Courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects

Zaha Hadid Architects’ (ZHA) 170-meter-tall Generali Tower has topped out at 44 stories in Milan, Italy. The Generali Tower, along with two other towers, forms the centerpiece for the CityLife masterplan to revitalize the old site of Milan’s International Fair, which closed in 2005.

Through the redevelopment, which began in 2004, the site will be open “to year-round public use, with the inclusion of new civic spaces, public parks, and residential buildings, in addition to shopping areas and corporate offices, all with direct transport connections via the Tre Torri station on the line 5 of the city’s metro system.”

© CityLife. Image by Alberto Fanelli

The Generali Tower is aligned at ground level with its surrounding public park, a connection that is reinforced by the curvilinear geometries of its podium, which are “defined by the tensional forces generated from” important intersecting city routes.

Courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects

© CityLife. Image by Alberto Fanelli

The torsional force of the Tower “is transferred vertically through the tower by the realignment of successive floor slabs that incrementally ‘twist’ about a vertical axis. This incremental twisting is defined by algorithms to give each floor a fractionally different relationship to the floors above and below. As the tower rises creating broader views and connections across the city, this twisting orientates the tower’s upper floors to face the centre of Milan and the Duomo.”

© CityLife. Image by Alberto Fanelli

Courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects

The Tower is targeted to receive a LEED Platinum certification through elements like its double-façade system, as well as inclined structural columns, which increase efficiencies in usable floor areas. It also has a system of sun-deflecting louvers and ventilating registers that draw air outside.

Learn more about the project here.

News via Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA).

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via Moscow Urban Forum

Last month, the eleventh edition of the Moscow Urban Forum released the topic of the 2016 forum: “Fast-Growing Megacities: Technologies for Dynamic Development.” The forum will seek to answer the following questions: Why is it so important to discuss growth and development of megacities at this time? What are the rules that determine their existence? With three days to go, organizers have announced this year’s program.

Hello #Moscow, Saint Basil's Cathedral (1561) in Red Square 🇷🇺 #architecture #archdaily #instagood #russia #iphonesia

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The Moscow Urban Forum is known to be an important international event for discussions between some of the world’s most acknowledged experts in city planning and urban development. The forum provides a place for an exchange of positive experiences and productive discussion by a panel of specialists who care about the future of global cities.

Among this year’s internationally recognized expert speakers are: Sergey Sobyanin, the Mayor of Moscow; Yuri Grigoryan from Project MEGANOM; Pei Zhu from Studio Pei Zhu; Hani Rashid from Asymptote; Sergey Kuznetsov, the Moscow City Chief Architect; Reinier de Graaf from OMA; Yosuke Hayano from MAD Architects; Kengo Kuma from Kengo Kuma Architects; and Purnima Kapur, the Director of New York City Department of City Planning.

Some of the topics and current issues to be discussed include: “Global mega projects and the cities rules of the game;” “Cutting-edge architectural solutions experience of fast growing metropolitan cities;” “Technological strategies for fast-growing metropolitan cities;” “The advantages of scale, is the Chinese model of a hundred-million metropolitan city sustainable?” and “The legacy of mega projects best management practices.”

The projects for the #Moscow River take the center of the Manege for the @MosUrbanForum 🇷🇺 #urbanism #Archdaily #instagood #russia #iphonesia #muf2015

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In parallel with the forum, there will be a City Festival, with many interesting urban activities to enjoy Moscow in summertime, including ArchDaily’s lecture on July 2nd (4PM-5:30PM) at Romanov Dvor.

This free two-day forum will be held from June 30 to July 03.
For up-to-date information follow Moscow Urban Forum on Instagram.
Learn more about the upcoming forum here and check out all of our past coverage of the event here.

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Courtesy of Walden Studio

• Architects: Walden Studio
• Location: The Netherlands 6681 Bemmel, Netherlands
• Architect In Charge: Walden Studio
• Area: 23.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Courtesy of Walden Studio

• Contractor: Dimka Wentzel

Courtesy of Walden Studio

From the architect. Self-sufficient living and building with natural materials may sound like hippie seventies stuff, however this small house manages to combine sustainability with sleek design. Walden Studio mounted this 17 square meter house on a trailer for Marjolein Jonker in the Netherlands. The compact size of the house led to a multi-functional design, which makes it not just a house with an interior, instead the interior is part of the design as a whole.

Courtesy of Walden Studio

You enter the house through the front door, made up of two large windows. Once inside you can nest yourself in the corner couch, which accommodates storage space and can also be transformed into a dining table that seats four. In the middle of the house you’ll find a kitchen, the stairs and a desk. The stairs functions as a closet and offers space for the refrigerator. In case you think living smaller equals sobriety, think again! In the bathroom, you can sit back and enjoy a panoramic view while bathing, now that is some small scale luxury.

Courtesy of Walden Studio

Probably the most defining feature of the house is the big amount of daylight entering the house, thanks to the four roof lights. Despite the constraints of a small sized house, it feels spacious and transparent. This effect is further strengthened by the use of light materials, a white finish for the walls combined with birch plywood.

Section

Isometric

Floor Plan

The house is inspired by the tiny house movement. Living small generates more freedom; there is less junk in your house, you have to clean less and you don’t have to worry about a high mortgage since the average price is a fifth of a ‘’normal’’ house. Furthermore, living smaller means using less energy. In this house, a small wood stove can easily heat the entire home and the roof is fitted with three big solar panels that produce the required electricity. In the bathroom a composting toilet has been placed to reduce water usage and create compost. The house will also harvest its own rainwater and take care of waste water with a natural wastewater treatment system.

Courtesy of Walden Studio

The ecological impact is reduced even further by using bio-based materials. To give some examples, the facade is made out of thermally modified pine wood from Scandinavia, treated naturally to last as long as a tropical hard wood. The construction consists of spruce wood studs and Ecoboard, a sheet material made of agricultural waste products, which has been painted with ecological paint. The floor is made of cork and to keep Marjolein warm during the Dutch winters, the house is insulated with a layer of sheep wool. 

Marjoleins house is the first tiny house to be legally placed by a municipality in the Netherlands. For now it’s a temporary permit, but the local government is excited about a more sustainable form of living. Of course that will only come into being by real world experiments, such as these.

Courtesy of Walden Studio

Courtesy of Walden Studio

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In this film, Jesús Granada visits the Nordic Pavilion, “In Therapy”, at the 2016 Venice Biennale. The video presents a series of measured stills in 4K resolution which introduce the central installation of the exhibition—a stepped pyramid, or ziggurat—and its series of reflective “rooms without walls.” The pavilion itself, which was completed in 1969, was designed by Sverre Fehn to partially reflect and concretize certain ideas about Nordic society and its architecture – including a sense of openness. This year, therefore, the pavilion has been orchestrated as an extension of the public space of the Giardini.

"In Therapy" at the Nordic Pavilion. Image © Laurian Ghinitoiu

According to curators David Basulto and James Taylor-Foster, “In Therapy is a mirror: a collection of installations which presents the breadth of contemporary Nordic architecture, assembled under one roof, to provide an informed framework for discussion and proposition. It positions Finland, Norway and Sweden—three countries with distinct histories, cultures and attitudes to design—face to face in the context of the compressed world of the Giardini, interrogating perceptions and preconceptions of Nordic architecture by openly addressing its built manifestation head on.”

This video is part of a partnership between ArchDaily and the Spanish photographer Jesús Granada. These videos have been filmed in 4K, a level of quality that allows viewers to perceive details that don’t come across in standard video formats. Granada’s stock images of the Biennale can be obtained on his website,here; ArchDaily’s complete coverage of the 2016 Biennale can be found here.

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© Imagen Subliminal

• Architects: Manuel Ocaña
• Location: Dehesa de la Villa, Carr. de laDehesa de la Villa, 1, 28040 Madrid, Madrid, Spain
• Photographs: Imagen Subliminal

• Design: Manuel Ocaña Architecture & Thought Production Office
• Production: Manuel Ocaña Fast & Furious Production Office
• Client: Private
• Landscaping: Jorge Basarrate
• Structural Consultant: JF de la Torre

From the architect. They come to us because there is a problem. Their private garden, that used to have sunset views over an infinity pool, has recently been blocked by a big raw grey 15×9 mts. wall.

© Imagen Subliminal

They feel emotionally affected by that threatening wall whose spatial and material properties are by all means negative. It is flat, raw, hard, dry, dull, gloomy, gray, challenging and impenetrable.

Plan 2

The concept must go far beyond a regular vertical garden. They have already discarded former projects. A simple green wall does not keep it from still being a wall. Negative properties are alleviated, not eliminated.

© Imagen Subliminal

We propose an active element that reacts to light and climate issues, with reflections, vegetation and sprayed water. Besides creating a new horizon, it climatizes the garden and creates new spaces and tours on it. To be clear, it is a toy that can recall their previous sunset experience.

Model

There are technical difficulties, related to previous conditions and production development.

© Imagen Subliminal

Previous conditions difficulties are that we need an independent structure. We can not rely on the bad wall and there are only three areas of support at different heights. We must avoid and respect water treatment plants, the infinity pool and the stairs that go down to a basement. And, last but not least, we must make the structure modular, since all of it must go through a 2×1 mts. regular entrance door.

3D

Production develoment difficulties are mainly related to the neccesity of micropiling in controversial areas and mounting  33 structural modules (all different and decreasing in thickness towards the sky) without scaffolding. On the other hand we had to make several prototypes of the elements that would provide the reflections. The circular mirrors. They were executed in polished stainless steel and cylindrically curved to avoid glaring. They are adjustable, heating proof beacuse of the curved shape, getting the appearance of metallic petals. A network of 60 nebulizers fixed to fork pieces that come out perpendicularly from the structure modules forms a sprayed water cloud, creating its own microclimate. These forks are also intended to allow vegetation to spill over the mirrors, giving more depth to the thing.

The result is a new horizon that floods both garden and house, attracting several species of birds. Its spatial and material properties have now tunred positive. It is deep, vivid, wet, changing, bright, colorful, reflective, refreshing, overflowing, moldable, fibrous, empathetic and sexy.

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© Lv Hengzhong

• Architects: SOM
• Location: Beijing, Beijing, China
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Lv Hengzhong

• Owner And Developer: Greenland Group
• Architects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
• Structural Engineers: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
• Mep Engineers: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
• Project Managers: Michael Pfeffer
• Main Contractors: Beijing Liujian Construction Group Co., Ltd.

© Lv Hengzhong

From the architect. Beijing: Anchoring Beijing’s Dawangjing business district, the mixed-use Beijing Greenland Center is a highly sustainable landmark building equidistant from Beijing’s bustling core and the airport. The 260-meter-tall, 55-story tower prioritizes sustainability and efciency and is clad in a prismatic trapezoidal glass façade that generates self- shading to enhance the building’s environmental performance. 

© Lv Hengzhong

The design team sought to create an elegant, eye-catching tower by exploring interactions between simple form, light, and shadow. In a response to Beijing’s overcast skies, the tower catches and re ects daylight to enliven the surrounding neighborhood. The tower accommodates multiple programs—Class A o ce space and serviced apartments—and connects to an attached multi-story retail podium. The tower stacks 178 serviced apartments on top of four o ce  oor zones, organized around a simple rectangular plan with a central core to maximize  exibility. The tower’s striking façade pattern is informed by the bas relief carving technique: Isosceles trapezoidal modules function as prisms, catching daylight and refracting it to create an interplay of light and shadow. Each face is composed of two vertical, low-E insulated vision glass panels. Two trapezoid types alternate in a regular pattern up the tower’s height, tapering toward the sky or the neighborhood below. The trapezoidal skin increases the building’s performance, providing energy-saving self-shading on all faces.

© Lv Hengzhong

The design aims to achieve a 30% reduction in energy use and water consumption compared to baseline by utilizing sustainable features such as a Direct Digital Control building automation system, a heat reclaim wheel, variable speed pumps for heating and cooling, and a water-side economizer to utilize evaporative cooling.

Diagram

Addressing a need for environmentally responsible, mixed-use urban development, Beijing Greenland Center is a highly visible example of how visually striking design can also be highly  exible and sustainable.

© Lv Hengzhong

A vibrant new neighborhood in Beijing 

Beijing Dawangjing is a new neighborhood located on Beijing’s northeast side, halfway between the city’s historic core and Beijing Capital International Airport. The mixed-use development was master planned by SOM to be a walkable, green district that prioritizes quality of life and responsible use of natural resources. Adjacent to the Capital-Airport Freeway and the 5th Ring Road and near the M15 metro, Dawangjing seamlessly integrates with the built environment in Beijing’s Wangjing area and brings new greenspace, cultural and civic venues, and residential, retail, o ce options to the growing Beijing neighborhood. Several SOM-designed towers, including the Beijing Greenland Center and a cluster of three towers at Poly International Plaza, anchor the district

Plan

A vision for walkable, green living

The master plan establishes principles and guidelines for the Dawangjing neighborhood that reduce environmental impact and make walking and bicycling safer and more compelling. A new park is the area’s centerpiece and incorporates destination amenities like cafes and recreation facilities to encourage interaction and a sense of community. Streets are designed to be as verdant and welcoming as the park, with bike lanes and sidewalks set alongside green features such as bioswales. Pedestrian-scaled commercial and retail bolster an active streetscape, and main o ce and hotel lobbies are located along pedestrian thoroughfares. Strategies for the massing of buildings emphasize the human scale, and design guidelines recommend the creation of timeless buildings with modulated facades—a long-term approach that focuses on design and planning principles that will endure.

© Lv Hengzhong

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© SHAO Feng

• Architects: Wutopia Lab
• Location: Shanghai, Shanghai, China
• Architects In Charge: Ting Yu, Murong Xia
• Area: 120.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: SHAO Feng

• Client: Jing He
• Construct: SKF, freelance decoration team
• Gallery: 12 sqm
• Supporting Space: 100 sqm

© SHAO Feng

First Floor Plan

One Person’s Gallery between two buildings is located in a terraced courtyard at the heart of Shanghai. It consists of two parts, one is 12 m² gallery as an iconic space, and the other is the cave, which could be easily ignored, including a library and a co-work space. 

© SHAO Feng

Archaeology 

One Person’s Gallery used to be a storage structure which filled with used materials (we called them old things) of a bankrupt company looked like disaster site. The project started without any original blueprints. The architect got an inspiration when him watching the workers cleaning the space. He decided to use the arch as the motif of interior design. Instead of cleaning up the trash, the architect decided to make use of it and tried to turn it as an advantage. The old furniture was replaced as decorations in the library and courtyard, some of the old doors were reused, and others were reconstructed as ceiling. Some unpredictable effects were found and kept deliberately by architect when exploring the site. This is the reason why the architect took the project as an archaeology work. 

© SHAO Feng

Section 2

Antithesis 

The proposition of antithesis could originate from Chinese rhetoric, like the Yin Yang. If we took one side as the old, big, dark, a bit dirty, hidden indoor commercial cave with ornaments the other side would be the new, small, bright, neat, highlighted outdoor art workshop. From this notion of antithesis, the idea of the one person’s gallery in the gap is gradually composed.     

© SHAO Feng

Silhouette

The air in Yangtze River Delta called Jiangnan is always filled with moisture, so the ancient local artists developed a distinctive aesthetic technique by depicting Silhouettes rather than emphasizing light and shadow. Architect chose 3 layers of PMMA panel and timber structure to build gallery. It looks like an entity from outside, but when you get into gallery, you will find the outdoor surroundings display on the wall as silhouette. The silhouette digested materiality of solid wall at last. This is the architect’s purpose.

© SHAO Feng

© SHAO Feng

Tip of iceberg 

The gallery is the tip of an iceberg. More artists and architects will be invited to exhibit their critical work about urban and architecture. The only limit is that gallery rejects graphics work. The owner invited the architect who designed gallery as the curator to run the one person’s gallery. It’s the beginning of a new story. 

© SHAO Feng

Sketch

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Courtesy of LEVS Architecten

Dutch firm LEVS Architecten won an international competition to design a new residential zone near the Russian city of Kazan. The winning design encompasses the 180-hectare masterplan for the area as well as its architectural content. Along with VLUGP landscape, LEVS used a “Dutch Approach,” embracing pedestrian networks, green space and “spirited architecture.” The extent of the project will form its own neighborhood, titled “Machaon Valley,” and is intended to be fully realized by 2025.

Courtesy of LEVS Architecten

The project is sited upon a largely untouched landscape bordering the town of Malye Kabany, 20 kilometers south of Kazan. Over the next 20 years, the area will undergo rapid urbanization, with the implementation of several new neighborhoods and the necessary infrastructure to link the area to other cities and the nearby airport. The masterplan for Machaon Valley was designed with these connections in mind, while also orienting itself to the natural landscape. 

Courtesy of LEVS Architecten

LEVS and VLUGP have used their shared approach to landscape design to thoughtfully negotiate the disjunct between this historic natural setting and the proposed development. Their design takes its cues from existing geographic features such as the rolling terrain and dry riverbeds to echo the natural topography. Where the development meets the natural landscape, the periphery is softened by an extended parkland, which will eventually create a green link to future north-eastern developments.

Courtesy of LEVS Architecten

The new neighbourhood is divided by a second, urban parkland that connects the new area to the old town. Distributed across the site are new apartments in a series of closed or half-open blocks, each encircling its own green courtyard. The residential density is punctuated with public program, including a community center and library, a theatre, retail, schools and daycare centers. Along with planned communal zones, the intimate dimensions and informal walkways encourage additional, unplanned social interaction. 

Courtesy of LEVS Architecten

Run by Kazan-based developers Unistroy, the competition sought to break from the “typical monotonous and isolated Russian neighborhoods of repetitive housing.” After 11 practices were engaged for the first stage, LEVS and two other firms were asked to present their conceptual masterplans earlier this year. LEVS’ win makes this their second active residential project in Russia, alongside a new neighborhood currently under construction in Yekaterinburg.

• Architects: LEVS Architecten
• Location: Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia
• Area: 1800000.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Courtesy of LEVS Architecten

News via LEVS Architecten

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© manufatura creative

• Architects: Studio [+] Valéria Gontijo
• Location: Lago Sul, Brasília – DF, Brazil
• Architect In Charge: Studio [+] Valéria Gontijo
• Area: 1150.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: manufatura creative

• Author: Valéria Gontijo
• Co Authors: Isabela Moura e Isabela Valença
• Landscape: Ana Paula Róseo
• Structural Calculus: Situare Engenharia
• Execution And Construction Management: Multiambiental Engenharia
• Light Installation Project: Lumini

© manufatura creative

From the architect. The conception process of the Cubes House has started with the primary need of a blind façade, seeking the privacy the residents were looking for. However, in contrast with the primary condition, the proposed idea was to make a dynamic arrange of volumes out of the basic and monolithic initial form. The result was the cubes, highlighted by large wood panels framed with steel plates.

The exposed concrete was the first choice since the beginning, which added to the project’s aesthetic. A practical, functional and timeless house that could be inserted on the context of a young and modernist city like Brasilia. The couple and its two children accepted all the process as a challenge to make a dream come true.

© manufatura creative

Wood, concrete and steel is the trilogy that marks all the facades, coatings and elements in the whole project, besides the brutalist and modern aspects the project was seeking. It was important to take advantage of the impact of the concrete to achieve the facades’ blind plans at the same time where the metallic structure allied to the reinforced concrete made the large spans possible.

© manufatura creative

It was important to the couple that the living room, dining room and gourmet area were totally integrated. The solution was to use large glass sliding doors that could be collected in-between the walls to assure the formation of one single area when necessary. On the ground floor, a small scale movie theater for 12 people took place, attending the family’s passion for art and to gather friends.

Ground Floor Plan

The top floor was projected respecting the privacy of each room which are connected by the 2 meters wide main balcony. The use of skylights, pergolas and wood blinds guaranteed the natural ventilation and lighting, also, the wood blinds made possible the ventilation without losing the aspect of privacy. The cumaru wood flooring is the same for all the environments, making comfortable the constant use of concrete.

© manufatura creative

The landscape, executed by the office of the landscaper Ana Paula Róseo, and the lighting design, by Lumni, were all done along with the architecture studio that always seeks integration of all the project steps in order to keep unity on the final result.

Section

As result, an architecture of straight lines with no excesses. We have never had luscious houses and projects in our minds. Just like Mies van der Rohe’s quote: Less is more! Also, every client is unique, therefore, they deserve to be listened with attention because it not only makes our jobs easier but also brings the project closer to reality.

© manufatura creative

Doubtless, Brasilia is stimulant to our profession. The city’s modern architecture represents all explored construction possibilities of its time in which we also try to transpose on our projects. We are always seeking this growth, developing the projects’ structure, the large spans and deleting the unnecessary, focusing on what is important: to create projects that are compatible with the architecture of the city.

© manufatura creative

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Courtesy of Sergio Grazia and Luc Boegly

This week, Museum Gardens became the host to the annual Triumph Pavilion, this year focusing on the concept of “energy.” Five Line Projects’ aptly titled “Energy Pavilion” takes a multi-faceted approach to the theme, addressing social sustainability, movement and the power of community. The pavilion presents a playful meeting place, designed to explore the impact of a single positive action on its surroundings.

ArchTriumph run an annual, open call competition in order to offer an alternative stream of expression to the architectural profession. They search for innovative, experimental and engaging projects which have the power to benefit society. Five Line Projects is comprised of multiple disciplines, and their enthusiasm and lateral thinking lead them to win this years’ entry. The London-based office’s selection makes them the youngest winners in the competition’s history.

Courtesy of Sergio Grazia and Luc Boegly

The pavilion is formed by a forest of stainless steel rods, stacked with mills reminiscent of a children’s pinwheel. By spinning a singular wheel, an individual will set into motion the movement of the adjacent wheels, creating a rippling effect through the forest. This acts as metaphor for the “collective energy of community,” as one action is seen to set off a chain reaction. It also creates a kinetic playground of moving objects, energetic in its own right.

The design focuses on user engagement, and the forest becomes a place where inclusion and accessibility reign supreme. Able to be inhabited by multiple users at once, the pavilion encourages playful interaction between people of all ages and denominations. The prominent site is overlooked by the V&A’s Museum of Childhood, and is attracting architects, designers, museum visitors and the general public.

Courtesy of Sergio Grazia and Luc Boegly

The pavilion, engineered by Arup, covers 64 square meters and is entirely self-supporting. It is predominantly constructed from bamboo, a sustainable material choice, and also uses stainless steel rods, timber, CLT panels and solid aluminium cladding.

Courtesy of Sergio Grazia and Luc Boegly

News Via ArchTriumph

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