Situated at the end of Avenue Lefaucheux, the plot of land is located at the entrance to the joint development zone by the quay. Thanks to its position, it has exceptional views over the Seine, with the island of Billancourt opposite and the new urban park anchoring the riverbank.
The idea of the project is to open the garden, at the heart of the plot, outwards, so that it is linked to the new park within the development zone. This means that the majority of the apartments benefit from both the light and the views, and a link with the landscape is created.
In response to instructions received from Patrick Chavannes and Thierry Laverne, visual transparencies have been built in at the level of the building’s common base. This offers an enhanced distribution of both light and sightlines, softening the transition between public and private spaces. In the same way, the way the building is set back from the street, along with the opening on the north side on rue Traversière, help to open up the plot: a small private square broadens the urban perception of the street.
The composition of the facades is directly influenced by the visual spectacle of the Billancourt park and the river: in the central part of the building, mosaic cladding reflects the context in its choice of colours, whilst the choice of modules of white concrete for balconies and walkways enhances the sense of continuity with the generous openings that punctuate the vertical volumes.
Similarly, lush and abundant vegetation is an inherent part of the design. The park continues not only through the central garden, but also up the facade and all the way up to the roof terraces. It gives a strong identity to the whole design, transforming these spaces into a background for plants and bushes. The overall image becomes blurred with the background. Residents have their ‘heads in the treetops’.
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The Conservative party conference was dominated by what the party said about immigration but one of the most intriguing lines to emerge was what Theresa May said about monetary policy and quantitative easing. In remarks that seemed highly critical of the Bank of England, and its QE policy, she said: “While monetary policy, with super-low interest rates and quantitative easing, provided the necessary emergency medicine after the financial crash, we have to acknowledge there have been some bad side effects.” Downing Street later had to clarify that she was not trying to interfere with the Bank’s independence and that QE policy was a matter for them.
But it would be unwise to think that that is the end of the matter, and this morning a powerful voice has come to the aid of those in Number 10 who think it is time for a QE rethink. William Hague, the former Conservative leader and former foreign secretary, has used his column in the Telegraph to suggest that the Bank of England should raise interest rates or lose its independence. He also lists 10 problems with the Bank’s continued reliance on QE. Here is an extract.
I am not an economist but I have come to the conclusion that central banks collectively have now indeed lost the plot. The whole point of their independence was that they could be brave enough to make people confront reality. Yet in reality they are blowing up a bubble of make-believe money to avoid immediate pain, except for penalising the poor and the prudent …
Some central bankers would mount a strong defence of their approach. They would explain that there is a global glut of savings, so interest rates are in any case kept low by market forces. This is true, but it does not mean those rates have to be driven to zero, or even below zero now in some places, by the authorities …
Politics blog | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2eop0N1
Flexhouse is a private home designed by Evolution Design. It is located in Zurich, Switzerland. Flexhouse by Evolution Design: “With its wide walls of glass and a ribbon-like white façade that winds its way around the building, this home on the banks of Lake Zurich is so light and mobile in appearance that it resembles a futuristic vessel that has sailed in from the lake and found itself a natural..
Panels of shimmering copper form the scaly skin of this fire station in Chamonix, which is designed by Studio Gardoni Architectures to reflect the massive Alpine peaks that rise behind it. Read more
From the architect. Since the dawn of history, ‘public’ architecture – the architecture constructed by institutions of church and state, served as a tool in shaping the consciousness of the masses. Its massive dimensions, layout of spaces, and choice of materials, were all done with the objective of creating in the viewer and visitor a sense of moving between dimensions – from the day-to-day, the simple and the often inferior – to a place that is sublime, inspiring and of awesome majesty – homes to those among the people raised to privilege– the representatives of God on earth.
The Pharaohs in Ancient Egypt, influenced by the Nile which flows in linear manner, designed their temples as a voluminous physical experience. En route, temple visitors move over long stretches that become more convoluted and ever deeper, passing through spaces where each exposes a clue to the next, and where each transition appears to take you closer to the exalted and the shocking, which only the favored will get to see.
Western modern architecture sought to break free of its propaganda-based foundations and serve as a reflection of the values of a society, its culture, and its technological capabilities. It is intended to serve the public and the objectives of a nation’s government – no longer in the form of holy places, but as functional public buildings that are welcoming and democratic in nature. Accordingly, the importance of changing the mind-set of the visitor has been almost entirely absent from the design discourse in recent centuries.
When it comes to ‘grassroots architecture’ – namely, the architecture used in planning private residences – the experience of a change in consciousness upon entering a house is hardly ever thought of nowadays in the design process, having lost its importance quite some time ago. The living spaces and the living room are thus made as one piece, separated from the street by nothing more than a door, both physically and metaphorically.
The house under discussion here is about this experience. It is this dynamic that is generated in its design, explaining it to the visitor simply by placing him or her at its center from the first moment they stand in front of the facade facing the street — an opaque monolithic slab, covered in dark stone. The impermeability of the wall is softened by an avenue of young trees directing the visitor along the length of the paved footpath, directly into an inner courtyard surrounded by a semi-opaque stretch of wood, the first in a series of internal courtyards that form a key principle in the design of the house.
Walking along the path, as indeed the entry into the enclosed grounds, is part of the process of separating from the outside world and contemplating the present moment more deeply. Full attention can now be given to the structure, captured in its spaces like a prisoner – as we stand in front of a large, transparent curtain wall on which we can observe what is going on in the house in absolute transparency, something reserved for visitors invited because they appreciate such loveliness.
Although the facade facing the street is designed as an opaque mass and seems to hold an enigmatic secret, as soon as one crosses the line of the wooden ‘arbours’, the spaces of the house are suddenly visible in all their simplicity. The process of stepping into opaqueness and then catching sight of the private interior as it emerges from the sealed, the hidden, and the monolithic, into an open and light-filled space, would almost seem to confirm that you have entered the place now exposed – the private parts of the house. Here the geometry is simple and minimalist, and is clean and transparent in its form and materials, almost as if it were someone that had turned all his cards face up on the table.
The other internal courtyards, as well as the glass balustrade that encloses the swimming pool, separating it from the other outside spaces, seemingly bring together all the visitor’s experiences into a focused and penetrating experience, one that clearly spells out the boundaries of what is permitted and possible, and defines the house as a private and intimate experience.
The key idea of the Life Science Centre architecture are the science and teaching complex modules forming the public space layout and comprising the integral whole like different cells of the matter. Cube-shaped volumes in open spaces of Saulėtekis, reiterating the natural context and building a humanist, traditional urban structure characteristic of the city of Vilnius, resemble a feature of the historical Vilnius University ensemble – a cosy inner courtyard. The volumes comprising the square perimeter and the entrance to the building are moved out over the glass vestibule and the merging space unites the areas of the main lobby, the courtyard and the passage, seamlessly linking them with the environment.
The monumental expression of the building architecture provides exceptionality and reflects the typological purpose, symbolises the austerity of science and creates a solid character of the new complex. Life is movement and growth. Notedly vibrant vertical lines of facades inspired by the impressive nature and the textural image of the adjacent trunks of the pine trees create a playful abundance of different points of view.
Indoor premises are planned universally, the ongoing research and training processes can be organised as needed – jointly or separately. Researchers will enjoy ultra-modern laboratories, quiet workrooms and open recreation areas. Student premises can function independently but during lectures scientists and students will meet in the audiences, teaching laboratories etc. General spaces are adapted for recreation and independent studies.
The lecture auditorium complex is individualised and has a separate entrance. It can be used as an independent conference centre.
Sig Nordal 