© Dirk Weiblen

• Architects: Kokaistudios
• Location: Shanghai, Shanghai, China
• Design Team: Andrea Destefanis, Filippo Gabbiani, Pietro Peyron, Li Wei, Liu Chang, He Wenbin, Daniele Pepe, San Dino Arcilla, Liding Yu, Anna-Maria Austerveil
• Area: 6000.0 sqm
• Photographs: Dirk Weiblen

© Dirk Weiblen

From the architect. The project is located in Shanghai, on the North bank of the Suzhou Creek. The area, once the vibrating industrial engine of the colonial Shanghai,  is today undergoing an unprecedented and controversial process of transformation, where consistent portions of the original urban fabric, ‘carpets’ of shikumen intertwined with warehouses and industrial artifacts, are being cancelled together with the memory they represent, replaced by high rise residential and office towers. 

© Dirk Weiblen

The warehouse, an early 20 Century British facility for the production and the stock of textiles is among the few testimonies of the industrial history of the city still standing in the area. Its unconventionally big scale, 6000m2 on three floors, and its remarkable state of conservation had it a listed as a protected industrial heritage. In order to survive, the building had to be repurposed to new functions, technologically upgraded and transformed into flexible commercial and office spaces, readapted to a context radically transformed and different from the one it originally belonged to.

© Dirk Weiblen

The architectural renovation project, first phase of a process that will include the design of all common areas and part of the future tenants’ interiors, was devised as a careful mix of rigorous conservation and innovative solutions. 

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The original textures of the building resurfaced though a careful process of survey, cleaning,  removal of non original additions, reconstruction of damaged or lost parts, always reversible and distinguishable from the original.  

© Dirk Weiblen

The internal circulation was redesigned around the main atrium, covered by a shimmering glass roof. The light steel-structure balcony, cantilevering from the old brick facade, spirals around the void, connecting the entrance to the upper floors.  A sculptural surface of glass encloses the atrium, resolving roofing and facade with a unifying gesture and terminating in a wood clad canopy under which the new main access to the building is located. 

© Dirk Weiblen

Under these two glazed atriums past and present come together, both claiming their rights to expression. The two languages complement each others  in a coherent and balanced whole.

© Dirk Weiblen

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© Ketsiree Wongwan

• Architects: TOUCH Architect
• Location: Bangkok, Thailand
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Ketsiree Wongwan

© Ketsiree Wongwan

We, as a group of architects, used to spend our working time here in this studio for over three years. So, we found many problems during the stay, such as, direct sunlight will come through glass windows for all afternoon, it increase temperature inside the building. Moreover, the front door façade has been ruined as it was deteriorating by time.

© Ketsiree Wongwan

© Ketsiree Wongwan

Our solution for these problems is to create a new façade which has included many functions due to the existing problems.

Diagram

The name of this project, | | | F A C A D E, was simply defined by the pattern of main structure which has 4 rhythmic of translucent void. The structure itself is made of wood and has been attached to an existing reinforced concrete column and beam. Functional used was added underneath the façade which hanging down and continue to be a set of horizontal wood trellis.

© Ketsiree Wongwan

There are 2 main purposes of this façade: 

1) Climate and Time Purpose – translucent poly-carbonate can help reduce heat from sunlight during afternoon, while in the morning and at night, opening windows allow natural ventilation while privacy still occurs.

2) Functional Purpose – umbrella hanger, mailbox, outdoor counter bar, and multi-purpose shelf.

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Courtesy of SHoP Architects

Following the shortlisting of three finalists in January, Syracuse University announced today that SHoP Architects has been selected to design the new National Veterans Resource Complex (NVRC). The winning proposal was selected by a jury led by Martha Thorne, Executive Director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and Dean of the IE School of Architecture and Design in Madrid, beating out entries by Snøhetta and Adjaye Associates. The NVRC will serve as the headquarters of the University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), which has helped more than 48,000 veterans and military families.

Courtesy of SHoP Architects

Planned for the western section of the Waverly block on the Syracuse University campus, the NVRC will serve as the new home of the Syracuse University and Regional Student Veteran Resource Center, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs “Vet-Success on Campus”, the National Center of Excellence for Veteran Business Ownership, Veteran Business Outreach Center and Accelerator, and Syracuse University’s Office of Veteran and Military Affairs, as well as provide offices for the Army and Air Force Reserve Training Corps.

Courtesy of SHoP Architects

A part of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Upstate Revitalization Initiative, the LEED-certified building will contain classrooms, a conference center and a 1,000-seat auditorium to host both local and national veteran-focused events designed to promote the success of the region’s and the nation’s veterans and military families. A new gallery space will also be included in the facility to exhibit the stories and legacy of American veterans at Syracuse University.

Courtesy of SHoP Architects

“The programmatic demands on this building, its historic symbolism for the University, and the gateway role it will play on the campus,” adds SHoP Founding Partner William Sharples, “dictate a very high level of performance in its design—a building that is at once inviting to all and a specialized tool perfectly suited for the specific work that will take place there.”

The NVRC is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2019.

Courtesy of SHoP Architects

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In his latest video, Jesús Granada visits the Russian Pavilion, “VDNh”, at the 2016 Venice Biennale. In the clip, viewers are introduced to the pavilion’s curator, Sergey Kuznetsov, who explains that “VDNh” is an acronym for a large area of Moscow known as Vystavka Dostizheniy Narodnogo Khozyaystva or Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy. Kuznetsov describes the territory as “[an] advertisement for the Soviet Union lifestyle…[meant] to meld lots of people and one nation.”

The VDNh exhibition was originally made possible through the work of local architects, artists, sculptors, graphic designers, and others, but was nearly demolished after the fall of Communism in the early 1990s, as part a plan to fill the territory with more ordinary spaces meant to fuel a burgeoning consumer culture. In 2014, the government of the city of Moscow took control of the VDNh site, renovating it for cultural programs, educational functions, sporting events, and leisure activities throughout the year.

By preserving the VDNh structures, and in turn Russia’s Soviet legacy, Kuznetsov – who happens to be the Chief Architect of Moscow – remarks that the adaptive reuse of the buildings has allowed for the country’s Communist past to have a collaborative relationship with today. Kuznetsov adds that such a practice can assuage differences that can boil over in iconoclastic acts, “[such as Palmyra] – when some people with a new ideology, very offensive to a previous one, just demolish [the architecture] because [it] brings something unacceptable to them.” One might also recall the demolition of the East German Palace of the Republic in Berlin, which was removed in 2006 and is set to be replaced by a reconstruction of the Prussian-era Stadtschloss.

In addressing the idea of “living with (and adapting to) history,” this year’s Russian Pavilion answers Biennale Director Alejandro Aravena’s call for national pavilions that identify domestic responses to architectural dilemmas that could offer solutions to other places with similar predicaments. As the video progresses, viewers are shown the pavilion’s main attraction, a film in the round documenting the architecture of the VDNh and its facilities, which is interspersed with commentary by Kuznetsov, who considers what the future might hold for Russia and offers his own admiration for the VDNh territory, and in particular, the space pavilion which was a source of childhood awe while growing up in Moscow.

This video is part of a partnership between ArchDaily and the Spanish photographer Jesús Granada. These videos have been filmed in 4K, a level of quality that allows viewers to perceive details that don’t come across in standard video formats. Granada’s stock images of the Biennale can be obtained on his website, here; ArchDaily’s complete coverage of the 2016 Biennale can be found here.

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© Víctor Díaz Paunetto

• Architects: Díaz Paunetto Arquitectos
• Location: San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Design Architect In Charge: Víctor Díaz Paunetto, AIA
• Area: 3700.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Víctor Díaz Paunetto

• Collaborators: Arq. Ariel Santiago, Danniely Staback Arq. Néstor Lebrón AIT ,Arq. Jorge González AIT ,Arq. Roberto Guadalupe, Jimmie Vélez
• Consultants: Green Engineering Group – Structural; DRS Engineering – Electrical
• Contractor: 504 Construction Managers; Daniel Isado PE
• Addition Area: 1,200 sqft

© Víctor Díaz Paunetto

From the architect. The remodeling and expansion of this existing residence was developed for a family of four members. The site of approximately 1,270 m2 is located on the highest point of the street of a well-known suburban housing development in San Juan. On clear days, part of the city is visible from the second floor on the east side of the house.

© Víctor Díaz Paunetto

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© Víctor Díaz Paunetto

Our arrival to the project was given under atypical circumstances. The previous architect that was working on the design of the house had passed away and the contractor was fired from the project after the completion of the pool and pool house. We were asked to evaluate the work built so far and to proceed with the redesign of the terrace, reconsider the relationship between the master bedroom with the exterior, and redefine the front of the house in a more distinctive manner. Once the design was completed the client hired a new contractor with the required knowledge and capacity to finish the first phase of the project.

© Víctor Díaz Paunetto

Some of the objectives in this project included taking advantage of the topography, responding to existing views, and maximizing natural ventilation and light. We proceeded to expand and open the public areas to the west facing the street, which allowed us created a new image for the house and a more continuous and ample space, as well as establishing a better connection between the interior and exterior spaces of the house. Having the main façade facing west, we decided to turn the problem of direct afternoon sun heat and light into an opportunity to create an element that gave a distinctive character and a new identity to the residence. In this sense, we proceeded to create what could be perceived as a sculptural relief made of a long-lasting material that could serve as a sunscreen and to give privacy. This sunscreen creates a play of light and shadows in the interior, which helps define the spaces through the constant light changes and projections. The cellular sunscreen, contextualized in reference to the client’s medical profession, created an organic array made of weathering (corten) steel which generates a tridimensional pattern. Although initially design by hand with an intuitive cellular pattern, we drew upon parametric programming technology that helped us develop the precision needed to be laser cut at a metal workshop and accuracy needed during the on-site assembly.

© Víctor Díaz Paunetto

The concept for the remodeling and expansion of this residence focused in opening the interior and exterior public spaces by creating a floor plan that allowed for a more fluid movement through the space, better illumination and spatial amplitude. The design’s formal expression uses a contemporary vocabulary made up of simple lines and forms, in an effort to establish a better relationship between the original structure, what our colleague left us, and our new design, as well as to achieve a more cohesive reading of the structure. We continued the use of concrete as the main construction material and the white color present in the original structure, which along with glass and weathering (corten) steel dominate the architectural language.

© Víctor Díaz Paunetto

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