design – Page 119 – Sig Nordal

Lucerne School of Art and Design / EM2N

November 7, 2016signordalLeave a comment

Architects: EM2N
Location: 6020 Emmen, Switzerland
Area: 13000.0 sqm
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Filip Dujardin

Client: Viscosistadt AG
Partners: Mathias Müller, Daniel Niggli
Project Leader: Christoph Abächerli, Bernd Druffel (Associate), Marc Holle (Associate)
Project Team: Dorothee Burkert, Niklas Erlewein, Margarida Fonseca, Giulia Giardini, Olivia Kossak, Ana Olalquiaga Cubillo, Gabriela Popa, Claudia Soppelsa-Peter,Jonas Rindlisbacher
Landscape Architecture: Studio Vulkan Landschaftsarchitektur, Zurich
Construction Management: Architektur & Baumanagement AG, Luzern
Cost Management: TGS Bauökonomen AG, Luzern
Civil Engineer: Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure AG, Zurich
Planning Heating / Ventilation / Air Conditioning / Cooling Technology And Sanitary Ser Vices: Josef Ottiger + Partner AG, Emmenbrücke
Building Physics, Acoustics: RSP Bauphysik AG, Luzern
Electrical Services Planning: Jules Hä iger AG, Luzern
Geomatic Engineering: Emch+Berger WSB AG, Emmenbrücke
Signage: Velvet Creative Of ce GmbH, Luzern
Site Area: 5000 sqm

From the architect. On the industrial site of the former monofilament manufacturer Viscosuisse and today’s Monosuisse AG in Emmenbrücke, a new urban district, to be known as the Viscosistadt, will be developed in the near future. While preserving the diversity of the existing buildings, the urban quality of the site will be further strengthened and developed. The first measure is the conversion of Building 745 into the new location for the Lucerne School of Art and Design. Part of the Viscosuisse legacy, this strongly expressive building shapes the character of the site. The structure has wide spans and is made up of columns, down-beams and prefabricated ribbed concrete ceiling slabs, producing generously sized, uninterrupted spaces. In order to preserve the quality of this fine example of Swiss engineering architecture and to make it usable, our intervention is as direct and restrained as possible.

The main entrance to the university is from the east via Nylsuisseplatz. Elements of the high-bay warehouse on the west side will be stripped away to open up the facade and to establish a connection to the park along the river. The open ground floor strengthens the university building’s connection to the park. This ground floor serves a zone where the public meets the university. It plays a central role in the planned development and in introducing life into the entire site.

A café invites people to spend time there. Also located here are the ‘Aktionshalle’, a project space for exhibitions and events, and the library. A zone is established that can be used in a variety of ways. The Media Lab, which is open to all, forms the core of the 1st floor. The degree programmes ‘Camera Arts‘, ‘Art & Interpretation‘, ‘Fine Arts’, ‘Design’ and ‘Film’ will take place here and in the two floors above. The rooms on the 4th floor accommodate the management, administration and research facilities. For the most part they make use of the existing walls and spatial structure. The rooms for the degree programmes ‘Video’ and ‘Animation’, which require a certain degree of soundproofing, are located in the basement.

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Terraces Home / H&P Architects

November 7, 2016signordalLeave a comment

Architects: H&P Architects
Location: Hà Tĩnh, Ha Tinh Province, Vietnam
Architects In Charge: Doan Thanh Ha, Tran Ngoc Phuong
Project Year: 2015
Photographs: Nguyen Tien Thanh

Team: Chu Kim Thinh, Nguyen Hai Hue, Ho Manh Cuong, Trinh Thi Thanh Huyen, Nguyen Van Thinh.

As a part in a chain of Agritecture development projects, Terraces home adopts the combination of Architecture and Agriculture (Agriculture + Architecture = Agritecture) as a basis for sustainable development.

The idea is to combine the two distinctive elements of Vietnam’s rural areas: The house (accommodation space) and terraced rice field (cultivation space) to create a Home with blurred boundaries in and out; above and below; common and private.

Certain accommodation space is located along the slope of the roof so that it is wide open to sight angles, light and shadow, which is enabled by concrete trays of farm produce at different levels high above. Along the two flanks of the roof are irrigation systems to keep plots of farmland evergreen, and mitigate adverse effects of habitat and tropical monsoon weather conditions such as shortage of green trees, noise, dust and smoke, heat, storms, etc.

Agricultural cultivation helps bring city dwellers closer to the nature by giving them interesting first-hand experience in planting, taking good care and sharing harvested produce from their own farmland plots with their neighbors.

Terraces home serves as a constant reminder of the origin of paddy rice civilization in a flat world context threatened by various types of pollution currently at an alarming level. It is, at the same time, expected to promote the expansion of farmland plots in urban areas with a view to securing food supplies for future life.

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Jing Kai New Media Center / hyperSity Office

November 7, 2016signordalLeave a comment

Architects: HyperSity Office
Location: Tongzhou District, Beijing
Content: architecture+interior+landscape
Design Time: 2016.07.29—2016.08.28
Construction Time: 2016.08.29—2016.09.28
Design Team: Yang SHI, Tianyu ZHANG, Zongjie WANG
Area: 500.0 sqm
Project Year: 2016
Photographer: Han GAO

From the architect. Jing Kai New Media Center is located in Tongzhou, Beijing. In a height of 6 meters and an area of about 500 square meters, it is transformed from the existing staff canteen into venue of the Beijing Design Week 2016. With only one-month construction period, the architect decided to preserve the original structure and corrugated steel sheet façade, to enable low impact measures within an integrative perspective. By painting the façade with bright orange color and attaching a new perforated plate, the form, texture, as well as permeability of the gradient color effect of the new building skin, compose a vivid atmosphere to the surrounding built environment.

Emphasizing on a full-scale renewal of the existing building, the exhibition hall provides flexibility to present different combinations of displayed items. 4-meter high cantilevered window in the east of hall space performs a second story exhibition area. A multi-funtional exhibition platform was designed through the interactions of the window structure and interior vertical transportation, as well as the existing two beams, ultimately evolved into a special art installation.

The overall design implies a complex and intense task to optimize and update the space towards more dynamic and articulated set of contemporary exhibited functions. Echoed with artistic expression of the sense of virtual reality, 3d print technique and interactive media, the platform design assures the visual correspondence and spatial coherency. However, the body itself is like an analogy of the industrial parts, which is hoped to recall the memory and creativity of manual and mechanical aesthetic from the Age of Steam. By tracing the origin and history of design, this spatial metaphor unfolds an intimate dialogue with architects, artists and audiences.

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Studioninedots Will Create a “Super Space” in Amsterdam

November 6, 2016signordalLeave a comment

Combining entrepreneurship with affordable housing, West Beat is the winning project for a creative complex in Nieuw-West, Amsterdam. The building proposal, created by Studioninedots in collaboration with Lingotto was inspired by the elements of light and sound, with each design choice reacting to the surrounding environment.

Studioninedots and Lingotto are proud to have won the tender for an iconic new building on Lelylaan, Amsterdam with our design that has a collective ‘Super Space’ as its heart, states the press release.

Elegantly constructed with arches, the “super space” (the bottom floor of the structure) remains open — allowing for a mixed-use facility. Moreover, the arches frame the multiplicity of activities available in the open-space, showcasing the building’s ground floor.

The height of the complex was determined by sound measurements, ensuring that the top floor sequesters the inner courtyard from noisy traffic. Outdoor and shared spaces are located on the sun-facing side of the building.

With a total of 150 apartments that overlook a raised courtyard, residents have the option of three outdoor spaces: the Podium courtyard, the elevated garden, and the living gallery directly in front of the apartments. To produce a green aesthetic, the north facade niches have glass walls with copious plants placed on them (also acting as a buffer zone).

In addition to the shared spaces, the complex will also include a gym, terraces, and a collective garden. The project won the approval from the City of Amsterdam with its concept and commitment to sustainability.

In this context Studioninedots sees an increasing need for better collective spaces and public spaces. Its architecture creates characteristic spatial interventions on dense urban sites that function as catalysts for meeting, exchange, connection and activities between people.

News via: Studioninedots

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JTP and Ed Barsley Win the Resilient Home for the Future Award

November 6, 2016signordalLeave a comment

The Sunday Times British Homes Awards has selected the recipient for its Resilient Home for the Future Award: “A Home for All Seasons” by JTP Architects and environmental design specialist Ed Barsley. JTP and Ed Barsley’s proposal was chosen from four other entries by means of a public vote. Competition requirements asked for designs to respond to potential flooding and overheating — two of climate change’s impending variables.

We wanted to put forward a scheme with a long-term design life. As such, the elevated living areas and causeway in the ‘Home for All Seasons’ ensure residents remain safe, connected and can quickly recover from a flood event, said Barsley.

As technology improves, so too must architectural strategies. “A Home for All Seasons” considers physical resilience in addition to social and economic longevity. Low tech, practical solutions — like a smartphone app that warns inhabitants of approaching floods — helped the team win. Living areas and power utilities are also located on the first floor to allow water to flow out from the ground floor.

Flooding is on Britain’s radar. With a 20-30% more heavy rainfall predicted and 5.5 million British homes in danger of rising water levels, it’s imperative that houses are built to resist the statistics.

While the awards honor the most innovative and talented project, they also select a team based on the project as a buildable solution. The design proposal also seems feasible due to its cost-effectiveness.

News Via: JTP Architecture

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Vajrasana Buddhist Retreat / Walters & Cohen Architects

November 6, 2016signordalLeave a comment

Architects: Walters & Cohen Architects
Location: Walsham le Willows, Bury Saint Edmunds IP31 3AR, United Kingdom
Area: 1355.0 sqm
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Dennis Gilbert, Will Scott

Client: London Buddhist Centre

From the architect. A Buddhist retreat in the Suffolk countryside has reopened, designed by Walters & Cohen Architects. Potash Farm is home to Vajrasana Buddhist Retreat Centre; capacity has been increased from 34 to 60, accessibility improved and the centre now includes a glittering new shrine room. While the retreat is run by the London Buddhist Centre, it is also used for carers on respite and those dealing with issues such as stress, addiction and anxiety. It is the first time in the UK a new building has been designed specifically around the Buddhist practice as opposed to reusing existing buildings.

Set in a rural area of natural beauty, the new building is sensitive to its surroundings and, as such, the design follows the Buddhist principle of ‘doing the least harm’, by minimising the impact on the environment, and building on the footprint of existing outbuildings. This has been achieved by Walters & Cohen working closely with environmental engineers Skelly and Couch, and through the use of simple materials that provide a balance between modesty and reverence for the spiritual aspects of the centre, the shrine room and associated courtyards.

Walters & Cohen designed the new retreat centre after winning a competition run by the London Buddist Centre in 2013, starting work in March 2015 and completing this summer. The design team visited retreat centres across the country and even undertook their own weekend retreat to ensure they understood and shared the ethos of the client. During the 14 months on site Walters & Cohen refreshed the original 1900s farmhouse as the main staff headquarters, and replaced redundant barns and sheds with residential, meditation and communal accommodation, linked by landscaped courtyard and walkways.

The past and the present are captured in the collection of buildings on the site, with Victorian tiles and parquet flooring unearthed in the original farmhouse, and simple materials such as plywood and painted blockwork used by the architects to create bedroom “pods” and communal living and dining areas arranged around a community (Sangha) courtyard.

The bedrooms are furnished with simple timber bed frames and plywood ceilings; the pitched roofs provide a sense of space and light. Crisply detailed walkways contain the Sangha courtyard, from which guests catch a glimpse of the tranquil courtyards through perforated brick walls that separate the communal from the ceremonial.

Walters & Cohen also worked closely with landscape architects BHSLA; a great deal of thought went into connecting the interior to the outdoors, to ensure a harmonious and whole project. The result is one of simplicity, ease and serenity and a feeling of enclosure without losing the sense of openness and connection to the wider countryside.

The Stupa itself, an important symbol of Buddhism, was designed by members of the LBC and is made of Portuguese limestone; it has a sculptural quality that responds to changing light throughout the day. The shrine room beyond is a large double-height space with a strong sense of spirituality conveyed by the continuation of the dark brick into the space: rays of sunlight stream through high level perforations in the brickwork, but here there are fewer distractions from the outside, making it easier to focus on the large Buddha rupa (statue) which is the focus of the room and the practice of meditation.

Product Description. The use of charred timber is a response to the rural context and our adaptation of the local typology of the Suffolk barn. The charring process preserves the timber, making it an appropriate choice for this client, who wanted low-maintenance buildings.

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John Ronan Architects Reveal Runner Up Proposal for Obama Presidential Center

November 6, 2016signordalLeave a comment

© John Ronan Architects. Via Curbed Chicago

John Ronan Architects have recently released new renderings of their runner-up proposal for the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, Chicago. The ambition of the design was to serve as an amenity for the community, with programmatic elements such as an indoor/outdoor theater, dining, event spaces, and an athletic facility in addition to a museum dedicated to the Obama presidency.

The building is conceived as a series of rotated ellipses that seem to float above the site, a bold form glazed in understated glass to capture views of the surrounding urban and natural landscape. Surrounded by the structure is a grassy open-air gathering space, including the theater for which the adjacent lagoon serves as a backdrop.

As visitors circulate through the museum structure, they can enjoy views of both the community program spaces on the column-free interior and the neighborhood and greenspace to the exterior. The dematerialized building symbolizes the connection between the presidency and its impact on the community it serves.

John Ronan Architects were among seven finalists selected to design the Center. The winning bid by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects is yet to be revealed.

News via: Curbed Chicago

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Melloni / Barreca & La Varra

November 6, 2016signordalLeave a comment

Architects: Barreca & La Varra
Location: Via Macedonio Melloni, 20129 Milano, Italy
Architects In Charge: Gianandrea Barreca, Giovanni La Varra
Area: 942.0 sqm
Project Year: 2015
Photographs: Carola Merello

Construction Design: Alberto Grazzi
Collaborator: Chiara Capponi
Construction: Cospe
Client: Sevenbricks srl

From the architect. Schizopherenic facades, contrasting in a single building located at the center of Milan, Italy.

The Milanese studio Barreca & La Varra decides to improve a buildings facades which was constructed around 1930s with a late 19^th century style in the center of Milan, on Via Melloni.

The building consists of 4 floors, plus a basement and an attic. The old look of the building had a brusque façade facing the street and a banal ordinary interior. Overtime, a lift shaft had been added which was not matching with the previous architectural characteristics of the building.

Rather than trying to make the parts look the same, Barreca & La Varra decided to point out their differences with a new design. The ordinary look of the southern façade, facing to the street changed by adding a hidden long terrace that completes the style of the north façade, facing the interior of the building. This look was approached by designing a series of false windows that are cut out from the horizontal sunshade, leaving the attic level set back, there was space created to form a long balcony.

On the other hand, in order to be able to create a larger space for the residents Barreca & La Varra decided to enlarge the north façade, facing the interior of the building two meters towards the courtyard, respecting the distance of other buildings on the block. The façade was framed with interconnecting steel rectangular structures painted in dark grey that divides the façade into grids and points out the visual differences between the spaces with and without balconies. Having a single flow on the façade brought a compact, solid look into the whole design of the building.

This difference between the two facades, called “controlled schizophrenia” by the architects, draws attention to the traditional and the reassuring style of the historical city while dedicating an “open air” room for the residents to complement their space.

Product Description:

Addition façade was built in order to create extra space for the elevator and the balconies.
Standard profile was used to create grids. Grids are designed with steel tubes to create frames for each balcony facing the court yard.
Due to the lack of space, using steal was an easier and faster option to apply. It simplifies the process and reduces the time of the construction.
Adding a hidden long terrace by designing a series of false windows that are cut out from the horizontal sunshade, leaving the attic level set back

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Video: Jan Gehl on Modernism and the Social Sciences

November 6, 2016signordalLeave a comment

The Danish Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Biennale, curated by Boris Brorman Jensen and Kristoffer Lindhardt Weiss, is dense with models – “a wunderkammer of architectural prototypes.” The exhibition, which attempts to present new insights into how contemporary Danish architecture has been influenced by critics of Modernism (the “Modern approach”), features Jan Gehl—a famed Danish architect and urbanist renowned for his focus on improving the quality of urban life—as its standard bearer. In this exclusive film, shared by the curators, Gehl puts forward his position.

Discover more from the 2016 Venice Biennale, here.

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From Buffy to Breaking Bad, Sherlock to Stranger Things, Here are 8 Floor Plans from Cult TV Shows

November 6, 2016signordalLeave a comment

Floor plans of favourite television shows tell an interesting story, offering the viewer an extra dimension of a world they are already familiar with. A new series of poster-ready plans from Homes.com continues this with some of the most followed television shows both old and new—featuring Gilmore Girls, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Arrested Development, Breaking Bad, Mr Robot, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Sherlock and Stranger Things, there’s something in this set for TV viewers of all tastes.

1. Gilmore Girls

Where you lead, I will follow… whether you’re Team Jess, Team Logan or Team Paul Anka, this familiar Stars Hollow house serves as a spatial refresher just in time for the revival. The plan is detailed to the point where you can see what can only be takeout plates on the dinner table.

2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Even teenagers busy fighting the undead need a roof over their head, and it looks a bit like this. While Buffy’s home is a real house in Torrance, California, the vampires of Sunnydale preferred a less humble mansion, designed by none other than Frank Lloyd Wright.

3. Arrested Development

Ah, the model home. Slowly falling apart with each episode, it was detailed with the handprints of the aspiring “Blue Man” Tobias, had a suitably secret room for family secrets, and the perfect bannister for Mrs. Featherbottom entrances. Not shown here though is the ultimate party hangout: George Bluth and his hot tub in the attic.

4. Breaking Bad

Many would credit Breaking Bad with heralding in the “golden age of television”—and here’s the house where it all began. Although you can’t see it in plan, it’s easy to imagine the pizza on the roof, hovering somewhere above the garage door.

5. Mr Robot

The interiors of Mr Robot have not gone unnoticed for their powerful stage setting. One of the most puzzling questions viewers were left with was what exactly was in Elliot’s apartment? Can it be seen in this plan?

6. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Where do all the other doors in Charlie and Frank’s crowded apartment lead to? Unfortunately this plan doesn’t tell us either, though we can see the pooped-in sofa bed where the duo sleep “ass to ass.”

7. Sherlock

Taking working from home (or should we say Holme?) to the extreme is Sherlock Holmes at the legendary 221B Baker Street. One is immediately drawn to the living room rendered in red, where Sherlock and John’s iconic chairs face each other, with Sherlock’s Le Corbusier Grand Confort LC3 now in a curious green.

8. Stranger Things

There are few times in the show when the Byers’ household actually looks cosy, yet here the Christmas lights look festive, rather than a means of inter-universal communication to the Upside Down. At least engineers would be happy to know that lighting and telecommunications are a bundle deal.

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1. Gilmore Girls

2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

3. Arrested Development

4. Breaking Bad

5. Mr Robot

6. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia

7. Sherlock

8. Stranger Things

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