Opinion: the Pokémon GO smartphone video game has become a cultural phenomenon that is changing the way people interact with cities and buildings, says Alex Wiltshire. (more…)
Today is Bastille Day, a French national holiday that celebrates the country’s reinvention as a republic. It commemorates the storming of the Bastille in Paris on 14 July 1789 – a symbolic moment for the French Revolution.
We’re joining the celebrations with a look back at some of the best French houses from our archive, including a dilapidated barn turned into a holiday home using traditional hemp-based plaster (pictured) and a villa designed to look like a bump in the landscape. See more French houses on Dezeen »
Graduate shows 2016: Royal College of Art graduate Fiona O’Leary has designed a prototype gadget that can identify the font used in any book or magazine (+ movie). (more…)
Luxury Residence is a private home located in Mumbai,India. The home was designed by Evolve. Luxury Residence by Evolve: “The luxury, though amply apparent, is in understated style. It is articulated mainly through the use of high end finishes and fittings. Walls and panels are finished with veneers, laser cut wall-papers besides paint and the flooring is of Italian marble throughout the house. The welcoming entrance foyer wall, articulated with..
Brexit crisis: architect and government adviser Sadie Morgan has called on the UK government to stick to its infrastructure investment plans as it prepares to leave the European Union. (more…)
The project consists of the renovation of an existing building of 10.544m2 surface area in Boulogne Billancourt, the redesign of the facades, taking into account the overall structure, the renovation of the technical premises, and the optimization of office spaces.
The building required an architectural revival justified by the evolution of office uses as well as the energetic standards.
The issues of energetic efficiency were subtly approached, in the facades and facilities designs, by customizing solutions rather than simply applying current regulations brutally. The entire building’s facades were wiped entirely clean of all superfluous elements. The whole structure was consolidated with the aim of obtaining good stability and a full transparency (65% in glass).
The building’s new skin, is a double ventilated façade of slight thickness.
The idea of total flexibility was pursued throughout the uniform grid patterning of the facade paneling into 1.35m modules corresponding of the suspended ceilings, and through the electrical and technical “irrigation” of the offices by means of raised floors and suspended ceilings.
The building’s new image forms both out of restraint regarding the economy of means and the taking into account of the client’s expressed wishes and needs. Our proposition highlights generosity of space, light, comfort, and wellbeing. Today more than ever businesses are sensitive to the image their facades present to the world, as well as to the amount of comfort they can provide their employees.
A Decade is a residential project designed by Taipei Base Design Center. It is located in Taichung City, Taiwan. Photos by: Black Wang
Glass, concrete, wood, and metal serve as the basis for drawing rich associations between space, structure, material, and location. What emerges is a house distinguished by contrasting interplays between heavy and light, load and support.
The horizontal building structure is thoughtfully embedded into the contours of the hillside; the transition from the interior to the exterior seamless and fluid. The narrow retaining walls bordering the residence and the enveloping yard give shape to a courtyard setting and preserve the palpable feel of the sloping terrain. A set of steps delineates the spatial flow of the interiors from entryway to the living, dining, and kitchen areas, picking up on the character of the descending outdoor terrain. The floor, fireplace, and two exterior load-bearing shear walls are made of concrete. A homogeneous structure, seemingly cast in one piece, encases the living room and serves as the foundation to the overlying wood construction.
A solid wood construction consisting of four exterior sheer walls and two transverse walls forms the structure of the overlying story, where the bedrooms are located. The wood construction is left exposed to the interior, while glass and metal surfaces form a weather barrier on the exterior. The wood structure rests on two vertical concrete shear walls, cantilevering to the front and back. It is stabilized by way of cross-bracing steel tension bars on the east- and west-facing windows that hold the two wooden shear walls together. The ceiling on the ground floor is hung front to back by way of tension rods attached to the two transverse steel roof beams.
The concrete construction on the ground level and the wood construction on the upper level interlock at two key junctions: the transverse concrete wall balanced over the fireplace forms the rear wall of the upstairs master bedroom and concrete bathtub; on the opposite side by the staircase, the wood construction runs through to the ground level. Two differing construction methods join in mutual dependency. What emerges is a static balancing act that unleashes an energetic, expansive sense of space and engenders an architectural language rich in associations.
Kailua Beach House is a residential project designed by H1+FN Design Build Collaborative. It is located in Kailua, Hawaii, USA. Kailua Beach House by H1+FN Design Build Collaborative: Hale Kilo I’a is a unique twist on Hawaiian and modern architecture. Hale Kilo I’a is a collaborative project between H1 Construction & Fujita+Netski Architecture (together called H1+FN Design Collaborative). Playing with the idea of dual structures and the use of a..
