Courtesy of Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos

Architects: Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos  in colabaration with Giraudi-Wettstein
Location: Basel train station, Centralbahnstrasse 10, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
Completion date: 2003
Collaborators: J. C. Mulero, M. Velasco, L. Gutiérrez. Cruz y Ortiz arquitectos M. Delmenico, T. Radczuweit, P. Vitali. Giraudi-Wettstein, Itten + Brechbühl AG., Technical Surveyors, Passera & Pedretti, Structural Consultant, Rinaldo Passera, Erich Borer, Tadeusz Tzsesiac, Suiselectra Ingenierunternehmungn AG, Services Consultant
Built area: Footbridge: 9.000 sqm
Parking: 14.700 sqm
Client: Passarelle Bahnhof Basel SBB
Photographs: Courtesy of Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos

Courtesy of Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos

The Basel Railway Station is a building from the end of the 19th Century which features an impressive passenger hall and large metal shelters above the platforms. Located to the side of the tracks, the different platforms were connected by an underpass which was also extended to join the part of the city located on the other side of the railway area.

Courtesy of Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos

The project carried out involved replacing the abovementioned underpass with a raised footbridge, which begins with a large opening in the hall, runs underneath and before the large existing shelters (all registered as protected monuments) and ends at a new planned square in the Gundeli district, on the other side of the tracks. As well as the connections to the different platforms –current and future ones– the footbridge includes services and shops, ending next to the aforementioned square in a main volume hosting exclusively business use. A multi-storey underground car park has been built underneath the square.

Courtesy of Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos

The entire works were executed without affecting the intense day-to-day operating of the station, which made it necessary to build the large lower concrete slab beyond the tracks shifting it afterwards -over the tracks, one platform at a time- to the hall of the old station. This laborious and difficult process resulted in a really strict floorplan, in which the room for manoeuvre was extremely limited due to the numerous problems that had to be solved.

Courtesy of Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos

As has always traditionally been the case in railway stations, it is in the cross section, and more specifically in the roof, where we enjoyed a certain freedom. Thus, as well as solving the problems of passing over the existing shelters or suitably adapting to the many diverse uses, the roof, specifically the silhouette of this, gave the architect a certain calligraphic freedom. It also made it possible -albeit at the last moment– to add a personal touch, and at the same time endow the building with a formal singularity in accordance with its important urban role.

details 01

Courtesy of KPF

The new Midfield Terminal Complex at Abu Dhabi International Airport was just approved by the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi. Within master plan, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), the terminal is conceived as a gateway to the city. The design creates large, unimpeded internal zones that will enhance the passenger experience, and can accommodate long‐term adaptability to industry demands. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Courtesy of KPF

With ground works already commenced on site, a contractor will now be appointed to commence work on the construction of the terminal complex. The decision to approve the terminal complex is critical to consolidate Abu Dhabi’s position as a transport hub and tourist destination. Other approved schemes, such as the cultural projects on Saadiyat Island, are also integral in this strategy. The architects are excited by the approval, which enables them to move forward in realizing this important piece of infrastructure. The terminal complex is designed to form part of a memorable experience for the millions passengers who will use it each year.

Courtesy of KPF

Uniquely engineered, long‐span arches support a soaring roof and reach 50 meters at their highest point. Conversely, the internal scale of the departure hall endows the building with an openness that allows for meaningful connectivity between the outdoor landscaping and the indoor civic space. The terminal complex is designed to serve Abu Dhabi and Etihad Airways well into the 21st century and act as a key driver for the UAE’s economy and growth for decades to come.”

Courtesy of KPF

The Midfield Terminal Complex is integral to Plan Abu Dhabi 2030, a framework for the Emirate’s future development and projected population growth. The ultimate capacity will exceed 50 million travelers and 2 million tons of cargo per year.

Courtesy of UnSangDong Architects

Architects: UnSangDong Architects
Location: 555-9 SongSan-li SeolAk-myeon GaPyung Kyeunggi-do, Korea
Bldg, Area: 505.00 sqm
Gross Floor Area: 637.40 sqm
Structure: R.C.
Photographs: Courtesy of UnSangDong Architects

Courtesy of UnSangDong Architects

Silence & movement

Most of all, we focused on a robust, simple and tranquil architecture intuitively as we take up the form and space. Another point we considered is a vigorous architecture which evoke water vitality in still emotion. The circular form symbolises pure crystal of living organisms. Circular plan which is 32 metres in diameter, 11 metres in height soars from the ground. Firm, still and refined curve wall opens with gradual, arbitrary and rhythmic rules. We expect another tone colour through the open and solid curved wall. Musical facade is achieved through this project it plays in andante, moderato and allegro. It conveys silence and movement simultaneously.

day 1

Flux space

We imagine the space where corresponds the quality of water. Biological form is occurred to our mind rather than fixed form of crystallization. The flux of water and changing biological image has always been interesting architectural either subject and material. The concrete outer wall stacked on entrance freely metaphorically indicate to a wave, and it provide to experience the between space of outer and inner space. This space holds the curiosity of the space stepping into the water when we arrive in the shore. The space beneath water bears fluidity that is slowly sucked in the space of condensed crystallization at the moment.

day 2

The lobby space is not fixed and formed already. We imagine the space with given change and freedom. Lobby, promotion room and education room on 1st floor do not have a certain boundary and are always opened to possible change. The stairs toward 2nd floor is not only a link as physical demand, but the road for exhibition and experience, where links and circulates all changing spaces. The upper floor has an organic space that is centrically opened to courtyard, and it is piled up to outer space. We wish all spaces to be generated by circulating inside and outside of them.

first floor plan

Topography roof

The roof corresponds to an artificial nature. It reminds circulation of the land and topography of this region. A number of people activity could take place on top of the building namely lecture, performance, concert and so on since the space is divided into different levels. Topographical loop is reinterpreted the mountain, hill, river in nature.

second floor plan

Atrium Compound

A city compound infused with many aspects of nature and man made environment is constructed in a singular space of wave. The architecture houses a host of programmes such as exhibition gallery for Hyundai Motor Company and heavy industrial, Square, Forest, Lounge and so on. All the programmes are not combined in two dimensional way.

© Infinite 3D

Architects: 2020 Liverpool
Location: Broad Lane, Kirkby, Liverpool, Merseyside L32 6QH, England
Client: Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Structural Engineer: 2020 Liverpool
Mechanical & Electrical Engineer: 2020 Liverpool
Contractor: Morgan Sindall
Completion Date: 2011
Site Area: 47,041 sqm
Photographs: Infinite 3D

© Infinite 3D

Park Brow Community Primary School has recently been completed for Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council as a 2 form primary school for 420 pupils with a 52 place nursery. 2020 Liverpool were appointed as a multidisciplinary team to deliver this replacement school within challenging time and budget constraints, as part of government’s primary capital program.

© Infinite 3D

A number of options were developed for the site, which has environmental constraints due to its setting on the edge of an industrial estate. The client also requested that the scheme carefully harmonise with its extensive grounds to provide a series of adaptable external teaching and play spaces, which could be exploited by both the school and local community.

© Infinite 3D

The completed design carefully integrates an open and inviting building into a well balanced landscape proposal, prioritising the safety and orientation of pedestrians over the requirement to provide vehicular access to the building. The building envelope is extremely permeable to the exterior environment and all classrooms are afforded direct access to external play and teaching spaces.

© Infinite 3D

The simple form of the school consists of blocks of two differing heights which serve to break the overall mass of the building, in what is predominately a low scale residential/light industrial area. The external balconies to the rear and side elevations not only provide external teaching space for the first floor classrooms but also provide a covered external play area, protecting classrooms from direct sunlight and creating strong and vibrant elevations through the use of rhythm and symmetry.

© Infinite 3D

The facades have a backdrop of white render with individual elements highlighted with cladding of varying colors. These highlighted elements are used to signify important aspects of the scheme such as the entrance block, stair towers and main hall. The toilets pods between the classrooms are also picked out in bright accent colors to highlight pupil entrance points and to differentiate between class bases.

© Infinite 3D

The interior of the building works on the basis of maintaining the classrooms and light sensitive uses to the exterior, which affords better views and direct external access, whilst linking to a communal Agora within the heart of the building. The Agora is a naturally lit double height space which facilitates a number of distinct learning environments and pods. Corridors are avoided within this central circulation space, and all classrooms are directly linked to the central Agora space via large glazed screens. The learning environments provided within the Agora were developed in conjunction with the school and client team to ensure a variety of spaces, ranging from the intimate small group rooms, to terraced performance spaces. These carefully considered learning areas borrow circulation space to create additional learning opportunities which reflect the teaching ethos of Park Brow Community School.

© Infinite 3D

The central learning space is naturally lit and ventilated through rows of north lights, which are integrated with the building management system (BMS) to ensure a comfortable learning environment with reduced lifecycle costs. The Agora offers clear and reassuring navigation for students and visitors to the site and helps to reduce the opportunities for bullying due to its open and unobstructed arrangement.

© Infinite 3D

The classrooms on the edge of the building have been located on the east and south facades to exploit better aspects within the site. Elevations which face onto adjacent busy roads have, for the most part, been formed with administration, plant and hall uses. All classrooms benefit from floor to ceiling glazed walls internally and externally, which provide bright and open learning spaces. Internally the screens have adjustable louvers which allow the teaching staff to vary the degree of visibility into each teaching space. This open and transparent arrangement allows both students and staff to feel fully integrated with all other members of the school community.

© Infinite 3D

Integral to design development was the client’s wish to have an environmentally sustainable school, with the associated lifecycle benefits. The building is almost completely naturally ventilated with attenuation provided to the elevations which face onto a busy road. Central north lights are linked to a BMS which responds to temperature and carbon dioxide levels within the building. All classrooms and the school hall have been provided with wind chimneys which passively ventilate and provide through ventilation from the façade openings and grilles. The overheating potential within the building is reduced by the careful use of overhangs and building orientation, removing the need for mechanical ventilation and cooling. Environmental performance is dictated by the carefully considered architecture of the scheme, augmented by “smart” M&E which responds to daylight, heat and CO2 levels.

concept sketch

Environmental performance is further enhanced by the use of Biomass as the primary energy supply, equipped with an internet based telemetry system which provides the school with a representation of energy usage. Further information on water usage is also provided to the building users through electronically linked meters. This energy use data can be accessed via a web browser dashboard by pupils, staff and the general public, which allows it to become part of the curriculum and learning experience.

ground floor plan

Park Brow School enhances the activities of teaching and learning by being a high-quality and aesthetically pleasing environment which stimulates and inspires students. It contributes very strongly to its urban setting and forms a landmark and focal point within the local community. In addition to its vital function as a primary school and nursery, the new building facilitates a myriad of community and extra curricular uses through its layout, design and facilities. It is a building which not only strives to provide inspirational learning spaces, but also to reach out to the local community to put learning at its heart.

Butaro Hospital © MASS Design Group

Many of you may have probably noticed Scott Timberg’s article “The Architecture Meltdown” (Salon, February 4, 2012) circling the internet. The gloomy article discusses the unknowing future and possible demise of the architectural profession – the “glamour profession of the creative class”. Timberg describes struggling professionals that are either unemployed or working full-time at intern wages within a profession that is largely focused on the 1 percent.

There is no doubt that many architects and recent graduates are struggling. Architecture succeeded with the economy and crashed with it as well. With statistics revealing the highest unemployment rates among those with bachelor’s degrees in architecture and articles flooding the internet with titles “Want a Job? Go to College, and Don’t Major in Architecture” (New York Times, January 5th, 2012), there is not doubt that people are scared and unsure of where the profession is heading. Meanwhile, the (AIA) is cheering for a “2.1 percent rise in spending this year for non-residential construction projects”, a bit of optimism many are grasping onto for hope. However, we are headed somewhere. As Timberg states, “People will always need houses, cities and nations will always need schools and libraries and civic buildings, and trendy restaurants will need redesigns. Architecture will never die completely.”

Please continue reading to see Thomas Fisher’s response to Scott Timberg.

Today, Thomas Fisher, University of Minnesota’s Dean at the College of Design, published his response to Timberg in an article titled, “Architecture for the Other 99%” (MetropolisMag, February 8, 2012). He acknowledges Timberg’s ultimate question, “Where does architecture go from here?” and offers his answer, believing Timberg only covers a fraction of the story.

Fisher optimistically states, “Non-traditional job opportunities for architects have never been better”, believing the shift from architecture’s focus on the 1% to the other 99% has led to the rise of “public-interest design”. A new form of non-profit practice is evolving, forming partnerships with NGOs, universities, foundations, or government agencies, such as Project H Design, Architecture for Humanity and MASS Design Group. The emergence of public-heath architecture has caused Mayo Clinic, the Allina Hospitals and Clinics, and other medical systems to hire architecture graduates to design “not their facilities, but their services.”

Fisher adds, “For-profit design-thinking firms have also thrived throughout the recession by focusing on strategy and innovation, rather than on delivering a pre-ordained product, like a building. IDEO epitomizes that trend.” He believes there is a large demand for “design-thinking” within a non-traditional area of opportunity for architects that has hardly been tapped into.

Creativity is a valued skill and essential for innovation. He believes an education in architecture and design is the best way to acquire these skills. In conclusion, Fisher states, “There remains so much work for architects to do in the world that we should see the decline of traditional jobs not as a “meltdown” of architecture, but as the beginning of its rebirth.”

Please share your thoughts with us on these two interesting perspectives. Click on the links above to view the complete articles.

Reference: Salon, MetropolisMag

*Check out the article featuring the Butaro Hospital by MASS Design Group, seen in the image above.

Courtesy of Sergey Nasedkin

Architects: Sergey Nasedkin
Location: Moscow, Russia
Completion: 2010
Total area:210 sqm
Photographs: Courtesy of Sergey Nasedkin

Courtesy of Sergey Nasedkin

This rapidly erected country house uses industrial methods of designing and building that are often applied to private housing. The dimension’s multiple ofglued panels in accordance with GOST have allowed for the realization of the project under a key basisin the period less than 4 months. The goals of the design are to placea low-rise housing in a landscape, and to make it invisible as much as possible. The 30 – 40s style of the last century was used for inspiration in the design.The main components of the orientation of the house are insolation and geomancy: taken into account all the directions, energy outputs for the owners of the houses,the garden of stones with the astral triangles and much more.

Courtesy of Sergey Nasedkin

© Christian Richters

Architects: BOLLES+WILSON
Location: Raaks Kwartier, Zijlvest 39, NL-2011 VB Haarlem, The Netherlands
Client: MAB Development Nederland B.V
Deisgn Team: Prof. Julia B. Bolles-Wilson, Peter L. Wilson
Size: 18,500 sqm
Costs: 18.3 Mio Euro
Completion: October 2011
Photographs: Christian Richters

© Christian Richters

Transformative processes, particularly those relating to delicate fine-grained historic cities like Haarlem are complex and protracted. In the case of the Raaks project it took more than ten years to evolve from the considered Urban Masterplan (Donald Lambert – Kraaijvanger Urbis) through a sequence of workshops and program rethinks to the final ensemble, which opened in October 2011.

© Christian Richters

At the outset BOLLES+WILSON were given responsibility for the outermost block of this close packed, highly urban redevelopment precinct – which as it turns out (and as the masterplan prescribed) intertwines almost seamlessly with the adjacent small-scale urban fabric – a neighbourhood. The edge block must both shield (traffic) and invite (pedestrians), it must signal and respectfully take its place in the sequence of facades that define the historic limit of the medieval city. Initiating site workshops brought together neighbourhood representatives, city representatives, developers and architects – BOLLES+WILSON, Claus en Kaan, Jo Crepain and Kraaijvanger Urbis (who also had responsibility for the large format carpark below).

© Christian Richters

The complex functional mix began with one large and seven smaller Cinemas on the upper levels, a subterranean Casino and below that a parking deck (for croupiers and gamblers). Even at this stage the two functions were divided by a bisecting passage leading from the visible and representative outside facade to the networked block interior. The question of scale and historic referencing of the windowless Bioscoop monolith at this stage engendered a cinema screen-like facade with an almost pop graphic, a giant screen-printed historic Haarlem Plan, suspended on the reverse side of cinema projection screens (the stable image of the city – the fleeting reality of media). Welstand were (quite rightly) not amused.

At this point the cinema went underground and the Casino colonized the upper levels. They also required few windows (too distracting from the serious business of throwing money into machines). At this time also a complex steel skeleton was introduced to suspend upper functions above large format cinemas below. At a certain point the Casino became a City Hall. This was the awaited opportunity to investigate missing windows and to invent a casement type that can be installed either set back from the facade line, flush with the brickwork or proud of the buildings surface.

© Christian Richters

A city hall is of course a significant and representative building – taking up their responsibility the new users instigated another series of design workshops steered by the perceptive ambitions of Alderman Chris van Velzen. ‘Don’t forget the clock-tower’ and ‘think Dudok’ were his instructions. The result was the development of an articulated brick skin – a texture of shadow stripes and flat fields with a lighter coloured mortar joint. Also at this point the necessary overall volume was massaged into a Haarlem appropriate scale with corner setbacks, and scale reducing volumetric articulations. The office of Henk Döll had already designed a new Haarlem City Hall; they now joined the workshop as architects of the city administration interiors.

elevation 01

Early in the project evolution the preservation of the nineteenth century building on the Bioscoop site was discussed. It was as one can imagine somewhat incompatible with the new use. The alternative strategy was for BOLLES+WILSON to select various emblematic and finely worked components to be put aside, carefully restored and subsequently integrated into the new block. The adoption of Carlo Scarpa’s Verona technique of suspending signifying fragments in front of supporting walls here circumvents pastiche and offers for the attentive viewer a historic layering, a subtext that animates and articulates localised moments.

Two statues which may once have triggered a discourse on ‘virtue’ or ‘prudence’ now find themselves perched on a tailor-made corner shelf surveying the inner square, or thrust as anchoring angel into the flux of traffic and car-park entrance. Other arches, sculptures, carved stone ship relief and anchoring irons are carefully placed to animate street spaces, blind walls and to the passage, which bisects the block connecting the inner (Raaks Kwartier) and the outer world – another sequenced and choreographed spatial unfolding.

elevation 02

INTERIOR – Döll was responsible for the interior design, floor planning and finishing. The building scored 8 (out of 10) in terms of sustainability, according to the Dutch GPR-qualification for public buildings. From the Zijlvest the public enters the new hall, with counters, consultancy rooms and self-service points. The large hall with its mezzanine is synoptic, wide and light. The upper floors consist of flexible and open workspaces for three city departments – a combination of classical offices, open work areas, meeting rooms and encountering spaces. The inspiration for the atmosphere of the building is the 17th century painting ‘Pekelharing’ from the Haarlem painter Judith Leyster. Quiet geometrical background + protruding colourful foreground, principles of contrasting form, material and colour found also in the interior of the Raakspoort, – quiet neutral workspaces, animated encountering spaces.

© Rob de Jong

Architects: Onix
Location: Wierumerschouw, The Netherlands
Photographs: Rob de Jong, Mark Sekuur

© Rob de Jong

The Dike House lies on a beautiful rural parcel by the Reitdiep water. It is a country house that harmonizes with its surroundings in several ways, and is characterized by various features: it is a house on the old dike, with a barn and a modern living area.
On the public side, the parcel is screened off by a hedge, and the building appears to be no more than a barn with a jerkinhead that thus fits in neatly with the agrarian buildings in the environment. This closed front protects the house, guaranteeing privacy.

© Rob de Jong

On the north side, the house much more resembles a typical dike house with a chimney on the ridge. The north side also accommodates the entrance to the house.
On the south/west side, the house opens up to display a more personal character. The interior flows into the exterior via the open façade, and the apple trees that stand on the waterfront create a second façade. The outdoor patio of red cobblestones extends inward to form the floor of the kitchen and the hall.

© Rob de Jong

The white volume of the Dike House makes it a point of orientation in the landscape. As a consequence, Wierumerschouw is visible from afar. The combination of white stone with painted wooden elements embeds the house nicely in the rural surroundings. Because the materials mutually correspond in terms of colour scheme, the house becomes an abstract volume. The location is specific but also contemporary, familiar yet extraordinary.

situation plan

Courtesy of Xavier Vendrell Studio

Led by Chicago-based Xavier Vendrell Studio, Team X seeks to respect, reveal and amplify the physical and experiential qualities of the authentic Navy Pier. Team X rejuvenates the Pier with a unifying system capable of evolving and changing over time, understanding that “the transformation of an existing place, done well, is responsive, organic and flexible”. A lush landscape contrasts the hardscape of Chicago, creating an urban park that functions like a plaza. Circular disks of varying circumferences puncture the landscape with various types of program and natural growth, accompanied by pocket parks, terraces and kiosks. “Horizon walk” platform attracts people to the Pier’s edge, as it the final destination that offers unobstructed views of Lake Michigan.

Continue reading for more!

As required by the Navy Pier Centennial Vision, Team X focuses on these key spaces: Gateway Park, Crystal Garden, Pier Park, South Dock and East End Park. The new Pierscape proposed by Team X offers access to all existing programs and activities, while creating opportunities for new ones. Elements featured in the design offer more than one function, aiming to create a 21st century pier that is “contemporary: viable: sustainable: enduring: flexible: evolving.”

“Indelible Magic: In our Design Approach and Philosophy submitted in Phase II of the Pierscape proposal process, we stated that Joseph Cornell and his miraculous boxes would be on our minds as we set about surveying the myriad spaces, environs, landscapes, activities and programs that exemplify the Navy Pier experience. There is always more than meets the eye, so one must look with imagination. We approached the Pier imagining ourselves wandering through an array of Cornell boxes—transforming everyday objects into extraordinary treasures by virtue of juxtaposition and new relationships. Navy Pier is inherently magical, thanks to its physical and elemental characteristics, its location on Lake Michigan, its proximity to the urban core of Chicago, and the breadth of its programming. Our project combines that which is intrinsic to the Pier—historically, architectonically, spatially, experientially—with new elements that reinvigorate the indelible magic that is Chicago’s Navy Pier.”

Courtesy of Xavier Vendrell Studio

Gateway Park: “The contrast between the hardscape of the city and the lush landscape of Gateway Park is palatable, even for visitors arriving in vehicles.” A veritable forest of trees were selected for their unique visual characteristics, vibrant fall colors, distinct bark, winter fruits and spring blooms.

Courtesy of Xavier Vendrell Studio

Circular openings punctuate the hardscape with varying circumferences organized to articulate multi-directional pathways through Gateway Park. “In this way, the space functions like a plaza, but it is most definitely a park.” A strategic layout of dense forest, clearings and hardscape makes room for an artist commissioned fountain, the Navy Memorial, an artist designed children’s playground and much more.

Courtesy of Xavier Vendrell Studio

The southern section of Gateway Park features large public spaces, including a recessed circular amphitheater that can function as a hot air balloon launching pad. The sloped topography offers unobstructed views of the lake, offering a perfect place to watch fireworks, view movies projected from a screen on a barge docked in the lake, or sled during the winter. Visitors can rent kayaks or bikes from a kiosk on the waters edge or near the bike trails.

Courtesy of Xavier Vendrell Studio

Crystal Garden and Pier Park: The proposal unifies Crystal Garden and Pier Park and transforms it into the largest outdoor terrace in Chicago, rising 25 feet about the Pier’s surface. “It’s centerpiece, the magnificent Ferris wheel, the grand scale of which can now be fully perceived.” The platform appears to float above the Pier, as the north and south edges step-up, providing a social space clear of railings. The circular organizing disks return, each offering a different experience and a verdant micro-environment that appeals to the senses. “Each disk embodies a different ambient experience—sensorial: physical: ethereal: visceral.”

Courtesy of Xavier Vendrell Studio

“The selection of trees is based on a number of factors, including: shape, canopy height, bark color and texture, leaf shape, how the tree filters light, its autumnal palette, and how the trees will be planted: densely, sparsely, naturally, or according to a strict geometry. The corresponding ground cover is contrastive in color and texture.”

Courtesy of Xavier Vendrell Studio

South Dock: “Our proposal reintroduces a system of organization that existed when the Pier was an active port: the length of the Pier is divided into 3 bands of activity. The middle band is dedicated to pedestrian movement along the Pier: strolling: wandering: discovering. The outermost band along the water’s edge is dedicated to the various transactional programs offered on South Dock: anticipatory: interactive. The innermost band is dedicated to outdoor facilities of indoor programs: terraces: refreshment: relaxation. It is also threshold to the quietude introduced by the proposed Pocket Parks.”

Courtesy of Xavier Vendrell Studio

South Dock connects all the pieces. Each Pocket Park offers a “one-of-a-king multi-senory experience such as a shallow soil landscape introducing vegetation and wood types indigenous to the Great Lakes region, a place of respite, intimate community, or a peaceful place providing a view of South Dock activities and the lake.”

Courtesy of Xavier Vendrell Studio

Hardscape is a unifying element and integrated strategy of wayfinding. Minimalist multifunctional light boxes become kiosks that consolidate vendors, lighting, signage and promotional messaging, reminiscent of the large packing crates that once took over the Pier.

Courtesy of Xavier Vendrell Studio

East End Park: East End Park is the culmination of a journey, the unrivalled public space that attracts all visitors. Existing obstructions are removed, offering clear and open view of Lake Michigan. A modest raise in the platform slopes upward toward the sky. Movable planters and light cubes incorporate additional vegetation that is able to transform the platform each season. “Horizon Walk” by artist Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle serves as a sculpture, landscape and stage, and offers one example on how the platform may be transformed throughout time.

Courtesy of Xavier Vendrell Studio

“Opportunities for solitary reflection are rare, and chances of discovery and self-discovery even more elusive. ‘Horizon Walk’ is an elegant occasion where all of this is possible: beyond the east end of Navy Pier.”

February 1st Team X Presentation: 

View the entire proposal here. Be sure to check out PierESCAPE / Aedas Architects, Davis Brody Bond and Martha Schwarz Partners and Pier+ / AECOM and BIG. The remaining two proposals will be featured shortly.

Reference: Xavier Vendrell Studio

© Koichi Torimura

Architect: no.555 - Tsuchida Takuya
Location: Nagano, Japan
Structural Design: Frame works, Megumi Akimoto
Completion: 2011
Site area: 335.96
Floor Area: 97.39
Photographer: Koichi Torimura

© Koichi Torimura

I aimed to assimilate,because the quiet surroundings.
The building filled with soil, and low proportions.
Levels in each room is a little lower, the animals like to enter in “nest”.
Also the concrete wall is like a bird nest of woven grass.
I aimed ” the quiet architecture ” idyllic landscape.

© Koichi Torimura

Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN’s “The Next List” features the bold and innovative ideas of Bjarke Ingels, focusing on the West 57th project that is transforming Manhattan skyline. Ingels states, “In the big picture, architecture is the art and science of making sure that our cities and buildings fit the way we want to live our lives.” The video also features comments from Robert A. M. Stern, Dean at Yale School of Architecture, and Douglas Durst, the developer of West 57th. Check it out!

Reference: CNN

Courtesy of Les Architectes FABG

Architects: Les Architectes FABG  - Éric Gauthier, André Lavoie
Location: Montreal,  France
Project team: Marc-Antoine Fredette, Dominique Potvin, FrançoisVerville
Year: 2011
Ara: 32,000 sqm
Photographs: Courtesy of Les Architectes FABG

Courtesy of Les Architectes FABG

Montreal, January 27, 2012 – L’Arsenal du Fort de l’Île Sainte-Hélène, a former warehouse for ammunition and guns, was built between 1820 and 1824 and was converted into a military museum in 1956. The Stewart Museum has a large collection of over 30,000 objects and artifacts of Nouvelle France and the European influence in NorthAmerica. For this project, we revised the master plan of the site development and we did feasibility study which included a functional and technical program.

Courtesy of Les Architectes FABG

The museum’s transformation program was developed to meet the following requirements:

- Grouping functions which were similar;
- Facilitate the circulation and improve the visitor’s experience;
- Improve climatic comfort;
- Improve the safety of people and goods: alarm system, sprinkler, emergency exit;
- Improve accessibility for disabled people;
- Improving the mechanical and electrical systems: efficiency,conformity and security.

Courtesy of Les Architectes FABG

The project involves the installation of an elevator in the courtyard and an architectural staircase to improve universal accessibility and the circulation through the museum ‘s the three levels. The elevator is covered with mirrors to create the effect of a kaleidoscope which binds the new construction to it’s historical context.

Courtesy of Les Architectes FABG

Publication material via v2com

Example of Modern architecture, image via www.learn.columbia.edu

Virtual Reality used to be the stuff of third-rate movies and tv shows with really fantastical plots that made one think, “how did these people get this job?” Fortunately, there are many university researchers who have constantly toiled at making real VR a useful and integral reality.

Take the VR learning site at Columbia. For anyone curious about western architecture there are some interesting structures to explore. It’s true that Columbia and the core Art History class that initially inspired this site is unfortunately Eurocentric: for example, French structures seem overrepresented.

And that is not a small issue since “Western European Art” seems to exclude even structures from Northern and Eastern Europe (we’re obviously not even discussing buildings from Asia because those are considered uniformly “pre” modern, a Western-privileging term).

But to be able to view what is on offer from the comfort of one’s own home or in a collective setting such as a meeting or classroom is definitely a boon. So for those seeking inspiration or pedagogical enlightenment about Western architectural monuments, this site will provide a good start.

For one, there are plenty of categories to choose from, ranging from “Ancient” (one presumes Western ancient) architecture, through Baroque, and on to Modern and Islamic.

There are two different views available for exploration: 360° panoramas in Quicktime and interactive plans. The interactive panoramas have been developed particularly for pedagogical purposes “in American schools” which means that if you’re interested in anything outside of the “Masterpieces of Western Art,” you’re out of luck. But for what it does, it does it well.

The interactive plans have nodes which link to views of the specified area, for example, an exterior shot of a structure. And those views are not static; one can zoom in or out, to either study detail or glean a more comprehensive view. These interactive views are also in Quicktime, which, as the website says, are contextualized within a mapped plan of the site.

Interactive plan of Amiens Cathedral, image via www.learn.columbia.edu

What’s more, the organizers do try to provide some overall context about the periods and structures they do feature. So, for example, in the Early Christian and Byzantine architecture section, the website offers a two-paragraph introduction of what that period meant architecturally within the context of how it is presented on the website.

In other words, one can understand the goals of the websites choice in interactive nodes and its presentation of those spaces. In sum, this provides another useful tool in the arsenal of today’s pedagogical approaches because it allows instructors to access structures that normally might only be presented in 2D photographs.

Courtesy of TEX-FAB

Taking place at the University of Texas San Antonio College of Architecture April 13-15, the TEX-FAB 3.0 Conference will include a series of workshops as part of the international digital fabrication competition. Conducted by leading practitioners in the field of digital fabrication, the workshop is comprised on four distinct sequences that begin with basic skill building and progress until a broad understanding of the topics presented is achieved. For more information, please visit here.

© Jesús Granada

Architects: g.bang architecture – José Javier Gallardo Ortega
Location: Camino del Abejar, Zaragoza, Spain
Graphic Design: Ivo Gigante Tiago
Client: Nuestra Señora del Carmen Neuropsychiatric Centre, Hermanas Hospitalarias del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús
Building status: 2011
Site size: 12,000 sqm
Photograph: Jesús Granada

© Jesús Granada

ONE CONCEPT, ONE COLOR AND ONE MATERIAL

The assignment is motivated by the need to expand the Neuropsychiatric Centre Our Lady of Carmen, in Zaragoza. In the first phase there is a new support centre for youth with behavioural problems, and currently sharing facilities with the geriatric section and, by the nature of their treatment and pathology, was necessary to become independent. In a second phase will be built the “Module for Occupational Workshops.”

© Jesús Granada

PROGRAM | It has 10 single bedrooms and 8 double rooms, with toilets. The common areas of the internal are two living rooms and dining room. The program is completed with, reception room, two offices, laundry, office, control room toilets, storage and utility room.

© Jesús Granada

GEOMETRY | The floor plan is rectangular, dimensions 15.5 x 65 m. The facade has no cantilevers , but reflects the emptying of the building volume in the direction north, creating a courtyard to capture sunlight and allow controlled the patients to stay there in the summer.

section 01

The roof, for the most part, saw tooth shape, with variable slopes – very steep at some points – reflects, from the outside, the degree of internal mental activity in relation to the type of rooms they occupy: the resting or sleeping area with a slope of 60%, common areas or with maximum activity have outstanding peak of 240%. The treatment of the spaces occupied by the medical staff and caregivers has been dealt with flat roofs.

section 02

MATERIAL/COLOR | Façade and roof are covered with red zinc coated sheet. Historically, these centres, known as asylums were unrecognizable and hidden by society. But Hospital, “hospitare” in Latin, means “to receive as a guest” and together with the values of the Congregation and its founder, “Hospitality between people who suffer mental impairment” and “integrating the patients into society as far as possible” where the main goals… The red colour is a symbol that makes them visible… that robs us of prejudice… that emphasizes the social work… makes us more sexy! The material… the shape of this whole “scene” had to be modelled nobly!

© Hertha Hurnaus

Architects: Caramel Architekten
Location: Linz, Austria
User: Johannes Kepler University, Linz
Structural Engineering: Werkraum ZT gmbh, Vienna
Project Year: 2012
Photographs: Hertha Hurnaus

© Hertha Hurnaus

Two years after the opening of building 1 and with roughly one year to go until building 3 is completed, the johannes kepler university in Linz has inaugurated building 2 of the new, ultra-modern science park, an architecturally eye-catching ensemble equipped with state-of-the-art technology.

© Hertha Hurnaus

As in building 1, the interplay of angles and bends in the overall building, outer shell, and interior spaces has been extended seamlessly to this structure, however, in building 2 not only the axes but the slopes of the roof are affected. As viewed from the south, building 1 angles to the left, whereas building 2 bends off to the right. at first the roof takes a slightly downward slope, but toward the north it slants steeply upward from the bend. the rear edge of building 2 rises a full story above its older brother. As in building 1, the special-purpose spaces on the ground floor merge into the terrain at the north end, and the surfaces have been planted with vegetation.

© Hertha Hurnaus

Whereas almost two thirds of building 1 seem to hover above the ground, building 2 stands firmly on a two-story base that houses a number of seminar rooms.

© Hertha Hurnaus

Vertical connection channels “pierce” the upper floor space, flooding the circulation and combizone with light and offering communication opportunities, meeting areas, and a modern “science-work climate” for:

- The institute of plastics engineering

-The mathematics and statistics departments

-The radon institute of the austrian academy of sciences

- Mathconsult gmbh

-The recendt research center for non-destructive testing gmbh

- And the kompetenzzentrum holz gmbh

© Hertha Hurnaus

Communication comes first

This means establishing ties with the existing university campus, the adjacent residential buildings, and the natural surroundings and allowing a rapport between each of the new buildings as well as within the building units themselves. In a seemingly playful way the buildings interact both in plan and section with their surroundings and the adjacent residential buildings via height differences and bends and in this way avoid an inflexible building structure. By crouching into the slope and having the entrance area beneath the street level, they establish a ground-floor link to the existing university campus.

© Hertha Hurnaus

The landscape flows into the grounds – between, over, and through the structures with their partially hovering office wings – and merges with the buildings, forming a new interpretation of the campus.

plan 01

The spacious interior atria tie the floors together and allow light to flood this space all the way down to the lower floors, in this way inspiring a new science-work climate of communication.

plan 02

Due to the large spans and the partially necessary bridge constructions or the resulting deflections, the parapets are not arranged randomly; instead, the largest ones have been placed to precisely coincide with the points of greatest deflection. In this way the outward impression is diversified, while the interior is marked by heightened individuality, thus creating an interplay that is enhanced by the use of lamellae of varying thicknesses which have been set at various intervals.

Ultimately, even the individual elements of the façade communicate with each other…

Photograph by Roger Edwards.

We have been keeping close watch on the progress of Barclays Center, SHoP’s 650,000+ stadium for Brooklyn at Atlantic Yards.  The project has an interesting history as the client, Bruce Ratner, originally looked to Gehry to design an urban solution and iconic image for the 22 acre site, prior to teaming with  Ellerbe Becket and SHoP.   As we’ve reported earlier, SHoP’s response has developed to become a sweeping pre-fabricated volume, with a perforated latticework steel skin and a transparent ground level.   Photographer Roger Edwards has shared some recent photos with us of the construction process as the building is quickly beginning to take shape.

Check out more photos after the break.

Photograph by Roger Edwards.

Photograph by Roger Edwards.

Photograph by Roger Edwards.

© Jeff Heatley

Architect: Stelle Architects
Location: Bridgehampton, NY, USA
Design Team: Frederick Stelle, Eleanor Donnelly, Greg Tietjen
Contractor: Ken Wright – Wright and Company Construction Inc.
Landscape Architects: Edwina von Gal, Edwina von Gal and Company
Interior Designer: Tom Flynn, Tom Flynn Inc.
Project Date: June 2008
Photographs: Jeff Heatley, Eric Piasecki

© Eric Piasecki

Architecture and nature have been fully integrated in this light-saturated, oceanfront compound that includes a guest house, a two car garage, a free-form chlorine free pool and a two story house clad in wood and cement panel rain screen with anodized aluminum windows.

© Eric Piasecki

Perched on top of an oceanfront dune, the original house had deteriorated over the years. The house was gutted, elevated and expanded as permitted by local codes. The original structure was reinforced with steel framing; the plans, elevations, systems, interior and exterior finishes are all new. The ‘new house’ floats elegantly above the dunes, maximizing ocean views.

© Eric Piasecki

Dark wood interiors and small windows were replaced with full height glass and light sea foam colored materials. Guest quarters at the entry level were designed to include ensuite bathrooms and direct access to a private oceanfront weatherproof deck nestled into the protection of the sand dunes. A sauna suite is accessible to guests and homeowners from the protection of the breezeway. A simple second floor plan allows the kitchen, living room and dining room to be used as one large space.

elevations 01

Operable doors on both sides maximize natural cross ventilation. The owner’s accommodations are on the upper level removed from guests. Both the remodeled house and guesthouse are equipped with geothermal heating and cooling and photovoltaic electric panels. The natural dunescape that wraps the house was restored with beach grass, bayberry and other native plants.

Courtesy of The Buell Center

The Buell Center will be hosting a public forum entitled What Is Foreclosed? Housing, Suburbanization, and Crisis, which marks the opening of Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream, an exhibition co-organized by the Museum of Modern Art and the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture. The event will take place on Saturday, February 18, 2012, in the Low Memorial Library Rotunda at Columbia University. An interdisciplinary group of scholars, activists, and architects, will debate the future of American housing, cities and suburbs and the cultural narratives that have accompanied the home foreclosure crisis and the economic crisis more generally. More information on the event after the break.

The exhibition features innovative architectural projects for five American suburbs in the context of the recent foreclosure crisis. The forum will use these projects as a point of departure to explore issues engaged by architecture and urbanism when considered in a cultural, political, and economic context. The projects respond to The Buell Hypothesis, a research document that revises the dominant cultural narratives guiding the “American Dream” regarding homeownership by emphasizing the many “public” dimensions of housing.

Schedule:

10:00-10:20
Opening Remarks
Reinhold Martin, Director, Buell Center,
Columbia University

10:30-11:40
From House to Housing
Pier Vittorio Aureli, Berlage Institute
Catherine Fennell, Department of Anthropology, Columbia University
Catherine Ingraham, School of Architecture, Pratt Institute
Ana Miljacki, School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-2:30
Suburbs, Cities, and Crisis
Setha Low, Department of Anthropology, City University of New York
Robert Fishman, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan
Mitch McEwen, Founder and Director, Superfront
Damon Rich, Chief Urban Designer, City of Newark

3:00-4:30
Globalization on the Inside
Keller Easterling, Yale School of Architecture, Yale University
Beka Economopoulos, Co-Founder and Director, Not An Alternative
Jason Jones, Co-Founder and Director, Not An Alternative
Jeffrey Sheldon Lowe, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University
Don Mitchell, Department of Geography, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University

5:00-6:00
Round Table Discussion and Reception
Change: Imagined and Real
Barry Bergdoll, Department of Architecture and Design, Museum of Modern Art, Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University
Reinhold Martin, Buell Center, Columbia University

Architects:
Amale Andraos, Work Architecture Company
Dan Wood, Work Architecture Company
Jeannie Gang, Studio Gang
Hilary Sample, MOS
Michael Meredith, MOS
Eunjeong Song, Visible Weather
Michael Bell, Visible Weather
Andrew Zago, Zago Architects

For more information, please visit here.

© Sebastian Zachariah

Architects: SPASM Design Architects
Location: Munavali, Alibaug, Maharashtra, India
Design Team: Sangeeta Merchant, Mangesh Jadhav, Thomas Kariath, Mansoor Kudalkar, Sanjeev Panjabi
Contractors: R.K. Construct
Engineers: Mr. Gireesh Rajadhyaksha (structural)
Site Area: 9,800 sqm
Total Built Area: 830 sqm
Completion: Dec 2011
Photographs: Sebastian Zachariah

© Sebastian Zachariah

Different houses , have different stories.

Located in a small village Munavali, proximal to Alibaug, a favorite getaway, for affluent Bombay citizens as a place to build their dream country home.

The allotment (3 acres) was partly a grove of Tamarind and Mango trees , with the odd , Champa, Vad tree. Part of the plot was four feet lower and was, an unkempt paddy field . The front of the property is a not so busy asphalt road.

© Sebastian Zachariah

When driving around the Raigad district , one often chances to see local brick stacks being baked on the green lots that surround them – some remain and are also abandoned ….

These form a peculiar feature of the landscape in Maharashtra.

We, wondered what it would be like to hollow out and inhabit these almost primitive mastaba like forms.

© Sebastian Zachariah

Our interest lay in using this image as a genesis of the house .

Further conception, was informed by site features like prominent Tamarind trees and orientation, aspect, wind and rain direction …..

Long stretches of the two main wings of the house , sit at right-angles to each other and about a curious tree which has grown at a leaning angle ……

© Sebastian Zachariah

Every room is cut on two sides with openings ,supporting easy cross ventilation and ingress of just the right about of light…..DESI (country) houses have peculiarly dark interiors offering respite from the sun –scorched outdoors…..

Attached facilities, allow for an intimate interface with the outdoors, in marked opposition to urban life, here you wouldn’t need a book when you sit on the pot……

© Sebastian Zachariah

The sequencing of the rooms, is frugal, and in series as a farm building, you must walk outdoors to change rooms…

The living space has a curious shed-like volume, where the materials of the house come together rather loosely ….. Insinuating incompleteness and creating a sense of being immersed in the vegetation around.

© Sebastian Zachariah

The body of the house hides under tree canopies like a gator , at the edge of a river bank….

The choice of BRICK was based on color, strength, finish— –blemishes of a hand-made unit were key to the overall expression…

The red earth brick does not attempt to be precise, neither does it try to create patterns or jaalis as commonly seen in Indian architecture, the brick is what it is , at rest — a STACK , its mass concealing and revealing life within it….. The sheer thickness –mass of the brick, keeps the interior spaces comfortably cool.

© Sebastian Zachariah

Experience of occupation takes precedence over formal gestures…. Sun , rain and wind freely enter the house and will mark it over the years …..the stacks will gradually get covered with luminescent moss, nature will fight its way back……. Living in a country home is about witnessing this war…..

ground floor plan

The pool, takes form from the shadow of the trees on the earth below, a pattern we noticed on an especially hot afternoon ….. In such regions water automatically becomes a source of life…. Getting engulfed by foliage….

This was a DESIGN-BUILD assignment — our first as architects…..

first floor plan

We, had one brick mason— eccentric!, 6 carpenters – with their radios blaring! ,an old stone cutter whose hands as hard as stone gave evidence of his life’s work and our engineer all of 28 yrs- who questioned the necessity, sense and strength of everything from design decisions to construction joints, to frustrating levels!!!

We ,enjoyed building this house……..