Arch Daily

Castagnola / Herzog & de Meuron
Conversion of a Former Brewery to a Hotel / KÜHNLEIN Architektur
Restroom in the Mountains / Lab D+H
B Garden / 3andwich Design / He Wei Studio
RN House / Rakta Studio
Tianjin Teda School / schneider+schumacher
Redcliffe Residences / Ian Hamilton Architects
Images Released for Bahá'í House of Worship in Papua New Guinea
Zags Headquarters / Studio Razavi Architecture
"Zucktown, USA": Will Facebook Design Your Future City?
Hidalgo Park Rehabilitation / Taller5 Arquitectos
Herzog & de Meuron Designs "Horizontal Skyscraper" Above Historic Moscow Brewery
Jardim do Sol House / Hype Studio
Bard Media Lab / MB Architecture
Awareness of the Importance of Public Spaces is Increasing—Here's How We Can Capitalize On It
Construction of the Tallest Statue in the World Continues in India
Pascall+Watson to Design Stansted Airport’s Transformation

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 08:00 PM PDT

Architects: Herzog & de Meuron
Location: Lugano, Switzerland
Partners: Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Christine Binswanger (Partner in Charge)
Project Team: Martin Fröhlich (Associate, Project Director), Dieter Mangold (Associate), Kentaro Ishida (Associate), Giulio Rigoni. Fernando Alonso, Alessandro Farina, Hans Focketyn, Alexander Sadao Franz, Yuko Himeno, Karina Hüssner, Anna Jach, Ondrej Janku, Adriana Müller, Jochen Seelos, Basil Spiess, Christian Voss, Thomas de Vries
Area: 4390.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Studio Daulte, Dani Hunziker

Landscape Design: Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, Paris, France
Structural Engineering: Lurati Muttoni Partner SA, Mendrisio, Switzerland
Building Physics: IFEC Consulenze SA, Rivera, Switzerland
Facade Engineering: Patocchi Sagl, Cevio, Switzerland
Geometrician: Lucchini & Lippuner SA, Viganello, Switzerland
Geotechnical Consultant: Urs Luechinger, Pregassona-Lugano, Switzerland
Security Consultant: Gruner AG, Basel, Switzerland
Fire Protection: IFEC Consulenze SA, Rivera, Switzerland
Electrical: Alpiq InTec Svizzera SA, Rivera, Switzerland
Plumbing: Consorzio Tech-Insta SA,Lotti Impianti SA, Silvano Pozzi SA, Lugano, Switzerland
Ventilation: Consorzio Tech-Insta SA,Lotti Impianti SA, Silvano Pozzi SA, Lugano, Switzerland
Concrete Works: Impresa generali di costruzioni Garzoni SA, Lugano, Switzerland
Heating: Consorzio Tech-Insta SA,Lotti Impianti SA, Silvano Pozzi SA, Lugano, Switzerland
Windows: Huber Fenster AG, Switzerland
Site Area: 5700 m2
Footprint: 1815 m2
Gross Volume: 33210 m3

The Villa Favorita in Lugano
The well-preserved gardens of the 17th century Villa Favorita, lining the shores of Lake Lugano at the foot of Monte Bré, are of great historical significance. The 13 romanticist buildings situated in the gardens were erected between 1687 and 1932. Their historicizing style is characteristic of Ticino architecture and, in fact, generally of the villas on the lake shores of northern Italy. Originally, the Villa Favorita was a freestanding, single ensemble of buildings between Lugano and Castagnola. Today it is surrounded by modernist blocks of housing from the second half of the 20th century. This modern architecture is also a typical Ticino style, that emerged in response to the appeal of the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland as a second home and a financial center.

Until recently, the property was part of the Villa Favorita Gardens. A mighty, completely overgrown wall shores up the terrace constructed to accommodate a swimming pool and surrounding lawn. The Casa Glorietta of the 17th century and the Pinakothek, built in 1933 by the then proprietor Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, is located directly underneath the supporting wall. The gallery housed Thyssen-Bornemisza's world-famous private collection until it was relocated to the Villahermosa Palace in Madrid in 1990. Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, Hans Heinrich's widow, sold this property to a Ticino investor who, in 2009, commissioned Herzog & de Meuron to propose plans for apartments. In 2015 Thyssen-Bornemisza sold the rest of the Villa Favorita to a family of industrialists in Italy. The Via Cortivo borders the property to the north. The steep slope, covered with dense, forest-like vegetation, screens the terrace below from public view. The southern side of the property facing the lake is flat.

A Row of Eight Buildings
Eight-row houses of different sizes have been built with dimensions and details corresponding to villas. To maximize the use of the shoreline, they were designed as a single, interconnected complex so that each of the eight buildings benefits from the impressive view of Lake Lugano. Each of the villas is three to four stories high, following the extremely steep topography. Linear, cascading staircases throughout the building allow for diagonal views. The stairs resemble the stepped paths typically built into the slopes of Ticino hillsides. Living rooms and kitchens are placed at garden level; bedrooms with terraces are upstairs. From Via Cortivo, narrow paths and stairs through the dense vegetation of the northern slope lead to separate entrances to each of the buildings. A car elevator accesses the underground garage, where all of the buildings are connected.

Superimposed Geometries
The repetitive basic structure of the project is defined by vertical walls placed perpendicular to the slope. Circular, horizontal, and vertical cutouts are superimposed on this orthogonal order in the form of arches and courtyards. The resulting, geometrically complex spatial fabric creates overlapping inside and outside spaces marked by an unusual play of shadow. The same circular geometry applies to small spaces like elevators and bathrooms. This generates a flowing transition between the larger rooms and a spatial continuum of inside and outside that runs through several stories.

An Architecture of the South
The concrete loadbearing structure has a mineral stucco finish. Teakwood is used for the windows and doors; gardens, terraces, and roofs are paved with stone or planted with greenery. The exceptional layout of the rooms, the beautiful light, and the impressive views are enhanced in the interior by a quiet materiality out of teakwood floors and white plastered walls. The staggered layout and subdivision of the buildings, the brown mineral stucco, and the precise placement of white soffits and reveals within the façade, all contribute to the impression that the new buildings fit quite naturally into the gardens. From the lake, the villas are perceived as an organically integrated structure.

Landscaping
The character of the Via Cortivo has not changed. The large trees were carefully preserved in the course of construction; smaller trees and bushes that did have to be felled have been replaced. As before, a diversity of dense vegetation covers the northern slope, providing excellent screening. Towards the south, the terraces of the eight villas form one large landscaped area, with the individual gardens separated by islands of greenery. The staggered layout of the buildings and the vegetation enhance privacy. Tall pine trees, similar in size and girth to the trees of the Villa Favorita, provide shade without blocking the view of the lake. Landscape architect Michel Desvigne shared the architects' goal of incorporating the gardens into the overall fabric of the Villa Favorita.

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Conversion of a Former Brewery to a Hotel / KÜHNLEIN Architektur

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 07:00 PM PDT

Architects: KÜHNLEIN Architektur
Location: Regensburger Str. 5, 93161 Sinzing, Germany
Lead Architects: Michael Kühnlein
Team: Lena Bierschneider, Gerhard Frank
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Erich Spahn

Text description provided by the architects. The building forms the urban center of the village Eilsbrunn, together with the tavern and the church.

After 50 years with dilapidation and vacancy, here it was proved that even a death candidate without heritage protection can bring back to life, with a very economic implementation.

The hotel in the old brewhouse offers solid rooms with solid wood furniture and brewery-style floors.

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Restroom in the Mountains / Lab D+H

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 05:00 PM PDT

Architects: Lab D+H
Location: Yantai, Shandong, China
Lead Architects: Huicheng Zhong
Design Team: Huicheng Zhong, YoungJoon Choi, Zongjie Liang, Jin Huang, Hao Lan, Feimin Song
Area: 250.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Xi Tang, Conggang Yu

Client: Kunyu Mountain National Park Management Committee

Text description provided by the architects. China's Kunyu Mountain National Park is promoting a series of facility upgrades within its 50 km² national natural preserve, and the management committee invited Lab D+H to design a pilot public toilet which would serve as the new model of public facility in the KM National Park. At the very beginning, client had not decided where the toilet would be located. Therefore, instead of proposing a restroom design, we put forward a modular system which can be adapted based on different topographic conditions. This site-specific strategy was greatly appreciated by the client and together, we chose a site: a terrace within the current alpine botanical garden at the edge of the forest.

In English-speaking society, a toilet is often referred to as a "restroom", insinuating that it is a place for rest. Therefore, instead of designing the toilet building, we decided to create a graceful and restful place in dialogue with nature, specifically within this environmental sensitive place.

Through adaptation and organization of the modules, a courtyard was created based on existing terrace contour. The courtyard garden was wrapped by a canopied corridor running both up and down. The setting of the viewing deck provided a waiting place and the best viewing spot towards the mountain.

The canopied corridor threaded the courtyard's two parts: the rest area and restroom area. The rest area was formed by continuous transition of modular pavilions, for waiting and view-seeing. The restroom area was divided into men's room, lady's room and family's room. There were two hand-washing points at the edge of courtyard where water was charged directly to the ground after being filtered from the gravel basin.

After assembling the module, the diagonally pitched roof units formed a geometric silhouette, generating a dialogue with the rolling mountain ridge. The restroom skin was juxtaposed with twig and sanded glass, protecting privacy while creating interesting light & shadow effect.

From site selection, design strategy and materiality all the way to construction method, an innovative low impact design approach was adopted. This modular system was proved to be easily applied to the facility upgrade endeavors throughout the national park. We are currently working on two more restrooms with client in two other locations based on this modular approach with different topographic conditions.

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B Garden / 3andwich Design / He Wei Studio

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 03:00 PM PDT

Architects: 3andwich Design / He Wei Studio
Location: Xin County, Xinyang, Henan, China
Lead Architects: Wei He
Client: Xin County Dabie Mountain Camping Park Co., Ltd.
Area: 920.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Weiqi Jin, Meng Zhou

Project Background: Dilapidated Dwellings in the Hinterland of the Dabie Mountains
Located in Xin County, Henan Province, this project is an crucial part of the Dabie Mountains Outdoor Campground Park, which has been regarded as an important gateway to the Dabie Mountains National Hiking Trails.

The site of B Garden is backed by small hills, which is rich in vegetation, with a tea garden in front, a river that runs through the campground at a distance, and the hills on the other side. The site is on the platform at the foot of the mountain with open and broad views to the south and water flowing in front, namely, a geomantic site of traditional China. There were several abandoned and dilapidated dwellings on site, which the owners wished to demolish and to construct new buildings on.

Function: from Rural Guesthouses to Pastoral Complex
At the beginning, there was divergence between the owner and designers on the function of the new buildings. The owners initially intended to arrange as many guestrooms as possible, while the design team proposed more public functions to serve the campground. Through the analysis and discussion of the entire park, the two sides gradually reached a consensus: instead of a simple guesthouse or public service facilities, the new buildings will apply compound functions and formats, including guestrooms, a cafe, a teahouse, and anauditorium that can be used for public gathering and training programs, as well as a meditation space. All these functions are not isolated, instead, are intertwined and connected by multilayered and multidirectionaltraffic spaces.

The function has been vested with the character of "Complex" that does not depend on a specific crowd or behavior; while the character of "Pastoral" is the core of the project. The character of "Pastoral" has been embodied not only in the location in the hinterland of the Dabie Mountains, but also in the future business from agro-tourism such as farming experiences and creative agricultural products to "green" industries such as climbing and meditation. Rather than a guesthouse only suitable for living, B Garden has been orchestrated into a miniature pastoral complex.

Space: Roofs, Courtyards, Paths, Pools, Lights and Shadows
B Garden consists of a series of buildings in horizontal layouts due to space constraints. Designers have madea displacement of the blocks and have alternatively applied flat roofs and gable roofs (which have implied the position of original buildings.) The interlocking building blocks represent relief and casualness with zigzagoutlines of plans and elevations.

The other characteristics of B Gardens include courtyards and paths. Designers believe that the most attractive part of Chinese traditional architecture is the relationship among houses, courtyards and paths. The house and the yard are positive and negative relationship including physical space, inside and outside, open and closed in sight and psychology and so on; and the path is an "intervention" between the house and the yard, in the exterior and interior, without absolute indoor or outdoor identity. The function of the path is not only the connection of the traffic, but also the coherence and vagueness of the inside and outside of the space. In this project, the designer wishes to discuss the relationship of the three parts in the context of the farmhouse. Therefore the courtyards of many different spatial features are created, interspersed between buildings, separating the building from its surroundings and the buildings from the buildings, forming a blank. In addition to the functional role of these gaps, more is the needs in sight and psychological.

The path constrains the way people enter the building. In order to maintain privacy and interest of the "Bieyuan", building paths are man-made twists and turns, even hidden, so that customers need to search the way to space personally, and in the search process, the positive and negative relationship between architecture and the yard was naturally presented.

The design of the pool and the light and shade is strengthened the interest and drama of the building. Through the reflection and inverted image of the pool, and dramatic scene appeared from time to time in the path, the user is excited to stop, take photos and circle of friends. Besides, the heavy feeling and the monotony are greatly diluted by the buildings of single red brick materials.

Temperament: exquisite farmhouse, Casual Garden
As the name suggests, "Bieyuan" is not the Inn Boutique in the city, not a country villa, but a kind of gamewhich can also be said to be a sense of farmhouse. Temperament of "Bieyuan" should be fine, but not overly sentimental; living here, people can relax, encounter between man and man to make the distance a little closer.

Because it is a new building, designers do not want to imitate the old houses, but want to give the building a sense of intimacy. The main materials of building is chosen the red brick commonly used in 1980s, the appearance of which does not aim for the consistency. On the contrary, the designer intends to mix different styles together, forming a sense of confusion. Because of this confusion, mix and match is attractive to rural buildings.

The interior of the building is not decorated, exposing material directly to form a controlled sense of rudeness. Terrazzo of the ground is exposed the structural components, further reinforcing this feeling. In the designer's view, such a process is in line with the name of the project - "Bieyuan" should be conveyed by a temperament, a special life different from the city.

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RN House / Rakta Studio

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 01:00 PM PDT

Architects: Rakta Studio
Location: Padalarang, Indonesia
Architect In Charge: Ronald Adikusumo
Area: 280.0 m2
Project Year: 2014
Photographs: KIE

Principal Architect : Ronald Adikusumo and Vidor Saputro
Structure Consultant : Philip D. Tjandra

Text description provided by the architects. Being the owner and the architect of this house, I tend to create a simple project that blend with the surroundings. The RN house is located in Tatar Jingga Nagara. In definition, "Tatar" means a place/location, while "Jingga" describes as a reddish/orange color, and "Nagara" used as a city.

I begin this project by stressed the word "Jingga" and applied the bricks material (as a base) at the lower box. Playing with the bricks composition turns out to be fun, and it create some interesting shadow configuration for the house facade.

The imaginary "pulled out" white box on the 2nd layer gives the house a light and dynamic impression.

By putting a garden located in the middle of the house, it was intended to blend both inner and outer space and practically increase the air flow and intensity of the sun light. I exposed the linear line at the east side of the house's facade to reduce the heat in the morning and it designed to be able to open in the evening to gain some natural sunlight.

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Tianjin Teda School / schneider+schumacher

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 12:00 PM PDT

Architects: schneider+schumacher
Location: Tianjin, China
Lead Architects: Michael Schumacher
Project Architects: Nan Wang, Joachim Wendt
Design Team: Edwin Heimberg, Peichen Pan, Elisabet Aguilar Palau, Xiuyuan Zhang, Luni Lu
Area: 62500.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: arch-exist

Collaborators: Tianjin Architecture Design Institute
Clients: TEDA Administrative Commission Infrastructure Center

Viewing school building from the playground. Image © arch-exist

Text description provided by the architects. This is a reconstruction project for TEDA No.1 Secondary School. The school's layout was messy and each function space was isolated. Children had to walk a long way to reach the canteen, gymnasium and library, etc. We try to use a unified design approach to integrate all those functional spaces.

Building main entrance. Image © arch-exist

Anti-traditional campus's public space - "braids"
By using an efficient public corridor, we create shortcuts that linking various functional spaces of the building. Corridor is like the building's "spine", becoming the centered traffic space in the building.

Through studying the 3 dimensional space, we'd like layers of dislocated open spaces rather than traditional 3m-wide corridors, and making the corridors in 5 different levels intervolve like 'Braids'.

This corridor runs through the schoolyard, creating a series of open and flexible public spaces. Here, children could obtain ways of walking experience, which are fundamentally different from the ordinary school experiences.

Anti-traditional facade of faculty buildings - "curtain wall system"
For the elevations design, we choose warm yellow stone with glass curtain wall, rather than red bricks for traditional school facade, trying to creating a distinctive facade appearance for the children.

Horizontal component detail. Image © arch-exist

For the regions of the classroom building where lighting is required, vertical stone strips are used; for the art building that has harsh requirements for the lighting environment, decorated horizontal stone strips are used.

Vertical component detail. Image © arch-exist

Vertical and horizontal decorative lines comprise a clear and rhythmic facade, corresponding to different architectural features, makes this project an iconic example in the new era.

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Redcliffe Residences / Ian Hamilton Architects

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 10:00 AM PDT

Architects: Ian Hamilton Architects
Location: Redcliffe, Australia
Lead Architects: Ian Hamilton
Area: 870.0 m2
Project Year: 2015
Photographs: Scott Burrows

Interior And Soft Landscape Design: GCR Designs

Text description provided by the architects. The Redcliffe Residences have been designed as a spacious retreat for an extended family and their close friends. Whilst the focus is on entertaining with facilities for large gatherings, including the hosting of public art events and of music recitals, there is also the opportunity to undertake individual pursuits such as painting, writing, reading, cooking and even quiet contemplation.

Situated above the public Esplanade at Redcliffe, the residences overlook Moreton Bay and Moreton Island, whilst the rooftop Terrace sights the distant western ranges. Views are carefully framed through the manipulation and location of openings, both internally and externally. Though located quite publically, privacy is maintained through level changes and various forms of screening.

Access to the beach and bay is directly across the Esplanade through secure portals. Sculptural pieces are positioned both internally and externally within the landscape. Selected artworks are displayed and rotated in the gallery spaces. Hard wearing and low maintenance materials have been used, in what is a typical marine environment. A limited palette of colors creates a unified, yet individually separate, identity to the residences.

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Images Released for Bahá'í House of Worship in Papua New Guinea

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 09:00 AM PDT

Courtesy of Bahá'í International Community

The Bahá'í International Community has unveiled a proposal for the national Bahá'í House of Worship of Papua New Guinea. In the capital city of Port Moresby, a celebration was held at the temple's future site to showcase the scheme, coinciding with the Bahá'í New Year. Inspired by the art of weaving, the architects' vision was for a temple where the people of Papa New Guinea could unite to worship and find inspiration.

The House of Worship was designed by architects Henry Lape and Saeed Granfar. Addressing the 500-strong audience at the proposal's unveiling, the architects explained the challenge of searching for a universally-resonating theme in a country with more than 700 distinct cultural groups. Reflecting on the abundance of woven objects and surfaces in Papa New Guinea, the architects compared the craft of weaving to the process of building unity, with individual strands uniting to create an object stronger than the sum of its parts.

One subtle image which time and again stood out to us was that of the art of weaving, In traditional village life, which remains alive and vibrant in Papua New Guinea today, and in urban households alike, woven surfaces and objects are found in abundance. It is an image which resonates closely with 'home' for many of us, a functional and inherently beautiful art form which we interact with daily.
– Henry Lape and Saeed Granfar, Architects, Bahá'í House of Worship

The temple's form adheres to the traditional nine-sided shape of all Bahá'í temples, manifesting in nine gable-roofed entrances to a central 350-capacity edifice. The scheme is one of two Bahá'í temples to be constructed in the coming years, joining nine existing temples in Germany, Uganda, Australia, Panama, Samoa, India, Chile, Cambodia, and the USA.

News via: The Bahá'í International Community

Bahá'í Temple of South America Wins 2017 Innovation in Architecture Award

Toronto-based Hariri Pontarini Architects' Bahá'í Temple of South America has won the 2017 Innovation in Architecture Award presented by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC).

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Zags Headquarters / Studio Razavi Architecture

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 08:00 AM PDT

Architects: Studio Razavi Architecture
Location: New York, NY, United States
Area: 4500.0 ft2
Project Year: 2015
Photographs: Connie Zhou

Text description provided by the architects. Zags is a startup company in the field of software technology for insurance companies. We had to create a design that offered both the floor plan flexibility and a more structured organization of spaces. By locating glass partitioned offices at each corner we could take advantage of the floor plan configuration and create the desired variety and compartmentalization that was required by the tenant.

We focused on creating a lighting scheme that would weave the different parts of the floor. Because the existing & exposed structure is a rigid grid, we opted to hang our fixtures way below ceiling height to create a new datum and by opting for a bare fluorescent tube, relate the lighting scheme to both the raw exposed concrete surfaces but also to our client's company name. This we did by creating a criss-crossing pattern of light fixtures, visible from all sides.

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"Zucktown, USA": Will Facebook Design Your Future City?

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 07:06 AM PDT

Willow Village will form part of Facebook's OMA-designed Willow Campus. Image Courtesy of OMA

"Do people love tech companies so much that they would live inside them?" This is the question posed by The New York Times in an article reflecting on Facebook's plans for Willow Village, a 59-acre urban district located at the company's Menlo Park headquarters in San Francisco, California.

Having constructed a community of two billion people in the digital world, the social media giant is now committed to building a tangible community in real space. Willow Village will feature 1,500 apartments geared towards Facebook employees, supported by eight acres of parks, plazas, and retail streets.

The ability of Facebook to link communities across the world may be unprecedented, but its plans for a corporation-designed live/work urban environment is not. The New York Times article chronicles both current and historical examples of communities run by and for corporations, from the textile town of Lowell, Massachusetts in 1846 to Google's Alphabet City.

The full article by The New York Times can be read here.

OMA New York to Design Mixed-Use Menlo Park Campus for Facebook

Facebook has announced plans for a new mixed-use neighborhood adjoining their existing headquarters in Menlo Park, California to be led by the New York office of OMA and Partner Shohei Shigematsu. Known as Willow Campus, the campus masterplan seeks to further invest in Facebook's home community, joining the original campus designed by Frank Gehry.

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Hidalgo Park Rehabilitation / Taller5 Arquitectos

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 06:00 AM PDT

Architects: Taller5 Arquitectos
Location: Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico
Architect In Charge: Elisa Lerma García de Quevedo, Octavio Arreola Calleros.
Area: 38000.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Oscar Hernández

Landscape Architecture And Urban Articulation: 501 Arquitectos; Carlos María Flores, Luis Miguel Durán.
Skatepark Design: MARCA-ARQUITECTURA;Mariano Arreola Calleros.
Urban Equipment: Alejandro Gutiérrez Ortiz.
Construction: Constructora GRK
Lightning: Juan Ignacio rodríguez.
Structure: Gabriel Vergil Pantoja.
Water Treatment Plant And Irrigation Design: Consyur.
Hydraulic And Sanitary Installations: Jorge León Cedeño.

Text description provided by the architects. Public space is that territory of the city where multiple activities are generated so that different social groups can have a symbolic identification and thus promote the appropriation of space, since it is this dynamic that gives a true form of social integration, leaving aside the socioeconomic condition, idiosyncrasy, etc., and establishes us as equals.

Hidalgo Park was a space that lacked unity, product of its walkers that did not plan interesting routes besides having aggressive metal protections that prevented access to landscaped areas, dispersion of meeting points and services.

The rescue project clearly resolves the main and secondary circulations with the creation of small squares in strategic places which generate a meeting point, the concentration of the juveniles and children's leisure areas, the integration of a sports activities track urban areas and the redesign of the service modules, as well as the rescue of the forum of outdoor shows.

The landscaping project proposes the rescue of endemic species, sanitation and reforestation of existing areas as well as promoting free transit through the green areas, which are provided with urban furniture to help the meeting, sit down to talk and share the everyday. The project takes advantage of the goodness of having a sewage treatment plant in the west of the park, which will guarantee constant irrigation.

The materials used seek to keep up a range of neutral color looking for the shine of the hues and "green" textures, so the external pavements and buildings are clear in concrete, the pavements of the squares were made of stone with a subtle tone gesture red, the pavement of the main circulation axis creates a rhythm with pieces in different sizes and cloths.

The urban Furniture solves the needs of public space by means of three simple designs defined by simple geometrical tracings at the same time that it gives a utilitarian solution to the passer-by, such as parking the bicycle or being able to carry out urban activities.

The rehabilitation actions were carried out knowing and understanding the user as an inherent element of the space since it serves for the construction and consolidation of the citizenship.

The park now has the capacity to host the urban acts demanded by our society as well as generating an important social and economic trigger for the Barrio Arriba area; "When space becomes dignified and becomes civic, it allows the user to feel part of a human context and generate a new memory about the new environment, thus the identity with himself appears, his codependence and appropriation."

The first stage (Part East) was completed in November 2017

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Herzog & de Meuron Designs "Horizontal Skyscraper" Above Historic Moscow Brewery

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 05:22 AM PDT

Herzog & de Meuron has released images of their proposed scheme for the redevelopment of an old brewery site on the banks of the Moscow River. The Badaevskiy Brewery project will see the transformation of a largely abandoned cluster of historic, industrial buildings, a delicate restoration project contrasting with the contemporary addition of a residential "Horizontal Skyscraper." With this bold addition elevated on tall, slender stilts, a new ground-level public park is created to strengthen ties between the brewery site and adjacent river.

Founded in 1875, the Badaevskiy Brewery site was characterized by its brick industrial architecture, with monumental front façades masking a disorderly mesh of support buildings growing towards the river. The site has been in ruin following the brewery's closure in the 2000s, with only two of the three original factory buildings remaining. The two surviving buildings, one Russian Romantic Revival and the other an English-style industrial cluster, have been awarded cultural heritage status mandating their preservation.

Under the Herzog & de Meuron scheme, both heritage buildings will be restored for public use. The two Romantic structures, comprising 215,000 square feet (20,000 square meters), will host a food market, fashion store, co-working space, and large gym. These independent functions are linked under a central atrium covered by historically-inspired timber roofs. Meanwhile, the cluster of English-style, brick, industrial structures are enhanced with new light wells, hosting an arts center, childcare facilities, and apartments.

The two existing wings were once linked by a now-demolished central structure. The Herzog & de Meuron strategy will see this building re-constructed to its original design using historic documents, featuring a grand hall, and a small, local brewery. Together, the three heritage buildings form the monumental heart of the architects' vision with rear facades opening towards a park and river - a connection once obscured by redundant support structures.

Moscow is a city with a rich and controversial cultural and political heritage, with architectures reflecting avant-garde as well as conservative trends in the course of history. Our project for the redevelopment of Badaevskiy factory inserts itself in this very history and tradition of Moscow urbanism – it respects and re-uses existing industrial buildings while adding and overlaying them with radically contemporary structures.
– Jacques Herzog, Founder, Herzog & de Meuron

In tandem with this extensive restoration work, the architects propose a bold contemporary addition to the site, in the form of a "Horizontal Skyscraper" representing a "city lifted up in the air." The scheme is elevated 115 feet (35 meters) from ground level, supported by slender stilts connecting the building to a new urban park underneath "like trunks of trees." This radical elevation brings two key advantages: maintaining a connection between the historic buildings and adjacent river while creating sweeping views across the city from the new structure.

The new building consists of approximately 1.1 million square feet (100,000 square meters) of apartments, highly individualized in terms of layout, façade, and vista. Each apartment has a large balcony, with the gardens of eight "sky villas" comprising the roof of the hovering structure. As part of the scheme's development, a landscaping strategy will prioritize pedestrianizing the entire site and strengthening connections between the brewery site and river.

Architects: Herzog & de Meuron
Location: Kutuzovsky Ave, Moskva, Russia
Architect In Charge: Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Stefan Marbach
Design Team: Olga Bolshanina, Tomislav Dushanov, Sjoerd Zonderland, Fanny Christinaz, Marcelo Bernardi, Alix Biehler, Mario Bonilla, Mathieu Breton-Ortuno, Marcello Carpino, Massimo Corradi, Gwendoline Eveillard, Diogo Figueiredo, Pablo Garrido, Bryan Grossenbacher, Hamit Kaplan, Petr Khraptovich, Simina Marin, Magnus Möschel, Ilia Moiseev, Alexandros Mykoniatis, Dulcineia Neves dos Santos , Thanh Nguyen, Lukas Nordström, Poap Panusittikorn, Romain Péquin, Marika Prete, Marie-Louise Raue, Derya Sancar, Dmitry Stolbovoy, Victor Stolbovoy, Andrew Tétrault, Emma Thomas, Ramona Triolo, Ilia Stevanov Tsachev, Harry M.X. Wei
Visualization: Michal Baurycza, Mikolaj Bazaczek, Massimo Corradi, Bruno de Almeida Martins, Holger Rasch
Client: Capital Group
Executive Architect: Apex Project Bureau
Building Services: Unidraft
Landscape Design: Vogt Landscape Limited
Structural Engineer: Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure AG, Apex Project Bureau
Acoustics: Apex Project Bureau
Facade Engineering: Emmer Pfenninger Partner AG, Apex Project Bureau
Fire Protection: Apex Project Bureau
Area: 0.0 m2
Project Year: 2018

News via: Herzog & de Meuron

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Jardim do Sol House / Hype Studio

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 04:00 AM PDT

Architects: Hype Studio
Localization: Av. da Cavalhada, 5205 - Ipanema, Porto Alegre - RS, Brazil
Architect In Charge: Fernando Balvedi
Design Team: Fernando Balvedi, Jean Grivot, Maurício Santos, Luísa Konzen, Naiara Forneck, Luis Bonilla, Bruno Carvalho.
Area: 2000.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Marcelo Donadussi

Structural Engineer: Constsul Engenharia
Electrical And Plumbing Engineer: Filippon Engenharia
Hvac: Sistema Engenharia
Lighting Design: Sandra Thomé Luminoténica
Landscape Design: Karol Gehlen

Text description provided by the architects. House located in a high-end gated community in the southern district of Porto Alegre, Brazil. The program is divided in three floors for a couple with two children who enjoy having friends over for parties and celebrations.

The underground level has technical rooms, staff rooms and parking for 40 cars – in fact, it’s a small museum for the owner’s antique car collection. The ground floor has a huge open space with living and dining rooms, a home office, a home theater and the kitchen. Large sliding doors make it possible to hide or completely open the home theater and the kitchen to the living room. A separate building houses a space for entertainment and parties. The second floor has four en-suite bedrooms.

The design uses two huge concrete walls on the sides to block the neighbors’ views to the house, granting privacy – same strategy used with for locating the entertainment space in the back of the site. The southern façade has double height glass windows, allowing the entire living room to enjoy beautiful views of Lake Guaíba. The northern façade has shadings and cantilevers that allow the control of direct sunlight – reason why all four bedrooms face the north. In the roof, a steel grid extends above the inner yard, creating the feeling that the house extends itself, mixing outdoor and indoor spaces.

The underground level is a concrete box built with a ribbed slab roof that allows large spans. A reflecting pool with a glass bottom allows natural light in – as well as views from the inner yard. The house structure is made of steel with slender pillars, also allowing large free spans. The entire project follows a 190x190 cm grid that is clearly visible in the roof structure throughout the house.

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Bard Media Lab / MB Architecture

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 03:15 AM PDT

Architects: MB Architecture
Location: 30 Campus Rd, Annandale-On-Hudson, NY 12504, United States
Lead Architect: Maziar Behrooz
Area: 960.0 ft2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Matthew Carbone

Fabricators: SnapSpace Solutions
College Rep: Jeff Katz

Text description provided by the architects. The Bard College Department of Experimental Humanities' Lab is made from 4 recycled shipping containers. They were installed in half a day in the middle of the campus, close to a Frank Gehry concert hall, completely finished as shown, and fully operational in a couple of weeks. The double-wide, double tall arrangement yields a 15' wide, 17' tall main space, and a second-floor office totaling 960 sqft.

The project arose out of a grant of $100,000 and was prefabricated, delivered and installed in half a day at a cost slightly over $200,000. As a prototype, it offers schools and universities an affordable solution to their urgent classroom space needs. The budget required that we explore options beyond conventional construction. We tapped into some of our previous explorations and projects with shipping containers and offered a completely prefabricated building that needs no more on-site work than the pouring of concrete foundation walls. At the end of the half-day installation, the Lab was occupied and within a few days, fully operational.

The Lab will rotate between various departments at the college; flexibility was, therefore, a given. By adding a large pivoting garage door that opens to a quad, the main room, a 17' tall space, will transform to a stage-set for performances, concerts and theatrical events — engaging the quad and ensuring a productive relationship between the building and campus at large.

Our practice has made an effort to off-set our more robustly budgeted projects with affordable ones. The pre-fab solutions that we offer as stand-alone products are amongst the most affordable building solutions in any urban or near-urban area in the US. We hope they can help individuals, organization, and businesses that would otherwise be unable to engage with architects and architecture for their building needs.

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Awareness of the Importance of Public Spaces is Increasing—Here's How We Can Capitalize On It

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 02:30 AM PDT

Piazza del Campo, Siena, Italy. Image © <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/liakadaweb/38621551301/'>Flickr user liakadaweb</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/'>CC BY 2.0</a>

This article was originally published by Common Edge as "How Public Space Can Build Community and Rescue Democracy."

Public spaces are having a moment. People from outside the field of urban planning are beginning to notice the vital contributions that they make to our quality of life: inserting nature and cultural memory into the everyday, reminding us of our collective responsibilities, supporting democratic expression. People are also beginning to notice the subtle ways in which those contributions are being eroded by threats of privatization, corporate appropriation, and apathy.

Most acutely, this moment is brought to us by Apple, which has begun an aggressive retail rebranding effort to re-conceptualize its stores as "town squares," and wrought a wave of well-founded concern. Technology continues to beckon us away from the need to leave our homes or interact face-to-face with other humans. If for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, it would follow that opportunities for such interpersonal interaction become a luxury we begin to seek, a call to remember our origin as social beings.

Not to give technology too outsized a role in this moment, politics also plays a part: political progress often demands a physical place to exercise our first amendment rights (or to fight for them). Large, visible public spaces are a natural home. Americans in particular have recently discovered that places we treat like public spaces—airports, for example—are, in fact, the domain of private companies, or are at risk of being ceded to private companies. When we see public spaces as a physical extension of our rights, we begin to approach their true value to our society.

Piazza del Duomo, Milan. Image © <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/25564641@N08/5930524435'>Flickr user Raymond Cunningham</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/'>CC BY-SA 2.0</a>

So what should we be asking about public space in this moment?

Public space is often touted as a key to "building a sense of community." To my mind community building means strengthening meaningful interpersonal relationships; forging a dynamic, shared identity; fostering stewardship of the place; and creating a sense of belonging that is confident enough to openly welcome newcomers. But setting aside an area with a few trees and some benches hardly guarantees that a space will do any of these things successfully (see #PlacesIDontWantToSit). So it's worth investigating how exactly good public spaces do this, and how we could design them to better do so in the future.

We might initially evaluate a public space by its physical characteristics. What defines its edges? A space, after all, is only as good as what defines it, be that buildings or fences or trees or a line of chalk. Do these edges comfortably contain the space, while possessing enough permeability to be inviting? What does it use to invite in a passerby? A large sculpture or monument? What does it use to encourage the passerby to linger? Green space? A concert stage? How does it scale with its context—is it oversized for a small coastal village or undersized as a state capital square—and how does it scale to the human bodies that pass through it?

The campo in Siena, Italy is often touted as the ideal public square: it has an iconic tower monument that announces itself above the rest of the urban fabric and a well-tuned edge defined by humanely-scaled buildings with inviting pedestrian alleys between them. The slight slope in the pavement invites both tired travelers and lunching locals to recline in the warm afternoon sun. And its physical dimensions allow an average human to discern the identity of another human from nearly any point within it.

Downtown, Greenville, SC. Image © <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/lovinkat/16584220864/'>Flickr user lovinkat</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/'>CC BY 2.0</a>

I can distinctly remember, during a cross-country bus tour in college, stepping off the bus on Main Street in Greenville, SC. We were greeted by wide sidewalks with bountiful street trees, well-paved crosswalks that invited us to surf from one row of shops and storefronts to another, punctuated by public art, and terminating in a park overlooking the river. With places to sit and some protection from the elements, the street invited people to interact and to linger. This was my first personal "aha" moment that a street could be more than just a corridor for the efficient movement of automobiles—if its physical elements were designed well, it could be just as vital to the health of a place as a park.

Yet, as much as designers of the physical environment may be hesitant to admit this, no amount or configuration of tangible elements can magically create an intangible sense of community—people are ultimately responsible for this. But designed spaces can create a hospitable environment for such community to develop.

What characteristics do these environments share?

They provide space for interpersonal interaction—pleasant to occupy for enough time to eat a meal or hold a long conversation and scaled for individuals and groups. Physicality is critical. Being face to face with another person (or group of people) causes different patterns of engagement than across the screen of a smartphone or behind a faceless computer keyboard. Public spaces may also invite proximity to "otherness:" interactions with people you might not meet in private places built for groups with common socio-economic status or leisure activities.

They balance safety and freedom. Our instincts as social beings, almost like gravity, draw us to physical centers for momentous occasions: consider where people congregate after a major sports victory, or for a protest. Everyone in a community should feel welcome and safe, even if they are there to speak critically to the powers that be. There is a disconcerting trend of allowing privately-owned public spaces (POPS) to take the place of actual spaces that belong to the public. These POPS don't have to allow protests or rallies that might be perceived as "uncomfortable" or "off-brand," but that are nonetheless vital to democratic expression.

A rally on the grounds of the Rhode Island State House, January 2017. Image © Ben Willis

They invite play, by both children and adults. Researchers in a number of disciplines have noted the importance of play to human flourishing, and what better places to provide access to this than public ones? It's easy to brush off play at home or in the office, but when a giant waterslide is setup in the middle of a public square, it's hard not to notice on your walk home. And sometimes encouragement to play doesn't need anything more than some open space to run, chase, or be tagged 'it.'

A waterslide setup in Federation Square, Melbourne, Australia. Image © Ben Willis

They're visibly shaped by the people who occupy them. The cultural and artistic artifacts, iconography, and programming respond to the past and present of the people within the community, and are dynamic enough to change gradually in the future. Through these physical representations, regular inhabitants begin to develop a sense of belonging and ownership within the local, shared identity. Such identity fosters stewardship, not only of the space itself, but also of the people within those places.

If left without any intervention beyond maintenance, many public spaces would continue to slowly evolve into these kinds of environments. But there are municipal governments, urban planners, and community groups that care deeply and have a significant hand in shaping streets, parks, and plazas—and now a general citizenry who is paying more attention. While these spaces don't change overnight, it would do us well to consider the trajectory in which we're steering them. To steer them better, we need to include the concept of buen vivir in our calculations.

Balboa Park, a public space in downtown San Diego, CA. Image © <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Balboa_Park,_San_Diego,_CA,_USA_-_panoramio_(124).jpg'>Panoramio user Roman Eugeniusz via Wikimedia</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a>

Buen vivir, Spanish for "the good life," comes from indigenous traditions in South America that replaces our paradigmatic goal of "individual affluence" with the right to a balanced ecosystem and a community's "collective well-being." This well-being is defined broadly, encouraging the self-determination and flourishing of a rich cultural diversity and a high quality of life that isn't built on the exploitation of others.

How does buen vivir intersect with the design of public space?

Public spaces bring plants into our asphalt, glass, and silicon-filled cities and towns. This equalizes access to nature for those who can't often escape to the countryside or who live in a density that doesn't allow for private yards, and also encourages resources be spent maintaining and nurturing this nature.

Public space can challenge the over-dominance of the hegemon by supporting minority cultures. Using art or iconography or a configuration of space that allows for particular cultural activities to take place easily, public space can provide equitable exposure and recognition. It also allows for greater self-determination by minority communities if we ensure that they are present at the decision-making table.

Likewise, those with decision-making power need to look for ways to break down the narratives of exclusion that so often plague public spaces. This doesn't mean allowing parks to become havens for nefarious or reckless behavior, but it does mean encouraging both the homeless and the corporate executive, the disabled and the abled, to occupy the space with accommodation and dignity. It also means disconnecting the unfortunate link between "improvement" and "displacement" by allocating resources to overlooked public spaces, even if they're not in a neighborhood that promises higher real estate tax values in the coming years.

Public spaces are both an end and a means to an end, a sculpture worth displaying, and a slab of marble that will be carved anew by the interaction of whatever assortment of people pass through it each day. When authentically rendered, they present a powerful tool for society that should be appreciated, protected, put to work, and stretched with new ideas and inputs. Now is the time to stop taking them for granted. The ultimate responsibility to build community and to sustain democracy belongs to each of us individually—we should challenge ourselves to make time to be the public who occupy these spaces and define their course.

Ben Willis is an architect at Union Studio Architecture & Community Design, a firm in Providence, RI working to save the world from sprawl. He serves as an ACE mentor and is an avid a cappella singer. Find him on Twitter: @gbenwillis.

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Construction of the Tallest Statue in the World Continues in India

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 01:00 AM PDT

Section of the Statue and Surrounds. Courtesy of Michael Graves Architecture & Design

The Statue of Unity, to be the world's tallest statue when completed, has made significant headway with its construction. Designed by Michael Graves Architecture & Design, the Statue of Unity will be 182-meters tall and depict Vallabhbhai "Sardar" Patel, the first deputy Prime Minister of India. Standing at almost twice the height of the Statue of Liberty, the Statue of Unity project will also consist of a hotel, memorial garden, visitor's center and miles of roadways and bridges to connect the statue to the town of Kevadia, India.

The Statue of Unity is currently being built at the Sadhu-Bet Island, approximately 3.5 km south of Sardar Sarovar Dam in the Narmada district of Gujarat. The project is spearheaded by the current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, to promote the significance of Sardar Patel's achievements in India's struggle for independence.

Courtesy of Michael Graves Architecture & Design

The statue sits on a base which will house a visitor's center and a series of display halls dedicated to Sardar Patel and the history of India's independence. A viewing area will also be located in the chest of the statue, providing panoramic views of the Narmada River and the Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, whose lush green landscapes surround the site. Within the chest of the statue, visitors will also be able to view the structural detailing of the micro-panels that create the massive sculpture, giving them an indication of how the statue was assembled.

Construction Progress. Courtesy of Michael Graves Architecture & Design

A significant portion of the project has been in the engineering needed to reinforce the rocky outcrop in the Narmada riverbed, where the statue is being erected. The reinforcement of the outcrop, the foundations, and the internal twin concrete cores have finally been completed, and work has commenced on the secondary structural steel scaffolding which will serve as the support system for the bronze panels of the statue. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2018.

Construction of Micro-Panel. Courtesy of Michael Graves Architecture & Design

News via: Michael Graves Architecture & Design.

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Pascall+Watson to Design Stansted Airport’s Transformation

Posted: 20 Mar 2018 11:00 PM PDT

After Pascall+Watson's success with their concept design for the £130m Arrivals Terminal at Stansted Airport, the firm have been selected for the £600m transformation programme by MAG (Manchester Airports Group owners of Stansted Airport). As demand for air travel continues to increase, Pascall+Watson's plans aim to provide a greater choice of airlines and destinations by making use of the airport's spare runway capacity and supporting the future growth.

The new 34,000 square meters arrivals terminal will feature a modular sky-lit roof above the double height spaces containing enhanced immigration and baggage reclaim areas, spacious arrivals concourse and welcoming public forecourt. By uniquely separating the arrivals terminal into a new building, it will transform the existing building into a departures only terminal, freeing up space to expand the check-in, security and retail areas. The transformation will also bring new airside coaching facilities, aircraft stands, taxiway infrastructure and car parking facilities.

Pascall+Watson have been a part of Stansted's evolution over the last 30 years. This transformation will see the biggest investment in the airport since the iconic Sir Norman Foster terminal opened in 1991, to transform the experience for the millions of passengers that visit the airport every year. The international firm has also been involved in many other airport designs across the world including Mexico City Airport and Pulkovo International Airport.

News via: Pascall+Watson.

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četvrtak, 22. ožujka 2018.

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