Harvard Graduate School of Design. © Matt, via Flickr. CC. Used under <a href='http://ift.tt/2eAc2NU Commons</a>

One of the main difficulties encountered by students when looking for a job is dealing with a lack of professional experience. This fact is a paradox since people who apply for a trainee position have often never worked in the chosen area. Therefore, it is vital to invest in education and also to know the cultural diversity that’s available. Below we have 10 tips that serve as guidelines for students who want to build up their CV and get through the interview processes: 

1. NETWORK

Via startup101.com.br

Networking means the ability to establish a network of contacts or connections with something or someone. It serves as a personal marketing tool whose effectiveness will depend on authentic communication, a proactive stance, and the ability to cultivate strong interpersonal relationships. In addition, it functions as a system of mutual collaboration for sharing services and information between individuals who have common interests. For example, hearing about a job opening through a colleague. Therefore, it’s important to participate in social networks related to your areas of interest and also to maintain regular contact with people who can contribute to your professional and personal development. Without a doubt, helping and being helped are rewarding experiences, resulting in beneficial partnerships for all involved. 

2. VOLUNTEER

Via Gazeta do Povo

There are numerous NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that offer on-site collaborations with volunteers and the community, in order to achieve a specific objective (their mission). The projects they do emphasize teamwork and the importance of being civic-minded. In addition, it’s an opportunity to develop your technical skills and at the same time get to know other ways of living and contribute to the transformation of a place and the people who live there. 

3. PARTICIPATE IN DISCUSSION GROUPS

If discussion groups meet in your area, try to attend. Usually, texts on current and / or relevant themes are discussed. In addition, sessions of documentaries or films that portray the problems and realities of the architectural universe may be shown. If no such group exists, organize one with your peers and ask for help from your professors so that they can suggest readings and films / documentaries related to the subjects they teach. The exchange of information and opinions with colleagues directly contributes to gaining professional knowledge. 

4. TAKE MORE CLASSES

Just participating in the courses for your degree isn’t enough if you want to excel professionally. You should further develop your skill set through specialized classes that correspond to what interests you. There are several options offered by public and private educational institutions, among them: distance learning courses, technical vocational courses, seminars, certification classes and technical training courses.

5. ATTEND LOCAL EVENTS

Via Expo Revestir

Be aware of the calendar of events in your field (architecture, urban planning, design, landscaping and construction), including international fairs, forums, symposiums, conventions, round tables, architecture and urbanism week, regional / national / international meetings for architecture and urban planning students, etc. Choose which ones you’d like to participate in from the available options. 

6. PARTICIPATE IN STUDENT COMPETITIONS

Participating in a competition means fully meeting all the requirements set out in the call for proposals, whose work will be evaluated by skilled and technically qualified judges. It’s essential that the project is presented in the requested formatting since any non-compliance is cause for disqualification. All these types of experiences are valuable, even if your project doesn’t win since participating demonstrates attention to detail, discipline, teamwork, and organization in order to fulfill all the requirements. In addition, the projects you make can be included in your portfolio (see tip 10) and also mentioned on your CV. 

7. VISIT IMPORTANT WORKS OF ARCHITECTURE

Copan Building. © Rhcastilhos – via <a href='http://ift.tt/2gVPZW2; commons

Researching architectural and urban projects that were or are relevant to society allows an architecture student to expand his repertoire of projects. However, seeing the places you studied in person and getting to know them is an irreplaceable experience in the training of an urbanist architect. Being physically in a place stimulates the senses of the human body because it is possible to experience different smells, noises, tastes, textures and sights all at the same time. In addition, observing people interacting with a space provides critical analysis for the architect in decision making. If you can’t travel right now, try to get to know the history and the architectural structures in your own city or even your neighborhood. There are always at least a few interesting places to visit and in many of them are free. Oh! Always bring a notebook to write down your impressions and ideas. 

8. PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH

Participating in research is the starting point for those interested in delving into a specific subject or pursuing an academic career. In general, the interested student integrates with some research group at an institution and develops a project together with the instructor, which in turn encourages him to participate in conventions and seminars, as well as to publish articles in newspapers and magazines. In addition, you can obtain research grants by sending in grant applications and project summaries whose relevance will be evaluated by the technical committee of the requested institution.  

9. PARTICIPATE IN AN EXCHANGE PROGRAM

Florence. © Irene Grassi, via Flickr. CC. Used under <a href='http://ift.tt/2eAc2NU Commons</a>

A professional who has already participated in an exchange program stands out in the job market because the experience acquired is associated with a series of challenges that the person has already overcome, among them: dealing with distance from family and friends, learning different customs, adapting to the reality of a new country and, above all, to communicate in another language. An exchange student learns the importance of teamwork and has experience with the cultural diversity of another country. Additionally, you make new friends and expand your network (see tip 1), you acquire new knowledge, responsibility, and independence and, again, can become fluent in a foreign language. There are different exchange programs, some of which offer scholarships and housing and food aid. It is important to thoroughly research the available information and look it over well to determine what destination and length of stay fit your budget. 

10. MAKE A PORTFOLIO

Your portfolio is a kind of “display case”, whose main objective is to demonstrate the quality of the projects you’ve done. Students who are planning their careers should gather their work done both at university and from student competitions (see tip 6) so that the portfolio ends up being creative, organized, and well structured. Make sure you always keep it up to date. 

Article written by Tarsila Miyazato, Master of Architecture and Urbanism – FAUUSP. She is currently a professor of architecture and urban planning and civil engineering courses at Cruzeiro do Sul University (UNICSUL) and works as an architect at Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos (CPTM). 

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© Sean Ahlquist, University of Michigan

This article was originally published on Autodesk’s Redshift publication as “Architecture for Autism Could Be a Breakthrough for Kids With ASD.”

Good architects have always designed with tactile sensations in mind, from the rich wood grain on a bannister, to the thick, shaggy carpet at a daycare center. It’s an effective way to engage all the senses, connecting the eye, hand, and mind in ways that create richer environments.

But one architecture professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is working on a tactile architecture-for-autism environment that does much more than offer visitors a pleasing and diverse haptic experience: It’s a form of therapy for kids like 7-year-old daughter Ara, who has autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Social Sensory Architectures, an ongoing research project led by Sean Ahlquist, creates therapeutic structures for children with ASD. One prototype, the sensoryPLAYSCAPE, is a tent-like pavilion made of tensile fabric stretched over rods to create an immersive environment. Responding to touch, sounds are triggered, and 2D imagery is projected onto the fabric’s surface, as if on a screen. This visually demonstrates the connection between motor skills and auditory and visual feedback, helping children with autism adjust the amounts of force appropriate to apply at a given movement—a common issue among those on the autism spectrum.

As a PhD researcher at The Institute for Computational Design (a hub at the University of Stuttgart for research in lightweight architectural materials, where Frei Otto founded the Institute for Lightweight Structures), Ahlquist focused on pre-stressed tensile structures. When he came to Michigan in 2012, he continued his research using a CNC knitting machine, which gave him the ability to create his own textiles. The more he researched different kinds of light, tactile materials, the more he noticed something odd about how people interact with them once they’re fitted together into a structure.

A piece of fabric is a thing to be touched; a fabric structure is to be experienced from a distance. “The structures we were developing had a really intimate quality to them, but in terms of the architecture, the second you build it into a quote-unquote ‘architectural system,’ the materiality quickly becomes a passive backdrop,” he says. “It becomes a thing that goes around you, as opposed to the thing that you actually engage.”

© Sean Ahlquist, University of Michigan

Ahlquist wondered if he could bridge this sensory gap. Could he make an immersive space that encourages direct tactile interaction? His daughter’s autism muted her senses, making her crave “really strong tactile feedback,” he says, but her motor-control skills were underdeveloped. Social Sensory Architectures connect these motors skills to visual and auditory feedback in an all-encompassing, whirling web of parabolas and spirals. If she’s not intuitively aware of how hard she’s pressing on something, the visual and auditory cues clue her in.

Social Sensory Architectures (which won the Speculative and Prototyping Category in in SXSW’s Place by Design competition) relies on architecture’s unique ability to work on multiple senses at once—and as such, it’s required a diverse project team to bind all these elements together. Ahlquist worked with computer scientists on the software, as well as experts in music, autism therapy, psychiatry, and kinesiology. Soon they’ll begin a series of pilot studies, starting with samples of four to five kids.

The team’s working hypothesis: “If we can improve motor skills, there is a correlation to creating opportunities for social interaction,” Ahlquist says. For kids on the autistic spectrum, observing and appropriately responding to social cues is often a challenge. He hopes his work can help kids with ASD better network their own senses and, subsequently, improve social relationships with each other.

For example, some of the visual responses that the structures can produce can only happen when two kids synchronize their interactions with the textile surfaces. And the child-size tunnels and cones in the pavilion beg for helpful dads like Ahlquist to pick up kids and let them slide through. These interactive moments form “circles of communication”—a term learned through collaboration with the PLAY Project—which are especially critical when kids are otherwise nonverbal, like Ara.

© Gregory Wendt/Sean Ahlquist, University of Michigan

The fabric in Social Sensory Architectures is given shape by flexible glass fiber–reinforced polymer rods. A Microsoft Kinect sensor detects when the surface of the fabric is stretched in gradients, from a hard to a soft touch, and feeds this information through software developed by Ahlquist and his team. The Kinect is housed in a hardware tower (with a computer, speakers, and a projector) a few feet from the pavilion.

It works a bit like a “textile iPad interface,” Ahlquist says. One software program for the pavilion surrounds children with a swarm of fish—each with their own signature wind-chime theme—that scatters with a light touch, but is attracted to stronger, continuous pressure. Another program, developed for the 2D screen, lets kids paint in colors that range from light to dark depending on the force exerted. (A delicate swipe makes a yellow mark; a hearty punch generates red).

The 2D screen is currently installed at Ara’s autism therapy center, where she works on fine-tuning motor skills through sequential tasks, like stacking blocks. When kids with autism lose patience for tasks like these, they recharge in sensory rooms that—like Ahlquist’s project—feature lots of kinesthetic and sensory impressions.

Ahlquist wants his project to break down the barrier between task-like therapeutic activities and fun sensory room play. “If both of those two things are needed, wouldn’t it be better if we could actually merge both of them together and minimize the task-oriented nature of developing whatever skill they’re trying to develop?” he says.

© Sean Ahlquist, University of Michigan

In today’s world, immersing oneself in multisensory media screens isn’t usually seen as a recipe for developing skills. Psychologists often warn that the digital interfaces bombarding children’s ears and eyes are overstimulating—keeping them from sleeping at night and shredding their attention spans. But for Ahlquist, the connection to movement and motor skills differentiates these multisensory screen-based environments.

The visual and auditory stimuli that might mindlessly hypnotize on a smartphone screen works on a much more holistic level in sensory architecture. “We’re teaching to the whole body,” Ahlquist says, “instead of teaching to the head. The experience becomes dynamic and engaging, rather than repetitive and engrossing.”

Architecture is one of the few design mediums that requires full physical interaction. Creating responsive, sensory environments like these—physical spaces that support increased mind-body connection, help develop skills, and expand social interaction—could be a powerful tool in the treatment of autism.

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© Andrés Otero/LUZphoto

• Architects: Westway Architects
• Location: Milan, Italy
• Area: 168.0 m2
• Project Year: 2013
• Photographs: Andrés Otero/LUZphoto

• Collaboration: Stefano Pavia

• Architectural Design And Art Direction: Westway Architects, Rome – Milan
• Project Team: Luca Aureggi, Maurizio Condoluci, Stefano Pavia
• Outdoor Area: 60 m2

© Andrés Otero/LUZphoto

From the architect. From the outside, it looks like one of the typical housing blocks built for railway workers in Milan between 1920 and 1924. Inside, the building has undergone radical renovation which, in two years of construction, has transformed it from both a structural and distribution point of view. Only the building enclosure, with its relative openings, has been maintained, while everything else — foundations, roof, attics, internal insulation, systems, and internal distribution — has been created from scratch. The total volume has remained the same, while the floor area has been increased by 60 m2, thanks to the new placement of the floor slabs, staircases and reclamation of the attic.

© Andrés Otero/LUZphoto

From social housing to a city villa with private garden, in a 1920s village in the Città Studi district of Milan. From a large family residence to a bachelor pad, redesigned to meet his specific needs, using a sophisticated home automation system, and according to Class B CENED energy certification standards.

Section

“The vertical form of the dwelling gave us the chance to make one of our dreams as architects come true: one of the staircase systems of Escher’s impossible constructions. The client allowed himself to be captivated by this dream! We emptied the interior so that the space could be expanded horizontally and vertically and we created a structurally autonomous central core cut off from the existing historical context. This stretches over the five floors, each one served by two separate staircases positioned along the longitudinal load-bearing walls”, explains Luca Aureggi. The single-flight staircases are narrow (80 cm) and enable a connection from the cellar to the fourth floor (fitness area, dining and kitchen area, living room, bedroom, study) — not continuously, but alternately. It’s a zig-zag route involving the crossing of the individual floors, which are devoid of partitions (open space). “The home is designed as a vertical loft featuring a mandatory route, where getting lost and finding oneself becomes a game. The resulting sense of bewilderment magnifies the perception of the space”. L.A.

© Andrés Otero/LUZphoto

All the materials used contribute to creating a fluid space stretching all the way to the terrace and garden. The relationship with the outdoors is favoured by these green projections that contextualize the building within the convivial “rustic” reality surrounding it, which is very atypical for a big city. It’s like finding oneself inside a hortus conclusus with a vibe of Palermo — the owner’s hometown.

© Andrés Otero/LUZphoto

From the front door, one finds himself catapulted into the long perspective of the dining and kitchen area that overlooks the garden. This is the beginning of a vertical ascent via the various staircases squeezed between the longitudinal load-bearing walls and the central core structure. The small size of the flights is balanced by the width of the landing — a part of the floor one must pass through to access the subsequent flight of stairs. The ascent continues all the way to the study area created in what was formerly the attic. Nothing hinders an upwards run or descent towards the fitness area. The few pieces of mostly vintage furniture are limited in height and there are no doors or wardrobes. Floors and staircases form a single structural and material entity, all clad in the same wooden slats. It is, however, the many custom details, the choice of ad hoc materials and finishes, and the continuous quest to broaden the space in 3D that makes this 200-square-metre house great.

© Andrés Otero/LUZphoto

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© AL.MA Fotografia

• Architects: A2OFFICE
• Location: 4465 Leça do Balio, Portugal
• Authors: Alberto Dias Ribeiro
• Area: 300.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: AL.MA Fotografia , Cortesia de A2OFFICE

• Collaborators: Alexandra Marques, Patrícia Valentim

© AL.MA Fotografia

KuantoKusta wanted to install their headquarters in an old industrial warehouse that, although degraded, had very interesting conditions: high ceilings and natural light at both ends of the warehouse. However we observed a problem: the company needs pointed to an area about twice the existing one. The solution passed through the creation of a second high floor, taking advantage of the free interior volume.

© AL.MA Fotografia

Section

The new floor is independent of the surrounding structure: the floor rests on pillars organized according to a rigid mesh that organizes the different spaces on the ground floor. It was used a metal structure for allowing speedier performance lighter structural elements.

© AL.MA Fotografia

It was intended to translate this autonomy between the old and the new by applying the white color in the existing walls and ceilings and the gray color in the new elements, within an environment that was intended to keep with unapologetically industrial, sometimes even rude, as in the case of brick masonry wall that was only painted. 

© AL.MA Fotografia

Diagram

Even the new elements were designed as independent pieces, like as if they were containers, predicting a possibility of mutability of space in the future, where the permanent elements will be only the skeletal structure.

© AL.MA Fotografia

© AL.MA Fotografia

The program was distributed by two floors focusing on the top floor all the technical and operational team of the company in a large open space, which benefits from natural light coming from the ceiling. In the background, a glass box located the direction and business rooms and both have a translucent roof so they can also receive natural light from the ceiling during the day. On the ground floor, in addition to public access areas, such as the lobby and meeting room, it was located a locker area next to a door that makes screen for the living space of the company’s employees. There is located a recreational area with billiards and game console, sanitary facilities, a kitchen space and an eating area.

© AL.MA Fotografia

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© Shao Feng

• Architects: X+Living
• Location: Hangzhou, China
• Design Director: Li Xiang
• Design Team: Liu Huan, Ren Li-Jiao, Jia Yuan-Yuan
• Area: 1850.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Shao Feng

© Shao Feng

From the architect. JOOOS Fitting Room integrates the Top 100 fashion brands in the sales list of Tmall, and selects 4 most representative collections through buyers: Mori Girl Collection, Celebrity Collection, OL Collection and Fashionable Girl Collection. The store hopes to make up the sense of emptiness of fitting brought by modern online shopping.

© Shao Feng

Clothes, as the unique fruit of human’s labor, it is not only the representation and product of material civilization, but also has profound meaning in spiritual culture. The evolution history of clothes, in some sense, is also an emotionalized development history of human culture. From the date clothes occurred, people have already integrated their life custom, aesthetic taste, color preference, cultural attitudes and religion believes into it, and the spirit connotation of clothes culture is thus built.

© Shao Feng

Human society had undergone a period of ignorance during which they were naturally raised, using animal skins and cotton and linen to wrap their bodies. And then it developed into the unprecedented prosperous hand knitting industry era, afterwards, the modern, fast paced civilization era and finally the future world which places more emphasis on individual charm.  We hope every customer who enters into these spaces would “get something”, or even get involved into it. The designer extracted an inspiration element form the changes of times to create clothes shopping experiences which fascinate all girls.

© Shao Feng

Hangzhou JOOOS Fitting Room is located at the door of the ground floor of the Commercial Street Phase II on Xingguang Avenue. An eye-catching screen is placed at the main entrance, every customer could make interaction s with it through internet. This is the most distinctive feature of JOOOS Fitting Room- building offline fitting experience in the internet age through ubiquitous screens.

© Shao Feng

Get through the large arch in the main entrance and you will be in Mori Girl Area. Milky white textured walls and white floor create a clean and white space. Bamboo poles are set up and hemp rope is used to connect them, clothes racks are thus formed. The mirror is hidden in the facade of angle formed by two bamboo poles. The space is bright and concise, primitive and simple materials are used to echo with the temperament of this type of clothes in this space.

© Shao Feng

Celebrity Collection Area – many delicate golden cages are designed, clothes racks are placed at both inside and outside of the cage. Seen from a distance, they are like princess bubble skirts being well protected. The waving arc platform adds fun to the space and makes it lively and lovely. The fitting room is hidden skillfully inside the “bubble skirt” of curved mirror surface. Meanwhile, each fitting room area provides make-up area, rest area and selfie area, waiting for the visit of every princess.

© Shao Feng

© Shao Feng

OL Collection Area- dark grey floor, concrete art paint walls and frame track light make the whole space concise and reserved. Adding of fireplace and wood veneer has softened the texture of the space. While being decorative molding and multifunctional clothes hanger at the same time, every clothes rack is a perfect combination of form and function.

© Shao Feng

© Shao Feng

Fashionable Girl Collection Area – contrast of large blocks of colors. Colorful shelves are formed by folded iron bars. In this space that emphasizes individuality, folding angles before and after the rack are used to divide it into a structure which could hang clothes on both sides. And the weaving of colors and fold lines is used to build a colorful space with strong characteristics to echo with personalities of the clothes in this space.

© Shao Feng

© Shao Feng

The designer integrates the social and cultural connotation of the four types of women’s brand clothing. The dressing philosophy of women’s clothing is interpreted through using different techniques in designing the four spaces, and, a new shopping experience is created through multiple possibilities of display.

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© Hiroshi Fujimoto/Studio Fuji

• Architects: YDS Architects
• Location: Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan
• Architect In Charge: Mana Muraki
• Lead Architects: Yoshitaka Uchino
• Area: 160.64 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Hiroshi Fujimoto/Studio Fuji

• Engineer: Tadasu Abe/ Myu structural Engineer
• Contractor: Kazuya Matsumoto, Masamichi Miyazaki, Hiroshi Miyazaki/Iwanaga-gumi Co.,Ltd.
• Site Area: 213.62 m2

© Hiroshi Fujimoto/Studio Fuji

House K is located in the town surrounded by mountains. The image is shining white box in which one will live feeling the transition of light and shadow while letting go of their mind.

© Hiroshi Fujimoto/Studio Fuji

I intended to design interior spaces where one feel natures such as light,wind, and rain. Mixing inner spaces with outer spaces, the spaces respond to the city. Inserting the outer terrace into the white box to bring nature to the inner spaces, light and wind from the terrace go through spaces via T-shaped void. Top light and light from the terrace reflected by the walls pour into the inner spaces. These lights would express transitional beauty. 

© Hiroshi Fujimoto/Studio Fuji

Perspective

© Hiroshi Fujimoto/Studio Fuji

Putting the terrace between rooms for children and corridors, these spaces have migratory. Corridors around the terrace are like ‘Engawa’, semi-outdoor spaces which are typical Japanese spaces. The terrace extended towards mountains around the site will be a delightful space. In the living room spatially sandwiched between the terrace and the garden, providing the view of trees and the sky feeling various light.

© Hiroshi Fujimoto/Studio Fuji

Axonometric

© Hiroshi Fujimoto/Studio Fuji

The thin white plate floating besides the white box is my image. To make this image come true, the column of the roof are a pair of thin steel poles. One will see ‘one’s own sky’ through the slit of the white volume from the terrace, the living room in the 1st floor, rooms for children. House K adds a new scene on the existing city. The distinctive form consists of white volume, floating white plate, and framed sky provides tranquil spatial qualities for the landscape.

Floor Plan 02

House K is designed to reveal a sequence of spaces combining expansiveness and symbiosis. Nature and the architecture stimulating with each other, spaces expand to infinity.

© Hiroshi Fujimoto/Studio Fuji

Product Description. To realize white shining box, we aim to create a white flat exterior walls.To make these walls come true,we selected moen siding and jolipatt. These are one of the most flat and beautiful materials in Japan. In the interior spaces,our intention is white and wooden spaces where one will feel warm atmosphere. Thus,the finishes of the kitchen,bookshelves,floorings are made of natural oak.We chose natural solid oak flooring manufactured by Woodone co.,ltd.

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© Kim Jaeyoon

• Architects: Le Sixieme
• Location: Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Designer: Koo Manjae
• Design Team: Kim Sungook, , Park Kibem, Shin Dongwook, Kim Jaedeok
• Area: 682.59 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Kim Jaeyoon

© Kim Jaeyoon

© Kim Jaeyoon

The space of ‘near my [B]’ placed in the center of Wuirye new town that changes every day with our passion for making a city easily and the aspiration for a better residential space began from a creative idea of the client. 

© Kim Jaeyoon

It is intended to provide a small vitality for the whole city by furnishing the public-interest space called ‘cultural space’ beyond the constructor’s goal of parcel-out and lease.

© Kim Jaeyoon

Model

It is largely divided into 3 parts. The space having the complex entry route connects the right café, educational space, left space of flower shop, living shop, book café in the most open manner by interpenetrating the link space of ‘White Arch Volume’ in order to make the linear organic moving line.

© Kim Jaeyoon

The language of the material and shape used for the inside was planned most simply and was designed to be faithful to the role called culture space through the delicately designed details and lighting.

© Kim Jaeyoon

Elevation

© Kim Jaeyoon

‘Book shelf’ placed in the middle of space plays a fundamental role uniting small volumes in the space and made it possible to recognize the character of space easily. 

© Kim Jaeyoon

Elevation

© Kim Jaeyoon

It was intended to provide experiences of enjoying the landscape and daily life happening in the space from multilateral points of view by providing the ‘sitting method’ of various ways with the ‘small nature’ arranged in places. 

© Kim Jaeyoon

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© Julian Parkinson

• Architects: Elm
• Location: Halifax Regional Municipality, NS, Canada
• Architects In Charge: Peter Braithwaite, Devin Harper
• Area: 2400.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Julian Parkinson

© Julian Parkinson

From the architect. The aim of this project was to redesign and reconstruct the envelope of a dated home in Halifax’s West End. Over the decades this residence was the subject of a number of poorly executed renovations and as a result our team aimed to strip the layers of vinyl and wood cladding back to the original shiplap sheathing and rebuild the exterior of the home with the intention of creating a project that was sustainable in both design and construction practices. Using only the highest quality products, the envelope of this house was rebuilt with wood as the number one material choice. The main house volume was clad in Maibec’s Rabbited Bevel siding with the EM Plus installation system and the front and rear accent volumes were clad in locally sourced rough sawn Hemlock. The final result is a strikingly contemporary residence with a sustainable material palette that will certainly stand the test of time.

© Julian Parkinson

Axonometric

© Julian Parkinson

Product Description. – VaproShield- Reveal Shield IT Integrated Tape – A UV stable, black mechanically attached, water resistive vapor permeable air barrier membrane with integrated tape. This product enabled us to achieve the open joint cladding with1x2 rough sawn hemlock on the front and rear volumes of this project.  

© Julian Parkinson

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© Architexts

One of the true tragedies of the architecture profession is that it instills in you expensive taste, but doesn’t give you the salary to acquire all those fine goods. The holiday season is the peak of this conundrum – how do you find the perfect gift for someone that lives up to your own lofty standards when buying a plane ticket home to see your family is already putting you in the red? One thing architects always seem to manage, however, is justifying that a cool new gadget or designed object isn’t just something we want, but something we need.

Looks like Santa’s gonna have to do double duty for the rest of the family this year. That’s alright, as the prime developer of the North Pole, he’s probably got some extra cash to throw around.

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© José Luis Saavedra

• Architects: Susana Herrera + FACTORIA
• Location: Lanalhue Lake, Bío Bío Region, Chile
• Project Year: 2012
• Photographs: José Luis Saavedra

• Team : Gerson Cuevas
• Client: Quelén Centro Turístico

© José Luis Saavedra

To attract more visitors to Lanalhue Lake, in western Chile, tourism entrepreneur Pedro Durán commissioned architect Susana Herrera and her team FACTORIA to create a symbol for the region. In return, she designed a catamaran that rises from the water like a cluster of cattail leaves. 

© José Luis Saavedra

“We wanted this Artisanal foliage to emerge from the very nature of the lake, from its marsh grasses, from the wild nature of its shoreline, like woodwater creature coming in and out the natural fog, always present in the mystical legends of the lake”, she says.

© José Luis Saavedra

She challenged a team of PolyteSolet and more than 15 local artisans to build the boat, by integrating nature, technology and sustainability; the result is the 10-by-4.5-metre Arca de Quelén, a catamaran that can carry up to 40 passengers plus crew. Crafted from laminated bay laurel and cypress, and equipped with a bar and a boutique that sells local products and handicrafts, the vessel has already grown into a source of local pride. And while it navigates a far-flung lake, it aims to attract travellers from overseas to experience its singular design.

© José Luis Saavedra

Floor Plan 01

© José Luis Saavedra

We needed to give connectivity between the various touristic entrepreneurs of the lake, and at the same time deliver a memorable and unique experience.  We wanted the ark to move almost in a secretive and smooth way, to alter as little as possible the fauna surround, so the double-hulled catamaran gave the stability and safety we needed.

© José Luis Saavedra

Just as the Mapuche ancestors built their canoe like Wampos from a carved log, this vessel had to be built on wood and made tribute to those that inhabit the lakes way before us.  

© José Luis Saavedra

Section

© José Luis Saavedra

This project, must incorporate additional parameters beyond those for architecture, and that was very attractive design wise.  We had to get familiar with aspects of computer lofting, 3D modelling, hydrostatic calculations, and creation of boat layouts.  In terms of design process, it approaches both, computer-aided design and the craft of woodworking.  

© José Luis Saavedra

Resilient strength, permanent watertightness, and graceful marsh grasses lines are part of the design theme.  The structural ribs highlight the verticality of the ship, dematerializing itself as they touch the sky on the second ledge.  In addition, they give an integrated image to the two levels of the boat. The first level closed by a skin of curved polycarbonate sliding windows that allows a 360 panoramic view of the surroundings during winter and another completely open to the landscape on the second level. This contributes to breaking the tourist seasonality.  The intentions is to think of this vessel as highly organic expressions of nature, architecture and design reflecting the specificity of this lake by hand crafted means, including natural materials, software systems and laminated wood methods of fabrication.

© José Luis Saavedra

We combined traditional boatbuilding methods with cold-moulded wood construction. The technique involves laminating together layers of wood veneers and wood sticks to create a hull that is watertight, extremely strong, and lightweight.  We embraced wood and woodworking techniques with an emphasis on hand tool usage as well, bringing an experience of close contact with wood, enabling us to get to know and work with its grain structure and complex joinery.

© José Luis Saavedra

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