Arch Out Loud is partnering with Last House on Mulholland to host the HOLLYWOOD design competition. The competition asks participants to design a house of the future which demonstrates the use of innovative technology, integrative environmental strategies and capitalizes on the iconic prominence of its site beneath the famed Hollywood sign. The competition serves as a design charette generating ideas about the potential for what the site could become and how it can inspire the future of residential design.
The Hollywood sign itself has long served as a symbol of the neighborhood’s dominance over the motion picture industry and as a beacon for its aspiring talent. When it was erected in 1923, however, the Hollywood sign (then, Hollywoodland) was meant to serve as a real estate advertisement and not a logo for showbiz. Today, the icon’s popularity has led to incessant tourist traffic within the residential streets of the canyon below. The site for the Hollywood competition is located on an empty plot directly beneath the sign on Mulholland Hwy, which has been purchased by Steve Alper of Last House on Mulholland.
Its location on such a prominent site enables the project to gain widespread attention. Therefore, the project will seek to promote a positive mission and serve as an example for how future homes can be built and inhabited. As advancing technology continues to affect all aspects of daily life, social customs as well as living patterns will evolve and homes of the future should reflect such evolution. As climate change continues to impact energy consumption and production, rising sea levels, and water scarcity, all building especially those in coastal, arid cities like Los Angeles will need to find appropriate responses to address such concerns.
Rewards:
Prizes total $6,000 1st Place – $3,000 + Certificate 2nd Place – $2,000 + Certificate 3rd Place – $1,000 + Certificate 10 Honorable Mentions – Certificate & Publication Directors Choice – Certificate & Publication Owners Choice – Certificate & Publication
Jury:
Thom Mayne – Founder, Design Lead | Morphosis David Basulto – Founder, Editor in Chief | ArchDaily Tom Kundig – Principal | Olsen Kundig Architects Jimenez Lai – Founder | Bureau Spectacular Peter Zellner – Founder, Principal | ZELLNERandCompany Jenny Wu – Principal | Oyler Wu Collaborative Paul Petrunia – Founder | Archinect Jonathan Segal – Founder | Jonathan Segal Architect Heather Roberge – Founder, Design Lead | Murmur Dwayne Oyler – Founderl | Oyler Wu Collaborative Frank Clementi – Partner | Rios Clementi Hale Studios Ron Radzinor – Founder, Partner | Marmol Radzinor Christine Theodoropoulos – Dean | Cal Poly State University Benjamin Ball – Founder | Ball-Nogues Studio Greg Lindy – Owner | Lux Typographic + Design
Calendar:
Advanced Registration – January 3-14 Early Registration – January 15-26 Regular Registration – January 27- February 9th Submission Deadline – February 10th
3D models, detailed CAD linework and a portfolio of site photos are available to competition participants.
Architect Evgeny Didorenko has released his conceptual proposal, Thames River Museum, which aims to improve connectivity on the North Bank of the Thames River and create an exciting museum space in London.
As a proposal for the Thames Museum, which is currently a project without permanent accommodation, Didorenko’s work seeks to help the museum become a reality by finding a location for it that would not only work with the museum’s context, but that would also solve existing issues on the riverbank.
Therefore, the proposal’s site is an underused portion of London’s North Bank—Queen’s Quay. Historically, Queen’s Quay served as a transportation hub to deliver goods to city residents from the sea, but now lies abandoned, and stays dry during periods of low tide, when water levels drop up to eight meters.
Courtesy of Evgeny Didorenko
Courtesy of Evgeny Didorenko
Courtesy of Evgeny Didorenko
Furthermore, the existing pedestrian route along the embankment in this area is essentially nonexistent, with no access to the waterfront, and no direct pathways, which forces pedestrians to walk inland for several blocks before returning to the river.
The proposal features three main components: a continuous, pedestrian-friendly waterfront, the Thames River Museum, and a public lido on top of the museum, in order to transform the space back into a public attraction.
Courtesy of Evgeny Didorenko
Courtesy of Evgeny Didorenko
The focal point of the project, however, would be the “Thames Screen,” a large, “inverse fish bowl” window that shows the River’s changing elevation throughout the day, allowing visitors “to explore the river from the inside, reflecting the living pulse of the city of London.”
Courtesy of Evgeny Didorenko
Courtesy of Evgeny Didorenko
Concurrent with the Thames River Museum’s dedication to the archaeology and history of the River, the proposal additionally features a display of subterranean archaeological layers, in order to present the Thames as “the oldest ancient monument of the city.”
Oakland Residence is a private residence renovated by Knock Architecture and Design. It is located in Oakland, California, USA and was completed in 2013. Oakland Residence by Knock Architecture and Design: “This brand new, 2 story home in the eclectic Trestle Glen neighborhood of Oakland, California takes it departure from the dramatic, but historied lot, on Santa Ray Avenue. Once destined for a 3-story McMansion of the faux-Medeterianian persuasion, the..
The Journey is a private residence renovated by Nic Owen Architects. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and was completed in 2014. The Journey by Nic Owen Architects: “A renovation and extension to the rear of a modest sized ‘ex’ housing commission semi-detached clinker brick 1940’s house in Hampton, located on a generous allotment. The owners required more space, updated amenities and desired a strong connection to the outside…
The idea to build a multifunctional arena in Quebec City began in 2009 with the creation of the group “J’ai ma place” (which translate in a double meaning : I have my seat/I belong here), which had the mission to revive the popular craze for the return of a team professional hockey in the old capital. The project, strongly supported by the mayor of the city, has quickly captured the attention of the media and citizens. It’s in 2012 that the mandate to design this project was officially granted to the SAGP integrated team. The Videotron Centre is now a unifying project for an entire population, proud to have witnessed the birth of a unique infrastructure of its kind in the heart of the Quebec City region.
Built on the site of a former hippodrome, on the edge of the Limoilou district, the main volume of the amphitheater clearly marks the function of the building across the city. Its pure white skin and openings evoke the movement of the snow moved by the wind, snowdrifts, and more broadly the nordicity of the city. The snowdrifts, formed by icy winds, delight the eye and shape our landscape. They subtly became the visual representation and conceptual line of this sports and cultural facility of Quebec. The structure that supports this curved façade is in laminated timber, a detail that greatly colors the perception of peripheral passageways. The openings that undulate around the perimeter of the volume offers unique views of the city. From the outside, the white dome is visible from almost everywhere in the city. The internal configuration of the building, following to the principle of open concourses on the bowl, invites to the celebration and the free movement of users. The overall feel of the place is festive, lively and stimulating.
Videotron Centre presents a hybrid structure of steel and laminated timber. The use of wood has been chosen as a support structure of the envelope of the main volume to elegantly adapts the curve of the outer wall and gives a unique look to peripheral concourse. From the main concourse to the lower roof on a total height of over 25 meters, this structure has only an intermediate support at the upper concourse. The laminated timber arches, located at a distance of 5 meters from each other, create the 92 facets of the oval volume of the enclosure of the bowl. Black spruce – in section 25 by 25 millimeters – was selected for its local availability and structural qualities, allowing to refine the dimensions of the impressive arches.
The lobby, generous and open to the exterior public square brings the imposing building to the pedestrian scale. The lobby features a long screenprinted glass wall acting as a sunshade to minimize solar gains in summer. A hybrid structure of wood and steel has been used to support the facade of over 93 long and 11 meters high, dramatically suspended 4 meters above the ground. At night, the wall is highlighted to provide an increased civic presence. Ultimately, the wide public square will undoubtedly become a favorite place to watch a hockey game outdoors on the huge built-in screen.
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Floor Plan
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The amphitheater has a large number of configurations to enable a wide variety of sports and cultural events. In the show configuration, it can seat 20 396 people and 18 310 in the hockey configuration. The infrastructure meets the NHL requirements and allows to possibly welcome a team in the upcoming years. The Centre is aiming for a LEED NC Silver certification, which is rather rare for a building of this type.
With the construction of Videotron Centre, Quebec City has adopted a new fun contemporary equipment, evocative, sustainable and connected to its community.
“Between valleys and craters” (the name of the proposal) has sought since its first sketches to create a public space able to generate a continuous ground plane capable of saving the large difference in level that the work area presented (6.20 meters in the worst part). Usable by 100% of its surface and, thus recovering a residual space in the city that had juxtaposed a series of independent operations (parking, electric installation, huge ramp to upper housing block…)
Once the project was assigned, the architects did field work with the aim of collecting proposals and future users concerns for this project. Restaurateurs and other neighboring businesses proposed valuable approaches, above all, existing problems that had to be solved with the final proposal. Some solutions were relocated and greenery were added (at first, the whole proposal was a square defined by a concrete floor as the competition required). It also accomplishes the city councils demands, ensuring the safety of users and taking into account the economic maintenance for the future.
The project has been designed with a ground plane as a sculpted topography, getting with its formal solution, accessible routes to higher areas of the square avoiding ramps and handrails. To this purpose, a regulating plane has been designed to find the easiest solution in its geometry getting minimal slopes capable of fulfilling the standards of accessibility. This plan applies actions which will result in a zoning of the square as “craters” that organize activities and circulations. A visual connection is achieved between all parts of the whole, but allowing the particular development of each of the uses. These craters are materialized in many different ways depending on their use. Concrete floors for terrace areas (for existing businesses) with shrubbery in their slopes, rubber soils in the playground, grass or other one occupied by a stands-like installation.
Over the project, a pattern of 3×3 meters serves as a basis for organizing trees (Pyrus calleryana), streetlights and other urban furniture . This grid also defines the expansion joints that is part of the striped pattern of the concrete floor .
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art has finally found a home. Following nearly a decade of searching, the museum’s board has announced that Los Angeles’ Exposition Park will serve as the site for the MAD Architects-designed building housing the life’s work and expansive art and media collection of one of history’s most celebrated filmmakers, George Lucas.
“While each location offers many unique and wonderful attributes, South Los Angeles’s Promise Zone best positions the museum to have the greatest impact on the broader community, fulfilling our goal of inspiring, engaging and educating a broad and diverse visitorship,” the museum board commented in a statement.
The museum will join several other cultural institutions located in the Exposition Park area, including Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the California Science Center, The University of Southern California main campus, and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the main stadium of the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics and the proposed site of the city’s bid for the 2024 Olympics.
The project will be self-funded by Lucas, who is expecting to spend over $1 billion on the building and programming.
More information on the selection can be found here.
“You see, the first goal in this place was to deliver something beautiful where such an ugliness was there before,” says Calatrava in the film. “To deliver something optimistic looking to the future where so much sadness and depression was there.”
via Nowness
via Nowness
Private View: Santiago Calatrava originally aired as a part of the DOCNYC film festival. Watch it above, or at Nowness.
Throughout the 60-year career of Álvaro Siza, his work has continuously defied categorization–having variously been described as “critical regionalism” and “poetic modernism,” with neither quite capturing the true essence of Siza’s intuitive architecture. In this interview, the latest in Vladimir Belogolovsky’s “City of Ideas” series, Siza discusses those attempts to categorize his work, his design approach and the role of beauty in his designs.
Vladimir Belogolovsky:Your student, Eduardo Souto de Moura said, “Siza’s houses are just like cats sleeping in the sun.”
Álvaro Siza: [Laughs.] Yes, he meant that my buildings assume the most natural postures on the site. There is also a reference in that to the human body.
VB:Do you think it is important or even possible for an architect to explain his or her work and process in a conversation such as we are having now?
AS: I think so. Maybe in the wrong way [Laughs.] I like explaining my work. When I am asked to present a lecture, I always choose to talk about one particular project because I like to explain how ideas come about.
VB:I have seen a number of your projects in Portugal and Spain, and just yesterday, I went to see your Restaurant Boa Nova here in Porto, which is a kind of project that is impossible to understand through photographs. It is not about an image, but something else, which does not translate into pictures. What do you think that is?
AS: Well, that is true for most buildings, not just mine. Photographs can’t convey space.
VB:Except that most buildings look better in photos and with your work, the opposite is true.
AS: There is such a thing as a sensation of understanding and feeling space. I had this realization when I first visited Fallingwater by Wright. First, there is a density of the atmosphere there; then the scale can never be accurately understood. Wright’s house is actually much smaller than what you would expect from just looking at photos. He reduced such dimensions as parapets or ceiling heights.
VB:I want to talk about your architecture as an approach. Kenneth Frampton said that you are a part of the “Critical regionalist” movement. And by “Critical regionalism” he understands “an approach to architecture that strives to counter the placelessness and lack of identity of the International Style,” and an approach that “also rejects the whimsical individualism and ornamentation of Postmodern architecture.” What do you think about being placed into this category, “Critical regionalism?” Do you agree? Because you also have a very strong individualistic character, so it is a mixture of things.
AS: Yes, I agree with being categorized as such. When critics talk about critical regionalism the word that is overlooked is critical. What Frampton meant, I think, was not that architecture should go in the direction of closing its global discourse, but that such discourse should encourage continuity of local cultural traditions, as opposed to celebrating the International Style, which was becoming placeless.
VB:And so you see your work as a continuation of the local traditions.
AS: Yes. But don’t forget that all traditions either change and transform or they die.
VB:You said, “Tradition is important when it contains moments of change.”
AS: Yes, tradition does not mean closure, immobility. Quite the opposite, the value of traditions is in being open to innovations. Tradition is not the opposite of innovation, it is complementary.Tradition comes from successive interchanges. Isolated cultures that try to preserve their traditions without being open to new ideas collapse. Every traditional culture is influenced by outside cultures. When I was growing up there were very few centers of global culture – Paris, London, New York, and the rest was a periphery. Portugal was in the periphery and it was closed until the 1974 revolution, after which the country was rediscovered. Frampton was one of the first critics who came here and he traveled to other parts of Europe, including Spain, Greece, and Scandinavian countries. It was the time when architects were interested in rediscovering non-mainstream architecture. In this context, he was perhaps the first critic who insisted on the importance of identity.
VB:You often say, “Nothing is invented. There is a past for everything.” You are not interested in making something entirely new, right? Your work is based on what was done before. Could you talk about your position?
AS: It is impossible to make something entirely new. Look at the Villa Savoye in Poissy by Le Corbusier. When you see it, the sensation is that it is entirely new. It is clearly new architecture for a new kind of man. But the reality is that nothing is new but modified or transformed. There were horizontal “slit windows” in ancient structures in pre-Columbian America or in Portuguese vernacular; there are pilotis in the old market of Venice; you can even find examples of open plan in ancient structures where there was just a roof and perimeter walls with no interior partitions. The new only comes from new combinations and materials, but nothing is completely new. We, architects are constantly being influenced by what is around us. For example, I remember when my Bonjour Tristesse social housing was being built in Berlin. I was in that neighborhood and I saw a building that I thought was under construction; it had a similar roof profile as mine. So I told my contractor – look I haven’t finished my building yet and it is already being copied. Then the contractor said, “If anyone is copying that’s you because that building is being demolished.” [Laughs.] And the truth is that I probably saw it before I did my design and it influenced me subconsciously.
VB:Kenneth Frampton said: “Like Aalto’s, all of Siza’s buildings are delicately laid into the topography of their sites. His approach is patently tactile and tectonic, rather than visual and graphic. Even his smallest buildings are topographically structured.” At the same time you said, “Even before I have complete knowledge, or good knowledge of every single problem, I begin sketching possible solutions with the little information I have. I feel I need to begin immediately with an idea – although then it can be completely changed.” Could you talk about your process of drawing and design?
AS: I start drawing from the very beginning. I don’t worry about analyzing the problem, the site conditions, or even the program. Because if I first do all the analysis there would be too much information and little architecture… So first, I sketch, sometimes before I go to the site. This is because I immediately start working and searching for an idea, even if I only have a photo of the place. And most of the time the first sketches are good for nothing. But I use them to construct an idea that comes out of many sketches. Gradually, with more information, a real thing emerges. I always work with collaborators who feed me with information. I work with models directly and at some point, there’s a cross between rigor that comes from precise information and complete freedom of my intuition, they meet.
VB:You said that a drawing establishes a dialogue with the mind. You called a drawing hand not just thinking but provocative.
AS: It often happens that in the very beginning of a project it is not clear how to develop it. In those moments, I try to distract myself. I take a break, do many sketches and drawings, and suddenly a spark comes. So there is a relationship between the hand and the mind. One complements the other. Aalto too spoke of this.
VB:Your work is very intuitive. You said, “I don’t work within any theoretical framework nor do I offer a key as to how you should understand my work.” Your work is intuitive but also very particular and you have a very controlled repertoire. For example, most of your buildings are white, some have red brick. They are solid-looking, faceted or with curved profiles and convex and concave facades. Do you intentionally discipline yourself or is it about developing your particular and recognizable language?
AS: I don’t think I have a unified language. I worked in Portugal and Spain, in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, China… These are very different circumstances. Building techniques are different. Materials are different. Climatic conditions are different. Histories and cultures are different. The atmospheres are different. My decisions are based on what I observe and absorb. When I worked on the art museum in Santiago de Compostela, I did not want to use local granite (gris); I wanted to use white material in the interior. I chose Greek marble because at the time it was cheaper. I also wanted to use the same marble on the facades but that provoked opposition from the locals. I wanted the museum to be white for two reasons – to distinguish its civic importance and also because in the past, the whole city was painted white. Throughout history, Santiago was white. Only in recent times, stucco was removed to reveal stone and granite. So every building is a response to specific circumstance and I don’t have a strict theory. Of course, I do have a theory, otherwise how could I have a practice? But this theory does not limit my work.
VB:You once said, “Beauty does not interest me.” Yet, your work is very beautiful. What is the main intention then?
AS: Did I really say that?
VB:Do you think you were misquoted?
AS: I could only say that if I was drunk. [Laughs.] Of course, I am interested in beauty. Beauty is the peak of functionality! If something is beautiful, it is functional. I don’t separate beauty and functionality. Beauty is the key functionality for architects… I wonder how I could say that beauty was not of interest to me… Perhaps someone provoked me by saying that I am an aestheticist. I am not that. But a search for beauty should be the number one preoccupation of any architect.
VB:Nowadays many younger generation architects pride themselves on the fact that they don’t personally initiate projects with a sketch. They developed a team approach with multiple contributions. But I read that you like to design your projects alone sitting in a cafe. What do you think about the collaborative approach to architecture?
AS: This is partially true but it was years ago. I no longer draw in cafes. I used to do that to get out of the ambiance of my studio. This used to happen on daily basis. A coffee house in Porto was an institution. You could see students studying in cafes or meetings would take place there. Now coffee is something that you drink quickly and move on; it is no longer an authentic experience. I even saw a sign at one café that said, “No studying.” But I have another reason for not going to cafes. After certain projects, here in Portugal I became known, so when people see me they come to say hello and when they see that I am drawing they ask if I could draw something for them. So I had to resist. [Laughs.] Now I do sketches in the studio because my collaborators don’t demand sketches from me. [Laughs.]
VB:Nevertheless, you start projects with sketches and for a while, you stay one on one with the project, right?
AS: Yes, but at the same time I involve my team from the very beginning. Engineers, for example, start right away. What I don’t like now is when younger architects start working on projects immediately on the computer. This does not give them a chance to start the project freely with free thinking and freehand drawings. Fresh ideas come from thinking and drawing, not from the computer. Sketching is important for thinking.
VB:You also said, “I am a functionalist.” Then you added that “the form, spaces, and atmosphere don’t arise from solving functions. Every architect is forced to provide answers to functional problems. But architecture with a capital A begins when a project obtains freedom, free of all constraints, able to take flight and develop in other directions.” What does that mean for you – architecture with a capital A?
AS: Very difficult… Architecture is a service. When a client asks for something architects have an ethical responsibility to deliver a project that responds to a particular set of objectives as rigorously as possible. But we should still remember that architecture should remain free. Architecture should strive to become another thing, not just be a solution for pragmatics. As an architect, I don’t just want to be preoccupied with solving problems. There are other issues at stake. The real issue is to keep a good balance. Functionality should never suffer, but architecture should be much more than that and achieving beauty is the top priority of any architecture.
VB:“Architects do not invent anything, they just transform reality” is one of your favorite expressions. Kenneth Frampton said that this aphorism of yours should be engraved at the entrance of every architecture school. He also said that many of our leading architects can’t accept this idea even as a joke.
AS: Bad for them because this is true. [Laughs.]
VB:There is a very strong belief among leading architects in this notion that “here is my work” and “there is everyone else.”
AS: Well I would agree with that. My architecture is also different. But at the same time I know that I am not an inventor. I am the transformer. That’s all.
VB:You said, “Rationality is not enough. I want to go around the problem.”
AS: [Laughs.]
VB:I want to finish our conversation with another one of your phrases, “A good architect works slowly.”
AS: Computers made it possible to design and build architecture much quicker. But thinking still takes as much time. Architecture is about a debate and provocation; that can’t happen without thinking. Computers can enhance thinking, but architecture is a slow art.
Belogolovsky’s column, City of Ideas, introduces ArchDaily’s readers to his latest and ongoing conversations with the most innovative architects from around the world. These intimate discussions are a part of the curator’s upcoming exhibition with the same title which premiered at the University of Sydney in June 2016. The City of Ideas exhibition will travel to venues around the world to explore ever-evolving content and design.
Most visitors to the Galapagos Islands point their cameras towards the exotic animals and away from the local people. They direct their full attention to the natural landscape, as if to intentionally deny the existence of the urban space of the city, since the presence of any form of architecture would seem in logical conflict with the islands’ identity as a protected wildlife reserve.
The architecture of the Galapagos is both a conceptual and physical contradiction. Like a Piranesian joke, the San Cristobal typology of the proto-ruin falls somewhere on a spectrum between construction and dismantlement. With their “permanently unfinished” construction state seemingly in flux, it is unclear whether many of these buildings display a common optimism for vertical expansion or are instead symptoms of a process of urban decay.
The unique shapes of these pseudo-informal constructions are the product of a tax loophole found in many South American and even Southern European countries that allows residents and landlords to defer property taxes on buildings in the process of construction. (Another contributing factor to this practice is their residents’ existence in a liminal state of poverty.) The result is a strange, unintentional aesthetic of the purposefully incomplete that has a tendency to dominate many lower income neighborhoods. An especially large concentration of these building types can be found in the capital of the Galapagos, San Cristobal.
In leaving open the possibility of future construction, these semi-shelters invite the casual observer to imagine divergent possibilities for the completed construction that reflect an imagined future direction for the Galapagos Islands as a whole. Will the roofs of these homes become the penthouses of the wealthy Ecuadorians seeking a vacation home on the islands, high rise hotel towers to house the increasing flood of international tourists, or aviaries for accommodating the world-famous Galapagos finches, so as to integrate these birds into the matrix of human development?
Mapping the urban area of Puerto Baquerzio Moreno allows us to quantify the percentage of inhabitants that are actively taking advantage of this tax loophole. 1,800 buildings can be counted in Puerto Baquerzio Moreno from satellite photos. 1,253 buildings were surveyed from the ground in total: of those 960 appear to be mostly completed, 207 appear to be in a state of incomplete habitation, and 86 are apparently currently in construction. From that data, 76.5% are “completed,” 16.5% are “incomplete,” and 7% are “under construction.”
The somewhat larger and more developed Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz suggests one possible path in which Puerto Baquerzio Moreno may develop. The survey of site statistics shows 2,925 buildings in the main city: of those 2,633 appear to be mostly completed, 233 appear to be in a state of incomplete habitation, and 59 are apparently currently in construction. From that data, 90% are “completed,” 8% are “incomplete,” and 2% are “under construction.”
Joseph Kennedy is a Fulbright grantee conducting research and teaching at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. He graduated with a B. Arch from Cornell University in 2015.
Sig Nordal 