© Satoshi Shigeta

• Architects: Takashi Nishitani Architects
• Location: Toshima, Tokyo, Japan
• Textile: Studio Akane Moriyama
• Area: 76.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Satoshi Shigeta

© Satoshi Shigeta

From the architect. This project is renewal the entire building to a serviced apartment of Asian international students. This building is built 40 years ago.

Section

Structure of concrete to be felt of aging is not hiding. 
Interior space is filled with a soft light , served the base material of the timber.

© Satoshi Shigeta

Lighting surface with a window is covered with a fabric shiny, back is a plasterer finish. Natural light will create a screen of multi-layered light, such as the aurora appears by irregular reflection of light in the Between.

Plan

( Type – I )
Illumination light covered with fabric brings soft light such as natural light.
The wall that separates the common space and private space is a plywood base material.
Door that is aligned with the wall has created a sense of unity as a facial expression, such as the wall. The time you open the door, sunlight from the outside to enter the common space.

© Satoshi Shigeta

In the case where not attach the ceiling, Exposed piping equipment is spread around on the ceiling. This ceiling was to devise a way of wiring the piping equipment.
Focusing on the beam sleeve existing precursor,
To verify the wiring routes, dealing with equipment piping by installing the equipment for the mall as a representation, such as the structural beam.  Placing the illumination light from on the wiring mall running the ceiling depending on the layout of the furniture.

Plan

Piping is to be a representation that was regarded as the structural beam, was intended to be a finish that felt sense of unity the ceiling surface.

© Satoshi Shigeta

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© Mickey Ross

• Architects: Condon Scott Architects Ltd
• Location: Wanaka, New Zealand
• Design Team: Barry Condon, Sarah Scott
• Builder: Thomas Moore Builders Ltd
• Area: 280.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: Mickey Ross

© Mickey Ross

From the architect. The brief was to create a robust home for a young family capitalising on the stunning views over Lake Hawea to the mountains beyond.

© Mickey Ross

Site

The house is located on a north facing section on the shores of Lake Hawea in the South Island of New Zealand

The site rises eight metres from a broad street frontage to an elevated narrow point at the rear.

© Mickey Ross

Design

The design uses the topography of the site to create a split level configuration with garage at ground floor level, the main living spaces at a half level higher and the guest bedroom spaces a half level higher again positioned over the garage space.

Floor Plan

These levels are linked by short flights of steps, giving a barely noticable transition. The entry approach is a series of steps and landings guiding the visitor up to the entry foyer without the sense of ascending a flight of stairs.

© Mickey Ross

The crank in the plan form provides some privacy to the front deck from the western neighbour.  This provides an interplay between the two wings and allows opportunities for curved elements at the junction point.  This in turn creates a sense of drama in the entry foyer with a curved cedar wall leading guests into the living space.   The vertical timber elements on the bedroom wing provide privacy from the living space and help to break up the two storey volume of the garage/bedroom wing.

Section

Lake Hawea is known for its wind so the creation of a series of outdoor spaces and a sheltered rear courtyard was essential.   This courtyard opens off the living room and offers views to the lake beyond.   The dark ribbed cladding and the large aperture through to the lake is reminescent of the bellows and view finder of an old camera.  An appropriate metaphor in this timeless kiwi holiday destination.

© Mickey Ross

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© Patterlini Benoit

French architect Patterlini Benoit has imagined a mixed-use building to be wrapped around one half of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Completed in 1836 as a memorial to the victories of the French armies under Napoleon, Paris’ triumphal arch is one of the most iconic and visited landmarks in France and the world over. But Benoit argues that its status as a tourist destination has removed it from the authentic cityscape that is used by everyday Parisians. His proposal attempts to reclaim the monument for the city by dividing the arch with an enormous mirrored plane – visually competing the monument from one perspective and providing new function from another. In this way, Benoit claims, the structure can be “brought into modernity without denying history.”

© Patterlini Benoit

The proposal consists of a series of stacked glass boxes, bracketed around the monument and connected via a glass elevator. The boxes would have their own independent structure, so they can float around the Arch without compromising the memorial.  Each box would contain different programmatic elements: a museum to French history and nationalist, an art gallery, a panoramic restaurant, and a cafe-style lounge, where tourists and locals could interact.

© Patterlini Benoit

© Patterlini Benoit

Benoit also addresses the issue of accessibility to the site. Located in the center of the world’s most famous roundabout, the Place Charles de Gaulle, access to the monument currently demands navigating across 12 lanes of traffic or walking through an underground tunnel. Benoit’s proposal calls for a new landscaped bridge connecting the monument to the neighborhood of Neuilly. The bridge would accommodate both pedestrian and bike traffic, becoming a new green corridor of the city.

© Patterlini Benoit

The remaining half of the Arch would remain undisturbed, with the large mirrored surface visually completing the symmetrical structure. On the other side of the mirrored wall, a digital billboard would be erected to announce events and Parisian news.

Obviously speculative, the project’s true goal is in in questioning whether our landmarks and icons can contribute to the public realm in more pragmatic ways.

© Patterlini Benoit

© Patterlini Benoit

© Patterlini Benoit

© Patterlini Benoit

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© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

• Architects: João Tiago Aguiar Arquitectos
• Location: Lisbon, Portugal
• Architecture Collaboration: Renata Vieira, Ruben Mateus, João Nery Morais, André Barreiros Silva
• Area: 180.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photography: Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

• Builder: A RENOVADORA CONSTRUÇÕES, LDA.

© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

From the architect. The apartment was too compartmentalized in the social areas. 

There was only one common bathroom, since the other was conditioned to the maid’s room, only accessible from the kitchen. 

© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

The main idea was to bring together living-room, entrance hall and kitchen in an uninterrupted space, giving access to other compartments through a single indoor hall. The elimination of the maid’s room also enabled increasing the kitchen and the reorganization of the bathrooms. 

Plan

That allowed the creation of a suite freeing the use of the other bathroom by the rest of the apartment. 

A set of black lacquered panels transforms the bounce generated by the stairwell into an architectural element, which not only hides the counters as well aggregates the social space of the apartment.

© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

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Courtesy of SADAR + VUGA

SADAR + VUGA and local partner PRG°B R Architektur have been awarded first prize in a competition for the new Headquarters for the Supreme Court and School of Magistrates in Tirana, Albania. The winning proposal, selected from a pool of over 30 international firms and from a shortlist of 5 finalists, renovates an existing 3,000 square meter Italian Rationalist structure while adding four light-filled courtrooms and a new educational block.

Courtesy of SADAR + VUGA

The design is a product of its site along the periphery of the Grand Park Tirana, drawing inspiration from the tranquility of the forest and the strength of the existing structure, characteristics that create what SADAR + VUGA refer to as an “urban oasis of sorts.” The renovation and addition enhance these natural qualities while introducing a lively spirit to the site through the creation of an animated urban square, an independent educational facility, intelligently organized administrative spaces for judicial staff and four transparent, tectonic courtrooms that feel open, yet secure.

Program pieces have been dividing into unique architectural objects, arranged to give the complex a campus-like feel. Outer walls of the court complex are constructed of a light tubular steel structure and floor to ceiling glazing. Green roofs also feature throughout the addition, pulling the park into the building.

Courtesy of SADAR + VUGA

Courtesy of SADAR + VUGA

The educational center takes on a more stoic personality, featuring a conventional concrete shear wall structure, and is set across from the existing building to create a public plaza for the complex. Additional program pieces include classrooms, a conference hall and cafe.

Courtesy of SADAR + VUGA

Courtesy of SADAR + VUGA

• Architects: SADAR + VUGA, PRG°B R Architektur
• Location: Shëtitore Parku i Madh, Tiranë, Albania
• Sadar+Vuga: Jurij Sadar, Boštjan Vuga, Kenneth Woods, Gregor Bucik, Jure Sadar, Grega Mervič, Blaž Lozej
• Prg°B R Architektur: Florian Pollo, Dorian Tytymçe
• Environmental: Transsolar (Markus Krauss)
• Landscape: Darja Matjašec
• Construction Engineer: Elea iC (Anjo Žigon), Klodioda (Ylli Karapici)
• Cultural Heritage Expert: Luise Rellensmann, Frida Pashako
• Area: 8200.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Courtesy of SADAR + VUGA

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