433 Broadway is a new, six-story office building in Manhattan’s SoHo Cast Iron Landmark District on the corner of Howard Street and Broadway. Vacant for many years, the site was originally occupied by a branch of the now defunct Franklin National Bank that was housed in a small pavilion in the corner and surrounded by a large, park-like space.
The architects have taken advantage of the corner site by placing the building’s entrance on Howard Street, thereby freeing the entire lower Broadway façade for retail space. Exterior facades offer large floor-to-ceiling windows that take advantage of SoHo’s skyline. Using modern materials, the facade interprets the rhythms and proportions established by surrounding landmark buildings while providing efficient, high tech, commercial and office space within its 37,000+ square feet.
Each of the five floors of the building contain individual work spaces that are divided by glass partitions. Shared functions include bathrooms, kitchens, and meeting rooms. Above the sixth floor the exterior walls set back from the property line allowing for a single-story penthouse not visible from the street. There is an outdoor terrace and a rooftop area, and the entire building is equipped with state-of-the-art communications systems. It is the home of Cubico.co, an office community featuring shared creative space.
Working closely with the Landmarks Preservation Commission, RKTB received the approval of the Community Board and the Municipal Arts Society for its design.
Courtesy of University of Washington: Buddy Burkhalter, Mingjun Yin, Connor Irick, Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) has announced the winners of the Timber in the City: Urban Habitats Competition, a student competition exploring wood as an innovative building material. Out of more than 850 architectural student entries, three winners have been selected, along with two honorable mentions, with prizes totaling $40,000.
The competition focused on a site in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and asked for designs for inhabitation, repose, recreation, and local small-scale commercial exchange, all while embracing the possibilities of wood and a variety of wood technologies.
Today, timber is being used in new, innovative ways to help address the economic and environmental challenges of the build environment,” said Cees de Jager, executive director of BSLC. “This competition brought to life the way the design community is recognizing the benefits of wood–from reduced economic and environmental impact to enhanced aesthetic value and structural performance–to design buildings and communities of the future.
The winners of the Timber in the City: Urban Habitats Competition are:
First Place: Stack Exchange / Students: Buddy Burkhalter, Mingjun Yin, and Connor Irick, University of Washington, Faculty Sponsors: Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden, University of Washington
Courtesy of University of Washington: Buddy Burkhalter, Mingjun Yin, Connor Irick, Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden
Courtesy of University of Washington: Buddy Burkhalter, Mingjun Yin, Connor Irick, Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden
Courtesy of University of Washington: Buddy Burkhalter, Mingjun Yin, Connor Irick, Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden
Courtesy of University of Washington: Buddy Burkhalter, Mingjun Yin, Connor Irick, Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden
Second Place: Hybrid Domains / Students: Greg Stacy, Benjamin Wright, Alex Kendle, and Michael Meer, University of Oregon, Faculty Sponsor: Judith Sheine and Mark Donofrio, University of Oregon, and Mikhail Gershfeld, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Courtesy of University of Oregon: Greg Stacy, Benjamin Wright, Alex Kendle, Michael Meer, Judith Sheine, Mikhail Gershfeld, Mark Donofrio
Courtesy of University of Oregon: Greg Stacy, Benjamin Wright, Alex Kendle, Michael Meer, Judith Sheine, Mikhail Gershfeld, Mark Donofrio
Courtesy of University of Oregon: Greg Stacy, Benjamin Wright, Alex Kendle, Michael Meer, Judith Sheine, Mikhail Gershfeld, Mark Donofrio
Courtesy of University of Oregon: Greg Stacy, Benjamin Wright, Alex Kendle, Michael Meer, Judith Sheine, Mikhail Gershfeld, Mark Donofrio
Third Place: Grid + Grain / Students: Everardo Lopez, Lauren McWhorter, and Jesce Walz, University of Washington, Faculty Sponsors: Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden, University of Washington
Courtesy of University of Washington: Everardo Lopez, Lauren McWhorter, Jesce Walz, Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden
Courtesy of University of Washington: Everardo Lopez, Lauren McWhorter, Jesce Walz, Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden
Courtesy of University of Washington: Everardo Lopez, Lauren McWhorter, Jesce Walz, Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden
Courtesy of University of Washington: Everardo Lopez, Lauren McWhorter, Jesce Walz, Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden
Honorable Mention: Within a Timber Glade / Students: Ross Silverman, Kelly Hayes, James Ko, and Caitlin Powell, Philadelphia University, Faculty Sponsors: Lisa Phillips, Li Hao, and Edgar Stach, Philadelphia University
Courtesy of Philadelphia University: Ross Silverman, Kelly Hayes, James Ko, Caitlin Powell, Lisa Phillips, Li Hao and Edgar Stach
Courtesy of Philadelphia University: Ross Silverman, Kelly Hayes, James Ko, Caitlin Powell, Lisa Phillips, Li Hao and Edgar Stach
Honorable Mention: The Delancey Cut / Students: Zachary Jorgensen, Elizabeth Kelley, and Charles Landefeld, University of Washington, Faculty Sponsors: Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden, University of Washington
Courtesy of University of Washington: Zachary Jorgensen, Elizabeth Kelley, Charles Landefeld, Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden
Courtesy of University of Washington: Zachary Jorgensen, Elizabeth Kelley, Charles Landefeld, Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden
The winning projects will be on display at the 2016 Greenbuild Conference in Los Angeles in October, the 2017 ACSA Annual Meeting in Detroit in March and the American Institute of Architects 2017 Convention in Orland in April.
The installation can be dismantled in the space of just a few hours and sorted out into its discrete constituent parts. Photo by René Müller). Image Courtesy of Werner Sobek
The appointment of Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena as the curator of the 2016 Venice Biennale (La Biennale di Venezia) has seen the exhibition take a more vested interest in social responsibility. In harmony with this theme, German architect Werner Sobek has presented a large cube with a sobering social and environmental message. Entitled “Beyond Form,” Sobek’s intention mirrors Aravena’s; it forces the viewer to look beyond the formal elements of architecture to the unavoidable issues facing it in the near future.
The cube is visually deceptive, as it floats above the floor with a certain lightness that ignores its large mass. As viewers get closer, they can begin to decipher the textual inscription which covers its surface. Intended to provoke discussion around population explosion and global warming, the Assessment Report from the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is inscribed in 12 languages. The black fabric acts as a veil, concealing half of the message.
According to Werner Sobek, the future of construction does not lie in questions of form, but in creating more buildings with fewer materials in a completely recycling-friendly way. Photo by René Müller). Image Courtesy of Werner Sobek
In Sobek’s opinion, “the search for the architecture of tomorrow is no longer focused on issues of form. Instead, it is concerned with answering the two major questions surrounding the future of construction. Firstly, due to the population explosion, we must find a recycling-friendly way of using fewer and fewer materials to produce greater numbers of buildings that function without any need for fossil fuels. Our second challenge is to avoid consuming fossilised sources of energy altogether. The enormous volume of CO2 emissions generated during the construction and operation of our buildings exacerbates the problem of global warming in an irresponsible manner.
Despite its volume, the cube designed by Werner Sobek for the 15th Architecture Biennale looks totally weightless. Its message is of great contemporary importance. Photo by René Müller. Image Courtesy of Werner Sobek
The extremely light, fabric covered structure can be easily disassembled, despite its size. It will be dismantled into its constituent parts on the 27th November 2016, the day that it will cease to be exhibited at the Biennale. Check out this article on Sobek’s demand for emission free cities to find out more about Sobek’s plight for climate protection and sustainable living.
From the architect. The project is located in Ponferrada’s City Hall Square, next to the base of the Clock Tower, in one of the 5 gateways to the walled medieval city. This stretch of the wall remains intact due to its shared joint ownership with the cloistered convent of the Conceptionist, which has allowed its preservation until today.
The building corresponds to the traditional construction of XVIII Century houses in El Bierzo: rectangular, formed by volumes attached, with facade shield, courtyard, stratifying its uses by heights. The upper floor is devoted to housing, with a noble area in the square and another craft workshop in the courtyard. The ground floor housed commercial activities.
The walls and eaves, stairs and floors as well as the windows, railings and balconies are protected elements. Witness the different stages of the city growth. The developer is required to adapt the functions of the old building to its new use as a restaurant, while keeping its identity and readapting its spaces. We’ve decided to assess the historical phases of the building: the thirteenth century medieval wall with its overlapping phases and heights, the well, the shield and the tower define the typical features of the house in the style of the XVIII Century; the coffered plaster, hydraulic tiles and stairs that define the interior of the industrial bourgeois house of the nineteenth century; with regards to the XX Century the changes in their facades with new openings for commercial purposes define this era; and finally the stabilization and conservation works of the early XXI Century demonstrate the additional elements implemented during this era.
We propose a clear strategy in order to meet the needs of comfort and facilities with contemporary technology. Spaces enhancing the historical value of the buildings are redefined, while respecting traditional building techniques and working with fine materials.
The building is emptied and the superfluous layers are extracted, a process in which most unusual items appear: loadbearing walls of masonry, traditional partitions with timber frame and stone, hydraulic tiles flooring, plaster of paris ceilings decorative pieces of furniture and joinery doors, windows and grilles.
Section
Section
Providing definition to the spaces of the building, the first body of the building is organized around a double height that allows dialogue between the ground and first floors. The second body revolves around the courtyard and the medieval wall. The result summarizes a project full of peculiarities, which is intended to return part of its heritage to the city.
This 600 square foot summer cottage is a guest cabin and owner’s retreat. Perched high on a granite ridge, the cabin has panoramic views of high latitude forest and lake Saimaa in Eastern Finland. The property has been a summer holiday destination for the client for the past 30 years. The brief was to create a new space that can house extended family and also serve a purpose when visiting with smaller groups.
Courtesy of Studio Kamppari
The double height living room pulls the outside in with over-sized operable windows on the north and south. The living room is a voluminous indoor/outdoor space that shelters you from the elements and mosquitoes while allowing you to enjoy the breeze and warmth of the sun. This main space connects to a loft through a slotted floor. The whimsical loft feels like a tree house; it is a perfect place to hide and read a book. Generously sized bedrooms bookend the living space to the east and west, each with a picture window to the site.
Model
High care was taken to preserve the beauty of the site. The window assemblies and logs were manufactured off site and lofted into place with a crane. The materials palette blends with the natural surroundings. The vertical screening filters light and echoes the tall nature of the forest. Wooden walkways follow the contours of the landscape, providing a path to the cabin while keeping the surrounding nature untouched.
Courtesy of Studio Kamppari
Section
Courtesy of Studio Kamppari
The design combines old ways with new technologies. The main structure is made of pine logs, like many traditional structures in Finland. In contrast to cozy and dark log cabins, the new cabin is voluminous and filled with light. The exterior is treated with iron oxide, a treatment which accelerates the natural graying process of wood. The vertical screening is strategically located on the west, south, and east facades where sun exposure is the highest. The screening is like a protective coat, it is removable and replaceable. The interior of the cabin reveals the untreated pine log walls and bare roof rafters. The gable roof form and log walls are common in Finnish cabins, while the details, volume, and quality of light are unexpected.
Plan
The cabin combines traditional forms and materials with contemporary systems and details to create an instantly recognisable summer cabin that is functionally and aesthetically modern.
This residential complex consists of five 26-storey buildings arranged in a checkerboard pattern on top of a multi-storey underground car park. This configuration of volumes of identical shape and height has made it possible to create a system of semi-enclosed inner courtyards between the blocks. The main entrances to the buildings face the courtyards and take the form of stately portals.
The complex’s architectural image combines a memorable contribution to the city’s skyline with finely detailed façades made from ceramic tiles in different colours. Each building has façades of unique design involving the use of glazed ceramic surfaces of various colours and textures.
Plan
Plan
Plan
Each tower contains studio and one- and two-bedroom apartments with floor areas of between 39 and 97 sqm. The ground floors of the buildings contain all necessary infrastructure, including social facilities such as a kindergarten, a fitness club, cafes and restaurants, and household services.
The decoration of the complex’s entrance areas makes use of drawings from Sergei Tchoban’s City and Water series. Executed in different years and in different cities, the drawings study the drama of the interaction between architecture and aquatic space. The architect and client together selected a total of 15 works (three for each entrance area), which were then digitally printed on glass. According to the architects, this gives each of the staircases its own distinctive character while also exploring the significance of the complex’s name.
If we consider the whole street as a lively symphony that mesmerizes people with its rapidly rhythm, then the house would be a rest creating that small but soulful gap, just enough for people to drown into the life’s melody.
Elevation
The house in a typical Hanoi alley was designed for a young man who have just came back to hometown after a long time living abroad. He wanted a house with private space but also open, a place where he can have some nice relaxing time and a place he can share with friends as a peaceful hideout. This client also has a best friend living with – his dog, so this house must be a friendly space for the dog, must have a garden for both to enjoy nature.
Based on the needs of the client and the location of site plan, the architect offered a free and open design, all the boundaries of functions are disappeared. The house is quiet but open – a small house with just enough of everything.
Plan 1
Plan 2
In a crowded and busy city like Hanoi, people take advantage of every single area they have. This house and its garden stand humbly among all the blocks of raising buildings. Instead of using all the land or keeping a indoor space for ourselves, the house stands back to offer the whole alley a green space, a small but precious gap in a ‘inch of land is an ounce of gold’ urban. Front gate is built by alternated bricks which created the sparse fence separated the house from the street but at the same time shared the green space with neighbors.
The plan area is only 40 sqm. Inside, the whole space is connected even when there are no walls to fixed the functions for any space. Light and ventilations are bringed into the house in general and particulary for each space. The architect chose natural and rustic materials for the house to bring the close and comfortable feelings, but still quality for a simple lifestyle.
Forensic Architecture, a research agency based at the University of London, in collaboration with Amnesty International, has created a 3D model of Saydnaya, a Syrian torture prison, using architectural and acoustic modeling. The project, which was commissioned in 2016, reconstructs the architecture of the secret detention center from the memory of several survivors, who are now refugees in Turkey.
Since the beginnings of the Syrian crisis in 2011, tens of thousands of Syrians have been taken into a secret network of prisons and detention centers run by the Assad government for a variety of alleged crimes opposing the regime. After passing through a series of interrogations and centers, many prisoners are taken to Saydnaya, a notoriously brutal “final destination,” where torture is used not to obtain information, but rather only to terrorize and often kill detainees.
Located about 25 kilometers north of Damascus, Saydnaya stands in a German-designed building dating from the 1970s. In recent years, no meaningful visits from independent journalists or monitoring groups have been permitted, so no recent photographs or other accounts exist of its interior space, except for the memories of Saydnaya survivors.
Courtesy of Forensic Architecture
In order to reconstruct the interior of the space, architectural and sound modeling specialists worked with witnesses, who “described the cells and other areas of the prison, including stairwells, corridors, gates, doors, windows, bars, and hatches,” as well as objects such as blankets, bowls, and torture tools.
“As the model became increasingly detailed, the witnesses could be located virtually within it, experiencing spaces at eye level and zooming into elements in them. This model-building made the witnesses active participants in the process of reconstruction. Sometimes, as they measured the rooms, located windows and doors, placing objects in their virtual environment, flashes of recollection took place.”
Courtesy of Forensic Architecture
While in Saydnaya, sound becomes a prisoner’s tool to understanding their environment due to the restricted natural lighting and constant blindfolding. Furthermore, speaking or making noise is prohibited, including inside the cells, as well as while being beaten. Consequently, prisoners become attuned to minute sounds, which can then be pieced together to form the architecture of the building.
Audio investigator Lawrence Abu Hamdan has utilized eco and reverberation modeling to help confirm the size of spaces such as cells, corridors, and stairwells, from sounds like water pipes dripping, and the sound of torture through air vents.
Because survivors have endured traumatic events, the project acknowledges that memories can be erroneous: “We cross-referenced the individual spatial and audio testimonies to construct an overall model of the building, Whenever we identified potential errors or contradictions between different accounts we tried to carefully resolve them, but we also made a note and modeled what we knew to be divergences. Errors, contradictions, and lacunae are enriched with information because they contain the subjective experience of a detainee and their mental condition. Such errors could themselves be considered as evidence in their own right.”
“What we’re trying to do with this effort is try to build the story of this prison and try to speak up for all these people who are still in there, because it’s not something that is finished,” explains Christina Varvia, project coordinator at Forensic Architecture.
Courtesy of Forensic Architecture
Based out of Goldsmiths, University of London, Forensic Architecture is a research agency that “undertakes advanced architectural and media research on behalf of international prosecutors, human rights organisations, as well as political and environmental justice groups.” FA have played a crucial role in the establishment of architectural forensics as a field, as they have used technology to recreate places and situations that would otherwise be lost to time.
At the 2016 Venice Biennale, Forensic Architecture is presenting elements from four recent projects, including a micro-analysis of the effects on a ruin from a drone strike in Miranshah, Pakistan; an urban study into the war-torn city of Rafah in Gaza; a tracking of the paths of migrant boats lost in the Mediterranean Sea; and a map of environmental violence along the shifting climatic frontiers of desertification and deforestation.
The full, explorable model of Saydnaya is available in English and Arabic here, and can be viewed by location or by witness.
From the architect. The site is located approximately 1 km west of Nagoya castle and in the neighborhood there are 2 story houses as well as high rise apartments over 10 stories high. Summer in Nagoya is very hot. When a downpour occurs water can rise over 50 cm above street level. Taking these matters into account we have designed a serene and comfortable house for a family of three (husband/wife and child).
Taking advantage of the large site we have designed a single level court house surrounding a courtyard garden. However if we make it just a court house the outline of the sky is too distinct and from the surrounding high rise apartments you are able to see inside therefore we had the line of the glass facing the courtyard and the line of the roof cave in and protrude and the line of the glass, eaves and dirt floor intersect at the inside/outside boundary in a plane format. In this way it becomes an architectural style where the outside dirt floor with a roof, outside dirt floor without a roof, outside vegetable garden, all dirt floors inside and each area facing the inside glass come together side by side near the inside/outside boundary. This diverse area as well as having a role of controlling the line of sight and shutting out direct sunlight in summer it creates a living space where inside, half outside and outside produce a variety of living scenes.
The height of the floor is made 75cm higher than the front street for safety measure in case of a downpour. We have used diatom earth for the inside wall as much as possible so that you can feel the naturalness of the dirt. The outer wall was created with plane lines of roughness and planted a tree in the small outer garden so that you will be able to see the leaves outside form the small window. In addition, due to the window at the courtyard side and the small window at the small outer garden side the whole house has natural air flowing through thereby making it livable even in the hot summer of Nagoya.
The footpath made of earth mortar in the garden courtyard creates a shortcut access path and both inside and outside were planned to play a main role with daily life, vegetable garden life and garden life coming together.
From the architect. Villa mangwon is five stories building with gabled roof. The shape of the site is nearly rectangular and it has distant views on the upper floors. On the ground floor there are parking areas and a small retail shop with pilotis. The upper floors consist of small offices on the 2nd floor, four linear studio apartments on the 3rd and 4th. The studio apartment for rent is entirely open to the south and north, where it has a small balcony on the south and an open street view on the north. The top floor is the land owner’s family house with an attic and a small roof terrace.
The family house has a linear living room on the west, two small rooms on the east and they are connected through a corridor of gable form. At the end of this corridor, natural light is coming through the skylight which connects two rooms, corridor and attic spatially, while giving enough light to those. The attic is finished with raw materials and normally for children’s playroom. Through a korean traditional wooden window in the attic children can talk to parents in the dining area. The roof terrace has a feeling of a room due to its wall with rounded opening on the south.
The structure of the building presents the A(served)-B(servant)-A(served) spatial system that invites an open view in the linear space. Contrary to the ‘white monolith’ with irregular window arrangement shown frequently in small housing projects in Korea recently, villa mangwon obviously expresses stacking each floor with regular and repetitive window arrangement.
This strategy reflects on our fundamental attitude which is to ask the architectonic meaning in the construction, to keep a distance from excessive sentimentality in design methodology and to seek harmony within disharmony. The front facade implies that the social weight rise upwards while it looks like the whole physical and social weight rest on the single thin column on the ground floor. Metaphorically, it resembles somewhat to the unstable structure of the Korean real estate market.
Sig Nordal 