This is a project of public equipment and housing that includes a neighborhood center, an after-school care facility, an office for the brussels’ port authorities, a common garden and 16 social housing of passive energetic standard.
The project is located in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, at the corner of an urban block, along the Brussels-Charleroi’s canal. Positioned only a few steps from the canal lock, it occupies a strategic position in an industrial urban district, currently undergoing important urban regeneration.
In this context, the design of the architectural volume has sought to create, at the scale of the city, an anchor and a reference point, that can accompany and support the revitalization of a still unattractive neighborhood.
The compactness of the building and the proposition for a higher volume have allowed to free the center of the block (converted into semi-public garden) and introduce some qualitative breathing within the uniformity of the industrial fabric. The project brings vegetation in a very “ungreen” area and creates permeability and fluidity between the heart of the building and its neighborhood. From a perceptual and functional point of view, the generosity and legibility of the circulations, the shared outdoor areas and the welcome areas of the building, are all invitations for dialogue and exchanges. They create a real synergy between the building and its surroundings that favors social exchanges.
Plan
Section
The proposed volume is simple, rational but varied. The facades of the project are generously but adequately opened. They express, reflect on and talk about the functions they shelter. Moreover, the privileged position of the housing functions, in the higher part of the building, provides them with optimum-sunshine and spectacular views. At the same time, the equipments, distributed between the first 2 levels of the building, hold as well an ideal position. Largely open and transparent, they are closely interacting, as needed, with the public spaces around.
The project has been awarded “exemplary building” for its performance in energy, technical and environmental approach as well as for its careful study of its context.
Location: Tân An, tp. Thủ Dầu Một, Binh Duong, Vietnam
Architect In Charge: Ngô Việt Khánh Duy
Project Year: 2015
Photographs: Courtesy of 23o5studio
Contruction: Nguyễn Hữu Công Uẩn, Lê Duy Tân
Courtesy of 23o5studio
“The Memory” is an architectural project that is designed for a family of 3 generations – One of the specific characteristics of the Vietnamese – cultural tradition is having the grandparents, the parents and the children all living together in the same house.The spatial structure of this project requires a solution to solve basis daily issues that could arise between 2 young families and an elderly. In addition, the relation, the correlation and the collision occur when there is no syntony in the lifestyles of the 3 generations is also a big challenge. In order to solve this problem, we consciously design a big house with 2 smaller private houses inside but they have the common front yard as well as back yard; at the end, all of the structures come together as one block .
Courtesy of 23o5studio
The creation of a secondary activity area and a walkway to the back of the house helps segregating daily life activities of the 2 families and preventing them from colliding with each other; however, the house is still a continuous space for the children to play and the whole family to connect with one another. The main entrance of structure reminds us of “porch roof” of a traditional Vietnamese house, it is like a terrace space made of trees and water .The main entrance is also higher lifted than the floor to create a gap that is big enough for ventilation. “Ngạch cửa” – an interesting detail of a Vietnamese house – is a place where they can sit, relax, or chat with their neighbors; especially, this is also – the children’ favorite playing space . The living room seems to be a small indoor yard where the light always changes, this is an enjoyable highlight when we step into this space.
Diagram
In addition, one focus point of this project which we want to retain is the old tiled roof which was built by the grandfather himself about 50 years ago before the new house was constructed. This roof is the center and also the transitional space, it is seen as the soul of the overall structure of this house. The space below this tiled roof is the place where the whole family have dinner together everynight -, share stories as well as recalling past memories. The space above the roof is transformed into a multi-purposed place for the children – to relax or reading book….
Courtesy of 23o5studio
With “Khoảng trống” and natural light cleverly tackled, we can easily feel the outside weather from the inside. The spatial ratio is also carefully considered to create necessary contrast between one space and another, light and darkness, modern and tradition. The height of the space is correlated with the empty spaces to bring the edequate sensation and make the people feel comfortable living inside. Beside ratio, space, light, and shadow, we also put into some trees so that everyone who comes in “the memory” can feel everything truely and closely.The trees are the balancing points between the visual and material blocks of the house, they also have sensation-balancing effect.
Plan 1
Plan 2
Plan 3
“The Memory” is not just a house, it also reminds the family members of of their lost ones. According to the “No born, no die” philosophy, when we lose a beloved family member, the grief will always be there but the essence is in fact “no born, no die”. We believe that in this house, in this space, the soul of the late grandfather and father will always exist – in every single tile, pillar, detail… which was made by the ancestors themselves. .
Courtesy of 23o5studio
“The Memory” aims to clear out the notion about the contrast between oldness and newness, light and darkness, tradition and modern. The project aims to stop people from tying themselves to one perception and taking it as the only truth. When you are not tied to one perception only, you are free.
As part of ArchDaily’s coverage of the 2016 Venice Biennale, we are presenting a series of articles written by the curators of the exhibitions and installations on show.
Of the few dozen articles on architecture and urbanism I have contributed to the Korea Joongang Daily, it was the one entitled “The FAR Game” that received the biggest response from readers. While FAR (Floor Area Ratio) appears to be technical jargon for professionals, it seems that almost every Korean either knows what it is, or has heard about it. If you type yong-jeong-nyul (용적률, the Korean word for FAR) on Korean search engines, an endless stream of news, articles, and commentary pops up. The word speaks to the hunger for living space in a hyper-dense environment, as well as the desire to satisfy that hunger by any means possible, whether by proper planning and tactics or through trickery and obfuscation. It touches both the rich and the poor, the white-collar and the blue-collar, as they navigate their lives together in and around the urban fabric. Upon reading that article, where I had stated that without a doubt it is FAR that drives the architectural character of Korean cities, a renowned urban researcher told me I had hit the nail right on the head.
On seeing that Alejandro Aravena proposed the theme “Reporting from the Front” for this year’s Venice Biennale, my immediate thought was that the play of the FAR Game was the real battle being waged on Korea’s architectural front lines. The fact is that 99% of Korean architects must play the game in order to survive. An architect rarely gets a commission unless they can convince clients that their design proposal has larger rentable floor areas than their competitor’s.
In Korea, most clients and landowners are paying for the invisible quantity of the building, not the visible quality of the architecture. Buildings themselves are often not valued in the real estate market. The average lifespan of a building is shorter than that of a human being. If a new building can provide an increase in FAR, then demolition and reconstruction are sought. It is not uncommon to see celebratory banners when a building fails its structural stability test, because it means the demolition will be approved.
The FAR Game is particularly relevant to South Korea due to its recent history of unprecedented economic growth. In 1962, when the first Building Act and Urban Planning Act were established, South Korea’s GDP per capita was less than $100 USD. Over the next 50 years it grew more than 300 times while land prices multiplied more than 600 times. This lead to “compressed growth” and hyper-density in the country’s urban industrial hubs, with the Greater Seoul Metropolitan Area being the prime example. Combined with plot-based building regulations and an irregular and heterogeneous urban grain, Korean urban architecture has not been able to escape from the desperate and complex drive to augment living space that characterizes the FAR Game.
It is true that a clear identity for Korean architecture has been blurred amid the struggle between conflicting agendas: demolition vs. regeneration, privatization vs. nationalization, aesthetics vs. practicality. But underneath all of these considerations, the FAR Game always rages. It is easy to dismiss the FAR Game as a symptom of unscrupulous greed, and perhaps this is why theorists and critics rarely talk about it openly. However the reality is that, rather than resisting it, architects in Korea must welcome the tension between the desire for maximum floor area and the building rules that restrict it, and use that tension to spark creativity and innovation.
The FAR Game Exhibit at the Korean Pavilion is designed to track changes in the game after the global economic crisis of 2008, and highlight the best examples of creative responses to the demands of FAR. Our team of six curators have analyzed the data and have worked to enroll participants and select materials that will illustrate not only the harsh realities facing Korean architecture and cities, but also the ways that our industry is making small changes for a better life as Aravena proposes.
Before I applied for this curatorship I spoke with a close friend, who encouraged me to go ahead if I could enjoy the process and not get caught up with trying to impress people. This made me think of Paulo Coelho’s modern vanity fair satire “The Winner Stands Alone,” set at the Cannes Film Festival. The Venice Biennale itself could be perceived as a vanity fair for closed circles of people increasingly detached from the reality of everyday life. However, I choose to see it as a platform for different perspectives from otherwise unheard voices. I represent my country here not to seek recognition, but to open a discussion with architectural professionals as well as the interested public about why the FAR Game matters in Korea and to architecture in general.
The FAR Game is a kind of self-portrait of Korea. Rooted in our past, it will continue to exert itself on the development of architecture in Korea well into the future. A far game, indeed.
As part of ArchDaily’s coverage of the 2016 Venice Biennale, we are presenting a series of articles written by the curators of the exhibitions and installations on show.
The Romanian Pavilion at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia showcases “Selfie Automaton”, an exhibition by Tiberiu Bucșa, Gál Orsolya, Stathis Markopoulos, Adrian Aramă, Oana Matei, Andrei Durloi. The exhibition consists of 7 mechanical automata, featuring 42 built in marionetes — 37 human and 5 creatures. Three of the automata will be placed in the Romanian Pavilion in Giardini, another three in the New Gallery of the Romanian Institute of Culture and Humanistic Research, and one nomad that will wander through the streets of Venice.
Caricatures of characters, fantastic animals, golden eggs, music boxes and mirrored reflections are assembled in predefined show parts that place the visitor on stage, in various positions, as dynamo and puppet in the same time. The authors thus propose a generic portrait of social relations, stereotypes and wishes, broken into pieces, to be reassembled by the user’s imagination, in an introspective self-portrait, or perhaps a selfie. It could be all just entertainment or it can be seen as an absurd show. It raises a few questions, but it certainly does not give answers.
To define the role that was given to marionettes in the exhibition, the authors of “Selfie Automaton” approached puppetry, where it is common for the manipulator to play with the meanings and possibilities of control. One is that the marionette can, and should, cross the usual human limits, of gravity for example, as it can jump and remain suspended. Another, to a tragic extreme, is to let it become aware of its manipulator and cut, or not, its own strings. Still, no such possibilities of escape were used for the installations. Even though constructed with the necessary joints that would allow them the “freedom of movement”, the wooden puppets are unstrung and literally nailed into a mechanism that allows them nothing but one predefined repetitive movement. And the visitor is no exception. Seated as part of the automaton, he is given one choice only: to make it work, by his own repetitive action.
Consequently, the comfortable bipolar stereotype of the manipulated (us) and the manipulator (them) – most often placing people’ actions at one end of the string, as humble and direct consequences of an unexplained exterior force responsible for them – is replaced by a system of closed choices, built in a series of automata. The exhibition takes these two directions further, by positioning the visitor in various relations with its objects of entertainment and himself, from leaving him the comfort or discomfort of the distant observer, up to making him a giant ballerina in a micro banquet, a victim of a Kafka-like commission, or a beggar of wishes.
Handles and pedals make the various shows possible, when provided with one human power. An apparent system of gearwheels transmit the motion to cyclical scenes: a bicycle is moving a circle dance, a cooking pot generates a “grand buffet”, a crank awakens a commission or a never ending fight, a turning handle moves a golden sh, a golden hen, or a flying bird – prisoner outside its cage.
“Selfie Automaton” reflects on the characters and actions embodied by the puppets that are nothing but dispersed parts of our own and can be combined or split, in search of a self-portrait, be it of an architect or of anyone else.
What remains, still, is the question of predetermined patterns. Whether they really exist, whether we are part of them, their victims or their generators.
From the architect. This project is a library built on an abandoned quay by the riverside. The library is an important part of the riverside park that was converted from an industrial wharf.The purpose of the library is not only to provide a place to read books and viewing for people, but also to preserve the historical memory of the place.
The quay was constructed of rubble and concrete. It is 40 meters long and 14 meters wide. We designed a 32*14 meters steel structure which is supported by 6 reinforced concrete columns on the quay. At the bottom of the building, there is the quay space.
In the middle of the building, there is the reading room of the library. On the top of the building, there is the platform that could see the whole riverside. The rough rubble，hard steel and soft bamboo which reflect the Chinese’s natural view at this moment..
Through a sloping ramp enter the library reading room. In the patio nearby the main entrance, there is a steel stair which is connected with the quay. On the other side of the building, some of the wooden steps leading up to the roof were arranged on the sloping lawns.
People can see the river through the window. Inside the bookshelf enclosure, there is a ladder shape reading space. The ceiling of the ladder shape space is a bamboo device — “The upside-down landscape”. It shakes gently in the breeze. It looks like a symbol of Chinese humanistic philosophy.
From the architect. Bean Buro has gutted the internal walls of the three bedrooms apartment of approximately 2,000sqft to transform a dark corridor layout into a light filled open space. The project is located in Cape Mansions Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong.
Courtesy of Bean Buro
The brief was to create a fresh and calm space that feels natural as a seaside apartment for a Belgian-Chinese couple.
Exploded Axonometric
The concept was to remove all dead spaces by removing as much partitions as possible by using a series of foldable partitions to create flexible zoning. A hobbies room can be partitioned as a private guest room with a sofa bed, or remained opened up for most of the time to allow maximum natural daylight filtering through the apartment.
Courtesy of Bean Buro
High quality natural European Belgian timber washed with a contemporary tone was used to construct all joinery and flooring. A set of full height timber cabinets with a delicate pattern of display niches begin from the entrance and extends deep into the rear of the open kitchen, creating a continuous backdrop by linking the foyer lounge, dinning area and kitchen together. The timber cabinets provide high density storages, such as shoe racks, kitchenware, equipments, as well as a walk in wardrobe for outdoor sport gears and bicycles. Some of the cabinets contain beautiful objects, including antique western history books and contemporary Chinese art.
Exploded Axonometric
The full height timber cabinets are carefully designed with intricate shadow gaps and grooves to create a playful pattern. The previous corridor effect has been completely removed. The new opened up space allow a volumetric timber bookcase to fold into the circulation way before transforming into a work study. The bookcase is a curated display of art and antiques. Full height mirrors are lined at the windows bays to extend the panoramic view of the ocean, maximising natural daylight into the deepest spaces of the apartment. Roller blinds can be controlled electronically, and scene lighting control is used to create a range of atmospheres throughout the day to correspond to the changing colours of the horizon.
Hydraulic: McCallum Hydraulics Landscape – Tessa Rose
Site Area: 3414 sqm
External Play Area: 1032 sqm
Floor Area: 639 sqm
Courtesy of Bourne Blue Architecture
From the architect. Garden Suburb Early Learning Centre is located in a suburb of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. This 94 place childcare centre, was designed to sit comfortably within a residential area, with a street presence that was compatible in scale with the vicinity. The centre caters for 24 children aged 0-2 years, 30 children aged 2 to 3 years and 40 children aged 3-5 years. The centre is divided into 4 components, Admin / Entry, Nursery, Toddler and Preschool.
Courtesy of Bourne Blue Architecture
The buildings are positioned so as to conceal the carparking from the street, as well as enable some mature eucalypt trees to be retained in the playground. Each age group is split into two rooms, which share bathroom, storage, changing facilities. The older children are accommodated at the rear of the block, with ready access to a large playground, the babies are at the front of the block, with direct access to a flat, North facing, purpose designed play area. Disabled access is provided throughout the buildings, and an elevated ramp connects the toddler area to the preschool area, by projecting out over the playground, providing an entertaining runway for children.
Courtesy of Bourne Blue Architecture
Plan / Section
Courtesy of Bourne Blue Architecture
The roof forms strike strong horizontal lines and each of the 4 components are set at differing heights, depending on ventilation or daylighting requirements. All rooms have extensive passive ventilation and good winter sun penetration. External shaded areas are provided by extending roof forms in an integrated way. The horizontality of the roof forms create a counterpoint to the mature trees that are visible rising above the buildings. The existing vegetation is also referenced, by the spotted gum cladding on each of the buildings.
Have you ever had a conflict with a client over being paid for a file? Have you also been out of free space on your dedicated FTP? The dispute scenario often leads to architects being shortchanged for their work. But, a new cloud sharing platform might mean the end of an era of intractable conflicts. Fileship.io promises a system that leaves the architects and other members of the creative economy in control. The simple idea behind the website is that a client’s files are locked behind a paywall, meaning that in order to gain access designers must be compensated. The platform also doesn’t rely on predetermined limits to server space, a scenario that often makes architects err on the side of leniency in order to load newer work on their FTP. Put simply by fileship.io, “You get paid. They get their file.”
Design Team: Ben Niamthet, Project Designer ; Barton Harris, AIA, Principal & Project Manager ; Rieko Ishiwata, AIA, Project Architect
Area: 5258.0 ft2
Project Year: 2014
Photographs: Courtesy of BURKETTDESIGN
General Contractor: GH Phipps Construction Companies, Centennial, CO
Structural Engineer & Enclosure Consultan: Studio NYL Structural Engineers & The Skins Group, Boulder, CO (Project Team: Christopher O’Hara, P.E. | Will Babbington, P.E. AIA)
Mechanical: BCER Engineering
Civil Engineer: Carroll & Lange-Manhard
Total Project Cost: $6M usd
Client: Denver Botanic Gardens (Brian Vogt, CEO)
Courtesy of BURKETTDESIGN
From the architect. The Science Pyramid is located in the south central portion of the Gardens’ York Street location. Defined by pools of water on the south and west sides, a depressed amphitheater to the northeast, and the El Pomar Waterway to the east, the building’s site selection assures 360-degree sightlines when viewed from the rest of the Gardens.Designed to respond to its surrounding environment while bringing a sense of scale appropriate to the site without dominating surrounding elements, the building rests on a square geometric platform from which it risesnearly 34feet to its ultimate shape of a pyramid. The Pyramid is also diagonally divided into two sections and pulled apart slightly to create a visual connection along a diagonal axis with the existing Four Towers water feature on the southwest corner. The Pyramid’s entry from the El Pomar Waterway, leads visitors to and from the building along a tranquil pool of water defined by tall vertical walls on each side. At the entryway, the building’s skin is raised, forming an eyebrow over the threshold along the east façade.
Biomimicry was the dominant theme guiding the development and formation of the Science Pyramid’s design concept. Like a form emerging from the earth, the building portrays a dynamic, spiraling movement that symbolizes how tectonic plates push upward to create something brand new—in this case, giving way to a building that holds new life and knowledge at the Gardens. To further the concept, its building envelope or skin, imitates nature by shielding itself with hexagonal-shaped honeycomb cladding designed to protect the interior from rain, snow and wind, as is the nature of a beehive. The interior space and exhibits inform visitors to see the world of plants through a scientific lens.
Courtesy of BURKETTDESIGN
In response, Denver Botanic Gardens’ request for an iconic Science Pyramid to showcase their science work and a number of broader concepts such as global climate change, the Burkett Design team responded with a pyramid that mixes glazed and opaque systems. Further, rather than propose a conventional four-sided pyramid structure, the form was split and tweaked to respond to the Gardens’ circulation corridors, incredible surrounding landscape and daylight. Stretching the form also provided space for important functional requirements such as mechanical systems. Much like how the sides of a pyramid lean on each other allowing it to perform like a three-dimensional three-pin arch, the Science Pyramid’s faceted sides meet at the “spine,” a glazed ribbon of skylights cutting diagonally through the building’s footprint. The skin of the building derives its geometry from early structural concepts using hexagonal shapes derived from honeycombs to establish rigid diaphragms.
Floor Plan
The Pyramid’s technologically advanced, high performance skin (façade), designed by Studio NYL, is clad in four-foot-wide hexagonal-shaped ventilated Swisspearl fiber-cement panels that mimic the geometric efficiency of nature’s wax honeycombs. Thirty panels feature photovoltaic collectors tasked with gathering energy for interior exhibits. In addition, the central portion of the structure and multiple glass portholes are constructed of electrochromic glass, which adjusts in opacity from clear to 97 percent opaque throughout the day, based on solar intensity, or at the flip of a switch as the building’s program requires. At sundown, the windows lighten to reveal the building’s colorful interior exhibits and exterior flora nearby.
Courtesy of BURKETTDESIGN
The Science Pyramid has four layers to its structure and shell. The first layer, or primary structure consists of steel pipe elements which lean and balance themselves onto the “spine” of the building as noted above. The structure provides for a column-free interior to the “pyramid” and a primary structure that sheds all the vertical and lateral loads on it through flexure and axial loads through the pipe members. To avoid the costly and difficult to fabricate “fishmouthed” joints, the pipes with “T” and “K” intersections are square cut with simple “H” and “A” shaped connection elements, which saved considerable cost and schedule.
Section
The secondary structure is composed of six-inch hollow square structural shapes and six-inch light gage studs specifically arranged to meet the cladding systems geometry. It is also supported by slender rods to permit the ceiling to float over the primary pipe structural members.
Courtesy of BURKETTDESIGN
The final two layers make up the Pyramid’s technologically advanced skin (façade), designed by Studio NYL. A continuous layer of rigid insulation sits outboard of the secondary structure with an air barrier system directly adhered to it. The building is clad in four-foot-wide hexagonal-shaped ventilated Swisspearl fiber-cement panels that mimic the geometric efficiency of nature’s wax honeycombs. They are mounted to a rail system held above the insulation and weather barrier with fiber reinforced polymer fasteners that thermally separate the outer skin from the interior structure.
Local Architect: J. Alfonso Quiñones, Joaquin Castillo
Taaa Team: Alex Iida
Baaq Team: Luis Muñoz, Daniel Barragan, Guillermo Mauricio, David Serrano, Angeles Rubio, Alfredo Nader, Alejandro Nuñez, Emiliano Aivar, Inca Hernandez, Isabel Bezies, Alfonso Sodi
Wabi House is a project by architect Tadao Ando, where BAAQ’ collaborated as associate architect on the development of the executive project and construction coordination.
Wabi House is a foundation created by the artist Bosco Sodi which aims to promote the exchange of ideas between artists of various disciplines and local communities.
All spaces in Wabi House have been designed to accentuate the landscape of the area. Facilities include six private bedrooms, two shared studies, a multipurpose room, a screening room, an exhibition gallery, a sculpture garden and multiple recreational areas.
“Wabi” is derived from the Japanese wabi sabi, a concept designating an aesthetic ideal or way of life that finds beauty in imperfection, impermanence, accident and depth of nature.
Sig Nordal 