Cannon Design has unveiled its proposal for a mixed-use Cancer Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Originally envisioned as a “private hospital serving patients that can afford a high quality of health care,” the project transformed into a partnership between the public and private sector after preliminary feasibility studies determined the price of the site to be prohibitively high.
Thus, the project expanded to become a mixed-use complex with ownership shared between socially minded city government and private investors.
Courtesy of Cannon Design
The facility will include a cancer hospital, public parking, housing for low-income families, shops, gardens, and recreation, as well as an adult education center to provide training for hospital staff.
Courtesy of Cannon Design
The cost of land and availability of suitable sites in the city demand a dense, vertically-organized complex. The building section shows how living quarters and public amenities are woven into the structure, never interfering with the hospital operations. Formally the center resembles the character of the city which is defined by the favelas perched on the hills, overlooking the city skyscrapers beneath explained the architects.
Courtesy of Cannon Design
Courtesy of Cannon Design
Construction for the center is currently on hold due to “economic conditions in Brazil,” but has not been canceled.
“Designed by LMN Architects in partnership with executive architects Marmon Mok Architecture, the $150 million expansion and renovation project embrace the multi-faceted cultural identity of the city with a distinctive tapestry of form, materiality, light, and landscape” stated Mark Reddington, FAIA, lead designer and partner at LMN Architects.
Completed in 2014, the project incorporates a metallic veil that wraps program elements in programmable LED lighting, in order to create a variable play of light on the city’s skyline.
We drew inspiration for the architectural form and detailing from the Spanish Colonial style of the original 1926 Municipal Auditorium, as well as San Antonio’s rich vernacular of color, pattern, and public celebrations, said Mark Reddington, FAIA, lead designer and partner at LMN Architects.
The renovation additionally retained the Municipal Auditorium’s historic façade, while weaving a new 183,000-square-foot facility into the framework of the existing public space, including a 1,768-seat performance hall and a 231-seat flat floor studio theater.
The jury for the Award noted that “the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts brings a world-class, dynamic performance venue and gathering place to San Antonio while creating a vibrant connection between the city’s main cultural venue and the famed River Walk.”
The project is also the recipient of a 2016 Honor Award and a Mayor’s Choice Award from the San Antonio Chapter of the AIA, a 2016 AIA Washington Council Civic Design Awards, Award of Merit, and a 2012 Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award.
The idea of an architectural project with a multifaceted identity, accountable to the residents, the urban area and the environment, was born from the moment of change and growth currently taking place in the Escandón neighborhood.
The project consists of the development of 10 apartments in a 502 m2 plot, with a 50% footprint area and five levels. There are two buildings connected by bridges and a nucleus of vertical circulation. Spaces such as kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and windows have the same proportions in every apartment.
Every apartment is different and their areas are variable, from 60m2 to 135m2. Therefore, rather than for a single type of user, the apartments have been conceived for a range of different types of users – from single people to couples or small families – who coexist and share the building. Many apartments are developed in two or more half-levels in order to create circulation and break the classic pattern of a city apartment. There are five single-level apartments, three two-level apartments, and two apartments of three half-levels.
The building’s footprint was dictated by the property’s location, allowing a southern or southeastern orientation for most of the apartments. This same approach enabled the creation of a spacious open plaza and an enriching landscaping proposal that encourages visitors to explore the facilities as it establishes a connection between each space and the vertical circulation while providing natural lighting and ventilation.
The materials were chosen so as to do without any coverings or treatments; all materials are used in their natural form and function. Cement block stained in earthy hues was used to give more warmth to the spaces. A mixed structure of concrete and steel was used, and both materials were left visible in the six façades of the building. This kind of mixed structure creates open spaces free of columns and intermediating interruptions.
The apartments have wood and natural stone finishes. Every apartment has terraces and private patios. LED lamps provide artificial lighting, and the plumbing system is supported by rainwater collection and a filter system.
One of the main goals of the project was to have spaces enjoyed by the users from the inside out. The design of the access plaza corresponds with this goal, and it also provides all the apartments with a view, which creates an environment of inclusion and also promotes coexistence between neighbors. Ultimately we wanted to materialize one of the main aspects that characterizes the Escandón neighborhood, a district that is mostly residential and where there is still is a lot of communication and community between residents.
White Arkitekter has teamed up with the City of Stockholm to redevelop Södra Skanstull, a neighborhood characterized by obstructive overland infrastructure bridging the south of Stockholm to the island of Södermalm.
In order to reclaim these underused areas of the city, the revitalization project will create pedestrian and cyclist boulevards, as well as 65,000 square meters of space for culture, sports, and offices, 22,000 square meters for commerce, and 750 new apartments. The project will additionally identify, map, and upgrade existing facilities.
Courtesy of White Arkitekter
A dynamic and diverse city quarter can only flourish if we build on the history of what is already there, rather than building anew, said Krister Lindstedt, Lead Architect at White Arkitekter.
Furthermore, soft landscaping and strategically placed new structures will be utilized to minimize noise and pollution.
Courtesy of White Arkitekter
In its current state, the neighborhood of Södra Skanstull is cut off from city life, and not as functional as the neighboring borough of Hammarby Sjöstad, “which is hailed as an exemplary sustainable and human-scaled neighborhood.” With the new revitalization, however, the area is hoped to become an example of street-level connectivity and walkability.
Throughout the project’ research and fieldwork stages, “local stakeholders have played a vital role in the process […] and will continue to have a voice in shaping the neighborhood,” noted White Arkitekter.
Courtesy of White Arkitekter
We care about those who inhabit the city, who contribute the life of the neighborhood and make Södra Skanstull’s identity. Consulting with businesses, cultural and community resources allowed us to identify, and make the most of, the existing qualities of the area, said Rebecca Rubin, Architect at White Arkitekter.
Phased construction for the project will begin in 2019.
[In New York] there’s this math problem: 1.8 million small households and only one million suitable apartments. – Mimi Hoang, principal of nArchitects
Last year, nArchitectsreleased a trailer that teased the development of their winning adAPT NYC entry, Carmel Place (formerly known as My Micro NY). The competition sought to address the need for small household apartments in New York City. Now in a newly released video, the full story of the city’s tallest modular tower comes together in smooth timelapse to a dainty piano soundtrack.
With the original adAPT NYC competition being part of the Mayor’s New Housing Marketplace Plan, the proposal was granted special mayoral overrides—most notably waiving the minimum 400 square foot floor area of an apartment unit, hence Carmel Place’s extra-small footprint. The 55 units within the building are 260-360 square feet each, which residents moved into in June this year. Each of the 55 micro unit apartments is its own self-supporting steel frame module. Another 10 of these steel framed modules serve as the building’s core.
While the units themselves are small, the demand for them was not, with 60,000 applications for 14 affordable housing units (there were 22 affordable units in total; 8 were reserved for formerly homeless US veterans). But while the sheer demand for the apartments suggests a warm reception to the idea of micro unit living, not all believe that a reduction in size is a solution to affordability.
However, nArchitects have always understood the complexities that a project like Carmel Place involves. “When we were invited by the developer to work on this project we thought ‘is this really a good thing? Should we be shoving people into smaller shoeboxes?’” said Mimi Hoang, principal of nArchitects, in an interview earlier this year. Hoang offered the opposite perspective, saying “you have to think about all the other tangential, ripple effects of not doing it… Not doing it means loss of talent in the city, because plenty of people, especially creatives, are leaving New York for cities like Philadelphia. Artists, musicians, they can’t afford to live in New York any more.” And, she emphasized that they are not interested in “squeez[ing] more apartment units onto their plots,” but “interested in creating community… in creating a new kind of living experience.”
Courtesy of nArchitects
It is nArchitect’s hope that residents in these “big but small” apartments can feel connected to the larger city through the building itself, which slots into its surroundings unobtrusively. The building also expresses a cohesive whole, rather than emphasising the separate singular units within. The design coupled with the modular construction methods used make Carmel Place an important precedent for the future.
Financing: Municipality of San Clemente (Money), Infantry Regiment No. 16 Talca (Refuge des-use)
Cost: $ 2,400,000 (chilean coin)
Academin Institution: University of Talca School of Architecture
Construction Date: Diciembre 2015 – Mayo 2016
Design Process: Marzo 2015 – Octubre 2016
Courtesy of Hans André Kubat Sarria
Valley of the Condors, an Andean area in the comuna of San Clemente, the seventh region in Chile, more specifically on km 136 of CH-115 which connects Chile with Argentina, place named because of the large number of these birds that cross the sky, it is a place of occupation of different communities throughout history. It has been a place of movement of goods and people, from the earliest times. The Indians, already furrowed as trade and hunting area, besides being a ceremonial space, from its majesty and beauty of the landscape.
Courtesy of Hans André Kubat Sarria
Then he was crossed and inhabited by herdsmen and their verandas, which moved hundreds of cattle, making specific appropriations to protect them from weather conditions. That is, in this landscape, and there were ways of living, small cottages and stone conformations, which happen to be types of architecture in the landscape.
Courtesy of Hans André Kubat Sarria
The place plays with a constant duality: on the one hand, there is the majesty and beauty of its landscapes; on the other hand, there is its inhospitable climate and sparse vegetation, which makes it an uninviting place for climbers, a sporting community that uses that landscape as a platform for its activity.
Courtesy of Hans André Kubat Sarria
Climbers The community of climbers is not only present in the area of the Maule valley. Climbers from all over Chile and abroad visit our valley, drawn by the quality of the rocks and the multiple possibilities offered in the area for practicing the sport, from traditional climbing to competition climbing, bouldering, high bouldering, etc.
Courtesy of Hans André Kubat Sarria
The valley is so big that there are still unexplored areas with an enormous potential for high-level climbing. That is why the community of climbers is especially concerned about maintaining the area and keeping it clean, emphasizing the need to care for the mountains.
Courtesy of André Hans Kubat Sarria
Given the aforementioned conditions, the problem emerges: How can we support the activities of that sporting activity with an infrastructure that can be used both in the winter and in the summer.
The solution: the construction of a shelter that can provide adequate conditions to its users in periods where they need shade, or to build a fire, etc.
Courtesy of Hans André Kubat Sarria
The method: dismantling a forgotten infrastructure – a shelter located at km number 124 along CH-115, abandoned by the MOP after the construction of the road, in a deteriorated state (When the construction was done, this infrastructure was abandoned and was eventually consolidated as a shelter used by mule drivers and tourists). The material will be sorted and moved 10 km toward the border with Argentina, where it will be reborn through the efforts of its intended users – mountain climbers – thus consolidating a place with a high potential for sports activities, but which has been invaded by hydroelectric power plants.
Courtesy of Hans André Kubat Sarria
The shelter proposed its own dismantling not only as a temporal renovation process, but also in terms of space, form and location.
No qualified laborers or professionals were hired. The future users of the construction – the community of mountain climbers – were responsible for building it with their own hands.
Architectural photographer Rod Edwards specializes in 360º virtual reality imagery and virtual tours of iconic buildings. Having spent the last decade producing this type of media, Edwards was recently commissioned by Visit Britain to shoot his “More London” project as part of the global campaign for the 2015 James Bond film “Spectre.”
Read on to see “More London” and more projects by Edwards.
Valeria House is a residential project designed by BAK Arquitectos in 2013. It is located in Valeria del Mar, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photos by: Daniela Mac Adden
From the architect. The Sports Center is located in Csomád, Hungary. Csomád is a small settlement in the northern metropolitan area of Budapest with the population of ca. 1500 people. The leadership of the village is dedicated toward architectural quality: in 2008 they won 2nd prize on Pest County’s Architectural Award, and in 2015 they won the special award for village renewal of the Association of Hungarian Architects (Magyar Építőművészek Szövetsége)!
The Sports Center is the first phase of the local sport area development. The building was placed between the two existing football pitches. The 2nd phase future extension will be placed alongside the bigger football field, hidden partially under the hillside. Phase one is designed to perform as a balanced architectural element on its own, yet the two phases are also going to provide a nice composition. The thin, concrete slab serving as a “levitating” outdoor bridge connecting the two phases is built already in phase one lending a somewhat dynamic touch to the otherwise closed shape of the Sports Center.
1st Floor Plan
2nd Floor Plan
The geometry of the building evolved a lot through the design process. In the end it “found” its place and shape interacting sensitively with the site and its urban function.
The ground floor contains a pub and the restrooms while the changing rooms and the spaces of the football club are on the first floor. The ground floor is open to visitors and the two floors can be used separately.
Sections
Due to its dynamic, simple design, the new building stands out among the pitched roof residential buildings of its surroundings. Small gestures and detailing like the special blue color used many places throughout the building which is typical to the village, or the abstract reappearance of the inner yard of traditional local houses however make locals recognize the Sports Center as their own, and they seem to take pride in showing it to all the guests of various sports and village events.
Product Description. The white plaster is the principal material used on the façade and emphasizes the simple and dynamic form of the new Sports Center in Csomád, Hungary. The white plaster facade gives a characteristic, modern look to the Sport Centre among the residential houses and the green landscape in the village. Moreover plaster is one of simplest facade materials and easy to maintain.
Sig Nordal 