Courtesy of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)

The application period for two postgraduate architecture design programs at the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) is currently open. The university offers a Master in Advanced Studies in Collective Housing MCH, which is the first double degree program between UPM and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ),  and a Master in City Sciences MCS, which aims to convert its students into experts on smart cities.

The Master in City Sciences is also organizing the 2016 International Conference in City Sciences in Santiago, Chile on June 16th and 17th, following the success of last year’s conference in Shanghai, China. 

Learn more about each program after the break.

MASTER IN ADVANCED STUDIES IN COLLECTIVE HOUSING 2017

Application Period Open

The Master of Advanced Studies in Collective Housing is a postgraduate professional programme of advanced architecture design focused on housing, city and energy studies. The value of this unique programme lies in its excellent and practice-oriented synthesis of design with integrated disciplines and theoretical issues of dwelling and housing.

Students from all nations are trained in city dwelling specialties and have demonstrated a high professional level, making important contributions in research projects, winning competitions or taking leadership roles in the most relevant architecture firms.

Courtesy of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)

The programme has always been committed to the highest level of excellence, combining teachers of international prestige and a thorough participant selection process in order to make the best out of this course. In the past years, the programme has built a close relationship with great architects such as Dietmar Eberle, Felix Claus, Anne Lacaton, Frits van Dongen, Hrvoje Njiric, Juan Herreros, Jacob van Rijs, Alejandro Aravena, Andrea Deplazes, Max Risselada or Wiel Arets, who are regular workshop leaders. It is the interaction between teachers and participants that generates the greatest results and production each year.

Left: Andrea Deplazes, Gines Garrido and Francisco Burgos in MCH. Right: Juan Herreros at an MCH workshop. Image Courtesy of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)

Objectives

Participants will develop their design skills through an intensive series of workshops and complete their theoretical knowledge in specialty seminars. The Master of Advanced Studies in Collective Housing is keen on teamwork because it is the way offices and research labs function today.

Professional Perspectives

The main goal is the job placement of specialist professionals who can address global problems and take on important roles in architecture offices, urban and landscape planning or make contributions in fields such as environmental science, emergency housing or architecture critique.

Program Structure

The programme is structured in one-week workshops, where participants will develop their design skills and specialties, and complement their theoretical knowledge. The workshops are as follows: Housing Architecture, Construction and Technology, Business Management and International Activity, Residential Urban Design, Energy and Sustainability, Housing Theory, Low- cost and Emergency Housing, Sociology, Economy and Politics and City Sciences.

There are also planned trips and guided tours, where buildings and housing-related institutions and universities will be visited with architects and/or experts. All workshops and specialties are mandatory in order to receive the MAS UPM / ETH in Collective Housing Diploma.

Target Group

Architects from all nations willing to increase their knowledge and research in collective housing and high density cities, and able to demonstrate good skills developing projects in the time given, are invited to participate in our selection process.

Requirements

The course is intended for qualified architects who have completed their master’s degree or equal level certificate. Two years of professional experience and evidence of detailed engagement with housing issues is advantageous.

Required Language Skills

The official language is English, therefore participants must be able to communicate in this language. English: C1

Responsible Body

University Leader: Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (ETSAM). Chair of the Design Studio Department, Dr. José Maria de Lapuerta, Co-Director MCH

Alliance partner: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), Department of Architecture (DARCH), Professur Deplazes. Chair for Architecture and Construction, Prof. Andrea Deplazes, Co-Director MCH

Anne Lacaton Workshop in MCH. Image Courtesy of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)

Programme Duration

January to July, seven months, full-time, 600 hours, 60 ETCS credits. During this time, a full-time dedication is strongly recommended in order to develop and complete practical work.

Location / Workspace

The MAS UPM / ETH in Collective Housing takes place in Madrid at the Escuela Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura. The Universidad Politecnica of Madrid, supported by its prestige and experience, offers a unique working space and the necessary infrastructure.

Fees

Tuition Fee: 16,900 € up to 20th June 2016, after this date 17,900 €

The price of the study trip and the LEED Certificate (Core Concepts & Strategies, recognized by US. Green Building Council) are included in the tuition fee.

Degree

Master of Advanced Studies with the title “MAS UPM / ETH in Collective Housing” (MAS UPM / ETH CH)

Admission Process

The admission process is until December 31, 2016, or until vacancies are filled. Candidates have to follow a three-step process:

1. Fill in the online application form.
2. Send a CV and a portfolio with a sample of best academic and professional projects, and research. Also a motivation letter and two recommendation letters. The portfolio must be sent digitally for on-screen visualization. Technical and graphic skills, group work and other achievements are considered.
3. The applicant will be called for a personal interview with a member of the Academic Committee.

After the profile is evaluated by the academic committee, the candidate receives an email with the result of the deliberation. If positive, the candidate will have to pay the reservation fee (30% of the total) and complete the payment (70% of the total) before the beginning of the corresponding edition.

Information / Registration

• Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, ETSAM, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, UPM
• Avda. Juan Herrera 4. 28040, Madrid. Spain
• Phones: +34 913 364 222, Email: info@mchmaster.com
• Programme website: www.mchmaster.com

MASTER IN CITY SCIENCES 2016/2017

Application Period Open

The next edition of our cross-cutting postgraduate program is about to start in just seven months. It is open for engineers, architects, economists and professional profiles that demonstrate a relation with the city development and are interested in becoming highly qualified professionals, able to understand and manage the multidimensional nature of the city.

Courtesy of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)

The MCS official language is English, therefore students must be able to communicate fluently in this language. The aim of the different research areas is to cover a wide range of city issues: attendants will have to combine theoretical subjects with practical work, project deadlines and diverse teaching methods. MCS keeps its right to make changes in the program in order to be always at the top of the innovation in cities.

Courtesy of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)

Programme Duration

The MCS starts in October 2016 and spans until July 2017 in executive-time (Thursday and Friday from 16:00 to 21:00 and Saturday from 09:00 to 14:00). The Master’s final thesis project must be handed in September. MCS is 60 ETCS credits. There will be a daily control of attendance. MCS will follow a strict policy regarding attendance, course withdrawal and inappropriate behavior.

Location / Workspace

The MCS takes place in Madrid at the Escuela Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura. The Universidad Politecnica of Madrid, supported by its prestige and experience, offers a unique working space and the necessary infrastructure.

Courtesy of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)

MCS Core Values Are:

• City and specially Smart City is a growing business. It is one of the hottest topics in the market now and in the future. Currently, more and more enterprises are working on urban business development. 
• Improving our students’ careers. We teach new business opportunities and new management tools and methodologies to work in cities.
• Networking. MCS is based on 10 modules. A recognized expert coordinates each module. They develop module structures taking into account fresh topics and invite the most important lecturers worldwide in both research (Harvard, Oxford, MIT,…) and enterprises (Telefonica, Gas Natural Unión Fenosa, ARUP,..) to build an expert community around the MCS.

Fees

Tuition Fee: 16’400 €. It includes Madrid and national field trips.

Registration Period

The Registration Period ends when vacancies are filled. In the Admission Process candidates have to follow a four-step process to apply:

• Fill in the online application form including a motivation letter, a CV and two recommendation letters.
• MCS First Committee meeting. MCS committee applicants assessment based on application information. If successful, the candidate will be invited for an interview within 15 days after applying.
• Personal interview. One member of the Committee will attend the interview. This interview is not only for us to evaluate your candidature, but also for you to get to know us better and ask any questions you may have.
• MCS Second Committee meeting. MCS committee applicants’ assessment. The MCS interviewer will support the candidate application in front of the rest of the Committee. If the applicant is accepted, he/she will receive a letter within 15 days after the interview.

Information / Registration

• Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, ETSAM / Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, UPM
• Avda. Juan Herrera 4. 28040, Madrid. España
• Phone: +34 913 364 222, Email: info@citysciences.com
• Programme website: citysciences.com

* INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN CITY SCIENCES ICCS2016

MCS arranges an International Conference on City Sciences in a Venture University. Tongji University in Shanghai, China, held the ICCS 2015 and ICCS 2016 will take place at Universidad del Desarrollo in Santiago de Chile, Chile on the 16th and 17th of June. Telefonica Chile and Corfo sponsorize the conference.

After the successful ICCS 2015 at Shanghai with more than 50 papers accepted from open call and more than 150 participants, this new edition of the ICCS is taking place in Santiago de Chile, a modern city that combines both Latin American and European influences to create a unique and welcoming environment against the background of the Andean range. In this wonderful setting the International Conference on City Sciences brings together academics, policy makers, industry analysts, providers and practitioners to present and discuss their findings.

Learn more at the links below:

• Master in Advanced Studies in Collective Housing MCH
• Master in City Sciences MCS
• International Conference on City Sciences

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Castillos de Age of Empires 2 © Ensemble Studios – 1999. Image

In this new collaboration, originally titled “Architecture for the system and systems for architecture,” Spanish architect and cofounder of the blog MetaSpace, Manuel Saga, reflects on the experience of developing (and taking on) a game where architecture plays a key role for the designer, and for the player. The case studies? No less than four major titles of our times: Starcraft, Age of Empires, Diablo and Dungeon of the Endless.

On MetaSpace we have introduced a general overview of the challenges that video game designers face when creating buildings, cities and even maps. This time we will go one step further: what happens when a game doesn’t offer a narrative or a fixed, open map, but rather an architectural system that the player can take control of? How does a design team respond to something like that?

Let’s take a look.

StarCraft II Wings of Liberty © Blizzard Entertainment – 2010. Image

Architecture for the System

A classic example of this type of game is Starcraft: a strategy game in real time, where you have to manage a military base in order to build an army powerful enough to overcome your opponent. In games of this genre, you usually start the game with just a command center and some workers, who need to collect the necessary resources to expand your facilities, generate the appropriate units and tactically respond to various situations that the enemy poses. There is always an ideal strategy when facing certain situations, the challenge is knowing how to quickly adapt your style of play.

Edificios de Starcraft a escala, vía sc2.gameguyz.com. Image

Ultimately, it consists of a very well integrated system of resources, buildings and units. Under the aesthetic surface is a network of attributes, damage points and movement speeds. Like a kind of complex, super-chess, the real core of the game is in its rules, which determine its gameplay and complexity. The longer you play, the better you understand the system and can anticipate your opponent’s actions. The winner will be the one who knows the system the best and adapts to it.

All this is fine, but so many numbers and rules would be boring without context. Building a site for gathered materials doesn’t sound that same as teleporting a colossal pyramid from an alien planet, right? Here lies the challenge of the designer. They must be able to translate the system rules into a set of easily recognizable designs, identifiable by their role within the game and adaptable to any situation that may arise. This applies to the design of characters and units, but also to buildings and cities, to the architecture.

Arbol de tecnología Terran de la versión beta de Starcraft II, incluyendo los distintos edificios que podemos construir. © Blizzard Entertainment – 2010. Image

There are the large main buildings that stand above the rest, and others that are medium-sized and small outposts. The design should suit the style of the game. In Starcraft, for example, the Terrans are humans of the future with super-tech buildings that can fly. Meanwhile, the Zergs are an alien race based on organic matter, including an infrastructure of living buildings. In both cases, the constructions of both races should be easily recognizable by the players, in any given configuration. That’s the challenge.

This same problem applies to games in completely different settings, like the well-known Age of Empires. In this game, the logic is exactly the same: build a base and beat your opponent, but instead of controlling aliens from the future you’re Joan of Arc, William Wallace or El Cid. You manage resources, create structures and train your soldiers in a manner analogous to Starcraft — but the interaction between these elements is different, as is their contextualization.

Ejemplo de ciudad de Oriente Medio en el Architecture Renovation Mod de Age of Empires. Vía http://www.reddit.com. Image

Age of Empires stands out with the careful design of its buildings, particularly that of its castles. The game has its own encyclopedia, where you can see the historical role that buildings had or the royal castles that the designs were based on. Its scope has been such that even now, years later, projects have been developed to improve its graphic models, like the Architecture Renovation Mod website, which makes various changes to the architecture to make it more dense, with more detail and realism, even though it’s more inconvenient to play.

Architectural Systems

Westmarch, escenario urbano en Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls. © Blizzard Entertainment – 2013. Image

On the other hand, there are games that pose the opposite challenge: rather than creating a system that the player manages, they create a system with spaces that can be reorganized in each game, adjusting and changing for different levels. For example, in the Diablo saga you have to move through a dungeon that’s different every time you enter it, creating a permanent and highly addictive challenge.

Dungeon of the Endless © Amplitude Studios – 2014. Image

However, as in any system, these games have permanent rules governing their spaces. Although they may change, they need to maintain a basic consistency. For example, if the player is supposed to go through a city of narrow corridors, the “architectural pieces” of the system must comply with this rule. If you want the player lost in a vast desert with few clues for orientation, the rules need to be different.

Another good example of this approach is Dungeon of the Endless, a title which, as its name suggests, makes you navigate a dungeon that is seemingly endless. To accomplish that effect there is a predetermined system of rooms and corridors that are arranged differently for each level. Some rooms have “outlets” where you can build machines that help you move, others offer no help or even have traps, monsters, or poisonous clouds. In this sense, the challenge is very interesting, because you never know what you’ll find. It’s completely up to chance. A game can be simple or present challenge after challenge, making you “suffer,” but giving you a great feeling of accomplishment when you “beat the system.”

'davesmapper.com' es herramienta que genera mapas aleatorios para juegos de rol. Image

This example has three elements that are particularly interesting for architects. One is its interface, which is like a kind of freeform plan where the walls appear broken up into sections. The second is its map, designed to manage the various rooms that we mentioned. The third and most important is the door, since entering a new room can change the game completely. The title sequence utilizes this element, showing heavy doors that slowly open with a creaking noise, causing an unbearable curiosity especially if you’re doing poorly in the game. Will you finally find that treasure and win? Or will an interdimensional beast appear, making you unleash a string of expletives?

If you take a step back, you can see the influence that role-playing maps — used since the 70s — had in Dungeon of the Endless, where the narrator arranges the rooms differently in each iteration. The davesmapper tool is a good example of this, generating thousands of random maps for role-playing games.

Grow Between Systems

Designing a system of random spaces and contextualizing them for coherence is not original to video games. From the battlefield of the chessboard, to Chutes and Ladders or Monopoly, in our childhood (and well past our childhood) we had fun placing houses and hotels in strategic locations.

In fact, architecture as a system is a research topic starting in the Modern Movement, seeking to provide lots of solutions from a limited number of elements. Many of these projects were presented as a building game. We all have a vague idea of ​​how the master bedroom (the Dragon’s den), or Dad’s office (the throne room) or the basement (the bloody catacombs) should be. If we start from a systemic approach to architecture, the rules that we establish between those elements are what will give consistency to the game.

Video games teach us that, beyond getting the game to work, in order for it to be fun and interesting, you also need to establish a character that is innovative and very much its own. You need to let your imagination run wild.

Eames House Blocks – Juego diseñado por Charles y Ray Eames, basado en el sistema de vivienda experimentado en la Case Study No. 8 en 1949.. Image

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© Art Gray Photography

• Architects: Patrick Tighe Architecture
• Location: Redondo Beach, CA, United States
• Project Team: Evelina Sausina, Michael Ho, Michael Nesbit
• Area: 3800.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Art Gray Photography

• Structural Engineer: MMC Associates
• Glasswork: Altered Glass
• Upholstery Workshop: Modern 2 Los Angeles
• Furniture: David Dunn Interiors & Architecture
• General Contractor: PA Design

© Art Gray Photography

Plan

The 3,500 sq. ft. home is located in Redondo Beach, one block from the Pacific Ocean. The simple massing is accentuated by articulated openings, situated and designed to frame views of the surrounding mountains and ocean. The geometry used to create the system of apertures continues throughout the interior. Surfaces of pattern and openings define zones of circulation and living spaces.

© Art Gray Photography

The home consists of three stories and is designed with an open floor plan. The living spaces open to several private outdoor terraces including a roof top garden that takes advantage of the surroundings. The home is environmentally sound. Sustainable strategies include photovoltaics for power and a solar hydronic system for the heating of water. The latest in green technologies, materials and building systems are used throughout. The distinct form of the building optimizes airflow, natural light and sun protection. The landscape is in keeping with the native coastal vegetation.

Section

© Art Gray Photography

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© Anthony Cotsifas

On the eve of the Venice Biennale, The New York Times’ Michael Kimmelman sits down with Alejandro Aravena in an intimate profile for T Magazine’s Beauty Issue. Visiting a number of projects by the architect and his office, Elemental, Kimmelman experiences socially minded architecture in an age of informal growth, income inequality, and mounting threats linked to climate change, all while learning about Aravena’s own path and growth as a practitioner. Although told by colleagues that he might be standoffish, Kimmelman finds Aravena to be “earnest, open, a little nerdy –– and deadly serious.”

Describing the work of Elemental, Aravena asserts, “We don’t think of ourselves as artists. Architects like to build things that are unique. But if something is unique it can’t be repeated, so in terms of it serving many people in many places, the value is close to zero.” Instead, the office has made a reputation on what is called “incremental housing,” building hundreds of two-story, two-bedroom homes with roofs, kitchens and bathrooms, each with an unfinished second half, left indeterminate in order to keep costs low. Once settled, residents can assess their needs and finances, and are able to build out the house’s other half “if, when and as they can.” Visiting Elemental’s Villa Verde project, Kimmelman encounters residents who are grateful for the opportunity to own a home and embracing of the incremental building philosophy.

© Anthony Cotsifas

Attending Universidad Católica de Santiago in the years of Chile’s dictatorship in the 1980s, Aravena earned an education steeped in practicality. “Our professors were practitioners, not theorists, who taught how to get buildings built,” says Aravena. Attesting to this pragmatism, Kimmelman notes, “His conversation tends not toward architecture and aesthetics but towards practical affairs –– negotiations, economics, materials, numbers –– which for him can be a source of wonderment.”

For more about Aravena, Elemental, and what it means to be an architect practicing at the vanguard of the field, find the complete article for T Magazine, here.

Aravena will take T Magazine through the Venice Architecture Biennale before it opens to the public — live at http://ift.tt/27QfARB, this Thursday, May 26, at 12pm EST.

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© Invisible Gentleman

• Architects: D.A ARCHITECTES
• Location: 33600 Pessac, France
• Area: 7498.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Invisible Gentleman

• Graphic Designer : F.Cochet, Y.Orlic
• Engineering : Clima+(technical)
• Label: LEED GOLD

© Invisible Gentleman

Plan

From the architect. Liryc is a research, treatment, innovation and teaching institute, completely dedicated to the study, diagnosis and treatment of cardiological disorders. 

© Invisible Gentleman

A particular site.

Clear, punctuated by slender trunks of pines and oaks, striped by their shadows, lined with heather and thorn brush; it is this atmosphere of golden light filtered through the foliage that we wanted to fully understand the daily life of the researchers.

Model

This is why we proposed dividing the Liryc program into three entities: the first dedicated to reception and communication; the second to offices and the third to experimentation. This fragmentation of the project allows nature to interplay within the spaces, giving each a particular view, which can be contemplated from the balconies or terraces. The three buildings that host the workspaces are in concrete, solid, durable. They are connected by wooden galleries which open at regular intervals, highlighting the motions and flows that punctuate the movements within the institute. Raw materials (concrete and wood) were used purposefully, providing a simple architecture, which assumes and displays the nature of the construction materials, limiting composite materials and accessories.

© Invisible Gentleman

A barrier of large vertical blades in gilded wood encases the three buildings to the South, filtering the light, limiting the space without suffocating it. 90 meters in length, it marks the threshold and distinguishes the institute providing its scale within the landscape.

© Invisible Gentleman

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© Leigh Simpson

• Architects: BBM Sustainable Architects Ltd
• Location: Hadlow Down, Uckfield, East Sussex TN22, UK
• Area: 459.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Leigh Simpson

• Site Manager: Chalmers & Co.
• Contractors: Chalmers & Co.
• Craftsmen: Inglis Hall & Co.
• Construction Time: 20 months
• Build Rate Approx: £3000/m2 (house only)

© Leigh Simpson

From the architect. BBM were commissioned in 2008 to propose a sustainable master plan for a country estate in East Sussex. Our client wanted us to consider the viability of developing a derelict 1940’s dairy, retrofitting and extending a 1970’s house and a 19th Century Oast House situated next to each other. Working with Studio Engleback, who produced a parallel strategy for the surrounding landscape, the challenge was to create a low energy development from a brief that is traditionally extremely energy hungry, i.e. a new heated swimming pool with steam room and sauna, an external ‘natural pool’, and a high specification country house set in 275 acres of Wealden countryside that includes a lake and 150 acres of standing coppice woodland.

© Leigh Simpson

Plan

BBM & Studio Engleback came up with a low carbon strategy for this normally high carbon programme. It was agreed that local construction materials would be used, that the buildings would be extremely well sealed and insulated, and that a mixture of heavyweight and lightweight materials would be used to make the most of their abilities to store heat or insulate.

© Leigh Simpson

Our clients’ woodland is also the source of woodchip for the new biomass boiler that provides energy for heating the whole site. Nearby woodlands have also provided timber for cladding the dwelling and pool house inside and out, as well as providing joinery. Waste timber also forms the majority of the external wall and roof insulation. Designing a heated pool house plus sauna and steam room predominately out of timber products was particularly challenging, and we think, successful.

Pool

Local authority Planners asked that the pool house kept the form and volume of the derelict diary it replaced. However the new house was allowed to be a lot more expressive, responding to its site and orientation, its proximity to the double Oast House that its Northern roof and three story ‘light canon’ begin to emulate. The form of the roof attempts to reconcile the orientation of the building that faces South East: the roof is lifted up and twisted around to face due South allowing solar PV panels to benefit. It also expresses the main entrance of the dwelling viewed from the East, as well as reflecting the form of the neighbouring Oast House beyond. This undulating form is reflected in the first floor ceilings that also express this functionality. This expressive roof form collects rain water for use on the site, harnesses solar energy and controls natural light allowing it to penetrate the centre of the plan to express the treble height of the stair case, the north light over the living room and perhaps most poetically at different times of the day via the light canon over the meditation room.

© Leigh Simpson

The new house was designed to relate to the surrounding landscape in a number of ways while the pool house is broadly North-South facing with its straight- forward solar and sedum roofs. Each elevation of the house is quite different, responding as it does to orientation to the Sun and major views out towards the lake and beyond, as well as to the need for solar gain in the winter and shading from the Sun in the Summer.

© Leigh Simpson

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© Takuji Shimmura

• Architects: Atelier Du Pont
• Location: Batignolles, 75017 Paris, France
• Architects Project Managers: Luc Pinsard, Ariane Rouveyrol
• Interior Design Project Manager: Aline Defert
• Area: 6177.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Takuji Shimmura

• In Collaboration With: Jean Bocabeille Architecte (housing, religious center and retail businesses)
• Clients: Orpea
• Urban Redevelopment Company: SPLA Paris Batignolles Aménagement
• Structure Engineering: Kephren
• Fluids Engineering: Alto Ingénierie
• Construction Economics: Mazet & Associés
• Sustainable Engineering: Plan02
• Landscape Designer: Atelier Jours
• Cost: 13,700,000 € (pre-tax)
• Cost Of Furniture, Fittings And Kitchen: 2,800,000 € (pre-tax)

© Takuji Shimmura

Formerly a railway enclave, the Clichy-Batignolles ecodistrict is reconquering this forgotten piece of Parisian ground. This major municipal project was envisioned as a response to the elevated need for housing while paving the way for a durable, mixed-use 21^st century city. So much data that had to be compiled to come up with smart solutions for a multi-program block (nursing home, social housing, private housing, religious center, and retail businesses).

Plan

These programs, with their fruitful cohabitation, contribute to the city’s growth with their high quality and symbolic significance. The project provides a strong architectural response to the challenges of urban density and new environmental requirements by creating collective strategies for the entire block. 

© Takuji Shimmura

The nursing home is located at the very center of the block, which allows its residents to live in the heart of the “city” and benefit from its vitality. The “spiny” facade faces multiple directions and has many diagonal views while nevertheless maintaining a sense of intimacy to the spaces. 

© Takuji Shimmura

Far from the traditional, old-fashioned setup for senior housing complexes, this project was designed as a whole: as a building, but also in terms of its interior and furniture. 

© Takuji Shimmura

The rooms, whether they face the city or the patio, all possess an outdoor space and the top floor hosts bedrooms with high confort. The cornerstone of everyday life is the home’s restaurant with a strategic position attuned to the space and pace of the city, two vital functions.

Diagram

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© Dean Bradley

• Architects: Dan Gayfer Design
• Location: Fitzroy North VIC 3068, Australia
• Area: 178.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Dean Bradley

• Builder: Construction 32
• Structural Engineering : Clive Steel Partners
• Landscape Contractor: Form Landscaping

© Dean Bradley

From the architect. High House is the end product of a significant renovation to a five-metre wide inner city terrace. Only the original front two rooms were retained, the new addition meeting the requirements of a young couple that, planning a family, were intent on taking terrace living to a new level

© Dean Bradley

Sections

© Dean Bradley

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One of the most significant buildings of the late modernist style, Le Corbusier’s Convent de la Tourette exemplifies the architect’s style and sensibilities in the latter end of his career. Built between 1956 and 1960 on a hillside near Lyon, France, the priory dominates the landscape, with its strict, geometric form.

The video demonstrates Le Corbusier’s approach to light and material, showing the play of light against the exposed concrete as the sun moves through the sky. The music creates an sense of tension, with heavy drums and bells building in volume as the video progresses. Dramatizing the building’s arrangement of space and choreography of the lives of its inhabitants, the video makes clear the monumentality intended in Le Corbusier’s design.

AD Classics: Convent of La Tourette / Le Corbuiser
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© Studio Lauria

• Architects: Studio Lauria
• Location: Manifattura Tabacchi, 50144 Firenze, Italy
• Client: PIN and Logis Lab
• Project By: Daniele Lauria / Studio Lauria
• Area: 500.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Studio Lauria

• Collaborators: Caterina Fusi, Maria Chiara Fiordispino / Studio Lauria

© Studio Lauria

Every year the event It4Fashion, organized by PIN and Logislab, recalls to Florence the major european companies working in the new technologies applied to the fashion industry.

© Studio Lauria

This year the event was held in the spaces of the former “Manifattura Tabacchi”, a tobacco factory  built between 1933 and 1940 probably under the project of Pier Luigi Nervi, the most famous italian engineer of the 20th century.

© Studio Lauria

In this post-industrial context the 5,000 square meters exhibition set up have been designed by Studio Lauria and have allowed the restoration of one of the pavilions abandoned since 2000, the last year of factory activity. The firm leaded by Daniele Lauria has a big experience in exhibition design and recovering abandoned urban areas. Studio Lauria operates in Italy and South America.

Plan

Section

The set up project seeks to combine the languages of the industrial architecture of the location with the plots and the evocative colors of the event dedicated to the fashion technologies. 

© Studio Lauria

The interiors of the pavilions hosted three conference rooms and about sixty exhibition stands, everything realized through wooden panels of various heights and a specific light design.

© Studio Lauria

The intervention of major architectural significance and visual impact has been the design of the access ramp leading visitors to the reception through the large entrance plaza.

© Studio Lauria

The ramp runs along 20 meters and climbs more than 120 cm with three slides of equal length. The descent is sandwiched between two wooden walls, colored in white in the lower part and covered with metal panels in the upper part. The two parts are divided by a colored strip that marks the flow of the ramp.
The start point of the ramp is characterized by two monolithic blocks coated of iron plates, burnished and slightly oxidized. It is a direct reference to the features of the factory and also a tribute to Richard Serra, the american artist famous for using iron plates in his sculptural works.

© Studio Lauria

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