© Robert Frith

• Architects: Christian de Vietri
• Location: Perth WA, Australia
• Artist: Christian de Vietri
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Robert Frith, Christian de Vietri, Apertunity Productions, Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority, Jarrad Seng, ShapeShift Technologies

• Lighting: Electrolight, Melbourne
• Commissioner: Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority Commission
• Dimensions: 30 x 16 x 1m
• Value: $1,380,000

© Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority

From the architect. Spanda is a 9 story high sculpture by Australian born artist and sculptor Christian de Vietri. It is located at Elizabeth Quay in Perth, Western Australia. Unveiled in January 2016, it is now the world’s largest freestanding structure made of carbon fiber. It was designed by de Vietri using 3D modeling software and fabricated with CNC milling and vacuum resin infused carbon fibre. The artwork, inspired by the artist’s experience of the teachings and practices of Śaiva Tantra, celebrates union of the individual with the universal.

Formally, the artwork could be described as a series of six white nested arches that are exactly the same shape but vary incrementally in their size. The thickness of each arch tapers as it rises from the ground, reaching its thinnest point at the apex. The smallest arch frames the human body, and the largest arch reaches 9 stories high. When the artwork is completed by the viewer’s presence, the shape and its repetitions suggest the contours of a moving energetic field surrounding the human body, creating the impression of an infinite vibration inwards and outwards.

Fornt Elevation

BACKGROUND

In September 2015, The Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority released an open call for proposals for an artist to create a signature artwork for the Elizabeth Quay development on the Swan River in Perth Australia. In March 2016, Christian de Vietri was awarded the commission to create Spanda.

© Christian de Vietri

CONCEPT

The title of the work, Spanda, is a Sanskrit word meaning “divine vibration”. This term is used to describe how consciousness moves in waves of contraction and expansion. Spanda is the subtle creative pulse of the universe as it manifests into the dynamism of living form. Spanda can be translated as throb or pulse, or to mean vibration, movement, or motion, referring to waves of activity issuing forth from an unseen source. It might be described as an impulse or desire to create and enjoy, likened to an eternal spring, joyfully over-flowing and always full.

Mark Dyczkowski, in his book “The Doctrine of Vibration”, describes spanda as follows:

© Jarrad Seng

“The mainstay of the Doctrine of Vibration is the contemplative experience the awakened yogi has of his true nature as the universal perceiving and acting consciousness. Every activity in the universe, as well as every perception, notion, sensation or emotion in the microcosm ebbs and flows as part of the universal rhythm of the one reality, which is Siva, the one God Who is the pure conscious agent and perceiver. According to the Doctrine of Vibration, man can realise his true nature to be Siva by experiencing spanda, the dynamic, recurrent and creative activity of the absolute.”

The sculpture is intended to be both a formal representation of this ‘spanda’ principle, and a tool, or means, to experience it.

Side Elevation

Site Plan

DESIGN

The artist’s intention was to create an icon that would transform the cityscape and the identity of Perth, in effect opening its “heart”.

It was also specifically designed and situated by the artist to function optimally with the color, shape, use and aspirations of the Elizabeth Quay development project, which had already been designed by ARM Architecture and was being created in tandem with the sculpture production.

Diagram

The sculpture is large, but not heavy, the gaps between each arch still allowing people to walk through and see the sculpture and the city from any angle. The sculpture has a strong sense of presence, yet no building nor vantage point is obscured, and every person, from every position on the Quay is able to appreciate the harmony between sculpture and site. The curvature of the sculpture contrasts with gridded square buildings behind it.

Model

The arch-like quality of the form is mysteriously functionless as it is neither an entrance nor an exit, but rather stands alone, declaring its own liminal space for the viewer to merge with. The location, smooth lines, and durability of the form is conducive and complimentary to the many events that occur in and around the Quay, and has activated the site in many unpredictable ways already. Yoga and fitness groups regularly practice under the arches and recently a pop-up “Dîner-en-Blanc” was organized around the sculpture There seems to be a constant stream of people taking photos with the sculpture and interacting with it.

“Open, radiant, inclusive. These are the qualities I wished the sculpture to embody. Spanda is a kind of womb space for the city, where exalted experience and expanded states of being are born. The dimensions of the human body were used as a starting point for designing the form. In fact the whole sculpture was designed with human interactivity and bodily presence in mind”

© Christian de Vietri

“Gazing along the outer contours of Spanda leads the eye inevitably to the sky and beyond. When people visit the site I see the sculpture enables them move beyond themselves, into a state of awe and wonder, if they attune to the aesthetic and spatial vibration of the form. When we get lost in our minds, worried, anxious, we get contracted, we feel small, we reduce our capacity to see and experience the world fully and we cannot host others in our presence. Art has the capacity to move us out of this state, to expand us, to return us to our basic state of contentedness and connectedness, which, in modern society, with all our stress and distraction, can be unusually hard to maintain. Spanda can be a refuge that allows people to recognize the simple and ever-present beauty of who they at their core. The implied infinite ripples of Spanda invite each individual to encompass more and more of what they perceive themselves to be. Spanda represents and facilitates this journey of recognition, from limitation to ultimate freedom.”

© Robert Frith

CONSTRUCTION

The sculpture was fabricated by the Brisbane based company ShapeShift Technologies over a period of 9 months. The arches were made in sections that were then joined on site. Moulds for each element were CNC milled and then formed in carbon fiber. The sculpture is coated in a highly durable gloss white finish.

The complete installation of the work took 10 ten days, the arches finally being crane-lifted into place.

© Robert Frith

© Robert Frith

UNVEILING

The official opening of Elizabeth Quay occurred on January 29th 2016, attended by over 30,000 people.

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© Dianna Snape

• Architects: Croxon Ramsay
• Location: Melbourne VIC, Australia
• Project Directors : Andrew Croxon, Catherine Ramsay
• Project Architect : Nick Gamble
• Area: 4190.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Dianna Snape

• Team: Jeff Gabriel , Richard Cox, David Young
• Interiors: Hecker Guthrie
• Project Manager: Coffey Projects
• Structural / Civil: Kersulting
• Services & Esd: Simpson Kotzman
• Building Surveyor: BSGM
• Quantity Surveyor: DDH
• Catering Consultant: FCA
• Landscape: Tract
• Access: Architecture & Access
• Audio Visual: Lumicon
• Heritage: Lovell Chen
• Signage: Hunt & Co
• Acoustics: Marshall Day
• Traffic: Cardno
• Builder: ADCO Constructions
• Client: Collingwood Football Club
• Floor Area: 4190m2
• Footprint: 2150m2
• Budget: $22 Million

© Dianna Snape

Site Plan

From the architect. Designed by Croxon Ramsay, the new Glasshouse community and function centre for Collingwood Football Club was to provide elite player facilities, event spaces for the public and the Club and encourage community participation within the sports precinct in Melbourne, Australia. Requirements included a café, bars, multiple hospitality spaces, a lecture theatre, a gymnasium, players’ rooms, storage facilities, meeting rooms and a boardroom. Many areas required individual access – for example, the gym would be open to the public when the theatrette was closed, the café would be open when the function centre was not and players would require access to their rooms without meeting patrons of the café.

© Dianna Snape

So a complex plan was designed of particular areas that could be ‘locked down’ and isolated from each other. The catering needs were immense – a commercial kitchen that would supply food and beverages for intimate gatherings, sit down dinners for 500 or cocktail events for 1000 people. 

© Dianna Snape

© Dianna Snape

The building is wedged between an Olympic Swimming Pool and a full-size community oval on an elongated triangular site. At one end of the site, in the tail-end of the building to the north, is the bar and café with an outside seating area and access to the Glasshouse can be approached through the café; however, the official entrance is from the midway point of the building that is accessed from a pedestrian pathway that curves around the oval. The entrance opens to a substantial staircase that becomes the stepping-off point to all areas. The ground level provides the lecture theatre, gymnasium, and change and storage rooms; the first floor has the hospitality areas and above this, on the second floor, there is a boardroom and small meeting/coaches’ room. 

Plan 0

© Dianna Snape

The footprint of the site is the protagonist for the design, the geometric shape a constant within the exterior and interior of the zinc brick building. The materiality of the façade is substantial with masonry used at low levels and glass and metal cladding, black zinc and natural anodised aluminium above. These disparate elements combine in linear and geometric shapes to form patterns that highlight and delineate features such as the rake of the roof and a triangular soffit that is also reflected internally. Strip lighting highlights the soffits and again reinforces the ubiquitous triangular shapes within the design. High-tech glazing systems were developed and installed, and the function areas support the latest audiovisual equipment.
The interior, designed by Hecker Guthrie, is a reflection of the architecture and features fine contemporary furniture and a bespoke carpet designed for the function spaces, all set against the backdrop of raw cement walls. Throughout the interior and exterior subtle references to the Collingwood Football Club abound. The palette of black, white, beige and grey reinforces Club colours (black and white) and the shape of the building echoes the span of a bird’s wing, in this case, the Australian magpie (the Club’s nickname is the Magpies). 

© Dianna Snape

Section

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Courtesy of Beauty & The Bit; KAAN Architecten

KAAN Architecten has won the commission to design the New Amsterdam Courthouse. The new building will replace the current judicial complex at the intersection of Zuidas and Parnassusweg, which is slated for demolition. The Courthouse of Amsterdam is the largest in the Netherlands and handles 150,000 cases a year with a staff of 200 judges and 800 professionals. KAAN Architecten describes the building’s design as both “stately” and “distinguished,” stating that the intention was to create a facility that understands justice as an open process, and thus incorporates ways for the public to engage with the Courthouse.

Courtesy of Beauty & The Bit; KAAN Architecten

In order to foster this sense of openness, the ground floor will be visible through large windows and allow for public access to a variety of spaces including a courtyard. Adding to this sense of engagement, the interior layouts are designed to merge with the street conditions outside, generating a forecourt, central hall with foyers, and waiting areas, that are an extension of the urban fabric. However, the architects clarify that users will also find that the building can be immensely private, with sheltered areas and screened-off routes for judges, clerks, and ministerial representatives.

Section

In total, the building with host 50 courtrooms and council chambers, all with natural light. A large ground floor courtroom will host larger cases that attract more visitors, and will have a dedicated point of access as to not disturb the ongoing proceedings of the other courtrooms.

Courtesy of Beauty & The Bit; KAAN Architecten

The Courthouse will also incorporate several gardens and landscapes, including an enclosed space on the ground floor, vertical gardens climbing through building offices, and on the building’s western face, a sunken landscape providing daylight to a basement level.

Courtesy of Beauty & The Bit; KAAN Architecten

During the demolition of the existing court structure, workers will be moved to satellite facilities in the neighborhood. The new building is scheduled for completion in 2020.

• Architects: KAAN Architecten
• Location: Parnassusweg 218, 1076 AV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Architect In Charge: KAAN Architecten (Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen, Dikkie Scipio)
• Project Team: Ana Rivero Esteban, Beatrice Bagnara, Dennis Bruijn, Sebastiaan Buitenhuis, Marten Dashorst, Sebastian van Damme, Cecilia Dobos, Paolo Faleschini, Raluca Firicel, Narine Gyulkhasyan, Moritz Kühl, Marco Lanna, Yinghao Lin, Marija Mateljan, Kevin Park
• Contractor: consortium NACH: Macquarie Capital, ABT, DVP, KAAN Architecten, Heijmans, M.J. de Nijs & Zonen, Facilicom
• Advisor Construction: ABT
• Advisor Technical Installations: ABT
• Advisor Fire Control And Acoustics: ABT
• Visualizations: Beauty & The Bit; KAAN Architecten
• Area: 0.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2020
• Photographs: Courtesy of Beauty & The Bit; KAAN Architecten

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© Raphaël Thibodeau

• Architects: L. McComber
• Location: Laval, QC, Canada
• Design Team: David Grenier, Laurent McComber
• Area: 2950.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Raphaël Thibodeau

• Client: Danielle Brassard and Cynthia Migneault
• Graphic Design: Atelier Chinotto
• Lighting Design: Richporter Lighting, Éclairage
• General Contractor: Brago Construction
• Budget: $450,000

Plan

From the architect. Dr. Danielle Brassard has long dreamt of opening her own public dermatology clinic in Montréal. To meet the needs of clients who deal with eczema, psoriasis, hives and other skin conditions linked to stress, the future clinic must welcome patients in a comforting atmosphere. Her vision for the space is unlike the model of traditional medical clinics, which are often gloomy places where the comfort and well-being of the patients and professionals are relegated to the sidelines in favor of technical requirements. To turn her vision into reality, she contacted Laurent McComber in September 2014 from the architectural firm L. McComber.

© Raphaël Thibodeau

Gloomy to glowing
Light, a critical ingredient of many dermatological treatments, is the starting point from which the project evolves. Despite its large windows facing east onto Avenir Boulevard and south onto the Montmorency metro station parking lot, the former paediatric clinic that occupied this space was dark and uninspiring. The position of the waiting room in the centre, with windowless examination rooms surrounding it, shut clients off from the outside world and its views and natural light. To make the most of the large openings, the entire office was transformed into an open-plan space with translucent elements serving different functions within the clinic, letting the abundant natural light filter in all around. The ceiling, covered wall to wall in acoustic tiles, was exposed to make the area feel more spacious.

© Raphaël Thibodeau

Section

Translucent surroundings
The six examination rooms, featuring frosted glass ceilings, form a long white wall punctuated by six high wooden doors. With its imposing opalescent glass wall and lowered ceiling, the relaxation room for the clinic’s professionals looks like a glowing cube. Light therapy machines sit imposingly in the centre, behind reception. The curved translucent glass walls that encapsulate them give away their function, as they emit an entrancing purple light when in operation. A long, solid ash reception desk wraps around this central core, with an entrance on either end: dermatology (main entrance) and light therapy (secondary entrance).

© Raphaël Thibodeau

The client as the focal point
Dr. Brassard wants her patients to relax as soon as they enter the clinic. They should feel an uplifting sense of peace and calm during their visit rather than being weighed down by stress and discomfort. At Clinique D, the waiting room offers the most breathtaking view of the entire space: the whole stretch of Avenir Boulevard. People are more patient, more understanding when they are comfortable and well looked after. At the foot of the waiting room chairs, custom-built solid ash coffee tables mirror the look and feel of the reception desk. At the bottom of the hall closet is a wooden shoe rack, inviting patients to take their boots off as soon as they walk in. Further in, an alcove where washrooms are located also has a hot/cold water dispenser for anyone to pour themselves a cup of tea while they wait for their appointment or treatment.

© Raphaël Thibodeau

Caring for the care staff
In addition to being a welcoming and comforting place for patients, the clinic must meet the needs of its staff, who spend long hours working inside its walls. It must be efficient in the way it is organized and pleasant in the way it is laid out. To achieve this, the clinic’s professionals must be able to move between the common areas, offices and examination rooms out of sight of the public. By moving the consultation rooms away from the exterior wall, a long service corridor was freed up for staff to move around in. This spatial arrangement, the true backbone of this space, created a bright and lively corridor through which nurses, technicians and physicians can move freely from one room to another, consulting their patients’ computer records, exchanging opinions and information, or even going to their offices and the relaxation room. Computer workstations are mounted on walls for medical staff to consult records before or after seeing their patients, without blocking this strategic passageway. The staff can also enjoy the transparent block within which the relaxation room is enclosed, shielded from the curious glances of the patients.

© Raphaël Thibodeau

Customized lighting
To supplement the natural light, hanging Wi-Fi LED bulbs can be programmed to the desired intensity and colour for each zone. Installed 8’-0” high, they offer users maximum energy-efficient brightness, without being too blinding. Strips of recessed LED lights highlight the large wood overhang above the desk and the whole of the waiting room. The same type of recessed lighting lines the reception desk to light up the work surfaces for staff. Lastly, each examination room has light flooding from a variety of LED sources, producing a very expansive but highly efficient spectrum: in panels behind the glass ceiling, in inset linear strips along the same ceiling, and in the form of a built-in light fixture above the exam table and a directional Wi-Fi bulb on an adjustable arm beside the patient. The glass ceiling and doors to the service corridor complete the layout with diffused natural light. The intense brightness of the space lends itself well to greater precision in the visual examination of patients.

© Raphaël Thibodeau

Atelier Chinotto’s signature
All of the signage was designed in collaboration with graphic designer Atelier Chinotto. Stylized but universal at the same time, it consists of a mix of custom-designed logos (phone, washrooms, charging stations) and more specific descriptors for each room (1, 2, 3, A, B, C, Dr. Danielle Brassard, lunchroom, etc.). The lettering consists of cut-outs from light grey vinyl against the white background of the walls. For the concrete floor, however, the lettering is painted white right on the grey surface. The font is understated and sleek. The 3D geometry is the pinnacle of the design. It is a 3D parametric extrusion of the 2D logo designed by Atelier Chinotto, where the depth of the grooves varies depending on their width, offering a stunning play of light and shadow.

© Raphaël Thibodeau

Clinique D under the spotlight
The Clinique D diaphane project is proof that, with a client’s trust, a dynamic young firm can deliver a complex, specialized architectural project without necessarily having acquired previous expertise in similar ventures. Clinique D is confident that a welcoming and well‑designed care space promotes the well-being of its users and professionals, and indirectly leads to positive care and working conditions. Its exceptional architecture and sustainable construction details will improve the well‑being of many, a real investment for society over the longer term. A care space does not necessarily have to be dominated by technological equipment. It can be inspired by the human warmth of the people that inhabit it and the place that it calls home.
Via v2com.

© Raphaël Thibodeau

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Courtesy of Lead 8

HarbourLoop is an iconic new pedestrian and cycling network for Hong Kong, proposed by design studio Lead 8. Transforming the perimeter of Victoria Harbour on its Hong Kong and Kowloon sides, HarbourLoop will add 23 kilometers of paths for walking, running, and biking. Lead 8 believes that despite being one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with 6,300 people per square kilometer, Hong Kong’s waterfront is underutilized. HarbourLoop will add social value as it intersects with existing offices, residential and leisure districts, and will encourage new development adjacent to the city’s waterfront, including restaurants, cafes, and community meeting places.

Courtesy of Lead 8

By creating a citywide public space within 10 minutes walk of 1.7 million inhabitants, Lead 8’s intervention will not only provide a scenic vantage on the Harbour, but also become a means of transit. The goal of HarbourLoop is to encourage greater mobility in the city, and in turn, to reduce emissions with less dependence on cars and other vehicles.

Courtesy of Lead 8

“We believe there is a pressing need to invest in more people-focused multimodal networks to complement and connect Hong Kong, and promote a healthy and active means of moving around,” says Simon Blore, Director and co-Founder of Lead 8. “HarbourLoop applies lateral thinking, Hong Kong’s home-grown design and engineering expertise, and an investment in public realm and transport technology that could lead to the creation of an efficient, flexible and world-class network – a first for Hong Kong.”

Courtesy of Lead 8

On the north and south sides of the Harbour, a six meter wide path will be built to accommodate pedestrians, runners, and cyclists, with two different modes of transit to cross the waterway. On the western edge of the city, a cable car will travel 1.5 kilometers from Hong Kong Island’s Central to a new deck overlooking West Kowloon Cultural District. On the east side of Victoria Harbour, a 500 meter pedestrian bridge will link the Museum of Coastal Defence and the Shau Kei Wan waterfront with the village of Lei Yue Mun.

Courtesy of Lead 8

While there is no current timeframe for implementation, BuroHappold Engineering, the firm that worked on The High Line, recently joined the HarbourLoop study team. Current plans are to continue working on the project masterplan, and subsequently present it to developers, contractors, and the Hong Kong Planning Board.

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© Nico Saieh

• Architects: Iglesis Arquitectos
• Location: Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
• Author Architect: Jorge Iglesis Guillard
• Area: 260.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Nico Saieh

• Structure: RG Ingenieros Ltda.
• Construction: Carlos Arce M.

© Nico Saieh

In a site with great leafy trees, the house is defined only by a roof and a floor. A unique space, continuous and deep, opened on its sides to the garden and closed towards the street and the background.

© Nico Saieh

The floor is stone and the ceiling wood. The two front walls are a metal and concrete structure. The boundaries between inside and outside do not exist; spaces interact, generating views arriving always to the gardens and the abundant foliage outside. Services are ordered in closed volumes to indicate the access and configuring various yards.

Diagram

Plan

Diagram

Floor and roof work as two generous planes which support and protect the space that shelters the family life, incorporating to the house the entire site.

© Nico Saieh

© Nico Saieh

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© Favaro Jr.

• Arquitetos: Gustavo Arbex
• Localização: Itupeva – SP, Brasil
• Área: 970.0 m2
• Ano Do Projeto: 2015
• Fotografias: Favaro Jr.

• Projeto Estrutural: Gilberto P. Filho
• Projeto Luminotécnico: Ldarti
• Gerenciamento De Obra: Gustavo Arbex

© Favaro Jr.

The design of this functional residence, which emphasized visual connection between living areas, features grand clean modern lines.

© Favaro Jr.

The integration of most rooms with the living/entertaining areas, enabled the use of ample glazed doors and window openings over large spans; all framed by spectacular surrounding scenery.

© Favaro Jr.

Plan

The search for materials that promoted contrasting balance and yet, defined each element in its totality, has driven the architectural finishes palette.

© Favaro Jr.

This design fostered large spans and slender beams, which created a structural challenge, given the unrefined capability at the work site. Lengthy meetings with the structural engineer eventually provided the most cost effective solution.

© Favaro Jr.

Despite accommodating all mechanical services in dedicated plant rooms, the building facades remained uncompromised, giving prominence to high ceilings and cross ventilation into living areas via automated high-level windows.
The use of skylights permitted efficient natural lighting and ventilation to the ensuites, walk-in robes and bedrooms circulation areas.

© Favaro Jr.

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© Scott and Scott Architects

• Architects: Scott & Scott Architects
• Location: Whistler, BC V0N, Canada
• Engineers: WHM Structural Engineers
• Contractors: Cloudy Mountain Contracting
• Area: 178.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Scott and Scott Architects

© Scott and Scott Architects

Plan

From the architect. Built as a weekend retreat for a family of snowboarders the cabin is situated on a steeply sloping rock bluff in a quiet residential area north of Whistler village. The neighbourhood is made up of similar sized A-frame and Gothic arch cabins and chalets dating from the 1970s. In contrast to the more recent larger scaled residences in the region the cabin was designed around the owners’ and architects’ desire to work with the original scale of the early structures in the area.

© Scott and Scott Architects

Banking into the rock the 178 sq.m. cabin is entered from the lowest level which contains a gear drying room, winter and summer equipment storage, a washroom and laundry. The living area and kitchen backs into the hill and faces the view to the mountains across the valley over Green Lake. A bedroom, bunk room and guest room/ den are on the top floor with expansive outward views east and accesses a private terrace nestled into the rock bluff behind the cabin.

© Scott and Scott Architects

Section

The structure consists of an internally exposed frame of locally sourced douglas fir rough sawn lumber of conventional size with solid strip structural decking which sits on the concrete base anchored into the bedrock.  The lumber joinery has been designed and engineered to utilize a simple repeated lapped joint at the floor and roof connections. The lap is reversed outward to allow for window dormers at the stair, bunk room and kitchen.

© Scott and Scott Architects

The materials are locally harvested and quarried. The exterior is clad in red cedar shakes which will weather to the tone of the surrounding rock, the interior cabinetry was site built by the carpenters with construction grade rotary cut plywood and the counters were fabricated from marble from the Hisnet Inlet quarry located on Vancouver Island.

© Scott and Scott Architects

Elevation

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Courtesy of AirStudio

France-based Tetrarc Architects has revealed their design for the new Conservatory of Rennes in France. Intended to be the cornerstone of a new urban project, the fifty-meter long cubic volume is intersected by “cuts and curves that give it an elegant, sculptural presence.” This cultural facility will bring five programs under one roof, including spaces for musical activities, an auditorium, dance theaters, administration spaces, and an area for the Pont Supérieur Music Department.

Courtesy of AirStudio

Situated on the western side of an urban development known as Zagreb Square, the contoured building aims to respond to the surrounding site context through the articulation of four independently designed wood and glass facades. In addition, the roof, referred to as the “fifth façade,” shows how the two forms of a square and sphere intersect to form a circular garden in the center.

Courtesy of AirStudio

The auditorium, located in the center of the program is covered in a quilted canvas that serves an acoustic function. “To offer a beautiful musicality to this space, the interior design has been [a] fine acoustic study. The geometry of the panels is based on harmonic progression of diamond based pyramids,” write the architects.

Courtesy of AirStudio

Architectural procession and sequence of movement is another prevalent theme in the proposal. Spaces wrap and circulate around one another while offering views of the exterior public spaces. Long corridors form the pathways that organize clusters of program.

The conservatory will establish itself as a cultural presence that integrates itself into the urban fabric of Rennes.

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• Architects: Moke Architecten
• Location: The Netherlands , Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Architect In Charge: Gianni Cito
• Design Team: P. de Weerd, V. Falconi, N. Leszczynska
• Area: 2000.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015

• Structural Engineer: Pieters Bouwtechniek
• Environmental Engineer: Merosch
• Quantity Surveyor: Boshuizen Bouwadvies
• Client: City of Amsterdam Noord

From the architect. Growing up in an energy neutral school with round windows.

In Banne Buiksloot in the north of Amsterdam the general building fabric consists of high apartment blocks. In contrast the public buildings do the opposite. They form a network of low buildings that seek a strong connection to the public domain. The new 2 storey primary school, designed by the architect Gianni Cito of the Amsterdam office Moke Architecten, does the same. The school stands out due to its crenelated shed roof and the tribune stairway that connects the school with the playground. The playful round windows and the red scaly façade give the building an autonomous expression that fits its public role.

Axonometric

An IKC is an integral kids centre and it offers a place for kids from 0 until 12 and for their parents. Besides the school the building also accommodates a childcare centre and a parents room.

Axonometric

The wide corricors with calm colours suit the educational philosophy of the Dalton school. The school strongly relies on individual initiative of its pupils. It offers a large variety of working places for individual and group work. The use of wood for the window frames between the corridor and the classrooms, the ceiling and all integrated cabinets strengthens the soft and natural expression of the interior. Both cabinets and ceiling have a noise-reducing surface.

The building is one of the first completely energy neutral schools in the Netherlands. The double prefab concrete façade in combination with high spaces and predominantly northern light, strongly reduce the warming up of the spaces during daytime. During the nights the room temperature drops in a natural way.

Therefor the building is cooled naturally, which reduces the use of energy. The shed roof is covered with 324 PV-panels.

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