From the architect. The project is a second home located in the countryside, in a small village near Lodève, at the north of Montpellier.
The plot of land has a sloping topography organized in a series of platforms supported by old stone walls. It is opening on the north on a magnificent view on wooded steep hills.
The projet integrate this landscape : following the lines of the platforms transversely to the slope, it takes shape in a ground floor building stretched in length and turned towards the view.
The outlines of the platforms are preserved. The dry stone wall below the house is simply rebuilt and extended with the site material.
A terrace with a swimming pool is created on the south side of the house.
A new retaining wall is created in a raw concrete that, by its compact minerality, contrasts sharply with the field’s material, revealing it, while in turn the site refers to the purity of the lines of architecture. The pool is digged against the wall, which closes the space of the terrace and forms a nested and intimate place in the heart of a large garden.
With its flat roofing the house has a horizontal line which highlights the shape of the landscape.
Its mineral aspect makes it merge with the stony platforms, and, seen from above, the projet « melts » within the landscape.
The plan is composed of a very simple rhythm of identical opaque thin « blocks », alterning with large gaps corresponding to the openings of the house.
Each block is a « servant » space with attributed functions, and between them are rooms wide opened on the outside.
The project is made of two independant buildings (a main house and children’s rooms) connected on the ground level by a large terrace and up, by a light pergola.
The terrace is at the heart of the project. Second open living room, it allows to live outside while being still in the heart of the house. Its decorative shadows, inspired by the site, gives the living space a poetic dimension.
The project’s balance, in a potentially disturbed harmony – thin changes occurring between identity in variety – as its regular intervals and measures are the keys of its unity.
A great living experience, houseboat in Yellowknife ! Water must be cold tho…📸by: @travelontellus
Share your best shots with us and use #travelcanada or tag @travelcanada_ to get a chance to be featured !
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#canada #explorecanada #northwestterritories #north #yellowknife #water #house #living #experience #houseboat #color #colorful #beautiful #landscape #nature #adventure #destination #wanderlust #viewsaddict #ig_shotz #cold #photography #photographer #instagood #instadaily (at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories)
A great living experience, houseboat in Yellowknife ! Water must be cold tho…📸by: @travelontellus
Share your best shots with us and use #travelcanada or tag @travelcanada_ to get a chance to be featured !
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.
.
.
#canada #explorecanada #northwestterritories #north #yellowknife #water #house #living #experience #houseboat #color #colorful #beautiful #landscape #nature #adventure #destination #wanderlust #viewsaddict #ig_shotz #cold #photography #photographer #instagood #instadaily (at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories)
Construction is underway on a 700 foot (213 meter) tall Hindu temple in Uttar Pradesh, India that, upon completion, will be the world’s tallest religious building. Designed by Indian firm InGenious Studio, the structure (named “Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir”) will surpass the Ulm Minster in Germany, the current tallest church at 530 feet (162 meters).
The earthquake-resistant structure will rise 70 tiered stories and cover an area larger than St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, and will house a variety of religious and cultural facilities – as well as a theme park filled with attractions.
“Attractions planned in the theme park would be like park rides, animatronics, light, sound and special effects as well as the Vraja Mandal parikrama shows and laser shows,” project director Narasimha Das told The Spaces.
Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir will be dedicated to Hindu deity Lord Sri Krishna, who scripture states grew up in Vrindavan. The temple will be surrounded by additional social and residential facilities, set into a 30 acre forested area planted to recreate the 12 forests of Braj.
Current work is concentrated on the building’s 180 foot (55 meter) deep foundation, which will contain 511 columns.
News via The Spaces.
The retreat is sited near Taconite Harbor where the boreal forest meets the exposed bedrock of Lake Superior shoreline. The utmost character of the project reveals the predominance of place. There is a sense of old and new, an ageing beauty in the materials that reflect both permanence and impermanence. It is an encounter of something unexpected, of things that are in opposition.
Arriving at the site a garage and elongated storage shed to house kayaks form the stone entrance path. Clad with black paper-resin composite, repetitive cedar battens provide each otherwise stealth structure a sense of scale, warmth and resemble adjacent birch tree-trunks. Once on the path, the main building, courtyard and sauna come into view. Native grasses encroach on the path from the sides and through the gaps in random sized stone pavers. Descending and passing through a gap in a low stone wall you enter the court. To the right is a traditional white-washed masonry sauna with outdoor baking oven. The purity of white upon closer examination reveals the texture of the masonry and heightens the slight imperfections embodied in the construction. Ahead stands a L-shaped unchimney which defines the corner of the outdoor gathering area. The residual soot patterns mark the visual, auditory, olfactory stimulation from the presence of fires previous. Permanent outdoor furniture suggests uses related to the outdoor oven, unchimney and sauna.
Whoa! Sunlight creates rainbows from the spouts of two gray whales at Channel Islands National Park off the California coast. The waters surrounding Channel Islands are home to more than 27 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises – representing about one-third of cetacean species found worldwide. If you’re hoping to catch a gray whale sighting, try visiting the park during mid-December to mid-March when they migrate. Photo courtesy of Larry Goldman.
“Paradise is the term for a place of timeless harmony”
In Somalia, a simple flue often means death. Especially if you are young or newborn. The death-rate among children is the highest in the world.
Sweden has a high influx of Somalian refugees.
The Somalian community is concentrated at Bergsjön, a suburb of Gothenburgh. A private health clinic has been highly successful by giving rapid treatment to anxious mothers. It needed to expand.
The parking in front of the existing clinic provided a new plot for a new clinic, a new construction above the cars.
The drab surroundings of precast concrete, it is basically “a project” of 60s social housing, needed some colour and flair. The new building was conceived as a gift, carefully wrapped in elaborate glass. It should stand out and empower the community!
Somalia is a very arid country where the idea of paradise is lush gardens, literally paradise or the garden of Eden.
We decided to surround the waiting area with four walls of dense, damp and excessive(in time) vegetation, a rain forest.
The exterior walls are clad with unique pieces of screened glass. There is a different pattern on the inner pane. The two patterns are juxtaposed. This creates the illusion of movement.
A flag of colors slightly shifting in the wind. A celebration of color.
Product Description. It was the strong desire of the client to make a colorful and optimistic statement. Therefore, we used standard insulated glass units to print unique rasterized multicolor print patterns on both glass panes. The distance between the overlaid patterns means that the combination of pattern looks different depending on the visual angle they are seen from, and it keeps shifting as you move your vantage point. The result is an illusion of movement, shimmer, shadow and depth, that offer an extra vibrancy of the expression.
Tree and Design Action Group is a group that “shares the collective vision that the location of trees, and all the benefits they bring, can be secured for future generations through better collaboration in the planning, design, construction and management of our urban infrastructure and spaces.”
“Trees make places look and feel better, as well as playing a role in climate proofing our neighborhoods and supporting human health and environmental well-being, trees can also help to create conditions for economic success.” The Trees in the Townscape guide presents a modern approach to urban forestry, providing officials and professionals with the principles and references needed to realize the potential of vegetation in urban areas.
This is an approach that keeps pace with and responds to the challenges of our times. “Trees in the Townscape offers a comprehensive set of 12 action-oriented principles which can be adapted to the unique context of [any] own town or city.”
Who should use the 12 principles?
“The 12 principles in Trees in the Townscape are for everyone involved in making or influencing decisions that shape the spaces and places in which we live. It will be particularly relevant to local elected members, policy makers and community groups. It will also be useful to those professionals who bring their technical expertise to facilitate delivery, such as engineers, architects, landscape architects or urban designers.”
How were the 12 principles developed?
“This guide was developed by the Trees and Design Action Group (TDAG) based on over 40 interviews and wide consultation with key knowledge holders in the built environment sector including civil engineers, insurers, developers, designers, planners, tree officers, sustainability specialists, arboriculturist, tree nursery managers, ecologists, academics, and not-for-profit organisations specialising in community engagement and trees.”
Here is a brief description of each of the 12 principles:
PLAN
1- Know Your Tree Resource
Create and maintain easy-to-use records of the existing canopy cover and the nature and condition of the tree population.
2- Have a Comprehensive Tree Strategy
Produce, adopt and implement a collaborative strategy for protecting, developing and managing a thriving, benefit-generating urban forest which is in tune with local needs and aspirations.
3 – Embed Trees Into Policy and Other Plans
Adopt clear standards for the protection, care, and planting of trees in local plans.
DESIGN
4 – Make Tree-Friendly Places
Create places where tree species can thrive and deliver their full range of benefits without causing harmful nuisance.
5 – Pick the Right Trees
Select and use trees appropriate to the context.
6 – Seek Multiple Benefits
Harvest the full range of benefits trees can deliver as part of a local green infrastructure system, focusing on key local aspirations.
PLANT / PROTECT
7 – Procure a Healthy Tree
Plant healthy, vigorous trees that have been adequately conditioned to thrive in the environment in which they are destined to live.
8 – Provide Soil, Air and Water
Ensure trees have access to the nutrients, oxygen and water they need to fulfil their genetic potential for growth and longevity.
9 – Create Stakeholders
Work with local political, professional and community stakeholders to champion the value of trees in the townscape.
MANAGE / MONITOR
10 – Take an Asset Management Approach
Inform all planning, management and investment decisions with a robust understanding of both the costs and the value trees deliver.
11 – Be Risk Aware (Rather than Risk Averse)
Take a balanced and proportionate approach to tree safety management.
12 – Adjust Management to Needs
Conduct proactive and tailored tree maintenance to ensure optimum benefits in response to local needs.
To see the complete guide, click here.
This is an adapted version of the original guide released by TGAD with a focus on trees in urban areas.
