Arch Daily |
- Datacenter AM4 / Benthem Crouwel Architects
- House in Formentera Island / Marià Castelló Martínez
- MƯA Coffee Shop / 85 Design
- 2 Houses in Chigny / dieterdietz.org
- Four Rectangles / Jun Igarashi Architects
- WUJU JAE, JE / 100A associates
- China Optics Valley Convention and Exhibition Center / WSP Architects
- Tinbeerwah House / teeland architects
- Japan Plans for Supertall Wooden Skyscraper in Tokyo by 2041
- Rehabilitation of an old School for the Flamenco Interpretation Center / García Torrente Arquitectos
- 3 Shortlisted Candidates Announced in Architectural Association's Search for New Director
- Encinos House / José Ricardo Yslas Gámez
- Watch the Construction of Zaha Hadid's 1000 Museum Tower in This Full PBS Documentary
- Piushaven Harbour Pavilion / Civic Architects
- This Medieval Walled Town with a Storied History Shows How Traditional Urbanism Can Support High Density
- Domínguez House / Gazteluz Jerez
- Alvaro Siza's New Church of Saint-Jacques de la Lande Through the Lens of Ana Amado
- World's Tallest Timber Tower to Be Built in Norway—Thanks to New Rules on What Defines a "Timber Building"
- 'Tuscanyness' Film Explores the Detachment of Modern Italian Architecture and the Fight to Restore Faith in Design
- Pavilion Brick Factory Vogelensangh / Bedaux de Brouwer Architects
| Datacenter AM4 / Benthem Crouwel Architects Posted: 15 Feb 2018 09:00 PM PST  © Jannes Linders
 © Jannes Linders Text description provided by the architects. TEMPLE OF THE 21ST CENTURY: DATA CENTERS EQUINIX IN AMSTERDAM  Implantation European Internet node "For data centers to gain social acceptance in cities, we must make sure their aesthetics relate to their surroundings." - Benthem Crouwel Architects  © Jannes Linders The Netherlands was the first European country to be connected to the internet. Data centers exist here since 1988; the first was at the center of Mathematics & Informatics, also on the Science Park in Amsterdam. Previously, data centers were not prominent buildings in our environment, but anonymous boxes in remote industrial areas. Due to the emergence of cloud services and big data, the data center market continues to grow exponentially. This sector, one of the strongest pillars of the Dutch economy, is now indispensable in our society.  © Jannes Linders Designing the data centers was a paradoxical task, according to architect Joost Vos: "The buildings had to fit in with its surroundings. They must be attractive, however not too welcoming. We all want our personal data to be safe, but we feel awkward about large data centers in our cities, because we don't want fortress-like buildings surrounded by high-security fences in public spaces."  © Jannes Linders Head in the clouds  © Jannes Linders "From the Science Park you will see the surroundings reflected in the façade, the top of the tower seems to dissolve into the air. The architecture is as ambivalent as the cloud."  © Jannes Linders Flexible and sustainable  © Jannes Linders  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| House in Formentera Island / Marià Castelló Martínez Posted: 15 Feb 2018 07:00 PM PST  Courtesy of Marià Castelló Martínez
 Courtesy of Marià Castelló Martínez Text description provided by the architects. Bosc d'en Pep Ferrer is the traditional toponym of a large plot located next to the beach of Migjorn, on the south coast of the island of Formentera. This territory has a place that unleashes the desire to inhabit a oneiric view, where the horizon is only cut by the beautiful silhouette of the Pi des Català Tower, built in 1763. The project focuses on the duality between the telluric and the tectonic. The heavy and the light. The earth and the air. The handcrafted and the technological. Compression effort and traction resistance. The rock, which comes to the surface in the chosen place, has been carved as if it were a sculpture, offering a cavity reminiscent of the 'marès' stone quarries. A whole space materialized with a single stone. Monolithic. Megalithic. Stereotomic.  Courtesy of Marià Castelló Martínez  Ground Floor Plan  Courtesy of Marià Castelló Martínez  Underground Floor Plan  Courtesy of Marià Castelló Martínez The intervention offers a house for a family sensitive to the environment, which program is divided into three light modules built in dry construction systems and a cavity made by subtraction of material on the lower floor. This longitudinal disposition gives place to full-empty successions, patios, connecting walkways, transverse views and a place created by time and discovered by surprise: a natural cave in the main access courtyard, which was integrated to the Project during the process of construction.  Courtesy of Marià Castelló Martínez The structure is easily comprehensible and manifests itself in three stratums with ascending levels of precision: the lower floor expresses the obvious absence of containment walls added to the rocky layer, as well as the appearance of a small concrete structure that regulates the upper level of this floor and constitutes the support platform of the ground floor. On the upper floor, as if it were a real-scale scale model, the double-supported set up of the structure becomes evident from the inside, where it has been left seen in most cases. Here a single element (cross-laminated wood panels) cluster several functions: structure, closure and interior finishing.  Section A The superior quality of the used materials and their unions has played an important role in the process of creation and realization of the project. Bioconstruction criteria have given preference to natural materials and if possible from the construction place: sculpted rock, crushed gravel from the excavation, Capri limestone, pine and fir wood, recycled cotton panels, white Michael marble, high permeability silicate painter, etc. All this has reverted to hygroscopic enclosures which are permeable to water steam and guarantee pleasant and healthy indoor environment, while at the same time require fewer energy efforts for the proper building functioning. At the environmental level, the design provides passive bioclimatic systems of proven effectiveness in this climate, as well as water self-sufficiency thanks to a large volume rainwater cistern that reuses rainwater.  Courtesy of Marià Castelló Martínez  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 15 Feb 2018 06:00 PM PST  © To Huu Dung
 © To Huu Dung Text description provided by the architects. In Vietnam, there are a large number of steel buildings. They can be easily found around the country and have been built for different purposes of use. Therefore, most people still think of steel buildings as factories, temporary houses and they can hardly become a beautiful building. Thus I want to prove that: Steel buildings are neither dry nor rigid. Steel buildings can completely make attractive and high quality works  © To Huu Dung A year ago, when I first met the owner, he wanted me to consult and design a steel-constructed coffee shop on an area of 127m2. For the very first stage, we worked very well together. However, during the construction process, the contractor did not carry out the work well enough and he changed his mind a lot from my original design. So I ended the cooperation, soon withdrew from that project. As what I expected, the completed project was not the same as the original design and the quality of the works as well as the finishing was very bad.  Section  Elevation Over two months ago, he came to me again. This time, he asked me to continue to design a new steel coffee shop for $ 48,000. However, before accepting his request, I told him, "Please! Approve and follow my design, otherwise the door is just over there". And of course he apologized for the last time and totally agreed with my condition. This time, he wanted me to design a coffee shop in the Vietnamese sidewalk style, which meant it had to be airy and bright, bringing the feeling of sitting outdoors while staying indoors. However, the rain and sunlight were unable to affect the customers  © To Huu Dung  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 2 Houses in Chigny / dieterdietz.org Posted: 15 Feb 2018 04:00 PM PST  © Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt
 © Joël Tettamanti Text description provided by the architects. The intervention by dieterdietz.org immerses itself in an evocative context of a 200-year-old Chestnut tree and a very tall Sycamore in the midst of the vineyards of Chigny (Switzerland) that hide a cluster of carefully proportioned houses dating from the 19th century, which are perfectly integrated into the landscape. The view opens towards the Lake of Geneva and the French Alps, with the impressive Mont Blanc blurring against the sky: a perfect setting for a very unique project. The client requested a design which fostered the coexistence of shared and individual living spaces to provide an opportunity to live independently within a community of friends and their families. In response to the brief, the refurbishment of one of the 19th-century buildings, formerly a press-house, and the design of a new house was proposed.  © Joël Tettamanti The project follows the prevailing characteristics of this rural site, where solitary volumes in conglomerates provide space and shelter for everyday activities. By adding a house and following the typology of a barn, a further gravitational mass has been added to the interplay of volumes among the trees. The garden remains the locus of identity, where the refurbished Pressoir (press-house) and the new Grange (barn) articulate an interstitial court in the uninterrupted landscape. Chestnuts will fall close to a new roof, built entirely of nano-film coated solar-cells that provide energy for the new and the refurbished houses.  © Joël Tettamanti The layout of each house is structured around a generous-sized room that serves as a social hub for the people living in both houses. Thus, the two houses can be inhabited as one common place. Likewise, each house can be individually occupied, as both Grange and Pressoir are suited as work-and- living environments with a plan that plays on interstitial thresholds of voids, doors, curtains and sliding panels that gradually negotiate between public and private spheres. In their construction principles, the houses rely on a basic palette of materials, which accentuates their genetic similarities and differences. The press-house is fully refurbished while maintaining its original structure, walls and carpentry. Now exposed and with visible signs of age, these structural elements tell the story of the building. New openings follow the proportions of existing ones, literally being drawn around the facades.  © Joël Tettamanti  Ground Floor Plan  © Joël Tettamanti The exoskeleton of the Grange embodies a reverberation of the exposed roof truss of the Pressoir. In structural consequence, the logical order is reversed and primarily exposed steel is completed by a timber secondary structure. In architect Dieter Dietz' words: "These houses offer a frame for the living. Like a canvas is drawn into space that awaits life to complete itself. Users will further define visual and spatial articulation." From the inside out, the two buildings orient themselves towards the Lemanic landscape, opening views onto the vineyards and the surrounding orchard. Over time, they will be fully shaded by trees and growing plants and flowers that climb between the roofs, and reflect the blossoming fusion between housing development and nature.  © Joël Tettamanti  Cross Section (Hill) 1  © Joël Tettamanti  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Four Rectangles / Jun Igarashi Architects Posted: 15 Feb 2018 02:00 PM PST .jpg?1518694982 "Courtesy of Jun Igarashi Architects") Courtesy of Jun Igarashi Architects
.jpg?1518695015 "Courtesy of Jun Igarashi Architects") Courtesy of Jun Igarashi Architects Text description provided by the architects. I started thinking and practicing about the middle area ('engawa', sunroom etc.) with the airlock entrance as a trigger. I was born and grew in cold climates and continued design while living there, so I began thinking about the middle area. At the beginning of my design I had a consciousness of "a middle area to protect". It is a space "between" the human consciousness from the inner space to the outer space. This resembles the process of Alva Aalto architecture, which was built against the Northern European severity of nature. .jpg?1518694923 "Courtesy of Jun Igarashi Architects") Courtesy of Jun Igarashi Architects People put themselves in the inner space, feeling the outer space from there, and touching it. The airlock entrance was made in cold district as a "middle area to protect" architecture that prevents cold air from flowing outside into the room during the winter season. .jpg?1518695003 "Courtesy of Jun Igarashi Architects") Courtesy of Jun Igarashi Architects Conventional airlock entrance is very narrow and cheap, it is installed to stick to the building. It plays an important role to improve the indoor environment, but its appearance and space are very sad. I thought that I wanted to treat it as a more enjoyable existence. In my private house, we ordinarily made the airlock entrance slightly installed at the entrance as big as the children's room.  First Floor Plan Then, vicinity was born there, a good sense of distance was created between the outside and the inside. In the space designed as " a middle area to protect ", indoor activities will overflow in the summer. It was the "between" space consciousness towards the outside from the inside, it was not "between" from the outside to the inside. .jpg?1518694974 "Courtesy of Jun Igarashi Architects") Courtesy of Jun Igarashi Architects Now, I am considering the possibility of "a middle area not only to protect". It is to aim not only the severity of winter but also the middle area where you can enjoy all the conditions by thinking about the way of "between" from both inside and outside. In this plan, we placed a building in the center of the site. This is one option when setting a small footprint architecture in a limited residential section of a rural district, with limited conditions including cost. Although some hierarchy occurs depending on the direction and the neighboring state, "vacant lands" are born equally to the four sides of the building. When designing from the inside towards the vacant land (outside), the feeling of the person in the vacant land seemed important. I attempted to create a "between" from both directions that would not only be a large eaves as a base from the inside but also as a stronghold of humans from the outside. There are "four areas" in "four rectangles". The first rectangle in the center of the building is the space in the most stable state. The second one is a semi-underground rectangle surrounding it, which is a thought and continuity space from the airlock entrance. .jpg?1518695049 "Courtesy of Jun Igarashi Architects") Courtesy of Jun Igarashi Architects The rectangle of the third large eaves beneath space and the rectangle of the fourth vacant land were designed as a multipurpose area, so I decided not to limit the function inside this area. Architecture is an existence born to obtain certain kind of stable state from the fickle state of the outside (earth). The airlock entrance is a response to a certain limited situation. I have made various designs while changing it and enlarging it. It is important that "between" from two-way is more free and does not limit the function. The elegant space under which the arms spread widely becomes a place of various activities of human beings and is full of possibilities to become a large middle area. The middle area dose not only responses to the environment but also response to human pleasures. .jpg?1518694992 "Courtesy of Jun Igarashi Architects") Courtesy of Jun Igarashi Architects  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| WUJU JAE, JE / 100A associates Posted: 15 Feb 2018 12:00 PM PST .jpg?1518691764 "© Kim Jae Yoon") © Kim Jae Yoon
 © Kim Jae Yoon 'Wuju Jae, je' which means a house with plentifulness, was built for a couple in their 50s and three children. Both of the couple spent their childhood in the countryside, went up to Seoul with their marriage, and have lived in several apartments constantly for more than 30 years. It is said that living in a midtown apartment is comfortable, but they have felt stuffy and decided to spend latter half of their life with nature as their retirement age is drawing near. They looked around for a site at Gwangju, near from downtown, in order that the couple and their children could commute, and eventually they found out the sunny, snug and warm site with clean air in well-arranged village near the forest, for this house. Then they visited the designer. Satisfied with the designer's previous projects such as San Soo Eun and W+House, they shared their ideas with the designer. .jpg?1518691983 "© Kim Jae Yoon") © Kim Jae Yoon "What make me exciting whenever I design a space of house are a fact that the house is a space not for many and unspecified persons but for specified persons, and the process itself to explore the persons. I also designed this house through the process to understand trivial stories, lifestyles and attitudes to life of the family. I heard about a reason to build this house, things they wanted to express in it, and a name to keep its meaning. 'Wuju Jae, je' which has plentifulness, is a very impressive expression." .jpg?1518692151 "© Kim Jae Yoon") © Kim Jae Yoon  Floor Plan  © Kim Jae Yoon The designer started to map a plan about the space from its name, and discovered a clue from their lifestyles and attitudes to life known through numerous questions and answers. It is just 'a house to be plentiful by emptying, a one-storied house with naive and tidy elevation in harmony with nature, keeping modern Korean beauty'. .jpg?1518692095 "© Kim Jae Yoon") © Kim Jae Yoon Above all, the designer arranged this house toward the east in the light of close-range view and distant view according to the way of thinking nature, and laid out a courtyard where the light would always stay. Without giving up what might be lost due to southern exposure - they want to use the hill behind this house as a backyard or a vegetable garden, and to fill up the window with the beauty of roof soffit of neighboring Hanok(Korean traditional house) Village, he arranged the building toward the east for views and various uses, and the courtyard became a solution of the problem caused by it. In this way, it was built as a house fitting completely to their lifestyle through communication between the designer and the owner. Its plane was planned based on Ja(Korean traditional unit of length, about 30.3㎝), and Ja was applied to the sizes of details including rooms and doors for the convenient use and the reasonable plan and construction. .jpg?1518691911 "© Kim Jae Yoon") © Kim Jae Yoon The designer attached special importance on a margin in designing this house, and hoped that this house would be a beautiful space enough only with the surrounding scenery changing continuously day and night seasonally and the change of light and shadow. This margin makes the scenery a hero of the space, because interior space is finished with translucent white Hanji, Korean traditional paper made from mulberry tree. Korean interior composition of space also contributes to highlight this margin. On the contrary, the designer gave naturalness to exterior space by emphasizing rough texture of mortar poked out unevenly between dark bricks piled up with pressure. .jpg?1518692310 "© Kim Jae Yoon") © Kim Jae Yoon The owner said that he recognized the delicate design of each space and details while living in it actually. "I can feel and see the nature through each window, and I, in particular, like the organical separation and communication by a sliding door. I can see the courtyard with nandina tree from Maru playing as a living room and from the table, which makes me joyful by showing various figures of the courtyard in all seasons. On a sunny day, leaves glitter brightly as if turning on the light at the courtyard, and under the full moon, the courtyard is full of secret moonlight. Where my family stays for the longest time are Maru and a room with the table. The room with the table is used as a space where we stay comfortably while taking teas together, reading books, and lying down to rest as well as having meals, because beautiful scenery of the forest comes in it through the windows on the both sides, and a sitting style and a standing style coexist in this room harmoniously."  Exterior Elevation It is said that the designer often heard from the family even after completion last winter. They sent photos of snowman standing on the snowy courtyard in winter and those of flowers bursting into bloom they grew with their own hands at the backyard in spring. And one day, they told him the full moon floating like a cloud in the courtyard and the atmosphere of their house filled with the light of the full moon, by telephone. This 'Wuju Jae, je' is a plentiful container to keep people and emotion as its name means. .jpg?1518691574 "© Kim Jae Yoon") © Kim Jae Yoon  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| China Optics Valley Convention and Exhibition Center / WSP Architects Posted: 15 Feb 2018 11:00 AM PST  © Feng Shao
 © Feng Shao Text description provided by the architects. China Optics Valley Convention and Exhibition Center is situated in central area of Optics Valley New City on High-Tech Avenue, it serves as an important public function of Optics Valley Central City and is responsible for holding the annual CIOE. It is also an important complement to the functions of the surrounding districts. The high tech road is an exhibitive main road of the city, with the Jiufeng Mountain Forest Reserve located to the north. It has great value for exhibition and landscape resources, which make the site suitable for the functional layout of dynamic southern part and quiet northern part. The project, public service center and museum of science and technology are situated on a row to the north of High-Tech Avenue. Divided by the High-Tech Avenue, area to the south of the avenue is the heart of core area full of high-rise office buildings, while area to the north of the avenue is dominated by lower public buildings, which are in harmony with the environment of Jiufeng Mountain. The administrative center is gorgeous and elegant, while museum of science and technology is modern and fashion.  © Feng Shao China Optics Valley Convention and Exhibition Center consists of convention & exhibition center, conference center, banquet hall, media reception center, registration hall and other spaces. Under the condition of limited land occupation, the Convention and Exhibition Center is designed as a three-storey building, first and second floors are used for exhibition, while the third floor is used for conferences. Two exhibition floors are connected by registration hall to the south. Exhibition part has got 6 big exhibition halls(accommodate 1,200 standard stands), which can be separated or used as a whole to meet the needs of different exhibitions. The entrance lobby of the Convention and Exhibition Center is located in the western part of main structure, visitors can enter from Songtao Road, and a set of escalators connecting the third floor can move conference attendees vertically in a fast and effective manner.  © Feng Shao The building facade system is like the Chinese traditional craft - ivory carvings, which fully shows the changes of illusory & reality and light & shadow. With the unique geometric metal truss adopted as the facade, 30% of the air conditioning energy consumption was reduced; The glazed curtain walls with flowing shades and shadows have created natural interconnectivity between interior and exterior of the building through its façades, which deliver great modern and artistic sense of space. In addition to its compliance with the relations between city and space, the integrated façade system has brought an artistic presentation of building façade to the city landmark space. The design intention of light cube is to give light form and integrate light and space. However, the intangible, colorless and formless light is just as ethereal as space, so how could building be integrated with light? The design has built relations between building and light by means of utilization, optimization and celebration of light.  © Feng Shao  Section & Elevation Utilization of light  © Feng Shao Optimization of light  © Feng Shao Celebration of light  © Feng Shao A more than 250 meters registration hall integrated the public transport routes, as well as connected the 37 meters high three-storey Exhibition Center; you can also see the leading innovation in vertical transportation planning in China to ensure high efficiency in logistics loading/unloading in each layer, as well as to make the use of space to the maximum degree of adaptability. Ice-storage system is used for this project, which make ices by valley load power at night and storage them in ice storage unit, and release the stored cold energy through ice melting during day time. It can reduce electrical load of air-conditioning system during peak hours of power grid as well as installed capacity of air-conditioning system. The architectural design both reflect sense of technology and modernity of the current era, and take full consideration of application of energy saving green designs and technologies, which make it a demonstrative landmark public building in entire Optics Valley Central City.  First Floor Plan The project meets Party A’s requirements on scale of functional areas with limited land occupation, the architectural design complies with overall city planning and complements urban skyline of the area. The building fully reflects architect’s understanding and application of design criteria of light. It has expressed Party A’s pursuit of sense of technology and modernity externally, and achieved energy conservation and emission reduction effect by means of light utilization and optimization internally; it is a light cube which combines technology and culture.  © Feng Shao  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Tinbeerwah House / teeland architects Posted: 15 Feb 2018 09:00 AM PST  © Jared Fowler
 © Jared Fowler Text description provided by the architects. A family house in the Noosa hinterland that connects to the ground and opens to the bush, ocean, stars and sky.  © Jared Fowler The house is designed as an operable glass pavilion that is wrapped in sliding hardwood screens, so the owners can control the light, breezes, privacy and views. In winter, they can slide open the screens to let the winter sun in. In summer, they can close the screens to provide shade, while still maintaining views and breezes through the timber battens.  Floor Plan With steep hinterland sites, it is easy for the house to end up high above the natural ground and lose your connection to the earth. With young children, the owners were eager to be able to step from the house directly into the garden. So, working with the existing levels we could configure the floor plan so that the kitchen, living, dining and children's bedrooms opened directly onto garden spaces, to make it easy for the kids to go outside.  © Jared Fowler The long thin plan ensures the building is only one room deep to maximise, ocean views, cross ventilation and natural light. The house layout allows the family to come together to cook, eat and relax, but also the separation of more quiet spaces for reflective time. The attenuated plan provides a horizontal separation of the public and private areas of the house. The kitchen, living and dining open onto the north-east garden and pool. The bedrooms are pushed to the more private southern end of the site, separated by bathrooms and robes.  © Jared Fowler The scale and proportions of the house as a long timber box was carefully crafted to heighten the spatial experience of the building and make it appear as though it was of the landscape. This permeable timber box is a beautiful contrast to the mass of the black concrete retaining walls on which the house sits. Internally, a singular strategy has been to use, floor to ceiling glass for the exterior walls, so that each room looks out over the landscape and ocean beyond, thus providing the inhabitants with an intimate connection to the wonderful natural surroundings.  © Jared Fowler The house is designed to collect its own solar power and rain water for use in the house. Then the waste water from bathrooms, kitchen and laundry is recycled on site then used for irrigation and bush regeneration. There is a small orchard and terraced vegetable garden, completing it as a contemporary sustainable house.  © Jared Fowler  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Japan Plans for Supertall Wooden Skyscraper in Tokyo by 2041 Posted: 15 Feb 2018 08:30 AM PST  © Sumitomo Forestry Co. Timber tower construction is the current obsession of architects, with new projects claiming to be the world's next tallest popping up all over the globe. But this latest proposal from Japanese company Sumitomo Forestry Co. and architects Nikken Sekkei would blow everything else out of the water, as they have announced plans for the world's first supertall wood structured skyscraper in Tokyo. At 1,148 feet tall, the proposal outpaces similar timber-structured highrise proposals including Perkins + Will's River Beech Tower and PLP Architecture's Oakwood Tower. Known as the W350 Project, the development would feature a mixed-use program in hopes of creating an environmentally and socially sustainable community in the sky. Renderings for the complex show light-filled apartments and public spaces on multiple building levels, with hotels, offices, retail and residences intermixing.  © Sumitomo Forestry Co.  © Sumitomo Forestry Co. Early estimates indicated that W350 would use more than 6.5 million cubic feet of wood and would cost upwards of 600 billion yen ($5.6 billion USD). The building would not be a pure wood timber building, but rather a hybrid system constructed with a 9:1 ratio of wood to steel capable of handling Tokyo's high seismic activity.  © Sumitomo Forestry Co.  © Sumitomo Forestry Co.  © Sumitomo Forestry Co. But don't hold your breath – construction of the structure is aimed for a 2041 completion date to coincide with Sumitomo's 350th anniversary. News via Sumitomo Forest Co, The Telegraph  © Sumitomo Forestry Co.  © Sumitomo Forestry Co.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Rehabilitation of an old School for the Flamenco Interpretation Center / García Torrente Arquitectos Posted: 15 Feb 2018 07:00 AM PST  © Fernando Alda
 © Fernando Alda Text description provided by the architects. Face with any task or formal considerations, it is relevant to take into account two principles to deal with the ecological crisis situation of the planet: 1-Terretory is a scarse ressource. 2-In order to avoid its misuse, it is necessary to extend the life cycle of the buildings and public spaces in it.  © Fernando Alda  1st Floor  © Fernando Alda The project is conceptually based on the following premises: understanding how unique the process of restoration, rehabilitation and retraining; encouraging manual local labor, as much as possible, with easily enforceable traditional techniques and materials; scheduling the work in a consensual way with the owners, social partners and construction companies. This means, therefore, to take an ecological stance, to rescue the collective memory and social development in order to meet the artistic and cultural needs of a town hard hit by the crisis.  © Fernando Alda  © Fernando Alda The cultural assets have a series of values that the architecture project has to understand, interpret, preserve and promote to be integrated as would be expected, in the social, cultural and economic life of the community. The adaptation between these future needs and the inherited preservation have to be done from a cultural perspective in its own temporal context and according to the future ideals of the society.  © Fernando Alda In the old Colegio Ignacio Halcón of Lebrija, two convergent circumstances have been the thread conductor of the architectural proposal: the spatial complexity and the constructive simplicity of the property.  © Fernando Alda The complexity came from its history; the annexations and divisions of the different usage and the works of adaptation had trasformed it without destroying it. The constructive simplicity, thanks to its formal resources, has made it possible to multiply its spatial possibility and functional flexibility.  © Fernando Alda En el Antiguo Colegio Ignacio Halcón de Lebrija convergen dos circunstancias que han sido el hilo conductor de la propuesta arquitectónica: la complejidad espacial y la sencillez constructiva del bien. La complegidad surge de su propia historia, de las anexiones y divisiones, de los diferentes usos y obras de adecuación que lo han ido transformando sin destruirlo. La sencillez constructiva ha posibilitado el uso de recursos formales que han multiplicado sus posibilidades espaciales y flexibilidad funcional.  © Fernando Alda  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 3 Shortlisted Candidates Announced in Architectural Association's Search for New Director Posted: 15 Feb 2018 06:10 AM PST  The Architectural Association on Bedford Square, London. Photograph by wikimedia user Jeremysm. Image is in the public domain. The Architectural Association has announced a shortlist of 3 candidates in the running to become the new AA Director, who will lead the direction of one of the world's foremost architecture schools and institutions. After reviewing 73 responses received from an initial call for application, the search committee narrowed down the list first to 26 candidates, and then to 15 for a multi-round interview process. This was a diverse list including both male and female architectural minds from all six inhabited continents. After narrowing down the initial list to 8 following the first round of interviews, 3 superior candidates have now been chosen to be voted upon by students, faculty and council members of the Architectural Association. The shortlisted candidates are:  Pippo Ciorra. Image Courtesy of Architectural Association Pippo Ciorra – Senior Curator of MAXXI Architettura in Rome, an architect, critic and professor. He currently teaches design and theory at SAAD (University of Camerino) and is the director of the international PhD program 'Villard d'Honnecourt' (IUAV). In 2016 he co-curated the exhibition The Japanese House: Architecture and Life After 1945, which was exhibited at MAXXI, the Barbican in London and the MOMAT museum in Tokyo. His major exhibitions on contemporary architecture include Re-cycle, Energy, Erasmus Effect, Food.  Eva Franch i Gilabert. Image Courtesy of Architectural Association Eva Franch i Gilabert – Architect, curator, educator and lecturer. Since 2010, Franch has been the Chief Curator and Executive Director of Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York. In 2014, Franch, with the project OfficeUS, an experimental office for the production of history, ideas and work, was selected by the US State Department to represent the United States at the XIV Venice Architecture Biennale. Franch is currently a professor at The Cooper Union School of Architecture.  Robert Mull. Image Courtesy of Architectural Association Robert Mull – Professor of Architecture and Design and Head of School at the University of Brighton. He is also the Director of Innovation at London-based urban design practice Publica. In 2000 he became head of the then UNL School of Architecture and in 2010 led the bringing together of two faculties to form The Cass (Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design) at London Metropolitan University. Robert is a trustee of the Architecture Foundation and of the London School of Architecture. Learn more here.
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| Encinos House / José Ricardo Yslas Gámez Posted: 15 Feb 2018 05:00 AM PST  © Jaime Navarro Soto
 © Jaime Navarro Soto Text description provided by the architects. The house is located in a private neighborhood 20 minutes from Mexico City. Surrounded by a wooded environment, both public and public areas revolve around a central interior patio whose main element is a floating concrete cube that frames the presence of a magnolia illuminated by natural light, which filters through the dome that covers the imposing concrete figure.  © Jaime Navarro Soto At the end of the patio, aligned with the 'floating' concrete structure the chimney end the axis, from whose center emanates an inverted pyramid that receives the flame. The chimney works as a link between the living room, the dining room and the patio itself, connecting the three spaces at the same time that it serves as a dividing element.  © Jaime Navarro Soto  Lower Floor Plan  © Jaime Navarro Soto Pergolas of wood occupy both in the inner patio and in the corridors, which generates an interesting game of shades. The house is structured as two L-shaped bodies that are connected by two bridges in the interior.  Upper Floor Plan The bridges join the private spaces, one of them crossing over a fern garden while the other bridge crosses over a water mirror from which the tree is placed. These two landscaped areas serve to provide cross ventilation to the house.  © Jaime Navarro Soto The main materials used are wood, stone slabs and concreted concrete. It is the combination of these elements that generates different effects of light and shadow that give the house a cozy atmosphere, according to the wooded environment.  © Jaime Navarro Soto  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Watch the Construction of Zaha Hadid's 1000 Museum Tower in This Full PBS Documentary Posted: 15 Feb 2018 04:00 AM PST  As one of Zaha Hadid's final projects, One Thousand Museum Tower in Miami, approaches completion (having topped out just last month), a new documentary on its construction has been released by PBS. The building was the subject of the season premier of "Impossible Builds," which profiles "the creation of some of the world's most ambitious, complex and technologically advanced construction projects." Described by the show as "one of the most complex skyscrapers ever to make it off the drawing board," the 62-story tower features a unique glass fiber reinforced concrete exoskeleton – a system never before seen at this scale. The show is now available to watch in its entirety online. Check it out below! Head over to PBS to learn more about "Impossible Builds" and to see the other videos in the series.
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| Piushaven Harbour Pavilion / Civic Architects Posted: 15 Feb 2018 03:00 AM PST  © Stijn Bollaert
 © Stijn Bollaert Text description provided by the architects. With the start of 2018, a new iconic structure was opened to the public in Tilburg (Netherlands). The structure forms a public pavilion on the central pier in the old city harbour and serves as a landmark for recreational boats and yachts, visiting the city. The firms Civic Architects & Bright Urban Futures designed a striking steel structure that unites the public viewing platform and the restaurant, adding a piece of sturdy architecture to the harbour vista.  Axonometric Elevated public space The structure facilitates a special combination of public and private activities on a unique site in the city. The central pier in the harbour was built for grain transhipment in the early 20th century, but became a place for public events and leisure activities, in more recent times. Today it has been transformed into a place where the restaurant RAK shares space with a public plateau that also covers the public space on the pier. The structure benefits from the qualities of the pier in various ways: The restaurant is positioned close to the water and offers visitors a beautiful view, while keeping 2/3 of the plot area open for public use. The roof structure also provides for the viewing deck, and acts as a shelter for the rain. As a result, events and leisure activities can take place in various ways.  © Stijn Bollaert A contextual icon The design of the iconic pavilion is rooted in the historic harbour and its characteristic atmosphere: The inert black cargo ships and the robust bridges form a set of iconic attributes in the harbour park. The straightforward shape, the robust structure, the matt black façades and the combination of steel and wood are magnifications of the site and its surroundings. The shape and details of the structural platform where a result of an integrated design process, where several needs were combined in one architectural element: from floor separations to sun protection. The pavilion thus becomes a simple and self-evident iconic part of the public space in the Piushaven Harbour.  © Stijn Bollaert  Ground Floor Plan  © Stijn Bollaert Solid structural architecture The heavy roof edge forms an integral solution for the engineering of the structural system: in order not to affect the historic wooden foundation of the quay, the columns are positioned inwards, with two meters distance. The overhangs are accommodated by constructing the viewing deck's solid steel balustrades as structural beams which also carry the floor of the deck. Fixed structural joints and the absence of stability walls ensure a free floor plan layout, while the oversized structure allows for high intensity public use of the deck. The structure is the architecture and thus forms a powerful addition to the Piushaven harbour, built to last.  © Stijn Bollaert  Detail  © Stijn Bollaert  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 15 Feb 2018 01:30 AM PST  © Sabine de Villeroy The protective fortress, winding cobblestone streets, and medieval urban layout are all characteristics of many coastal European towns. But when exploring the French town of Saint-Malo, it is difficult to believe that this is hardly the original city. What separates Saint-Malo from many other European towns located by the sea—aside from its striking location jutting out from the coastline—is the complex history of how it was heavily destroyed in World War II, but rebuilt to its original aesthetic.  © <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/lutherankorean/2652730156'>Flickr user Pom Angers</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/'>CC BY-SA 2.0</a> Saint-Malo was founded in the 1st century BC, a short distance south of its current location in Brittany, in northwestern France. The first settlement, in what is now St-Servan, was built by Celtic tribesmen in order to control the entrance to the Rance River for economic and military purposes. After the fall of the Roman Empire, a new settlement that would eventually become the walled town of modern-day St Malo was created by monks fleeing the British Isles. In 1144, the bishop Jean de Châtillon gave the town of Saint-Malo the status of rights of asylum which encouraged all manner of thieves and rogues to move there, making it the ideal home to the French Corsairs, or The King of France's appointed pirates. The Corsairs grew their wealth by pillaging foreign ships in the English Channel, even traveling as far as Plymouth on the English coast. As Saint-Malo's wealth began to grow, the city's limits expanded, bridging from the island to the mainland. However, the walled coastline continued to play a key role in defining Saint-Malo's place in the world for centuries to come.  © <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/ferrariguy90/8467381701'>Flickr user Trevor Huxham</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/'>CC BY-NC-ND 2.0</a> In 1940, Nazis invaded the city of Saint-Malo and occupied it as part of the Atlantic Wall. Although by the end of the war less than 100 troops and two anti-aircraft installations remained, the Allies believed the Axis powers had major armaments built up within the city walls. As a result, Saint-Malo was severely bombed by the Allies in 1944, and was almost completely destroyed by the American shelling and British naval gunfire. 80% of the city was lost.  Unknown, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint-Malo_après_la_bataille_de_1944.jpg">Saint-Malo après la bataille de 1944</a>, marked as public domain, more details on <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-old">Wikimedia Commons</a>  Image source: British official photo from OWI., <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAF_attack_Saint_Malo_31_Jul_1942.jpg">RAF attack Saint Malo 31 Jul 1942</a>, marked as public domain, more details on <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-UKGov">Wikimedia Commons</a> Over the 12-year span from 1948-1960, the city was rebuilt brick by brick by the determined Malouins. However, instead of attempting to modernize the style of architecture in Saint-Malo, it was restored to its original glory, maintaining its medieval character. Those in charge of its reconstruction planned it to be close to the original, with a few modifications. While the castle was replicated and transformed into the city hall, the hospital and prison were relocated outside of the city walls. Mansions were rebuilt with identical granite facades and only a handful of half-timbered homes from the 1600s were retained. In contrast to other cities that were rebuilt after the war, such as Warsaw and Dresden, there are no obvious signs of modern construction.  © <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/15206970485'>Flickr user Dennis Jarvis</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/'>CC BY-SA 2.0</a> Saint-Malo seems to be the perfect case study to examine a time when European cities were developed around Medieval transit systems, when walkability was necessary, and when the wealthiest lived in the urban core. Today, during Saint-Malo's peak tourist season, the city accommodates more than 200,000 people. At approximately 57 people/acre, this is more dense than the average densities of both Tokyo (25 people per acre) and Vancouver (22 people per acre), making it a fantastic example of how traditional urbanism can still be built and accommodate dense populations without the default of becoming a high-rise megacity.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Domínguez House / Gazteluz Jerez Posted: 15 Feb 2018 01:00 AM PST  © Pedro Pegenaute
 © Pedro Pegenaute Text description provided by the architects. The house has a single floor above ground, raised 90cm above the level of the site. The house acts as a filter between the public area of the street and the south-southeast sector of the plot, reserved for the garden and pool areas. The pedestrian access is from the front of the exterior alignment, by Abedul Street, through an entrance terrace generated by one of the "incisions" that characterise the exterior geometry and volumetry.  © Pedro Pegenaute A second level is developed below ground, due to a series of gardens and depressed exterior areas in relation to the ground level. With them it is achieved that practically 50% of the perimeter of the habitable premises at the basement level is located coincident with the meeting line between the façade of the building and the site, taking advantage of this circumstance to incorporate in these plans ample glazed areas with practicable areas and protected that communicate the interior directly with the outer space of the plot. The positions and location of the low areas of the outer plot serve to distinguish two different sectors below ground: one main oriented southeast and bottom of the plot, and another in the north-northwest sector, connected with the previous and with the outside through a large central courtyard that depresses its height to reach the housing spaces that develop at this level.  Lower Floor Plan  © Pedro Pegenaute  Upper Floor Plan  © Pedro Pegenaute The general geometry and structure design of the house are characterized by the existence of a central courtyard, open and exterior, which acts as a large vacuum generator of the internal life of the building and has its ground below the middle ground level, but is linked by its southwest side to the outer perimeter areas of the building. On the northeast side there is a track for outdoor sports use, which is an integral part of the projected set and, in turn, a fundamental architectural component of the geometric and formal values that the project intends to transmit.  © Pedro Pegenaute  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Alvaro Siza's New Church of Saint-Jacques de la Lande Through the Lens of Ana Amado Posted: 15 Feb 2018 12:00 AM PST  © Ana Amado Architecture photographer Ana Amado has shared with us a set of photographs featuring Álvaro Siza's recently inaugurated Church of Saint-Jacques de la Lande, in Rennes—the first church built in Brittany, France this century. As in many other Siza buildings, this church is built in white concrete and pays special attention to the natural light, which bathes the altar, tabernacle, pulpit and baptismal font from above. Externally, different volumes—blocks, cylinders and incisions—add to the overall mass of the building, distinguishing it from the neighboring housing blocks, while the use of few openings helps to establish a solid, permanent presence in the natural environment. Check Ana Amado's set of photographs below:  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  © Ana Amado  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 14 Feb 2018 10:00 PM PST  Courtesy of Moelven Limtre Over the last few months, we have seen a surge in large timber structures being constructed across the globe claiming to be the biggest, the tallest, or the first of their kind—for example, plans for the Dutch Mountains, the world's largest wooden building, have recently been revealed. Contractors Moelven Limtre are one of the key drivers of this change as the perception of timber as a load-bearing material becomes more common. Their director Rune Abrahamsen is responsible for one of the current claimants of the world record for the tallest timber building, "Treet" in Bergen, at 51 meters tall. However, the contractor's latest project Mjøstårnet is set to reach an even taller height of 81 meters. Construction of Mjøstårnet in Brumundal, a small town in Norway, began in early September and is due for completion in March 2019. Designed by Voll Arkitekter, the 18-story high-rise will include over 11,300 square meters of space containing apartments, a hotel, a restaurant, offices, and common areas with a 4,700-square-meter swimming hall. Mjøstårnet has a base width of 16 meters but Abrahamsen believes that it is possible to build taller if this is increased: "It's mainly the width that determines how tall we may build a timber building. Greater width means the building sways less. A wider building would make it unproblematic to build higher than 100 meters, and even perhaps 150 meters or more."  Courtesy of Moelven Limtre The ability to create skyscrapers out of timber is a benchmark for sustainable construction. As the project's initiator, Arthur Buchardt explains in the first video of the Nordic Heights series, sourcing the spruce locally has dramatically decreased the carbon footprint of the building as well as the simple production of the glulam columns and beams requiring little energy to form the main structure of the building. Timber has often been questioned due to common misconceptions about its ability to withstand fire. However, it is possible to locate the glulam beams so that they do not mutually affect each other, according to Abrahamsen. The main issue in the construction is the lightweight property of the timber frame that can sway up to 140 millimeters at the top when faced with the strong winds of the region. To eliminate this problem, concrete floor slabs will be used on the seven top floors to increase the weight towards the top and slow down the swaying. The building will also be anchored into the ground with piles up to 50 meters deep.  Courtesy of Moelven Limtre But as the competition for the tallest timber structure heats, new rules suggested to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) look set to be adopted soon, stating that wooden buildings with concrete cores are defined as wood-concrete hybrids. If these new rules are put into effect, they will rule out HoHo Tower in Vienna and Brock Commons in Vancouver as timber high-rises, leaving open the opportunity for Mjøstårnet to set the world-record—until the next competitor comes along.  Courtesy of Moelven Limtre News via Moelven.
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| Posted: 14 Feb 2018 10:00 PM PST Following the evolution of architecture in Tuscany, this documentary maps out the decline of the region in the shadow of Brunelleschi and Alberti. From the 14th century onwards, Italy underwent a cultural rebirth that changed the entire world, bearing the architectural mastery of the Renaissance. However now, there appears to be a detachment within modern architecture and little work for the many architects who are being forced to emigrate.  Courtesy of 120g Tuscanyness presents a dramatic portrayal of the abandonment and neglect that the region's architecture has fallen into over the last 60 years, exploring the root causes of the problem. Interviewing a range of forward-thinking Italian architects, 120g's documentary shares their perseverance to establish a vision of the future to recreate the spirit of the Renaissance and form a dialogue with the heritage of the country. The film covers the topic of identity, landscape, and beauty associated Tuscany's classical and modern architecture as discussed by the architects.  Courtesy of 120g Having premiered late last year, Tuscanyness has traveled around Europe and has recently been released online for the public to learn from the experiences of working in a region overshadowed by its past and the fight to restore faith in Tuscany's contemporary architecture. The Pisa-based cultural association, 120g, has also been involved in many other projects concerning architecture both in Italy and abroad to promote interdisciplinary and transversal cultural activities between architecture, the visual arts, and engineering.  Courtesy of 120g News via: 120g.
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| Pavilion Brick Factory Vogelensangh / Bedaux de Brouwer Architects Posted: 14 Feb 2018 09:00 PM PST  Courtesy of Bedaux de Brouwer Architects
 Courtesy of Bedaux de Brouwer Architects Text description provided by the architects. Vogelensangh, a brick factory with a rich history and the only one left where bricks are produced in traditionally coal-fired kilns, commissioned Bedaux de Brouwer Architects to design a contemporary pavilion. This resulted in a design that both in its exterior and interior emphasizes the timeless beauty of the tradition of hand-moulded brick.  Courtesy of Bedaux de Brouwer Architects The pavilion functions both as reception and office space, and complements the adjacent factory, which has been operating since 1919. The design process started on site and the design reflects the purity and simplicity of manufacturing bricks.  Courtesy of Bedaux de Brouwer Architects  Ground Floor Plan  Courtesy of Bedaux de Brouwer Architects The pavilion, that materializes as an elongated volume with a fairly closed, brick-built entrance wall, is located on top of an elevated plinth. The bricks, that are produced on site, have purposely been laid in a simple bond that refers to the rational way bricks are stacked during fabrication.  Courtesy of Bedaux de Brouwer Architects On the inside, the building opens up to its surroundings through a glass facade that stretches over the entire width of the building. The clear view on the monumental factory, the busy site and the rural scenery offers an impressive panorama. The interior is characterized by vaulted brick ceilings, inspired by the traditional ring kiln. Just like this ring kiln, the pavilion exists of a rational sequence of rooms, each with its own purpose. Utility rooms have been located next to the closed wall, the other rooms are located at the 'open' side of the building. All in all, a pavilion that is closely related to its environment, not only designed for, but also materialized with and inspired by the client.  Courtesy of Bedaux de Brouwer Architects  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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