From the architect. This cafe with a roastery of specialty coffee beans, is located in a commuter town in Aichi prefecture.
This shop, converted from a warehouse, is designed to provide a cozy, pleasant space where customers can enjoy the atmosphere of a barista roasting coffee beans, or brewing coffee by hand drip, while talking with a shop staff to find the coffee of their preferences.
The shop uses specialty coffee beans whose places of origin and farms are clearly identified, and provides the best possible coffee by paying particular attentions to the handling of beans, such as the roasting duration.
Floor Plan
Section
In order to produce a space to match the essential nature and quality of this shop, we carefully sorted out the interior finish elements and materials, and selected copper and brass as the mate rials to accentuate the space for their gradual transformation of textures and feelings by usages.
The entrance with 5-meter height and 3.5-meter width is built with a steel frame composed of H-beams, while its door is produced by using copper plate, and glass channels and door handles are in brass.
Within the large warehouse volume, calm and intimate spaces are produced by assembling 50 x 50mm steel pipe frames for the kitchen and the seating areas. The roasting machine is placed on an elevated platform and surrounded by a semi-circular counter table, so that customers can enjoy watching the process of roasting coffee beans.
From the architect. The Honor Residence is composed with 12 pool villa located near Ram Inthra-At Narong Expressway which is directly connected to Bangkok CBD.
U-shape planning for each unit is developed to create its own courtyard and keeps privacy for each individual house. At 2nd floor exterior wall, Lava stone cladding is set to be floating, and yet create a simple solid geometry.
Interlocking the stone frame, wooden box and screen is introduced for sun shading and blending with surrounding. Post tension structure system is selected in order to create high ceiling interior space with wide span, the column-free floating box above the swimming pool. Open plan allow spaces to flow from one function to other.
From the architect. This project considers the Gaon Lake Park in which the building is located as a significant contextual reference. The large park is sitting in the middle of a huge neighborhood with apartment complexes, two hours from Seoul metropolitan area. This unique type of construction is typical of Korean urban development—building and selling thousands of housing units at one time. Although this type of development contains potential negative side effects for the future, the landscape is more positively designed than the apartment complexes in preserving the natural wetland which is left as the original entity in the park.
The design focus is on the conflict created between the pedestrian bridge and the original topographical relationship. It was an unavoidable assignment to precisely fabricate the connection from the bridge to an “almost accidentally given” site. As the massive urban development left the back-side hill of the building as an “isolated green area,” the dissonant relationship paradoxically becomes a clue for positioning the building by visualizing this conflict.
This pavilion functions mainly for the exhibition and administrative offices of the park. Considering the pedestrian accesses and the functional use, the radio of the arcs which are casted on different levels formalize the hidden tension of two contrasting entities—the linear pedestrian bridge and the natural topography. From the tensional relationship, the front curved façade visualizes a symbolic “barrier” containing the program. As the continuous hallway connects the functional spaces, the inner layer behind the hallway has a series of rooms, a staircase, restrooms and a sunken garden.
Using the different access levels between the front and backside entries, the curved wall controls the degree of visual continuity toward the opened park. Visitors on the roof can look down into the hallway and towards the park through the clerestory. In contrary to the pedestrian bridge giving an open wide view to the park, the visitors visually engages the inner side of the building on the roof. The window portals on the curved wall are carved out from cylindrical intersections to have a series of segmental flat surfaces. While the portals puncture through the hard northern elevation, offering wide panoramic views of the reserve and cityscape, a southern-facing clerestory allows ample sunlight to illuminate the inside all day long. Natural wood planks cover the interior of the curved sur-face to create a warm ambiance contrasting the rectilinear hardness of material.
Organizers: Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Registration Deadline: 30/06/2016 00:00
Submission Deadline: 31/07/2016 00:00
Venue: Beijing, China
1 Overview
This open international competition is to take place among three groups who have been solicited to draw up refurbishment plans of 12 courtyards. Finalists whose plans comply with the design guidelines and have construction feasibility will be authorized by the organizers to implement the project, and the plans will be made available for reference in the Baitasi district, the broader old-town districts of Beijing, and in old towns throughout China that need to be revitalized.
Main Organizer
Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Supporting Organizer
World Architecture Magazine
Schedule
May 29, 2016: Press briefing held at the Baitasi Courtyard Renewal International Design Competition’s Venice Biennial parallel exhibition
June 1-30, 2016: First phase of registration, the participants make voluntary selection of courtyards
July 1-31, 2016: Second phase of registration,courtyard allocated automatically on the official website
July 31, 2016: Deadline for submission of conceptual proposals for the competition
August 15, 2016: Initial assessment of conceptual proposals ends; Judges return score sheets; statistical evaluation of results
August 15-30, 2016: Notification of shortlisted candidates
September 5, 2016: Shortlist published
September 20, 2016: Shortlisted candidates submit further detailed design
October 5, 2016: Final assessment; live Q&A with shortlisted candidates, awards giving
October 2016-2017: Winner exhibition; Eligible designs carry on for implementation
Prizes
First place winners selected from each group will receive a cash prize of RMB 50,000 and an award certificate; their works will be published in World Architecture.
Implementation of works
Finalists whose works comply with the design guidelines and demonstrate construction feasibility will be authorized by the organizers to implement the project.
Baitasi is a key historical area in Beijing’s urban core; its history can be traced back to the Yuan dynasty. The area has well preserved the stylistic fabrics of the Hutong from that era. The Miaoying Baita is not only the symbol of the Yuan Dynasty’s capital, Dadu, but also an architectural landmark on the Second Ring Road of modern Beijing. The area has already become the most stylistically unique district of Beijing and is one of Beijing’s 33 Historical and Cultural Preservation Zones. It has deep historical significance and profound cultural connotations.
By renovating the traditional courtyard spaces, the Batasi project attempts to recreate the courtyards’ various possibilities of spatial and functional recombination—to revive thespaces, to make different functions coexist. Besides the basic residential function, vigorous cultural and creative functions are to be added to the courtyards. By exploring and introducing cultural catalysts, the purpose isalso to revitalize the Hutong culture of the area and revive the eastern residential ideal of Hutongs and courtyards. In seeking ancient architectural wisdom within tradition, it hopes to breathe new life into the space of Beijing’s old town and explore ways in which urban development can coexist with traditional urban areas.
This open international competition is to take place among three groups who have been solicited to draw up refurbishment plans of 12 courtyards. Finalists whose plans comply with the design guidelines and show construction feasibility will be authorized by the organizers to implement the project and it will be made available for reference in the Baitasi district, the broader old-town districts of Beijing, and in revitalizing old towns throughout China.
Design Requirements
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Based on their knowledge of infrastructurerequirements, real-life needs, and the communal context of the Baitasineighborhood, one group will be selected from the three groups; of the fourcourtyards in this group, one will be selected for project implementation.
Competition proposals must abide by the design requirements; however, the competition encourages participants to conduct extensive research and propose creative, imaginative plans.
For more Design Requirement and Courtyard Details, please go to http://ift.tt/1UYsC5U
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
3 Project Submission
· Please submit electronic versions of drawings and related documents online.
· Language: the official languages of the competition are English and Chinese; titles and key design descriptions must include both languages.
· Documentation: participants must include a recognizable, scanned copy of identification when submitting work, registration forms, and authorization documents.
Conceptual proposal specifications and requirements:
(1) Specifications: Drawingsshould be 420mm×297mm in horizontal layout. Each proposal must be composed of 4 drawings. Documents for uploading should be JPG format (for website display, not exceeding 3MB per file), and PDF format (for documentation, not exceeding 20 MB).
(2) Content and form: Plans must contain an introduction in Chinese and English ,black-and-white line drawings of floor plans, elevations, cross-sections, isometric blueprints, and the required analysis diagrams; also to be included are the necessary architectural economic indices and cost estimates. Participants can choose to use images of views, renderings, wall-section details, node configuration details, or real models.
Finalist proposal specifications and requirements:
(1) Specifications: Blueprints should be 841mm×594mm in lateral layout. Each proposal must have 3 blueprints. Documents should be in PDF format and should not exceed 20 MB.
(2) Content and form: Along with a Chinese and English introduction, floor plans, elevation, cross-section, isometric blueprints, and required analysis diagrams; also to be included are necessary architectural economic indices and cost estimates. Participants can choose to use images of wall-section details, node configuration details, or real models.
(3) An introductory design video not exceeding 3 minutes should be presented. Files should use MP4 format and should not exceed 400 MB.
4 Competition Procedures
· The event uses the open registration method of an open competition. Participants can enter individually or as groups; each group cannot have more than 4 members and 2 mentors.
· Each group must have a contact person.
· The registration fee is RMB 300 per group. In the absence of special circumstances, registration fees are non-refundable. Registration fee should be paid via bank transfers asper information provided on the official website. Third party payments including Alipay, WeChat are not accepted. Your bank account information filled in online will only be used for verification purpose of the bank transfer.
· Registration is divided into 2 phases, the date of registration is the time of transfer of successful payment:
June 1-30, 2016: First phase of registration, participants make voluntary selection of courtyards
July 1-31, 2016: Second phase of registration, automatic assignments of courtyards by the official website
· After the organizer confirms on the registration fee payment, a download link will be sent via E-mail.
· After the selection of courtyard, a ID number will be allocated. With the ID number, the participant should fill in the information confirmation letter, and original work declaration & copyright authorization letter.
· Participants should submit only electronic copies of their work; the deadline for submission is July 31, 2016. Competition organizers will not accept hard copy submissions of the plans.
· Under the coordination of competition organizers, jury will assess competitors’ proposals and determine prizewinners.
· Competition organizers will announce the list of finalists no later than September 5, 2016.
· Competition organizers will announce prizewinners at the final jury meeting.
· Questions about the competition can be submitted online, competition organizers will reply to the queries at the earliest possible.
5 Rules and Regulations
· Individuals or groups registering for this competition must abide by and respect the rules and regulations of the event; members of the organizing committee have the right of final interpretation of these regulations.
· Names related to the designer must not appear in any electronic blueprint; inclusion of any text or graphic appearing in an academic institution or business, or which does not comply with rules, will result in disqualification.
· Competition entries must not be multiple submissions; any work that has been submitted elsewhere, in other competitions, or uses others’ previously published work are not permissible for entry.
· Blueprints and images related to competition submissions cannot infringe on the copyrights of others; responsibility for any such resulting controversy shall be taken by the infringing competitor, who will be disqualified.
· Competitors retain the right of authorship of their competition works; however, competition organizers and sponsors have the right to exercise copyrights other than authorship rights over competition works.
6 Jury
Confirmed Jury Members
Alexander Tzonis | Professor Emeritus, Delft University of Technology
Joan Busquets | Spanish urban planner, architect,professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design, former Head of Urban Planning for the Barcelona City Council
ZHANG Yonghe | Founder and Principal Architect, FCJZ
LYU Zhou | Professor of Architecture at Tsinghua University, Director of the National Heritage Center, Vice President of ICOMOS-CHINA
SHI Weiliang | Chief Planner of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning
WANG Yuxi | General Manager of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment and Development Co. Ltd.
ZHANG Li | Professor at Tsinghua University School of Architecture, Chief Architect at Atelier Teamminus, Editor-in-Chief of World Architecture
David Basulto | Editor-in-Chief of Archdaily, Architect
Official Website of BAITASI 2016 International Design Competition
Baitasi (the White Pagoda Temple) is a historical and cultural preservation zone covering about 37 hm2 located just across Beijing’s Financial Street in Xicheng district. To its north is the Xizhimen business district and to its west is the Fuchengmen commercial area and the Sanlihe administrative district. The Xidan and Xisi shopping areas border the temple to its east. Baitasi remains a peaceful cultural oasis for the public in the heart of new Beijing.
The “Baitasi Historical and Cultural Preservation Zone” can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty and is preserved to this day through the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is the western starting point on the route to Chaofu, across the capital, and has a profound historical heritage with rich cultural connotations. The area is home to Beijing’s most ancient attractions, including the Miaoying Temple (the White Pagoda Temple) constructed during the Yuan dynasty; the Archive of Buddhist Texts; the Lu Xun Museum built around the former residence of the philosopher; and the flower,bird, fish, and insect market. In the area are also seen a few republican-era courtyards reflecting a mix of Chinese and Western architectural styles. While the Xicheng district reflects ancient and civic culture and the homes of China’s great thinkers, the Baitasi Historical and Cultural preservation zone carries with it substantial historical significance; yet, unfortunately, many of the area’s old low-rise homes are lacking in municipal infrastructure and faced with modern challenges.
Baitasi is located in an old low-rise residential district of Beijing, one of the last remaining traditional residential areas in the capital. Currently, options are being explored to provide an alternative path for urban renovation and community revival.
With societal advancements, people have realized that standard large-scale demolition and construction of Beijing’s urban core is no longer viable. In its stead, small-scale, organic renovation models are attracting greater attention and use. The main objective of the Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Company’s “Baitasi ReMade” project is to establish a new model for local residents with the aid of public participation and model enterprises and government leadership. It hopes to establish a sustainable population, revitalize the physical spaces, upgrade to basic energy sources, and re-engineer the public environment, thus fostering a cultural revitalization of the region as a whole. While maintaining the unique character of Hutong neighborhoods and the residential functions of traditional courtyards, “Baitasi ReMade” will inject new elements of design as well as cultural and creative models to create a new cultural district comprehensively integrating tradition, innovation, and style.
With regard to the Baitasi Historical and Cultural Preservation Zone, the goals of “Baitasi ReMade” are to
· adjust the demographic structure of the area through population easing,
· improve the commercial environment of the area by attracting respected businesses,
· improve the basic infrastructure of the area, enhance the residential environment, and strengthen the sense of community,
· revitalize the Hutong culture of the area thereby regaining the area’s residential spirit.
Projected goals of“Baitasi ReMade” before 2020
· Restore and refurbish 200 courtyards
· Improve infrastructure of 28 Hutong lanes
· Establish 600 new motor vehicle parking spaces
International media coverage of “Baitasi ReMade”
· “Baitasi ReMade” successfully debuted at the 2015 Beijing Design Week under the theme “symbiotic connection,” with more than 40 exhibitions, activities, and talks, and 24 creative projects based on the Baitasi courtyards.
· In 2015, ZHANG Ke, the principal of standardarchitecture, HUA Li, the principal at Tao – Trace Architecture Office, and DONG Gong, the principalat Vector Architects exhibited their renovation project at the “Shanghai UrbanSpace Art Season.”
· In 2016, “Baitasi ReMade” was chosen to participate in the “Trans-Design, Shanghai Art & Design 2016,” jointly run by the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Xuhui district government.
· A residency program has been organized in collaboration with the Cultural Office of the Swiss Embassy.
· A pilot program has been finalized with the French Embassy’s Cultural Office for courtyard revitalization.
· The Beijing Design Week’s organizing committee intends to establish an office in the area.
· Tsinghua University, Peking University, the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing Forestry University, the School of Architecture at Hong Kong University, the Netherlands Architecture Institute, and the AA School of Architecture Visiting School Beijing have all participated in the research on the Baitasi area.
Scan QR code to know about Baitasi ReMade
Courtesy of Beijing Huarong Jinying Investment & Development Co. Ltd.
From the architect. The site is a small trapezoidal piece of expensive real estate roughly measuring around 500 square meters situated on an arterial commercial road in Pune, India. The brief called for utilizing maximum allowable FAR with minimum wastage of space, and yet, to create a building that could make its presence felt in its neighborhood of high rise buildings.
The program is essentially to house the regional corporate office of a quasi banking institution. It consists of a travel agency with direct interface to the street, a banking floor with strong room and a couple of office floors, including the chairman’s lounge, conference and meeting rooms. To this mix of program, the architects have added a cafeteria on the top floor. An amphitheater, accommodating the lift room shafts and a terrace garden completes the building.The design is articulated through several simple moves that add layers of complexity to the building.
Being a small site, the resultant building form is an extrusion of the trapezoid of roughly 8 meters x 23 meters, that is derived after factoring in the side margins mandated by development norms.
Sectional shift
The strategy is to manipulate the building sectionally, and then this sectional articulation manifests on the facade through the fenestration and a climate responsive skin.
The circulation core is placed in the center with the east and west wings on either side. This sectionally displaces the western side by half a floor height, allowing for a multi-level mechanical parking to be accommodated below.
Two glass lifts, housed back to back in a common core, service the eastern and western blocks. The staircase becomes a connecting diagonal thread linking the two wings. This sectional move allows for the building to get seamlessly connected, visually as well as physically across floors. Programs occur at every half level thus increasing the vertical accessibility across floors, and reducing the usage of lifts.
Atriums and stepped gardens
The residual space in the Center is articulated as an atrium that further heightens the visual connect of the interior spaces. The atrium also has uninterrupted glazing on the south side, that connects the interiors with the treescape outside. Two stepped landscaped spaces are suspended in the atrium, additionally connecting the two wings. One connects the reception area with the office floor, and the other connects the cafeteria with the terrace garden.
Programs are distributed across the section enabling interaction between the various functions with the ones requiring public interface, closer to the ground. The eastern wing houses all the executive offices and conference rooms and the western wing houses the work stations.
The cafeteria has a roof that transforms into a skylight and also accommodates the lift headroom in one seamless sweep. This skylight, made of steel and glass is configured as an open air amphitheater on the terrace that could accommodate up to a hundred people.
The amphitheater, terrace garden on the eastern side and the cafeteria below, function as a constellation of public spaces at the top of the building. These public spaces were not a part of the clients brief or requirements. These were inserted by the architects to add value to an otherwise banal set of office requirements and to create a small realm of semi-public spaces accessible to citizens in the center of the town. It is imagined that, in time, these spaces will insert themselves in the social fabric of the local community, helping the institution’s out-reach to its customers and beyond.
The primary building envelope is composed of alternating bands of 200 mm thick masonry walls and sinuous ribbon windows. The Windows seamlessly widen into floor height glazing and narrow down to thin bands. The continuous variation of the ribbon windows is in response to several climatic, programmatic and contextual parameters.
The windows narrow down to thin ribbons on the southern and western sides, where maximum heat gain occurs, and they span the entire walls, from floor to ceiling, on the northern and eastern facades to allow diffused light with minimum heat gain.
The windows also widen near the atrium on the southern facade, allowing for it to be seamlessly integrated with the trees outside, and providing the atrium and its terrace gardens with abundant light, and views of the surroundings. As the glazed windows widen in the atrium, they also start intersecting one another, and the atrium is thus articulated as the place where the distinctions between the different floor plates gets merged, formally as well as programmatically.
What is essentially a simple box, with split levels and an atrium is articulated as a smooth seamless space. This is further enhanced by a skin of vertical fins in perforated steel that cover the building on the southern and south eastern facades. These fins curve out when they encounter the window ribbons, allowing for the openable shutters to be operated. As the ribbon widens, the fins respond by moving away from the building, generating a dynamic facade of continuous variation.
These fins temper the harsh southern sun that hits the building, and allow a more nuanced filtered light into the interiors. They also create an array of light effects that animate the exteriors and interiors of the building, as the sun moves across the sky, or as one moves around the building.
The building is an amalgam of layers of diverse programmatic, contextual and climatic responses that results in an interior scape that simultaneously offers privacy and identity to the various functions, while also interconnects them through the use of transparency, split levels, atriums and landscapes.
These sectional manipulations and the resultant interior spatial experiences are expressed on the exteriors through the use of climate responsive windows and a skin, creating a structure that partially reveals and hints at its interiors as well as intrigues and engages the onlooker for a deeper exploration.
Visitors to the pavilion can hear eight narrators tell stories about pools, considering topics such as fulfillment and accomplishment, segregation and inclusion, and learning from the past and reflecting for the future, all the while awash in the self-reflexive setting of a newly-built natatorium.
The architects describe the exhibition as “a lens through which to explore Australian cultural identity. Be they natural or manmade, inland or coastal, temporary or permanent, visitors to the new Australian pavilion in Venice will be invited to explore the pools of Australia in all their forms.”
This video is part of a partnership between ArchDaily and the Spanish photographer Jesús Granada. These videos have been filmed in 4K, a level of quality that allows viewers to perceive details that don’t come across in standard video formats. Granada’s stock images of the Biennale can be obtained on his website, here; ArchDaily’s complete coverage of the 2016 Biennale can be found here.
From the architect. What happens at the junction of a design rich aesthetic from the 50s through the 70s and the “cleanliness” of current design? When minimalist utilitarian carpentry meets crafted objects and Oriental inspiration? What sparks when urbanity and nature loving coalesced? This intersection of worlds is found in the newly designed Nahalat Yitzhak apartment in Tel Aviv.
The apartment is home to a renown fashion designer and his partner, a media figure. They requested functional and spacious spaces, as well as ample storage. Planning the apartment instigated many conversations regarding lifestyle, practical use, leisure, natural lighting, and work requirements. Before the renovation, the apartment had two bedrooms, a living room and a separate kitchen; the rooftop floor had a 10 m2 attic. The design concept for downstairs led to the creation of one unrestricted and functional space – by perceiving the structure’s enveloping walls as an outer shell for a domestic hub. Custom-made carpentry and welding units structure the inner space, as each function has a unit that “contains” it. In addition, 40 m2 of lightweight construction (steel frame and aluminium roof) were added to the rooftop floor.
The construction process began by demolishing all the inner walls on the entrance level, dismantling the floor, washrooms and windows, and creating a totally clear space, with the exception of one constructive cement pillar. Plumbing, electric wiring and aluminium work were likewise replaced. Renovation costs totalled around $200K, most going to carpentry and welding; The 74 m2 first floor now consists of an open space for the living room, kitchen, dining table (with a closed guest bathroom), as well as the master bedroom unit with a walk-in closet and bathroom. The 64 m2 rooftop floor holds an additional lounge, kitchen and small dining table, as well as a guest bedroom and washroom. A paved balcony of 24 m2 is annexed to the parameter.
The black iron entrance door leads into a small entrance hall that exists in the gap between a large service closet and the outer wall. One of the unique elements of the apartment is a floor-to-ceiling closet, shaped in the letter “L”. The closet is the heart of the house with regard to its location and volume, and one sees it immediately and continuously from every spot in the space.
This main piece of carpentry arranges all different uses around it: An entrance hall, guest bathroom, living room, dining area, kitchen, bedroom and closet room. It is bidirectional, and is used both as a facade for the living space and as an inner facade for the bedroom (and even the guest bathroom). Along its line the closet is used for food and kitchenware, office supplies, bookshelves, clothes and shoes, and even as a docking station for the robotic vacuum cleaner. It also serves as a passage to the air conditioning, electricity and lighting systems. The closet is constructed with natural bamboo boards, separated from both floor and ceiling by a black aluminum profile. Using the wood with its natural tones as a critical mass in the apartment is affected by the late 50s esthetic, beloved by the tenants.
The living room is furnished with checkered Missoni armchairs and a grey couch. End tables of three different heights fill the space, all made of mapa-burl wood with an epoxy finish, and a hand-woven Uzbek rug warms the grey floor tiles. Black wood podiums were placed the big window, adorned with antique Oriental lamps. Pictures of Wild Africa, sculptures and a variety of plants complete the exotic look. The living room is bordered by a costume welding unit, iron and black net, used to exhibit plants and decorative pieces and prepared for an entertainment and sound systems. The kitchen was planned as different units set side by side, each of which has its own defined purpose, while between them a dining table is placed. A black marble surface sits on a custom-made wooden unit with legs, which contains cupboards, drawers and an oven. A custom-ordered stainless steel component is used as a “wet unit”, in which a sink and a hidden dishwasher are contained. Beside it we find an open storage unit for “freestyle” storage. The fridge nests inside the main closet. A concealed door in the same large closet leads into the master bedroom. The bedroom is surrounded by wing-door closets and drawers for maximal storage. The closet ends at the constructive cement pillar, from which plaster was peeled and roughly. Between the pillar and the outer wall is a transparent glass divider, allowing for light and an inside view of the kitchen. The front of the closet leads to the dressing room, and ends as a ceiling-high open storage unit for shoes. To the right of the dressing room, separated by transparent glass dividers, one can find the washroom. White cylinder sinks were placed on a woodworked bamboo board, sitting upon a unit made of iron frames with a black paint finish. A pair of mirrors, with black iron tri-square-shaped corners, hang above them.
Spiral stairs made of black-painted steel lead up to the rooftop floor. This floor was planned mainly for hosting and work – a living space and open kitchen, beside a bedroom and washroom. Floor-to-ceiling glass vitrines were installed around the living space. The moving vitrines were planned so that one could open them completely and utilize the kitchen for outdoor hosting and gardening. The balcony was paved with “brutalist” cement tiles, and is mainly used as a green terrace for growing vegetables, organic herbs and ornamental plants. From the balcony, a crowded and densely populated urban view of Tel Aviv can be seen. This “White City” view contrasts the inner greenhouse effect.
During the planning process, an emphasis was placed on natural lighting, the relationship between the “outer” public spaces and the “inner” private spaces, as well as interior. Every item in the apartment was carefully selected: Leather chairs on an iron frame from the 1970s, glass tables, vintage lamps found in Athens, hand-woven carpets, Missoni textile, Andrew Martin upholstery, an earthenware pot from Tibet, an original oil painting from a private collection and more. The washrooms and bathroom serve as blue and turquoise focal points that break the wood and black theme–exposed to the main space once the door is opened.
