The New Stage (Nová scéna), is the modern sibling to the original Neo-Renaissance building of the National Theatre. For many years, this has been the seat of the world-renowned Laterna Magica, the world’s first multimedia theatre. It also offers classical drama, ballet and opera.
The idea to build Nová Scéna goes as far back as the end of the Second World War, but it only became a reality in 1983, using architect Karel Prager’s design. The three Nová Scéna buildings, together with the National Theatre, form a closed piazzetta, which in 2016, was newly crowned the “Václav Havel Square” in honour of the first Czech president. If the piazzetta appears to be particularly lively, do not hesitate to pass through. Often, ordinary markets, designer fairs or public performances are held here. The biggest attraction is the main building of Nová scéna, which is located right on Národní. It is probably the most well known example of Czech Brutalist architecture, and one of the most distinctive, but at the same time, the most controversial, buildings in Prague. It is unmissable thanks mainly to the glazed frontal by the front entrance and the facade faced with green marble slabs. In the unique interior, you will also find the green marble, together with other original designer elements, such as stainless steel banisters or crystal lamps – all exuding the unmistakable air of the 1970s.

Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Date: 1977-1983

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Fuente: A+U, Architectiure and Urbanism. Visions of the Real II. Modern Houses in the 20th Century. p110-p123

In designing his own home, losep Lluís Sert sought to replace the suburban single-family dwelling with an urban courtyard house, adapted to a northern climate. Sert asserted that this model,which he believed could be repeated on all adjacent lots, provided “more privacy, greater security, and a more efficient use of land in densely-populated areas.” Sert enclosed a typical suburban lot (18.3 m by 30.5 m / 60 ft. by 100 ft.) to create a house with three distinct courtyards defined by an outer wall. While breaking with the convention of a house and front yard, Sert integrated this building into its New England context by using common materials like red brick and wooden siding. Inside the fenced enclosure, Sert kept the building volumes low to accommodate the low angle of the northern winter sunlight. He also added a dynamic roof form, to maximize interior light and respond to the growing uneasiness on the part of many Americans with the modernist fIat roof. Over the living room Sert designed a butterfIy roof, placing clerestory windows underneath to further increase light penetration. The roof form echoed neighboring gable roofs on the exterior, while on the interior affording views of the neighboring trees, and allowing morning light to enter. The living space inside is masterful both in its proportion and efficiency. The dimensions of the rooms and patios are based on the Golden Mean. The central patio is a 7.3 m (24ft.) square anchored by a dogwood laurel tree. The living room and front court together form an exact square. Sert further used golden proportions to determine the section as well as the design of built-in shelves and fireplace. At the same time, he minimized corridor space by directing circulation around the central court, and through the kitchen and study. The design combines serenity, rationality, and panache.

Sert also kept interior furnishings to a minimum so as not to interfere with his art collection. Originally a painter, Sert displayed the work of his close friends Fernand Léger, Alexander Calder, Joan Miró, and Pablo Picasso throughout the house. Thus he kept walls and draperies white and limited bright colors to a few spots, to contrast with the bright colors of these paintings. Although Sert’s townhouse scheme was never repeated on neighboring lots, this urban unit formed the basis for many of his other designs, both in the Boston area and elsewhere. While Sert donated his art collection to the Harvard Art Museums, his house fell into disrepair after his death in 1983. Today, the Sert house recreates the architect’s original living environment, thanks to the faithful care of the Serts’ friends, Harvard professor Gerald Holton and his artist wife, Nina. The Holtons bought the house in 1991 , restored it to its original condition, and have furnished it with their own collection of art.

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Fuente: Ordine degli architetti di Milano
Fotografía actual: Marta Cassany

Con el edificio de la Via Massena, de planta rectangular y nueve pisos, Dominioni continúa con su búsqueda tipológica alrededor de la dignificación del edificio de viviendas plurifamiliar. El edificio está colocado en medio de una gran zona verde y niega la tradicional alineación a la calle, optando por un volumen aislado de orientación este-oeste, perpendicular a la vía.

La distribución de las viviendas es muy cambiante, no hay dos plantas iguales, como a menudo ocurre en la arquitectura de Dominioni, oscilando desde las tres unidades por planta a una sola vivienda que ocupa la planta por completo.
En el atrio de acceso nos volvemos a encontrar un pavimento en mosaicos de piezas de mármol del artista Francesco Somaini.

Es interesante ver el tratamiento completamente diferente que el arquitecto da a las dos fachadas principales: por una parte, el diseño elegante de las barandillas y las carpinterías correderas que llegan hasta el ángulo, dando una imagen de gran ligereza y por otra, una fachada opaca, revestida de cerámica, dando el contrapunto.

Sobre la esquina Este, rodeando las dos hileras verticales de ventanas, el revestimiento en azulejos cerámicos hexagonales que dan un efecto plástico “alveolar” que reencontramos en otras obras precedentes del autor.

En el frente opuesto, una fachada de abertura continua, marcada por los forjados vistos continuos y las persianas corredizas que otorgan un efecto compositivo de gran movimiento. En todos los detalles se puede observar la sabiduría artesanal aplicada a la arquitectura que se convertirá en la marca de fábrica del estilo del arquitecto, recuperando el valor de la tradición milanesa.

Marta Cassany

Marta Cassany

Marta Cassany

Marta Cassany

Marta Cassany

Marta Cassany

Marta Cassany

Marta Cassany

Marta Cassany

Marta Cassany

Marta Cassany

Arquitecto:
Luigi Caccia Dominioni

Año de construcción:
1958-1963

Ubicación:
Via Andrea Massena 19. Milán

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Por Anna & Eugeni Bach

Trayecto desde la Iglesia Christi Auferstehung, 13 km, aprox. 20 min.
Dirección: Riphahnstraße 5, 50769 Köln, Germany

El barrio de Chorweiler, proyectado y construido entre 1966 y 1973, es probablemente, uno de los mejores proyectos de Gottfried Böhm, y sin lugar a dudas, una de las mejores visitas de este viaje. Distintas tipologías de vivienda social se organizan alrededor de una calle peatonal que termina en una plaza y se ofrece como anfiteatro y zona de juegos infantiles. Después de 40 años, el estado de conservación de toda la zona es excelente, lo que denota el cariño y el orgullo que los vecinos tienen por este barrio.

Böhm continúa utilizando el hormigón casi exclusivamente como único material, aunque aquí introduce la pintura como un elemento que materializa lo inexistente: dinteles, celosías, antepechos, marcos o escaleras aparecen como por arte de magia, en un juego entre naturaleza y artificio en el que apetece tomar parte.

En algún lugar leímos que incluso la hiedra pintada en algunas paredes fue realizada por Böhm, de incógnito, cuando acabaron el proyecto, con la intención de que los recién llegados vecinos siguieran el ejemplo y pintaran sus propias plantas en las fachadas. Los 40 años pasados han permitido que las hiedras sean ahora reales, y trepen por algunas fachadas por encima de aquéllas que pintaron entonces.

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Source: McCullough Mulvin Architects
Photography: Christian Richters

St Mary’s Hall, formerly St Mary’s Church, High Street, Kilkenny was founded in the thirteenth century as the parish church of the City. In use as a Parish and Masonic Hall since the mid-20th century, it was purchased by Kilkenny Borough Council in 2010 with assistance from Kilkenny County Council and the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

The building is a cruciform 13th century stone structure with a later tower at its Western end; it sits in a substantial walled graveyard to the rear of High Street. The graveyard has recently been opened as a garden to the public; it contains many important tombs and monuments from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.

The church had acquired depth and complexity in monuments and nave aisles, elements which were later shorn off, the aisles removed, the chancel demolished- a shape expanding and contracting, already through a violent cycle of change. As found, the interior was cut up into separate rooms and levels to make a parish hall.

The project intention was to restore the church as a museum, retaining some of the 20th century interventions, and to honour its medieval spatial complexity by re-constructing the North aisle and chancel to the original plan but a different internal section and materiality using the base of the original walls in an non-interventive way. The chancel room overlooks the town, re-establishing its dominant form in the urban landscape; the space beneath it becomes a tomb-filled undercroft. Both of the new gabled elements are finished in lead, with rooflights directed to levels of archaeology below.

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