Far from the common dismissal of Margot Krasojevic’s work as (in her own words) “parametric futurist crap,” her work has always revolved around concepts of sustainability. As she explained to ArchDaily last year, she aims to focus on the ways that sustainable technology “will affect not just an architectural language but create a cross disciplinary dialogue and superimpose a typology in light of the ever-evolving technological era.” For the second project in a series of three proposals for the city of Belgrade Serbia, the architect is proposing a “Trolleybus Garden” that functions as a waiting shelter and park while simultaneously harnessing kinetic movement to produce electricity.
Contrary to the immediate speculation of many, Krasojevic’s projects are not just media-friendly photo-based assemblages. They are founded on more tangible research, data, and inspiration. For this proposal, the architect looked at the city’s pre-existing trolleybus network. In lieu of bus transport, trolleybuses are electric vehicles which make them more environmentally friendly than fuel-burning vehicles. Her idea sprung from the way in which trolleybuses were powered: the vehicles use spring loaded poles to draw power from overhead wires. The poles work like a “current collector” which transfer the energy from the overhead wire to the vehicle’s controls and electric traction motors. Krasojevic envisions her Trolleybus Garden to work like a current collector at a much larger scale.
Just like her earlier playground proposal, the key technology behind the Trolleybus Garden is printed Piezoelectric cells, and the structure is connected to the trolleybus network’s overall infrastructure and overhead cables. Piezoelectric materials generate mechanical energy when subjected to mechanical strain—movement. From the movement of the trolleybuses through the stations, falling rain, random pulses and even passing wind, vibrational energy is harvested from the overhead cables and collected within the stations.
The station’s design also deliberately causes more vibrations to occur in the structure, which means that any mechanical input is amplified. This expands the electrical output of the structure to provide street lighting and Internet WiFi in the immediate area, a power port for charging commuters’ mobile devices and smart cars, and power for the irrigation sprinklers in the park next to the terminal.
In some ways this proposal’s overall parti is undoubtedly simple and well-articulated enough to be understood—not to mention that the project’s proposed functions would be a welcome addition to any city center. This puts an end to the common argument that Krasojevic’s work is nothing but convoluted and meaningless computer-generated forms. However, the proposal’s supporting images do the exact opposite, and this project is bound to incite irritation because it presents an outrageously altered image of everyday life in the heart of the city.
This presumed irritation, however, says more about our current predisposition to over-simplify. While new technologies are excitedly welcomed and integrated into our daily lives, we are less open to accept the implication proposed by Krasojevic: that “distractions encouraged by technology affect the way we understand our context.” This project’s visual representation is to be understood as a continuing research on relating the overwhelming information that we are exposed to in our daily lives. The work of Margot Krasojevic portrays the narrative of an architect trying to visually negotiate concepts, components, perceptions, and visions beyond architecture but doing so with the tool of the architect (the image). Architecture has always been about painting a well-crafted image, and it is precisely Krasojevic’s dizzying visual representation which confirms that she is an architect building architecture.
In her interview with ArchDaily, Krasojevic continuously stressed upon a necessary collaboration of architects with scientists, engineers, and other practitioners. The Trolleybus Garden asserts the fact that Krasojevic does not produce for the simplistic pursuit of form but goes beyond that; this is not architecture for the sake of architecture. But it remains undetermined—this is architecture for the sake of what?
Location: Camping Club de Pesca Deportiva Valle del Uco, Mendoza, Argentina
Project Year: 2015
Photography: Cortesía de Alberto Tonconogy y Asociados
Collaborator : Nicolas Bozzano, Martina Veiga
Electrical Installations: Ing. Matias Lagay
Storage Capacity: 300.000 Litros
Courtesy of Alberto Tonconogy y Asociados
From the architect. The building is a very simple structure. The aesthetic resources used to create this “telescopic barn” were minimal. The rhythmic growth varied as internal functions, allowing ventilation, illumination, and the complete presence of the winery in the main continuous interior.
Courtesy of Alberto Tonconogy y Asociados
The enclosure is a large concrete pool 100 meters long, with iron metal structure with high compounds thermal insulation panels.
Courtesy of Alberto Tonconogy y Asociados
La winery faces towards the west to east, allowing controlled sunlight, indirect lighting and ventilation by “Venturi effect” taking advantage of the predominant Zonda winds.
Courtesy of Alberto Tonconogy y Asociados
Section 1
Courtesy of Alberto Tonconogy y Asociados
As its growth reaches towards the west, the general body begins to submerged into the mountain, until it remains at barrel´s guard zone, totally underground, wich increased thermal stability.
Courtesy of Alberto Tonconogy y Asociados
Upon etering, the social area has three views, wich each look out to three different themes. Towards the south, the vast vineyards that transcend into the Uco Valley; to the west, the grand Andes Mountain range, and towards the inside, the perception of hole facilities. From here starts the walking tour of the winery.
Plan
The continuous interior space in only interrupted by a glass bridge look out area, wich also doubles as the office and laboratory.
Courtesy of Alberto Tonconogy y Asociados
Adjacent to the main building sits a large English courtyard, wich is the Engine Room.
This article was submitted by one of our readers Stephanie Ribeiro, architecture and urban planning student at the Catholic University of Campinas. She is a black feminist activist, who has had her writings posted on Marie Claire magazine’s website, as well as on blogs Negras, Geledés, Capitolina, Think Olga, Folha de São Paulo and The Huffington Post. She currently writes for HuffPost and other portals. She has been voted one of the most influential black women on the internet by Black bloggers and is one of the Inspiring Women by Ong Think Olga. In 2015, she received the TheodosinaRibeiro Medal given by fthe Legislative Assembly of São Paulo, which honored her activism on behalf of black women. She is currently writing her first book, with Companhia das Letras.
My decision to study architecture was a naive one, made after having taken several vocational tests I found on Google. When I found out it was one of the toughest courses in Brazilian public universities, I thought about giving up. But I was already hooked by the history of architecture and its social role.
However, nothing is perfect. Architecture and Urban Planning is one of the most elite courses in the most renowned Brazilian universities, something that is reflected outside of the classroom as well. The architects went on to serve the rich, casting aside the needs of the cities and the poor.
For Elizabeth France, architect who coordinated the Environmental Sanitation Program of the Guarapiranga Basin for seven years and was Superintendent of the Municipal Housing in São Paulo between 2005 and 2012, said this trend is changing:
There are people without access to even the most fundamental of conditions and rights, such as basic sanitation, and architecture seeks to resolve it. Another issue that is discussed in architecture is the question of immigration. Demanding rapid solutions to housing and the expansion of cities.
Even though class issues has been discussed by the niche of the profession, architecture must also recognize the debates on race and gender. These can no longer be neglected in course curriculums. So in my first year, one of my priorities was to search for women and men like me: black architects and urban planners who are as recognized as much as Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Oscar Niemeyer, Artigas, and Siza.
In my search, I found that in addition to Zaha Hadid and Lina Bo Bardi, there are plenty of women who stood out in Architecture and Urbanism. In the professional field, they’re able to have a voice and recognition.
One of the things I always dreamed of was stepping in a building designed by a black woman like me. It was then that I became acquainted with the work of Georgia Louise H. Brown, a pioneer of modern architecture in the United States. In São Paulo, at the intersection of Av. Ipiranga with Av. São João, there are records indicating that the Citibank building was designed by her, and she has worked with big names like Mies van Rohe. Also in São Paulo, Brown designed houses for the Matarazzo family. Apparently, the Brazilian elite appreciated her talent.
Brown went to Brazil because she believed she would have more opportunities as a black woman than in the United States. She was part of a chapter of the Chicago Alpha Gamma, a professional association of architects and was probably the first black person in that organization. Georgia Louise Brown was particularly noteworthy at the time since Brazilian black women hadn’t yet had the opportunity to study Architecture and Urbanism in Brazil.
Allison Williams, also black and American, was responsible for defining the design strategy of Perkins & Will architectural firm in San Francisco. As the main architect, she works on company projects that include cultural institutions, business facilities and high-rise developments. Some of her major projects include: August Wilson Center for African American Culture in Pittsburgh; The San Francisco Civic Center Complex; The Singapore National Research Foundation; Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute.
Charlotte Perriand is one of the most wronged names in architecture. Her works are loved and revered, but due to cotroversy or plain error, they are sometimes attributed to other people (in this case, men). In 1925, she exhibited a wall in the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs. Three years later, after having already gained prominence in the area, Charlotte received two books, Vers une Architecture and L’art Decoratif D’aujour D’hui. At that moment, she decided to take a chance and applied for a job at the acclaimed Le Cobusier studio.
“We do not need embroiderers here.” That was the sentence handed down by the renowned architect in response to Charlotte. Only when she began to excel in furniture design was that refusal reconsidered and Charlotte hired to do the internal furniture projects for the office customers.
Dora Alcântara also stood out in the midst of this male dominated profession during the 1960’s. Shaped by the National School of Architecture, Current FAU / UFRJ, she has dedicated her career to teaching and to the preservation of heritage. By studying tiles, photographs and sketches, she became a researcher of Brazilian tiles. When interviewed on gender issues by CAU / BR Alcântara said:
I think men and women produce very good work when working together because they have complementary sensibilities. As women enter the market, I hope that the fusion of sensibilities let’s us present something new, especially in architecture.
According to her, women’s presence in architecture has been noticed since the 60s, but it is still new and not very recognized.
It is important to highlight other forms of architecture, where women architects succeeded beyond the construction of buildings or large homes, showing that the plurality of the profession and the emergence of women spreads across all fields.
Gender Issues: Patricia Anahory
Patricia Anahory, who completed her studies in Boston and studied her master’s degree in Princeton, has discussed the gender, societal control in architecture in the publication “Reframing the Body: The Women’s Prison.” The publication revolves around the intersection of these issues and how architecture is manifested in this context.
For her master’s, Anahory questioned the presupposed relations of place and identity, reconsidering associations of body-floor-memory-identity-home-land to the revaluation of the concept of memory and [re]construction, and its translation in architecture. She’s has independent architecture and design projects in the US, Cape Verde and Ghana. In 2000, Patricia traveled across the African continent studying the relationship between architecture and identity.
Latin Women: Carmen Córdova
In studies of Architecture and Urbanism, the lack of any mention of architecture produced in Latin America is remarkable. Even thought we are talking about neighboring countries, the Brazilian architecture students end up having only a superficial notion of Latin American works.
Carmen Cordoba, Argentine architect, member of the OAM Group (Modern Architecture Organization), received the artistic merit award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2004. Córdova and her husband won the Colegio Mayor Universitario Hispano Argentino Our Lady of Lujan competition in Madrid. In 2001, she wrote the book “Memories of Modernity” as a rebellious response to a global and unjust world in which she totally and wholeheartedly disagreed with.
In the publication “Architects and Architecture in Latin America of the twentieth century” written by Ana Gabriela Lima Godinho you can find an architectural vision from a female Latin from the last century. Godinho also maintains the website Feminismo e Plural, which deals the relationship between architecture and gender.
My college classmates always asked me if I preferred architecture or literature. Then I discovered Lesley Lokko Ghanaian architect and Yewande Omotoso an architect who was born in Barbados, but spent much of her life in Nigeria. As I learned more about them, I was afforded some peace while doing research for both subjects. They allowed me to combine my two interests very well. Lokko, has written seven books and given lectures on cultural and racial identity:
Yewande Omotoso (CC BY-SA 4.0). Image via Wikimedia Commons
It took seven years to become an architect and when I was finishing, I changed my mind. I became a full-time writer for about 10 years, and even though sometimes I longed to build / construct and designs spaces, I really love what I do.
Omotoso studied architecture at the University of Cape Town, where she completed her master’s degree in Creative Writing. The result of her masters is her debut novel “Bomboy”, which was published in 2011. She won the 2012 South African Literary Award in the published author category.
Omotoso was nominated for the Fiction Award Sunday Times in 2012 in South Africa as well as being nominated for the M-Net Awards 2012 and was the runner-up for the 2013 Prize for Literature Etisalat. Additionally, she is a noted feminist writer, with many articles that address the issue of gender.
When thinking of landscaping in architecture classes, mainly in Rio – São Paulo, one name always stands out: Burle Marx. However, Rosa Kliass is not just a footnote in the field, she is also nationally recognized.
Kliass has designed numerous works including landscape projects both in São Paulo: the Paulista Avenue (1973), the revitalization of the Valley Anhangabaú (1981), and more recently, in the early 2000s, large-scale works for Amapá ( Parque do Forte) and Pará (Mangal das Garças). Also in São Paulo, Kliass was the landscape designer for the Youth Park that opened in 2003 and was completed in 2007 in the capital. in 2004 she was awarded the Architecture Biennale in Quito, one of many awards in her career.
What is the role of social architecture?
In January this year, Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena’s won the Pritzker Prize, he was awarded for showing how architecture can improve the lives of people, intensifying the debate on the social role and changing practices.
The Pritzker was already awarded to Brazilian Oscar Niemeyer (in 1988) and Paulo Mendes da Rocha (in 2006), whose work raised discussions on the social role of architecture. Brazilian architects could be considered great pioneers when thinking about social architecture. However, years later, we speak of social architecture looking from the top down, as in hierarchical and elitist.
In an interview with Nexo, the Architect and Professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of USP, Raquel Rolnik, said:
Unfortunately, in recent decades, mainstream architecture was captured by the real estate and financial complex serving as an anchor for major operations to expand the frontier of a financialized real estate market. What we see is a kind of decline of modernist utopia of architecture as a social function towards the establishment of monuments to consumption and giving in to the logic of maximum profitability of urban land. At least we see more and more movements of retaliation against this model being made around the right to the city, with the participation of architects and urban planners.
How can we discuss social architecture if we don’t ever consider the need for debate surrounding gender, class, and race?
The area of architecture and urbanism needs more emphasis on women, as the subject of study and research; ie professional women being celebrated. The importance of reading about the private and public spaces created by women is clear. Studies show that offices with the presence of women architects and urban planners have above average performance.
To this day I remember how I felt represented reading my first book written by Erminia Maricato or finding that Annabelle Selldorf founded and set up a women-only office. Even with so many names featured in awards such as the Pritzker, out of over fifty winners, there are only two women: Zaha Hadid (2004) and Kazuyo Sejima by Saana (2010). The Pritzker awards go mostly to white men. Even when they had collaborated with women for their entire careers, it goes unrecognized. And as always, no people of color.
Architecture that wishes to be truly social must recognize, in addition to class issues, the debate on gender and race. It is known that black women occupy the worst areas in the slums, but we don’t need to undertake any intense research studies to know that we, black women, are the minority in architecture classrooms and city planning throughout the country. In our most visible national office, the shortage or complete absence of women is striking.
This is the result of an architecture that only calls itself social when using buzzwords in articles and in publications, but not in practice. In architecture, theory and practice are inconsistent. There are too many words, too many descriptions, too many projects. Meanwhile, we’re lacking actual tangible and palpable things, like actions and achievements.
This is the result of an architecture that only calls itself social when using buzzwords in articles and in publications, but not in practice. In architecture, theory and practice are inconsistent. There are too many words, too many descriptions, too many projects. Meanwhile, we’re lacking actual tangible and palpable things, like actions and achievements.
The Tower at Dubai Creek Harbour, Santiago Calatrava‘s competition-winning “landmark” residential and observation tower in Dubai, has passed through wind tunnel tests, confirming the structural strength of the project. When complete, the project constitute the heart of a 6 square kilometer master-planned community set by the historic Dubai Creek and only 10 minutes from the Dubai International Airport.
Read more after the break and check out the visualization of the project above.
Courtesy of Santiago Calatrava
The analysis put a scale model of the building through 12 different tests, some of which were developed specifically for the structure, which will be anchored to the ground with a system of cables. The results of the tests will be used to determine the final height of the project, as well as to optimize the building form for aerodynamics. In addition to the wind tests, the project underwent a comprehensive set of seismic and climate studies, pushing the tower one step closer to realization.
Said Santiago Calatrava, “From the materials selection to the technology used, every aspect of The Tower has been designed and developed according to the strictest international safety standards. The wind tunnel tests were an important component in the structural design stage, and we have deployed innovative engineering techniques to confirm the strength of the new icon.”
The tower is planned for a site in Dubai Creek Harbor near the Ras Al Khor National Wildlife Sanctuary, and was inspired by the “natural forms of the lily and evokes the shape of a minaret, a distinctive architectural feature in Islamic culture.”
As part of an experimental ideas exhibition, Tomas Ghisellini Architects (TGA) have designed an extension to the Italian Institute of Culture in Paris. Nine Italian practices were engaged by a consortium of French and Italian institutions, and this cohesive union of cultures is mirrored in TGA’s design. TGA’s proposal plays with transparency and layering, with two large volumes of glass and steel referencing the “Parisian architectures of transparency,” whilst displaying the excellence of Italian materiality and craftsmanship. The exhibition is being shown at the historical complex of the Hotel de Galliffet in Paris until December this year.
Courtesy of Tomas Ghisellini Architects
Rather than creating distinct Italian icons within the Parisian fabric, TGA proposes a scheme which is respectful and complementary to its context. The Italian influence is expressed instead through the delicacy of detailing and quality of material production, with both glass and steel manufacturing being perfected by the Italians after the techniques were adopted from the Middle East. Through its transparency and reflection, the expressiveness of the facade is mixed with the colors, characters, and forms of the Parisian architecture.
Courtesy of Tomas Ghisellini Architects
The buildings are made formed using dry construction, and are able to be reduced to their core elements and completely recycled, if necessary. Identical shading crystal slabs “build up the impression of changing, mysterious and somewhat indecipherable objects,” whilst similarly referencing the Italian’s perfection of crystal and glass sheeting. The glass elements, alternating in different depths and ledges, draw patterns and three-dimensional warps.
The blockish nature of the two buildings is offset by the softness of these smoked amber glass elements. To further integrate the buildings into their surroundings and respect the heritage of Paris, the rhythm of the vertical facade lines align with the facade features of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth-century buildings that are still visually present in Paris. The balcony positions reference the Parisian railings, and the crystallized nature of the facades reflect and obscure the buildings around them, creating “particle images” of the neighborhood.
By day, the buildings will absorb the skies and colors of Paris, at night, they will become amazing lanterns of soft light explained the architect.
Courtesy of Tomas Ghisellini Architects
The exhibition was created to foster innovative ideas for the actual extension of the Italian Institute of Culture in Paris. It was organized by the Italian Ministry of Culture and Foreign Affairs, the Italian Institute of Culture in Paris, MAXXI – Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome and La Biennale di Architettura di Venezia. TGA’s proposal, along with the eight other Italian practices that composed a response, is currently being shown at the Hotel de Galliffet in Paris until December.
The selected design for the Marubi Museum developed by Casanova+Hernandez architects aims to promote a rich dialogue between tradition and modernity, between the past and the present. The legacy of the tradition is underlined by restoring the historical building designed by the famous Albanian painter, sculptor, photographer and architect born in Shkodër, Kolë Idromeno, while preserving its spatial and structural qualities without any volume transformation or new interior partitions. Conceptually, Idromeno’s building becomes an important “object” of the exhibition to be shown, contemplated and visited.
A modern image associated to the new museographic program is achieved by installing five “functional boxes”, which are prefabricated and detached from the original building, working as pieces of furniture or sculptural elements. Tradition and modernity establish a dialogue in every corner of the building. At the exterior of the museum, a showcase element works as a landmark that indicates the museum entrance; in the interior of the building, the original windows and spatial qualities of the building dialogue with the exhibition boxes; and in the courtyard, the old building coexists with a new modern and sculptural back facade.
On the one hand, the museum program expands into the public space and one of the “functional boxes” becomes a showcase installed in front of the museum, serving as a landmark that invites citizens to visit it. On the other hand, public space enters the museum and the project erases the border between street and institution with a transparent and accessible ground floor that hosts a free-entrance multifunctional space for lectures, workshops and temporary exhibitions. As a result, the project intends to create an open and alive museum capable of becoming a cultural landmark linked to the street life of Shkodër.
Information and education combined into a multisensory experience
The exterior side of the functional boxes located on the first floor of the museum presents a chronological exhibition, which is intertwined with the thematic exhibition exhibited inside them. The chronological exhibition shows the life and achievements of the Marubi’s dynasty with texts, historical pictures, videos and objects organized around the biography of the three members of the Marubi’s dynasty. This information is put into context together with the history and culture of Albania and the city of Shkodër, thus acquiring an important didactic dimension.
The thematic exhibition complements the chronological exhibition by stimulating a multisensory experience that makes the visitor interact with the space and with the devices of the three thematic rooms. These rooms show three phases of the traditional photographic process presented inside the ideal reconstruction of the historical spaces where this process took place: the photo-studio of Pjëter Marubi “Driteshkronja”, the darkroom of Kel Marubi and the Gegë Marubi’s archive.
The modern image of the museum is based on an abstract pattern, which is inspired by the geometry of the aperture of the photographic camera that opens and closes to control the light. This abstract pattern is used to design the structural layout of the five exhibition boxes installed in the building, while at the same time integrates a complete and versatile exhibition system that includes frames to exhibit photos and documents, showcases for objects and video screens for slide-shows and short movies.
Section
Section
The abstract pattern, which is always mixed with the photos and objects of the collection, becomes the symbol of the museum. It can be recognized at different scales and in several parts of the building such as in the logo of the museum, in the design of the street showcase, in the layout of the functional boxes inside the building, and even in the structure of the new artistic back facade that frames the views over the surroundings and filters the light within the building. Marubi National Museum of Photography acquires its own specific identity by linking all spatial, structural, functional, graphic and visual aspects, helping visitors to identify building and collection with a complete, rich and unique experience.
Upon opening its doors for the first time on a rainy winter’s night in 1932, the Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan was proclaimed so extraordinarily beautiful as to need no performers at all. The first built component of the massive Rockefeller Center, the Music Hall has been the world’s largest indoor theater for over eighty years. With its elegant Art Deco interiors and complex stage machinery, the theater defied tradition to set a new standard for modern entertainment venues that remains to this day.
Industrialist and noted philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. was approached in 1928 by a group of leading New York citizens seeking to build a new opera house for the Metropolitan Opera Company. Though Rockefeller himself was not particularly concerned with opera, his sense of civic duty and the favorable economic climate of the late 1920s convinced him to support the project. In October of the same year, he signed a lease with Columbia University for a parcel of land in Midtown Manhattan. Unfortunately, infighting between members of the opera committee and the Stock Market Crash of 1929 led to the project’s demise, leaving Rockefeller with a long-term lease that cost him $3.3 million a year.[1]
Courtesy of Flickr user Roger
Rather than attempt to break his lease, Rockefeller made the decision to build a complex of such exceptional quality that it would attract tenants in spite of the tepid business climate of the early 1930s. Beyond mundane fiscal concerns, however, Rockefeller dreamed of creating something that would leave a powerful impact on the fabric of New York City – an icon that would stand for optimism and hope—the “American Dream”—amid the dreariness of the Great Depression.[2]
Rockefeller’s search for a tenant to replace the Metropolitan Opera Company led him to the Radio Corporation of America, which manufactured radio sets and owned both the National Broadcasting Company and the movie studio RKO. This partnership, which was made official in June of 1930, brought in one of NBC’s radio stars, S.L. Rothafel – more popularly known by his listeners as “Roxy.” With a litany of successful theater openings in his wake, he left the Roxy Theatre to take a new position as director general of the two theaters to be built at the Rockefeller Center. The Roxy Theatre had boasted the highest occupancy of any in the world upon its opening in 1927, and now Roxy once again sought to claim that title for his latest project.[3]
Cutaway diagram from a 1933 edition of Popular Science. Imagevia thomwall.com
While Roxy may have been a star in his field, the designer chosen to create the Music Hall’s interiors was a relative unknown: Donald Deskey. Deskey, who had previously designed rooms for the Rockefellers’ Manhattan townhouse, was a proponent of the Bauhaus ideal that design should not cling to the past, but establish a new and timeless classicism of its own. He had also attended the Exposition Internationale des arts decoratifs et industriels modernes, the 1925 exposition that became the namesake of Art Deco. His forward-thinking design rationale was perfectly suited to the theme of the Rockefeller Center: “the Progress of Man, his achievements through the centuries in art, science, and industry.”[4]
via randylee.tv
Rather than rely on profuse ornamentation, as had been typical for theaters before 1930, the Radio City Music Hall was to make its mark through a modern approach and a considered restraint. Deskey designed over thirty spaces, including a Grand Foyer, several lounges, and smoking rooms, each with its own unique individual visual motif. Craftsmen contributed textiles, balustrades, and other decorative elements, while a collection of artists created several murals and sculptures. While Deskey did make use of traditionally luxurious materials like gold and marble, he combined them with new industrial products like Bakelite, permatex, and aluminum. The result was not the typical shock of frenetic ornamentation, but a more subdued, streamlined Art Deco luxe.[5]
Courtesy of Flickr user Steve Huang
To an external observer, the sheer scale of Radio City Music Hall is not readily apparent. While the neon marquee stretches a full city block, the ticket lobby is a comparatively humble space. Once guests pass through the doors, however, they enter into the Grand Foyer – a cavernous lobby standing sixty feet tall. This space was shocking in its muted elegance, with sleekly curved bronze balustrades, full-height mirrors backed with gold instead of the usual silver, and an immense mural composed of the same faded red and gold hues as the rest of the room. Typical theaters of the period mimicked exotic styles of other cultures or the past, evoking a sort of fantastical detachment from reality; Deskey’s design, meanwhile, would have seemed more suited to an upmarket hotel or ocean liner than a theater.[6]
The Dancers' Medallion on the exterior of the Hall. ImageCourtesy of Flickr user Heather Paul
Although the Grand Foyer is stunning in itself, the auditorium is naturally the centerpiece of the Music Hall. A series of proscenium arches, the largest of which is a full sixty feet (18.3 meters) tall, radiates from the stage itself. This stepped series of arches was Roxy’s brainchild; he explained to the press that he wished to recreate, through architecture and lighting, the same effect as a sunrise he had witnessed on a transatlantic crossing. Thanks to the colored lights hidden behind each successive arch, a multitude of visual effects beyond a simple sunrise can be achieved.[7]
Courtesy of Flickr user Mattia Panciroli
The curved ceiling also aided in acoustics, though it would be enhanced by the installation of loudspeakers behind golden grilles in the walls. Technology and architecture complemented each other in this system: the plaster covering the arches absorbed excess sound reverberation, allowing the broadcast through the auditorium’s speakers to be heard clearly and cleanly.[8]
The most elaborate technical achievements, however, were to be found in the stage itself. Various features were included to ensure that the Music Hall would be able to dazzle audiences watching the full variety of stage productions. The stage was split into three sections, each of which could be hydraulically raised or lowered independent of its neighbors. In addition, a circle radiating almost thirty feet from the center of the stage could be made to rotate in either direction, the first time these two capabilities had been combined into a single stage. Even the curtain itself was a technological novelty, with thirteen electric motors driving cables that could allow the drapery to take on a variety of unusual configurations beyond merely being opened or closed.[9]
The Gentlemen's Lounge. ImageCourtesy of Flickr user Kristina D.C. Hoeppner
Though Radio City Music Hall’s opening program on December 27, 1932 was panned by critics and attendees as long and dull, the building itself received no such complaint.[10] In fact, while the lackluster response to the show literally sent Roxy to the hospital, Deskey’s elegant Art Deco interiors were an instant hit with the theater’s visitors. An article published the following morning in the New York Tribune declared that “The least important item in last evening’s event was the show itself…it has been said of the new Music Hall that it needs no performers; that its beauty and comforts alone are sufficient to gratify the greediest of playgoers.”[11]
The Ladies' Lounge. ImageCourtesy of Flickr user Kristina D.C. Hoeppner
In the decades following that rainy winter’s night in 1932, the Radio City Music Hall has cemented its status as one of the world’s leading performance venues. 300 million people have attended shows and events at the theater since its opening, and it has consistently seen performances by leading actors and musicians throughout its illustrious operational life.[12] The theater’s interiors are also largely unchanged from their original appearance, thanks to careful maintenance and preservation by Rockefeller interests. Those who come to see a show at Radio City Music Hall today therefore walk into a carefully-preserved piece of history, one that appears to have achieved Deskey’s goal of creating its own timeless beauty.[13]
References
[1] Francisco, Charles. The Radio City Music Hall: An Affectionate History of the World’s Greatest Theater. New York: Dutton, 1979. p2-3. [2] “History.” Radio City Music Hall. Accessed July 19, 2016. [access]. [3] Francisco, p3-5. [4] Francisco, p8-10. [5] “History.” [6] Francisco, p24-27. [7] Francisco, p15. [8] Thompson, Emily Ann. The Soundscape of Modernity: Architectural Acoustics and the Culture of Listening in America, 1900-1933. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002. p221-223. [9] “World’s Biggest Stage Is Marvel of Mechanics.” Popular Science, February 1933, 16-17. p16. [10] Thompson, p221. [11] Francisco, p24. [12] “History.” [13] Francisco, p24.
Photographs: Courtesy of Flickr user Erik Drost, Courtesy of Flickr user Ed Schipul, Courtesy of Flickr user Roger, Courtesy of Flickr user Steve Huang, Courtesy of Flickr user Mattia Panciroli, Courtesy of Flickr user Kristina D.C. Hoeppner, Courtesy of Flickr user Heather Paul, via thomwall.com, via randylee.tv
Built using traditional techniques and local materials, the modern architecture is influenced by masserie (farmhouses) of the past. Set in five hectares of olive groves with trees up to 500 years old, Masseria Moroseta is an enclave of pared-down relaxation and rural simplicity.
Floor Plan
As in a traditional farmhouse, everything is set around the central courtyard: the salon and veranda with their views to the sea, the staircase to the roof terrace, and the six rooms and suites on either side, half with private gardens, the other half with private terraces looking out across the fields.
Vaulted ceilings and stone floors keep the inside cool on even the hottest days. The communal spaces encourage the kinship of community, while providing many intimate nooks for moments of simple solitude, both inside and out, including the living room, the veranda with its outdoor kitchen and bbq, the spa and gym, and the large pool. Leaving out the marks of time, Masseria Moroseta connects us with the past in a peaceful environment, and grounds us in the traditions of the Puglia countryside.
The existing building had been developed over the years since an external swimming ‘tank’ was enclosed with a simple portal frame building in the 1960s. It is located on an ‘island’ site defined by the River Nenagh and an overflow channel adjacent to the Dublin railway line embankment on the outskirts of Nenagh.
The project involved the renewal and reorientation of the building to address the new park to the east and the creation of an entrance that reconciled the different functions of Swimming with Gymnasium and Aerobics.
The reception was located centrally with views through to the pool and access to wet changing and dry changing on either side. The old changing rooms were remodelled into a modern changing village. A new aerobics suite and the extended gym now look out over the parkland. A jacuzzi and sauna suite were introduced. Internal finishes were upgraded and the pool tank was completely retiled.
From the architect. Situated on an undulating site in the deserts of Ras, Rajasthan, India, Studios 18 apartments are a part of an entire layout spread over 36 acres. With no buildings or development in the vicinity, this layout is being created for the working people of a new cement manufacturing plant that has commenced production nearby. Close to the site there is no existing development and there are four villages at a distance of 1 km from the site. Taking a cue from the organic layouts of the neighbouring villages near the site, the residential units are interspersed within the existing contours along organic streets that weave through the site.
Site Plan
The 18 residential apartments follow the organic nature of old Indian cities with houses stepping back and creating interlocked built volumes across three levels. A 4M contour difference is negotiated by the building levels stepping down accordingly. In response to the hot arid climate prevalent in the location of 8 months of summer and temperatures in excess of 35°c, the apartments are all oriented towards the north, north east and northwest with no apartment facing the south. The low rise design allows the residents of studios 18 to be close to the ground level akin to living in individual houses.
The circulation spaces connecting the housing blocks are naturally ventilated with an abstract composition of square punctuations on either side facilitating air to move through. The harsh glare of the sun is cut off; yet allowing natural light within the linear corridors, and creating different patterns at different times of the day. The linear corridors provide a cool ventilated sheltered walkway between the apartments allowing residents to glimpse landscaped spaces on either side while walking through and making the circulation an interesting experience. Each apartment too is cross ventilated with deep recessed windows and open to sky terraces.
Color acts as an integral parameter in differentiating volumes as well as identifying circulation spaces interestingly while alluding to the colors of the region. In Rajasthan colour plays an important role in the lives of the people who wear bright colours daily. As if to compensate for the miles of arid, sandy terrain they see around them, they wear brightly coloured clothes and jewelry. Most cities in Rajasthan state are identified by a colour. Jodhpur in Rajasthan is known as the blue city with traditional homes in hues of blue lime plaster. Jaisalmer is known as the yellow city for its traditional houses being built in yellow sandstone. The colour palette used is the most significant part of its visual impact. The deconstructed cubes sport varied hues of the sandy region, at different times of the day – visually differentiating the stepped, recessed volumes as well as identifying circulation spaces. With lighter hues on external walls to reflect heat off the surfaces, and darker tones indoors to create a cooler feel, they add impact to the highly ‘responsive’ design solution.
Floor Plans
Sections
Studios 18 is a contextually designed housing project that is sustainable by its design adhering to the existing contours, its orientation to reduce heat gain, its facilitation of natural light and ventilation and its low rise design. via v2com.
Sig Nordal 