We’ve all been there. That enchanting, mysterious moment when the muse strikes. Creativity is intoxicating. It’s frenetic. And — not to sound crass — it’s profitable. Unfortunately, creativity is also fickle: the more you chase it, the harder it is to catch.
From the architect. The competition was won by the Matrix…cc Architects & Urban Designers, whose scheme proposed a structurally playful building that reformed the previously fenced off connection with the local community through the creation of a public square. The inclusion of the building and greater campus into the surrounding context was one of the primary conceptual drivers.
In establishing the spatial massing of the proposed site to hold the space, the design reinforces the creation of a strong pedestrian entrance, defined by the spire of the main administration building, accentuating the axial link between the square and campus.
The creation of a new campus gateway resulted in the programme of the building being split in two, with a ‘Classroom Building’, consisting of central atrium and gallery space linking three levels of training facilities, lecture rooms and computer facilities, and an ‘Office Building’, which hosts the administration, security and staff facilities. A grand entrance canopy, defining the gateway threshold into the campus and layering the transition between public spaces, visually and spatially links the two buildings.
The orientation maximises natural light and ventilation, creating a bright and inviting atmosphere that permeates the triple volume gallery of the building. Serving as the central circulation spine, the gallery links the various classroom, training and computer centres with a range of communal spaces, conversation pits and a generous open atrium at the entrance. This mix of studio and study spaces is further extended to the outside of the building, where generous verandas, external terraces and an embanked grass amphitheatre allow for a range of personal and communal events.
The design is further highlighted by the inclusion of a heavy hanging fascia beam that spans along the upper edge of the building.. Much of the clarity of the structure however resides in the minimised palette of materials employed. Guided by the original face brick design used throughout the Missionvale campus, the building limits itself to off-shutter concrete, face-brick and steel, with accents of painted finishes in the corporate red and blue colours of the NMMU.
Drama in materiality is also created with subtle variations in application and surface; concrete floors are polished to reveal the contrast between the smooth exposed aggregate and off shutter concrete; perforated metal screens designed to enclose the industrial fire escape staircases, while the milled steel roof sheeting to the soft roofs results in a wonderfully textured dappling effect along the southern facade. The colourful mosaic tiles placed on the playful and interactive conversation pit, suspended within the atrium and puncturing the glass facade of the building, create a burst of colour and provide a central focal point.
Dezeen Watch Store: Swedish designer Alexander Lervik‘s first wristwatch, which features a circular case punctured by hexagonal holes, is now available for exclusive pre-order. (more…)
Handies Peak Wilderness Study Area in Colorado is breathtaking in the summer. Handies Peak rises 14,048 feet over the area, and this vibrant wilderness also hosts three major canyons, glacial cirques and three alpine lakes. Handies Peak is one of more than 500 wilderness study areas – lands unspoiled by roads or other development that provide outstanding opportunities for solitude. Photo by Bob Wick, @mypubliclands.
Window or aisle, front or back, we all have our airplane seat preferences. If you’re looking for a quiet flight, however, here’s where you should sit, according to a pilot.
iOS: Modern Atlas is one of many trip-planning apps
that can organize what you want to see, do, and eat during your next vacation. Its focus is on the research portion, and gives you tons of information about your destination that you can use to plan the perfect trip.
Spanish, New York-based architect Andrés Jaque (Office for Political Innovation) has been awarded the 10th Kiesler Architecture and Art Prize by the Mayor of Vienna, citing Jaque’s “capacity to go beyond assumptions about traditional practice and urban life.” In 2015 Jaque was declared the MoMA PS1 YAP (Young Architects Programme) winner for COSMO – a complex, and beautiful, water purifying prototype that has been installed in Brooklyn. He and his office are also collaborating with Mark Wigley and Beatriz Colomina on the design for the upcoming Istanbul Design Biennial, Are We Human?
The prize, which is considered “one of the world’s most important recognitions for creators working in the intersection of art and architecture” and is awarded every two years, has previously been bestowed upon architects including Cedric Prize, Toyo Ito, Frank Gehry, and Olafur Eliasson. €55,000 will be presented to Jaques, funded by the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna, in honour of “extraordinary achievements in architecture and the arts that relate to Frederick Kiesler’s experimental and innovative attitudes and his theory of ‘correlated arts’ by transcending the boundaries between the traditional disciplines.”
Jaque has said: “I believe that daily life is there to be reinvented, discussed and taken care of, that is what we try to do with our work in the Office for Political Innovation. If we had to find friends on this purpose we would put the previous Kiesler awarded on top of the list.” Hani Rashid, President of the Frederick Kiesler Foundation, has said: “Andrés Jaque is […] an architect who fearlessly turns all on its head confronting the banal that at times burdens the pursuit of pure fantastical space. His work stood out this year for its vibrancy, playfulness and uncompromising commitment to seeking out the new and the unorthodox.”
Sig Nordal 