Ikea’s tongue-in-cheek response to Kanye West’s request to collaborate with the Swedish furniture giant, the latest news from our Brexit design summit and Rio’s Olympic architecture (pictured) feature in this week’s issue of Dezeen Mail.
Read Dezeen Mail issue 317 | Subscribe to Dezeen Mail
Photographer and filmmaker Joe Capra, known for Scientifantastic, filmed and produced the video ‘10328×7760 – The 10K Demo‘, which is exactly what the title implies, a timelapse video resolution in 10K of the city of Rio de Janeiro. For those who are not familiar with the technical specifications, this resolution is about 10 times higher than the traditional Full HD (1920 x 1080px), which is the maximum resolution of most monitors sold today.
The video consists of a compilation of aerial images of Rio framing iconic landscapes of the city, showing every day life in fast motion, the frenzy of the metropolis all with timelapse techniques. The high resolution of the video allows you to see in detail the movement of people, vehicles, the Guanabara Bay waters, life in the favelas, the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, the Sugar Loaf cable cars, among other emblematic points of the city.
Visit Joe Capra’s website for more of his work.
New York architect Toshiko Mori has renovated and extended a building originally designed by famed Modernist architect Marcel Breuer as a personal residence, connecting two structures with a glass-enclosed staircase (+ slideshow). (more…)
From the architect. The state-of-the-art commercial office building in the Leblon neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro houses the new international headquarters of VINCI Partners, one of Brazil’s leading alternative investment and asset management firms. The structure consists primarily of private interior courtyards, open office spaces and a series of terraces that create a direct connection with the urban artery of Bartolomeu Mitre Avenue.
Bernhard Karpf, design partner-in-charge, comments: “There is always a certain excitement and hesitation as to what the cultural differences mean for the design and construction process. We were excited to embark on a project within a city and country that has such a rich architectural legacy; for us it was important to try and understand how architecture’s role was shaped by both the climate and the people who were using it. The most interesting part of the process was discovering how our architectural ideas and strategies needed to respect and create the dialogue with its context.”
The building consists of seven floors above ground for a total height of 25 meters with a leasable floor area of 6,500 m2. A spacious lobby anchors the building to the streetscape, and three subterranean floors provide additional leasable space and private parking.
The office tower’s design, with its refined, formal vocabulary, reflects the distinct orientation of the site while addressing issues of sustainability, maximum efficiency, and flexibility. The entire building is recessed from the urban frontage and shielded by a carefully composed set of louvers along the western elevation designed for both maximum sun shading and privacy.
“The design of the Leblon project does not contextualize itself with its material palette, but rather through its articulation and layering of the primary façade with a screen. This enables the building to recede from the city while maintaining a street front. It offers its inhabitants the desired privacy and protection from the sun while maintaining a visual connection to the street and the sense of transparency,” states Mr. Karpf
The eastern section of the building is spaced apart from its neighbors to create internal courtyards and provide natural lighting on two exposures for all office spaces. Generous vertical gardens tie these open-air atriums into the exposed concrete core of the building. The entire project straddles between the refined precision of a white aluminum-and-glass free-plan office, and the roughness of concrete and the vegetation within the courtyards.
Guilherme Goldberg, Real Estate Officer at VINCI Partners, comments: “Working with Richard Meier & Partners through all the phases of the project was a very inspiring and learning process that resulted in a very unique office building. Starting from the early conceptual phases through the construction drawings, Associate Partner Bernhard Karpf and his team in New York City were very supportive to our ideas, and have now achieved a very efficient and innovative design that has exceeded our expectations.
“As a cohesive team, we successfully climbed a very steep learning curve. Richard Meier & Partners was able to recognize the local construction and development process in Brazil, and the local consultants were challenged by all the creative solutions proposed by the Firm. We believe the end result is magnificent, creating not only an exciting work environment, but also a landmark for the local neighborhood”.
Richard Meier comments: “The completion of the Leblon Offices is very special for our Firm as it represents our first completed building in South America and in Latin America. Brazil’s architecture is very distinct from Latin America as a whole and diverse in itself, and we are extremely honored to complete a project within a country that has such a rich architectural heritage.
“Looking at the context has always been something that is very important in our work. We look at how that project not only fulfills the functional requirements of what it is, but how it responds to where it is and how it enlivens the community. Brazil’s architecture celebrates natural light, openness and nature’s intimate relationship with the built environment, and these are elements that we have integrated in the design of the new Leblon Offices. The building reflects our firm’s commitment to accessible, open and sustainable architecture, and we are extremely thankful to our clients at VINCI Partners for all their support and dedication in the design and construction of the new Leblon Offices.”
The firm’s design role was to bring to life a vision for a successful, high-end office space with a project that aspires to become a significant architectural contribution to Rio de Janeiro, respecting Brazil’s rich architectural heritage while simultaneously challenging preconceived notions of indoor and outdoor spaces, and the relationship between the building and the city of Rio de Janeiro.
Richard Meier & Partners has designed seven buildings in Latin America, including the Reforma Towers in Mexico City, Mexico and the Vitrvm development in Bogota, Colombia both currently under construction.
In this video entitled Building Between, Marlon Blackwell advocates for a kind of regionalism which isn’t as divisive as “regionalism.” As a 24-year resident of Arkansas, he recalls his work and process in a place which he states is both “an environment of natural beauty and a place of real constructed ugliness”—showing the nuanced and self-critical awareness of place beyond the utopian glorification of genius loci which earlier this year earned him the 2016 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture.
Most architecture isn’t very good, and most good architecture is good enough for most days, but there is some architecture which should rise above the everyday.
In their often maligned context in Middle America, Blackwell’s projects inject life and cultural vitality, with the most notable examples being the St. Nicholas Church and the Fayetteville Montessori Elementary school. These works reflect his opinion that “architecture can happen anywhere, in any scale, [and] in any budget.” He further states that “most architecture isn’t very good, and most good architecture is good enough for most days, but there is some architecture which should rise above the everyday.” This statement makes an argument for the existence of outstanding architecture in any region. To achieve this, he urges the recreation of the strangeness of a place within the architecture. As one of the most respected regional-modern architects in America, to Blackwell it means developing a connection to the place which is “singular and universal, simultaneously local but with global presence.”
Opinion: shocking new statistics about the mental health of architecture students in the UK should be a wake-up call for both architects and educators, says Robert Mull. (more…)
Japanese architects including Sou Fujimoto, Atelier Bow-Wow, Kengo Kuma and Shigeru Ban have all designed houses of the future for a Tokyo exhibition (+ movie). (more…)
Bulcke House is located in Las Araucarias de Linderos Golf Club, 30 km at south of Santiago.
The plot face the golf course in a corner in two of its sides, situation that gives a great perspective and views of the landscape but at the same time an overexposure of the privacy of the house.
The house was design as a large inner courtyard, the opaque facade of the street emphasizes the access and the volumes composed a U shape generate a protected exterior space, framing the views on the Golf Course. This self-enclosure is complemented by several interior courtyards, which gives the sun and light on blind areas.
The house is sheltered with large eaves and mobile frameworks of Corten steel that can be moved according to the sun, privacy or possible balls of a bad approach.
The house is entirely built in concrete with handmade wood cast in walls and ceilings and polished concrete floors, where the hardness of this material is contrasted in the interior with the warmth of walnut wood doors and furniture and in the exterior with Corten steel.
This article is part of our new “Material Focus” series, which asks architects to elaborate on the thought process behind their material choices and sheds light on the steps required to get buildings actually built.
The Enseada House project was developed by the Porto Alegre office of National Architecture in 2015 and is 317 square meters with an interesting interplay between volume and materials. We talked with the architect Paula Otto, one of the designers to learn more about the material choices used in this project and the role that these choices played in the design concept.
What are the main materials you used for this project?
PO: Concrete, wood, stone (marble) and glass. In addition to those, we used some vegetation incorporated into the facade.
What were your main sources of inspiration and influence when choosing the materials used in the project?
PO: This basic combination of concrete and wood is very classic since they contrast and complement one another cooler and warmer. The use of vegetation on the facade is something that fits the project well and is increasingly used in contemporary architecture, references that we respect and influence us in a positive way.
Describe how decisions on materials influenced the project’s design.
PO: The project arises as a result of the composition of pure volumes. The goal was that the three distinct volumes of the house read very clearly. On the lower level, we would have the timber volume and the vegetation volume, upstairs we have the concrete volume. To make it so that the frames don’t break the uniformity of the concrete volume on the second floor, we used marble louvers (in very similar tone to the concrete) incorporated into the volume.
What were the advantages that this material offered to the construction of the project?
PO: Concrete was used as a structural element, without any other kind of coating. In this case, great care was taken with the numbering of the formwork, since any marks would be visible. Wood (in the shape of vertical louvers) was used as the light and privacy control element with foldable openings. Developed by the office together with the supplier, the louvers have a design that, when closed, make up the volume of the ground floor. The advantage of using wood for this comes from its format, flexibility, and handling.
Did the choice of materials create any challenges for the project?
PO: I think it made it more challenging to get specific things from the suppliers. In the case of wood, with respect to designing the louvers, and in the case of aluminum frames, finding a supplier who could develop a frame with more than 3 tracks. But the biggest challenge was developing the mounting details for the marble louvers on the facade. All in all, we talked to seven different providers before finding one that did the details correctly and was in line with the project.
Did you ever consider other possible materials for the project? If so, how would that have changed the project?
PO: No. This particular project started out being very similar to what was implemented, the materials were well defined from the very first sketches.
How did you research suitable suppliers and builders for the materials used in the project?
PO: We end up looking for suppliers that meet our needs in relation to specific materials and especially the detail necessary for the project. We try to create a network of relationships that will end up being used in future projects. We look for suppliers ready to move away from the familiar and work on details with the office. We believe that new proposals are crucial for the supplier’s growth as well. Being open to new challenges are qualities that we value greatly in our partners. The means of finding these suppliers are through internet searches and specialized fairs, but particularly on visits to other sites (where we can see live materials) and by referrals.
Haworth Tompkins and Metropolitan Workshop have revealed their designs for housing that will replace London’s historic Robin Hood Gardens estate by Brutalist architects Alison and Peter Smithson. (more…)
