VF House is a residential project designed by Studio ro+ca. It is located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photos courtesy of Studio ro+ca
RIBA exhibits three pavilions designed to serve London communities
London Festival of Architecture 2016: a soup servery, a rubbish bin-cum-play space and a flat-pack pop-up shop form part of an exhibition that explores how architecture can contribute to city communities (+ slideshow). (more…)
Georges Batzios Architects Propose Cultural Center Made Entirely of Straw
Courtesy of Georges Batzios Architects
A proposal from George Batzios Architects for the Konaki Averof Cultural Center in Greece uses a cutting edge, sustainable approach to revive a deeply historical site. The design intertwines elements of architecture and agriculture to refit an existing structure with reference to the Thessalian plains on which it lies. The new architecture recreates the existing envelopes with straw cladding, regenerating the “golden environment” which defined the place in the late 19th century.
The structure is scattered among the ruins of buildings in the Thessalian plains, a vast site that once functioned as the granary of the Greek territory and beyond. Georges Batzios propose that the historical architecture cannot simply be reinterpreted as a copy, as the landscape has evolved to the extent that the original architecture is no longer functional. The urban life that existed there has become superseded by the growing urbanization of nearby Larissa, and the vibrancy of the existing structures has faded.
Courtesy of Georges Batzios Architects
The architects propose that the unique characteristics of Konaki Averof are invigorated by combining the qualities of the old with the capability of modern construction technology. The context and the addition relate dominantly through materiality, enabling the refitting of the building to revitalize “the site, not only the artifact.”
Courtesy of Georges Batzios Architects
The Thessalian land traditionally bore golden wheat crops, which is directly translated into the evolved building’s primary material: straw. The exposed straw is compressed and forms the entire outer skin of the building. This construction technique, developed in Northern Europe, is here used to this extent for the first time. The material’s insulation capabilities are able to reduce 95% of the building’s energy needs, creating a passive thermal environment. Visually, it presents a golden glow, reinstating the lost color and texture of the plains.
Courtesy of Georges Batzios Architects
The main area of the building contains two levels; the ground floor, which houses the functionality of the building, and the attic, which becomes the “social playground.” The two are rationalized in completely different ways, the first a clear segregation of programmatic elements and the latter a public open space, able to be used freely.
Courtesy of Georges Batzios Architects
The proposition was developed as a response to the Konaki Averof Cultural Center Competition, in which Georges Batzios received second place.
News via Georges Batzios Architects
- Architects: Georges Batzios Architects
- Location: Thessalia, Greece
- Area: 1200.0 sqm
- Project Year: 2016
- Photographs: Courtesy of Georges Batzios Architects
Gove’s leadership bid verdict: ‘a real chance he could win’
Michael Gove launches his bid with a damning character reference about Boris Johnson, with whom he ran the Vote Leave campaign
Last week Michael Gove’s Vote Leave campaign ended the career of David Cameron – a man that Gove has counted as a close friend for more than a decade.
On Thursday the Gove career-destroying machine has turned on Boris Johnson, who until about 9am was the favourite to win the Conservative leadership. Gove, who is respected by colleagues, Tory members and the media, published a damning character reference about the man with whom he jointly ran the victorious Vote Leave campaign. Here’s the key section:
I respect and admire all the candidates running for the leadership. In particular, I wanted to help build a team behind Boris Johnson so that a politician who argued for leaving the European Union could lead us to a better future.
But I have come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead.
But I understand that Gove is not planning to put himself forward.
One influential figure in the Leave campaign says: “Michael has acquired a new respect for Boris in this process.”
Politics blog | The Guardian http://ift.tt/297RgT7
Beautiful Europe
Beautiful Europe
Origami / group8
© Régis Golay
- Architects: group8
- Location: Geneva, Switzerland
- Project Year: 2015
- Photographs: Régis Golay
© Régis Golay
From the architect. This children’s area is linked to the new world headquarters of Japan Tobacco International in Geneva. Located between two imposing buildings, the headquarters of JTI and WMO, the nursery school is envisaged as an ‘inhabited landscape’. The building is based on a regular frame and alternating arches in offset bands which are spread out across the whole site and form the body of the building which is covered by a vegetated roof. This structural principle generates either sheltered spaces when the arch is convex, or open spaces which serve as an interior playground when it is concave. The Origami nursery school derives its specific nature from the way in which it varies a repetitive geometrical principle. There is a mixture of structural materials, the mullions, transoms and uprights being in metal and the horizontal caissons in wood.
© Régis Golay
Ground Floor Plan
© Régis Golay
Its architectural design can be described as the theatrical staging of the landscape aspect of the building. The entrance is created by lowering the core layer giving access to the centre of the site. On entering one discovers play areas in relation with outside amenities and intersecting views between the different sections.
© Régis Golay
The interior layout provides for differences in architectural scales corresponding to the different ages of the children.
© Régis Golay
Beautiful Europe
7A Architecture Studio Designs a Private Residence in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam
Nguyen’s house is a residential project designed by 7A architecture studio in 2015. It is located in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam. Nguyen’s House by 7A architecture studio: “NsH (Nguyen’s House) was built in a new residential area in Buon Ma Thuot city. Owners of the house were young parents living with their two kids, desiring a simple, warm and spacious house with plenty of light, and cost savings in construction…
Sig Nordal 