From the architect. La Maison Haute was designed to reinforce the relationship between the residents, their immediate surroundings and the view on Lac Clair. Located on a plateau, in the middle of a steep hill, circled by mature trees and a narrow river, the construction offers an atmosphere of protection within a vertiginous body.
Despite being compact, the living spaces interact through double and triple heights and offer a breathtaking sight of the forest, from the bottom of the trunk to the leaves. The master bedroom acts as an overlook on the nearby lake, giving the impression of sleeping in a cozy cabin, lodged through the branches. Attached to the main volume by a thin entry porch, an exterior room lives by the rhythm of the seasons. Protected from changing weather, sit by the fireplace, residents can appreciate every day the sound of the water pouring, the clicking of leaves or the slow fall of snowflakes.
Since 2015, Gramazio Kohler Research has been in the process of developing “Mesh Mould Metal,” a project that studies the unification of concrete reinforcement and formwork into a single, robotically fabricated material system. The project is based on their first phase of research, Mesh Mould, which spanned from 2012 to 2014, and developed a robotic extrusion process for a polymer mesh.
Now, as a second phase, Mesh Mould Metal “focuses on the translation of the structurally weak polymer-based extrusion process into a fully load-bearing construction system” by replicating the process in metal. Specifically, the current research delves into the development of “a fully automated bending and welding process for meshes fabricated from 3-millimeter steel wire.”
According to Gramazio Kohler, central to the original research for Mesh Mould was the fact that standard robotic extrusion processes have a low loadbearing capacity, but a “high capacity for precise spatial coordination.” Therefore, “an optimal use of the machine requires construction processes with minimal mass transfer and a high degree of geometric definition,” they explain.
Courtesy of Gramazio Kohler Research
For the switch to a stronger metal mesh with real-world structural applications, Gramazio Kohler abandoned the standard extrusion machine used for the first stage of the research. Instead, alongside the Agile & Dexterous Robotics Lab of Professor Jonas Buchli, they developed a specialized robot capable of automatically bending and welding the metal.
Learn more about the Mesh Mould Metal project here.
This small holiday home by Rural Design nestles between grassy knolls on the Isle of Skye, the largest of Scotland’s Inner Hebrides islands (+ slideshow). (more…)
For religious societies, heritage and traditions play an important role in maintaining identity, culture and allowing for the community’s self-improvement, both spiritually but also in a spatial sense. Therefore, the way people occupy the place in which they live leads to the material fulfillment of religious aims.
With the creation of a place that follows their sacred order—the Jetavana—the community can be enriched while performing their traditions and rituals in a specific and proper way through architecture.
Created for a religious community with poor economic resources, this project designed by Sameep Padora & Associates achieves this purpose and delivers a space with great spiritual significance and value through the reincarnation of materials, minimal intervention in the natural environment and by gathering a community’s traditions. In the following text, the architects elaborate on some of the factors that made this ArchDaily‘s Project of the Month for July.
The primary driver was a monetary and material frugality, but ease of access to construction material as well as their maintenance over time were important concerns. The seasoned wood for the roof structure came from ship breaking yards; the fired mangalore roof tiles from older dismantled buildings and the rammed stone dust walls from a basalt stone quarry nearby. The design process became almost reactive, responding to our fast-changing understanding of context, an understanding that evolved in tandem with the construction of the project. I think the significance of the project lies in this.
Courtesy of Sameep Padora & Associates
Almost all of our assumptions about locally sourced materials are challenged in this project: rammed earth needed too much cement for stabilization, bamboo and thatch for construction were both of poor quality. This light-footed, nimble and reactive process, divorced from the weight of a fixed and preempted solution, enabled a response that is both appropriate and rich.
Courtesy of Sameep Padora & Associates
Stone Dust: What features does this material have in comparison to concrete? What other possibilities can this material give to local design?
The extremely hot and dry climate of Sakharwadi required a material that would insulate the interior from the heat. As opposed to concrete the thick rammed stone dust walls keep the interior extremely cool.
Courtesy of Sameep Padora & Associates
The aim of the stone dust rammed wall construction was also to turn the project into a demonstration of how local material which is traditionally seen as waste could be used to catalyze a new form of indigenous construction. We hope that it kickstarts a new “local” technique, not one based in nostalgia but specific to its time.
Courtesy of Sameep Padora & Associates
How is the Buddhist spirituality reflected in the architectural design concept and program?
The center is built for the local neo-buddhists, the “Baudh” community, but is open to all religions.
Courtesy of Sameep Padora & Associates
The opening of the center included religious leaders from the Christian, Muslim and Hindu communities as well. The Baudh community has traditionally been an economically disadvantaged section of Indian society and while they do have a substantial political presence in the country the center attempts to fill in the gaps of spiritual programs like meditation and yoga as well as vocational training for the youth. Therefore, the two largest spaces within the precinct house a meditation hall and a workshop.
Courtesy of Sameep Padora & Associates
The primary directive was to do no harm to a single living thing, hence the center is split and fragmented between trees rather than being a consolidated singular block. Not a single tree was cut during its construction.
Courtesy of Edmund Summer
The repetitive rhythm of the wooden structure, used to bring focus to a deity statue, references the stone ribbed interior of the Buddhist cave architecture. Some of our early study models also alluded to the vaulted section of the cave roof, but the logic of visually connecting to the foliage of the trees outside we felt was eventually the more dominant and desirable experience.
Richard Meier & Partners has completed their first project in South America, a 7-story, sustainable office building in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Leblon. The building will feature concrete, glass and vertical gardens, and will serve as the new international headquarters for top Brazilian investment firm VINCI Partners. The structure consists of open office spaces looking out onto several private interior courtyards and a series of terraces that create a connection with the main urban thoroughfare of Bartolomeu Mitre Avenue.
Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
The building contains 7 floors and 6,500 square meters of leasable floor space, as well as 3 underground floors for private parking and additional office space. A spacious lobby anchors the building to the street, as a louvered facade rises from the ground to shield the building’s western elevation from sun and for privacy.
“The design of the Leblon project does not contextualize itself with its material palette, but rather through its articulation and layering of the primary façade with a screen,” explains Bernhard Karpf, design partner-in-charge. “This enables the building to recede from the city while maintaining a street front. It offers its inhabitants the desired privacy and protection from the sun while maintaining a visual connection to the street and the sense of transparency.”
Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
The building’s eastern section has been pulled back from neighboring buildings to create the internal courtyards and allow natural light to penetrate into each office space from multiple fronts. Lush vertical gardens act as the skewer, connecting the open-air atriums and the building’s exposed concrete core.
“Looking at the context has always been something that is very important in our work,” says Richard Meier. “We look at how that project not only fulfills the functional requirements of what it is, but how it responds to where it is and how it enlivens the community. Brazil’s architecture celebrates natural light, openness and nature’s intimate relationship with the built environment, and these are elements that we have integrated in the design of the new Leblon Offices.”
Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
The firm hopes the office project will become a significant architectural contribution to Rio de Janeiro’s rich heritage, while providing needed climate-designed office space for the city.
Andover Street is a private home created by Case Ornsby Design. It is located in Merivale, a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. Andover Street by Case Ornsby Design: “After the huge earthquakes in 2010/2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand, the devastated original home occupying this site was removed and the land was purchased by our clients. Historically, the city of Christchurch has its roots in agriculture, so we designed an urban..
After training at the prestigious Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Israel and moving to New York in 2000, Eran Chen founded ODA Architecture, a boutique architectural firm based in NYC. Chen has quickly become a recognized name associated with creating buildings that are not only innovative but also ecologically responsible. ODA has participated in high profile projects such as the “super-skinny and super-tall” Manhattan Tower and “a city within a city” in Brooklyn.
In the video above, Chen shares howODA has been very active in the reconstruction, reimagining, redesign of NYC. He explains how architecture in the city is about the interstitial spaces, voids, gaps and land in between skyscrapers. Chen explains that the way we inhabit the built environment is a combination of physical and mental experiences.
New York City is faced with a bleak future of imposing walls, streets, and interiors (…) as an alternative to this future, we propose a network of spaces in which human scale inversely governs building scale, which in turn promotes socialization and community shared Chen with his social media followers.
In the second part (below) of the interview with ArchDaily, Chen discusses how well-designed outdoor spaces brings value to our lives and that by making this his main element during the design process, architects can leave room for compromise on other things. In his latest project, Chen explains a new concept of filling in the gaps and creating what is essentially a house with a backyard in a dense, vertical city like Manhattan.
From the architect. Ideally located, this project is structure around dynamics flows organized mainly by the surrounding of the highway and the SBB tracks. The main areas characterized by their big space, are visually connected through the main public area, which allow to look at the same time towards the sports room and the pool.
The observer recognizes the spatial duality already seen outside, with two bright lanterns hanging from the façade. The expression of the project shows the different nature of the inside areas. The high metallic structure volumes can be reveal from the outside through the polycarbonate skin, and becomes the expression of the building. This metallic structure leans on the large concrete base which define de areas. With a sober design, made of reinforced concrete, the building was realised in a little more than a year.
Oberfeld Luxury Residence is a home located in Los Angeles, California, USA. Covering an area of 8,458 square feet, it was designed by SPF Architects. The property is currently for sale. Buy it now! Oberfeld Luxury Residence by SPF Architects: “From the street, the crisp, white cement panels that clad the residence’s exterior rise a modest 18’ from the street. However, almost secretly tucked away towards the back and the..
