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The Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) has announced the finalists for the 2016 European Prize for Urban Public Space. An international jury of architects, critics, and directors of museums and institutions from across the continent selected 25 projects from 276 entries representing 33 countries. According to the organization, “[the shortlisted projects recognize] the creation, recovery, and improvement of public spaces, as clear indicators of the democratic health of our cities.” All finalists will have their work featured in an exhibition that will tour Europe over the next two years, and also will be published in an online archive that features past finalists. The 2016 winner of the award will be announced at the CCCB on July 4.
Ring of Memory: International Memorial of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, France, 2014
Temporary Bridge Over Charleroi Canal Brussels, Belgium, 2014
Wooden Benches in the Main Square Bürchen, Switzerland, 2015
Vantage Point and Protective Building at Genovese Park Cadiz, Spain, 2015
Recovery of the Irrigation System of the Spa Allotments Caldes de Montbui, Spain, 2015
R-Urban: Network of Urban Commons Colombes, France, 2014
Nørreport Station Copenhagen, Denmark, 2015
Remodeling of Tåsinge Square Copenhagen, Denmark, 2014
Cykelslangen Cycle Bridge Copenhagen, Denmark, 2014
Public Baths in the Harbor Fåborg-Midtfyn, Denmark, 2014
New Lift to the Historic Centre Gironella, Spain, 2015
New Coastal Defense Katwijk, The Netherlands, 2015
Garden of the Heavenly Hundred Kiev, Ukraine, 2016
Barkingside Town Centre Improvements London, UK, 2015
Escaravox Madrid, Spain, 2014
New Multiuser Porch Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium, 2015
Decoration of Sant Miguel Square Olot, Spain, 2015
Arquipélago, Contemporary Art Centre Ribeira Grande, Portugal, 2014
Silence! Riga, Latvia, 2014
Test Site Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2015
Cycle Network Between Santa Pola and Alacant Santa Pola, Spain, 2015
Przełomy Centre for Dialogue in Solidarność Square Szczecin, Poland, 2015
Clearing in the Wood Uster, Switzerland, 2014
Remodeling of the Promenada Velenje, Slovenia, 2014
Fish Market Vodice, Croatia, 2015
Find out more about the prize on the CCCB’s Public Space website, here.
Our experience
The Tectoniques agency has extensive experience in building housing in eco-neighbourhoods, with a committed and ambitious environmental approach, using a specific construction protocol based on dry construction mainly using prefabricated wood components. The Rive de Gier project takes this basic approach to new heights.
The entire programme, composed of individual grouped accommodation units, intermediate housing and small collective housing blocks, is entirely built using dry construction methods employing 2D macro-components along with 3D modules for the sanitary and technical facilities. This construction method developed by Ossabois is known as the “5D process”.
A challenge in both urban and landscaping terms
The project site is located at the heart of an existing urban network complete with the surrounding landscaping.
The first challenge was to establish an open, positive connection with the six existing buildings and the neighbouring school, as well as the surrounding residential housing and the green spaces that characterise the neighbourhood.
The project is built on the flank of the hillside, on a site that is well exposed and has clear views with no particular inconveniences. It offered the ideal conditions in which to build a truly exemplary project. The architecture works on a variety of scales to avoid creating an imposing mass, instead producing small blocks and volumes that are broken down and split up.
The very light wood construction is ideal for adapting to the difficulties of building on this steeply sloping plot of land.
The balconies, exterior hallways and garden levels all work to assert the domestic feel of the project. They form the different stages between the public space of the street and the gardens and the private housing.
Dry construction using the 5D Process
This construction method developed by Ossabois, mainly, but not systematically, uses wood as some structures are made of:
-Metal: Balconies and walkways
-Concrete: The lift shaft for the collective apartment block
-Mixed metal-concrete: components for the flooring separating housing units
-Wooden frameworks for all other structures: facades, roofing, load-bearing walls and internal flooring within a given housing unit.
The project is made from two main families of prefabricated components: 2D macro-components for the “flat components”: the facades, the flooring, and all the structures that make up the envelope of the building, and 3D modules for the bathrooms.
The former are complete and include the cladding for the facades, the frames, windows and shutters. All the interior components are prefabricated up to the vapour barrier. Lining boards are then installed on site to finish off the structures.
The 3D modules arrive on site “ready for use”. The only work which needs to be done on site is to connect the utilities and fit the lining boards to the 3D blocks.
As well as saving time, this process limits the risk of defects resulting from poor workmanship on site and also significantly reduces the disruption from operations on site.
Wood
Amongst the wide range of materials that can be used in building construction, wood is by far the most versatile, the easiest to work and transform and, of course, the most environmentally sound (a renewable resource which fixes carbon, consumes little embodied energy and can be easily reused).
The project required 370 m3 of wood in the form of solid wood (framework for the walls and facades, joist work and purlins), OSB panels to close off the wall panels and flooring, and a small number of glulam components to ensure the stability of the building on the fifth floor.
It should be noted that the project does not use any wood on the facade. Only the framework made of lengthening jointed pine wood and the spruce shutters, both covered in an industrial glaze, constitute a controlled and limited use of wood on the external facade.
Sustainable supplies and prefabrication
The wood and derivative products are all sourced within Europe, and mostly from France. For over 30 years OSSABOIS has developed 2D and 3D prefabrication methods. Its expertise in this area means it can optimise the construction method to fit the planned use of the building. The 2D principle is particularly well suited to creating a flexible, open architecture. The 100% digital design is used to guide the industrial manufacturing and assembly tool. No adjustments are required during on-site assembly. Highly accurate logistics allow for just-in-time delivery which limits the volume of stock and the handling processes. The 3D bathroom and technical room modules arrive fully finished and protected on the work site. This can reduce the overall timeframe for construction by several weeks and ensures a high, consistent level of quality which also limits the amount of stock required.
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MVRDV has designed a fully transparent kitchen for Kitchen Home Project, a satellite event at this year’s Venice Biennale, focusing on living and the home environment. Kitchen Home Project was initiated by Weng Ling of the Beijing Centre for the Arts (BCA), and also features works by Kengo Kuma and the Hong Kong-based media artist Au Yeung Ying Chai. MVRDV’s proposal, “Infinity Kitchen,” imagines the next stage of kitchen design, creating counters, shelving, cabinets, and faucets entirely out of glass – the metaphor being that a see-through environment will add greater transparency to the food being made in the kitchen, and make inhabitants more aware food choices, cleanliness, and the culinary experience.
“If we imagine everything is transparent clear and clean, doesn’t it mean that the only thing that is colourful and visible is our food,” posits MVRDV co-founder Winy Maas. “Doesn’t it then imply that we are encouraged to love the food, in that way, and that maybe it even becomes more healthy, if not sexy?”
As outlined by MVRDV, the Infinity Kitchen proposal “takes the typical modern day modular kitchen and looks at progressing the typology to improving the culinary experience and challenging the immense, yet generic, kitchen industry.” The project seeks to add scrutiny to what is one of our most essential spaces, adding awareness to stored quantities of food, the amount of waste we are creating, and the level of cleanliness of the space, all the while celebrating the joy of food and cooking. By eliminating a division between beauty and ugliness, the Infinity Kitchen gives control to the user.
“I see this as part of a wider dream, this kitchen. It is part of an environment, if not a city, that is transparent and therefore accessible,” says Maas, “Imagine if not only our kitchens were transparent, but the walls through to the neighbour and the next neighbour even. This would create infinite perspectives in our cities. It would make within our claustrophobic environments possibly a view, into the direction of the mountains or the sea.”
This new strategy of clarity is already visible in MVRDV’s project Crystal Houses, a Chanel boutique in Amsterdam, where traditional bricks in the facade have been selectively replaced with glass substitutes. The practice has also designed an office in Hong Kong with glass interiors, furniture, and equipment, that will open June 1.
Participating in the Kitchen Home Project, MVRDV extends the office’s commitment to both Asian and European architecture. Working closely with Weng Ling from the Beijing Centre for the Arts, MVRDV is extending a collaboration with the BCA dating back to 2002 on projects focused on the urban environment and culture. Opening today, the Kitchen Home Project will be on view at Università IUAV di Venezia Ca’ Tron until September 30.
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From the architect. The name “Avandaro” comes from a Purépecha (a native language) word that means “place of the orchard” or “place in the clouds”. It was a territory originally inhabited by the tarasco indigenous people; who gave it this name, from whose language this house takes its alias, “Irekua”: Family house, and “Anatani”: to be under a tree: Irekua Anatani = Family house under the trees. Inspired by the land, which lies covered by showy trees, principally by oyamel trees, pine trees and encino trees, from the very first visit to the property we thought that the house had to enjoy the splendor of living under this density and be intrinsically a part of it by safeguarding most of the trees and the existing forest. This gave meaning to the architectural concept that took as a foundation platform a tranquil and partly open space in the middle of the mountain. The program was adapted to that topography, adjusting each space according to its use and function within the community of the whole house.
The climate is temperate, semi humid with maximum temperatures of 95 °F and a minimum of 37 °F, which is why the design of the house responds to the orientation. The south east facade shows itself linear and dominated by a wood curtain that helps us to let the sun’s rays through in the morning in a diminished way, giving the necessary warmth to the hallway that is contained between this screen and the concrete wall that is the main support structure of the house, and gives place to interstices amongst public and private spaces conquered by the living rooms and terraces. In visual and formal contrast, the south west facade is mostly glass to capture the sunset in the evening and warm up the bedrooms to prepare them for the temperature decrease at night. The north facade tops towards Valle de Bravo’s lake, it is extended in an open-covered arrangement that reinforces the intention of living in a holistic manner with its environment and users, through the principal terrace and the pool. Meanwhile, the fifth facade is 100% green which maintains a uniform temperature on the ceilings throughout the whole year and camouflages the residence efficiently with its natural context that is the original vein of design.
This article was originally published by The Architect’s Guide as “The Two Qualities You Need For Architecture Career Success.”
In a survey of 104 Chief Executive Officers reported in Success Magazine a few years ago, they were presented with 20 qualities of an ideal employee, and asked to select the most important.
86% of the senior executives selected two qualities as being more important for career success and advancement than any others:
1. The ability to set priorities, to separate the relevant from the irrelevant.
2. The ability to get the job done fast, to execute quickly.
There is nothing that will help you more in your career than to get the reputation for being the kind of person who gets the most important job done quickly and well.
Unfortunately I encounter many people in the architecture industry that seem to ignore both qualities above. Yet they wonder why their career has stagnated or they have been passed over for promotions or not got the job they want.
I discussed in a previous article, How To Write The Perfect Architecture Resume, the importance of focusing on the key elements of your job application. The same is true for your role within an architecture office: concentrate on what matters. The rest will automatically fall into place.
A helpful exercise is to imagine you are in the role of your current supervisor. You are in charge of completing a set of Schematic Design documents for a local library. You have a two person team to assist you on this phase of the project. They both have exactly the same experience, but they each have their own approach to the same problem.
This is how things play out on Day 1:
Employee A notices a hatch pattern that could look way better. So he spends the morning making a custom version. Then he gets stuck using a new plugin in the design software so spends the rest of the day trying to figure out why it isn’t working correctly.
Employee B takes the initiative, assesses the current state of the drawings. Then establishes a plan to get the biggest issues completed first. Next, she thinks that by using a different design software the drawings can be finished in three weeks instead of a month.
Who would you rather want on your team?
Obviously you would be having regular discussions with your team so it is unlikely that a large amount of time would be wasted by Employee A. However, this is meant to illustrate the two qualities mentioned above.The ability to identify, prioritize and complete “mini projects” is essential in architecture.
A “mini project” is simply what I call a task that takes less than a few hours and pushes the overall project ahead. It is crucial for you to be able to compartmentalize a large task to not become overwhelmed by the larger goals or distracted by the small details.
Architecture is essentially a profession of solving problems. No two buildings are exactly the same, so becoming the go-to problem solver is a crucial skill to develop throughout your career.
I often hear other managers say something like, “I could get more done with two of him/her than five others.”
The reason is that these great people know how to solve problems and get the job done efficiently. Software expertise, material types and the thousands of other architecture elements come and go. However, the value of effectively solving problems will be ever-present.
Before diving into any new project take some time at the beginning to understand all the known constraints. This will help you to identify any possible workarounds or shortcuts.
Ask yourself (or the person who knows) these questions at the outset to help you target where you can best contribute.
Who else is on the team?
Figure out the group structure, in a larger office it is very important to understand who is doing what. This helps you to avoid duplicate work and focus on a particular exercise.
What are the team member’s areas of expertise?
Learn what skills the team members have and are perhaps better suited for a particular job. You could potentially trade work that aligns with your stronger skill-set which saves time.
What has already been done?
Unless you are coming in at the very beginning there will already be work completed on a project. Find out exactly what has been done to date to avoid duplicating previous work and wasting time.
I saw this happen at a previous office. A new project team built a physical site model that took three people a week to complete. Months later during an office clean up a [better] site model was found that had been done a year before.
What needs to be done and when?
Deadlines are very important. Put all the known dates in your calendar and keep it constantly updated. Work backwards from those dates to understand what tasks need to be completed to meet the cutoff on time.
What are the priorities?
Perhaps the most important question. Get to the bottom of what are the most to least important aspects of the project. Work through these in order, crossing them off your list as you go.
Be a list maker
The satisfaction of crossing off even minor accomplishments keeps you working toward the larger completion goals and focused on the big picture. The importance of writing down your goals can’t be overstated. If they are not written down they don’t exist.
Assignments floating around in your head often get overlooked for something in the moment or just completely forgotten.
It is very easy to get bogged down with details. There is an infinite level to which you can add detail to a drawing or project. It is your responsibility to decide when you are “done.” This is a skill that gets better with practice and is essential for your success.
The problem with being quick is that you could reasonably imply that it means the quality of your work will suffer. The point of being quick is not be be so fast as to sacrifice any project quality.
I am a fan of the word “efficient” instead of “fast”. Fast implies a lack of planning, while efficient shows your ability to create a plan and stick with it to accomplish a task.
The main takeaway is to be able to identify what is a priority. As many of us are perfectionists in the architecture industry it can be hard to let something go, but it is necessary to meet budgets and deadlines. Be aware that imperfections are inevitable and your job is to mitigate the most important.
As you are working your way through a project there will be hundreds of tiny decisions throughout your day. Whenever you run into a problem as yourself two questions. Is this important? If so then, how can I do this in the most efficient way possible? If you can make decisions around these two simple guidelines it will put you far ahead of your peers and coworkers.
Images via Shutterstock.com
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