Arch Daily

Villa Špindlerův Mlýn / ra15 a.s.
Alkmaar City Office / Proof of the sum
1Q1 Kitchen and Bar / Khosla Associates
Cummins Indy Distribution Headquarters / Deborah Berke Partners
Hopscotch House / Hiramoto Design Studio
USUS Architectes Propose Modular Design for Millevaches Plateau Competition
House GZ2 / Paul Steel Bouza Arquitecto
Office Ou Designs First Urban Public School in Central Prague in Nearly 100 Years
School Group Julie-Victoire Daubié / Atelier Didier Dalmas
This Brazilian Resort is the Perfect Location for a Wes Anderson Film
Pablo Escobar's Former Residence in Medellín Will Be Demolished to Build a Public Park

Posted: 22 Sep 2018 10:00 PM PDT

Architects: ra15 a.s.
Location: Špindlerův Mlýn, Czech Republic
Lead Architects: Eng.arch. Radek Lampa, Eng.arch. Gabriela Drahozalová Andresová
Area: 150.0 m2
Project Year: 2017

Collaborator: Eng.arch. Vlastimil Pešl
Contractors: Stas s.r.o. /general/., Skanska a.s. /curtain walling/

Text description provided by the architects. The motto is an archetype. The seat of the family is the foundation, architecturally expressed by elementary geometric form with local traditional elements. The client´s interest was to build an ancestral residence in a beautiful location, overlooking the spindle basin. The task was to devise a house that overcomes generations with its durability and form. Parents, like founders of an ancestral Cottage, will live here, children and grandchildren, will visit them. In winter on skis, in summer on the bike. Love of sport is one of the reasons for a meeting of the whole family.

Land and regulation options were so cramped, that a vila of built-up area 150 square meters had to have several floors. The ground floor of stone masonry is a local tradition, it is an imaginary solid foundation and serves as a backdrop of the house. The main residential floor, the center of life in the house, is used for housing of parents. The floor is transparent around the perimeter for wide views. The attic floor is designed for children, grandchildren or family guests. It is totally self-sufficient. The exterior form of the house is classic and based on traditions of the local folk architecture. It is horizontally structured on a plinth, residential floor, and a steep roof. Individual elements on the façade are copied from these traditions, but give them different meaning and function.

Traditional lining in the shield has newly acquired the function of a sunshade. The whole building, although it appears to be of classical materials, is built only from reinforced concrete and steel elements. The construction or façade does not use wood, although it can appear at first glance. The house, in its form, based in history, uses to its full extent modern materials – aluminum, concrete, glass, steel. The symbolic expression of the essence of the family is the analogy of the forms in the basic geometry, which is reflected in the expression of the house. A distinctive triangle of a shield and a circle as an eye to the landscape. The dominant substance of the chimney is a remembrance of the original object.

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Alkmaar City Office / Proof of the sum

Posted: 22 Sep 2018 07:00 PM PDT

Architects: Proof of the sum
Location: Alkmaar, The Netherlands
Lead Architect : Roy Pype
Design Team: Stefano Barile, Ece Eren, Lucas Pissetti, Fenne Reinders-Folmer, Natalia Sulkowska, Nora Zechmeister
Area: 4500.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Marcel van der Burg, Anouk van de Sande

Consultants: YNNO, HE-adviseurs, WFO Bouwadvies, Nieman Raadgevende Ingenieurs, Anouk van de Sande
Contractors : Verwol Complete Interieur Realisatie
Client: municipality of Alkmaar
User: municipality of Alkmaar

Alkmaar as most innovative 100k+ municipality
The Municipality of Alkmaar (The Netherlands) has set itself a challenging target. It aims at becoming the most innovative 100k+ municipality of the Netherlands by 2021. Innovative in the area of providing services and the manner of in- and external cooperation. To this end, an organisational development plan has been drawn up. Parallel with changing the organisational model, customization of the own accommodation is stated as an essential to step to realize the objective. Working procedures shift from departments with fixed teams and their own clearly defined range of tasks to an organisation with constantly alternating teams on the basis of competencies and own responsibilities. A municipal officer emerges who is empowered to take responsibility, who cooperates optimally with colleagues and partners, who pro-actively meets with residents, community centres and entrepreneurs. What counts is output and not just the physical presence at the office. With respect to accommodation, the development plan states: "Create a flexible, sustainable working environment that stimulates an efficient and effective way of working and that reflects the organisation's identity and enhances it."

Until recently, the employees of the Municipality of Alkmaar worked at some five locations spread out over the town. Through a drastic redevelopment of the entire back office of the city office on the Mallegatsplein, they now are all based on the same location. From there, they serve the region Alkmaar, Schermer and Graft – De Rijp.

Making choices
One and a half years from budget determination until the first day of operations in the new working environment - the absolute max timeframe for the entire process. Without any compromise in terms of ambition and quality. A challenge that demands clear choices and sometimes bold ones. Together with YNNO, the municipality drew up an ambitious programme of requirements to facilitate the high ambitions and the new way of working. Alkmaar is one the first municipalities that opts for an accommodation without a sector plan. Employees and managers decide themselves how, where and with who they work; departments no longer have their own territories. And 200 workstations for 600 civil servants is quite ambitious as well.

What stands out in the process, is the virtually parallel completion of process steps. Setting up the programme of requirements synced with the extensive architect selection process. Finally, two firms (in return for payment) worked out a complete sketch design to enable a positive interaction in terms of influence between design and programme. In May 2017, the municipality chose Proof of the sum on the basis of their vision 'the power of magnetism'. With the design commission, Proof was given the responsibility for the entire design from structural adjustments and interior design up to the choices and design of separate fittings, furnishing, graphic design and indoor plants and green accents.

The design and tendering processes also overlapped. On the basis of a Final Design, the search was started for the most suitable contractor. A party that could manage parallel engineering and building processes within a tight time frame. An intensive process of synchronous engineering and implementation was completed with Verwol Integrale Projectinrichting. During the process, 15% savings were realized on the initial tender price to secure project feasibility. By linking the design vision and the implementation knowledge in an early stage, this proved possible without major concessions in terms of concept or materialization.

And it worked. Mid-June 2018, the new working environment was rolled out to the employees of the municipality who were happy to take it into use. And successfully so, as is clear from the first responses. And not in the least because the municipality undertook the entire training and counselling process for its employees itself. Organisational change and accommodation (innovation) go hand in hand.

A place in and for the city
The original Alkmaar city office was taken into use in 2001. The building was designed as a modern town gate on the edge of the old fortress creating the gate(way) between the historic city centre and modern urban district 'Overstad'. The protracted building designed by Bonnenma, has five floors and it is a clear landmark for the northern access road into town. The second floor houses all public functions of the municipality, Employee Insurance Agency UWV and regional Benefits Office Haltewerk. The three top floors accommodate the back office of the municipality and constitute the project area for this redevelopment.
The challenge for the design is to turn the location into an appealing workplace for the 600 municipal officers. In a time of digitalization, remote working and pro-active visibility close to the residents, the employees need a central and attractive base. A clear location in town full of dynamics and so magnetic that colleagues can't wait to meet each other there.

A building with great potential
The Alkmaar city office is a building that makes quite an impression. The 150-meter long volume in red-brick masonry towers over the town and accentuates the bend in the old defence line to the Noordhollandsch Kanaal. A modern gatehouse with a number of strong characteristics. The construction has a very short span of 12 metres without columns and with a highly repetitive facade perforation. Because of the clear east-west orientation, the rhythm of the day becomes tangible in the building; most clearly reflected in the movement of the rising and setting sun. The two sharp points of the protracted volume offer splendid views and form characteristic ends to the floor plans. The fact that the building houses multiple users, offer special dynamics; and the moving walkway from ground level to the public toilets creates a moment of peace that lasts almost two minutes.

The building also has a number of areas of attention that the design concept had to address. The length of the volume creates distance between the users. This is enhanced by the large number of building entrances and the various floors that seems to function as layers of clay for the organisation. Colleagues remained unnoticed, anonymous and there was hardly any awareness of each other. A limited ceiling height suppresses the feeling of spaciousness and the curvature of the floor plan creates interrupted sight lines resulting in a fragmented experience of the building. Or could the latter actually be a strength?

The power of magnetism
'Servient' buildings such as a city office must and can reinforce knowledge sharing between their users. Aspects such as distance, awareness, proximity and visual transparency play an important part. For knowledge is only shared when the opportunity is offered and trust between colleagues is strong. So, the challenge is to create a single place for 600 people. And... creating room for the individual. For privacy and concentration. This area of tension forms the core of the design concept.

To break through the building's clay layers, two large new mezzanines were realized in the building to create a strong connection between the third, fourth and fifth floor - both spatially and programme-wise. To 'activate' the building so to speak and to have the officers make use of the entire building in a natural manner in the course of their workday, all common functions are projected around this spatial axle. One single three-dimensional space for all colleagues.

A typical workday will start on the third floor in the network cafe and service center. A question about a meeting space or a mobile device? A cup of tea with an external relation? Or a start-up meeting with a newly formed project group? This is all possible here. Even the locker area has a prominent position and is designed as an informal consultation space.
The big bleacher stairs lead to the fourth floor, where, around the mezzanines, the Alkmaar Academy is located. This internal training programme disposes of a range of learning and education spaces. Varying from a big instruction space to small break-out rooms where small groups can work on various challenges. A more modest stairway to the next mezzanine leads to the meeting center with room for both bigger and smaller groups. So, even far into the building, large groups are invited to make use of the whole building.

The dynamics and activity around the new mezzanines create a sharp contrast with the peace and privacy on the adjacent work floors. Their focus lies on an individual scale and small teams. Concentrated work, videoconferencing, agile and scrum sessions and smaller meeting rooms determine the rhythm of these areas.

And eventually, the user will be enticed to use the whole of the building up to the pointed edges. The striking heads of the building offer more meeting opportunities albeit on a smaller scale. Here the programme manifests itself in pantries with coffee and cooled water, long reading benches and room for stand-up sessions and brainstorming. Circulation up to the final fibres of the building.

By playing with the positioning of various shared functions and individual spots, an interesting magnetic picture has been created in the building. Not all attention on one focal point but strategic programming and careful positioning. This will generate expected and unexpected contacts. And this is the catalyst of innovation.

Careful programming
For the detailed elaboration of the floor plans a number of clear design principles were applied. Crucial city office functions are positioned centrally in the floor plans and made visible for the entire organisation. Next to the network cafe on the third floor, the service desk is located for all employees with questions on IT, HR and facilities. The Alkmaar Customer Contact Center has a central location on the fourth floor as a circular call center. Clearly visible for everybody to stimulate awareness of the quality of the own services. Furthermore, no lockable space borders on the exterior facade. Meeting rooms are 'dispersed' as separate volumes in the floor plan. They assist in integrating the human scale in the building and orchestrate the flows in the floor plan. When users walk round these spaces, their look is subtly pointed towards the town. The town they are working for each and every day. Another form of awareness. Finally, the design also ensures that never more than 16 people have the feeling that they are sharing a single space. Each day new small communities are formed this way that offer value at that time. And the following day their composition changes once again.

Less is stronger
The design has been realised with a limited palette of materials and colours. Because of the restricted floor height, a great deal of attention was given to removing ceilings and the design of installations that were not covered from sight. A central installation strip in the middle of the floor plan functions as the new technical artery to which all functions are connected. Meeting spaces with intensive climate control requirements are located under this strip. The primary workstations are located along the facades; height is created by the application of integrated climate islands. Lighting, ventilation, cooling, sprinkler and smartbuilding sensors are all included in a single modular island concept. Uniformly and clearly following the building's curvature. With regard to lighting, on the facade side a luminaire with a high light yield was opted for that did not create a distinct light line on the ceiling in order not to emphasize the building's length effect with repetitive light lines. In the central strips, the points of the building and the spaces around the mezzanines, track lighting systems and directable spotlights are used to be able to realize an intimate and divers lighting effect.

The interior walls are closed parallel to the facade; at a right angle to the facades, they are transparent This results in long lines of sight running through the building. By including sliding doors in the transparent walls, new walking routes emerge when the (meeting) rooms are not being used. And, even with intensive use, this is the case nearly 30 to 40 percent of the time. To tailor the floor plans even more to the human dimension, translucent writable walls have been installed at numerous places These pyrasid walls separate the spaces but also create co-work places for scrum and agile working methods. And secretly they tempt the eyes to look outside.

The colour pallet is limited, as said. Ceilings, outer facades and installations are pure white. Interior walls, stairs and balustrades are soft grey. Frames and fixed furniture are black. Finally, accents were created in the floors and individual interior elements. In the collective zones, the floors have a black linoleum finishing while old rose carpeting was selected for the more individual working environments. The soft reflection in the technical installations on the ceiling creates a warm glow effect. Atypical for an office. The green accents in the separate interior elements combined with plants results in an expressive but calm whole despite the limited range of colours used. The transparency of all right-angle interior walls functions as binding element.

Recycling and local as basic principle for individual interior elements
The design of individual interior elements shows a maximum commitment to recycling. The primary workplaces consist of existing frames which are fitted with a new worktop with charging options. The old worktops are the basis for the acoustic panels between the workstations. More than half of the meeting tables are existing tables that were freshly colour-sprayed. The chairs with the tables are partly recycled ones and new items. Where new chairs were decided on, these are manufactured for more than 50% from recycled PET bottles. A city office belongs to the city. Involving local parties will reinforce this. All curtains were produced and installed by a local entrepreneur. A local artist designed a number of special (side-)tables that tell part of the town's narrative. And even plant maintenance is carried out by residents with a disadvantage on the employment market. For the city and with the city.

Identity: the second layer
A city office wants to identify with the region that it serves. For this, Proof searched for the less well-known stories of the region. Together with fashion designer Anouk van de Sande graphics were developed that tell those unknown stories and that add a new layer to the building to be explored by its users.

The transparent walls of the meeting rooms all have graphics. On opening the sliding doors, two layers of glass move on top of each other and the graphic patterns shifts. A boat that is sailing through the polder. A vaulting pole note that becomes legible. A flapping wing of Victory. The graphics raise questions with the user. Each design contains a hint to the actual story. The layouts of the scrum walls have been fitted with characteristic facade profiles of a number of typical Alkmaar buildings. Of course with a hint in the form of a speaking note. In conclusion, a number of 'orphaned' statues have been given a new spot in the city office. Too vulnerable or maybe too sensitive for the outside world. But as a natural part of the building ready for a next story.

Technology ready for the future
Alkmaar will be the most innovative 100k+ municipality of the Netherlands. And in terms of technology, the building is ready. A smart grid of sensors in the ceiling already controls the installation with respect to CO2, occupancy and presence. But these sensors will later also return information to each individual user. Where is my colleague? Where can I find a warmer workplace in the building? Is there a less quiet workplace available, and where? And which space can I book last minute to work out that interesting idea with a small group? Everything in a single intelligent platform.

Team performance
Proof of the sum did not do this project on its own. Together with the core team of the municipality, YNNO was responsible for workplace concept, programme of requirements and the project management up to and including the tender process. Daily supervised by the project team of Alkmaar, WFO Bouwadvies was committed to construction design and HE-adviseurs for all installation-technical design aspects. Nieman Raadgevende Adviseurs supplied its expertise in the field of fire-safety and acoustics. The tender for the contractors was streamlined by ICS adviseurs. Verwol Integrale Projectinrichting emerged from the process. Together with Warmtebouw and Gouweloos as main subcontractors, the project has been realized. Workplace design and individual interior elements were realized by Gispen and Koninklijke Ginkel Groep was responsible for plants. A genuine team performance.

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1Q1 Kitchen and Bar / Khosla Associates

Posted: 22 Sep 2018 03:00 PM PDT

Architects: Khosla Associates
Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Lead Architects: Sandeep Khosla, Amaresh Anand
Design Team: Anusha Y.S (Team Lead), Divya Devatha, Tulsi Phadke
Area: 8000.0 ft2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Shamanth Patil

Civil Contractor: Hi Tech Constructions Pvt. Ltd.
Structural Engineer: S&S Associates.
Lighting: Cona Lighting Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Furniture Manufacture: SFA works, Baro.
Decorative Lighting: The Purple Turtles.
Electrical Consultant: Services Design Consultants
Chefs: Mako Ravindran and Manjith Singh
Client: Plate Project Hospitality LLP

Text description provided by the architects. Located in the Landmark Indian Express Building on Queens Road in Bangalore, the name of this Bar, Restaurant and nightlife venue is derived from the Road number and pin code of its address; No.1 Queens Road, Bangalore 1.
The building was originally designed in a 1930's Art Deco Style and as Architects we wanted to further the Deco character of the building by integrating a prominent arched colonnade into the existing fenestrations on the street level. The Colonnade, painted in a deep red-oxide color recalls the visual language of the High court of Karnataka in the same precinct.

The design moves that ensued were an imagined contemporary interpretation of a grand bye-gone era mixed with contextual influences. The 20ft high ceilings of the space were treated with a series of repetitive vaulted arches and rendered in a red-oxide finish. Accent walls were cast in corrugated cement with a green oxide pigment. The flooring design was created with a bold and alternating striking linear pattern of local grey sadharhalli granite and black cuduppah stone. Columns were clad in sheets of Mild steel and then lacquered.

The spatial flow is via a hardscaped entrance courtyard peppered with palm trees. On entry are two symmetrical curved mid-century timber and brass screens that create an intimate entrance foyer. On either side are two bays of restaurant seating. Perpendicular to the axis of the entry and foyer is a linear bay with a large Island bar on one end and a stage for live music performances on the other. The space between is interspersed with high seating on the ground level and low lounge seating on a raised wooden platform.

A distinctive feature that we introduced into the interior space was a series of lofty freestanding cement arches. These arches, positioned between the existing grids, create visual movement and fluidity in the space while reinforcing its vault and arch vocabulary. The arches have LED light integrated within them, capturing and framing the energy encompassed within.

Other highlights in the space are the imposing custom designed chandeliers that we created in the entrance as well as over the bar counter. The chandeliers were inspired by the branches of trees bearing fruit and are hand crafted with Mild steel pipes with ends fabricated in rings of amber coloured resin. Large frieze artworks on each of the restaurant walls recall the zigzag and ziggurat pattern influences of the Art Deco era. Additional Deco inspired linear light scones were designed by us in brass and fluted glass to emphasize the verticality of the interior.

The furniture is a mix of fixed booth style seating, low and high restaurant tables and low sofas for lounging. The colour scheme of a deep red, peacock green, blue and olive complement the green and red oxides of the shell.
The various elements within the space make for a heady cocktail of influences. Deco inspired interiors, Japanese and Peruvian influenced food, eclectic cocktails and live music spanning different genres create a unique vibe. One that has the ability to transform from a light filled and casual eatery during the day to a potent, high-energy experience at night.

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Cummins Indy Distribution Headquarters / Deborah Berke Partners

Posted: 22 Sep 2018 01:00 PM PDT

Architects: Deborah Berke Partners
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Lead Architects: Deborah Berke Partners
Architect Of Record: Ratio Architects
Area: 175000.0 ft2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Chris Cooper

Landscape Architects: Land Collective
Design Structural Engineer: Robert Silman Associates
Structural Engineer: Fink Roberts & Petrie, Inc.
Design Mep Engineer: Syska Hennessy Group, Inc.
Mep Engineer: Circle Design Group, Inc.
Sustainability Consultant: Atelier 10
Facade Consultant: Front, Inc.
Lighting Designer: One Lux Studio
Construction Manager: F.A. Wilhelm Construction Co., Inc

Text description provided by the architects. For the Cummins Indy Distribution Headquarters, Deborah Berke Partners wanted to reinforce an active pedestrian experience on Market Street, a major thoroughfare in downtown Indianapolis, and create multiple connections to the new urban plaza and lush park from the city. "We started from an urban idea," said Noah Biklen, principal at Deborah Berke Partners, "the form of the building undulates at its base to shape views and movement between the street and the urban plaza and park."

Cummins is at its heart a technology company with a history of commissioning innovative architecture and design. "It's an honor to work for Cummins," Deborah Berke said. "Among major American companies, I think they are the greatest patron of architecture and design. And they have been for generations."

The unusually slender office floorplates with high ceilings provide abundant natural daylight to every space while minimizing reliance on electricity. The building features a high performance "calibrated" façade with varying degrees of transparency and opacity and an integrated system of fins and shades that limit heat gain and increase visual and thermal comfort.

The office spaces are tailored to encourage all kinds of working: collaborative, focused, social, active, contemplative, informal. A variety of workspaces, including private meeting rooms, team rooms, open collaborative areas, focus booths and informal gathering spaces like the double height "social hubs" connecting the floors, accommodate different types of work. These social hubs offer expansive views of downtown and the new urban park.

The post-tensioned concrete building allows for long-spans and fewer columns in the office floors in order to increase visual transparency and spatial flexibility. The formed concrete columns and ceiling are left partially exposed and the ribbons of facade are ever-present. Within this bold expression of structure and skin, elements made of natural materials, such as built-in wood furniture and stairways, recur in public zones and invite a human connection. Patterned and colored fabrics create vibrant counterpoints in social spaces and bring identity to different areas within the building. Deborah Berke Partners worked with Cummins to commission site-specific art throughout.

The distinctive appearance of the facades is the result of careful study of the building's position in relation to the sun and the city of Indianapolis. The building has "calibrated façades" with several different types of glass and an integrated system of sun shades and vertical fins. "The shading elements help to reduce solar heat gain and glare in the building, reduce energy loads for cooling and makes the interior more comfortable for the workers inside," said Noah Biklen. Cummins is committed to reducing its environmental footprint, and to creating pleasant and productive work spaces for its employees. The design of the building reflects and embodies these values. The façade and sculpted mass of the building gives Cummins an indelible identity in downtown Indianapolis.

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Hopscotch House / Hiramoto Design Studio

Posted: 22 Sep 2018 11:00 AM PDT

Architects: Hiramoto Design Studio
Location: Saitama, Japan
Lead Architect: Hideyuki Hiramoto
Construction: Kobayashi
Area: 155.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Koji Fujii / Nacasa & Partners

Text description provided by the architects. This family who had lived individually decided to live together under one roof. In this project I tried to design a space that allowed these people who were used to living alone build an agreeable friendship by keeping a moderate distance from each other.

Caring for ease of access, a one-story house was requested. I thought hard about how to bring light and wind into the center of the house.

I divided the building into parts, each with their own function, and placed them in a layout "1+2+1+2+1" like Hopscotch game. By doing this, I led the house to the following solutions;

1. Since these divided parts were joined on each shifting position, with this train of spaces I could make some Waists (joining/dividing points) and some Pools (spaces with each function) in the house. When you make an excursion within the house, you can feel refreshing rhythms. And a resident can relax in a pool which was chosen while maintaining a distance from others.

2. The double position (split parts) created a patio which would bring light and wind into the center of the house.

3. Double spaces in this position (split parts) are also useful as corridors for connecting between single units. With this I could not only cut the space which would have been needed for corridors but also gave some opportunities to feel closer to others easily. It is important to measure the distance from others.

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USUS Architectes Propose Modular Design for Millevaches Plateau Competition

Posted: 22 Sep 2018 07:00 AM PDT

French architects USUS Architectes reinvent the typical campground by designing a modular multipurpose structure as an ecological bivouac along the trekking routes in Massif Central, France. Together, the Association of Natural Parks of the Massif Central (IPAMAC), PNR Livradois-Forez, PNR Millevaches in Limousin, and the International Center for Art and Landscape (CIAP) wanted to tackle the lack of suitable accommodation along the trails. After deliberating from over 64 proposals, the agencies ultimately selected Peaks + Simon BOUDVIN and USUS + Zebra3 as project co-laureates of the competition.

To accommodate the various uses of the bivouac, the three-dimensional wooden structure integrates portable elements such as seats, tables, storage, screens, basins, a fireplace, and more, essentially allowing the user to alter the arrangement as per their needs. However, the real playfulness of this tectonic system lies in the way that one can lengthen, shorten or fragment the frame-furniture itself.

Deploying a rigid module strategy to create the structural grid, the architects augment the interests in prototyping and iterative design techniques. The structure is sheltered by a large roof, though left open along all sides so as not to hinder the mountain views. Its simplicity blurs the lines between the indoors and outdoors within the natural environment, rather than enclosing hikers within a cabin-like space.

Amidst the picturesque location in Limosin, the design offers a creative yet feasible solution to reshape the trekking experience.

News via USUS Architectes

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House GZ2 / Paul Steel Bouza Arquitecto

Posted: 22 Sep 2018 06:00 AM PDT

Architects: Paul Steel Bouza Arquitecto
Location: Futaleufú, Chile
Area: 36.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Gustavo Zylbersztajn

Text description provided by the architects. The GZ2 is a 36 square meter house located over a small cliff of a peninsula in the Lonconao lake, approximately fifteen kilometers from Futaleufú in the Los Lagos Región. The design operation is simple. It consists of an open floor of the free plan which is glazed to the outside, relating with an outdoor terrace, nature, lake, and the views that surround the house.

The second floor or loft is more closed and intimate, with a bed located near a more controlled window facing the lake. The height of the second floor can hold the heat that rises through an emptiness of the inferior one. The refuge is settled on top of an existing stone like a small tower in the landscape, intervening as little as possible the forest surface.

The furniture is austere, there is a closet in the living room suitable for storage for travelers and a piece of kitchen furniture made of agglomerated wood covered in vitrified concrete that can be used for cooking, washing or having meals. As support for the kitchen and bathroom, there are two protruding windows that add both storage space and cross ventilation to control the summer heat in the Patagonia.

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Office Ou Designs First Urban Public School in Central Prague in Nearly 100 Years

Posted: 22 Sep 2018 05:00 AM PDT

Office Ou, a Toronto-based landscape design firm, in collaboration with INOSTUDIO Architects, has designed a new public school for the historic Smíchov district of Prague. The initial competition, organized by the Centre for Central European Architecture, chose the Office Ou & INOSTUDIO design out of 66 anonymous submissions. This school would be the first new public school built in Prague's urban center in close to 100 years.

The school building will accommodate about 540 students and be a focal point in the city's efforts to transform a former railway yard into a mixed-use community space. This area of new development emphasizes the importance of green space and pedestrian circulation. The school's architecture, a grid of balconies and outdoor garden areas, effortlessly combines the internal classroom experience with Prague's growing urban fabric.

Office Ou has emphasized flexibility as a foundational feature of the design, a concept many contemporary architects have embraced when designing for children, specifically. The architect's described their intentions: 'Rather than imposing a predetermined and finalized appearance on the building, the appearance of the school will transform through the decisions made by the students and teachers.' The building is transformed, with time, into a canvas, giving the children the ability to design and customize crucial elements of their own learning environment.

The 107,640 square foot (10,000 square meter) building is located on the edge of the neighborhood's main boulevard, a location that emphasizes the school's essential role in the growing urban community. The building's interior is organized around a central atrium that provides a social gathering space and access to other community amenities such as the cafeteria, gym, and club rooms. Roof terraces, courtyards, and balconies allow natural light to flood the interior, accentuating the foundational premise of the design and encouraging students to foster an intimate connection with the greater civic community.

News via: Office Ou

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School Group Julie-Victoire Daubié / Atelier Didier Dalmas

Posted: 22 Sep 2018 02:00 AM PDT

Architects: Atelier Didier Dalmas
Location: 47 Rue Victorien Sardou, 78210 Saint-Cyr-l'École, France
Architect In Charge: Didier Dalmas
Area: 3533.0 m2
Project Year: 2013
Photographs: Erick Saillet

Construction Economy And Structural Engineering: SNC Lavalin
Acoustics: Acouphen
Landscaping: Atelier Anne Gardoni

Text description provided by the architects. The objectives of the implantation of the project are multiple:

Maintain a built front along « Victorien Sardou Street » to maintain an urban alignment.
Develop a large south facing linear to meet the energy guidelines
Guarantee optimum sunlight for the photovoltaic panels required for this program, despite the presence of buildings of considerable height in the immediate environment.
Respect the adjoining green spaces by avoiding creating uncomfortable opposite.

For this, we have positioned a building with a thick floor in the central part of the site. It integrates all the premises necessary for teaching. Perpendicularly, the restaurant, the technical rooms and the caretaker's house are positioned along the street. They have direct access from the street and are not consumers of delivery spaces on the plot. At the articulation of these 2 volumes is the entrance porch / forecourt of the equipment.

The two main objectives that are requested in this project are:

The realization of a building with positive energy and,
The design of a school equipment with optimal functionality.

These two objectives lead us towards the design of a compact and thick building. It is south facing and has a central patio. This device makes it possible to obtain remarkable thermal performance. Our desire is to develop the curriculum on 2 levels only. This guarantees a quality of operation.

This configuration offers the advantage of positioning the entire kindergarten on the ground floor.

The elementary part and the extracurricular pole are on the floor.

The orientation of the building offers a maximum of classrooms in the South (12 of 16). This simple volume is enhanced by a technical floor covered by a roof of photovoltaic panels. Its size is in line with the energy objectives.

This spanning allows to remain respectful of buildings and adjoining green spaces.

The building takes the whole width of the plot and offers an entrance facade that integrates the porch and the forecourt. The other elements of the program (restaurant / housing / yard) allow continuity built on the street.

Despite its thickness, each room benefits from natural lighting thanks to the patio. It helps to guarantee the required natural light requirements. Also, the deepest rooms (classrooms / exercise rooms / gyms) benefit from additional light inputs. Skylights provide the dual function of natural lighting circulations and lighting of the backs of rooms.

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This Brazilian Resort is the Perfect Location for a Wes Anderson Film

Posted: 22 Sep 2018 01:00 AM PDT

Mauá ballroom, its dome is 50 meters in diameter and 30 meters high. Image © Flagrante / Romullo Fontenelle

The entertainment industry frequently captures unusual architecture from theme parks that explore bygone eras to remote locales in the hills of Las Vegas that often go unseen.

A two-hour drive from Rio de Janeiro's renowned beaches you can find a 20th century French Normandy building in the state's sierra region: The Palácio Quitandinha.

Located in the Imperial City of Petrópolis – once a summer resort for monarchs who lived in the capital – the hotel-casino opened on February 12, 1944. The international shortage due to World War II did not prevent Joaquim Rolla, a mining entrepreneur, from hiring architects Luis Fossai and Alfredo Baeta Neves to design what would become the largest building of its kind in Latin America.

Quitandinha Palace houses the Sesc Rio since 2007. Image © Flagrante / Romullo Fontenelle

The golden age of Palácio Quitandinha did not last long. Two years after opening, in May of 1946, the then president Eurico Gaspar Dutra prohibited gambling in Brazil, forcing the Palácio to exist only as a hotel. Soon this became financially impractical and, in 1963, the owner sold it to a business group that turned it into a luxury condominium.

The new owners kept the rooms in use, even though they were purchased by individuals and turned into apartments. However, the ground floor and the basement, that once housed the casino, were left empty – almost abandoned – creating nothing but expenses.

After more than four decades of underuse, the entertainment and leisure areas were purchased by Sesc Rio and opened to the public in 2007.

European on the outside, Wes Anderson on the inside

The exterior of the 50,000 square meter building looks quite old-fashioned compared to the modern works of the time. However, somehow it matches the city's atmosphere, marked by German colonization, which remains a tourism feature as the city has become a mountain resort, with close proximity to Rio de Janeiro.

It is not the exterior, however, that impresses. The inside, designed by American interior and set designer Dorothy Draper, is practically a Hollywood movie. Excessive ornaments, vibrant colors, heavy fabrics, and scenic lighting take us to the big screen. Its decadent atmosphere resembles Wes Anderson's works, a result of decades of underuse and furniture anachronism. It perhaps is one of the greatest visual attractions of the Palácio – at least for architects and Anderson enthusiasts.

Rooms that once held pompous events for national and international celebrities are today testimonies of a distant past. The scale and grandiosity are historical vestiges of a time which, though did happen in the Imperial City, are more connected to the Hollywood imagination, with its stars, parties, and ostentation.

Listed as a heritage building by the State Institute of Cultural Heritage (Inepac), today the palace is dedicated to culture. Not only for its attractions – music, theater, and dance – but for preserving the memory of the place and, most of all, keeping alight the spark that creates movies in the imagination of all who visit.

News via G1 and O Globo

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Pablo Escobar's Former Residence in Medellín Will Be Demolished to Build a Public Park

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 11:00 PM PDT

After a series of failed attempts, the Monaco building in Medellín will finally be demolished at the beginning of 2019, according to the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo.

The Monaco building, which was converted into a municipal asset this year, was the residence of the late drug trafficker Pablo Escobar in the El Poblado neighborhood of Medellín. In January of 1988, a car bomb with 80 kilograms of dynamite exploded in front of the building giving rise to a series of attacks between the drug cartels in Medellín.

Last August, during a meeting with prosecutors against organized crime, Federico Gutiérrez, mayor of Medellín, announced that the building would be demolished in January 2019. According to El Tiempo, 460 proposals were collected by the Urban Development Company (EDU) during a series of workshops that included neighborhood residents and direct/indirect victims of the 1980s and 90s drug war.

The demolition will give way to a new urban project. Regarding the future of the property, El Tiempo reports that the mayor's office seeks to open up a design contest with EDU and the Colombian Society of Architects (SCA). The contest will call for "a park, memorial, or platform for the victims." Meanwhile, in the same meeting where Gutiérrez announced the building's demolition date, he also declared that the program would be "a park in honor of the victims of narcoterrorism, the prosecutors murdered at this time, the murdered judges, police, military, and civilians."

The results of the contest will be "announced between January and February of next year, also the date of the scheduled demolition," according to the same newspaper.

News via: El Tiempo, El Colombiano, Caracol TV.

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nedjelja, 23. rujna 2018.

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