Modern Architectural Concepts

Design Against the Elements Competition

2010-03-24T13:51:00.004+08:00

Design Against the Elements is a global architectural design competition meant to find a solution to the problems presented by climate change. Spurred by the devastation wreaked in the Philippines by tropical storm Ondoy (Ketsana) and driven by a powerhouse multidisciplinary group of organizations from the private, institutional, and government sectors, the project aims to draw together the most innovative minds in the fields of architecture, design, and urban planning to develop sustainable and disaster-resistant housing for communities in tropical urban settings.

The winning design will be built as a prototype disaster-resistant and livable eco-village in Taguig City, Metro Manila. The village will be the first green and disaster-resistant community in the country. It will provide a model that can be studied and replicated in similar areas. The finished project will house a marginalized community living in an environmental danger zone, giving them a sense of security, ownership, and awareness of sustainability that can be practiced at all levels in their everyday lives.

The project also aims to present a definitive green building solution in a truly local context. Too often, home-owners, architects, and policy-makers think of sustainable building as a luxury that only privileged landowners and advanced countries can afford. Design Against the Elements considers green architecture as essential to survival; it has the ability to reduce the frequency and impact of environmental disasters and lessen the cycle of poverty.

http://www.designagainsttheelements.org/index.htm

Timelines

March 5, 2010: Competition launch

July 31, 2010: Deadline of Registration

August 14, 2010: Deadline for submission of questions

August 28, 2010: Deadline to dispatch answers to questions

September 25, 2010: Deadline for submission of entries

October 4-9 2010: Judging

October 13, 2010: Announcement of winners

November 19, 2010: Awarding

Prizes

Category 1
First Prize: $10,000.00
Second Prize: $7,500.00
Special Nomination 1 (Energy): $3,500.00
Special Nomination 2 (Green Design): $3,500.00

Category 2
First Prize: $3,000.00
Second Prize: $2,000.00
Special Nomination 1 (Energy): $1,500.00
Special Nomination 2 (Green Design): $1,500.00

Detailed Project Information

The design problem is presented here in more detail to serve as a brief for interested competitors and researchers. The Official Competition Manual will be available on this website soon. Additional briefs and competition updates will be available regularly from the Updates section. Alternatively, interested parties are encouraged to sign up for our e-mail news letter for news and updates.

Project Objectives

The objectives of the project are:

· To foster local and global awareness on climate adaptability and its relevance to poverty alleviation. Disasters are setbacks to sustainable economic growth as well as human tragedies. Having safer structures “ahead of time” will not only lead to less casualties, displacement, and damage, but will empower communities to uplift their quality of life.

· To build the first green, livable, affordable, and disaster-resistant village in the Philippines that will serve as the blueprint for other communities threatened by climate change.

· To compile an encyclopedia of climate-resilient and affordable design solutions for urban poor communities.

Design Task

The submitted design is therefore expected to address all of the following tasks:

· Develop a master plan for an urban housing development that can be applied to similar areas.

· Integrate development that addresses the sustainability of the community by understanding the local economic, social, and environmental attributes.

The design is expected to take into account the various economic, social, and environmental conditions of the community in which it will be built. The following are the criteria against which the entries will be judged.

* Disaster Resiliency

The design should be flood proof, fire proof, and earthquake resistant. It should also consider livability for residents after a disaster. It should be assumed that power, food, and clean water will be limited in some way due to flooding of the area. Transport shall likewise be hindered.

* Innovative Construction Technology

To break the cycle of destruction-rebuilding-destruction, new building technologies or approaches must be explored. The design must present innovative construction solutions, both in terms of materials (recycled, renewable, engineered, etc) and systems (structural, cladding, electrical, irrigation and plumbing, etc).

* Socio-Economic Sustainability.
o Sustainability of the Built Environment.

The design should incorporate green building strategies for both the community infrastructure and individual housing. At a minimum, the design should include the following considerations:

§ Optimal building orientation:
§ natural light
§ natural ventilation
§ Passive systems
§ Water efficiency
§ Energy efficiency
§ Indoor air quality
§ Waste management and minimization
§ Building life-cycle
§ High performance building fabric
§ Use of recycled materials
§ Use of rapidly renewable materials

o Sustainability of the Community.

In line with local building codes, 70% of the land is allocated for residential use only, while 30% is left for other uses.

§ Commercial spaces: Micro-enterprises are an integral part of urban poor communities. Space for small shops or businesses, street vending, and dry and wet markets are some of the commercial aspects which should be considered in the design.

§ Public spaces: Including in this land area are roads and other public infrastructure.

§ Social Sustainability (Community Sensitivity). While the design should be adaptable to other sites (discussed below), it should be sensitive to the local culture and way of life of the beneficiary community.

* Cost Effectiveness

The design shall be built to house a marginalized community and is thus expected to have a limited budget.

* Adaptability to Other Sites

The resulting designs are intended to serve as prototypes to build an encyclopedia of solutions for disaster-resistant design and planning. Concepts utilized in the design should be adaptable to other urban communities in tropical regions.
Program Requirements

* Housing Development

The residential structures shall be multi-story buildings without elevators, with a maximum of four (4) floors. Each dwelling unit shall conform to the requirements laid out in the National Building Code [link] and BP220, or the Guidelines for Socialized and Economic Housing [link]. Each dwelling unit shall have a floor area from 26 square meters to 32 square meters and shall include spaces for the following uses:

o Basic everyday activities, such as sleeping, eating, cooking, cleaning, and sanitation needs

o Landscaping with considerations for urban gardening.

* Community Facilities

Community facilities should likewise conform to the requirements laid out in the National Building Code [link] and BP220 [link].These should include the following:

o Community center / multipurpose hall
o School / day care center
o Waste management facility
o Public market
o Other facilities to supplement the development concepts of the entry

Submission Requirements

The design shall present the project concepts enumerated below. Further submission and presentation requirements as well as the manner of submission can be found here [link].

o Master site development plan and site concepts
o Housing building plans and building concepts
o Community facilities and community building concepts

Eligibility

* Category 1

is open to all local and international architects, registered according to the relevant laws in their respective countries. All entrants are required to provide relevant professional registration on the registration form. Where an entry is made by a team of professionals, the team must be led by a person who meets the above criteria. That member must be indicated on the registration form as the entrant.

* Category 2

is open to all local and international students of architecture in their senior years and to graduates of an architecture degree. Student entries must have the endorsement of the school dean/head and graduate entries shall have an endorsement from an architect-mentor.

The following are disqualified from this competition:

o Professional Adviser/Consultant
o Members of the UAP Executive Committee
o Chairman and members of the UAP Competition Committee
o Officers of UAP Fort Bonifacio Chapter
o Members of the Jury
o Architects employed by any of the promoters of the competition
o Architects employed by MyShelter Foundation
o Immediate family members of the persons listed above.

Registration

Competition opens on April 5, 2010. Please refer back to the website on April 5, 2010 for registration instructions, the full architectural brief, and further competition details.

Competition Website

Designer Village Challenge 2009

2009-10-12T19:29:00.002+08:00

The destruction caused by natural disasters such as typhoons has long been one of the major contributors to the perpetuation of poverty in developing countries like the Philippines. The suffering of the poor are amplified as climate change - reinforced storms lead to loss of life and property, and a costly halt in their way of life. They are plunged deeper into poverty when they are faced with the economic burden of having to rebuild their homes and livelihood. Many have been forced to relocate to urban centers, further congesting and expanding informal settlements. According to the Global Climate Risk Index, the Philippines is one of the ten most afflicted countries in the world in terms of the number of lives and property lost as a result of damage due to climate, and these are mainly in the form of increasing intensities of typhoons visiting the islands annually. In short, poverty and the lack of climate adaptability has proven to be a treacherous formula for poor communities.

Current mitigation and disaster management strategies are simply insufficient to shield the poor from the onslaught of the changing climate. Building disaster-resistant structures ahead of time would drastically reduce the impact of climate on poverty, bringing an end to the viscous cycle of: disaster – destruction – reconstruction. Moreover, the sense of security brought about by disaster-resistant structures would empower communities to uplift the quality of their lives as they gain more control over it. Without the fear that a storm can easily wipe away the lives that they have built, hopes and plans for the future may grow clearer and within reach.

This competition responds to the urgent need for radical adaptation. Designer Village Challenge calls for a masterplan and design of an eco-agro-tourism development for a rural community in the tropical hotspot of Camarines Sur, Philippines, a province that has repeatedly experienced catastrophic damage caused by strong tropical cyclones. The province of Camarines Sur has made it their mission to rise above it with progressive and pioneering projects that seek to alleviate the condition of its people. With the help of the global architecture community it believes that it can be an example of strength, resilience and innovative adaptability.

The top 3 winning designs will be awarded US $ 10,000, US $ 5,000 and US $ 3,000 respectively. The 1st prize winning design will be built by the Provincial Government in Camarines Sur as a prototype master planned community of 150 houses. Gawad Kalinga, the largest and most active non-government slum upgrading and rural community builders in Asia shall also build one of the winning designs. In addition, all design entries will be compiled and published into an encyclopedia of architecture and planning solutions for climate adaptability. The United Architects of the Philippines shall facilitate the competition and function as its secretariat.

The competition is open to all local and international architects, registered according to the relevant laws in their respective countries. All entrants are required to provide relevant professional registration on the registration form. Where an entry is made by a team of professionals, the team must be led by a person meeting the above criteria. That member must be indicated on the registration form as the entrant.

COMPETITION SECRETARIAT

United Architects of the Philippines
53 Scout Rallos Street, Diliman, Quezon City
1103 PHILIPPINES
Telephone (63-2) 4126364, (63-2) 4126374
Fax (63-2) 3721796
Email: info@designervillage.org
Website: www.designervillagechallenge.org

303 East 33rd Street by Perkins Eastman

2009-03-22T23:46:00.001+08:00

303 East 33rd Street, the first green development in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, is designed by top ranked green architecture and design firm Perkins Eastman. The LEED Certified development is a 12-story, 165,00 sf building defined as a series of single attached buildings facing the street alternating in height.

BUILDING PROGRAM:

The interior of the building comprises 128 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes in a variety of layouts as well as a three-bedroom, four-bathroom triplex penthouse.

Additional amenities include a fully-equipped fitness center, media lounge with pool table, a children’s playroom, and full-service concierge.

A landscaped roof-top, with a total of 1,700 sf of outdoor space, takes advantage of distinctive urban views.

DESIGN CONCEPT:

"A highly energy efficient envelope -exceeding the thermal requirements of New York City code-comprising brick piers, terraces, balconies, and large expanses of glass fracture the architectural repetition, heightening the concept of an ensemble of buildings rather than a single development."

"Using rapidly renewable materials and low-VOC finishes, a contemporary interior space is created that engages the residents to participate in a more sustainable lifestyle. Each unit is equipped with electrical sub-meters allowing the tenants to monitor their electrical use and manage their personal consumption. To discourage automobile use, the development purposely omitted a parking garage from the design and instead chose to offer parking discounts in an adjacent venue for hybrid vehicles."

"The roof-top design limits the use of potable water for landscaping, employing a variety of indigenous, drought tolerant plants to create an outdoor oasis for the residents."

Source: ArchDaily

Taipei Performing Art Center proposal by NL Architects

2009-03-22T23:37:00.000+08:00

The design aim of NL architects proposal for the taipei performing arts center is to make the building accessible to everybody. The public character of the center is guaranteed by the elevation of a substantial part of its program, creating a public square underneath it. As such the square becomes part of the building inside of it.

TPAC - taipei performing art center
image courtesy NL architects

DESIGN CONCEPT:

The design which could be considered to a table with 'four legs' supports a 'tabletop'that accommodates 3 storeys. inside you'll find an elevated fragment of the city, a public browsing space where cultural facilities such as a multimedia library, music stores, galleries, lobbies, bars, restaurants and clubs will be included.

view of TPAC - taipei performing art center
image courtesy NL architects

Balconies and terraces with different programs will also be included in the space consisting of swimming pools, a skate area, playground, hotel garden and cafe.

side view drawing of TPAC - taipei performing art center
image courtesy NL architects

The performing arts center structure will contain three theaters: a 1500 seat grand theater and two 800 seat theaters for repertory performances. The theaters are positioned on different altitudes. The proscenium playhouse is placed at the base of the southeast 'leg'. The lobby is placed under this theater so that it is flush with the square activating the space around it. the multiform theater is connected to the southwest leg close to the top. The volume of the grand theater is suspended under the horizontal slab. It hovers over the square while being part of it.

Source: Design Bloom

TPAC - taipei performing art center elevator diagram
image courtesy NL architects

side view drawing of TPAC - taipei performing art center
image courtesy NL architects

TPAC - taipei performing art center
image courtesy NL architects

TPAC - taipei performing art center
image courtesy NL architects

TPAC - taipei performing art center
image courtesy NL architects

TPAC - taipei performing art center
image courtesy NL architects

TPAC - taipei performing art center
image courtesy NL architects

TPAC - taipei performing art center
image courtesy NL architects

TPAC - taipei performing art center structure diagram
image courtesy NL architects

TPAC - taipei performing art center structure diagram
image courtesy NL architects

TPAC - taipei performing art center
image courtesy NL architects

TPAC - taipei performing art center
image courtesy NL architects

TPAC - taipei performing art center
image courtesy NL architects

Taipei Performing Arts Centre by OMA

2009-03-22T23:32:00.000+08:00

Architects Office for Metropolitan Architecture was selected from over 135 entries from 24 countries by an international jury to design a new performing arts centre in Taipei, Taiwan.

The design comprises three auditoriums, positioned around a corrugated glass cube that contains the backstage areas for each theatre. Built above an exisiting food market the design includes a 1,500 seat theatre and two 800 seat theatres which plug into a central cube, clad in corrugated glass,that combines the stage accommodations of the three theatres in a single whole.Each theatre can be used independently or in a combination.

From OMA:

OMA to build Taipei Performing Arts Centre

The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) has been awarded the first prize in the design competition to build the Taipei Performing Arts Centre. The design, led by OMA partners Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren, was selected from over 135 entries from 24 countries by an international jury.

The scheme includes a 1,500 seat theatre and two 800 seat theatres which plug into a central cube, clad in corrugated glass, that combines the stage accommodations of the three theatres in a single whole. Each theatre can be used independently or in combination with the other theatres. Connecting the different theatres offers new and experimental theatrical possibilities. A public trajectory inside the cube exposes parts of the backstage areas otherwise hidden in typical theatres. The cube is placed on a socle preserving the existing lively local food market.

The project is led by OMA partners Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren. The competition team included associate André Schmidt and architects Adam Frampton and Mariano Sagasta, amongst many others. Koolhaas’s and Scheeren’s previous collaborations include the CCTV Headquarters and TVCC Cultural Centre in Beijing, as well as Prada Epicentre Stores in New York and Los Angeles.

Source: Dezeen , Design Bloom

Taipei Performing Arts Center proposal by Architects Collective

2009-03-22T23:31:00.004+08:00

Another remarkable competition entry for the Taipei Performing Arts Center is this proposal by Vienna-based Architects Collective:

A WAVE OF SOUND

The building possesses a unique appearance that derives from the urban context and the functional criteria merged into the design motif of a sound wave. The buildings undulating roof is reminiscent of an endless sound wave that radiates from the Performing Arts Center into the city of Taipei like a sound instrument.

The theater complex fulfills all requirements of the various forms of the contemporary arts and complies with the needs of Taiwan’s diverse performance culture as well. It’s a world-class arts venue which provides both entertainment and the highest professional quality experience. In functional terms the three theaters are individual structures that are joined at their base like a corresponding vessel, sharing repair shop and storage and moving goods, staff as well as a single security point for the back of house. The design tries to achieve a marriage between theatrical and architectural concepts.

The three theaters are connected by the Common Lobby at the center of the site, a semi-indoor space that is 24-hour open and requires no ticket, with control points at the theaters entrance. It’s environment will be comfortable and energy- saving by providing sun and rain protection and at the same time natural ventilation and generous feeling of openness. The Taipei Performing Arts Center will be designed according to the perspectives of energy conservation and green architecture.

The building design springs not only from its urban and functional context, but also from a need to create a building capable of adapting and reacting to the sub-tropical environment. The roof of the individual theaters is covered like sun hats providing natural and efficient cooling for the building. The semi-enclosed Common Lobby is a partially shaded glass canopy open to the street that does not need to be heated or cooled.

A PEOPLE´S THEATER

The Taipei Performing Arts Center will be a professional-level facility that meets international standards, providing a world-class performing arts venue for the Taipei area. The design emphasizes the idea of a real people’s theater by creating a flowing urban landscape that allows various interactions by spectators, visitors and the general public.

At the heart of the complex is the Common Lobby which is an elevated platform from which the three theaters are accessed. People can visit the venues or the restaurant or just to walk through this urban passage. This multifunctional space can be used as a gathering space, for events or as an open air theater. The human experience is that of openness and connectivity to the outside and an attraction and drawing in toward the building when experienced from outside. The positive and negative space of the complex creates dramatic and fluid inside-outside spaces interacting with the city and the center.

URBAN CONTEXT

The center consists of a solitary volume that is broken up into four blocks similar to shifting continents. The structure is further differentiated by the southern block (Restaurant) that is articulated as a bridge or gate and the northern block (Grand Theater) which is rotated in plan to open the center towards the Shilin Night Market. Through these manipulations the structure becomes porous and responsive to its urban context serving as a mediator and friendly neighbor to its diverse surrounding. The center is readily seen as a landmark from different main roadways and the TRST train and is a clearly delineated building volume.

The Common Lobby and the theaters are placed at an elevated platform like a Piano Nobile to connect the theaters (loading courtyard) on the level below and to provide flood control. The pedestrian edges of this elevated platform consists of shops and two gradual ramps the create a flowing landscape which connects the Shilin Night Market and Jian Tan Rd as well as the surrounding streets.

To the south the restaurant consists of a bridge to creating stage-like entry from Jian Tan Road into the Common Lobby for the three theaters. From the TRTS´s Jiantan Station the theaters can be directly accessed by a underground pedestrian passage that also includes the ticket office and a theater shop (optional) and is connected to the Common Lobby, Underground Parking and the sidewalk along Wen Lin Road.

Cars and motorcycles leave and enter the site at the north-west corner of the site. Service Trucks enter the building at a single security point at the north-west corner and leave at the north-east corner. The three theaters are accessed by a central covered loading courtyard that allows multiple 40-ft-containers to be loaded and unloaded simultaneously and has three entry points to the theaters and one for the shared repair shops.

All images by Architects Collective

Source: Bustler

Taipei Performing Arts Centre proposal by Abalos+Sentkiewicz

2009-03-22T23:31:00.003+08:00

Here's one of the three finalists (together with OMA and Morphosis) for the two-phase international competition for the new Performing Arts Centre in Taipei which included more than 100 offices from around the world. The competition was won by OMA.

This is the proposal by Spanish architects Ábalos + Sentkiewicz:

From human being origins, people doing circles around someone who is speaking, singing, dancing or arguing -under a tree shadow if possible- has been the main characteristic of performing.

Our music halls maintain this original condition and extend their geometry to the whole complex, which turns into a group of big trees with a stratified structure, as the local tropical forest, working at the same time as a functional scheme and an environmental strategy:

Over the trees a roof tour that conform a new landscape is proposed, giving identity to the complex.
Music Halls are in the trees, organized around a principal lobby and two secondary ones. Each hall adopts a particular configuration reinforced by its different coloration (gold silver, bronze).
Under the trees, topography splits in two: Upwards, composing a park protected from the sun and the rain. Downwards composing a complex of commercial galleries that extend the activity from Shilin Night Market and goes through the building.

© Abalos+Sentkiewicz arquitectos

Against the typical configuration of a principal and a back façade this project achieves a total urban isotropy, not only with four but with five facades in relation with the context.

Source: ArchDaily

Architects:Ábalos + Sentkiewicz Arquitectos

Taipei Performing Arts Center proposal by Emergent Architecture

2009-03-22T23:29:00.001+08:00

Another proposal for the design of the Taipei Performing Arts Center by Emergent Architecture. Their aim for the design is to create a world-class urban experience defined by hybrid urban environments not traditionally associated with performing arts theaters.

DESIGN CONCEPT: (text from Emergent Architecture)

"The three theaters are woven together by way of an elevated Concourse, creating a unified whole which has significant presence in the city. The Concourse is a bridging element which acts as circulation for the theaters but also as a commercial zone which includes lively urban activities such as shopping, restaurants, bars, and other public amenities. It will be a 24 hour space which will support the theater functions but also operate independently. Below the Concourse is an urban plaza which is defined by ground topography and the exotic underbelly formation of the Concourse. This space is both the orientation space for the theaters, but also a place for urban events, meeting people, or simply passing through.

The morphology of the project is based on patterns of armatures and pleats which form an intricate ornamental network. Armatures are woven together to create the circulation and structure of the Concourse, forming deep spaces and views from the plaza into the building as well as from the building down into the Plaza and out into the city.

Micro-pleats track along the armatures but also spread out along surfaces, spatially drawing visitors inside the Plaza. The sensations produced by this fluid geometry are heightened by a gradient of color which is most intense on the interior but fades out to the exterior of the building. Formal and color intensities are at their peak in the Concourse, and begin to atrophe toward the theater blocks at the perimeter of the site. In this way this project attempts to bridge classifications of generic and articulated form as well as monochromatic and variegated color.

The Concourse contains the shops arranged in a looping, multi-level arrangement. Restaurants, bars, cafes, and forms of entertainment will be complimented by cultural activities such as art galleries, bookstores, and the theater library. The Concourse is therefore not a mall, but a cultural space, an urban extension of the institution of ‘theater’.

Urban Massing Considerations
The massing of the building responds to external forces, in particular the strong attractor of the Shilin Night Market and the adjacency of the TRTS Jiantan train station across Wen Lin Road. In order to facilitate fluid connection to the Shilin Night Market, the building pulls back and lifts up to become a roof. This becomes a strong linking corridor between the Performing Arts Plaza and the pedestrian entry into the market. The entire east side of the building is carved out to allow views to and from the train station in order to establish a critical connection between the two. An underground passage links the train station, the Night Market, and the Performing Arts Plaza into a robust network.

The zoning requirement of 75% maximum lot coverage is attained by adherence to a 10 M. setback from the siteline as well as additional local setbacks of up to 17 M. Our response to the spirit of the zoning law, however, which is intended to allow for green space, is more comprehensive: by lifting the building off the ground in significant areas, we allow are providing at total of 55% open public space at the ground level. This space will be designed to include soft and hardscape, including exotic flowers, trees, and reflecting pools.

The Theaters and Program Description
The Grand Theater is located on the south end of the site, rotated toward Wen Lin Road. It is designed according to the brief as a proscenium type with 1500 seats and two balconies. It contains all the required back-of-house programs as well as a flytower. The Proscenium Playhouse, located to the northwest corner of the site, is also based on the proscenium type, with associated back-of-house programs and 800 seats. The Multiform Theater is located to the northeast corner of the site and has a 500-800 seat capacity. This theater will be flexibly designed so that it can take the form of a thrust stage, theater-in-the-round, or proscenium arrangement. It will have a flat floor to allow for ease of transformation and build-out. Theater interiors are designed based on optimal sightlines as well as acoustics. All three theaters are entered from the Plaza and have their own separate foyers. These foyers are linked to the Concourse, which becomes the ‘linking space’ called for in the brief.

Source: Emergent Architecture

Taipei Performing Arts Center proposal by NMDA

2009-03-22T23:24:00.000+08:00

Here's another proposal prepared for the Taipei Performing Arts Center design competition by Neil M. Denari Architects. The competition was won by OMA.

DESIGN CONCEPT: (text from NMDA)

"Given the near schizophrenia of the site (lush green vs beige postmodernism), surely a powerful reason to choose this location, we have proposed a scheme that rises to a height of 57 meters (top of the Grand Theater fly tower) as a way to challenge the vertical dominance of the perimeter blocks. This decision has other positive benefits (as will be stated later), yet it is the anticipation of an even taller city that inspires such logic."

"The slope away from the site footprint has been mirrored in the East facing perforated façade of our scheme, essentially setting up a corridor of space between the rail station, the green mountain, and the Shilin Night Market to the North. In fact, the low rise portion of our scheme simply flows from the major mass of the TPAC toward the market as way to continue not only a finer scale but also the 24 hr life of the city."

Photos by NMDA

"Here, because of live action, bodies moving in the theater of visceral experiences, architecture is actually an equally vital organism, shaping experience before, during, and after the performance. When multiplied by a motivation toward verticality, the populist discourse of the program is an ‘x’ factor that suggests spectacle on the one hand, the temptation toward aggressive formalisms, and on the other, a project that is egalitarian in its disposition. Our scheme attempts to merge these tendencies, to bring into focus the project of the icon with the project of the surmountable mass. Like a ball of string, we have sought to make a coherent form through the accumulation of variably scaled events."

Source: NMDA

Xi’an World Horticultural Expo by Plasmastudio + Groundlab

2009-03-22T11:34:00.000+08:00

Plasmastudio won the competition to develop the building and landscape design for Horticultural Expo in Xi’an, China and is now collaborating with Groundlab. for the next stages of development. The project comprises 15,000 exhibition hall building, a series of conservatories, a 37Ha park around an artificial lake as well as ancilliary buildings.

Sources: AALU Landscape Urbanism and ArchDaily

Flowing Gardens begins from a single line -- an axis extends from the Gate to the Greenhouse, traveling through the East and West Hills and over the lake, while extending into many sinuous paths, creating a network of intermingling circulation, landscape and water. Much like the legendary Silk Road, Flowing Gardens is connectivity, circulation, rejuvenation, and elegance.

Cassa Hotel, New York by Enrique Norten and TEN Arquitectos

2009-03-22T11:33:00.000+08:00

Cassa Hotel, designed by Mexican architect Enrique Norten and TEN Arquitectos is located in mid-town Manhattan, at 70 West 45th Street, two blocks north of Bryant Park.

DESIGN CONCEPT: (text from the architect)
This tower is a dramatic architectural statement, using its windows and their punctured rhythm to become the facade’s only ornaments, distinguishing it from the more conventional glass and stone edifices of New York’s midtown.

Cassa’s program mixes public and private: combining restaurant and bar with boutique Hotel and luxury Condominiums that share a common triple height lobby.

The resulting design allows the two to co-exist while functioning independently.

The tower itself is delicately proportioned, resulting from the small site and slender floor plate, like an Obelisk marking the site.

More from Dezeen

Proposal for Library and Concert Hall in Bodø, Norway by Langdon Reis Architects

2009-03-22T11:28:00.000+08:00

Here's one of the finalists for the international competition to design The Bodø Kulturhus and Libraryin Bodø, Norway. This exciting proposal by London-based Langdon Reis Zahn in collaboration with 4B Arkitekter and Gullik Gulliksen Landscape Arkitekter made it into the second round of the competition which was eventually won by DRDH Architects. The third one who made it into the final shortlist is General Architecture of Sweden.

Architect's Project Description:

"The Bodø Kulturhus and Library consists of two public buildings; a new city library (5,500m²) and a concert hall/theatre (7,350m²), with a construction budget of approximately 800,000,000 NOK."

Bodø’s new cultural centre will be:

a social, public and communal space;
a space that connects both the local community and its visitors;
a space that responds to the expectations and imagination of both the local community and its visitors – tourists and/or migrants;
a space that enhances the local democratic and social traditions, as well as the natural and pre-existing built environment;
a space that seeks interaction (open to communal and diverse ranges of activities), playfulness and poetic contemplation
an accessible space, a place to be proud of and belong to.
a glistening jewel which plays with the diverse qualities of light in the arctic region and brings the spectacular atmosphere of the northern landscape into the buildings
an urban project that seeks to create a cultural ecology
a space intrinsically linked to the sense of human scale, participation and creativity.

Building Synergy

"The Bodø Nye Kulturhus and the Bibliotek need to be intrinsically linked both through their own architecture, and by the space in between. This interstitial space must be cohesive, connected, fluid and dynamic. It must define and delimit the cultural precinct, whilst connecting to other public spaces located in the immediate vicinity and in other parts of the city. Together the buildings must form an ensemble of parts that make up a clearly identifiable and distinctive precinct that will leave a lasting memory in the minds of both locals and visitors to Bodø.
The diverse activities- recreational, cultural, communal and commercial, must collide and intersect to create a vibrant and dynamic cultural ecology. The buildings must form the foundations for this activity to occur."

Built form hypothesis:

"The built forms take their initial inspiration from the merging between natural and artificial landscapes i.e. the natural glacial topographies/fjords and the rigid city grid. The buildings merge with the ground, almost as if carved from the same solid mass. They stand like rocks in a stream.
The forms of the buildings are in harmony with their surroundings, both natural and man-made. They have been shaped in response to view corridors, solar access, wind, visibility and access.
Careful manipulation of the building forms and the creation of sheltered entrances aims to slow passers-by and provide shelter from extreme weather when needed.
The aesthetic qualities of the buildings seek to both connect and contrast with the existing urban fabric with respect and understanding. Heights have been set so as not to dominate the existing buildings."

Façade Concept:

"Both the Bodo Nye Kulturhus and the Bibliotek are clad using the same façade system. The solidity and continuity of the two building’s facades strengthens links across the sites and clearly defines the new cultural precint. The façade emphasises the carved geometries of the buildings by creating large planar surfaces that include subtle creases and directional lines that relate to views, wind and access to light. The interplay of faceted surfaces means the building will take on a wide variety of qualities when viewed from different angles or at different times of the day, whether it’s clear and sunny, overcast or dark."

The Ceramic Tile Panel:

The tiled panel will be approximately 1.5m X 3m. The tiles themselves will be 600mm X 200mm with one splayed edge. When viewed from a distance the large panels will be recognisable and when viewed in close proximity the individual tiles will be more dominant. The tiles themselves may come from Hoganas, the company who made the Sydney Opera House tiles (a homage to Utzon), they will be white ceramic, however some tiles will be lightly pigmented using natural ochres from the regions around Bodo, colours will range from brown, red and yellow. These colours will give the buildings a dynamic quality and a soft elegance that will reflect the surrounding landscapes, sky, buildings and light, in many ways.

Pattern + Shape

The shape of the single tile is an abstraction derived from drying codfish on traditional timber structures (please refer to diagram). Each tile has one splayed edge, the adjacent tile is then rotated 180º to form a rectangle between two tiles. This pattern is then repeated across each panel. From a distance the pattern jumps in scale ,12 tiles form one panel. The panels are placed parallel to the angle of the facets they are on.. This means on each facet the tile pattern creates lines that slightly change in direction, helping reinforce the buildings shape, and referencing the rock formations near the Saltstraumen.

Images: Langdon Reis Zahn

Source: Bustler, ArchDaily
Architect: Langdon Reis Zahn

Taipei Performing Arts Center proposal by Morphosis

2009-03-19T23:20:00.003+08:00

Here's the futuristic design by American firm Morphosis for the Taipei Performing Arts Center which was eventually won by OMA. The Taipei Performing Arts Center is anchored on a round-the-clock cultural axis where the architecture becomes, by virtue of its sculpted and indelible form, a landmark in the region—like a jewel, with distinct facets visible from all corners of the city.

The proposal "celebrates both conceptions of theater: theater as high art, embodied by the sumptuous formal foyers leading to the striking grand theater and the intimate proscenium playhouse; and the inclusiveness of a 'people’s theater,' exemplified by the multiform theater’s overt and deliberate connection to the public. the differentiated form, material language, and spatial layout of each of the three theaters align with their respective roles. each theater’s distinct form in turn directly inflects the form of the overall building envelope and the complex as a whole."

Source: DesignBloom, ArchDaily
Architects: Morphosis

Vista Center, New Jersey by RMJM

2009-03-19T23:14:00.000+08:00

The design for the Vista Center, the new LEED Platinum office tower in Trenton and the city’s largest commercial development in decades were unveiled by Daniel R. Brenna Jr. of Capital Real Estate Group and architects RMJM.

The transit-oriented development would have a 25-storey office building, a ground-level retail space,a parking garage and two public art components - a plaza with a signature sculpture and lobby with a video art installation. It is located directly adjacent to the Trenton Transit Center, considered the second busiest train station on New Jersey's Northeast Corridor.

Via ArchDaily

Minister of Municipal Affairs & Agriculture Building, Qatar by Aesthetics Architects Go Group

2009-03-19T18:11:00.000+08:00

This towering cactus will be the brand new office building for The Minister of Municipal Affairs & Agriculture (MMAA) in Qatar designed by Bangkok-based Aesthetics Architects.

Also known as the cactus project, its design draws inspiration from the ability of cacti to successfully survive in hot, dry environments.

The energy efficient structure features sunshade panels that open and close according to the sun's intensity, similar to how a cactus chooses to perform transpiration to retain water - an example of biomimicry.

The base of the tower has a botanic dome housing a botanical garden. An edible garden and a living machine will be included adding to its green appeal.

Sources: DesignBloom, Inhabitat
Architects: Aesthetics Architects GO Group

Szervita Square, Budapest by Zaha Hadid

2009-03-19T11:25:00.001+08:00

Szervita Square, Render © Zaha Hadid Architects

CONCEPT:

The new building on Szervita Square will add to the overall cityscape of Budapest by providing a new enlarged public square and landmark building. The aim is to create a civic space within the project not only for those who use the building but for the city as a whole.

Szervita Square, Render © Zaha Hadid Architects

A city like Budapest needs a kind of an archipelago of public spaces that are connected through program and become attractive places for the citizens at different times of the day. The plans for both the building and square connect smoothly to the surrounding net of squares and public places.

Szervita Square, Render © Zaha Hadid Architects

From the beginning, after collecting ideas about the light, the combination of landscapes, the building and the space itself, the idea was to move away from closed forms and the perimeter blocks that generally constitute the city, and to make the public zones more porous and open. The design for the new building fits with the architectural context, but is transparent creating a contrast to the idea of non-porosity and solidness of the existing buildings. One can perceive distinguished architectural periods in the development of Budapest's inner city fabric. Szervita Square itself is an interesting example with high quality architecture from different periods, and with this project an important opportunity is presented to continue with this series and to do something that we can¢t do anywhere else: to comply with the traditions of the city and create something new at the same time.

Szervita Square, Render © Zaha Hadid Architects

DRAWINGS:

Source: Zaha Hadid Blog

Fiera Milano Project in Milan, Italy by Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid, Arata Isozaki and Pier Paolo Maggiora

2009-03-19T11:24:00.000+08:00

An international competition to design the redevelopment of the Milan Fiera site brought the winning consortium that included Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, Arata Isozaki and Pier Paolo Maggiora working on the project. The 255,000 m2 site will include retail complexes, residential blocks and three office towers.

STUDIO DANIEL LIBESKIND:

Daniel Libeskind won the commission for master planner of the Fiera Milano project site in 2004 which spans 106 acres on the old fairgrounds of the historic city ofMilan in Italy. The scheme of Fiera Milano incorporates residential and office development, retail space and a museum all built around a central park - a much needed lung for the city. Studio Daniel Libeskind will design not only the master plan, but the park, the museum of contemporary art, one of the office towers and the first housing area.

The strategy of the proposal is simple and straightforward. It provides a seamless connectivity into the existing city fabric, creating a new neighborhood around a central park and a new public piazza within a beautiful high-rise skyline.

The proposal is a series of archipelagos, placed within the park, each proposing a variety of different scales. The housing units, ranging from villas to apartment blocks, are carefully sited on the perimeter of the site and at a scale which resonates within the existing context.

The new housing uses the existing plan as a point of departure and creates living typologies that are both sympathetic to the traditional forms yet forward looking. The housing also creates a balance between private courtyards and larger public spaces. The arrangement of the housing parcels maximizes daylight, fresh air and beautiful views. It is clear from this urban scheme that the approach is to provide housing, which is not only flexible within itself, but is also completely different from one parcel to the next. This feature is essential in making this site one which draws upon the richly layered blocks and history of Milan and organically links the housing to the new park."

In order to provide a culturally diverse and exciting mix with the housing, the organization of the scheme carefully places essential cultural buildings and retail amenities on site. An energetic and exciting gateway is provided from the north with the museum building, a space for contemporary arts with exhibition spaces, amenities and an auditorium. Prominent retail stores and public programs provide a compelling magnet to the site. These public programs act as a buffer to the large-scale remaining Fiera buildings to the north while integrating the public park at its center and the housing units to the east, west and southern edges.

Close to the center of the new grand central park are three iconic commercial high rise buildings. This component of the site is deliberately and resolutely concentrated in order to maximize space for a grand park, a grand piazza and the other public and private spaces. The skyscrapers are personally crafted and conceived to provide a sculpted and highly visible skyline on the site. Each building has an individual expression, yet all three are coupled in a cohesive arrangement in order to create the grand public piazza, now called, “Piazz 3 Torri.”

The designs of the skyscrapers go beyond superficial treatments of facades and create a spatial and functional disposition of spaces with extraordinary internal vistas and activities for the users. These iconic skyscrapers have been engineered with state of the art technology and are environmentally sound and sustainable. Underneath the new piazza there are retail and particular public amenities which help to dissolve the boundary between the public and private commercial realm. This will be located in direct connection with the a station of Line 5, the planned expansion to Milan’s subway system.

Text and Photos from SDL. More from their website.

ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS:

Zaha Hadid’s design includes a 190 meter office tower of 43 storeys, totalling 65.000 sqm connected to a 3-storey retail galleria of 25.000 sqm and on a site opposite a housing complex of 6 buildings ranging from 3 to14 stores totaling nearly 45.000 sqm and 300 units.

CONCEPT:
The high-rise as a building typology has traditionally been treated as a static, fixed strategy; the tower is reduced to a technocratic, engineering ‘solution’ governed by specific economic factors. Architects, in this role, have been left with the spire, exterior shell or, perhaps more significantly, the lobby interior. For the Fiera Milano, Zaha Hadid Architects have investigated the urban location of the tower as a portal, or gate into the Fiera along Viale Scarampo and Via Bartolomeo. Derivations of the passagio from the site into this gate gives shape to a certain torsion or vortex, and it is this movement, this dynamism that we are investigating.

MODEL PHOTOGRAPHY:

Fiera di Milano, Model Photography © Zaha Hadid Architects

Fiera di Milano, Model Photography © Zaha Hadid Architects

Source: Zaha Hadid Blog

The University of Nottingham’s Agricultural Campus at Sutton Bonington by Make Architects

2009-03-19T11:23:00.001+08:00

Make Architects won the OJEU competition to design a new building for the School of Veterinary, Medical and Sciences together with the School of Biosciences for The University of Nottingham’s agricultural campus at Sutton Bonington, to house a mixture of laboratories and office space.The design brief envisions a new identity for the campus befitting its status as a leading educational establishment and assist in transforming the site into a wholly sustainable and people focused development.

DESIGN CONCEPT:

Design is sensitive to its rural setting, yet with a future-proof infrastructure for the researchers, academics and students who will use it daily.

I has highly flexible floorplates and impressive sustainable credentials which include locally sourced materials such as timber and pre-fabricated straw panels.

According to David Patterson, the Sutton Bonington site presents the perfect opportunity to marry high-tech facilities with a rural location which we have embraced within the design. On the other hand, Tim Brooksbank, Development Director at The University of Nottingham’s Estate Department, said: “The design is stunningly simple and will set a new standard for future development on the campus.”

Via WorldArchitectureNews
Architects: Make Architects

Bubbletecture M by Shuhei Endo

2009-03-15T15:54:00.000+08:00

Bubbletecture M is an amazing bubble-like wooden structure by Shuhei Endo that houses a kindergarden in Osaka, Japan. This kindergarten is about 45 minutes by Shinkansen train from Osaka and surrounded by a newly developed residential area.

DESIGN CONCEPT:

The structure consists of concrete boxes between each of the rooms and a wooden roof that ties them together. The shell-form roof is made of triangular continuous surfaces; its structural strength and geometrical consistency permits great freedom in designing of the necessary spaces. This structural system uses 2.5 m wooden beams and hexagonal metal fittings, factory-made and only assembled on the site. The integration of the wooden trusses and concrete boxes is geometrical but varied, a structure with rich in expressive effects.

See more at ArchDaily

Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies (CSET Building) by MC Architects wins the 2009 MIPIM Green Building Award

2009-03-15T15:27:00.001+08:00

The Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies designed by MC A has won the 2009 MIPIM Green Building Award. The winner was announced at a spectacular awards ceremony in the main auditorium in the Palais des Festivals in Cannes on March 12th.

Mario Cucinella is the first Italian Architect to win a MIPIM award.

The Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies (CSET) focus on the diffusion of sustainable technologies such as solar power, photovoltaic energy, wind power and so forth. The 1,300m2 building accommodates a visitors centre, research laboratories and classrooms for masters courses. The pavilion stands in a large meadow alongside a stream that runs through the campus.

DESIGN CONCEPT:

It's design is inspired by Chinese lanterns and traditional wooden screens.

The façade folds dramatically to create a dynamic shape. The building is entirely clad with a double skin of glass with screen printed patterns evoking historical buildings of the area.

The appearance of the building changes from day to night.

The design employs various environmental strategies. A large rooftop opening brings natural light to all floors of the building simultaneously creating a flue effect to allow efficient natural ventilation and geothermal energy is used to cool and heat the floor slabs. In fact, the building is designed so that it's eletrical energy needs for cooling are only 7-8 kWhel /m2 year.

Via MarioCucinella Architects

Casa 100K by MarioCucinella Architects

2009-03-15T14:59:00.004+08:00

A cool green pre-fab building project in development in Italy, costing only a little over $100k U.S. Mario Cucinella Architects has conceived Casa 100k, which is a prototype home for Є100,000 that prioritizes three main elements: style, sustainability, and affordability.

DESIGN CONCEPT:

"This research project explores the design of a 100m2 home that is low cost, high quality with zero CO2 emissions and a low environmental impact. A building that brings back the pleasure of living and repays the investment cost with the energy produced. The architectural design integrates photovoltaic panels, solar capture during the winter months, circulation of air in the summer months and other passive environmental strategies that render the residence a bioclimatic machine."

"The building cost is kept to a minimum by using light and flexible pre-fabricated building systems: structural elements, integrated services, and mobile elements such as sliding-removable-supple wall panels for internal divisions in the apartments. External walls are made from modular panels. The material changes – glazed or opaque- creating an elevation that is dynamic materially and spatially integrating balconies, terraces and loggias. The structural framework allows a variety of apartment sizes adapting to the different spatial needs of the occupants."

Typical of European homes, each unit is small — a mere 100 square meters. However, the building’s design includes multiple outdoor bridges and terraces that cross near each other. This design decision certainly offers the opportunity for neighborly interaction and a heightened sense of community that will make residents feel like their living quarters extend beyond the four panels of their home.

With solar thermal and a geothermal heat pump, as well as the other already mentioned strategies, the design for Casa 100k contemplates creating more energy than is used -- a feature that could prove financially beneficial to homeowners. It's an interesting vision for living -- one that could just be a reality with already existing technology and prefab construction methods.

More at Inhabitat, Jetson Green, and G Living

Architects: MarioCucinella Architects

new corporate headquarters of Giant Pharmaceutical Corp by Morphosis

2009-03-15T14:07:00.001+08:00

The new corporate headquarters of Giant Pharmaceutical Corp on the western outskirts of Shanghai, China resembles a dinosaur ready to take flight. The project will house executive offices in the cantelivered “head” of the structure, while the remaining elements—additional offices, a boutique hotel, exhibition hall, auditorium, library, gymnasium and swimming pool—will be contained in the “body” which arcs over a four-lane highway.

DESIGN CONCEPT:

Outdoor plazas provide a variety of recreational spaces for employees. The main circulation spine, an enclosed walkway located outboard at the second level, bridges the street to connect the office building with the clubhouse.

Like other Morphosis projects, the building incorporates many sustainable features including a green roof, a glass curtain wall with sun-shading capabilities and a system of skylights for natural lighting.

More from World Architecture News

View also from Inhabitat

Architects: Morphosis

Envision Green Hotel by Michael Rosenthal Associates

2009-03-15T14:04:00.000+08:00

The Envision Green Hotel proposed by Miami-based Michael Rosenthal Associates for Hospitality Design’s Radical Innovation design competition is part wind tower, part urban eco-resort, and all egg.

DESIGN CONCEPT:

Operating like a living organism, the Envision literally breathes through its wind and atmospheric conversion systems, which allow natural air into the interior of the building without mechanical intervention.

Photovoltaic exterior sheathing provides the building’s energy, while indoor gardens at various levels of the structure act as upward extensions of the earth, creating mini-microclimates that filter the air and act as added insulation.

Recycled pools of water around the structure serve as catch basins, water reservoirs, fire barriers, and indispensable decorative aquatic features. Power from the wind turbine heats the boiler and creates steam for the chiller water plant beneath the structure to cool and heat the hotel.

Within the hotel, rooms would be designed on a 4 foot multiple to conform to standard-sized materials and reduce construction waste. A high-efficiency LED system would illuminate the interiors, and non-toxic, non-off-gassing finishes would be employed. Besides the typical water-efficient fixtures, this eco resort would use recovered rainwater for flushing and irrigation.

The rooms would also include a mood pad control unit that would allow each guest to control the lighting and choose groovy digital images that would reflect behind glass walls and ceilings.

To help this giant eco-egg blend even more subtly into the surrounding urban context, exterior LED curtain walls would change color throughout the night to indicate the progression of time, making the Envision glow in the night like a giant, moody Fabergé egg.

More info from Inhabitat
Architects: Michael Rosenthal Associates

Westraven Office Complex receives second award

2009-03-14T23:04:00.000+08:00

The cepezed-designed Westraven Office Complex in Utrecht, the Netherlands, has been enthusiastically acclaimed at the festive Dutch Construction Gala. The project's architect cepezed's Ronald Schleurholts and the commissioning Government Buildings Agency were awarded the Dutch Construction Award 2009 for the project's excellence in different aspects.

Seen at WorldArchitectureNews. Click here for more.

Building Programme:
The programme covers more than 53,000 sq m and consists of office space, conference facilities, a national meeting centre, a communications centre, and the Future Center for the Department of Public Works.

Concept:
- Vides, atriums, conservatories, and inner gardens furnish the transparent new construction with an unprecedented spatial quality, and are also important for the orientation of the staff and visitors.

- Much attention has been devoted to realizing perfect equilibrium between low energy consumption and an optimum working climate. For this purpose, an ingenious climate concept has been developed which makes use of thermically active floors, among other methods.

- The conservatories also work as climate buffers and the artificial lighting adjusts itself automatically to the colour and intensity of the incidence of daylight.

- A revolutionary feature is the innovative second-skin façade of open-weave, teflon-coated glass fibre that offers all-round protection against the wind and makes it possible to work with open windows, even on the top floors.

The project also received the Daylight Award 2008 for its optimal equilibrium between the use of daylight, artificial lighting and other architectural aspects.

Herzog & de Meuron unveil design for Madrid bank headquarters of BBVA

2009-03-14T23:03:00.000+08:00

Herzog & de Meuron has completed the design of a new headquarters for Spanish banking group BBVA. The design concept proposes creating a small city and artificial oasis on the site.. The city is comprised of a series of long thin three-storey buildings separated by alleyways and gardens intended to recreate the effect of an Arabian garden across the site. Into this mix, is situated the main bank building, a disc-like tower, that rises from a green carpet that is the project’s plaza.

Seen at WorldArchitectureNews. Click here for more.

The plaza and tower anchor the complex and provide orientation. The main entrance and various communal facilities form an interconnected ring around the plaza. The tower, containing offices with views across the city and the Sierra of Madrid, contributes to the diversity of workspaces.

Light and sun are regulated with overhanging floorplates and a brise-soliel structure, which also minimizes the need for artificial lighting and air conditioning. Retractable elements in the roof help to control the temperature of the gardens. Photovoltaic cells on the roof and rain and grey water processing complete the sustainability features.

Yellow Treehouse Restaurant by Pacific Environments Architects

2009-03-14T23:01:00.000+08:00

The tree-house concept is reminiscent of childhood dreams and playtime, fairy stories of enchantment and imagination.

Seen at Yatzer. Click here for more details.

ARCHITECTURAL CONCEPT

The concept is driven by the ‘enchanted’ site which is raised above an open meadow and meandering stream on the edge of the woods.

The tree-house concept is reminiscent of childhood dreams and playtime, fairy stories of enchantment and imagination . It’s inspired through many forms found in nature -the chrysalis/cocoon protecting the emerging butterfly/moth, perhaps an onion/garlic clove form hung out to dry.

It is also seen as a lantern, a beacon at night that simply glows yet during the day it might be a semi camouflaged growth, or a tree fort that provides an outlook and that offers refuge.

The plan form also has loose similarities to a sea shell with the open ends spiralling to the centre . It’s the treehouse we all dreamed of as children but could only do as an adult fantasy.

Access is via a 60m tree-top ‘accessible’ walkway –an adventure in itself.
The selected site and tree had to meet a myriad of functional requirements -18 seated people and waiting staff in relative comfort complete with a bar; gaining correct camera angles with associated light qualities for filming the adverts, web cam and stills, have unobstructed views into the valley and entrance to the site and structural soundness .

The final selected tree is one of the larger trees on the site and sits above a steep part of the site which accentuates the tree's height. Kitchen/catering facilities and toilets are at ground level.

The Architectural component embodies a simple oval form wrapped ‘organically’ around the trunk and structurally tied at top and bottom, with a circular plan that is split apart on the axis with the rear floor portion raised.

This allows the approach from the rear via a playful tree-top walkway experience, slipping inside the exposed face of the pod and being enchanted by the juxtaposition of being in an enclosed space that is also quite 'open' and permeable to the treetop views. There is also a ‘Juliet’ deck opposite the entrance that looks down the valley.

The scale and form of the tree-house creates a memorable statement without dominating it’s setting. While it’s natural ‘organic’ form sits comfortably, the rhythm of the various materials retains it’s strong architectural statement.

The verticality of the fins mimics the verticality of the redwoods and enable the building to naturally ‘blend’ into it’s setting, as though it were a natural growth.

Architects: Pacific Environments Architects

CONSTRUCTION

It sits almost 10m wide and over 12m high, with the split-level floor sitting 10m off the ground. Timber trusses form the main structure. The curved fins are glue-laminated pine, plantation poplar has been used for the slats and redwood milled from the site used in the walkway balustrading.

Openings are formed for windows by leaving spaces between the slats/fins that keeps the overall form yet affords a variety of openness for the views and light and closes down toward the rear. To loosen the regularity of the elements, steel is wrapped arbitrarily around the pod. Tying this up at the top and base has a sense of greater connection with the tree.

t is designed to be weather resistant using acrylic sheeting fixed to the roof under the fins with vertical roll-down café-style blinds within. Lighting is an important architectural component enhancing and changing the mood, with discreet lighting within the walkway and up-lighting within the tree house.

Mercado Design by Tao Arquitetura

2009-03-14T22:52:00.003+08:00

A neighborhood in constant changes where buildings are adapting their destination to commerce and service, this building shows a typology/language trough it’s volumetric and weightlessness, and harmony with its re qualified urbanism environment.

DESIGN CONCEPT:

A single building with slightness and permeability that provokes surprise, interest in that it can be revealed. It’s more a provocation to the first look then the explicit revelation in that it can be presented. It is not intended to sell the ” materialized” but talk about the motivations that leads persons to search for bigger values, with best quality for living.

Click here for more.
Architect: Paulo Henrique Paranhos

Bodø Kulturhus and Library, Norway by drdharchitects

2009-03-14T22:50:00.000+08:00

drdharchitects was chosen as the winner of an international competition to design a new library and concert hall in Bodø, Norway. The Bodø Kulturhus and Library will consist of two public buildings; a new city library (5,500m²) and a three-auditorium concert hall (7,350m²).

Seen at ArchDaily. Click here for more.

DESIGN CONCEPT:

The buildings have a figurative quality; two distinct but related characters, engaged in conversation with each other, and with their urban and harbour contexts. Together they form the new cultural heart of the city of Bodø.

The geometries of each building plan adjust in response to variations in the grain of the city fabric.

The main entrance façade of the Kulturhus is inflected to form a hinge in the shifting line of the street, whilst the waterfront façade of the library adjusts to the line of the harbour wall, recalling both the shed like nature of harbour-side structures and the civic qualities of a temple or basilica.

The interior public spaces of the Kulturhus are planned to take advantage of expansive views across the harbour. From the principal foyer space of the Kulturhus, the shaped roof of the Bibliotek can be seen, forming a horizon to the sea and the mountains beyond.

Arriving by boat, the buildings present themselves almost as a single piece; a ‘hill’ of gabled forms, perspectively receding like a theatre set; glittering on a sunny day.

Architects: drdharchitects

Singapore Civic & Cultural Center by Aedas

2009-03-13T10:48:00.000+08:00

The spectacular 54,000 sq m Singapore Civic & Cultural Center by Aedas has angular, multi-faceted design that creates a variety of perspectives, changing the form dramatically depending on the viewpoint.

Click here for more.(WorldArchitectureNews)
Concept:

- the dynamic design inside serves to create a new visual experience and blurs the boundaries between the public and private realms, between the civic and cultural spaces.

- focus of the cultural zone is a 5,000 seat auditorium providing the largest venue of its kind in Singapore.

- 24,000 sq m of retail space on the lower floors connects to the civic and cultural zones visually and spacially via a 40m high 'grand foyer'. The remainder of the 30,000 sq m of civic and cultural space is comprised of function spaces, administration, foyers, circulation areas and artist and technical support areas.

- spectacle of the Center is most truly presented from the south elevation which, being completely open to the outside, shows the inner workings and layers as a section visible from the exterior.

Cie architects to design the Tianjin Urban Planning Museum

2009-03-11T18:37:00.002+08:00

Dutch firm Cie Architects recently received first prize in the competition to design the Tianjin Urban Planning Museum, China. The building is composed of 3 distinct sections: urban planning museum and offices, new year's painting gallery and studios, and a conference centre totaling 29,000 sqm including parking.

Seen at designboom. For more details, click here.

image courtesy cie architects

Glasgow goliath receives planning

2009-03-11T10:35:00.000+08:00

Aedas design for Scottish city's tallest commercial building gets thumbs-up
International architectural practice, Aedas, has received planning consent for its masterplan, architectural and landscape design for Bothwell Plaza, in Bothwell Street Glasgow.
Conceived as a driving force of the continued regeneration of the area, the completed scheme will be the tallest commercial building in Glasgow. The 60,000 sq m, 18-storey development will comprise a mixed-use scheme including office, retail and leisure space and a five-star, 320-bed hotel. The design aims to fulfil the European Development Company’s aspirations for an architectural icon and gratify a rising demand for hotel accommodation in the run-up to the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Read more.

The Yorkshire Diamond / Various Architects

2009-03-11T10:27:00.000+08:00

The project is an attraction in itself with a striking exterior in the form of inflatable tubes arranged in the atomic structure of diamonds. The 20 x 26 x 10 meter diamond grid volume is mined out to form a cavernous interior space reminiscent of the coal mines of Yorkshire. Light and air shafts pierce the structure providing natural light and ventilation. At night the translucent shafts and outer skin radiate light in all colors and directions like a diamond twinkling in the sunlight. Read more.

A-Lab Unveils Stunning Eco-Office for Norway

2009-03-11T00:21:00.000+08:00

This stunning energy-efficient office recently won a competition to design the 2012 location for Norway’s oil company StatoilHydro. Conceived by Oslo’s A-lab, the modern and flexible office compound took the winning bid from a pool of some 40 entries. The new site and office center brings together two previously separated buildings, opening up more efficient communication and reducing the need for cross-town travel and courier services. Five separate wings lie on top of each other in the shape of a star, keeping particular offices regionalized while still attached. Read more.

Soaring Seawater Farms for a Self-Sufficient Dubai

2009-03-11T00:19:00.000+08:00

Dubai is a burgeoning metropolis surrounded by seawater that relies on imports for nearly all of its food. Addressing the region’s lack of natural resources, Italian architects Studiomobile have conceived of a Seawater Vertical Farm that draws upon local resources to create a sustainable source of food for a cleaner, greener and more self-sufficient Dubai. Envisioned as a spire that branches off into soaring sky-gardens, the design uses seawater to create an ecosystem conducive to growing crops amid the clouds. Read More

Regium Waterfront - Museum of the Mediterranean, Reggio Calabria, Italy

2009-03-10T21:45:00.000+08:00

Zaha Hadid Architects have revealed their designs for the Museum of the Mediterranean and a Multifunctional Building for the performing arts on the Regium Waterfront. The project aims to define the city of Reggio Calabria as a Mediterranean cultural capital through the realization of these two characteristic buildings.
More

Mies van der Rohe Award 2009 shortlist

2009-03-08T20:31:00.002+08:00

The European Commission and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe announced the finalists for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2009, one of the most important and prestigious prizes for international architecture. By supporting the Prize, the European Commission underlines the role of architecture as a driver for creativity and innovation and draws attention to the important contribution of European professionals in the development of new ideas and technologies.

The finalists are:

Multimodal Centre – Nice Tramway, Nice (France) by Marc Barani / Atelier Marc Barani

Zenith Music Hall, Strasbourg (France) by Massimiliano Fuksas, Doriana Fuksas / Massimiliano Fuksas Architecture

University Luigi Bocconi, Milan (Italy) by Shelley McNamara, Yvonne Farrell / Grafton Architects

The Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Oslo (Norway) by Kjetil Træaedal Thorsen, tarald Lundevall, Craig Dykers / Snøhetta

Library, Senior Citizens’ Centre and City Block Core Zone, Sant Antoni’s District, Barcelona (Spain) by Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, Ramon Vilalta / RCR Aranda Pigem Vilalta Arquitectes

The European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, Mr. Ján Figel’ said: “Each of the projects selected today show that investing in European architectural talent, in creativity and innovation pays off. Stimulating new ideas and highlighting entrepreneurial efforts are also a key part of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009. I am particularly pleased to see that the series of lectures about these finalist projects will be given by the architects themselves in Barcelona on April 22, in order to reach out to broader audiences. The winner of the Mies van der Rohe Award will be announced later on May.”

The finalists were selected from 340 projects proposed by the Architects’ Council of Europe member associations and the other national architectural associations and the Advisory Committee. The Jury, chaired by Francis Rambert includes: Ole Bouman, Irena Fialová, Fulvio Irace, Luis M. Mansilla,Carme Pinós and Vasa J. Perović.

Francis Rambert, Chair of the Jury said today: “We were impressed by the quality of the selected projects, many of which explore important urban issues of infrastructure and regeneration, developing new typologies. Ranging widely in scale, each responds imaginatively to its particular context and brief.”

Previous winners include, among others, Rem Koolhaas and Ellen van Loon, Zaha Hadid, Dominique Perrault, Peter Zumthor, Rafael Moneo, Álvaro Siza Vieira, Lord Foster and Luis M. Mansilla – Emilio Tuñón.

The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2009, funded through the EU Culture Programme, is awarded biennially to works completed within the previous two years. The Jury also awards a Special Mention Prize for emerging architect.

A traveling exhibition on the Prize winners, Emerging Architect Special Mention, Finalists and Shortlisted Works is planned for September this year.

The EU Culture Programme also funds the European Border Breakers Awards, the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage and the forthcoming European Union Prize for Literature.

Ordos Hilton Hotel / VMX Architects

2009-03-08T20:15:00.001+08:00

In commission for the Jiang Yuan Water Engineering Company, VMX Architects designed a contemporary international hotel for the city of Ordos. By not only relying upon the logic of and philosophies behind famous hotel concepts, but also taking into account the specific context of Ordos, the new Hilton Hotel aims on transcending the generic and at the same time symbolizing the spirit of Inner Mongolia.

The concept maximizes two existing qualities. The first is the surrounding landscape and the city of Ordos. The second is the adjacent country club functions, which are already foreseen for this site, especially the golf course.

The urban plan dictates a maximum height of only three storeys. Applying the average (rectangular) hotel plan would easily lead to long corridors, hence: long walking distances. Also, a rectangle is not the ideal form to integrate the building in the landscape.

In proposing a round building, we take maximum advantage of the view in every direction, while at the same time minimising the distances between rooms and hotel functions such as lobby, dining areas, bars, concert stage and swimming pool. The rooms are divided over four levels, three above and one below grade. All rooms face the green landscape; all hotel functions are centred in the heart of the building. This inside space is designed as a spectacular collective world on its own, partly covered by a glass roof and so protected from the harsh climate.

In our design we intend to combine our rational, pragmatic, in a way ‘western’ perspective, with a more ‘eastern’, oriental approach. In our eyes, this eastern approach has a strong symbolic component. Considering this aspect we conceptualised the form of the building by referring to the Sun, an important Mongolian symbol, and the Moon from the nearby Moonlake. In its section, the silhouette of the yurt, the archetypical Mongolian settlement, can be recognised. The colours inside and on the outside of the building refer to the local natural colours of grass, sand and water.

From above, the hotel appears as a flower, symbolising its function of an oasis in the desert. This way the new hotel resort can be easily found by Google Earth, nowadays by far the most popular medium to discover exciting new worlds.

More pictures from ArchDaily

The Cathedral of Christ the Light / SOM

2009-03-08T02:06:00.003+08:00

Set on a prominent, two-block site overlooking Oakland’s Lake Merritt, the 1350-seat cathedral is the centerpiece of a 224,000-square-foot complex that includes a mausoleum, conference center, administrative offices, bishop’s and clergy residences, bookstore, café, and community-serving ministries. The design gives special consideration to the Cathedral Center’s physical and cultural place within the city of Oakland.

A landscaped public plaza, accessible from all directions, firmly links the center with the city’s commercial downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. Within the cathedral, the experience of light and space, rather than traditional iconography, instills a deep sense of sacredness.

The Cathedral honors the devotion and craftsmanship that unifies the world’s great religious landmarks, using advanced technologies to achieve a luminous and evocative architecture with modest materials while minimizing the building’s ecological footprint.

The thermal mass of the cathedral’s base—made of resource-conserving slag and fly-ash concrete—helps to efficiently heat and cool the occupied, lower strata of the interior volume. Rising above, sustainably harvested Douglas fir ribs and louvers add warmth while providing protective structural elasticity. An enclosure of frit-coated, translucent, and clear low-E glass modulates daylight and heat gain within and captures the natural shifting of light throughout the day. (Artificial lighting is only needed at night.) Finally, an advanced structural system, which includes base isolation, is designed to withstand a 1,000-year earthquake, preserving the cathedral for centuries.

Behind the altar, the Omega Window incorporates one of the cathedral’s most dramatic elements: a reinterpretation of a 12th-century depiction of Christ rendered in anodized aluminum panels and 94,000 pixel-like perforations using a custom-programmed digital process. In keeping with the cathedral’s elemental nature, the striking presence of the 58-foot-tall image relies simply on the play of light penetrating through the different sized perforations.

The Cathedral of Christ the Light has already won several design awards, including a 2009 AIA National Honor Award, and has received recognition in notable publications. The New Yorker’s Paul Goldberger included the Cathedral in his list of 2008’s ten best works of architecture, stating:

“The new Cathedral of Christ the Light, in Oakland, by Skidmore partner Craig Hartman, houses a sanctuary that is at once warm and minimalist: a high, curving room lined in wood latticework set within a glass structure, it is a true work of modernist monumental civic grandeur.”

Statement from the Architect:

The Cathedral of Christ the Light provides a sanctuary in the broadest sense of the word. Located in downtown Oakland, this house of worship offers a sense of solace, spiritual renewal, and respite from the secular world.

The Cathedral employs a non-linear approach to honor the church’s 2,000-year history without forcing a specific point of view. By stripping away received iconography, the design positions symbolic meaning within contemporary culture. The approachable result remains open to the region’s ever-changing multi-cultural makeup and to the future.

As its name suggests, the Cathedral draws on the tradition of light as a sacred phenomenon. Through its poetic introduction, indirect daylight ennobles modest materials—primarily wood, glass, and concrete. With the exception of evening activities, the Cathedral is lit entirely by daylight to create an extraordinary level of luminosity.

The lightest ecological footprint was always a core design objective. Through the highly innovative use of renewable materials, the building minimizes the use of energy and natural resources. The structure’s concrete makes use of industrial waste fly ash, a byproduct of coal production that requires less energy to produce than cement. An advanced version of the ancient Roman technique of thermal inertia maintains the interior climate with mass and radiant heat.

Douglas Fir, obtained through certified harvesting processes, has proven to be aesthetically pleasing, economically sound, and structurally forgiving—the wood’s surfaces add warmth while its elasticity allows for the bending and returning of shape during seismic activity. Through the use of advanced seismic techniques, including base isolation, the structure will withstand another 1,000- year earthquake. The Cathedral of Christ the Light, a building for the ages, will endure for centuries rather than decades.

Source: SOM

Surprise web celebrity for award-winning house on the beach

2009-03-07T11:37:00.002+08:00

NZIA Award-winning house 'goes viral' in the blogosphere

After impressing local NZIA judges, this modestly-scaled and carefully crafted house has won surprise fame on the web, as images have spread to unlikely corners of the blogosphere (partly via rap artist Kanye West's personal blog!).

More than just a 'beach house', this is our client’s all-year round dwelling. However, the need to relocate the building if required ruled out concrete construction. Instead high levels of insulation, heat pump technology and solar panels on the roof, augment the large double glazed openings that capture sun and trap heat in winter, but cool through sea breezes in summer.

Natural oiled cedar weatherboards, painted plywood and weathered zinc sheet both connect the house to the landscape and some older local traditions, but equally clearly set it apart. This is a house strongly connected to the land but prepared, if the sands and tides shift against it, to move.

Dancing lady kisses Mumbai sky

2009-03-07T11:21:00.002+08:00

Mumbai's tallest building design revealed

Set to be the tallest building in Mumbai standing 301 meters or 1000 ft tall, Shreepati Skies or the dancing lady shaped building promises to be unlike any other structure in the India’s or Asia’s Skyline. The master mind behind this structure is no stranger to tall buildings - renowned Architect Reza Kabul has to his credit the tallest completed building of India Shreepati Arcade listed in the Limca book of Records 2003.

In a novel move, the architect has incorporated the image of a dancing native lady with a water pot symbolised within the design.

The chief construction materials are reinforced cement concrete, glass, steel and aluminum, thus giving the building a smooth and sleek finish. Covering a plot area of approximately 2 acres, the design of Shreepati Skies gives the perception of a dancing lady mounted on a platform comprising of 7 parking floors housing 300 cars. The tower has an estimated 81 floors.

Among its many engineering achievements, this building also has a base to height ratio approaching one to ten, making it the most slender skyscraper. It has the longest constructed continual elevator lift by 1000 feet with 10 nos of Elevators at an approximate sped of 5 mts /sec.

Shreepati Skies promises its residents 126 state of the art apartments, each ndividually designed by Reza Kabul himself with apartment sizes ranging from 2 Bedroom, to 3 and 4beds, duplex and penthouses offering unique floor plans and breath taking view of the ocean, many with individual paddle pools. An additional private theatre, therapeutic spa, a state of the art gym, a swimming pool and a helipad on the top are also incorporated.

In order to meet with standard of Sustainability and an Environmental friendly design the design will include recycling of rain water and management of waste water storage and its recycling process amongst others. Construction of the tower shall take approximately 5 years.

Source: worldarchitecturenews

Chinatrust Bank Headquarters designed by NBBJ

2009-03-06T00:43:00.002+08:00

After an international design competition and nearly two years of design, the high-profile, 2.5-million- square-foot Chinatrust Bank headquarters has broken ground in Taiwan. Designed by the Los Angeles office of NBBJ, in cooperation with the local firm Fei & Cheng Associates, the project is slated to reach completion in 2012.

The Chinatrust Bank development will consist of a 30-story headquarters building, a 21-story commercial office building, a 10-story hotel, and a four-level retail center. The project is designed to accommodate the bank’s growth, while supporting its status as the “Best Bank in Taiwan,” as named in Asiamoney, Euromoney, and FinanceAsia publications.

Source: ArchDaily

Danfoss Universe / J. Mayer H. Architects

2009-03-06T00:41:00.000+08:00

The new buildings rise up from the ground and provide spaces which articulate the fusion of outdoor landscape and indoor exhibition. This active ground modulates according to program and location in the park. The endpoints of the buildings blur the line between building and park by offering inside-out spaces as display areas and projection surfaces related to the temporary exhibitions inside. Silhouettes, as groups of land formations, define the unique newly programmed horizon line of Danfoss Universe.

Danfoss Universe is a science park in Denmark, embedded in the agricultural landscape of Nordborg next to the founder’s home and the Danfoss HQ. It opened in May 2005 and is already enlarging due to its considerable success. The masterplan for Danfoss Universe Phase 2 includes an exhibition building (Curiosity.Center) and a restaurant (Food.Factory) which extends the summer based outdoor park into the winter months by enclosing spaces for exhibitions and scientific experiments.

(source: ArchDaily)
(more pictures)

Latest Piano designs revealed

2009-03-06T00:29:00.002+08:00

Italian architect takes his talents to Greece

Pritzker Prize winning Renzo Piano has revealed his designs for the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, set to be a new icon for the ancient city. Housing the National Library of Greece and the Greek National Opera, both set within the Stavros Niarchos Park, the 187,800 sq m SNFCC is the first public-private endeavour of its kind with the Greek State.

Commenting on the significance of SNFCC, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis stated that, “this Center is a milestone for our country. The design is truly astonishing. In a wonderful manner, it combines high aesthetics with functionality and consideration for the environment. I am certain that its impact will extend beyond our national boundaries.”

In keeping with SNF’s and RPBW’s mission to create an emissions neutral facility, the project has been conceptualised with the highest standards of environmental sustainability. A pivotal design element that will play a significant role in helping achieve this aggressive standard can be seen in Piano and his Building Workshop’s innovative roof– a series of interconnected photovoltaic cell panels which will cover the structure’s needs, taking advantage of the pure “green” solar and wind energy. SNFCC is also expected to receive LEED certification.

“We were extremely honoured by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s invitation to play a role in such a generous gift to Greece,” noted Renzo Piano. “The Cultural Center’s proximity to water, and the natural warm breezes and light of Athens were particularly inspiring during the design process. It was immediately clear that we must take advantage of all these elements to ultimately design a zero emissions building that expresses movement and energy.”

SNFCC is expected to open in 2015 and its construction will be funded exclusively by SNF, an International philanthropic organisation concentrating on education, social welfare, health and medicine, and arts and culture projects. The design will be realised with an approximate budget of 450 million Euros, pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding executed with the Greek State. Once completed, the project will be turned over to the Greek State.

Source: worldarchitecturenews

China gets Coop-ed up

2009-03-06T00:03:00.002+08:00

Coop Himmelb(l)au release designs for two major projects in China

The vastness of China can be witnessed from many perspectives, it is evident in maps, in its cultural make-up, its capacity for industrial output and, on a city level, in its architecture. In two cities roughly 1000 miles apart, Austrian architecture practise Coop Himmelb(l)au embarks upon separate projects which both replicate the monolithic scale of China.

The first, the Museum of Contemporary Art & Planning Exhibition (MoCAPE) merges two museums into one complex touted as an ‘Urban Monolith’. The complex will occupy an entire block in the south coast city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong. Spreading outwards across the cityscape MoCAPE creates a domineering presence in the predominantly high-rise district using an alternative approach to scale, using only skylighting as a source of natural light and overhangs to further enhance the dominance or the building from street level.

The Second project, a multi-use Conference Center, breaks ground in Dalian, near the south east tip of China, and echoes MoCAPE’s scale at 1million m³. Designed to “both reflect the promising modern future of Dalian and its tradition as an important port, trade, industry and tourism city” the Dalian Conference Center is associative in its architectural concept rather than pictographic, taking on the softness of form as though eroded by forces of the sea. The design incorporates a public zone with shopping at ground level and a 1,900 seat theatre and 2,500 capacity conference space situated 15m above the entrance hall as floating spaces.. Smaller conference spaces are situated around this core space.

© COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
“With the Dalian International Conference Center, a hybrid city within a building will emerge,” reads the design statement.. “For the technical infrastructure of the building this means, that we have to consider a huge amount of people circulating inside the building at the same time, expecting high standards in circulation and comfort as well as a state of the art building concerning high flexibility, and low energy consumption and use of other resources.” In a country with a population of approximately 1.33 billion, Coop Himmelb(l)au’ s two projects offer associatively scaled architecture and importantly, cultural spaces to enjoy the fruits of Chinese productivity.

Source: worldarchitecturenews
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Parliament for the Sami people / SH arkitekter

2009-03-05T23:14:00.002+08:00

The Sámi Parliament building is situated on a ridge above the Karasjok town centre, on a noticeable terrace on the hillside, 35 metres above today’s alluvial plain. Surrounding the building is a landscape comprised of pinetrees and natural vegetation. Elements such as the concrete and grey colour of the larch wood panelling allow the building to blend in with the surrounding nature. The plenary meeting hall’s oblique conical form, on the edge of a steep incline, is however easily visible - even from the town centre of Karasjok.

The architects Stein Halvorsen and Christian Sundby won the architecture contest that was sponsored by the Norwegian government (Statsbygg) in 1995. A parliament in general has political importance, but also has nation building and identity significance. These were some of the intentions of the contest, where the programme stated that the architect should contribute so that “The Sámi Parliament appears in a dignified way” and “reflects Sámi architecture.” It was requested that architectural tradition should be the basis for this monumental building.

The Sámi Parliament building houses more functions than merely political and administrative - for instance premises for the Sámi Trade and Industry and a specific Sámi library.

Source:ArchDaily

Melbourne Recital Centre reaches its finale

2009-03-05T22:18:00.002+08:00

Building works complete on Australian music venue

Australia’s cultural portfolio is significantly boosted this week with the official opening of the Melbourne Recital Centre. Designed as a collaboration between design architects, Ashton Raggatt McDougall (ARM) and acoustics experts Arup Acoustics, the project was funded by the Victorian Government as part of the Southbank Cultural Precinct Redevelopment.

ARM struggled initially with their inclination to avoid the classical ‘shoe-box’ form, known to predict acoustic perfection, in favour of a more architecturally expressive design. But in the end the classic shape was explored further and in their words, “The resolution of the Hall becomes one of the creation of room-ness, a remarkable room of spectacle, surface and sound.”

“The fusion of architectural and acoustic design throughout the development of Elisabeth Murdoch Hall has produced a visually and aurally exciting hall,” adds a design statement from Arup Acoustics.. “Based on the proportions of the classic shoe-box shaped European concert hall, the geometry has been enhanced to provide greater acoustic intimacy and improved sightlines for the entire audience.”

The project’s acoustics have been played as central to the design. An entirely timber interior turns the hall into an instrument in itself adding an architectural bass to performances. The organic texture diffuses sound throughout to reverberate with clarity and strength.

“Today is a proud moment for us and for the hundreds of people who brought this extraordinary project to fruition,” said Melbourne Recital Centre Chairman Jim Cousins AO.

"Australia now has one of the finest acoustically designed halls in the world, and a new arts company that will expand the performance and appreciation of ensemble music in ways not yet seen in this country. We congratulate the Victorian Government for this, its newest addition to Melbourne’s internationally admired cultural precinct.”

Source: worldarchitecturenews

Museum Plaza / REX

2009-03-05T15:45:00.000+08:00

Museum Plaza rethinks conventional attitudes towards property development. It begins with a vision to construct a contemporary art institute and concludes with a business pro forma that supports this commitment. Culture is placed physically and spiritually at the project’s center.

To support the capital and operational costs of a 3,700 m² (40,000 sf) art institute, a development of over 141,800 m² (1,530,000 sf) is needed. To avoid over-saturating Louisville’s market with any single commercial program, its uses are necessarily mixed, including luxury condominiums, hotel, offices, loft apartments, and retail.

The economic and dimensional imperatives of the project are resisted by the physical constraints of Museum Plaza’s site. Located within the Ohio River’s 100-year flood plain, between a levee wall and an interstate highway, the site is a disparate set of parcels with no immediate relationship to Louisville’s Central Business District. The site is further complicated by a subterranean electrical utility right-of-way and several arterial streets.

Convention would typically position the public program-both cultural and commercial-at street level and the profit-making towers above. This strategy is not possible at Museum Plaza, as the site would cut off any ground-level public program and position the towers implausibly close to each other.

To liberate these conditions, the plinth of public program (the “Island”) is elevated 24 stories aloft and the towers evenly distributed above and below.

The luxury condos and offices above and the hotel and loft apartments below are profit machines: their areas, plans, and views are dictated by the market, optimizing financing and maximizing rents and sale prices. The towers’ independence allows each to be designed and financed on its own terms, and renders the unusualness of the overall massing less consequential.

By keeping the towers discrete, their dimensions and the resulting pro forma remain adjustable-like a stereo equalizer-during the project’s design. Market exposure is thereby reduced to only three months-the time between submitting the exterior envelope for wind tunnel analysis and starting construction on the foundations based on the analysis’ results.

In contrast to the “dumb” towers, the Island houses all the unique and public elements of the development, both cultural and commercial. By isolating the project’s uniqueness within the Island, difficulties such as exiting, circulation, and security are also contained. Creation of construction documents for the rest of the building is thereby accelerated, and construction started over a year before the Island’s design is complete.

The collision of cultural and commercial uses within the Island (galleries, pool, auditorium, bar, education spaces, gym, restaurant, hot shop, ballroom…) provides fruitful opportunity to question the typology of a contemporary art institute. Museum Plaza advances several issues facing art institutions, including gallery flexibility, synergy between culture and commerce, and procession.

The two normative gallery typologies-the white box and (since Bilbao) the articulated box-challenge their institutions’ operational budgets. With the white box, institutions must spend copious funds to invent unique environments for each new show. With the articulated box, institutions must spend copious funds to quiet the architecture’s voice for each new show. Museum Plaza’s galleries combine the white box’s flexibility with the uniqueness of the articulated box. Two large, easily repartitioned galleries are stacked in the middle of the Island.

Seemingly banal, the galleries are rendered unique by several remarkable views-one up between the towers, one down 24 floors to the park beneath-and a revolutionary design for the galleries’ perimeter walls.

Many living artists do not want to operate within institutional walls. Preferring to operate on real life, on real community, on real activity, artists increasingly shun the very institutions that are trying to house them. Museum Plaza overcomes this conundrum by bleeding culture and commerce together without compromising the galleries’ performance. A simple dot matrix, when rendered in color (including white), is perceived by the brain as opaque; when rendered in black, the brain perceives the matrix as transparent. By applying this basic optical effect to the galleries’ perimeter walls, art permeates into the everyday activities of the restaurant, cocktail bar, spa, gym, and swimming pool. Yet, the galleries maintain the pristine quality of a white box for the art patron. The galleries’ translucency allows art to perform in a whole new way-to both “see” and be seen-generating a new kind of energy and interaction between the art and the viewer.

By applying this basic optical effect to the galleries’ perimeter walls, art permeates into the everyday activities of the restaurant, cocktail bar, spa, gym, and swimming pool. Yet, the galleries maintain the pristine quality of a white box for the art patron. The galleries’ translucency allows art to perform in a whole new way-to both “see” and be seen-generating a new kind of energy and interaction between the art and the viewer.And the non-ticketed spaces, including shop, education, auditorium, and event space, serve as the main circulation for the entire Island, reinforcing the mix between culture and commerce.

The Loop’s ultimate architectural manifestation is a plate, bent to tie the cores together and to reach the cardinal points of the galleries and commercial areas.

The central galleries and their glass walls create a space for art that is not an enclosed temple, separate from life and commerce, but one which allows a range of interactions with art, from the peripheral to the engaged.

In most large developments, culture is an afterthought, a bone thrown to mollify a municipality. Museum Plaza invents the program for, and then realizes, a vehicle that literally and metaphorically places art at its center, challenging the art institute’s typology in the process.

source: ArchDaily

Do the twist....

2009-02-27T21:54:00.001+08:00

Nikken Sekkai's stunning building sets the standard for educational architecture

Mode-Gakuen Spiral Towers located in busy Main Street of Nagoya city in front of Nagoya Station. The towers are designed for three schools that represent the school of fashion design, computer programming and medical support. The concept of the towers are derived from the enthusiasm of students from three schools, twining and rising up to the sky then departing to the real world. Three buildings of class rooms around the spiral core are called “Wings”. The towers' wing-like shape, narrow at the top, changes the rotation axis as they rise and create an organic curve. Spiral Towers appears to change shape slightly when viewed from different angles, giving an elegant yet dynamic impression. The strong inner truss tube is visible through gaps between the three wings, highlighting the bold design and structure while demonstrating the overall consistency.

The towers are highlighted with many ecological features, such as a double-glassed air flow window system and a natural air ventilation system. The central core of the building is a highly rigid cylindrical structure. Like the central pillar in a house, this structure securely protects the building against twisting and earthquakes. This cylindrical structure is called an inner truss tube and comprises concrete-filled, steel tubular columns, with braces deployed around the core. The towers are integrated with mass damper systems, expanding columns and AMD for restraining seismic vibration. The latest structural engineering provides the highest safety even in the case of the more severe earthquakes.

Steven Holl Architects Wins Master Plan in “Shenzhen 4 Tower in 1” Competition

2009-02-27T10:05:00.003+08:00

Steven Holl Architects have been selected as the winning firm for the design of the master plan of the “Shenzhen 4 Tower in 1” competition

Bird’s eye view of the winning “Shenzhen 4 Tower in 1” master plan proposal by Steven Holl Architects

Close up of the Public Promenade

This competition was for an office tower complex around the new Shenzhen Stock Exchange Headquarters located in Shenzhen’s Futian commercial business district. It was organized by the Shenzhen Planning Bureau to create a unified urban plan, around the Headquarters, for the new office towers of Shenzhen Media Group, China Construction Bank, China Insurance Group, and Southern & Bosera Funds.

Model photo of the master plan proposal

A six-member jury chaired by Arata Isozaki selected the winners of the competition. Other participants, including Morphosis, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Atelier FCJZ, Hans Hollein, and MVRDV, won for their individual tower designs.

Rendering of the Social Bracket

Rendering of am office interior

Rendering of Tower B Entrance

Steven Holl Architects’ design for the master plan is based on the concept of tropical skyscrapers as Shade Machines with a Social Bracket connecting the towers and the street level with a horizontal structure containing public programs and a rooftop water garden.

Watercolor by Steven Holl The Social Bracket gathers the public programs from all four towers, combining them as one continuous element that links the four sites with the city streets and pedestrian traffic. Supporting programs for the towers, such as cafeterias and gyms, are combined in the Social Bracket and enhanced with cultural programs such as art galleries, auditoriums, and a cinema. The Social Bracket’s sculpted form allows it to negotiate between environmental restrictions and the requirements of the public programs. It features a continuous roof garden park that collects storm water and recycles all the greywater from the four skyscrapers.

Watercolor by Steven Holl

Roof garden ponds and plantings utilize the combined storm water and greywater after passage through a central ultraviolet filter system. A public route connects the subway into the Social Bracket, linking directly to all four towers. Connecting across the Stock Exchange Plaza, the new elevated bracket acts as an urban interface between the business-centric district to the south and the residential area to the north.

Diagram: 4 + 1 = 2

Steven Holl Architects’ design for the four towers as Shade Machine utilizes circular building footprints to maximize the interior space and open views while minimizing the exterior envelope. The optimized office floors are connected via double-height and triple-height social spaces on alternating sides of the towers.

Diagram: Winter / Garden Infrastructure

Automatic solar tracking screens made of perforated PV cells make one full rotation per day around the circumference of each building, collecting enough PV energy to cool the towers completely. Always oriented towards the sun, the moving shades harvest solar energy and block solar heat gain, their louvered sections tilting to horizontal orientation at noon to gather maximum sunlight.

Diagram: Social Bracket

The one-meter deep louvers block high-angle solar gain and bounce diffused natural light onto the ceilings deep into the floor plate. The screens’ full rotation per day allows the towers to act as an urban clock with synchronized rotation in time even on cloudy days.

Diagram: “Social Program Isolated in Towers” vs. “Collected Social Programs Create Urban Interface”

Images & Diagrams: Steven Holl Architects; Watercolors: Steven Holl

Source: Bustler

American Dream of a Customized Home

2009-02-26T20:56:00.000+08:00

Inspired by the permeability and spatial qualities of Modernist houses and the great American dream of a customized home, Herzog & de Meuron has replaced the usual extrusion of standardized skyscraper floor plates with a staggered progression of structural slabs turning slightly off axis by degrees as they ascend, creating constant variety among the apartment floor plans.

This structural arrangement of floor plates create an irregular flurry of cantilevered terraces up and down the building, making plays of light and shadow that give the tower a shimmering, animated appearance on the skyline.

The building contains five key zones ascending from street to sky: lobby, townhouse residences, amenities, tower residences, and penthouses. Appearing to rest upon Anish Kapoor’s sculpture, a massive, reflective stainless steel piece, the building base will have the appearance of a stack of cantilevering volumes with varying degrees of transparency and opacity.

The lobby zone contains a dramatic double - height lobby with an entrance on Leonard Street adjacent to a verdant exterior vertical garden to the west. Above the 18-foot-high lobby are several floors of townhouse residences, that relate very directly to the immediate scale and panorama of the neighborhood, and two full floors of amenities spaces custom-designed to the last detail by Herzog& de Meuron.

Photo © Herzog & de Meuron, Basel, 2008
Lounge

Photo © Herzog & de Meuron, Basel, 2008
Screening Room
These spaces include a 75-foot infinity edge pool, one of Manhattan’s largest, surrounded by a black terrazzo deck inlaid with spherical glass aggregate. An adjoining outdoor sundeck cantilevers 20 feet over the block to provide extraordinary Tribeca views and a sense of connection to the district.

The building’s residences are located above with balconies and terraces arranged in varied schemes that provide uninterrupted views of the city. The dramatic nine-story crown containing its apex penthouses, will appear on the Manhattan skyline as a chimerical geometric sculpture of stacked, glimmering glass volumes. Soaring window walls open onto panoramas of the city and sky.

“We approached the design process from the inside out, from the homes themselves. But we also considered the outside in terms of the Tribeca neighborhood. Here you have the small townhouses, the old manufacturing buildings, and the high-rise buildings, but also a lot of little corners and surprising things between. The different scales characterize the neighborhood and we wanted to establish a dialogue among them. For us, creating a building is a research process. We call it a journey.”
Herzog & de Meuron

The 57-story residential building is located at the intersection of Church Street and Leonard Street in the Tribeca Historic District of downtown Manhattan.

A very Chinese experiment

2009-02-26T20:11:00.003+08:00

Coping with growth - MAD commission 11 young architects to design Huaxi city centre. In 2008, MAD organized and invited 11 young international architects to carry out an urban experiment: to design the Huaxi city centre of Guiyang, in South Western China during a three day workshop. The architects invited by MAD were: Atelier Manferdini (USA), BIG (Denmark), Dieguez Fridman (Argentina), EMERGENT/Tom Wiscombe (USA), HouLiang Architecture (China), JDS (Denmark/Belgium) , MAD (China), Mass Studies (Korea), Rojkind Arquitectos (Mexico), Serie (UK/India), Sou Fujimoto Architects (Japan). The masterplan was developed by Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning and Design Institute, Studio 6, together with MAD.

In the past 15 years, around 10 billion sqm of built space has been created in the urban areas of China. In 20 years time, another 200 to 400 new cities will be built. Until now, the results of this overwhelming urbanization have been defined by high-density, high-speed and low-quality duplication: the urban space is meaningless, crowded and soulless.

MAD asked the questions: Are we going to continue copying the skyline of Western cities created over a hundred years of industrial civilisation? ; Will Manhattan and Chicago continue to be our model city, even after 15 years of urban construction in China?; Is there an alternative future for our cities that lies in the current social condition, where new technologies leave the machine age behind, and where the city increasingly invades the natural space? - Based on an Eastern understanding of nature, this joint urban experiment aimed to explore whether we can use new technologies and global ideas to reconnect the natural and man-made world.

Each architect provided a unique design for a single part of the masterplan, based on their own understanding and interpretation of the local natural and cultural elements. The result is a series of organic individual buildings, growing from the natural environment, and working together to produce a compound of diverse urban activities.

A MAD spokesman says: "China has become the global laboratory for urbanization, where the logical endpoint of current architectural trends can be seen, and the effects of leaving private developers to create cities can be most keenly felt.

This urban experiment is not intended as an idealized urban reality, but as an attempt to push these trends to their purest forms, with all of the benefits and problems that this brings. MAD is aware of, and actively encouraging, the failings and successes of this project."

worldarchitecturenews

A modern day Noah's Ark...

2009-02-26T19:53:00.002+08:00

Wetland solution realised in mixed-use design.
The municipality of Almere has awarded the development of a hypermarket with houses in the district West Noorderplassen to Vomar (supermarkets) . The municipality had written out a tender for the design of this project, which was won by KOW.

The Vomar hypermarket of approximately 1,500 sq m and several other shops will be built on top of a parking garage. Above the hypermarket 45 apartments will be realised around a green patio. Noorderplassen West is a typical Dutch wetland and for this reason the hypermarket can also be reached by boat.

Under the name Urban Valley, a unique urban area in the Flevopolder has been created. This Urban Valley shows that antagonisms in one design can become forged together to unexpected gain, where the so called Almere Principles are effectively realised: intimate living with a grand view. By lifting the hypermarket, the shops are opened up and the water side is easily accessible for everyone.

The Urban Valley, the new shopping and living area of Noorderplassen West, lies in the middle of beautiful nature landscapes. Living in Urban Valley offers the best of two worlds: peaceful nature within the direct immediacy of urban freedoms.

Construction is expected to start in 2010.

source: WorldArchitectureNews

Not your Standard fare

2009-02-26T19:31:00.003+08:00

André Balazs’s Standard hotel opens in NYC. Does New York City need another luxury hotel? It would appear so to Andre Balazs, the boutique hotelier, who brought his Standard brand to the city this year. The erection of the eye-popping glass slab structure occurs in the trendy Meatpacking district and rises from stilts 18 stories above the High Line, a disused elevated rail line that is today one of the city’s hippest parks. Designed by Todd Schliemann of the New York-based Polshek Partnership, the hotel opened in January. It houses 317 guest rooms, several restaurants and bars, and a gym.

The building is decidedly modern, if not instantly iconic, with a mix of styles peppering its interior. Its slab on stilts design recalls the pioneering works of le Corbusier and other notable international style buildings, like the locally based Lever House and United Nations. The interiors,designed by Hollywood set designer Shawn Hausmann and New York based Roman and Williams, "get more modern the higher you go up”, said Balazs in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine.
The hotel lobby, which sits under the High Line, is early 20th century design, while the guest rooms in the tower above are designed with mid-century works in mind. On the top floor is a double height glass enclosed space that houses a supper club and lounge. Its design pays homage to Warren Platner, a protégé of Saarinen’s, who designed the Windows of the World restaurant in the World Trade Center.

If your shopping for a hotel in the city, aside from its fetching design and proximity to all the Meatpacking District has to offer, the best reason to bed down at The Standard is the stunning, unobsturcted views it offers of the city’s most cherished sites: the Empire State Building, the Hudson River, and in the distance, the Statue of Liberty.

10 Architect’s Chair aution at Wright

2009-02-25T23:39:00.003+08:00

The auction of contemporary chairs designed by 10 world famous architects are held in Wright. The limited edition works were created in the colorful hues and varied finishes of Formica projects, achieving bold designs with innovative material and expressive form.

FORM: Contemporary Architects at Play was a collaborative exhibition and project initiated by the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati and realized with materials and fabrication costs donated by the Formica Corporation. The project represents a coming together of patronage, industry and artistry in truly cutting-edge designs.

Zaha Hadid
Cirrus seat + Estimate: $250,000–300,000

Thom Mayne
Untitled desk + Estimate: $70,000–90,000

Peter Eisenman
Chair #1 + Estimate:$18, 000–22,000

Buzz Yudell
Sunergy chair + Estimate: $30,000–40,000

Massimo Vignelli
CuboSeat chairs, set of three + Estimate: $30,000–40,000

Jaime Velez with Jennifer Kolstad
Dancing Line chaise + Estimate: $18,000–22,000
This design won first place in the furnishings category of the Chicago Chapter ASID Design Excellence Awards for 2008 and a silver medal in the Spark Design & Architecture 2008 awards.

Bernard Tschumi
Typogram bench + Estimate: $35,000–40,000

Laurinda Spear
Trelleaf bench + Estimate: $35,000–40,000

Bill Pedersen
TransFormica seat + Estimate: $35,000–40,000

Michael Graves
J Chair + Estimate: $18,000–22,000

Antwerp Port House | Zaha Hadid architects

2009-02-25T23:20:00.003+08:00

Zaha Hadid architects has won a competition for the port house - headquarters of Antwerp Port Authorit (APA), Antwerp, Belgium. The new port house design consists of two entities: the existing fire station and a new crystalline volume lifted above the retained building. Together they form a new landmark as the headquarters of the Antwerp port authority, overlooking the city and port.

The building will house approximately 500 staff; the refurbished, existing building will house public counters, offices and meeting rooms, while the five-storey extension will comprise an auditorium and restaurant, as well as additional offices and meeting rooms.

+ architect’s statement, Zaha Hadid architects
I am absolutely delighted to be selected to build the headquarters for the APA. Antwerp is one of the world’s busiest shipping ports and the new port house design reflects the city’s worldwide significance in communication and transportation. The dichotomy between the reflective, faceted form of the new extension and the powerful structural mass of the existing fire station creates a bold and enigmatic statement for the city.

the concept is a free interpretation of a beam-shaped volume raised above the existing fire brigade building and supported on three sculptured concrete pillars housing the stairs and lifts. two of the pillars are situated on the covered inner courtyard of the firehouse, while the third is located beside an external support point and consists of a panoramic lift shaft.

+ press release, Antwerp
The design team from Zaha Hadid Architects proposed a very dynamic architecture that strikes up a dialogue with the Oosterweel road link, with the Lange Wapper bridge forming a backdrop to the New Port House. With its unique design, its facade architecture and its height of 46 metres, the new Port Authority will be an iconic building, visible from many different directions.

The concept is a free interpretation of a beam-shaped volume raised above the existing fire brigade building and supported on three sculptured concrete pillars housing the stairs and lifts. Two of the pillars are situated on the covered inner courtyard of the firehouse, while the third is located beside an external support point and consists of a panoramic lift shaft.

The new volume is oriented North-South parallel to the Kattendijk dock. The head of the building on the South side is a frame that looks towards the city and clearly marks the start of the port area.

The outside walls are made up of glass triangles, some transparent and some reflecting. These do not all lie in the same plane but are rotated slightly with respect to one another, creating an attractive reflecting play of incoming light in a reference to Antwerp’s diamond industry.
The present firehouse will be kept free of building all around, so that the four outside walls will be fully respected. As for the arrangement of the inside spaces, consultations will be held with Flanders Real Estate Heritage and the Monuments department of the City of Antwerp to determine whether open-plan offices (as laid down in the schedule of requirements) are possible, either partly of throughout.

The inner courtyard will be roofed over at the height of the second story so as to create an air-conditioned inside space. This central entrance hall will be considered as a semi-public space, with various enquiry desks (Personnel department, Harbormaster’s Office, Planning Permission; Environment Permit office and Port Dues payment desk) integrated in the inside wall portals.

A sculptural, sloping roof unites an underground lobby with the covered inner court. Access to the underground car park is an important aspect of the overall concept, with the loading & unloading bays and the refuse handling facilities also located here. The car park has space for 300 or so cars and consists of a single underground level. The design of the square can be arranged so that daylight is allowed to enter. The above-ground layout forms part of a design project that is being carried out in consultation with the city departments responsible, with the main imperative being to ‘preserve the visual quality of the outside spaces in the Het Eilandje area.’

The open plan offices are indeed very open, so that office staff will have a great impression of space with a view along the various outside walls. The concept for the open plan office also allows for small areas in which to hold meetings, along with separate study offices.

+ competition
Invited competition, organised by the Flemish Government Architect.
1st Prize: Zaha Hadid Architects
Other Competitors:
Xaveer De Geyter Architects bvba
Rapp+Rapp bv
Vier Arquitectos sl
A2O architecten

Menara Mesiniaga

2009-02-25T22:20:00.003+08:00

Menara Mesiniaga is the IBM headquarters in Subang Jaya near Kuala Lumpur. It is a high-tech, 15-storey corporate showcase on a convenient and visually prominent corner site. The singular appearance of this moderately tall tower is the result of architect Kenneth Yeang's ten-year research into bio-climatic principles for the design of medium-to-tall buildings.

Its tri-partite structure consists of a raised "green" base, ten circular floors of office space with terraced garden balconies and external louvers for shade, and is crowned by a spectacular sun-roof, arching across the top-floor pool. The distinctive columns that project above the pool floor will eventually support the installation of solar panels, further reducing the energy consumption of a building cooled by natural ventilation, sun screens, and air conditioning. Yeang's ecologically and environmentally sound design strategies reduce long-term maintenance costs by lowering energy use. Importantly, designing with the climate in mind brings an aesthetic dimension to his work that is not to be found in typical glass-enclosed air-conditioned medium-to-high rise buildings. The tower has become a landmark, and increased the value of the land around it. The jury found it to be a successful and promising approach to the design of many-storied structures in a tropical climate.

Recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, 1995.
(source)

Oculus is a very unusual and unique yacht

2009-02-24T18:55:00.000+08:00

Yachts are amazing, they are certainly something to own if you have the right bank balance and that goes without saying. If you love collecting yachts or simply looking at them, just check out the "Oculus". It's far more different than anything we've ever seen floating before. The only way to describe this rather unusual boat is that it 'is representative of the jaw and eye socket bone structure of large oceanic fish and mammals.'

So, you know that if you are traveling in a fish, you are safe. It kind of reminds me of Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea. In case you want to know the details, designer E. Kevin Schopfer says: 'Oculus is the first "design launch" of Schöpfer Yachts LLC. E. Kevin Schöpfer, founder and owner of his namesake company, designed this 250-foot vessel. Designed to accommodate 12 guests in extraordinary comfort and style, Oculus is a long distance cruising yacht capable of speeds upwards of 25 knots. The exterior styling is representative of the jaw and eye socket bone structure of large oceanic fish and mammals. Featuring a dramatic reverse bow configuration, the yacht's armature balances an elegant expression of symmetry and structure.

In addition to the bow, Oculus also features a "low rider profile". This slightly lowered surface allows for new side recreational areas, alternate dockage access and light cruising openness. Lateral retractable side panels close this area when heavier wave action is indicated. The interior features of Oculus focus on a 12 foot high ceiling in the main salon, a cylindrical double height dining room, central stair and elevator tube, and seemingly anatomical ceiling and floor lighting extensions giving definition to the seating areas. The second level is the dedicated Owner's suite.' The Oculus certainly is one unique yacht.

Tank Street Bridge or Kurilpa Bridge / Baulderstone Hornibrook Queensland & Cox Rayner Architects

2009-02-23T21:29:00.002+08:00

Tank Street Bridge is getting a lot of attention as the first large scale tensegrity bridge. The bridge is currently under construction in Brisbane’s inner city. Brisbane is one of today’s fastest growing urban centers in Australia and the bridge is part of the City Centre Master Plan 2006 anticipating an increasing demand for pedestrian areas. It will link the city center to South Brisbane: from Tank Street to Kurilpa Park traversing Brisbane’s navigable river. The construction of the Tank Street Bridge is expected to be completed by September 2009 so that it can be part of Queensland’s 150th year anniversary celebrations.

Architects: Baulderstone Hornibrook Queensland & Cox Rayner Architects

Tensegrity structures belong to a special category of cable structures. They are defined as systems composed of compression components (struts) inside of a continuum of tension components (cables) in a stable self-stressed state (equilibrium) . They are lightweight structures offering higher resistance than other systems of the same weight. Another advantage is their modularity; stable modules can be joined together creating larger tensegrity systems.

From an engineering point of view, the construction of the Tank Street Bridge is a civil engineering achievement. Tensegrity structures are highly complex systems with non-linear behavior. Therefore, the analysis of these structures demands complex computational methods. Additionally, previous tensegrity constructions such as the Rostock tower (Germany) revealed a necessity for high precision. It is also important to mention that there are no widely accepted guidelines for the construction of this kind of structures.

The resulting tensegrity bridge is a network of cables held apart by numerous struts recalling the ropes and spars of sailing ships and boats. Seen from the rivers, struts seem to float over the bridge. They remind sculptures made by the American artist Kenneth Snelson (see “Easy Landing”). Additionally, due to its tensegrity system the bridge offers high transparency with great views over the river to pedestrians. During the night, the bridge will be full of colors. LED lights are chosen to highlight the masts with pastel colors creating a levitating illusion for pedestrians. Different colors will be applied based on the chosen theme creating a contemporary sensation.
Source: ArchDaily

RTKL competition brings best design for Maryland Institute College of Art halls

2009-02-23T21:09:00.003+08:00

In a heavily trafficked location bordering one of Baltimore’s main highways, MICA sought a new 200-bed gateway student residence hall that would serve as an exciting visual gateway to the school and highlight the Northern edge of campus. Conceived as the result of an RTKL interoffice design contest in which two young architects from 7 design offices competed, the 99,000-sq ft structure uses an unconventional format to address the challenges posed by the space limitations of the small site.

Despite each office being commended for their work the eventual winner was the London team. A distinctive circular structure sectioned into three pods of residential units surrounds a private central courtyard, accommodating small-site constraints by breaking down scale. The drum features a modern exterior of streamlined glass panels varying in color, transparency, and reflectivity. A 10-floor fritted glass studio tower serves as an anchor, partially shielding noise from the highway while functioning as a billboard-style showcase for the artistic work occurring in its 88 studios. A ground floor wall wraps around the base of the building and defines the structure’s edge along the street. First story amenities further the link to the local community, fusing public and private space in a café,

The Huaxi City Experiment

2009-02-23T18:08:00.002+08:00

In 2008, MAD organized and invited 11 young international architects to carry out an urban experiment: to design the Huaxi city centre of Guiyang, in South Western China. The architects invited by MAD included: Atelier Manferdini (USA), BIG (DENMARK), Dieguez Fridman (ARGENTINA), EMERGENT/Tom Wiscombe (USA), HouLiang Architecture (CHINA), JDS (DENMARK/BELGIUM), MAD (CHINA), Mass Studies (KOREA), Rojkind Arquitectos (MEXICO), Serie (UK/INDIA), Sou Fujimoto Architects (JAPAN). The masterplan was developed by Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning and Design Institute, Studio 6, together with MAD.

In the past 15 years, around 10 billion sqm of built space has been created in the urban areas of China. In 20 years time, another 200 to 400 new cities will be built. Until now, the results of this overwhelming urbanization have been defined by high-density, high-speed and low-quality duplication: the urban space is meaningless, crowded and soulless. Are we going to continue copying the skyline of Western cities created over a hundred years of industrial civilisation? Will Manhattan and Chicago continue to be our model city, even after 15 years of urban construction in China?

Is there an alternative future for our cities that lies in the current social condition, where new technologies leave the machine age behind, and where the city increasingly invades the natural space? Based on an Eastern understanding of nature, this joint urban experiment aims to explore whether we can use new technologies and global ideas to reconnect the natural and man-made world.

The site of Huaxi is famous for its dramatic and beautiful landscape, as well as a diverse mix of minority cultural inhabitants during its history. Its future is defined by the local government’s urban planning as a new urban centre for finance, cultural activities and tourism. MAD brought the young architects together here in the summer of 2008, for a 3-day workshop to create an experimental urban vision for Huaxi.

Each architect provided a unique design for a single part of the masterplan, based on their own understanding and interpretation of the local natural and cultural elements. The result is a series of organic individual buildings, growing from the natural environment, and working together to produce a compound of diverse urban activities.

In this high density urban environment, the limits of urbanization are controlled and set by nature; the buildings take on the dynamic topography of the site, touching the landscape in a more interactive way. Generic verticality is replaced by a complex taxonomy of urban activities, defined by a multiplicity of connections, detours and short cuts. The natural and the artificial are fused together, revealing an image of a future architecture.

The ecological method here is not just focused on saving energy; rather, the goal is to create a new, balanced urban atmosphere which can evoke the feeling of exploring the natural environment. The city is no longer determined by the leftover logic of the industrial revolution (speed, profit, efficiency) but instead follows the ‘fragile rules’ of nature. This collaborative experiment thus provides an alternative, responsive model for the development of the urban centre: a man-made symbiosis, in harmony with nature, in which people are free to develop their own independent urban experience.

China has become the global laboratory for urbanization, where the logical endpoint of current architectural trends can be seen, and the effects of leaving private developers to create cities can be most keenly felt. This urban experiment is not intended as an idealized urban reality, but as an attempt to push these trends to their purest forms, with all of the benefits and problems that this brings. MAD is aware of, and actively encouraging, the failings and successes of this project.
(Source: Archinect))

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics / Saucier + Perrotte architectes

2009-02-23T14:49:00.004+08:00

Riding the controversial line between public and private space, this research institute attempts to subvert the usual hard thresholds established by private enterprise in the public realm. The site is on the shore of Silver Lake, at the northern edge of Waterloo’s downtown core and the southern edge of the city’s central park. Adjacent to the primary pedestrian access between the university campus and the city center, the site is an urban wilderness between clearly defined worlds.

Architects: Saucier + Perrotte architectes
The design takes inspiration from the wide-ranging, hard to define concepts that make up the subject matter of theoretical physics, at once micro- and macro-cosmic, rich in information and of indeterminate form and substance. Between city and park, the Perimeter Institute expands and inhabits the improbable space of the line separating the two. The building defines the secure zones of the Institute’s facilities within a series of parallel glass walls, embedded in an erupting ground plane that reveals a large reflecting pool. The north façade, facing the park across this pool, reveals the Institute as an organism, a microcosm of discrete elements. The south façade, facing the city across train tracks and the city’s main arterial road, presents the Institute as a unified but transforming entity, of enigmatic scale and content. Entry to the Institute is possible from both the north, along the reflecting pool, and the south, under the new ground plane.

The interior of the Institute is organized around two central spaces, the main hall on the ground floor and the garden on the first. Spaces for administration, meeting and seminar rooms, leisure and fitness spaces, and a multipurpose theatre for symposia and public presentations, have direct access to the main hall. The circulation corridors running east-west are positioned between the opalescent glass planes, which are occasionally punctured and shifted to reveal views across the interior space of the hall. Vertical circulation climbs these walls, tendrils of ground that run from the garden through the building. The garden - nature emerging from the vacuum - is crossed by three bridges that puncture all the planes, as well as the north and south façades. The bridges provide quick access to information, facilities and research colleagues. These conduits, which formally bind together the Institute, are routes crossing the improbable space between theoretical physics and everyday life.

More pictures and plans at ArchDaily

The Commons / debartolo architects

2009-02-23T14:31:00.003+08:00

The leadership of a large local church in Arizona challenged DeBartolo Architects to design a building that would be strategically located in the new core of the campus and serve as the social center for all activities. As the first building of a new masterplan, the commons has transformed the campus, by becoming an inside-out building that literally opens on all sides.
This unique structure was birthed as a “pavilion” based on the challenge to enter the building effortlessly, where users are literally within the building without the customary sense of “entrance”. The interior spaces totaling 8,000 sf are composed of a bookstore, coffee shop, fellowship space and support spaces. The exterior shaded space is over 10,000 sf and can accommodate another 150 people at tables.

Oriented at the 45° angle of the other campus buildings, the 60′ long northwest wall of glass vertical-lift doors open to the future worship center and plaza, where there will be a closely related sense of entry between the commons and worship center entrance. This plaza will be filled with large native desert trees and will provide a shaded connection between the two new structures.

Once within the conditioned space of the commons there are three major spaces. The fellowship space with its ground concrete floors and a perforated wood (acoustical) ceiling is the major social space on campus where temperate climate will alter the use of the space permitting it to be opened or closed. This space can accommodate up to 200 people, but with the unique geometry and transparency, achieves intimacy with even small groups. The space provides 18 wood-top tables with 72 chairs; in addition six bar-height tables along the side near the coffee counter with another 18 chairs. Computer stations are docked against the southeast wall near the bookstore.

The second area is the café with its 40′ long ‘counter’ that is distinctively designed to accommodate the surge of traffic that will be served before and after services, permitting the staff to spread out the users and serve multiple people efficiently. The innovative use of inexpensive custom printed signage will be employed to inform people of items for sale or specials, and are easily change permitting the character of the café to be altered meeting the changing needs.

The third element is the bookstore, a more intimate space dedicated to Christian education and books. This space currently accommodates approximately 5,000 books and has the potential for more than 10,000. The entries open into a common space where tables will display the most commonly requested items and soft goods, with a 4-station counter for support and purchasing. Behind the counter, the flooring changes to carpet, the ceiling drops to quiet the space and there are chairs for reading and tables for more display. The unique bookshelves are more like ‘book boxes’ - integrated with window boxes - where titles are organized within the composition of movement, light and texture.

The remaining element is the service core, made up of indoor-outdoor accessible restrooms, storage, and the new campus central server room; all elements critical to the growing campus.

floor plan
section
Photographs: Bill Timmerman
SOURCE

Entries for the Young Architects Program at P.S.1 20

2009-02-22T12:07:00.003+08:00

Since year 2000, the MoMA and the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center present the Young Architects Program, an annual competition that invites emerging architects to design a temporary structure at the P.S.1 ’s facility in Long Island City, Queens. This has been a field for experimentation for digital manufacturing, new materials and new construction techniques -all under a tight budget-, as we saw in 2008 with the P.F.1 installation by WORKac.

A few days ago we featured this years winning proposal by MOS, a lightweight aluminum frame using recyclable parts, and saw how the economical crisis is present on the project´s conception.

But also, the other proposals by BSC Architecture, !ndie architecture, L.E.FT architects and PARA-project explore this and other social/cultural concepts on their proposals, so we decided to contact them and feature this projects so you can get the whole picture.

I´d like to thank Michel (MOS), Martin (BSC Architecture) , Paul (!ndie architecture) , Ziad (L..E.FT architects), Jon (PARA-project) , April (P.S.1) and Meg (MoMA) for helping us out on this article.

And now, onto the proposals:
Bade Stageberg Cox, BSC Architecture: P.S.i Summer Blow Up

For more than a decade, the annual MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Program has challenged emerging architecture firms to temporarily remake the P.S. 1 courtyard within strict limits of time and budget, serving as a kind of stress-test of the state of contemporary architectural practice.

The issues of our time call for a renewed excitement about the joys of lightness, precision and efficiency. PSi: Summer Blow Up transforms the environment of the existing courtyard using an absolute economy of physical material: less material deployed means less mass transported to the site; less material discarded at the end of the summer, and a minimum of resources consumed in the processes of manufacturing, fabrication and removal.

Beginning with the ideal of a cloud, the lightest and most economical source of summer shade, PSi uses air as a structural medium to inflate and suspend diaphanous volumes of ultra-lightweight fabric over the concrete and gravel courtyard. The geometric form of the torus, a perfectly efficient pneumatic shape, provides the basic unit that is repeated, interlinked and modulated to form a hovering cloud.

As with a true cloud, microclimates of shade and sun; humidity and dryness are created. Patterns of overlapping shadows animate the hard surfaces of the courtyard, providing respite from the sun on a hot day while apertures in the centers of the translucent toruses, like gaps in passing clouds, frame views of the sky above. Widely varying in size and height, the toruses are subtly deformed by internal pressure in response to the various activities of the shady space below: reclining, splashing, sunbathing, chatting. Concealed strips of clear material sewn into the fabric activate the glowing volumes of the inflatable with slowly moving arcs of sunlight. As the afternoon stretches into evening, and the sun lowers over the city, the cloud glows, bathing partygoers in a soft light

The torus clouds touch down with seven inflated legs which modulate and subdivide the space and experience of the courtyard. As one walks through, views alternately open and close; the space is impossible to fully understand from any single position.

PSi will be prefabricated offsite and installed in a matter of hours. In its entirety, the material and equipment necessary for the installation will weigh less than one ton and amount to a single load on a pickup truck. For the duration of the installation the small amount of energy necessary to power the fans will be offset by electricity generated by air, in the form of wind, at a site in upstate New York. Finally, in a departure from past installations, the project is designed to be easily redeployable, and will have a life beyond the approaching summer.
PROJECT TEAM:
Timothy Bade, Jane Stageberg, Martin Cox, Andrew Skey, Caiomhin Conway, Eleni Petaloti, Leonidas Trampoukis, Laura Messier, Erin Bartling
CONSULTANTS
Inflatable Engineering: Nick Crosbie & Ron Howell, Inflate
Lighting Design: Richard Renfro, Renfro Design Group, Inc.
Sustainability Consultant: Christopher Diamond, Steven Winter Associates, Inc.
Water Feature: Dan Euser, Dan Euser Water Architecture Inc.

All images © Bade Stageberg Cox, BSC Architecture

!ndie architecture: Lawn Life

We proposed a synthetic turf lawn that’s customized in four ways: airbrushed, bermed to create sun pads and pools (the turf runs continuously through them), turned vertical at the perimeter and linings of a number of wood framed pavilions, and used to create pockets of different temperatures by adjusting color and the type of plastic that the turf is made of. We thought that it might be interesting to go with a ground based scheme rather than the typical canopy. It brings a suburban flavor to the courtyard, both materially (customized turf, wood framed structures, etc.) and organizationally (based on a suburban method for subdividing land in a neighborhood) .

Suburban icon, social nexus, personalized landscape, civic ornament, and symbol of summer, the lawn is a versatile and varied component of our cities. It links otherwise disjunctive cultural and material domains – public and private, natural and artificial, banal and aristocratic – while remaining virtually unchanged in appearance and appeal. From the South Lawn at the White House to The Lawn at UVA, the Great Lawn of Central Park to the front lawns of Llewellyn Park, that patch of bright green grass is flexible and ambiguous, the stuff of utopian suburban fantasies and intense collective use.

The lawn’s multifaceted identity has the potential to incorporate several key PS1 legacies. Taking stock of the YAP’s first decade, the courtyard has become a preeminent example of progressive construction, and more recently, of experimental futures for the city. The program’s identity has never been so open. Will the next few years mark a return to the fabrication- oriented work that made the competition famous; or will the emphasis on urban speculation become a new trajectory?

We merge both models by rolling outv a lawn that is materially customized and urbanistically inventive. While the traditional lawn is green, flat, and located at the exterior, our synthetic turf version is airbrushed, run vertically, submerged in wading pools, used as upholstery, and used to control the distribution of heat across the courtyard. It also houses a number of small wood framed pavilions that, along with the pools, provide an elaborate lattice of diverse social scenarios, circulation patterns, and sensory experiences within a coherent and leisurely summer landscape. Somewhere between a yard and a park in both size and function, it creates pockets of connection and solitude, channeling the socialite and the escapist alike.

All images © !ndie Architecture

L.E.FT architects - Anatomy of Pleasure

‘Pleasure as function’ is the master plan for our PS1 entry. From an extended bar, vertically expanded and linked to the institution’s bathroom along a simulated Blood Alcohol Content line with breathalyzers (Overhang Space), to a communal bed in an abstracted Zen garden (Hangover Space), to a collective oversized ashtray with cigarettes’ smoke and fog (Smoke Den), the Warm Up event becomes integrated with the installation which layers it into a spatial anatomy of the museum’s courtyards.

The project addresses the hyper-regulation of public space through behavioral restrictions imposed by the City over the years: the public drinking ban, the public smoking ban, and the pornographic cleansing of Times Square, turning New York into a Nanny State.

In response, it embraces and celebrates the uninhibited, and creates the platform for fun socialization in an economic time when it is needed the most.

New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion by UNStudio

2009-02-22T11:59:00.002+08:00

Amsterdam architect Ben van Berkel of UNStudio has designed a pavilion for The Battery park in New York City, USA.

The pavilion will provide seating and shade and can be used for organised public events.

At night, an electronic LED system will display a continuously- changing light show.

Below is the press release from UNStudio:
About the Plein & Pavilion
UNStudio’s initial conceptual design for New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion calls for a 5,000 square-foot, carefully programmed space located within The Battery’s Peter Minuit Plaza, named for the enterprising Dutch Director-General who in 1626 consolidated the early settlements at the tip of Manhattan – a grouping that came to be known as New Amsterdam. This destination is, in the words of architect Ben van Berkel, “the ideal site for a permanent commemoration of 400 years of Dutch history in New York, because it is steeped in a sense of a shared past and looks directly toward the harbour where Henry Hudson sailed, but is also entirely focused on the future by virtue of its role as a modern transportation hub within the constantly changing scene of Lower Manhattan. This is a site where history meets the future.”

To express the interplay of history and future, the landscape architects of New York City Department of Parks & Recreation Manhattan Capital Projects have conceived a stone-paved civic platform – plein, in Dutch – with walkways featuring engraved quotations from Russell Shorto’s acclaimed book ‘The Island at the Center of the World’. A carved stone map of Castello’s New Amsterdam will grace the entrance to the Plein to provide historical context.

Within the open space of the Plein, visitors will find UNStudio-designed seating and tables. These will surround a highly sculptural pavilion with an expressive, undulating roofline and curving walls – a compact little building with the authority of a major landmark, evoking a flower opening to its surroundings. The pavilion will be equipped with an electronic facade LED system that allows for a constantly changing light show at night, “an experience that will carry the animation and drama of the day into the evening,” according to van Berkel.

Van Berkel’s pavilion will offer, according to Warrie Price of The Battery Conservancy, “a superb culinary experience, great visitor orientation information and materials, and an iconic, recognizable spot for residents and visitors to rendezvous.”
New Amsterdam Plein will also feature berms and perennial garden planting beds, designed by New York City Parks & Recreation using the color palette of Piet Oudolf, who created The Battery Bosque Gardens and the Battery’s Gardens of Remembrance.
Celebrated Dutch Architect Ben van Berkel to Design New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion in New York City - Dramatic Public Hub at The Battery to Greet Millions and Pay Tribute to the Enduring Relationship Between the Netherlands and New York.
At a press conference with Dutch officials held to announce plans for the joint Dutch-American 2009 celebration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s arrival in New York Harbour, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg confirmed that Peter Minuit Plaza at The Battery will become the site of a major new public destination: New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion will be a dramatic space where more than 5 million people a year, including 70,000 daily commuters and 2 million annual tourists, can find an extraordinary “outdoor living room” for spontaneous and scheduled activities, public markets, seating and shade, and an iconic state-of-the- art pavilion for food and information, all designed by internationally celebrated Dutch architect Ben van Berkel of UNStudio, Amsterdam. The Plein & Pavilion will be unique among the city’s many public spaces – a landscaped intermodal transportation hub of the 21st century, where bicycles, buses, the subway and water transportation intersect with cultural offerings in a singular expression of daring but lyrical design.
New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion is made possible by a major grant from the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to The Battery Conservancy, as part of the NY400 celebration and in honour of the enduring relationship between New York and Holland. Handel Architects LLP, New York, will serve as associate architect, working in collaboration with UNStudio.
It is our hope that New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion will become a permanent Dutch legacy in New York City and a nod to the future as well as our shared history,” commented Gajus Schltema, Consul General of the Netherlands in New York. “It marks the celebration of 400 years of friendship between our nation and this great American metropolis, with which we share a passion for the values of innovation and creativity, diversity and openness, entrepreneurship and progress.”
“This 400th anniversary is an opportunity for us to join with our partners in the Netherlands to celebrate our city’s heritage,” said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “New Amsterdam Plein and Pavilion at The Battery will enliven our celebration and focus attention on the place where the Dutch settled. I would like to thank the Kingdom of the Netherlands, The Battery Conservancy, Handel Architects and designer Ben Van Berkel and UNStudio for bringing this dynamic cultural attraction to Lower Manhattan.”
Warrie Price, President of The Battery Conservancy, said, “The Netherlands is a country that continues to regenerate itself through the professional strength of its innovative and talented designers, and through the force and beauty of the natural world. The Battery, the birthplace of New York City, began its revitalization with the work of famed Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf, who created with us the largest perennial gardens in North America, free and open to the public. With New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion, we are delighted to continue our mission of design excellence, and honoured to bring to New Yorkers and guests from around the world the joy of nature, the pleasure in community and the value of great modern architecture.”
About the Architect
Founded in 1988 by Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos, UNStudio is an internationally admired, global architecture, design and urban planning firm based in Amsterdam, comprised of a forward-thinking network of architects, planners, development experts, industrial designers, engineers, art historians, philosophers, writers and researchers. According to a critic of The New York Times, UNStudio “has so far come closest to fulfilling the dream of a truly elastic world, one in which the boundaries between work and play, private and public life have all but melted away.”
UNStudio’s unique, collaborative, interdisciplinary approach has yielded acclaimed museums and cultural centres, private houses, residential complexes and commercial buildings across Europe and Asia, as well as master plans for urban redevelopments in Spain, the Netherlands and Italy. The firm’s diversity is evident not only in such landmark buildings as The Möbius House outside Amsterdam (1998), the Mercedes- Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany (2006), and the Theater Agora in Lelystad, Netherlands (2007), but in such disparate projects as sculptural bridges in Rotterdam and Dresden; the revitalization of the harbor front in Genoa; an 18-story flagship in Tokyo for Louis Vuitton; a spa hotel in the Swiss Alps; and revolutionary sculptural kitchen fixtures and appliances for B&B Italia and Alessi.
The work of UNStudio has been prominently featured in exhibitions around the world, including the landmark “Un-Private House” survey at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and in publications in dozens of languages.
About The Battery and The Battery Conservancy
The Battery is a 25-acre waterfront park and the cradle of New York City history. Located at the tip of Manhattan overlooking New York Harbour, The Battery hosted Dutch settlers when they arrived at Manhattan Island in 1626 and established New Amsterdam. Today with the leadership of The Battery Conservancy, a non-profit organization established in 1994 to partner with government to design and rebuild these historic acres, the park is the largest and most dynamic public place in Lower Manhattan. It is the front lawn of Downtown and a hub of harbour access and cultural tourism. Over five million people, including residents, office workers, school groups, and tourists from around the world, visit the park and its major landmark, Castle Clinton National Monument, every year.
The Battery Conservancy, with its partners at the city, state and federal levels, has raised over $101M to revitalize the park. Expansive lawns, overarching shade trees, vast perennial gardens, waterfront promenades with sweeping views and cultural programs will soon be complemented by The Battery Bikeway connecting the East and West Sides of Manhattan; the much-anticipated SeaGlass ride; and a remarkable new Battery Playspace, designed by Frank Gehry.
Many cultural institutions are within walking distance of The Battery. Attractions include the South Street Seaport, the New York Stock Exchange, the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the Staten Island Ferry, and the soon–to–be–restored Pier A. They all radiate from the Battery, which has historically been called the “emerald doorstep of the metropolis”.
The Battery will become a hub of waterborne transportation for New York Harbour. Castle Clinton presently serves as a busy ticketing centre for three million passengers who annually board ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Connections between New York State Heritage Area sites, the National Parks of New York Harbour, and New Jersey’s Liberty State Park, are also in the planning stages.
source: Dezeen

New Blogspot Address

2009-01-29T12:43:00.001+08:00

I am transferring to a new blogspot address combining all my other blogspots http://pupclass.blogspot.com,
http://modern-arki.blogspot.com, and
http://greenarki.blogspot.com.

My new blogspot would be
http://architectureoverload.blogspot.com.

Sorry for the inconvenience and hoping you visit my new site.

Basque Health Department Headquarters by Coll-Barreu Arquitectos

2009-01-27T20:28:00.003+08:00

photo © Aleix Bagué
Basque Health Department Headquarters El Departamento de Sanidad y Osakidetza, the new unified headquarters of the Basque Health Department created by the young and prolific firm Coll-Barreu Arquitectos are located in the Ensanche, New Town (Spain), at the junction of 2 important arteries: Licenciado Poza and Alameda Rekalde, two important streets of the Ensanche, designed in 1862

The restrictive city rules compel to repeat the shape of the neighbouring walls, reducing penthouses according to a curved directive, chamfering the corner and building a tower on it. The building concentrates services and communications in a vertical spine attached to the longest party hedge and generates seven open floors assigned for offices. Above this, there are two floors for local representative and institutional use. The board hall takes up the double height of the tower. The assembly hall, its lobby and its appendages are situated in the first basement. Further below there are two parking floors and one fourth level for archives. The car lifts allow access to all the basement levels.

Aleix Bagué
The double façade solves not only urban requirements but also those concerning energetic, fire-resistant and acoustic insulation from outside. This climatic improvement enables the elimination of the conventional air-conditioning installation as well as the false ceiling.
Thus, the sound produced by the building is reduced, air recirculation in workplaces disappears, with a significant increase of health conditions. The volume occupied per floor is also reduced. The façade responds to the investigation launched by COLL-BARREU ARCHITECTOS in their latest projects, which considers the wrapper as a system. The construction techniques, the operation of the building, the energy exchange, the city and also the very fact, the desire to be ...take part in the system definition, but never the elevation or the composition. The system must provide a valid response to the different situations generated in the façade. Instead of merely set the building on the one hand and shaping the urban space on the other, the façade system should become a social vehicle.

The folded façade generates multiple visual from inside to the streets bellow, and also from the highest floors to the landscape that surrounds the city, a highly effective mechanism for the incorporation of urban vitalism inside the building. The workspace benefits of the permeable, passable and liveable volume of the façade, that enables the building breathing and the space exchange between inside and outside. The system facade of the building is similar to the experience of sitting at the door of a house, above the threshold, with an eye toward the road and the back into the home.
photo © Aleix Bagué

photo © Aleix Bagué

Louvre Abu Dhabi exhibition architect announced

2009-01-27T20:20:00.002+08:00

Nouvel design to combine with the exhibition architecture of Nathalie Crinière Agence France-Museums, in partnership with Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), have announced the firm of Nathalie Crinière as exhibition designers for for the Louvre Abu Dhabi, one of the five major institutions being planned for Abu Dhabi Saadiyat Island Cultural District. Nathalie Crinière was awarded the project through a competition among an all French line-up of six invited design firms and will now combine their design with the existing architecture design by Pritzker Prize winning architect Jean Nouvel.

Nouvel’s design concept refers to the existing landscape as arid and explains that this has given way for the design to evolve into fantasy. This can clearly be seen in the renderings which show an expansive web dome ceiling and large water pools complementing the white walls and open spaces.

The 26,000 sq m Nouvel building will join the Sheikh Zayed National Museum, by Lord Norman Foster; the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum, by Frank Gehry; a performing arts center, by Zaha Hadid; and a maritime museum, designed by Tadao Ando to create the Saadiyat Island Cultural District, planned to be the world’s largest single concentration of premier cultural institutions. Louvre Abu Dhabi is currently scheduled for ground breaking later in the year and completion in 2012-2013.

Niki May Young
News Editor

DOROBANTI TOWER

2009-01-27T19:49:00.002+08:00

Dorobanti Tower, Render © Zaha Hadid Architects
PROGRAM:
5 Star Hotel & Apartments
CLIENT:
Smartown Investments
SIZE/HEIGHT:
200m
CONCEPT:
IntroductionThe Dorobanti Tower was designed to establish an iconic presence in the heart of Bucharest. The new tower is a unique mix of a distinctive form, ingenious structure, and spatial qualities of sky-high living. The purity of its form - a chamfered diamond like structure - will be a timeless, elegant landmark in the centre of Bucharest. Zaha Hadid Architect’s design concept is a synthesis of architecture and engineering, which integrates a dis-tinct meandering structural mesh frame and naturally expresses the changing programme of hotel, amenities, and residential apartments.The site is located in the centre of Bucharest, to the west of Piaza Romana, and approximately 6km south of the international airport. The brief called for a 100,000 square metre mixed-use development at the junction of Calea Dorobanti and St. Mihail Eminescu. The project comprises 34,000 square metres of a 5-star hotel (including restaurants and a convention centre) and 35,000 square metres of luxury apartments. Additionally, the scheme offers lower level retail areas of 4,600 square metres and it delivers a generous allocation of public realm. This public area will be unlike anything else in Bucharest, representing a major attraction within the dense urban character of the City, offering an important new meeting space and urban plaza.
COMPUTER RENDERS:

Dorobanti Tower, Render © Zaha Hadid Architects

Dorobanti Tower, Render © Zaha Hadid Architects

Dorobanti Tower, Render © Zaha Hadid Architects

Dorobanti Tower, Render © Zaha Hadid Architects

MADRID CIVIL COURTS OF JUSTICE

2009-01-27T19:33:00.001+08:00

Birds eye view from West, Render © Zaha Hadid Architects

PROGRAM:
Courts of Law

CLIENT:
Campus de la Justicia de Madrid

SIZE:
74,448 sqm: 49,033 overground / 25,415 underground

CONCEPT:
The formal language and architectural articulation of the design aims to break the static configuration of the surrounding buildings. The design’s soft and dynamic tectonic turns it into an immediate reference for the masterplan, without the need to exhaust maximum building heights.

By way of horizontal shifts of its mass, a sense of elasticity is introduced into the design allowing the building to be grounded at its elevation to the masterplan campus. This elasticity draws visitors into its interior, and permits the building to ‘float ‘above the ground plain.

The envelope of the Civil Court of Justice is composed of a double-ventilated façade. The exterior layer of the facade is composed of metallic panels which respond to environmental and program conditions. These panels shift from open to closed and from flat to extended depending on the circumstances affecting them. It is also envisaged for the metallic panels on the Civil Courts of Justice rooftop incorporates photovoltaic cells. Inside the building, a spiralling semi-circular atrium is developed around the courtyard where all public space evolves. The atrium overlooks the courtyard, which serves as instant reference point for visitors to move around the building and extends to the lower ground floor, providing natural light to enter the court rooms at that level.

COMPUTER RENDERS:

View From West, Render © Zaha Hadid Architects

View From South, Render © Zaha Hadid Architects

View From North, Render © Zaha Hadid Architects

ELEVATION DRAWINGS:

East Elevation, Drawing © Zaha Hadid Architects

North Elevation, Drawing © Zaha Hadid Architects

South Elevation, Drawing © Zaha Hadid Architects

West Elevation, Drawing © Zaha Hadid Architects

The Hanging Hotel by Takis Zenetos

2009-01-25T20:22:00.000+08:00

Takis Zenetos is a Greek architect whose work seems clearly to belong in a list of avant-garde mid-to-late 20th century architects like Yona Friedman, Constant, and even Archigram, but who seems otherwise to have been overlooked.
The above project – visible in the next image – is for a hanging hotel, a combination of Tibetan palace, Anasazi cliff dwelling, and artificial geological formation.

[Image: The Hanging Hotel, strung onto a cliffside like a musical instrument, by Takis Zenetos].

His most exciting project is Cable City, an incredible 1961 design for a suspended city – what Zenetos called une ville suspendue. The entire metropolis would be hung from cables, a kind of tensional extension of the earth's surface.

[Image: The Cable City of Takis Zenetos].

The overall impetus behind the project seems to be something like counter-terrestriality: a city that would not only span, but even temporarily replace, the earth's surface, forming a cobweb of urban settlement. An extremely local architectural offworld made of capsules, wired Archigramian hammocks, and other high-tech micro-environments.

[Image: The Cable City of Takis Zenetos; the instant city as toupee].

[Images: The Cable City of Takis Zenetos].

He even drew gullies choked with wind turbines – sustainable, if bird-murdering, power stations – decades ahead of his time.

[Images: A turbined gorge by Takis Zenetos].

"Takis Zenetos (1926-1978)," is the pre-eminent architect of Greek modernism, with a varied oeuvre (industrial buildings, schools, residences, objects, urban planning studies), and he is best known for the FIX building on Syngrou Avenue and the Lycabettus theatre.
"What is not widely known is that Zenetos was a visionary of the future electronic city and the digital age."

Ten Notable Architectural Designs

2009-01-25T13:46:00.001+08:00

Here's a listing of some of the most notable architectural designs in recent years.

1. Marques de Riscal Hotel, Rioja region, Spain; Architect: Frank O. Geary

2. Planetarium Science Museum and L’Umbracle, Valencia, Spain; Architects: Santiago Calatrava, Felix Candela

3. Valencia Opera House, Valencia, Spain; Architect: Santiago Calavara

4. Selfridges, Birmingham, London; Architect: Future Systems, London

5. Leonardo Glass Cube, Bad Driburg, Germany; Architect: 3 de luxe

6. Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Germany; Architects: Peter Cook and Colin Fournier;

7. Mikimoto Department Store, Tokio, Japan; Architects: Toyo Ito & Associates & Taisei Design

8. Beijing Olympic Stadium, Beijing, China; Architect: Herzog & de Meuron, Basel

9. Torso Tower, Malmo Harbor, Sweden;Architect: Santiago Calavara

10. Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Architect: Santiago Calavara

and one from the future . The Chicago Spire, Chicago, Illinois, Usa. Architect: Santiago Calavara. To be finalized in 2012. Height: 609,6 metres.

Chonging Library

2009-01-24T13:08:00.000+08:00

Architects: Perkins Eastman
Location: Chongqing, China
Project Year: 2007
Building Type: Public Assembly
Construction Area: 50,000 sqm
Budget: US $38.6M
Photographs: © ZhiHui Gu

For the largest city in China, comprising 30 million inhabitants and more than 3,000 years of history, a new library had to be much more than just a collection of books. Chongqing, often called “mountain city” for its majestic natural features and geography, realized this early on in its plan to develop a world-class library.

Perkins Eastman’s design for the new Chongqing Library, a stunning 540,000 sf urban complex, evolved from a central idea of expressing the freedom and importance of knowledge. Conceived as a cultural and civic icon, the library goes beyond the notion that a library is simply a repository for books-incorporating a concert hall, gallery space, conference facilities, restaurant, and a hotel for visiting scholars.The building is sheathed almost entirely in glass, providing transparency for the functions inside and reinforcing the notion that knowledge and ideas must be shared. The design team developed a dot pattern for the glass to mitigate heat gain and glare, and text comprising quotes from famous scholars throughout history is layered over the pattern. From world leaders including Chairman mao Tse-Tung and president Theodore roosevelt to renowned philosophers including Socrates and Confucius, the inscribed text idealizes the profound impact of life-long learning on individuals and society-the empowerment of ideas expressed through words.The building is organized around a central courtyard form, which is a motif found throughout Chinese architectural tradition. This courtyard, however, is formed one level below the street and is an open-air landscaped forest, providing a green oasis in the middle of one of China’s fastest growing cities. While the courtyard can be seen by the public at street level, it is accessible only from the reading rooms-reserved for use by the library’s readers. Separating visitors from the court, a sculptural refecting pool gently cascades into the courtyard.The merging of building, water, and forest is emblematic of the city, which is at the confuence of two major rivers that form forested hillsides surrounding the city. Both interior and exterior fnishes artfully reference the colors and textures of Chongqing, a blending of inside and outside, traditional and modern. native stone, representative of the older structures found in the region, plays a prominent role in the interior lobby, public spaces, courtyard, and the exterior walls. The Y columns in the courtyard level reading rooms are topped with curved tree-like canopies

Kalmar Museum of Modern Art by Tham + Videgard Hansson Arkitekter

2009-01-17T18:15:00.000+08:00

Kalmar Museum of Modern Art in Sweden was designed by Stockholm-based architects Tham + Videgard Hansson Arkitekter.

The four-storey building is clad in black wooden panels.

Tham + Videgard Hansson Arkitekter designed some of the furniture for the interior, which comprises exposed concrete, black-stained plywood doors and panels and white walls.

The museum will house the Kalmar collection of modern art as well as providing spaces for temporary exhibitions, videos, performances and concerts.

The museum was opened to the public in May last year.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

–

The new Kalmar Museum of Art is the result of a winning proposal in the open international competition in 2004 and will be inaugurated in 2007. Situated in the City Park of the renaissance town of Kalmar, it will be added to a restaurant pavilion dating from the 1930s by Swedish modernist architect Sven-Ivar Lind.

The new museum is a black four-level cube clad with large scale wooden panels punctuated by large glazed openings. It will house both the Kalmar collection of Modern Art as well as provide spaces for temporary exhibitions of contemporary art, videos, performances and concerts.

Almost domestic in its scale this museum still provides a variety of exhibition conditions. The two main spaces are the White Box where one side can open up completely to bring in the exterior of the park, and the top floor gallery that is lit by shed head light shafts doubling its ceiling height. In addition there is a public Art Library and open Workshops.

One of the architectural main features is the open stair spiralling the full height of the building, starting from the new entrance lobby that interconnects between lake-side and park. It is a top lit space with all surfaces in exposed in situ cast concrete.

The four floors, each different from the others, are stacked on top of each other and create a vertical walk up into the greenery of the trees with a series of different spacial experiences while offering views of the environs; the Kalmar Castle, the lake and the city centre.

Construction is in situ cast concrete, the big spans are made with ‘after tension’ slabs. Interior finishes are exposed concrete, black stained plywood doors and panels, white painted walls and ceilings, natural ash.

TVH has also designed some furniture; the green bock-tables, the hexagon tables in white ash and stell/carrara, the museum bench, library shelves.

Assignment name: KALMAR MUSEUM OF ART
Client: MUNICIPALITY OF KALMAR
Year completed: (2007-8)
Location: KALMAR, SWEDEN.
Square meters: 1594 sqm + existing.
Time to build: 18 months

Additional facts:
Open International Competition 2004
294 proposals from 16 countries around the world
TVH’s proposal PLATFORM, 1st prize February 2005.
Construction works started August 2006.
Open to the public May 10th 2008.

Architects:
THAM & VIDEGÅRD HANSSON ARKITEKTER
Bolle Tham and Martin Videgård Hansson
Collaborators: Lukas Thiel (project architect) Tove Belfrage, Erik Wåhlström, Johan Bergholm

–

Dellis Cay villas by Shigeru Ban

2009-01-17T18:09:00.000+08:00

Japanese architect Shigeru Ban has designed two villas for private island Dellis Cay in the Caribbean.

Called Maison H (top image) and Maison S (above), each has a pavilion over the water called Maison O (below).

Architects David Chipperfield, Carl Ettensperger, Zaha Hadid, Kengo Kuma, Piero Lissoni, and Chad Oppenheim have also dsigned villas for the island. See all the villa designs on the Dellis Cay website. Above: Maison H

Construction is due for completion in 2010.

Above: Maison H. The following information is from Dellis Cay:

–

Shigeru Ban has created two contrasting designs of Beach Villa for purchase: Maison H and Maison S, both of which come with their own over-water pavilion, Maison O.

Maison H is alluringly classic simplicity with its elements centered on expansive living and dining spaces. Fully retractable glass walls open out to a reflecting pond and swimming pool make each villa appear to float on water.

Maison S is futuristic and organic, whose sinuous curves enfold a circular reflecting pond and flare outward towards an angular swimming pool and blue sea. “Both villas” as Shigeru Ban explains “are carefully designed to be sympathetic in their own right to the nature of the site, and both aim for the closest possible relationship between interior and the predominant presence of ocean.” Above and below: Maison S

Fifteen villas will be located on 0.5 – 1.1 acre lots. Each villa includes its own over-water pavilion, which is a complete self-contained house in itself, and links to each main villa by private bridge. The villas are priced between $7 million and $9 million. Dellis Cay is an impressive luxury lifestyle private island. It is a secluded 560-acre island in the Turks & Calicos archipelago. Imagine pristine waters, hideaway beaches, luxury spa amenities and accommodations. It’s the new St. Baths of the Caribbean, exclusive and paradisiacal and is a high profile getaway and that is becoming an international magnet.

The island will provide the world’s rarest living experience in a limited collection of private residences and villas. Seven internationally renowned architects are involved in drafting private ocean villa designs many of which will be completed by 2010: Shigeru Ban, David Chipperfield, Carl Ettensperger, Zaha Hadid, Kengo Kuma, Piero Lissoni, and Chad Oppenheim, while the entire island will be serviced by the award-winning hospitality of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. There will even be a Dellis Cay Mandarin Oriental boutique hotel for those who want to visit the island without committing to buying another home! It will be the epitome of an exclusive getaway with 24-hour concierge service, private dining, helipad, marina, and more.

Dr. Cem Kinay, Chairman and CEO of The O Property Collection (OPC) is pleased to unveil the next collection of limited-edition villas designed by Shigeru Ban and Carl Ettensperger for his exclusive private island Dellis Cay, located in the Turks and Caicos Islands, which will be serviced by the award-winning Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.

Shigeru Ban has created a collection of villas available in two contrasting design options: Maison S and Maison H, each of which will feature an ocean pavilion extending over the Caribbean Ocean on the South Beach of Dellis Cay. Residents may choose their ideal beachfront property, and select between the two designs for their ideal custom residence. Adjoining the land, sky and sea, the work of Shigeru Ban is infused with a spirit of simplicity and a commitment to environmental responsibility.

Carl Ettensperger will be presenting ten Over Water Villas at Dellis Cay, which will be the Caribbean’s first over-water villas, and appear to float free against a backdrop of boundless ocean. His offering for this island was inspired by his prized work in Asia, and brings a new level of refinement to their unique Caribbean context while setting a new standard for over-water living. Above: plan, Maison S

Since the sales launch only one year before, the Piero Lissoni designed Ocean Villas are sold out and 50% of The Residences at Mandarin Oriental Dellis Cay have already sold. While the ground breaking in June 2008 marked a milestone for the development, now Dr. Kinay’s vision is being physically realized at a rapid rate. Currently, as many as 500 construction workers are building on the island daily, and the grand opening will take place in 2010. Above: plan, Maison H

All Shigeru Ban and Carl Ettensperger Villa residents will also have privileged access to the acclaimed amenities of one of the world’s finest luxury hoteliers, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group including the lavish 30,000 sq ft spa designed by Kengo Kuma. Under the precise management of this legendary service provider, resident owners will be treated as permanent resort guests. Attention to detail, efficiency and discreet service are paramount, bringing purity and simplicity to the private island experience.

Carl Ettensperger and Shigeru Ban are just two of the seven world-renowned architects who have been commissioned to design the masterpiece private island development. The other five architects are Zaha Hadid (London); David Chipperfield (London); Kengo Kuma (Tokyo); Piero Lissoni (Milan) and Chad Oppenheim (USA). “It is under truly rare circumstances that the most recognized architects, designers, and hoteliers from around the world collaborate together, creating a cohesive architectural vision to bring The O Property Collection to life,” said Dr. Kinay. “Our ability to unite this array of unique talent is what enables OPC to create the most innovative, design-driven luxury destinations in the world.”

In addition to the Shigeru Ban and Carl Ettensperger villas, Zaha Hadid’s singular Villa-D, and The Residences at Mandarin Oriental Dellis Cay, designed by Piero Lissoni, are currently available for purchase.

The villa launches are being celebrated with a cocktail reception on Wednesday, December 3rd in the Dellis Cay booth S7 in the VIP Art Collectors Lounge from 5-7pm. This year’s Dellis Cay booth at Art Basel Miami Beach was designed by Carl Ettensperger. Joining Dr. Kinay and Carl Ettensperger as co-hosts of the reception will be fellow Dellis Cay architects Piero Lissoni and Chad Oppenheim.

Dellis Cay is an unspoiled 560-acre private island in the Turks and Caicos archipelago. Serene and secluded, yet only an hour and a half from Miami, Dellis Cay combines ease of accessibility with complete privacy in a setting of alluring natural beauty.

North Sydney Bus Shelter

2009-01-17T00:20:00.001+08:00

(image via: North Sydney Council )

Competitions are an effective way to bring out a variety of designs at a low cost to the planning authority. The North Sydney Bus Shelter and Canopy Entrance Competition of 2006, won by Hannah Tribe and Marcus Trimble, is a perfect example. The winning design presents two diametrically opposite aspects depending on whether it’s viewed by day or by night.

Hoofddorp Bus station

2009-01-17T00:19:00.000+08:00

(image via: Demanio:Re )

The Hoofddorp Busstation, above, was built on the grounds of the Spaarne Hospital in Hoofddorp, The Netherlands. Opened in 2003, the station is world’s largest all-synthetic structure. The 150-foot long station is built entirely of factory-cut polystyrene foam covered in polyester fabric.

Railway Station in Innsbruck, Austria

2009-01-17T00:16:00.000+08:00

(image via: James Feess )

Trains have inspired their fair share of design exuberance as well, especially in Europe and Asia where rail travel has historically been of high importance to both commuters and city planners. Innsbruck, Austria hired architect Zaha Hadid to design a series of railway stations that would complement the city’s reputation as an alpine landmark.

(image via: Architecture Revived )

Says Hadid, “We studied natural phenomena such as glacial moraines and ice movements - as we wanted each station to use the fluid language of natural ice formations, like a frozen stream on the mountainside.”

Jeddah: An Airline Oasis Arises

2009-01-17T00:14:00.000+08:00

(image via: Designboom )

Water isn’t a problem at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, where Jeddah International Airport rises from the desert sands like a mirage. Beautiful as it is, this exquisite airport is in use for just six weeks every year - that’s when more than 2 million Muslims fly into Jeddah on their way to Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage.

House by Zoltan E. Pali

2009-01-16T23:56:00.000+08:00

Zoltan E. Pali designed an amazing residence on the most famous bird street, 1654Blue Jay Way. The house offers amazing views to float over the lights of LA, with spaceship views from downtown to the Pacific. Every detail of the home has been crafted to thrill: a mirrored alcove in the billiards room is actually a window into theswimming pool; the glass floor of a catwalk is also the ceiling of the wine cellar. This must-experience residence, complete with gym, screening room and fully-equipped nightclub, is a re-imagining of the home of the future.

Alhambra House / URBANA

2009-01-15T22:47:00.001+08:00

Architects: URBANA - José Fernando Vázquez-Pérez & Rafael Castro Montes de Oca
Location: Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Project Team: Carlos Cruz-Ortiz, Marcelo López-Dinardi, Luis Cruz de la Paz, Alex Hernández
Contractor: Pascual Ribas
Electrical Engineering: Gisela Pérez
Structural Engineering: José M. Green
Mechanical Engineering: Raúl Torres
Project year: 2005-2006
Site Area: 1,120 sqm
Constructed Area: 253 sqm
Photographs: José Fernando Vázquez-Pérez

The Alhambra house is located in an upper-middle class neighborhood composed of single-family residences arranged on a garden-city type urban lay-out [characterized by tree-lined streets, and small neighborhood parks]. The residence sits on a lot of 950 square meters, and is flanked by similarly sized parcels on both of its sides (east and west); the south side of the property is defined by the street, whereas the north side butts the metropolitan train system.

The clients/residents were a young professional couple with two small children. They were both well-traveled and shared a common interest for modern design and architecture. The given program simply called for a house [either a new one or the transformation of the original structure] with “a central, open kitchen, a studio-office loft, open living spaces, and a general reorientation towards the patio”. The decision to re-use the existing structure was determined by 3 main factors: (a) budget constraints, (b) the desire to minimize the creation of off-site waste, and (c) restrictive zoning guidelines for new construction.

The existing house contained a monumental Japanese oak in its patio, a fact that shaped the basic design strategy for the project, as we decided to enhance it by focusing the new living spaces around it. By doing so, the tree not only became the visual centerpiece of the intervention, but was also made into the principal temperature- control device, as both light filter [the tree provides shadow for 50% of the structure for most of the day], and natural air conditioner [natural ventilation is optimized by creating a chimney effect, as the cooler air from below the tree penetrates into the house, through north-facing windows, and exits through south-facing, ceiling vent-skylights] . The design also incorporates large glass doors and windows, as well as central skylights distributed throughout the house, bringing natural daylight in order to reduce electrical illumination during the day.

The main living space is covered by a south facing sloping roof that was specifically prepared [inclined] to accommodate water-heating solar panels, and a photo-voltaic battery-charging system. Because of budget constraints, these last two were postponed for future installation.

The project also incorporates a swimming pool and an outdoor gazebo [with a guest room]. The gazebo echoes the opening-towards- the-tree gestures and the constructive elements of the main structure, while the pool, in addition of being a recreational water oasis, serves as connector between the main house and the gazebo.

: site plan

: ground floor plan + section

: second floor plan + sections

: roof plan + sketches

: north elevation

: south elevation

: west & east elevations

Les Bains des Docks by Jean Nouvel

2009-01-15T22:39:00.001+08:00

Les Bains des Docks is an aquatic centre in Le Havre, France, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel.

The 5000 square metre complex comprises 12 pools, including a 50 x 21 metre outdoor pool, several leisure pools, a sauna, hammam, spa and fitness room.

The interior is covered in white tiles; brightly-coloured foam blocks form a children’s play area.

“It is a paradox, a building on a harbour scale, inspiring simplicity and robustness, but which betrays its complexity as soon as one penetrates its volumes,” says Nouvel. “One enters a universe of whiteness and depths.”

The centre opened in July last year and is part of a masterplan to regenerate the docklands area.

Photographs by Clément Guillaum.

The following information is from Jean Nouvel:

–

AQUATIC CENTER
The Aquatic Center is composed of three principal entities: An external and heated sports pool of fifty meter long by twenty one meter wide, a play pool interior/external and a center of balneotherapy. The access is made through a single reception hall serving the cloakrooms of the play and sports pools and the cloakrooms of the balneotherapy center.

On the same floor, other suspended beaches and two suspended pools are accessible from the play pool. An internal connection connects all these pools for the visitors provided with a proper Pass. The center of cardio-training and its cloakrooms, the administration with a separate access, and the free access cafeteria, are arranged on the same floor and directly connected to the hall. The access to the technical premises located under the beaches is made though an open sky yard at the back of the building. A delivery l’espace is integrated in the building.

A Port even before being a city, Le Havre accompanied all along its history all the transformations related to the developments of maritime trade. With the technical progress and the irrepressible increase in the volume of trade, the port has built new infrastructures adapted to the new requirements.

Liberated territories are today returned to the city and opened to a new urbanity. New trade and leisure spaces are spread out there. The same for culture. Of the program worked out by the council, the Sea Discovery Center is the most symbolic, which embraces at once the estuary environment, the history navigation in Le Havre, the saga of the steamers and the future of the region.

To the belfry of the town hall and the tower of control of the port a new seamark, a high and clear signal, a strong symbol of the entry of Le Havre in a new era us to be added. Deploying its hieratic structure marked by two vast punts the tower of the Sea Discovery Center dominates all the territory and allows visitors to discover it in all its magnitude, its diversity and its magnificence.

Anchored in the mineral mass of the wharves, it stands like the mast of a ship, a look out post to offer to the visitor the everlasting show of men’s activities, arrivals and departure of the ships and trembling limit of changing skies and moving waters.

REGULATING PLAN
The regulating plan of Le Havre: a contribution. Successively military naval port, outer harbour of Rouen, commercial port where the vessels from Brazil, the Antilles, Africa, but also from England and the cities of la Hanse come to land, city where traders of coffee and spices, slave traders and other actors of the triangular trade have met long before becoming a port for transatlantic travellers, then a terminal of tankers and container ships, Le Havre will have embraced all the fluctuations and changes of maritime and international trade. Like its competitors, Le Havre had to give up its obsolete harbour infrastructures little by little. Thus, the docks dating back to the XIXth century are widely obsolete today. They are noticeably very close to the City Discovery Center.

The creation of Port 2000 has caused a global reflection on the future of the relationships between the city and its port. From now on, territories which were by nature distinct from the city, are part of it. From the reference area such as suggested by the program, one notices that within the borders of the well structured city by Perret a series of basins, docks, peninsulas, form a discontinuous fabric, a patchwork, an archipelago with each component having lived a specific history linked to a specific function.

This diversity which is welcome is accentuated by the range of projects already launched by the city, and which includes at the same time places with an administrative vocation (the Chamber of Commerce), touristic (hotels), residential (housing), hospital (a private clinic), of services (offices), commercial and leisure in a landscaped framework which tries to requalify circulations, and planted natural public spaces. All of these projects tend to establish continuity with the spirit of each small island of this archipelago.

The reflection framework proposed aims at reinforcing this bond with the spirit of the places. All the more solid and strong bond that traditional activities continue there to some extent: “the island” of the Citadel is for its greater part reserved for the harbour station of the ferries; the western point of the holy district Nicolas still includes dry docks still at work.

The parts released on a medium term basis will have to be converted into the logic of the typology of the existing docks, with low and linear buildings either recycled existing warehouses, or new buildings. Deprived of their industrial use, dedicated to activities closely related to the new vocation of the places, (a marina for the basin of the citadel for example or a nautical base at the end of the Holy district Nicolas), These places will be domesticated thanks to the insertion of a strong vegetable structure adopting the volumetry of the buildings, their linearity, their functional logic, their direct character and without affeteries. The conversion of the Citadel basin, its extension and its prolongation by the channel towards the La Barre basin to constitute a new marina from 300 to 600 rings can in the long term contribute to generate a set of activities directly related to leisure sailing, wintering, maintenance, ship chandlers, and dealer sailings. The presence of the ferries in the site is nevertheless welcome. They belong to its identity and they are a door towards England. They could be integrated into the new plan provided that only the activity of transport of passengers is maintained Otherwise, the plan will be extended on the whole site. Restaurants, discotheques and cafés, will take set up there logically. To facilitate the access of the pedestrians coming from the town center to the Citadel, a footbridge will be installed above the La Barre basin.

SEA DISCOVERY CENTER AND LONG TIME DEVELOPMENT
In response to the Aquatic Center, two massive blocks enclose the base of the sea discovery center tower on Antilles wharf. They contain part of the permanent exhibition the public forum, the administration, as well as the maintenance buildings of the center. From the wharf of the Vatine dock, in the alignment of restaurants and cafés of the Vauban docks, the entirely glazed entrance offers a total vision of the tower from bellow. This large canopy accommodates the hall, the cafeteria, the shop and the services in charge of the exhibition visit. The 120m high metal tower dominates the port of Le Havre. Two plates, one of 1200m² to 55 m and the other of 2000m² at 90 m, accommodate the temporary and permanent exhibitions and view point restaurant of the Center. The access is made through two panoramic elevators: one giving direct access to the temporary exhibition and the restaurant, the other forming an integral part of the permanent exhibition route. The amusement park on the topics of the sea and the environment of the estuary surrounds the Sea Discovery Center. Its initial surface is increased by the space liberated by the tower. It will be an additional resource while waiting for a future extension of the Center on the ground.

Royal Ontario Museum Extension, Toronto

2009-01-14T15:48:00.000+08:00

(images via: Sam Javanrouh)

The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal addition to the Royal Ontario Museum began as a sketch on a paper napkin at a wedding. Berlin-based Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind’s design has met with equal parts criticism and praise from the public for its daring juxtaposition of glass and steel against the original historical brick structure. Of the building, Libeskind said “Why should one expect the new addition to the ROM to be ‘business as usual’? Architecture in our time is no longer an introvert’s business. On the contrary, the creation of communicative, stunning and unexpected architecture signals a bold re-awakening of the civic life of the museum and the city.”

Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis

2009-01-14T15:46:00.001+08:00

(images via: jpnuwat)

The Weisman Art Museum is another celebrated achievement of architect Frank Gehry, featuring his unmistakable titanium-clad curves. Overlooking the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, the Weisman Art Museum is among the American Midwest’s most well-known buildings. The side that faces the University of Minnesota Twin Cities is brick to blend in with the rest of the buildings, but the opposite side is a glittering abstraction of a waterfall and a fish.

The Denver Art Museum Frederic C. Hamilton Building, Denver

2009-01-14T15:36:00.001+08:00

(images via: arcspace)

Described as “a vision of craggy cliffs”, the Frederic C. Hamilton extension of the Denver Art Museum was created by architect Daniel Libeskind to be an architectural landmark for the city of Denver. The design reflects the nearby Rock Mountain peaks and consists of large geometric shapes clad in titanium. The dramatic expansion, which houses the Modern and Contemporary art collection as well as the collection of Architecture and Design, doubles the size of the museum and now serves as its entrance.