Arch Daily

A' Design Awards Announce World Design Rankings
Kindergarten / Biuro Toprojekt
École des Ponts ParisTech's Design by Data Program Merges Architecture with Engineering Science
Hanging Villa / TWS & Partners
Vac-Library / Farming Architects
La Vela / Time Architecture
Residence Guan / V2 Design
Campbell Street / DKO Architecture + SLAB
PJ House / Rakta Studio
World's First Underwater Hotel to Open in the Maldives
Lozano House / David Regalado Arquitectura
House P82 / Lucas y Hernández – Gil
Faith & Form's 2018 Program Recognizes the Best in Religious Architecture and Art
Girassol Building / Reinach Mendonça Arquitetos Associados
Architecture's "Dark Products": What Do Architects Claim Ownership of in the Design Process?
Malababa Flaghip Store / Ciszak Dalmas + Matteo Ferrari
The Best Architectural Drawings of 2018

A' Design Awards Announce World Design Rankings

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 07:30 PM PST

Mirrors Cafe - Hisanori Ban - Japan. Image © A' Design Awards

The A' Design Award is an international award whose aim is to provide designers, architects, and innovators from all architecture and design fields with a competitive platform to showcase their work and products to a global audience. Among the design world's many awards, the A' Design Award stands out for its exceptional scale and breadth; in 2015, over 1,000 different designs received awards, with all fields of design recognized by the award's 100 different categories.

The World Design Rankings (WDR) are sponsored by the A' Design Award and Competition, the world's leading international design accolade. The WDR ranks all the countries based on the number of designers that have been granted with the A' Design Award between the years 2010 and 2018. Highly competitive and influential, WDR is to design what the Olympics are to sports. It aims to provide additional data and insights to economists and journalists regarding the state-of-art in the design industry. The ultimate aim of the world design rankings is to contribute to global design culture through advocating and highlighting good design. The rankings aim to provide a snapshot of the state-of-art and design potentials of countries worldwide by highlighting their creative strengths and available opportunities.

The United States tops the list with 584 awards, followed by China (554), and Japan (215). Take a look at our favorite architectural projects below.

The submission period for the A' Design Award closes on February 28th. You can register here. After the winners are announced on April 15th, a selection of architecture-related winners will be featured in a post on ArchDaily.

Da Chang Muslim Cultural Center / Hejingtang Design Studio / China

Platinum A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2018

Hadar´s House / Asante Architecture & Design / Norway

Gold A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2018

Mirrors Cafe / Hisanori Ban / Japan

Silver A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2015

The Mirrored Sight Shelter Viewing House, Tea House / Li Hao - One Take Architects / China

Gold A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2018

Kiyosato Villa with Exhibition Space / Satoshi Okada / Japan

Gold A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2017

Baan Nong Bua School / Jun Sekino / Thailand

Gold A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2018

Solar Egg – More than a Sauna / Furniture and Bigert & Bergström / Sweden

Gold A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2018

Solar Egg – More than a Sauna - Futurniture and Bigert & Bergström - Sweden. Image © A' Design Awards

AS Offices Mixed Use Building / AS Arquitectura / Mexico

Gold A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2017

Chalet La Pedevilla / Pedevilla Architects / Italy

Gold A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2016

Irekua Anatani Residential House / Broissin Architects / Mexico

Gold A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2017

Pool House Residential / Priyanka Khanna and Rudraksh Charan / India

Gold A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2017

Jerry House / onion / Thailand

Gold A' Interior Space and Exhibition Design Winner, 2017

Flowing Tai Chi / CHIH-KAI,KANG / China

Gold A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2016

The Field Is Embedded With Wisdom / Sheng-Hsin Hsu / Taiwan

Gold A' Interior Space and Exhibition Design Winner, 2017

Chhatrapti Shivaji International Airport / Mumbai International Airport Ltd. & SOM / India

Platinum A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2015

Grotto Sauna / PARTISANS / Canada

Platinum A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2015

Hiza / Proarh Davor Matekovic / Croatia

Silver A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2015

Manshausen Island Resort / Snorre Stinessen / Norway

Platinum A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2017

Qin Service Center by Chin-Feng Wu / Taiwan

Gold A' Interior Space and Exhibition Design Winner, 2015

Qin Service Center - Chin-Feng Wu - Taiwan. Image © A' Design Awards

Barin Ski Resort / Ryra Design Studio / Iran

Silver A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Winner, 2016

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

Kindergarten / Biuro Toprojekt

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 07:00 PM PST

© Juliusz Sokołowski, Wojciech Bęczarski

Architects: Biuro Toprojekt
Location: Żory, Poland
Lead Architects: Marek Wawrzyniak, Karol Wawrzyniak
Design Team: Alina Kudla, Katarzyna Mazurek, Izabela Groborz-Musik
Area: 1060.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Juliusz Sokołowski, Wojciech Bęczarski

Text description provided by the architects. Pre-school education is one of the most important stages in human development, so we should carefully care for the quality of space in which this process takes place. Children cannot be underestimated and serve only colored interiors. A child is a serious, sensitive recipient who puts the highest demands on the designer.

A five-branch kindergarten was established in the center of Kleszczówka district in the suburbs of Żory. The immediate environment is dominated by chaotic single-family buildings. A little further you can meet small clusters of four blocks. In this environment, the kindergarten is the space and new quality.

A small parcel of an irregular shape similar to a triangle intended for the construction of a pre-school segment at an existing school, imposed rather two-story solutions, although a little overwhelming, but leaving a little space for the playground. Instead, we decided to have a one-story building with rounded corners, which filled almost all of the possible surface, and for the outdoor play, we designed a large roof terrace.

To provide access to daylight to all rooms and communication spaces, we put a rectangular atrium into the center of the kindergarten, a piece of the outside world into which snow and rainfall and constantly changing sunlight.
Openwork, steel stairs can get from the atrium to the roof. A streamlined, wood-covered terrace with two circular islands of green in the middle encourages children to run on more and more tracks. Outside the terrace, the roof surface is covered with ornamental grasses. It is a pity that during the construction it was not possible to keep old acacias at the border of the plot, which would partly shade the terrace. You will have to wait for a few years for new trees.

A triangle with rounded corners and irregular perforation of concrete walls. The mineral wool enabled precise warming of the vertical planks. The wall line remains fluid.

Reinforced concrete walls work with heat exchanger and heating systems. Mineral wool protects during the summer. Moisture, which could trace in the thermal insulation layer, is discharged to the outside. This slit has a different effect on overheating. Wool as a completely non-flammable material reduces the fire risk to a minimum.

Reinforced concrete walls work perfectly with a ground heat exchanger and heating and ventilation systems, constituting an excellent heat and cold compensator. Mineral wool protects the building from the loss of energy outside and its excessive acquisition during the summer.

The cladding of the vertical boards has also been covered with external walls. The walls and roof will naturally grow old, the trees grow and the grass will thicken. The functioning and aging of a building in the perspective of years is also for us - and perhaps even more - important from its appearance at the time of putting into use.

A streamlined, wood-covered terrace with three circular islands. Outside the terrace, the roof surface is covered with ornamental grasses. It is not possible to keep the old building, which would be some of the shades of the terrace. You will have to wait for a few years for new trees. The project has received numerous awards and is nominated for EU Mies award 2019.

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

École des Ponts ParisTech's Design by Data Program Merges Architecture with Engineering Science

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 06:30 PM PST

In 2016, Ecole des Ponts ParisTech has established an advanced masters program with a focus on digital fabrication and robotics. Currently recruiting for its fourth installment, the Design by Data Advanced Masters Program appeals to architects, engineers, and tech-oriented designers. Since its launch in 2016, the program's director Francesco Cingolani has sought to shape the relationship between architecture and technology by creating a cross-disciplinary culture between the two.

As previously mentioned on Archdaily, students study the main components of the program - computational design, digital culture and design, and additive manufacturing and robotic fabrication - throughout the 12-month program to fulfill Design by Data's main objectives while working with peers in a dynamic learning environment. While providing each participant with both technical skills and an aesthetic eye, the program ensures students will also gain critical knowledge of current innovative trends and ongoing research. By exposing them to technology through hands-on use of tools of digital fabrication, the program will teach students to approach design through a process-oriented lens.

"Computational design, to me, is a completely new way of thinking about architecture and design that merges digital arts and engineering. Computational design is mainly about how we can use algorithms, mathematics, and generative thinking to create a novelty of architecture and object with complex geometries that are not standard." --Francesco Cingolani, co-founder the Design by Data Program.

The program created a Makerspace, an interdisciplinary learning platform for prototyping. Makerspace "fosters interdisciplinarity between the various fields of expertise represented in the school and in neighboring schools." According to Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, students develop transferable skills in various disciplines by making and coding. They view the "Designer-Builder" "in this environment as a strategist, capable of conceiving and leading new methodologies for problem-solving."

The program aspires to change the way architects think about objects in space through a compilation of theory, design applications, and prototype generation. École des Ponts ParisTech is considered one of the premier engineering institutions. The school is home to state of the art laboratories and research units that mainly tackle problems in structural engineering and material mechanics. The Design by Data program is able to take advantage of these facilities, providing students with unparalleled access.

Design by Data has a diverse body of faculty from a multitude of backgrounds, including the professor and researcher, Olivier Baverel; designer and digital fabrication expert, Adrien Rigobello; and architect and robotics expert Aldo Sollazzo, who is also affiliated with IaaC and Noumena in Barcelona). You can learn more about the academic team and the modules offered here.

For more information and to apply, visit Design by Data's website. Applications are open and the first selection committee is scheduled for the end of January. Submit your application before January 15th to be considered.

Below, learn more about the Design by Data from Keerthana Razan, a graduate of the program and Olivier Baverel, architectural engineer, professor, and the Scientific Head of Design by Data:

News via: École des Ponts

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

Hanging Villa / TWS & Partners

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 06:00 PM PST

Architects: TWS & Partners
Location: Bandung, Indonesia
Lead Architects: Tonny Wirawan Suriadjaja
Interior Design: TWS& Partners
Lighting Consultant: SSA
Area: 983.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Fernando Gomulya

Text description provided by the architects. The project is to design a villa located at the mountain side in Bandung, West Java. Sited far away from the city's heavy traffic, Hanging Villa becomes a comfortable place to settle and stay. The building program is intended to gather the big family while giving each member their personal space by providing communal spaces and private spaces. This project have a special request of having an outdoor multifunction area which can be used to host various events. With its geometric shape this can be defined as a modern and friendly form of a villa that responds to its surrounding nature.

The site takes benefit from the beautiful surrounding of deep valley and has an advantage of its proximity to the forest conservatory, which provides tranquil atmosphere of the mountain side. The building mass is originally taken from the idea of stacking boxes which are rotated through their corner axis, in order to create different walking experience from different angle of view. This strategy also allows the users to have different orientation in different room and have almost 270 degree view to the surrounding valleys. This significant aspect has influenced the architect on the design process.

The building has a vertical circulation tower starting from street/ garage level and leads to the second floor as a gathering area. On the second floor, people can start to enjoy the surrounding element through an open timber pathway, side by side with water garden as a welcoming element. Once passing the timber pathway, people can enter the living room, kitchen, and dining room. The earthy color palette were used for the interior and exterior space. They allow the house to feel closer to its surrounding and to naturally integrate into the landscape. The color palette used as the flooring, walls and ceiling are all chosen to enhance the surrounding view. The area inside is intended to have a tranquil and relaxing atmosphere especially at sunset with the colors of the sky and the room's lighting accent. Full height glass walls envelop most of the interior space, exposing them to the surrounding views in addition to reduce the need for artificial illumination.The other side of living and dining room can also be opened to the water garden, wooden terrace and surrounding valley.

The master bedroom and service area were situated on the first floor. The area were separated by the slope. It was placed on the first floor with the intention for the occupant to have more private space while the service area will only be used for the housemaid and security. Each of the area can be accessed with two different staircase from the second floor.

The entire landscape can be enjoyed from the shifted massing on the upper level. It provides shading to the open wooden terrace underneath it. On one side, this upper level consists of an open roof deck with outdoor furniture, covered with louver shading where the occupant can enjoy a breezy evening with friends/family or soaking up some daytime sun and with direct access to the private garden on the other side. The random rhythm of wooden louver design were mixed with glass window which still act as a louver while maximize the illumination from the sun.

The building is oriented to take the full advantage of the sun position and perpendicular to the wind direction to maximize the wind to enter the building while the extensive use of glass openings allow natural cross ventilation and maximize natural light to enter the building during the day. The building has been weatherized for maximum protection against the loss of warm and cool air by applying appropriate insulating materials and window glazing to reduce heat loss in ways that do not cause indoor humidity.

The design creates a healthy indoor environment quality by adequate ventilation, which leads to the increase of comfort and health benefits for the occupants. The shallow pool function as an element that produce a cool refreshing breeze as the wind flows into the building while benefiting the occupant by reducing the operating cost of using air-conditioner.

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

Vac-Library / Farming Architects

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 05:00 PM PST

Architects: Farming Architects
Location: Dương Nội, Hà Đông, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Lead Architect: Viet Dung An
Area: 55.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Thai Thach, Viet Dung An

Text description provided by the architects. In present-day Hanoi, Vietnam, people tend to create small landmarks in their homes, including the placement of fish ponds, which may be small aquariums or Koi ponds with higher investment. In addition, the situation of vegetable contaminants in the city also causes the desire to plant fresh vegetables right in resident homes became imperative. Nowadays, many families organize planting vegetable at home, however, mostly following spontaneous methods, without a strategic planning or architectural aesthetics. These are vegetable foam boxes that are placed in a narrow space in the house, or in the garden area of the balcony and top terrace.

Urban VAC model proposed by Farming Architects
Farming Architects is re-designing the VAC system to be implemented in an urban area. The aim is not only to produce an effective use of natural resources but also favorite experimentation in using different types of plants and animals in the urban environment.

How does VAC-Library work?
The core feature for the design of VAC is the Aquaponics, it is a system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. Aquaponics uses circulating water from a fish pond to provide nutrients to plants. Nitrite/nitrite bacterium will transfer the waste from the aquarium into a suitable nutrient-rich crop for plants. Water is also purified by plants and supplied to the aquarium. The system is designed with energy conservation in mind, using renewable energy (by transferring solar energy) and a reduced number of pumps by letting the water flow downwards naturally as much as possible. Besides, electricity for lighting and pumps are also provided - saved from solar panels on the roof.

Structural language
VAC Library uses a language deriving from the use of wooden frames. This technical form helps to create a flexible and adaptable structure. This also works as a spatial organization, division to be different functional areas. The VAC Library is also geared towards an open library space for children. Children in the area and elsewhere can come here to play together, read books, and learn about this ecological model visually at the building. The children will know that Koi fish is not only pets to watch, but also know how their waste will be carried on the vegetable planters, how the water is supplied to the vegetables and then filtered back to the pond. The chickens which are raised in that cage beside will lay eggs and serve for meals, their excrement is also good for gardening.

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

La Vela / Time Architecture

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 04:00 PM PST

Architects: Time Architecture
Location: Provincia de Phang Nga, Thailand
Lead Architects: Vissanu Sangsiri
Area: 24650.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Pirak Anurakyawachon

Interior Designer: Coquo Studio
Landscape Architect: T.R.O.P.
Consultant: Meinhardt

Text description provided by the architects. Project La Vela is a new development with 181 guest rooms,2 restaurants, a spa, a beach club and a large swimming pool. What is unique about the project is its unusual land site which appears to be two large separated areas joined by a 10-meter wide walkway. The project is located on an 8th century trading route, a fact which inspired the development's creative layout.

The project architect chose a triangular-shaped configuration where the lines connecting the three vertices represent strength and connectivity and suggest the sightings of stars which travelers used as reference when traveling at night. Such sight delineations are useful to sense the 'space' and 'place' of vast areas. Moreover, when multiple triangular shapes are layered over one another, they accentuate a sense of greater connectivity between different areas and expose spaces that were once hidden from view.

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

Residence Guan / V2 Design

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 03:00 PM PST

Architects: V2 Design
Location: Haitang Wang, Sanya, Hainan, China
Architect In Charge: Rui Zhao
Design Team: Longjun Li, Fangyuan Liu, Zhenghui Ye,Jun Liu, Zhibin Huang, Hequan Zhang, Qiong Luo, Qidiao Wu, Danran Chen, Donglin Wu, Zaixi Wu, Shengjuan Li, Bin Lv, Ruqian Lang, Weize Kang, Zhiyi Yang, Zhibin Zang, Huanjie Zhan, Xiaoling Gao, Xiaoli Luo, Jingyun He
Space Photographer: Lumen Chao, Qidiao Wu
Area: 7300.0 m2
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Heng Zhang, Qidiao Wu

Text description provided by the architects. In this project, we hope everywhere is full of the scenery, picture, light, mood and life, so very greedy to show all the content in the project, so we are very greedy to show all the content in this project.

The project is located in Sanya Haitang Bay, it is a holiday residence and small private club hotel. There are 12 rooms, including dining area, public area and entertainment area. When the project was first received, it was an unfinished building, so our task is to carry out its construction and structural transformation, to Complete the project and deliver the project.

The local climate in Sanya is hot and the sun shimmered harshly, the building is located in the sea, there is the strong sea breeze, the high salt water, and the strong corrosive, all these factors makes the choice of material become very important for the quality of the entire project. Finally, we chose the Shandong white rust stone, logs, and texture paint, cause these three kinds decorative materials are with high durability.

We built a large area of the platform, in order to block the sun, in the meanwhile horizontal lines of the platform block is easy to integrate with the environment, it makes people interact better with nature. The huge roofing platform on the activity area can hold large activities such as barbecue, cocktail party or wedding, it greatly enhanced the use of the site, but also can be very good with the indoor courtyard trails to form a strong sense of rhythm. Indoor part structure which exposed as much as possible can help to show the height of the space, and on this basis to extend it to form a more beautiful sense of rhythm.

To characterize every corner, and hope to show all kinds of content, the sculpture, painting, installations, lamps and even straw houses, streams and so on, the designer wants to show this passion and emotion in the project. Finally we mix all the content together with the body block to pile up this work---Residence Guan.

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

Campbell Street / DKO Architecture + SLAB

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 01:00 PM PST

Architects: DKO Architecture, SLAB
Location: Collingwood, Australia
Lead Architects: Jesse Linardi, Seada Linardi
Area: 304.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Kate Ballis, Tom Blachford

Other Participants : Michael Drescher, Laura Saunders, Keen Tham
Collaborators: Milieu Property

Text description provided by the architects. Campbell Street is a study in pushing multi residential architecture and vertical living to the limits. The dwelling lot sizes are 4m in width and 9m in length, 36m2 in total per dwelling, or 72m2 total site area. A density of 140 dwellings per hectare. The average city lot size in 2016 in Melbourne was 400m2, more than 10 times the size of our site. There are two dwellings side by side, identical in dimension but not layout. Each house aspires to provide the traditional three-bedroom housing typology squeezed, stacked and blurred. Not only were we fascinated by working with such constraints, but we were intrigued by offering solutions and alternatives to city living that are outside the conventional market offerings.

The gentrification of Collingwood has come at a cost, with many examples of middle-class values driving certain flavours and styles of development and architectural style. Whilst one can argue that Collingwood is a suburb of diversity, there is authenticity to Collingwood that is allusive and difficult to assimilate into. The houses are located in an eclectic streetscape, of commercial warehouses and single and double storey terraces. Visually the building is dominated by a cloak of custom punctured and pressed aluminium sheets that provide a strength and boldness to the street. The houses occupy the whole site with the only daylight access via the street elevation. To mitigate the heat load from the western sun and provide opportunities to change the internal visual experience, an operable façade is employed to this elevation.

The architecture is unrelenting in its strength, withholding any pretentiousness. We built the smallest basement in Melbourne, and sacrificed one tenth of the site employing the luxury of a lightwell stretching down the whole six stories from the roof garden to the basement. This allows daylight deep into the site that is fully built out, also providing cross ventilation and visual relief. The lightwell furthermore becomes critical within the stair circulation experience along with the openness and detailing of stairs. It was critical to think about how we could make use of the spaces in different formats and uses, to interrogate the process of multiple configurations – such as how could bedrooms be altered to become theatres, or how the kitchen alter and adapt to four or eight guests. We Investigated foldable elements and hidden beds that could transform space and provide flexibility.

The plans break down and merge traditional isolated programs, blending them together, to make opportunity of space constraints, challenging more conventional living arrangements. Mirrors, glass dividers, glass floors and internal windows compound and reinforce the erosion of boundaries and extend the perception of space. Joinery elements dominate walls, though with a refined visual simplicity that allows people to live and occupy the space with everyday items and give opportunity for a calmness through the removal of visual clutter. The implementation of Campbell Street was very much a process dreaming big on a small site.

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

PJ House / Rakta Studio

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 11:00 AM PST

Architects: Rakta Studio
Location: Padalarang, Indonesia
Architect Principal: Vidor Saputro and Ronald Agus Adikusumo
Architect Team: Ramos Saedi, Darryl Fernaldi, Franklin R Winata, Jason Fernandez, Viona Rachel. Christian Halim
Area: 675.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Mario Wibowo

Text description provided by the architects. It would be nice to have a shelter that closes to nature and feel like a vacation in a lake house every day. That is the purpose to bring those feelings to the design. Located in an exclusive residential Kota Baru Parahyangan, Padalarang. West java Indonesia, designed by Rakta Studio with modern tropical style. It is surrounded by nature and lake as the vocal point at the backyard view as the landscape of the house. The architect designed it to see through the lake view from the house by creating a natural view and atmosphere.

Nature, Modern, and Glamorous look is an idea for material selection for the house. Stone and marble with fine texture and pattern were chosen to make a plain wall look more interesting and beautiful. Wood was chosen to use for a warm and cozy feeling. Box‐shape with flat roof keeps a simple look yet modern-ish for the house among the nature around it, with a touch of black color wall painted for the color theme to make it more splendid.

To provide a sequence for its users and also for guests, starting from the foyer as the entrance alongside with the reflecting pool and beautiful artwork before accessing to the private. Between the public guest area and the master living area, there is a courtyard garden with a vertical garden as the vocal point, as the barrier to keep privacy for the private area. Interior and exterior spaces are connected by openings that have a direct view of the garden and the swimming pool. A hanging stair with the wood and marble connect the first story to the upper level of the house, which contains the bedrooms for the owner. The use of glass material as a partition of the outer and inner space within the living and dining room makes this area seem to blend with the outside area.

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

World's First Underwater Hotel to Open in the Maldives

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 07:00 AM PST

After years of construction, the world's first underwater hotel has officially opened in the Maldives. The hotel, part of the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, will allow guests to relax within the waters of the Indian Ocean and is touted by the developers as "an ambitious display of architecture, design, and technology."

Nestled more than 16-feet below sea level, a stay in the Muraka may soon be on the bucket list of adventurous global travelers. The hotel boasts every possible luxury (and a price tag to match), vistas feature passing marine life rather than just waves or sunsets. The 'villa' itself is made up of two levels and includes butler's quarters, a private bar, and a gym. If the ocean itself is not enough, the space also includes an infinity pool.

For all the luxury, the hotel also boasts enviable sustainability credentials. The modular structure was built first in Singapore and then transported to its site in the Maldives. There, each element was nailed to concrete pylons ensuring stability within the shifting tides.

"The completion of The Muraka is a personal lifetime achievement," said Ahmed Saleem, chief architect and designer of the residence, in a statement. "After years in the making, my team and I are proud to officially present The Muraka residence and its accompanying Maldivian experience to worldly travelers who crave the extraordinary."

News via CNN

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

Lozano House / David Regalado Arquitectura

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 05:00 AM PST

Architects: David Regalado Arquitectura
Location: Malacatos, Ecuador
Author: David Regalado Ojeda
Area: 65.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: JAG Studio

Construction: David Regalado Ojeda

The assignment is located in the province of Loja, Ecuador in the parish Malacatos, the house appears as a different and special project, due to lack of resources, place and especially because it comes from the daughter of an illustrious composer from the city of Loja and one of the greatest composers of Ecuadorian Music called Manuel de Jesus Lozano that is why the name of the project.

The land is located in the mountains near the parish, has a rugged slope but with a view of the privileged landscape and Malacatos, so the location of the house was in the highest part of the land possible, through a cut in the land that allows to generate a platform for its settlement, and located in the direction of the slope that faces the landscape, considering that the location depends fundamentally on the interaction with the environment.

It is a rectangular volume of 10 m by 7 m well defined that rests in the high part of the terrain, necessary to the dominant horizontal, with a cover that flies from the volume to provide shade and protect it from the climate of the area, located on the transparency of a volume of glass that allows cross ventilation all the time and divides the rectangular volume of its cover. The rigor of the geometry with which the volume is designed corresponds to the need that the house must occupy in the land along with its constructive materiality as an exploration tool with local, common and low-resource building elements.

It is intended a house of one floor where two service modules (Closet - Bathroom) are used as main axes in the distribution of the plant dividing the social and private area in perfect order, surrounded by a garden as large as possible that is, infinite limits thanks to its landscape. The project is dissolved in the landscape, this does not intend more than to frame the importance that is attributed to the outer space, which is why the spaces are established from the outside to the inside, only thus the landscape is involved and present in all the spaces of the house.

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

House P82 / Lucas y Hernández – Gil

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 04:00 AM PST

Architects: Lucas y Hernández – Gil
Location: Salamanca, Madrid, Spain
Architects In Charge: Cristina Domínguez Lucas and Fernando Hernández-Gil Ruano
Area: 140.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: José Hevía

Collaborators: Raquel Quirós, Lucía Balboa, María Domínguez Lucas
Furniture Design: Kresta Design

House P82, it is a mid-twentieth century apartment in the city center of Madrid, which was originally very compartmentalized and dark. Our project focused on offering a flexible distribution through big custom-made furniture pieces which hide sliding doors. This way, sunlight reaches every corner of the object. During the refurbishment, we discovered a unique structure made of concrete, which we have let shine through to create a contrast with the delicate, custom-designed furniture. A perfect example is the Kresta Design shelving lacquered in a coral color.

“Genuine” shelf:
It is a light, handmade shelving made of 1mm thick sheet metal and a 10mm hollow tube with baked enamel finish. Made to be light and firm. It is custom-made, from an architectural pattern that is shaped to fit the client’s site.

The rigidity is provided by diagrammatic elements with different angles that create a score, a stave where books and objects are collected as musical notes. It aims to be a simple and delicate design, a functional yet expressive object, calligraphy in the air inspired by Paul Klee's Angels.

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

Faith & Form's 2018 Program Recognizes the Best in Religious Architecture and Art

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 03:00 AM PST

Shoraku-ji, Toru Kashihara Architects, Photo Takumi Ota

Religious architecture has long been one of the most exciting typologies, one has long paved the way for various design and structural innovations. Faith & Form magazine and Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA) annually recognize the continued creativity defining the field.

This year's winners include 35 projects that span a variety of religious denominations, sizes, and location. Additionally, the award has recognized two trends defining contemporary religious architecture: "the preference for natural materials in worship environments, and inventive design solutions to address tight budgets."

1 Bahá'í Temple of South America, Hariri Pontarini Architects, Photo Sebastian Wilson Leon

Bahá'í Temple of South America, Hariri Pontarini Architects, Photo Sebastian Wilson Leon

2 Rural Chapel, Midland Architecture, Photo Liz Dutton

3 The SAJ Urban Chapel of St Ignatius Cherrez y Cantera, Photo José M. Cutillas

The SAJ Urban Chapel of St Ignatius Cherrez y Cantera, Photo José M. Cutillas

4 All Saints Episcopal Church Restoration, Bauer Latoza Studio, Ltd. Photo Leslie Schwartz

5 New Clairvaux Abbey Windows, Elizabeth Devereaux Architectural Glass Photo Ronald M. Schwager

6 Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial, Brit and Emre Erenler

7 Fishers of Men & Manannán Mac Lir Installation, Travis Price Architects with The Catholic University of America, Photo Travis Price

Fishers of Men & Manannán Mac Lir Installation, Travis Price Architects with The Catholic University of America, Photo Travis Price

8 B'nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim Synagogue, Finegold Alexander Architects, Photo Michael David Rose

9 Phap Vu Buddhist Temple, Process Architecture, Photo Ryan Begley Photography

10 St. John Paul II Newman Center, BVH Architecture, Photo Paul Crosby Photography

11 Saint Mary's Student Chapel, Mark Cavagnero Associates Architects, Photo Henrik Kam

12 Shoraku-ji, Toru Kashihara Architects, Photo Takumi Ota

13 Snyder Sanctuary, Newman Architects, Photo Robert Benson Photography

14 Temple Israel, Finegold Alexander Architects, Photo Tom Kessler

15 The Pavilion at Grace Episcopal Church, Centerbrook Architects and Planners, Photo Jeff Goldberg/Esto

16 Christ Cathedral Arboretum and Tower of Hope, LPA, Inc. Photo Costea Photography

17 Hasshoden Columbarium, Yukio Asari/Love Architecture Inc., Photo Masao Nishikawa

18 Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Law Architects, Photo Drew Echberg

19 Holy Cross Abbey Church Renovation, Design Concepts, Photo Tim Machado, AIA

20 The Tent of Meeting, Cherrez y Cantera, Photo José M. Cutillas

The Tent of Meeting, Cherrez y Cantera, Photo José M. Cutillas

21 Prayer Space, DeBartolo Architects, Photo ROEHNER + RYAN

22 San Dieguito United Methodist Church, domusstudio architecture, Photo Brady Architectural Photography

23 Serenity Room, Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign, Photo Christopher Barrett Photography

24 St. Luke's Lutheran Church, GROTH Design Group, Photo Josh P. Groth

25 Grace Church Columbarium, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, Phot Peter Aaron/OTTO

26 Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church Rood Screen, Jackson & Ryan Architects, Photo Mark Scheyer

27 Peace Yad, Ellen Pulner Hunt, AIA, Photo Dennis Fagen

28 Our Lady of the Angels Conventual Church Windows, Scott Parsons, Photo Scott Parsons

29 Saints Peter and Paul Chapel, Danze Blood Architects

30 Golden Mean Spiral Hanging Sculpture, Presentations Gallery, AMD Rendering

31 Campus Sukkah, University of Hartford Department of Architecture Students, Photo Rebeccah Tuscano-Moss

32 Centre of Contemplation, Kamila Harunowicz

33 A Silent Space, Lafina Eptaminitak

34 Mountains of Arakan, Cheuk Wai Lam

35 The Channel of Faith Mosque, Damian Louis Collins and Daniel Sadowniczyk, University of Hartford

The 2019 awards program opens for submissions (at faithandformawards.com) on April 1, 2019.

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

Girassol Building / Reinach Mendonça Arquitetos Associados

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 01:00 AM PST

Architect: Reinach Mendonça Arquitetos Associados
Location: Pinheiros, Brazil
Authors: Henrique Reinach, Maurício Mendonça
Coordinators Architects: Manuel Tojal, Rodrigo Nakajima
Area: 993.0 m2
Project Year: 2016
Photographer: Tony Chen

Collaborators: Guilherme Nakata, Raquel Jordão, Victor Gonçalves, Tony Chen, Mayara Ready, Tadeu Ferreira, Tais Vieira, Douglas Morilhão, Paula Leal, Camila Osele
Interior Design: SuperLimão Studio
Lightining: Foco Luz & Desenho
Concrete Structure: Benedictis Engenharia
Metal Structure: BE Metais
Eletrical Hydralical Engineer: Zamaro Pessoa
Air Conditioning: Logitec Projetos
General Contractor: DeLucc

Text description provided by the architects. The Girassol Building is a small commercial building located in a steep stretch street in the neighborhood of Vila Madalena located in São Paulo.
The project should provide versatile spaces that allow divide the space into small rooms or merged into a single large workplace.

Slabs are supported only by the pillars at the both sides of the lot exceeding its entire width. The subsoil has the access of pedestrians separated from the vehicles and receives the visitors in a central nucleus of circulation. Work spaces can be turned to the front and back of the building, improving ventilation and sunshine along the 3 floors.

The frame is all composed of floor / ceiling glass, leading users to a small balcony. In this, a second skin of shrimp doors in perforated plates protect the internal areas of the excess of sun and give privacy to the work areas.

Finally, the roof of the last floor, defined in thermo-acoustic metal tiles, provides a more generous footing, and allowed a zenithal illumination next to the core. This light enters on a pergola of glass-covered wood, beneath which a generous garden separates the rooms from the front to the back.
At the bottom of the basement, an uncovered garden and an artistic panel that fills the entire height of the background currency, complete the scene of this project.

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

Architecture's "Dark Products": What Do Architects Claim Ownership of in the Design Process?

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 12:00 AM PST

Why do we build? How do we build? Who do we ultimately build for? These have been questions that have dominated the worlds of both practice and pedagogy since the early ages of architecture. On a basic level, those questions can be answered almost reflexively, with a formulaic response. But is it time to look beyond just the simple why, how, and who?

In a world where the physical processes of architecture are becoming increasingly less important and digital processes proliferate through all phases of architectural ideas and documentation, we should perhaps be looking to understand the ways in which architects work, and examine how we can claim the processes—not just the products—of our labors.

Curtis Roth, Associate Professor at the Knowlton School of Architecture, recently published his book Some Dark Products after completing research as a fellow of the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany. His book focuses on the labor of the design process, arguing that "the work of architecture is actually a work of architecture," and how that ultimately causes architecture to appear in the world. "Architects tend to think of authorship as something in the mind, when it is actually a bodily process," according to Roth. "But how do we author the networks of our labor? We stake a claim to the drawing and the final production, but what about the in-between? The BIM process? The spatial products?"

His curiosity over this idea began while working for OFFICE US at the 2014 Venice Biennale. Acting as part of a team of researchers to understand the past 100 years of architecture designed by US-based firms, he began to explore the ways in which different offices produced work, especially how they coordinated work abroad. This sparked an interest in what Roth claims are the "dark products" of architecture, or the interstitial digital processes that are often not authored but are required for the successful realization of a building.

Below are examples taken from Roth's book, which describe two "instruments" he used to investigate architecture's dark products.

INSTRUMENT I: The Detail

The first instrument explores the strategies of outsourcing labor, a practice frequently used by larger architecture firms. Roth decided to outsource the labor of drawing architectural details to Rason, North Korea to understand the authorship that can be transferred through the internet. In the commissioning of these details, an Ahmedabad-based tech corporation called Silicon Valley Infomedia was provided with 8 AutoCAD .DWG files in which each detail was to be drawn. The CAD files were then transferred to Silvermine Systems, where an anonymous group of North Korean drafters would draw these details that represented a specific type of "designed leaks" (such as weep-holes) in the surface of a building. Each detail was drawn and then watermarked by North Korea's Red Star OS, a state-produced operating system designed to prevent the pirating of Mac operating systems and to track the transfer of K-Pop music across its highly militarized border with South Korea. This system gives each computer its own digital signature, which allowed the authorship of each drawn detail to be encrypted into the file that was sent back to Roth. He then extruded each detail to create a 3D object, and ran it through a motion simulator to produce the following drawings of the fluid motion through the detail, with the detail itself now erased.

The result produced renderings "of an absent detail, signed by the watermark of an absent North Korean detailer," ultimately questioning the identity of the author of these drawings; is it that of the laborer seated in North Korea, or Roth, who commissioned the details to be drawn and transformed them into complete images?

INSTRUMENT II: The Specification

In his second experiment, "Instrument II: The Specification," Roth explored the relationship of the specifier to the architectural process, specifically the way that the architect's instructions can be understood to produce different results each time a task is done. Can a specification be considered a means of authorship? Or does it lose its sense of authorship because it is simply an interpretation of instructions?

Ten images were sent to ten painters in China, who were given a set of instructions which dictated the conditions for the image's reproduction. They were told to hang the image in their studio and paint what they observed, including the studio's context. Once the ten original images were returned, each was mailed to a local competitor of the original artist who was given a second specification, instructing the second painter "to erase all but the studio wall of the first painter." Some of the outcomes of this simple specification can be found below.

The results show a variety of interpretations of the specification that Roth provided to them. Each of the paintings raises the question of "whose intellection caused these spaces to appear?" Was it an intentional misinterpretation of instructions to give what was assumed to be the best product? Or did the painters make an attempt to impose some sort of personal authorship on the painting themselves? Ultimately, each painting represents a disconnect between three authors, Roth, the first painter, and the second. In this case, it is impossible to separate the creative process from the physical labor. This disconnect can also hold true for the way in which architectural specifications are executed. The architect's design may be interpreted by the specifier, and later interpreted in a second way by the laborer performing the work. If this is the case, then who holds the right to claim authorship over the design? Is it the architect who created the design intent, or the laborer who executed it with a creative freedom?

These two investigations show that in the design process, there is a disconnect in what architects claim to author. No longer can the profession simply think about the physical drawings and realization of a building as their own, but begin to understand how the processes and steps in between can have a major effect on the outcomes of their design intentions.

Read more about Roth's research and understanding of architecture's Dark Products, here.

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

Malababa Flaghip Store / Ciszak Dalmas + Matteo Ferrari

Posted: 05 Jan 2019 09:00 PM PST

Architects: Ciszak Dalmas, Matteo Ferrari
Location: Calle de Serrano, 8, 28001 Madrid, Spain
Area: 90.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Asier Rua

Text description provided by the architects. Spanish accessories brand Malababa is opening up a new space in Madrid’s Serrano 8, the most experience luxury shopping street. The space symbolizes and reproduces the firm’s identity features: light, texture, color and shapes. It is in itself a return to their roots, where raw beauty’s natural sense gets established as different, authentic and truly attractive. Everything in Serrano 8 Malababa calls for an authenticity which becomes more beautiful over time. And this is precisely one of Malababa’s mantras. The result is a space that has been built the same way as their products are: with passion, consistency, honesty, and sustainability. A retreat that breathes creativity and a total involvement of all team members.

The walls.
The “imperfect finish” and natural hues of Malababa’s aesthetics strengthen the artisan and sustainable concept. All walls are rendered with a mix of Galician clay, white marble powder from Almería and totally natural, ecological and non-toxic food thickeners. This kind of finish regulates air moisture and temperature and maintains the space free of bacteria and harmful microorganisms, as well as considerable helping save energy throughout the year.

The furniture.
Malababa at Serrano 8 is born as a space full of soul, with an identity that allows it to adapt to changes and endure through times. The store furniture pieces mobile modules that can be combined and rebuilt as needed. They have been manufactured using limestone from Seville, aged brass, and beautiful moss agate. Some of them are lined using the same leather that is used for manufacturing some of the Malababa collections.

The lattice structure and the mud.
Behind the lattice structure, there is a great team job. The tiles have been placed one by one by all involved members and they have that welcoming warmth of traditional craftsmanship. These bricks have been artisanally manufactured in Toledo with mud from Extremadura quarries, baked in an H2G oven, 100% ecological, using biomass as fuel.

The ecocement.
The ecocement coating some of the store interiors is sustainable and it is guaranteed by international certificates such as the German Emicode, which certifies low volatile compound –VOC- emissions in building materials.

The Curtain.
And, this way, as if the brand’s designs would have become space, emerges a spectacular leather curtain which covers one of the internal walls. This decorative item has been manufactured by Malababa master craftsman Osvaldo Ruben Thomas, with entire pieces of vegetally tanned cowhide leather, the same that is used in the Métrica accessories collection.

The agate crystals.
Although not only leather is present in every corner of the store, the agate crystals that make Minihontas and Nanohontas bags come alive are also one of the unifying threads. These stones take modular shapes and get harmoniously embedded into one of the wall units. As if they were back in the place where they came from.

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

The Best Architectural Drawings of 2018

Posted: 05 Jan 2019 08:00 PM PST

With the mission of providing tools and inspiration to architects all around the world, ArchDaily's curators are constantly searching for new projects, ideas and forms of expression. For the past three years, ArchDaily has showcased the best discoveries of each year, and in keeping with tradition, we would like to share the best architecture drawings published throughout 2018.

What is the role of contemporary drawing in architecture? We approach the definition of drawing as design itself. Drawings are used to explain principles, to deliver ideas, to construct new architecture, and to document creative processes.
Below you will see the selection of drawings arranged under six categories: Context, Architectural Drawings, Sketches & Hand-drawn, Digital Collages, Conceptual Drawings & Diagrams and Animated Gifs. Each chosen drawing strengthens the proposed construction or enhances the built work.

We also invite you to review collections from previous years here or other drawing-related posts selected by our editors in the following link.