Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has completed its International Towers project, a trio of harbourside skyscrapers that form the centrepiece of Sydney’s new Barangaroo development. Read more
New York studio S9 Architecture has conceived a 16-storey office building for a waterfront site that is intended to house 4,000 employees working for tech and creative startups. Read more
The memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin wouldn’t get built in today’s xenophobic social climate, according to its architect Peter Eisenman. Read more
Both MINI and Jaguar Land Rover have set up independent design-led startup hubs, as car brands look to move beyond the automotive field. Read more
MAD has completed the first phase of its Fake Hills development – an apartment complex in Beihai, China, with an undulating roofline that accommodates tennis courts and swimming pools. Read more
It’s that time of year again to find the perfect gift for that special architect in your life. We’re all aware of architects’ peculiar habits and discerning tastes – meaning a last minute trip to store probably won’t cut it for finding the right present. But not to worry, ArchDaily is here to help you out with a list of great items any architects would love to receive. Read on to see ArchDaily’s top gifts for architects!
WHAT: Ultrasonic Aroma Diffuser / MUJI
If you’re looking for a beautiful, minimalist gift that’s practical too, Japanese home goods retailer MUJI is a great place to start. One of their most popular items, the ultrasonic aroma diffuser, will inject life into any space by emitting a wide variety of MUJI brand scents, including blends named Happy, Love and Energy. Hot tip: the diffuser is great for getting rid of that stale apartment smell before guests arrive.
WHERE: $69.50 / $119.50 at MUJI
WHAT: Brutalist Coloring Book / TM
Sharpen your cold grey and warm grey pencils and add some colour to some great concrete constructions. Designed and printed with love in Brussels on thick recycled paper.
WHERE: €12 from TM
WHAT: Blueprint Handkerchief / Cyberoptix
Detroit Blueprint pocket square. Cass Tech High School Blueprint from original 1917 blueprints. We’ve digitally restored the original print which was sadly full of creases and water damage. For an authentic blueprint look, choose one of the classics: white on navy or navy on cream. Or get creative with any of our over 70 fabric and 100 printing ink colors.
WHERE: €20.05 from Etsy
WHAT: Leather Carryalls / Atelier YUL
Designed by architect Cece de la Montagne, this line of minimal leather carryalls contains space for large format papers, canvas, and prints with room for all of your essentials.
WHERE: Prices range from $45 – $490 at Atelier YUL
WHAT: Hand-illustrated Notecards / Wrytewood
These sets of boxed travel notes feature hand-illustrations of architectural sites by M. Wood, printed on thick cream card stock and boxed in sets of 10 with matching envelopes.
WHERE: $16 – $20 from Wrytewood
WHAT: Ossidiana espresso maker / Alessi
Designed by Sicilian architect Mario Trimarchi, this stovetop moka espresso maker is the latest in the line of architect-designed products by Italian housewares company Alessi. Other architect-designed products include the ‘Ribbon’ Wine Rack by Ben van Berkel (UNStudio), the ‘Fruit Basket’ tea set by SANAA, and Michael Graves’ classic ‘Tea Rex’ kettle.
WHERE: $70 / $100 from Alessi
WHAT: ‘Pebble’ wireless phone charger / Oree
French company Oree makes a range of technology tools from the finest materials. Just place your phone on their latest product, the ‘Pebble’ wireless phone charger, and watch it charge cord-free. The ‘Pebble’ comes in tillia, walnut and white marble, and also includes an optional high end Bluetooth speaker for hands-free calls & music.
WHERE: €159 / €179 from Oree
WHAT: Kaleido Trays / Hay & Clara von Zweigbergk
This series of steel, geometrically-shaped trays can be used individually as bursts of unexpected colour or stored inside each other to create functional and imaginative constellations.
WHERE: $14 – $59 from A+R Store
WHAT: Paper Cut-out Architecture / Zupagrafika
Another fun stocking stuffer, these collections of paper cut-out models were inspired by modernist architecture of the former Eastern Bloc and beyond. The most fun set might be the “Blokografia” set, which take the form of different letters of the alphabet.
WHERE: €4.50 – €10 from Zupagrafika
WHAT: Cosanti Bell / Paolo Soleri Studios
Made at late architect Paolo Soleri’s Cosanti studio in Scottsdale and his experimental city of Arcosanti, these bells were produced by Soleri to fund Arcosanti’s construction and development. Both bronze and silt-cast ceramic bells are available, and feature unique hand carved patterns in Soleri’s signature drawing style.
WHERE: $28 and up from Cosanti Originals
WHAT: Loop Candelabra / Black & Blum
Made by bending a piece of chromed steel tube to create two intertwined candleholders, the Loop Candelabra comes from UK design duo Daniel Black and Martin Blum, whose work has been featured in exhibitions and galleries worldwide. Use them individually, or cluster the candleholders for a dramatic effect.
WHERE: $32 from MoMA Store
WHAT: Elephant Bottle Opener / Georg Jensen
This classic was designed in 1987 by Jørgen Møller and his grandchild, and later went on to become a global favorite. At $50, it’s a more affordable option from Georg Jensen, who recently collaborated with Zaha Hadid for a line of rings and cuffs shortly before her passing this past March.
WHERE: $50 from George Jensen
Need more ideas? Check out last year’s gift guide here!
Yesterday, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced that they had awarded the 2017 Gold Medal to Paul Revere Williams. Despite the manic production rate of his five-decade-long career, those not familiar with the architecture of Hollywood’s early years might be forgiven for not recognizing Williams’ name. But he is notable for having designed around 3,000 buildings, for being “the architect to the stars” including, among many others, Frank Sinatra… and for being the first black member of the AIA.
The details of Williams’ life, as an African-American providing a service to some of the richest and most powerful people in the country, are so astonishing that they often eclipse the details of his work. In learning about his life, one is likely to read a lot about how he learned to draw upside-down so that he didn’t have to sit too close to his clients, or how he defied a high school teacher who told him there was no demand for black architects. Far less common are accounts of the progression of his work from Tudor and Georgian styles, through a stripped-back “proto-modernist” style, to a more pure and even futuristic modernism later in his career. [1]
The LA Times once claimed that “If you have a picture in your mind of Southern California in the 1950s and early 1960s, you are quite likely picturing a building created by Paul Williams.”[2] However, this later period is not necessarily representative of the first three decades of Williams’ career. As noted by New York Times Magazine in 2002, “Williams was no revolutionary,”[3] and it is notable that today LA is known as much for its McMansions, those gaudy, inept imitations of Williams’ competent-yet-conservative homes for Hollywood stars, as it is for the sleek, experimental Modernism which Williams contributed to later in his career.
It could be argued that Williams’ earlier residential architecture was the result of a desire to capitulate to his clients’ whims: accounts of his career are filled with tales such as his promise to deliver a design in under 24 hours to win a commission over his white contemporaries,[4] or the aforementioned reason for drawing upside-down. Similarly, he is noted as being “excited by the new modernist aesthetic and anxious to work with it, although he would also do conservative colonial houses for clients who wanted them.” [5]
Williams’ own analysis of his design choices was even more client-focused: “When asked what was my theory of design – that I did so many contemporary buildings yet I shunned the exotic approach – my answer was, conservative designs stay in style longer and are a better investment.” [6]
Williams’ need to appease potential clients who might be skeptical on account of his race seems frequently at odds with his desire to be acknowledged for his great talent, independent of his color. The two impulses met most dramatically in a 1937 essay that Williams wrote for American Magazine titled “I Am a Negro.” Here, Williams demands that white people “deal with me, and with other men and women of my race, as individual problems, not as a race problem.” Yet he can’t seem to hold firm on his position, adding that “white Americans have a reasonable basis for their prejudice against the Negro race” and that even if people heed his earlier demand, white people and black people should remain separated in society, and “rightly so.” [7]
Fortunately, after another 20 years of demonstrating his talent, it seems Williams earned enough respect that he was able to partake in the energetic mood of the Los Angeles architectural scene in the 1950s and 60s, which so impressed the Los Angeles Times at the turn of the millennium.
Those following the AIA’s Gold Medal awards might draw parallels between the circumstances surrounding this year’s award and those around the 2014 Gold Medal, awarded to Julia Morgan. That year, Morgan was the first woman ever to receive the Gold Medal, just as Williams is the first black architect to receive the award. While Williams was the first black architect to be an AIA member, Morgan was the first female to graduate from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and the first licensed female architect in California. And, while Williams has been dead since 1980, Morgan died almost 60 years before her posthumous award.
But while the award given to Julia Morgan was criticized at the time for “highlighting Ms. Morgan’s achievements without reference to gender, culture, or its own history,” with one person adding that “it does speak very poorly for our profession that awarding a non-living female architect 56 years after her death is considered progress,”[8] this year the AIA has handled the situation very differently. Their press release openly acknowledges Williams as the first African-American to receive the medal, and briefly discusses the challenges he faced due to his race.
An analysis of both Williams’ professional career and the underlying social constraints resulting from his skin color show just how difficult a tightrope he was walking. Clearly, to adopt the demeanor of the abrasive visionary—in the mold of an architect like Frank Lloyd Wright—was simply not an option for a black architect working in the mid-20th century. As a result, Williams’ architecture may not be as prominent in the architectural history books as it could have been, but the AIA has done its first black architect a huge service in not only recognizing his work, but properly framing it in the context of his life.
In a 1994 article in Ebony magazine, Karen Hudson, Williams’ granddaughter and author of the books “Paul R. Williams, Architect: A Legacy of Style” and “The Will and the Way: Paul R. Williams,” is quoted as saying that she wanted her book about her grandfather to be as complete and balanced as possible, stating that she “had to accept that this may be the only book ever done on Paul Williams.”[9] In light of this 22-year-old quote, the AIA’s selection for the 2017 Gold Medal shows how far we have come in recent decades—but also how far there is still to go.
References
A House in Irus is a private residence located in Irus, Israel. It was designed by Dan and Hila Israelevitz Architects in 2016. A House in Irus by Dan and Hila Israelevitz Architects: “The main concept of the main structure is the reference to the plot’s location, which is on the highest hill of the neighborhood. The scenery includes uninterrupted view of the Mediterranean and the entire Gush Dan area…
This article is part of our new series “Material in Focus“, where we ask architects to share with us their creative process through the choice of materials that define important parts of the construction of their buildings.
Niop Hacienda from AS Arquitectura and R79 is part architectural regeneration project part historical building involving the transformation of an abandoned industrial space into high-end tourist complex in the southeast region of Mexico. A desire to maintain the original feel of the place influenced the selection of the new materials (like steel, stone, chukum, wood and glass) in order to create new spaces for public and private use that meld with the existing structure. In this interview, we talked with Roberto Ramirez from R79 who explains more about how the material choice of the project contributed to the design and construction process.
What were the main materials used in the project?
RR: Chukum, Wood, Glass, Steel, Concrete, Stone, Tile Mosaics, Bamboo (Bahareque).
In terms of materials, what were the major sources of inspiration and influence in selecting them?
RR: We used materials that were neutral, timeless, and, depending on how we used them, could be viewed as modern or historical.
Describe how decisions on materials were considered within the conceptual design.
RR: We were able to put together a wide range, so that what we’re going to use for this project will in no way obscure the existing structure, but instead give it more strength, character and fill it with a revitalized glamor.
What were the advantages of these materials when constructing the project?
RR: Each material offers different advantages, sometimes the steel for its lightness and how easy it is to build with helped us to reach decisions in our operation. In others, like the stone, used as floors coverings and cut on a regular basis helped us to give the feeling of connection and revitalization to the existing rock. The glass helped us to provide a close relationship between the exterior and the interior and, through some use of wood, this relationship was controlled or framed. Concrete helped us unleash the platforms and floors on which the buildings emerged in search of attention, serving as a neutral base to highlight what we wanted. The chukum was one of the elements who shook things up the most, this ancient technique of mixing resins to achieve a kind of living plaster, because after it is applied it ages in a very genuine way; it lets us cover some of the surfaces that were in better shape, causing the surrounding areas that had lost their finish to stand out like scars of time, with new and wonderful appeal.
Were there any challenges you faced due to the selection of materials?
RR: Many, the main one was working with local materials, especially with the stone and the wood, that were either extracted and cut in the area or its surroundings; Or, certain tasks like using the metal, whether they were found pieces that we used to make tables or furniture, or to quickly train people on how to use them to create artisanal pieces.
Were any other possible materials considered for the project? And if so, how would the design have changed?
RR: No other materials were considered.
How did you research and select the suppliers or contractors for the materials used in the project?
RR: In relation to suppliers, the chukum was a supplier in Merida that has the patent in the area and has successfully marketed the product, we had already worked with them on several projects, we like the personal attention and the supervision that they give to their teams on jobs they work on and we have formed an interesting relationship. As far as choosing the other contractors, the client, who was greatly involved in the project, introduced us to many local artisans in Merida, and after meetings and sketches of the project, we found complementary and inclusionary ways to work together when looking for more fine-tuned solutions. It was a great team effort where the plans were merely guides, the will and the sense of belonging were the engine, and that has given us great results so far.
* Recently Hacienda Niop was awarded the CEMEX 2016 Building Award in the Building category of the Mexico Edition.
Niop Hacienda / AS arquitectura + R79
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From the architect. Norway has set ambitious targets for environmental and sustainable future. An increasing number of railway stations will now have a bicycle hotel, to promote the use of bicycles. On Monday 10 October 2016 the Lillestrøm Bicycle Hotel opened in the city that has been frequently voted Norway ́s best cycling city.
The project was designed by Various Architects AS, commissioned by ROM Eiendom AS and The Norwegian National Railways.
The design of the building focuses on making a positive contribution to the surroundings. The project gives back to the city the area it takes away by providing a public green rooftop, which directly connects to the main square of the train station.
Design Concept
A free form wooden roof resting on a glass box. The glass box consists of transparent glass walls and a playful concrete base that protects the building against the surrounding heavy traffic. The transparent glass walls allow natural light to filter through during the day and transform the building into a glowing box at night, providing a special visual experience. The mood of the building keeps changing from day to night.
The dynamic wooden roof that lays on top of the glass box, slopes diagonally down to the west towards the train station plaza. This gesture provides an inviting public access to the top. The roof is conformed by furnishing, vegetation, stairs and slopes, creating a unique experience with a panoramic view towards Lillestrøm.
The glass walls continue over the roof, turning into the balustrade around the public area. At the same time, the roof penetrates through the walls to frame the entrance and to provide a shelter against rain. Together the glass box and the roof create an intimate yet open and accessible public space.
The interior space focuses on the function of the building with light and natural surfaces. The double story bicycle rack becomes the main element in the space. The room height varies from 2.70 m to 6.00 m following to the curvature of the roof.
Structure
In consistence with the design concept and the materials principle, the structure of the building is also exposed an honest. The timber beams, exposed in the interior to define the curvature of the roof. A collaborative design process with structural engineers rustled in creating a simple roof structure with repetitive beam shapes to reduce the cost. The shape of the roof is simplified to be a single curved structure, with a diagonal slope to maintain it ́s dynamic form and experience and allows rain drainage. The wooden roof lays on thin steel columns, liberating the roof to be perceived as a separate floating element.
Energy
The building has a minimal energy consumption. At day time no lighting is required since the glass walls allow for natural day light. During the night the artificial lighting double functions for the illumination of the interior and provides additional lighting to the surroundings. Natural crossed ventilation is possible through the gaps between the glass profiles hence no additional ventilation is required.
The whole building glows at night, creating a unique spot for anyone to enjoy a moment amongst the green roof overlooking the city’́s skyline.
Sig Nordal 