© Stirling Elmendorf

• Architects: KTX archiLAB
• Location: Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
• Architect In Charge: Tetsuya Matsumoto
• Area: 150.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Stirling Elmendorf

• Client: Eri Matsuura Himeji daiichi hospital

© Stirling Elmendorf

In Japan, two major types of pharmacies can be found. The first is the drug store, or what can be described as retail pharmacies. This type offers services related to basic medicines as well as parapharmaceutical products. The second type is the dispensing pharmacies, usually related to a nearby clinic or hospital. In this type of pharmacies, the products are prepared in the backyard after the customer presents prescription issued by his doctor. Once prepared, the pharmacist has to explain to the customer about the prescription.

© Stirling Elmendorf

This dispensing pharmacy is located nearby a general hospital and owned by its president. The Idea behind this pharmacy is to promote the hospital by giving it a new image as it is subject to a strong competitiveness.

© Stirling Elmendorf

The starting point of this design was to question the criteria that customers use to select a pharmacy, beside the geographical location. What would make a pharmacy better than another one? The purpose of visiting a pharmacy is the same, purchasing medicines and seeking healing.

© Stirling Elmendorf

The keyword for medical related design is healing, commonly associated with peaceful nature. Subsequently, this type of design traditionally tries to incorporate natural elements like trees, green walls and flowers.

Floor Plan

Nature is undoubtedly a source of healing, nonetheless, the simple fact of coming to a medical institution lays on the trust that the patient puts on modern medicine. The more advanced medicine is the more trustworthy it becomes; true peace of mind is reached when the medical care is at its “Cutting Edge”.

© Stirling Elmendorf

The pharmacy is situated along one of the most important streets in the region. The façade is totally glazed and contoured by protracted sharp edges. The edges are also projected into the minimalist white interior demarcated by a black cross. The vertical line of the cross is the gate towards the backyard where the prescriptions are prepared. The horizontal line is a console for exhibiting key products. The entrance is on the left side of the building in the direction of the hospital liberating the glazed façade from unnecessary additional lines. This minimalistic space designed in clean straight lines and enhanced with indirect lighting slits creates the High-Tech sharp image that the patient expects from an advanced medical care.

© Stirling Elmendorf

Additionally to the appearance, the quality of service is a major criterion for selecting a dispensing pharmacy, and this is not without affecting the design. Traditionally, the patient handles his prescription at the reception counter; the pharmacist will then prepare the medicines in the backyard whilst the patient is sitting in the waiting space. Once done, the patient will be called again to the counter to get explanations about the prescription. This pharmacy differs in that the patient will not be called to the counter again. Instead, the pharmacist will meet him at his waiting space furnished in chairs and tables. These small attentions can make a big difference by providing an image of High Quality services inducing the process of healing.

© Stirling Elmendorf

Product Description.  While selecting the materials, we were focused on the sharp image we wanted to give to the building. The choice of Takiron metallic panels helped much for creating this image; these seamless and thin panels are also mat, a reflective panel would make the joints easily recognized, while a mat one seems more integrated.

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© Rao Fu

• Architects: SLOW Architects
• Location: Luoyang, Henan, China
• Area: 30.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Rao Fu

© Rao Fu

From the architect. Tsiaogou teaching school locates in Song County of Luoyang City, Henan province and has 49 students and 4 teachers. The school has no reading room so that the 320 books they currently have are scattered in all the classroom. This project will add a new reading room and supply more books. All the current and new books will be put in the reading room for all the students to borrow. 

© Rao Fu

The campus is pretty tight. there’s no empty classroom can be transformed into reading room and the playground cannot be occupied as well to make sure the children have enough space for outdoor activities. So the school planned to use the corner of the fencing wall adjacent to the teaching building as the site for the new reading room.

Floor Plan

When we visited the site and saw the beautiful big cedar, we decided that the reading room shouldn’t crouch in the corner. Instead, it should be treated as a cottage underneath the tree umbrella.

© Rao Fu

The final design uses a fanlike shape to form a space surrounding the cedar. In front of the reading room, we set a exterior wood terrace of 8m in diameter. Together with the big tree umbrella, this terrace become a comfortable semi-exterior space where children could leisurely sit and enjoy their reading, or watch the games on the play ground of their classmates. The shape of the reading room doesn’t occupy the corner of the teaching building ,so that the window of the office is not blocked and the small parterre is reserved. We also put doors on the backside of the reading room from which children can go to the small parterre. This design makes the reading room not just a functional room, but also an interesting connection between indoor and outdoor activities that reconstructs the entire space of the campus.

© Rao Fu

We make the reading room slightly lower than normal height. The height of the inner side of the slopping roof is only 1.8m and relatively tight for adults. We hope to make the children feel that this is special for them through this detail.

We exposed the structural grid in interior to use as bookshelves.

© Rao Fu

Because the site locates in mountain area, wood structure is selected to make the transportation and construction easier. To ensure the thermal performance, we didn’t use too much glass openings, but introduce skylight to make the interior brighter, and solar system for lighting. The uses of these facilities is also an introduction of sustainable technologies to the children besides functional consideration.

© Rao Fu

During the construction process, we already heard from the school that the children were very curious about the new reading room and often came to see the construction site. Now the reading room is open and becomes a beloved place of the children. On the blackboard beside the reading room, we found that the children call it big sailboat that is their imagination of it. We hope that the wood cottage under the huge tree umbrella could become a beautiful memory of their childhood.

© Rao Fu

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© Mariko Reed

• Architects: Klopf Architecture
• Location: San Mateo, CA, United States
• Architects In Charge: John Klopf, AIA, Klara Kevane, Yegvenia Torres-Zavala
• Area: 2606.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Mariko Reed

• Landscape Architect: Arterra Landscape
• Architects Contractor: Henry Calvert of Calvert Ventures

© Mariko Reed

From the architect. Klopf Architecture, Arterra Landscape Architects and Henry Calvert of Calvert Ventures Designed and built a new warm, modern, Eichler-inspired, open, indoor-outdoor home on a deeper-than-usual San Mateo Highlands property where an original Eichler house had burned to the ground.

© Mariko Reed

The owners wanted multi-generational living and larger spaces than the original home offered, but all parties agreed that the house should respect the neighborhood and blend in stylistically with the other Eichlers. At first the Klopf team considered re-using what little was left of the original home and expanding on it. But after discussions with the owner and builder, all parties agreed that the last few remaining elements of the house were not practical to re-use, so Klopf Architecture designed a new home that pushes the Eichler approach in new directions. 

© Mariko Reed

One disadvantage of Eichler production homes is that the house designs were not optimized for each specific lot. A new custom home offered the team a chance to start over. In this case, a longer house that opens up sideways to the south fit the lot better than the original square-ish house that used to open to the rear (west). Accordingly, the Klopf team designed an L-shaped “bar” house with a large glass wall with large sliding glass doors that faces sideways instead of to the rear like a typical Eichler. This glass wall opens to a pool and landscaped yard designed by Arterra Landscape Architects.

Floor Plan

Driving by the house, one might assume at first glance it is an Eichler because of the horizontality, the overhanging flat roof eaves, the dark gray vertical siding, and orange solid panel front door, but the house is designed for the 21st Century and is not meant to be a “Likeler.” You won’t see any posts and beams in this home. Instead, the ceiling decking is a western red cedar that covers over all the beams. Like Eichlers, this cedar runs continuously from inside to out, enhancing the indoor / outdoor feeling of the house, but unlike Eichlers it conceals a cavity for lighting, wiring, and insulation. Ceilings are higher, rooms are larger and more open, the master bathroom is light-filled and more generous, with a separate tub and shower and a separate toilet compartment, and there is plenty of storage. The garage even easily fits two of today’s vehicles with room to spare.

© Mariko Reed

A massive 49-foot by 12-foot wall of glass and the continuity of materials from inside to outside enhance the inside-outside living concept, so the owners and their guests can flow freely from house to pool deck to BBQ to pool and back.

© Mariko Reed

During construction in the rough framing stage, Klopf thought the front of the house appeared too tall even though the house had looked right in the design renderings (probably because the house is uphill from the street). So Klopf Architecture paid the framer to change the roofline from how we had designed it to be lower along the front, allowing the home to blend in better with the neighborhood. One project goal was for people driving up the street to pass the home without immediately noticing there is an “imposter” on this lot, and making that change was essential to achieve that goal.

This 2,606 square foot, 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom Eichler-inspired new house is located in San Mateo in the heart of the Silicon Valley.

© Mariko Reed

Product Description. Accordingly, the Klopf team designed an L-shaped “bar” house with a large glass wall with large sliding glass doors that faces sideways instead of to the rear like a typical Eichler. This glass wall opens to a pool and landscaped yard designed by Arterra Landscape Architects.

© Mariko Reed

You won’t see any posts and beams in this home. Instead, the ceiling decking is a western red cedar that covers over all the beams. Like Eichlers, this cedar runs continuously from inside to out, enhancing the indoor / outdoor feeling of the house, but unlike Eichlers it conceals a cavity for lighting, wiring, and insulation.

A massive 49-foot by 12-foot wall of glass and the continuity of materials from inside to outside enhance the inside-outside living concept, so the owners and their guests can flow freely from house to pool deck to BBQ to pool and back.

© Mariko Reed

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The computer does things correctly, and I think it’s very important in architecture to also have the incorrect. – Peter Cook

In connection with the exhibition “Peter Cook. Retrospective” currently on view at the Museum for Architectural Drawing in Berlin, the Tchoban Foundation has released a video of the architect discussing the importance of drawing in the architectural world. Cook compares drawing to new computer-based techniques, arguing that while software can do amazing things (including being instrumental in realizing his own Kunsthaus Gratz), drawing allows the architect to learn, communicate and experiment in a way that is irreplaceable. Watch the teaser to the Tchoban Foundation’s video above, or read on for the full discussion.

Cook cemented his place in architecture’s firmament in the 1960s with the architectural drawings and media collages he created as part of Archigram, creating some of the most recognizable and influential “paper architecture” in the history of the profession. However, despite being best known for these early works, Cook has continued to explore architectural ideas in his drawings throughout his career. The exhibition at the Tchoban Foundation’s Museum for Architectural Drawing is on view until February 12th, and showcases the evolution of this these ideas from start to finish.

Exhibition: “Peter Cook. Retrospective” at Tchoban Foundation

Find out more about the exhibition here.

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© Jeff Goldberg

• Architects: Centerbrook Architects and Planners
• Location: Mystic, Stonington, CT, United States
• Architect In Charge: Chad Floyd, FAIA; Charles G. Mueller, AIA, ALA
• Area: 21.681 ft2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Jeff Goldberg, ESTO Photographics

• Construction Manager: A/Z Corporation
• Kohler Ronan: MEP/FP
• Structural: DeStefano & Chamberlain Inc.
• Lighting: George Sexton Associates
• Landscape: Kent + Frost Landscape Architecture
• Civil: Stadia Engineering Associates
• Code Consultant: P.R. Sherman Inc.

© Jeff Goldberg

The Thompson Exhibition Building was designed for Mystic Seaport, Museum of America and the Sea, as a keynote building for the 19-acre riverfront campus. The project’s mission was to transform the north end of the Seaport to greatly enhance the quality of exhibition space and to offer a more robust year-round experience for visitors.

© Jeff Goldberg

The building is located where the Seaport’s previous indoor-oriented exhibit spaces were concentrated, and forms the new Donald C. McGraw Gallery Quadrangle. This sociable greensward, with a panoramic view of the Mystic River, provides an appealing venue for activities ranging from outdoor concerts to impromptu picnics.

Site Plan

In addition to a 5,000-square- foot exhibition gallery with a high ceiling for displaying boats, the building features visitor reception and events space, a retail shop, a café and outdoor terraces overlooking the Mystic River. Energy-efficient components and geothermal heating and cooling are also incorporated in the design.

© Jeff Goldberg

The flexible exhibition space features soaring ceilings and demountable walls to accommodate objects of varying size and installations of all types, from watercraft to priceless works of fine art and gallery-based educational programs. A riverfront gathering room graces the west side of the building and can be reconfigured for conferences, additional gallery space, or educational programs, adding to the new building’s versatility.

© ESTO Photographics

The Thompson Exhibition Building incorporates a wraparound deck that allows visitors to enjoy the riverside setting and serve as a covered overlook to the Quadrangle green.

Section

Section

Overall, the building stands for what we came to regard as “the geometry of the sea” – the spiral shape of sea life, the kinetic movement of ocean swells, the crash of waves on the shore, the billow of sails, and the faring of wooden hulls. Wood was the ideal material for these purposes because it can economically enclose a large clear-span space while forming complex organic geometries.

© Jeff Goldberg

The intention overall was a wooden structured volume that would suggest a hull’s interior architecture. To support a long porch along the north edge of a new quadrangle, wooden columns and struts give the effect of sailing vessels’ masts and spars. Railing cables and turnbuckles provide detail around the deck to conjure ship’s rigging.

© ESTO Photographics

For the building’s structure, curved glued-laminated wood ribs were utilized to imply a sailing ship’s top timbers, the curving members that delineate a hull’s shape. Wood purlins between the ribs bring to mind planking that forms the skin of a hull. Douglas Fir was specified for the glued-laminated structural members as it was the species New England ship builders preferred after the Civil War once the western forests had been opened up.

Axonometric

The building’s overall form was also designed to recall natural phenomena, too, like a wind-driven wave crashing onto the shore. On its interior, the curled the structural ribs at either end inward all the way down to the floor to suggest the spiraling vertebrae of marine creatures.

© Jeff Goldberg

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Image <a href='http://ift.tt/2imgO5v India Live Today</a>

Today China inaugurated the world’s highest bridge, opening the new crossing to traffic after the structure was completed in September, reports China Central Television (CCTV). Crossing the Nizhu river canyon at 565 meters above water level the Beipanjiang bridge spans 1,341 meters to connect the provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou in the Southwest of the country. The 4-lane bridge is part of a network of new highways around Yunnan and Guizhou that allow access across rugged terrain that was previously largely inaccessible.

A rendering of the bridge showing its height above the Nizhu river. Image Image <a href='http://ift.tt/2iidaHx highestbridges.com</a>

Costing around 1 billion yuan (US$144 million), construction of the bridge began in 2013, and had to be carefully designed to deal with the extreme wind conditions caused by the Beipanjiang Valley. “Where to place the bridge piers was a problem,” explained Liu Bo, deputy chief engineer of CCCC Highway Consultants, to CCTV. “The gorge here is over 500 meters deep, so how are we going to design the structure of the bridge to deal with the strong wind field problem?”

In recent years, China has become a hot-spot for record-breaking bridges. The mountainous terrain in the western regions of the country has recently given rise to the world’s longest and highest glass-bottomed bridge, the world’s first all-glass suspension bridge, and the world’s longest glass skywalk, all of which enable tourists to take in the dramatic landscape.

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News via CCTV, India Live Today and highestbridges.com

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© David Cervera

• Architects: Muñoz Arquitectos
• Location: Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
• Architect In Charge: Javier Muñoz Menéndez
• Area: 876.33 m2
• Project Year: 2013
• Photographs: David Cervera

• Other Participants: Gareth Lowe Negrón, Celine Monteagudo, Iza Pérez Jaramillo, Javier Ceballos Cabañas
• Construction: Taran – Lae. Esteban Muñoz Castillo, Eduardo Muñoz Medina

© David Cervera

For this project we had the opportunity to work on an irregularly shaped, 1,708 square meter plot, with 21 trees, in an exclusive golf club development in the north of the city of Merida. 

© David Cervera

In common with our previous projects, the challenge  -which also constitutes one of our firm beliefs- was to respect the existing trees, as they are tenants which have more right to continue living there than the new habitants. 

© David Cervera

Ground Floor Plan

© David Cervera

The house is fragmented in order to respect all the trees on the property. A white volume contains all the house’s services and is supported by the stone walls that frame the entrance. A main entrance –an open, gardened space- has two trees and creates a hallway before you reach the house itself. The circulation continues when entering the public space that consists of the living room, dining room and kitchen, which is also shaded by two other trees. 

© David Cervera

The house has three volumes and two intermediate patios which contain the existing trees. The first volume combines the entrance and top-floor services; the second includes the double-height public areas; and the third boasts the main living area and open-air swimming pool on the ground floor, while the bedrooms and terrace are located on the top floor.

© David Cervera

From the moment you enter the house, each space you pass through offers spectacular views of the golf course. 

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© Flickr user: santiago lopez-pastor, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

A huge cathedral with tall towers and a magnificent dome rises slowly in the municipality of Mejorada del Campo, 20 kilometers from Madrid. It seems like a common occurrence, but it is not. The building has been under construction for 50 years – brick by brick – by one man: Justo Gallego Martínez, farmer, ex-monk and a self-taught architect of 88 years of age.

Learn about his life’s work (literally) after the break.

Without any previous knowledge of architecture or any experience in the construction industry, Martínez has spent five decades collecting garbage and leftover building materials to build the 50 x 25-meter surface structure with a 60-meter high tower.

© Wikipedia user: Dirección General de Turismo, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

After working as a farmer and bullfighter, Martínez spent eight years in a Trappist monastery – the Cistercian convent in Santa María de Huerta – which he was forced to abandon when he was struck by tuberculosis in 1961. In honor of the Virgin Mary, he began the construction of a chapel that he describes as his great act of faith. The former monk says that if it wasn’t for his faith he would never have had the strength to try to build a cathedral.

© Flickr user: santiago lopez-pastor, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

Despite the skepticism of the inhabitants of the city, Don Justo – as the neighbors call him – has managed to progress the construction considerably without using even a crane, his only help was from some friendly workers. The process began without any kind of permission – because he was sure he would not get it – the plot of land is 4740 square meters inherited from his parents that today is worth more than one million euros.

© Flickr user: santiago lopez-pastor, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

The Cathedral

The large columns of the structure are made from empty oil drums, while the lining of one of the domes is made of discarded food tubes. The arches are tires from trucks and buses, the rest of the building consists of woods and bricks collected from other demolished works. He has received gifts such as iron doors and glass cutouts to close the openings. Its design inspiration comes from St. Peter’s Basilica, with its huge central dome in sight, in addition to inspiration from European castles and churches. 

© Flickr user: gmalon, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Some years ago Martínez told the BBC: “When I see what I have created, I am overwhelmed and I thank the Lord. If I could live my life again, I would like to build this same cathedral but twice as big, because, to me, this is an act of faith.”

Los planos. Image © Richard Morley

The church has never received permission to be build and although it may never be worshipable in it, the authorities have allowed it to go ahead as it has become a tourist attraction for the city. Recently, Martínez has received donations from German organizations and advertising sponsorship from the energy drink Aquarius, who paid him 40 thousand euros to tell his inspiring story, as well as organizing a campaign to raise funds through text messages.

The building has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Justo Gallego Martínez has been interviewed by the world’s largest television networks.

News Via: Daily Mail UK, BBC
Images Via: Flickr, users Guillermo Malon, Santiago López-Pastor

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Courtesy of Riaño+ arquitectos

• Architects: Riaño+ arquitectos
• Location: 28680 San Martín de Valdeiglesias, Madrid, España
• Architect In Charge: Carlos de Riaño Lozano
• Area: 1000.0 m2
• Project Year: 2010
• Photographs: Courtesy of Riaño+ arquitectos

• Collaborators: Marga Usero Gutierrez, Almudena Peralta Quintana, Rebeca Hurtado Díaz
• Technical Architects : María del Hierro, Luis García Cebadera
• Sponsor : Ayuntamiento de San Martín de Valdeiglesias

Courtesy of Riaño+ arquitectos

La Coracera Castle, in San Martin de Valdeiglesias, was declared Historic Heritage Site by the Comunidad de Madrid. It was built in the mid-1400s by Don Alvaro de Luna, Constable of Castile and favorite of King John II. Today it is part private and part public property. In order to revitalize it, it was planned to transform it into a multiple use space, to hold exhibitions, lectures, chamber concerts and activities relevant to its potential use as a Museum of Wine of Madrid.

Site Plan

A basic project was developed with the aim to set the standards to follow in the future restoration, protecting its lands, the nearby surroundings and the areas that could spoil the views from the fortress. The final goal was to turn it into a prime touristic and cultural facility, beyond local and regional limits. A project of this scale, financed with public funds, required very distinctive phases.

Courtesy of Riaño+ arquitectos

The keep is the outstanding volume of the castle, with a virtually square floor plan and three turrets on the east wall. The average width of the walls is more than 3 meters. Its height, from the ground to the upper terrace is around 20 meters.

Courtesy of Riaño+ arquitectos

The previous state was the product of a renovation implemented 60 years ago. It had a ground floor transformed into a wine cellar, with an access through an entrance from the same period, before the first courtyard and on the south façade. This ground level had a solid brick barrel vault completely plastered.

Por razones defensivas, las entradas se fijaron en huecos elevados. El primero por el muro de poniente,

For defensive purposes, the entrances were in high positions. The first one was on the west wall and the access was through a removable ladder that could be withdrawn in times of danger. The second was on the northeast cube, at the first floor level, and it connected with the so-called “albarrana” tower through a drawbridge.

al que debía accederse mediante escalera desmontable, que permitiera su retirada en momentos de peligro. El segundo por el hueco situado en el cubo nordeste y nivel de planta primera, que mediante puente levadizo conecta con la llamada torre albarrana. 

Courtesy of Riaño+ arquitectos

The two noble floors are reached trough the stairs along the south flank. Halfway there is a small landing from which there is access to the “chemin de ronde” on one side and to the first floor on the other. On this level is what must have been the main hall, probably divided in several rooms. Following the stairs, through a flight of overhang steps of an uncertain date, we arrive to the upper room. This vaulted second floor, which combines medieval openings and more recent ones, had important water damages on the cracks along the curved surface. On this level there is a staircase inside the central turret that leads to the rooftop. The curved hall where it finished is one of the most atrocious interventions implemented in the 1940s, with poorly made mullioned windows along its perimeter, which had to be corrected with less picturesque proportions.

Sections

The solution for the former wine cellar is remarkable. Now it is a sample and wine tasting room with independent access from the outside. A metal structure, that reminds of the old metal wine racks still present in some homes, was designed a separate piece of furniture, set apart from the walls, to allow a full view of the vaulted room. The ceiling was used for a small lecture hall, with an entrance from the “plaza de armas”.

Courtesy of Riaño+ arquitectos

The stone structure is not covered when its quality and authenticity deserve it. It was cleaned and repointed with a finish similar to that of the exterior walls. A similar criterion was applied to the brick arches and vaults which, against some theories, were never un-plastered and even it they were, its state of superficial deterioration did not allow its recovery.

Courtesy of Riaño+ arquitectos

Las fábricas pétreas, se dejan vistas, siempre que su calidad y autenticidad lo aconsejen, limpias y rejuntadas con acabado similar al de los paños exteriores. Los arcos y abovedados de ladrillo pasan por un criterio similar, definiendo un revoco para las dos bóvedas de cañón, que en contra de algunas teorías, debe decirse que nunca estuvieron vistas, y aunque así hubiese sido, su estado de deterioro superficial no permite la recuperación.

Los huecos exteriores se cerraron con perfilería de acero inoxidable, tratada al chorro de arena, siempre practicables y con sección de mínimo impacto que permita la completa percepción del hueco medieval. Las dos salas principales quedan directamente conectadas por escalera de caracol metálica con tablero continúo de madera curvada en barandilla.  A todo esto se accede por una nueva escalera exterior de peldañeado metálico, envuelta en dos planos paralelos de chapón de acero corten.

Courtesy of Riaño+ arquitectos

The exterior openings were closed with stainless steel profile, sandblasted, always accessible and with a minimum impact section to allow the full perception of the medieval opening. The two main halls are directly connected by a spiral staircase with a solid curved wood frame as a banister. The access to this whole area is through a new exterior staircase with metal steps, wrapped in two parallel COR-TEN steel plates.

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