© Ossip van Duivenbode

• Architects: MVRDV
• Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
• Design Team: Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries with Herman Gaarman, Emilie Koch, Elien Deceuninck and Jun Xiang Zhang
• Area: 2400.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Ossip van Duivenbode

• Contractor: Goudsesingel Onderhoud
• Electrician: Croon, Wolter en Dros
• Engineer: IMD

© Ossip van Duivenbode

From the architect. MVRDV’s 2400 m2 interior renovation for their new offices, with 150 work spaces, had at its core the idea to capture and enhance their DNA in what is now called the MVRDV House. The new space builds on the progress made in previous offices, learns from how the team inhabited and worked in the previous building and translated these into new, more accommodating and productive spaces.

© Ossip van Duivenbode

“The expanding MVRDV family needed a new house; so this is exactly what we tried to capture. Everything that the home requires, a living room, a dining room, a sofa for the whole house to sit together,” explains MVRDV co-founder Jacob van Rijs. “This was also a chance to capture how we work and function as an office, then tailor-make new spaces that would boost our working methods and output; efficient spaces that enhance the collaborative ways in which we work.” 

Section Diagram

The large Family Room becomes the centrepiece for social interaction with three oversized elements of the home, the couch, dinner table and vegetation chandelier – a large tribune with a drop-down projection screen for lectures, office presentations or football; the long lunch table, at which the whole office gathers together daily; and a huge, split, flowerpot, which has in the middle MVRDV’s ’welcome team’. Past this, The  Atelier for the project teams takes up the main bulk of the central space and is light and quiet. A glazed wall, covered in doodles and working diagrams, separates the atelier from the living room stretching right across the centre three – out of five – main arches. Opposite this, like a section through a dolls-house, are the bold, multi-coloured meeting rooms. Each has its own theme and specific  furniture for different ways of meeting; The Drawing Room with whiteboard magnet walls for workshops, The Presentation Room in dark blue for larger formal meetings, The Lounge with low chairs for conversations in private, the brown and intimate Library Room and The Game Room for playing or informal meetings at the table-tennis table. And of course, several other special monochrome rooms.

© Ossip van Duivenbode

The five arched segments of the offices are enhanced, the previously enclosed areas were knocked open and replaced with glazed walls. From almost every point in the office you can see other people within the space. The workspaces themselves hope to breed a collective atmosphere. Custom made tables were designed for entire teams as one large unit with no table legs or dividers in the way.

© Ossip van Duivenbode

The creative work attitude is furthermore reflected in some specific characteristics: Unlike the rest of the office who enjoy light-filled rooms and views across the office, the directors choose to have their space tucked away in a darker corner, on the ground floor close to the printer and coffee corner, to encourage them to be out amongst the rest of the MVRDV team. Gender free toilets, a wall with family pictures and a communal, 30 meter long lunch table are signs of the social fabric of the company.  

© Ossip van Duivenbode

The building housing MVRDV’s new offices, Het Industriegebouw, is in itself a large community of creative, technical and entrepreneurial industries; everything ranging from small tech start-ups to larger design firms. Pop-up cafés and restaurants create an occasion for users of the building to congregate; something which will be further enhanced once MVRDV designs the communal courtyard for the building.

© Ossip van Duivenbode

“For us, it also makes a lot of sense to be part of Het Industriegebouw as a building and a community,” tells Jacob van Rijs. “Now we share a work space that could allow for future, flexible growth and collaboration within the building, just as was the design intent of the original architect.”

© Ossip van Duivenbode

The building was originally designed by Dutch post-war architect Hugh Maaskant in 1952 who also designed iconic buildings in the city such as the Groot Handelsgebouw, whose roof was the destination of MVRDV’s project ‘The Stairs’ between mid-May to the end of June, and the Hilton Hotel in Rotterdam’s centre.

© Ossip van Duivenbode

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Leo Caillard_Hipster in Stone 25

STUDIO architecture and urbanism magazine is currently accepting proposals for our forthcoming issue TERRIFIC.

Several urban practitioners have defined semantic and urban categories as trying to control possible derivatives existing outside ordinary and everyday practices, transmitted in a terrific and kaleidoscopic variation of commonly used perceptions. Moreover, architecture and urbanism often look toward the investigation of alternative cognitive grids to look to the city beyond traditional cultural mechanisms, giving continuously sense to the of renovation of the discipline. It means looking through what is good and what is bad, what is right and wrong, beautiful or not, conformist or anarchic.

The word terrific went through a transformative process that took a couple of centuries; first a situation of terror, then something extremely huge, now something amazing. STUDIO#11 TERRIFIC wants to explore the meaning, relationship and etymological expansion which have characterized the city project. Which are the dazed, extravagant, curious, unpredictable, attractive and also immoral and narcotic situations that give sense to urban changes? Which micro-situations of the human geography can potentially trigger huge transformation processes, to be considered in a positive or negative way among time? Which semantic changes of concepts are able to represent huge revolutionary trajectories in the architectural and urban practices?

STUDIO #11 TERRIFIC refers to those practices, concept, theories and institutional arrangements which knew radical changes over time, vibrantly reconfiguring the meaning of sense of architectural products and city development.

Download the information related to this competition here.

• Title: STUDIO#11 TERRIFIC CALL FOR PAPERS
• Type: Call for Submissions
• Organizers: STUDIO Architecture and Urbanism magazine
• Submission Deadline: 12/09/2016 23:30
• Price: Free

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The UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (commonly referred to as UNESCO) has named 17 projects in 7 countries by revolutionary Modernist architect Le Corbusier to their list of World Heritage Sites. Given to places of special cultural or physical significance, the designation will help to protect and preserve the buildings for future generations. Citing Le Corbusier’s inventive architectural language, UNESCO praised the collection of projects for “[reflecting] the solutions that the Modern Movement sought to apply during the 20th century to the challenges of inventing new architectural techniques to respond to the needs of society.”

“The inscription on the World Heritage List of 17 buildings of sites by Le Corbusier represents a strong encouragement to continue all along Le Corbusier’s built work to maintain this living heritage and to hand it down to future generations,” said Fondation Le Corbusier President Antoine Picon in a statement. “It also contributes to the understanding of that complex and fragile legacy and helps its dissemination to the widest audience.”

Continue after the break for the full list of projects and images.

Unité d’habitation, Marseille, France

Unité d’habitation, Marseille, France. Image © Rik Moran

Maison Guiette, Antwerp, Belgium

Maison Guiette, Antwerp, Belgium. Courtesy of ADAGP, Paris 2015. Image © Maury

Capitol Complex, Chandigarh, India

Maison Curutchet, La Plata, Argentina. Image © ARQ+HIS

The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan

The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan. Image © Flickr user pixelhut. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Weissenhof-Siedlung Estate, Stuttgart, Germany

Weissenhof-Siedlung Estate, Stuttgart, Germany. Image © Flickr user friemo. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Maison Curutchet, La Plata, Argentina

Maison Curutchet, La Plata, Argentina. Image © ARQ+HIS

Dominican Monastery of La Tourette near Lyon, France

Dominican Monastery of La Tourette near Lyon, France. Image © Fernando Schapo

Villa Savoye near Paris, France

Villa Savoye near Paris, France. Image © Flickr user world3. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Notre-Dame du Haut, Ronchamp, France

Notre-Dame du Haut, Ronchamp, France. Image © Gili Marin

Maison La Roche, Paris, France

Maison La Roche, Paris, France. Image © Flickr user pov_steve. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Villa Le Lac, Corseaux, Switzerland

Villa Le Lac, Corseaux, Switzerland. Image © Wikimedia user Schwizgebel. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Cité Frugès, Pessac, France

Cité Frugès, Pessac, France. Image © Flickr user Lezzles. Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Immeuble Clarté, Geneva, Switzerland

Immeuble Clarté, Geneva, Switzerland. Image © Wikimedia user Romano1246. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Immeuble Molitor, Paris, France

Immeuble Molitor, Paris, France. Image © Wikimedia user I, Sailko. Licensed under CC BY 2.5

Usine Claude et Duval Factory, Saint-Dié, France

Usine Claude et Duval Factory, Saint-Dié, France. Image © Wikimedia user Pymouss. Licensed under CC‑BY‑SA‑3.0

Cabanon de Le Corbusier, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France

Cabanon de Le Corbusier, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. Image © Wikimedia user Tangopaso. Public Domain

Maison de la Culture, Firminy, France

Maison de la Culture, Firminy, France. Image © Flickr user jacqueline_poggi. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

News via UNESCO, Fondation Le Corbusier and BBC.

Spotlight: Le Corbusier
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Material Masters: Le Corbusier’s Love for Concrete
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© Winquist Photography

• Architects: Kevin B Howard Architects
• Location: Tucson, AZ, United States
• Structural Engineer: Talavera Engineer
• Area: 5500.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Winquist Photography , Robin Stancliff Photography

© Winquist Photography

From the architect. There are only a few instances in an architectural career where a client and an architect’s vision unify into an immaculate and complete expression of art and architecture. We were very fortunate to work with a couple who, devoted to the ideals of minimalism’s stark allure, asked us to design a house in the foothills of Tucson, Arizona, located in the profoundly diverse Sonoran Desert. The owners’ refined sense of contrast required a “modern, minimal home: a pristine box that seemed to have landed in the desert.”

© Robin Stancliff Photography

The house’s hillside location required that we take advantage of the boundless vistas while protecting the owners’ carefully curated collection of art and modernist furniture as well as the desert itself. These diverging conditions resulted in the elevation of the major living spaces to the upper floor. The considerable programmatic shift reduced the footprint and the construction impact, as well as reiterating the owners’ vision of gently touching down upon the earth. Kevin Howard’s assertion that “The desert is very slow to heal” can be seen in the surgical location of the residence around and within the numerous Saguaros on the site.

© Winquist Photography

Plan

© Robin Stancliff Photography

The inclusion of gallery space and its appropriate protective measures overlaid the architectural program. Miesian glass walls were replaced with a studied array of spotless shadow boxes protecting deeply recessed glass panes. The clients shared their inspiration and enthusiasm for Renzo Piano’s Atrium in the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago. The interior stair acts as a tectonic centerpiece, contrasting the formal execution of the main atrium while matching its clarity and refinement in detailing. This Atrium houses the bulk of the owners’ art collection and connects the upper and lower floors of the residence. The height allows the living spaces to breathe and provides a new appreciation of the various pieces of art as they are viewed from different positions in the house. A single continuous skylight centered down the middle of the gallery marks the passage of time without harming the cherished art held within. The main living and dining spaces face south, framing the view of the desert below in a perfect unobstructed volume.

© Winquist Photography

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Working in architecture is always a challenging experience in which you just never know what might happen next. That said, there are a number of things we can collectively relate to as a part of this industry. Here we’ve created a list of things we’re all too familiar with—whether that relates to finishing projects, working with clients, or just dealing with people that totally don’t even know what goes on in architecture. Which ones did we miss?

1. Sometimes, there’s nothing quite as relaxing as putting on your headphones, listening to your favorite music, and working on a drawing or model.

© Ramin Hasanalizade via Shutterstock

2. That geeky, incredible feeling of traveling to see a building you’ve always wanted to see.

3. Still qualifying for student discounts on software.

4. When you’re sure that your model is about to break from too much handling but the professor/client insists on holding it up at a strange angle.

© racorn via Shutterstock

5. That feeling when you send a drawing to the plotter and hope that a) it’s working b) you’re printing on the right kind of paper and c) the drawing is oriented correctly.

6a. That inner sense of victory when your printing bill comes out much cheaper than you anticipated.

© Visual Generation via Shutterstock

6b. That inner sense of failure when your printing bills comes out way more expensive than anticipated.

6c. That inner sense of dread when you are about to look at your printing bill because let’s face it… you have NO CONTROL over this.

7. When you’re feeling a bit too good about a project, that’s when you know something bad is about to happen.

8. Splurging on books that you don’t have time to read… because you like them as “objects.”

9. Spending the first hour of an all-nighter cursing your situation and promising to make it the last… but you somehow never follow through afterwards.

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10. That inner feeling of zen when you’re effortlessly reloading all your files after a computer crash because you backed up on a cloud.

11. Similarly, that sense of accomplishment when you find a good use for a little sketch that you decided to scan for “record-keeping.”

12. When you’re doing something completely unrelated to architecture but inspiration suddenly hits you and you just have to drop everything to draw it on any flat surface.

© Dmitry Guzhanin via Shutterstock

13. Walking around the studio/office and asking people to close programs they aren’t using because there’s only a limited number of software licences available.

14. If you’re having a conversation with a non-architect about architecture, you pretty much assume that the non-architect will (only) mention Frank Gehry, Frank Lloyd Wright or Zaha Hadid. If you’re lucky, you might even get Mies van der Rohe.

15. That cringe-worthy moment when some non-design professional uses an overused cliché like “Less is More”… as if they understood the actual context of that line.

16. When you hit the hay after a massive deadline and don’t come back to life until at least 12 hours later.

© Jiw Ingka via Shutterstock

17. Explaining how to do something on BIM takes a lot longer than doing it yourself–but you’re too stubborn and explain it anyway in the vain hope that one day you won’t have to explain it again.

18. The perplexed sense of joy when the guest critics/clients are unexpectedly enthusiastic about your project.

19. If in doubt, throw the blade out! Nothing feels better than having 10 fingers intact because you always worked with fresh blades and a metal ruler.

20. When you’re learning new software, and you try a command from a different program and it does exactly what you want it to do.

© studiostoks via Shutterstock

21. The bliss of discovering a shortcut for a tedious task when you’re watching somebody else work.

22. The first stroke of an X-acto blade on foam core…and it feels like slicing butter.

23. Having to make peace with the past version of yourself that was too lazy and/or incompetent to correctly document professional experience for the registration exam.

24. When your napkin sketch is actually on point.

© Chadd McDermott via Shutterstock

25a. Knowing all too well that last minute changes rarely do a project any good but you still go ahead and make a final tweak… and your project falls apart.

25b. Knowing all too well that last minute changes rarely do a project any good but you still go ahead and make a final tweak… and your project has never looked better.

26. And finally…that enormously satisfying feeling of leaving the studio at 5 pm on a Friday with a finished project/to do list.

© Visual Generation via Shutterstock

All images via Shutterstock.com

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Courtesy of WXCA

• Architects: WXCA
• Location: Chęciny, Poland
• Architects In Charge: Michał Czerwiński, Marcin Jurusik, Ewa Gajda, Katarzyna Błaszkiewicz, Maciej Rudnicki, Agnieszka Nowicka, Katarzyna Kwiatkowska, Jacek Hawrylak, Marta Sękulska, Patrycja Michalak – Dębiec
• Area: 8450.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Courtesy of WXCA

• Team: Szczepan Wroński, Paweł Grodzicki, Krzysztof Budzisz, Zbigniew Wroński
• Acoustics: Phd. Piotr PekalaI (AKUSTIX)
• Façade Technology: PROFA
• Landscape Architecture: RS AK
• Technical Projects: CHODOR-PROJEKT Sp. z o.o. (now BIURO PROJEKTÓW BUDOWNICTWA Sp. z o.o.)
• Construction: Katarzyna Micigolska
• Instalations: Karolina Wozniak
• Investor: University of Warsw
• General Contractor: ANNA-BUD sp. z o.o.,
• Contacts: Rafal Adamski, Grzegorz Snochowski
• Site Area: 35,577 sqm
• Gross Covered Area: 3,700 sqm
• Usable Area: 6,500 sqm
• Cost: $30000000 PLN

Courtesy of WXCA

Plan

Courtesy of WXCA

From the architect. The Swietokrzyskie Mountains are an unique place for geologists, as there are exposed rocks illustrating 560 million years of Earth’s history located on a relatively small area. 
A few steps in this area is like turning back time by 100 million years. The fact that the layers of rocks of different ages located around Checiny are now on the surface, is a unique phenomenon on a European scale.

Courtesy of WXCA

From the cultural point of view, our location is approx. 500m away from the ruins of a medieval royal castle situated on an adjacent hill and near the small town of Checiny with a preserved medieval urban layout.

Courtesy of WXCA

Plan

Courtesy of WXCA

The main objective of the concept is to split the functions into separate buildings. This way we achieved five two-storey buildings connected with a glass corridor.

Courtesy of WXCA

The rectangular blocks of the buildings were scattered around the quarry like freshly loosened stone blocks that are the reminiscent of the former function of this place. The geometric shapes of the buildings, as compared to the background of the aforementioned 30 m rock wall, create a connection between what is natural and what is processed with the human hand, making us reflect on the importance of natural resources and their management. The intention of the project was to create forms that will not dominate, but complement its unique location.

Courtesy of WXCA

Plan / Section

Courtesy of WXCA

Function (Architecture and use of space):
The ECEG complex is comprised of five buildings. First main building includes representative functions: an entrance lobby connected to the canteen and a foyer with an auditorium hall for 240 people.
The second building is a research laboratory facility with geological laboratories where the found specimens are subjected to pre-treatment. Then the created formulations are analyzed in chemical, geophysical and geological mapping laboratories. The whole technological line is connected with an education area enabling young students of geology to participate in the process.

Courtesy of WXCA

The other three buildings are intended as a hotel base. Building 3 was designed with a higher standard intended for the staff and guests of the facility, and building 4 as an accommodation base for students.
The hotel buildings have been designed with double rooms. Each room has a large window with a comfortable, wide desk designed in such a way so as to form a whole with the window. Thanks to this, users will be able to peacefully explore knowledge and contemplate the surrounding landscape.

Courtesy of WXCA

MATERIALS 
The project is located in old, exploited quarry in region of Holy Cross Mountains which are a unique place of geologists illustrating 560 million years of Earth’s history, 500m away from the ruins of medieval royal castle. The rectangular blocks of the buildings were scattered around the quarry like freshly loosened stone blocks that are the reminiscent of the former function of this place. The façade is made of different fractions, chipped stone block of limestone, geologically identical with the quarry rock.

Courtesy of WXCA

RENEWABLE ENERGY
 The main source of heating and cooling for the buildings are heat pumps with a ground heat exchanger. The lower source consists of 91 wells drilled 120m deep. 
Heat pumps will work in the “water” / “glycol” system.
In addition, water is also heated thanks to the solar installation in the form of solar collectors placed on the roofs.
Landscape design and green roofs are preserving naturally occurring plant species in this area like grassland swards.

Courtesy of WXCA

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