From the architect. Valdespartera Ecocity is a newly built neighborhood located in the residential expansion south of Zaragoza. Ordination, which includes the construction of nearly 10,000 housing units, meets certain energy efficiency criteria. The plot is located on the southern boundary of the district, next to water tanks and the ring highway Z-40.
Given the proximity of these elements of territorial scope and serial volumetric rotundity of residential buildings as well as the total area of 60,000 m² of initial solar, for all scholar needs, and the topographic elevation of almost 20 meters in existing plot, it was difficult to relate the location with the scale of the main users of the future center: children. Therefore, the origin of the intervention is in the will to prepare and define the scope to hold the project, the notion of enclosure and its configuration, and the idea of building a place.
Floor Plan
The organization of the center was also conditioned by the general criteria of preferred orientation south of teaching areas, with the provision of classrooms into the hillside, and the only possibility of access from the north side of the site, in the lowest point . The first task was to model the topographic slope in staggered horizontal platforms parallel to the ground, connected to each other, adapting to the slope to minimize earthworks and coinciding with individual outdoor access, play and relationships. The 9-units Kindergarten and the Dining Room are located at the bottom, closer to the access, while the future of Primary Education Center and sports courts are located in the upper bounds.
The need for a covered ramp to link the level of children’s classrooms and the dining room becomes the chance of the project, to allow this element to complete the perimeter of the enclosure of the courtyard, which is not usually possible relying solely on the program of the center and south orientation of the 9 classrooms.
Diagram
The configuration of the playground as an open from above and closed by their sides space, their oval and concave shape, is in answer to the idea that the project is initiated by setting a center around which the school is organized to serve the plot, and the creation of an inner and protected unit, independent from the outside, in contrast to the volumes of the residential blocks.
The project is characterized by its horizontality, by the definition of the platform floor and the importance and extent of the roof, which forms a broad continuous porch into the yard, supported structurally in tension with cantilevered decks at the top. When projected to the outside by the porch continuum becomes more intense the horizontal relationship with the outside center. The roof becomes a planar, homogeneous and continuous, with a significant presence, which channels the vision outward, beyond the classroom, as a link with the landscape.
The presence of the building material with a coating of aluminum extruded tubes in different colors, like a fence that suggests the idea of school as a continuous wall with child and the entire center and an area set up outside, sheltered and protected, located inside the enclosure: the courtyard. The height of the enclosure rises in the lobby and dining room, identifying the entrance to both buildings. Inside, linoleum floors in the classrooms and resins pavement in the areas of movement and sound-absorbing ceilings laminates characterize the finish, looking for the continuity of the horizontal surfaces without joints, like the concrete on the floor and ceiling from outside.
From the architect. Bureau Fraai has completely renovated a 50’s farmhouse and extended the existing old barn next to the house with a contemporary extension. With the design of this extension the architects realized a harmonic relation between the existing and the new.
The young family living in this farmhouse in the east of Holland had the wish to completely renovate the out-dated interior while also opening up the house to it’s beautiful surroundings. Bureau Fraai realized this by opening up the whole ground floor plan of the existing house and by adding a spacious extension creating a strong visual connection to the big garden.
For the extension the architects decided to extent the current old barn next to the farmhouse. While the existing barn was built from bricks and ceramic roof tiles, the façade and roof of the extension are made of black pre-weathered titanium zinc with hidden aluminum window frames giving it a bold and modern feel.
The contrasting light interior with the wooden scissor frames, on the other hand refers to historical Dutch farm structures. By using this same wooden scissor frame as the window frame for the front windows all borders between the interior and exterior seem to disappear.
Ballet, in Asia, is often dismissed as an aristocratic passé, or mistaken for a weak and feminine art form. As the premier platform for the development of Ballet in China，how does one reframe this story to a new Chinese audience? Can the spatial qualities echo the nature of the art form? This was the brief we gave ourselves when we were commissioned to work on the design of the Morning Star Ballet Foundation.
We explored instead, a dual-faceted notion of Ballet, focusing on the one hand, a visual performance of light and grace, and on the other, an intense expression of strength and discipline, often internalized amongst dancers. Thus, the “entry”, akin to Ballet’s external expression, is made as both sculptural spectacle and as passage, rendered in gradients of light. The studio proper, in contrast, is carried through with more solemn palette of greys in varying textures from unfinished concrete to thin set epoxy resin.
To create a seamless sculptural passage, the stair geometry is defined by two rails, one that traces the hand from the edge of the info desk onto the stair rail, another from the outer rail onto the wall, and ceiling. The surface between the rails adopts a slight curvature, generating concave and convex surfaces that gently gradate the northern daylight, thereby giving lightness to the form. Burnt Sienna white was specified in matt and gloss for the walls and inner rail respectively, to complete the space with just a touch of warmth against the cooler concrete.
From the architect. This project offers a new housing in the city in order to fulfill the needs of urban people who are tired of living in apartments and wish to choose a new life style through a new space and place. Many have chosen sub-urban house to escape from the tiresome apartment. However, the client for this project is a young couple who can’t leave the city and this generation can’t give up the urban infrastructures.
The purpose of this project is to build a detached house in a small community and also giving them opportunity to earn some rental profit. This is a new challenge to escape the typical commercial houses which many have been imitated. I tried to arrange rental areas and detached housing area horizontally rather than vertical structure with floors that a household lives in each of them. And stairs connect those spaces.
This structure creates independence of detached house and connectedness of rental house. Most commercial houses in the city have been built with economic logic that commercial areas took the better spaces but residential areas were forced out toward upper floors and couldn’t enjoy the benefit of yard and land. However, if the residential and rental spaces are separated horizontally and the residential space is arranged vertically, the residents may enjoy the benefits of both sky and land. I expect that this is a method that both residential and commercial may coexist in the city.
The land shape is remained as triangle as a new road was created due to urban planning. In approaching the space, a triangular cube is arranged and there’s a gap in between to separate the two main functions. And one of the separated spaces is a rental area and the other is a detached house. The cube of rental space is separated by floors and twisted that shows formative stimulation and individuality. Moreover, these cubes may have optional skylight and illumination as some sides are emptied to complete the whole form.
Section
Section
The cube is white from the beginning. This white cube is separated into two and draw people into the gap. The gap is outside but the territory is limited and implies that it is a sensible entrance. If walking up the space in between, we could reach the entrances of each cube, and those spaces maximize the white ambience. Those white lumps are floated and cracked and the gap in between become a space that create something. Some energy that connect landlord and tenure, detached house and studio, horizon and vertical, and big and small are created, and this energy naturally leads to communication and reaches to a new community.
From the architect. The site is located at the North East corner of Hengqin Island in Zhuhai, within close proximity of the Shizimen Commercial District. The site’s North East is in close with the sea and enjoys excellent sea view and view resources. The site is only separated Macau by a river and enjoys the view of landmark of Macau such as the Macau Tower, MGM and the Grand Lisboa. Taipa is 200m to the north of the site and it is situated on an excellent location.
Courtesy of Raynon Chui Design
We came to scheme originally the overall program from the principle of green, ecology and future. Starting at the period of architecture plan, the designer arranged reasonably the site, layout and energy conservation of the building as to meet the demand of low power consumption, high efficiency and low level of pollution. Simultaneously to exploit renewable resources at most and decline the use of non-renewable resources to the least, dedicated to the impact of the procedure of constructing on surroundings in context. To utilize new construction technology and technique in the project to excavate the value of the architecture itself at maximum, end up with the consequence of harmonious relation between human and nature.
Courtesy of Raynon Chui Design
Inspired philosophy of the outline from fish, the building was constructed in earth-covering form to occupy the roof extending to the ground. Hypostatic union with the surroundings makes it hard to distinguish the demarcation line. The central area of the building was made translucent to develop grey space connecting interior and external in resulting to form integration visually.
Courtesy of Raynon Chui Design
Most of the surrounding landscape design including the installation of sculptures and artworks to work as transition to enhance artistic sense. Ideally result in developing a public recreation site with coast, art, humanity and nature.
Courtesy of Raynon Chui Design
Important before all the designer took the architectural appearance and form into consideration. After that, extend materials and design conception inheriting from the entire architecture to the interior .To invite nature lighting and views into the interior and connect respective floors intensively. Maintain the interchange between human and environment acts as rhythm of interior space.
First Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
Rainwater Collection: collected rainwater on the roof and ground together to arrive at surface collection center goes through filtering system to meet the other purposes such as landscape and irrigation.
Courtesy of Raynon Chui Design
Energy Conservation: The exposed walls are occupied with low-E glass capable of reflecting heat and lead to import natural lighting at most and reduce the use of artificial lighting. Earth-covering design with real grass brings out topical microclimate ending up with the reduction of heat island effect and perseverance of warmth.
From the architect. Located in an historic building in the heart of the city of Porto, this project consisted in the transformation of a room into the author’s architecture office. Although small (55 m2), this premium space, in regards of solar exposition and relationship with its urban surroundings, was able to accommodate all the demands and areas inherent to its new role as a contemporary office.
Therefore, the office develops throughout six distinct areas: (1) a working area, (2) a printing area, (3) a meeting area, (4) a storage area, (5) a kitchen and (6) a bathroom, in a set of spaces organized in two groups – work and services – distributed along a corridor that unifies the entirety of the place. This distribution results from the functionality and time of usage of each area, whereby the office was organized in a way that the most ephemeral spaces were located by the door, as opposed to the more permanent working areas which require the most privacy and light.
Axonometri
Due to the specificity of all the different spaces, they were distinctly organized in a way that the support areas were enclosed in a volume attached to the circulation corridor and parallel to the working areas laid out in an open plan. This unity is also strengthened through the usage of a profile of light and bookcase that link the three working areas and promote their interconnectivity and fluidity of circulation.
In order to create a coherent unit between these new elements and the pre-existing ones, the entirety of the space was painted white with the exception of the more concrete looking grey floor that allows for a contrasting element that avoids an excessive homogenization of the space.
Sections
This proposal mainly intended to create a space that, although located in an historical building, would answer the modern demands of an office and promote a respectful dialog with its pre-existence.
UNStudio has won a competition to transform the former Deutsche Bank site in Frankfurt‘s financial district into a lively mixed-use site comprised of offices, apartments, hotels, retail, gastro and open public spaces. With four high-rise towers reaching up to 228-meters-tall, the proposal plans to feature the city’s highest residential and office buildings.
“Bringing a mixed-use project into this financial district will not only enliven the area during daytime, but it will also introduce evening programs and create an essential form of social sustainability to this part of the city,” says Ben van Berkel of UNStudio. “The introduction of the residential and the leisure components are key to this strategy. This sculptural family of towers will also create the suggestion of a cohesive neighborhood within the skyline and emphasize the importance of this part of the city within the whole.”
From the architects: A key aim of UNStudio’s proposal was to open up the site towards the city centre and integrate the listed building façades in the Junghofstraße. New connecting routes, passages and squares within the site will enliven the area and connect it to the pedestrian zones in the city centre. Publicly accessible spaces, such as a planned roof garden, a city square, multiple restaurants and retail outlets aim to improve the quality of time spent in the financial district. Accordingly, the proposals are in line with the city’s objectives of making the area more accessible and generating more public use, whilst simultaneously creating space for apartments and hotels on the location.
The four high-rise towers and public spaces on the Deutsche Bank site will form a new urban quarter. Two of the towers are earmarked for residential use, while areas for restaurants and retail will also be developed. With its special location within the skyline and its adjacency to the shopping and pedestrian zones of the city centre, the project has the potential to create an area of cosmopolitan urbanism that is unique in Germany.
The development operates as an urban hinge to connect the financial district with the city centre. With a diversity of publicly accessible functions not only connects former separated areas of the city, but creates a unique and lively destination for inhabitants, professionals from the Bankenviertel, neighbors and visitors. Through a sequence of two public squares and numerous pedestrian accesses the new quarter promises to become a lively new neighborhood in Frankfurt.
The project will include a new high-rise building with 59 floors – another building within Frankfurt’s Skyline that has the potential to enrich the high-rise landscape. This tower is already included in the current zoning plan. The two additional high-rise residential buildings that together will provisionally provide space for more than 600 apartments are new features. In addition, there will be a daycare centre for children, two hotels and a wide-ranging selection of restaurants and retail outlets.
The four towers are grouped in such a way that the central square is completely framed. The differentiation of the orientation and heights of the four high-rise buildings articulates variations within the skyline and optimizes daylight penetration. The volumes of the towers, with their subtle kinks and shifts, create unique spatial and visual relationships.
The next step will involve further qualification processes for the building, which will commence shortly. The start of construction of the new district is expected in the course of the coming year, while the first building is expected to be in use in 2020.
From the architect. This traditional, early twentieth century home has been transformed into a luxurious apartment featuring a wellness spa and roof-deck. Classic details and intricate woodwork are offset by the crisp contours of contemporary elements. Voids in the load-bearing interior walls create circulation in the floor plan and connect the living spaces. Residents can enjoy a spectacular view of Rotterdam’s skyline from the sauna, steam room, bathtub and roof-top whirlpool bath.
Section 1
The primary living space is on the second-story. Here, the floor plan has been augmented to include new functions such as an ensuite separation between the living and dining spaces and a second (guest) bathroom. These new functions are bundled into one discrete volume that is separate from the walls and ceilings of the traditional house. The gesture creates a clear distinction between the house’s classic and contemporary elements. Small wooden flooring strips, two by twenty centimeters, unite old and new.
Upstairs in the fourth-floor bedroom, all of the load-bearing walls have been eliminated. In the center of the space is a large, freestanding L-shaped element clad in American oak. The horizontal stroke of the L houses the bed and a large bathtub. The vertical stroke of the L contains a steam room and a sauna with a panorama window that provides a view of the city skyline.
Detail
The roof-deck is accessible from the fourth-story bedroom by means of a roof access skylight. Along two sides, a semitransparent chestnut fence affords privacy. The remaining two sides of the deck are open, to provide a spectacular 180-degree view of Rotterdam’s skyline. A low, built-in container doubles as a railing and roof garden. The moss and stonecrop frame the deck with a thick swath of green. The roof-deck is floored in reclaimed hardwood and a subtle hatch in the floorboards betrays the whirlpool bath. From the bath, the skyline of Rotterdam can be seen in all its glory.
Northeast Aerial. Image Courtesy of Minnesota Vikings
Architecture’s ability to bring people together is perhaps one of its greatest, awe-inspiring traits. And while the “bringing people together” part is usually meant figuratively, there is no building type quite as marvelous as the stadium, a place that literally gathers tens of thousands of individuals in one place, at the same time. Though the legacy of the stadium as a building type is already rich and storied, a new chapter in the history of American sports architecture will surely begin with the imminent opening of the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Sun on West Glass. Image Courtesy of Minnesota Vikings
Built for the Minnesota Vikings and designed by Dallas-based HKS, the dynamic, angular symmetry of this 1.1 billion-dollar venue invites us to question not only what an NFL stadium should look like today, but also how it should serve as a civic hub for our national pastimes. Citing the precedent set by contemporary buildings like Jean Nouvel’s Guthrie Theater, architect John Hutchings of HKS explained that the stadium needed to be “contemporary in its architectural expression.” Drawing upon local influences, the architects have achieved a striking form that addresses sustainability issues and allows for a true multi-purpose program.
In the past 15 years, 13 new NFL stadiums have opened. The last closed roof stadium to be built was Ford Field in Detroit (2002). While the trend seemed to push towards retractable roofs, the solution that purportedly gives fans the best of both worlds may not be worth all the fanfare—or the price tag. In a city that has built over 8 miles of connected, climate-controlled walkways in order to navigate downtown during the frigid winter months, a retractable-roof stadium just didn’t make sense. HKS convinced the stadium’s owner and developer, the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA), to “go with the Minnesota version”: a closed stadium with a lightweight, translucent roof and glazed entrances with breathtaking views of downtown Minneapolis.
One thing is certain: this is not your average stadium. Between the wide concourses, high-tech lounges, turf-side suites, a section of telescoping seating and the world’s largest pivoting doors, the venue is groundbreaking—and exemplary.
HKS’ John Hutchings told the Vikings and the MSFA that they had “a gem of a site…because of what it could stir for economic development.” Built on the same location as the Metrodome, the new stadium is actually twice the size of the Vikings old home. On what is perhaps one of the NFL’s most urban sites, the stadium is well connected to light-rail, highways and Minneapolis’ unique skyway system. Unlike the Metrodome, which was hard to get to and relatively disconnected, improvements to the site and transportation infrastructure have made it so that “you can literally walk for miles and make it into the stadium without ever even going outside,” explained Michele Kelm-Helgen of the MSFA. In addition, it is expected that one third of patrons will arrive at the stadium in a sustainable way, via public transit.
Stadium connection to Skyway System. Image Courtesy of Minnesota Vikings
The primary form-givers for the stadium design were climate, geography, history/quality of civic structures, and technology. Minnesota’s extreme winters provided perhaps the most pertinent, important design challenge: getting snow off of the roof. HKS tackled this issue in their Dallas and Indianapolis stadiums by designing heavy roofs that could sustain substantial snow loads. For the U.S. Bank Stadium, the architects turned to Nordic vernacular architecture for inspiration, opting for a sloped roof that discourages build-up of snow loads in the first place. Here, the choice of materials plays a significant role as well; the architects anticipate that snow that falls on ETFE section of the roof will melt quickly due to the material’s low R factor.
60% of the roof is covered with ETFE; the remaining 40% is hard deck roof. The roof pitches as the single, 989-foot ridge truss that supports the lightweight ETFE and hard deck angles up towards the west end of the stadium. At its highest, the roof peaks at 270 feet, sloping down to 205 feet on the east end. Below the roof, 20 feet of clerestory glass brings even more light into the stadium and makes the roof seem to float above the massive seating bowl.
Interior From East. Image Courtesy of Minnesota Vikings
Even though the stadium looks massive from the outside, the effect is amplified once you’re inside of the stadium; a third of the volume is actually constructed below grade. In its normal configuration the stadium holds 66,000 spectators. For occasions that require higher capacity—like the Super Bowl—up to 4,000 seats can be added.
Size comparison: Metrodome vs. U.S. Bank Stadium. Image Courtesy of Minnesota Vikings
Though the stadium is closed, it does not feel like a classic dome. Even on cloudy days, diffuse light pours in from the roof, clerestory, and from the wall of glass that covers the west side of the stadium. Five of the world’s largest doors can also be found on the glazed wall. The MSFA is confident that the doors, combined with the ETFE roof, will make fans feel like they are outside.
One of the large doors on the west entrance of the stadium. Image Courtesy of Minnesota Vikings
Materials
Northwest Aerial. Image Courtesy of Minnesota Vikings
HKS told its clients that this would be the “Minnesota version” of a retractable roof, with the largest installation of ETFE in the US. Most notably used before in buildings like the Water Cube and the Allianz Arena, ETFE is cost-effective, self-cleaning and can span great distances. The ETFE panels were fabricated in Germany and measure 10 feet x 300 feet. Once rolled into place and installed, the triple-layer panels are pumped with air to maintain continual pressurization.
Courtesy of Mortenson
Inspired by nearby natural stone formations, the Zinc that covers the exterior provides a striking contrast to the adjacent glazing. Early renders show the building with a lighter shade of Zinc, but the architects fell in love with the darker version— which subtly changes tone depending on the weather conditions.
Once the design was finalized, animal rights activists voiced concern about the possible dangers that all the glazing might present to birds. The MSFA responded by reaching out to 3M, and will implement infrared films in the event that the building in fact proves hazardous to animals.
Construction
Built by Mortensen, the same company contracted to build Frank Gehry’s challenging Walt Disney Concert Hall, the stadium’s construction is expected to take a total of just 31 months. The project broke ground in December of 2013 while the Metrodome was actually still in use. Using 4D technology, the contractors built the stadium virtually in 3D, and added the dimension of time to project possible conflicts and scheduling challenges. “We can literally look at any given day in the construction of the project and see what the building is intended to progress to by that point,” explained Mortensen’s Senior VP, John Wood. Thanks to this thorough planning, the building is actually ahead of schedule and will be complete on opening day (July 29, 2016). This is the largest construction project to date in the state of Minnesota.
Technology
In order to ensure that the Viking fan experience is one of the best in the league, much attention has been devoted to the stadium’s technology. A high-percentage of fans will arrive with their smartphones, and the Vikings hope to use technology to guide and inform fans throughout the entire day—from when fans are en-route to the stadium, navigating to their seats, or ordering food and beverages from the stands. The real challenge is to ensure that the Wi-Fi network is capable of accommodating all the fans, vendors and staff. The team expects that 30,000 fans will use Wi-Fi in the stadium, but they are prepared for a surge in usage (for the Super Bowl, for example). For this, 1,300 access points have been carefully installed into stadium handrails.
U.S. Bank Stadium is the first NFL stadium to include LED sports lights. This not only reduced installation loads by 37% percent, but the LEDs will also consume 75% less energy compared to traditional lights. In addition to improving the overall lighting conditions—which, thanks to the LEDs, will be more uniform and adjustable—operators will be able to switch lights on and off quickly.
Finally, two high-quality scoreboards have been placed in fans’ optimal sight lines, on each end zone. The idea is that spectators won’t have to look up, and thus don’t have to look away from the action.
The U.S. Bank Stadium will open on July 29, 2016 and will be ready for the 2016 NFL Season.
From the architect. This project for a house consists of four volumes of different heights, executed in exposed concrete and linked by a series of glazed circulation pathways.
The organization of these volumes over the site forms a series of distinct terraces and gardens, which reinforces the connection between the exterior and the interior of the residence.
The house is located in Jardim Paulistano – a predominately residential neighborhood that is both accessible and well served by local amenities. The program of house is organized as follows: a ground floor with common areas, gardens and terraces; a first floor with four bedrooms; a second floor with guest room, terrace and office; The garage is in the basement and accessed by a ramp.
Sig Nordal 