Arch Daily

Savoy Saccharum Resort & Spa / RH+ Arquitectos
Cistercian Monastery of St. María de Armenteira / rodríguez + pintos arquitectos
OMNOMNOM Vegan Cafe / replus design bureau
Greentown Tangshan Blue Bay Town Life Experience Hall / GOA
Airbnb Tokyo / Suppose Design Office
Liuxiandong-Plot A4+B2 of Vanke Design Community / FCHA
Brick & Gable House / Breathe Architecture
Woolston Community Library / Ignite Architects
En Vue / Finnis Architects
Restaurante Teide / Horma
Warde Office / Studio AG Arquitetura
Carlo Ratti Designs Prefab Housing for Rural India
Rooftop Park / RDR Arquitectos
An Expert Guide through MoMA's "Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948–1980"
Ox's House / Leo Romano Arquitetura
The Abandoned Architecture Series for your Next YouTube Binge
The Best Architecture of 2018
Performative Bond / Martins Architecture Office
Refurbishment of the old Headquarters of the Granada Monte de Piedad / DTR_studio architects

Savoy Saccharum Resort & Spa / RH+ Arquitectos

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 07:00 PM PST

Architects: RH+ Arquitectos
Location: 9370 Estreito da Calheta, Portugal
Architects In Charge: Roberto Castro, Hugo Jesus
Area: 11610.0 m2
Project Year: 2015
Photographs: Duarte Andrade, Nick Baytun, Siet Savoy

Collaborator: Cristina Perdigão
Interior Design: Nini Andrade Silva, RH+ Arquitectos
Strutural Project: KPLANO
Plumbing Engineer: Luvego - Miguel Bettencourt
Eletrical Engineer: Fernando Sousa Pereira
Light Design: LUZARQ
Air Conditioning Engineer: Luvego - Pedro Camacho
Energy Efficiency Engineering: Francisco Ferreira
Acoustic Engineer: Luvego - Magda Matos
Fire Safety Engineer: Gapezin - António Matias
Landscape Architeture: Ana Rita Mestre
General Contractor: AFAVIAS
Client: Savoy Resorts

Text description provided by the architects. The project is determined by the commitment to the place. The architectural object is located in the escarpment overlooking the sea and assumes its aesthetics, a situation that has proven to be a technical challenge with a great landscape importance. Due to its location and its rustic surrounding, the hotel’s body has an irregular configuration inspired by the traditional terraces of Madeira.

Like these terraces – that reshape the irregularity of the territory throughout the definition of platforms meant for farming, whose construction is possible by stone walls – conceptually the Hotel intends to mimic these structures in the way its floors are arranged and connected to each other, seeking to dilute its presence by becoming part of the mountain itself. This concept comes to life with the definition of a deconstructed volume built in concrete slabs, which sometimes approaches and other times distance themselves from the rock formations, redefining the topography of the place.

By including as many plants as possible, not only in the roof but also in the balconies, another important part of the hotel’s image is defined, resembling once more the typical terraces that take part in the landscape of the island. The five-star hotel has 181 rooms, has a Gross floor area of 11 610m2 from which 6720.00m2 are green spaces. The interior design is based on the ‘boutique hotel’ concept, with wide open spaces and clear views of the sea, seeking to create a sophisticated space with a close connection with the natural elements and based on the sea/mountain dichotomy.

To complement the accommodation the building also comprises two outdoor swimming pools, two indoor pools, a spa, and fitness club, two restaurants, a panoramic bar, a room reserved for events and two auditoriums. There is also an extra space – a museum -, whose collection is dedicated to saccharine production tradition, which gives the motto to the hotel.

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Cistercian Monastery of St. María de Armenteira / rodríguez + pintos arquitectos

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 06:00 PM PST

Architects: rodríguez + pintos arquitectos
Location: Lugar de la Iglesia, s/n, 36192 Armenteria, Pontevedra, Spain
Author Architects: Jaime Rodríguez Abilleira, Santiago Pintos Pena
Area: 302.0 m2
Project Year: 2015
Photographs: Hector Santos-Díez

Construction: Construcciones y fontanería Castro Bouzada S.L.U.
Structure: Reboreda Ingeniería
Zinc Cover: Cubiertas Rendal

Text description provided by the architects. The Cistercian monastery of St. María de Armenteira is located on the western hillside of Monte Castrove, a spur that separates the Salnés valley from the Ría de Pontevedra. Its origin goes back to the Early Middle Ages, probably the pre-Romanesque period.

The monastery
The monastery meets perfectly the Cistercian archetype: a virgin valley with difficult access surrounded by mountains, a stream of water and far away from populated areas. Its church, on the north side of the ensemble, is the only remain of the original monastery.

The construction began in 1167 and it was finished towards the end of the XII century or the beginning of the XIII. The rest of the monastery maintains the primitive organization of a central cloister surrounded by rooms, but this construction was mostly built around the XVI and XVIII centuries.

Cistercian nuns
During the XIX Century, the disentailment process that took place brought despoilment and ruin to the monastery until 1963, when the Amigos del Monasterio de Armenteira Association was created. The construction undertaken by the Association meant the preservation of the few remaining valuable ruins in the monastery, especially the cloisters and kitchens, but it also caused the disappearance of other parts of the building such as the ancient wing of the novices that used to reach the whole south part of the ensemble. Since 1989, a group of Cistercian nuns from Alloz (Navarra) live in the monastic spaces. Nowadays, this congregation has become independent. For their economic support, the Cistercian nuns have started manufacturing handcrafted soap, organic lotions and perfumes with an own patent and production, an activity that required a new workshop as well as the complementary tasks of receiving, storing and shipping the materials.

The workshop
The new building is located on the south part of the monastic ensemble because of the easy access, privacy, and advantageous direction and also because the topography of the area allows the whole program to be held under the existent slope. The recovery of the historic trace of the ancient wing of the novices is being sought. Its design, shown by the archaeological excavations, emerges again through powerful granite walls that define the perimeter of the new construction.

The workshop’s light industrial and modular structure acquires its own dimension within these walls looking for the most flexibility in its purpose; the upper garden and the transition and union elements along with the old monastic spaces acquire an essential relevance. All the outlined interventions have taken into account the possibility of its future and complete reversibility.

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OMNOMNOM Vegan Cafe / replus design bureau

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 05:00 PM PST

Architects: replus design bureau
Location: Rymlyanyna St, 10, L'viv, L'vivs'ka oblast, Ukraine
Lead Architects: Khrystyna Badzyan, Vitalii Kulchytskyy
Area: 100.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Dmytro Sorokevych

Text description provided by the architects. Main idea of the project: To design a fast food restaurant without emphasizing its vegan specialization.

The house is located at an intersection, which dictated a corner layout of the café. In the middle, there is a cash register, with a kitchen area hidden behind it.

Our clients' request for designers was to break a stereotype that a vegan café should be done in an eco-style, complemented with meditation-style music. Everything is quite the opposite here. Half of the guests don't even know they are eating vegan food, thanks to the creativity of preparation and the taste of food, with the accent on food's quality rather than labeling. There are parties going on at night, and during the day there is music played from a turntable. Our clients gave their charisma to the customer service and the image of the café.

This is not the first project where we consciously and completely rejected ceramic tile on surfaces, except for the kitchen area where special rules apply. This became our brand style. Instead of tile we use special surfaces that can sustain the same stress. For this project we used poured-in-place concrete that we also applied to walls up to a certain level. Above this level the walls remained raw, with just a coat of paint.

The most unusual and interesting object in this interior is definitely the order placing counter made in a wonderful shape. It draws everyone's attention. At the bartender's side, it is quite practical, the entire space is used for storage or personnel use.

We really wanted to create a place where people don't just eat. We made every effort in order to create a space and an atmosphere where guests can comfortably enjoy each other's company, and we are happy to have managed just that. The place is never empty, communal tables are always popular regardless of the time of day. The place is comfortable not only for eating, but also for work, meetings and relaxation.

There are some old murals here and there, remaining from the times when the place was built by the Poles. All elements of the interior, except for the chairs and light fixtures, were custom-made.

Initially, the room with the bar should have had two round neon light fixtures suspended from the ceiling: one in blue, the other – in red hue. We had not have a chance to test how they would work together in situ, so we decided to take a chance and, as it happened, did not like the results. Put together, the neon fixtures were not a good match, they created some unrealistic color combinations. That's why we decided to take down the second neon fixture and gave it to the designers as a keepsake.

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Greentown Tangshan Blue Bay Town Life Experience Hall / GOA

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 04:00 PM PST

Architects: GOA
Location: Harbor Development Zone, Leting County, Tangshan City, China
Curtain Wall Design: Suzhou Gold Mantis
Landscape Design: Greentown Garden Greening
Owner: Tangshan Harbor New Town Real Estate Development Co., Ltd.
Area: 8800.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Yilong Zhao

Introduction
Tangshan Blue Bay Town Project is located on the southeast coast of Leting County, Tangshan City and on the north side of Tangshan Bay International Tourism Island. As a commercial center of the project, the town center is located at the southwest corner of the project base, where Xiangying Road and Haijing Avenue join at 70 degrees in a narrow and long triangle land to define the land area with functions including life experience hall and community facilities.

Site and Architecture
As the first portal to communicate with city interface, we consider how to make the architecture efficient and reasonable: 1. A suitable site; 2. A landmark city interface; 3. Overall project architecture style to effectively connect neo Chinese style; 4. To create multi-layer public space and urban life.

The interface facing the city road is set with two strips and opens to the road intersection to form a display surface with an open frontcourt space and a shallow mirror pool as a buffer zone with the city environment, presenting a quiet and elegant posture.

The umbrella-shaped columns of cast-in-place concrete as high as 10m are undoubtedly the main part of the whole building. The umbrella-shaped columns at the two corners extend upwards to form a whole "C-shaped" flat roof, integrating the mass of the whole building under the roof to form a unified and concise architectural image. The flat roof in the east covers a community facility center with neo Chinese facade style, which organically combines modern style with neo Chinese style to form a good transition of city interface and community environment.

Function Organization and Spatial Sequence
The building is composed of three masses. The mass facing the city road in the west is of a living facility function, and the specialty catering and activity center and other functions have been mainly set up; the mass in the south is a life experience hall and the project in the early stage is used as a sales department; the mass in the east is close to the main entrance of the community, with main functions including supermarket, restaurant, fitness room, physical examination center and other facilities for the convenience of the people.

The space extends from west to east along the city interface and opens to all directions of the city to guide people from all directions. At the same time, the space between every two masses forms the main sequence of entry, transitional urban environment and internal landscape courtyard. The two concrete umbrella-shaped columns mark the space image, and the overhanging flat roof is limited upward in space, forming a grey space for users to pass through and stay in.

Architectural Texture and Expression
The life experience hall and the living facilities on the west side are designed in a modern style. The facade along city interface shall be a bilateral-skin facade. The inlayer includes block wall and long-strip windows and the outer layer is covered with white perforated aluminum plates, which can not only meet using requirements but also guarantee a clean city interface. In the lamplight at night, the lamplight in the building creates a hazy atmosphere through perforated aluminum plates.

On the architectural interface facing the internal courtyard, bronze carved hollowed-out metal decorative panels echo with the neo Chinese style of the project, thus reducing the sense of fragmentation of the internal environment of the community. The overhanging metal canopy further reduces the sense of building volume, which creates a pleasant measure feeling.

The neo Chinese architectural style consistent with the whole project is adopted in the living facilities on the east side. The collage of multiple materials and refined detail treatment utilize architecture technique to the utmost. Inlaying metal lines in the 30mm open joints of creamy-white stone improves the architectural quality. LOW-E glass curtain wall with hidden frame and stone surface form a sharp contrast and highlight the texture.

Multilayer Open Space
In the design, we have provided with a multi-layer open space for users to pass through, stay in and move about. At the turning corner of the city, we have designed a mirror surface pool and an activity site, which enhances the image of the whole venue. In the east, we have designed an entrance square to meet many demands for commercial use. The internal courtyard enclosed provides an inward and comfortable playing space, while the passage connecting the internal courtyard with the urban space (i.e. the position of the umbrella-shaped columns) provides more of a sense of ritual to pass through and greatly improves the quality of the space.

As a typical community-based public building, we hope to create an organic connection between a city, a community and people and enable it to become a unique public space.

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Airbnb Tokyo / Suppose Design Office

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 03:00 PM PST

Architects: Suppose Design Office
Location: Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
Area: 500.0 m2
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Studio Periphery

Text description provided by the architects. Airbnb is delighted to unveil its new Tokyo office in Shinjuku, Japan. Airbnb continues its mission to create functional workspaces that are enjoyable, practical and reflect Airbnb's culture and 'belong anywhere' ethos with reference to local identity and design. The Tokyo office is reminiscent of a neighborhood, reinforcing Airbnb's new neighborhood guide focus. From the reception and café area, a wooden path leads to a series of building-like meeting rooms, designed using distinctive exterior cladding and interiors based on existing Airbnb listings. Airbnb's Environments Team worked closely with local architects, Suppose Design Office, to create a 500 sqm office space.

The Environments Team conducted extensive research and detailed interviews with Airbnb's Tokyo-based employees to conceptualize the initial program and floor plan. They collaborated with Suppose Design Office to develop the layout and design elements. The former Airbnb Tokyo office consisted of a series of corporate suites with limited communal space, which restricted employee communication and engagement. Employees can now use a range of work configurations including communal work tables, height adjustable desks, project tables, private and semi-private phone booths, lounges and cafes. This makes for healthy ergonomic movement, increased socializing and engagement, and a 'belong anywhere' work concept.

In response to employee feedback, nature was heavily incorporated into the new design to create a peaceful working space where employees can escape the chaotic urban environment of the local area in Shinjuku. When employees enter the office, they are transported into a tranquil setting surrounded by plants. The reception area is reminiscent of an outdoor café with a double height atrium that floods with natural light and park inspired work areas with wooden communal tables and green flooring.

A key element of the office is the Engawa, an elevated platform covered with Tatami mats inspired by traditional Japanese culture. Employees can remove their shoes and take a seat on one of the cushions where they can enjoy the spectacular view of Shinjuku. The tea house phone booths are made from local white oak and rice paper film to emulate the soft glow of a typical Japanese tea house.

One of the biggest challenges when designing the space was working with fixed low ceiling height, typical of architecture in Tokyo, and monotonous ceiling tiles. Employees expressed a key need to adapt the ceiling to make the space feel bigger and brighter. In response, Suppose Design Office and the Environments Team formulated a design that incorporated a black ceiling with dropped lighting so that the plane above disappeared and gave the impression of a higher ceiling and a bigger space.

In addition to the architectural construction, Tokyo-based contractor Setup was commissioned to create bespoke tables for the office and local manufacturer, New Light Pottery, was commissioned to realize bespoke lighting designs, supporting local craftsmanship. Suppose Design Office developed café lighting reminiscent of lanterns floating up into the sky, wall sconces inspired by outdoor street lighting and custom-made simple and functional tables, crafted from local wood with black metal accents.

In Airbnb's ongoing global office design, the local city and its culture are highlighted in the main office space and meeting rooms are inspired by Airbnb listings from around the world to allow employees to travel throughout their day. In the new Tokyo office, rooms are inspired by international listings from Prague, Tijuana, and Barcelona.

The Environments Team engaged with local employees in an Employee Design Experience (EDX) program to help add the finishing touches to the rooms and bring them to life. The majority of authentic artwork and décor in the Tijuana room was donated by the mother of one of the local employees, Saori Okura. She had traveled through Mexico and collected artifacts over the years that she was excited to donate.

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Liuxiandong-Plot A4+B2 of Vanke Design Community / FCHA

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 01:00 PM PST

Architects: FCHA
Location: Nanshan District, ShenZhen, Guangdong, China
Project Manager: Xianzhi Zeng, Wan Gan
Design Team: Jianhui Wang, XueFa Liu, Jie Liang, JiaQi Zhao, Xusheng Guo, Xin Li
Partner In Charge: Zetao Chen
Area: 7500.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Guanhong Chen

Planning & Lanscape Design: Urbanus
Think Tank: ICITY
Cluster Designer: A1+B3 URBANERGY A2+B1 HuaYi Design A3+B4 NODE
Construction Drawing: CAPOL.Ltd. (Shanghai)
Curtain Wall Consultant: Shenzhen Tiansheng exterior wall consulting
Client: Vanke (Shenzhen)

Project background
The project is located in the Dashahe Innovation Zone in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, and in the North District of the Science and Technology Park. It is the North Green Corridor site in the planning of the 9th Neighborhood of the headquarters of Liuxiandong. Vanke would like to take this opportunity to create a creative park-design community in the North Green Corridor that integrates the upstream and downstream of the industry chain. Vanke and the project overall planning unit URBANUS selected and convened the design units, and finally determined that the design of the first start-up area of the 05-02, 05-01 plot should be completed through Cluster Design under the guidance of URBANUS.

Outdoor theatre space. Image © Guanhong Chen

A4+B2 plot
Under the guidance of the large-scale planning and land plot guidelines, FCHA undertook the design tasks of the two plotsA4+B2 . The two plots cover an area of 7,500 square meters. The plots are knife-shaped, the length and width are 135 meters * 50 meters. The site is high in the south and low in the north, showing a gentle slope with a height difference of 3.7 meters. Under the guidance of the urban design guidelines, the design connects the ground floor and the basement level one floor through large green slopes, the plot was dividedinto continuous office units, and raises the northward area as an independent building unit to increase natural lighting ventilation openings. A balance is maintained between ensuring the continuity of the public green space on the roof and providing a good environment for underground office space.

Natural materials
As for materials, after many discussions, the cluster designers decided to use exposed concrete, steel, glass and other natural materials for construction. It has been made clear that a park with unified language, rich space and diverse products should be created.

Office unit
Each individual office unit can have a separate lighted patio and outdoor leisure platform. This is a good place to meditate, be in a trance, reflect on one's mind or looking at the sky.

Shared space
The shared space is located underneath the inclined board connecting the ground floor and the basement level one floor of the B2 block. The total interior building area is about 2,000 square meters, and it is a co-working space for the entire project. Various industries and work types collaborate on innovation in a large shared space, operate efficiently, share resourcesand values.

Small lecture hall
The small lecture hall combines the functions of reports, lectures, and exchange activities. The folding doors that can be opened at the rear are usually open to form the flow of space, and can be closed during lectures.

Shared office platform
The shared office platform forms spatial places that communicate with each other and have their own independence through the enclosure of cabinets and bookshelves. Users can find their own places in a large shared space. The design sets the 700mm height difference between the platforms as a bookshelf, reducing visual interference in the upper and lower spaces.

Shared office platform. Image © Guanhong Chen

Independent office area. Image © Guanhong Chen

Independent office area
The independent office area is located in the atrium for lighting. Each floor of this section is a more quiet and independent office space. Each floor can accommodate about 30 people.

Courtyard and light well. Image © Guanhong Chen

Office unit with yard. Image © Guanhong Chen

X-FACTORY
The large work desk and tool operation room provided by X-FACTORY maker workshop is a place where makers are happy to stay. The wall can be used for tool display and storage.

Lighting patio
The design incorporates lighting patios, traffic stairs and exchange platforms in places where there is a split-level height difference, creating a space that is both varied and interesting.

Natural rock wall
The natural rock wall left by the original blasting has all described the uniqueness of this site, the lighted hole and the ventilated corridor form a unique space.

Natural rock wall. Image © Guanhong Chen

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Brick & Gable House / Breathe Architecture

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 12:00 PM PST

Architects: Breathe Architecture
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Architect's Firm: Breathe Architecture
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Tom Ross

Text description provided by the architects. Designed for a family of four. We were initially engaged to build a larger house for them, but after spending time living overseas, they returned realising that they could live in a smaller footprint.

The project involved the renovation of a heritage listed terrace house. Our clients loved the original character and stories that were attached to the house, so protecting that was important to them.

A dilapidated 1980s extension was demolished and replaced to bring in more natural light, better building performance, more amenity, landscaped courtyards, and warm honest internal materials.

A new, freestanding brick studio to the rear provided an additional guest room, painting studio, workshop and laundry.

The clients love for modernism and warm, indirect lighting was important to them, informing our simple design intent - to build a free standing studio out of brick, a contemporary architectural reflection of the surrounding neighbourhood's character of brick sheds and garages.

Stack bond recycled bricks form the skin of the building, with the entire construction in brickwork (no plasterboard) to reduce materials and streamline construction.

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Woolston Community Library / Ignite Architects

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 11:00 AM PST

Architects: Ignite Architects
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Architecture Firm: Ignite Architects
Design Team: Szymon Gozdzikowski, Stephen Parks, Diana Jung
Project Director: Adam Taylor
Contractor: Citycare Property
Area: 198.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Stephen Goodenough

Text description provided by the architects. Located on a historic transport route between Christchurch and the ferry terminal, the new Woolston Community Library stands on the aptly named Ferry Road, replacing the Woolston Community Library built in 1871. It is one of the last community facilities to be rebuilt following the 2010/2011 earthquakes in Christchurch.

Woolston is a light industrial and residential area with a strong working-class identity. Throughout the 20th century, it was the centre of the New Zealand rubber and other industries, including a nugget factory and a gelatine and glue works. Several of these businesses are still present today but residential growth in the Woolston area is now well merged with Christchurch City.

From the beginning, the design team was determined that the new Woolston Community Library would embody the spirit of Woolston's industrial past and provide a welcoming, usable space for its people, both now and in the future.

The building design comprises three main areas: an outdoor courtyard, the library and the community hall. An existing driveway running the length of the building was repurposed into a pedestrian laneway connecting from Ferry Road through to the upgraded carpark. A new pedestrian connection to a daycare centre to the north of the building further strengthens the project's integration with the wider urban context.

The red brick façade, distinctive feature of the new building, directly references the original building, which was something of a showpiece for the bricklaying craftsmen of the day. The impact of this brick is heightened by a restrained use of materials - black steel and timber - and the simplicity of the form, which is reflective of traditional local architecture. In a modern take on craftsmanship the design features a protruding bricks pattern and a composition of vertical and horizontal bonds. All the bricks were supplied by the only remaining brick manufacturer in the South Island of New Zealand.

The asymmetric pattern in the brick façade of the library contrasts to the symmetry to the exposed steel beams that rise over the external courtyard contrasts. Under the structure the glulam timber canopy references the style of nearby historic buildings and invites people to enter the courtyard. Within the courtyard, the openness of the space is softened by a single Japanese Maple planted in the centre, with suspended lights above.

All internal spaces can be used in various ways: glazed, bi-fold doors in the library and community hall open out onto the courtyard; bi-fold doors to the north of the building connect the community hall to the carpark. This flexibility means that the building can be used for larger community events and market days.

Translucent polycarbonate panels bring diffuse, natural light into the interior of the library. Again, the use of simple materials such as timber and concrete create a neutral colour palette and a welcome contrast to the colourful kids' area. The simplicity of the library is enhanced by a wall-art provided by a local artist, referencing Woolston's industrial past.

The structure of the community hall is also simple, featuring a combination of textured and peg-board lined joinery. With a sprung floor, AV system and wall projector, the hall is available for community events and gatherings. Plenty of storage is included to allow for flexibility of use and a modest, well-equipped commercial kitchen is accessible through a servery in the community hall. A small meeting room, toilets and parents' room complete the range of facilities available.

Throughout the project, the main principle was to make sure that the cost-efficiencies required on behalf of the community could be achieved without compromising the building's usability and overall design aesthetic.

Landscape material selections were similarly selected to be easily and locally sourced - cost effective, durable surfaces suited to the urban context. Maintenance and operations are simplified with materials specified from commonly used palettes on other council projects. As far as possible, materials were sourced from the region and done by the local craftsman.

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En Vue / Finnis Architects

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 09:00 AM PST

Architects: Finnis Architects
Location: Melbourne Victoria, Australia
Interior Design: We are Huntly
Area: 971.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Tom Roe

Text description provided by the architects. En Vue is a newly developed exclusive selection of twenty-two luxury one, two and three-bedroom apartments in the heart of bayside, Sandringham. En Vue bestows the pinnacle of beautiful interiors and detailing with each of these residences impressively showcasing the latest contemporary elegance with luxury fittings and finishes.

En Vue combines a unique character and a modern exterior resulting in a standout building within the Bayside suburb. All apartments were designed to ensure an open plan kitchen, living and dining layout whilst ensuring that individual private spaces weren't compromised. Each apartment provides a softened, contemporary space to reflect and relax. En Vue has been designed with two key priorities in mind: individuality and luxury. Each apartment features an abundance of natural light, yet still provides an abiding sense of privacy and solitude.

En Vue respects its neighboring properties by sitting low in the streetscape and reducing the buildings overall visual impact, imposing less on the local environment. This also allowed for ground level apartments to have generous sized open outdoor areas, first floor balconies and private rooftop terraces for the second story apartments. Being in proximity to Sandringham beach, it was carefully considered to try to maximize the beautiful views which are a constant reminder of just how close the bay really is.

The modern façade of the development was designed as more of a cohesive unit as opposed to individually segmenting and highlighting each apartment as its own. This adds to the charm of En Vue as its integrated façade promotes a more interconnected lifestyle with the wider community of Sandringham. A light colour palette of timber cladding and white rendered concrete adds to the unification of the street elevation whilst adding to the vibrancy of the area.

Without being able to easily distinguish between the apartments seen on the façade lessens the visual impact on the street when combining with a light colour palette of majority white rendered concrete and timber cladding.

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Restaurante Teide / Horma

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 08:00 AM PST

Architects: Horma
Location: Avinguda 9 d'Octubre, 51, 46520 Port de Sagunt, Valencia, Spain
Authors Architects: Nacho Juan, Clara Cantó, Jose Iborra
Area: 280.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographer: Mariela Apollonio

Text description provided by the architects. The project starts from an attractive challenge to committed: renew a tradition.
Teide restaurant, located in a town near Valencia in Spain, is a classical one that has been able to upgrade from generation to generation without ever losing their original values: tradition, quality, proximity and well-being. After 20 years without renewing it´s time to rejuvenate and thereby also update its concept of space and kitchen.

Because all of this, the project proposes a solution of interior architecture, timeless, capable of maintaining the elegance of always combining it with freshness and modernity required.

For a long time the restaurant had been an almost hidden and disconnected access from the cafe space. Raised proposal, the project proposes to approach this space up to the main entrance.

Two main rooms, restaurant and cafe, two sensations and two material codes dialogue from access to present to the user the two options of the same cuisine. To differentiate spaces, material and color choices has been instrumental in the project.
Cafe arises with a cooler environment, global, natural light, where the wood of the floor guarantees the closeness and comfort of the user, which coexists with vegetation in a healthy environment.

Restaurant, located in the back of the place, moved its access to the entrance also configuring the main facade. In this case, a stone flooring, polished, combined with elements of Walnut wood on a sea blue background trying to take users to a quiet and elegant environment with a more timely and directed light that allows getting defined and private spaces.

Tradition and modernity are recognized also in the material choice through the use of known and familiar as materials Stone and wood but in aposition, size and proportion up to now not raised.
During the path to go to the restaurant, a line in the plane of the ceiling is responsible for joining us and guide us in the process. It hides indirect lighting together with all the necessary facilities, remaining hidden and fully integrated inside of own line.

Outside the luminaires also designed from the study of architecture just recognize the spaces and illuminate with precision the scope of each dinner.
The furniture chosen according to each space and vegetation just give each of the environments the personality that corresponds to them allowing to differentiate each space without losing the harmony of the whole.
The objective has been achieved, a new Teide which aims to remain the same as always.

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Warde Office / Studio AG Arquitetura

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 06:00 AM PST

Architects: Studio AG Arquitetura
Location: São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brazil
Architects In Charge: Amanda Castro, Giovana Giosa
Team: Amanda Jardim, Camila Youssef
Area: 300.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Ricardo Bassetti

Engineering: Construmar Engenharia

Text description provided by the architects. Upon entering the room the user is greeted by a range of texture and materials that make him explore the environment in a sensory way. The project hired by a law firm in São Paulo, Brazil, arose from the need for a space for interaction and exchange of knowledge. The living area should be the highlight of this expansion. We placed this space in the center of the set and worked from it to be a point of light (flash) that radiates to the rest of the room.

To delimit the lounge we developed a suspended wooden light fixture with a tensioned screen, creating a diffuse light plane. An interesting and intentional counterpoint comes from mixing a weight material like typical Brazilian wood with a current hi-tech lighting technology. We believe that projects must always be attentive to new trends without leaving behind the culture and tradition. The repetition of these light fixtures in the environment provides strength and identity to the project.

A metal partition designed by us separates the individual workrooms from the living environment without barring the natural light into the room and the artificial lighting for the rest of it. The idea of stacked cubes forming a fog, provides a sense of spatial division and privacy, keeping the sights, nevertheless. This metallic mesh reinforces the orthogonality and rhythm of the elements that make up the architecture that is softened through the rounded corners of the light fixture and the curved wall that houses the auditorium door, inviting the user to explore the space and simulating, in a poetical manner, the turning of pages of a book.

We chose to explore the horizontal line below the beams to bring lightness and amplitude to the space. To demonstrate this concept the wooden panel does not reach the slab, as well as the metal partition and the auditorium block. Through a neutral and silent color palette, we sought to bring a bit of residential coziness into this corporate environment in which the main purpose was to connect people and strengthen human relationships. There was also a great concern in embedding the local culture in that environment. The slabs in exposed reinforced concrete and the use of native woods, combined with the furniture of great Brazilian designers contribute to this.

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Carlo Ratti Designs Prefab Housing for Rural India

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 05:00 AM PST

Livingboard. Image Courtesy of Carlo Ratti Associati

Architecture practice Carlo Ratti Associati has designed a low-cost prefabricated housing system for Indian non-profit WeRise. The new "Livingboard" system was made so that homeowners can build any structure they like on top of it. Made as a pilot project to encourage rural housing development, the system is being tested in a village outside Bangalore. As a portable "motherboard", the design provides homeowners prefabricated and flat-packed elements like waste management and water treatment systems.

Currently, the new design focuses on the Karnataka region in India and how to minimize water consumption. Embracing a spirit of making, Livingboard includes heating, batteries for energy storage and Wi-Fi connectivity. As Carlo Ratti said, "The maker movement has shown how empowering it is to put the new fabrication tools in the hands of people. An important challenge for the next years will be to apply the same principle to construction – transferring the DIY attitude of Fab Labs to housing. This is the vision behind our design for Livingboard."

Aiming to empower the local community to take on the building process themselves, WeRise will run workshops with a volunteer architect from the RMZ Foundation. Homeowners will also work with WeRise and its local partners to pick the finishings for the house. For the pilot project, the companies foresee working with compressed earth blocks for the units and local woods. Find out more about the Livingboard project.

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Rooftop Park / RDR Arquitectos

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 04:00 AM PST

Architects: RDR Arquitectos
Location: Av. Pres. Figueroa Alcorta 7350, Núñez, City of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Architect In Charge: Jacques Richter, Ignacio Dahl Rocha, Bruno Emmer, Facundo Morando
Project Team: Ignacio Dahl Rocha, Bruno Emmer, Nicole Michel, Rodrigo Muro, Martín Rosello, Facundo Morando, Jorgelina Tortoricci, Ovidio Lagos, Nicolás Adrián, Inés Loviseck, Gerardo Pietrobelli, Ignacio Bóscolo, Martina Portugal, Guillermo Aporsegui.
Area: 215278.21 ft2
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Javier Agustín Rojas

Landscaping: Grupo Landscape. (Cora Burgin, Sebastián Mouzo)
Civil Engineer: Ing. José Zaldua
Thermomechanics: Frisia S.A.
Sanitary: ITISSA SA
Electric: Ritec.
Acoustic: Gustavo Basso
Client: Universidad Torcuato Di Tella

Text description provided by the architects. This work culminates the different stages of the Alcorta headquarters of the Torcuato Di Tella University developed since 2009 by RDR arquitectos. It consists of two new levels that finish the building, built with a metal structure and glazed enclosures that rest on the pre-existing roof of the previously remodeled building, fully operational. The fourth floor houses a restaurant, offices and classrooms, and the fifth floor is a large 2,000 m² garden roof covering the entire length of the plant. This new green space allows the University to expand its recreational areas and enjoy the open views towards the river and the city, attracting students to a new meeting place.

The terrace was conceived as a large park capable of housing both leisure and gastronomic venues as open-air auditoriums and sectors for academic and sports activities. The large folds of the roof enrich the route and generate situations of formal and informal auditoriums in the open. These folds, in turn, allow three large classrooms to be housed in the lower floor, conferring the height according to their dimensions. The courtyards bring light to the lower levels and contain the stairs to the terrace from the fourth floor hall.

This stage required a material strategy capable of building an additional level on a densely populated building without interrupting its activities. The project took on this challenge not only by including in this instance materials such as metallic primary structures and gypsum rock ceilings and partition walls that allowed an almost exclusively dry work, but also to extend and complete the overhead light inlets and the vertical circulations forming patios through in a delicate staggering of tasks that always kept properly isolated hydrophobic, acoustically and thermally to the spaces of use in the lower levels. Finally, this new architecture emerges in the garden terrace with a palette of natural materials, assembled and light, of evident contrast with the monolithic, neutral and tectonic technology of the concrete and the masonry of the pre-existing building.

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An Expert Guide through MoMA's "Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948–1980"

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 03:00 AM PST

Miodrag Živković, Monument to the Battle of Sutjeska, 1965-71, Tjentište, Bosnia and Herzegovina. View of the western exposure. Photo: Valentin Jeck, commissioned by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2017.

Since July 2018, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has hosted an exhibition exploring the architecture of the former Yugoslavia. "Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980" became the first major US exhibition to study the subject, through over 400 drawings, models, photographs, and films.

With the exhibition soon coming to an end, Martino Stierli (Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA) and Vladimir Kulic (Guest Curator and Architecture Historian) have presented a 7-minute-long video guiding viewers through the highlights of the exhibition.

Available above, the video touches on a variety of structures, from the small, modular K67 Kiosk to the imposing Avala TV Tower in Belgrade. Tracing the genesis of the architectural movement; a post-war, utopian vision of a new society to which architecture played a central role.

Edvard Ravnikar, Revolution Square (today Republic Square), 1960-74, Ljubljana, Slovenia. View of the Square. Photo: Valentin Jeck, commissioned by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2016.

The architecture that emerged during this period—from International Style skyscrapers to Brutalist "social condensers"—is a manifestation of the radical pluralism, hybridity, and idealism that characterized the Yugoslav state itself. Exploring themes of large-scale urbanization, technological experimentation and its application in everyday life, consumerism, monuments and memorialization, and the global reach of Yugoslav architecture, Toward a Concrete Utopia features work by important architects, including Bogdan Bogdanović, Juraj Neidhardt, Svetlana Kana Radević, Edvard Ravnikar, Vjenceslav Richter, and Milica Šterić.

Stojan Maksimović, Sava Center, 1979, Belgrade, Serbia. View of conference room. Photo: Valentin Jeck, commissioned by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2016.

The exhibition will be open until January 13th 2019. For more information, check out our previous coverage of the event, and visit the official website here.

Jonk's Photographs Depict the Abandonment and Beauty of Yugoslavian Monuments

French photographer Jonk drove over 5,000 kilometers through southeast Europe. His subject matter? Yugoslavian monuments, or "spomenik" in Serbian. Built in the 1960s and 70s under former president Josep Broz Tito, these monuments commemorate the communist resistance during the German occupation.

Yugoslavia Forgotten Monuments

Commissioned by former Yugoslavian president, Josip Broz Tito in the 1960s and 70s to commemorate sites where WWII battles took place, these now forgotten structures stand empty and without the significance it once had decades ago.

The Actual History Behind Yugoslavia's "Spomenik" Monuments

For many years, Yugoslavia's futuristic "Spomenik" monuments were hidden from the majority of the world, shielded from the public eye by their remote locations within the mountains and forests of Eastern Europe. That is, until the late 2000s, when Belgian photographer Jan Kempenaers began capturing the abstract sculptures and pavilions and posting his photographs to the internet.

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Ox's House / Leo Romano Arquitetura

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 02:00 AM PST

Architects: Leo Romano Arquitetura
Location: Brazil
Area: 477.0 m2
Project Year: 2011
Photographer: Edgar Cesar

Text description provided by the architects. The residence was named "Casa do Boi“(Ox's House) because of the tile panel created by Leo Romano. Located in a condominium in Goiânia, the house is presented by a valley. For this reason, its architecture is designed in a way to narrow the relationship of man with nature. The clients are a couple of businessmen of the fashion branch with two daughters already adult. They asked for a house that had an authorial trait, but that would fit into the land without harming the existing nature. Another important point was to guarantee a certain privacy in relation to the other lands.

The house opens to itself and brings the vegetation, the animals, the sky. Your party is accurate. The main façade is marked by a two-volume overlap. The upper volume receives the rooms. On the ground floor are the social, service and leisure areas of the house. The plant develops freely, contemplating the kitchen spaces, rooms and balcony, that turn to the swimming pool and the lake.

The concept of space integration is combined with usability and freedom. Brazilian furniture punctuates the environment, respecting a wood palette. With few strokes, Leo exercises the contemporary poetics he enjoys so much. It adds the seized plastic values along its trajectory. Make a time. It makes of its architecture a way to happiness.

The façade tiles were an opportunity to honor Athos Bulcão. Leo Romano was inspired by the artist's panels to create the pieces that make up this work. The customer wanted something unique. So Leo started with the design of a stylized ox that is the hallmark of his architecture office and deconstructed its shape so that the original image would be diluted in the set. Everyone was pleased with the result. The execution was commissioned at a local coatings shop.

The composition of the rooms was full of Brazilian furniture. In the living room, stand out for the Mole and Oscar armchairs of Sérgio Rodrigues, as well as the Seamstress seats by Lina Bo Bardi. The red sculptural staircase is by Jader Almeida. In the dining room appear the chairs Pantosh, from Latoog design.
On the porch, the main piece is the armchair Asturias, by Carlos Mota. An Aubusson rug marks the social area. The works of art are by artists from the state of Goiás. Highlight the panels of the artist Pitágoras, which give color to the living and dining environments.

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The Abandoned Architecture Series for your Next YouTube Binge

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 01:30 AM PST

Designers and the general public alike have an endless fascination with abandoned architecture. Throughout history shifting economies, disasters, regime changes, and utter incompetence have all caused the evacuation of impressive architectural structures, which today serve as curious, sometimes eerie monuments to a bygone era.

Such is our fascination with these structures, YouTube is awash with videos and series of curious explorers documenting their daring, sometimes dubious adventures within abandoned architecture. One such channel, with a keen eye for architectural cinematography, is The Proper People.

With 135 videos and over half a million subscribers, the channel's founders Bryan and Michael have amassed an impressive series of videos, exploring, filming, and photographing abandoned buildings from the USA and beyond. To date, notable episodes include documentation of America's largest abandoned subway system in Cincinnati, a majestic 150-year-old Gothic cathedral, art deco and postmodernist hotels, an Ancient Order temple, and countless unnerving explorations of asylums, prisons, and nuclear plants.

There's something about exploring these places that really just hits you. When you step into an abandoned building, you get the feeling that you're leaving the world you know and stepping into another one- maybe one you've seen in movies, read about in a book, or only imagined in your dreams. Call it morbid curiosity, but for us, its a way of life.
-The Proper People

Below, we have embedded our favorite picks from the Proper People's endeavors. For the full content, head over to the team's official YouTube channel here. The team also sell prints of some of their best architectural images, available on their website.

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The Best Architecture of 2018

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 01:00 AM PST

To our readers,

As we approach the end of the year, we would once again like to thank you all for making 2018 our best year yet. With your continued support, we are now reaching more architects around the globe than ever, and inspiring them in the creation of better urban environments for all.

On behalf of the entire ArchDaily team, we are excited to share this collection of 2018's most visited projects, products, and articles. Together with our curated selection of the year's most relevant and noteworthy articles and events, these represent the best content created and shared by ArchDaily over the past 11 months.

Here's to a wonderful, architecture-filled 2019!

See The Best Architecture of 2018

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Performative Bond / Martins Architecture Office

Posted: 01 Jan 2019 12:00 AM PST

Architects: Martins Architecture Office
Location: Braga, Portugal
Team: José Martins, Marta Machado, Marina Carbia
Area: 49.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: NUDO

Text description provided by the architects. A 49 sqm store is located in a 1st generation shopping mall that tries to resist the abandonment. Due to its location in the city center, there is still some activity although part of the occupation are the shops marked by successive transformations that create a palette of the suburbanite.

The project itself is ambitious in its attempt of integration by promoting a performative, stylized, simplified space that contrasts in all its valences with its surroundings. The program consists of an oriental medicine center that had to be built at a controlled cost. It's proposed an adjustment in all the infrastructures and the relocation of the bathroom which becomes a space of mediation between the waiting room and the workroom.

The reception proposes a "box inside a box" showing the original and infrastructural perimeter of the store, drawing a scenic space stripped of any signs. This strategy solves the minimal use of the building features and launches the entire interior atmosphere that was only painted and added a skirting on top of the new pavement. The subdivision of the work cabins is constituted by planes that float in space allowing a dynamic use by the therapist creating a unique atmosphere of treatment.

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Refurbishment of the old Headquarters of the Granada Monte de Piedad / DTR_studio architects

Posted: 31 Dec 2018 10:00 PM PST

Architect: DTR_studio architects
Location: Carrera del Darro, 51, 18010 Granada, Spain
Authors: Jose Maria Olmedo, Jose Miguel Vázquez
Area: 1407.0 m2
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Cris Beltran

Construction: Hermanos Herrera C.B.
Quantity Surveyor: Jorge Sánchez
Collaborators: Alba Márquez

Text description provided by the architects. This is a XVIII century building. The old headquarters of the "Monte de Piedad" de Granada. It was like a Public Pawn shop. The amazing situation (just in front of the Alhambra), the public scale of the spaces and its configuration made this project a special one. We have tried to keep its atmosphere and propose a new language that improve to the existing building.

The strategy has been to reinforce the different constructive typologies existing in the building and add a new one for the roof.

The estructure of the Main Façade is the most noble, made with a very large wood beams

The estructure around the patio are a more domestic constructive system. And the backyard garden façade is the most modest construction. The top roof will be resolved with a steel structure and arches ceramic blocks, following the logic evolution of the building construction. The last slab made in the building (around the mid of XX century) consisted in arches made with bricks.

About the finishing, we propose neutral material, to emphasize the existing elements that we keep: hydraulic floors, old brick walls, stone columns, decorated lintels … in conclusion all the things that represented the memory of the building to keep its atmosphere

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srijeda, 2. siječnja 2019.

Arch Daily

Arch Daily

Jonk's Photographs Depict the Abandonment and Beauty of Yugoslavian Monuments

Yugoslavia Forgotten Monuments

The Actual History Behind Yugoslavia's "Spomenik" Monuments

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