© Riyazuddin Quraishi

• Architects: MORIQ
• Location: Amwaj Islands, Bahrain
• Architect In Charge: Riyazuddin Quraishi, Simeen Quraishi
• Area: 977.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Riyazuddin Quraishi

• Interior Designer: CREATIVE LIVING
• Civil Contractor: Sirajuddin Khalid, Ghumais Company

© Riyazuddin Quraishi

From the architect. This being an ocean facing plot, the client’s top most priority was the sea views, with lot of prominence to entertaining family and guests. He is also a good cook and wanted all extra kitchens (tepanyaki) and dining areas to be planned on the top most level as well to enjoy the views of the waters. The Master suite had to be well-equipped, multi-functional, multi-spatial, area with the best view of the ocean. The architecture and interior spaces had to be modern, technologically advanced and seamless. The Interior spaces should be flexible (as in open spaces to become private and vice versa). Privacy from neighbors and roads was a priority. This home is designed on a linear plot with attached homes on south and north sides and is opening to the sea on the west side and the road on the east side. Because of its location, it comes under high value properties of Amwaj, Bahrain. The plot covers 809.2sqmts and the total built up is977sqmts.The two side boundary walls looked like two imposing retaining walls and the home had to be designed within these walls. Because of the attached home layout covers the built up space could touch the two longer sides (south and north boundary walls) without any windows (so no light and ventilation) and views either. 

© Riyazuddin Quraishi

Taking this as challenge the whole layout was directed towards the views of the ocean (west). Further we envisaged volumes of cubes placed randomly and intersecting with cutouts, water bodies, courtyards and skylights suspended within these two boundary walls. Two Internal courtyards were created with skylights to compensate for the lack of setbacks on south and north. The walls whole layout was planned with unhindered space movement.  This way every room is ensured views of the sea, great light and ventilation. There are three floors with couple of bedrooms for family and friends and great lounges, dining and eating spaces as the owner is a passionate cook.

© Riyazuddin Quraishi

 The home is planned on 3 levels with two entrances, entry one facing east and entry two facing south both leading to same level with Landscape and car parking in the front and Formal lounge, kitchen and dining in the main area on the ground floor. An infinity swimming pool with Jacuzzi and wooden deck are planned on the rear of the building facing the ocean. The First floor consist of two bedrooms with a cut out in the center and the passage connecting the two and lavish Master suite with personal plunge pool, bath tub, lounge area with pantry and large opening towards ocean. Master bedroom is more like a (suite) personal apartment where in all needs of family should be met with collapsible shutters (flexibility). It has a lounge opening to a courtyard, pantry (equipped with coffee vending machine, moveable, hot plate, refrigerator etc) , plunge pool , free standing stalls of W.C and shower (not to hinder the views) etc. 

© Riyazuddin Quraishi

© Riyazuddin Quraishi

Second floor consists of two bedrooms, lounge area along with bar and dining area with partition.The pantry consists of cabinets along with customized moveable chimney tepanyaki projecting from wall and seating at the terrace on the front.All three levels are connected by means of a staircase and a lift.The focal point of this villa is the view of ocean from all the level which is on the rear.Specks of colors are used in customized furniture and artifacts only keeping the basic canvas neutral (in grays and whites). Natural grey stones are used for the flooring, and one side walls are cladded with Silver grey Travertino, whereas the ceiling are in pristine white and wooden in some accented area. Partly wooden steps with LED strips running on risers and threads are designed for the staircase. The cut out in the center connecting all three flows brings in a lot of natural light. Every room has visual and physical access to the outside. Furniture is from Italian brands. Rugs and lamps are all handpicked. A lot of old Bahrain streets images were used as Art on walls. As mentioned earlier the emphasis was more on scale, proportions and integration rather than on decoration. 

© Riyazuddin Quraishi

Product Description. One of the principal materials used in the house is the silver grey travertine which runs along the entire south/north wall covering the total height of two levels.  The same materials also shows externally extending out from the open skylight and thereby tightly links the inside with the out.

© Riyazuddin Quraishi

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© Arch-exist Photography

• Architects: HAD & Epos
• Location: Chengdu, JingJuSi, China
• Architect In Charge: Zhou Yonggang
• Area: 900.0 m2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Arch-exist Photography

© Arch-exist Photography

Viewing from the street,the black box is white! A group of white box with different openness cleverly fit into the corner of an aging urban community. Steel beams & columns, corrugated steel and perforated steel plates indicate its temporary, the fitness figure and basketball slap Sound of the black box clearly describes its function, the blooming light through glass and perforated steel plates in the night proudly announce that it’s the center of vitality in this slightly dull neighborhood.

© Arch-exist Photography

The interior of black box is indeed dominated by dark colors. under owner’s low cost demanding, steel, wood, concrete slab and other basic materials complete indoor color changeing,also describe the building function alternately: sports and fitness, art exhibitions, sharing of life, PARTY etc.

© Arch-exist Photography

2nd Floor Plan

© Arch-exist Photography

As the building itself plumply fill the entire site boundary, the heart of the site is considered the center of outdoor activities, while almost all of the traffic stream organizations, space onversion of inside and outside are around the heart to start.the building entities surrounding  the center produce an uncertain twist and flow, thus enriching the volumes.

© Arch-exist Photography

The uncertaintiy of municipal management and the uncertainty of business decide the uncertainty of the building function, thus reveal the space fluxility of a temporary building with an full utilizing of boundary conditions. The architects focus on openness & closure of the building, so they face problems such as community activation and interaction, functional change and convergence, the construction of the relative temporary building and many other complex challenges, and ultimately result in the philosophical meaning of ambiguous and moderate undefined conclusions.

© Arch-exist Photography

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© Humberto Romero

• Architects: TAC Taller de Arquitectura Contextual
• Location: Valle de Guadalupe, Valle de Chapultepec, 22785 Ensenada, B.C., Mexico
• Area: 2000.0 m2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Humberto Romero

• Architectural Design And Landscape: Alejandro D’Acosta López

© Humberto Romero

From the architect. BRUMA winery is located in the wine region of Baja California, in the Guadalupe Valley, the winery is part of a complete project which includes a hotel and villas. 

© Humberto Romero

Sketch

© Humberto Romero

Sketch

It is a project completely integrated to the environment, in spite of its magnitude you can barely notice it from the road. 

© Humberto Romero

© Humberto Romero

Most of the project is made from recycled wood and steel structure. It is covered with a landscape conformed of plants from the site. 

Joint Plan

It also has a water mirror that not only gives a great look but it also works as a natural heat insulator. 

© Humberto Romero

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© Sebastián Crespo

• Architects: Estudio A0
• Location: La Floresta, Quito, Ecuador
• Leading Architects: Jaskran Kalirai, Ana María Durán Calisto
• Main Architects: Jaskran Kalirai, Esteban Cervantes
• Area: 3000 m2
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: Sebastián Crespo, Jean-Claude Constant

• Design Team: Esteban Cervantes
• Client: Atiscode
• Construction: Luis Viscaino
• Structural Engineering: Pablo Poveda
• Hydro Sanitary Engineering: CONSISA, Mario Cueva
• Electric Engineering: Darío Vásconez y José Fonseca
• Mechanical Engineering: Andrés y Esteban Proaño
• Construction Resident: Jorge Espín
• Ground Area: 1400 m2

© Jean-Claude Constant

The Quito Publishing House is located in La Floresta neighborhood: a bohemian, artsy and closely knit community in the heart of Northern Quito. Its idiosyncratic nature posed the greatest design challenge. We were asked to introduce an office building where few exist and in the midst of a community with a strong sense of civil awareness, adamant about preserving the spatial values of its neighborhood. The program we were assigned was exciting: three publishing companies, formerly housed in separate floors of a high-rise, wanted to share one large space. Their employees are creative individuals with a strong aesthetic sensibility. This tripartite ownership of the building gave us more flexibility in terms of how we could program and distribute the space; all companies could relate within a similar hierarchal level. All three revolve around a central void, share the privilege of the same views, and have access to a roof garden. They also share communal spaces and we expect the fluid arrangement of the plan and section to catalyze a community atmosphere analogous to the one that characterizes the neighborhood. 

Axonometric

From a formal standpoint, the great Modern domestic architecture of the surroundings inspired many of the elements that compose the building. In some of the houses of La Floresta, architecture and nature intertwine. Walking through its streets, one discovers a hidden garden beneath a staircase, or a staircase floating effortlessly above a pond, or a spatial procession that leads to the front door of a house. There are layers upon layers to be unveiled at La Floresta. We chose to emulate the mix of Modernity and nature; to create a spatial sequence that leads the users into the building and its roof garden; to open a central void or “hanging garden” that serves as a chimney and reinterprets the colonial courtyard, which besides capturing the zenithal light of Quito provides a visual cross section. The work spaces are wrapped by a double skin, the outer portion of which is a louvered screen, partially colored. Works of art punctuate the shared spaces, which act as galleries. The slope of the site is dealt with in the traditional Quito-way: through the integration of a zócalo, built in concrete and clad in black stone. 

© Sebastián Crespo

The Quito Publishing House received the first Leed Gold attributed to a building in continental Ecuador, for its intent of applying environmental design principles to a corporate building in the tropics. 

© Sebastián Crespo

Energy, Air and Light  

The building is conceived of as a bioclimatic machinery, whose performance reduces to a minimum the dependence on mechanical systems of ventilation, heating and cooling. Since there are no elements projecting shadow upon the building, the northeastern and southeastern facades are subject to considerable solar exposure, particularly direct in the mornings. The “curtain” which would allow to regulate solar incidence was transferred from the interior of the building to the exterior, as a filter, understood as a biological wall, whose skin is interactive and capable of responding to temperature and humidity variations. The orange louvers respond to a climatic simulation that was more affordable than the introduction of sensors in each louver of the filters; flows of air ultimately depend on human manipulation, the most cost efficient option to reduce energy consumption. The fin shape of the louvers is aerodynamic so as to refract light and stimulate the generation of vortexes that accelerate the transfer of air. Its figure coincides, in section, with the operable windows. The central patio acts as a chimney that sucks the air towards the upper sections of the building and also serves as a funnel of zenithal light brought into the core of the building at the lower levels. This mechanism also injects air into the parking located underground. A vegetation layer shares with maintenance shelves the intersticial spaces located between skins (glass and louvers), providing an additional filter to purify and scent the air, buffer air flows and provide shade. The back façade provides enough thermal mass to absorb and liberate energy. The water surface in the ground floor, besides being a cooling device, responds to the need of rendering air circulation visible: it serves as a meter of the building´s performance through the rippling of the water surface. These mechanisms were introduced in order to take the greatest advantage of natural resources such as light and air, and in order to reduce to a minimum the consumption of energy and water. 

Section

Water

The building has an integrated system of rain water collection that is channeled towards the bathrooms and the garden roofs or vertical gardens, where it is used for irrigation purposes. A double piping system facilitates trickle irrigation along the gardened facades and reduces water consumption. 

© Sebastián Crespo

Landscaping

The vertical gardens act as another layer of thermal insulation within the chamber of the perimeter, just as the roof gardens above. Native Andean species were chosen for the gardening –most consume low portions of water.

Section

Flexibility and adaptation

The sustainability of a building is proportional to its ability to adapt to different uses throughout time. The plans of QPH are open and lodge accessible electric, mechanical, lighting and communication installations to facilitate technological up-grades and maintenance. 

© Sebastián Crespo

Construction System and Technological Development

QPH was built with a system of pre-fabricated, partially animated components that demanded a close collaboration between design and the local industry.

© Sebastián Crespo

Maintenance

The maintenance shelves introduced along the perimeter of the building serve as dust buffers, support for the pots, gardening area, and introduce corridors that facilitate cleaning windows and louvers.

© Sebastián Crespo

Waste Management

The building incorporates the elements that are necessary to sort, collect and compact waste.

Transport

In order to support the cycling culture of La Floresta neigborhood, QPH provides bicycle racks, showers and lockers. The location of the building was selected taking into account is articulation to the public transportation system.

© Sebastián Crespo

City

QPH recedes at the ground level in order to provide a secure public space that may contribute to activate surrounding urban tissues.

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Visitors to Bermuda are likely to notice one key feature about its architecture: across the islands, the pastel-painted houses all share a distinctive white, stepped roof style. A recent article on BBC News Magazine explores the original reason for, and subsequent history of, this unique roof design, showing how vernacular architectural elements often fit into a larger narrative of culture and geography.

The Chaplin Estate (formerly known as Spithead), an 18th-century home that once belonged to merchant and privateer Hezekiah Frith. Image © <a href='http://ift.tt/2hqJSaH user Aodhdubh</a> licensed under <a href='http://ift.tt/2aA6y58 BY-SA 3.0</a>

The original reason for the roofs is relatively simple: with no permanent fresh streams or lakes on the islands, early settlers had to rely entirely on rainfall for their water source. To ensure that none of the region’s rainfall was wasted, builders developed the stepped roofs as a way to slow down heavy rain and prevent the building’s gutters being overwhelmed. Being constructed of limestone, the roofs were also heavy enough to resist hurricanes, and the white color reflected UV light from the sun, which helped to purify the water.

The technique was later written into Bermuda law. Every new house in Bermuda is now designed for a certain level of self-sufficiency, as each one must have 8 gallons (36 liters) of tank space per square foot (0.1 square meters) of roof area to store water.

However, as Bermuda’s residential and tourist populations grow, the islands are beginning to experience challenges relating to this water strategy. As the temptation to build upwards increases, the ability of these roofs to collect enough water for everybody is decreasing, and the islands now have 6 water desalination plants to cope with demand. Increasingly, the story of Bermuda’s distinctive roofs is intertwined with the story of its water challenges. Find out more about these challenges, and the roofs themselves, over at BBC News Magazine.

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© Revelateur studio

• Architects: POST Architecture
• Location: Toronto, ON, Canada
• Architect In Charge: Gloria Apostolou
• Area: 2600.0 m2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Revelateur studio

• Contractor: Armenta Levy Interiors Inc.
• Millworker: John Ozimec of Laneway Millwork
• Stairs: Custom Stair and Guard

© Revelateur studio

From the architect. The Junction Shadow House is a semi-detached residential dwelling that began as a mirror-image of its attached neighbour. Early in the design process, it became evident that the previous additions (front room over the porch, rear Mud Room) were structurally compromised and threatening to destabilize the original masonry structure. As a result, they were demolished, leaving the shell of the original house to work with, in the shadow of its longer neighbour. Natural light was not available from all sides, so the design focused on maximizing the light penetrating from the south, as well as moving it through the house as much as possible. The interiors are a bright white colour and the spaces are visually interconnected on all levels through a feature staircase, creating views and plays with shadows on all levels.

© Revelateur studio

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© Revelateur studio

The front of the house was re-designed to include a large window, linking exterior and interior life. Similarly, a new rear Mudroom addition at the ground floor allows for easy access to and from the rear yard, and more importantly, access to the dog washing station in the basement. A third floor addition was built to create an open relaxing area for the homeowners, as the while maximizing the use of floor area and animating them with plays on light and dark. The finishes further reflect the idea of shade, with a palette of whites, blacks and greys…and occasionally a pop of colour. 

© Revelateur studio

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In this video from CNN Style Ole Scheeren, the former OMA partner and founder of Büro Ole Scheeren, discusses his  MahaNakhon tower, a luxury mixed used skyscraper that has transformed the Bangkok skyline. MahaNakhon was recognized as the tallest building in Thailand by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) after its light show inauguration earlier this year.

MahaNakhon’s sculptural design includes a “pixelated” spiral of terraces which cut through the sheer glass curtain wall to, in the words of Scheeren, “reaveal the grain of its inhabitation.” This unique form was created to combine elements of simplicity and intimacy in a city that is already full of a festival of architectural form-making. In the video, filmed before the building’s completion in August, Scheeren takes in the rawness of the building, saying that “In some ways, it seems almost incomplete or unfinished. At this time the building itself is still in its raw state. You can very strongly feel the reality of the building.”

You can watch a teaser for CNN’s video above or see the full video here.

Thailand’s Tallest Building, Designed by Büro Ole Scheeren, Opens with Light Show
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MahaNakhon / Ole Scheeren, OMA
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News via: CNN Style

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© Manuel Correia

• Architects: Costa Lopes
• Location: Luanda, Angola
• Area: 4221.0 m2
• Project Year: 2009
• Photographs: Manuel Correia, João Freire, Fabrice Fouillet

© Fabrice Fouillet

From the architect. The KN10 building – among the first to be completed by COSTA LOPES and home to its head offices – roots itself in its location in Rua Kwame N’Krumah, opposite to Rua Moisés Cardoso, a continuation of the upper city ridge (one of Luanda´s main urban structures) and, on the other hand, in its generic programme which at the time met the need for qualified office spaces. It also takes in account the uncertainty in relation to the transformation of the neighboring urban plots.

© Manuel Correia

© Manuel Correia

The horizontal portico, circumscribed in the plot and open to the street, gives place for 10 overlapping functional modules with open-space offices (one or two units with a kitchenette). They are served and anchored by a vertical access core (stairs and lifts, with sanitary facilities on each floor). The building also features 3 underground floors for car parking and technical areas.

Section

The fanfold facades are consequence of the overlapping and physicality of the reinforced concrete. Each module is highlighted by the different angulations of its façade distended rings, compressing side to side fenêtres en longueur and guaranteeing some environmental mediation. They give an autonomous expression to the building in relation to the transformation of the neighboring area, while maintaining a strong urban presence.

© Manuel Correia

Ground Floor Plan

© João Freire

The KN10 unveils itself from inside-out and vice-versa. It overlooks the city, particularly the higher floors, from Ilha do Cabo to the hinterland. It indulges in the city, flowing through it and revealing its working environments from the public space.

© Manuel Correia

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The key to quick, efficient CAD modeling is to have a solid library of CAD blocks – pre-prepared sets of common objects and details that you can simply drop into your drawing as and when they are required. Fortunately, there are many ways you can build up your own CAD blocks library without having to create all of your own objects from scratch. One of them is to purchase sets of blocks from websites like boss888.net, which has a wide array of CAD objects available for download – and is even offering a selection of their catalog for free.

boss888.net’s 61 free downloads encompass everything from furniture, plants and people to detailed drawings of the classical ornament, to floor and roof parapet details. You can find their full selection of free items here.

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© Sergio Camplone

• Architects: CiminiArchitettura
• Location: 66030 Frisa CH, Italy
• Architect In Charge: Remo Cimini
• Area: 145.0 m2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Sergio Camplone, Courtesy of CiminiArchitettura

• Concept Design: Andrea Jasci Cimini
• Consultant : Antonio Damiani
• Structure: Alfredo Zulli, Vincenzo Santilli
• Geologist : Alessio Carulli
• Concrete Structure: E.C.F.
• Wood Structure And Finish: Edilegno Pellegrini
• Technician Responsible: Gianluca Buzzelli

© Sergio Camplone

Courtesy of CiminiArchitettura

A highway to sheep and shepherds. The cattle tracks were routes that annually herds traveling to move from the sea to the mountains and go back.

© Sergio Camplone

The pavilion of transhumance is located close to the “tratturo del re” , a green path linking the Apulian plains to the mountains of Abruzzo in central Italy.

Courtesy of CiminiArchitettura

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Courtesy of CiminiArchitettura

The project has the aim of enhancement of rural traditions and enhance the local tourist routes and products, mainly related to the olive oil and wine production.
Products that, for millennia, the locals have traded with the shepherds in transit, contaminating each other, even passing on culture, history and legends.

© Sergio Camplone

The functional program is very simple: a single flexible space equipped with ensuite facilities.

Courtesy of CiminiArchitettura

The project aims to symbolically interpret the path of sheep tracks opening and directing the large central room to the sea and to the opposite side towards the mountain. Conceptually a “space of passage” from which sight the landscape.

Courtesy of CiminiArchitettura

This dual opposite opening also allows natural ventilation in summer. The land on which stands the building, however, is in direct contact with a road. This is why the volume of the pavilion was deformed upward to avoid the views of the cars and focus instead on the beautiful surrounding countryside.

Courtesy of CiminiArchitettura

This changed morphology has also allowed us to create a small cavea and optimize coverage for the installation of photovoltaic panels and technical installations.

Courtesy of CiminiArchitettura

The structure of the building (apart from the reinforced concrete base) is made entirely of wood, as well as the outer covering of larch pretreated.

© Sergio Camplone

The pavilion of transhumance is a handmade object, local, looking for a new way to interact with the landscape and the territory.

Courtesy of CiminiArchitettura

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