architecture
Circolo-A + Linearama Win Italian Competition with Ring-Shaped Complex
Courtesy of CIRCOLO-A + LINEARAMA
The team of CIRCOLO-A + LINEARAMA has won first prize in the AAA-Architetti Cercasi 2015 competition with its design, EPICICLO. As a mixed-use building, EPICICLO will feature apartments, alternative residences like student and social housing, common spaces, as well as both public and semi-private outdoor spaces.
The design is shaped after a ring so that it is open to the outside and comfortable on the inside. The design takes into account the relationship between public and private, not only creating a gradient from outside to inside but also varying public and private spaces within the building. Similarly, open and closed spaces are alternated, to create “spots of community life and moments of privacy.”
Courtesy of CIRCOLO-A + LINEARAMA
The project is based on the idea of public space and “introduces the idea of ‘discovery beyond the corner,’ according to which everyone can experience a micro-world populated by children and young people, teachers and students, sportsmen, artists and craftsmen, professionals and retirees” explains the architect.
With no main “front” to the building, the project offers 360-degree views of the external park, as well as access to the internal, more private green space.
Courtesy of CIRCOLO-A + LINEARAMA
EPICICLO additionally centers on the concept of modularity, in order to create a mixed dimension and foster the interaction of residents both indoors and outdoors.
Courtesy of CIRCOLO-A + LINEARAMA
Outside, the project features a natural hilly landscape, as well as a system of wooden walkways, rest areas, and water tanks. These water tanks contribute to the sustainability of the project by collecting rainwater to be reused for irrigation and household appliances, it performs phytoremediation, which reduces pollutants in the water.
Courtesy of CIRCOLO-A + LINEARAMA
Courtesy of CIRCOLO-A + LINEARAMA
Sustainability is further improved through winter gardens in each home, which work as solar greenhouses and naturally regulate climate, reducing the need for air conditioning systems.
News via CIRCOLO-A + LINEARAMA.
Contortionist is controlled by an octopus in Klyne’s Lend Me Another Name music video
Music: after eating some strange eggs, a girl goes through an “inner metamorphosis” controlled by an octopus in Barcelona-based director Alan Masferrer’s music video for Netherlands band Klyne. (more…)
Places Journal Examines Post-Katrina Architecture in New Orleans
Musicians Village Rainbow Row, New Orleans. Image © <a href='http://ift.tt/2aRPkia Lukasik</a> licensed under <a href='http://ift.tt/2a7gdBj BY 2.0</a>
The damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 can never be forgotten, but 10 years after the rebuilding of New Orleans started in 2006, a new architecture has emerged with cutting-edge designs being widely celebrated in the media. The Make It Right foundation (founded after the disaster to help with structural recovery) commissioned first-class architects such as Morphosis, Shigeru Ban, and David Adjaye to design safe and sustainable houses for New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward. But Richard Campanella and Cassidy Rosen worry that this vision is detached from reality.
Make It Right homes in the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans. Image © <a href='http://ift.tt/2aROfXB user drewzhrodague</a> licensed under <a href='http://ift.tt/2a7gdBj BY 2.0</a>
In their article for Places Journal, the two scholars report that contemporary and modernist houses only account for 5% of the post-Katrina cityscape. After studying a sample of 500 houses with both Google street view and study visits, they observed a revival of historical facades with a specific homage to the iconography of Old New Orleans. However interestingly, the use of historical architectural elements is limited to facades—all materials, technology, interiors, and infrastructure reflect 21st-century codes and domestic needs.
Maple street, New Orleans. Image © <a href='http://ift.tt/2aROL7H user infrogmation</a> licensed under <a href='http://ift.tt/2a7gdBj BY 2.0</a>
This interest for the architecture of the past is quite new, argue Campanella and Rosen. New Orleans citizens are known for their progressive thinking in architecture, especially during the post-war years, when Curtis and Davis Architects, Charles Colbert and Edward Durell Stone constructed locally. In Campanella and Rosen’s opinion, “the retro revival is mostly a response to the recent past—to difficult decades of contraction and decline,” that began prior to Katrina, but were intensified after the disaster.
Read the entire article, “14 to 1: Post-Katrina Architecture by the Numbers,” here.
Roscommon Civic Offices / ABK Architects
© Christian Richters
- Architects: ABK Architects
- Location: Roscommon, Ireland
- Design Team: Criona Nangle, (Project Architect) John Parker (Director), Leonardo Ponce, Cliona Rice.
- Area: 6600.0 sqm
- Photographs: Christian Richters
- Client: Roscommon County Council
- Conservation Architects: ABK Architects
- Project Manager: PM Group
- Civil And Structural Engineers: Punch Consulting Engineers
- Environmental Consultants: Homan O’Brien Associates
- Breeam Consultant: BDP
- Cost Consultants: AECOM, Galway
- Landscape Architects: Hyland Edgar Driver
- Fire Consultants: Ahearne Fire Engineering Consultants
- Main Contractor: Stewart Ltd
- Value: €12.8 million
- Ber Rating: A3
- Breeam Accreditation: Excellent
© Christian Richters
From the architect. Context
The design looks to work with the existing urban grain of the Town of Roscommon in order to create a coherent vision for the public realm.
The principle institutions of Roscommon Town, -Church and Court- historically somewhat dislocated from the town centre, are located in pocket of land that sits to the west of Market Square.
Diagram
It is this quarter, once a precinct of the C19th criminal justice system with its court building and walled enclosure of the County Goal, that the new civic offices are located.
The Gaol was demolished in the Mid 20th Century, apart from some boundary walls, while the Courthouse was extended in the 1960’s with an unsympathetic concrete annex to provide accommodation for the county council. It was onto this context that the new civic offices was to be overlaid.
© Christian Richters
Strategy
The project consists of some 6600m2 of office accommodation, laboratories, canteen and Council Chamber for the Council within a single building together with a series of discrete interventions within the greater context of the town so as to form a coherent urban proposal.
The building proper is composed of interlocking volumes constructed amid the traces of the C19th Gaol to create a variety of external spaces – a series of woodland gardens, a forecourt and a covered ‘walk’ sheltered by the cantilevered structure of the offices above.
© Christian Richters
A linear concourse provides the principle public space and primary horizontal circulation for the project linking the office ‘fingers’ with the Council Chamber suite.
Section
Section
From this space, visitors can enjoy views into adjacent wild gardens while transacting their business. A series of dramatic light shafts cut through the concrete structure and lined with fritted glass provide further daylight and glimpses to the offices above.
© Christian Richters
The council chamber, an independent suite with its own entrance located at the head of the scheme, is designed as a grand public room for council functions and civic gatherings. A corner window affords panoramic views of the county with its rolling landscape beyond – an appropriate backdrop for civic exchange.
© Christian Richters
As part of a coherent urban proposal, the project proposes the re-instatement of the original form of the Richard Morrison-designed C19th Courthouse, by removing a 1960’s annex and restoring the southwestern façade which now addresses the new civic offices.
Plan
Plan
Plan
The creation of a new town car park as part of the greater project afforded us the opportunity to create a new pedestrian route through backlands so as to link the town centre to the new civic offices. Stone boundary walls were restored, pebble paving with granite sets were laid down to delineate a route, and a concrete pavilion constructed to create a gateway from the car park to the civic precinct of Court and Civic Offices.
© Christian Richters
Materiality
The stone wall of the Gaol that was restored and integrated into the principle elevation of the offices established the materiality of the project.
© Christian Richters
Robust fair-faced concrete walls wrap and fold to support upper floors of white render complimented by Carrara marble which in turn provides an honorific expression to the building. Window ‘boxes’ of oak and LVL form linear strips with deep reveals that modulate daylight to offices.
This palate extends to the interior where floors are of polished concrete and white marble, walls are of fair-faced concrete and fritted glass and joinery is of White Maple.
© Christian Richters
Environment
The project uses simple technologies and strategies to achieve an A3 energy rating and a BREEAM Excellent certification.
Shallow plan depth combined with natural ventilation, exposed concrete structure and the careful control of insolation assist in creating a well-lit, well-tempered working environment.
© Christian Richters
A Biomass boiler and photovoltaic cells together with high levels of insulation further support the project’s environmental ambitions.
Fleet Architects creates timber “nest” and zigzagging bar for east London brewery
Fleet Architects has paired slatted timber screens with wooden parquet flooring in this transformation of a “concrete shell” in east London into a craft beer house (+ slideshow). (more…)
Pliskin Architecture Reveals Proposal for Music School in Israel
Courtesy of Pliskin Architecture
Pliskin Architecture has been awarded as a finalist in the competition for the Mevaseret Music School, in Mevaseret Zion, Israel. The firm’s proposal centers on the site’s existing topography, as well as the idea of public space through the elevation of the classroom programs to the upper level, and the creation of a continuous open space at street level.
The new public space at the street level leads visitors to a partially covered plaza, which will act as the main access point for the various functions of the conservatory. A café will be located adjacent to the plaza, where visitors can be partially exposed to the school’s activity via the building’s massing.
Courtesy of Pliskin Architecture
The design additionally features an auditorium, which is nestled into the hillside, facing southeast in the direction of a prominent, undeveloped ravine, which will act as a backdrop for performances. This view is further enhanced by the placement of backstage and support spaces underneath the seating, rather than in plain view. Furthermore, the backstage space is directly accessible from the parking lot and loading dock, allowing for the arrival of artists and instruments out of sight of the audience.
Courtesy of Pliskin Architecture
Courtesy of Pliskin Architecture
The architect explains that “the auditorium adapts acoustically to different music types using motorized acoustic roller shades that accommodate different reverb times by changing the ratio of reflective and absorptive surfaces.”
Courtesy of Pliskin Architecture
Courtesy of Pliskin Architecture
Similar shades are also utilized in the dance hall, orchestra room, and choir room, all of which are located at the lower level.
Courtesy of Pliskin Architecture
Courtesy of Pliskin Architecture
The elevated classroom level is clad with a slotted stone enclosure that allows filtered light to enter the spaces, balancing natural light with privacy needs, and offering a contemporary interpretation of the traditional stone cladding that is unique to this area. Several of the private study spaces face the entrance plaza below, providing students with the option of raising the shades to create a visual connection with visitors and expose the variety of learning opportunities that the conservatory provides. Another unique experience is provided in the rock rooms – a motorized skylight allows the room’s roof to fully open, creating an open-air-patio rehearsal space when the weather allows it.
- Architects: Pliskin Architecture
- Location: Mevaseret Zion, Israel
- Project Team: Lee Altman, Travis Bunt, Thomas Heltzel, Barak Pliskin, James Quick, Amy Shell, and Mat Staudt
- Photographs: Courtesy of Pliskin Architecture
News via Pliskin Architecture.
House with stone walls built by Spasm Design around a sunken courtyard in India
NARCH Remodels a Private Home in Eixample, Barcelona
Reforma Vivenda Eixample Barcelona is a remodeling project completed by NARCH. It is located in Eixample, a district of Barcelona, Spain. Reforma Vivenda Eixample Barcelona by NARCH: “Barcelona’s architects joan ramon pascuets + monica mosset / narch has renovated an early twentieth century apartment in Eixample district (1925). The client’s requests included a space large enough to hold family events and two rooms. We looked for a possibility to create..
Mad Giant Beer Interior / Haldane Martin
© Micky Hoyle
- Architects: Haldane Martin
- Location: Ferreiras Dorp, Johannesburg, 2001, South Africa
- Area: 1100.0 sqm
- Project Year: 2016
- Photographs: Micky Hoyle
- Interior Design : Haldane Martin
- Furniture Design : Haldane Martin
© Micky Hoyle
From the architect. Haldane Martin Iconic Design has designed a brewery and restaurant interior for Mad Giant beer that plays with scale referencing oversized metal toy construction kits. The result is a creative and welcoming industrial space that brings to life the DIY ethos of the renegade South African craft beer, while contributing to the urban regeneration of inner-city Johannesburg.
Mad Giant craft beer is a South African beer made by chemical engineer Eben Uys, still in his early thirties, a man with a passion for experimenting with science and flavour who is not afraid of big ideas. Mad Giant represents “the small guy brave enough to dream big and do something crazy,” in the words of its founder. Its mindset is renegade, propellerhead and somewhat madcap.
© Micky Hoyle
The brewery and restaurant in downtown Johannesburg was designed to embody the Mad Giant ideology and to create a space where beer drinkers can experience the free-spirited, adventurous philosophy of the brand, while experiencing a celebration of flavour and uninhibited creativity in a vibrant environment.
The restaurant inside the brewery, Urbanologi, gives an avant garde twist to Asian street food. Chef Angelo Scirocco (Test Kitchen, Chef’s Warehouse) calls his menu ‘urban garde’, and the unexpected combination of umami flavours and craft beer set it apart. Fresh natural ingredients, attention to detail in cooking and plating, and an experimental and constantly evolving menu reinforce the connection between Urbanologi’s cuisine and Mad Giant’s beer.
© Micky Hoyle
The interior concept draws on the mad, DIY mindset of Mad Giant and plays with scale to emphasise the giant behind the brand. Emerging as the perfect brand mascot, a giant yeti forms a centrepiece installation. This also translates onto the new brand identity of the beer bottle labels and other graphic design elements.
Standing from floor to ceiling behind the front bar facing the entrance of the brewery, the 7-metre-tall icon is made from laser-cut yellow zinc-passivated steel, riveted to a mild steel framework. It is spot lit from the ceiling, making it radiate from every angle of the space. At its base is the bar display with a large circular bar counter and branded Mad Giant beer taps in front of it.
Floor Plan
The 6-metre-diameter cast concrete bar counters take the form of a giant bottle cap beneath the giant yeti. There are another three simpler concrete bars at the back of the brewery in the tasting pods.
All the furniture in the brewery is bespoke and includes a range of original pieces by Haldane Martin made from custom-made scaled up Meccano, like giant toys turned into furnishings, to bring the brand vision to life. Giant murals with a playful, childlike aesthetic adorn the walls, enhancing the effect of a child’s big dreams brought to life.
© Micky Hoyle
The restaurant and brewery’s seating formations are diverse and varied, allowing for versatile social engagement. Outdoor tables and benches in the sun are suited for casual groups of friends or families sitting together. Inside, long beer-hall tables with sandblasted, black-stained table tops and swivel bar stools facilitate social interaction among large groups and strangers, encouraging flexible and spontaneous movement and conversation. Beyond that, four-seater tables are perfect for couples or small groups coming for a meal. At the back of the restaurant banquet seating areas and two-seater tables alongside beer tasting pods look onto the beer tanks for a more intimate seating formation and personalized beer-tasting experience.
© Micky Hoyle
The floors are spectacular, combining different materials in ways that reiterate the trope of blown-up toy building blocks. The dining area floor is made from recycled Rhodesian teak parquet, laid in a herringbone formation. At the front of the brewery the herringbone fragments into pixelated pieces, merging into stained concrete with floating pieces of wood creating playful patterns. In the bottle store the wooden flooring pixelates into honeycomb-shaped black and white tiles.
The walls along the length of the brewery feature grey-scale murals by graffiti artist Nomad. There are four portraits, one of a hooded woman, another a child in a bear onesie (his ‘mad giant’ suit) and the third of two children’s faces wearing goggles. Hexagon tiles feature on the walls of the bathrooms and kitchen.
© Micky Hoyle
An 80-year-old shed that has been refurbished, the building’s roof was replaced in renovations and left with exposed steel trusses painted with burnt red undercoat. The building itself used to be an old elevator factory in Johannesburg’s industrial hey-day and stood empty for years before the Mad Giant renovation. The transformation speaks to the upsurgence in movement back into South Africa’s financial capital’s inner city, with a revival of interest in the downtown area’s creative regeneration.
Bespoke lighting was designed for the space by Haldane Martin including large black feature pendant lights with gold interiors hanging from upscale red Meccano above the kitchen pass, and beer hall chandeliers with a contemporary twist in the dining area, made from circular wheel-shaped Meccano with LED Edison lightbulbs.
© Micky Hoyle
The outdoor tables and benches are created using custom-made scaled up Meccano pieces, inspired by the modular designs from the famous construction toy company. This construction technique also appears in the feature pendant lights that light up the kitchen pass, the LED Edison beer hall chandeliers in the dining area and in the table bases.
The banquet seating made from distressed leather is completely unique to Mad Giant. The formation is inspired by traditional diner seats, with a ribbed back that references the iconic Haldane Martin Songololo Sofa. The standout feature of the seats are their draped unfinished back and sides, creating a beautiful effect of hanging leather.
© Micky Hoyle
The dining chairs have rebar arms and legs, metal back and legs sprayed bright red with a Mad Giant emblem laser-cut into the back, with seats and seatbacks upholstered in distressed leather with red stitching.
The bathroom has massive I-beams painted bright red converted into basins. The hexagonal pattern of the bottle store floor tiles is continued in the bathroom’s scaled-down honeycomb wall tiles, as well as in the kitchen where larger black hexagonal tiles are emphasised with bright red tile grout. These elements continue the theme of building blocks while also alluding to the periodic table, to reinforce the mad scientist character behind the brand.
© Micky Hoyle
The interior was worked on from concept to installation between the Johannesburg venue and Cape Town, where the Haldane Martin design team is based. The process went smoothly and the client and designer are both incredibly happy with the final product. As the doors open to the public so interest is piquing in this completely unique, innovative space that caters to a wide audience of beer, food and design lovers alike.
Pioneering new flavours and iconic design, Mad Giant celebrates a brave creative spirit that speaks to the urban regeneration burgeoning in Johannesburg’s inner-city. It is a space that highlights the transformation of an area once lost to detriment, which is once again being revived to its former glory.
© Micky Hoyle
