From the architect. This is the single-family house located in Tokyo. Restrictions on space of land and height is severe , and housing is dense. It was a difficult location to ensure privacy.
One of the ways that architecture must be integrated into its natural context is by maintaining the sensory experience of the place itself. This can be achieved by assigning value to a site’s spatial qualities, textures, and even by generating contrasts, to enhance and differentiate existing elements from man-made ones.
This month we want to highlight Secondfloor Architects, who turn their focus towards the interior of their project and invite us to experience the natural environment as something that is above architecture. They do this not only by designing a building that is settled in the plot, but also by creating a central element which relates to the verticality of the existing trees, while the building’s horizontal elements offer a powerfully contrasting material expression.
About the shades of black: It’s quite interesting what you mention about using a color that absorbs light but yet generates textures. What atmosphere or sensations where you after by using these specific materials in black? How did you select the different textures according to the use of the spaces?
We utilize black for two different purposes. (1.) Our intention as designer to the negative attitude people have towards the black because we wanted to prove that black contains this richness. One of the examples is at architecture schools, the use of the black is often criticized while with white, that’s not the case. (2.) Black as an emerging presence of environment. Black tends to absorb but its surface enables the presences of the the materials we chose. The black and uneven surface of the aggregate wall create this beautiful shimmery effect that is visually soothing. The blackness and glossy quality of the tiles around the tree render the reflection that visually expand the space. There’s the fading blackness of the bricks with accumulating traces that becomes more obvious through time.
The project has very interesting features and design elements for being a café. Which decisions did you make for the plan, materials and project philosophy? We believe the final project has very complex elements as response to a “common” program.
We believe that architecture should create ambience that embodies this specific space rather than standing out for its physical presence. This project wouldn’t be as meaningful as it is if it just stood on this piece of land. The proportion of the visually accessible open space is 2 out of 3, even though you feel like you’re inside the building. The 38-meter long floor plan was conceived to accentuate the difference of the steepness of the land. In the meantime, the 6.5-meter width creates the narrowness that allows one to feel the presence of the surrounding landscape. The materials we decided to use comprise of different characteristics of blackness for the environment we were going to create. The steel structure was used to emphasize the solidarity of other materials and it offered shorter construction period in terms of the structure.
Besides being in a very natural context, the project seems to close on itself and letting the user concentrate on the architecture and what is happening inside but at the same time maintaining a connection with the landscape subtly in a vertical way (open spaces), rather than horizontal. How can you deepen more on this as a design premise?
This is a very good question. Thank you for noticing that. The answer to this question is very simple and I would like to answer it with this question ‘How long has it been since you looked up at a tree you stood underneath? The beauty of forest isn’t as far as you think. Like I said earlier, sometimes, enclosure offers you the chance to see more than you would ever think.
Concept Image. Image Courtesy of Secondfloor Architects
Peddle Thorp Architects have submitted their proposal for the Moray Street Residential Tower in Melbourne for approval. At 1173.5 square meters, Sol Invictus is wrapped entirely in solar panels, attaining 10 times more solar surface area than a traditional roof covering. The facade can achieve up to 5000 square meters of solar panel array and is connected to a battery storage system.
Courtesy of Peddle Thorp Architects
In addition to larger and more visually appealing apartments with more amenities, the project brief sought cutting-edge solutions in solar and wind energy. To that end, the main tower of Sol Invictus is curved for maximum exposure to sunlight and wind loads, magnifying the potential for renewable energy gains. The facade includes black photovoltaic cells, which function optimally in bright sunlight, whereas the photovoltaic glass in the vision glazing operates best in shady conditions. The top of the building houses wind turbines that absorb high wind loads.
Courtesy of Peddle Thorp Architects
The design mitigates other issues of site, such as by limiting the presence of the adjacent freeway with directional aspect lighting and an inset lobby that widens the street edge. Additionally, Sol Invictus fosters community by connecting the suburbs to the central city and including amenity levels.
The team of tvsdesign and Cospace has won the competition for the design of the Zhumadian International EXPO Center, located in Zhumadian, a city known for its agricultural industry, in the Henan Province of China. The competition sought out convention center designs that could not only serve as a location to hold agricultural conventions and trade fairs but could also connect back to the city’s historic roots in order to expand the area as a rendezvous of agriculture.
Drawing from the fact that Zhumadian is specifically known for supplying China with sesame seeds, the proposal utilizes the imagery of the seed in its shape—with rounded triangular forms—as well as in its overarching concept: “as an epicenter of activity in the agricultural industry, the convention center represents origins, life, growth, and health for the region and the people who visit the building” described the architects.
Courtesy of tvsdesign
Courtesy of tvsdesign
Furthermore, the facility is oriented about a north-south axis with a design that visualizes the three elements critical to the agricultural process—earth, heaven, and people.
Courtesy of tvsdesign
Courtesy of tvsdesign
The new Center will be located along the western edge of an upcoming commercial development to the west of the central city, and will be the first of three cultural buildings to arise within the agricultural park area.
From the architect. Named after its charmingly christened Moon Alley, the Vicolo Luna neighbourhood is an urban quarter on the edge of Favara’s town – which is a unique web of dammusi, low stone-and-lime buildings directly derived from the Roman domus, of which dammuso is the surviving archaic Sicilian word.
This project’s target is to toggle on urban and social regeneration dynamics, to the benefit of such complex network of old and new buildings, of public, private and venue spaces: squares, historical streets, alleyways, plazas, courtyards and gardens. It is indeed a manifold interaction between public and private, leading to a remarkable degree of cultural livelihood and to a striking nightlife, such as making Favara stealing the lead from neighbouring Agrigento regional capital and world-wide renowned historical city.
Site Plan
Based on such premises, the present project intends to apply a selective focus to ancient and ruined house buildings together with all their annex spaces, and to re-address their function to a broad range of social events: from cuisine to AD facilities (Albergo Diffuso, Diffused Hotel), from exploiting the charm of old, quant courtyards and gardens refashioned and tuned to a fresh contemporary feel to making best use of such warm and yet intimate spaces by hosting performance art events as well as resources and investments – A hub for energy to gather around a reborn, innovative and above all shared and community-based urban context.
The multi-faceted nature of this project contributes to an open, participated and constantly evolving, in-progress cultural improvement.
Section
There are two dimensions working in constant interaction and sinergy: preservation works and innovative architectural planning. The outcome is a unique, defined, wholesome and complete architectural standard which introduces and operates on several spatial aspects.
The nature of this project consists in the creative elaboration and multifield application of the old/new contrast on a roughly 1.500 square metres town quarter.
The first phase of the project is going to be the most challenging as far as restructuring works are concerned: works will be carried out for the renovation and re-addressing of a large noble household property with several annex buldings, among which maintenance facilities once used as tool-houses and a garden.
Ground Floor Plan
First Floor Plan
In the following step of the project, additional hosting facilities, currently work-in-progress, will be open to the public.
Having to comply with strict council reglations concerning the overall building size allowed, close-up, tailored, surgical interventions were carried out, drawing out and integrating with a custom and uncompromising approach. Materials and works were aimed at creating sharp and yet natural shapes blending in a rather blunt, stratified and crystallized background.
The present project has chosen and made sure to preserve as much as possible of the original wall structures, avoiding to disrupt the original lay-out along with the characteristc elements of the building: on the groundfloor, two crossing vaults, the arches and the wooden ceiling and roof; at the first floor, the brand new beams set in their original sloping framework design.
From an architectural point of view, the target is nurturing a plus in each space, by using a minimal language, expressed by a choice of natural materials and neutral grey and white indoor environments, alternating neat and smooth outlines with unlayered, rough cement walls in specific spots.
Büro Ziyu Zhuang and RSAA have released images of Kunststilo, their proposal for the Tangen Collection and Sørlandets Kunstmuseum in Kristiansand, Norway. The design is centered around a historical grain silo, simultaneously preserving, modifying, and adding to the existing site.
The design carves a curved void into the concrete silo, producing a shelter for visitors and revealing the form within. The circulation then follows the former path of the grain through a new structure on the eastern side envisioned as an open box with an industrial glass envelope. The extension of the silo, new volumes, and adjacent canal produce a new plaza that spans the length of the silo.
Courtesy of RSAA
Courtesy of RSAA
The main feature of the proposal is the rectangular “artcube,” which accentuates the transition between the waterfront promenade to a calmer residential neighborhood. Appearing from a distance as distinct from the coastline, the artcube is constructed by two main elements. The first is the cutout of the silo, which serves as the backbone of the artcube and contains a cafe, restaurant, and lookout platform. The translucent facade can either hint at the interior space or display artwork from the Norge Tangen Collection, integrating the private collection as part of a public space.
Architecture firm Ingvartsen Architects has turned their gaze towards “cultural exchange architecture”—not with the aim of exploring identity or experimenting with aesthetics, but with a practical purpose in mind: to minimize the spread of diseases. The Magoda Project combines Asian elements with traditional rural African building methods in the village of Magoda, in the Tanga region of Tanzania, taking shape in the form of eight prototype homes. The design goes to show that cultural exchanges in design and architecture can make great contributions towards problem solving for a humanitarian purposes, not only to improve health and hygiene, but also comfort and happiness.
Many traditional low-cost homes in rural Africa use mud or brick walls due to their high thermal mass, allowing the materials of the buildings to absorb heat during the day, and release heat during the night, keeping the temperature of the house comfortable and cool. Usually, this effect is amplified by using small windows, and as few of them as possible, if any are used at all. The Tanga region is located on the hot and humid coast of Tanzania, making these traditional building systems effective in achieving their purpose.
However, the disadvantage of these buildings is that they provide minimal airflow, due to the thick walls with few openings, as well as limited cooking areas or sanitary water supplies. The combination of these effects can create a hotspot for diseases, such as Malaria, in spaces where people spend a significant amount of their time: the home. Ingvartsen Architects have worked with local engineers, laborers, doctors and sociologists to combine Asian building elements with traditional African building methods, resulting in buildings that still utilize local materials, but maximize airflow. The aims of this design process are to prevent people’s living environment from fostering diseases, and to create a comfortable microclimate in the homes.
Three different materials have been used to build the facades of eight houses, in single or double stories: bamboo, shade nets and timber louvers. The advantage of these typically Asian elements is the possibility for cross-ventilation through the openings in the materials, while still using other materials with a high thermal capacity, such as brick and concrete, to serve as outdoor kitchen spaces and elevated platforms that prevent the houses from flooding. This optimized combination of the two building styles improves the hygiene and wellbeing of the local inhabitants, demonstrating how innovative solutions can come from interchanging cultural knowledge.
Ingvartsen Architects are also using this cultural exchange as a research opportunity, evaluating the effectiveness of the different microclimates that will result from the various materials and building designs, as well as the efficiency of insect screens that cover all open windows. Their aim is to work with the local community leaders and important stakeholders to increase the acceptance of new design techniques and expand the architecture, minimizing diseases on a broader scale.
Breaking barriers between cultural design methods is shown in the Magoda Project to produce utilitarian solutions that advance social and environmental sustainability, improving the quality of life of people who may not have access to different cultural formulas. Hopefully this evolution will continue to lead us towards new and experimental architecture, where social development and wellbeing carry on as the driving forces behind our designs.
From the architect. Ambulance workers do a challenging job that is physically and mentally demanding. The client asked for a responsible and resource-efficient building that would offer a comforting environment for the staff. The layout of the building is designed to offer views of nature, while sparing existing trees. Natural materials, mainly various types of wood, are used throughout the building. Wood is sustainable and regrowable, it contributes to a friendly and relaxing atmosphere.
The building is located on the outskirts of town, near the edge of a forest. The L-shaped plan is carefully positioned between existing trees. A large beech tree shades the 4 meter high window in the main staffroom.
An ambulance post has no public function, patients will never enter this building. We decided to design no façade facing the road to the entrance of the nearby hospital. Instead green sloping walls rise from the ground and transform into in the curved line of the roof, blending in with the surrounding trees and the edge of the woodlands.
Model
Structure
The building is almost energy neutral thanks to a highly insulated envelope. Heating and cooling are provided by an all-electric system with a heat pump and a solar water heater. 100 Solar panels provide electricity.
Wood has many advantages as a bio-based and healthy building material. We opted for a laminated timber construction. The timber-frame facades, the siding and the window frames are also made in wood.
Floor Plan
The curved shape of the roof is the main theme of the interior. The wooden trusses remain visible in the entire project.
Glued laminated timber lends itself beautifully to make curved beams in one piece, with minimal loss of material. The beams were shaped in the form we needed to support the curving roofs. Laminated timber is ideal for large spans that are difficult to achieve in normal timber.
Section
The sloping walls are covered with fast-growing climbers. Two thirds are Hedera Helix (common ivy), which are very robust and wintergreen. Between the ivy one third of Clematis montana ‘Rubens’ give a sprinkle of pinkish white flowers in the early summer. The roof is covered with a sedum carpet.
Gort Scott, in collaboration with developer Pocket Living, has secured planning permission to build 45 affordable “Pocket” apartments out of unused office space in Walthamstow, England. In an effort to produce highly-sought-after living space in the heart of the city, the design features three- and four-story elements that complete the terrace in the rear of the existing building, filling the gap between neighboring developments.
Inspired by the legacy of the William Morris School that previously occupied the site, as well as by the Warner Houses typical to the city, the exterior of the project will be characterized by a decorative fletton type red brick and precast concrete.
Courtesy of Gort Scott
The four story element denotes the main shared entrance, providing pedestrian access through a well-lit, emerald tiled walkway. Filigree metal gates frame the entrance and lead into a landscaped courtyard. This provides a quality external amenity space for residents. All ground floor flats will also benefit from private garden space which add lush planting to the street said the architect.
Courtesy of Gort Scott
In order to maximize social interaction between neighbors, the building will additionally feature a top-lit single access stairwell that will lead to two separate corridors around which the apartments will be clustered. The first floor will furthermore contain an enlarged landing that will double as a common room with seating.
The project is expected to begin onsite in November 2016.
Another exhibition for this year’s season is a project by architect Jan Šépka, with which we want to offer not only the opportunity to experience and perceive the environment gallery and the square within the set of architecture exhibitions a bit differently, but mainly to present a series of questions and to open issues concerning not only art and architecture as such, but above all the perception of the city – a location as part of everyday life.
This exhibition is not only based on artistic architectural interventions as such, but will also be supplemented, every Tuesday from 6:00 pm with the attendance of guests from the range of experts, artists, architects, and politicians, by a series of lectures and discussions for the public on topics related to the history and present of the town square and its use, as well as to the relationship of contemporary art and architecture.
PERCEPTION The project is a reflection on what we consider to be an important part and dominating feature of public space, and how we perceive certain hidden spaces that provide us with social and cultural activities.
The Baroque Samson Fountain, located on the Přemysl Otakar II Square in České Budějovice, is one of the largest of its kind in the country and represents a significant landmark and symbol of the city. Its artistic quality is indisputable, and currently none of us can imagine the square without this landmark. The question may be, however, whether today we perceive such landmarks only involuntarily. We walk past them every day, and since their value is confirmed both in history and in space, we no longer think about the nature of the monument nor of its relationship to the grandiose square.
Conversely, the spaces on the first floor of the House of Art, which in recent years have offered very high quality artistic experiences, are blurred before our eyes. A visitor unaware of the situation will be hard pressed to find the gallery. It is clear that some form of confidentiality can also be an advantage to a gallery space, nonetheless, the experience from the exhibition and any discussion about art and culture disappear from our normal daily repertoire.
Plan
The project attempts to show how we perceive, or do not perceive, the landmarks and hidden places that are not far apart and which are located in the center of events and offer the opportunity for cultural experiences. The purpose should be to break down our stereotypical perceptions of these values and to awaken a desire for reflection and discussion on these topics.
For about a month, the Samson Fountain will find itself in a circular space that on one hand will separate it from the square and, on the other, create a quiet background and intimacy for it that this landmark has never had. The Fountain will thus become like a jewel in a gallery. The circular space will be directly connected to the stairs with the space on the first floor of the House of Arts, where the circle will appear again, but in other contexts. Visitors to the gallery will be able to move only along a defined circular path and will not actually reach the open space of the gallery. The visitor will only perceive the space through the ceiling, which will not be installed in the indoor promenade. The deliberate theft of the fountain and highlighting the entrance to the Art House through the window is the entire purpose of the project. Things that are seemingly unrelated enter into an interesting confrontation. (J. Šépka)
Sig Nordal 