© BACU

Recent years have seen a rapidly increasing interest in the architecture of the former Soviet Union. Thanks to the internet, enthusiasts of architectural history are now able to discover unknown buildings on a daily basis, and with the cultural and historical break caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union, each photograph of a neglected and decaying edifice can feel like an undiscovered gem. However, often it can be difficult to find more information about these buildings and to understand their place in the arc of architectural history.

That was the reason behind the creation of Socialist Modernism, a research platform started by BACU – Birou pentru Artă şi Cercetare Urbană (Bureau for Art and Urban Research) which “focuses on those modernist trends from Central and Eastern Europe which are insufficiently explored in the broader context of global architecture.” Soviet Modernism already consists of a website on which BACU has cataloged a number of remarkable and little-known buildings. However, now the team is raising funds on Indiegogo’s Generosity platform for the next step in their research project. With this money they hope to create an app on which users can add new sites and buildings to the database.

© BACU

© BACU

© BACU

On their fundraising page, BACU describes the background to the project as follows:

The architecture of the Socialist period and more precisely the modernist tendencies of the period between 1955 and 1991, as a concept, is becoming more and more popular in specialists circles […] Modernism in architecture first arose in the capitalist societies of Western Europe, following a series of essential principles such as “form follows function,” the use of mass-produced materials, the adoption of industrial aesthetics, simplicity and formal clarity, and the elimination of unnecessary details. In the socialist countries of Eastern Europe, on the other hand, modernist trends manifested themselves as a result of their influence over professionals, an influence that was able to penetrate beyond the borders and the limits imposed by the Socialist ideology.

© BACU

© BACU

© BACU

In Central and Eastern Europe there is a number of important architectural monuments that are representative of the post WWII identity of each county in which they are located, and express the aspirations of socialist era architects […] Most of these buildings are found today in an advanced state of decay. Through this initiative we would like to encourage stylistic and architectural discipline and we invite the involvement of local authorities and civil society, so that the architectural value of these buildings would be acknowledged and, along with the surviving social and cultural tissue, be taken into account in the context of urban planning.

© BACU

© BACU

© BACU

Speaking about the app they hope to create, they explain:

All the important socialist modernist landmarks would be included in this platform, allowing them to be accessed by anyone interested in these vestiges. Your contribution would help us create the interactive map and an application that would be made available in app-stores to be downloaded to any mobile device.

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© Hervé Douris

• Architects: L´Atelier
• Location: Saint-Denis, Réunion
• Area: 15000.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Hervé Douris

• Group L’atelier Architectes: Sylvain Guy, Guillaume Hazet associates – Elisabeth Pacot : architect project manager, Nicolas Ducroux: architect – Frédéric Griffe: Construction manager
• Scenographer : Changement à vue
• Buiding Engineering Design: SOCETEM – TCE
• Acoustic : Acoustique Vivié & Associés
• Lighting Designer: 8’18 ‘’
• Quantity Surveyor: CIEA
• Landscape Design: Folléa-Gautier
• Environmental Quality Of Construction: Imageen
• Traffic Engineering: Artelia-Coteba
• Co Financing: Cinor / VILLE DE St-Denis / ETAT / Region
• Client: CINOR
• Client Assitant: ICADE and SODIAC (delegated project managers)
• Estimated Cost Of The Operation: EUR 23 million [all taxes included]

• Construction Costs: EUR 18 million [all taxes included]

© Hervé Douris

La Cité des arts is an artistic island located in the heart of an evolving area, to the East of the town of Saint-Denis, in Reunion Island. New lighthouse in town, it has been designed as a multidisciplinary village, with a concert hall of 350 seats (expandable to 600 via retractable seats), workshops for artists, studios for dance and theatre, studios for resident artists, an administration building, a bar, a restaurant and a cultural shop.

Under this monolith carved by the winds, small streets and courtyards punctuate the City, where the implementation of confined strips creates shady alleyways and private patios, which are refreshed by plantations, thus offering to the general public, as well as artists, places of relaxation, artistic encounters and workshops.

© Hervé Douris

A landmark at the entrance of the town
La cite des arts has a strong challenge; that of being a landmark at the entrance of the town, in a large ensemble dedicated to culture, recreation and sports in Saint-Denis on Reunion Island.

© Hervé Douris

A city that reconnects the town to the coast
Restrained by a major road, which separated it from the town and from the ocean, the site has been subjected to an architectural work of urban reconnection. The project of La cite des arts, with its new links with the coastal path and surrounding neighborhoods, reconnects the town to the ocean, by creating a meeting point, an artistic confluence.

Plan

Plan

Footsteps of history
Although the program entailed some novelty, there was no point in erasing the history of this emblematic place, a former industrial site converted into a cultural and artistic place, and which recently hosted workshops for artists and a theater, the Palaxa. This one is preserved and renovated, like former industrial walls that make the link with the past, symbolizing the freedom of creation.

© Hervé Douris

A mineral architecture
The project presents itself as a mineral project, as a monolith carved by the wind, the rain and the sun, like the ravines of Reunion Island. Its raw lines and angular concrete works interchange with the smooth and rough materials similar to rock strata found on the cliffs of the island.

© Hervé Douris

A signal architecture
From this monolith emerges the volume of the auditorium (the Fanal), dressed in a double polycarbonate skin, illuminated at night. This volume is a real lighthouse, which has become an urban signal and the symbol of the city’s radiancy.

© Hervé Douris

A set of double skin
The North and South facades form an envelope which protects the heart of the island: one in concrete, the other one made of glass. They allow interior facades to open up outdoor areas, offering all possibilities for contribution natural light and cross ventilation. These monolithic façades consist of a double skin that plays with bare interior façade either move away and create patios bringing freshness and green places, either to arrange for real visual openings to the coast or the city.

© Hervé Douris

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© Shai Epstein

• Architects: SO Architecture
• Location: Yehiam, Israel
• Design: Shachar Lulav, Oded Rosenkier
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Shai Epstein

• Planning Team: Oded Rosenkier, Shachar Lulav, Alejandro Feinerman

© Shai Epstein

From the architect. The Rosenberg Ricky & Golan home in Kibbutz Yehiam was designed in natural woodlands in a young residential neighborhood which is being built on the outskirts of town. The House was built on a sloping topography across the field..

Plan

The formal concept of the plan was the creation of two boxes located opposite to each other. One box is placed on the ground and the other raised in the air on a thin steel columns on one part and on the other part on a stone foundation. The floor of the ground floor is in unified level and the house is partly dugged into the mountain. The space created between the ground and the floating white box, is glazed and used in public areas of the house- kitchen, living room and dining area.

© Shai Epstein

The volume built on the ground, covered with stone similar in color to the local stone. In this area are designed the children’s bedrooms, safe room, and various service rooms. The dining area was located in a place that connect the small patio and the main space which includes the living room and kitchen. The outside area in the east side of the house, continues the public space that includes an outdoor kitchen, terraced seating area and a dining table. constant eye contact between inside and outside is maintained thanks to the use of wide glazing systems and installing hidden shading systems. The separation between the volumes and the insertion of natural light deep into the house, emphasizes the distinction between private and public and allow insertion of light deep into the house, which is wide in proportion.

Plan

Doubled and framed space escort the visitor which going up the steel stairs to the second floor while above glanced a piece of sky from the length Skylight window. The second floor overlooking the view and includes a wide master bedroom with an open porch, similar in size to the master bedroom , and above the porch a defined and enclosed pergola in roof prism. The terrace protected and allows privacy to the residents from their neighbours, while opening a framed and directed look to the far view of “Ein Yaakov”. At the back of the master bedroom glazed shower with unrestricted bath tab installed on the background of exposed concrete boards . On this floor also a sewing studio of the owner , that works in fashion design.

© Shai Epstein

Inside the house, length , width and opened views are created from the front door to the landscape, in the opposite direction from the patio, which is located in the covered in stone volume toward the outdoor kitchen.

Diagram

The design allows constant invasion of the greenery and the view to the inside of the house, while maintaining privacy to the tenants from the neighbours in the neighbourhood.

© Shai Epstein

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© Arch-exist Photography & Wuyu Visual

• Architects: Had Architects
• Location: Chengdu, China.
• Architect In Charge: Zhou Yonggang
• Structural Consultant: Chen Wei
• Area: 360.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: Arch-exist Photography & Wuyu Visual

The project is located in the financial center. The designer intends to create a natural, warm, relaxed and uncindtrained office space among the concrete and glass-curtainwall building. The original space floor height is 5.4 meters, so the designer decides to implant a wooden cabin to divide the original space into two floors: the upperfloor would be mini office area and the art sharing area, the lower floor would be open office area. the designer work on the  function complexity,the layout fluxility and the ductility of the space.

© Arch-exist Photography & Wuyu Visual

The layout try to present more complexities of the space.  The first floor is mostly office area and a small kitchen. The large meeting room is close to the small kitchen, so the meeting area can be quickly turned into a small dinning area, increasing the activity of the studio. The reading area is near the discussion area, providing convenient information access,also an area to relax and communicate. Stairs combining the reception area can enrich the entrance space and express the link between space and circulation.

© Arch-exist Photography & Wuyu Visual

The spatial relation is the focus of the design,the 2nd floor has 2 patios on it, to improve the space perception of 1st floor. The large patio is covered with wooden roof. By the multiple linear beams, supplemented with lighting, the main space get a certain sense of ceremony. The corresponding position under the roof can be use as an exhibition space.  there’s aback-step processing  to expand the space of the 2nd floor, form a “stepped-roof” to sit and  to place objects,give  the space the functions of salon, games, and movie watching. Above the reading area is the small “patio”,connecting to the large “patio” by a skywalk which providing special angles to watch the roof truss and the office area. Also the people on the skywalk become a scenery for the people below, enhancing interactivity of those spaces.

© Arch-exist Photography & Wuyu Visual

A precast concrete staircase connects the two floors formed by Z-shaped units fastening with each other. It is a good structure solution and contribute tube spaces can place decorations.

© Arch-exist Photography & Wuyu Visual

The natual colors of materials applys including wood, concrete and white painting. To break the oppression Finger-jointed wood board is appled. concrete is used on the ground and stairs, so 2 floors can have a relation in common material.The white painting is used  to make the room brighter. Such processing in coordinating   with wooden furniture, make wood-colored “stepped roof” more natural.

© Arch-exist Photography & Wuyu Visual

Model

© Arch-exist Photography & Wuyu Visual

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Take a walk through the Hub Performance and Exhibition Center, designed by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, in the dynamic Hongqiao District of Shanghai, China. The video, produced with Pedro Pegenaute, showcases the Center’s nature-inspired interior, featuring dramatic lighting and views framed by walnut- and oak-covered aluminum branches recalling forest canopies. 

The interior concept draws inspiration from landscape, said architects Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, creating a retreat from the heavily built context and visual overload of contemporary culture.

The Performance and Exhibition Center is the centerpiece of the Hub, a mixed-use commercial development planned to span 250,000 square meters. Directly connected to the Hongqiao Transportation Hub, the Center is the new epicenter of art and culture of Shanghai’s expansion.

News via: Neri&Hu Design and Research Office

The Hub Performance and Exhibition Center / Neri & Hu Design and Research Office
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© Sarah Duncan

Sam Jacob Studio has created a replica of Adolf Loos’ unrealized 1921 mausoleum in Highgate Cemetary, London, which is home to the graves of Karl Marx and Malcolm McLaren, amongst other notable figures.

© Harry Mitchell

Commissioned by the Architecture Foundation, the project—entitled A Very Small Part of Architecture—“resurrects” the Austrian Modernist architect’s radically simple mausoleum design for art historian Max Dvorák.

The project is recreated at a 1:1 scale using a lightweight timber frame and scaffold net, creating “a ghostly reenactment of an unrealized architectural idea.”

© Sarah Duncan

The title of the project is taken from Loos’ 1910 essay Architecture, in which he asserts that “only a very small part of architecture belongs to the realm of art: the tomb and the monument.”

© Harry Mitchell

Built within Highgate Cemetery, amongst the many monuments and memorials to the dead, A Very Small Part Of Architecture makes a different kind of memorial. Not one dedicated to a person, an event or a moment in time, not designed to remember the past but instead to imagine other possibilities, altered presents and alternative futures.

Learn more about the project here.

News via Sam Jacob Studio. 

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In architecture, perhaps the most remarkable change heralded by the 20th was the radical rethinking of housing provision which it brought, driven by a worldwide population explosion and the devastation of two world wars. Of course, Modernism’s reappraisal of the design and construction of housing was one part of this trajectory, but still Modernism was underpinned by a traditional process, needing clients, designers and contractors. Arguably more radical were a small number of fringe developments, such as mail-order houses in the US and Walter Segal’s DIY home designs in the UK. These initiatives sought to turn the traditional construction process on its head, empowering people to construct their own homes by providing materials and designs as cheaply as possible.

In the 21st century, the spirit of these fringe movements is alive and well, but the parameters have changed somewhat: with a rise in individualism, and new technologies sparking the “maker movement,” the focus has shifted away from providing people with the materials to construct a fixed design, and towards improving access to intellectual property, allowing more people to take advantage of cheap and effective designs. The past decade has seen a number of initiatives aimed at spreading open source architectural design–read on to find out about five of them.

ELEMENTAL Releases Social Housing Designs into the Public Domain

The 4 designs which ELEMENTAL released to the public in 2016

When he was awarded the Pritzker Prize earlier this year, Alejandro Aravena was praised by the jury for his part in the construction of over 2,500 units of social housing. However, for Aravena this number was clearly not enough to solve the housing crises taking place worldwide, and he used the platform of the award ceremony to announce that his firm ELEMENTAL was releasing four of its signature “half a house” designs to the public via its website, allowing people to use and adapt their ideas for other contexts around the world. This unprecedented move for a Pritzker Laureate undoubtedly raised the profile of open source architecture.

Cameron Sinclair’s Open Architecture Network

Design for a Sustainable Portable Classroom originally shared on the Open Architecture Network. Image © Drexel University Design Charrette <a href='http://ift.tt/2di93Z5 Wikimedia</a> licensed under <a href='http://ift.tt/2cVj3fA BY 3.0</a>

After winning the prestigious TED Prize in 2006, Cameron Sinclair, of Architecture for Humanity fame, got the chance to realize his wish of an online network for humanitarian architecture, where those involved in bringing architecture to the world’s most disadvantaged communities would be able to share their work, strategies and designs. The initiative was the first major attempt to bring open source principles to architectural design, and while the idea unfortunately didn’t gain the momentum required to sustain itself after Sinclair moved on to other ideas–the website is now defunct–the initiative was unquestionably a huge, high profile step forward for open source architecture which inspired many to follow in Sinclair’s footsteps.

WikiHouse

A 2-story WikiHouse design constructed in 2014 for the London Design Festival. Image © Margaux Carron http://ift.tt/1wZJEcG

The concept behind WikiHouse taps in deeply to the recent advances made in digital manufacture. Using a construction system that requires only a CNC machine and timber sheets such as plywood or OSB, buildings can be constructed by just about anybody. With this construction system, WikiHouse pairs a website on which users can share and adapt designs for a variety of purposes. Since it was founded, the concept of WikiHouse has expanded, with co-founder Alistair Parvin taking to the TED stage to explain how the concept could become a “Wikipedia for stuff,” offering blueprints for everything from off-grid energy solutions right down to a mallet constructed from plywood to build WikiHouse structures.

Paperhouses

Tatiana Bilbao S.C.'s design for Paperhouses, The Module House. Image Courtesy of Paperhouses

While many developments in open source architecture have focused on designs for people at the low end of the economic spectrum, Paperhouses focuses on a slightly different mission. Central to its mission is bringing world-class design to middle-class people who would otherwise probably end up with mediocre houses. In a result that would surprise some, Paperhouses has found a number of internationally-renowned architects willing to release their work via the platform; as founder Joana Pacheco has said, while some architects consider their designs as irreproducible works of art, there are many others who “embrace this idea of the participation of the people, of a collaboration between user and architect that can bring about different and interesting results.”

Bricksource

Sstudiomm's parametric patterned brick facade, which inspired their open source initiative. Image Courtesy of Sstudiomm

But the greatest sign of the rise of open source architecture will not be in a small number of high-profile programs, but in a groundswell of hundreds, perhaps even thousands of grassroots operations, of architects sharing their work simply for the benefit of humanity. Such is the case with Sstudiomm. After designing a low-tech way to construct a parametric patterned brick facade in Iran, they initially released the templates they used to create that facade to the public. Now, recognizing that their simple parametric process could be used to create all manner of other patterns, they have released details of the design process and founded a blog known as Bricksource, where they hope other like-minded designers will share variations on their original design. Announced without the fanfare of a Pritzker Prize ceremony or a TED Talk, this low-key approach to sharing design ideas may be where the future of open source architecture.

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© William Timmerman

• Architects: Fougeron Architecture
• Location: 400 Grove St, San Francisco, CA 94102, United States
• Area: 34000.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: William Timmerman, Joe Fletcher

• Client: Grove Street Hayes Valley LLC
• Contractor: Cannon Constructors North, Inc.
• Structural Engineer: Dolmen Structural Engineers Inc.
• Landscape Architect: Marta Fry Landscape Associates
• Civil/Geotechnical Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
• Mep Engineer: ACIES Engineering
• Acoustical Engineer: Wilson Ihring & Associates

© William Timmerman

400 Grove introduces 34 residences in the heart of Hayes Valley, continuing the neighborhood’s rise as a vital, walkable neighborhood. Its prominent site at the corner of Grove and Gough streets, is one of several sites created by the removal of the Central Freeway in 2003, as part of a bold initiative to reconnect Hayes Valley with surrounding neighborhoods.

© William Timmerman

Plan 1

© William Timmerman

400 Grove’s design references the central mews typology, which set row houses around an internal alley that provided car access as well as a place where neighbors meet. This contemporary take replaces the alley with a landscaped common area accessible only to bicycles and pedestrians, strengthening the community focus of the open space.

© William Timmerman

Its faceted facades echo an earlier tradition: the classic San Francisco bay windows prevalent in the area. The facets angle windows capturing views of Hayes Valley’s bustling street scene and surrounding hillside neighborhoods. Most of the studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom residences have light from two sides and an individual expression from the street, with the amenities associated with urban living.

© William Timmerman

Completed in early 2016, 400 Grove residents enjoy the advantages of Hayes Valley’s central location and easy access to major public transit stops, Civic Center arts venues, and other neighborhoods including the Mission District, the Castro, and the Mid-Market district.

© Joe Fletcher

Plan 2

© Joe Fletcher

400 Grove employs a variety of sustainable strategies. All units are designed with window son more than one façade providing adequate light and ventilation thereby reducing energy loads. Wood dowels on the façade …

© William Timmerman

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© Architexts

Murphy’s Law, right? The thing is, since technology moves so fast, chances are you’re using slow and/or outdated hardware to build and render your models. Of course, those software crashes always get you when a client needs to see your work. And yet, when you tell the bosses you need better hardware, or updated software, they often scoff and lecture you about the costs. Perhaps one day they’ll understand the struggle of the production staff, but it seems like for now, not so much. So, good luck at the office today, hopefully, everything will work.

Have you had similar experiences fighting with the outdated technology in your office? Tell us about it for our new book project, Architects, LOL.

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© Hervé Abbadie

• Architects: Fabienne Bulle architecte & associés
• Location: 78280 Guyancourt, France
• Area: 2680.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Hervé Abbadie

• Technical Engineers: Economy and environmental engineers: BET SIBAT
• Acoustic Engineers: Jean Paul Lamoureux Acoustics

© Hervé Abbadie

From the architect. Between city and park, the university area weaves, student life awakens … Between architecture and landscape structures – all buildings were made in around ten years and they are all “signées” – the last empty site, is dedicated to students, north / east, open to the park, a “maison”

© Hervé Abbadie

A “maison” for association’s offices and other leisure areas. A house that, at the intersection of mutually perpendicular axes of the park, could not escape the strict morphology of the site, but could however claim to be the focus of the “campus”.

Section

Section

Radical in its implementation and in its volume, it chooses to make a difference. It becomes a landmark. Claims the status of “madness” nestled in the park, coppery red monolith, lodge also hyperfunctional.

© Hervé Abbadie

From an “architectural object” in distant vision, to a “rational architecture” in short vision, there is a world of details and reasoning…

© Hervé Abbadie

© Hervé Abbadie

Details, to wedge with a required accuracy the “carpenter’s nails” in weathering steel and perforations that serve as double skin.

Detail

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