ArchDaily

Arch Daily

House in La Cañada / Antonio Altarriba Comes
Wooden Office / AB CHVOYA
Studio Cottage / CLOU architects
Marcos L. Rosa Discusses The Place and Importance of Sao Paulo's Architecture Biennial
The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Announces Recipients of 2018 Honorary Fellowships
Rivard House / L’Abri
Best Modern Examples of Ancient Courtyard Renovations in China
The 2018 Winter Olympics Stadium That Cost $100 Million to Build, Will Only Be Used 4 Times, and Is Roofless
Architectural Education: Is It Actually Preparing Our Students for the Future?
Seehof / noa* network of architecture
Getty Assembles Experts for Conservation of Le Corbusier's Only Three Museums
Spotlight: Alvar Aalto

House in La Cañada / Antonio Altarriba Comes

Posted: 03 Feb 2018 09:00 PM PST

Architects: Antonio Altarriba Comes
Location: Rocafort, Spain
Area: 459.64 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Diego Opazo

Collaborators: Raimon Espasa, Rosa Lafuente, David López, Álvaro Mendez, Marta Ramón,,Jesús Sancho-Tello, Javier Córcoles

Text description provided by the architects. The house is located in a peaceful neighbourhood called La Cañada, Valencia. The plot is rectangular-shaped, placed in the corner of two main streets and with two boundary walls towards neighbours.

The main idea of the project is making up a building with two clearly distinct volumes, in shape and materials, which are related within themselves by emptying them as a sculpture, using patios and double heights.

The volume below, made by white mortar, is where the common elements of the house are placed. It is designed to be an intimate space for users, neglecting the high traffic road and taking advantage of the North-South orientation. However, the first floor is an irregular volume, made up in stone, that homes the main room and two single rooms.

Finally, the basement has a garage, a living room and an installation’s room.

The spatial relationship between the two volumes, thanks to the emptying of spaces and double heights, enables the connection at all times.

This feature, added to the opening areas exterior-interior and orientation, had been the essential guide during the creation of this project.

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Wooden Office / AB CHVOYA

Posted: 03 Feb 2018 06:00 PM PST

Architects: AB CHVOYA
Location: Kolodeznaya Ulitsa, 2, Olgino, Sankt-Peterburg, Russia
Area: 1200.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Dmitry Tsyrencshikov

Text description provided by the architects. The client's wish was to move their rather big company, which had been occupying several offices in the downtown, into a single building in one of the city's green outskirts. The plot for the new office building is located in Olgino, a low-density residential suburb of St. Petersburg with small two- or three-storeyed houses all around.

The narrow flat site has its southern short side for a street frontage and is clearly visible from a railway line behind the street and a busy motorway behind the railway. The necessary offsets and height restrictions form the three-storeyed oblong volume of the building. Twelve rigid frames of engineered wood (12 by 12 meters each) compose its structural skeleton. The long lateral walls are clad with brick. The frontal facade is entirely glazed and in the evening it resembles a large showcase, which attracts an immediate attention to the building in the street panorama.

The 3,6 meters spacing of structural frames allows a flexible approach to layout. The southernmost unit is left empty to form a loggia. The main entrance is marked by a large vertical opening. All MEP ducts and pipes are part of the interior. All partitions are of glass except for small technical and service rooms.

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Studio Cottage / CLOU architects

Posted: 03 Feb 2018 12:00 PM PST

Architects: CLOU architects
Location: Beijing, China
Architect In Charge: Christian Taeubert, Min Sun
Area: 76.0 m2
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Boris Shiu, Christian Taeubert

'Studio Cottage' rediscovers the identity of a Beijing suburban village.

The Chinese countryside has been dominated by perceptions of rural depopulation. Local effort alone is not adequate to the task of addressing the multiple challenges of rural communities when their vitality has been compromised by the flight of people and jobs into large cities.

Given the close proximity of Beijing to its surrounding rural areas like Bo Hai Zhen, community revitalization has captured our imagination. We noticed that the majority of people of working age had left the village. The remaining inhabitants are mostly grandparents and grandchildren; their struggle to regain social sustainability in their way of living is one of the many challenges rural villages are facing. The project was driven by the intuition that a moderate gentrification could eventually lead to a modest prosperity for some of the remaining villagers.

However, developing rural areas, where economic development has lagged behind that of China's booming cities is may be less about preserving tradition and maybe more about reviving, because (tradition) it's not really present. Our intention was to refurbish an unoccupied dwelling, which some might argue was not worth preserving, in order to rediscover the identity it could bring about in the context of its village setting. With its collapsed perimeter walls and the overgrown grounds the neglected property had become a 'white spot on the village map' where vacancy is a symbol of depopulation.

The farmer who had originally built the house in the early seventies was a frequent visitor during the construction phase and we were happy to hear that he 'approved' of our interventions to the house being seemingly happy with the final outcome.

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Marcos L. Rosa Discusses The Place and Importance of Sao Paulo's Architecture Biennial

Posted: 03 Feb 2018 08:00 AM PST

Observatory at Praça das Artes. Image © FLAGRANTE / Romullo Fontenelle

After four months of activities and exhibitions, the 11^th Sao Paulo Architecture Biennial has closed at the end of January. Characterized by a decentralized approach - perhaps more than any other Biennial in the world - the eleventh edition of the event had more than 80 actions in different places of the city, articulated by four main exhibitions and an Observatory, which besides gathering works produced by agents from different regions of Brazil and the world, serves as a file and legacy of the Biennial.

Archdaily Brasil conducted an interview with the content director of this edition of the event, architect Marcos L. Rosa, on the main discussions raised at this Biennial, its multidisciplinary focus and the decentralized aspect of activities and exhibitions.

ArchDaily: There are lots of discussion around the world about what is the purpose of an Architecture Biennial. For the team of this edition, how is this purpose set? What are the assumptions of making an event of this relevance and who is the public?

Marcos L. Rosa: The title of the 11th Biennial - In Project - proposes to discuss the place of architecture, and also the place of the Architecture Biennial. We think that the Architecture Biennial offers us an opportunity to discuss urban space and its experience together with several other agents (not architects) who participate in the construction of the city, of its spaces, since they are the ones who experience them.

Exhibition Utilidade Pública, at Vila Itororó. Image © FLAGRANTE / Romullo Fontenelle

Our main goal in this edition of the event was to try to understand possible forms of action in the cities accomplished by the architect together with other actors, in order to identify how the architect can collaborate in the qualification of space and urban life. This makes sense especially in a city mostly built without the participation of architects. It seemed fundamental to us first to recognize practices and the place of speech of agents who work in urban coproduction in order to understand and situate forms of contribution of architecture; also, it was essential to give visibility to less traditional architecture practices that unveil possibilities of action and opportunities in cities.

Action "Fronteira Livre". © Lauro Rocha / Goma Oficina

This approach reveals our willingness to talk about possible architectural designs, posing the challenge of discussing what they can be and mean. The Architecture Biennial is a place where one can find openness and freedom to question and rethink our way of acting, presenting alternatives, reflection and inspiration.

Exhibition Imaginário da Cidade, at Sesc Parque Dom Pedro II. Image © FLAGRANTE / Romullo Fontenelle

In order to do so, the 11th São Paulo Architecture Biennial proposed to reset the event as a permanent research platform within the time interval that it is configured. As such, it presents itself as a process of research and open construction that are concluded in a series of actions in the territory, articulated to an exhibition. These actions, instead of events created specifically for the Biennial, are moments and situations deployed of projects and initiatives that, for the most part, are already being developed in the city. This process is followed by the exhibition of the Biennial. It presents itself as a series of files in different formats that reveal the results of the research developed, added to the contributions received through four open calls. As in an inventory of practices, we present a glossary, necessarily open and not finished, that illustrates many fronts of the architect's performance in the city's co-production, along with other agents.

AD: How do you see the importance of the São Paulo Biennial in the world context? Why should international architecture look at São Paulo today?

MR: Architecture biennials from all over the world have very different content displays and lines of thought of their own. This is what strengthens them as both localized and international events. Historically, we can say that the São Paulo Architecture Biennial, besides being an international exhibition, has established itself as a space to talk about the challenges faced in Brazil, which are also relevant to the world, within an international context.

Biennial's Library, at Biblioteca Mário de Andrade. Image © FLAGRANTE / Romullo Fontenelle

The 11th Biennial reaffirms the commitment to speak about its territory, articulating an international discussion based on its own references. The actions, carried out in São Paulo, promote international exchanges and are articulated to the exhibition, where projects from around the world are presented, having as and references of urban thoughts nurtured in the local sphere. This is how it is affirmed in the international perspective, among many other biennials.

Action "Intervenção temporária em Santana". Foto: cortesia do ITDP

 Following this reasoning, the Venice Biennale may be the one that brings more auctorial proposals that are present in an international discourse disseminated among traditional institutions; the Rotterdam Biennale has been exploring the format of studios by looking for opportunities to transform specific areas; that of Chicago seems to focus on architecture from a more traditional understanding and focus on contributions (mainly) from the northern hemisphere; that of Ecuador appears to emphasize local architecture and neighboring countries, fostering a reflection on regional production. It is a series of approaches that have all surpassed the model of project fairs so common in the past, presenting consistent positions for their continuity and innovation. This is how they present themselves to the world in this international perspective.

Exhibition Devires do Brasil, at Praça das Artes. Image © FLAGRANTE / Romullo Fontenelle

In our case, aiming to articulate the discussions from here to the international discussion, we set up the biennial as a research platform, and created what we call the Biennial Observatory. The Observatory results in an archive of references, cases, examples of ways of acting of architects and not architects in the cities. It is in the observatory that we identify practices of listening, observation, collaboration, participation, participative experimental action, temporary marking, craftsmanship, corpography, mapping, denunciation, social cartography, activism, prototyping, manifesto, among many others. And this compilation appears in the exhibition of the Biennial, that takes place in a network of spaces and partner programs.

The 11th Biennial is not only an exhibition, it is a process of research and exchange and it is a continuous schedule of actions throughout the city.

 The best image of what we propose is that of a constellation of actions, or of light bulbs spread across the territory, that are turned on one by one. In this sense, we can say that the Biennial is much more situation than spectacle, and it privileges in its format the active experience, through its activities, without focusing exclusively on a great exhibition. This perspective postulates a relevant action in the local sphere, since it reflects on the public utility of the architecture for our cities, and also in the international sphere, since it presents innovative local forms of organization and action, sometimes distant from the modern precepts generally applied worldwide and that may also be relevant to discuss other realities. This reflection opens space for us to think about other possible directions, exchanges and transfer of knowledge.

Action "π (pi) microtopia= 1km". Photo: Cortesy of the authors

AD: As an assumption, the 11th Biennial intends to discuss processes. Not those that are already institutionalized, but those that experience design issues in a broader and interdisciplinary sense. Are there possibilities of identifying common characteristics among these experiences, that were raised and proposed? How can these common characteristics influence urban everyday life?

MR: "In Project" suggests an event in construction, in a collaborative and collective way. The title comes from our desire to talk about possible architectural projects, launching as a challenge the discussion of what "In Project" can be and mean, in order to expand the fronts of the architect's action. The exploration of this imagery of the architecture project was materialized in a process of learning along with other disciplines and knowledge.

Last moments of the Big Urban Walk with Martin Kohler in September. Image © DiCampana Foto Coletivo

Talking about the process implies talking about ways to negotiate, about failure and success, trial and error; it's a place of learning. We are not so much interested in merely beautiful images, which are nothing more than records of moments, but for all the complexity behind them. Often, when put into practice, the designs tend to be simplified and to have their complexity flattened or attenuated, or it does not find space to observe and develop. It is a great challenge, no doubt. We launched this Biennial project with the goal to talk about this experimental approach, thus accepting and facing the difficulties and challenges of such a complex process.

Coming to your other question, the first common point that has been found, or that must be emphasized in this process, is probably the humility that collaborative processes demand from the architect, in understanding that its role consists of impacting urban development by finding forms of collaboration from its specific knowledge, rather than by postulating itself as the technician who predefines the solitary and disconnected design isolated in his office, in a solitary way, disconnected of the world and from our experience as a citizen. The image of the demiurge artist in his office, or that of the hero-architect, responsible for healing the world's problems with a top down approach in design, which is often detached of everyday reality is something we distance ourselves from in this Biennial.

Satellite Module. Image © FLAGRANTE / Romullo Fontenelle

The more than 50 actions participating in these Biennials point to possibilities to appreciate and learn from other knowledge, in connection with other disciplines, present and applied daily in the construction of cities. A common and important point that we value here is the place of speech of those who are responsible for diverse initiatives in the construction of cities, as well as agents involved in cultural production, responsible for the transformation in urban uses and experience. In many cases, the architect is not the protagonist of the action, nor is the one who presents solutions beforehand. He/she is the one who values reading, listening, mapping, narratives, as well as more propositional forms of action that involve effective construction. It is also worth mentioning that, in the latter case, these are distinct levels of collaboration and participation (in terms of their intensity and format) that lead us to think about many possibilities of the work done by the architect together with the collective, in a practical and objective way, based on actual practices rather than a utopian project.

Action "Encruzilhada". Photo: Cortesy of the authors

Within this perspective, something common among many projects is a claim on the right and place of speech of groups that traditionally did not take place in the debate about the city planning. For instance, in our official program, the discussion about the gender issue in the city sought to think about ways to contribute to a more equitable city in this and other aspects, which are rarely addressed in urban design.

In all these practices we perceive an increasing desire of people to participate in the decisions and direct construction of spaces, but also in the forms of their use and occupation. They transform the experience of urban life. It is about a legitimate demand and a form of political action in the micro scale of space, based on direct action, 'hands on'. This fact postulates to the architect specific and urgent demands on a design that is in tune with its user, sensitive to the daily and urban life, but also designed with their participation, which can occur in a number of ways.

It is about dwelling on what it means to actually 'inhabit' our cities!

Action "Parque Aquático". Photo: Cortesy of the authors

This is an urban condition which, we might say, may follow an international tendency, but finds here very peculiar conditions of development, based on urgency, the action resulting from resistance movements, the frequent lack of resources destined to the qualification, and the valorization of urban culture, as well as the opportunities offered by the inclusion of different knowledge (from cooking to biology) in urban design, in the transformation of places, by means of creativity, resilience, tolerance regarding the use and occupation in spaces where activities had not been foreseen by the project, etc.

As we approach these actors, there is extensive learning and we may grow a lot as architects when questioning our role and ways of acting, relying on other knowledge and experiences, often spatialized in forms of occupation that can be understood as test constructs and pilot projects.

AD: The 11th Biennial presents a format that differs from past editions in which the exhibition module does not configure its main body. The main activities happen all over the city, in the face of everyday urban problems. What were the decisions behind this attitude and what were the expectations?

MR: The valorization of the actions and forms of action of those who participate in the urban construction and production in a city like São Paulo could be something absolutely obvious within our discipline and there's no doubt that it has become something urgent to do. In addition, it is also urgent to approach the architecture to a wider audience. Whom are we talking to? With whom do we want (and can) to talk to? What opportunities can be created from new dialogues so that we can find other ways to contribute to the lived space of our cities? These were some of the points and issues that guided us from the beginning, seeking to create this opening, to open space for this dialogue.

At some point we even considered not to include a traditional exhibition. This is because we wanted to focus on the process, to take the Biennial to the city, to unveil diverse forms of practices in the space and to reflect with generosity on many architectures found in the city.

Finally, we decided that it would be important to hold an exhibition with the purpose of articulating the actions to an archive that resulted from the research carried out in the Biennial’s Observatory. The exhibitions present registers of moments, of 'lived contents', aligned with the notion that the space only becomes a place when it’s a lived space, a notion that transforms the experience and the perception about it.

Action "Lugares em relação". © Luiza Strauss

In addition, the choice of exhibition spaces followed some common criteria. The spaces had to be connected to the city in a fluid way; we tried to avoid enclosed spaces and the white cube and sought to articulate a walking path through the central part of the city, which receives millions of people daily travelling downtown, aiming to expose itself to an audience that often has no connection with the architects' discussions. We also created the Biennial Satellite, a small module on wheels that allows the Biennial to travel through the city. It is a support for the accomplishment of many actions, and also for a series of exchanges; besides, it presents the documentation of the processes in photographic essays. It marks physically the geographic expansion proposed by the event. Besides that, we have proposed and left a legacy, in two ways: the production of knowledge, to be shared with the public, and the actual transformation of spaces and development of designs at many levels. Examples of this process are the Observatory, to be shared with the public very soon, the documentation of this process and the library, with over 200 titles that reflect on a current moment of production in architectural design that has became part of the City Archive and will be permanently available as part of the Municipal Library Mario de Andrade, in São Paulo. For instance, this Biennial has also initiated international projects such as Ooze’s Architect’s Água Paulista and equipped the Carpentry 9 de Julho, at a central Occupation, which led to several workshops that focus in a resident-led retrofit of that building, among many other projects. It has also created a map, to be released in its Catalogue, which unveils actions throughout the city, giving visibility to a multi-layered action in São Paulo.

Flags pointing Praça das Artes as venue of the Exhibition Devires do Brasil and the Observatory . Image © FLAGRANTE / Romullo Fontenelle

AD: Thinking about the Brazilian and international context and also about the legacy proposed by this edition, with what issues should the next edition of the Biennial work, in your opinion?

MR: I would be happy to see the next Biennial continue to focus on our territory, on our cities, to be internationally connected and contribute to our reality. It seems important to me that a coherent project, in this sense, be developed, due to the representativeness of the event.

I also think it would be beneficial to the Architecture Biennial to propose an open call and adopt an open process to choose the curatorial team, so anyone interested in participating could apply. But I would not dare to define issues or themes, not least because the most interesting of the Biennial, as an event, is, in fact, the transformation of its reflections from many contributions, as well as a refinement with current issues. There are many themes and approaches and it is important to listen, establish dialogues and recognize the contributions of many voices.

Check our coverage of the 11th Sao Paulo Architecture Biennial here.

11th Sao Paulo Architecture Biennial Team. Image © FLAGRANTE / Romullo Fontenelle

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The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Announces Recipients of 2018 Honorary Fellowships

Posted: 03 Feb 2018 06:00 AM PST

Serpentine Pavilion. Image © Laurian Ghinitoiu

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) has selected four architects from around the globe to receive 2018 Honorary Fellowships. This year's Honorary Fellows inductees demonstrate the diverse ways in which architects contribute exemplary designs to the profession that have a positive impact on society.

The architects receiving the honor are French architect Odile Decq, Burkina Faso native, Diébédo Francis Kéré, and American architects William J. Stanley III and John Sorrenti.

More about the Honorary Fellows after the break.

Odile Decq

Odile Decq is an award-winning French architect and founder of the Paris-based firm, Studio Odile Decq. Some of her notable projects include the Cargo office building in Paris and the Banque Populaire de l'Quest in Rennes. In 1996, she received the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennial. Decq is an advocate for women in architecture and was awarded the Architectural Review Jane Drew Prize as "a creative powerhouse, spirited breaker of rules and advocate of equality." In 2014, she established the Confluence Institute for Innovation and Creative Strategies in Architecture.

Saint Ange Residency. Image © Roland Halbe

Diébédo FrancisKéré

Diébédo Francis Kéré was born in Burkina Faso and studied at the Technical University of Berlin, where he later founded Kéré Architecture. He is perhaps best known for his firm's innovative construction strategies that combine traditional building techniques and materials with modern engineering methods. The practice has received numerous awards, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2004, for his first building, a primary school in his home village of Gando, and the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2009. While continuing to invest in his home country, Kéré has also undertaken projects in Mali, Germany, and Switzerland. More recently, he was the architect of the 2017 Serpentine Pavilion in London.

William J. Stanley III

William J. Stanley III is the co-founder and principal for design at Stanley, Love-Stanley, P.C. located in Atlanta, GA. In 1972, he became the first African-American graduate of the College of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology (1972), and subsequently, became the Souths youngest African American ever to receive his registration as an architect. He served as a president of AIA Georgia, the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) and 100 Black Men of Atlanta. Stanley was the 1995 recipient of the AIA's Whitney M. Young, Jr. Citation, which goes to an architect working to pursue social justice.

John Sorrenti

John R. Sorrenti is founder and president of JRS Architect, P.C., an architectural, interior design, and preservation firm in New York City. Over the past 21 years, the firm has received numerous design awards. Sorrenti served the 2016 Chancellor of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows. He has served on dozens of committees both for the AIA and the National Council of Architectural Registration Board (NCARB). He also filled roles in the AIA at state levels, including the position of president of the New York State AIA and the founding of the 13th AIA chapter in New York State, the Peconic chapter. He also chaired the AIA/College of Fellows Regional Representative Program for six years.

Diarmuid Nash, FRAIC, Chancellor of the RAIC College of Fellows, said of the recipients, "We are thrilled that these exceptional professionals have accepted to become members of the RAIC. Odile Decq is one of the most successful women in architecture and serves as a role model to many. Diébédo Francis Kéré creates inspiring architecture that uplifts communities and helps an exchange of ideas between Africa and Europe. In addition to running a thriving practice, John Sorrenti has devoted countless hours to professional associations, while William Stanley has broken new ground for African American architects in the American South."

The Honorary fellowship will recognize the extraordinary achievement of Decq, Kéré, Stanley, and Sorrenti during the RAIC Festival of Architecture in Saint John, NB, May 30 - June 2. Kéré will speak at the keynote address at the College of Fellows Convocation, and Decq will be the keynote speaker at the RAIC Foundation Luncheon.

Read more about the Fellowship Winners, here.

News via: the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada.

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Rivard House / L’Abri

Posted: 03 Feb 2018 05:00 AM PST

Architects: L'Abri
Location: Montréal, Canada
Lead Architects: Nicolas Lapierre, Francis Pelletier, Francis Martel Labrecque
Area: 176.5 m2
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Jack Jérôme

Contractor: L'Abri general

Text description provided by the architects. In the heart of the Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood in Montreal lies a typical duplex from the 1900s that has recently been transformed by L'Abri into a two-story family home. The project has taken the opportunity to decompartmentalize the original space, providing a greater sense of openness and simplicity. On the ground floor, the living spaces are arranged as a large continuous space, spanning from the street to the garden.

The washroom serves as an opaque volume buffering the vestibule from the rest of the house, while the kitchen occupies the centre of the residence, featuring an integrated kitchen with a large island. Running along the latter is the true focal element of the home: an opening between the two floors with a skylight, allowing daylight to seep in all the way to the ground floor. A wooden staircase rises within this opening, with a steel continuous handrail that turns along the second-floor walkway.

The master suite is located in the front part of the building, the room has high ceilings due to the slope of the roof. Auxiliary spaces are given the chance to bathe in daylight as well: the master walk-in closet faces the street balcony, while a second opening is created above the master suite shower. At the back of the house, a new exterior staircase extends to the rooftop terrace, offering a retreat from the city, and a view of the Mount-Royal and downtown Montreal.

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Best Modern Examples of Ancient Courtyard Renovations in China

Posted: 03 Feb 2018 04:00 AM PST

Chinese courtyard houses are one of the most common housing typologies spanning all the way from the northern capital of Beijing to the poetic southern cities Hangzhou and back to the picturesque regions of Yunnan. Typically referred as heyuan, these courtyards homes are simply a "yard enclosed on four sides."

Traditionally, heyuans were large single-family homes, built to house multiple generations of descendants, thus the essential gathering place for micro-communities. Today, however, many heyuans in China are faced with the challenges of encroaching urban development. The national reforms of the 1950's divided up many existing courtyards to be occupied by multiple families and groups, exhausting ancient sanitation systems nationwide. These practical circumstances together with market-driven conditions have sparked a renewed interest among architects, to upgrade the conditions of these ancient courtyards and explore the spatial and conceptual possibilities of the typology within their fast-changing urban fabric. Scroll down for a selection of projects that will refresh your understanding of Chinese courtyards.

Micro-Yuan'er / ZAO/standardarchitecture

Xiezuo Hutong Capsule Hotel / B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio

Courtyard House Plugin en Masse – Second Phase / People's Architecture Office

Courtesy of People's Architecture Office (PAO)

One Person Gallery / Wutopia Lab

Dongyuan Qianxun Community Center / Scenic Architecture Office

Zhu'an Residence / Zhaoyang Architects

Tea House in Li Garden / Atelier Deshaus

Cave House in Loess Plateau / hyperSity Architects

Eight Tenths Garden / Wutopia Lab

Bamboo Forest on the Roof / V STUDIO

Teahouse in Hutong / ARCHSTUDIO

Transform and Rethink / Hu Yue Studio

Yi She Mountain Inn / DL Atelier

Shidao Resort / Duoxiang Studio

Fuchun Kosa Zou Ma Lou / Atelier Archmixing

Twisting Courtyard / ARCHSTUDIO

HE-Restaurant / GOA

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The 2018 Winter Olympics Stadium That Cost $100 Million to Build, Will Only Be Used 4 Times, and Is Roofless

Posted: 03 Feb 2018 02:48 AM PST

Traditionally, Winter Olympics stadiums have stuck to a design that obscures the sky and protects against the elements in order to keep the guests warm. This year, the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics organizing team wanted to try something different. Guests will watch the three-hour opening ceremony at the PyeongChang Olympic Main Stadium – and it will be roofless.

Pyeongchang, located not too far from the border of North Korea, is notorious for one of the worst winters in the country. Temperatures in PyeongChang are forecast to reach minus 14 deg C (about 7 deg F), partly due to the powerful, biting winds that barrel down from Siberia and the Manchurian plain. This may be the coldest Olympics since the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. And because of the curious roofless architecture, the roughly 35,000 spectators will be completely exposed.

Embed from Getty Images

The stadiums of the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 had covered roofs; so were the stadiums in Canada that were used for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

A post shared by Nong Choi (@nonghee) on Dec 20, 2017 at 8:11pm PST

This PyeongChang roofless stadium cost the South Korean government $109 million (116 billion Korean Won) to build. During the design phase in 2015, lawmakers raised multiple concerns over the lack of a roof to protect spectators from the elements. However, the issues were dismissed due to the Culture Ministry's budget concerns. The stadium also does not have central heating because it is too expensive.

Now the extreme weather has left organizers scrambling for ways to keep spectators warm. This fear is not unwarranted, either. During the opening event for this stadium last November, seven people were stricken with hypothermia. For now, a windbreaker, a lap blanket, knit caps, a heated cushion, and hand and feet warmers, will be given to all spectators this week in order to help them endure the three-hour opening extravaganza under these harsh conditions.

Embed from Getty Images

Around 160 VIPS, including President Moon Jae In, Japanese premier Shinzo Abe, US Vice President Mike Pence, will be seated on higher levels and bear the full brunt of the winds. They are expected to get plusher, bigger blankets than regular spectators, and the organizers are considering offering earmuffs too. There's also mention of pushing "audience participation" to keep people moving.

Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service. CC BY-SA 2.0

For better or worse, this Olympic stadium will only be used four times - for the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics and the Paralympics – before it is torn down. City officials decided it would be too expensive to upkeep the stadium. Perhaps this $100 million dollar stadium, roofless and temporary, is evidence of how City governments are under pressure to build an impressive space for the Olympics in a short amount of time. In doing so, they fail to consider the appropriate architecture for the stadium's use, and also how to maintain the stadiums for the future. The 2016 Rio Olympic sites fell to disarray as well just 6 months after the games ended.

News via The Straits Times and Korea Times

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Architectural Education: Is It Actually Preparing Our Students for the Future?

Posted: 03 Feb 2018 01:30 AM PST

© <a href= https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arch_classroom.jpg'> Auburn University College of Architecture Archives</a> licensed under <a href= 'https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 4.0</a>

The issue of how we educate our architects of the future is a divisive one. With the capabilities of our technology advancing rapidly, new mediums of Virtual Reality, robotics, and artificial intelligence are all changing the architectural profession at a fundamental level. This creates the question of whether architectural pedagogy is keeping up with the times and educating students to be ready for both professional practice and an uncertain future.

In his opinion piece for Common Edge, 'Architectural Education is Changing: Let's Hope the Profession Can Keep Up', Phil Bernstein articulates his belief that architectural education today is indeed teaching students the necessary skills, but rather than focusing on simply teaching them to become competent workers, it is teaching them skills to design for the future.

Bernstein attempts to disprove various arguments against the current mode of education, such as the idea that "educators confuse art, branding, and hero worship with proper professional training." As an educator and an older architect, he brings forward various examples of ways that education today is preparing students for the workplace, such as the courses on Professional Practice that exist in most universities. He also argues against the idea that education is not keeping pace with advancements in technology, pointing out that most universities own a vast array of cutting-edge digital fabrication tools, probably more than most firms. He suggests that architectural firms are the ones that need to 'keep up,' as many are still using design tools that have now been superseded.

The question of whether studio-based learning is relevant for professional practice, or whether it holds too much emphasis on the realm of fine art is an interesting one. Bernstein contends that the consolidation between professional practice courses and studio courses in university prepares students for more than simply the technical aspect of architecture.

That some studio training privileges the cultural importance of architecture writ large is not a disadvantage but rather a strength that teaches our students that they should aspire to more than just solving problems, or, worse, becoming competent employees in an office. To do otherwise dumbs down architecture from a profession to a technical guild and diminishes our status, influence and payment.

He suggests that the skills learned from design studios, professional practice courses and the use of up-to-date technological tools are preparing university students for an "unknowable" future of the profession. To tackle the unknown situations of the future, he advocates for the need to inspire intellectual curiosity first and foremost.

Practitioners who demand that the schools produce "little architects" ready to function perfectly in current practices won't be prepared for their own practices to survive in the future, and this attitude does nothing to advance a profession…What better way to anticipate that future than to be ready to design it?

To read Phil Bernstein's full article, visit Common Edge, here.

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Seehof / noa* network of architecture

Posted: 03 Feb 2018 01:00 AM PST

Architects: noa* network of architecture
Location: Flötscher 2, 39040 Naz presso Bressanone (BZ) BZ, Italy
Architect In Charge: noa* network of architecture
Area: 5000.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Alex Filz

Text description provided by the architects. The Hotel Seehof is located on a high plateau near the village of Natz- Schabs/Naz-Sciaves near Brixen/Bressanone (IT) by the small natural lake "Flötscher Weiher". In 2017 this family-run hotel added a new pool and wellness area directly on the lake – where nature and the recreational value are at the point of focus.

Celebrating The Nature

The new spa area with pool and sauna area connect structurally with the surrounding landscape and impressively opens up with its irregular potholes and pergolas through large panorama windows towards the lake. Directed views from the interior into the surrounding grounds, as well as inside open areas, so- called patios, concisely convey the feeling of being in a large park. The design of the outdoor areas also play an important role. A natural unity was created here, in which the space can be walked through on different paths. Contemplative dwellings are spread around the lakeshore.

The combination of the architecture with the surroundings is most impressive here: the oblique, green roofs of the spa can be used for sunbathing, while this green area seamlessly transitions into the surrounding forests and fruit orchards. Architecture becomes landscape and landscape architecture.

"The wooden façade and its rough surface are related to the environment, with a focus on incorporating regional materials. The communication with the lake - important characteristic and name of the hotel - is deliberately staged here." Stefan Rier

The location of the heated outdoor pool affects the user as well as the extension of the bathing pond. The water level of the lake is on the same level, so that the infinity channel connects visually with the lake to an infinite water surface...

The interplay between architecture and interior design creates a holistic design in which guests and the recreation are celebrated within nature.

The Red Thread

The new interior design deals with the history of the place and incorporates it into the design.

In 1958, Jakob Auer, grandfather of the land-owner, founded the so-called soil improvement consortium on the Natz-Schabs /Naz-Sciaves apple tree plateau, in order for the traditional cultivation of apple trees to be intensified. The widely used water pipes used at the time become an inspiration for the interior design. Copper elements, which can be seen throughout the house, are consciously accentuated as a design element.

Special attention and incorporation of natural materials from the surrounding environment, was a focus point in the interior design. Wood, linen, stone, braided furniture and accessories in combination with bright, discreet colors correspond to the natural concept of the new Seehof.

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Getty Assembles Experts for Conservation of Le Corbusier's Only Three Museums

Posted: 03 Feb 2018 12:00 AM PST

National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Image © National Museum of Western Art

The Getty Conservation Institute has announced a workshop to address the care and conservation of three museums designed by Le Corbusier. The three museums are the only museums designed by the prolific architect. The workshop will be held in India, where two of the three museums are, with municipal corporations from Ahmedabad and Chandigarh serving as hosts for the event. The Foundation Le Corbusier, located in Paris, will also be assisting with the workshop.

Representatives from all three museums will come together to focus on improving both architectural conservation and collections management for each building. The workshop will be conducted February 4-6 in Ahmedabad and will conclude February 8 in Chandigarh. Susan Macdonald, head of Buildings and Sites at the GCI, says, "By asking the museum participants to consider what is significant about their respective museums as individual buildings and as part of the larger collected work of a great architect, each can better develop the necessary conservation policies to care for these significant buildings and their important collections."

The three museums were designed in the 1950s and 60s based on Le Corbusier's concept of a "museum of unlimited growth," which he considered to be the ideal museum plan allowing for future expansion. The three museums appear similar in size, form, and floor plan, and also sit on his trademark pilotis.

Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, India

Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh. Image Courtesy of the Government Museum and Art Gallery

The entire city of Chandigarh was designed by Le Corbusier, and the Government Museum and Art Gallery (completed in 1968) plays an important role in its cultural life. It also reflects Le Corbusier's modern design principles, which are fundamental to Chandigarh's identity as a model modernist city. The museum houses one of the largest collections of Gandhara sculptures as well as a collection of Pahari and Rajasthani miniature paintings. The museum has identified several challenges related to how best to exhibit and care for the building and its diverse collection of art, and how to manage environmental issues that affect both the collection and the visitor experience. It is addressing these issues by developing a Conservation Management Plan, which is being supported by a 2017 Keeping It Modern grant from the Getty Foundation.

Sanskar Kendra Museum, Ahmedabad, India

Sanskar Kendra, Ahmedabad, India. Image © The J. Paul Getty Trust

Sanskar Kendra (completed 1954)currently houses the popular Kite Museum, which contains examples of traditional Gugarati paper and fabric kites. Its City Museum exhibition tells the story of Ahmedabad and its diverse cultures using objects such as large medieval coins, scripts and documents in Devnagari and Urdu, pottery, and frescoes. BV Doshi, a renowned Indian architect who is still practicing architecture in Ahmedabad, worked with Le Corbusier on the original design and construction of the museum.

National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan

The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan (completed in 1959) is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Ueno Park, north of the Imperial Palace. Three Japanese architects – Kunio Maekawa, Junzo Sakakura and Takamasa Yoshizaka – worked with Le Corbusier on this project, which symbolized restored diplomatic ties between France and Japan after WWII. The museum has a large number of visitors, with a professional staff who oversee a robust program of exhibits and public programs, and who carefully manage the building. Additions were added in 1979 and in 1994. Major seismic improvements have also been done, and future additions are also being considered in order to accommodate growth.

News and project descriptions via the Getty Conservation Institute.

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Spotlight: Alvar Aalto

Posted: 02 Feb 2018 10:00 PM PST

Säynätsalo Town Hall. Image © Fernanda Castro

As one of the key figures of midcentury Modernism and perhaps Finland's most celebrated architect, Alvar Aalto (3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was known for his humanistic approach to Modernism. For his characteristically Finnish take on architecture, Aalto has become a key reference point for architecture in the Nordic countries, and his commitment to creating a total work of art left many examples of his design genius not only in buildings but also in their interior features, including furniture, lamps, and glassware design.

Muuratsalo Experimental House. Image © Nico Saieh

Aalto was born in Alajärvi in central Finland and raised for most of his young life in Jyväskylä. After completing his studies at the Helsinki University of Technology, in 1923 he founded his own practice (named "Alvar Aalto, Architect and Monumental Artist") in Jyväskylä. His early works were characteristic examples of Nordic Classicism, but when Aalto married fellow architect Aino Marsio, the pair took their honeymoon in southern Europe where they became more familiar with the work of their Modernist contemporaries.

By the early 1930s, this modernist influence found its way into Aalto's own architecture, with projects such as the Paimio Sanatorium and Viipuri Library making up what is usually referred to as Aalto's "Functionalist Period." However, even at this stage of his career, Aalto's design "consistently displays a calculated tendency to depart from pure functionalism" with elements that were more regionally specific. As a result, by the end of the 1930s Aalto's work had evolved into a more synthetic and personal Modernism. He became one of the first and most influential architects of the Nordic modern movement, laying the foundation for the focus on materiality and the phenomenological approach that can often be seen in architects from the region.

Säynätsalo Town Hall. Image © <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SaynatsaloTownHall.jpg'>Wikimedia user Zache</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a>

Many of Aalto's greatest works were public buildings, including libraries, town halls and churches, and his Säynätsalo Town Hall is regarded as a masterclass in multipurpose civic architecture for a small town. Due to his more regionally-specific style, Aalto did not work internationally as much as contemporaries like Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe, and most of his buildings were completed in Finland and surrounding North European countries. However he did still complete a number of significant projects abroad, perhaps most notably MIT's Baker House Dormitory in the United States.

MIT Baker House Dormitory. Image © <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Baker_House,_MIT,_Cambridge,_Massachusetts.JPG'>Wikimedia user Daderot</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a>

Despite his relative disconnectedness from the rest of the Modernist movement, Aalto's reputation was sealed in 1941, when his work was prominently featured in architectural critic Sigfried Giedion's seminal survey of modernist architecture Space, Time and Architecture. However, his inclusion in the Modernist canon was not without controversy; in their 1976 book Architettura contemporanea, Manfredo Tafuri and Francesco Dal Co argued that his works' "historical significance has perhaps been rather exaggerated," and that they were little more than "masterful distractions, not subject to reproduction outside the remote reality in which they have their roots." A more nuanced view of Aalto's architecture emerged in Kenneth Frampton's 1983 essay Towards a Critical Regionalism, in which Aalto's Säynätsalo Town Hall is cited as an example of architecture that resists the homogenization of Modernism. In its tactility, writes Frampton, it "endeavors to balance the priority accorded to the image, and to counter the Western tendency to interpret the environment in exclusively perspectival terms."