© Eiichi Kano Via Kengo Kuma and Associates

Kengo Kuma and Associates has completed its 10,440 square meter Wuxi Vanke arts and shopping complex, a renovated red brick cotton mill in Wuxi, China, featuring an aluminum-clad extension. 

© Eiichi Kano Via Kengo Kuma and Associates

Drawing inspiration from the shape of the local Taihu stone, a water-worn limestone, the extension utilizes porous, aluminum-cast panels to create an “amoeba-shaped space” that juts out from the rigid structure of the existing brick. Each aluminum panel alternates with open space to give the building a waved outline.

© Eiichi Kano Via Kengo Kuma and Associates

© Eiichi Kano Via Kengo Kuma and Associates

Through the perforated facade, sunlight is able to filter into the interior of the building, creating a soft lighting for the arts space.

© Eiichi Kano Via Kengo Kuma and Associates

Furthermore, the building is surrounded by a similarly, wave-shaped pool of water that reflects the facade. 

© Eiichi Kano Via Kengo Kuma and Associates

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© Daniel Malhão

• Architects: Aires Mateus
• Location: Alentejo Litoral
• Authors: Manuel Aires Mateus, Francisco Aires Mateus
• Collaborators: Maria Rebelo Pinto, Patrícia Marques
• Area: 170.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2000
• Photographs: Daniel Malhão

© Daniel Malhão

From the architect. The program includes four houses and a water tank. The water tank will be a square of whitewashed plaster where a pool is found and a line draws the shower.  The placement of the several houses will be decided by each owner.  

© Daniel Malhão

The first house is a square. The living room is disposed around a courtyard that provides indirect lighting. Secondary compartments inhabit the interior of thick walls that form the central living room.

Plan

These areas, compressed by a lifted ground and a lowered ceiling, become spaces which group to limit and define the “exterior volume,” emphasizing it as the main space of the house.

© Daniel Malhão

© Daniel Malhão

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