Courtesy of Wendell Burnette Architects

Wendell Burnette Architects has released images of their design for Saudi Arabia’s 1st UNESCO World Heritage Site, the MADA’IN SALEH or HEGRA south of Petra; which has recently been approved by The Saudi Commission for Tourism & National Heritage.

Courtesy of Wendell Burnette Architects

Project Description via Wendell Burnette Architects

Our hotel concept for the MADA’IN SALEH UNESCO World Heritage Site is designed as a mirage within the south edge of the Jabal Ithlib (Mountain of Standing Stones). From afar, our design intends to recede, to disappear into an isolated group of smaller standing stones as an anonymous base constructed of light silica stone from the sand plain in a simple geometry – quiet and humble and unknown to the roads approaching the Jabal Ithlib and the ancient city of Hegra.

Courtesy of Wendell Burnette Architects

From any direction on foot, on camelback, on horseback or by carriage – no glass, no reflections, only a low stepped sandstone base – even at night, one may only discern the warm glow of a group of campfires around some island rocks.

Courtesy of Wendell Burnette Architects

Within this low base plinth we find a solitary stationary stone camp around a magical Rock Garden, filled with voices, the sounds of Lute, the Rabada and the smells of burning Al Samar Wood, Oud Incense, and outdoor cooking. In the spring night, the entire camp is perfumed with the smell of a thousand Al Ula Citrus blossums.

In the morning, the camp wakes up to the sound of Nabataean well water filling the stone channels, which feed the grapefruit, oranges, tangerines, lemons, limes and as starlight gives way to the sun – stone-paved streets softly echo with the sounds of sandal covered feet, the rustle of fabric dress and hushed conversation making their way to early morning prayer or a light breakfast.

Courtesy of Wendell Burnette Architects

Courtesy of Wendell Burnette Architects

Courtesy of Wendell Burnette Architects

At the heart of the stone camp we find the smaller standing stones – a Rock Garden, which provide a focus for the public life of the camp, a stepped town square from where one can see out in all directions; through and between the solitary stones to the Jabal Ithlib north and most prominently the mysterious Standing Stones that form the ever-changing west ridge.

Courtesy of Wendell Burnette Architects

Courtesy of Wendell Burnette Architects

Courtesy of Wendell Burnette Architects

From the public rooms surrounding the town square expansive views fan out over the stone tabula rasa base toward the Wadi of Al-Hijr southeast and the distant jagged peaks that form the canyon valleys at Al Ula southwest; all the while revealing nothing of the scale of the camp below and behind the Rock Garden or the private languid life within. One arrives in this remote desert camp from a large wooden gate between two large stones where we are welcomed into a formal Acacia Grove forming a large shaded arrival court.

Courtesy of Wendell Burnette Architects

Emanating from the heart of the town square are ramps, stepped plazas, a long corniche or promenade and self-shaded streets or Siq’s; which all lead ones eyes and feet out onto the vast sand plain, the Jabal Ithlib and the Mada’in Saleh … maybe on camel and / or horseback. Along the way, one also discovers an unexpected desert oasis threaded throughout the walls of the village camp – Citrus Courts of every variety, deep water wells, water channels, shallow reflecting pools w/ fountains.

Courtesy of Wendell Burnette Architects

With a bronze key one unlocks a smaller wooden gate to your own private camp / courtyard or estraha replete with the sound and smell of precious life-giving water, abundant shade, and in the Spring season – bees, wildflowers – and always day and night a framed solitary view of infamous Arabian Deserta.

News via Wendell Burnette Architects.

model images by Bill Timmerman

Courtesy of Wendell Burnette Architects

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© Marco Zanta

• Architects: Studiomas architetti
• Location: Reggio Emilia, Province of Reggio Emilia, Italy
• Area: 720.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Marco Zanta

• Collaborators: Elena Gomiero, Enrico Polato, Devis Durello, Simone Siino
• Structural Engineering: Studio di ingegneria RS srl
• Mechanical Engineering: Studio Cassutti sas

© Marco Zanta

From the architect. In the countryside between Parma and Reggio Emilia there are several ancient farms, now abandoned or in ruins. All of them have the same features, so that it is possible to recognize a building type: a compact block on three levels hosting the farmer’s residence, completed by a stretched volume hosting the cattle at the ground floor and the hay at the first floor. The cattleshed has three naves divided by brick columns supporting a vaulted brick ceiling, the barn consists in a big hall opened to the South, with pillars supporting oak trusses and a brick roof; both they are screened from the sun by a deep and high portico with brick paving.

© Marco Zanta

Isometric

© Marco Zanta

The project consist in a conservative restoration of the cattleshed volume and in a renovation of the dwelling spaces. All the existing brick and stone walls, all the brick floors and roofs have been maintened, or, if damaged, they have been dismantled, restored piece by piece and reassembled; the same work has been done for the oak beams, the doors, the iron railings, the stairs and all the elements that it was possible to recover. Therefore in this way a project can preserve the witnesses of a long tale.

© Marco Zanta

Section

© Marco Zanta

Since the house is located in an active earthquake zone, the structure has been reinforced with steel prosthesis, hidden into the walls, the wood beams and the roofs.

© Marco Zanta

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© Eugeni Pons

• Architects: Dominique Coulon & associés
• Location: 28 Rue des Closiaux, 92140 Clamart, France
• Assistants Architects: David Romero-Uzeda, Olivier Poulat, Chang Zhang, Steve Letho Duclos
• Area: 2596.0 m2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Eugeni Pons

• Competition : Olivier Nicollas
• Construction Site Supervision : Olivier Poulat
• Structural Engineer : Batiserf Ingénierie
• Mechanical Plumbing Engineer : BET G.Jost
• Electrical Engineer : BET G.Jost
• Cost Estimator : E3 économie
• Acoustics : Euro sound project
• Landscaping: Bruno Kubler
• Program : Gymnase / Aire de sport extérieur / Logements de fonction / Cour collège
• Construction Companies : COLAS (Asbestos disposal, Demolition), SNRB (Concrete structure, Metal structure, Roofing, UGlass facade, Water proofing, Exterior works), SEC FRANCE ASCENSEURS (Elevator), RS2I BATIMENT (Metalworks, fence, gates), NBA (Plastering, ceiling, interior wood joinery, signage, furniture), DE COCK (tiled floors), ARTMANIAC (Painting, glued floors), SERT (Plombimg, Heating, Ventilation), SPORT France (Sport equipements)
• Client : Conseil départemental des Hauts-de-Seine / Pôle Bâtiments et Transports / Services des Travaux Neufs et réhabilitations / NANTERRE
• Budget : 7400000 €

© Eugeni Pons

From the architect. The building is located in a 1950s residential area in the Paris suburbs. The large sports hall is positioned at the far end of the site, giving the street a degree of amplitude and generating a public space which reinforces the building’s status as a community facility. The volume of the accommodation is in keeping with the houses in the neighbourhood. The fragmentation of the programmes produces a displacement between the two volumes, offering glimpses of the central part of the site and opening up views towards the gardens.

Diagram

This dispersion of volumes is contradicted by a continuous canopy which breaks up the perspective by obliquely distorting and twisting the vanishing lines. As it unfolds, it creates an invisible balance between the various points of tension the length of the canopy.

© Eugeni Pons

The displacement of the volumes expands the space and sets up contradictory vanishing lines. This open, dynamic shape alters the perception of limits and loosens the usual relationships between street and site. Architecture ceases to be a border between public and private spaces – the building allows glimpses of what is usually concealed.

© Eugeni Pons

Ground Floor

© Eugeni Pons

A completely transparent gallery offers views from the street of the outline of the changing rooms. The contrasts produced by the matte, shiny and transparent surfaces accentuate the impression of an abstraction of space.

© Eugeni Pons

The large hall has natural lighting on the upper part of all four sides, with opalescent glass diffusing a uniformly soft light. The ceiling appears to be in a state of levitation, and the structure is absorbed to the point of disappearance by the double thickness of the glass. The lower part of the hall comprises spaced vertical slats; one side of the slats is grey. The hollows house the technical services and the black-coloured acoustic treatment. These gaps reinforce the impression of depth and lend thickness to the whole.

© Eugeni Pons

The grey concrete, the glass, and the shiny and matte surfaces are varied over the different spaces, creating a timeless atmosphere. 

Section

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New York, USA. Image © Flickr User: Jeffrey Zeldman. Licence CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Over the last few years, the way Americans move around has changed remarkably, especially among young people. Previously the automobile was people’s preferred, if not the only, option. Now they are choosing to walk, bike, or use public transport according to recent studies.

This difference in preferred transportation methods has generated many benefits not only for residents but also for cities, in both economic and social terms. 

A study conducted in 2014 by Smart Growth America, dedicated to improving communities, in conjunction with the George Washington University School of Business and the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis, of 30 metropolitan areas were classified according to how walkable they are and how this influences their commercial development, talent attraction, or the educational level of people who are in those places and the economic performance of the sector. 

The study found the three most pedestrian cities to be Washington DC (1st), New York (2nd) and Boston (3rd), while on the opposite end of the spectrum were Tampa (28th), Phoenix (29th) and Orlando (30th). 

However, aside from each city’s position on the list, the investigation was able to obtain other data that until now had not been related to walkability. For example, that walkable cities have a per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 38% higher than those which are not and which in turn attracts people with a higher educational level, becoming more socially equitable. 

This same study was carried out again this year and its results have just been published. This time the first part is based on the fact that “for the first time in 60 years, walkable urban places (WalkUPs) in all 30 of the largest metropolitan areas are gaining market share over their drivable sub-urban competition.”

Within the 30 metropolitan areas, 619 WalkUPs were evaluated, but represent, on average, 1% of the entire surface of a city. The population of the 30 zones represents 46% of the population of the United States, equivalent to 145 of 314 million inhabitants and at the same time generates 54% of the national GDP. 

In each of these 30 places, they calculated the percentage of areas in the WalkUPs that are made up of businesses, offices and rental properties to compare it with the area they occupy in the metropolitan area. According to this methodology, the results for this year show that New York, Washington, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle are the most walkable. 

But how does this relate to the economic performance of the area and the educational level of those who pass through there? As stated in the study, these indicators are linked “in some way.”

Land use and economy wise, research showed that walkable urban development appears to revitalize downtown areas and urbanize the suburbs, however, the greatest benefits are found in the former. 

On the other hand, the more walkable areas are socially more equitable because they have low transportation costs and greater access to job offers that compensate for higher housing costs. 

The results can be seen in the following tables:

Click on the image to enlarge. Image © Source: Study “Foot Traffic Ahead 2016”.

Click on the image to enlarge. Image © Source: Study “Foot Traffic Ahead 2016”.

Click on the image to enlarge. Image © Source: Study “Foot Traffic Ahead 2016”.

The “Foot Traffic Ahead 2016” study can be downloaded here.

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