Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld has been chosen to design the interior for New York’s The Four Seasons restaurant when it relocates from its iconic Seagram Building home. (more…)
The project arose with the will to gather by celebrating the elements of nature. It revolves around two squares and entails St. Elie Church and a semi-sunken base.
Radiant with its white bush hammered stone cladding, the church solemnly sets in the landscape. Its aspect embodies the characteristics of the Maronite Church: pure massing and flat roof. The interior is crafted with indirect lighting schemes: zenithal lighting above the altar, sacristy and confessional, and parietal along the lateral circulations; the white walls seem to diffuse natural light, the marble floor reflecting it in turn.
The base, deriving its language from the region’s cultivated terraces, remodels the topography of the hillside to house the multipurpose hall and its annexes. Its dry stone walling, extracted from the site and procured from the village’s demolished houses during the war, anchors the project in the ground by mimicry.
Due to its location and the contrast of its materials, the project tends to create a new focal point in the Shouf’s valley of Gold.
Casa EFFE-E is a private home located in Bomporto, Italy. It was designed by the Mantua-based firm ARCHIPLAN in 2016. Casa EFFE-E by ARCHIPLAN: “The project involves an old barn partially damaged by the earthquake. A massive structural intervention has made the building suitable to support other similar events. The environment is characterized by the presence of disused abandoned farm buildings and the cultivated fields of the Modena plain. The..
We had the pleasure to interview Sergei Tchoban, member of the Urban Advisory board of the City of Moscow, partner of the Berlin office NPS Tchoban Voss and of the Moscow office SPEECH. The Russian architect is also an artist and owner of a vast collection of architectural drawings.
Tchoban attended the Imperial Academy of Arts, and his fine arts background is very present in his drawings and his collection. During the interview with ArchDaily, Tchoban highlights the importance of drawing as the official language of architecture, as well as collecting and displaying it.
With Tchoban’s large archive of architectural drawings—from Russian futurists to contemporary figures such as Zaha Hadid and Oscar Niemeyer—he founded the Museum of Architectural Drawing in Berlin. Late last month Tchoban opened his latest exhibition Bridges & Spires, a reflection of past and future presented in over 60 large format drawings and watercolors of existing and imaginary structures and ruins, as well as futuristic fantasies of context and gravity defying urban pasts and futures.
Tchoban was the curator of the Russia Pavilion in Venice in 2010 and 2012, as well as the designer for the Russian pavilion at the Expo Milano 2015.
Venice Biennale 2012: i-city / Russia Pavilion
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The Nadir Afonso Foundation is located on the right bank of Tâmega river in Chaves, on land that is covered by the Polis Program. The design, without another appropriate place in urban areas, raises the single floor of the building through a series of structural sheets perpendicular to the river. Direct access is guaranteed by a slight ramp from a non-flood elevation. The two main exhibition spaces are developed in parallel, one illuminated by a continuous skylight and the other open to the river. The Foundation program includes two workshops, one of them waiting for a privileged presence: Nadir Afonso.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
By Álvaro Siza Vieira
1. Nadir Afonso Foundation will be built in the city of Chaves, on land located on the right bank of Tâmega river, with plans elaborated in detail under the Polis program.
The area reserved for the building area is located in Longras, in the parish of Santa Maria Maior, and was defined as a rectangle parallel to the river, in the future marginal park between the new walkway/bikepath parallel to Avenida 5 de Outubro (northwest), Dr. Mário Soares avenue (northeast), the new street parallel to Longras street (southwest) and the river (southeast).
The single floor building stands on a concrete platform at elevation 351.50, resting on walls perpendicular to the river, in order to avoid possible flooding. The difference in height between the streets in the northwest and the natural terrain will be connected with a gentle slope.
2. The main access to the Foundation platform is through a ramp with a slight slope of 6%, from a walkway at 349.13 (not flood elevation). Two elevators and two staircases were designed, from natural ground, facing the southwest (public access) and northeast (service access, loading and unloading). A third emergency exit staircase is located in a central position, with access to the exhibition spaces.
3. The programmed interior spaces develop longitudinally in three sectors:
a) Lobby, reception, public elevator (13p.), library, auditorium for 100 people, dressing rooms, bathrooms, bookstore and cafeteria on the upper west side of the building.
b) Exhibition spaces in the central area, divided into three longitudinal wings, including a permanent exhibition room and archive room (northwest side), and temporary exhibition rooms (central and southeast wings).
The central wing exhibition room (8,70×36,5) can be divided into two smaller asymmetric rooms (8,70×12,50 + 8,70×23,85), with a continuous skylight. The east wing is illuminated by a continuous horizontal opening to the river. The temporary exhibition hall will not have natural light in general, but only an opening from the yard that limits it.
c) The northeastern top of the building includes a central control and security area, a lift (3,45×2,5m), service stairs, reception and access to the archive (to the northwest); bathrooms, staff rooms and administration areas (to the southwest); visual arts workshop and Nadir Afonso workshop (with overhead light and river views).
4. On the top floor, with access from the security control center, there are a series of technical spaces (indoor and outdoor terrace), which facilitate access to the vents. A second technical space is located on the auditorium.
5. The building will be constructed with structural exposed white concrete walls; the roof is landscaped on almost its entire length, and the technical spaces are clad in zincalum plates. The interior finishes are wood flooring, drywall on walls and ceilings and white marble in water areas. The interior window frames are wood and stainless steel, while the exterior frames are wood and aluminum.
6.
The outer covers are made of granite slabs on the stairs and access level; and white marble on the balconies. As for the proposed landscaping and exterior arrangements, the proposal provides cleaning and consolidation of the ruins of canelha of Longras, similar to what was done in the recent intervention on the banks of Tamega River and the preservation of some existing fruit trees.
As support for activities outside, the Foundation has provided a unique floor covering almost the entire length of the project area, with the exception of natural land that corresponds to the projection of the building, for which an ivy carpet is expected.
The proposed trees and shrubs consist mainly of native species, preferably from local seedlings or region. Its use is to establish plant masses able to create shades of protection necessary for the organization and reading of the space. The irrigation system is automatic through sprinklers and, in some cases, nebulizers and atomizers.
7. The accessibility and exclusive areas for disabled scheme, such as the signals of designated parking spaces, is presented in design sheet 5 (sic).
To the northwest, near the main entrance of the Foundation, there are two exclusive parking spaces for the disabled, who may enter the building through a ramp with a slope of 6%. Apart from this, we propose southwestern parking lots with four more places. Access to the building is via the elevator.
The foundation program is on a single floor: the access step to the building does not exceed 2 centimeters in height. In the auditorium, two places are designated for people with disabilities, which are at the same level as the access space. General health facilities also have spaces reserved for the disabled.
8. The building is in line with the detailed margins of Tamega River and respects the urban parameters in relation to the PDM [Municipal Director Plan] of Chaves:
Total site area: 16.658m2
Total project area: 2.768m2
Total built area: 2.768m2
Total built volume: 20.538m3
Height: 11.6M
Number of underground floors: 1
Number of floors above ground: 1
See the photoshoot by Fernando Guerra here.
From the architect. The new building is located in a privileged but sprawled urban area above Locarno, with an overwhelming view on the city, the surrounding mountains and the lake. The project is a discrete reaction to a daily subject: to build into a crowded and chaotic urbanized area.
Therefore all attributes of a classical house were totally omitted. Two simple steaning cubes are emerging from the hill – fragmentarily – more associated to the landscape than to the other existing buildings – more alike a wall than a house – and time less.
Habitable interiors are generated through cavities. Two similar big openings, with wooden grids serving as moveable gates, are providing access and view.
Additional light is taken in through courtyards. The water of the swimming pool, embedded in the valley facing cube, merges perfectly with the lake.
Unusual Apartment in Moscow is a private home located in Moscow, Russia. It was designed by Alexei Rosenberg. Photos courtesy of Alexei Rosenberg
Brussels-based designer Alain Gilles has created a sound-absorbing screen as his latest product for office acoustics specialists Buzzispace (+ slideshow). (more…)
Katamama, the first hotel by PTT Family, the group behind the world-renowned Potato Head Beach Club, gives its parent company a different and bigger canvas to display its creativity and vision. A rare project involving handcrafted custom work on a large scale, Katamama is a truly bespoke creation.
Renowned Indonesian architect and long-time PTT Family collaborator Andra Matin has designed Katamama, with interiors a partnership between Ronald Akili, CEO of PTT Family, the PTT Family Creative Team and the Singapore-based design company Takenouchi Webb.
Contemporary design elements pay reference to the Balinese lifestyle and lush green gardens that reflect the natural beauty of the island. The exterior of Katamama takes its cues from the Balinese building practice of tri angga, a concept where the spatial structure reflects harmony between the building and its occupants.
Katamama features an elevated lobby allowing guests to view the pool and surrounding landscape. Rooms that occupy the lower floor are described as “introverted” by Matin, with a secluded view to the garden. His vision for the building was to allow guests to see a different angle of the landscape from every level of the hotel.
“The idea behind Katamama was to represent Bali. It should feel Balinese, but modern at the same time. The main concept is actually the ‘modern’ architecture of 60s and 70s. It’s very geometrical. And these days, when almost every hotel in Bali is planned with the curved lines, it’s quite unusual,” says Matin.
As one of Indonesia’s leading entrepreneurs, Akili is known for his passion for the mid-century look and Katamama’s interiors, fixtures and furnishings reflects this craft-focused take on hospitality. The raw brick of the walls are highlighted in the suites and wide boards of teak are used for the flooring. Other wall finishes include solid-timber slats and a rough pale coloured plaster. The main spaces of the suites are designed to be as open as possible with the bathroom separated by a set of decorative sliding panels that can open to make the bathroom part of the main space. Each bedroom looks out onto a balcony terrace with a day-bed, table and chairs and becomes an extension of the room, with the same hand-made brick material extending out from the room wall.
