US studio Carlton Architecture has completed a lakeside house in North Carolina that features expansive window walls, and ample use of wood and pre-rusted steel (+ slideshow). (more…)
New York City – New York – USA (by Berigraf)
The main structure is a 2500sf artist’s studio, o ce, and storage building that is clad in barn wood though inverts the pitched-roof form of the original. The inverted pitch roof creates sweeping double height spaces for art production and storage, while providing natural ventilation, natural light, and views out toward the property.
A 720 sf concrete kitchen and dining space grows out from the studio. Nicknamed the “Amoeba,” it reaches toward the landscape and literally captures it to create a lush interior garden that softly separates the kitchen from the dining area. The roof is an exposed wood, scissor-beam roof construction with a large, di use skylight that brings light into the center of the building for people and plants.
Though its form and material may seem foreign, it follows a similar pitched form as its host and is board-formed using the same barn wood as formwork. When the concrete had dried the boards were removed and reused as a fence elsewhere on the property, further continuing a many decades-old material lineage.
Connecticut is the focus of this week’s roundup of American houses, where our favourites include a bright red artist’s studio overlooking the Long Island Sound and an affordable dwelling in New Haven designed by Yale architecture students (+ slideshow). (more…)
Norman Foster, Calvin Klein and Dieter Rams are among over 100 high-profile designers that have sided with Apple as it continues an ongoing patent case against tech rival Samsung. (more…)
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Bubble wrap – a vessel that carries delicate items from one point to another. A saving grace in the packing world. A toy to some, a piece of scientific equipment to others.
What is it about bubble wrap that appeals to us so much?
Discover what makes popping bubble wrap so therapeutic, as well as some not-so-typical uses for the inexpensive packing phenomenon.
In 1951, two engineers, Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes, sought to create a wallpaper that would provide greenhouse insulation. Their solution was two shower curtains bonded together, which created pockets of trapped air that could be used as heat traps.
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Despite a major lack of interest, the Sealed Air Company launched in 1960. A few years later, just prior to the launch of IBM, Frederick Bowers, a friend to Fielding and Chavannes, inquired about protecting his delicate computer components. The need for Sealed Air became clear, thanks to the development of IBM Computers.
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See Also: Protect Your Breakable Items By Following These Packing Tips
Via rappler.com
In addition to serving as a calming sensory object, bubble wrap is one of the cheapest, most popular packing protection methods in the world. Because air bubbles absorb shock better than any other material, this makes bubble wrap highly desirable for packing breakable and delicate components like computers, television, and more.
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Science has even found applications for bubble wrap. In underdeveloped countries, scientists are using bubble wrap as test tubes.
According to Scientists at Harvard University, bubble wrap is easy to come by, particularly in a science lab. Fluids like blood and urine have been easily injected into the packing material and transported for testing making bubble wrap ideal for labs in poor countries.
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Scientists also discovered that the air inside the bubbles was completely sterile, opening the doors of opportunity to labs in poor countries to test their water supply amongst other things.
See Also: 5 Playfully Crazy Tips That Can Unleash Your Creative Potential and Boost Your Creativity
Via metro.co.uk
The Inquiring Minds at New York Magazine discussed a study done in the 1990s done by Western New England College. The study, published in the Psychological Reports journal, quoted a 1970’s tome that discussed the calming powers of touch.
In ancient times in countries like Greece and Asia, people carried smooth stones they would rub to calm themselves. These “worry beads” or “fingering pieces” gave people something to do with their hands during stressful situations, proving that keeping your hands busy is a great method of relaxation. This would explain why popping bubble wrap is so soothing.
Popping bubble wrap not only helps take the mind off of a stressful situation, but it has also been proven to release muscle tension. Part of the draw is compulsion — that instinct to be destructive.
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Max Beerbohm was quoted as stating “To destroy is still the strongest instinct in nature.” Popping bubble wrap is a safe, harmless way of destroying something, appealing to the most basic of human instincts.
Bubble wrap, deemed useless in the early 1950’s, is now one of the cheapest, most therapeutic tools available to mankind. Its reputation in the packing industry, as well as it’s capabilities amongst the sciences make it one of the most versatile materials on the planet. Only time will tell what the next bubble wrap phenomenon will be.
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Located on Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City’s most renowned avenues, Torre Reforma is part of a cultural, historical, and financial district. It is a turning point for vertical urban growth in the megalopolis of Mexico City, having a 2,800 m2 ground site, extremely small for a high-rise building of roughly 87,000 m2.
Its shape, derived by the architectural-structural parti, takes into consideration many social, financial and environmental factors. The 57 story building, distinguished by its triangular form, is composed of two 246 meter high exposed concrete walls, resembling the form of an open book, closed by a third glass-façade-metallic diagrid, with a panoramic view to Chapultepec Park. Its façades allow for a versatile column free space and have a great impact on the reduction of energy consumption, shifting from an all-glass façade generation. The existing historical house on site is integrated, forming part of the main lobby. The commercial areas at ground floor and first basement allow for the street activity to unfold into the building.
The building has an array of services that includes, sport facilities, open spaces and terraces, bars and restaurants, gardens, auditorium, and common meeting rooms.
In accordance to the actual importance towards mobility, Torre Reforma is very accessible and well connected to the urban infrastructure and services. Its strategic location is surrounded by important avenues such as Paseo de la Reforma, Avenida Insurgentes, the longest avenue in Mexico City, and Circuito Interior, an urban freeway connecting the city’s central neighborhoods. At ground level the sidewalks were expanded and made accessible for all users, giving priority to pedestrians rather than vehicles. The historical house was restored to recover its urban value, serving as a transition from a small scale at pedestrian level to a high rise building scale. The existing infrastructure includes two subway stations, transit buses, and multiple public bicycle stations.
Torre Reforma is one of the leading skyscrapers in a developing area where many others are yet to come. Torre Reforma improved the visual quality of the city’s skyline as well as at street level for pedestrians.
The solid concrete structural and architectural facades are influenced by Pre-Hispanic and colonial Mexican architecture where solid materials (concrete or stone) are predominant.
The glass façade turns 45 degrees to face the best views of the city as well as slopes 14 meters over the historical house. The allowed height for the building is twice the width of the street in front of the property, in this case, Paseo de la Reforma. However, although there are façade height restrictions, the regulations applicable to the property allowed for a higher density. According to the Mexican norm, an imaginary line is traced at 1.80 meters in height from the opposite side of Paseo de la Reforma, passing through the highest point of the façade. The potential height of the building is the limit of the imaginary line. This allowed Torre Reforma to have 246 meters in height, and have a sloped façade starting at 200 meters in height.
It is organized into 14 four-story clusters, buildings within the building, allowing users to interact on a larger scale with the city to a smaller scale within their workspace. In a city with high seismic activity, the concrete walls were designed to bend due to its openings, repeated every cluster along the tower, providing natural light to interior triple height gardens. These gardens are an extension from the horizontal public space at street level to a vertical axis, creating indoor micro spaces.
Considering the AIA 2030 Commitment for energy performance, Torre Reforma’s structural efficiency and architectural design has obtained the Platinum USGB precertification. The building envelope generated a great energy performance with a 24% reduction according to ASHRAE. The reduction of energy consumption is due to the façade-structural design: the concrete walls and the double layer glass façade with shades, allowing natural lighting in all office spaces. This drastically benefits the user by providing aesthetic and comfortable interior spaces for better performance.
Rain and waste water is 100% reused in the water treatment plant mainly for bathrooms and the air-conditioning. Water tanks, located along the tower for more effective water system, rely on gravity rather than pump use, particularly in fire emergency.
The building is designed to optimize the users flux within the building but also in relation to the city. Within the building, the elevators for Low, Mid, and High Rise are separate in order to optimize the different users but share the same shaft space for efficiency. By an EEES System, elevators can be used during a fire due to pressurized shafts and refugee areas on each floor. The two robotic parking buildings for 400 cars have a low impact on the environment because no toxic fumes are emitted while parking and the space doesn’t need to be lit or ventilated. In order to have the least impact on neighboring streets, the underground parking has a third ramp that can adapt its direction: entrance in the morning and exit in the afternoon.
Forming part of the property is an early twentieth century house that is historically protected. In order for the building to be economically feasible, the house was integrated into the main lobby and the space beneath was used for the foundation underground parking, and services.
As a result, the house was moved. It was reinforced by thickening its walls and pouring a concrete slab underneath it which was placed on top of rails and moved temporarily 18 meters away from its original position. After the foundation was completed, the house was returned to its original position, and the underground levels were dug. The old, damaged limestone has been restored and is currently rented for retail space.
Sig Nordal 