Blur Building. Exposition Pavilion: Swiss Expo, Yverdon-Les-Bains, 2002. Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Image © Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Today the MacArthur Foundation announced the 23 recipients of their 2016 MacArthur Fellowship Grants, which are awarded annually “to encourage people of outstanding talent to pursue their own creative, intellectual, and professional inclinations.” Each fellowship comes with a stipend of $625,000 for the recipients to use for individual pursuits, paid out in equal quarterly installments over a five year period. Fellows are selected based on 3 criteria: exceptional creativity, promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishment, and potential for the fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work.

This year’s fellows include artists, playwrights, geobiologists, poets, jewelrymakers, novelists and historians, but, for the fifth straight year, no architects. In the program’s 36 year history, just 6 recipients have come from architecture-related fields.

1981 – Ada Louise Huxtable, architectural critic and historian

By 1981, Huxtable was already well-known for her impassioned opinion and critical voice as the New York Times’ resident architecture critic, having won the first ever Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1970. But it was being named a MacArthur fellow that solidified her role in bringing architectural criticism to the masses – after receiving the award, architectural criticism was picked up by all the biggest newspapers and regularly awarded with Pulitzer Prizes.

“Before Ada Louise Huxtable, architecture was not a part of the public dialogue,” her successor at the Times, Paul Goldberger said in 1996.

1999 – Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, architects

Founding their practice in 1979, Diller and Scofidio’s early career focused largely on installations, performance pieces and unbuilt works that united design, performance and electronic media with architectural theory. Upon awarding the duo with the fellowship in 1999, the MacArthur Foundation noted, “Their work explores how space functions in our culture and illustrates that architecture, when understood as the physical manifestation of social relationships, is everywhere, not just in buildings.”

During their fellowship period, Diller and Scofidio created some of their landmark built works, including the Blur Building at the Swiss Expo in 2002. Since then, the studio (along with Charles Renfro, who joined as partner in 2004) has grown into one of the most influential firms in practice today.

Rural Studio: Hale County Animal Shelter. Image © Timothy Hursley

2000 – Samuel Mockbee, architect

On awarding Mockbee a fellowship grant in 2000, the MacArthur Foundation referred to him as “an architect who erased the boundary between experimental design and social consciousness.”

As co-founder of Auburn University’s Rural Studio, Mockbee combined architectural education with public service, bringing students to one of the country’s poorest counties in Alabama to create revolutionary, budget-conscious buildings from non-traditional materials that could be used by real people in need.

Sadly, a year after becoming a fellow, Mockbee passed away following a long battle with leukemia. Mockbee was posthumously awarded the AIA Gold Medal in 2004.

2008 – John Ochsendorf, engineer and architectural historian

Ochsendorf is a structural engineer and historian who has used his background to explore alternative engineering solutions from traditional architects. His studies have included investigations into the hand-woven fiber suspension bridges of the Incan Empire, ancient rope-weaving techniques, suspensions and cable-stayed bridges in Japan, and identifying the causes of vault and buttress failures in French and Spanish Romanesque churches

Said the MacArthur Foundation, “While conducting structural assessments of historic monuments around the world, Ochsendorf develops new methods for establishing the stability of ancient buildings and draws important lessons from them that will guide the construction of more efficient architecture in the future.”

© Hedrich Blessing

2011 – Jeanne Gang, architect

Jeanne Gang was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2011, one year after finishing her most well-known project, Aqua Tower in Chicago.

“Always responsive to the specific geography, social and environmental context, and purpose of each project, Gang creates bold yet functional forms for residential, educational, and commercial buildings,” said the MacArthur Foundation on her nomination.

Now in the final year of her fellowship, her firm’s current and recent projects include Vista Tower in Chicago, the US Embassy in Brasilia and Polis Station, a prototype for a community inclusive police campus.

Read about the 2016 MacArthur Fellows, here, or visit the MacArthur Foundation website, here.

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© Leonardo Finotti

• Architects: Studio Arthur Casas
• Location: Av. Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek, 279 – Itaim Bibi, São Paulo – SP, 04542-020, Brazil
• Area: 612.4 sqm
• Project Year: 2008
• Photographs: Leonardo Finotti

• Constractor: Construções Inis
• Consultants: Gica Mesiara (landscaping); Franco e Fortes (lighting design); Tempstar (air conditioning); Marco Aurelio Salvatore Tebet (MEP- Mechanical Electrical Plumbing) – Gica Mesiara (paisagismo); Franco e Fortes (projeto de iluminação); Tempstar (arcondicionado); Marco Aurelio Salvatore Tebet (Instalações)

© Leonardo Finotti

São Paulo is a City that reveals itself behind the walls which makes some places amazing and special.

© Leonardo Finotti

The discrete facade of the newest restaurant KAA gives no hint of what may prove to be internally. Inside, the narrow space of 798 m2 gets a new depth through the Green verical wall with plants from the Atlantic forest. The water mirror on the botton of the tropical green wall refers to “Igarapés”, that were so common before as well as nowadays in that region.

Plan

Section

The huge stand at the bar that divides the big environment of the restaurant in 2 separate áreas is to suport indigenous original pieces which mimic with the bottles, cups and books. The roof made with canvas opens automatically. The furniture is contemporary and the philosophy of this place is transporting the urban “paulista” to a Green environment, it’s an escape from the chaos.

© Leonardo Finotti

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Courtesy of WeLive

This article was originally published on Autodesk’s Redshift publication (formerly known as Line//Shape//Space), under the title “Live, Work, Play: WeLive’s Live-Work Spaces Reveal a ‘Third Place.’“

According to urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg, people need three types of places to live fulfilled, connected lives: Their “first place” (home) for private respite; their “second place” (work) for economic engagement; and their “third place,” a more amorphous arena used for reaffirming social bonds and community identities.

This third place can be a barbershop, neighborhood bar, community center, or even a public square. The desire for these three separate spheres drives how human environments are designed at a bedrock level, but increasing urbanism—as well as geographic and economic mobility—are collapsing these multiple spaces into one. The result is a new hybrid building type: a live-work multiunit dwelling that is home, office, and clubhouse.

WeLive, an offshoot of coworking-space company WeWork, recently opened two such projects, one in New York City and one in the Northern Virginia neighborhood of Crystal City, just outside of Washington, DC. The company is making huge bets on WeLive as a way to meet massive investor expectations. Wall Street (where the New York project is located, incidentally) valuated WeWork at $16 billion, and the company is looking for WeLive to generate 21 percent of its revenue in the next few years.

WeLive senior designer Quinton Kerns says coliving spaces and WeLive will swell in popularity as cities swell in population. For him, increasing urbanization means “smaller living and more communal living,” he says. “I think this is what cities are moving to.”

Both WeLive spaces, at 110 Wall St. and in Crystal City, are multistory buildings with about 200 rental units, offering a range of studio to four-bedroom apartments that are furnished and finished down to wall art and silverware. Leases (called “membership agreements”) run month-to-month, and there’s a WeWork co-working space on the bottom floor of each building.

A social-media app tracks activities and interaction across the building—from a startup reaching out to fellow WeLive-ers for an impromptu focus group to a few neighbors picking out a dinner reservation together. It’s low-impact living for young professionals more attracted to a hive-like cluster of like-minded entrepreneurs than they are to any particular place.

Anita Shannon, a community manager at 110 Wall St., says only a handful of people there live and work in the same building every day, so the WeLive concept is less about “a collapse of the three [places],” she says. “You definitely still have that separation [between living, work, and social spaces].”

But the close proximity of these zones inside a single building means that the spectrum of private-to-public spaces needs to be nuanced and carefully articulated. That’s the job of Kerns, who describes the transitions between public and private spaces as “fluid.”

From bedrooms to large event spaces and communal kitchens, there are about a half dozen types of spaces that each cater to different levels of social interaction. Beyond purely private individual units, hallways have small lounge spaces and phone booth–style workstations.

Groups of three floors are branded and identified as “neighborhoods,” each with a different graphic identity. For example, floors seven through nine at 110 Wall St. have a synchronized-swimmer graphic wall-covering theme. And each neighborhood has a communal kitchen and larger lounge space. “We try to accommodate all aspects of live-work,” says Kerns, who lived at the Wall Street location for six months.

There are subtle differences between the two WeLive projects, but both have a matching aesthetic heavy on particle board, plywood, exposed ductwork, and subway tile. This sensibility correlates to the more than 100 WeWork spaces, which Forbes dubbed “reformed bro meets upscale IKEA.”

One of Kern’s biggest design challenges with WeLive was how to create furnished apartments that would encourage what he calls an “asset-light living situation” while still offering ways for residents to make their home their own. To strike this balance, he used a selection of customizable materials in strategic places that give residents a chance to color outside his lines: felt walls in bedrooms for hanging photos; pegboard in the kitchen to arrange shelving for a cookbook collection; chalkboard walls for scrawling down grocery lists; and modular, movable shelving systems. “It’s like building with building blocks within the unit,” he says.

This adds up to a stylishly appointed, if mildly anonymous, ready-made apartment—one with the potential to allow the personalities of the unit and the resident to align. “You can literally show up with just a toothbrush and clothes,” Shannon says. “Actually, we do give you a toothbrush.”

Shannon says residents want to use this kind of coliving space to engage in the kind of neighborly camaraderie that seems almost antiquated: borrowing cups of sugar and gathering a quorum to go see a movie. But residents don’t necessarily have to talk to people to make this happen, hence the app. “A lot of members are more comfortable communicating on a digital platform as opposed to knocking on a neighbor’s door,” she says.

The WeLive buildings are certainly an extension of its app, which contains much of the social interaction the company says is critical to its value. The wine tastings, family-style dinners, and art classes planned by WeLive residents attract a broader cross section demographically than you might expect for a building that almost requires you to have a smartphone.

The average age of residents is about 30, and there are a decent number of recent college graduates, but there’s also a handful of 50- to 60-year-olds and families with kids. Kerns says that attracting a diverse audience is a critical goal for WeLive, and his designs for various spaces (high-energy yoga studios and exercise rooms for younger residents and a whiskey lounge with more refined materials and a mature setting) reinforce this.

“The most core characteristic through all of the members,” Shannon says, “is people going through a transition.” This could mean someone seeking a conveniently furnished apartment after moving to a new city or one needing to cut back on infrastructure and labor in anticipation of a new business venture that might not be profitable over the course of a traditional lease.

For a certain class of worker, mobility and flexibility are critical needs not served by traditional living arrangements. WeLive is betting that as the information economy whirls people around the globe faster and faster, they’ll need more places to land softly—toothbrush in hand or not.

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© Danny Bright

• Architects: LOT-EK
• Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA
• Architects In Charge: Ada Tolla, Giuseppe Lignano
• Area: 2500.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Danny Bright

• Structural Engineer: RSA, Eytan Solomonoff
• Mep Engineer: Kevin Gallen
• Principals: Francesco Breganze, Project Architect
• Client: Markus Linnenbrink, Cindy Rucker
• Area: 2,500 SF interior + 1,200 SF outdoor

© Danny Bright

The Irving Place Carriage House is a single family residence for an artist, a gallerist and their daughter. 

© Danny Bright

Diagram 2

© Danny Bright

The project involved the remodeling of an existing two-level carriage house from the 30ies and the addition of a penthouse above. 

© Danny Bright

The space is organized through the insertion of a single volume that–as a jellyfish, resting its bell or umbrella on the roof–crosses with its tentacles the entire house extending from the roof to the ground. 

© Danny Bright

The penthouse, retrofitted from four shipping containers, provides access to the decked and shaded roof. The vertical volume—orange, like the penthouse containers—intersects the carriage house and organizes kitchen, bathrooms, mechanical space and the stairs, the incline of which generates all of the diagonal cuts. This volume also separates the space in two—entrance/mud room in the front with kitchen/dining/living space on the rear at the ground level, and master and kids bedrooms at the second level.

© Danny Bright

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Aerial view looking south at dusk. Image Courtesy of Roger Partners / Nelson Byrd Woltz

Rogers Partners Architects+Urban Designers and Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects have released preliminary designs for a new park floating above a divisive highway and commuter rail line in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. A 2,400-foot-long elevated traverse, Buckhead Park Over GA400 aims to bring the community together with safe, convenient access to the amenities and cultural attractions in Buckhead. 

View from allee looking north. Image Courtesy of Roger Partners / Nelson Byrd Woltz

Lined by shade trees spanning the full length of the elevated traverse, the park itself provides a specialized experience to its visitors. The north end includes a common area complete with an intimate amphitheater suitable for both formal and casual gatherings. A plaza in the heart of the park features retail, restaurants, and MARTA rail access. On the southern end is a garden oasis that will help mitigate the urban heat-island effect. The park will also add a destination to PATH400, a multipurpose recreational and commuter greenway trail running along the spine of GA400.

Courtesy of Roger Partners / Nelson Byrd Woltz. ImageView from Peachtree looking north

The design endeavors to improve the quality of life in Buckhead, such as by boosting the city’s walkability. With extensive pedestrian paths linking the park to neighboring streets, Buckhead Park Over GA400 encourages city dwellers to use the park as they travel between work, home, and leisure. Custom-engineered stormwater capture systems will sustainably irrigate the gardens, while native Atlanta flora will minimize maintenance while maximizing aesthetic impact.

View from Peachtree looking east. Image Courtesy of Roger Partners / Nelson Byrd Woltz

We truly feel we have struck the right balance with this initial design to make big change with artfully-considered efforts, said Robert M. Rogers, FAIA, founding partner of Rogers Partners. We see Buckhead leading a national trend to create value, enhance quality of life, and improve connectivity by constructing inspired public spaces.

Aerial view looking toward Downtown Atlanta. Image Courtesy of Roger Partners / Nelson Byrd Woltz

The Buckhead Community Improvement District board will review community feedback and discuss the next phase of the project in October. Read more about the design here.

News via: RogersPartners 

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© Jannes Linders

• Architects: Benthem Crouwel Architects
• Location: Tilburg, Netherlands
• Area: 1100.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Jannes Linders

© Jannes Linders

Museum De Pont is renovated and expanded with 1.100m2, designed by Benthem Crouwel Architects. Also, visitors to museum De Pont now enter the forecourt through the new entrance gate, consisting of several interconnecting passages. The open structured passages, so called ‘follies’, each have their own specific function. The gate is part of the adaptation of the entire forecourt and was donated to the museum for their 20th anniversary by the municipality of Tilburg. 

© Jannes Linders

Expansion of the Museum
The new wing of the museum is adjacent to the museum garden and hosts mainly film, photography and video art. The exhibition space is 20 by 27 meters. The new hall provides additional exhibition opportunities for the growing collection of the museum. The new restaurant has an adjoining lounge – including a fireplace, which connects beautifully to the museum garden. The restaurant has been enlarged and has a central location between the old building and the new wing. The characteristic line of sight along the original outer wall of the museum remains intact and is well adapted to the current museum route. Because of top windows, which make the spaces spectacularly bright, the ceiling almost seems to levitate. The museum shop is enlarged and is connected to the library. The recent adjustments create a much more logical sequence of public functions: entrance hall, bookstore, library, restaurant, lounge with terrace and museum garden.

© Jannes Linders

Plan

© Jannes Linders

Follies
Already in 1990 the municipality of Tilburg commissioned an urban plan for this location, also with the goal to create a worthy entrance to the street. The urban plan has been executed in phases and now, a characteristic gate has been completed. The five follies share the same design idiom. The height of the follies is related to its surroundings and is determined by its functions: driveway for busses and cars, entrance for pedestrians and a bicycle parking station. The passages are made of concrete, in a cut-away diagonal structure, and are coated with a ceramic material. This durable material has the same industrial look as the expanded metal façade of the museum. The contours of the gate are an interpretation of the original buildings around the museum. There is also a new layout for the car park, because of the increasing number of visitors. With the redesign, particularly the entrance gate, the original structure of the area is restored. Advertising facilities are integrated into the follies, as well as lighting, making the forecourt a pleasant area at night.

© Jannes Linders

De Pont since 1992
Museum De Pont is located in a former wool mill. In 1990-1992 Benthem Crouwel Architects rebuilt the monumental factory from the thirties to a space where contemporary art can come into its own. The highlight of the factory is the large bright main hall – with on one side the intimate wool-storage rooms. In the hall are twelve skylights over the entire length of the building, which provide natural lighting and atmosphere in this unique space.

© Jannes Linders

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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWoHP) at Universal theme parks in Florida. Image Courtesy of Volume Magazine

The following essay by Kazys Varnelis was first published by Volume Magazine in their 49th issue, Hello World! You can read the Editorial of this issue, Going Live, here.

During the last decade, the idea of a technological singularity has passed from science fiction to a plausible prediction of the proximate future. In its simplest terms, a technological singularity will take place when an artificial general intelligence (AGI), capable of modifying its own code, advances so rapidly that subsequent technological progress (and as a result history itself) become as unpredictable and unfathomable as what happens within a black hole. In the most radical vision, the ‘hard takeoff’, within hours or even minutes of artificial intelligence developing the capacity for recursive self-improvement, the intelligence advances so greatly that it fundamentally transforms life on Earth.

The idea of the singularity is borrowed from astrophysics. Singularities lie at the center of black holes, one dimensional points of infinite density where the laws of physics cease to apply. But the singularity’s effects are hidden by the event horizon of the black hole, beyond which light and information can no longer escape. To an outside observer, as a space probe approaches the event horizon, its radio signals appear to slow down and the probe never makes it past the boundary. From the probe’s perspective, however, it passes through the event horizon and into the black hole. Inside, as generally accepted models of astrophysics suggest, the probe becomes distorted by the forces of the singularity ultimately before collapsing into its one dimensional space.

The technological singularity remains somewhere ahead of us, and while there is considerable debate about whether we will ever reach it, recent advances in development of machine learning suggest it might be real after all. To not stand idle, we need to think how to imagine the unimaginable. What might architecture after the event horizon look like?

This may not be such an impossible question to answer, as the event horizon may very well be behind, and not in front of us, With the emergence of the internet, a critical shift in spatiality has taken place. Once measured in tens of thousands of kilometers, the distance across the Earth is now measured in milliseconds. We mortals are unable to recursively improve ourselves or think at the speed of light as an AGI might, yet we have nevertheless entered into a previously unimaginable world.

Architects have found it difficult to respond to these changes, embracing neo-expressionist formalism and star power as a compensation for the discipline’s loss of control over space. How can a discipline that always thought of light switches and electric sockets as after-thoughts think about connections made in the electromagnetic spectrum?

Arthur C. Clarke stated that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” To understand the implications of this statement for architecture, let’s look to, of all places, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWoHP) at Universal theme parks in Florida. For Jean Baudrillard, Disneyland was the most real place in America, hiding the fact that America itself was a simulation.[1] But the Disney park model, as opposed to Universal, is oriented around the rides; Main Street is a confused stage set, a nauseatingly sweet and nostalgic backdrop melting in the subtropical sun where nothing happens save a periodic parade. In contrast, WWoHP’s Diagon Alley—which perversely appears far more real than the actual set used for filming the Harry Potter movies at Warner Brothers Studios—is a model for the future sentient city. After purchasing a rather expensive wand containing an infrared reflector at the tip, a visitor can wave the wand in a particular motion at predefined spots where concealed infrared triggers and receivers lurk, thereby producing some kind of effect, like causing a book in a shop window to open up and reveal its dark secrets, a magical umbrella to rain down water, or invisible ink to reveal itself on a scroll. Invested with the capacity to respond to those with the knowledge of how to interface with them, Diagon Alley’s surfaces and objects show us a world full of computation, aiming to be indistinguishable from magic.

The singular device of the last decade, the iPhone, gives us another glimpse of how technology aims to become indistinguishable from magic. When off, it resembles the monolith from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey; a mute black object. But like the monolith, it contains within it a universe of information and experiences. Activated by placing one’s thumb on the home button, then operated through a series of gestures or voice commands, the iPhone is an object that transforms from one thing into another, from mute object to rich world. iPhones and the like are only transitional objects toward a world that is itself aware and reacts to our actions.[2]

As architects, we have been obsessed with giving form to a physical world. But now either approaching, passing through, or already beyond the event horizon, we are becoming subject to the effects of extreme spatiotemporal compression. Thinking of the Internet of Things as merely extending data gathering capacities—telling you what the temperature of the chicken in the oven is or when your wash is done—trivializes the capacities of the sentient environment engulfing us. Within the near future we will abandon screens and keyboards for the environment as interface, operated by gestures and spoken incantations that will seem indistinguishable from magic. New spatialities will emerge as the spatial compression leaks and merges with the physical world (Pokémon Go is an early, yet overdue step in this direction). If architects wish to be more relevant than buggy-drivers or stable keepers in the twentieth-century metropolis, we need to accept that this is the future, and learn how to face it.

References
[1] Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation (University of Michigan, 1994).
[2] Donald W Winnicott, ‘Transitional objects and transitional phenomena’, International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 34, 1953, pp. 89-97.

Volume is an independent quarterly magazine that sets the agenda for architecture and design. With going beyond architecture’s definition of ‘making buildings’ it reaches out for global views on designing environments, advocates broader attitudes to social structures, and reclaims the cultural and political significance of architecture. Created as a global idea platform to voice architecture any way, anywhere, anytime, it represents the expansion of architectural territories and the new mandate for design.

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© Niels Nygaard

• Architects: Arkitema Architects
• Location: Molsvej 34, 8410 Rønde, Denmark
• Design Team: Mette Julie Skibsholt, Morten Kramer, Jacob Østerløw Andersen, Jacob Myrtue Nielsen
• Area: 2253.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Niels Nygaard

• Landscape: Arkitema Urban
• Contractor: Raustrup A/S
• Engineer: Sweco

© Niels Nygaard

© Niels Nygaard

Jagtens Hus is situated on Mols peninsula in the eastern part of Jutland, Denmark, and is the new domicile for the Danish Hunter Association. In the two main longhouses you find the association’s administration, laboratory, education facilities, cantina and a build-in “hunting lodge”, all of which is closely linked to the surrounding nature. The black buildings are kept neutral and rough, to make room for the woods, the meadow and Kalø Inlet all of which embraces the domicile. 

© Niels Nygaard

Plan

© Niels Nygaard

A raw concrete centre runs through the buildings underlining the robustness in the constructions and making room for the hunters sometimes dirty work after the hunt. As a contrast to the concrete, large black surfaces unfold from the centre, creating outdoor corridors alongside the buildings and opening up the large window sections. The windows give the 60 employees a beautiful and natural light and at the same time open up to a breath taking view of the nature which thereby plays a significant role at every single workstation. Large, south facing sectional views creates a scenic view from the 2nd floor. The view changes from the beautiful terrain to the endless horizon when the employees sit down at their tables. 

© Niels Nygaard

The architect has deliberately designed the buildings so that the details are hidden, leaving them calm and rough in their expression, this puts the surroundings at the centre of attention. During the construction of Jagtens Hus the surrounding landscape have been adapted with local vegetation, that will be left untouched and wild, this will create a beautiful natural scenery around the new domicile. 

© Niels Nygaard

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© Gabriel Dvořák

• Architects: Kvet Architects
• Location: Pavlov 16, 393 01 Pavlov, Czech Republic
• Area: 1134.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Gabriel Dvořák

• Project Collaborators: Barbora Fišerová, Jiří Zrzavý, Lukáš Gergela, Verena Dickmann, Jiří Markevič, Klára Michálková, Radek Sládeček, Lucie Surá, Richard Mátl, Renata Košťálová Pavel Hladík, Martin Lukšo, Jiří Beránek, Kateřina Stratilová, Zdeněk Fišer, Vítězslav Valášek, Jiří Sklenář, Aleš Rubina, Hana Dvořáková, Radomír Kaisler, Saker Kalany, Václav Babka, Ludmila Plagová, Jiří Matula, Jitka Krejčíková, Jaroslava Konečná
• Investors: Jihomoravský kraj, Regionální muzeum v Mikulově, Evropská unie, ROP Jihovýchod
• Partners: Archeologický ústav AVČR, Brno, Akademie věd České republiky, obec Pavlov
• Main Supplier: OHL ŽS, SKR stav
• Supplier Of Exposition: Pixl-e, Amos design, Orange controls, Via aurea

© Gabriel Dvořák

From the architect. For many decades now, excavations at the complex of Palaeolithic (the period of mammoth hunters) settlements have unearthed a huge number of stone and bone tools and artwork, as well as the skeletal remains of anatomically modern humans. This puts Pavlov and Dolní Věstonice high on the list of the world’s leading archaeological sites. The site reminds us of a past historic age and is both part of the universal cultural heritage and a symbolic integral element of the local culture, fundamentally forming a relationship between the local population and the region. It has embodied cultural values that the local population takes pride in and establishes their relation to the country.

© Gabriel Dvořák

Plan

© Gabriel Dvořák

This outstanding and attractive architecture and exhibition covers an area in excess of 500 m² and combines contemporary audiovisual technology with traditional museum displays. It allows the public to become acquainted with the most important discoveries that scientific research has uncovered here. In addition to photographs and documents that detail the history of the various digs at these sites, the museum will also display the actual finds and explain the spiritual world of these ancient people. Special emphasis will be placed on topics such as hunting, the everyday life of hunters, their art, and their burial rituals, as well as other aspects of their world.

© Gabriel Dvořák

The Archeopark has a delicate location in the sense of broader urbanistic considerations. It is located on the border between the village boundary and the open countryside and forms part of the Pálava hills’ impressive scenery. The majority of the construction is situated underground, with just the white concrete towers projecting above ground.

© Gabriel Dvořák

The architectonic solution is based on the location’s conditions and formed according to three principal aspects:

     1.The construction site is part of a national cultural monument, limiting construction to the area already archaeologically excavated and researched, with the only exception being the “in situ” exposition. 

     2.We assumed the archaeological excavations are located 4–5 meters under the current terrain.

     3.The construction site is part of a protected landscape area (PLA).

© Gabriel Dvořák

Section

© Gabriel Dvořák

Based on these aspects, the concept of an underground construction arose together with the loose paraphrase of “limestone rocks standing out from green meadows and vineyards”. 

© Gabriel Dvořák

The main exhibition area—as well as the administrative, technical and social areas—is hidden in the hillside. The skylight tower projects to the exterior, as does the conical entrance and the look-outs to Děvičky and the lake below. The intention is for the building to be reminiscent of the shape of a cave. Regarding the materials, up-to-date means are used to express monolithic reliefs with concrete, oak wood and glass.  

© Gabriel Dvořák

The entrance area is defined by gabion walls and forms when entering the Archeopark. This zone is multifunctional: It could be used also for open-air activities, such as theatre performances or further background for archaeological works.

© Gabriel Dvořák

This open-air landscape project accommodates spatial and functional use of the area while subtly contributing to the scenery under the Děvín hill. 

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© Amit Geron

• Architects: Axelrod Architects, Pitsou Kedem Architects
• Location: Kfar Shmaryahu, Israel
• Area: 8000.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Amit Geron

• Contractor: Asaf Lupo
• Lighting Design: Orly Evron- Elkabetz

© Amit Geron

From the architect. A duplex house located in a small neighborhood north of Tel-Aviv, Israel, resides two families of close friends. Both are well attuned to modern architecture as owners of construction technology solutions businesses.

© Amit Geron

The goal was to design two different single family houses, each with its own unique plan, and still maintain a unified and coherent architectural element.

Ground Floor Plan

The architectural design sets a dialogue between the modernist basic principles of the early 20^th century of basic, simple and decoration free geometry, and the latest technological solutions that can be used in today’s homes.

© Amit Geron

The first House is composed of two basic shapes that create a minimalistic and balanced composition. It contains two concrete masse, with one floating on top of the other and creates a feathery feeling despite the massive materials. These two shapes extend over a horizontal axis. some parts are overlapping while in other areas they detach and break out opposite directions. The meeting point of these two masses is a vertical axis that cuts the horizontal position with a use of a staircase that goes through all levels of the house. These opposites across the horizontal and vertical lines create the architectural conflict and strain.

© Amit Geron

The two masses also enable clear functional separation with the lower mass containing the public spaces and the upper one hosting the private section.

1st Floor Plan

The upper unit is a box that opens up to the view. The interior functions are separated by partitions while ensuring all facing the open view.

© Amit Geron

The lower structure delivers an open space that is connected to the outside. Without a formal entry point, these openings merge the interior and the exterior and allow a daily and unformal passage between the inside and the outside.

© Amit Geron

The floating mass at the top provides shading to the parts below and thus creates an outdoor space that feels like an integral part of the interior. The yard and swimming pool are part of the structural composition as well, and made of clear and minimalistic lines.

Section

To enhance the minimalistic design, the materials used provide a sense of rawness, sincerity and coherency. The exposed and clean concrete gets a lighter and more open interpretation thanks to the constructive technology that allows the usage of big openings, a wide open floor plan and the hovering of the upper mass into the open view.

© Amit Geron

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