiday-induced lethargy, and take notice. MASS Design Group's Year in Review email might initially have blended in with the many other holiday wishes and 2016 recaps we receive at that time of year—it recapped such highlights as Michael Murphy's TED Talk in February or the launch of the first African Design Center—but it had one thing that we hadn't seen from other firm's years-in-review: detailed statistics about the firm's achievements that year. In recent decades, certain aspects of architecture have become increasingly open to scientific analysis, most notably when it comes to a building's environmental impact. It's no surprise, therefore, to see MASS Design Group's claims that their work uses 74% less embodied carbon than typical building projects, or that 78% of their materials are sourced within 100 kilometers, but alongside these were some more unusual metrics: since it was founded, the firm has invested 88% of construction costs regionally, created 15,765 jobs, and in 2016 alone, their work served a total of 64,580 users. These numbers suggest a way of thinking about architecture that few have attempted before—a way that, if widely adopted, could fundamentally change the way architecture is practiced and evaluated. We spoke to MASS co-founder Alan Ricks to find out how these statistics are calculated, and what purpose they serve.  A section of the email sent out by MASS Design Group in December. Image Courtesy of MASS Design Group Speaking to Ricks, it's clear that MASS Design Group hopes to be at the forefront of a new trend in architectural evaluation. The approach is an extension of the MASS philosophy, which attempts to see building as a more holistic process—one that is capable of teaching people new skills, promoting gender equality, or even reducing crime. These metrics are an attempt to demonstrate those principles empirically. "We want to go beyond checklists as a tool of measurement, to find out how we can actually drill down and measure performance," says Ricks. "It is kind of a nascent practice, and we're happy to say we're in the midst of trying to figure out how to do this."  Image via screenshot from video. ImageMASS Design Group's Maternity Waiting Village in Malawi In order to calculate the numbers, MASS Design Group has had to intelligently combine datasets to arrive at useful statistics. For example, to calculate user numbers MASS considers "primary users," for which there is usually solid tracked data, and "secondary users," which may not be tracked but can be estimated based on the primary user numbers. For example, in a hospital the number of primary users, the patients, is known, and the number of secondary users can be extrapolated by multiplying this by the average number of visitors and family members per patient. In a school, the calculation is similar, with students as the primary users and family and community members as the secondary users. While Ricks states that the number of users is "a loose proxy" for a building's impact, he adds that MASS Design Group is beginning to invest in "more rigorous assessments of value." In Malawi, where MASS built a "village" of maternal waiting homes, they conducted surveys about the effects of the architecture among the women using the facility and compared their answers to a similar survey conducted in a government-built facility. Finally, Ricks talks about measuring the indirect impacts of architecture, which he discusses within four key categories: economic, environmental, educational and emotional. At this stage, the economic measurements being conducted by MASS center around measuring the principles espoused in their #LoFab campaign—that is to say, how much of the building's construction budget is being spent locally, and how many hours of employment it has created within the community. The environmental impact can be measured through both carbon emissions and importantly, embodied carbon in the building's materials, metrics that many in the industry are now familiar with. Ricks adds, though, that "most of the places we work don't have manufacturer specifications that give you all that information, so we need better ways of creating the carbon coefficients for the way most buildings are built." Educational outcomes are measured by recording the number of workers who take part in "capacity building" workshops to learn new skills. Finally, emotional value can be summarized as the collection of testimonials on display in MASS Design Group's videos, such as their Beyond the Building series. This final aspect may be more difficult to measure scientifically, but it is nonetheless a key component of the firm's process.  MASS Design Group's Umubano Primary School in Kigali, Rwanda. Image © Iwan Baan All these methods for tracking a building's impact go far beyond the methods architects usually use to evaluate their own work—even in the rare cases when a post-occupancy evaluation is carried out. But Ricks is clear that MASS is just beginning to understand how they can measure the many dimensions that support their philosophy of building. "There's more work to be done there to look at issues such as purchasing power, equitable employment of women and stuff like that," he says.  MASS Design Group's Butaro Hospital in Rwanda. Image © Iwan Baan Asked where their interest in tracking their impact comes from, Ricks admits that it has probably stemmed from their proximity to developing countries and the type of work they often undertake. "I think we are taking cues from the international development sphere, where Gates has really pushed for data in evaluating which are the good interventions," he says. "Being in the social enterprise space, doing a lot of global health work, we're exposed to that kind of ideology, and want to figure out how do we improve, how do we do better." Through their Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates have been at the forefront of 21st-century "venture philanthropy," a system in which the dispassionate methods of business are applied to humanitarian causes to increase efficiency and improve outcomes. It makes sense that an architecture firm exposed to this system would emulate it. However, hidden within this admission is the key to understanding the true strength of MASS Design Group's data-driven approach. .jpg?1488281595 "MASS Design Group's Butaro Hospital in Rwanda. Image © Iwan Baan") MASS Design Group's Butaro Hospital in Rwanda. Image © Iwan Baan For the Gates Foundation, applying metrics to their funding programs isn't simply a way to explain to the world the good they're doing, or even to show ways that certain programs can be executed better. The metrics they use can help them to do both those things, but primarily they are about finding out which of their programs deserve to exist at all. Famously, when the Gateses began their charitable work in the late 1990s, they were initially skeptical about the Malthusian implications of saving children's lives only to end up with more mouths to feed. But, when they were shown the evidence that reducing child mortality rates consistently reduces the number of children women have, the Gates Foundation made a rapid course correction, changing their focus from contraceptives to the vaccination programs which are now the lynchpin of their organization. In their annual letter about their foundation's progress, released two weeks ago, Bill and Melinda Gates do not mention architecture at all—despite the fact that they specifically highlight Rwanda, a country that has been investing in well-designed health buildings and a country which, with the Butaro Hospital, provided MASS Design Group with their breakthrough project. For Ricks, that's a problem: "I think we have to prove to people like Gates that design matters," he says.  MASS Design Group's Butaro Doctor's Housing in Rwanda. Image © Iwan Baan Ricks goes on to talk passionately about how his firm found success in Rwanda. "Ten years ago when we started in Rwanda, there wasn't even a word for 'architect.' People typically were not using architects to design health infrastructure, and not just there. We had to show that design could help them improve health outcomes, reduce infection rates, improve recovery times by having views to nature, that we could improve the patient experience, that we could improve the staff experience which would improve retention, that you could actually attract staff by providing quality housing." "We had to give them clear design interventions that could correlate to improve the outcomes that they were concerned about, and at the same time that we could design a project that could be built affordably, and that could have greater impact within that community by investing in more equitable building processes. That's the kind of triple-bottom-line scenario that is compelling." It's also the kind of triple-bottom-line scenario that is required to succeed in today's world of big data and impact driven decision-making.  MASS Design Group's Umubano Primary School in Kigali, Rwanda. Image © Iwan Baan But critically, for Ricks, this statistical demonstration of architecture's abilities does not only apply in the international development sphere. "We think that this is not altruism, this is not philanthropy. This is about fundamentally creating value," he says. "The market for architecture is tiny; it's like, 'who can afford it? Who wants icing on the cake? Then maybe we'll have architects.' If we think about it differently, if we think about design as fundamental to achieving the end goals of the service providers, the end goals of society, we create a lot more opportunity for architects." "This is not exclusive to emerging markets, this is something that's as relevant in Boston as it is in Kigali," he adds. .jpg?1488281582 "MASS Design Group's Butaro Hospital in Rwanda. Image © Iwan Baan") MASS Design Group's Butaro Hospital in Rwanda. Image © Iwan Baan While MASS Design Group's data-driven approach may have its origins in the world of charity, it's about much more than simple do-goodery. Showing that you can serve others in order to serve yourself (or in some architectural markets, perhaps even to save yourself) is something that all architects should be invested in.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2017 05:00 AM PST  © Jaime Navarro Soto
 © Jaime Navarro Soto Text description provided by the architects. Tolsá 61 is a reinterpretation of “Vecindad” (neighbourship) an urban life in downtown area, located in the Ciudadela neighbourhood, which is in the southwest corner of the historic center of Mexico City.  © Jaime Navarro Soto The neighborhood mantains much of its traditional architecture of the 18th and early 19th century buildings such as the remodeled Library of Mexico José Vasconcelos.  © Jaime Navarro Soto Inspired by the Porfirian “Vecindad” model, with a longitudinal patio to the center of grouped apartments, the project is designed for the inhabitant looking for a new way of living based on community, fexibility, and a fundamental belief of belonging among its inhabitants. Tolsa 61 seeks to challenge the life of traditional apartments through physical spaces that foster meaningful relationships.  Section The design takes advantage of the context to generate the mechanisms needed to link the housing with their immediate sorroundings through controlled openings “excavated” in the building mass. These monolithic volumen will help to have a better environmental performance but also a search for design capable of withstanding the test of time.  © Jaime Navarro Soto The materiality of the facade is white vitrified brick, helping to reduce the cost of maintenance in the future as its glazed enamel layer makes it repellent to the degradation by dirt and weather.  Type Plan The result is a 6-story concrete structure with a tetris facade, where the openings are presented as a terrace setting indoors where trees are located to help cool the airflow before it reaches the interior, as allows natural light to filter through the building. Designed for low-income families, containing 25 apartments, ranging between 45 and 60 sqm. Including a mixture of one and two bedrooms. Despite its small áreas and simple interiors, each studio has its own balcony or terrace overlooking to the central courtyard complex.  © Jaime Navarro Soto The fluidity is based on the idea of community housing.Our intention was to make an infinetly rich place that is crowded and disorderly. .jpg?1514461074 "© Jaime Navarro Soto") © Jaime Navarro Soto  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| How Some of New York City's Distinguished Architects Plan To Save The City Posted: 30 Dec 2017 04:00 AM PST  Courtesy of Mark Foster Gage Associates New York Magazine asked some of New York City's distinguished architects how they would improve the city and save it from climate change. NY Mag reported on their findings. While Mark Foster Gage dreams of infilling the East River with green space, Charles Renfro envisions "a citywide network of rooftop parks" inspired by his own work on the High Line. Green space would not only absorb stormwater and heat but, when elevated, it would be flood resistant by nature. Many architects played with some overarching plan of connection or integration. Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture wants to protect NYC bikers by integrating the Citi Bike system with a low lying bike bridge they call "the El Bike Lanes." Norman Foster's plan involves an extension of Madison Square Park into a "series of off-traffic islands" done in the same style. Rafael Viñoly reinvents the NYC street plane all together into a "matrix of elevated circulation patterns." On the other hand, Family New York's Oana Stanescu and Dong-Ping Wong look to the skyscrapers. They believe the NYC skyline should be a place for everyone, not just a wealthy ghost town. From Mark Foster Gage to Rafael de Cárdenas, David Rockwell and more, design minds across the city have a range of ideas. Hypotheses so crazy, they just might work. Find out how NYC's visionary architects are going to save the city at New York Magazine, here.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| TED Talk: Christian Benimana of MASS Design Group on Founding a Design School for Africa Posted: 30 Dec 2017 01:30 AM PST
In this recent TED Talk, Christian Benimana talks about his journey as an architect—growing up in Rwanda, studying in China, and finally returning to Africa to see the beginnings of a building boom very similar to what he witnessed in Shanghai. Given this background, he then explains why he and MASS Design Group founded the African Design Center, a school and innovation center that intends to be a catalyst for positive urban development on the continent. MASS Design Group to Propose "Bauhaus of Africa" at UN Summit  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Cumaru House / Raffo Arquitetura Posted: 30 Dec 2017 01:00 AM PST  © Marcos Fertonani
 © Marcos Fertonani Text description provided by the architects. In a composition of volumes and plans, the building fits between openings and closings, respecting the functional needs of the family and the natural characteristics of the surroundings. The main functions of the house are concentrated on a single plan, providing a single floor house aspect, sharing abundant lighting and ventilation integrated by a central pool. The upper and lower floor contain spaces of sporadic and private use.  © Marcos Fertonani The volumetric configuration and position of the building on the site reflect the intention of the family to receive friends and maintain privacy, allied to the best use of natural energies technique, capturing morning sunlight and dominant ventilation.  Floor Plan The wood that gives its name to the house was thought from the beginning, and it nature is highlighted in details on the facade, floors, ceiling and indoor finishing materials, balancing thermal and beauty aspects.  © Marcos Fertonani A large upper horizontal opening on the facade works as a large natural lamp over the social area of the house, allowing lighting during daytime and highlighting the lines of the house at night. On the upper floor it is still possible, through this opening, to contemplate the canopy of trees and the southern area of Londrina.  © Marcos Fertonani In the frontal view the straight lines of the volumes balance in a dialog with the angles present in the access to garage, in the upper rooftop of cumaru wood and in the metallic crown.  © Marcos Fertonani  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Soar Through Dubai's Cityscape With This Extreme Zipline Posted: 30 Dec 2017 12:00 AM PST Ever wished you had superpowers and could fly through cities like Superman? Now is your chance! Well, kind of. The new XLine Dubai Marina lets you zipline at speeds up to 80 km/hr through the "City of Gold." An upgrade from its first XLine on the Dubai Fountain, its new sequel is twice the distance, twice the time and, of course, twice the thrill, excitement, and adventure.  via XLine Dubai Have fun soaring through one of the world's most extravagant cities, and take a peek at the Princess Tower and Cayan Tower on the way down. Over a 1km journey will send you from their 170m-high launch platform back to ground level. Choose to either fly solo or tag-team with your best friend or loved one for even more fun. Moreover, a camera is attached to your helmet to document your entire experience. So, after it is done you can see the pictures and videos of your initial excitement, impending fear, pure joy, and finally, oh-sweet relief.  via XLine Dubai Prices for the XLine Dubai Marina are 650AED ( ~176USD) for a solo ride and 1200AED (~326USD) for a Duo-ride. The experience is suited for individuals between 12-65 years of age, and between 50-100kg in weight. You can read more and book your experience here.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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