© Michel Denancé

• Architects: MGAU
• Location: Clichy, France
• Design Team: Michel Guthmann, Stéphanie Appert, Olivier Barthe, Mauro Palamini, Samuel Reist, Oona Savransky, Nicolas Zaegel
• Area: 3400.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Michel Denancé , Takuji Shimmura

• Architects Team: Mauro Palamini, Samuel Reist, Oona Savransky, Nicolas Zaegel
• Engineers: Bureau d’Etudes MIZRAHI
• Constructor: Fayolle
• Client: SEMERCLI for Clichy Habitat

© Michel Denancé

From the architect. The city of Clichy la Garenne has committed to an ambitious urban reconstruction project that highlights an exceptional location at the entrance to the city, south of the town. The construction of 47 homes by SEMERCLI falls within this context. The real challenge was to introduce new buildings made of contemporary architecture, more dense. The new building must thus preserve the unique spirit of these neighborhoods, linked to the history of the “faubourgs”. The final goal was to create a ten-story building which had the least possible impact at street level. This apparent contradiction was, for us, the basis of the project: a building in two pieces including a lower  piece, which becomes part of  the continuity of the street, and a second  piece of the building, which is separated and rises up in height, slightly set back.

Diagram

The lower part of the building belongs to the universe of the street, the continuities, and the pedestrians. There is a relationship between it and the existing buildings. The taller building rises and distinguishes itself from the traditional framework of the city. This way of rising into the sky multiplies the façades with views, and preserves the vision of the open sky as much as possible for the pedestrians and inhabitants on the south side of the street. Some apartments are located in two small wings built around the backyard. 

© Michel Denancé

The organization of the volumes allows the quantitative specifications to be met and permits not to sacrify what we consider to be essential to the interior quality of an apartment, that is: apartments have different orientations, kitchens benefit from direct natural light, and living areas are maximized and functional.

© Takuji Shimmura

The site creates an interlacing of gardens, patios and passages on the ground floor. This organization anticipates the richness of volumes found in the building. The hallway is generous and bright: stretching between the street and the interior garden like the storage area for strollers, spacious and functional.

© Takuji Shimmura

Floor Plan

© Michel Denancé

The façades are insulated on the exterior, and are treated either with lime plaster or a metal cladding. The windows and joinery are in aluminum, with an anodized finishing. The color of the plaster is in keeping with the colors of the existing buildings on the street.  The cladding is very light, in order to reflect the sunlight and brighten the center of the block. The volumes are simple in order to develop a certain constructive and technical rationality. The openings are very wide in order to maximize the penetration of natural light and highlight the visual exchange with the exterior.

© Takuji Shimmura

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North Perspective. Image Courtesy of Arkitema Architects

Arkitema Architects has unveiled their winning proposal for a new visitors center at Mols Bjerge National Park in Denmark. To be located adjacent to the historic Kalø Castle Ruins, the design draws inspiration from the surrounding landscape, taking the form of a softly sloping hill.

West Perspective. Image Courtesy of Arkitema Architects

“We did not design a building in the usual sense. We designed an integrated part of the landscape,” said Poul Schülein, partner at Arkitema Architects. “We have mirrored the hilly surroundings and we are thrilled to continue working with this exciting project.”

Interior Perspective. Image Courtesy of Arkitema Architects

The new center has been designed to accommodate the approximately 150,000 tourists that visit the Kalø Castle Ruins each year in a welcoming structure constructed of wood and brick that integrates into the National Park scenery. Within the hill-shaped form, two levels will provide an exhibition area, a gathering space for tourists, families and class trips, and a restaurant offering panoramic views of the Kalø Castle Ruins.

North Elevation. Image Courtesy of Arkitema Architects

East Elevation. Image Courtesy of Arkitema Architects

The two levels will be connected by a large, accessible staircase that will serve as an additional meeting point. The stair will continue out of the building to provide outdoor seating options.

Interior Perspective. Image Courtesy of Arkitema Architects

The new building will be located just 500 meters from another Arkitema project, the House of Hunting, and represents the second recent visitor’s center commission for the firm, following being awarded the design of the Hammershus Visitors Center in 2013.

Section. Image Courtesy of Arkitema Architects

The building is expected to open to the public in 2019.

News via Arkitema Architects.

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© Gloria Medina

• Architects: FGO/Arquitectura
• Location: Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
• Architects In Charge: Luis Fernando Garcia, D.I Andrea Marín
• Area: 500.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Gloria Medina

© Gloria Medina

Located in the Golf Club La Ceiba in the Yucatan peninsula. The project is erected within a lot with abundant vegetation, which is why the architecture was adapted to the terrain; most of the trees were respected and were relocated to provide shadow to open spaces. As well vegetation was taken advantage to generate cool breezes that allow a natural way to ventilate each space.

© Gloria Medina

The project is developed starting from the needs of an adult couple, which is why it is only one level, with access and amenities appropriate for every need along with easy access and circulation between all areas. The project is divided into three stages (garage, service area and residential area), all of which are connected by a network of ramps and steps through gardens and moving walls.

Floor Plan

With views to the outside from any part of the house, each space is given its own identity, with unique perspectives and without being exposed to the street or the golf course. This gives the residents total privacy, utilizing moving walls and a landscape design inspired by the regional forest.

© Gloria Medina

The project is developed with three longitudinal axises as starting points, by hiding the windows within walls a more open floor plan is generated, unifying the Living Room/Dining Room/Terrace/Kitchen.

© Gloria Medina

Such axises communicate with the living quarters, located to one side of the pool, passing through the fourth area, guest quarters/Den, serving as a transition, by utilizing the paths in the landscape design into the private living quarters, all of which have views of a private garden, functioning as a meditation space.

© Gloria Medina

With a low maintenance selection of materials and vegetation palette (concrete, steel and wood), clean and inviting spaces are created. Hand in hand with the landscape design, a state of tranquility and peace is created in the spaces, for the greater welfare of the users.

© Gloria Medina

Playing with simple geometry, completely open to the exterior, the natural environment is incorporated into each space by means of translucent elements, which are capable of providing ample and natural light to the spaces, inviting us once again to coexist with nature.

© Gloria Medina

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When it comes to viral architecture, readers love a sense of the theatrical. This trend has led to a new internet obsession: ‘evil’ buildings that look like they could be the home of a supervillain or nefarious corporation.

Compiled on sites such as BoredPanda and Reddit, lists of ‘Evil Buildings’ tend to feature structures that feel sterile to non-architects, photographed in dramatic lighting or surrounded in fog. Projects by Zaha Hadid Architects, Frank Gehry and Ole Scheeren are among those represented. But what exactly makes these buildings feel evil?

This phenomenon represents an age-old quandary in architecture: how to make laypersons feel more comfortable with architectural styles they may be uncomfortable with. This issue is most commonly seen in the differences in public and architect opinions on Brutalist buildings, which even publicly elected officials have decried as “”aesthetically worthless” and “ugly.”

Check out BoredPanda’s list of ‘Evil Buildings’ here.

Is it possible for a building to be ‘evil’, or is it simply a product of photography? How should architects react to the way their buildings are perceived?

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© Rafael Gamo

• Architects: ROSETTI
• Location: Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, NY 11375, United States
• Area: 125000.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Rafael Gamo

© Rafael Gamo

From the architect. Completed this fall, the 125,000 square foot, 8,125-seat Grandstand Stadium is an innovative, lightweight structure that anchors the southwest corner of the United States Tennis Association’s (USTA) National Tennis Center in New York City. Since 2010, ROSSETTI and the USTA have collaborated on redesigning the 46-acre campus for the future of tennis, and expect to complete the final phase for the 2018 US Open. 

Diagram

Relocated from the crowded northeast corner of the campus, the new Grandstand Stadium nestles into the natural setting of Flushing Meadows Corona Park; the trees along the campus edge inspire its unique exterior skin pattern that metaphorically evokes the illusion of peering through the foliage of leaves.

© Rafael Gamo

Teflon-coated fiberglass membrane, or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)”) fabric, the hexadecagon (16-sided) facade is composed of 486 panels, over 26,000 square feet, that were designed using Computational Solver software. The complex geometry of the panels is synthesized while taking advantage of the material play on opacity and translucency, offering glimpses into and out of the stadium.

© Rafael Gamo

Section Detail

© Rafael Gamo

From the ground, fans are drawn into the Grandstand Stadium from multiple staircases alongside the structure. Along the upper walkway, visitors enjoy expansive views of the campus and park, including the new Allée, which connects to the historic World’s Fair Unisphere. Its strategic design allows people to move freely along the perimeter of the stadium while staying underneath the translucent canopy overhead.

Walkway Level Plan

The fan experience includes a lower bowl recessed into the earth, to maintain scalability, which creates the ultimate tennis experience that highlights the player-fan relationship. New concessions, a picnic area and plazas surround the Grandstand Stadium and provide fans with a comfortable, laid-back atmosphere as an alternative to the hustle and bustle of the rest of the campus.

© Rafael Gamo

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