Concrete House II, image courtesy A-cero

The first sensation that this house produces when people go into the plot is that the building seems to be hidden between concrete walls and vegetable ramps that extend up to the roof. They are dyed in dark gray and contain, between them, vegetation areas that seem to climb towards the sky. The house´s façade show a spectacular organic view of the whole house and so even the hard concrete shows its most kind face.

Concrete House II, image courtesy A-cero

The back front of the house is totally opened towards the garden where the lounge, dining room, library, study and bedrooms are. In this façade the wide windows, the volumes set and the projections (made of concrete too enhance. These elements cover the several house´s porches. The large window of the main lounge hides itself automatically in order to make this stay completely opened to the exterior areas.

Concrete House II, image courtesy A-cero

The plot includes also an elegant garden, a small lake and a pádel track.

The ecological aspect is very in this A-cero´s work: the façade and the roof have the main ecological roles because they are covered with low consume vegetation. Furthermore on the house´s roof has been implemented a renewable energy system made of wide surfaces with solar tubular collectors who allow that the energy autonomy of the house.

Concrete House II, image courtesy A-cero

+ Project credits / data

Architect: A-cero
Project: Concrete House II
Location: Madrid, Spain

+ Project description, all drawings and images courtesy of A-cero

Conversion Vertical Museum, Castle-Tower Regensbergg - Vertical timeline, drawing courtesy L3P Architekten

Conversion Vertical Museum, Castle-Tower Regensbergg, image courtesy L3P Architekten

Conversion Vertical Museum, Castle-Tower Regensbergg, image courtesy L3P Architekten

As old as the hills and rusty fresh: rusty steel is used for all fixtures; the archaic expression of the castle-tower is underlined.

All existing technical installations have been removed, integrated in the walls or disguised in the timber work hung with rusty wire meshing. This pacification of room lends a marked accent on the stonework of the walls and the mounted objects exhibited on them. The medieval atmosphere has been reinforced with indirect and diffuse lighting.

Conversion Vertical Museum, Castle-Tower Regensbergg, image courtesy L3P Architekten

The exhibition wages through local history vertically. As one ascends the levels, the exhibition themes become younger in their historical development: from mediaeval times on the ground floor, to the 20th century on the 5th floor.

Conversion Vertical Museum, Castle-Tower Regensbergg, image courtesy L3P Architekten

As the battlement is ascended, one is ultimately confronted with the modern era. The weather-proofed exit is in reference to the interior free space of the upper castle. The materialisation with fibre glass, as well as the volumetry reminds one of a snail shell discovered petrified in the battlement cover. Information signs on the flat roof illuminate the modern era view.

The outdoor lighting of the tower has been renewed with a contemporary projection technique, which completely reduces light pollution and brings a 12-fold reduction of energy use.

+ Project credits / data

Architect: L3P Architects
Location: Regensberg, Canton Zurich, Switzerland
Completion: 24.10.2009
Gross floor area: 47.4m2, 6 floors
Client: Foundation Castle Regensberg
Light planning: Vogt + Partner, Winterthur
Exhibition: René Kindlimann, Aathal
Historian: Dr. Bruno Meier, Baden + Dr.Dominik Sauerländer, Aarau
Cantonal historic monument preservation: Beat Stahel
Photography: Vito Stallone

+ Project description, all images and drawings courtesy of L3P Architekten

Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, render courtesy FOA

+ Project description courtesy Foreign Office Architects

Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland Releases Design by Foreign Office Architects for Innovative New Building

Project is cornerstone of Cleveland’s emerging Uptown district

The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA) today released the design for its new facility, following its presentation and approval at a meeting of the City’s Planning Commission. The project is designed by the internationally acclaimed firm Foreign Office Architects (FOA), London. The Museum anticipates that it will break ground for the $26.3 million project in fall/winter 2010.

The nearly 34,000-square-foot, four-story structure is FOA’s first major building in the United States, and its first museum. It will provide MOCA with street presence for the first time in its forty-plus-year history, and will enable it to present a diversity of innovative exhibitions and programs, while appealing to both current and new audiences. At the same time, it will give the city of Cleveland and its cultural community a signature building for contemporary art and ideas.

Located at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and Mayfield Road, the new MOCA is a flagship project of Cleveland’s emerging Uptown district, a major urban-revitalization project undertaken by Case Western Reserve University; developer MRN, Ltd.; and other institutions in the University Circle neighborhood. The Museum will serve as a catalyst for creativity and growth in the area—which is home to one of the country’s largest concentrations of cultural, educational, and medical institutions—with greatly expanded educational and public programs, as well as imaginative collaborations with neighboring organizations and cultural partners.

The Museum for Contemporary Art Cleveland is elated that the design for its new building has been approved by the City Planning Commission. This represents an endorsement of FOA’s inspired building design and a recognition of the critical importance of MOCA to the cultural life of the city. FOA’s design for our building is the perfect expression of our program—one that will not only enable it to operate at the highest level, but that will also be beautiful, intriguing, and sensitive to its urban surroundings and community. The Museum’s ability to realize this project during a period of economic instability is a clear testament to the vision and dedication of MOCA’s Board leadership and community funders.

MOCA Director Jill Snyder

As FOA’s first museum and first U.S. commission, this is an especially meaningful and inspirational project for us. Museums today are not just homes for art, but also serve multiple functions and host a variety of activities. Our design for MOCA Cleveland aims to provide visitors with a museum which is a dynamic public space in which to experience contemporary art in its infinite manifestations.

Farshid Moussavi, principal of FOA

In addition to Foreign Office Architects, the design team for the new Museum includes executive architects Westlake Reed Leskosky, headquartered in Cleveland and designers of more than fifty cultural buildings throughout the United States.

Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, render courtesy FOA

Building Design

The new MOCA, which will be forty-four percent larger than the Museum’s current, leased facility, will demonstrate that a museum expansion need not be large in scale to be ambitious in all respects. Devised for both environmental and fiscal sustainability, the design for the four-story building is at once technically inventive, visually stunning, and highly practical.

FOA has responded ingeniously to the project’s roughly triangular site by designing a building with a hexagonal base that, with imperceptible changes in the shape of each story, rises to a square roof. Viewed from the exterior, the building will appear as an inventive massing of six geometric facets, some flat, others sloping at various angles, all coming together to create a powerful abstract form.

Clad primarily in mirror-finish black Rimex stainless steel, the façade of the new MOCA will reflect its urban surroundings, changing in appearance with differences in light and weather. Window glazing will be tinted to assimilate with the reflective skin so that during the day the building will read as a unified volume, while at night interior lights will create a dynamic pattern on the dark surface.

Three of the building’s six facets, one of them clad in transparent glass, will flank a public plaza. This will provide a public gathering place and also serve as MOCA’s “front yard,” and will be the site of seasonal programming. From here, visitors and passersby may look through the transparent facet, site of the Museum entrance, into the ground floor, a space intended for socializing and for civic and cultural events.

While the building’s dark exterior will offer almost no hint of the interior massing and structure, the experience inside will be notably transparent. Upon entering MOCA, visitors will find themselves in an atrium from which they may visually grasp the dynamic shape and structure of the building as it rises. This space will lead in turn to the Museum’s lobby, café, and shop, and to a double-height multi-purpose room that will house public programs and other events. From here, visitors may take the Museum’s staircase—itself a monumental sculptural object—or an elevator to the upper floors.

Because MOCA is a non-collecting institution—one of the few such contemporary art museums in the country—its new building does not need to accommodate collection galleries, and the architect was free to design the exhibition space for maximum flexibility. This has been achieved by placing the main gallery at the top of the building. There it will be structurally unencumbered, needing only to hold the lightweight roof, the underside of which will be fully visible from the gallery. The 6,000-square-foot space may be divided into a variety of configurations in order to encompass the broad range of MOCA’s exhibitions and related programs. This floor will also contain a gallery designed specifically for new-media work and a lounge with a view of the city, where visitors can relax, reflect on what they have seen, and read about the exhibitions.

Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, render courtesy FOA

Ms. Snyder notes,

As Cleveland’s only museum of contemporary art, MOCA is committed to presenting exhibitions that break new ground, showing the work of emerging artists from across the globe as well as from our own region. Flexibility is key to a program that, like ours, embraces aesthetic, conceptual, and cultural diversity, and displays works in a great variety of mediums and genres. We are thrilled with the gallery space planned for the new Museum.

While the main exhibition gallery is on the top floor, all four floors of the Museum contain space for either exhibitions or public programs, with the second and third floors combining public and “back of house” functions. The second floor, for example, will house both exhibition workshops and a 1,500-square-foot public gallery, to be used for more intimately scaled exhibitions; consonant with the openness that is characteristic of the building’s interior, visitors approaching this gallery will also be able to glimpse the workshops. The third floor, home to MOCA’s administrative offices, will also include spaces for classes, lectures, and other educational programs.

In keeping with the ways in which contemporary visitors engage with art, the new building will have wi-fi throughout, enabling the use of wireless devices for on-demand learning. MOCA anticipates that the building will receive LEED silver accreditation.

+ Project credits / data

Project: The Museum of Contemporary Art
Location: Cleveland, USA
Architect: Foreign Office Architects (FOA)

+ About Foreign Office Architects

Founded in London in 1993, Foreign Office Architects (FOA) has emerged as one of the most innovative and creative design firms working today, integrating architecture, urban design, and landscape architecture in a wide range of projects internationally. The project that established the practice’s reputation was the Yokohama Port Terminal in Japan, an imaginative hybrid of non-Cartesian industrial infrastructure and versatile social functionality, which architects and critics have called one of the most influential works of architecture of the last decade. Since then, FOA has amassed a diverse portfolio of built works around the world, ranging from transportation facilities to social housing projects.

Over the years, FOA has won several prestigious competitions and commissions, including the BBC Music Box, for the network’s White City complex, in London; and it was selected as part of the United Architects team to submit a design for the World Trade Center, New York, in the aftermath of the September 11 attack. In 2002, the practice was selected to represent Great Britain at the 8th Venice Architecture Biennale.

Other completed projects for FOA include the John Lewis Department Store and Cineplex in Leicester, England; Carabanchel Social Housing in Madrid, Spain; the South-East Coastal Park, Barcelona, Spain; the Meydan Retail Complex and Multiplex, in Istanbul; the Spanish Pavilion at the 2005 International Expo in Aichi, Japan; La Rioja Technology Transfer Centre, in Logroño, Spain; and the master plan and infrastructure for the London 2012 Olympic Park.

+ About Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland

Founded in 1968, the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, a leading force in the cultural life of Northeast Ohio, is recognized nationally and internationally for its vital and creative exhibitions and public programs. These strive to challenge, inspire, and teach a wide range of audiences.

As one of the few non-collecting contemporary art museums in the United States, MOCA enjoys the curatorial freedom of an alternative space while upholding the standards of a collecting museum. Through eight-to-ten exhibitions a year, all accompanied by public and education programs, and many by scholarly catalogues, the Museum brings the work and ideas of a diversity of national and international artists to its audiences. MOCA’s critically acclaimed exhibitions have included Yoshitomo Nara (2004), Sam Taylor-Wood (2008), and All Digital (2006), among many others.

From 1968 to 1990, MOCA rented modest quarters in University Circle, and from 1990 to the present it has rented second-story space from the Cleveland Play House, where it has been virtually invisible to passersby. Today, as it prepares to begin work on its new building, MOCA looks forward to welcoming both established and new audiences to its exciting new space in University Circle.

For additional information: www.mocacleveland.org

+ About Uptown Initiative

Established in 2008 by Case Western Reserve University, in cooperation with neighboring University Circle institutions and the developer MRN Ltd., Cleveland’s emerging Uptown district will add an urban center to University Circle and the surrounding neighborhoods. The eight-acre district is anchored by the new MOCA and the expansion of the Cleveland Institute of Art (Burt, Hill with MVRDV), and will also provide new commercial space and residential units, to be designed by Stanley Saitowitz/Natoma Architects Inc. The public realm of the Uptown district will be designed by James Corner, principal of the New York-based landscape architecture and urban design firm Field Operations.

Kay e Sante nan Ayiti (Creole for Housing and Health in Haiti), is an international competition launched by the ARCHIVE Institute to build five housing units in the area of St. Marc, Haiti. The housing units are unique in that throughout the entire project, from design, construction, and habitation, HEALTH is a driving factor. The housing units will make use of common sense design principles, and all units should seek to minimize the transmission of Tuberculosis. The community of St. Marc will be actively engaged in the project, helping refine the final ideas to ensure the long term viability of the project. The Kay e Sante nan Ayiti project believes that the way to reach the best design solution is through a collaboration of minds, skills, interests and people.

ARCHIVE hopes that the competition will raise awareness of the ability of housing to change the way in which society deals with global infectious disease epidemics, as well as generate a new-found knowledge amongst applicants of the link between housing and health. We are asking you to contribute your ideas to this project, whatever your background, to share your knowledge and create a truly interdisciplinary network of interested individuals. The 5 winning proposals will be built in 2011, with habitation commencing July 2011. The winning designs will also be showcased in travelling exhibits to universities worldwide and in a ‘best practice’ design development compendium. Prizes include: First place: $5,000 US; Second place: $3,000 US; Third place: $2,000 US. The competition is opened to: Architects, engineers, health specialists, university students and the general public.

International: Kay e Sante nan Ayiti (Creole for Housing and Health in Haiti), Open Architectural Design Competition
Registration Deadline: 20th September 2010. Submission Deadline: 12th November 2010
Competition website: http://www.archiveinstitute.org/haiti/
Registration: http://www.archiveinstitute.org/haiti/index.php/pages/registration/signup

Please click here to watch the video presentation by Zaha Hadid architects.

The key challenge for the design of the CMA CGM Head Office tower is the integration of the building environment and the creation of a totally unique, iconic edifice.

Zaha Hadid architects

CMA CGM Headquarters, rendering courtesy Zaha Hadid architects

CMA CGM Headquarters, rendering courtesy Zaha Hadid architects

+ Project Description courtesy Zaha Hadid architects

The new Head Office tower for CMA CGM in Marseille, France rises in a metallic curving arc that slowly lifts from the ground and accelerates skywards into the dramatic vertical geometry of its revolutionary forms. The disparate volumes of the tower are generated from a number of gradual centripetal vectors that emerge from within the solid ground surface, gently converge towards each other, and then bend apart, towards its ultimate co-ordinate 142.8 metres above the ground. The tower’s structural columns define, and are enclosed within, a double façade system that reflect these centripetal vectors, generating a dynamic symbiosis between a fixed structural core of this Head Office and its peripheral array of columns.

CMA CGM Headquarters - Conceptual diagram, drawing courtesy Zaha Hadid architects

Urban Masterplan

Marseille, one of the largest cities in France, is an historic Provencal city centred around the centuries-old harbour, with a rich past of several cultural interventions from Phoenician, to Greek, to the Romans. This fortified city has grown into a cosmopolitan metropolis due to its development into one of the most important international ports in Europe. With the city’s distinguished naval history, and the unique siting of the CMA CGM tower beside both the harbour and the major motorway interchange, there is an opportunity to provide a highly visible landmark building to act as a gateway to the city from both land and sea. This new tower would be an iconic vertical element that interacts with the other significant landmarks of Marseille: La Major; the Basilica Notre Dame de la Garde; the Fort St.  Jean; and the Chateau d’If.

Urban Strategy

The key challenge for the design of the CMA CGM Head Office tower is the integration of the building environment and the creation of a totally unique, iconic edifice. The current CMA CGM headquarters distinguishes itself with a prominent position within immediate vicinity of the Mirabeau site. Flowing past the site on both sides is an elevated motorway viaduct that bifurcates at the western edge of the new tower’s location. At ground level, a major new transport interchange will allow pedestrians to access the new public transport facilities for the this district of Marseille. Whilst the quai and its waterways are also adjacent to site of the new tower. Directly at the confluence of this dynamic urban movement, the new Tower would accentuate its verticality and create a signature feature that would set a commanding new presence.

CMA CGM Headquarters, image courtesy Zaha Hadid architects

Taxonomy

The unique design strategy of the new CMA CGM Head Office divides the overall volume into smaller fragments and reassembles them in a manner that maintains the integral uniformity of the tower – but with design elements that encourage the best possible relationship for the tower with the city of Marseille. Detailed exploration and research has created the possibility of a more elegant fluid, sculptural form. The building maintains the regularity in the upper levels whilst the lower portion of the CMA CGM Head Office tower ‘morphs’ from the vertical to the horizontal to relate to the extreme horizontal energy of pedestrian, automobile, tram and shipping movements at ground level.

The programme of the Tower building has an inherent division that supports this ‘morph’: the upper floors are much more private office spaces while the lower floors contain public and semi-public spaces that call for a continuous, horizontal arrangement. The lower portion then becomes shaped to allow for more generous accommodation. The supporting columns have also been placed on the exterior envelope to minimize disruption to the office floors, while the curving profiles on the exterior facades work with the central core of the tower providing a rigid frame and giving a sense of movement and freedom to this completely new typology of tower.

CMA CGM Headquarters - Typical office floor plan, drawing courtesy Zaha Hadid architects

+ Project credits / data

PROJECT: CMA CGM HEAD OFFICE TOWER
YEAR: 2005-2009
PROGRAM: Head offices and parking
CLIENT: CMA CGM
LOCATION: Marseille, France

ARCHITECT:

Design: Zaha Hadid Architects
Project Director: Jim Heverin
Project Architect: Stephane Vallotton
Project Team: Karim Muallem, Simone Contasta, Leonie Heinrich, Alvin Triestanto, Muriel Boselli, Eugene Leung, Bhushan Mantri, Jerome Michel, Nerea Feliz, Prashanth Sridharan,Birgit Eistert, Evelyn Gono, Marian Ripoll
Competition Team: Jim Heverin, Simon Kim, Michele Pasca Di Magiano, Viviana Muscettola

CONSULTANTS:

Partner architects: SRA –RTA (Paris/ Marseille)
Structural engineer: Ove Arup & Partners (London)
Services: Ove Arup & Partners (London)
Façade engineers: Ove Arup & Partners / Robert-Jan Van Santen Associates (London / Lille)
Cost consultant: R2M (Marseille)

SIZE/AREA:

Gross Floor Area: 94,000 m²
Height: 33 Floors/147 m

+ All drawings and images courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

Cascade Coil Stand, image courtesy Hassell

The gold mirror finishes and glowing floor of the Cascade Coil stand provided a backdrop against which to display the utilitarian yet sophisticated woven wire mesh product.

The site was very influential in the design of the exhibition stand as the elements of modularity and mobility were crucial to its success. The stand was designed as a travelling exhibit, assembled from modular pieces that could be put together and pulled apart easily. The corner location allowed people to view the stand from multiple angles which emphasised the scale and changing dynamic of the stand’s suspended sphere and reflective surfaces.

Cascade Coil Stand, image courtesy Hassell

Although only 12 sqm, the stand’s size is exaggerated by the use of mirrored surfaces; the reflective wall panelling adds greater depth, challenging the idea of weightlessness and scale, creating a magical world of reflection and illusion. Layered curtains of shimmering mesh are suspended overhead. Mirrored discs suspended within these curtains create the illusion of a floating gold sphere. The light from the glowing floor below magnifies the intensity of the gold as it reflects and refracts the light from its surrounds, expressing the strong, yet lightweight, transparent nature of the product.

The stand targets a rigorous aesthetic reinforcing the singular nature of the product. Gold and its amplified forms are suggestive of quality and linked to a confidence that this product is one to be aspired towards.

Cascade Coil Stand, image courtesy Hassell

+ Project description and all images courtesy Hassell

… as we walk past it, will grow a “diary” of the garden, superimposing spontaneous and arbitrary records, productively artistic through the action of the wind on the rods with markers attached to their ends which will operate like a wind printer of the intervention of viewers ready to interact with them, thus creating a drawing of their journey.

Lara | Sara

Natureza em Risco, image courtesy Lara | Sara

Natureza em Risco, image courtesy Lara | Sara

+ Project description courtesy Lara | Sara

Natureza em risco

The challenge is to evoke art in the garden summoning the idea of transformation through the (in)voluntary action of visitors.

We have cultivated a path around a white canvas arranged in an arc (determining the interior/exterior of the area), an area to support the action of various markers (different coloured pencils), that will record experiences within the space.

How? The canvas, as we walk past it, will grow a “diary” of the garden, superimposing spontaneous and arbitrary records, productively artistic through the action of the wind on the rods with markers attached to their ends which will operate like a wind printer of the intervention of viewers ready to interact with them, thus creating a drawing of their journey.

To contemplate the creative process, with each new moment, we considered when the viewer would rest, planting an oval bench in the grass, from which a tree sprouts. This moment in the journey offers aromas, sound and shade which are intended to fertilise senses and help unfold a sense of well-being.

Why an amorphous material for the specific area where the rods are set, when the main objective of this intervention is to create a garden? Why the stone for the place where the steel rods “are born”?

For the sake of irony

After all, artistic creation comes from all the elements grouped in this area, in other words, from the “non living” elements existing in the intervention, which gain life because they display change, the most elementary way of living in the space.

+ Questions about Natureza em risco

What was your criteria while creating Nature by Lines?

Our starting point was the theme “Art in the Garden” defined by the Festival organization. We tried to explore the possibility of having people to intervene on the garden and to have a kind of “diary” of it on space.

Nature attracts spectators but the need to ensure the garden preservation keeps them from touching it or feeling it. Pencils were there to work as extension of their will to intervene, as a privileged manifest of their feelings and thoughts registered on a white canvas.

The title “Nature at risk” reflects an ideological concern of ours, since nature, due to various forms of negligence, is, in fact, at risk. Our intention was to inspire people to become more self-aware of this reality and lead them to write down their thoughts and feelings on the blank canvas.

Can you tell us about the process within the Ponte de Lima Garden Festival? What kind of challenges you face and how was the application process?

We felt very much supported by the organization during the entire working process. On a project like this the main challenge is to get to predict all the things that can go wrong along the period of exhibition, specially in our case where people were called to intervene on the garden. In order to assure its maximum longevity and the preservation of the materials we chose, without loosing track of the original concept, we had to perform a number of tests.

The construction implied different phases. Each element of the garden corresponded to a different one, always supervised by us. It was a creative process that as well as many others was built on concerns and plentiful of joys.

What are the feedbacks you had from Nature by Lines. It seems like people participated intensely and created a unique work there?

The biggest feedback we had was the major affluence of people since day one. Thus making it impossible for us to consider our garden was somehow indifferent or invisible to people. Those daily registers, at some point chaotic, far exceeded our best expectations. People said yes to our invitation and were clearly up for the challenge.

One other thing that was important for us was the positive feedback we got afterwards, with the project divulgation and some publishing proposals of it.

Lastly, how do you generally evaluate the festival?

This Festival is a great example of a good cultural public event. It gets about one hundred thousand visitors every year, therefore contributing to put Ponte de Lima on the cultural scene; and last but not the least it is a sustainable project. It relies on a number of sponsors who recognise the importance of this event and invest on it, getting thereby a most deserved recognition and visibility on a national and international cultural scene plan.

+ For more information, please visit http://jardim-naturezaemrisco.blogspot.com/

+ All images courtesy Lara | Sara

eVolo
2011 Skyscraper Competition
eVolo – to study, to develop, to evolve, to fly away…

eVolo is pleased to invite students, architects, engineers, and designers from around the globe to take part in the 2011 Skyscraper Competition.

The annual eVolo Skyscraper Competition is a forum for the discussion, development, and promotion of innovative concepts for vertical density. It examines the relationship between the skyscraper and the natural world, the skyscraper and the community, and the skyscraper and the city.

The exponential increase of the world’s population and its unprecedented shift from rural to urban areas has prompted hundreds of new developments without adequate urban planning and poor architectural design. The aim of this competition is to redefine what we understand as a skyscraper and initiate a new architectural discourse of economic, environmental, intellectual, and perceptual responsibility that could ultimately modify our cities and improve our way of life.

The use of new materials, technologies, aesthetics, and novel spatial organizations, along with studies on globalization, flexibility, adaptability, and the digital revolution are some of the multi-layered elements that the participants should take into consideration. This is also an investigation on the public and private space and the role of the individual and the collective in the creation of a dynamic and adaptive vertical community.

There are no restrictions in regards to site, program or size. The objective is to provide maximum freedom to the participants to engage the project without constraints in the most creative way. What is a skyscraper in the 21st century? What are the historical, contextual, social, urban, and environmental responsibilities of these mega-structures?

Regulations

1. This is an anonymous competition and the registration number is the only means of identification.
2. The official language of the competition is English.
3. The registration fee is non-refundable.
4. Contacting the Jury is prohibited.
5. Entrants will be disqualified if any of the competition rules are not considered.
6. Participation assumes acceptance of the regulations.

Awards

• 1st place – US $5000
• 2nd place – US $2000
• 3rd place – US $1000

Winners and special mentions will be published in several print magazines including eVolo_04.

+ For more information, please visit http://www.evolo.us/

Two mounds are made on a slope. This is the “topography” of the house. The house is “in the mountain.” We have designed a floor to float on top of these mounds. There is an office inside it. It is a design room for the maker of a Japanese sneaker brand, Dragon Beard.

EASTERN design office

Mountains & Opening House, image courtesy EASTERN design office

Mountains & Opening House, image courtesy EASTERN design office

+ Project description courtesy of EASTERN design office

Mountain/Opening

This building is a design room for a Japanese sneaker brand as well as a residential house. The site is in Takarazuka-city of Hyogo Prfecture. It is located in an exclusive residential district that commands an entire view of the Osaka Plain. The architecture is built on the slope of a hill with an elevation of 330 meters. The level difference of the site is 8 meters.

Taking advantage of the slope, one of the characteristics of this site, an architecture which suits the desires of two persons is built.

A. To be underground in the warmth of the earth.
B. To fly like a bird.

Mountains & Opening House, image courtesy EASTERN design office

A. To be warmed up. A lower floor, a house, invisible in a mountain.

• The site has an 8 meter difference in height. 8 meters is higher than a two-story building. The lower floor is in the ground of the slanted site. It is invisible from the upper road.
• There is a bedrock layer 1.5 meters beneath the ground surface. It is so hard that even a shovel car could not crush it. Dig to the bedrock and the foundation is supported by this bedrock.
• Build two mounds using the soil dug. Insert a residence between these two mounds.
• Built on “a new topography-mountain”, all parts of the building are close to the earth. The mountains are designed to emphasize the slope.

An exclusive residential area on a hill features a good commanding view as its sales point. Development of this kind of community is planned in a similar way with no individuality. We consider this phenomenon as “a loss of topography”. We have dreamed of a mountain whose slope was scraped away. The lost mountain is designed into this architecture.

Architecture is not built on a site where the slope is flattened. By contrary the angle of the slope is increased, which results in two mounds. Between these two mounds a living space is built, and the upper story floating on these two mounds is a design room.

Mountains & Opening House - diagram, drawing courtesy EASTERN design office

B. Flying. An upper floor, a design room

• Observe the Gulf of Osaka, high-rise buildings, Kobe port, Kansai Airport, Itami Airport, and shadowy blue mountains.
• The land originally slanted at an angle of 18 degrees. Mounds are built there to let the slope undulate.
• These mountain waves are topography where no previous topography existed. The upper floor was designed to float on these mountain waves.
• We have designed the form which passes over the waves. Is it a dream of a long-distance ship going over high waves or is it a dragon?

The dream of this architecture is like a voyage setting out.

An 18 meter-long terrace. The sea and a range of mountains 60 kilometers away can be observed. When standing on this terrace, rows of other houses in this area are out of sight. This is the way we have arranged this architecture and its openings.
You can get a sense that your body is slightly floating. It is our intention to give the sense of being on a deck of ships, but not in the house. The design room on the upper floor of this architecture is a ship.

The plan is designed in L-shape. The edge protruding greatly from the slope is an opening that swallows the outside. Straight eaves run amidst the curvilinear forms of the topography. The eaves project in a powerful manner not to be beaten by the inherent force of the topography. They are thin, thick, short, long and carved.

To be protected by the house, yet at the same time have the feeling of flying away. Making two extremes into one. This is realized in the architecture in the corresponding forms of the upper and lower floors.

Mountains & Opening House - diagram, drawing courtesy EASTERN design office

It is a cave and also a nautical form.
It is flying away, yet it is anchored.
It is drifting, yet it is homely.
It is sky, and it is Earth. It is far, yet it is near.

1.5 meters beneath the ground surface is hard bedrock. The foundation is raised on this bedrock. For this, the excavated earth was used and the red curving line was designed to achieve this. In other words, by heaping up the excavated soil, a new undulating mountainous topography is built. The lower floor is built under the mountain.
The form which runs over the mountains is the upper floor. The corresponding upper and lower floors are made into one form.

Mountains & Opening House - diagram, drawing courtesy EASTERN design office

This is a slope when architecture is erased. The architecture of the “house” is a “mountain.” The plan for this slope is to shape the mountain structurally, but that goal was to let people feel the uninterrupted flow of the curves that define the mountain. Let the people have a sense of closeness to the wave-like mountain. A small change to the curve will lead to a loss of balance, affecting the way openings should be designed, the mountain, and the entire architecture will also have to be change its form. However at this moment not even one person felt unnatural when standing on this undulating slop.

Mountains & Opening House - diagram, drawing courtesy EASTERN design office

Putting the ideas of a “slope” into order. The correlation between rising and falling(?up and down) , crossing far and nearby nature. The multifarious worlds that people can sense in a place called “slope”

A person standing on a slope. A person crouching on a slope. A person flying off a slope. Only on a slope can people look back on the road they’ve climbed and, also can look at the way they will go from now on. It can be called a visional place that inspires people.

Haven’t you ever had the experience of gazing far into the distance, all alone in a spot on a grassy slope where adults will surely never come?

+ Description of technique and material

Deck on the Mountain

The Material of the Mountain
The outside (exterior) mountain is formed into a mound by piling up soil excavated from the slope. The surface of the mound is a type of raw material made from crushed marble called “Kansui”. Glittering fragments of crushed marble on a whity surface shine brilliantly. There are two white mountains. The living quarters are inside the white mountain while atop the white mountainous wave is a deck.

One of the two white mountains functions as a structural support for this building, while the other mountain conceals the bathroom. These two mountains are also set into the living spaces of the residential quarters.

The Structure of the Deck
The framework of the upper floor is steel and the lower floor is reinforced concrete. The upper floor evokes a sense of being on the deck of a boat and in order to achieve this feeling architectural columns and walls are designed as to make one unaware of their existence.

Entering the house from the northern road, a 14meter wide opening and the 16.5 meter x3 meter terrace outside create the feeling that your own body is floating in the scenery. This is a deck.

To achieve this, we used two different methods.

1. Revaluation of the trusses
2. Concealing the structural members in the curves

1. It is not immediately apparent; however, since horizontal slits were cut into the northern wall, trusses were set into it. It is like the structure of a bridge. Bridges are set into the upper part of the horizontal slits which allow the floor to float in the air while concealing the structural device.

2. Columns are in the curves forming the openings and this also is concealed. The curves of the openings respond each other with the curves of the mountains. A fantasy created by the repeated curves appearing over and over again.

Living Space + Opening + Mountain
The lower floor fully utilizes the slope of the mountain. The hidden areas become mountains? while the areas that is required light become valleys. These rolling undulations are all part of the design.

Two Horizontal Eaves
The upper and lower floors are used in different ways. The upper floor is a design room. The lower floor houses residential quarters. That is there are public spaces within the residential quarters. The demand of how the spaces should be is different; therefore, the structure is also different.

Taking balance to unify the upper and lower portions, the curves of the mountain are made continuous with the curves of the openings. There are two thin iron plate eaves on the openings: one with the length of 14 meters on the upper floor and the other with 16.5 meters on the lower floor. The thickness of the iron plate is only 9mm. The straight line of these two eaves emphasizes the expansive spreading horizontal width of this house. Consequently, this makes you forget that the house is on a sloped site.

Blue and White
The overall whiteness is not just a general white coat of paint. It is white mixed with blue. This is because we want white that corresponds with the blue sky. In addition, we intend this white to reflect the light of fragments of marble scattered in the raw material which covers on the surface of two newly built mountains.

Mountains & Opening House - Basement floor plan, drawing courtesy EASTERN design office

Mountains & Opening House - 1st floor plan, drawing courtesy EASTERN design office

+ Project credits / data

Project: Mountain & Opening House
Location: Takarazuka Hyogo Japan
Usage: Office ,House
Site area: 711.46 m2
Total floor area: 361.84m2
Completed: December 2009

Architect: EASTERN design office
Client: AMERICAN CLUB INTERNATIONAL CO, LTD
Structural Engineering: HOJO STRUCTURE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Constructor: Fukasaka Co., Ltd
Photographer: Koichi Torimura

+ All images and drawings courtesy of EASTERN design office

New Dance and Music Centre in The Hague - EAST ELEVATION, drawing courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

New Dance and Music Centre in The Hague, rendering courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

+ Project description courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

DESIGN FOR NEW DANCE AND MUSIC CENTER [THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS]

The design concept for the New Dance and Music Centre in The Hague is developed from the unique urban dynamics of the site, resulting in a structure with subtle volumetric gestures that invite the public from the ground-level plaza into the heart of the building. The seamless continuation of the public domain into the structure further reinforces the cohesive character of the building, which combines four major institutions into one single envelope: the Royal Conservatory, the Netherlands Dance Theatre, the Residential Orchestra and the centre’s Guest Programming. The building culminates in a gracious curving roofline that neatly nests itself within the city skyline.

New Dance and Music Centre in The Hague, rendering courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

New Dance and Music Centre in The Hague, rendering courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

In sharp contrast with basic rectangular geometry, the design features a fluid force field of horizontal louvers that seemingly moves when graced by light and shadow. This unique characteristic creates a playful language on the facade, articulating public circulation, the foyers and the sculpted inner atrium, while allowing visual connections outside to the square as well as exciting glimpses into the building.

New Dance and Music Centre in The Hague - SECTION A-A, drawing courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

+ Project credits / data

PROGRAM: Dance and music center
LOCATION: The Hague, Netherlands
CLIENT: City of The Hague
SIZE: Gross Building Area 48000 m2, excl. underground car parking

ARCHITECT: Zaha Hadid Architects

Design: Zaha Hadid with Patrik Schumacher
Project Associate: Joris Pauwels
Project Leader: Paulo Flores
Project Team: Rafael Contreras, Yevgeniya Pozigun, Thomas Buseck, Oliver
Malm, Hoda Nobakhti, Akif Cinar

CONSULTANTS:

Local Architects: Bureau Bouwkunde [Netherlands]
Structure: AKT [UK]
Services: Max Fordham [UK]
Theatre: Theatre Projects Consultants [UK]
Facade: Newtecnic [UK]
Acoustics: Peutz [Netherlands]

+ All drawings and images courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

+ Project description courtesy of Zubu Design Associates

The house is located in a gated community, with a terrain of high to very high slope. It also has a breathtaking view of the city. Since the lot is already oriented with the master plan of the community , the best view of the lot is only seen obliquely in relation to the main axis of the lot. We created a tilting box from the y axis to maximize the vista. This can be clearly shown from the red massing clearly with a different axis from the ground floor. This red massing houses the 2 main bedrooms of the house, the tilt also blocks off the neighbors house from the inside. A long cantilevered roof also blocks the structure from the micro-climate, heavier winds and rain, of the community.

House at Alta Vista, image courtesy Zubu Design Associates

House at Alta Vista, image courtesy Zubu Design Associates

House at Alta Vista, image courtesy Zubu Design Associates

House at Alta Vista - Floor plans, drawing courtesy Zubu Design Associates

House at Alta Vista - Elevations, drawing courtesy Zubu Design Associates

+ Project credits / data:

Title: House at Alta Vista
Location: cebu city, philippines
Lot area: 500 sqm
Floor area: 400 sqm
Program: 4 bedroom house
Design: 2008
Completion: 2009
Design model: Planar Composition, Massing
Design team: Zubu Design Associates (buck richnold sia, joffrey echivarre, francis abellanosa)

+ About Zubu Design Associates

Zubu Design Associates is a design studio that is dedicated to creating progressive and modern architecture. It combines innovative and experimental concepts, as well as the international style to the culture and climate to the local setting. The architects’ believe that a well design building is not only to comply to its basic use but It should provide as a beacon for provoking thought and creating emotion through space, light and form. The group’s plan is intertwined to form a unified thought. Zubu also believes the design process is just as important as the finished product.

+ All images and drawings courtesy of Zubu Design Associates

Muscle Bench
As spectacular to gaze at as it is comfortable to rest on, Muscle is a counter proposal to traditional stiff and motionless street furniture thanks to its dynamic forms and its purified lines. A piece to compliment both contemporary architectural structures or modern landscape designs.

Muscle Bench by Alexandre Moronnoz, image courtesy outdoorzgallery

Muscle Bench by Alexandre Moronnoz, image courtesy outdoorzgallery

The bench offers the possibility of sitting or lying down in response to the surface’s relief. Like the fibrous structure of a muscle, the cut metal sheets work with compression and tension to maintain the rigidity of the resting platform.

The smooth gun metal gray epoxy finish reflects the light and adds to the sense of lightness.
As the sun passes through the metal bars, the shadows mix with the actual piece adding yet another dimension to this exceptional urban bench.

+ Materials: steel 8mm, primary zinc epoxy powder coating
+ Dimensions: L 400cm w 78.5cm h 54cm total weight: 450kg

Muscle Bench by Alexandre Moronnoz, image courtesy outdoorzgallery

Muscle Bench by Alexandre Moronnoz, image courtesy outdoorzgallery

+ About Alexandre Moronnoz

Graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle, Les Ateliers, Paris, Alexandre’s work  combines research into new methods and materials, made to order pieces  and  collaborations with both architects and manufacturers.  Alexandre is continually searching for new methods while pushing the limits of design.

Working with the autoroutes of France from 2003 to 2006 Alexandre was an initiator in the studies of sustainable mobility.

His collaborative projects include work with agencies such as  Delo Lindo forTefal in 2005-2006,  Radi Designers for Schneider in 2006,  Plan Créatif for Gaz de France in 2003-2004 and for the RATP in 2007.

Two urban furniture projects have been developed  with VIA in 2006  and ‘Interférences’ in 2007 for Brussels Environment, marked a srong tie between object and space.For Alexandre an object, like architecture must take the environment into the context of  the design. Alexandre welcomes your commissioned projects.

+ Visit outdoorzgallery for more information.

Muscle Bench by Alexandre Moronnoz, image courtesy outdoorzgallery

The new modular show house takes place in Ferrol (La Coruña) and it is available for visits. In this occasion A-cero has chosen a different façade from the Madrid show house´s. In that way people can see different options that A-cero offers with these modular houses.

Modular House, image courtesy of A-cero

This time A-cero has designed a combination of black glass with panels of white aluminium Larson composite. The house has a modern and clean design with the same avant-garde style of the modular house already built in Madrid (that one has a black glass facade). However, the new modular house has a freshness and clarity touch due to the white colour. Also, the white gravel in the house’s surface accentuates this luminosity sensation. This material is a very affordable and comfortable solution for the owners.

Modular House, image courtesy of A-cero

Apart form the “closing extra”, this house has been presented without extras in order to emphasize the house´s structure and give the main role to the excellent quality of its materials and finished.

The house has a 106 m2 area. It includes three bedrooms, two baths, hall, lounge – dining room, laundry room and kitchen. It costs 99.000 euros. The house’s furniture has been designed by A-cero. It has been created looking for a functional and modern aesthetics. The house´s decoration is led by the Mercedes Rodríguez pictures, whose abstract and evocative works generally are in every A-cero´s projects.

The house, closing and furniture has been executed by Cándido Hermida Group.

Modular House - Floor plan, drawing courtesy of A-cero

Modular House - Elevations, drawing courtesy of A-cero

Modular House - Elevations, drawing courtesy of A-cero

Modular House - Sections, drawing courtesy of A-cero

+ Project credits / data

Architect: A-cero
Project: Modular House in A Coruña

+ Project description and all images courtesy of A-cero

+ Designer: Sooyon Park

+ Design description courtesy Sooyon Park

Honey Chair, image courtesy Sooyon Park

Honey Chair _ Stool

Honey Chair is a one of the stool from the ‘Honey Collection’. Legs are made of stainless steel which is available to switch with other shape of legs in ‘Honey Collection’.
The legs have a soft shape such as a drop of honey, but also it has a string feeling because of the material. Lathes reshaped blocks of stainless steel into flexible forms.This Chair is exhibited in BMH Gallery in Seoul on March of 2010.

+ Dimensions ( L x W x H ) 350 x 400 x 520 (mm)

Silver Drop, image courtesy Sooyon Park

Silver Drop

Silver Drop is a one of the tea table from the ‘Honey Collection’. Legs is made of stainless steel which is available to switch with other shape of legs in ‘Honey Collection’.

The legs of Silver Drop has a soft shape, such as a drop of honey, but also it has a strong feeling because of the material. Lathes reshaped blocks of stainless steel into flexible forms.This Table is exhibited in BMH Gallery in Seoul on May of 2010.

+ Dimensions (L x W x H ) 800 x 600 x 230 (mm)

Ring Hanger, image courtesy Sooyon Park

Ring Hanger

The main idea of Ring Hanger is a usage of silicon ring shape. There are a lot of uses with a piece of silicon mass. One of the main function is a effective hanger for large amount of clothes or scarves. Thanks to characteristic of silicon, the product is easy to duplicate as much as you want.

Once you fit a small piece of silicon ring into a small size of wood hanger, there will be opportunities for hanging clothes. This Hanger is exhibited in BMH Gallery in Seoul on May of 2010.

+ Dimensions ( H ) 1800 (mm)

+ All images courtesy Sooyon Park

Edificio T - UPAEP, image courtesy Vargas Tejeda Arquitectos

Edificio T - UPAEP, image courtesy Vargas Tejeda Arquitectos

The University of Puebla wished to redefine the perception of their library with the new facilities, aiming to create a modern information hub for students and community members.

The simplicity of the form and materials of the building provides historic Downtown Puebla with an elegant, dignified, and definitively modern building, on a scale appropriate to the urban context of the growing city.

The new design of the T-Library opens up the interior space and brings natural light into every corner, including the basement level, where the new facility has a connection with the pre-existing library structure.

Edificio T - UPAEP, image courtesy Vargas Tejeda Arquitectos

The public areas facing the central campus are sheathed in glass to connote transparency and visibility for library guests and pedestrians- providing a visual transition into the library from the verdant landscaping of the outdoor plaza.

Public entry space within the ground level plaza provides students with dining and banking services, and also serves as an access and distribution point, leading to a skylight-illuminated atrium which connects the other five levels of the building.

Edificio T - UPAEP, image courtesy Vargas Tejeda Arquitectos

Edificio T - UPAEP, image courtesy Vargas Tejeda Arquitectos

Each level of the new library has its own windowed balcony, with dedicated study areas and lounge seating. Multiple use rooms with state-of-the-art equipment are located on the second level, and supplementary classroom space is available on the third, fourth and fifth levels. Entrances into the classrooms are also accessible from the balconies, and elevators provide disabled access to each floor of the building.

+ Project credits / data

Project: EDIFICIO T – UPAEP
Architects: Arq. José Luis Vargas Cruz (Vargas Tejeda Arquitectos), Arq. Hugo Ramírez Luna, Arq. María Eugenia Plata Ibarra
Client: UPAEP (Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla)
Location: Puebla, México
Surface Built: 7,200m2 (77,500 Ft2)
Levels: 6
Designed: 2005-2006
Built: 2008
Builder: Escalera Espinosa y Asociados
Address: 21 Sur 1103 Puebla, 72160 Mexico
Photograph Credits: José Luis Vargas, Alejandro Jarero Mora

+ Project description, images and drawings courtesy of Vargas Tejeda Arquitectos

Fakro House, rendering courtesy Tim Stephens

Fakro House, rendering courtesy Tim Stephens

The project takes the rural vernacular and incorporates contemporary touches, such as a modern timber/metal cladding and modern domestic programming requirements. Within the two level home, the bedroom, bathroom, artists space and library are situated above the ground floor, while the first floor spaces suit spacious and flexible living areas.  Natural light penetrates the space through strategically placed skylights.

The exterior treatment is pulled back from the main structure in deliberate places to create double height space that wraps around the entire plan.

The design seeks to directly acknowledge and respond to its context by peeling away the skin of the building where practical to reveal the site beyond, maintaining a direct visual connection to the exterior throughout the dwellings plan…

Stephens

With this strategy, the project retains a strong connection to the site as site lines are uninterrupted and the project maintains a weightless feeling.

Fakro House - Level 0 floor plan, drawing courtesy Tim Stephens

Fakro House - Level 1 floor plan, drawing courtesy Tim Stephens

+ Project credits / data

Design: Tim Stephens
Project: Fakro House
Location: Whangaripo valley, New Zealand

+ Project description, images and drawings courtesy of Tim Stephens

Green Square Town Centre - Section, drawing courtesy McGregor Coxall

+ Project description courtesy of Mcgregor Coxall

ECOLOGICAL ENGINE

The proposed Green Square Town Centre metro village designed by mcgregor+coxall is located over the existing Green Square station in Sydney on contaminated industrial land and is the largest urban regeneration in Australia.

The government developer Landcom intends that 5500 residents and 7000 workers will use the centre once the ten year, AUD$1.7 billion project is completed. The design proposes public and private uses including three urban squares, a new park, community facilities, library, cinemas, bars, residential, commercial and retail facilities.

Green Square Town Centre, rendering courtesy McGregor Coxall

These are arranged along a restored urban waterway and green spine that traces the original creek. The project is powered by an ecological engine that delivers recycled storm water & renewable energy to the project. Water is a scarce and precious commodity and is celebrated across the public space.

FLORA

Locally indigenous planting forms the floristic palette for the park and Sheas Stream green spine. It performs a key role in the biofiltration system and will create a biodiverse fauna habitat for local birds and ducks.

Green Square Town Centre - Sectional perspective, drawing courtesy McGregor Coxall

STORM WATER HARVESTING & BIOFILTRATION

The water harvesting system intercepts polluted storm water from the 250 ha upstream urban catchment that flows directly beneath the town centre in a concrete pipe. This water is diverted to the surface and into the park and urban stream where it is cleaned through biofiltration. Water from the plaza and surrounding roads are also diverted into the filtration media. The water is then collected for storage. The project provides ecological services by improving the quality of the Canal and Bay downstream.

NON-POTABLE WATER REUSE SYSTEM

The naturally filtered water is stored in the tanks where it is available for non-potable reuse. The ecological engine will provide 90% of the water needs of the entire project including all the residential and commercial uses. The urban stream rises and falls in response to rainfall in the catchment while flood water is diverted under the site in extreme events.

HYDROLOGICAL SYSTEM

1. Stormwater diversion from culvert
2. Biofiltration cells in urban stream
3. Urban stream & pond system
4. Filtered water holding tanks
5. Harvested roof water
6. Water feature circulation
7. Non-potable water supply to buildings
8. Filtered excess water to culvert

Green Square Town Centre - Site plan, drawing courtesy McGregor Coxall

+ Project credits / data

Landscape Architects: Mcgregor Coxall
Client: City Of Sydney Council and Landcom
Project: Green Square Town Centre
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Total site area: 2.50ha

+ Project description, images and drawings courtesy of McGregor Coxall

MAGIKA strikes a balance between style, practicality and economy – combining the latest cost-effective finishes, fresh design features and a tradition of Italian quality. MAGIKA will have an anticipated production time of only four weeks and a lower price point than any other existing models.

MAGIKA by PEDINI

Featuring simplicity with a high degree of practicality and quality, MAGIKA combines innovative features with conventional uses, representing a synthesis of inspiring form and rational layout solutions. Brilliant color finishes and numerous configurations also offer incredible personalization. MAGIKA is distinguished by its thermostructured finishing, a process that introduces efficiency and performance.

The designer of the MAGIKA collection is Domenico Paolucci.

Specifications of the MAGIKA line include:

• Finishes: glossy lacquer, direct-applied lacquer and lacquered tempered glass.
• Worktops: quartzite (variety of colors), laminated surface with unicolor edges (grey, graphite and white) and satin finished stainless steel (different thickness).
• Doors: 22mm thick with new thermostructured and/or direct-apply technology.
• Storage: encourages ergonomic movement while maximizing storage capacity.
• Handles: aluminum handle (two finishes) or handless groove design (five finishes).

MAGIKA by PEDINI

+ About PEDINI

Since 1957, Pedini has been a trendsetter in kitchen design and technology. Today, Pedini is not just a leader in the modern kitchen design arena but also a pioneer in the area of eco friendly kitchen production and green kitchen products. Pedini has been at the forefront of Italian kitchen design and production. From its very first model Pedini incorporated innovative ideas such as curved surfaces and discreet work zones.  Pedini also helped to pioneer efficiencies in the production process as one of the first companies to introduce the modular kitchen system now used by most worldwide kitchen producers. Throughout its history, Pedini has consistently introduced trendsetting models such as the often copied curves of the Artika, Integra and Dune kitchens.  With its ongoing research investment, Pedini is also continually improving its industry-leading production techniques with an eye on quality and environmental responsibility. Through its commitment to innovation and superior quality, Pedini has experienced unparalled growth and continued to expand into new markets like no other European kitchen company has ever done, making it America’s fastest growing European kitchen manufacturer – ever! Pedini is currently available in almost every major city in the world.

+ For more information, please visit pediniusa.com.

+ Image gallery

The Huntington Urban Farm is to pave the way for fresh thinking in terms of how communities interact with each other and how a common, productive bond can be achieved through sustainable practices.

Tim Stephens

Huntington Urban Farm, rendering courtesy Tim Stephens

+ Project description courtesy Tim Stephens

The Huntington Urban Farm is a response to a number of pressing issues relevant not only to the context of the town of Huntington but also other towns of Long Island.

The two main issues that the project responds to are;

• The limited allowance for and the lack of support for the sustainable practice of growing and cultivating one’s own food source
• The inherent lack of usable pedestrian scale (non car orientated) street-scapes, places where social interaction can thrive and communities can grow in a healthy and constructive way.

Huntington Urban Farm - Site plan, drawing courtesy Tim Stephens

The Huntington Urban Farm is a case study for an urban farming precinct to be located within existing communities. The precinct and its associated concepts are intended to be applied in a similar way to other sites in other long Island townships.

This specific case study locates the Urban Farm on existing car-park covered land in the centre of Huntington Township, in close proximity to the town’s public library, church and nursery. The Urban Farm’s primary objective is to promote and support the act of growing one’s own produce in a controlled, and convenient manner. The issue of growing sustainable food crops is only going to become more prevalent and what better way to promote the practice, than to provide farmable plots in the centre of townships, accessible to the entire community.

The Urban Farm provides farmable plots in a variety of configurations and sizes to suit individual users/small families to larger community user groups. In providing these farming plots for the community to use, the precinct will become a hub for social activity and interaction, something sorely missing in many existing communities.

Huntington Urban Farm - Typologies diagram, drawing courtesy Tim Stephens

The precinct is articulated formerly in such as way as to relate to the pedestrian, not the car-like existing conditions. Winding paths and changing levels play on the sense of adventure and discovery as one moves through the precinct. Converging paths and site lines stimulate opportunities for social interaction.

Being centrally located users are encouraged to walk to the precinct or use existing public transport, in the case of the Huntington Town site, an existing car-park has been retained for practical purposes such as the dropping off of gardening equipment and the transportation of grown produce. The Huntington Urban Farm is to pave the way for fresh thinking in terms of how communities interact with each other and how a common, productive bond can be achieved through sustainable practices.

+ Project credits / data

Design: Tim Stephens
Project: Huntington Urban Farm
Location: Huntington, NY, USA

+ All images and drawings courtesy of Tim Stephens

580 Carroll by Ten arquitectos

580 Carroll by Ten arquitectos

The homes feature custom designed kitchens by Enrique, sliding glass walls, balconies, and stunning views of the historic neighborhood. The cedar plank, used generously around the entrance of the building, adds warmth in contrast to the strength and toughness of the raw concrete structure. The building is an interesting addition to the neighborhood which already includes the popular restaurants like AOC and Blue Ribbon Sushi, both just a a block away.

580 Carroll by Ten arquitectos

The project is developed by Black House Development – a young, ambitious development group based in NYC, who are also building the new Habita Hotel on 27th Street (also designed by Enrique) which will open later this year. Grupo Habita owns and operates 10 of the most celebrated hotels throughout Mexico, and this will be there first property outside of the country.

+ Click to visit the 580 Carroll project homepage.

+ Project credits / data

Project: 580 Carroll
Architect: Ten arquitectos | Enrique Norten
Location: Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Photographer: Will Femia

+ Image gallery