© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

• Architects: Fala Atelier
• Location: Lisbon, Portugal
• Design Team: Filipe Magalhães, Ana Luisa Soares, Ahmed Belkhodja, Mariana Silva, Camelia Petre, Clara Pailler
• Consultant: Paulo Sousa
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

From the architect. The project started with an unconventional request from an open minded couple: within a very tight budget, to convert a windowless 200m2 garage into a house.

© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

The proposed intervention intended the clearest reading possible of the existing structure, emphasising its strength. While the garage was careless and grey, the house is clean and white; its materiality is flat, its light is abstract. 

© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

Two generous bathrooms were included behind a curved wall, where a broken corner was before; the walls and ceilings were painted in white and the floor covered in a continuous polished concrete surface; the existing skylights we’re rethought. No other change felt necessary.

© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

Carefully placed elements organize the living areas: a marble kitchen, curtains, potted plants. Along with the furniture, the free standing elements carry the flexible identity of the house, hinting its domesticity while punctuating the abstract volume with color. 

Collage

Collage

Collage

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© Grafika

• Architects: Grafika
• Location: Sydney NSW, Australia
• Architect In Charge: Gorgi Gulevski
• Area: 110.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Grafika

© Grafika

From the architect. The project is sited in a typical suburban setting 20km South-West of Sydney’s CBD. The client wanted an additional house toward the back of an existing residential dwelling. As part of the brief, we had to incorporate a full kitchen, laundry, bath, bedroom, home office, audio studio, work studio and an open living/dining area. The placement of the new dwelling was between two rear yards and a townhouse. We wanted to be able to have some form of connection with the existing yard and to also utilise the northern sun. We were able to incorporate a courtyard to the front of the new dwelling and also apply a large glazing area to the northern side of the project which would allow the sun to penetrate the main living area.

© Grafika

The concept of the project began with taking a ‘block’ and then manipulating it into its setting by way of positive and negative protrusions. The use of the colour black added another layer to the project and was used to represent program and function. This enabled us to create an interesting space and blur the line between floor, wall and ceiling. We wanted to give the effect of having the black materials ‘projected’ on to different surfaces and creating a motion throughout the building.

© Grafika

The façade’s movement begins with a deep extrusion that acts as the main entrance and opening to the courtyard whilst also providing shade from the afternoon sun. This motion then protrudes out allowing for a day bed on the opposite side and then moves back in to provide an exterior seating solution.

Roof Plan

The layout of the dwelling was to have the main living area open up to the courtyard and have the kitchen overlook this area and the other programs branch off a central hallway from this space. The two studio work spaces are disconnected from the main areas as per the clients’ request, in which they wanted to establish separate work and home areas.

© Grafika

The construction of the house was also to be thermally efficient, this was achieved primarily through the use of materials. The construction features two layers of insulation, glass wool and styroboard EPS and the Lysaght Colorbond steel provides a highly reflective surface. The deep eave at the front of the façade eliminates the afternoon sun and the uPVC double glazed windows give good thermal properties. 

First Floor Plan

Overall the project creates a distinguishable contrast in its environment creating an almost sculptured object that has been cut through and opens up to its programmatic requirements. The façade’s push/pull motion was achieved and strengthened through contrast and informed by program and function and creates an exciting motion throughout the project.

© Grafika

Product Description. The Lysaght exterior paneling allowed us to create the sharp motion of the façade against a monotonous ‘block’. The concept of the project was to have a minimal exterior that has been cut open showing the textured and warm feel of wood whilst allowing for a stark contrast of the black elements which reflect program and function. The choice of steel as the exterior skin also provides a contemporary feel to the project and adds a high level of reflection from the sun allowing for a higher thermal comfort level for the user.

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Architecture critic Kate Wagner has collaborated with 99% invisible on a podcast and a guest column delving into the tragedies of McMansions and the representation of evil through architecture in film, respectively.

In the podcast, Wagner, who is the author of McMansion Hell, is interviewed by Roman Mars and explains how the McMansion typology evolved, as well as how it became so despised, delving into topics of architectural history and representations of wealth.

Through her article as a guest columnist, Wagner explores the real-world buildings used in film to depict the evil corporation archetype in movies like Robocop, Blade Runner, and The Matrix.

Learn more about Wagner’s take on McMansions in her 99% invisible podcast, here, and about the architecture of evil in her 99% invisible article, here.

News via 99% invisible.

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Courtesy of University of Houston

Pritzker Prize winner Thom Mayne has completed a three-semester–long study of Houston’s future, given its current sprawling urban conditions and rapid growth. The project, conducted alongside 21 University of Houston students and faculty members Matt Johnson, Peter Zweig, and Jason Logan, focused on ways of addressing the problems that arise from Houston’s historical lack of zoning in conjunction with the largely unregulated growth of industry and capitalism. These approaches include reinventing the current energy infrastructure, changing real estate and density, and leveraging the lack of zoning to generate new ideas.

“Houston is the only major city in the United States without zoning and form-based codes,” said Logan. “Surprisingly, we found a lack of zoning can generate exceptional forms of urbanism and architecture.”

Courtesy of University of Houston

The studio involved a summer project in Los Angeles, where Mayne’s firm, Morphosis, is based. Students collaborated with Mayne to envision Houston’s rapidly approaching future.

By exploring how to rebuild and rethink the development of the central business district, students were challenged to demonstrate the viability of designs from an economic, cultural, social, and ecological point of view, said Zweig. Their vision proposes a dynamic, optimistic future that is actually occurring faster than anyone has anticipated.

Courtesy of University of Houston

The culmination of the studio project is an exhibition at the College of Architecture and Design’s Mashburn Gallery, which opened on November 30. Additionally, the work is set to be published in a book in fall 2017. 

News via: University of Houston

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© David Cervera

• Architects: Muñoz Arquitectos
• Location: Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
• Architect In Charge: Javier Muñoz Menéndez
• Project Team: Gareth Lowe Negrón, Iza Pérez Jaramillo, Javier Ceballos Cabañas
• Area: 219.55 m2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: David Cervera

• Engineer: Jorge Pino Gamboa

© David Cervera

From the architect. We received a commission from a married couple to design a house to be built on a small plot (with an 8-meter frontage and a depth of 30 meters) inserted within a dense and difficult context. The couple, whose children had already left home, asked us for a simple house, obstruction-free and with a strongly contemporary feel.

© David Cervera

The layout is based on the idea of using the frontage and the rear extension without interruptions to give a sense of space even with the small area available. 

Floor Plans

Two axes were defined along the ends of the building, each measuring 1.5 meters wide. All of the services –bathrooms, kitchen, larders, and septic tanks –are grouped together at the south end; all the circulations are at the north. This enables a 5-by-5 meter modulated space between the two axes. Within this sequence of structures, two patios were arranged as a means of filtering the light. 

© David Cervera

Therefore the areas are connected to afford wide open views despite the compactness of the plot. The result is a spacious and bright house where courtyards can be enjoyed all the time. 

© David Cervera

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Costa Rican architect César Oreamuno has designed a modular capsule that accommodates to the basic needs of a community after a state of emergency or disaster. The units are adaptable and easily assembled in order to account for a variety of situations and respond to a series of unique functions, although the main theme of the project is focused on improving the quality of attention towards the basic needs of crisis victims, as well as encouraging the development of the community.  

Courtesy of César Oreamuno

The National Commission of Risk Prevention and Emergency Response of Costa Rica defines mass disasters as the disruption of ordinary societal functions. In addition to the number of deaths and injuries, consequences include the loss of material goods, the interruption of supply lines and economic instability. Every society that has been affected by a situation of crisis experiences a degradation of living conditions.

Corte Perspectiva Dormitorio

Corte Perspectiva Comedor

When restricted to their own means, individuals often experience difficulties in satisfying their most basic needs, calling for the attention of humanitarian organizations and institutions. In most cases this aid is found through shelters, usually community halls or schools, that may not have the necessary infrastructure required for personal hygiene and sanitation, nor adequate areas for storage or cooking. 

Courtesy of César Oreamuno

There would be no need for architecture if human beings were content to live in caves or in trees. Architecture is necessary to create conditions of habitability that are not dependent on the time of day or the time of year, or on the climatic conditions of the environment anywhere in the territory. – Guallart, 2009 

Planta de Distribución Cubículos Empacados

This is why Oreamuno has designed these temporary refuge modules, conceptualized from the idea of a Swiss army knife; architecture capable of solving multiple problems simultaneously, allowing users to overcome a state of crisis within a relatively short amount of time. 

The shelter unit constitutes of 5 cubicles, 3 of which are mobile (internal furniture) and 2 rigid (structural support). The modules, the understanding the accessories’ functions, the methods of transportation, the assembly manual and the characteristics of technical support were of highest importance during the design process in order to create a functional proposition that fulfils a series of basic characteristics, such as: 

Transporte

1. Modular systems
2. Situational adaptability
3. Different options of usage
4. Easy installation
5. Light-weight
6. Transportable
7. No specialized manual labor
8. No machinery
9. High resistance
10. Ability to be packed and stacked 

Courtesy of César Oreamuno

Architect: César Leonardo Oreamuno Canizal
University: Latin University of Costa Rica. Graduate project for a Bachelor in Architecture and Urbanism
Year: 2015
Location: This project doesn’t have a determined or specific location as its location is determined by climactic and anthropological factors  
Area: 13.7m²

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© Filip Dujardin

• Architects: Urbain Architectencollectief
• Location: Wetteren, Belgium
• Architects In Charge: David Niville, David Claus, Dieter Delbaere
• Area: 270.0 m2
• Project Year: 2009
• Photographs: Filip Dujardin

• Collaborator: Corneel Cannaerts
• Structural Engineer: Studieburo Mouton
• Contractor: Wycor nv
• Client: Omega vzw

© Filip Dujardin

‘the gallery’

Since the establishment of the centre in 1987, Omega offers day care to people with mental disabilities. A trajectory was mapped out to expand the activities of the  centre. Omega acquired a building plot in between the railway and the Gentsesteenweg, a typical Flemish town acces road. In a first phase a rowhouse was extendend with several living groups, a multipurpose hall and an industrial kitchen. In a second phase a new workshop building was added, to replace the older temporary construction, and to house a music studio, a textile studio, a clay studio, a wood workshop, a sensory room. A third phase included the actual renovation of the rowhouse.

© Filip Dujardin

In 2005 urbain architectencollectief won the competition for a new workshop building. Through the introduction of a low and long volume and its smart one sided position against a blank wall, the project chose to preserve a maximum of open space. The studios were also designed with a strong focus on the garden.

© Filip Dujardin

1st Floor Plan

© Filip Dujardin

The floor plan has a simple structure: in front, a carport houses the busses of the day care centre. In the juxtapostion of the workshops the guests are modelling clay, composing and playing music, assembling wooden furniture, painting, … The workshops are combined in pairs, with the insertion of a storage room, toilets and entrances. In the back, a small volume is cut off from the workshops by an open space. It houses the garden workshop.

© Filip Dujardin

The building is composed out of a prefabricated steel structure, enrobed with insulated wooden chipboard walls, and clad with wooden sidings. The rhythm of the steel porches defines the size of the different workshops. Inside the structural logic is on show: the corrugated steel roof, the wooden chipboard walls, concrete floors, steel columns and beams are left unfinished. High quality cupboards in birch multiplex and wooden windowframes offer a certain feeling of domesticity in return.

© Filip Dujardin

By designing the circulation as a covered gallery, the thermal boundary was shifted and the actualy built surface was reduced. The gallery is also a generous space in itself. Its comfortable width and light structure is inviting people to meet up, to stick around, to exhibit.

© Filip Dujardin

By opening the double fire escape doors, the workshops can be extended. The design seeks an honest and pure detailling of basic materials. The structure of the gallery is made up of wood. The roof is made of transparent polycarbonate sheets. The rigid rhythm of wooden columns and beams offers a strong spatial dynamic. Different points of view offer various experiences. The space of the gallery has in a short term earned a special place in the perception of guests and staff, as the building is referred to as ‘the gallery’.

© Filip Dujardin

Within this messy, banal, yet typical Flemish environment, the workshop building manages to introduce structure. It gives meaning to the place, starts up the dialogue with the previous extension.

© Filip Dujardin

Product Description. The search for an industrial feel inside the building, also led to a the introduction of a polished concrete flooring that is mostly used in large industrial halls.

Due to the postion of the new workshop building against a blank wall, skylux domes had to be introduced to let daylight into the workshops

© Filip Dujardin

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© Sergio Grazia

• Architects: Michel Rémon & Associés
• Location: Marseille, France
• Architect In Charge: Michel Rémon
• Area: 18400.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Sergio Grazia

• Project Manager: Rémi Bellec
• Lead Contractor: Bouygues Bâtiment Sud Est
• Space Planner: DEGW
• Engineering: WSP France

© Sergio Grazia

Whiter than White

“A block of sky carrying a piece of Mediterranean soil”: this is how Michel Rémon describes the building he designed for the Airbus Helicopters Research and Development Center. Among the “white” buildings on the surrounding industrial site – all different in their envelopes of metal or concrete – the Airbus monolith shines like a unique nugget, radiant by its simplicity, rigor and purity.

© Sergio Grazia

This immaculately white parallelepiped serves three main goals: to give a prestigious identity to this new brand base; to offer the teams modern, collaborative and integrated working conditions; and to upgrade the site’s image by landscaping the outdoor areas for the well-being of company personnel.

© Sergio Grazia

This final goal is met well beyond specifications: on the east side of the building, a green carpet of pines and heath rooted in three meters of earth rises from the ground to climb up to the northeast corner of the site. 

© Sergio Grazia

Site Plan

© Sergio Grazia

A tribute to the incredible vertical ascension of a helicopter? Without doubt, just like the mirror of the glass façades reaching into the sky toward these magical, humming insects. Made of self-cleaning silk-screened glass, these façades protect the building from the heat of the sun by breathable double glazing with integrated venetian blinds. On the various floors, the natural light is soft and omnipresent, all the way to the central core dedicated to social spaces and large stairways.

© Sergio Grazia

“At the center of a landscape which has been carefully planted by landscape architect Laure Planchais, the building brilliantly manifests the R&D activity that is both secret and emblematic.”

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