© Javier Callejas Sevilla

• Architects: Alberto Campo Baeza, Gilberto L. Rodríguez
• Location: Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: Javier Callejas Sevilla

• Collaborators Architects: Alejandro Cervilla García, Ignacio Aguirre López, María Pérez de Camino Díez, Pamela Díaz de León, David Alatorre, Viviana Ortíz, Mauricio Bárcenas, Katia Radilla, Guillermo Durán, Elena Jiménez Sánchez, Tommaso Campiotti, Imanol Iparraguirre Barbero
• Construction Company: Sorteo TEC
• Client: Sorteos TEC – Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

From the architect. For a Spanish architect, to build a house in Mexico is a privilege. To build a house in Monterrey is a gift. To build the TEC lottery house in Monterrey is amazing. And, logically, I did my utmost to ensure that this house would be the most beautiful in the world. That is my stated intent with every new project that falls into my hands.

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

And of course, if Barragán is always present in all my architecture, he is even more in this case, which is why I decided that not only would my house be flooded with light, but that it would be the golden light of Barragán.

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

With this in mind, after creating a diagonal space resulting from concatenating two spaces of double height, I decided to gild the high vertical wall on which all the southern light would fall and fill it with this much-coveted golden hue.

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

Accordingly this light-filled house would be literally flooded with golden light, and thus become a veritable DOMUS AUREA.

Ground Floor

Sketch

1st Floor

In functional terms, the house is divided into three planes. On the ground floor the most public areas. Continuity to the garden will be through verandas and shaded areas. On the upper floor, the bedrooms and living area overlooking the lower floor. At the higher rooftop level, the more private areas will be located, including the swimming-pool.

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

We dream of a white house, serene, full of light, a golden light, where its inhabitants will be happy.

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

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Courtesy of Unknown

Building a highway in a city is often thought of as a solution to traffic congestion. However, the induced demand theory has shown that when drivers have more routes, they choose to continue using this medium instead of using public transport or a bicycle, and as a result, congestion doesn’t decrease.

As a result, some cities have chosen to remove spaces designated for cars and turn what was once a highway into urban parks and less congested streets. 

Here we have six examples, some have already been completed, while a few are still under construction. To the surprise of some, most of the projects are in the US, which reflects that American designers are looking into further studying European transport policies. 

Harbor Drive, Portland – USA

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One of the first highways in the US to be eliminated to make way for a park was Portland, Oregon’s Harbor Drive built on the shore of the Willamette River. In 1974 the transformation work began that gave rise to Tom McCall Park. 

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The Hawthorne Bridge, which was originally part of the freeway, became a bridge for cyclists and pedestrians, connecting First Avenue with the park. 

Cheonggyecheon, Seoul – South Korea

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The Cheonggyecheon elevated highway in Seoul was built on a canal of the same name. In order to deal with environmental pollution and the noise generated by the more than 160,000 vehicles using the highway daily, Mayor Lee Myung Bak launched a plan to demolish it and build a park instead. 

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The selected proposal was designed by Kee Yeon Hwang, who wanted to clean up the canal and return it to its role as a meeting place. In addition, the recovery of this public space has reduced noise levels and temperature in the surrounding area. 

Pier Freeway, San Francisco

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In the early 1980s in San Francisco, a plan began to demolish the California 480 highway with the idea of building a park instead. However, it wasn’t until 1991 that the two-story motorway was demolished – after being damaged by the 1989 earthquake. Studies concluded that rebuilding the freeway was much more expensive than making a park. 

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Today the place has one of the best views of San Francisco Bay and has many miles of pedestrian and bicycle paths. 

Madrid Río, Madrid 

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In the year 2000, the Madrid Río project was started, which sought to restore the banks of the Manzares River. A difficult task thanks to the stretches of the M-30 highway that crossed it. 

As there were several historic structures involved, like the Puente de Segovia, the oldest bridge in the city, the Ermita Virgen del Puerto and Puente del Rey, the project carried out the restoration while maintaining these aspects of the city’s history in the middle of the park. In addition, the Puerta del Rey, a building dating back to the reign of José Bonaparte, was able to return to its original location, since it had been displaced during the construction of the motorway. 

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The park opened in 2011, offering citizens spaces for sports, walks, and opportunities to learn about the city’s history. In this instance, the motorway was not completely demolished, but traffic was diverted by underground tunnels. 

Park East Freeway, Milwaukee 

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In the 1960s, a project in the works would see the downtown area surrounded by the Park East Freeway. However, nearby residents began to oppose it, arguing that the project would cause too much noise. For this reason, the highway was never completed and certain parts were demolished between 1999 and 2002 for the development of the Park East Corridor project which, when finished, will allow free access from the city center to the river. 

© trevor.patt, via Flickr

In total, the new park is 60 hectares, 24 of which were allocated to new buildings to revitalize the area. So far, the northern part of the park is the one that shows the greatest advances through the remodeling of the main avenues that connect with downtown. 

Alaskan Way, Seattle 

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In 2001 an earthquake damaged the overpass of the Alaska Freeway in Seattle. Initially, the plan was to rebuild it, however, it was later decided to make a four lane underground tunnel so that on the surface the areas along Elliot Bay join with the rest of the city through a new pedestrian space. The inauguration of the park is scheduled for next year. 

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© <a href='http://ift.tt/2fUZ1R2; Rob Whitworth </a>

Fairy chimneys, also known as hoodoos or tent rocks, are spooky looking spires of rock that range from the height of an average person to over 40 meters. While recently on assignment creating one of his time-lapse videos for Turkish Airlines, photographer and filmmaker Rob Whitworth captured the fairy chimneys found in the Cappadocia region of Turkey in all their eerie charm.

© <a href='http://ift.tt/2fUZ1R2; Rob Whitworth </a>

Simply put, fairy chimneys are formed when thick layers of soft rock are covered by a thin layer of hard rock, with the soft rock continuing to erode through cracks in the layer of hard rock. As the cracks deepen, the fairy chimneys come to be shaped into their pillar-like silhouettes.

© <a href='http://ift.tt/2fUZ1R2; Rob Whitworth </a>

While this geological process happens all over the world—fairy chimneys can be found in Taiwan, the US, New Zealand and Jordan—it is only in Cappadocia where they have been transformed into houses and churches through a sort of human-rock collaboration.

© <a href='http://ift.tt/2fUZ1R2; Rob Whitworth </a>

The magical-looking result of this human-rock partnership was many millennia in the making. The first Cappadocian volcanic rocks were formed millions of years ago, followed by further centuries of natural forces that eroded the rock into their distinctive forms. The human touch to the Cappadocian fairy chimneys took less time than Mother Nature’s, and began out of necessity when early Christians during the Roman period sought refuge within the rocks. On the run from persecution in Rome, upon reaching Cappadocia (the town of Goreme in particular), they discovered the malleability of the rocks and began to carve into them. A system of manmade caves was created throughout the fairy chimneys, which became homes, churches and stables.

© <a href='http://ift.tt/2fUZ1R2; Rob Whitworth </a>

Today, the fairy chimneys serve as a refuge for tourists rather than those fleeing empire-wide persecution, but remain uncannily unique. Some of the chimney caves have been converted into museums and hotels, letting people truly explore a built environment that owes its creation to volcanoes, wind and rain as much as ancient human intervention.

© <a href='http://ift.tt/2fUZ1R2; Rob Whitworth </a>

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