Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects has revealed the design of the new CaoHeJing Guigu Creative Headquarters in Shanghai as the project breaks ground. Taking the form of three stacked glass volumes with terraces in-between, the center is devised as a series of indoor/outdoor shared spaces that will allow budding hi-tech firms to connect with local graduates and spur innovation of new technology in China.
Supported by the government, the project is sited on the edge of the Shanghai Caohejing Hi-Tech Park, a state-sponsored economic and technological development area located 9 miles (14.5 kilometers) east of downtown Shanghai. The CaoHeJing Guigu Creative Headquarters will add to the nearly 1200 domestic and international companies already operating in the Park.
Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
The project programming is divided between its 3 large volumes and the two in-between spaces. The ground level volume contains the main lobby, exhibition and event space and a cafe, while the upper two volumes will house flexible incubator studio space. The levels between will offer support functions and meeting spaces in addition to their landscaped terraces.
Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
"The volumes are playfully staggered to create a combination of exposed and shaded external spaces that can be utilised at different times of the year in Shanghai's variable weather conditions", said Schmidt Hammer Lassen Partner, Chris Hardie. "By doing this we create a direct connection to exterior green space for the buildings occupants to use throughout the year."
The third collaboration between SHL and CaoHeJing, project is expected to complete in 2020.
Vincent Callebaut Architectures has released a design proposal for a new eco-tourism resort in The Philippines inspired by natural coastline forms. Making extensive use of cradle-to-cradle and other sustainable design principles, the resort features a series of spiraling apartment buildings and shell-shaped hotel buildings, themselves positioned on two Fibonacci spirals of land in a coastal lagoon. At the center of the ensemble, a mountain-like complex combines a school, recreational swimming pools, sports halls, the resort's kitchens, and a suite of laboratories for environmental scientists.
Courtesy of Vincent Callebaut Architectures
Named the "Nautilus Eco-Resort," the project's eco-credentials were a focus of the design, with Vincent Callebaut Architectures pinpointing the environmental threats to the Philippine archipelago as inspiration for the design. The proposal includes a variety of renewable energy sources, including tidal and solar energy, with any surplus planned to be connected to the local grid and provided to the community.
Courtesy of Vincent Callebaut Architectures
The designs also heavily utilize sustainable materials, such as bio-concrete in the shell-shaped hotel facades, green walls, and cross-laminated timber in the central complex. The primary proposed transportation system for the resort is via boat, in an attempt to prevent the imposition of road infrastructure; the boats will have flat bottoms in order to prevent damaging the marine environment.
Courtesy of Vincent Callebaut Architectures
The goal of the resort is a symbiosis in which eco-tourism would fund the work of the resort's environmental scientists, while tourists and residents would be exposed to the scientific knowledge that is generated in the laboratories. This was the key intention behind the large cross-laminated-timber complex at the heart of the resort; by including both recreational and scientific spaces in the same building, it is hoped that more interactions could be encouraged between scientists and visitors.
Courtesy of Vincent Callebaut Architectures
"In a world that is shrinking," explained Vincent Callebaut Architectures in a press release, "the Nautilus Eco-Resort project wants to extend the field of action of a triple-zero eco-tourism: zero-emission, zero-waste, zero poverty. Discover the world without distorting it. Revitalize ecosystems instead of impoverishing and polluting them. Actively participate in the restoration of cultural heritage."
From the architect. VeGrande is an office dedicated to graphic design and branding. The project consisted of reusing a rustic warehouse construction and turning it into space where creative and multidisciplinary work could be developed.
Sections
From the street, the facade remains blind, somewhat aggressive, a vertical landmark with the name is the door to an atypical space in the interior, and the only access point to the offices. As a pause between the exterior and the interior, take place the access square, a transition space and the main illumination source in the interior space, the only one green place at the office. The interior façade is configured with doors and vaults according to the needs, emphasizing the views to the access point.
The interior is configured by three continuous spaces. The first contains the public area (reception and meeting room, both in direct contact with the access point), the second one is the workspace, the back cradle contains the services and storage room.
The interior space is delimited by the sliding glass panels, which allows having an overview of the office but safeguarding the isolation of each zone; These planes can be opened or closed according to the space needs, allow an adaptive and variable use of it. In the age of the work área, it takes place a magnetized sliding whiteboard, the panel for the generation of ideas, according to its opening allows giving more privacy to the service areas.
In the palette of materials, the naked materials of the warehouse are predominant, with concrete block walls and rugged flat rough and rustic character, contrasting with the interior furnishings and the crystalline cleanliness.
With the launch today of Apple's iOS 11—and with it, the release of the company's powerful system for augmented reality apps, ARKit—Morpholio has released a new update to their popular Trace app that allows users to sketch over photographs with perfect accuracy. While it has always been an option to sketch over photographs in Trace, the new "Perspective Finder" tool superimposes a scaled grid over the photograph that helps designers follow the perspective of the image and measure their drawings accurately.
Perspective Finder works automatically when launching the iPad's camera in Trace. Once it detects a surface, it automatically presents a grid which the user is able to rotate to their liking. They can also select the size of the grid, with each square indicating a real-world distance in the photograph. Users can then move around the space to capture the perfect view, with the grid fixed in place.
After an image has been captured, the photograph can then be used as a background for your drawing, with a perspective grid to serve as a guide that can be toggled on or off at will.
"Our app puts scale drawing at the center of the experience, letting designers work intuitively with an iPad Pro and their hands while not losing any accuracy in the process," said one of Morpholio's co-founders, Anna Kenoff. "The uses for Perspective Finder are as endless as the opportunities that AR has opened up. Stand in your kitchen to sketch a renovation, or in an open floor plan to layout a new office space. Look down over a plaza, garden, or streetscape to cast a grid and create a new landscape or planting plan."
"Trace's Perspective Finder uses ARKit to construct true vanishing points, horizon lines, and scale-accurate grids for you, meaning ANYONE can draw with the beauty and accuracy of a pro," added Toru Hasegawa, another Morpholio Co-Founder.
In addition to their Perspective Finder update to Trace, Morpholio has also released an AR update to Board, their interior design app. Color Capture allows designers to sample colors from the world around them using their iPad camera and import these colors into their mood boards. You can see video and images of Color Capture in action above, and download Board here.
From the architect. NAOS - Business Campus is an office building located in the northern area of Bogotá, Colombia. The design focuses on providing a sustainable response to its environment and specific location, aiming to generate comfortable and healthy spaces while using natural resources in an efficient manner.
A fully glazed cladding solution maximises the entrance of natural light into working areas, lowering the requirements for artificial lighting. The curved aluminum screen that protects this fully glazed external skin controls heat gains in critical times of the day, responding to the environment with different densities between its elements according to the orientation of each facade.
Roof Plan
These two main elements, along with fair-faced concrete walls, make up the whole of the facade, giving the building a minimalist and contemporary image. The curved corners respond to the movement and urban dynamic of its surroundings. Double height balconies house 6m tall rubber trees, a very typical species in this area, reinforcing the sustainable image of the building towards the city.
The design takes advantage of air currents coming from the east mountains to naturally ventilate internal areas through a plenum created between the ceiling and the concrete floor slabs. On warm days, air pressure opens up trap doors located on the ceilings to allow hot air to rise and be naturally expelled by the cold air current coming in from the mountains, lowering demand on mechanical ventilation systems, reducing energy consumption and guaranteeing thermal comfort inside.
The triple height entrance lobby is an extension of the public realm, with trees and benches reinforcing its urban character inside. A very restricted material palette -white calacatta marble, black ultra thin porcelain tiles (reinforced with fiberglass) and teak wood, give this space a sober and elegant character.
The texture, brightness, and luminosity of the white marble contrasts with the slick depth of the black porcelain, both complemented by the warm and natural colors and textures of the sustainably sourced timber. Signage has been embedded into the walls and ceilings to emphasize the cleanliness of the design.
Public Spaces Diagram
The roof landscaping has been strategically designed to blur the boundaries with the city and bring the mountains closer. This space becomes a green park, packed with vegetation, hills, grass and large native trees that reduce the need for watering. Its large extension helps to harvest rainwater that will be used for bathroom supply and garden watering, while it creates an intimate relationship with nature for the people using its break out areas.
Parking areas, with their green colors and dynamic graphics, prioritize hybrid and electric vehicle parking spots, providing charging stations in some of the spots. Bicycle parking is also generously provided, and the comfortable shower and dressing room areas intend to encourage a healthy lifestyle. By combining all these strategies of energy efficiency and rationalizing the use of natural resources, the building has been pre-certified LEED Gold in the Shell & Core category.
From the architect. The renovation of the historic Hotel Chisca, located on Main Street, is a uniquely transformative project, bridging a major gap in the urban streetscape between the South Main Historic District, legendary Beale Street, and downtown Memphis. From Chisca’s opening day in 1913, to making rock-n-roll history inside its second-floor radio studio that introduced Elvis to the world in 1954, to its Mid-Century modern addition in 1961, to its conversion into a church headquarters in 197 3, to 25 years of abandonment, and finally to its 2016 rebirth as edgy and chic downtown apartments – it is this inherent multi-layered historic quality that attracts visitors and residents alike.
When commissioned in 2011 to evaluate the feasibility of rehabilitation, the design team found a building in steep decline. The basement held three feet of stagnant water causing areas of structural failure. The ballroom featured ponding water that had become a dangerous wetland, complete with water fowl and a 25-foot waterfall tenuously supporting a failing roof structure. The penthouse roof structure had collapsed, and the developer believed the 1961 motor lodge addition should be demolished in favor of a surface parking lot.
The design team recognized that realizing the project’s restorative community value would require balancing the building’s historic character with budget-conscious design. The focus began with repositioning this blighted block to foster the connection between the thriving arts district and the downtown core. This city-building focus also progressed into a reanalysis of the developer’s desire to remove the 1961 addition and a focus on creating an amenity rich environment that embraced the historic hotel functions.
Restoring and improving the 1961 addition to better reflect its architectural style thus became a key design feature. Southern facing apartment patios, each with a wood louvered brise soleil, pay homage to the historic checkerboard pattern of the motel’s exterior walkways. The first floor of the 1911 building, once the hotel’s main lobby with 17-foot ceilings, houses lofted apartment units, an event space, and two successful restaurants. The second floor grand ballroom was demolished to create an elevated, outdoor urban courtyard amenity space.
One-hundred-sixty-one apartments, the two restaurants, and a multitude of amenity areas have transformed the site into a fully occupied, market-leading historic rehabilitation project. The most dramatic, yet simple design strokes consisted of surgically extracting the ballroom ruins to create an urban rooftop oasis and the elegant transformation of the maligned mid-century modern addition into an effective market catalyst - all within the National Park Service’s Historic Tax Credit guidelines.
Design Team: He Jingtang, Ni Yang, LiuYubo,Bao Ying, Li Kaixin, Huang Yanfang, Yan Zhong, Zheng Yan, Zhong Riming, Shu Xin, Mai Heng, Zhong Minyi, Lu Xin, Tang Yabing, Liao Junfeng, Zhang Shawei, Liang Jingshao, Huang Guannan, ShengJing, Wu zhongping, Lin Yi, Ma Chenlong, Li Xiaofeng, Zheng Shaopeng, He Xiaoxin, Jiang Fan, Deng Xia, etc
The Owner: Hexi construction headquarters office, Jianye district of Nanjing
From the architect. The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, Phase III was to commemorate the surrender of Japanese troops in Nanjing on September 9, 1945, and highlight the theme-the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. The idea is to express the feelings of victory and fulfillment.
Commemoration is a continuation of a city's memory. The spatial sequence consisted by the Broken-knife, the Memorial Square, the Death Chamber, the Sacrificial Courtyard and the Peace Park, which open a complete narrative chapter of the Jiangdong Gate memorial. It is an important urban memory of Nanjing.
The Phase III as the expansion project of the Jiangdong Gate memorial, which not only supplement urban functions, extend visitors circulation, highlight emotional atmosphere of different themes, but also extend the city memory. The expansion section focuses on the arduous journey of the Anti-Japanese War, the joy of victory, and vision of mankind's peaceful fulfillment.
The position of the scheme is harmony without uniformity. The form of the Phase III is integrated with the second phase, and it is integrated into the urban life in a more open, inclusive, friendly and natural way. The earth-sheltered architecture reduces the pressure against the surrounding urban architecture and space, and the curvilinear architectural form is softly harmony with the green trees and grass. The facade of the new pavilion continues to be gray, with these fair-bare concrete columns in the face of the urban space, which show the memorial features of the new pavilion.
The center of the site is an oval memorial square, which symbolizes the victory of China's Anti-Japanese War and the vision of "completeness". The whole building presents a modest and downy form, being a green park that is integrated into urban life. Among them is a "victory road", symbolizing the struggle for victory. The land around the memorial square is slightly uplifting, forming semi-enclosed space, blocking parts of the city combining with green trees, to ensure that the square is quiet and private, which also provides the public with a recreation place. People can rest, run, walk, wander, talk and enjoy themselves.
Diagram
The entire oval square enable accommodate 8,000 people when grand commemorative events are needed. In the north of the square, there is a small podium for the rally. The three sides of the square raise the sloping land, making the square more centripetal and cohesive, elevation of the sloping land accommodate the commercial and exhibition space. The main traffic circulation of the square is organized in the border of the square and the slope, where the unique elements of the memorial landscape are designed. The name of 300 anti-war heroes is engraved on the polished black marble and stands on the side of the square where visitors wander. The southwest of the square is an important entrance to the city, the sunken square is to make the memorial square keep a certain distance with the city road. The elaborate connection of the arch bridge makes the memorial square more direct and cohesive in space.
New museum is a complex of a functional composition and opening, except the victory memorial square, green park, also contains the world's anti-fascism war memorial hall, bus station, community garage, bicycle garage, commercial supporting facilities, office, etc. The north and west of the site is connected with the subway, tunnel and surrounding urban space by setting the sink courtyard and ramp, which comb and update of the surrounding urban traffic in general, effectively improve and supplement the museum visiting circulation and traffic organization, to provide a convenient, open and composite space node for city.
Diagram
Open and accessible are important features of the new museum. When the memorial hall and new museum are closed, other functions can continue to provide social services. Through the design of the lighting, the square has a different view at day and night, becoming a public day- night park.
Peace and fulfillment, the humble and soft form is the most important expression of the project. The gentle natural curve, green and open grassland makes the environment quiet and relaxed, while expressing commemoration, it also provides a friendly and relaxing recreation place for the public.
In the soft green foil, the dark red arc victory wall is even visible. The wall of victory is made of dark red rust plate that can highlight the sense of history and vicissitudes. The wall of victory is extended by negative one layer, the wall is three-dimensional surface, and the surface texture is formed through the separation of steel plate and the embedded lamp groove, it symbolize the historical memory "Born of Fire" of Chinese nation, and becomes the main landscape of green square. The highest point of the wall of victory is the victory torch, which will ignite when it is in events.
The facade of the new pavilion is made of a single cast of fair-bare concrete, plain and thick fair-bare concrete can not only highlight the architectural commemorative features, but also accord with the quiet and peaceful architectural atmosphere. The concrete columns in the outer facade cut the sunlight into strips and form an endless rhythm. Beneath the colonnade is the grey rubble floor, which naturally formed a buffer against the city, and reinforced the architectural memory and the sense of place.
The ramp of the back victory wall is the road to victory, slowly rise, forming the valley-spatial-experience through curved roof and width-changed ramp, when going to the top of the ramp, is a large cantilever platform, the space suddenly enlightened. Here people can overlook the victory square, symbolizing the “route of victory” from darkness to light. Entering into the memorial hall by the “route of victory”, an elliptic cone volume pass through all the floors as the core of the interior space, acting as the preface hall of the memorial museum. The volume provides the contacts between up and down. The soft natural light pass through the elliptical skylights on the top of the volume, create a quiet atmosphere in the memorial hall.
The expansion projects reflect ecological and sustainable concept in multi aspects, via the green roof, solar photovoltaic, gray water recycle, permeable concrete, sunken garden and patio, chimney effects, and many other low-carbon measures, creating a ecological and sustainable architectural monument which possesses both architectural atmosphere and sustainable concept.
The Phase III expansion project is a complement and continuation of The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders. It has the characteristics of openness and publicity, the nature and the commemoration. Here is a place to accommodate historical memories and current lives, victory joy and death grieve, where people can remember, rest, relax, walk and play. We hope that the project will be accepted and loved by the city and its residents.
From the architect. Stackhouse. When function follows form.
Sometimes changing the form can be done before planning the space, because each space is usually created over form and activities therein. Space is created because of the form; in order for all the residential activities are covered. Indeed, it is because we live in space, not due to form. It all started from searching for formation character based on mass composition, until the building identity is generated eventually. Space flow accommodates activities flow that gives various surprises. The space definition is freed to the owners so they can adapt to their house.
In one compound environment, there are four houses built. There is a compound environment existing in South Jakarta that has four beautifully composed mass formation which creates a contemporary living space.
It is called Stackhouse. It is clear that the result of this composition is stacked mass. Each mass is given a different identity; so that every visual corner has many different stories, so that every atmosphere has different expressions. The mass identity is stressed by materials represent its function and beauty.
In order for this house to have a contemporary identity, we consider synthetic rattan as one of the decorative elements that accommodate the functionality as well as the aesthetics.We look for a personalized weaving method as second layer to insert the natural air and also to reduce the sun heat at once. We choose rattan character and we make it as binder of the story that merges function and form together.
Nowadays, modern society of Jakarta needs a more practical, efficient and fast-paced lifestyle. It is currently presented a new thing. It is a new experience that will become marker of the current era. It is the marker of habitation culture that provides a good quality of life in the future. A so-called happy family life. Be a part of Stackhouse. Then you will become a part of the new era.
From the architect. Xinchang village’s kindergarten is one of more than ten kindergartens that Open Foundation has donated to the disaster area of 2013 Lushan earthquake. Surrounded by mountains, the site is a relatively small platform in the northwest of the village. It faces a mountain gap to the west, so that people can still sense the faraway from here. The surrounding settlements, while providing shelters to the inhabitants, confronts subtly the nature that dominates.
The entire kindergarten is conceived as a “village”. The total volume of one thousand five hundred square meters is decomposed into nine isolated “cottages” according to the programs. They are placed on the north, south and east sides of the site to enclose a U-shape courtyard facing west. The courtyard pavings and the building facades adopt locally-produced shale sintering bricks, endowing the place with a strong sense of artificiality. Hence, on the one hand, the design stands apart from the nature; on the other hand, it forms an inseparable ensemble with the sky, the platform, the nearby villages and the further mountain gap.
The sense of dimensions is specific there spatially and temporally. The manifestation of nature is controlled to be deeply related to the development and transformations of the site. The inner courtyard is the centre of the kindergarten, and also the kernel of the sense of directions and identities. The design also took serious considerations of children’s mental and physical characteristics, making efforts to realize the diversity and capability of playfulness in the spatial typologies. Because Ya’an area rains a lot, the unit buildings of the kindergarten and the main entrance are connected by a circuitous veranda. This veranda adapts the level difference of the site. Cooperating with the ramp and stairs, it creates an intimate layer between the courtyard and the architecture and provides more possibilities for the children’s daily activities.
Xinchang village’s kindergarten is neither a design to explore the rustic originality in western Sichuan, nor an attempt for countryside utopia. Out of respect to investment constraints and conformation to local construction procedures and capabilities, the architects tried hard not only to meet the programmatic requirements but also incorporate self-adaptation into the new architecture, in order to fit in the homy atmosphere in western Sichuan’s villages, as well as some sort of autonomy.
From the architect. The functional layout design is mainly based on the rational organization of events and the environment space shaping during and after events to provide athletes and citizens with diverse activity spaces, two main entrances provided on the north and south sides of the base, three main venues, i.e. the speed skating gym, the ice hockey hall and the curling hall arranged close to the entrance to facilitate event organization and people evacuation, the athlete apartment and the media center, etc. that provide service for sport events arranged on the side far from the city road, the three venues and the medium center showing a ring-shaped layout, like snow lotus in blossom.
We draw design inspiration from such characteristic features as snow-capped mountains and Gobi unique to Xinjiang, with pure white roofing to outline the shape intention of a natural snow cap, horizontal lines that go through layered processing to simulate the unique rock formations of Gobi, the simulated snowflake crystal on the glass to echo the geographical features of Xinjiang. The whole building complex is like being tucked in the snow white, with the facade image decent, elegant and resourceful, in good harmony with the environment, realizing the artistic conception of "Snow Town for National Games at the Foot of Tianshan Mountain".
The ice surfaces in all venues involved in the project shall meet the requirements in the latest competition rules 2010 of ISU, with standard tracks with a perimeter of 400 meters used in the speed skating gym, 70m*40m venue used in the ice hockey hall, able to be used for such events as ice hockey, short-track speed skating and figure skating, a 50m*26m practice field arranged on the same floor to provide athletes with warm-up ice surface before the event; the venue size of the curling hall shall be based on the size of an ice hockey venue to meet the requirements of variety of ice sports.
Speed Skating Museum 1st Floor Plan
Project Value and Social Impact
Northeast Based on the location and future function positioning of the base involved in the project, the basic positioning of a sports park is adopted in the design, which can not only meet the requirements of professional sports events but also provide a supporting high-level training base for professional sports teams and provide a new urban tourist destination integrating sports, entertainment, catering, accommodation and shopping after events, with consideration given to both winter and summer seasons. Based on this positioning, inspiration drawn from the unique regional landscapes and traditional culture of Xinjiang, closely centering upon the ice and snow theme, a "Silk, Road, Flower, Valley" design concept is put forward to show the splendid culture and spectacular scenery of Xinjiang.
We draw design inspiration from such characteristic features as snow-capped mountains and Gobi unique to Xinjiang, with pure white roofing to outline the shape intention of a natural snow cap, horizontal lines that go through layered processing to simulate the unique rock formations of Gobi, the simulated snowflake crystal on the glass to echo the geographical features of Xinjiang. The whole building complex is like being tucked in the snow white, with the facade image decent, elegant and resourceful, in good harmony with the environment, realizing the artistic conception of "Snow Town for National Games at the Foot of Tianshan Mountain"
From the architect. A nine-story office building of 25,000 m2 is completed on Bertha-Benz-Straße as a fourth and final component of the “Lehrter Stadtquartier”, directly south-west of Berlin’s main railway station. The building is in direct dialog with the three other volumes of the ensemble, for which clear master planning directives were given in terms of the buildings’ volume, height, and materiality.
Site Plan
The design guidelines for the quarter were refined in 2006 following an urban development competition via the office Auer + Weber + Assoziierte, designed as a further continuation of the existing development plan: Oswald Mathias Ungers’ 1994 urban master plan for Humboldthafen, which isolates the railway station while sectioning off the adjacent area to the west into 7 plots based on the traditional Berlin block structure.
In addition to stipulations for a uniform building height and façades clad in light-colored stone, the design guidelines call for surface folding that modulates in response to one another on the inner-facing façades of the ensemble. Thus, the building has a “static” appearance towards the city on the outer-facing south and west sides, while the two façades toward the center of the quadrant dynamically undulate. In doing so, three horizontal bands - base, body and top floor - are articulated.
To compensate for the sloping terrain of the property, the building, which is organized around a central courtyard, is one story higher than the 3 neighboring building volumes. It is accessed via two main entrances on different levels – one towards the north on Berta-Benz-Straße and a higher, second entrance at the street Alt-Moabit towards the south. With their generous heights, these two levels offer space for two lobbies, several retail spaces, and a dining area, where a covered terrace opens up towards ULAP-Park to the west.
Parking spaces have been created in the areas on the base level that shift underground due to the slope of the site, joined by additional sub-level parking. Seven floors of offices rise above the ground level, cantilevering out slightly around the building and varying in depth. Here, three infrastructural cores allow for a floor plan that can be flexibly divided into up to six units per floor, allowing for a versatile range of possibilities from individual offices to open-plan areas. On the top floor setbacks on the north and east side create covered terraces with views over the city, the Chancellery, and the river Spree.
With its dynamic façade made of “Sellenberger Muschelkalk”, a light-colored natural stone, the building fits into the material and color spectrum of the ensemble. While shell limestone is a material rooted in the Berlin building tradition, its unconventional use here gives it an individual, memorable appearance: narrow vertical fins, only 8-cm wide and with a spacing of 67.5 cm, cover the building with a light, elegant curtain wall. Varying in depth, the fins stagger over 3 divisions per floor height, therein forming an incremental gradient like a fabric cladding. Sustainability certificate: DGNB Gold
From the architect. The factory and the exhibition space – ordinarily, these two project types would lie worlds apart for an architect. With one, functionality and cost-efficiency reign; with the other, the highest demands are placed on design and quality of execution. A new presentation and sales center for the German machine tool and laser manufacturer TRUMPF near Chicago combines both worlds and turns high-tech machines and innovative production processes into exhibition-like showpieces. Here, an Industry 4.0 demonstration factory fitted with digitally networked machines presents the entire sheet metal process chain, from ordering a sheet metal part to its design, production, and delivery, experienced as an intelligently interlinked, holistic process.
Choosing a location for the new “Smart Factory” largely centered around a consideration of infrastructural conditions: the site is prominently located on Interstate 90 near Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Against the backdrop of the surrounding industrial zones, its immediate setting appears almost idyllic: organized into two large volumes, the building gently slopes back towards a large retention pond, a reservoir within the wetlands surrounded by lawns.
The architecture also surprises: with a robust and elegant steel-glass construction with Corten steel cladding, it connects the suburban “strip” – characterized by fast food culture, shopping centers, and gas stations – with the design language of local campus and industrial buildings by Albert Kahn and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Here, the history of the “Rust Belt” as the oldest and largest industrial region in the USA is brought together with computer-controlled high-tech production; functionality meets representation, and pragmatism meets refinement.
The structure’s two volumes – the showroom to the south, and the Smart Factory ‘s office, café and auditorium space to the north – are connected at their corners and create two rectangular exterior zones. With a height ranging from 4,5 to about 13 m, the building integrates itself into its environment, a natural grassland with loose groupings of trees. Via its continuous pitched roof, it rises like a wedge towards the highway, where the showroom’s 12-meter-high billboard-like glass front presents itself to passing traffic.
The showroom is spanned by eleven customized, laser-cut steel trusses, approximately 45 m long. Visitors are given a special overview via an open “skywalk”, a bridge that runs through the ceiling structure, thus enabling one to perceive the filigree “structure as space”.
The building’s exterior, with its rough cladding of deep rust-colored corrugated Corten steel sheeting and its elegant, floor-to-ceiling glazing, emphasizes both its industrial context and its representative function. Inside the building, raw, industrial materials with refined surfaces establish a warm, almost homey atmosphere. The construction of black steel, polished concrete floors, expanded metal mesh panels and charred wood walls characterize spaces where industrial production and exhibition are coherently integrated.
ODA New York’s design for Bushwick II, a high-end residential complex on the former site of Brooklyn’s Rheingold Brewery, is coming to life in the fast-growing neighborhood of Bushwick, New York. Developed by All Year Management, 123 Melrose is already being clad. Meanwhile, Rabksy Group’s development, 10 Montieth, recently topped out.
Together, the projects will cover three full city blocks, totaling 1.35 million gross square feet. Bushwick II will be the largest housing increase this neighborhood of Brooklyn has ever seen.
123 Melrose
Courtesy of ODA New York
ODA’s design for 123 Melrose is reminiscent of a European village. The design turns two traditional New York City blocks into meandering pathways and interconnected courtyards. Two of ODA’s guiding principles in this design were leisure and discovery, which will be strengthened by the many amenities Bushwick II affords, including a 17,850-square-foot park cutting directly through the center of the development.
The complex’s landscaped courtyards and covered walkways will act as catalysts for plazas, cafes, fitness facilities, lounges, art galleries and other community spaces. Additional amenities will be found on the 60,000-square-foot roof, such as an urban farm where tenants will be able to grow and harvest fresh produce.
ODA’s use of glass for spaces in the courtyards and adjacent to the streetscape will further promote their goals of openness and connectivity throughout the project. When complete, the development will house 800 to 900 units, 20 percent of which will be affordable housing.
10 Montieth
Courtesy of ODA New York
Included in 10 Montieth’s 379,675 gross square footage will be an abundance of amenities from top to bottom. The top four floors will be immediately connected to the topographically sloping 25,500-square-foot roof. A green park, urban farm, some outdoor dining areas, and a variety of fitness facilities will occupy the landscaped roof.
Inside, 10 Montieth will hold a total of 392 units, half of which will have private outdoor spaces. The units will be connected, visually and physically, by a 19,000-square-foot interior courtyard housing a park, dog track, amphitheater, and fire pit. Adding to the leisure-based atmosphere, a cafe, library, gym, climbing wall, playroom, media and lounge rooms will surround the courtyard. The project also incorporates 5,602 square feet of above-ground retail and 5,089 square feet of below-ground retail space, as well as an abundance of parking.
Madrid is unfathomable. If the city itself is immense, it´s examples of interesting architecture are overwhelming. For over a half a century, Madrid has been an experimental laboratory for modern and contemporary architecture in Spain. With numerous examples of innovative and experimental architecture, as well as many failures, few of which are valued and recognized. This selection seeks to show archetypal examples of architecture that have transcended time; it does not intend to be an exhaustive list of the city´s architectural works. Many will think that the list lacks important buildings and personally, I couldn´t agree more. That is perhaps the beauty of Madrid: there is a diversity of opinion, there are thousands of sites to see, the city surprises you with every step you take.
As part of this selection, we have the works that gave form to Spanish modernity. Buildings created from the minds of the modernity geniuses of the likes of Sota and Oiza. But these alone wouldn´t do the city justice. We have also included the great exponents of the first contemporaneity, pioneers of a movement that was rejected in its time but that gave shape to the current contemporaneity. Lastly, we have included urban references that have shaped the city, undervalued projects that have had great importance to the way of city making in Spain.
The list doesn´t include everything, but I believe that the selection will help the reader understand Madrid. Welcome.
From the architect. La Grange Pavilion was created as part of a landscape intervention for a house perched on a bluff overlooking the forest and farmland of Colorado River basin seventy miles east of Austin. Surrounding views offer a quintessential display of central Texas wildlife and landscape: songbirds chirping in gnarled oaks on the bluff, hawks and buzzards spiraling on warm updrafts, morning mists in the valley below dissolving in the heat of the day, and ending with the long shadows of a low sun or the dramatic colors of an overcast sunset. The homeowners envisioned an outdoor patio area that would enable them to enjoy this incredible landscape throughout the year.
Situated on the bluff’s edge, a series of outdoor “rooms” weaves amongst the trunks of a live oak grove adjacent to a new swimming pool. A continuous expanse of creamy Lueders limestone pavers delineates the habitable areas from the surrounding natural landscape while creating retaining walls, planters, steps, benches, and flooring surfaces. The various individual rooms–outdoor lounge, grilling station, dining area, and pool deck–are unified into a single fluid space as it steps down with the natural slope of the topography. Rising seamlessly from this horizontal surface are three large limestone columns that support the roof along with a series of thinner black steel columns around the perimeter. The largest limestone column, adjacent to the dining area, contains a pass-through fireplace.
Overhead, a delicate roof spans between the lounge, kitchen, and dining areas to protect from both sun and rain and create a feeling of enclosure. Rather than cutting down the site's gnarled trees, Murray Legge Architecture arranged the outdoor rooms to avoid the root zones, and created holes in the roof canopy so branches could pass through. Four thin, black columns disappear into the surrounding tree trunk silhouettes to produce the illusion that the wing-like roof floats in the grove.
Along the western boundary of the site, a swimming pool extends beyond the point where the bluff drops precipitously. The perimeter is designed so the water laps right up to the stone pavers of the pool deck on three sides, and seemingly cascades over the cliff into a surge tank on the fourth. The trees and sky are reflected along this zero edge–a mirror image of the surroundings softly distorted and blurred by the rippling water surface.
The destruction of a building in Mexico following the 2017 earthquake. Image via Infobae
Following the devastating earthquake measuring 7.1 in magnitude that struck Mexico yesterday at 13:14 local time, many—over 200 people at the time of writing—are feared either dead or trapped in collapsed buildings or unsafe structures. While rescue efforts continue and information surrounding the scope of devastation is preliminary, schools are closed indefinitely and major companies and organizations have requested their employees not to work.
The death toll continues to rise while ArchDaily México, which is located in Mexico City, reports wide-reaching destruction of the built fabric of the capital. Footage captured by terrified residents show the final moments of buildings—many taller than four stories—that were reduced to dust and debris in seconds.
People, these images coming back from Mexico City are horrifying.
Yesterday's earthquake hit on the 32nd anniversary of the 8.0 magnitude "Mexico City Earthquake" which struck the country on September 19, 1985, burying around 10,000 beneath the rubble of toppled buildings. According to CNN, residents of the capital had been involved in a large-scale annual emergency disaster simulation and evacuation that morning. Following the advice of radio, television, phone and loudspeakers alerts citizens left their homes and places of work to designated safe zones; around two hours later were they confronted by a genuine and rapidly unfolding disaster.
According to the BBC, President Peña Nieto of Mexico has announced that "more than twenty children and two adults had been found dead at the collapsed Enrique Rébsamen elementary school in [the capital's] southern Coapa district." Another 30 children and eight adults were missing, he added. In addition, Popocatepetl volcano has erupted; a nearby church collapsed during Mass as a result, killing fifteen.
From the architect. This project seeks to be a private and intimate place for a family of five. The program is divided into two levels, leaving on the ground floor the public zone, semi-public and services; Upstairs the rooms.
Lower Floor Plan
Located in the center of the site, the social area composed of living room and dining room develops parallel to the back yard, accompanied in its entire length by the terrace. The house opens completely towards the garden views, remaining blind and airtight towards the road.
The interior space is delimited by sliding wooden walls, which allow integrating the rooms in different configurations according to the use and privacy required. The living and dining room can be integrated into a single space with the kitchen, also the kitchen can be integrated with the TV room. The TV room is configured as a transparent volume that dialogues with the terrace and the garden.
Sections
Before the social area, as part of the facade takes place the volume of services, which configured as an element of monolithic appearance, serves as the first filter or barrier, increasing the feeling of privacy both from the street to the house and home on the street.
Upstairs, on the perimeter the bedrooms take place, emphasizing the views to the outside, these rooms converge in a private familiar room.
Upper Floor Plan
The house, materialized as a bunker on the ground floor, with solid stone walls of the region, looking almost impermeable from the street; in a contrary way, the rear facade opens completely to the outside through large windows emphasizing the relation with the exterior.
The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) has announced Tezuka Architects’ Fuji Kindergarten in Tokyo as the winner of the 2017 Moriyama RAIC International Prize. Established by Canadian architect Raymond Moriyama and the RAIC in 2014, the $100,000 prize is awarded every two years to recognize a single work of architecture from around the globe “that is judged to be transformative within its societal context and promotes the values of social justice, equality, and inclusiveness.”
"I feel now there is someone who understands this project well. I think it's quite a unique prize because it's about contributing to society,” commented Takaharu Tezuka. "It looks like a simple structure. But it's a layering of many ideas combined."
“This is a prize that will continue to acknowledge the important work of transformative architecture worldwide and its designers,” commented Raymond Moriyama. “No matter the scale or size of the building, the Prize provides an opportunity to recognize design qualities which make a positive contribution. Society is evolving, we hope, toward more equality and social justice. Architects can provide leadership by creating inspiring buildings in service to a community.”
Completed in 2007 in Tokyo, Japan, the Fuji Kindergarten is a single-story, oval-shaped building that encourages children to play and interact by breaking down the physical barriers found in the typical early childhood educational architecture. Large sliding glazed doors lining the interior of the ring are opened up for a majority of the year, allowing children to freely pass between indoor and outdoor areas, encouraging independence and socialization. An accessible roof becomes the main play space for the school, giving students an endless path to run, jump and play.
All these design decisions have led to a learning environment that improves learning ability, calmness and focus, even in children with behavioral disorders.
“What we want to teach through this building are values of human society that are unchanging, even across eras,” said Tezuka Architects in their submission statement. “We want the children raised here to grow into people who do not exclude anything or anyone. The key to Fuji Kindergarten was to design spaces as very open environments, filled with background noise. When the boundary disappears, the constraints disappear. Children need to be treated as a part of the natural environment.”
“What perhaps sets the Fuji Kindergarten apart is the sheer joy that is palpable in this architecture,” said Barry Johns, FRAIC, Jury Chair and a Trustee of the RAIC Foundation. “It is one of those rare buildings—comprised of a geometric plan, a single section, a roof, and a tree—that in their utter simplicity and unfettered logic magically transcend the normal experience of learning. This winning project should give all architects around the world reason for great optimism that humanity benefits enormously from the creation of such a deeply simple and yet sophisticated architecture of unquestionable redeeming value.”
Courtesy of SUTTON New York
In addition to the $100,000 grand prize, three $5,000 scholarships were awarded to three architecture students: University of Waterloo student (and ArchDaily intern) Osman Bari; Alykhan Neky of Ryerson University; and Tanya Southcott, McGill University. Winners were selected based on an illustrated 1,000-word essay on the following topic: Please describe the moment—the circumstances, the nature of the event—when you decided to become an architect, or when you knew that your decision to become an architect was the right one.
“The student scholarships are equally important to raise the aspirations of up-and-coming architects,” said Moriyama. “I congratulate the three winners and wish them well in their pursuit of architecture as a worthy profession.”
From the architect. two issues: the topographical gradient and the use to which the module is to be put, that is, bedrooms measuring 2.55m x 5.80m. This module comprises living areas, sets of 6, 8 or 12 associated rooms. This being the main feature of the programme, these modules defined the compositional regulation of the entire building. Every other feature was conditioned to this exhaustive repetition.
In addition to the modular repetition, the building is absolutely symmetrical from the axis, the central corridor. This symmetry is deliberate in order to allow for placing the residential units to the north or to the south, depending on the best sources of light on the different floors.
The uneven surface of the site is resolved into four floors, unaligned two by two, with the central corridor being the hinge. In this case the non-alignment, which makes the two lower floors advance, allows for the creation of a courtyard at the -2 floor level.
Planta
Elevation
Between slabs, the panels of prefabricated concrete and the frames create a rhythm of openings which afford a view to the outside of shared areas by means of the use of bright colours on the walls and floors.
French-Brazilian office Triptyque has released plans for a mixed-used, all-wooden highrise. Located on a 1,025-square-meter site in São Paulo, the 13-story building will contain a total of 4,700 square meters of space dedicated to coworking, coliving, and a restaurant.
Cortesia de Triptyque
The building, initiated by Brazilian forest management company AMATA, will be built in CLT, "a high-tech product made of multiple layers of massive wood laid down in two different directions." The material harnesses the wood's structural properties and can be used in high-rise buildings.
Cortesia de Triptyque
From the architects. The AMATA Building brings innovative solutions and that is not only because of the material, wood, but also because of its design, reduced construction time, durability and architectural possibilities. The building is the naturalization of architecture put to practice, offering a total sensorial experience, the metaphor to an urban habitable forest, the visible and the invisible wood, the use of vegetation as well as the landscape.
Cortesia de Triptyque
With its stepped silhouette, it will blend in perfectly with Vila Madalena’s uneven topography, creating an architecturally interesting point for visitation. The wooden building represents the seed to a new inexhaustible construction paradigm.
© Beauty and the Bit
Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
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