Arch Daily |
- 6 Restoration Projects Bringing Mexico's Past Into the Present
- Torekov House / Wåhlin Arkitekter
- Housing for Elderly People in Huningue / Dominique Coulon & associés
- Puzzle House / Mabire Reich
- Small Hotel in OIA Castle / Kapsimalis Architects
- The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History / Kimmel Eshkolot Architects
- Mountain / Zhaohong Zhang
- station NEO / Atelier Archi@Mosphere
- Kurian Philip Residence / Kurian Philip
- Jeju Narnia / Dongjin Kim (Hongik University) + L'eau design
- Museum at Prairiefire / Verner Johnson
- Casey House / Hariri Pontarini Architects
- Bates Smart Plans to Suspend a New Sydney Stadium Above the City's Central Station
- Star House / Xavier Salas Arquitectos
- Bjarke Ingels Designs Micro WeGrow School in New York
- Container House / McLeod Bovell Modern Houses
- Sergei Tchoban Awarded the 2018 European Prize for Architecture
- Transart Foundation / Schaum/Shieh
- Urbanism that Forgot the Urban: John Portman's Legacy in Detroit
- Shangri-la Cabin / DRAA + Magdalena Besomi
| 6 Restoration Projects Bringing Mexico's Past Into the Present Posted: 12 Sep 2018 11:00 PM PDT  © Pim Schalkwijk The architectural history of Mexico bears with it a wealth of symbolism that gives insight into the different time periods that have played host to contemporary cultural movements throughout the country's history. Today, it's common to hear well-known architects calling for, not the creation of new spaces, but for the restoration of already existing ones. This stance insists that it is one's duty as an architect to rescue a site's memory by bringing it into the here and now. As philosopher Jean Paul-Sartre put it, "what is important is not what happens to us, but what we do with what happens to us." In keeping with Sartre's phrase, we have compiled a list of 6 restoration projects that aim to rescue sites and show the interconnectedness of different time periods in Mexican history. San Pablo Academic and Cultural Center / Taller de Arquitectura Mauricio Rocha + Gabriela Carrillo © Francisco León
View the completed project here. María Ribera Dwellings / JSa © Luis Gallardo
View the completed project here. Ixi’im Restaurant / Jorge Bolio Arquitectura + Lavalle + Peniche Arquitectos + Mauricio Gallegos Arquitectos + Central de Proyectos SCP © Eduardo Calvo Santisbón
View the completed project here. Colonial House Recovery on 64th Street / Nauzet Rodríguez © Pim Schalkwijk
View the completed project here. Niop Hacienda / AS arquitectura + R79 © David Cervera Castro
View the completed project here. Chablé Resort Hotel Restoration / Central de Proyectos SCP © Eduardo Calvo Santisbón
View the completed project here.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Torekov House / Wåhlin Arkitekter Posted: 12 Sep 2018 10:00 PM PDT  © Ola Österling
 © Ola Österling Text description provided by the architects. In 2016 we were approached by a couple who wanted to commission a new build on a block of land in Torekov in the south of Sweden. Torekov is a very popular and exclusive Summertown where Swedes, and also many tourists, travel to during the summer. The client had recently acquired the land and used it for recreational purposes only during the summer months. With the new build, however, they wanted to be able to stay there comfortably also during the winter although spending about half their time in Stockholm still.  © Ola Österling The site was situated on a hill surrounded by few neighbors and lots of trees, and the hill was in turn surrounded by fields. The view to the west of the site showed an unobstructed view of the Kattegatt Sea as well as the center of Torekov. In the beginning, the client was convinced of having a two-story building with a big roof terrace and a green roof surrounding it. After trying out different layouts and concepts we concluded that the simplistic mid-century modern style, kept to one level only, would sit elegantly on the site amongst the trees.  © Ola Österling The simple floorplan, color scheme and few materials used in collaboration with the classic design principles applied, the building is very simple yet elegant. The floorplan is essentially divided into a public and open side and a private and more enclosed side. Within the public part of the building are the kitchen, living and dining spaces. Although these functions are all in open plan, the living room creates its own spatiality through a recessed floor height.  © Ola Österling  Sections  © Ola Österling The operable and big windows wrap around this part of the building and enable one to open up the entire room in the corners toward the terrace. Even on a rainy day, one would still be able to sit in the living room with the feeling of being outside although protected by the roof. The ceiling material is used both on the inside and outside which make the roof read as one element, held up only in a few spots.  Ground Floor Plan Details Swedes love spending time outside during the warmer parts of the year and so the roof had an important part to play in the extending the inside to the outside as seamlessly as possible. As it is stretching out over and around the different terraces surrounding the house, it is held up by slender columns symmetrically placed along the facade. The private bedrooms and utility rooms are placed to the back of the building with a common corridor. The two bedrooms share a bathroom, and the placement of the doors and windows enables a straight view throughout the entire private side. The backside of the house is facing the road and has smaller windows sitting in a dark painted wooden facade.  © Ola Österling  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Housing for Elderly People in Huningue / Dominique Coulon & associés Posted: 12 Sep 2018 08:00 PM PDT  © Eugeni Pons
 © Eugeni Pons Text description provided by the architects. This housing for elderly people is located on the banks of the Rhine. The exceptional situation of the site allowed us to turn the common areas and the hall towards the river: the residents can enjoy the choreography of passing boats. The programme consists of twenty-five fifty-square-meter homes, a restaurant in three sections, a computer room, a hobby workshop, a vegetable garden and a petanque field.  © Eugeni Pons Everything is organised to foster relations among the residents. Collective living spaces are as generous as possible, with abundant natural light. We have designed places that encourage exchanges and social interaction. Encounter-inviting events and sequences punctuate the routes.  © Eugeni Pons The staircase stands at the centre of the building, rendering it unavoidable. In combination with the wide central space, it invites mobility. Upstairs, the patio brings light from the south into the heart of the building. The white volume inside seems suspended; it deconstructs the empty space and lends a certain strangeness to the whole.  © Eugeni Pons  First Floor  © Eugeni Pons Red concrete, terracotta and wood produce a benevolent atmosphere. Outside, the building is enveloped in brick on all sides. We selected a craft brick that is non-standard, irregular and occasionally misshapen. The walls catch the light; by emphasising its rustic port setting, the building connects itself to the history of the Rhine.  © Eugeni Pons  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 12 Sep 2018 07:00 PM PDT  © Guillaume Satre
 © Guillaume Satre Text description provided by the architects. To extend a house, is to add an extra layer in an existing building, which sometimes allows to see the previous ones. The house we had to extend, close to the Procé park in Nantes, is a clear example of this layering process, picture of the time passing through the changing needs of the previous owners.  © Guillaume Satre At first a single floor one, this house was firstly extended aside and eventually partly raised up, questioning its ability to go under a third extension phase. Instead of erasing this history, we completed the puzzle by raising up the initial building in order to form a new volume coherent with the first extension.  © Guillaume Satre We painted the facade with the aim of harmonizing this patchwork, nevertheless still readable by a careful observer. Then we add a wood mesh, giving a new character to the whole building while offering diverse relationships between the inside and the outside. The newly built upper floor is L shaped in order to divide the ground floor between a single and a double height.  © Guillaume Satre The entrance path is located under a low wood ceiling, causing a compression felling, enhanced by the wood grain's drawing. Follows a decompression effect through the double height and the large glass wall, allowing the garden to enter into the house's inner landscape.  © Guillaume Satre  Ground floor  © Guillaume Satre The wooden mesh proposes diverse relationships between the inside and the outside. Discontinued in front of chosen windows, it goes over the bathroom one, in order to filter views while enjoying the sunlight and having the possibility to ventilate, or over the living room's ones to allow the air to enter without providing private views to the outside.  © Guillaume Satre  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Small Hotel in OIA Castle / Kapsimalis Architects Posted: 12 Sep 2018 06:00 PM PDT  © Giorgos Sfakianakis
 © Giorgos Sfakianakis Text description provided by the architects. The small hotel is located in the northwest part of the traditional village of Oia in Santorini, just below the borders of its old medieval castle, overlooking the sea, the island of Thirasia and the famous sunset of Santorini. The access to the building is via a main stepped path that connects the old Castle with Ammoudi, its old harbor.  © Giorgos Sfakianakis The building was an old residence built around the late 19th century. On the ground floor there was an old wood-burning oven, a stable, small warehouses and a rainwater tank, while the main rooms of the residence were on the upper floor. In the beginning of the study, the building was in a semi-ruined state with problems in its structural integrity and damages in its shell.  © Giorgos Sfakianakis After a detailed study of the old building and its morphological-decorative elements, the architectural intervention aimed at the absolute preservation of its original form and interior space, without any alteration to its identity and its integration in the volcanic landscape and the old settlement. Small variations in the exteriors of the building, such as the construction of small ''water surfaces'', the subtle modification of the two main staircases, the addition of built-up seats and the division of some interiors, were made in terms of the necessary hotel use needs.  © Giorgos Sfakianakis With the use of the local volcanic stone on the retaining walls, the light brown-gray plaster on the facades and floors and the deep gray in the wooden frames, the building gently blends in with the materials, colors and textures found in its surrounding space, almost disappearing into it. Olives, a palm tree at the entrance of the complex, laventers and thymes, resistant plants to the strong north winds, complement the integration of the synthesis into its environment.  © Giorgos Sfakianakis The hotel complex consists of three hotel rooms on the ground floor and two ones on the first floor, each one with its independent entrance/yard and its open sitting/bedroom/dressing space and bathroom. On the top of the building a common lounge area for the hotel guests takes place.  © Giorgos Sfakianakis The white plasticity of the former ground floor cave houses has been preserved and supplemented by new hand-made built furniture. On the contrary, the sharp lines of the interior space of the old residence on the upper floor have been brought out and the addition of hand-made wooden deep-colored furniture and the use of wide coal-grey wooden boards as a floor are selected in terms of a plain neoclassical style quest.  © Giorgos Sfakianakis  Section 01  © Giorgos Sfakianakis The construction of the retaining walls for the formation of the outdoor spaces has been made by the use of reinforced concrete and local stone. The use of gunite on the internal and external surfaces of the building was necessary for its structural reinforcement and waterproofing. Stones and heat-insulating bricks are used to fill the walls, while colored plaster for the facades. Traditional cement plaster is used for the surfaces of the bathrooms and the attic.  © Giorgos Sfakianakis  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History / Kimmel Eshkolot Architects Posted: 12 Sep 2018 05:00 PM PDT  © Amit Geron
 © Amit Geron Kimmel Eshkolot Architects has unveiled The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University, the first museum of it's kind in Tel Aviv. The Museum houses the spectacular and vast natural history collections of the University and will now serve as a center for academic research for its natural sciences staff.  © Amit Geron The 10,000 square-meters building is environmentally-friendly and housed within a striking architectural structure composed of a wooden-panel shell. The wooden "treasure box," is thermally insulated to afford complete climate control of the interiors. The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History will become an integral part of the city's cultural offerings and Tel Aviv University's campus, connecting its academic buildings with the botanical and zoological gardens behind.  © Amit Geron  Ground floor plan  © Amit Geron The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History stands at the entrance to the Botanical Gardens of Tel Aviv University and creates a new entryway for visitors to tour the gardens in addition to the exhibitions. Floating above ground, the Museum's entrance plaza and gathering lawn allow a seamless view of the gardens from the street level. Kimmel Eshkolot Architects designed The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History to maximize the spatial restrictions of the designated plot and implement an interior architectural scheme to create exhibition spaces throughout. Below ground, the firm created an additional 14,000 square-meters of parking space for museum visitors, Tel Aviv University staff and students.  © Amit Geron The Museum's exhibitions start within display structures along the ramps leading up from the main atrium. These daylight exposed spaces lead into darker and larger designated exhibition areas. The ramps are wide and with minimal slope, allowing visitors, including those with disabilities, to walk up to the "treasure box," while experiencing the different spaces of the building. The visit ends on the rooftop terrace, overlooking the botanical gardens, from which visitors can go directly down to a public square and enter the gardens.  © Amit Geron  Second floor plan  © Amit Geron The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History combines both exhibition spaces and research activities within a modern edifice wrapped with an insulated wooden shell. Above the main interior exhibition space on the building's upper levels, lies the research laboratories for Tel Aviv University's staff. The researchers have access to the Museum's entire collections and have independent dedicated circulation and entrance paths. Via the internal ramps and hallways, both visitors and researchers will be visually exposed to one another in a series of choreographed encounters through designed architectural structures and glass windows.  © Amit Geron  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 12 Sep 2018 04:00 PM PDT  © Li Zhou
 © Li Zhou Text description provided by the architects. The sculpture 'Mountain' by Zhangzhaohong is located in front of the main entrance of Yu'an Tea Valley Park in Lu'an, as the landmark piece for the Tea Valley Park. Yu'an Ditrict of Lu'an is located in the west of Anhui province. Having one of the most essential transportation hub in mainland China, Yu'an connects traffic arteries from East to West, as well as the communication with South and North. The unique Tea culture of Liu'an emerged around mountain Dabieshan, nourished by three rivers - River Pi, Shi and Hang.  Courtesy of Zhaohong Zhang In order to strengthen and expand the Liu'an Tea brand, the Liu'an government started the development of Liu'an Tea Valley in 2014, which covers more than 100 kilometers of Yu'an District, Jinzhai County and Huoqiu County. It is their goal that Liu'an Tea will be the leading brand of Chinese Tea industry development, as well as being one of the first sustainable demonstration regions that offer Tea theme travel experience.  © Li Zhou  Courtesy of Zhaohong Zhang  © Li Zhou The total area of this project is thirteen thousand square meters. The construction is assembled on site and welded by weathering steel plate.The sculpture is 20 meters high and the longest span is 35 meters.  © Li Zhou Inspired by traditional landscape painting from Song and Yuan Dynasty, the artist used digital design to achieve the transition from two dimensional lines to 3D forms. The hierarchy of layered weathered steel plates creates a unique artistic conception of traditional Chinese landscape painting.  © Li Zhou  © Li Zhou When people are experiencing the sculpture up close, the shadow and lights dance around the organic outlines of the sculpture, forms a "feasible, promising, accessible and livable " experience.  © Li Zhou The sculpture created a common ground for space and time; in here people are free to explore their traditional spiritual ideology, as the spirit and surrounding landscape merge together.  © Li Zhou  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| station NEO / Atelier Archi@Mosphere Posted: 12 Sep 2018 03:00 PM PDT  © Yong Joon Choi
 © Yong Joon Choi <station NEO> is a leading co-working office incubating deep tech startups in South Korea. The <station NEO> expects steady growth to tenanting companies (startups) by fulfilling startups' needs; investment promotion, R&D, human resource management as a role of manager. The ultimate goal of Archi@Mosphere is to create a space enables flexible communication and synergy effect between tripartite; station NEO, startups and supporter.  © Yong Joon Choi  Seventh Floor Plan  © Yong Joon Choi  Rooftop Plan To avoid a typical co-working office prototype by just doing a copy and paste, we create an environment where active synesthetic interaction occurs between members through offering a new form of co-working office where Korean unique sentiment applied (in). The co-working space <station NEO> is situated on the seventh and eighth floor and rooftop. (It is 660-square-meter each floor and 330-square-meter for rooftop).  © Yong Joon Choi These days, Seongsu-dong is a booming business district in metropolis Seoul but the ordinary building where <station NEO> located has some matters; low ceiling height, darken atmosphere, low-efficient environment for office. However, this building had structurally well-constructed and useful rooftop as a merit. We started a design process at the point of understanding actual users.  © Yong Joon Choi  Eighth Floor Plan  © Yong Joon Choi Apparently Korean people tend to prefer to communicate in private space with a small group of people than a big group in open space. So, we embodied the Korean sentiment mentioned above in communal space by overlapping small pocket spaces and make it connect to circulation, so they can use it as a 'communication hall' which also minimizes dead space. To enhance interaction frequencies between users, we located several courtyards that vertically aligned (connected) to the rooftop.  © Yong Joon Choi In addition to this, we set each small pocket spaces to meet more than two sides to communal space so people can enjoy abundant sunlight while working. We tried to present future-oriented atmosphere by disclosing (revealing) its structural aesthetics of lightweight structural system for deep tech startups. Covering two slabs that open in the courtyard by a big volume of box overcame the low ceiling height. And it makes the entire atmosphere became more affluent/abundant as feels like many boxes are sailing around in the <station NEO>.  © Yong Joon Choi  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Kurian Philip Residence / Kurian Philip Posted: 12 Sep 2018 02:00 PM PDT  © Anand Jaju
 © Anand Jaju Text description provided by the architects. Home is a partnership between the creator and provider. The creator being the architect and provider, the client. Nothing was more important to make a building like Kurien's residence than this divine and sturdy partnership. Kurien Philip is a pastor residing on the backwater fields of Kerala, a small tropical state in India. Traditional homes were being replaced by modern concrete homes resembling matchboxes in an unfitting environment. This prompted the client to ask for something new. Emphasis was laid on climatic response and eco-friendliness and being 'Earthy'. His only request further was to save his antique furniture and water well which gives ample water throughout the summer.  © Anand Jaju CONCEPT  Conceptual Section Sketch NUBIAN TECHNIQUE .jpg?1536680639 "© Anand Jaju") © Anand Jaju SINUSOIDAL WALLS  © Anand Jaju CHAIN STUDY METHOD  © Anand Jaju COMPRESSED STABILISED EARTH BLOCKS  © Anand Jaju  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Jeju Narnia / Dongjin Kim (Hongik University) + L'eau design Posted: 12 Sep 2018 01:00 PM PDT  © Shin Kyungsub
_%C2%AE%C5%93Kyungsub_Shin.jpg?1536676858 "© Shin Kyungsub") © Shin Kyungsub Text description provided by the architects. Narnia is an imaginary land created by a space of fantasy. As vivid stories overlap with actual places, the epic scenery of Narnia's program box makes one remember the space that appears in reality, as a fantasy. Like Jean Baudrillard said, perhaps hyper-reality is being used as a strategy to conceal reality in the real world. Just as Disneyland exists, imitating children, to turn adults' childishness into fantasy, we dream of unfamiliar routines in an imaginary world created by hyperreality, which feels more real than reality. _%C2%AE%C5%93Kyungsub_Shin.jpg?1536676875 "© Shin Kyungsub") © Shin Kyungsub Like homo narrans with storytelling instincts, humans create different events and stories out of the same space, based on their own different modes of unconsciousness. And it is only possible to create my own story when my own memories stain the narrative scenery, rather than a weaving of picturesque scenes that float by. .jpg?1536676115 "Diagram 1") Diagram 1 .jpg?1536676153 "Diagram 2") Diagram 2 In order to form a single body, Narnia's rooms are not divided pieces within a whole; rather, it is made up of event boxes containing scenery of their own, stacked and tangled to form a scenery collection, thus creating a place. If these various event program boxes are able to emphasize or weaken the reality of each characteristic on their own and control the ambiance, this space will serve as a selective equalizer for tuning and generating individual scenes, like music. _%C2%AE%C5%93Kyungsub_Shin.jpg?1536676979 "© Shin Kyungsub") © Shin Kyungsub Those who enjoy traveling solo nowadays enjoy personal social sharing through one-off, accidental and unfamiliar encounters. In other words, modern, nomadic people themselves become the loners of life, wanting to establish a daily relationship through private sharing with each other. Narnia dreams of realistic deviation of travelers through the overlapping 'curious room'. _%C2%AE%C5%93Kyungsub_Shin.jpg?1536676944 "© Shin Kyungsub") © Shin Kyungsub .jpg?1536676266 "Diagram 3") Diagram 3 _%C2%AE%C5%93Kyungsub_Shin.jpg?1536676932 "© Shin Kyungsub") © Shin Kyungsub  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Museum at Prairiefire / Verner Johnson Posted: 12 Sep 2018 12:00 PM PDT  © Sam Fentress
 © David Arbogast Text description provided by the architects. What benefits can a museum design bring to the fragmented, undistinguished and often criticized environment of new suburban sprawl? In addressing this challenge, this project uses architecture to package the latent social potential of the museum typology in a way that redefines the suburb. By symbolically embodying the story of the region and emotionally engaging people with its architecture, the Museum is the vehicle to spiritually connect people to where they live, giving the suburban environment a sense of community.  © Michael Robinson The design concept evokes the imagery of one of the most unique aspects of the local Kansas region: the tallgrass prairie fire burns. From sitting, to massing, forms, materials and detailing, all design decisions cultivate this concept. Rolling 'hills' of stone form the background landscape for vibrant 'lines of fire'. Materials dynamically shifting in color and reflection bring these fires to life: multi-colored iridescent stainless steel panels mixed with innovative dichroic glass. Set in a wetlands park directly off the main thoroughfare, this Museum is the signature building of a new 60-acre live-work-play development.  © Lian Davis The project's LEED Silver Certification attests to its environmentally sound design and construction practices, echoing the architectural concept rooted in sustainability – the preservation of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem. The Museum was designed as a civic hub featuring world-class traveling exhibits from the American Museum of Natural History. By engaging the local population in broader cultural and scientific experiences, while architecturally celebrating the rich story of the region, the Museum grounds it within a larger context and forges an identity for the suburb.  © Sam Fentress The design boldly contrasts with the surroundings but touches the sensibilities of the locality by orchestrating distinctive materials, forms, and technologies to produce a new and provocative regionalism. To overcome the challenge of enticing visitors during down times between traveling shows, the building itself becomes an exhibit. The colorful and sculptural design reinterprets regional stone practices, celebrating the natural stratification of the local fossilized limestone. Color-shifting LIC (Light Interference Color) stainless steel panels are designed in a gradient from blue to gold, echoing flame bursts and sparks.  © Sam Fentress The cutting-edge insulated dichroic glass was developed exclusively for this project and is considered the first North American application. Its unique color-changing and reflective properties give people the illusion of being engulfed in flames. In contrast to the vibrant exterior, the column-less, cathedral-like interior, coupled with calming blue and purple dichroic-transmitted light, imparts a peaceful sense of awe. The exterior wall system innovatively fuses structural steel frames and veneer curtain wall into a single thin custom system, evoking the ephemeralness of fire.  © Lian Davis  North and South Elevations  © Michael Robinson Exposed roof beams and grey tectum panels create swirling smoke forms at the ceiling. Exhibits throughout the lobby, the children's hands-on Discovery Room, and the café setting overlooking the wetlands provide activities between traveling shows. This design does not accept and conform to the shortcomings of suburban sprawl. It defines the environment's unique identity, forges emotional connections between the people and the place, and allows the suburb to become a proud, independent and sustainable community.  © Sam Fentress  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Casey House / Hariri Pontarini Architects Posted: 12 Sep 2018 10:00 AM PDT  © Doublespace Photography
 © Doublespace Photography  © Doublespace Photography Text description provided by the architects. Ten years in the making, the renovation and extension to Casey House, a specialised healthcare facility for individuals with HIV/AIDS, develops a new prototype for hospitals. The facility meets the needs of patients and health care providers in a setting designed to evoke the experience and comforts of home. With a new Day Health Program servicing a roster of 200 registered clients and 14 new inpatient rooms, the 59,000 square foot addition brings much needed space and modernized amenities to augment and renovate the heritage-designated Victorian mansion. The new structure embraces the existing building, preserving its qualities and organizing day-to-day user experience around a landscaped courtyard.  © Doublespace Photography In order to create a comfortable, home-like user experience, the embrace emerged as a unifying theme—one of warmth, intimacy, comfort, privacy, connectivity, and solidity. Similarly, the language of the quilt, a symbolic expression of the battle against HIV/AIDS, was a source of inspiration for the design.  © Doublespace Photography The architecture is a physical manifestation of the embrace in both the vertical and horizontal planes. The extension reaches over and around the existing heritage designated Victorian mansion, which has been restored, while the new addition—a robust, textured exterior— surrounds the central courtyard. Beautifully landscaped and alive, the courtyard is visible from every corridor and in-patient room.  Sketch 01 As one of the original mansions to be built along Jarvis Street, the retention of the existing 1875 building (known colloquially as the "Grey Lady") maintains the original character of the street, while the addition introduces a dignified juxtaposition of the old and new.  © Doublespace Photography The façade, consisting of a palette of various brick, heavily tinted mirrored glass, and crust-faced limestone, is highly particularized and rich, and becomes the architectural manifestation of the quilt. A garden in front, for delight and contemplation, is surrounded with a beech hedge for intimacy and privacy.  Section with light Once inside, the experience is about engagement of the old and new, and the organization—the embrace—around the courtyard, which is the ever-present symbol of life-affirming green, water, and light (trees, fountain, and sunlight). Emphasizing the relationship between the old and new, the heritage building's brick remains exposed in the Living Room. This central gathering space, featuring a two-storey atrium, is anchored by a full-height fireplace crafted from Algonquin Limestone. A bridge connects the heritage and new spaces on the second floor with long views stretching from end to end.  © Doublespace Photography The courtyard allows direct sunlight into the core of the building on all floors. Given the private nature of the facility, it provides protected outdoor space for users, as well as transparency and clear sightlines across the project.  © Hariri Pontarini Architects Sustainable features were inherently related to the clients' healthcare and wellbeing and were thus seamlessly integrated into the design. Green spaces, high efficiency tinted glass, cross-ventilation via the courtyard and operable windows, bike racks, rain water collection cisterns, and locally sourced and reclaimed materials also add to the sustainability profile of the project.  © Doublespace Photography  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Bates Smart Plans to Suspend a New Sydney Stadium Above the City's Central Station Posted: 12 Sep 2018 09:00 AM PDT  Sydney Football Stadium. Image Courtesy of Bates Smart Australian architecture practice Bates Smart has revealed a plan to suspend a new Sydney stadium above central station. The design is a response to the New South Wales State Government and their proposal to demolish the main Sydney Football Stadium in the city's south-eastern suburbs and replace it with a new stadium. The new project would be a 45,000-seat stadium over the rail yards of Sydney's Central Station that address the broad public opposition to the government's plan.  Sydney Football Stadium. Image Courtesy of Bates Smart The New South Wales State Government has stated that their plan to build a new stadium on the same site would come in at a cost of $705 million. Hoping to avoid the use of government funds to demolish and rebuild, Bates Smart believes there are three main issues with the Government's proposal: Moore Park Stadium is not well serviced by public transport, the redevelopment does not catalyze wider economic benefits for urban or infrastructural renewal, and Moore Park Stadium does not have the surrounding entertainment and hospitality venues to extend the game experience and maximize visitor expenditure.  Sydney Football Stadium. Image Courtesy of Bates Smart Philip Vivian, Director of Bates Smart, stated that the "Coliseum in Rome established the concept of the stadium as a public space embedded in the fabric of the city; a monumental piece of infrastructure for public spectacle. In modern times however with the advent of the motor vehicle and the suburbs, stadiums became mono-functional objects, isolated on the periphery of the city and surrounded by car parking.Today a renaissance is underway, with stadiums once again being integrated into the city fabric and acting as catalysts of urban renewal."  Sydney Football Stadium. Image Courtesy of Bates Smart Bates Smart outlines how the relocation of Moore Park Stadium to Central Station Railyards could have major public and economic benefits for Sydney and New South Wales. The argue that Central Station is the most accessible public transport node in NSW, and that a stadium over Central Railyards would create an ideal link between Surry Hills and Chippendale, The proposal aims to embed a stadium in the fabric of the city to create an urban spectacle and have the development rights for Central Railyards be provided in return for the construction of a new stadium. The new suspended design also hopes to benefit the existing Moore Park. Bates Smart argues that the park can continue to operate during construction of the new stadium without interruption; and upon completion the Moore Park Stadium and surrounding carpark can be returned to public parklands. The move would restore Moore Park to its original size and replace parkland lost to the light rail line to benefit to the local community.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Star House / Xavier Salas Arquitectos Posted: 12 Sep 2018 08:00 AM PDT  © Tamara Uribe
 © Tamara Uribe Text description provided by the architects. At the main entrance, a double height open foyer is surrounded with plants, and a big wooden fence that serves to protects the facade against the sun rays coming from the west. The Livingroom and dining area are continuous and looking to a huge window looking to the garden, this garden serves as the heart and the lungs of the house. The double height dining room and the kitchen have sliding doors that allow a nice view to the courtyard; this gives a special sensation of amplitude and connection between the indoor and outdoor spaces.  © Tamara Uribe  Lower Floor Plan  © Tamara Uribe The property limit walls that surround the house were covered with pieces of stone obtained from digging the pool, in this manner the reused of this material allowed to lower the costs and at the same time give local identity to the project. The west and east facades were covered with the traditional “French style” tiles produced in a local Factory, giving a modern twist to this material that is traditionally used in the floors of the colonial houses. In the courtyard, this two materials (French tiles & recovered stoned) were precisely combined with a really good selection of plants and the swimming pool which was finished with a special stucco that contains a particular ink obtained from the cortex of a local tree. A really light and high steel structure with a special sunscreen mesh protects an open lounging area next to the pool; this steel structure captures more space volume giving this area a really nice sense of amplitude.  © Tamara Uribe  Section A  © Tamara Uribe The master bedroom was placed at the very back of the plot to give it more intimacy and silence, this space has a "double height" ceiling, one of its walls is covered with Stone. A lower height wall was covered in tropical Wood subtly divides the room from the bathroom. Once in the bathroom, an interior garden gives continuity to the same concept of the rest of the house "in contact with nature". In the second floor, two spacious bedrooms were placed, each of them has a private balcony with magnificent sights, allowing at the same time the cross ventilation very needed in this hot weather zone, natural sun lighting and the contact with green areas.  © Tamara Uribe Above the master bedroom, a generous terrace and a green roof were designed to allow the stars contemplation. The gardened area in this roof reduces a few grades the indoor temperature in the master bedroom, achieving in this manner lower energy consumption, reducing the need for the air conditioning system. All the surfaces around the house (walls & ceilings) were cover with white stucco and the special ink obtained from a local tree cortex named “Chukum”, achieving a nice combination of local materials such as Natural Stone, French style tiles and an endemic selection of different plants and trees.  © Tamara Uribe  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Bjarke Ingels Designs Micro WeGrow School in New York Posted: 12 Sep 2018 07:00 AM PDT  WeGrow. Image Courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group Bjarke Ingels Group has released new images of their WeGrow micro school in New York. As the first school design of the office-sharing brand WeWork, the project was designed to undo the compartmentalization often found in traditional school environments and reinforce the significance of engaging kids in an interactive environment. The design starts from the premise of a school universe at the level of the child. This first WeGrow project is now open in New York's Chelsea neighborhood.  WeGrow. Image Courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group Created as an interactive indoor learning environment, WeGrow was made with a field of super-elliptic objects. The scheme aimed to undo the compartmentalization often found in traditional school environments. The objects create a learning landscape that's dense and rational while also being free and fluid. Modular classrooms, tree houses and a vertical farm promote an inclusive and collaborative learning environment. Acoustic clouds, natural materials and neutral colors create a calm setting for the child's focused study. WeGrow hopes the micro school will nurture education through introspection, exploration and discovery.  WeGrow. Image Courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group Rebekah Neumann, WeWork's founding partner and chief brand officer, describes WeGrow as a "new conscious, entrepreneurial school committed to unleashing every child's superpowers." She goes on to state the the organization "hopes to reimagine the very idea of a classroom as elementary school-age children begin to identify their callings and apprentice under employees and members already living that dream. Curriculums will be created around meaningful local cultures and environments so that learning can be hands-on and experiential." The new WeGrow is now welcoming children ages 3 through 9, adding ages 2 and older next year. The school is open to WeWork members, employees, and local communities.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Container House / McLeod Bovell Modern Houses Posted: 12 Sep 2018 06:00 AM PDT  © Ema Peter
 © Ema Peter Text description provided by the architects. The Container House is a commission for a couple with three grown children who requested a compact and simplified living arrangement with an eye to retirement. They sought spaces that offered the ease of an apartment with the addition of inviting and sizeable covered outdoor areas. Moving from a family house that was situated on a flat, heavily treed lot to a steeply sloping mountain-side property created the opportunity for a bright and open house, perched high above the ground.  © Ema Peter Although planning guidelines would have allowed for a slightly larger house on three floors it was decided that a scheme with only two storeys, though smaller in size overall, would create a house with more generous interior volumes and greater architectural possibility. All of the elements essential for daily living are located at the upper floor including the master bedroom, while secondary bedrooms, an office and recreation room are located at the lower floor. This strategy minimizes vertical travel within the house by eliminating one flight of stairs. Placing the garage at a split level between the two floors means distances from the car are less than a full storey. The impression is of a series of spaces which are expansive yet intimately connected horizontally and vertically.  © Ema Peter The structure of the upper floor takes the form of an L-shape with the master bedroom wing cantilevered high above the roofs of neighbouring houses. This hovering volume projects deeply into the rear yard providing privacy to the west and solar protection for the swimming pool that, with it's dark tile finish, mirrors the cantilevered container above it.  Basement plan  Main plan Given the site's limited width, rooms are stacked behind one another. The living room is positioned behind and slightly above the dining room to allow it to view over and past furniture in front. In good weather, when the wall of doors are open, a large covered deck significantly extends the living area of the house. A window monitor and sloped roof offer high glimpses of mountains and north light which balances the primary Southeastern views.  © Ema Peter  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Sergei Tchoban Awarded the 2018 European Prize for Architecture Posted: 12 Sep 2018 05:00 AM PDT  Museum for Architectural Drawing, 2013, Berlin. Image Courtesy of the Chicago Athenaeum Architect Sergei Tchoban has been selected as this year's Laureate of the European Prize for Architecture. Considered Europe's Highest Award for Architecture, the prize is presented by the European Centre and The Chicago Athenaeum. Tchoban was chosen for his powerful designs and a unique design vision that celebrates the best of modernist buildings that are internationally iconic, complex, enigmatic, provocative, and profoundly artistic.  Russian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Image Courtesy of the Chicago Athenaeum Christian Narkiewicz-Laine, President of the Chicago Athenaeum, noted how Tchoban's work encompasses an endless variety of forms, surfaces, colors, poetry, using the most contemporary methods of planning and sustainable solutions, from cultural facilities to commercial, office, and religious buildings. Throughout his career, Tchoban developed public, commercial, and civic architecture with a deep sentiment that celebrates ordinary life in complex urban cities and diverse cultural situations. His work demonstrates an unyielding commitment to create an architecture that is as richly profound as it is inspiring.  Coca Cola Headquarters, 2013, Berlin. Image Courtesy of the Chicago Athenaeum "We are delighted to present The European Prize for Architecture to this highly innovative and creative Russian/German architect," states Narkiewicz-Laine. " He has been instrumental in shaping in our time an unprecedented and inspiring discourse between art and architecture with the keen ability to bridge and transform imagination and the creative mind into the actual built works in the environments in which they are placed. His is a most rare, thought-provoking, and profound approach to architecture, extensions of his life, his philosophy, and his intellect, that fuse the power of imagination into the final end product—the building."  Federation Complex, 2017, Moscow. Image Courtesy of the Chicago Athenaeum Each year, The European Prize for Architecture is awarded jointly by The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design to architects who have made a commitment to forward the principles of European humanism and the art of architecture. The European Prize for Architecture is not a "lifetime of achievement award," but rather serves as an impetus to support new ideas, to encourage and foster more challenge-making and forward-thinking about buildings and the environment, and to prompt the pushing of the envelope to obtain an even greater, more profound result.  Music- & Lifestyle Hotel nhow, 2010, Berlin. Image Courtesy of the Chicago Athenaeum The Prize also honors the commitment and achievements of the best European architects who have determined a more critical, intellectual, and artistic approach to the design of buildings and cities. Previous Laureates include: Bjarke Ingels (Denmark), Graft Architects (Germany), TYIN Architects (Norway), Marco Casagrande (Finland), Alessandro Mendini (Italy), Santiago Calatrava (Spain/Switzerland), LAVA Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (Germany), and Manuelle Gautrand (France). The formal ceremony for the prize will be held at a Gala Dinner at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece on September 28, 2018. An exhibition on "Sergei Tcoban: Visionary Architect" opens at Contemporary Space (74 Mitropoleos Street) in Athens that same evening and continues through October.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Transart Foundation / Schaum/Shieh Posted: 12 Sep 2018 04:00 AM PDT  © Peter Molick
 © Naho Kubota Text description provided by the architects. Transart is a multifaceted platform for the creative activities of an artist and independent curator in Houston, Texas. Designed by SCHAUM/SHIEH of Houston and New York, the new building will house visitors, art, exhibitions and performances, and will host conversations that spark broader community dialogue about the role of art in our lives, providing a space for the critical intersection between art and anthropology.  © Naho Kubota The project is designed around a 3,000squarefoot gallery & library. This large "living room" is punctuated in the middle by a circulation core that integrates steps and a library, expanding into secondfloor salon that is open to the space below, effectively dividing the gallery into two adjacent exhibition spaces. The front exhibition space, naturally lit and facing the street, is reserved for more traditional exhibitions, the back has less natural light and is reserved for new media or performance works that require lighting control. A cylindrical steel and acrylic elevator is positioned in the back of the core for alternative access.  Perspective Section 01 The second floor also contains an intimate space for oneonone meetings or personal meditation, and a bathroom. The third floor of the core contains an ample office and a roof deck and garden. "We introduced some playful moments into the otherwise taut plan", says SCHAUM/SHIEH of the interior. "There is a sink lathed out of a tree salvaged from Hurricane Harvey; a sculpted, cavelike nook tucked into the wall off the seminar area; and a galvanized steel beam is used as a bathroom countertop." Adjacent to the primary building, an existing photography studio on the site was wrapped in gray cementitious planks with a metal roof, providing extra space that will extend the potential for art programming and provide separate quarters for visiting artists and scholars.  © Naho Kubota The exterior facade of the primary building is smooth white stucco panels, creating a tectonic language in which the gaps and seams can let light in by forming swooping windows. The structure is built from thick heavy timber in a manner akin to a Dutch barn; carved so that the front corners come together precisely in front.  Perspective Section 02 "We were pursuing a sense of overall lightness; specifically, we were interested in how the geometry and material finish might make the building feel like it could blow away in the wind, ruffle like fabric, or disperse and scatter like cards", says SCHAUM/SHIEH.  © Naho Kubota  © Naho Kubota The modest scale of the Transart preserves an open relationship to the street and reinforces the walkability of the neighborhood, extending the tradition of the nearby Menil Collection, Rothko Chapel, and St. Thomas Campus. The curving fenestration of the envelope provides controlled indirect light for exhibitions and oblique views outward, while protecting the interior from direct solar gain. In particular, thick timber exterior walls filled with high rvalue closedcell insulation allow for high performance through conventional construction methods. A simple system of passive cooling is paired with a highefficiency air conditioning system for further efficiency.  © Naho Kubota  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Urbanism that Forgot the Urban: John Portman's Legacy in Detroit Posted: 12 Sep 2018 02:30 AM PDT  John Portman's Renaissance Centre in Detroit. Image via Wikimedia This article was originally published on Common Edge as "Will Detroit ever Fully Recover from John Portman's Renaissance Center?" Last week I wrote about the anti-urban legacy of architect and developer John Portman. I think it's worth going into a bit more detail about these projects, since we seem to have learned so little from their failures. Let's start with Detroit. The Renaissance Center was one of his largest and most celebrated projects. But this sprawling complex of seven-interconnected skyscrapers poses some difficult questions for urban planners today: can downtown Detroit ever fully recover from this mammoth and ill considered development? And, more importantly, why haven't other cities learned from its clear and stark lessons?
.jpg?1536741363 "Detroit's elevated rail that runs through the downtown, as seen from the Madison Building. Image via Wikimedia") Detroit's elevated rail that runs through the downtown, as seen from the Madison Building. Image via Wikimedia The first phase of the Ren Cen, as it's known by locals, opened in 1977 and effectively vacuumed out what was left of the shaky but existent commercial life, locking it up inside a massive, internally confusing fortress on the Detroit River. To compound this planning disaster, Detroit built an elevated train from the Ren Cen, with limited destinations, drawing still more people off the street, virtually guaranteeing decades of dead pedestrian life. Why would an entrepreneur open a ground floor shop, when all of their potential customers were whizzing by overhead? While the clearance frenzy didn't start with Portman, the Ren Cen certainly opened the floodgates for multiple stadia and assorted schemes, casinos, and acres and acres of parking lots and garages, erasing more of the urban fabric necessary for eventual rebirth. These celebrated venues (each one promising to revive downtown) drew suburbanites back for occasional events, but visitors drive in and out without actually touching the real city. What remained was a chopped up center, nearly impossible to navigate by means other than the car. Pockets of life remained, but they were largely isolated by highways. After Ren Cen, demolition continued apace. It would take decades for the remaining fabric to begin to come alive again. Today Detroit is being hailed as a "comeback city." But the seeds of that revival were recognizable on the ground, as early in the 2000's. And they had nothing to do with the Ren Cen, or other large scale projects designed to spur redevelopment. Smaller initiatives, in fact, sprang up in almost organic opposition to them. A wonderful neighborhood was emerging around Slows Bar BQ at the hard-pressed corner of Michigan Avenue and 14th Street, the nexus of Corktown (Detroit's oldest neighborhood), Mexican Town (the city's largest Hispanic area) and downtown. Block by block, a small group of passionate local residents renovated ten, small brick buildings of varying color, age and condition adjacent to Slows Bar BQ. Slows was created by Phillip Cooley, along with his brother and father, and they fashioned the corner eatery out of old timbers and salvaged architectural details, a classic small business catalyst for urban rebirth.  via Wikimedia The same group of energetic renovators cleaned up a long-neglected park across the street that connected it to the city's most visible failure, Michigan Central Station (1913). Now, after less than a decade of neighborhood-based revival around it, this extraordinary 18-story train station and office building, abandoned since 1988—designed by the architects (Warren & Wetmore and Reed and Stem) that created New York's Grand Central Terminal—is reportedly in line for renovation. This is the real uncelebrated story of genuine rebirth in cities across the country—small local projects planting the seeds for authentic revival. The absence of a fundamental understanding of the economic and social intricacies of a city—its urban ecology—cripples most experts and policy makers, who tend to plan from afar and parachute into communities in the name of false progress. The important stories of strength and rebirth are often hidden, overshadowed by blockbuster announcements for the latest over-scaled promise of urban redemption. Observing and writing about Detroit over the years, I was interested in more than just the high concentration of remarkable pre-war buildings downtown, some of the best in any American city. There entire blocks of buildings remained in the compact urban arrangement that many cities wish they still had. In recent years, developers discovered, restored and converted many of them to residential or mixed use, just as Americans were looking to live in downtowns again. But Detroit possessed—as most cities do—real neighborhoods, each with a different story, a different catalyst, a different combination of people and buildings. Even a beleaguered city like Detroit, beset by decades of population loss, was rich with them: the Stroh's Brewery District, Harmonie Park, Mexican Town, Eastern Market, Cork Town. And, of course, Indian Village, a National Historic District of early 20th Century homes built for the Detroit elite. The Cass Corridor, parallel to the venerable Woodward Avenue, began exhibiting as early as twenty years ago small signs of rebirth—a coffee shop, a bakery, and other small endeavors. (Today one of the most contentious issues there is gentrification.) Other areas were showing signs of new life that city officials and planners didn't recognize until smart developers, young value hunters and artists, started the restoration, conversion and revival process celebrated today. In recent years many downtowns have been rediscovered. But they did so with a caveat: those downtowns with substantial remaining fabric experienced more robust turn-arounds; those excessively bulldozed struggled to revive because they had more room to park than actual reasons to park. Fortunately, not every city fell under the spell of Portman gigantism. In 1978, Washington, D.C., resoundingly defeated an insane plan of his that involved tearing down the National Theater (1835), the oldest continuously operating legitimate theater in the country, where virtually every major theatrical star in American history appeared. Not long before the demolition proposal, the theater underwent a $1 million refurbishing. Portman sought to replace it and almost an entire block of assorted structures with two 16-story atrium hotel/office/retail buildings. He argued against saving the National or creating a new theater inside, saying it would interfere with the design and economics of the new project.  Downtown Boston, as seen from the harbor. Image via Wikimedia At around the same time, Boston also resisted the Portman allure. Warning against a proposed project there, Boston Globe columnist Ian Menzies wrote: "The trouble is that Portman is selling an architectural package that can be dropped on any city…it could be disaster for Boston. There has to come a time when architects, planners and developers will distinguish between American cities, recognize their differing personalities and characteristics, and not place or superimpose the newest plasticized high-rise package in every American city as they would a box of nationally distributed cereal…Boston doesn't need Portman even if Atlanta does; it needs a truly new and distinguished architect who can blend the future with the past and maintain a scale of values where buildings serve to complement man, not overwhelm him." Sadly, this could have been written about virtually all of the cities with major Portman projects. In New York, supposedly a wellspring of creative design, the city embraced Portman as the potential savior of Times Square. Lavishing his development group with huge public subsidies, the state and city allowed Portman to demolish two irreplaceable Broadway theaters—The Morosco and Helen Hayes—along with a diverse urban block that included smaller theaters, and a successful, recently refurbished, mid-size hotel. In their place, Portman built a 56-story monstrosity, a hulking bunker, with a cavernous theater absent all of the qualities of the destroyed historic ones. (In the 1970s, New York gave a zoning bonus to new buildings that contained a new theater but no bonus for preserving the older gems already standing.) This disastrous development should be used as a textbook case for what no city should ever do. They ignored the loud and very public protests staged by theater luminaries (led by Joseph Papp) and enthusiasts from all over the world. The city was unwilling to force Portman, in exchange for large public benefits, to move the project across Broadway to an available alternative site of equal size and with nothing of much value on it. They even refused to consider a well-crafted alternative design that would have built the hotel over the historic theaters, utilizing the under-used lower floors. The Portman lobby is on the seventh floor and could have easily accommodated the two historic theatres beneath it.  John Portman's Mariott Marquis Atlanta. Image via Wikimedia One outrage after another occurred—all for an inexcusably ill-conceived project. "Mr. Portman's buildings are exciting without being interesting," wrote Michael Sorkin in the Wall Street Journal. "Paradoxically, his buildings, which practically scream their aspirations to urbanism, are virtually without a sense of urbanism…like giant spaceships, offering close encounters with the city but not too close." All of the arguments against the build-over alternative (too time consuming, too costly, too late in the process), rang hollow then, and still do. Today only remnants of the old Times Square remain. These projects also set dangerous precedents, providing a formula for both developers and city officials, desperate to revive their sagging downtowns. Called public-private partnerships, they were in fact publicly subsidized private developments. The Portman projects, no doubt, made for dramatic photos (some still look dazzling today on architecture blogs), but often were dreadful urban places. Worse still, rather than revive their intended downtowns, they were often impediments to it. And for good reason: excessive demolition of declining urban fabric, and its large-scale replacement with a single-use never regenerates a city. It simply replaces a multitude of uses with a single, often sterile, one. The same is true for so-called "shrinking cities," where far too many perfectly viable buildings were demolished. Massive demolitions have never stemmed the shrinking; in fact, they exacerbated the problem. The wiser and far cheaper strategy would have been to invest on the neighborhood level in stemming the shrinkage. Over and over, the Portman promise was a mirage, never living up to its promise, its architectural splash obliterating its urban damage. In virtually every project, voices raised pointing out the deceptions were drowned out by a combination of public officials and real estate developers who were ultimately the real winners. A common thread runs through all of this. "For every complex problem," H.L. Mencken once said, "there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong." This article was originally published on Common Edge as "Will Detroit ever Fully Recover from John Portman's Renaissance Center?" The article is a follow-up to a piece published on 28 August, entitled "A Critical Reassessment of John Portman? No, His Buildings Were Resolutely Anti-Urban." John Portman, the famed American architect, died 29 December 2017. He is known for his extensive portfolio across the US and the globe, often featuring buildings designed around atriums.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Shangri-la Cabin / DRAA + Magdalena Besomi Posted: 12 Sep 2018 02:00 AM PDT  © Felipe Camus
.jpg?1536531378 "© Magdalena Besomi") © Magdalena Besomi Text description provided by the architects. Shangri-la Cabin is the first of a series of elevated mountain cabins designed to populate a tall native woodland. Trees dating various centuries can be found in the plot delimited by a 100-meters vertical basalt face and a stream.  © Magdalena Besomi The soil is rich in biodiversity but also depicts the battle occurring in the wood; large fallen trees rotting and supporting new life, layers of volcanic ash combine with fallen branches that randomly reshape the flow of water. In wintertime, the canopy thins allowing more light and thick snow to penetrate.  © Felipe Camus The cabin lifts upwards similar to a tree in the search for light, buttressing on a thin platform, minimising the impact on the ground. The concrete platform presents oblique and opposing angles, detaching from the sturdy and the predictable.  Plans This base is elevated 3 metres above ground where a light prefabricated SIP board system is installed. The system consists of a 212mm polystyrene core, a high level of insulation. In the interior of the cabin the circulation continues upwards with small level differences that categorise each space and nook; the air-lock entrance, the toilet, the room , the kitchenette and finally the sitting room at the end, with a massive glazing facing north just above the canopy.  © Magdalena Besomi The owners themselves directed the construction process. They worked with a local team and the extended family that summons on occasions to build as a family activity; assembling metal stairs and railings, installing the built-in furniture and other chores such as charring wood planks. All these tasks learnt through years of DIY experimentation on pod prototypes on land and sea.  © Felipe Camus In terms of materials, the house is clad inside with timber planks from trees fell on site whereas the exterior is clad with charred pine planks following the yakisugi principle. Shangri-la Cabin is a collaborative project that mingles in the wood with simplicity and respect for nature, surprising the strollers with a bold geometric and structural proposal.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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