This small holiday home by Rural Design nestles between grassy knolls on the Isle of Skye, the largest of Scotland’s Inner Hebrides islands (+ slideshow). (more…)
Self-build retreat by Rural Design nestles into rugged Isle of Skye landscape
architecture
Project of the Month: Jetavan
Courtesy of Edmund Summer
For religious societies, heritage and traditions play an important role in maintaining identity, culture and allowing for the community’s self-improvement, both spiritually but also in a spatial sense. Therefore, the way people occupy the place in which they live leads to the material fulfillment of religious aims.
With the creation of a place that follows their sacred order—the Jetavana—the community can be enriched while performing their traditions and rituals in a specific and proper way through architecture.
Created for a religious community with poor economic resources, this project designed by Sameep Padora & Associates achieves this purpose and delivers a space with great spiritual significance and value through the reincarnation of materials, minimal intervention in the natural environment and by gathering a community’s traditions. In the following text, the architects elaborate on some of the factors that made this ArchDaily‘s Project of the Month for July.
Courtesy of Edmund Summer
Jetavan / Sameep Padora & Associates
Criteria used for selecting re-used materials
The primary driver was a monetary and material frugality, but ease of access to construction material as well as their maintenance over time were important concerns. The seasoned wood for the roof structure came from ship breaking yards; the fired mangalore roof tiles from older dismantled buildings and the rammed stone dust walls from a basalt stone quarry nearby. The design process became almost reactive, responding to our fast-changing understanding of context, an understanding that evolved in tandem with the construction of the project. I think the significance of the project lies in this.
Courtesy of Sameep Padora & Associates
Almost all of our assumptions about locally sourced materials are challenged in this project: rammed earth needed too much cement for stabilization, bamboo and thatch for construction were both of poor quality. This light-footed, nimble and reactive process, divorced from the weight of a fixed and preempted solution, enabled a response that is both appropriate and rich.
Courtesy of Sameep Padora & Associates
Stone Dust: What features does this material have in comparison to concrete? What other possibilities can this material give to local design?
The extremely hot and dry climate of Sakharwadi required a material that would insulate the interior from the heat. As opposed to concrete the thick rammed stone dust walls keep the interior extremely cool.
Courtesy of Sameep Padora & Associates
The aim of the stone dust rammed wall construction was also to turn the project into a demonstration of how local material which is traditionally seen as waste could be used to catalyze a new form of indigenous construction. We hope that it kickstarts a new “local” technique, not one based in nostalgia but specific to its time.
Courtesy of Sameep Padora & Associates
How is the Buddhist spirituality reflected in the architectural design concept and program?
The center is built for the local neo-buddhists, the “Baudh” community, but is open to all religions.
Courtesy of Sameep Padora & Associates
The opening of the center included religious leaders from the Christian, Muslim and Hindu communities as well. The Baudh community has traditionally been an economically disadvantaged section of Indian society and while they do have a substantial political presence in the country the center attempts to fill in the gaps of spiritual programs like meditation and yoga as well as vocational training for the youth. Therefore, the two largest spaces within the precinct house a meditation hall and a workshop.
Courtesy of Sameep Padora & Associates
The primary directive was to do no harm to a single living thing, hence the center is split and fragmented between trees rather than being a consolidated singular block. Not a single tree was cut during its construction.
Courtesy of Edmund Summer
The repetitive rhythm of the wooden structure, used to bring focus to a deity statue, references the stone ribbed interior of the Buddhist cave architecture. Some of our early study models also alluded to the vaulted section of the cave roof, but the logic of visually connecting to the foliage of the trees outside we felt was eventually the more dominant and desirable experience.
Jetavan / Sameep Padora & Associates
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Richard Meier & Partners Complete Office Building in Rio de Janeiro
Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
Richard Meier & Partners has completed their first project in South America, a 7-story, sustainable office building in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Leblon. The building will feature concrete, glass and vertical gardens, and will serve as the new international headquarters for top Brazilian investment firm VINCI Partners. The structure consists of open office spaces looking out onto several private interior courtyards and a series of terraces that create a connection with the main urban thoroughfare of Bartolomeu Mitre Avenue.
Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
The building contains 7 floors and 6,500 square meters of leasable floor space, as well as 3 underground floors for private parking and additional office space. A spacious lobby anchors the building to the street, as a louvered facade rises from the ground to shield the building’s western elevation from sun and for 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,” explains Bernhard Karpf, design partner-in-charge. “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.”
Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
The building’s eastern section has been pulled back from neighboring buildings to create the internal courtyards and allow natural light to penetrate into each office space from multiple fronts. Lush vertical gardens act as the skewer, connecting the open-air atriums and the building’s exposed concrete core.
“Looking at the context has always been something that is very important in our work,” says Richard Meier. “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.”
Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
The firm hopes the office project will become a significant architectural contribution to Rio de Janeiro’s rich heritage, while providing needed climate-designed office space for the city.
This is Richard Meier & Partners first completed building in the region, but have designed seven buildings throughout Latin America, including the Reforma Towers in Mexico City, Mexico and the Vitrvm development in Bogota, Colombia both of which are currently under construction.
Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
Wall-climbing mini robots build “entirely new structures” from carbon fibre
Researchers at the University of Stuttgart have devised a new method of construction using mini robots that they claim is cheap, fast and can create structures that would otherwise be impossible to build (+ movie). (more…)
Case Ornsby Design Create an Elegant and Cozy Contemporary Home in Merivale
Andover Street is a private home created by Case Ornsby Design. It is located in Merivale, a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. Andover Street by Case Ornsby Design: “After the huge earthquakes in 2010/2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand, the devastated original home occupying this site was removed and the land was purchased by our clients. Historically, the city of Christchurch has its roots in agriculture, so we designed an urban..
Video: Eran Chen on How to Transform New York City: “One Green Space at a Time”
After training at the prestigious Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Israel and moving to New York in 2000, Eran Chen founded ODA Architecture, a boutique architectural firm based in NYC. Chen has quickly become a recognized name associated with creating buildings that are not only innovative but also ecologically responsible. ODA has participated in high profile projects such as the “super-skinny and super-tall” Manhattan Tower and “a city within a city” in Brooklyn.
In the video above, Chen shares howODA has been very active in the reconstruction, reimagining, redesign of NYC. He explains how architecture in the city is about the interstitial spaces, voids, gaps and land in between skyscrapers. Chen explains that the way we inhabit the built environment is a combination of physical and mental experiences.
New York City is faced with a bleak future of imposing walls, streets, and interiors (…) as an alternative to this future, we propose a network of spaces in which human scale inversely governs building scale, which in turn promotes socialization and community shared Chen with his social media followers.
In the second part (below) of the interview with ArchDaily, Chen discusses how well-designed outdoor spaces brings value to our lives and that by making this his main element during the design process, architects can leave room for compromise on other things. In his latest project, Chen explains a new concept of filling in the gaps and creating what is essentially a house with a backyard in a dense, vertical city like Manhattan.
ODA Unveils New Residential Towers for Brooklyn
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ODA Unveils Plans for Brooklyn Bridge Park Residential Towers
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ODA Aims to Bring “Qualities of Private House” to Multi-Family Housing in Brooklyn
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ODA’s 71 White Street in Brooklyn Incorporates the Site’s Graffitied Walls Into the Design
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15 Union Square West / ODA Architecture + Perkins Eastman Architects
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James Hotel / ODA Architecture + Perkins Eastman Architects
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Centre Sportif GEMS World Academy / CCHE
© Thomas Jantscher
- Architects: CCHE
- Location: 1163 Etoy, Switzerland
- Architect In Charge: CCHE Lausanne SA
- Area: 3690.0 sqm
- Project Year: 2015
- Photographs: Thomas Jantscher
© Thomas Jantscher
From the architect. Ideally located, this project is structure around dynamics flows organized mainly by the surrounding of the highway and the SBB tracks. The main areas characterized by their big space, are visually connected through the main public area, which allow to look at the same time towards the sports room and the pool.
© Thomas Jantscher
Ground Floor Plan
© Thomas Jantscher
The observer recognizes the spatial duality already seen outside, with two bright lanterns hanging from the façade. The expression of the project shows the different nature of the inside areas. The high metallic structure volumes can be reveal from the outside through the polycarbonate skin, and becomes the expression of the building. This metallic structure leans on the large concrete base which define de areas. With a sober design, made of reinforced concrete, the building was realised in a little more than a year.
© Thomas Jantscher
SPF Architects Design a Luxury Residence in Los Angeles, California
Oberfeld Luxury Residence is a home located in Los Angeles, California, USA. Covering an area of 8,458 square feet, it was designed by SPF Architects. The property is currently for sale. Buy it now! Oberfeld Luxury Residence by SPF Architects: “From the street, the crisp, white cement panels that clad the residence’s exterior rise a modest 18’ from the street. However, almost secretly tucked away towards the back and the..
Barozzi Veiga adds gridded concrete extension to Bündner Kunstmuseum
This extension to a Swiss art museum by Spanish studio Barozzi Veiga features gridded concrete facades and subterranean galleries (+ slideshow). (more…)
Country House Renovation in Empordà / ARQUITECTURA-G
© José Hevia
- Architects: ARQUITECTURA-G
- Location: La Bisbal d’Empordà, Girona, Spain
- Area: 900.0 sqm
- Project Year: 2015
- Photographs: José Hevia
© José Hevia
This is a country house located in the Catalan Empordà. Although it’s surrounded by fruit trees and fields, it isn’t completely alone, as it shares a wall with another house of smaller size.
© José Hevia
The house is the result of a series of extensions that happened over time giving answer to both residential and agricultural needs. When we first arrived we discovered different volumes in three levels, with a myriad of enchained rooms, with some of them lacking light and ventilation. The central part of the house was the most obscure part of it as it was far from the windows.
© José Hevia
The main intervention consists in introducing light and fresh air in the core of the house creating exterior areas of relation. We take advantage of an existing ground floor patio, and we open up a new and larger one in the first floor. This last one puts in relation the more public areas of the house, and is where the pool is.
© José Hevia
We exposed all the stone walls, removing minor walls, allowing new circulations that foster the labyrinthine character of the house, and paradoxically improving its use.
© José Hevia
All the new steel structure is based on the rhythm of a series of 100×100 steel columns that are repeated in different parts. The new structure, as well as the new doors and window frames, is painted burgundy to easily make the distinction between what is new and what was already there.
© José Hevia
Every room is connected to the whole, but designed as an independent unit, equipped with its own built-in furniture.
© José Hevia
© José Hevia
The stone volumes are painted off-white so we achieve a neutral, natural background where the new materials play an important role in space definition. Thus, the brown colour glaze tiles are the common thread that walks the inhabitant all the time in contrast with the antique terracotta tile floors.
Model
The result is a country house plenty of living and dining rooms where the family and their frequent guests can work, rest, eat, sleep and swim.
© José Hevia
