This week the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale—Reporting From the Front—will close. Six months have passed and hundreds of thousands of architects, urbanists, designers and tourists have perused both the National Participations (of which more were represented this year than ever before) and the central exhibition curated by Alejandro Aravena – the first South American to direct the most prestigious event on the architectural calendar. ArchDaily has compiled our most extensive coverage of the event and, as the 15th incarnation of Biennale shuts its gates for the last time, our collection of articles, interviews and publication excerpts remains permanently accessible.
Before then, however, we invite you to take a look at our short film—presented in collaboration with PLANE—SITE—which celebrates the breadth and value of the hundreds of exhibitions and installations that have been on display.
The focal point of the project is a concrete waffle shaped roof, which sits aloft the new living area. Its pre-fabricated peaks and troughs create trenches for rooftop planting, softening the volume, establishing a connection with the leafy surroundings and creating pleasing views from the floors above. From the garden, the roof trenches are out of sight, giving the immediate effect of a simple concrete slab, which contrasts with the texture of the original building.
The underside of the new roof is exposed to create the living room ceiling, its pronounced ‘beams’ created by the sunken roof planters above. The motion of the waffle ceiling creates a satisfying rhythm, which also offers a logical position for a substantial skylight that traverses the full width of the extension.
Section
This strip of natural light illuminates the kitchen, which would otherwise be overcast by its position, set back within the footprint of the original house. Bureau de Change Director Billy Mavropoulos said: ‘We wanted to create a volume, whose form would be meaningful both inside and out. Inside, the motion of the roof slab breaks up the minimal surfaces of living area. Outside, it creates appealing views through hollows and humps, which bring nature and concrete into immediate proximity.
Although the living and kitchen areas are open plan, a selective palette of materials has been used to visually define these spaces and create an atmospheric contrast. In the living area, the materiality of the ceiling is echoed in concrete flooring, which stretches to meet the threshold of the kitchen. There, it creeps up the face of the kitchen island and turns back on itself to create a sculptural addition, in the form of a breakfast bar.
Plan
The boundary of the kitchen is marked graphically, by a transition into rich monochromatic blue that floods the surfaces of the space, including its resin floor. The concrete appears to force its way into the kitchen’s footprint, creating a pathway around which the resin floor wraps. Within the kitchen, monolithic volumes have a masking effect, concealing ample storage on one side and a cloakroom on the other. This allows the monochrome quality of the space to take the lead. Door edges are cleaved back to create geometric insets, which form handles, and whose elongated shape are repeated on the ceiling to create embedded lighting.
Product Description.Although the living and kitchen areas are open plan, a selective palette of materials has been used to visually define these spaces and create an atmospheric contrast. In the living area, the materiality of the ceiling is echoed in concrete flooring, which stretches to meet the threshold of the kitchen. There, it creeps up the face of the kitchen island and turns back on itself to create a sculptural addition, in the form of a breakfast bar. The boundary of the kitchen is marked graphically, by a transition into rich monochromatic blue that floods the surfaces of the space, including its resin floor. The concrete appears to force its way into the kitchen’s footprint, creating a pathway around which the resin floor wraps.
As the city of Aarhus prepares for 2017, a number of urban districts are being transformed from industry to modern city districts. One of the main culture venues in 2017 will be Godsbanen – a new lively and cultural district on the old freight terminal area. The new mixed building by SLETH is situated nearby Godsbanen and reflects the transformation from industry to lively cultural urban district.
The starting point for the design of the new office building is an ambition to reuse and rethink spatial and material quality on the former industrial site. The new building is directly grounded on the original underground industrial constructions, which acts as the building’s foundation.
The building consists of 3 stacked layers of 50 meters long office floors supported by a core wall. Underneath the office floors, where the sloping terrain defines an opening, the restaurant is located facing the street. The parking garage and a wine retailer is located under the sloping landscape. The building has a high degree of flexibility and interaction between the floors, which enhances the meeting situations between different users of the building. The individual floors are open, flexible working environments with the service functions integrated as a single architectural element in the eastern facade of the building.
Around the building, the sloped asphalt terrain is forming the outdoor areas for terraces, bikes and gardens. The building´s expression is a collage of elements reflecting the surroundings with 6 facades creating a dialogue with the mixed vague context.
The project itself is a 1:1 realisation of the architecture and challenges of the office SLETH as both landowner, developer and architects – based on the potential of Sonnesgade.
Courtesy of SLETH architects
Product Description.The building features a large range of standard industrial materials: glass, steel, concrete. As a contrast to the hard industrial materials, the custom made doors and furniture (both inside and outside) are done in oak and similar warm materials.
From the architect. Located in Ginza, which is the most renowned commercial district in Japan, and also facing a major junction Sukiyabashi Crossing, Tokyu Plaza Ginza is a large commercial building with a floor area of 50,000 sqm. The site sits at the connection point to Yurakucho and Hibiya disctrict, and can be described as “Gate of Ginza”. Surrounded by roads on all sides, the project is a “1 block full development” which is a rare case in this district.
Based on the concept “Vessel of light”, the building is designed as a glass “vessel” inspired by the Japanese traditional craft of glass cut “Edo Kiriko”. In order to realize a commercial building which interacts with the city, the façade is mainly composed of glass. This reveals the inner activities to the city, and enables an urban feeling. On the other hand, the three-dimensional façade composition results in a diverse optical phenomenon derived from transmission and reflection of sunlight. The façade shows various expressions changing by time and weather. While attracting with a symbolic form, the reflection of surrounding cityscape and climate makes this architecture merge into the entire cityscape. The Tokyu Ginza Plaza is a harmonic addition to the urbanscape of Ginza.
The facade of this Tokyu Plaza Ginza Building consists of three dimensional glass planes, which creates a delicate phenomenon of light reflection and transmission. In other words, the facade variously reflects the urban scenery, the interior commercial ambience, and the dynamic activities surrounding this building. By reconstituting these diverse scenic elements, the building facade transforms itself into an urban phenomenon. SSG was adopted so as not to expose the framing of the glass. Like a carved glass pattern seen on the surface of Edo Kiriko, the facade creates a large 3D diamond shaped pattern, which is 6 stories high and 500 mm deep. This large scale pattern of the façade makes the building stand out from the surrounding context. The unitized glass assembly is comprised of both low iron glass and heat reflective coated glass, in a way that emphasizes the three-dimensional profile of the building form. The low iron glass panel is treated with a 1mm ceramic dot pattern of gradient density. At night this plane is illuminated by light fixtures integrated into the interior aluminum mullions.
The KIRIKO LOUNGE is a public space situated at the middle level of the building, providing a broad view of the city. By its 27 meter high atrium, and the vantage point above the heavy traffic of the Sukiyabashi Crossing, the lounge opens up to the commercial activities of the city.
In the high density and limited spatial conditions of Ginza, such an open and elevated space offers an opportunity for people to gather, and create connection. The continuity between the architecture and urban context promotes the attractive nature of this city. This three dimensional interpretation of urban space will generate a new chance to produce activities not limited within the site but also involving the urban context.
Set in a secluded valley at the Four Seasons in Sayan, the Dharma Shanti Yoga Pavilion feels at once soaring and grounded. The roof is a leaf that rests at the edge of the forest where the valley opens up to terraced rice fields and the river beyond.
Courtesy of IBUKU
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Courtesy of IBUKU
We aspire to leave a light footprint while adding value to this space, and the beautiful setting demands a graceful relationship with nature. To prepare, the design team took an anti-gravity “flying yoga” class together, part of a research trip to get a feel for the practice.
Drawing
“We put a lot of thought into how people move within the spaces we design, so in this case we had to swing upside down to understand it.” —Elora Hardy, IBUKU Founder
The key was to create a durable structure that will stand strong for decades. Strength, flexibility and vulnerability are qualities that yogis, bamboo, and our architects have in common. The IBUKU team designed the roof as a big leaf, keeping the structure dry and shaded. Balancing light and shade in the tropics is essential, so we aligned the roof to the West, allowing the last few rays of sunlight to shine through the space.
Detail
“Bamboo is yoga in architecture. As a material, it has a flexibility that mirrors the practice of yoga, and a beauty and grace of form that people seek in yoga.” —Eka Wiradana
Courtesy of IBUKU
IBUKU Architect Eka Wiradana has been specializing in bamboo with the team for over six years, making him one of the most experienced bamboo architects in Asia
The project is a renovation of residential unit of an apartment in Kyoto, Japan. A three dimensional ceiling is designed to affect the perception of space and human physicality.
The ceiling height changes gradually, from 2.63m at the living and dining room, to only 1.67m at the Japanese-style tearoom located in the deepest area. This lowest ceiling height is defined by human heights, and other three points were designed as high as possible in the limited existing structure. The geometry of the ceiling resembles to that of shell structure, and it gives feelings, even within a small residential unit, that your body becomes bigger/smaller. The perspectives in this house create the perception of physical extension and contraction.
Plan
Round-shaped lightings are placed on the warping ceiling. They have all different sizes, from 300mm to 1500mm radius, and cast indirect lights reflected by the mirror embedded, creating the effect of erasing the ceiling edges. It also makes the feeling that you have another space above the ceiling.
Ceilings and lightings are generally unconscious part of human perception. But this small intervention enhances your physical perception thus the richness of life.
From the architect. Acute House is the transformation of a ‘renovator’s nightmare’ into a compact 21st century family home. The severe limitations of a tiny, very triangular site and the demanding heritage context have resulted in a pointy new wedge of house that is designed to exploit its problems.
The original, and extremely decrepit, Victorian weatherboard cottage had become impossible to inhabit but was well loved by the neighbourhood as well as its new owners.
We tried to retain its weathered character by re-using as much original fabric as possible from warped weatherboards and fence palings to random accumulations such as door knobs, vents and street numbers. Like fragile museum artefacts, these were carefully removed, labelled, stored and re-installed in their original location on a new mount that not only highlights their charms by contrast but allows the house to live again in a new way
Tight To take advantage of the opportunities of such an unusual site, the geometry required an adjustment to the layout and lifestyle expectations of a conventional family house. Multiple levels were required to accommodate the basic space needs of a family home and these were accommodated where site geometry best suited them. These spaces are distributed over split levels with the vertical space of the stairwell providing visual privacy and a sense of definition without wasting precious space on internal walls, corridors or doors. Continuous circulation is provided through each floor with no dead-ends, allowing spaces to be kept lean yet feeling spacious and un clogged – visually or physically.
Virtual Gardening While site area limitations and geometry allowed the council to permit building over 100% of the site this advantage came with the counterbalancing disadvantage of 0% outdoor space. As a result, the house interiors had to accommodate the needs of a family as well as providing them with the enjoyments of the great outdoors. This total lack of garden is offset by the artificial internal landscape of the stairwell with lawn green carpets, hanging plants, a central aquarium of aquatic plants and fish and a sunny outlook to every room. Full height sliding doors and screens open up the main living level as a virtual verandah and the pointy, but surprisingly generous, balcony provides the ambience of a yacht in the street.
Ground Floor Plan
1st Floor Plan
3rd Floor Plan
Heritage-ous-ness + Context The resulting new wedge of house is designed as an unusual but highly responsive approach to the character of the surrounding neighbourhood, and to the challenges and opportunities for responsive architecture presented by the site and its immediate context. It takes on the challenge of preserving an important but almost unsalvageable local landmark by working within the general typology of the surrounding neighbourhood, “rhyming” with its housing stock while remaining resolutely contemporary in its expression and articulation.
Product Description.The metal cladding provides a sharp, smooth and precise contrast to the fragile weathered-timber cladding. The fragile timbers of the old house were particularly precious as they demonstrated one of the great, but often unloved, talents of timber – the ability to show age. The raw, weather-beaten boards and barely-there flaking paint demonstrate a different sort of timber beauty: a unique record of the life and times of a 100 year old house.
It’s okay. The Manzeum is not intended as social commentary. It is a structure focused on play, art, and good times. The proverbial ‘napkin sketch’ becomes reality in this collaborative design, fabrication, and construction project where the artistic metalworks of the owner and modern designs of the architect merge seamlessly into an evolved Ozark aesthetic.
The Manzeum is part of a multi-phased project in an ongoing collaboration derived from the energetic and artistic minds of the owners and the editorial will of the architect. The current master plan plunges the Manzeum addition toward the developing landscape of the 20 acre site. The central roundabout is the primary orienting device for all the constructed elements on the site. The center is marked by a stacked concrete totem, foreshadowing of the intriguing and artistic follies to be discovered throughout the property.
The ‘working drawings’ are a collection of sketches and technical shop drawings (the second and third cousins to the napkins sketch) produced by the architect and owner alike. The meat of the design strategies and details were hashed out in real time on the site between owner, architect, and fabricators.
Diagram (Sketch)
The existing rustic studio + workshop is transformed in to a strong, modern form that unites with the raw agricultural base of the original spaces. The strong and raw palette of concrete, steel, and cedar are extensively intertwined. The ‘big dumb wood box’ concept is the organizing element in a patchwork of naturally weathering and painted steel. A dual personality exposure between tectonic workshop space and entertainment space is created, crafted, embellished, and enjoyed. Old versus new is continually merged on the interior spaces while the new fire pit terrace provides steel containment as the overall structure is carved into the evolving landscape.
Product Description. The owner is a metal fabricator and craftsman. Everything in this project is completely custom and fabricated by the owner and his team. There were no products specified. The entire project was built from a few sketches and a close collaboration between owner and architect.
CEBRA Architects has won the competition to design the Skamlingsbanken Visitor Center near Sjølund in Southern Denmark. At 113 meters above sea level, Skamlingsbanken is the highest point in South Jutland and historically has been an important meeting place, serving as the backdrop for some of Denmark’s key historical public speeches. The new visitor center is posited as a way to restore this historic importance, and once again make Skamlingsbanken a local meeting place.
Courtesy of CEBRA Architects
The center features an earth berm and green roof, blending into the rolling landscape. Inside, the building will feature a cafe and teaching center, alongside a permanent exhibition based around the concept of “Nature and voices that unify.” The exhibition will offer visitors the chance to listen to “voices of advocates for the Danish language, front-runners of the feminist movement and the atmosphere of victory after the ending of WWII,” explains CEBRA in a press release.
Courtesy of CEBRA Architects
“In our proposal, the center becomes an integrated part of the landscape,” said Carsten Primdahl, architect and founding partner at CEBRA, in a press release. “Landscape and exhibition melt together in an architecture that frames, stages and articulates the natural surroundings, and where the visitor experiences a both contemplative and sensuous connection to the area and its history.”
Courtesy of CEBRA Architects
In addition to its educational functions, the center will also serve as a “gateway to the landscape,” acting as the starting point for a variety of hiking routes. These routes will also feature a series of new destinations which transmit information about the historic landscape surrounding Skamlingsbanken.
Sig Nordal 