99% Invisible has recently published a review of rotary jails, a strange prison architecture system in which cell blocks turn to align with the position of a single door, in the attempt to create better security. Used around the early 20th century, this odd, carousel-like technology spread across the United States in mainly Midwestern towns.
Learn more about the phenomenon of rotating jails, at the 99% Invisible article, here.
News via 99% Invisible.
Nikola Olic, an architectural photographer based in Dallas, Texas, has a thematic focus on capturing and reimagining buildings and sculptural objects in “dimensionless and disorienting ways.” His studies, which often isolate views of building façades, frame architectural surfaces in order for them to appear to collapse into two dimensions. “This transience,” he argues, “can be suspended by a camera shutter for a fraction of a second.” In this second series shared with ArchDaily, Olic presents a collection of photographs taken in Barcelona, Dallas, New York City and Los Angeles.
Crying Windows / Barcelona, Spain
Mirror Façade / Barcelona, Spain
Something Missing / Dallas, Texas
The Blue Green Mile / Dallas, Texas
The Smoking Building / New York City
Read Between the Façades / New York City
Subway Curves / New York City
The Diagonal / New York City
The Trying Angles of Triangles / New York City
The Cross / Los Angeles, California
You can see more from his series, here.
From the architect. The Zig Zag Building replaces a 1950s office block on Victoria Street in central London, close to The Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace, with exemplary new office space. Colonnades at various scales indicate and define the entrances to the various different types of accommodation housed within the broader scope of our project e.g. offices, housing, restaurants, shops, bars, etc. Situated between a cathedral and a town hall, the design seeks to mediate between these two in terms of size and scale and to establish a credible and pleasurable urban spatial order connecting together the grain of this part of Westminster.
The relationships between the inside and outside of the building are articulated as a series of thresholds in carefully calibrated, shaded, open-able, yet mostly transparent façades that nonetheless appear solid from afar. Layers of shading not only add scale to the elevations, but also vary across the different orientations, offering occupants the possibility of the enjoyment of fresh air and natural light – along with the virtuous preservation of natural resources.
On the upper levels, above the retail accommodation at ground and 1st floor, the office facade has six principal components. The first is the internal structural columns, which are circular with minimal diameter.
This avoids an awkward relationship with the second element, the curtain wall, which has C31 anodized pale bronze-coloured stable-door style openable panels set up on a 1.5m grid and 3m panel. At least 2.5% of an office floor area must be openable façade to enable the fire brigade to purge smoke after a fire, and around the same proportion needs to be insulated. We have combined these two parameters to create a shutter that enables cross ventilation and which forms a Juliette balcony when fully opened. The façade works in tandem with the energy strategy for the building generally.
Capillary cooling in the concrete floor slab, combined with chilled beams, creates the possibility of omitting a conventional suspended ceiling, thus creating a floor-to-ceiling height of over 3.3m. In front of the curtain wall, and separated by a 50mm gap, are the third element, 3.7m x 65mm thick anodized fins of varying depths, that shade the façade from solar gain from the east and west. At the lowest level, the fins are set at 1.5m centres and are 600mm deep, gradually diminishing in width and depth on successive floors i.e. as they get closer together they cast more shadow, and thus their depth reduces accordingly to conserve materials. This has the effect of making the building appear taller and more statuesque.
The fourth element is the horizontal cill that shades the facade from the south midday summer sun and which remains a constant depth throughout. The fifth element is a hanging translucent glass ‘doily’ protects the façade from solar gain and glare arising from spring and autumn midday sun, which is not quite at the zenith at noon but nonetheless often intense. The doily is made up of laminated glass with a printed inter-layer depicting a variety of images of onyx. Finally, the “zigzag” geometry of the building exaggerates the play of light and shadow across the façade, and this variety is complimented by patterns made as occupants open different parts of it on warm days.
The translucent doilies register another layer of inhabitation and respond to seasonal and diurnal time, as, in the winter months, they begin to glow towards the end of the working day. Terraces are planted with trees and flowers, emphasizing still further the presence of the natural world within the working lives of the inhabitants. Concern for the well-being of inhabitants is balanced by the care taken in the design of the landscape by Vogt, and is reflected in the art works of Rut Blees-Luxemburg and Timorous Beasties. The Zig Zag Building was pre-let to Deutsche Bank and to Jupiter Asset Management. The project won the Best Office Building award at The World Architecture Festival, held in Berlin in November 2016.
From the architect. English for Fun, founded in Spain in 2011, uses a revolutionary method for children of any age or physical condition to learn English using their five senses. English for Fun is a place for all children to learn. This pedagogical approach is based in the idea that every child is special and unique.
The new center for English for Fun wanted to be a representation of this innovative teaching method, a place to booster creativity, imagination, and to stimulate all five senses.
This commission represented an opportunity to investigate how design can shape experience and affect the subject in processes of playing and learning.
The Reggio Emilia approach is an educational philosophy based in a self guided and very open interpretation of learning. It is based in three core principals:
• the child as an active part of the learning process. it is based in a non-guided way of playing where the kids have their own interpretation of natural and artificial play-objects.
• the built environment of the school is considered the third teacher, only after teachers and parents.
• the process of learning has to be made visible
The proposal should overcome the cliches of spaces designed for kids, being non figurative and open to multiple interpretations. The goal was to create a space in the spirit of the adventure playgrounds where the play-objects, not toys, only develop their full potential in the interaction with the kids. The design should operate at the adult scale as much as the kids’ scale, so it was important to create spaces that only children could inhabit and own. The answer was to propose a tinker tray, where all the objects involved in the play and learning process could be storage, the work produced exhibit and where the kids could also feel that they are part of it. The strategy was proposing a thick structure instead of thin partitions to configure the class room space, an inhabitable wall that will storage all furniture and objects when not in use, making the reconfiguration of the class very easy. The broken geometry of the structure creates a series of nooks, that will be inhabited by the kids. The different typologies of objects were reduced to the minimum, establishing a generic module that can be used in multiple ways. It is not a chair, or table, or tower, or play kitchen, or car, or box for stones, or helmet, but all the above.
The function of this thick inhabitable wall was twofold, first creating little spaces to be own by the kids, and second to provide storage space facing both, the classroom and the corridor, so the space that usually only serves as circulations is now activated and can be used as common ground for kids, teacher and parents. It also transforms the corridor into a showcase of the learning process, blurring the limits between the classrooms, and expanding the perception of the space, avoiding the conventional compartmentalisation of the classrooms.
From the architect. The project started with an unconventional request from an open minded couple: within a very tight budget, to convert a windowless 200m2 garage into a house.
The proposed intervention intended the clearest reading possible of the existing structure, emphasising its strength. While the garage was careless and grey, the house is clean and white; its materiality is flat, its light is abstract.
Two generous bathrooms were included behind a curved wall, where a broken corner was before; the walls and ceilings were painted in white and the floor covered in a continuous polished concrete surface; the existing skylights we’re rethought. No other change felt necessary.
Carefully placed elements organize the living areas: a marble kitchen, curtains, potted plants. Along with the furniture, the free standing elements carry the flexible identity of the house, hinting its domesticity while punctuating the abstract volume with color.
From the architect. The project is sited in a typical suburban setting 20km South-West of Sydney’s CBD. The client wanted an additional house toward the back of an existing residential dwelling. As part of the brief, we had to incorporate a full kitchen, laundry, bath, bedroom, home office, audio studio, work studio and an open living/dining area. The placement of the new dwelling was between two rear yards and a townhouse. We wanted to be able to have some form of connection with the existing yard and to also utilise the northern sun. We were able to incorporate a courtyard to the front of the new dwelling and also apply a large glazing area to the northern side of the project which would allow the sun to penetrate the main living area.
The concept of the project began with taking a ‘block’ and then manipulating it into its setting by way of positive and negative protrusions. The use of the colour black added another layer to the project and was used to represent program and function. This enabled us to create an interesting space and blur the line between floor, wall and ceiling. We wanted to give the effect of having the black materials ‘projected’ on to different surfaces and creating a motion throughout the building.
The façade’s movement begins with a deep extrusion that acts as the main entrance and opening to the courtyard whilst also providing shade from the afternoon sun. This motion then protrudes out allowing for a day bed on the opposite side and then moves back in to provide an exterior seating solution.
The layout of the dwelling was to have the main living area open up to the courtyard and have the kitchen overlook this area and the other programs branch off a central hallway from this space. The two studio work spaces are disconnected from the main areas as per the clients’ request, in which they wanted to establish separate work and home areas.
The construction of the house was also to be thermally efficient, this was achieved primarily through the use of materials. The construction features two layers of insulation, glass wool and styroboard EPS and the Lysaght Colorbond steel provides a highly reflective surface. The deep eave at the front of the façade eliminates the afternoon sun and the uPVC double glazed windows give good thermal properties.
Overall the project creates a distinguishable contrast in its environment creating an almost sculptured object that has been cut through and opens up to its programmatic requirements. The façade’s push/pull motion was achieved and strengthened through contrast and informed by program and function and creates an exciting motion throughout the project.
Product Description. The Lysaght exterior paneling allowed us to create the sharp motion of the façade against a monotonous ‘block’. The concept of the project was to have a minimal exterior that has been cut open showing the textured and warm feel of wood whilst allowing for a stark contrast of the black elements which reflect program and function. The choice of steel as the exterior skin also provides a contemporary feel to the project and adds a high level of reflection from the sun allowing for a higher thermal comfort level for the user.
Architecture critic Kate Wagner has collaborated with 99% invisible on a podcast and a guest column delving into the tragedies of McMansions and the representation of evil through architecture in film, respectively.
In the podcast, Wagner, who is the author of McMansion Hell, is interviewed by Roman Mars and explains how the McMansion typology evolved, as well as how it became so despised, delving into topics of architectural history and representations of wealth.
Through her article as a guest columnist, Wagner explores the real-world buildings used in film to depict the evil corporation archetype in movies like Robocop, Blade Runner, and The Matrix.
Learn more about Wagner’s take on McMansions in her 99% invisible podcast, here, and about the architecture of evil in her 99% invisible article, here.
News via 99% invisible.
Pritzker Prize winner Thom Mayne has completed a three-semester–long study of Houston’s future, given its current sprawling urban conditions and rapid growth. The project, conducted alongside 21 University of Houston students and faculty members Matt Johnson, Peter Zweig, and Jason Logan, focused on ways of addressing the problems that arise from Houston’s historical lack of zoning in conjunction with the largely unregulated growth of industry and capitalism. These approaches include reinventing the current energy infrastructure, changing real estate and density, and leveraging the lack of zoning to generate new ideas.
“Houston is the only major city in the United States without zoning and form-based codes,” said Logan. “Surprisingly, we found a lack of zoning can generate exceptional forms of urbanism and architecture.”
The studio involved a summer project in Los Angeles, where Mayne’s firm, Morphosis, is based. Students collaborated with Mayne to envision Houston’s rapidly approaching future.
By exploring how to rebuild and rethink the development of the central business district, students were challenged to demonstrate the viability of designs from an economic, cultural, social, and ecological point of view, said Zweig. Their vision proposes a dynamic, optimistic future that is actually occurring faster than anyone has anticipated.
The culmination of the studio project is an exhibition at the College of Architecture and Design’s Mashburn Gallery, which opened on November 30. Additionally, the work is set to be published in a book in fall 2017.
News via: University of Houston
From the architect. We received a commission from a married couple to design a house to be built on a small plot (with an 8-meter frontage and a depth of 30 meters) inserted within a dense and difficult context. The couple, whose children had already left home, asked us for a simple house, obstruction-free and with a strongly contemporary feel.
The layout is based on the idea of using the frontage and the rear extension without interruptions to give a sense of space even with the small area available.
Two axes were defined along the ends of the building, each measuring 1.5 meters wide. All of the services –bathrooms, kitchen, larders, and septic tanks –are grouped together at the south end; all the circulations are at the north. This enables a 5-by-5 meter modulated space between the two axes. Within this sequence of structures, two patios were arranged as a means of filtering the light.
Therefore the areas are connected to afford wide open views despite the compactness of the plot. The result is a spacious and bright house where courtyards can be enjoyed all the time.
Costa Rican architect César Oreamuno has designed a modular capsule that accommodates to the basic needs of a community after a state of emergency or disaster. The units are adaptable and easily assembled in order to account for a variety of situations and respond to a series of unique functions, although the main theme of the project is focused on improving the quality of attention towards the basic needs of crisis victims, as well as encouraging the development of the community.
The National Commission of Risk Prevention and Emergency Response of Costa Rica defines mass disasters as the disruption of ordinary societal functions. In addition to the number of deaths and injuries, consequences include the loss of material goods, the interruption of supply lines and economic instability. Every society that has been affected by a situation of crisis experiences a degradation of living conditions.
When restricted to their own means, individuals often experience difficulties in satisfying their most basic needs, calling for the attention of humanitarian organizations and institutions. In most cases this aid is found through shelters, usually community halls or schools, that may not have the necessary infrastructure required for personal hygiene and sanitation, nor adequate areas for storage or cooking.
There would be no need for architecture if human beings were content to live in caves or in trees. Architecture is necessary to create conditions of habitability that are not dependent on the time of day or the time of year, or on the climatic conditions of the environment anywhere in the territory. – Guallart, 2009
This is why Oreamuno has designed these temporary refuge modules, conceptualized from the idea of a Swiss army knife; architecture capable of solving multiple problems simultaneously, allowing users to overcome a state of crisis within a relatively short amount of time.
The shelter unit constitutes of 5 cubicles, 3 of which are mobile (internal furniture) and 2 rigid (structural support). The modules, the understanding the accessories’ functions, the methods of transportation, the assembly manual and the characteristics of technical support were of highest importance during the design process in order to create a functional proposition that fulfils a series of basic characteristics, such as:
Architect: César Leonardo Oreamuno Canizal
University: Latin University of Costa Rica. Graduate project for a Bachelor in Architecture and Urbanism
Year: 2015
Location: This project doesn’t have a determined or specific location as its location is determined by climactic and anthropological factors
Area: 13.7m2
Sig Nordal 