© Sebastián Coral

• Architects: AL BORDE
• Location: Tumbaco, Ecuador
• Client: Family Larrea Bravo
• Area: 185.92 sqm
• Project Year: 2013
• Photographs: Sebastián Coral , Elaine González, Melanie Kautz, AL BORDE

• Project Coordinator: Elaine González
• Construction: Cristina Bravo
• Furniture: Juan Subía, Felipe Donoso, Diego Benavides
• Design: 2012 -2013

© Elaine González

From the architect. Excavated Construction

Culunco is the name given to the paths situated in the middle of a dense vegetation, generally paths that were created for ancient villages of Latin America, like those of the Incas. This is as well the name that the architects from Al Borde chose for an excavated house in the middle of a sloping ground, surrounded by earth and trees in the Valley of Tumbaco, in Quito. The original project was composed of two houses, one of which was finally built, constructed with local materials. 

© Elaine González

The starting point was an intense contact with the nature, although it was modified by the harmonious presence of the house. The orthogonal volume is composed of two programs divided by the stairs of the entrance but united by a same excavation, same construction system and same roof. On one side, buried, are organised two bedrooms that are opened on the living room and the kitchen; on the other side, a music studio and a workshop. The privacy necessary for the bathrooms and bedrooms is created by the implantation: the site itself protects the private uses, while the glass facade is used around the social area. 

© Melanie Kautz

Elevation

© AL BORDE

The architectonic approximation is given by the climate, the costs and the simplified construction system. Tumbaco is situated 40 minutes from Quito and at 2600 meters above sea level. Its climate is warm and doesn’t need air conditioning, heating or any complex isolation systems. However it uses the sun as a source of heating. This context is why the architects chose glass for the whole perimeter of the house, the openings ensuring the ventilation. The thermal inertia produced by the buried part of the house allows an adequate thermal comfort. 

© AL BORDE

Diagram

The structure resulted from a modular system of eucalyptus trunks of a same size and diameter, seated on a stone wall with varied inclinations. This forest of sticks supports the paraboloide deck made of plywood sheets painted in white, that are inclinated towards a same vanishing point. The whole floor is made of smooth concrete. 

© Sebastián Coral

The structural modulation and the selection of materials easily accessible and simple allowed the property to become the construction of the project. In Ecuador, eucalyptus trunks are one of the cheapest materials of construction, usually used for formworks or temporary housing. Walls made of stonework are less expensive and easier to produce than walls of concrete. The constructive simplicity didn’t prevent the architects of creating strategic spatial relationships that guarantee beauty and comfort in the Culunco House. 

Text by: Simone Sayegh, Published in AU Magazine (256), July 2015

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Courtesy of Sebastian Errazuriz Studio

Chilean-born artist and designer Sebastian Errazuriz has designed Swiss watchmaking brand Audemars Piguet’s new lounge for Art Basel Hong Kong. “Taking inspiration from the ice formations and snowy winters of Audemars Piguet’s home in Le Brassus, Switzerland, the lounge will express the purity of nature and the passing of time,” says Errazuriz.

“With water and ice as its main thematic elements, the new stand will give form to the concept of ice cycle as a metaphor of time. Three key components will anchor Errazuriz’s design: the icicle as a beautiful form, accumulating over time; the water drop, seen as nature’s ticking pulse; and ripples in the water, symbolizing the forward movement of new life. The drips of the melting icicles resemble nature’s pulse, like the beating of a heart or a ticking clock.”

Courtesy of Sebastian Errazuriz Studio

From the architect: Errazuriz’s innovative creations blur the boundaries between contemporary art, design and craft. In his Brooklyn studio, he creates exceptional masterpieces of furniture which are avidly sought after by collectors. His design objects and installations have been widely exhibited in museums. Focused on excellence, Errazuriz frequently mixes traditional artisan techniques with high-tech computer milling and 3D printing. The results are innovative, original designs created using only the finest materials, mirroring the values of technological mastery at the heart of Audemars Piguet’s watchmaking. 

Courtesy of Sebastian Errazuriz Studio

The new lounge will seek to remind the viewer of a space of reflection. Showcasing exceptional visuals by photographer Dan Holdsworth named Continuous Topography, it will include a soundproof room enveloped with custom-designed panels adorned with patterns of icicles, stalactites, and stalagmites. The space functions as a private vault, with a chiming timepiece at its core. The façade of the lounge will include a striking ice tank, composed of illuminated acrylic rods which will flash to mimic the regular rhythm of a heartbeat. 

Courtesy of Sebastian Errazuriz Studio

A selection of 10 intricately detailed open-worked watches, exquisite gem-set high jewellery watches, and pioneering minute-repeating wristwatches will be displayed in the lounge. Echoing Errazuriz’s diverse design practices, these three categories of watchmaking require the expertise and dedication of specialised craftsmen, each of them masters in their respective fields. The Haute Joaillerie Diamond Fury and Diamond Punk watches will be displayed within a one-of-a-kind showcase composed of mirror fragments, allowing the viewer to observe the iconic timepieces through a dazzling kaleidoscope effect.

Courtesy of Sebastian Errazuriz Studio

Also during Art Basel in Hong Kong, Audemars Piguet will release The Art Projects of Audemars Piguet 2013- 2015, a 115-page book summarizing the company’s growing engagement with contemporary art. With an introductory essay surveying the intertwining history of fine watchmaking and art, the richly illustrated volume includes texts, interviews, and documentation about Audemars Piguet’s manifold partnerships in the visual art world and about the exceptional artistic projects undertaken with the patronage and active involvement of the brand in recent years.

Audemars Piguet became an official Associate Sponsor for Art Basel in 2013 and renewed its global partnership with a multi-year commitment in December 2015. Since 2015, the brand has presented innovative lounge concepts in the Collectors Lounge at all three Art Basel shows, inviting designers and artists to creatively interpret Audemars Piguet’s heritage and origins.

Courtesy of Sebastian Errazuriz Studio

“I was humbled by the craftsmanship and ingenuity of the Audemars Piguet watchmakers in Le Brassus,” said Errazuriz. “The work they have been doing for almost two centuries is so incredible that any creative person who visits their installations will feel inspired to hold themselves to a higher standard of gravitas, beauty, and precision. The new lounge will hopefully become an experience for its visitors, managing to steal their attention and offering them a space to take a moment to think about time.” 

Courtesy of Sebastian Errazuriz Studio

Following Art Basel in Hong Kong, the Audemars Piguet booth will travel to the Collectors Lounge at Art Basel in Basel 16 – 19 June 2016, and Art Basel in Miami Beach 1 – 4 December 2016. 

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© do mal o menos

• Architects: João Mendes Ribeiro e Cristina Guedes
• Location: Coimbra, Portugal
• Area: 1161.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2010
• Photographs: do mal o menos , Patrick Monteiro, Jose Meneses, Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

• Client: Câmara Municipal de Coimbra/ Coimbra City Hall
• Collaboration: Jorge Teixeira Dias (project manager), Alexander Glaser, Joana Brandão, Joana Figueiredo, João Branco, João Sérgio Braga da Cruz, Patrícia Domingues, Susana Neves, Catarina Fortuna (interior design)
• Structural Engineer: Paulo Maranha Tiago Hydraulic Engineer: Maria Fernanda Sobral
• Electrical Engineer: Pascoal Faísca e Fernando Canha Mechanical Engineer: João Madeira da Silva
• Security Measures And Fire Consulting: Paulo Sampaio (ECA Projectos) Thermal consulting: Paulo Sampaio
• Acoustic Consulting: Celsa Vieira Landscape Design: João Gomes da Silva
• Lightning Designer (External Spaces): Gilberto Reis
• Contractor: JFS – João Fernandes da Silva, S.A.

© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

The project for the Refurbishment of Casa da Escrita consists of the remodelling of the Casa do Arco, the former residence of poet João Cochofel, to house spaces and events related to writing – an open archive, writing workshops and temporary residences for writers supporting a broad set of activities and interactions between literary writing and other artistic creations.

© do mal o menos

The building is located in the old upper area of Coimbra in a dense urban set of predominantly residential narrow winding streets. The site area is about 1500 m2 and includes the building, the garden, a greenhouse and some outbuildings. The building area is equivalent to 1115m2 (gross area).

Diagram

The program aims for the contemporary reuse of the building, adapting it to new functions, while reconciling patrimonial and symbolic values with the present demands for comfort and flexibility. Without losing reference to the original space and the house’s atmosphere of comfort and intimacy, every room was restored or preserved by using traditional materials, such as wood, plaster, stucco, stone and tiles. All furniture has also been carefully selected.

© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

Section

© do mal o menos

The refurbishment‘s main purpose was to convert these rooms into adaptable spaces, with a wide range of uses and interpretations. At the ground floor, the building is divided by a street. On the South wing, new metallic staircases and a self-contained wooden structure (housing toilets and lockers) have been added. The North wing houses the main entrance, the bookshop and the reception. The new wooden staircase connects the main entrance with the second floor, where the library, dining, reading and exhibition rooms are located. From there one can access the garden or the South wing, where one can find a small flat for resident artists. Upstairs the loft has been converted into a single room now featuring the archives and three reading cells. 

© do mal o menos

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Entrance. Image © DBOX

UPDATE: The news has now been confirmed. David Chipperfield Architects has been officially selected to convert the US Embassy near London’s Grosvenor Square into a “world-class” 137-room hotel, after the building’s current occupants relocate. According to a new report from AJ, restaurants, retail, a spa and a 1000-person ballroom will also be included in the design. The first images of the project have now been released. 

As reported by the Architects’ Journal, David Chipperfield Architects has been selected in an invited competition to remodel the US Embassy in London, once the building’s current occupants move into the new embassy building currently being constructed in the Nine Elms. The existing building, a Grade-II listed design by Eero Saarinen dating back to 1960, is set to become a hotel after developers Qatari Diar purchased it in 2009.

View from Square. Image © DBOX

The AJ cites anonymous sources stating that Chipperfield was selected ahead of Foster + Partners and KPF in a competition run by Malcolm Reading Consultants. However, they were unable to gain confirmation from either Chipperfield’s office or Qatari Diar, who stated that “a range of options on the best use of this important site are currently being considered.”

Rendering of Kieran Timberlake's design for the new US Embassy in Nine Elms, slated for completion in 2017

With the new embassy by Kieran Timberlake still under construction, staff for the US embassy are expected to vacate the building by 2017.

Story via the Architects’ Journal

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© Cristiano Mascaro

• Architects: Candida Tabet Arquitetura
• Location: José Ignacio, Uruguay
• Design Team: Candida Tabet – principal, Carolina da Mata – coordinator
• Area: 1604.55 sqm
• Project Year: 2006
• Photographs: Cristiano Mascaro , Tuca Reinés , Fran Parente , Romulo Fialdini

• Architecture Assistant: Santiago Fernandez
• Interiors / Decoration: Candida Tabet
• Contractor: Ruben Martinez Construcciones
• Concrete Structure: Ney Costantini Eng de Projetos
• Wood Structure: Orbital Consultoria e Construções
• M E P: 2M projetos
• Light Design: Candida Tabet Arquitetura
• Model: Luiz André Lanzuolo
• Site Area: 254 507m²

© Cristiano Mascaro

From the architect. We were confronted to a cultural-social equation: we, Brazilians, São Paulo based architects, got a commission from an American couple living in New York to design a holiday house in José Ignacio, Uruguay.

© Tuca Reinés

Starting point was to research the local constructions with the intention to capture common, regional traces. We found a strong contemporaneity, were unusual volumes slip into the landscape.

© Cristiano Mascaro

We were delighted with the legacy of Eladio Dieste (an Uruguayan engineer by formation, architect honoris causa) and his mastering of brickwork, a material highly popular and widely used in the past.

Floor Plan

We also observed our clients, Anne, French-American, determined, enthusiastic, beautiful, great cook, attentive and caring mother of Julian and Max (14 and 15), and Bill, her husband. In our short encounters she expressed her interest in graphic motifs, which led us to splash outdoor spaces with pergolas that, with the movement of the sun, would draw over the large walls an ever-changing graphic design in the form of light and shadow.

© Cristiano Mascaro

To the attentive mother who our client showed to be, observer of all movements, we provided a plan with minimum compartments, where the circulation through a walkway that runs along the house exposes their passers.

© Cristiano Mascaro

Metal inserts support this walkway, a large cantilever ring that surrounds and connects internally the central area, the living room, to the suites upstairs. The architecture transits individual structural solutions with varied materials. Brick volumes define the four main functional areas that result as a kitchen / dining room / suites. The enormous perpendicular volumes, designed towards the outside and with a single, very high coverage, define the living areas. The rooms and balconies are linked by two axes, transverse and longitudinal. The kitchen is huge, a playground for her owner, and probably future treat for the family´s guests.

© Cristiano Mascaro

In the decision of the primary cladding, we chose to honor Eladio Dieste and dressed up the house with bricks, which accumulated in a large cube resulted antagonistic, a monolithic mosaic, homogenized by the monumental scale of the walls.

© Cristiano Mascaro

The wooden pergolas and terraces that shape the facades explore the cantilevered solutions, except the large span of the west façade, defined by consoles, a more primitive technique.

© Tuca Reinés

The encounter of sky and prairie, blue against green, is seen through wide and tall openings directed to the outside, framing within this large voids the typical landscape of the Pampas.

© Cristiano Mascaro

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Tonight, the “Pritzker Laureates’ Conversation”—titled Challenges Ahead for the Built Environment—will be broadcast live at 6.30pm ET. It will provide a rare opportunity to hear 2016 Pritzker Laureate Alejandro Aravena in conversation with previous Pritzker Prize Laureates, including Richard Meier, Glenn Murcutt, Jean Nouvel, Renzo Piano, Christian de Portzamparc, Richard Rogers, and Wang Shu. The conversation will be moderated by Cathleen McGuigan.

The panel discussion can also be watched directly on the UN Channel here.

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