Following our favorite Architecture Documentaries to Watch in 2015, our top 40 Architecture Docs to Watch in 2014, and our favourite 30 Architecture Docs to Watch in 2013, we’re looking ahead to 2017! Our latest round up presents a collection of the most critically acclaimed, popular and often under-represented films and documentaries that provoke, intrigue, inform and beguile. From biopics of Eero Saarinen, Frei Otto and Laurie Baker, to presentations of Chinese “palaces” and the architecture of Africa, Cambodia and India, these are our top picks.

Links to watch or pay-to-stream the documentaries presented have been provided where available. In some cases the films have been embedded in this article.

Building Africa: Architecture of a Continent / BBC

60 minutes (2005) / Narrated by David Adjaye

This BBC film, which originally aired in 2005, is a journey from the “eerily beautiful” mud buildings of Mali to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s experiment in Modernism in the State of Eritrea. Narrated by British architect David Adjaye, the film poetically untangles the cultural and imperial influences which have shaped African architecture over centuries of vernacular, colonial and post-independence architecture. From Rwanda to Ghana and South Africa, Building Africa has increasing relevance even over a decade since it was first shown.

Courtesy of BBC

Life is a Blow [A vida é um sopro] / Fabiano Maciel

2010 / Brazilian (English Subtitles)

This is the story of the great late Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer – his architecture, his passion for the opposite sex, his political turmoil and struggles, and his extraordinary biography. Filmed for almost a decade—from 1998 to 2007—Life is a Blow features appearances from the likes of José Saramago (Portuguese writer and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature), Ferreira Gullar (a Brazilian poet, playwright, essayist and art critic) and Chico Buarque (a Brazilian singer-songwriter).

The Human Scale / Andreas Dalsgaard

77 minutes (2012) / English/Danish

This film sets out to “question our assumptions about Modernity” by exploring what happens when architects, urbanists and designers put people into the center of their equations. The Danish architect Jan Gehl has systematically studied human behavior in cities for four decades. Using his methods, thoughts and conclusions as a starting point the film takes the viewer to Melbourne, Dhaka, New York, Chongqing and Christchurch – all of which are now being inspired by Gehl’s work and by the progressive developments in Copenhagen as a result of it.

The Man Next Door [El hombre de al lado] / Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat

110 minutes (2010) / Spanish (English Subtitles)

Leonardo, the protagonist of The Man Next Door, is noted as “a distinguished and important industrial designer” who lives with his wife Ana, his daughter Lola, and their maid Elba. The house they live in is the only villa that Le Corbusier built in the Americas – in La Plata, Argentina. One morning, the film outlines, the routine tranquility of Leonardo’s house is interrupted by the loud noise generated by construction work beginning next door. A neighbor, Víctor, has decided to build an illegal window between the two homes – a decision which begins to obsess Leonardo until, one day, “a fortuitous event presents a controversial solution to the problem.”

Block by Block: The Men Who Built India’s Tallest Building / Landmarc Films

23 minutes (2013) / English

This is a short documentary film about the life of a unique team of Indian construction workers who are building the nation’s tallest building: the Palais Royale in Mumbai. It asks what happens to construction workers when they migrate from other parts of the country to the major metropoli. How are they housed? What are their living conditions? How do they work together as a team? According to Landmarc Films, “the objective is to make others realize the grave atrocities and unfair [and] inhumane treatment of the people who build our homes so humbly, providing them with a benchmark to follow.”

Built on Narrow Land / Malachi Conolly

64 minutes (2013) / English

Built on Narrow Land captures a particular moment in Cape Cod when “the spirit of European Modern architecture inspired a group of bohemian designers (professionals and amateurs both) to build houses that married principles of the Bauhaus to the centuries-old local architecture of seaside New England.” In 1959 however, with the establishment of the Cape Cod National Seashore, the future of these houses were unexpectedly put at risk. This film “documents an period in the history of Modern Architecture through the lens of one of the most beautiful places in the world.”

Within Formal Cities / Abe Drechsler, Brian Gaudio

2016 / English

Within Formal Cities is a film about the role of design in addressing the global housing crisis – no small ambition. “By 2050,” the directors argue, “one fourth of the global population will live in informal settlements. Many people,” they continue, “will lack adequate housing and infrastructure.” Five South American cities serve as studies: Lima, Santiago, São Paulo, Rio De Janeiro, and Bogotá. Here the filmmakers visited projects and interviewed over thirty designers, government officials, and residents in order to put together the most complete of picture of where things are, and where things are headed, to date.

Uncommon Sense: The Life and Architecture of Laurie Baker / Vineet Radhakrishnan

Forthcoming Release / English

Laurence Wilfred Baker (known as Laurie Baker) was a renowned British-born Indian architect and humanitarian. Alongside that, he was also an accomplished cartoonist, artist and innovative designer. Among other professions, he was also an architect. He once said: I think I am subconsciously often strongly influenced by nature, and much of nature’s ‘structural work’ is not straight or square. A tall reed of grass in a windy, wild terrain is a long cylinder or a hollow tube; tree trunks and stems of plants that carry fruit and leaves are usually cylindrical and not square. Curves are there to take stresses and strains and to stand up to all sorts of external forces. On top if it all, they look good and beautiful and are infinitely more elegant than straight lines of steel and concrete.” You can follow updates about the film’s forthcoming release, here.

The Man Who Built Cambodia / Christopher Rompre

Forthcoming Release / English

This is a film exploring the life and work of Vann Molyvann, an architect whose projects “came to represent a new identity for a country emerging from independence, and whose incredible story encompasses Cambodia’s turbulent journey as a modern nation.” In Cambodia’s post-independence period, Molyvann was at the center of a building renaissance, and developed a distinctive architectural style—known as New Khmer Architecture—that, according to the film, “completely changed the face of Cambodia.” Narrated by Matt Dillon, the film studies Molyvann’s “lifelong engagement with the identity of the Khmer people, and his attempt to create a unique architectural style that gives modern expression to that identity.”

The Land of Many Palaces [宫殿之城] / Adam James Smith, Song Ting

60 Minutes (2016) / English

In Ordos, China, thousands of farmers are being relocated into a new city under a government plan to modernize the region. The Land of Many Palaces follows a government official whose job is to convince these farmers that their lives will be better off in the city, and a farmer in one of the last remaining villages in the region who is pressured to move. The film “explores a process that will take shape on an enormous scale across China, since the central government announced plans to relocate 250,000,000 farmers to cities across the nation over the next twenty years.” You can stream the film, here.

Frei Otto: Spanning the Future / Simon K. Chiu, Michael Paglia, Joshua V. Hassel

2015 / English

Frei Otto: Spanning the Future is a documentary about the life and work of German architect and engineer Frei Otto – 2015 Laureate of the Pritzker Prize for Architecture. He “laid the foundation for contemporary lightweight architecture,” and his ideas remain fascinating today – decades after he first revealed them. still awe inspiring decades after he revealed them. In one of the final interviews given before his death, Otto explains how “coming of age in the years surrounding the Second World War influenced his work in tensile architecture.” The film, in its own words, “takes architecture fans on a journey through a history of architecture that inspires the world of tomorrow.”

The Destruction of Memory / Tim Slade

 2016 / English

This is a film about “the war against culture, and the battle to save it.” Over the past century cultural destruction has wrought catastrophic results across the globe – and these have been increasing in frequency. “In Syria and Iraq, the ‘cradle of civilization’,” for example, “millennia of culture are being destroyed. The push to protect, salvage and rebuild has moved in step with the destruction.” Based on a book of the same name by Robert Bevan, The Destruction of Memory “tells the whole story—looking not just at the ongoing actions of Daesh (ISIS) and at other contemporary situations—revealing the decisions of the past that allowed the issue to remain hidden in the shadows for so many years.” Find out more, here.

Second Nature: A Documentary Film About Janne Saario / Yves Marchon

18 Minutes (2010) / English

Second Nature is a 20 minute-long documentary film on budding Finnish landscape architect and skateboarder Janne Saario. It provides “a glimpse of Saario’s thoughts and dreams, which float between design, art and skateboarding.” Through this lens, it also reveals “the important concurrence of post-industrial areas, sustainable concepts and natural environments, and unfolds the demanding obligation, towards today’s generation and those to come, to create positive and inspiring local communities.”

Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future / Peter Rosen

70 Minutes (2016) / English

“A renewed interest is emerging in mid-20th Century architects and artists, who exploded the comfortable constraints of the past to create a robust and daring Modernist America.” Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future examines the life of an architectural giant who, in the words of Peter Rosen, “envisioned the future.” He also died young, aged only 51, leaving behind a body of pioneering work that still informs and inspires architects and designers to this day.

The Complete Living Architectures Collection / Bêka and Lemoine

10 Films / English

Renowned architectural filmmakers Bêka and Lemoine have, over the course of the Living Architectures project, developed films about and in collaboration with the likes of the Barbican in London, the Fondazione Prada, La Biennale di Venezia, Frank Gehry, Bjarke Ingels, the City of Bordeaux, the Arc en Rêve centre d’architecture, and more. Their goal in this has always been to “democratize the highbrow language of architectural criticism. […] Free speech on the topic of architecture,” Bêka has said, “is not the exclusive property of experts.” This year they have released two DVD box-sets of their entire œuvre, which was acquired by New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 2016. Find out more, here.

• Koolhaas Houselife
• Pomerol, Herzog & de Meuron
• Gehry’s Vertigo
• Xmas Meier
• Inside Piano
• The Infinite Happiness
• Barbicania
• 24 Heures sur Place
• 25 Bis + L’Expérience du Vide
• Voyage Autour de la Lune

Alvar Aalto: Technology and Nature / Ywe Jalander

59 minutes (1996) / English

While a little dated in format, Alvar Aalto: Technology and Nature is particularly interesting to watch in a time period almost ‘beyond’ mechanisation. Filmed in Finland, Italy, Germany and the USA, this documentary analyses Alvar Aalto’s “uniquely successful resolution of the demands and possibilities created by new technology and construction materials with the need to make his buildings sympathetic both to their users and to their natural surroundings.” You can stream the film, here.

Architecture Documentaries To Watch In 2015
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40 Architecture Docs to Watch In 2014
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The 30 Architecture Docs To Watch In 2013
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Music- & Lifestyle Hotel nhow, 2010, Berlin. Image © Thomas Spier

After receiving his education at the Repin Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in St. Petersburg, Sergei Tchoban moved to Germany at the age of 30. He now runs parallel practices in both Berlin and Moscow, after becoming managing partner of nps tchoban voss in 2003 and co-founding SPEECH with Sergey Kuznetsov in 2006. In 2009, the Tchoban Foundation was formed in Berlin to celebrate the lost art of drawing through exhibitions and publications. The Foundation’s Museum for Architectural Drawing was built in Berlin in 2013 to Tchoban’s design. In this latest interview for his “City of Ideas” series, Vladimir Belogolovsky spoke to Tchoban during their recent meeting in Paris about architectural identities, inspirations, the architect’s fanatical passion for drawing, and such intangibles as beauty.

Benois House, 2008, Saint Petersburg. Image © Roland Halbe

Vladimir Belogolovsky: How would you define the main objectives of your architecture and what are your goals?

Sergei Tchoban: In my passion for architecture, I am guided primarily by cities and urban mise-en-scène situations that I enjoy most, and the ones that I really like, I immediately try to capture on paper. More so, my drawings typically are finished compositions, unlike quick sketches that most architects do on their trips. I have a very straightforward attitude toward architecture. I always ask one simple question – would I want to draw one of my own projects or my colleagues’ projects? This criterion may be frivolous, but, in fact, it is quite rigorous. In my projects, I try to go beyond the boundaries of the accustomed Modernist minimalism, which is based on producing a particular perfection of the architectural detail, but does not quite reach that atmospheric environment, which we admire in our favorite cities.

VB: What are those cities that you refer to as your favorite?

ST: I think many of us will name Paris, Venice, Rome, or St. Petersburg, my hometown.

Granatny 6, 2010, Moscow. Image © Aleksey Naroditsky

VB: All of these cities are historical. Is there a hidden message in your choices?

ST: Well, I also like London and Milan where contemporaneity plays an important and contrasting role in its dialogue with historical fabric. There are numerous theories about Modernist and contemporary architecture, but we rarely reflect on what role this architecture may play in the totality of a historical city. In its most acute manifestations, contemporary architecture tends to contrast greatly with its surroundings – either by having a complex geometry or assuming an ascetic character. In my opinion, however, there should not be that much of this strong contrast. That’s why I prefer contemporary architecture that features richness of details. I am also concerned about how new architecture is built in young cities without historical layers. Can we create an organic composition or orchestra, so to speak, by relying only on uncompromisingly modern architecture? What I am saying is that we may come up with an orchestra made up of just instruments of a particular range, such as percussion. But I see architecture as something more varied. To achieve this diversity it is important to pay attention to surfaces and details.

House Langenzipen, 2006, Saint Petersburg. Image © Bernhard Kroll

VB: In one of your interviews, you said, “I would set the following main goal before contemporary architects: without literally imitating artistic techniques of the past there should be a real desire to achieve the level of complexity, which was characteristic to historical architecture and yet the gains of Modernism should not be lost.” Why do you think new architecture is less complex than historical architecture?

ST: Historical architecture is more complex in terms of its surfaces. Buildings are perceived from different perspectives. From afar, they are recognized as silhouettes and forms. From history, we know cupolas, spires, minarets, and other prominent features that assumed special roles in the structure of a city. But a city is not just a panorama. Any city is whatever opens up from the level of a pedestrian who perceives it from their own height. From this perspective, the city is experienced on the level of details, and it is historical architecture that is much more saturated with details and has more complex surfaces than contemporary architecture offers. This complexity is not translated well into our times. That’s why we often get disappointed, when we come closer to a contemporary building, which by means of its form may be quite complex. The skin of such building is not as interesting as its form might have suggested and promised from a distance. Of course, there are exceptions, but if we are talking about mass, contextual architecture, then it loses to historical examples as far as its attention to details.

Furthermore, when we discuss such details we also should not forget about different climate conditions. Cities in the south can afford to have more minimalist buildings than in the north. I, for the most part, work in northern cities where a dim light and frequent rain or snow don’t go well with the minimalist approach.

People miss the detailed language, complexity of materials, and rich texture of buildings from the past. And if we examine the latest tendencies we will see that architects have been paying more attention to these issues lately. There are many new buildings which use textured brick laid in complex patterns. There has been an ongoing investigation in this direction. And today we see fewer examples of openly ascetic Modernism integrated into historical surroundings. Architects are trying to bring more artistry and plasticity into contextual architecture with the use of layered materials and complex patterns.

Seasons Ensemble, 2013, Saint Petersburg. Image © Aleksey Naroditsky

VB: To give some reference, which architects from any historical period do you admire most and could you name some of their buildings that you particularly enjoy?

ST: I love spending time in Vienna where I enjoy visiting buildings by Otto Wagner. I love the duality of Adolf Loos’ famous Ornament and Crime manifesto despite the fact that he used marble’s natural pattern as ornament. His architecture teaches me one thing – there can be no buildings without details. You can’t deny that our eye demands complexity. We look at a tree and take pleasure in observing its leaves – that is a fact.

Hamburger Hof, 2010, Berlin. Image © Roland Halbe

VB: You were educated in Russia and spent most of your professional life in Germany. Now that you’ve been practicing in both circumstances for many years do you see significant differences in how architecture is done in these countries?

ST: In Russia, there is less preoccupation with self-expression and search for a unique individualistic path.

VB: Do you think there is a strong preoccupation with self-expression in Germany?

ST: Sure. You can always distinguish German projects from non-German. Just as we can easily distinguish Italian Baroque from French, right?

Tuchfabrik, 2016, Berlin. Image © Werner Huthmacher

VB: What makes German architecture German?

ST: Dryness, accuracy in the details, respect for context, the refusal to use deliberately extravagant forms.

VB: Is this approach championed in academia?

ST: I don’t think so. But it is in the air there. Countries are different. The world is not global.

VB: Do you think of yourself more as a German architect or Russian?

ST: In Germany, I work for the German environment and in Russia for the Russian one. How can you design in the same way in Germany and Russia?

Actor Galaxy, 2015, Sotchi. Image © Aleksey Naroditsky

VB: When one looks at your projects what often stands out are such features as deep, battened up cantilevers, and a striving to be elevated high up. Where do you derive your inspirations for this imagery?

ST: My work is divided into two distinctly different groups – contextual with buildings that fit naturally into their surroundings and landmarks, which can be much higher, go over their neighbors, even crisscross with them. Such buildings are situated in a more complex dialogue with their environment. It is this theme of juxtaposing different layers – historical and geometric – that is the most urgent in architecture.

Living Levels, 2015, Berlin. Image © Roland Halbe

VB: And yet, where do your images come from?

ST: They emerge out of my drawings. I travel a lot and I spend a lot of time drawing. I am interested in traditional mise-en-scène situations in historical cities, details of individual buildings, and contrasts occurring when historical and contemporary layers overlap. These drawings come naturally into my projects. For me a city is like a play in a theater and my buildings perform different roles. There are ordinary buildings and extraordinary ones that perform leading roles. Architects should also know well how to design ordinary buildings. There must be a hierarchy of roles. Not all roles should be leading.

Museum for Architectural Drawing, 2013, Berlin. Image © Roland Halbe

VB: Where did the idea of forming and building a new Museum for Architectural Drawing, that you started in Berlin a few years ago, come from?

ST: In my opinion a drawing should be a key to the understanding of architecture – what is there to like or dislike, where do architects’ ideas come from, how do these ideas make it to paper, and what is important in this process. The Museum is a collaborative project with my former partner at SPEECH, Sergey Kuznetsov who is now the chief architect of Moscow. The museum mainly invites other collections from museums and foundations where architectural graphics is buried in archives and is rarely put on display. So far, we presented original drawings by Piranesi from Sir John Soane’s Museum in London, drawings from the Albertina in Vienna, the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and now we are working on another exhibition with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. We also exhibited personal shows of such architects as Peter Cook, Lebbeus Woods, and Alexander Brodsky. We present architecture drawn on paper in all its forms. I am a passionate draftsman and I believe that an architectural drawing is an autonomous work of art.

Museum for Architectural Drawing, 2013, Berlin. Image © Roland Halbe

VB: You initiated and curated numerous exhibitions and twice presented Russia in Architecture Biennales in Venice. What do you like about playing a role of a curator? What can an architect learn from being a curator?

ST: I love curating exhibitions. For example, now I am designing a space for a very special exhibition of over 40 works from the Vatican, including such masterpieces as by Rafael, Caravaggio, and Perugino. We are working on this show together with the architect from Moscow, Agniya Sterligova. I am interested in creating closed spaces, which let you be immersed in a unique atmosphere.

Museum for Rural Labour, 2015, Zvizzhi. Image © Dmitry Chebanenko

VB: Could I say that these exhibitions for you are a sort of laboratory where you derive ideas for your architectural projects?

ST: The opposite is true. Some of my unrealized dreams in architecture emerged in my exhibition projects. For example, I always loved drawing spherical and helispherical spaces. I finally realized this idea of a pantheon built as a dome in my exhibition project for the Russian Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2012. In that project, I fused fantasies of such architects as Ledoux and Boullée, and realized a dream project of a person entering an ideal space, a sphere.

Russian Pavilion at the 13 th Biennale in Venice, 2012. Image © Patricia Parinejad

VB: I have known you for a long time and read many of your texts and interviews. Would you agree that one word that you use more often than others is beauty?

ST: I agree.

VB: Yet, it is also true that this term, “beauty,” is hardly used by architects nowadays and it is also avoided by most artists.

ST: There is a difference. We are free not to look at paintings, but we cannot avoid looking at architecture; architecture should be beautiful. I associate beauty with such notions as tension, complexity, contradiction – all of these characteristics. Moreover, such a definition as contrasting harmony also impresses me a lot, since the harmony of contradictions and not only similarities could be nowadays considered as beauty. All of this is part of the search for an attractive artistic gesture.

Seasons Ensemble, 2013, Saint Petersburg. Image © Aleksey Naroditsky

VB: Drawing is one of your main passions. What do you think about when you draw?

ST: I’m always thinking and talking about the combination and contrast, as well as the coexistence of different elements of the environment. I’m asking myself how to transmit it into graphics. This is endlessly fascinating and I am very passionate about drawing.

The White, 2016, Berlin. Image © Werner Huthmacher

VLADIMIR BELOGOLOVSKY is the founder of the New York-based non-profit Curatorial Project. Trained as an architect at Cooper Union in New York, he has written five books, including Conversations with Architects in the Age of Celebrity (DOM, 2015), Harry Seidler: LIFEWORK (Rizzoli, 2014), and Soviet Modernism: 1955-1985 (TATLIN, 2010). Among his numerous exhibitions: Anthony Ames: Object-Type Landscapes at Casa Curutchet, La Plata, Argentina (2015); Colombia: Transformed (American Tour, 2013-15); Harry Seidler: Painting Toward Architecture (world tour since 2012); and Chess Game for Russian Pavilion at the 11th Venice Architecture Biennale (2008). Belogolovsky is the American correspondent for Berlin-based architectural journal SPEECH and he has lectured at universities and museums in more than 20 countries.

Belogolovsky’s column, City of Ideas, introduces ArchDaily’s readers to his latest and ongoing conversations with the most innovative architects from around the world. These intimate discussions are a part of the curator’s upcoming exhibition with the same title which premiered at the University of Sydney in June 2016. The City of Ideas exhibition will travel to venues around the world to explore ever-evolving content and design.

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© Enrique Cabeza de Vaca

• Architects: Trasbordo Arquitectura
• Location: Carrer de Sant Pere Claver, 08017 Barcelona, Spain
• Architect In Charge: Justo Orgaz, Ignacio Capapé
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Enrique Cabeza de Vaca

• Client: Oak House School
• Studio: Abraham Herreruela, Alberto Arroyo, Concepción Padilla
• Structure: EUTECA
• Facilities: BM Ingenierios
• Construction Company: Novantia Integral S.A.
• Technical Architect: Roberto López

© Enrique Cabeza de Vaca

From the architect. Throughout human history, the expression genius loci has been given different meanings, reflecting man’s need to understand something beyond the physical presence and morphology of places.

© Enrique Cabeza de Vaca

The plot of land where Oak House School’s new building has been erected was laden with scenic meaning and the community’s own values. One of this project’s fundamental aims has been to listen to that meaning and conserve those values.

© Enrique Cabeza de Vaca

Division into two volumes meets the need to expose as much of the façade as possible to natural light and ventilation. The positioning of these volumes gives southward facing exposure to the largest possible area of the vertical surface. Their location conserves the original villa’s leisure area: the French garden.

Axonometric

The final form results from a dialogue between these strategies: Two material levels separated by a transparent strip. Above it, two suspended natural wood pavilions interact with and frame the original villa’s tower. Below it, a system of white concrete walls sunk into the land domesticates the topography, shapes the plot’s inner circulation and houses a small pre-university campus in the old French garden.

© Enrique Cabeza de Vaca

From an architectural point of view, this project’s solution arises from the dialectics between the upper and lower levels. In the semi-buried layer, the enveloping system is “monolithic”, in that it is formed by a single layer of material. In the aerial layer, the enveloping system is a multi-layered ventilated façade of dry-jointed wood. One is massive, the other light.

Section

The monolithic layer, where a single material sustains, insulates, clads and contains the facilities, follows the way we have built for centuries: Greek temples, Florentine palaces, Gothic cathedrals and traditional adobe houses. In the design stage we requested CEMEX the possibility of creating a tailor-made concrete with specific levels of heat transfer and resistance for a white-finish concrete on both sides. It had to be very thick (45cm) to achieve the required comfort, given that, despite significant improvements in heat transfer, it was impossible to reach our specifications using conventional levels of thickness.

© Enrique Cabeza de Vaca

The aerial level, on the other hand, has been devised using the opposite construction system: a dry-joint ventilated façade. Here, the envelope is made with different overlapping layers, each of which plays a specific role, and which as a whole meet all the required specifications. Special mention should be made of the acetylated wood cladding “Accoya Wood”. This treatment modifies the organic structure of the wood, removing its hygroscopic properties, making it possible to leave the wood in a natural state, without varnish or woodstain.

© Enrique Cabeza de Vaca

From an environmental perspective: The project incorporates precise passive measures, which result in a lower demand for energy: Its semi-buried position and vegetation cover stabilise the interior temperature against the changes in the exterior climate. Exposure to light from the south captures the energy needed in winter, and the circulation spaces and shading systems protect the building from direct sunlight, eliminating the need for air conditioning in summer. 

© Enrique Cabeza de Vaca

Axonometric

Active measures are also incorporated, which translate into an efficient use of solar energy: The main source of energy is found at the site itself. The cooling and heating system gets its energy from the subsoil, via a geothermal energy system. 

© Enrique Cabeza de Vaca

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© Marc Goodwin

• Architects: Lund Hagem Architects
• Location: Geilo, Norway
• Architects In Charge: Einar Hagem, Torger Wendelbo
• Area: 150.0 m2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Marc Goodwin

© Marc Goodwin

From the architect. Situated at 982 meters above sea level, this cabin has harsh winter conditions and heavy snowfall. The site has a panoramic view overlooking the valley of Geilo. During winter the cabin is only accessible with ski or snowmobile.

© Marc Goodwin

The cabin consists of three volumes; the main cabin, guest house and carport connected under a u-shaped pitched roof creating a sheltered inner courtyard. This south-facing courtyard allows the low winter sun to enter during the day. The outer geometry is formed by the important views and the adaption to the landscape. The cabin is placed as low as possible in the landscape and during winter is almost covered in snow.

© Marc Goodwin

Floor Plan

© Marc Goodwin

The facades facing the terrain are made of concrete. The rest of the cabin is a wood construction, painted black as the traditional buildings in the area. The concrete formwork is made out of the same dimensions as the timber cladding.  The concrete is tinted black.

© Marc Goodwin

The materials inside are black concrete floors and oak treated with iron sulphate. The dark tone allows the nature outside to come closer and a darkness that contrasts the white winter landscape. A long single frame skylight placed at the top of the roof and a fireplace hanging from the roof are other sources of light.

© Marc Goodwin

Product Description.The exterior of cabin Geilo applies dark coloured timber reference to the traditional houses in the area. The cabin applies consistently dark tones throughout interior and exterior. The dark tone allows to unite the building and the nature as well as contrasts the white winter landscape.

Exterior:
-Wall (Foundation)- Black tinted concrete
-Wall- Pine cladding, painted in black
-Roof- Roofing felt in black.

© Marc Goodwin

Interior:
-Floors-Black tinted concrete
-Interior wall-oak panel with iron sulphate 

© Marc Goodwin

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© Scheltens & Abbenes

• Architects: Houben & Van Mierlo
• Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Architects In Charge: Jelle Houben, Bas Van Mierlo
• Area: 1650.0 m2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Scheltens & Abbenes

© Scheltens & Abbenes

From the architect. Amsterdam North is rapidly developing into a diverse and desirable district of Amsterdam. In a special location in the heart of this neighbourhood, Houben & Van Mierlo Architecten have designed the renovation of two old ‘potato barns’ into contemporary residential properties for two families, including an in-house photo studio for the famous photography duo Scheltens & Abbenes.

© Scheltens & Abbenes

One barn dates back to the Second World War and was built using hybrid construction techniques; the second was added in the sixties and built as a steel construction with wooden floors and a concrete stone facade. In accordance with the plan for the redevelopment and the renovation of the land and buildings, several old extensions were demolished and the existing interior completely stripped. Following a sophisticated plan, the main rooms were re-formatted into large, loft-like living and working spaces.

Floor Plans

In the arrangement of these spaces, the original constructions of the barns have remained visible. Together with the new plastered cement screed floor, they define the basic character of these interiors. Furthermore, the finish is simple yet stylishly designed and realized, whereby the characteristics of a robust industrial past go hand in hand with a modernist interior of art and design fittings.

© Scheltens & Abbenes

One of the involved clients is the photography duo Scheltens & Abbenes. They make both autonomous work for cultural institutions and commissioned work for a variety of international companies, in a world ranging from product design to fashion. The special finish of the interior of their residential house and studio was realized in collaboration with several of their clients, such as Delta Light, Farrow & Ball, Scholten & Baijings and Muller Van Severen. The use of fixtures and furniture, paint and wall tiles from these ‘partners’ with a simple yet sophisticated light and colour scheme gives the interior an extra dimension.

© Scheltens & Abbenes

In addition to the existing constructions, the robust custom made front doors, stairs and kitchens, and the furnishings with personal items and autonomous work by the photographers themselves, give this interior a unique quality and transform it into a truly ‘gesamtkunstwerk’.

© Scheltens & Abbenes

Product Description. The original, raw constructions of the barns have remained visible. These constructions consist of a steel structure; the roof and first floor in existing wood boards; external walls in concrete bricks. Existing and new facade openings designed with a combination of wooden window frames and industrial-like steel doors. Together with the new plastered metalstud walls and a plastered cement-screed floor, these define the basis character of these interiors.

© Scheltens & Abbenes

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© Hey! Cheese

• Architects: B+P Architects
• Architect In Charge: Chia-Hao Tsai, Tze-Chun Wei
• Design Team: Tzu-Li Lin, Chien-Tung Chen
• Area: 735.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Hey! Cheese

© Hey! Cheese

Renovation of a Historical Building

The historical building contains many strong characteristics of space and living and it expresses the significance of the certain age. While facing the renovation of a historical building, our first intention is to “re-specify” the initial gestures of the space in order to remain the condition for the traces of time could be experienced. Therefore, carefully but distinctive inserting an element to shape new spaces become the key issue of this project.  

© Hey! Cheese

Structure as furniture

Minimal utilizing the historic space and re-using original materials are our main concept of the design. The main timber truss for the retail shop at the front room introduces the idea of “Structure as furniture”, a free-standing individual component that is detached with the existing wall. The idea of moderate intervention with minimal attaches and less anchoring that will undermine the existing building is taking place in this project. 

© Hey! Cheese

Structure Diagram

© Hey! Cheese

The timber truss is a structure designed to support the display shelf and to integrate the wiring of lighting and air-conditioning units. The truss appeared as an inverted frame is a modest response to a new insertion to an old building.     

© Hey! Cheese

Yeh family is one of the many grain stores locate in Dihua street, where it is the central commercial area of Taipei during the time. We remain considerable amount of existing furniture and grain equipment replaced back to the space to give its presence of the historic context. The timber used for the truss is made from Japanese cypress that is also used to make gain utensils at the time as well. Besides the gentle explicit response of the form, the implicit connection of materials and textures is also our design thinking towards a historic building.

© Hey! Cheese

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© Namgoong Sun

• Architects: Moon Hoon
• Location: Dogok-dong, gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Design Team: Kim jaekwan, Kim sookhee, Kim haeree, Shin Jinseok , Jade Narrido, Jason Houliston
• Area: 40.76 m2
• Photographs: Namgoong Sun

Drawing

From the architect. It reflects the client’s personality in a frank manner. Considering that the client, who had dreamt all kinds of mysterious dreams only to overcome them while living in a house built on a rock of mystical forces at a high area of Gangbuk, Seoul, purchased the plot of a fortuneteller and a shaman beside a tall wall in Gangnam, this is a world that must be full of many unexplainable things. In contemporary terms, this building would be considered a mixed-use narrow house, combining a basement studio for the client’s son, a photographer, a reception area, as well as a residence for mother and son that has been equipped with a compact elevator to account for the weakened joints of the elderly.

© Namgoong Sun

I feel uncomfortable whenever I see contemporary buildings with large openings. Such an entrance could be even worse if it is for a residence because personally I think it is often feared that it would only allow too much light inside and violate my privacy. Of course, it can be controlled with a variety of devices, such as curtains or louvers, but they can’t be used as the fundamental solution. Thus, I proposed small and unique windows to my client for this project. At first, they were concerned that it would be too dark inside but it has resulted in a space that has both sufficiently bright spots and dark ones.

© Namgoong Sun

Longitudinal Section

© Namgoong Sun

While I was blithely dancing along with the imaginary building line, in addition to my habit of desiring ‘to connect things that seem irrelevant with lines’, I also established the order of randomness and this became the basis for designing external appearance of buildings. Virtually projected on the building, the lines were left as decorative marks on the interior walls. The biggest reason for taking on an uncontrollable situation as a designer or handing over the role of designer to random events and chance is not because I am indifferent but because they often present better solutions than I.

© Namgoong Sun

© Namgoong Sun

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© ZENG Zhe

• Architects: IAPA Design Consultants
• Location: Beijing, China
• Architects In Charge: Paul Bo Peng, Yang, Yen Hu, Stoney Yu
• Area: 2500.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: ZENG Zhe

• Clientother Earth Happiness Group: The Mother Earth Happiness Group

© ZENG Zhe

Yin Ma Chuan of the Great Wall – The Seeking the Happiness of Mother Earth Area is the first cultural resort at the foot of the Great Wall of China. IAPA partnered with The Mother Earth Happiness Group to design works from planning, architecture, landscape, interior, to construction documentation. The design of the resort has a unique emphasis on environmental protection and art culture.  Zhao Hua Xi Shi Living Museum is now complete and in use.

© ZENG Zhe

Axonometric

© ZENG Zhe

The Zhao Hua Xi Shi Living Museum has a modular container as the main body of its structure, which incorporates exhibition, catering, leisure and office spaces. The modular container is connected with galleries, bridges and platforms to create an enjoyable space using the style of the Courtyard House. The design embraces the scenic nature of the Great Wall, offering visitors a magnificent landscape view.

© ZENG Zhe

© ZENG Zhe

Zhao Hua Xi Shi Living Museum is a representation of the continuity of traditional cultural heritage. The structural form, the indoor and outdoor spaces, the contrast of stone and steel, the timber and hemp, the interaction of corridors, bridges, and viewing platforms, provide a pleasing environment to enjoy the enchanting, unique experience of Seeking the Happiness of Mother Earth.

© ZENG Zhe

Product Description. The project is located within the historic site of the Great Wall. The modular containers were chosen to form the main structure body. Locally sourced woven reeds, used for the outdoor corridor ceilings, and recycled timber decking create a natural aesthetic that represents the traditional cultural heritage of the site.

© ZENG Zhe

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© Eric Laignel

• Architects: TPG Architecture
• Location: Winston-Salem, NC, United States
• Architect In Charge: Larry Berger, RA
• Lead Designer: Carly Jacobson, LEED AP
• Area: 37500.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Eric Laignel

© Eric Laignel

From the architect. After a successful teaming for the design of their Boston headquarters, MullenLowe engaged TPG Architecture to design its new office in Winston-Salem, NC: a 37,500 square foot space in the city’s newly developed Wake Forest Innovation Quarter. The office design was an opportunity to create a strong communications touchpoint expressing MullenLowe’s identity as a “challenger” in the advertising industry, a scrappy do-everything ad firm with a global reach.

© Eric Laignel

MullenLowe’s staff work in multiple disciplines for diverse clientele, so their space had to be flexible and inspirational. The space itself was breathtaking when the design team first walked through. Built in the 1930’s, the building was originally a tobacco factory. A large, deep floorplate, 14’ ceilings and metal-frame windows were the raw materials that provided the framework for MullenLowe’s new offices.

© Eric Laignel

The design concept was to respect and celebrate the existing structure, leaving the walls and ceiling untouched by using floating free forms – rectangular boxes built between the columns – to create space within the space.

© Eric Laignel

The L-shaped floor plate naturally split the space in two distinct wings. The reception area is logically situated at the vertex of the wings, in an existing open atrium with stairs to the lobby. By placing reception there and using the free form boxes to subdivide the space, the design team was able to bring focus and continuity to the plan, dividing the raw space into functional neighborhoods and providing myriad open and inspiring creative environments. The program required an assortment of collaborative spaces including conference rooms, huddle booths, photo and recording studios, and a media screening room with stadium seating.

Plan

Structural columns and beams were left exposed, still coated with nearly a century of layered paint, which was minimally sandblasted to prevent peeling. Finishes and furniture were inspired by the raw space; the free form boxes are clad in plywood and dark-gray painted sheetrock, while the chair colors were sampled from the peeling paint on the concrete walls. The designers devised a system of perforated metal screens to allow for magnetic pin-up space throughout the office without interrupting the openness and fluidity of the floor.

© Eric Laignel

Today, MullenLowe’s space is more conducive for hosting events for local groups such as the Arts Council, as well as outside vendors, such as the local coffee house who provide the staff with on-site barista. Internally, the open work environment and common areas allow for more accidental collisions and natural collaborations, all of which are selling points when hiring new talent and pitching clients.

© Eric Laignel

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