New York 2016: US atelier Ladies & Gentlemen Studio has designed a series of lighting pendants with glass spheres that change colour once the light is turned on (+ slideshow). (more…)
From the architect. A new singular roof plane floats over part of the rear of the site to create a sunken garden room enclosing a calm courtyard, proportioned on a golden section ratio. A rooflight over steps to the new room – similarly proportioned – generates a diagonal conversation between open and closed spaces. Dissolving boundaries between inside and outside, integrating living rooms with garden spaces by creating an undulating ground plane under a floating roof, it reinforces the idea of the traditional Dublin type, the single storey villa with its ingenious split section. By sinking the garden room and terrace below the hidden courtyard between old and new, then stepping the garden to its original level, volume and spaciousness as well as privacy and intimacy are created.
Client Comment
The architects created a beautiful series of light-filled interconnecting spaces for us, which capture the best aspects of this corner site. Everywhere views of nature are captured through large windows: to a courtyard, to a terraced green rear garden and a beech filled front garden. The Victorian house was carefully integrated with the new kitchen and living elements to knit the house into a harmonious whole: the sequence of spaces– old and new – feel expansive because of the way they open into each other, always with views through to a space beyond. The architects’ vision has created a light filled house out of the dark enclosed rooms we started with.
Steven Holl Architects has been commissioned by Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for a new Visual Arts Building and Quad, promoting a future for the arts on the campus. Inspired by the trees that will surround the building, Holl calls the project a “pavilion on the park,” in a design compared to a kite in the trees. The project was announced by President Daniel R. Porterfield during F&M’s commencement on May 7, after Holl and Senior Partner Chris McVoy presented their concept to the College Board of Trustees two days prior.
Speaking his praises for the project, Porterfield said, “Great architecture is itself educational. It inspires all of us to reach, to imagine, to expand our ideas. It helps us envision the future of liberal arts education for the world we inhabit today.”
The building’s undulating outer-wall is influenced by the location and size of surrounding tree crowns, described by the office as a “concave response to the large diameters of the campus’ trees.” One of the main features of the new building is its raised mass, allowing for the glass-clad ground floor forum to be a permeable space where pedestrians can move from the campus side of the building to the green landscape of Buchanan Park. The new building, along with a storm water reflecting pool (also designed by Holl) and proposed museum, form part of a new Visual Arts Quad at the south end of the campus and a new entry centered around the arts.
The four-level building contains a forum, galleries, lecture space, and large-scale stone and metal sculpture studios on the ground floor. Additional studios for printmaking, sculpture, photography, design, painting, and drawing, are located around a central common on the second floor, in addition to an auditorium. There are offices and studios for faculty and advanced students on the third floor, as well as a seminar room and art history student workspace.
Exemplifying advanced sustainability practices, the building will have geothermal heating and cooling integrated with radiant floors. The project will replace the existing Herman Arts Building, which will be removed to make way for the 35,000 square foot Holl building. The project is being funded by a $10 million dollar commitment from F&M Trustee Benjamin J. Winter ‘67, and his wife, Susan. Winter is principal of The Winter Organization, a real estate investment management business focused in New York metropolitan area.
Crossrail Limited has released new renderings of stations set to open on the Elizabeth Line in London. Notable features of the new stations include step-free access from train to street, and seamless integration into the existing Transport for London (TfL) network. Seating, signage and full-height platform screen doors emulate precedents within the system to promote ease and familiarity. The designs strive for simplicity and clarity with reduced visual clutter and clear sight lines along platforms. Additionally, there will be permanent artworks installed and fully-integrated in many of the central London stations. The stations depicted – Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel, and Woolwich – are scheduled to begin service in December of 2018.
According to Julian Robinson, Head of Architecture at Crossrail Limited, “The Crossrail project has worked with world-leading architects and designers to deliver a new railway that draws upon the fantastic transport architectural heritage of London and London Underground with each station reflecting the distinct character of the surrounding area and presenting a common line identity.” Cited examples of this symbiosis include the Elizabeth Line’s station at Paddington echoing the design and legacy of Brunel’s existing terminus building, and the inspiration for Farringdon coming from the architecture of the Barbican and historic local trade work by blacksmiths and goldsmiths.
Designing the stations, public spaces, and over-site developments in tandem has allowed for a coherent strategy, which would not be possible if the approach were more piecemeal. When complete, Crossrail will have 40 terminals from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. The images are also on view alongside architectural components designed for the stations at new exhibition, Platform for Design, at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
From the architect. Located fifteen miles north of the U.S./Mexico border in southern San Diego County, CA, the single-story, two-structure center marks the realization of National City’s long-term goal to replace a makeshift facility housed in trailers for over a decade.
Sited on a scarce section of accessible coastland owned by the Port of San Diego, the 5,500 square-foot complex is positioned on the southern edge of a 5½-acre public park, where it complements the coastline just inside the mouth of the Sweetwater River Channel as it flows into San Diego Bay. Designed to facilitate recreational and educational services for the community, the new center is a key civic amenity and contemporary landmark with unobstructed views towards protected wetlands, San Diego Bay and beyond.
The center’s easternmost structure contains a large gathering and educational space beneath a faceted, flying roof. Perched atop its base of glass walls, the roof appears to float as kite gliding into the air, creating a fluid dynamic for its larger counterpart to the west. Inside, the geometries of a saw tooth ceiling are emphasized with maple-shaded laminate layered on micro-perforated aluminum. Carpet in ocean shades of teal, turquoise and aqua blues laid in a sunburst pattern accentuates the dimension of the space. Gull-shaped decals applied as bird strike prevention measures cast playful shadows that ‘fly’ through the room as the sun travels across the sky.
Directly to the west, the center’s offices are housed in a 650 square-foot glass box enclosed with 4-foot intermittently-operable windows. The box introduces a large white, concrete block structure used for boat and equipment storage, locker rooms, showers and restrooms. With outward protruding angles and porthole-like rectangular window apertures, the ship-like edifice ‘flows’ up-channel in the wake of the kite structure that leads it. Separate yet unified, the two buildings are enclosed and coalesced with custom galvanized steel gates clad with luminous acrylic resin panels.
Studio MDA and Studio Christian Wassmann have collaborated to create the first US outpost for Lisson Gallery, which has a roster of contemporary artists that includes Ai Weiwei and Marina Abramović (+ slideshow). (more…)
One of the world’s biggest elevator manufacturers has unveiled plans to build a 270-metre-high skyscraper in Shanghai that will be dedicated to testing lifts. (more…)
The process of carrying out a project from start to finish includes many different variables, from determining the users’ needs to figuring out how best to set up the work site. The latter are an important part of determining the project logistics as well as its design criteria. Colorado Outward Bound Micro Cabins emphasize this process, using a planning logic that takes into account the design of a minimally-sized living unit under extreme conditions as well as the execution of the assembly in a short time and in a place of difficult access.
This month we chose to feature the work of this team from the University of Colorado Denver as the Project of the Month because it highlights three key points related to the architectural design process. Architect Rick Sommerfeld, along with a group of students, had to manage the order in which the project was developed, applying design criteria conditioned by time, access and liveability.
1. Construction Site Optimisation (3 weeks)
Given the conditions of the site, the project needed to be constructed over a period of three weeks. Because of this restriction, a prefabricated structural system was used for each cottage. Steel was selected as the structural material because of its quick assembly, thus enabling the use of the facilities for summer courses at the University.
2. Accessibility
Leadville is the highest city in the US, resulting in various restrictions due to extreme weather conditions in the winter months. Snow, narrow roads and lots of trees impede the tasks, so the first design criteria is applied: the use of prefabricated elements that are easy to transport and assemble. The use of prefabricated panels for exterior and interior walls facilitated the implementation, and ceilings and floors were built on site.
3. Minimally-Sized Living Unit
Once the conditions related to space and time were determined, the initial idea for the structure arose: micro cabins that are able to accommodate one person to a small group. The aim was to create a social space: each individual cabin acts as a refuge, but together they form a community with communication between the constructed spaces. Finally, thanks to the collaboration of students from the University of Colorado, the resulting project has two key components: the structural frame (which places the refuges in their environment and provides protection from the elements) and the box it contains (a shelter that welcomes the user and provides protection and privacy). A cozy interior and an exterior that not only adds spaces for social communication, but also reduces the project’s visual impact on its context.
We invite you to review the full publication of this project:
Colorado Outward Bound Micro Cabins / University of Colorado Denver
//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js
The home is a beacon high atop the hillside.
Set atop one of the highest sea-side plateaus in the Halifax area, the residence has clear views of both Point Pleasant Park and the open water. Formally, the home twists and turns towards the two critical views, providing unique views from within different zones of the home.
The l-shaped scheme creates an internal court and driveway approach, as well as a variety of stunning views of itself in the foreground of the long and wide view.
A central core of staircases clad in walnut plywood twist and turn in response to the large volumes.
The interior palette of traditional mid-century modern materials, including, walnut, birch, white lacquer and concrete provide an internal warmth to the more rigid exterior formal language.
The program of the home is composed of three levels, the bottom for entry and storage, the middle for sleeping and the top for daily living and family activity.
