© Daisuke Shima / ad hoc inc

• Architects: CAPD
• Location: Aichi Prefecture, Japan
• Architects In Charge: Kazuo Monnai, Hirokazu Ohara, Dai Tsunenobu, Kazuya Masui
• Area: 159.9 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Daisuke Shima / ad hoc inc

• Construction: ASJ Nagoya Meitou Daiichi Studio
• Structural Design: Hidetaka Nakahara (Q & Architecture）
• Garden Build: WA-SO Co.,Ltd.
• Site Area: 521.07 m2

© Daisuke Shima / ad hoc inc

It is a residential area near the prefectural capital location, but blessed with nature with scattered fields and water ponds. Among them, facing the lake, surrounded by rich greenery, it is a perfect location that seems to come out as a movie or a fairy tale. The so-called painting architecture is a site with power that can be drawn any number of times.

© Daisuke Shima / ad hoc inc

Although I would like to open wide towards the lake surface, I hit nearly in the west, especially concerning the influence of the western sun in the summer. The opening was designed to be a space that can fully capture the privileged site environment while limiting as much as possible.

© Daisuke Shima / ad hoc inc

Floor Plans

© Daisuke Shima / ad hoc inc

1F was a piloti, the main living space was concentrated on 2F, and an opening was made so as to make one round around the 2F part of the building. By doing this, it is easy to hide the eyes of the usual and easy to see the view, giving floating feeling and omission to the building, it is a slightly larger building, but the sense of pressure is extinguished and harmonized with the surrounding environment.

© Daisuke Shima / ad hoc inc

Section

© Daisuke Shima / ad hoc inc

The interior, especially the living, uses the wall arrangement, the reflection of the glass of a wall or a wall-mounted TV, and because the reflection of the light of the lake surface is swaying on the ceiling through the opening, it is designed to take light from all directions We devised it.

© Daisuke Shima / ad hoc inc

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Courtesy of MIT Media Lab

In the ancient world, traditional death masks were believed to strengthen and protect the soul of the dead as they progressed to the afterlife. It was this mythical notion of transition from death to new life that inspired Vespers, a collection of death masks from Neri Oxman and her team at MIT’s Mediated Matter Group. 

Courtesy of MIT Media Lab

Death masks were traditionally made of a single plaster modeled to the deceased’s facial features. Created as part of Stratasys’s New Ancient collection debuting in the London Design Museum this November, Vespers’ 3D-printed masks are built using spatial mapping algorithms that generate colored internal strands enveloped by transparent curved volumes. Rather than memorializing the dead, these masks are designed with an emphasis on cultural heritage, reimagining the potential utility through high-end technologies such as high-resolution material modeling, multi-material 3D printing, and synthetic biology.

Courtesy of MIT Media Lab

Vespers consists of three series of five masks each. The first series, Lazarus, combines a model of the wearer’s visage with an enclosure to contain their last breath. The material composition is designated by the air flow and distribution of this breath. The design is data-driven, digitally generated, and additively manufactured; the design team thus wanted to express the contemporary technological spirit in their version of these ancient artifacts.

Courtesy of MIT Media Lab

News via: Mediated Matter Group

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Courtesy of Ziya Imren Architects

Ziya Imren Architects has released its plans for Re-Naturing the Kizilirmak in Turkey, a new eight-kilometer-long urban design project around the Kizilirmak River. As the longest inland river in Turkey, the Kizilirmak, also known as the Red River, “has been regarded as a hard edge to the city due to access and safety concerns.” After recent municipal advancements, many areas around the river have been opened to a design competition with the goal of integrating the riverfront into the existing city fabric.

Courtesy of Ziya Imren Architects

In an effort to stray from the typical dichotomy of nature and city, the project focuses on the integration of nature in three parts, borrowed from the writings of John Dixon Hunt—unchanged nature, nature changed by human intervention, and designed landscape. Thus, by overlapping these typologies of nature, the connection between the river and the city can be better facilitated, creating “a permeable interface” between the two landscapes.

Courtesy of Ziya Imren Architects

Courtesy of Ziya Imren Architects

Courtesy of Ziya Imren Architects

The project additionally features the integration of culture, specifically the culture of the City of Sivas, which borders the river, via a “path of culture,” which will connect the city center and riverfront. This path will include a high-speed rail system, intended to not only connect nature and the city but also to connect Sivas to other cities in order to facilitate growth.

Courtesy of Ziya Imren Architects

Courtesy of Ziya Imren Architects

Courtesy of Ziya Imren Architects

Natural wetlands will be preserved within the project, and are expected to likewise preserve important landscape and biodiversity. “Our basic principle is minimizing the amount of intervention to nature and maximizing the socio-cultural contribution which will bring the presence of water into the daily living of the city dwellers,” said the architects. Thereby, water is intended to become a main focal point of the city, as well as a place to host new programmings, such as urban agriculture of varying scales and social centers for sport, entertainment, rest, and more.

Courtesy of Ziya Imren Architects

Courtesy of Ziya Imren Architects

Courtesy of Ziya Imren Architects

• Architects: Ziya İmren Architects
• Location: Sivas, Sivas Merkez/Sivas, Turkey
• Architects In Charge: Tolga İltir Architects
• Design Team: Ziya İmren, Tolga İltir, Koray Velibeyoğlu, Erhan Vecdi Küçükerbaş, Tamara Nazari, Cengiz Çağatay Akbaş, Çağrım Koçer, Hamidreza Yazdani, Mehmet Şefik Yasavul, Merve Dadaş, Orhan Asan, Özgü Özcan, R. Sena Kocakaya, T. Çelinay Şahin
• Urban Planners: Koray Velibeyoğlu, Hamidreza Yazdani
• Landscape Designer: Erhan Vecdi Küçükerbaş
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Courtesy of Ziya Imren Architects

News via Ziya Imren Architects.

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© Simon Menges

• Architects: Schulz und Schulz
• Location: Nonnenmühlgasse 2, 04107 Leipzig, Germany
• Architect In Charge: Prof. Ansgar Schulz, Prof. Benedikt Schulz
• Area: 5500.0 m2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Simon Menges

© Simon Menges

From the architect. The consecration of the church ended the odyssey of the Leipzig parish community that has lasted over seventy years. Its permanent return to the centre of the city is manifested in the construction of the new Trinitatis church.

© Simon Menges

The new parish church is develop out of the organism of the surrounding city. It obtains its presence through its high church hall, church tower and inviting openness of the parish courtyard. In a prominent location across from the New Town Hall the Trinitatis church define a site that respectfully integrates into its surroundings and forms a clearly distinguishable edge along the city centre ring. The structure is now being put up with the ‚pouring‘ of the triangular plot of land and the concreting of the poles of the church hall and church tower on opposite sides. The parish courtyard was cut into the area between the two highpoints to create a new central meeting location. The silhouette of the new church marks the beginning of the further development of the underused neighbouring urban area.

© Simon Menges

The Trinitatis church is primarily characterised by light, space and material. With its interior height of over 14 metres, the church hall enables a transcendent spatial experience that is further intensified by the large skylight located in 22 metres high. Daylight of varying intensity falls from this along the rear wall of the altar in the church hall and defines the atmosphere of the hall. Another important element is the large ground-level church window (by artist Falk Haberkorn) that produces communication between the community and the city as if through an interactive store window. It opens and delimits the church hall at the same time while serving as a targeted opening as an interface between the world of the profane and the realm of the sacred.

Floor plan

The church hall is situated crosswise and creates sufficient room for the arrangement of the community in an open surrounding area whose optical and scenographic centre is the chancel. Partitions separating the community were eliminated, additionally opening the chancel as a multidimensional space usable for various forms of liturgy. Merely a gentle slope surrounds the chancel and permitting optimal visual perspectives. Across from the large cross on the rear wall of the altar (by artists Jorge Pardo) is a second cross carved into the large wall area above the gallery as a negative imprint that opens the church hall to the light of the setting sun in the west. The gallery offers room for the organ, the choir and additional pews to be set up here.

© Simon Menges

Product description. Facade made of Rochlitz porphyry. By using Rochlitz porphyry is continuing a tradition of construction of the city of Leipzig, such as with the Old Town Hall, and of the region, such as with the Benedictine Priory of the Holy Cross in Wechselburg. The horizontal layering of the various heights firmly anchors the building with the plot of land and allows it to symbolically grow out of the ground. The projections and recesses in the layering convey the rich 

© Simon Menges

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Courtesy of Mad Arkitekter and Asplan Viak

MAD Architects and Asplan Viak have collaborated to create a feasibility study for Visjon Dokken, an idea for a 25-hectare urban development dock that could become a new center for “residential, business park, commute, and energy sufficient systems.”

Located in Bergen Harbor in Norway, the project would be the second largest development in the country and could house 3,500 dwellings and 8,000 workspaces, 37,000 square meters of public parks, as well as a connected walkway system and bicycle paths.

The initiative to start Visjon Dokken was made based on the manifest  that has an ambition of building 10,000 new dwellings in the city center within the next 10 years. To be successful, local, regional, and governmental authorities must find solutions and collaborate with Bergen builders and building planners. For Bergen to successfully handle the expected growth in population, it is important that we also make space for new dwellings in the city center stated the architects. 

Courtesy of Mad Arkitekter and Asplan Viak

Courtesy of Mad Arkitekter and Asplan Viak

The construction of Visjon Dokken hopes to revitalize Bergen city center, by promoting the area as a natural focal point and urban mixed-use environment.

Courtesy of Mad Arkitekter and Asplan Viak

Courtesy of Mad Arkitekter and Asplan Viak

Courtesy of Mad Arkitekter and Asplan Viak

In order for the project to be developed, an existing cargo port at the site must be moved elsewhere. While Visjon Dokken does not offer suggestions for where the port should be moved, it does suggest possibilities for new ferry and cruise ship docks.

Courtesy of Mad Arkitekter and Asplan Viak

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Courtesy of reSITE

“What is your city? And what do you need to make that entire city yours?” These are some of the questions being posed by co-founding principal of nArchitects, Mimi Hoang, in reSITE’s Small Talks series. The videos, produced and edited by Canal180, were recorded during the reSITE event that took place in Prague earlier this year, titled “Cities in Migration.” Reiterated again and again by several of the interviewees is the fact that migration is, in the words of founder and chairman of reSITE Martin Barry, “a natural human phenomenon; everyone is moving to cities to improve their lives.”

Since 2011 reSITE has exploded into an international platform; a democratic process to “integrate people in a 21st century modern, contemporary, sustainable way,” says Barry. Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic at the New York Times, calls it “a place where people can come from different parts of the world and have a conversation; often a conversation that doesn’t really take place in public.” Saskia Sassen, Urban Sociologist Professor at Columbia University and the London School of Economics, reiterates that the conference “is really wonderful because it is bringing so many different perspectives.”

The “migration question” is not a new one; Sassen makes a point of saying that we have always seen “this on-going influx of migration” in big cities. However, as Kimmelman reflects, “architects maybe lost touch in many cases with that role that they played more clearly, even a century ago, trying to shape society.” He continues to say that now is the time to reiterate these beliefs that “will shape the way the cities of the future looks.” Watch the series to hear about the rest of their thoughts.  

Martin Barry, reSITE

Michael Kimmelman, NYT 

Mimi Hoang, nArchitects 

Saskia Sassen, Columbia University 

Martin Rein-Cano, Topotek 1 

Joana Dabaj & Riccardo Conti, Catalytic Action

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© Adrien Williams

• Architects: MXMA Architecture & Design
• Location: Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, Montreal, QC, Canada
• Architect In Charge: Maxime Moreau
• Area: 104.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Adrien Williams

• Construction: Catlin Stothers
• Design: Susan Bronson

© Adrien Williams

From the architect. MXMA Architecture & Design is inspired by the foliage of Montreal’s Lafontaine Park in this metamorphosis of a duplex interior to create an innovative living space with abundant wood surfaces.

© Adrien Williams

Located in the heart of Montreal’s Plateau-Mont-Royal Borough, facing Lafontaine Park, this turn-of-the-20th-century duplex recently underwent a major interior transformation. The project, realized by MXMA Architecture and Design, was inspired by the park’s abundant foliage. As we enter the home, at the second floor level, we discover a vast wooded area that gradually unfolds as you look into to the inner reaches of the space, resembling the character of a branch. Composed of solid planks of white oak, this branch is arched and deformed, redefining the sense of being at home in the city. Wood surfaces extend continuously into the space, metamorphosing into floors, walls, ceilings, handrails and even built-in furniture.

© Adrien Williams

The organization of the living spaces revolves around the architectural form of the ceiling. Continuity of wooden surfaces becomes the organizing principle of the home’s more public areas, such as the entrance, the living room, the dining room and the kitchen. It creates an experience of movement that leads to the third floor, where the more private areas, including three children’s bedrooms and the master suite, are located.

Floor Plan

The natural, vibrant ambiance of the Casa is enhanced by the irregular surfaces of the ceilings. Their angular volumes adjust to the conceal the new structure, which includes an imposing steel beam (33 feet long) that supports the third floor. They also cover all the ventilation ducts. Finally, the ceiling melts comfortably into the structure of the existing staircase and then unfolds to become a railing on the third floor, like a flower opening up towards the sunlight, which enters the space through a large skylight.

© Adrien Williams

The woodwork gives the home a homogeneous, natural and lively feeling. Technically, it demonstrates how wood can be used to provide flexible and complex solutions with a high-quality finish. Surfaces, materials and light resonate together to create a living space that emanates warmth and is inspired by its context.

© Adrien Williams

Product Description. The casa of Paul & Sigi faces the important greenery of Parc Lafontaine in Montreal, hence the use of wood in the indoor spaces. To reach the residence, you must climb to the second level. From there, one discovers a vast wooded-space filled with life that unfolds to the hollow of the house, like a branch. This branch, composed of massive white oak planks, is vaulted and deformed on several angles in an effort to challenge our sense of being at home. It becomes, in turn, floors, ceilings, guardrails and integrated furniture. In the Casa, wood is used in different ways. The continuity of the wooden surfaces accompanies us in our movements while ordering spaces. The quality of the wood gives a homogeneous, natural and living aspect to the project. 

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© nabil gholam architects

Nabil Gholam Architects’ unbuilt proposal for a future bank headquarters competition, a.spire, has been named the winner of the Office-Future project category at World Architecture Festival 2016. The project, designed for the Mar Mikhael neighborhood of Beirut, Lebanon, is a flexible intervention meant to both meet the client’s needs in the present day and adapt to its long-term evolution.

The exterior of the proposal is deceptively simple, housing a complex layering of working and living spaces on the interior. The core of the project’s design philosophy is the duality of inhabitants and neighbors, both of whom are served with several levels of private and public spaces.

© nabil gholam architects

Most visitors, clients, and employees will first experience the headquarters on the ground floor, which serves as the dominant interface between the Tower and surrounding neighborhood. The second tier is a raised ground floor, which is exclusive to pedestrians and fosters interaction with public space away from vehicular traffic. This level serves as the threshold to the main lobby and secret gardens, inviting visitors upward with views of the surrounding site.

© nabil gholam architects

The tower will contribute to Mar Mikhael’s quickly developing skyline, eschewing ornament for an understated sculptural facade that transforms throughout the day with the angle of the sun. The building appears monolithic from a distance, while upon closer examination its porous facade and rhythmic landscaping become visible. The upper-level platform will serve to add healthy green space to its urban environment and at night, the lit sky gardens can be recognized from all parts of the city.

• Architects: Nabil Gholam Architects
• Project Team: nabil gholam architects, AKT II, atelier ten, FMDC Ltd., VDLA, BERM, Barbanel Middle East sal, Logic+Format, JVL Studio, SKA, TMS Consult, Acousystem Liban, DG Jones & Partners
• Area: 2340.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: nabil gholam architects

News via: Nabil Gholam Architects

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Courtesy of Slangen+Koenis Architects

• Architects: Slangen+Koenis Architects
• Location: Pierre de Coubertinlaan, 1362 Almere, Netherlands
• Area: 6050.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Courtesy of Slangen+Koenis Architects

• Team: IJsselstein (The Netherlands), Erik Slangen, Jakko Koenis, Robert de Boer, Joep Koenders
• Client: Municipality of Almere
• Commussion: Integrated Design

Courtesy of Slangen+Koenis Architects

From the architect. Across from the existing top sport centre, in the green field development Olympia Kwartier (Olympia Quarter located in the new town Almere Poort which is part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area) a new indoor sports centre has been realized based on the 2521 Simply Swimming concept. This concept incorporates a high level of flexibility and expandability. The municipality of Almere has shown interest in the stacked version of the concept adding complementary functions such as sports halls and club rooms on top of the 2521 swimming pool.

Courtesy of Slangen+Koenis Architects

Courtesy of Slangen+Koenis Architects

The dimension of the pool in combination with a partly movable pool floor increases the flexibility and functionality of the swimming pool. Due to the clever floor plan with its compact layout and visual connections, the building can be operated more efficiently. Supporting functions, like changing rooms, offices and club rooms are positioned on the mezzanine floor. This floor also serves as a climatological buffer between the high temperature and humidity of the pool and the cooler climate in the sports hall. One of the principles of the 2521 concept is completely building above ground, eliminating the long building time and complexity that is associated with excavating the filter basement and basin. A wide range of sustainability measures including very high thermal insulation, innovative water treatment and building services installations ensure large reductions in operational costs. The ground floor level is mainly occupied by technical installations, however the main entrance and the adjacent commercial space create an open gesture towards the exterior surroundings.

Courtesy of Slangen+Koenis Architects

Diagram

Courtesy of Slangen+Koenis Architects

The entrance gives access to an inviting central staircase that circles around the elevator shaft. This ‘core’, like a runway, runs from the bottom to the top of the building and, finished with stylish blue- black linoleum and characteristic graphical signage elements on walls and floor, it is designed to be a recognizable element in the building. On each floor this ‘core’ is expanded with a zone that houses facilitating functions. On the ground floor the core gives access to the main entrance; on the second floor to the reception, cafeteria and pool hall; on the fourth floor to the changing area, martial arts hall and club rooms; on the fifth floor to the sports hall and finally on the sixth floor to the spectator stands. In accordance with the 2521 concept, the interior of the complex is finished with a combination of fresh, functional finishes combined with warm wooden walls and ceiling surfaces. This creates a warm, but at the same time athletic atmosphere.

Diagram

A complementary palette of vintage blues and light beige tints was chosen for the public areas, making them clearly recognizable and enhancing the orientation through the complex. The basic 2521 consists of a plinth upon which is stacked the volume containing the pool hall, cafeteria and changing rooms. Due to the large upper volume, a cantilever is created, making a strong visual gesture. The volumes appear to be two separate boxes that are stacked on top of each other. The building is firmly embedded in its surroundings. Interior spaces within the building are connected through large window openings in the facade with the public outside space. The warm interior shines through these glazes surfaces emphasizing the buildings character.

Courtesy of Slangen+Koenis Architects

Courtesy of Slangen+Koenis Architects

The lower box, the buildings’ plinth, is cladded with robust anthracite fibre-cement panels. Light golden window frames, weather trims and fixings create stylish accents. The floors above are cladded with white profiled metal panels. This creates an interesting play of shadows and adds another layer to the geometry of the building. The light golden accents are also present in the upper volumes and connect to the warm interior finishing. At night the ambiance of the building changes because some windows are placed behind deep vertical louvres creating an even more explicit relationship between inside and outside. Thanks to its powerful geometry, its public character and contemporary materialization, the indoor sports centre provides a strong presence in the Olympia Kwartier. The building, which is an important addition to the sports facilities of the fast-growing city of Almere, has an outspoken urban quality, contributing an important factor to the public life of the Olympia Kwartier.

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