Arch Daily

Stefano Corbo Studio's Design Seeks to Transform a Prague School into an "Autonomous Micro-City"
The World's First Zero-Waste Bio-Brick is Grown from Human Urine
Yves Béhar Unveils LivingHomes Accessory Dwelling Units in Los Angeles
Stibbe Law Firm Headquarters / JCAU B.V.
Office for Stark Games / Studio11
SWhouse_Office and house in Nha Trang / Chon.a
White Digger / Tomas Ghisellini Architects
Artek HQ Helsinki / SevilPeach
Suang Lien Xinzhuang Social Welfare Center / JJP
Office Renovation with Street / NI&Co. Architects
Beyond / SAOTA
Tower House / BandukSmith Studio
Royal Alberta Museum / DIALOG
House of Fir / kt814 architecture
COOKFOX Studio / COOKFOX Architects
Torre Reforma Wins the 2018 International Highrise Award
Sun House / Bernardo Bustamante Arquitectos
Benthem Crouwel Designs "Recycled and Recyclable" Science Faculty for the University of Amsterdam
house jja / TAAB6
How Hip-Hop Architecture is Making its Own Space

Stefano Corbo Studio's Design Seeks to Transform a Prague School into an "Autonomous Micro-City"

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 10:00 PM PDT

Prague's architecture is known for a patchwork of buildings ranging in styles and eras. A recent proposal for the redesign of the Trojska Skola aims to supplement a similar cohesive attitude to the space. Titled, Dissonant Unity, the project designed by Stefano Corbo Studio explores the ways to incorporate new programs and increased public space to an existing grammar and primary school with an attached sports center, auditorium, and cafeteria.

The original construction from 1928 will house the grammar school that includes multiple classrooms, multimedia spaces, and storage areas, while preserving the basement as is. The 1951 and 2010 additions will be altered to create a new building for the primary school featuring a large multipurpose hall on the ground level with further recreational program on the upper floors. In correlation to these spaces, the new building accommodates a caretaker apartment along with ecological and visual arts classrooms. The proposal also advocates for more communal spaces, such as the creation of the grand hall that serves as a public event space and cafeteria.

Instead of occupying the complete site, the project proposes for a more condensed built area to allow for the creation of vast green space for students to occupy during the day. Possibilities of having playgrounds, a basketball court, and other outdoor amenities now seem more plausible in this scheme despite being in a dense urban fabric.

Reiterating the concept, each of the individual programs has its own entrance and autonomous layout but is connected by a new circulation system to create "an interconnected agglomeration of distinct fragments." This enables a more dynamic environment to have multiple activities ongoing without being disruptive to each other. The circulation strategy is intended to trigger interaction; the two entrances are connected by a public promenade as a central focal point for such encounters and help to unify the complex.

The bricolage of round arches, irregular openings, and semi-circular patterns is intended to accentuate the random yet intentional cohesiveness of the project's planimetric layout. The arches draw inspiration from the history of the city of Prague, with its vaulted buildings, while the circular external staircase reflects the design principles of modernism as seen in the Czech Republic.

Through this formal and typological language deployed in the design, a homogenous ensemble is created to allow the old and new to simultaneously coexist.

News via Stefano Corbo Studio

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

The World's First Zero-Waste Bio-Brick is Grown from Human Urine

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 09:00 PM PDT

Some years ago, researchers in the United States previously tested the concept of using synthetic urine-based substances to fabricate building materials. However, new research conducted by Masters student Suzanne Lambert at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, puts forth a zero-waste process of producing urine-based bricks by using collected human urine for the first time.

The process of creating the brick is not unlike the natural process of seashell formation. The scientific process, microbial carbonate precipitation, requires that loose sand is colonized with bacteria. The bacteria produce a particular enzyme, urease, that can break down urea, a compound created in the liver when it combines ammonia molecules with carbon dioxide molecules, in urine, creating calcium carbonate as the process's byproduct. This reaction hardens the sand and, with Lambert's particular mold, creates a rectangular brick.

At a time when environmentally sustainable building practices are at the foundation of architectural ingenuity, engineering building materials like the bio-brick present new technologies for the future, replacing traditional building techniques. Unlike regular bricks that require a kiln that reaches temperatures of 2552 degrees Fahrenheit (1400 degrees Celsius), producing carbon dioxide, the bio-brick is produced at room temperature and can be modulated to fit a particular size mold and strength.

"If a client wanted a brick stronger than a 40% limestone brick, you would allow the material to make the solid stronger by 'growing' it for longer. The longer you allow the bacteria to make the cement, the stronger the product is going to be. We can optimize that process."
– Dr. Dyllon Randall

The zero-waste process of bio-brick formation produces critical by-products such as nitrogen and potassium. In addition, 97% of the phosphorus in the urine is converted into calcium phosphate. All three ingredients can be recycled and repurposed to produce commercial fertilizers.

News via University of Cape Town

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Yves Béhar Unveils LivingHomes Accessory Dwelling Units in Los Angeles

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 08:30 PM PDT

LivingHomes YB1. Image Courtesy of Yves Béhar, Plant Prefab

Swiss Designer Yves Béhar has partnered with Plant Prefab to create LivingHome YB1, a series of Accessory Dwelling Units to be unveiled at the Summit festival in Los Angeles. Designed to address California's legislation, the ADU aims to encourage increased urban density while limiting the environmental impact of new construction. LivingHomes YB1 is the first in a line of structures made to rethink prefab and increase accessibility, livability, and sustainability.

Known as Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), these city-based "Tiny Homes" address urban and suburban demand (and rising costs) for housing. ADUs are being recognized as a solution for family members, aging parents, students and people who are starting out. The YB1 is designed from a system Yves developed with LivingHomes to accommodate different roof lines, different sizes, different layouts for windows, various interior requirements and different climatic conditions.

The YB1 can be configured to include a full kitchen, bathroom with a shower, a living room, and a bedroom or office. Appliances, finishes and lighting and electrical in the YB1 can be selected by the owners and all come pre-installed and ready to go. The design is environmentally friendly, using materials like Forest Stewardship Council certified wood siding and cement panels. he construction of prefab ADUs are exceeding environmentally-sensitive and cut down on the impact of construction significantly. The homes are constructed in one month and take one day to install on-site.

Yves Béhar is a designer well-known for his groundbreaking innovations in creating smart solutions to improve everyday life. LivingHomes and Plant Prefab, which are leading the movement in prefabricated buildings in the United States, have been consistent innovators in the field, partnering with industry leaders to create units that are sustainable, technologically advanced, and, first and foremost, livable. Looking forward, the next generation of the units will be standardized and with a lower cost achieved through cutting-edge robotic manufacturing at the Plant fabrication facility, which is backed by Obvious Ventures and Amazon's Alexa Fund.

Plant Prefab CEO Steve Glenn said, "We are incredibly excited to partner with Yves Béhar on his first home product for a really critical, fast growing segment in housing: ADUs/Tiny Homes. Yves is one of the top designers in the world and the YB1, the first in a line of LivingHomes he's designed for us, reflects the incredible attention to form and functionality and ecological footprint that he brings to all products he develops."

"Following our work on efficient living with robotic furniture company ORI, I'm excited to extend the passion for tiny homes and prefab by partnering with LivingHomes. For me, the next frontier of design is to think of the entire home as a product that a homeowner can shape to their needs in terms of size, usage, aesthetic and lifestyle," said Yves Béhar , founder and CEO of fuseproject. "This is why we're interested in the customizable nature of prefabricated ADU's: people want their living environment to be a reflection of their specific life needs. The design goal of the LivingHomes ADU is adding urban density with a range of sizes and home designs while providing a building system that delivers on sustainable and efficient living in urban areas."

Pricing for YB1 is around $280,000. In the future, Yves Béhar aims for the design to be available for less than $100,000.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Stibbe Law Firm Headquarters / JCAU B.V.

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 08:00 PM PDT

Architects: JCAU B.V.
Location: Beethovenplein 10, Zuidas Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Lead Architects: Thomas Offermans, Jo Coenen
Design Team: DWA, Royal Haskoning, Fokkema en Partners, Henning Larsens
Area: 14500.0 m2
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Frans Hanswijk

Execution Team: Dura Vermeer, Homij
Subcontractors: Rollecate, Van Stokkum, Buiting Staalbouw
Investor: Union

Text description provided by the architects. Stibbe headquarter's urban context is characterized by the variety of spheres and different scale levels: to the east, the location is a continuation of Amsterdam's South Axis, whereas the north side is mainly characterized by the A10 highway. On the west side the Beethoven Street is the main route to the city centre while the east side is situated in the Beatrix Park.

Characteristic of the urban design are the organic footprints. This visual language allows for the park to find continuation around the buildings and to be visible and palpable from the Beethoven Street. The flowing lines of the romantic, classic English garden like Beatrixpark, find continuation in the architectural appearance.

The volume of 14.500m2, with its 9, rather high, levels, has a scale that participates in the definition of the skyline of Amsterdam's Zuidas. The observant viewer also quickly recognizes the human scale in the outspoken transparent plinth, where natural stone and glass are the dominating materials, but also when looking at the floors which, while one goes up, disappear, deflect or are provided with setbacks. Crown to the building is the oval conference room which has been extra articulated and lifted by means of a steel frame and a canopy.

The most public functions are located on the lower floors. A café is placed at the south west corner, a 100 seat auditorium is located at the park side, giving visitors the possibility to step on the terrace, slightly elevated from the terrain. The building's restaurant is placed on the first floor, in close communication with the terrace and the auditorium.

The middle part of the façade is made of curved curtain glass walls with vertical aluminium elements for shading which, depending on where one stands, show the building in always a slightly different way.

The upper levels, in which set backs are created, are reserved for external meeting areas and, on the top floor of the building, the oval partners meeting room.

From the inside, the building is organized around a triangular 8 floor high atrium. Open office spaces, as well as communal areas are organized around this atrium, providing spectacular views and transparency, symbolic for the way lawyers nowadays work. Natural stone, glass, wood and steel are the dominating materials for this atrium in which the steel structure is the main, eye-catching element.

The high-end interior is designed by Fokkema & Partners. An inviting signature was developed for the lobby, the auditorium, the coffee bar, the company restaurant, the library and the full-service meeting facilities. For the central atrium, special acoustic panels were designed. The pattern that was developed emphasizes and reflects the buildings impressive steel structure.

The addition of voids, stairs and design with attention to vistas attributed to the sense of openness. Due to this, the visitors experience has become a journey through the building in which the view of the central atrium, is phenomenal. Stibbe Headquarters got selected by the WAN Awards 2018 and is put on the shortlist for best Commercial building of the year.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Office for Stark Games / Studio11

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 07:00 PM PDT

Architects: Studio11
Location: Minsk, Belarus
Lead Architects: Studio11 team
Other Participants : Done Production
Area: 910.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Dmitry Tsyrencshikov

Text description provided by the architects. Interior project for new office space of Stark Games company emerged as an experiment in terms of color and composition solutions. At the stage of design we took course for greater latitude of solutions, courage of fusions and discovering new color chords. Thus, the concept incorporates around 8 different colors, 7 various materials and a compositional diversity of circles and ellipses. Impeccable organic combination of all ingredients on this palette marked a core vector of the design concept.

The office is divided into separate volumes resolved in different colors, such as:
-          Central block with meeting rooms and offices in mint (flooring, wall finish, plywood surfaces, fabric wall panels, marker boards and glass mullions are all made in mint color);
-          Separate green volumes (carpeting, curtains, desks, glass mullions);
-          Blue work spaces;
-          Red meeting room;
-          Independent kitchen area in red and blue.

The main work space is zoned with plywood shelving unit decorated with plants.
The geometric composition of multicolored carpeting on all office area is a major technique to form the interior and emphasize the layout (volume zoning).

The light system of the whole area is an orthogonal composition of light tubes of different length. It is completely non-contrast with the Armstrong ceiling which we had to adjust to since it was impossible to take down.

The kitchen was left with its original floor of metal cassettes. Bar height island of light-blue artificial stone with lush planting is the central element of the kitchen. Kitchen surface is made of red artificial stone, whereas cabinet facades are composed of light-blue painted glass.

The WC is a contrast of different materialities – rough tile glue texture is combined with a variety of purest reflecting and smooth metal surfaces and tiles.
The techniques used bring together functionality, efficiency and of course aesthetics.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

SWhouse_Office and house in Nha Trang / Chon.a

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 06:00 PM PDT

Architects: Chon.a
Location: Nha Trang, Vietnam
Lead Architects: Nguyen Cong Toan
Design Team: Phan Thanh Son, Tran Kim Trong, Nguyen Thanh Thien
Interior Designer: Duong Thi Tuyet
Area: 640.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Quang Tran

SWhouse is the most apparent witness to our profession's perspective_carries humans to the peace by traditional elements in the ambience of a building.

A building used to live, and incorporate to used like a office- a common form in urban of Viet Nam. We don't talk about this location, the owner demand , character or concepts, materials or process, construction engineering... We just only want to talk about the feeling of peoples living, feeling a peace with the nature inside their soul and in this building.

Elements in traditional architecture such as the light, trees, wind or water surface...especially is "mái hiên nhà"- a space between indoor and out door, a space connect between humans and nature. It is used interwoven in every space of the modern tube house. Along with the cut scene, devide dark and bright space according to the visual perception of each age .

The proplem of microclimate in this house becomes simpler when humans and nature to harmonize and share together. People feel complete of sound, color, tactile, visual and sometimes even taste. The taste of peace in the heart of the urban.

With that spirits, we don't deliberately to create a different elevation, we trying to blend in with the rhythm of the street by setback, elevations, forms, materials and trees in a contemporary context.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

White Digger / Tomas Ghisellini Architects

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 05:00 PM PDT

Architects: Tomas Ghisellini Architects
Location: Nardò, Lecce, Italy
Lead Architects: Tomas Ghisellini, Alice Marzola, Lucrezia Alemanno, Daniele Francesco Petralia
Area: 300.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Tomas Ghisellini

Text description provided by the architects. A brand new wellness space made of transparency is set in the very heart of the Riviera Grand Hotel, the highly renowned historical hotel complex along the Ionian Salento coast.

A fluid sequence of visually and physically communicating rooms is unraveled as a semi-hypogeal irresistible gallery to be gradually and surprisingly discovered.

The spa is literally carved within the golden stone mountain body. Bare rocks, water and pure white sharp and elementary volumes with a hidden bronze inner pulp build a superminimal interior scenario where turkish bath, massage rooms, sea water pools, emotional showers, color rooms, Kneipp path, hydromassage, decontracting waterfalls and beauty treatment halls take place.

The common image of the hotel spa as a completely enclosed, picturesque and artificially illuminated box is here completely overturned by a space of natural light where shadows and obscurities are preciously captivated and preserved by tiny "houses" acting like protective jewel cases.

Every visitor, walking through fantastic glows and shining clouds of light feels here within like a white digger!

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Artek HQ Helsinki / SevilPeach

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 04:00 PM PDT

Architects: SevilPeach
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Lead Architects: Carla Rocneanu
Curtains: Nina Veki, Contract Deco Oy, Helsinki
Area: 470.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Tuomas Uusheimo Photography

Text description provided by the architects. The Mission.

The building.
Artek's new premises are situated on the 4th floor of a converted elegant 19th century apartment building. Located in the city centre opposite the iconic Stockmann department store, it is just a short walk away from the Artek shop. The 470m2 space comprised a series of small rooms, reached via long, dark internal corridors with no visual connections to the outside.

The brief.
Whilst serving as Artek's headquarter, the new office should also act as a 'working showroom' for architects and dealers. Vitra's role as parent company and it's competence in office furniture are to be demonstrated by combining Vitra and Artek products in a harmonious and functional way.

The new environment therefore has to achieve multiple goals: convey 'Artek's Spirit' through it's planning and use of materials, create a democratic environment with maximum daylight as well as showcase the right balance between Artek and Vitra products.

The programme.
With a fast track programme of seven months from start to completion, the design process had to be highly efficient. The challenging schedule affected the choice of materials used. Although some finishes appear raw and 'as found', much consideration was given to their strategic selection and detailing.

The Interventions.

The canvas.
The primary goal was to strip the space back to it's bare structure in order to gain additional ceiling height and create an open, light and airy environment – a blank canvas which acts as a clean backdrop for the products and the activities.

The facilities.
Five intimate human-scale work zones are supported by two meeting rooms. A central break-out area with an open kitchen hosts a library with soft seating alongside dining tables with flexible layout options. In addition, facilities such as a sample library, chair rack, cloakroom, lockers, bathrooms and a copy & print area complete the diverse office environment.

The enfilade.
With the space being stripped back to it's structural shell, all the individual zones have become interconnected with beautiful vistas, including views to the outside. The enfilade creates a continuous perception of space and allows for easy and immediate communication between the various team spaces.

All doors are omitted with the exception of meeting rooms and bathrooms. The sense of corridor is dissolved through a series of large and small openings. They visually connect the team areas and the social heart. Through the introduction of a seating bench, the rear corridor becomes a habitable place.

The new ways of working.
Designed to allow the users to work in a varied way, the workplace flexibly suits their task in hand and their mood. Whilst they are provided with dedicated desks, users are encouraged to use the entire environment: working soft from a sofa; settling down at an informal meeting table; working sitting or standing.

At the centre of the plan, the spacious social hub fosters communication and impromptu meetings, invites for touchdown work and is flexibly furnished to allow for events to be hosted.

The materials.
A seamless industrial poured floor finish is introduced to all areas. It's neutral grey tone blends in with the roughly textured acoustic strand boards used underneath the structural soffit. In order to maximise the ceiling height, all HVAC installations are exposed and painted white.

The 'raw' atmosphere is enriched by the introduction of bold coloured curtains. These conceal and frame the sample library, chair display, storage, archive, lockers, write-on and pin-up boards. Improving the office acoustics through their softness, the curtains equally form a theatric setting to the functional galvanized steel shelving units behind. Depending on whether the curtains are open or closed, the perception of the space can switch between that of a vivid workshop or a serene workplace. Furthermore, the curtain colours provide an intuitive orientation throughout the space, as each zone has a different tone.

The formal meeting room is wrapped with curtains that create a soft, embracing atmosphere whilst concealing presentation walls and providing good acoustics. Visitors are drawn to the views out onto the historic city centre.

Materials and details used for the purpose-made kitchen counter – lino fronts, birch handles and a tiled counter top – are a subtle homage to Artek's heritage and craftsmanship.

The furniture.
The concept for the work environment is welcoming and friendly with a collage of furniture from Artek and Vitra. Whilst both companies have a strong DNA, their products effortlessly merge to create a harmonious contemporary interior.

The light.
Linear Belux lights that are suspended slightly below the exposed HVAC installations create a bright yet restrained illumination. They are accompanied by a second light layer of decorative Artek light fittings which add a soft and homely ambiance to specific areas.

The art.
Pieces from Artek's art collection are displayed throughout the space. The extensive book collection is housed in the central library, allowing employees as well as visitors to browse through decades of architecture, design and art.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Suang Lien Xinzhuang Social Welfare Center / JJP

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 03:00 PM PDT

Architects: J. J. Pan & Partners, Architects & Planners (JJP)
Location: Zhongyang Road, Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Design Team: Chung-Tsai Huang, Chungwei Su, Sheng-Tien Yeh, Tien-Tso Huang, Steven B.J. Chen, Guan-Liang Liou, Chia-Ling Yang, Shu-Han Hsu, Yi-Sung Liu
Area: 2040.0 m2
Project Year: 2015
Photographs: Weishih Hsieh

Structural Consultant : Team Engineering Consulting Ltd.
Mep Consultant: C.H. Wu Consulting Engineers
Interior Consultant: Weishih Hsieh Architect
Client: Suang Lien Social Welfare Foundation
General Contractor: UOBO Construction Co., Ltd.

Text description provided by the architects. Located in a fast-growing residential area, the Xinzhuang Center, is an exemplar of community daycare for the elderly that provides health rehabilitation, daycare services, meal delivery, house visits and consultation by phone when required.

Diagram3. Image Courtesy of J. J. Pan & Partners, Architects & Planners(JJP)

The first floor is a clinic for health rehabilitation, the second and third floors provide daycare services for the elderly along with a training center, and the fourth floor has a public dining room and kitchen.

The open-air terraces on the second and third floors feature therapeutic gardens, where people may sit and chat, or take a walk among lush greenery, or enjoy gardening using planters with open bottoms designed for wheelchair access.

Simulating the humble form of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, the design employs a series of concrete bent plates at the north and east side of the building.

The bent plates and the sign of cross at the top of the elevator tower are painted white to contrast with the light grey pebble finished exterior walls behind.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Office Renovation with Street / NI&Co. Architects

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 02:00 PM PDT

Architects: NI&Co. Architects
Location: Nagoya, Japan
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Hiroshi Tanigawa Photo

The smallest unit constituting society
This is a renovation project of the office presided over by the two co-owners. This space where two people share their time can be said to be the smallest spatial unit in society. Where it required two personalities and desires in one space, we created a unit space filled with many options. The office is a small space of 28 square meters, but it is finely segmented, creating a number of places. If that is the case, while having a personality where there is a place, we aim at the state related to separation. We expanded the small place and the whole, and also made the appropriate balance.

Interruption by another person
Along with the dismantling of the existing space, there were many findings. The facility shaft on the upper floor passes through the office of 1F horizontally and vertically. Parts that require periodic meter readings and inspections, such as the water meters and sewage basins in the entire building, are located in the first floor. This originates from what was initially established by the original building, but the 1F tenant must undertake the share spaces of the entire building. So, we thought to actively undertake such [distortion] that gradually accumulated in the past 40 years. The two office spaces are set as the core in the center of the floor, and the concurrent space becomes a place that allows others to interrupt. Acceptable things are kept as much as possible, and unacceptable [distortion] arising from environmental, historical and structural aspects is undertaken by surplus space other than core. As a shared water meter and a sewage basin remain, we defined this surplus space as "street" and thought about the public space, which is in a very private area.

A way to mediate between privacy and publicity
In Japan, "street" complemented the place of people's daily activities. It can also be said that "street" has played the role of "square" in foreign countries. In this project, we set five openings in the facade which is additional space facing the outside. It is a minimal opening that spontaneously produces the flow of things and events without creating one specific opening. This moderately continuous street has certain uses (Kitchen, Gallery, Meeting Space, Library etc.), but through this opening there is a possibility of changing to have different meanings. By treating the division and linkage equivalently, we aimed at a space that gradually mediates private and public.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Beyond / SAOTA

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 01:00 PM PDT

Architects: SAOTA
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Interior Designer: ARRCC
Interior Decor: OKHA
Area: 1400.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Adam Letch & Stefan Antoni

Engineers: Moroff & Kühne
Contractor: Cape Island Construction
Lighting Consultant: Martin Doller Design
Landscaping: Nicholas Whitehorn Landscape Design

Text description provided by the architects. Beyond is a contemporary setting for life and art, where the full comfort of a modern home is potently married to an elemental architecture drawn from its dramatic setting.

Perched on the shoulders of Lion's Head, the home, designed by SAOTA, springs from a steep hillside that drops off to the famous sequence of Clifton's white beaches to the Twelve Apostles beyond. Entry from Nettleton Road - the most sought-after street in South Africa - gives a carefully composed impression of four lower stories with tantalising glimpses of two more levels towering above. The lower levels play host to six generous bedrooms, three of which can be interlinked for a family suite, and to a double volume entertainment space complete with spa, games and cinema. Principal living is at the very top of the building – an expansive, double-height open plan space which houses kitchen, bar, dining, living and family rooms as well as a winter lounge, study and art studio at a mezzanine level. The glazed lines between inside and out peel back to blur the boundaries in a continuous transparent space which links a generous back garden opening directly onto Table Mountain National Park to a pool which stretches out towards the sea in front.

The entrance façade responds to Le Corbusier's definition of architecture as a "magnificent play of masses brought together in light" – and the journey through space and light that follows is clearly inspired by the Modernist movement. From the almost chiaroscuro treatment of the cavernous entrance hall the visitor is led upwards towards the generous light of the upper living levels. The spatial experience is similarly considered; the house feels like a robust, seamless form whose functions are defined by intersecting planes, ceilings and floor treatments. This concept is used from the macro scale of the bar whose glazed form slides dramatically out of the house, floating over the pool with a glass floor, to material scale of the rough concrete over the main lounge and the timber ceiling on the level below – which, in the true spirit of this house - is made from the very same blemished boards which shuttered the concrete above.

The masterful interplay of light, space and raw materiality in the house plays generous host to its other family – a considered collection of contemporary South African art. The lines between home and gallery are always blurred; and from the Paul Blomkamp tapestry and Paul Edmunds sculpture which animate the mystical entrance hall, to Porky Hefer's playful (and inhabitable) "Blowfish" which floats within the double volume entertainment area, to the African masks worked into the dark walls over the kitchen, the collection is always carefully curated to work with the architecture. The interiors were created by ARRCC together with OKHA.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Tower House / BandukSmith Studio

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 12:00 PM PDT

Architects: BandukSmith Studio
Location: Ahmedabad, Guyarat, India
Lead Architects: Sachin Bandukwala, Melissa Smith
Area: 400.0 m2
Project Year: 2015
Photographs: Sachin Bandukwala

Structural Consultant: NK Shah Consulting Engineers
Services Consultant: Jhaveri Associates
Electrical Consultant: Transenergy
Main Contractor: Gopalbhai
Supervision: Mayurbhai
Fabrication: Suresh Panchal
Carpentry – Framing: Kantibhai & Brothers
Carpentry – Framing & Furniture: Ganpathbhai
Electrical: Rohitbhai
Plumbing: Usman Khan
Polish & Paint: Prakashbhai

Text description provided by the architects. Tower House is an experiment in vertical living. A typical bungalow of 400 square meters is squeezed into a footprint of 6.5 x 12.5m, forcing the program up five stories rather than spread along the ground. Despite the stacked floors, the design generates the experience of living in a house, with a diversity of spatial types throughout its section. At the same time, it takes advantage of the benefits of moving vertically with efficiently organized services, views across the city, and greater potentials for both stack and cross ventilation.

A concrete frame provides the skeleton, while central vertical circulation allows openings on all sides, and an outward looking entry to every room. Walls wrap the interior spaces, while balconies move around on each floor to open new vistas. Rooms are treated as pockets within the larger framework, minimizing the need for air conditioning and maintaining the connection to the outdoors. While balconies bring a corner of outdoor space into the room, punched windows around the wall create an intimate experience, whose deeply protected view is found only from a seated position.

The design balances two driving forces: conveying a house not a tower, and using verticality for an efficient, climate responsive building. The central stair, critical for both, is the core of the design. It organises services and treats vertical movement as part of the house. Each room opens from it and moves back toward it. On first and fourth floors, glass panels reveal the stair and further envelop it inside the rooms. As a passive cooling element, the semi-open stair draws air through the house, while ventilation in each room can be controlled by opening windows. A ceramic rain screen filters light and shields the stair from water, protecting the privacy of the space.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Royal Alberta Museum / DIALOG

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 10:00 AM PDT

Architects: DIALOG
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Architect And Design Lead: Donna Clare (Principal at DIALOG)
Landscape Architect: Doug Carlyle (Principal at DIALOG)
Area: 22000.0 m2
Project Year: 2018

Builder: Ledcor
Museum Planning Consultant: Lundholm Associates
Client: Government of Alberta

Text description provided by the architects. After outgrowing their original home in west-central Edmonton, Alberta's provincial museum for both human and natural history embarked on a seven-year journey of re-discovery in the heart of downtown Edmonton's Arts District. The new Royal Alberta Museum is intentionally designed to be anchored to this site—the design simply wouldn't work anywhere else. Historically, it lies at the intersection of Canada's two survey traditions, directly along the historic Canadian Northern Railway Line.

The design seizes the perfect opportunity for Alberta's provincial museum to respect and amplify the site's incredible history while responding to the surrounding neighborhood's desire for animation, which has recently undergone considerable revitalization and expansion. The structure creates a highly flexible venue, adaptive to change and reflecting its role in the community's future.

The design is a continuous narrative, a dialogue between inside and out, between the city, the building, and nature. There is a dynamic weaving of interior and exterior spaces, allowing nature to be brought into the building through the gardens and patio. It looks upward to the broad Alberta sky and out to the city beyond. The architecture gives primacy to the stories, the artifacts and the objects of the museum. As a memorable and identifiable focal point, the Royal Alberta Museum embodies the story of Alberta, preserving experiences of its people and places, and inspires the spirit of discovery for its visitors.

"The museum is a unique interplay of inside and outside, of placemaking and storytelling," says Donna Claire, Lead Architect, and Principal at DIALOG. "Each time you visit, there will be something new in the experience—the light and shadow of the season, the color of the sky and the surrounding vegetation, your reflection in the finishes, and the stories told in the galleries".

Details that pay homage to the province can be spotted throughout the interior and exterior of the structure. The site includes the intersection of two historic street grids—the British cartesian (true north/south/east/west) and the French seigneurial grid that follows river-facing lots. Fraser Courtyard and Isabella Courtyard are exact alignments of past streets lost to downtown development and both feature Alberta-specific plantings. These grids continue into the museum—the main gallery block and feature gallery continue along the two historic alignments.

Mosaic murals that were commissioned by the federal government in the 1960s were a recognizable feature on the side of the post office that previously occupied the site. The mosaics by Ernestine Tahedl were preserved, restored, and replaced within inches of their original home, creating an enjoyable promenade along the south side of the museum. The new Royal Alberta Museum is designed for a 100-year service life and is LEED® Gold certified—an impressive certification for a space with a variety of specific environments to protect objects, conduct research, preserve collections, and welcome visitors.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

House of Fir / kt814 architecture

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 09:00 AM PDT

Architects: kt814 architecture
Location: Jackson, United States
Lead Architects: Rich Assenberg & Nathan Gray - kt814
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: David Agnello

Builder: Alex Everett Building
Interior Designer: Jacque Jenkins-Stireman Design
Landscape Architecture: Agrostis

Text description provided by the architects. To Jackson Hole, Wyoming locals, the timeless beauty of the Grand Tetons is a revered landmark. Rich Assenberg and Nathan Gray, of kt814 architects, took this into account when designing this passive house inspired home. Sustainability, low maintenance costs, privacy and unobstructed views were priorities. The homeowners, Phil and Carol Schoner are retired, and now spend ample time volunteering for the National Park Service. Carol was a chemist for Proctor & Gamble for 20 years and Phil worked as a chemical engineer. After living in a mobile home for 10 years, they sought to build a home in close proximity to their grandchildren, and to allow for easy aging-in-place by incorporating universal design.

A series of three Douglas fir and cedar-clad, connected pavilions compose the architecture on the two and a half-acre parcel. The first, a large main house with kitchen/dining and open living room. Second, a pavilion that is broken with an office space that showcases a guest studio with a bedroom and bath. The final structure shifts direction to the west–to block traffic from the main road–creating a private pocket of space for the master wing of the home with views of The Sleeping Indian mountain range, complete with a garage and mudroom attached.

One of the challenges in the design was to position the home so it blocked the surrounding houses in the area to provide privacy, and in return, offer sweeping, unobstructed views. The glass entry way deliberately draws attention to the magnificent Teton Range beyond. The winged exterior walls block the houses to the north, while as you travel through the hallway, the main circulation of the home, it purposefully hides all the homes to the east and west.

Adhering to passive house design, kt814 incorporated strategies such as an airtight double wall system with super insulation, hydronic radiant-floor heating, and high-performing FSC-certified Thermo Clad Pine triple-glazed windows from Zola Windows. The strategically positioned southern facing windows with the four foot overhang receive winter gains, yet keep the buildings' thermal mass in the shade in the summertime. The couple lost power this past winter and the house stayed comfortable for four consecutive days in the brutal Wyoming cold when temperatures reached well below zero.

The rich dark-brown vertical Douglas fir exterior siding, from Montana Timber Products, melds into the native woody sage-brush tones and harmonizes with a lighter Cedar in intermittent horizontal bands around the house. The sloping winged walls have mitered corners and nails laid out in perfect dimensions.

The clean and modern interior finishes–by local designer, Jacque Jenkins-Stireman–echo the home's exterior architecture making it seem even more spacious. The kitchen cabinet doors, dining table, master bedroom furniture, custom built-in office desk and entryway bench are fabricated from a mixture of walnut, mimicking the same hue as the façade's Douglas fir. The homeowners' son-in-law, Alex Everett handcrafted many of the custom pieces.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

COOKFOX Studio / COOKFOX Architects

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 07:00 AM PDT

Architects: COOKFOX Architects
Location: New York, NY, United States
Lead Architects: COOKFOX Architects
Area: 18275.0 ft2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Eric Laignel

Cm : COOKFOX
Gc: Thomas Stephens Construction
Mep Engineers: JB&B
Structural : GMS / WSP
Acoustics: Longman Lindsey
Signage: DesignCo
Lighting: LightBox Studios
Expeditor/Code: JAM
Sustainability: Paladino / Terrapin Bright Green
Leed: Paladino / COOKFOX
Well: Paladino
Millwork: Deco Custom Woodwork
Terraces: COOKFOX / William Dorvillier / Brooklyn Grange
Exterior Wall: CANY
Security: ADRM
Client: COOKFOX

Text description provided by the architects. Nestled among the skyscrapers of "billionaire's row" are the historic jewels of Midtown Manhattan's rise into the sky, the fashionable towers built by companies like Goodrich and General Motors, in muscular iterations of gothic revival, Viennese Secessionism and Art Deco styles. Designed by Carèrre & Hastings for the Fisk Tire company in 1920, the Fisk building's 26 floors taper back in a series of terraces. COOKFOX chose the 17th floor to explore the next generation of workplace, a studio designed to join three planted terraces in an expression of our mission to connect people to nature within the built environment.

Entry is defined by a formal gallery hall, its expanse of exhibition walls and rhythm of concrete beams establishing a sense of focus and groundedness. Through a second portal, the low-ceilinged domestic refuge of the reception area gives way on either side to exaggerate the height of the ceiling, transitioning the axis of circulation to an east and west orientation, anchored by framed views of the gardens at each end of the studio space.

To the east is the sunrise terrace, where a garden and hydroponic towers connect to the "harvest kitchen" and dining area, designed to facilitate creative social communion and connection to nature. Across the studio on the sunset terrace, outdoor gathering areas allow staff and visitors to meet in a landscape of native trees, wildflowers, sedums and grasses. With a third viewing garden, the three planted spaces incorporate plants and soil moved from our former studio, providing habitat to local fauna and continuing nearly a decade of care and stewardship of the former rooftop garden by COOKFOX staff.

Visual and physical connections with the nature of the terraces extend into the studio space in the use of natural materials and textures which stimulate the same positive, healthy biological responses. The lighting system prioritizes daylight and supports healthy circadian rhythms, while high-quality air filtration with crow-sourced temperature control, CO2 monitoring and use of low-VOC materials ensure the best possible indoor air quality and aid in the studio's LEED Platinum and WELL Gold certifications.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Torre Reforma Wins the 2018 International Highrise Award

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 06:00 AM PDT

The office building Torre Reforma in Mexico City has won the prize for the world's most innovative high rise awarded by the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM). One of the world's most important architectural prizes for tall buildings, the International Highrise Award is presented every two years to the project that best exemplifies the criteria of future-oriented design, functionality, innovative building technology, integration into urban development schemes, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness.

The prize, a statuette by the internationally renowned artist Thomas Demand and EUR 50,000 is awarded to the planners and developers jointly. Architect L. Benjamín Romano received the prize statuette and the prize money today at the awards ceremony in Frankfurt's Paulskirche this evening. The IHA prize was awarded by Dr. Ina Hartwig, the City of Frankfurt Deputy Mayor for Culture, Dr. Matthias Danne, Member of the Management Board responsible Finance, Treasury and the Property business division at DekaBank and Peter Cachola Schmal, Director of the Deutsches Architekurmuseum (DAM).

DAM described the project and the innovation behind its design. "In contrast to the internationally enduring trend toward residential towers as well as ever-larger mixed-use projects in Asia, this year's prize-winner is once again a classic office building. Here, however, it is only the type of usage that is conventional. The prevailing problem of earthquakes in Mexico City calls for an intelligent support structure concept, which lends the 246-metre-high office tower its striking appearance. In doing so Torre Reforma by L. Benjamín Romano places Mexico's capital on the world map of ground-breaking highrise architecture."

L. Benjamín Romano said that, "This award is especially valuable because it comes from my peers – architects, engineers, developers – who can appreciate not only a building on itself, but the inherent financial, structural, environmental and normative challenges. I believe that the best architecture is the one that finds the answer to these challenges. The one that emmanates from needs, context and reality, and not only from someone's imagination or aesthetic taste."

From over 1000 highrises that were commissioned worldwide over the last two years, Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) nominated 36 outstanding buildings from 15 different countries. An international jury of experts consisting of architects, structural engineers and real estate specialists selected the final five for the shortlist. The jury this year included Sean Anderson, Knut Stockhusen, Horst R. Muth, Peter Cachola Schmal, Jette Cathrin Hopp, Kai-Uwe Bergmann, Dr. Ina Hartwig, Prof. Ulrike Lauber, and Thomas Schmengler.

Project description:

In the middle of a region at risk of earthquakes the characteristic façade of the Torre Reforma in Mexico City has more than just aesthetic purposes. The two massive outer walls of exposed concrete and the third vitreous side not only create an extraordinary triangular footprint, but also provide a maximum of earthquake- resistance. The concrete walls reach 60 metres into the ground as a solid fundament. Moreover, the building can move with the forces since large openings are left out from the massive walls as 'crumple zones' and since the steel braces, which carry the floors, merge into flexible hinges in front of the glass façade. During the severe earthquake of September 2017 this concept has already proved to be highly effective.

Beginning at a height of 200 metres, one of the two concrete walls bends strikingly inward. This feature is a response to Mexico City's building regulations: the skyscrapers on Paseo de la Reforma may be no more than twice as high as the width of the street. If a building exceeds this height, the upper part has to be recessed or tapered. Due to Romano's creative handling of this regulation the building, depending upon the observer's point of view, does not only change its materiality, but also its sculptural form.

The entire width of the building's third, glass side opens onto the Bosque de Chapultepec city park. In order to create additional usable space, the storys here break free from the narrow corset of the triangle. To the front, the seemingly smooth façade forms a nearly imperceptible fourth corner.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Sun House / Bernardo Bustamante Arquitectos

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 05:00 AM PDT

Architects: Bernardo Bustamante Arquitectos
Location: Yaruquí, Ecuador
Architect In Charge: Bernardo Bustamante P.
Design Team: Doménika Baquero
Area: 240.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photography: Bicubik

Construction: Iván Delgado

Text description provided by the architects. A weekend house, located in one of the hills that create a border around the town of Yaruquí, which is noticeably developed by the new airport of Quito.

The hillside terrain with a regular slope offers impressive views towards the Tababela Valley, with the City of Quito as a backdrop.

The lot is large, which allowed the dispersion of the program and enabled us to design a a single leveled building, thus reducing costs. The project has a bar as axis and a satellite; the 21 meter long bar distributes the program in a linear way, so that all spaces open onto a large porch facing the view and merging the interior with the exterior. At the same time, the horizontally placed bars provide a better adaption to natural topography of the location. The satellite contains the covered parking lots and a large warehouse.

In this area of the Andes of Quito, it has been a tradition to build with the land of the mountains, raw for the adobes or burned for bricks or tiles. The color of the buildings in the landscape is therefore the same color as the ground. In order to maintain coherence with the surroundings, the brick was emptied and used as the fundamental raw material, which allowed to solve the details in many ways.

The structure is metallic, prefabricated in a workshop and assembled on site. The carpentries are also metallic, with a system of sliding and folding doors that shield the house, in order to protect it whenever uninhabited. It also performs as a large blind to shield the porch from the sun or, in certain times of the year, from the wind. In short, it is a contemporary house that uses traditional resources, optimizes materials and allows an agile, cheap and sustainable construction over time.

In short, it is a contemporary house that uses traditional resources, optimizes materials and allows an agile, cheap and sustainable construction over time.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Benthem Crouwel Designs "Recycled and Recyclable" Science Faculty for the University of Amsterdam

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 04:00 AM PDT

Benthem Crouwel Architects has designed a multifunctional building for the University of Amsterdam's Faculty of Science. The 14,000-square-meter scheme is envisioned as a "lively lab of research, development, and co-creation, in the center of the campus and society."

The competition-winning "LAB 942" centers on energy neutrality, flexibility, and openness. A modular framework and circular construction made of recycled and recyclable material enable the scheme to operate as a future-proof, adaptable addition to the school's rapidly-expanding investigations in innovation and artificial intelligence.

The easily-disassembled structure of LAB 942 is abundant with internal greenery, natural wayfinding, and natural ventilation, creating a scheme which "is not just sustainable, but also a very healthy building that provides its users with a comfortable indoor climate."

As LAB 942 will see a user collaboration of businesses and the private sector, the scheme has been designed to be open to society and the surroundings. A light grid structure consisting of wood, glass, steel, and 3D printed fixtures generates an open, active façade while a transparent plinth hosting visualization, robotics, and game labs will sit in plain sight for the passersby.

A high, airy atrium flows diagonally through the building. Irregular mezzanines, connecting bridges, and a variety of workspace "landscapes" create a divisible program which is easily recognizable, and ensures "optimal synergy between the various disciplines."

For the scheme's development, Benthem Crouwel Architects worked in collaboration with buildings consultants Strackee, building physics consultants DMGR, and installation consultants Deerns.

News via: Benthem Crouwel Architects

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

house jja / TAAB6

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 03:00 AM PDT

Architects: TAAB6
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Author Architects: Ivan Llach and Raquel Colacios
Area: 150.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Aitor Estévez

Construction: REHABITAR
Structure: THINKING enginyeria, Jordi Parés

Text description provided by the architects. Undressing what exists and transforming what is necessary to create a sequence of interrelated spaces has been the greatest objective of this rehabilitation. To give value to certain pre-existing elements of the house and the environment by eliminating unnecessary elements is the starting point of the project of this detached house located a few meters away from the epicenter of the Horta district in Barcelona.

The house dates from 1930, with a facade of 7m wide and a built depth of 10m. This townhouse survives the real estate pressure and the transformation of the neighborhood that has been replacing this typology with multi-family buildings of more than 4 floors as those that surround it. The proposal is based on recovering some existing original elements (structure, pavements, and enclosures) and adding the minimum to transform it into a sensitive, functional and sustainable project. The new distribution of the interior spaces is adapted to the needs of its inhabitants and the composition of the same allows visual perspectives along the plot and through the house facilitating at the same time an improvement of natural ventilation in both plants.

The facade of the street (East) remains intact to the original and the interior facade (West) are transformed by adding two elements to improve the envelope of the existing building, a pergola of bamboo with vegetation on the ground floor and three wooden roller shutters on the first floor that at the same time give privacy to the balcony. In this same facade, the predominant ceramic of the buildings that surround it serves as the background to integrate the only new volume of the house, a cube raised in “termoarcilla” where the bathroom of the master bedroom is located. All in a set of terracotta textures and colors that mimic the facade of the garden in a heterogeneous and fragmented environment.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

How Hip-Hop Architecture is Making its Own Space

Posted: 01 Nov 2018 02:30 AM PDT

PHAT's (Nathaniel Belcher, Stephen Slaughter) Harlem Ghetto Fabulous, 2003. Image via Metropolis Magazine. Image Courtesy of Courtesy PHAT (Nathaniel Belcher, Stephen Slaughter)

This article was originally published in Metropolis Magazine as "Hip-Hop Architecture's Philip Johnson Moment".

More than 40 years after it emerged from South Bronx house parties, hip-hop has become a once-in-a-lifetime concussive force reshaping global cultural. But at its most elemental and foundational, hip-hop is a direct, powerful confrontation with the built environment. "Broken glass everywhere / People pissing on the stairs, you know they just don't care," Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five rapped on their seminal 1982 track "The Message." "I can't take the smell, can't take the noise / Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice."

Courtesy of the Amanda Williams and McCormick Gallery

From the jump, architecture inspired hip-hop. It's poetry that bloomed in the shadows of housing projects, among the husks of burned-out high rises, and in view of subways tagged with a rainbow of graffiti.

But did the flow run the other way? Architects, academics, and artists like Nate Williams, Craig Wilkins, Amanda Williams, and James Garrett Jr. have written about, argued over, and wrangled with the idea of hip-hop-inspired architecture since the early 1990s. But after architect and professor Sekou Cooke held a symposium at Syracuse University in 2015, the discussion has intensified, culminating in Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip-Hop Architecture, open at AIA New York's Center for Architecture through January 12.

Curated and designed by Cooke, the exhibition is organized around three primary characteristics: hip-hop identity, hip-hop process, and hip-hop image. Mounted on panels from a deconstructed shipping container hung on graffiti-covered walls are proposals, 3D-printed models, photographs, and art created by 21 practitioners, academics, and students from five countries. Taken, together, they make the case for an international mode of design that is at once mature and still in its infancy.

"[Hip-hop architecture] has been translating into real-world building in a deeper way than I originally realized," Cooke tells Metropolis. "I think more people are likely to acknowledge and accept that hip-hop is a space that relates directly to architecture. But it's going to take a lot more work and a lot more time for it to become part of the canon of architecture. It might have to create its own canon before that happens."

Close to the Edge is that cannon fodder. Included in the show are requisite historical landmarks, such as Williams' "This is my Nursery School," a mixed-media collage that includes hip-hop lyrics scrawled over photographs of parking lots, billboards, and urban detritus. The work is drawn from her 1997 project There Are No Blank Sheets of Paper, considered one of the earliest examples of architectural thesis work to explicitly reference hip-hop.

Such pieces provide crucial context for the real-world (or soon-to-be built) examples of hip-hop architecture on view, like 4RM+ULA Architects' JXTA Arts Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Evolving out of a 2005 proposal, the planned four-floor, $3-3.5 million center for Juxtaposition Arts, estimated to be completed this year, boasts a polycarbonate exterior with dynamic LED lighting that can radiate in warm orange or cool blue or appear as a multicolor network crisscrossing—and tagging—the building.

The design grew out of 4RM+ULA founder James Garrett Jr.'s hip-hop obsession. He was drawn to architecture by his love of graffiti, and has written about and explored the nexus of hip-hop and architecture since college. "It was a cultural expression of who I was and what I was bringing to the architecture program," Garrett says, and it eventually fueled his practice, from the low-budget/high-utility Magic Shed+Diamond Cloud project in North Minneapolis to the numerous proposals that came just short of winning contracts.

"Hip-hop kids are trendsetters," Garrett adds. "We're out there first on the vanguard of what the newest best practices are in our profession. When you're on the front edge of something, people aren't necessarily ready for it, and there's a rejection when people are uncomfortable."

Sekou Cooke's 3D Turntables: Remixing Hip-Hop Architectural Technology, 2017. Image via Metropolis Magazine. Image Courtesy of Sekou Cooke

Even as Garrett and 4RM+ULA met resistance, hip-hop architecture—like hip-hop itself—veined out from the U.S. In Haarlem, Netherlands, Boris "Delta" Tellegen, one of Europe's earliest graffiti artists, designed a facade for a low-income housing complex built in 2013. Delta's work resembles street art rendered in brick, a series of protruding parallelograms that animate an otherwise mundane building. And in Melbourne, Australia, Zvi Belling and his firm, ITN Architects, have drawn attention for explicitly injecting hip-hop into their projects, such as The End to End Building, an office complex completed in 2015 and topped with three Hitachi M-class trains—the canvas of choice for early graffiti artists—tagged end-to-end as they would've been in hip-hop's formative years.

But ITN's hip-hop reputation was forged by the controversial The Hive, an apartment building completed in 2012. Belling and artist Prowla incorporated graffiti rendered in concrete (along with angular and arrow-shaped windows) into the gray building, which many saw as a cynical, literal interpretation of hip-hop. When the Hive was shown at a lecture Cooke gave at AIA New York in 2016, it was met with boos and derision from many in the audience. "Graffiti is usually ephemeral—it's only on the wall until another piece comes over it," Belling says. "We wanted to play with that, with that idea of permanence. I guess we weren't thinking about it in terms of literal. We were trying to think of it more metaphorically."

Implicit in the criticism of The Hive is that Belling, a white architect, co-opted the spirit of hip-hop for the building—an assumption that speaks to a larger, existential question about appropriation and inclusion. In other words, who can practice in the hip-hop mode? The Hive "received quite a bit of negative response because people thought it was a little too on the nose, and I think the identity of the author was also being questioned," Cooke says. "But I include it in the show just to open up that conversation. Because hip-hop architecture has yet to be ratified as a thing, it's hard for us to say this is not it."

At the same time, Cooke sees his scholarship (his next project is a book) as a way to give underrepresented communities an entry point into architecture. "The way that architecture is taught in schools is heavily dependent on a very Eurocentric, white, male point of view. So having alternative sources of information that actually speak to the people who are learning to produce architecture is very important."

Hans Ulrich Obrist, Jacques Herzog, and Kanye West speak on Architecture in 2013.. Image © Seth Browarnik/startraksphoto.com, via Surface Magazine's Facebook Page

The confluence of hip-hop and architecture is ideally suited to accomplish that goal. At the opening of Close to the Edge, numerous visitors found themselves at the AIA center for the first time, attracted by the bizarre marriage of the two cultures. "It's a bit more accessible when I hear 'hip-hop architecture,'" Janay Anderson, one of those AIA newcomers, said. "I still need to do my research, but in general architecture's not accessible to me. I think it can be in the right lens, and this seems like the proper lens to look at architecture."

And in Belling's case, it was hip-hop that helped inform his architecture. He has been immersed in Australia's hip-hop scene for years, and it was his interactions with that community where he began to see the possibilities of bringing hip-hop into his projects. "I would have thought it impossible at the time that there could have been such a thing as a hip-hop architecture movement," he says. "It was something I couldn't even conceive of. So it's very exciting that this has happened, that it has gathered this kind of momentum."

Indeed, there was a sense at the opening of Close to the Edge that hip-hop architecture—for better or worse—is crossing over into mainstream awareness. Architectural historian and Center for Architecture board of trustees president Barry Bergdoll even went so far as to compare Close to the Edge to no less than Philip Johnson's seminal 1932 Museum of Modern Art exhibition defining International Style. "This show, for me, is a historic moment," Bergdoll said. "There's a kind of vibe and excitement in the room that documents it. I hope [years from now] people will still be saying, 'Remember that discussion at the Center for Architecture around the concept of hip-hop?'"

Cooke said he would never have made such a comparison himself—but it's one he absolutely had in mind when organizing the exhibition. "That was completely intentional," Cooke said. "I hope it gets debated and lectured about and talked about heavily, and then experimented with and tested on a global scale. Then, hopefully, 10 or 20 years from now, we'll look back and say, this is a moment where architects decided to take on a different direction."

Filip Dujardin's 'Fictions' - a series of photographic plates of fictional architectural spaces. Image Courtesy of Highlight Gallery

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Tech News

petak, 2. studenoga 2018.

Arch Daily

Arch Daily

Nema komentara:

Objavi komentar