© Peter Bennetts

• Architects: iredale pedersen hook architects
• Location: Mosman Bay, Mosman Park WA 6012, Australia
• Area: 474.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Peter Bennetts

© Peter Bennetts

From the architect. The Mosman Bay House explores two contrasting spatial experiences, one is dynamic and fluid and one is passive and contemplative. One focuses on the distant views to the river and city and one is embedded with the garden. This Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde quality responds to the programmatic requirements of active and communal spaces; living, dining, cooking and private spaces; sleeping, study and bathing.

© Peter Bennetts

In a reference to The Eames ‘Powers of Ten’ we explored multiple scales of relating to the site fluctuating between distant views and the dynamics of family relationships, contrasted with the tactile engagement with the garden and pool. The upper level appears as a stranded boat, a vessel drifted down the river and washed up on the foreshore, “from the river you could be in the city but not on or of it. You could be back from it out there on the water and see everything go by you, around you, leaving you untouched” (Tim Winton- Cloudstreet).

Sketch

A third space connects interior and exterior, upper and lower levels, one long space and a returning point of reference for day-to-day experiences. This is a space that refuses to end and changes rapidly with external conditions. This space collects north light and distributes summer wind chilled by a sequence of cooling ponds.

© Peter Bennetts

External materials are tactile and designed to weather naturally, the lower level is finished in a white sand render, the foreshore of white river sand. The upper level is recycled and lapped Jarrah, a fluid vessel that meanders and wears the imprint of interior activities and furniture, a space that refuses to remain static.

© Peter Bennetts

The house is stretched along the east and west axis of the site, the lower level spaces all face north on to intimate and personal gardens, collecting winter sun and passive heat gain. The upper level shifts north to create a continuous veranda for the lower levels, providing privacy from neighbours and protection from summer sun. The underbelly of the upper level vessel is stained black reflecting the ground in to the interior spaces. The north shift in the upper level also allows winter sun penetration in to the south neighbours external activity areas.

Ground Level

Upper Level

The garden was specifically designed by Carrier Postmus to engage with the architectural concepts creating a lyrical and holistic experience. A series of ‘dancing’ white barked eucalypts filter north sun while in dialogue with the tilting columns and the meandering lapped Jarrah walls and screens leading one to the pool ‘Billabong’.

© Peter Bennetts

A fernery creates a cool and lush refuge space reflecting green light in to the study and bathing areas. A subtle native ‘carpet’ garden and olive grey colour palette responds to the white river sand walls reinforcing a sense of river foreshore. A hidden space with gas fireplace and moving recycled water allows one to ‘drift’ on the edge of the property.

© Peter Bennetts

An integrated glass art by Pamela Gaunt layers the lines of the architecture with the meandering line of the river, reflecting pattern and colour on to the white island bench.

© Peter Bennetts

Sustainable Design

This house is on a challenging long and narrow site in and east west orientation. This greatly influenced the environmental design of the house, it is stretched in an east west direction maximising the relationship of interior spaces to collect north passive heat gain in winter. The upper level shifts further north to create a continuous veranda protecting ground level spaces from summer sun while allowing the southern neighbour to still enjoy winter sun. The veranda and profile of the upper level was shaped by solar modelling assessing winter sun penetration to lower levels and in consideration of the functional requirements of the upper level.

© Peter Bennetts

A south facing open-ended gallery space extends along the entire length of the house allowing the southwest winds to filter through the entire house. A series of individual cooling ponds are placed adjacent to each internal door and opening allowing individual control of cooling. A ground level awning window with flyscreen accompanies each cooling pond. The southwest winds are funnelled by the sculptured and curved profile of the rear wall, increasing the velocity of the winds. The wind flowing over the pond is naturally cooled.

The sculptured form also allows natural light in to this southern space heating the walls and waxed concrete floor.

The ground level spaces can be compartmentalised to allow easy heating and cooling and individual control. Fans are provided to the ground level spaces for additional cooling. There is no air conditioning to these spaces.

© Peter Bennetts

The upper level includes north facing highlight windows designed to allow winter sun passive heat gain.

It is clad in lapped and oiled recycled jarrah and is left to weather naturally over time. 

A rear space helps to future proof the house and allow for co-generational living.

© Peter Bennetts

During the planning approval process the Director of Development was concerned our sustainable design approach would result in a house that would ‘de-value’ the area. We were requested to present to the mayor and development approval panel, mid way through the presentation the mayor asked why we had been asked to present, he noted the design and sustainable design principles were aspirational and believed ‘if built as intended’ would result in a project of significant environmental and social value.

© Peter Bennetts

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Courtesy of 2R Studio and Ethan Karimi

After a competition between over 100 firms, AGi Architects, in collaboration with Shift Process Practice, have received 2nd prize for their proposal for a mixed-use city complex in Mashhad, Iran. The design includes commercial and residential units, in addition to a clinic, an aparthotel and various public spaces. The proposal breaks the mold of large retail centers that blunt street culture and have large carbon footprints by diversifying the building uses at street level.

Courtesy of 2R Studio and Ethan Karimi

The site massing acknowledges the Mashhad Mausoleum, an important pilgrimage site, with most of the residential units facing the sanctuary. The facades are inspired by Persian architecture, using patterns found on typical Persian dywan structures.

Courtesy of 2R Studio and Ethan Karimi

The commercial area is organized as a continuous topography, with the ground and first floors exchanging public spaces and opening up to street retail areas. Shopping units and other services such as a clinic and public spaces are distributed throughout the neighbourhood.

Massing Morphology Diagram. Image Courtesy of AGi Architects

What would otherwise be large chunks of mall are split apart to empower pedestrians with the use of connecting courtyards and public gardens. Above, a combination of normal apartments and hotels meets housing needs for residents and tourists.

Aerial Rendered View. Image Courtesy of 2R Studio and Ethan Karimi

• Architects: AGi Architects, Shift Process Practice
• Location: Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi, Iran
• Main Architects: Nasser B. Abulhasan, Joaquín Pérez-Goicoechea, Shift Process Practice
• Project Leaders: Justo Ruiz, Bruno Gomes
• Project Team: Nima Haghighatpour, Pablo Sanchez de Vega, Laura Sedano, Alfredo García
• Renders: 2R Studio, Ethan Karimi
• Area: 11800.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Courtesy of 2R Studio and Ethan Karimi, Courtesy of AGi Architects

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Photomontage of the Memory Matrix installation at night in front of the Wiesner Building, MIT campus. Image credit: Photomontage by Azra Aksamija, 2016. Original photo of the MediaLab by Steve Mann. Image Courtesy of Resnicow and Associates

In honor of the centenary of MIT‘s move to the Cambridge Campus, the university has carried out a series of public events this spring, including the installation of two innovative architecture and design projects: Memory Matrix and Biaxial Tower.

Installed in the iconic arch of MIT’s Wiesner Building (designed by Pritzker Prize winner and MIT alumni I.M. Pei), Memory Matrix is a giant screen made of intricate pixel-like Plexiglass elements, arranged to form larger matrix-like screens that reveal an image of the recently destroyed Arch of Triumph in Palmyra. The image is only visible during the day through the movement of wind and light, and at night, through the illumination of the pixels. Spearheaded by Azra Aksamija, Memory Matrix will be on display from April 23 through May 7.

The individual pixels making up the screen are laser-cut with outlines of destroyed cultural heritage from different places across the globe. These elements collectively form a larger image: the recently destroyed Arch of Triumph in Palmyra. © Maria Roldan, 2016. Image Courtesy of Resnicow and Associates

Memory Matrix also features creative contributions from various groups, including Syrian refugees in Jordan, who selected threatened or destroyed heritage sites that are significant to them. The shapes of the sites were then laser cut into the display. Positive components of the cut pixels will then be used to create jewelry that will be sold to fundraise the education of Syrian youth in Jordan.

Biaxial Tower, built for MIT’s Centennial celebration. Photo courtesy of MIT Self-Assembly Lab

Biaxial Tower, by Skylar Tibbits, was built as a site for performances starting April 23 and continuing through the summer and fall. A 60 foot high and 30 foot wide tower, it is installed at the center of MIT’s campus on Mass. Ave. Constructed from 36 woven fiberglass tubes in the form of a biaxial weave to create an expanding and contracting surface, the tower organically transforms into various geometric configurations, like a dome or a cylinder. As a step in active architecture, the project aims to point towards a future of architectural shells, canopies, performance venues, stadium roofs, and other sizeable structures that can transition between functions.

courtesy of MIT Self-Assembly Lab

News via Resnicow and Associates and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

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© Rafael Gamo

• Architects: Arquitectura en Movimiento Workshop
• Location: Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico
• Design Team: Eduardo Micha, Fabio Correa, Gabriel Merino, Oscar Osorio, Patricia Pérez, Christian Rodriguez, Miguel Ángel Chiney, Eduardo Acosta, Maricruz Pérez
• Area: 1543.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Rafael Gamo

• Consultants: Ing. Max Tenenbaum, Ing. Ricardo Jimenez
• Client: David Mizrahi

© Rafael Gamo

From the architect. Triangulo Corona is located in the State of Mexico on the outskirts of the metropolitan area of Mexico City, on a property of irregular topography crossed by two major regional thoroughfares. Its context is an industrial zone rich in the so called ‘maquiladoras’ and storehouses, neighbouring primary and intermediate schools, a health centre and street markets.  The residential environment is one of self-construction, where materials appear in their raw state, devoid of finishes, a quality that defines the architecture and environment of this low-income area.

© Rafael Gamo

One of the main aims of this project was to optimise urbanisation with a focus on positive transformation and the re-utilisation of existing elements. The building had  previously been used as an automotive workshop and was already a well recognised object among its neighbours, mainly due to its unique situation, that is, a triangular-shaped corner enclosed between two bustling avenues. This site has always been a reference and an icon within the area.

Ground Floor Plan

Upper Floor Plan

Our architectural scheme consisted in a retail programme which would maintain the original structure and inner space and where further additions, in this case a mezzanine floor, were to be built using the same construction methods as the existing building. We opened commercial passages aimed at generating pedestrian flow into the building. Other considerations were maintaining the public’s familiarity and connection with the building and its iconic status, revitalising public space with a focus on the pedestrian traffic, and maintaining low investment costs. 

© Rafael Gamo

© Rafael Gamo

The architectural intervention starts with an undercut on the main corner, thus  accentuating the access leading to the different tenancies. The roofs were upgraded so as to allow extra natural light to the interior.

© Rafael Gamo

The refurbished object seamlessly blends with its context. Its geometry and image achieve maximum transformation with minimal impact, and certainly help revitalise the neighbourhood. 

© Rafael Gamo

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Courtesy of The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)

The Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) Future Trends Survey for March 2016 has reported signs of stability after recent downward trends, with the balance figure rising from +21 in February up to +31 in March.

“All nations and regions returned positive workload forecasts, with practices in the North of England being the most optimistic. Large practices (51+ staff) remain the most positive. Medium-sized practices (11–50 staff, balance figure +48) saw a boost in confidence levels, while small practices (1–10 staff, balance figure +28) were upbeat, however to a lesser degree,” states the report.

The private housing sector was the strongest performing sector, despite a marginal decrease since February (to +28, down from +31), and the commercial sector saw the biggest increase, rising to +18 (up from +10 in February). The public and community sectors, however, saw slight dips in workload forecasts for the month.

RIBA Executive Director Members Adrian Dobson noted: “Commentary from participating practices continues to be generally positive. This is tempered by concerns that fee levels remain under pressure and the recent volatility of our key workload index suggests some uncertainty about the profession’s economic outlook. Practices are not anticipating a significant increase in public and commercial sector work. However, many reported an increase in enquiries and work in progress from the bespoke residential and domestic extension markets. Once again, the private housing and commercial sectors represent the largest areas of growth.”

Full results of the survey, including a graphical analysis, can be viewed here, and is updated each month.

News via the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

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© José Hevia

This article is part of our new “Material Focus” series, which asks architects to elaborate on the thought process behind their material choices and sheds light on the steps required to get buildings actually built.

In the Catalan countryside, on the outskirts of the small town of Alforja, sits an incongruous sight: among the scattered stone masia houses is a structure of steel and glass, a resolutely rectilinear box among the traditional housing forms. But once inside the OE House, designed by Fake Industries Architectural Agonism and Aixopluc, one realizes that the building is not so different to its neighbors after all: on the upper floor, the roof incorporates a system of ceramic vaults taken almost directly from traditional vernacular design. This feature then combines with plywood and OSB to create a truly eclectic material pallette. We spoke with the design’s architects, David Tapias of Aixopluc and Cristina Goberna and Urtzi Grau of Fake Industries Architectural Agonism, to find out what lay behind these unusual material choices.

© José Hevia

What were the principal materials used in the project?

As the OEs initial demand was to build two houses—one for summer, one for winter—one on top of the other, it was clear from the start that we would need a totally different material scope in both environments. In the summer house we used really cheap materials, such as OSB and polycarbonate, so we could save money for the winter abodes, where catalan ceramic vaults and okume plywood boards define the intimacy necessary for the colder season. However, the main material for the summer house is air current. For the winter floor, it was the heat of the sun.

© José Hevia

In terms of materials, what were your biggest sources of inspiration and influence when selecting what the project would ultimately be made of?

For this particular project the influences were both totally off site—the weight and roughness of the Maison Jaoul and the lightness and openess of the first Case Study Houses—and totally on site—the surroundings and masias, ceramic bricks made by hand in a nearby furnace, and upcycling soil from the excavation for the green roof—at the same time.

© José Hevia

Describe how material decisions factored into concept design.

The big economic crisis in Spain was paradoxically an opportunity to expand material options, as you must always have at least two “A plans” for each construction solution, in order to accept accidents and unforeseen events. If material A1 is not available, we use material A2. If the company that was going to build system A3 has shut down, we will use system A4. This has allowed the house not only to survive the slow and sometimes hard construction process, but actually to improve during these uncertain times.

© José Hevia

What were the advantages that these materials offered in the construction of the project?

First of all, again, availability. Using standard materials has been key during the economic crisis when stock shortage is an issue. Second, proximity. We chose nearby non-standard or handmade materials sources, so we could be part of the production process.

© José Hevia

Did you consider any other possible materials for the project, and if so how would that have changed the design?

At the early stages, each concept has an associated material system. At some point we were thinking about building the winter and summer houses with two independent structure systems, exploring an impossible continuity between them. As the project moved on, some of them were discarded, and we developed thin steel frames that contained both opposing environments.

© José Hevia

How did you research and select providers or contractors for the materials used in your project?

Our materials, providers and contractors search was simultaneous. We started from the local ones, and if they were not available, we moved further until we found the right one.

OE House / Fake Industries Architectural Agonism + Aixopluc

See the project in full on ArchDaily.

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Courtesy of Prodesi

• Architects: Prodesi
• Location: Jizera Mountains, 463 62 Hejnice, Czech Republic
• Architect In Charge: Pavel Horák
• Builder: Domesi, s.r.o.
• Area: 81.92 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Courtesy of Prodesi

Courtesy of Prodesi

From the architect. The basic materials for this home are those used in traditional simple rectangular cottages with gable roofs found on the region’s mountain roads. The design of wooden structures on top of plinths is another of marvel in the region. This combination was rarely used in traditional buildings. The upper structure rests casually on the stone plinth. In this home the upper wooden structure is cantilevered over the stone plinth as if an avalanche had moved it.

Courtesy of Prodesi

The plot of land has its aspect to the West affording a panoramic view of the valley. A local road provides access to the parking area near the house on the northwestern border of the plot.

Plan 0

Plan 1

Plan 2

The entire plot of land is quite rocky and there is a prominent rock formation in the southwest corner that provides a beautiful view of the entire region. There are several small boulders “scattered” here and there.

Courtesy of Prodesi

The requisite covered vestibule on the ground floor provides protection from bad weather. Next to the vestibule there is an unheated storage area, hall, toilet, small kitchen and a living room that can be configured in various ways connected to a covered terrace. The terrace features large shutters for comfort in the winter.

Courtesy of Prodesi

There is a utility staircase leading from the main living space to the basement workroom and the attic, where there are three bedrooms and a bathroom.

The facade of the house is made of interlaced vertical larch planks that were left to weather naturally. The window frames, shades, and metal roof are coal gray. Local stones decorate the outside of the plinth. The white shutters lined with cement planks are decorative. We used this color in keeping with traditional wooden homes in the area so the home would blend in with the surroundings.

Section

Timber in a variety of forms and finishes is used extensively in the interior. The large sliding and solid walls are made ​​of spruce. The floor in the main living space is made of brushed oak planks. Under the panoramic window in the interior there is a long bench leading all the way to the covered terrace. The fireplace at the center of the home and main living room heats the ground floor as well as the attic.

Courtesy of Prodesi

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© Roland Halbe

The belief that a building can both blend in and stand out at the same time is embodied by the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art (CAC), located in Cincinnati. Though it’s heavy volumetric massing makes it appear as an independent and impenetrable sculptural element, the Rosenthal Center is in fact designed to pull the city in – past its walls and up, toward the sky. This inherent dynamism is well-suited to a gallery which does not hold a permanent collection, and is situated at the heart of a thriving Midwestern city.

Painting. Image © Zaha Hadid Architects

The center, founded in 1939, was one of the first institutions of contemporary visual art in the United States.[1] Since the 1960s, the CAC’s galleries were housed in the second floor of a commercial development in downtown Cincinnati. This was exceptional in a time when most contemporary art facilities were situated on the outskirts of the American city; unfortunately, despite its central location, the CAC was virtually invisible from the street. Discussions about a new, dedicated building for the center began in the late 1980s, ultimately leading to a design competition in 1997.[2]

Sketch. Image © Zaha Hadid Architects

Site Plan

From an initial 97 submissions, the CAC narrowed their choices to 12 semi-finalists, and eventually to three finalists: Daniel Libeskind, Bernard Tschumi, and Zaha Hadid. Each finalist was asked to produce a concept booklet showing not a physical design, but the conceptual approach that they would take. Hadid proposed organizing the museum into a number of independent gallery volumes, all suspended from a warped concrete plane. These functional elements would inform not only the massing of the new museum, but its exterior appearance as well. The proposal was intriguing enough that on March 4, 1998, the CAC formally declared Zaha Hadid victorious.[3]

Painting. Image © Zaha Hadid Architects

The site chosen by the CAC was a busy street corner at the heart of downtown Cincinnati. It lay along a pedestrian route running from the nearby Fountain Square to the Aronoff Center for the Arts across the street, ensuring a constant flow of people. It was this pedestrian dynamism that encouraged Hadid to develop the “Urban Carpet,” one of the Rosenthal Center’s two defining design gestures.[4]

The “Urban Carpet” is Hadid’s method of bringing the fabric of the city within the museum’s walls. The ground level lobby is fully glazed and open to public egress, inviting pedestrians to treat the space as an enclosed public square; this serves to situate the Rosenthal Center in the existing network of public spaces and paths, allowing it to operate as a vital urban node and effectively solving the issue of visibility faced by the former gallery facility. The concrete floor of the lobby is connected to the rear wall of the museum by an upward curve, transforming the two into a continuous surface that conceptually draws the urban fabric up from the lobby and into the gallery spaces suspended above.[5]

© Zaha Hadid Architects

Painting. Image © Zaha Hadid Architects

While the “Urban Carpet” concept informed the design of the ground level, the gallery spaces were driven by another idea: the “Jigsaw Puzzle.” Hadid used the term to illustrate the complex arrangement of differently-sized concrete volumes that house the gallery spaces of the center; the variegated intersections between the volumes and the voids between them could be viewed as a three-dimensional puzzle. The logic behind this massing strategy was simple: as contemporary art can take a variety of forms and sizes, contemporary art galleries must be equally as varied. Therefore, Hadid designed the gallery volumes to vary considerably in length, height, and lighting conditions – an architectural solution for virtually any artistic contingency.[6]

© Paul Warchol

As visually distinct as the “Urban Carpet” and the “Jigsaw Puzzle” are, the circulation connecting the two had to be equally dramatic. The primary means of vertical egress is a series of stair-ramps running back and forth along the rear wall of the museum; the zigzag path of the stairs runs all the way from the ground floor to the uppermost level of the building.[7] Each flight of stairs, wrought of steel and painted black, weighs 15 tons – the maximum weight the cranes used for construction could lift. The entire stair space is lit by skylights on the roof, the light filtering all the way down to the ground level.[8]

© Roland Halbe

Hadid chose not to hide her design strategies within a simplified shell, but to display them openly. The result is two distinct façades, each of which reveals a different aspect of the center’s interior. The south façade, comprising the longer faces of the gallery volumes, expresses the building program through three material choices: glazing, concrete, and black metal panel. The east façade relies not on material, but on massing, with its topography of concrete faces revealing the complex arrangement of gallery volumes within the center.[9]

© Roland Halbe

When the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art opened its doors to the public in 2003, it was more than just a new exhibition space for the Contemporary Arts Center. With the center’s opening, Zaha Hadid became the first woman to ever design an American art museum.[10] The Rosenthal Center itself was, and remains, one of the largest and most dynamic contemporary art galleries in the United States – a fitting home for one of the country’s most distinguished institutions in the field.

Sketch. Image © Zaha Hadid Architects

References
[1] “Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art.” Zaha Hadid Architects. Accessed May 3, 2016. [access]
[2] Desmarais, Charles. “Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati.” In Zaha Hadid Space for Art, edited by Markus Dochantschi, 21-31. Baden: Lars Müller Publishers, 2004. p22-23.
[3] Desmarais, p24-26.
[4] Noever, Peter, ed. Zaha Hadid Architektur. Vienna: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2003. p125-126.
[5] Noever, p126.
[6] Dochantschi, Markus, ed. Zaha Hadid Space for Art. Baden: Lars Müller Publishers, 2004. p46.
[7] Dochantschi, p54.
[8] Jodidio, Philip. Zaha Hadid: Hadid: Complete Works 1979-2009. Köln: Taschen, 2009. p167.
[9] Noever, p127.
[10] Jodidio, p167.

• Architects: Zaha Hadid Architects
• Location: 44 E 6th St, Cincinnati, OH 45202, United States
• Architect In Charge: Zaha Hadid
• Area: 8500.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2003
• Photographs: Roland Halbe, Paul Warchol, Helene Binet, Zaha Hadid Architects

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© Ake E:son Lindman

• Architects: Albert France-Lanord Architects
• Location: Stockholm, Sweden
• Area: 2000.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Ake E:son Lindman

• Collaborators: Astrid Linnér, Alex Olwal, Erik Aspengren, Joakim Rudgård, Karolina Nilsson, Johanna Kanerud
• Client: Tekniska Museet

© Ake E:son Lindman

From the architect. MegaMind – an architectural interpretation of the brain. Tekniska Museet was awarded Swedish museum of the year 2016.
Our vision for the architecture of MegaMind is based on an interpretation of our human brain. From the entrance, the visitor passes through an ear into a grid-patterned intermediate space, a communication hub where digital impulses flow and information is sent and received.

© Ake E:son Lindman

In the main hall, two imposing volumes rise ten meters up toward the ceiling – one taut and stiff, the other soft and undulating. They are connected by bridges across which people flow back and forth. The visitor is hit by a “wow” feeling and is drawn into an enticing and imaginative world that inspires a desire and a curiosity to learn, explore and create.

© Ake E:son Lindman

“Form-wise, we were inspired by the appearance and features of the brain, but as regards the content, we’ve tried to remain freer. For example, we have not divided the stations up according to the right and left hemispheres of the brain”, explains Albert France-Lanord. “Our total solution is based on desire, intuition and interactivity. We mix high-tech with low-fi experiments, bodily experiences with logistical challenges – everything to give the visitor an experience that’s as pleasurable and enriching as possible.”

© Ake E:son Lindman

MegaMind’s two spatial volumes are split across two levels and connected by stairs, corridors and a lift (with a space travel theme). Dynamism and variation are generated by larger, open surfaces interspersed with smaller enclosed rooms to create a boundary-crossing whole. A shared space between the volumes gives an overview of the entire room’s width and depth.

Plan

The two monumental, organically shaped walls that greet the visitor at the entrance to MegaMind are one of the science centre’s architectural hallmarks. These were a key part of our vision, but they proved technically challenging to implement.

© Ake E:son Lindman

“After a lot of research, we found the boat builder Thore Berntsson in Kungälv who built the walls of the element out of fibreglass. They were later transported here where they were joined together”, says Albert France-Lanord.

Section

We have also been deeply involved as architects in the artistic content and design of MegaMind’s 43 stations.
“For the stations we chose a playful, slightly retro-futuristic expression using strong, bright colours and genuine, honest, hard-wearing materials.”

© Ake E:son Lindman

A key concept expressed in the architectural competition brief issued by the National Museum of Science and Technology for MegaMind was “accessibility” – in all senses of the word. MegaMind has been designed and meticulously conceived down to the minutest detail in order to maximise accessibility and convenience for all our visitors – both large and small, and with varying degrees of functionality. The facility has also been designed to be able to withstand heavy wear and tear from what will undoubtedly be high visitor numbers.

© Ake E:son Lindman

“It was a very exciting and interesting brief and we’ve learned an enormous amount along the way, working together with the Museum”, says France-Lanord. “We started the work by conducting a large number of interviews with different groups of people and visitors. Another difficult challenge was that the centre had to appeal to such a broad audience – children aged three to fifteen. This sociological entry into architecture has interested me a lot ever since my school days.”
“I also want to stress how successful our cooperation with the Museum has been and how close to the original vision the end result is”, he adds. “This hardly ever happens in an industry where we often have to compromise a whole lot. Here, we’ve succeeded in going all the way thanks to the strength of the Museum’s vision and their commitment.”

© Ake E:son Lindman

In the MegaMind project, we at Albert France-Lanord Architects initially worked with two external partners. Astrid Linnér, set designer and soon to become a fully qualified architect, worked as a consultant, mostly on the stations, while Alex Olwal, Ph.D. and researcher within interaction at MIT, KTH and now Google X, collaborated with us on the technical solutions at the various stations.

MegaMind is the Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology’s biggest- ever investment and one of the largest in Swedish museum history. The total budget for the project is SEK 80 million.

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© Tamás Bujnovszky

• Architects: sporaarchitects
• Location: Debrecen, Hungary
• Area: 146.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: Tamás Bujnovszky

• Structural Engineering: Dávid Bacsik
• Hvac Engineering: Zoltán Korompay

© Tamás Bujnovszky

From the architect. The concept of this house is based on both the traditions of early modernism in Debrecen and the simple, clear and logical construction of rural houses. The composition is open and closed at the same time, as the mass of the building is basically following a rectangular shape defined by the local architectural regulations, while the inner space opens up towards a garden enclosed by a pure white wall. The meeting of the inner and outer space creates a less bound, opened up transitional area. The covered veranda that surrounds the southern and western side of the house is a contemporary interpretation of the porches seen in old Hungarian farmhouses and mansions. The slidable curtain walls of this veranda generate a constantly changing, dynamic space between garden and house and make  it possible to either open up or hide the inside space. The house is totally closed on the street side and gradually opens up towards the backyard, ending in a terrace opening from the living room. The back wall of the living room is a huge glass surface, intersected by the white brick wall of the fireplace.

© Tamás Bujnovszky

Floor Plan

© Tamás Bujnovszky

The house includes a garage, laundry room, two bedrooms and a living room with kitchen and dining area. There are solar panels on the roof, which make the energy balance of the house close to zero. The visible concrete roof is an important element of the building, it extends the walls to give shade, and includes the heating and cooling system of the house. 

© Tamás Bujnovszky

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