Arch Daily |
- SinnerSchrader Studio Prague / Kurz architects
- An Interlude - NH 75 / Collage Architecture Studio
- Deepsea Coffee / Knowhere Studio
- Xiangcheng District Planning Exhibition Hall / Lacime Architects
- North Residences / bureau^proberts
- ZCC / CCDI
- Bays 6-8 Heritage Warehouse Office / BJB Architects
- Neighborhood Center Refurbishment in Noallo de Abaixo / Muiños Otero López Arquitectura
- Bleecker Street / Junzi Kitchen
- Frank Gehry's Grand Avenue Towers Finally Set to Begin Construction
- Korus Headquarters Refurbishment / Lautrefabrique Architectes
- ecoLogicStudio's Bio-Digital Curtain Fights Climate Change by Filtering Air and Creating Bioplastic
- "Dômes Charlevoix" Eco-Luxurious Accommodations / Bourgeois / Lechasseur architectes
- Herzog & de Meuron's Mountain Outpost Brings "Architectural Ambition" to the Swiss Alps
- Art, Architecture and a Modern Office / Alexander Martin Architects
- Cities Designed by Famous Architects
- Hotel Schgaguler / Peter Pichler Architecture
- Broissin Arquitectos Reinterprets the Tree House in Glass
| SinnerSchrader Studio Prague / Kurz architects Posted: 09 Nov 2018 09:00 PM PST  © BoysPlayNice
 © BoysPlayNice 'Form follows function', one of the strongest mantras of modern architectures found another tight fit at the new studio premises of SinnerSchrader in Prague. The Czech based Kurz architects designed a new office space in an old industrial building. Both, the architects and the German based digital agency, combined the ideas of interior and digital architectures. Throughout the course of a half-year period, they used agile processes to plan, build and create a space for 60 digital workers. With a fixed budget and timing, the scope of the solution was constantly re-prioritised and iterated upon – in an open, joyful and proactive manner. Trust and willingness to execute stood in the foreground of the international collaboration. Elements like building blocks, frameworks and a strict design system were the common ground in both the architects and the digital agencies worlds and orbiting around these fostered their joint journey.  © BoysPlayNice The space emits calmness, clarity, strength and transparency. It focuses on the human, not on company hierarchies or to impress others. It's a home for SinnerSchrader. The studio space meets the agency's obsession with informal exchange across all disciplines, providing plenty of communication areas – whether in translucent meeting cubes, the large kitchen space, hanging chairs or focus areas.  © BoysPlayNice  Plan  © BoysPlayNice The studio is structured according to the needs of individual teams. Interdisciplinarity. UX, design, technology. Diversity can be found all around the studio, achieved by using a range of materials, from Marmoleum, zinc-coated metal sheets and polycarbonate boards to woollen carpets and wooden plywood. Highlighted by the combination of old and new Czech furniture design.  © BoysPlayNice The connecting element and main motif of the studio is a diagonal axis which acts as the main corridor, a skate park and route that gradually opens all elements and spaces in an unpredictable and surprising fashion. This axis, which starts at the main entrance and ends at the open terrace, lends a dynamic to the entire space, connecting the individuals and teams.  © BoysPlayNice  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| An Interlude - NH 75 / Collage Architecture Studio Posted: 09 Nov 2018 06:00 PM PST  © Arunkumar T.D
 © Arunkumar T.D Text description provided by the architects. Traditionally, in South India the word Darshini refers to a place that runs on the concept of 'pay first, eat later' Udupi style restaurants, which are similar to the fast food chains seen in the West. It was primarily intended to serve the rush hour crowd, and the dishes served were breakfast or snack items that require minimal fuss- both for the chef and the customer. A darshini set-up in Bangalore brings to mind steel tables jam-packed with customers standing around steaming plates of idli-vada, sipping a filter coffee and looking out onto the street which might just be inches away. Our clients approached us with a simple brief - "a darshini on the site along the highway in Hoskote"  © Arunkumar T.D  © Arunkumar T.D Taking inspiration from some of the oldest and most popular darshinis in Bangalore, where old trees and bustling traffic added to charm of the entire setting, we decided to focus on the pause, rather than the journey itself - thus providing a respite for the travelers and inviting them into spaces that encourage a slower pace, some contemplation and conversations over the same plates of steaming idli-vada and coffee.  © Arunkumar T.D The site played an important role in design development, offering us opportunities for conceptualizing certain spaces and allowing for a clean, strategic plan. Located on a highway with rustic landscapes on the northern side and an approach road abutting the southern side, the site was the perfect setting to establish a dialogue between nature and the built spaces; blurring the boundaries between the two in the process.  Plan Journeying through the highway, halting here, one is greeted by the tapering walls and the inverted sloping roof that is perfectly framed by the beautiful Hoskote skyscape. Walking towards the main building, an infinite stretch of water draws one in, giving glimpses of greenery even at the rear end of the site. Water placed at various points act as a catalyst, coalescing the myriad hues of the built and the unbuilt. On entering the restaurant, one is immediately struck by the large span of the dining halls, column-less except for two sentry-like members that flank both sides of the glass covered facade. An unhindered sight line created consciously by placing slits around the facade enhances the largeness of the space, thus slowly erasing the pre - conceived notion of a shut in hall, artificially lit and ventilated that usually defines such eateries.  © Arunkumar T.D The 150 cover restaurant is unassumingly spacious, seeming to be larger than it is, never filled to bursting capacity, as smaller breakout spaces provide visual relief from endless rows of tables and chairs. The experience of dining midst nature is something that we worked hard to achieve, wanting to provide visitors not just food for the soul, but also food for thought.  © Arunkumar T.D The structure was planned keeping a few of the functional aspects of the building in mind. The need for a drainage gutter for water from the two massive inverted slopes were eliminated by transforming the RCC beam that runs through the span of the building into a channel that allows water to cascade into a water body that blends into the exterior landscape. With an addition of a horizontal opening right below the roof, this was devised to break the massing and at the same time to guide one's line of vision to continue towards the sky, and draw to a close in the rippling pool of water.  © Arunkumar T.D The material palette was kept clean, minimal and honest - stark walls painted red, yellow and white provide a much needed offset to the greenery all around the site as well as inside it. Combined with warm hues of the terracotta flooring, the dark grey walls and hints of a cooler spectrum of colours through water and foliage, this created the warm atmosphere of a local eatery.  3D Though ideated from the original concept of a darshini, the design surprised all of us as it evolved. Each space serves its purpose and more, gently inspiring the random visitor to stop for a while - to enjoy the ambience, relish the food, take a few pictures - thus, pausing for an interlude in his rushed journey and fulfilling our desire to create a hiatus. This space as we have imagined it, has indeed become a rendezvous between nature and the hurried, weary traveller looking for an urban oasis .  © Arunkumar T.D  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Deepsea Coffee / Knowhere Studio Posted: 09 Nov 2018 03:00 PM PST  © Yixiang Wang
 Facade. Image © Yixiang Wang Text description provided by the architects. The project is located in Binjiang Junyuan District, Zhangguanying Road, Panlong District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province. Binjiang Junyuan is the former Zhangguanying Village and Zhangguanying Flea Market. It is one of the largest urban villages in Kunming's Second Ring Road. Now it has been transformed into a large-planned urban residential area based on the city. There are not only a few large urban complexes, but also several primary and secondary schools, office and business districts, which give a huge young consumer group to satisfy the consumption level of creating a new experience cafe.  Deepsea coffee. Image © Yixiang Wang The project is located on the ground floor of the tower apartment. It used to be a beauty salon. It is not an ideal location for a city cafe, but the owner is confident to create a large enough flow of people through a good design and Internet marketing.  Second floor space. Image © Yixiang Wang Since the owner determined that the name of the cafe was "deep sea", the designer took the time to think about what intrinsic meaning could use. Unlike conventional thinking and common design logistics, when searching for reference pictures, such designs are all with blue features, but the concept of "deep sea" makes designer think why is the deep sea blue? ? Then the designer found that the reason why the sea is blue is because the sky is blue, the water body (space) is transparent, so the color of the sea is created by Light and material rather than design itself. With this logic, the design of the entire space is very clear, the original hanging ceiling is removed, and the blue "sky" is painted with paint; the space below uses reflective/transparent materials - mirror, Metals, acrylics, plastics,  First floor plan In the design of the main dining area for ground and first floors, we use the blue ceiling to occupy the main color of the space, and the rest of the space takes the ideas of transparency to create a "inside water feeling"(opaque – mirror – reflection – refraction – transparent –translucent – white – light). Therefore, in order to create these effects, the selection of materials and furniture are the core issues for this design.  © Yixiang Wang  First floor space. Image © Yixiang Wang For the opaque materials, the white wall uses the most common latex paint, and the ground uses a slightly reflective white epoxy. The reflective surface material is a brushed aluminum plate, which is used for special attributes such as edge banding, baseboard and bar. For the translucent material, at the beginning of the design, the glass film is prepared on the outer window glass, and the stair space is also decided to use a translucent polycarbonate plate to highlight the transparent and intimate effect of some spaces.  Second floor space. Image © Yixiang Wang  © Yixiang Wang For the mirror material, the use of mirrored glass increases the space extension and openness, while the mirror surface is fixed to the wall through the multi-layer wooden board, and the LED has been hidden in the slot of the wooden board. The light strip creates the effect of a mirror suspended in the air. In the design, a gray mirror appears in all the area except blue mirror is used in the stair space to emphasize the reflection effect. The large-area mirror of the stair space matches the light source from different places, and the diffuse reflection of different levels on the blue top surface creates a magic effect.  Light Reflect stairs. Image © Yixiang Wang  © Yixiang Wang In addition, many transparent furniture is used, and the furniture mainly made of acrylic, inflatable plastic and glass, which makes the indoor part uniformly express the sparkling and transparent feeling of the deep sea.  First floor bar counter. Image © Yixiang Wang An innovative café is not constrained by the definition of a traditional café, which accommodates the leisure needs of different contemporary urbanites: this café contains functions of catering, exhibition, video, party and social communication. Here, many events that you want and can't think of can happen, the space has great flexibility and uncertainty, so we don't give a clear definition of space attributes, and hope the users can adapt it to diverse needs of contemporary living models.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Xiangcheng District Planning Exhibition Hall / Lacime Architects Posted: 09 Nov 2018 01:00 PM PST  Exterior. Image © Shengliang Su
 Exterior. Image © Shengliang Su Text description provided by the architects. Suzhou is a cultural city with history of more than 2500 years. It not only creates rich material wealth-being for the Chinese nation, but also writes a brilliant chapter about the excellent traditional culture. Suzhou has the reputation of the most majestic scenery in the southeast China, also its architecture is featured as "Elegance and Grace".  Exterior. Image © Shengliang Su  Exterior. Image © Shengliang Su Planning Exhibition Hall is located in the east of Suzhou North Railway Station, which is an open base, south to Nantiancheng Road, east to Chengyang Road and north of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway. It covers an area of 1.17 hectares with 6030㎡floorage .  Exterior. Image © Shengliang Su Nearly billions of passengers flow through Suzhou North Railway Station every year. When the high-speed train slows down before entering the station, this exhibition hall could be visible at a glance! The advantage of site location determines its uniqueness. Each visible facade of architecture is very important. We carried out researches in two ways; one is the garden type, some enclosed elements are applied in space constraints to achieve orderly space change. Obviously, it is difficult for garden-style to achieve the meaning carried by the building, so we adapted another way that setting a point to make it a whole without scatter, let it become a city landmark and visual focus!  Exterior. Image © Shengliang Su  Sketch  Exterior. Image © Shengliang Su We aimed to design a simple and powerful shape for the building and hope this square can reveal the profound meaning of "confidence" for the owners, the government and all those who work for the high-speed rail new town project. The outer curtain wall is composed of vertical components, which has the elegant and dynamic effect and is implied "the Curtain Rises".  Exterior. Image © Shengliang Su  Exterior. Image © Shengliang Su The height of the building is particularly important, so we set the height of the building in line with those on the high-speed rail. With height fixed, length and width will be determined to be 46 meters in proportion to the column span and other factors. The outer appearance is made up of aluminium square rods. The standard segments comprised of the outer appearance size and spacing corresponds strictly to the column net. Each rod is divided into five equal parts and its inner side is treated with dark lines and its end side is treated with curling to make the building more flexible and soft.  Interior. Image © Qilin Zhang  Exterior. Image © Shengliang Su As for landscape, we emphasize on the application of the waterscape to ensure the full reflection by setting the road leading to the main entrance of the building on the side. The elegant curved profile of the building is inverted in the water, which is very charming. The image of the outer appearance is conceived from a musical instrument called Marimba. The building is solidified music. We hope that this small building can play the splendid music against the water sky. Exterior. Image © Shengliang Su  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| North Residences / bureau^proberts Posted: 09 Nov 2018 12:00 PM PST  © Mindi Cooke
 © Mindi Cooke Text description provided by the architects. Situated on a compact site comprising just over 500m2 along a stretch of stunning Gold Coast beachfront, NORTH residences are designed to occupy an entire floor, with wide living areas located on the building's northern edge to give residents uninterrupted ocean views. Drawing cues from the surrounding natural environment, a series of folding concrete spandrels skirt the northern and southern facade of the building inspired by the natural crevasses formed in the adjacent rock formation of the headland. These provide a strong element of layering within the facades and control privacy to habitable rooms along the edge of the building. Sill heights in living areas fall away to the expansive northern aspect.  © Mindi Cooke  © Mindi Cooke Much of Queensland's early beach house architecture is characterized by broad verandas, open breezeways and a connection to the outdoor environment. The function of the beach house verandah is to provide a threshold between indoor sheltered space and the exposed conditions of the beachfront and to allow for an extension of the living space that is external but sheltered. The planning and form response for the building has been generated by its desirable North Eastern aspect and outlook. Operable living zones have been located along this edge to maximize connection with their coastal context. Each dwelling has been designed to encourage and allow passive climate control and maximize the energy efficiency of the building through natural light, ventilation and solar protection.  © Mindi Cooke  Section  © Mindi Cooke Large operable sliding doors to the east, hinged panels to the north and openings to the south and west can be opened and closed off to suit environmental conditions and seasons and allow cross ventilation all year round. Double-loaded corridors open up to a rear screened verandah allowing for cross ventilation through the building at all times. Sun protection is achieved through horizontal slab extensions along the north and eastern facades which shade the facade. The western façade is screened from floor to ceiling to prevent heat loading from the hot afternoon sun. Use of raw and natural materials that give an honesty to the fabric of the building and a durability that is appropriate for its proximity to the ocean.  © Mindi Cooke  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 09 Nov 2018 11:00 AM PST  Building is iconic and recognizable in the surrounding environment. Image © Taipei Ceng
Text description provided by the architects. ZCC is located in the Economic and Technological Development Zone of Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, the surrounding development and construction is mature; the site is located along the Leshan Road, the main development axis of Zhangjiang city, with convenient transportation; Leshan Avenue extends eastward to the Zhanjiang Bay Bridge and crosses the Wulishan Harbor, connected to the natural landscape of the city. The total construction area of the project is 96,930.09 m2 and the building height is 204.0 m. It is the landmark building of Zhanjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone and the tallest building in western Guangdong.  Night view, architectural lighting decoration. Image © Taipei Ceng  Design Generation  Building blocks are staggering and climbing. Image © Taipei Ceng Create a logo of CBD  Podium space: high lobby, arcade and grey space. Image © Taipei Ceng  Environment Analysis  A bird's-eye view from west to east of the building along the Leshan route. Image © Taipei Ceng Facing urban life  Building Detail. Image © Taipei Ceng Responding to the bay scene  Office lobby interior space. Image © Taipei Ceng Fun space  Leisure facilities combined with greenery in the roof garden and overhead floor. Image © Taipei Ceng Efficient, practical, flexible, and regular building graphic design, economical and reasonable structure makes the project easy to implement. Regular and practical office space combine with the experience space provided by the Sky Garden to create an office building with suitable environment and excellent quality. We pay attention to the high degree of completion of the project and the balanced control of the budget. Under the control of cost of 4ooo yuan/m2, the city's benchmark office products have been realized, and the industrial clustering effect has been formed. After the sale is less than one year, it has been sold more than half. All the costs have already been recovered, a very good social response and market reaction has been achieved. The project won the Silver Award of the 4th Shenzhen Architectural Design Award in 2018.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Bays 6-8 Heritage Warehouse Office / BJB Architects Posted: 09 Nov 2018 09:00 AM PST  © Mike Chorley
 © Mike Chorley Text description provided by the architects. The Bays sets out to redefine the 'shared office' concept, by giving businesses the opportunity to occupy private spaces within a larger collective community. This creates a collaborative environment where good ideas come to grow.  © Mike Chorley  © Mike Chorley Located under the northern approach to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the industrial heritage of Bays 6, 7 and 8 has been preserved and enriched through the use of a raw, exposed steel structure and repurposed shipping containers. A strong focus on creating a richly textured and layered building fabric from raw and unfinished materials establishes a benchmark for responsible sustainable architecture.  © Mike Chorley The adaptive reuse of The Bays, Middlemiss Street has breathed new life into an otherwise neglected space, whilst minimising resources and the footprint of the project, as well as protecting and showcasing historic value.  © Mike Chorley  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Neighborhood Center Refurbishment in Noallo de Abaixo / Muiños Otero López Arquitectura Posted: 09 Nov 2018 08:00 AM PST  © Héctor Santos-Diez
 © Héctor Santos-Diez Previous stage When the previous building is in a situation of total ruin, with the structure about to collapse, the entire project is reformulated.  © Héctor Santos-Diez On the ground floor a single polyvalent diaphanous room is organized, intended for various activities (lectures, workshops, meetings, meals, courses, etc). In addition to the main room, an area of trade and a toilet adapted to the disabled is defined. This interior area is complemented by the walkable roof as a garden. For access to the ground floor an exonartex is generated, partially covered, but open. It incorporates a waiting bench taking advantage of a stretch of the retaining wall, like a liquidambar that crosses the building through a roof skylight.  © Héctor Santos-Diez Intervention The central idea of the project is to give prominence to the church of Noallo de Abaixo, using as a strategy to create a benchmark at the municipal level, a building-plaza that articulates the environment of the place and function as a meeting node and social capacitor.  © Héctor Santos-Diez With the re-dimensioning of the building to be reformed, it is fundamentally that the church regains its leading role in the square, recovering the preponderance that it had originally in the duel of scales.  Situation With regard to the garden cover, a flexible and polyvalent space is sought that, as a spontaneous and alternative occupation of the street, becomes a new option for the different groups, such as young people, women, children, readers, etc. It is intended to be a porous social container, open, recognizable by the whole community and inviting its entry as a catalyst for different cultural activities.  © Héctor Santos-Diez Description of the intervention Construction process  © Héctor Santos-Diez Structure  © Héctor Santos-Diez Due to the minimal budget that the intervention had, all the structural elements are elements seen. In addition to keeping the roof slab seen without any false ceiling, the retaining walls, and the slab, the shuttering panels themselves have been reused for the execution of joinery and for the paneling of the retaining wall as a vertical covering. For the trade and toilet area, the same type of board for the false ceiling is continued.  Isometric and Sketches This constructive sincerity in terms of showing the supporting skeleton of the building made entirely of reinforced concrete, attempts to qualify with the use of wood for the execution of the facade carpentry and with the use of formwork panels as a paneling in the concrete wall of greater dimension.  © Héctor Santos-Diez The light  © Héctor Santos-Diez Materials In floors, the concrete slab will be maintained in all the rooms, applying a sealing and a varnishing of transparent epoxy resins matte as protection.  © Héctor Santos-Diez For false ceilings, in addition to showing the slab of broken concrete, the formwork panels for the false ceiling in the service areas are reused. The exterior carpentry is made with crossbeams and profiles of carpentry of ecological pine.  © Héctor Santos-Diez Furniture and re-use.  © Héctor Santos-Diez Final assessment On the roof of the building, we choose the execution of a staircase that allows access to the garden square with views of the valley.  © Héctor Santos-Diez In addition to incorporating liquidambar tree in the entrance vestibule, in the plaza-cover, creeping rosemary, lavender, hypericum, cotoneaster horizontalis and grevilleas are introduced.  © Héctor Santos-Diez This space for community relations is also endowed with a protection handrail as well as residence benches for the neighbors. To hide the evacuation of gases, the duct is covered with a skin of wooden sleepers, with the same execution system as the benches.  © Héctor Santos-Diez For the execution of the roof, it is decided to differentiate between the areas of stay, with a wooden sleeper flooring, of the non-passable areas, where you opt for landscaping, looking for the building to be diluted in the landscape.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Bleecker Street / Junzi Kitchen Posted: 09 Nov 2018 06:00 AM PST  © Andres Orozco
 © Andres Orozco Text description provided by the architects. The space is designed to embrace the all-time dynamic street life of Greenwich Village, which was once regarded as a paradigm of urban dwelling. Occupying a corner space with large windows stretching across the street-facing walls and an open panelized storefront folded on both sides, the dining room becomes an extension of the bustling street life outside. Flooded with natural light, the front dining room houses two communal tables at center, while birch banquette seating upholstered with light gray leather lines the back wall, accompanied by white marble tables atop mint green bases throughout the room. A bar counter at the back is tiled in mint green, with illuminated metal mesh hanging above, reflecting the street vibes of the neighborhood. The floor is primarily poured concrete that blurs the boundary between the street and the restaurant, accented by a silver-inlaid grey-and-white terrazzo tile rectangle, where the communal tables sit.  © Andres Orozco Beyond the bar is a tiled counter where food is ordered and prepared. A corridor to the left connects several niches on the white-painted brick wall for display. A light pink neon sign illuminates where guests lining up to order, adding a contrasting tint to the color palette. The corridor ends at the back room—a smaller, quieter dining area with art displayed on the walls.  © Andres Orozco In effort to reframe the perception of Chinese culture in the US, the design team refrained from using traditional, clichéd patterns or symbols, instead chose to play with simple form and contrasting color palettes. "The color inspiration came through a childhood memory of the early spring season in Northern China, when this type of food is made by families following the lunar calendar tradition. Mint-green color against snow white, along with warm texture of natural birch, the combination perfectly captures the look, the fresh smell and the spirit of germination and growth, which is the key to the ambience of the space." Xuhui said. Custom made, mint green porcelain tiles cover the service counter, contrasting with the white-brick and light grey concrete lining the space. Different faces of the storefront are meticulously finished in mint green and white, creating a pure white visual effect along the street-front, blending in with the landmarked building aesthetic.  Floor Plan Brass pendant lighting hangs from the ceiling, providing a metallic accent, illuminated by milky white spherical bulbs that transition the space's ambience from day to night. To accommodate multiple services within one space, the design team introduced a versatile floor plan, along with a lighting system that renders dynamic colors and shades throughout the space, to adjust the vibe with changes of music, menu and time.  © Andres Orozco  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Frank Gehry's Grand Avenue Towers Finally Set to Begin Construction Posted: 09 Nov 2018 05:00 AM PST  The Grand. Image Courtesy of Gehry Partners Frank Gehry's Grand Avenue towers are finally set to begin construction, over a decade after the project was initially proposed. Conceived as a public-private partnership, the towers are sited across from Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. The project was designed from a central retail core into the two terracing towers with a mix of retail, entertainment and residences. The $1 billion complex aims to turn Grand Avenue into a full entertainment district.  The Grand. Image Courtesy of Gehry Partners Created with developer Related Companies, the Grand Avenue project filed for construction permits in August 2017. As Urbanize LA reports, the complex will include a 39-tower residential tower with 113 condos and 323 apartments (20 percent of which will be available to low-income tenants), and a 20-story tower housing a 314-room Equinox hotel. At the base, shops and restaurants will intermix with entertainment pieces including a movie theater. As Gehry told the LA Times, "You close that piece of Grand Avenue, put some chairs out there and you've got something special. We're not just building buildings, we're building places."  The Grand. Image Courtesy of Gehry Partners Rick Vogel, Senior Vice President of Related Urban, the mixed-use division of Related, said that, "Today is an exciting day not just for Related and our partners, including CORE, Deutsche Bank, and the Grand Avenue Authority, but for all of Downtown Los Angeles and the region. With the close of financing, the momentum on The Grand continues, and Related, the County, City and CRA/LA's longstanding vision for Grand Avenue will soon become a reality." Site preparation will begin this month, while the Grand Avenue development is scheduled to open in 2021.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Korus Headquarters Refurbishment / Lautrefabrique Architectes Posted: 09 Nov 2018 04:00 AM PST  © Luc Boegly
 © Luc Boegly Text description provided by the architects. Committed to the transformation of its workspace into a place of living and sharing, Korus, has rethought its collaborative effectiveness, establishing new paradigms for working together.  © Luc Boegly Previously spread over a two-storey building, Korus now wishes to develop its former storage warehouse to bring its employees into new spaces conducive to their development and creativity while making its head office the showcase of its expertise : the development of commercial spaces.  © Luc Boegly The architects worked to reveal and stage-manage the values of the land claimed by Korus. Nature and authenticity are anchored in a project of local rural tradition, whether in the use of a formal register taking the skylights of agricultural dryers of the region or by using to the colours of adobe buildings in the valley or surrounding forests.  © Luc Boegly The "Warehouse" is thoroughly stripped out, recyclable elements such as cladding are put into storage, leaving only the frame and roof. The facade on the south side is made up of a curtain wall from top to bottom, protected by motorized brise-soleils.  © Luc Boegly In the centre of the Warehouse, an amphitheatre staircase serves as a forum, suitable for informal meetings as well as for assembly presentations. The amphitheatre offers spectacular views over the valley, plunges onto the double height work space. A forest of woodland-coloured cones, suspended above the desks, reduces reverberation times and weakens the perceived noise level. The acoustic studies led to the installation of large quantities of sound absorbing materials to compensate for the hardness of the materials voluntarily left unfinished and visible.  1st floor plan  © Luc Boegly  2nd floor plan The "Beehive" is a multi-purpose and versatile space that can accommodate around forty people for all types of activities at any time of the day : welcoming visitors, formal or informal meetings, lunch-break events, relaxation, or work sessions.  © Luc Boegly The gateway crossed, the visitor is caught up by a breath-taking panoramic view overlooking a picturesque and unspoilt valley, bordered from east to west by the Chartreuse and Vercors mountains, framing in its centre Grenoble and the Belledone range.  © Luc Boegly A very long bar, with curved ends, a pewter top and a base lined with the cladding sheets of the warehouse, symbolizes the disruptive will of this project in which reception desk and logo of the brand are prohibited. The way to welcome visitors to the new headquarters of Korus is completely redesigned. The bar gathers all the functions necessary for its multiple uses.  © Luc Boegly The Beehive has specific alcoves intended for creativity, manual work, stimulation of creativity and innovation and dedicated to the exhibition of materials, books, etc ...  © Luc Boegly Usable throughout the day as a place of informal exchanges, at lunch time The Beehive becomes the employees' refectory. The kitchen is located behind the shell of an old Citroën Tub. Evoking both the truck-food and the multi-service van that crisscrossed the countryside until the late 70's.  © Luc Boegly The convivial spaces of the Beehive extend outside with a series of terraces, and steps oriented toward the valley, a shade-house expressing the quintessence of this incredible connection with the great landscape.  © Luc Boegly  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| ecoLogicStudio's Bio-Digital Curtain Fights Climate Change by Filtering Air and Creating Bioplastic Posted: 09 Nov 2018 03:00 AM PST  © NAARO London-based architectural and urban design firm ecoLogicStudio has unveiled a large-scale "urban curtain" designed to fight climate change. "Photo.Synth.Etica" was developed in collaboration with Climate-KIC, the most prominent climate innovation initiative from the European Union, to "accelerate solutions to global climate change." Photo.Synth.Etica, currently on display at the Printworks Building in Ireland's Dublin Castle, captures and stores one kilogram of CO2 per day, the equivalent to that of 20 large trees.  © NAARO The prototype is composed of 16 modules measuring 2 x 7 meters, covering the first and second floor of the historic building, recently featured in our architectural guide to Dublin. Each module functions as a photobioreactor: "a digitally designed and custom-made bioplastic container that utilizes daylight to feed the living micro-algal cultures and releases luminescent shades at night."  © NAARO The filtration process involved urban air introduced to the bottom of the façade, causing air bubbles to rise through the watery medium within the bioplastic. CO2 and other pollutants are captured and stored in the algae, and grow into biomass. The biomass can be harvested and used in the production of bioplastic, which is in turn used as the main building material of the photobioreactors themselves. The process culminates with freshly-filtered oxygen released from the top of each façade unit.  © NAARO
 © NAARO The innovative filtration-come-shading system is adaptable into existing and newly-designed buildings, taking a strong position within visions of futuristic architecture dominated by smart cities, smart homes, and robotic factories.  © NAARO
 © NAARO News via: ecoLogicStudio Architect: ecoLogicStudio (Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto)  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| "Dômes Charlevoix" Eco-Luxurious Accommodations / Bourgeois / Lechasseur architectes Posted: 09 Nov 2018 02:00 AM PST  © Maxime Valsan
 © Maxime Valsan "Dômes Charlevoix" is a new concept of four seasons eco-luxurious accommodations located in Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, next to the Massif de Charlevoix, near Quebec City. The three domes, the first phase of a larger tourist project, blend in harmoniously with the landscape.  © Maxime Valsan Each one is located on the mountain side and perfectly integrated to the landscape. They can be accessed via a path through the trees from a common parking lot at the entrance. The dome is set on a wooden patio and houses a spa overlooking the natural setting.  Floor Plan The south-facing windowed area offers a breathtaking view of the St. Lawrence River and maximizes exposure to natural light. The radiant concrete floor adds a touch of comfort and helps maintain a more uniform temperature inside the domes. The grey canvas and the fireplace create a warm and cozy atmosphere.  © Maxime Valsan A black streamlined service area is set in the centre: In the volume are concealed a kitchen, the main bed and a bathroom with Italian shower. A boat staircase leads to a second bed above the service area. A true invitation to experience luxury in the mountains, in harmony with nature and its elements.  © Maxime Valsan  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Herzog & de Meuron's Mountain Outpost Brings "Architectural Ambition" to the Swiss Alps Posted: 09 Nov 2018 01:00 AM PST  Courtesy of Herzog & de Meuron Herzog & de Meuron have unveiled their proposal for a mountain outpost in the Swiss Alps. "TITLIS 3020" is situated on one of Switzerland's most renowned tourist attractions, the 3000-meter-high Mount Titlis. The design forms part of a master plan for the area developed by Herzog & de Meuron, which includes the construction of the outpost, the redevelopment of an old beam antenna tower, and redevelopment of an underground tunnel.  Courtesy of Herzog & de Meuron The mountain outpost will replace a summit station built in 1967 which is currently unable to meet modern demands. For the scheme's design, Herzog & de Meuron sought to give architectural ambition to a typology which is often designed to be purely functional. TITLIS 3020 belongs to "a new generation of Alpine architecture that aims to do justice to the breathtaking landscape by ensuring a corresponding architectural experience of the kind now familiar to us in cities."
News via: Herzog & de Meuron  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Art, Architecture and a Modern Office / Alexander Martin Architects Posted: 09 Nov 2018 12:00 AM PST  © Simone Bossi
 © Simone Bossi Text description provided by the architects. Alexander Martin Architects (AMA) has repurposed an 18th century listed Georgian townhouse for use as a private office in Mayfair, London. The brief was to create a headquarters that could accommodate large meetings and events, whilst simultaneously providing private offices and workspace. A core challenge was to adapt the demands of a modern office within six relatively small floor plates yet ensure that the historical character of the building was restored and celebrated.  © Simone Bossi Working in tandem with the architect, Lady Deirdre Dyson developed a carpeting scheme to give harmony to the building and bring colour and a sense of luxury to the new office space.  Ground floor plan Edwardian features were introduced when the buildings were remodelled in 1910, however, subsequent alterations eroded the historic character of the buildings over time. AMA revisited the original Georgian floor plans to re-establish the order and proportion of the internal spaces removing the two storey rear extension and lift shaft and re-instating the rear facade and bay window.  © Simone Bossi To restore the circulation within the building, the existing Edwardian oak staircase was remodeled to work within the original stair compartment and a large frameless rooflight added to bring natural daylight into the heart of the building. The existing service passages were adapted to create a new lift shaft, connecting the front and rear rooms.  © Simone Bossi The programmatic elements form a hierarchical arrangement over the six storeys, with the principal meeting, boardroom and ancillary service spaces located at lower ground floor level, main reception and meeting rooms on the ground floor, and private offices and workspace on the upper floors. A new glazed courtyard was inserted into the lower ground floor, providing a backdrop for the boardroom and breakout lounges.  Section A landscaped garden at the rear provides a space for quiet reflection, while the copper clad garden room introduces a modern addition to enjoy the garden in a more intimate setting. This connects to the principal rooms on the lower ground floor by a floating stone and bronze stair.  © Simone Bossi The refurbishment of the key period rooms began by restoring the original plasterwork, wall mouldings and skirtings, with bespoke joinery pieces introduced as freestanding furniture. The traditional wainscoting was reinterpreted in order to define the workspaces using flush oak panels, concealing services and providing a robust wall finish.  First floor plan Materials were selected for their timeless quality, echoing those present in the original building. A palette of natural oak, stone and plastered walls provides a backdrop for the Deirdre Dyson carpets, which connect the space through complimentary hues, whilst enhancing individual rooms through dramatic bursts of colour. Fourteen of Lady Dyson's contemporary designs, some hand knotted, free-standing room size carpets and others tufted and fitted were commissioned, totalling 350 sqm of luxurious wool and silk carpeting.  © Simone Bossi Overlooking the copper clad garden room is a rug with dramatic copper silk stripes. The central staircase is hugged from top to bottom by a stair runner tonally graded to continually flow from dark to light, creating a sense of movement.  © Simone Bossi  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Cities Designed by Famous Architects Posted: 08 Nov 2018 11:00 PM PST  An aerial view of the planned Masdar City. While most architects are remembered for a monumental structure or commission, many of the most prolific names in the field at one point or another set their sights on designing the entirety of a city. Often venturing abroad to see their aesthetic vision come to life across unfamiliar territory (and often, an unsuspecting populace), city planning posed the perfect opportunity to realize one's architectural doctrine across unimaginable scales. Below, brush up on some of the biggest ventures into urban planning. Whether these plans failed or came to fruition, they ultimately function as crucial insights into the consequences of an outsider defining sense of place and space for a foreign audience for generations. Manila, PhilippinesDaniel Burnham, 1905  Another depiction of Burnham's master plan for Manila. Many cite Burnham's Beaux-Arts plan for the city of Chicago as one of the architect's defining legacies, but his glimmering neoclassical vision for urban living didn't stop there. The architect was instrumental in shaping many of the monumental and public buildings in Washington, D.C., in addition to putting forth plans for Cleveland, San Francisco as well as Baguio Park and Manila in Philippines. Although Burnham's 1905 masterplan for Manila was never fully realized due to the outbreak of World War II, several aspects of it live on today, including Roxas Boulevard and several government buildings. It is easy to find the references to Burnham's City Beautiful movement in his plans, as parkways and grand boulevards with terminating vistas radiate from the city center and take on an almost organic appearance reminiscent of Olmstead's landscapes. His designs for Dewey Boulevard, now Roxas Boulevard, are reminiscent of Chicago's Lake Shore Drive and Navy Pier, and Manila's Central Post Office building and City Hall are echoes of some of Washington's federal monuments. While Manila's current population is exponentially larger than it was when Burnham drew his initial designs for the city, and continue to sprawl, the architect's vision for a pedestrian-friendly city may not be entirely out-of-reach. In his original plans for the city, Burnham intended for Manila to be The City Beautiful of the Orient, drawing from the architectural legacies and aesthetic leanings of Western cities such as Paris, Rome and Venice. His plan had five components, including designating certain sites for recreation and commerce, developing waterways for transportation, planning the city street system and creating summer resorts. While Burnham's plan remains largely uncompleted in Manila and Baguio–which was intended to serve as the Philippines summer capital, aspects of both cities maintain the framework of his original vision, before receding into the more modern and frenetic fabric of these rapidly growing cities. Tehran, IranVictor Gruen, 1968 and Louis Kahn, 1973  Kahn's monolithic designs dot the arid landscape. Architects Victor Gruen and Louis Kahn were both solicited by the Iranian government in the mid and late 20th century to design master plans for Tehran's urban center and lay the framework for future growth and expansion. While both plans ultimately failed–due to a combination of geopolitical pressures and upheaval, in addition to Kahn's untimely passing–Gruen and Kahn's visions for the Middle Eastern metropolis shed light on each architect's understanding of urban life, nation-building and the role of sociopolitical forces. Gruen's masterplan for the city, which was prepared jointly with Farmanfarmaian Associates, laid the framework for city life at scales ranging from highways and road systems, to palaces, apartment complexes and even satellite towns. Gruen's work in Tehran during the sixties was strongly influenced by the Shah's autocratic agenda in the midst of political and ideological turmoil. As his hold over the country unraveled during the Cold War and Iranian Revolution, Gruen vision for Tehran similarly lost footing. Eventually, it was discarded due to its associations with Western power and modernization. Gruen's urban plan for Tehran is heavily influenced by modernist design philosophy and communitarian ideals, lending the city meticulous hierarchies of order and structure. Reminiscent of Ebenezer Howard's turn-of-the-century Garden City movement, Gruen's expansive master plan realized the city at different scales. Around a metro core, he planned for there to be ten cities, each consisting of ten towns around a city center. Each town, in turn, would have four communities around a town center, and each community would contain five neighborhoods. (link to my Gruen article) Kahn's 1973 plan for Tehran's city center built upon Gruen's previous framework, but did much to change the spatial organization of the city. Kahn's extended the urban center northward, lending the city a more linear form. He relocated Gruen's plans for a central plaza to the foothills of the Alborz Mountains, in place of housing and greenspace, making the commercial center more removed from the city center. While Gruen's cityscape appears to unravel organically from the base of the Alborz, Kahn's version of urbanism is distinctly more symmetric and axial. His site plans reveal a purposeful balance and symbolism as a means of defining sense of place. While Kahn's vision was never fully realized in the wake of his passing and the city's rapid urbanization, his and Gruen's monumental plans for Tehran reveal a drastic range of possibility and perspective regarding urban growth and nation-building. Masdar City, United Arab EmiratesFoster + Partners, 2014  Masdar City is expected to be completed in the year 2030. City plans spearheaded by architects are not just the product of a bygone era. The Middle East once again serves as the template for Foster + Partner's latest venture in Abu Dhabi: Masdar City. Located near Abu Dhabi International Airport, the city is intended to serve as a new technological hub that will run entirely on solar power and other renewable energy sources, in addition to being walkable and featuring mixed use, high density building. In its original designs, automobiles were banned in favor of personal and public transit systems (currently, electric and clean-energy vehicles are allowed for mass transit inside the city). A perimeter wall designed to block hot desert winds and promote air circulation within the city also creates physical limits to the growth of Masdar City. Arguably more so than the previously discussed plans, Foster + Partner's design for Masdar City draws heavily from regional and vernacular architectural styles. Many of the buildings are constructed in terracotta and adorned with arabesque designs. A 45-meter-high wind tower, a raised site, short and narrow streets and closely clustered buildings all modeled after traditional and ancient Arabic building designs all work to keep the city 15 to 20 °C (27 to 36 °F) cooler than the surrounding desert. Despite these considerations and substantial political and financial backing, the completion and habitation of Masdar City has been a slow and largely fraught process. Initiated in 2006 and projected to take eight years to finish, the first phase of the project has yet to be completed, with final completion pushed back to 2030. Originally intended to house 45,000 to 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses in addition to supporting 60,000 commuting workers, several hundred Masdar Institute students are the sole residents on site and the city currently employs fewer than 2,000 people. As projects of this scale and vision continue to be pursued–especially in the Middle East and Asia–it is important to weigh the costs of constructing a city anew rather than retrofitting existing cities to be more environmentally resilient and supportive of socioeconomic diversity.
 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Hotel Schgaguler / Peter Pichler Architecture Posted: 08 Nov 2018 10:00 PM PST  © Oskar Dariz
 © Oskar Dariz Text description provided by the architects. Peter Pichler Architecture won a competition in 2015 to fully reconstruct the existing "Hotel Schgaguler", located in the heart of the Dolomites, mountains and landscapes protected by the UNESCO. The small village of Castelrotto in North Italy is known for his folkloric culture and the relationship with its nature and surrounding mountains. The Schgaguler was built in 1986 and renovated in 2018 by Peter Pichler Architecture.  © Martin Schgaguler ARCHITECTURE  © Oskar Dariz The expressive exoskeleton facade changes according to orientation and program. At the north/east facade, with mostly corridors and public spaces, the almost sculptural structure is less depth. At the south facade the tapered geometry has more depth and creates loggias with natural shading. The bright grey color of the chalk containing render of the facade is inspired by the rocks of the surrounding mountains.  © Oskar Dariz  4th floor plan  © Oskar Dariz Tradition and culture are key elements in the design of the Hotel. Simple and functional interiors with open layouts are combined with local materials such as chestnut wood or local Stones and textiles. Public spaces like lobby, bar and restaurant are located on the ground floor. The Bar connects to a wide and sunny terrace with impressive views towards the Sciliar mountain. The underground level hosts the wellness facilities, Spa and beauty.  © Oskar Dariz The rooms and suites are located in the above levels and are characterized by timeless design that evokes a cosy atmosphere. Open bathrooms with free-standing bathtubs invite you taking a soothing bath after a hike or ski tour.  © Oskar Dariz  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Broissin Arquitectos Reinterprets the Tree House in Glass Posted: 08 Nov 2018 09:00 PM PST  © Alexander D'La Roche Design House, which is held annually within the framework of Design Week Mexico, is celebrating its tenth anniversary. In this year's edition, 24 local designers and architects transformed an abandoned home, each restoring a room or outdoor area. One of these interventions, by Broissin Architects, reconstructed the outdoor patio into a micro-forest with the small, glass house placed on a centenary ash tree. .jpg?1540326894 "© Alexander D'La Roche") © Alexander D'La Roche
.jpg?1540326883 "© Alexander D'La Roche") © Alexander D'La Roche In popular culture, the tree house is a symbol that refers to childhood and the search for a personal sanctuary that gives us refuge, allows us to disconnect, and in turn, a site for adventures and dreams. Although this space is conventionally made of wood, the design team reinterpreted it in glass provided by Saint-Gobain. Acting as the conclusion of the Design House, the project refers to the play 'Privacy' by Diego Luna, spokesman for this project, where the supposed privacy that social networks promise us is questioned. In the same way, the transparency of the house also seeks to invite reflection on the privacy that is sought in a built space, elements that are sometimes compromised by the misuse of space, by the user itself, or by factors of the architectural design, as is the case premeditated in this exercise. .jpg?1540326905 "© Alexander D'La Roche") © Alexander D'La Roche Learn more about Design Week Mexico here.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| You are subscribed to email updates from ArchDaily. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
Nema komentara:
Objavi komentar