From the architect. The needs to have a new comfortable space in the old houses are inevitable demands of the residents living in Old Quarter in Hanoi today.
With limited investment costs, expensive and time-consuming materials transport in the city, so that the green space solution interspersed proved to be an ideal solution. By this way, aesthetics and quality of life will be enhanced in a natural way without investing too much on the interior.
Mork-Ulnes Architects has completed a barn-inspired artist studio in northern California, which includes a white volume that looks it like is growing out of a reclaimed timber-clad building. (more…)
From the architect. From the Architect: The existing 1970s brick and weatherboard dwelling on a large triangular site was well loved but had been outgrown by its family. The client had a diverse brief, including both definite and abstract goals such as maintaining and enhancing connections to the established garden, adding a master bedroom suite, providing a secure and defined entrance and reconfiguration and refurbishment of the existing layout and spaces. The combination of these elements led to the non-conventional addition of a new pavilion to the front of the site. The form of the addition closely references the typical gable form of the existing house but juxtaposes it with fiercely contemporary detailing and materiality.
Once through the sheltered entry and front door, the garden aspect is immediately appreciated with a large-scale, fully glazed sliding door that opens onto the landscaped rear yard. This glazed bridge forms the connection between the old and the new and is set down from the main living zone, helping the extension sit snugly on the site.
The internal rearrangement of living areas, kitchen and bathroom now complement the existing 3 bedrooms and take full advantage of the northerly aspect and elevated position of the house on this steeply sloping site. A secondary entry, rumpus room and home office, along with amenities and ample storage, are tucked into the undercroft at the rear. The outcome is a fully updated home, suitable for the changing demands of a contemporary family lifestyle. It maintains a comfortable and lived-in ambiance and pays homage to the best aspects of the original cottage.
In the past few weeks, the fates of two classic Brutalist buildings by architect Marcel Breuer were determined – with differing results. For the Atlanta Central Library, it was good news, as the Fulton County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to support the renovation of the building, saving it from the wrecking ball. Meanwhile, the American Press Institute in Reston, Virginia, was not so lucky, as Fairfax County’s board of supervisors voted to tear down the building to make room for a new a townhouse development project.
Atlanta Central Library, Atlanta, Georgia / Marcel Breuer. Image via Docomomo
First opened in 1980, the Central Library in Atlanta contains a 300-seat theater, a restaurant and space for 1 million books, and a facade representative of Breuer’s sensibilities, with its bush-hammered concrete panels and Bauhaus-inspired forms. Over the years, the building fell into disrepair, with its theater closing in the mid-1990s, and the restaurant closing a few years later. Even after a $5 million restoration in 2002, in 2008 taxpayers voted to approve a $275 million bond referendum, which would replace the Breuer-designed building with a new library.
Since then, the library’s fate had been up in the air until the board of commissioners’ vote two weeks ago. The current proposal now calls for a $40 to $55 million renovation of five of the floors, as well as a “nominal investment” on the four remaining floors to potentially lease out the space. Exact plans for the project are still being determined, with ideas including calls for a new arts center or partnership with Georgia State University’s art department, Woodruff Arts Center or Fulton County’s Arts & Culture department.
American Press Institute, Reston, Virginia / Marcel Breuer. Image via ipetitions
A few states north in Fairfax County, Virginia, preservationists received bad news as Breuer’s American Press Institute (API) headquarters was slated for demolition. Built in 1974, the 48,000 square foot building, featuring precast concrete panels, was built in Reston’s non-profit district to serve as a conference center for API events. After merging with the Newspaper Association of America in 2012, the API headquarters closed its doors, leaving the building vacant.
Historians had argued that the building constituted a significant work in Breuer’s catalogue, and suggested repurposing the building as a library or the home of another non-profit. A vote by the Planning Commission to not demolish the building gave preservationists hope, while an online petition received over 1,600 signatures from people all over the world. But with no county funds available to preserve the site and no buyers expressing interest in restoring the building, it was not enough to stop the redevelopment plan from going through. The site will now be used to build 34 townhouses and an apartment building as part of a masterplan designed to construct higher-density housing near Metrorail’s Silver Line train route.
The final touches are being added to David Adjaye‘s museum of African American history, a project that “felt like a bloodbath at times” according to the British architect. (more…)
American studio Richard Meier and Partners has completed its first project in South America: a white and concrete office building with hidden vertical gardens in Rio de Janeiro (+ slideshow). (more…)
The Olympic Canoe Slalom Stadium is considered the most complex structure built for RIO 2016. Designed by the architecture firm Vigliecca & Associates with the consultancy of Whitewater Parks International, the project aimed to create one of the best Slalom Canoe competition channels in the world. It also focused on being very economic to operate, specially once in legacy mode. It is the first artificial whitewater course in Brazil.
The mandatory use of an artificial circuit for the practice of Canoe Slalom at the Games began in 2000 in the Sydney Olympics since more predictable parameters needed to be established.
Canoe Slalom Model
Instead of opposing the difficult topography of the site the Olympic Canoe Slalom Stadium takes advantage of it. The equipment was placed in the least sloped area of the site in order to balance the earthwork. Already the stadium seats, which will be installed for the Olympics, follow the natural slope of the land. In its legacy version, this slope will function as the park seats themselves.
One of the main challenges was to create a strong rapid with the ideal slope recommended to practice the sport. In order to get rapids with these characteristics, it would be necessary to pump water from a height of 10 m, which would heavily burden the operation.
In order to attend the needs of the Games and also ensure a sustainable operation in legacy mode, Vigliecca & Associados, along with Whitewater Parks, made a careful analysis to be able to pump water for the shortest possible time and still have quality rapids. The solution, already used in the 2012 London Olympics, was improved and refined. This analysis included hydraulic tests at the University of Prague, a reference in research in the area, in order to assess the behavior of water and the designed moveable obstacles in the rapids. The analysis was done using three-dimensional hydraulic digital models and a large hydraulic physical model, which provided the necessary detailing for all of the surfaces and obstacles.
These studies have also shown that it would be possible to operate the whole system with less water than previously expected, resulting in water savings and an overall reduced construction costs.
The Olympic Canoe Slalom Stadium has two channels: a 280 m competition channel and a 210 m training channel. The depth ranges from 1.80 m to 2.40 m. The structure of the competition channel is in precast concrete, which allows better quality control of the finished concrete. The 25,000 m³ lake/reservoir, the pump house and the starting pools were built in in-situ reinforced concrete. The obstacles were attached to concrete tracks found on the bottom of the channels.
This facility once in legacy mode will be adapted to be used as a recreational area. Security structures and floating decks will be installed at the lake in order to restrict public access to deeper areas and technical areas. In the Radical Park there are intentions of installing the Family Clinic and the Knowledge Ship. Once in legacy mode, the Slalom and BMX administrative buildings will be used to house environmental education activities, community events in addition to an administration office for the park.
The goal was to create a very contemporary and challenging BMX track. The project was designed by the architectural firm Vigliecca & Associados consulted by the company Elite Trax, the same who built the BMX track for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, year the sport debuted at the Olympics, and the track for the 2015 Toronto Pan American Games.
The BMX track for the 2016 Rio Games has been designed considering local topography and the prevailing winds, features that can interfere with the performance of the athletes. The track is made of clay and an extremely thin asphalt in the corners. Ripples were placed at intervals of 10 meters to give route options to athlete such as the option to jump every 10 meters at a higher speed or to stay at ground level at a lower speed. The track has a 350 meters circuit for women and a 400 meters circuit for men, covering an area of about 4,000 m².
BMX Model
BMX Plan
The start ramp, unlike other BMX tracks around the world, was built as a permanent element with great visual impact, lined with wood and finished with multiple non-slip adhesives.
Synthetic grass was used in steep areas between the tracks in order to prevent erosion. Around the facility and in support areas it used natural grass. The circuit will feature a temporary grandstand with 7.500 seats during the Olympic Games, which will be installed near the date of the event due to maintenance. In legacy mode, the professional BMX track will be kept, but restricted to athletes. A beginner’s track will be built for the general public.
The infrastructure project for the Mountain Bike Olympic Park was done by Vigliecca & Associados. It includes local connections with other areas of the Deodoro Sports Complex, a heavy flow of people, interaction with the track itself, outlining the overlay and back of house areas, studies on the grandstands and the starting and finishing lines of the circuit. The track was designed with the advice of ex-cyclist Nick Floros and Rogério Bernardes, a specialist in the construction of mountain bike tracks.
The Mountain Bike circuit is 4.9 km long and is located in an area of 19.200 m². This circuit will be completely redesigned once left as a legacy. The part of the track that is in army-owned land will be dismantled; the other section, assigned to the City of Rio de Janeiro by the Army, will be reconfigured to become a smaller mountain bike circuit.
Architectural Record has released the latest edition of its annual list of the “Top 300 Architecture Firms” in the United States, based on architectural revenue from the previous year (2015). Gensler, which became the first firm to surpass $1 billion in revenue in 2014, held on to the top spot with earnings of $1,181,030,000 in 2015. Los Angeles-based AECOM maintained its number 2 position after a revenue increase of more than 30 percent, making it the largest publicly traded company in the LA area. Perkins+Will continued their steady climb up the list, finishing at number 3.
