© Gino Zavala

• Architects: República Portátil
• Location: Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile
• Design And Construction: República Portátil
• Area: 120.0 m2
• Photographs: Gino Zavala

• Collaborators: Camilo Aravena, María Francisca Aruta, Gerardo Neira, German Aravena, Carlos Martín Quinteros , María Teresa Castro, Melissa Moscoso, Betzabé Morales, Mirko Smith, Ismael Sandoval, Valentina Leiva, Diego Gajardo, Heriberto Vera, Mariana Rodríguez, Gabriel burgos, Oscar Rivera y Francisco Marín.
• Field Registration: Franco Van der Mollen
• Materials: Pino Radiata MSD, terminación en base a OSMO Polix-Oil incoloro y OSMO Wood Protector.

© Gino Zavala

Hall Cafeteria
The School of Architecture of the University of Biobio, located in Concepción, was founded in 1969. This School is a community of approximately 500 people and its infrastructure has workshops exclusively to work in, and a double height central space for meetings known as “Hall del Pilar” (hall of the column). This space is a witness of assembly’s, parties, expositions and has always been the heart of the school. In the year 2006 the building was remodeled and due to the changes the cafeteria hall lost its character, turning into an ambiguous space that ended up disappearing in 2015 leaving a unoccupied place that left the heart of the school empty of its activities.

© Gino Zavala

In the beginning of the year 2016, the need to rethink the available space of the cafeteria was urgent. For this a new work alliance was created between the School of Architecture, the workers of the University of Biobio (Afunab) and the students. This joint effort came to give life to a space with no program, adding the proposal from the architects that wanted to give back to the school that special meeting and discussion area, in a context of productive creativity.

© Gino Zavala

The proposal searches to generate a containing element for the cafeteria space, a configurant , that at the same time holds the activities that occur in the “Hall del Pilar”. This new element separates with out isolating, respecting the relationship between both spaces. With two openings, it distributes the accesses and organizes the paths that the Hall used to have as a space to go through, giving this place neutrality that could gather teachers and students of the School of Architecture UBB.

Section

Scaffolds for the memories
A scaffold is before everything a structure, self-supporting and a grid based skeleton that is used to help the construction of another structure. The new cafeteria considers wood scaffolds, its prime functions is to take distance from the Hall del Pilar. This scaffold is formed by a number of small boxes of 50x50x50 cm, it is a separator but also an empty space available to be filled of objects and productions. This space was thought to establish a diffused and transparent limit, a great vertical showcase that allows to expose memories and what has been done. So this way the architecture hallway can be filled with small meaningful objects that add up to the day to day life.

© Gino Zavala

Isometric

© Gino Zavala

Three places to be
In the interior, the cafeteria unites three ways of interaction. The first is the social table, made by two camping tables for 20 people, with a little ceiling to share with someone that sits in front or on the side. The size of the surface of the table is 56 cm wide and allows to create bonds and direct dialog, but at the same time gives the enough freedom to not feel invaded by a close neighbor.

© Gino Zavala

The bar, is a furniture that creates a space for people to enter from the exterior of the cafeteria. Its allowed to be used standing up or to be sited on 4 tall stools of 70cm. The thin table top lets its users reunite and have coffee for a few moments or sitting down, in a frame full of shelves of the bar, getting a general panoramic view of the “Hall of Architecture”.

© Gino Zavala

Courtesy of República Portátil

© Gino Zavala

The embedded bench of 4m long covers the whole back wall, there are two shelves that have a small angle and act like a back support being able to receive users as if it was a couch in a home. The furniture keeps underneath it, benches and chairs that allow the flexible use of the space according to the needs of the encounter. In some moments circles are created for meetings surrounding the bench and the other tables are staked to form working surfaces, installing portable computers on top of them. This furniture creates one of the most dynamic spaces inside of the cafeteria, allowing students, teachers and the public in general to adjust to their own criteria the disposition of the furniture that the proposal gives.

Section

http://ift.tt/2fWTbOV

© MVRDV

MVRDV, working with co-architects KAI Architects, has designed a new Y-shaped residence in Northeast Tainan, Taiwan. Known appropriately as Y House, the 330 square meter (3,552 square foot) villa will become a standout addition to a new residential development aimed at becoming a weekend retreat for city workers.

© MVRDV

A 40-minute drive from Tainan City and the sea, the villa has been designed as a futuristic space for escaping the city. The house’s distinctive Y-shaped form is the result of several design decisions. To give its residents unobstructed views over the surrounding landscape, the trunk of the structure rises to several levels above the height of its neighboring buildings. At the top of the trunk, the form expands to give priority to the communal spaces of the house, the living and dining rooms. In turn, this split creates a cradle for a unique rooftop pool and sundeck.

© MVRDV

Additionally, by lifting the main spaces of the house into the sky, the building can maintain a minimal footprint, allowing it to be set into a pool of water surrounded by a garden. A series of stepping-stone pathways, positioned according to the principles of Feng Shui, lead homeowners to the front door, giving a tranquil quality to the procession from vehicle to home.

© MVRDV

© MVRDV

Inside, a garden tea room on the ground level provides space for entertaining guests. The next level is designated for sleeping quarters, including two children’s rooms, a master bedroom and guest bedroom. In the upper portion of the Y, the living space is hovered over the open kitchen, where it meets the sloping walls to become seating and integrated bookshelf. Stairs and a lift provide access throughout these levels of the house, before an additional stairway leads to the solarium, changing rooms and up to the rooftop pool.

© MVRDV

An assortment of large, circular windows puncture the building’s concrete shell throughout, providing an abundance of light into the interiors without disrupting the overall Y-shape. The punctures continue up onto the roof and within the rooftop pool, letting dappled light shine down into the living spaces.

© MVRDV

“How to make a house that literally rises above the ‘sea’ of houses? How to create a view towards the sea over the other houses?” says MVRDV co-founder Winy Maas. “By making the program downstairs as narrow as possible, a large garden is created and situating the majority on the top floors a view is created. And in the heart of the elevated house, the rooms diverge/move apart to give space for a valley to swim in with a view towards the sea…”

© MVRDV

Y House will be MVRDV’s second project for realization in Tainan, following their competition-winning scheme to transform the T-Axis in downtown Tainan into an urban lagoon.

News via MVRDV.

© MVRDV

• Architects: MVRDV
• Location: Tainan, East District, Tainan City, Taiwan
• Design Team: Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries, Wenchian Shi, Hui-Hsin Liao, Ángel Sánchez Navarro, Diana Bibisheva, Antonio Luca Coco, Costanza Cuccato and Jaime Domínguez Bálgom and Matteo Artico
• Co Architects: KAI Architects Tainan, Taiwan
• Client: Wonders Information Co. Ltd
• Structural Engineers: Envision Engineering Consultants, Taipei/Tainan, Taiwan
• Area: 330.0 m2
• Project Year: 0
• Photographs: MVRDV

http://ift.tt/2gcIyVO

© John van Groenedaal

• Architects: Joris Verhoeven Architectuur
• Location: Tilburg, Netherlands
• Area: 280.0 m2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: John van Groenedaal

© John van Groenedaal

House Riel Estate completed in 2014 is located in a new residential development in the small village Riel near the town Tilburg. The property conforms with its archetypal main structure and materialization with the rural character of the village and the surrounding countryside; a main building with a gable roof, rural hand-molded bricks and heavy oak doors.

© John van Groenedaal

In the province of Brabant, where the dwelling is situated, it is customary to enter through the back door. By seperating kitchen and living room from each other, a separation is also made between the formal entrance and the informal back door. Also arise an afternoon and evening terrace.

© John van Groenedaal

The staircase is located in the intermediate zone between kitchen and living room. It rises up along the gentle slope of the roof and ensures a clear connection between the ground floor and upstairs. The presence of this stairs is further emphasized by the skylight above it folding over the roof which ensures light gliding down the stairs.

© John van Groenedaal

Plan

© John van Groenedaal

An asymmetric sculptural play of mass and openness is created by tilting the roof and also with the masonry giving the impression of heavy solid walls. The detailing of the house reinforces this and provides a powerful clarity.

Riel Estate is inspired by the minimalistic brick pavilions in the German museum park Insel Hombroich. 

© John van Groenedaal

Product Description.The window frames and lintels are all detailed out of sight. By this means the bricks and the glass are the only materials in sight for a strong image.

© John van Groenedaal

http://ift.tt/2gcBecL

© Moreau Kusunoki Architectes / Guggenheim

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is abandoning plans for a museum in the Finnish capital after a proposal for funding was rejected by the Helsinki City Council, 53-32.

“We are disappointed that the Helsinki City Council has decided not to allocate funds for the proposed Guggenheim Helsinki museum, in effect bringing this project to a close,” Richard Armstrong, the director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, told the Helsinki Times.

The news comes a shortly after the Helsinki City Board voted to proceed with the scheme by a 8-7 vote, despite the project already being denied funding by Finnish Government in September.

The controversial project has been under fire from opponents since its inception. Recent figures to speak out against the project included Finnish MP and architect Anders Adlercreutz, architectural critic Jonathan Glancey, and Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa, who criticized the project’s “globalisation and commercialisation of art.”

The competition for the design had attracted 1,715 entries, likely making it the largest architectural competition in history. It was won by Paris-based Moreau Kusunoki Architects, whose proposal was lauded for its contextually-driven design.

News via Architect’s Journal, Helsinki Times.

http://ift.tt/2gPKSC3

© Tom Arban

• Architects: Perkins + Will Toronto Office
• Location: Peterborough, ON, Canada
• Architect In Charge: Jan-Willem Gritters (lead architect), Duff Balmer (design principal)
• Area: 87000.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: Tom Arban, Scott Norsworthy

• Structural: Stephenson Engineering Limited
• Mechanical And Electrical: MCW Consultants Ltd
• Civil: D.M. Wills Associates Ltd.
• Landscape Consultant: Fleisher Ridout Partnership Inc.
• Life Safety / Code Consultant: Jensen Hughes Inc.
• Cost Consultant: A.W. Hooker Associates Ltd.
• Leed: Provident Energy Management
• Racking: Johnson Equipment
• Specifications: DGS Consulting Services

© Scott Norsworthy

From the architect. The Kawartha Trades and Technology Centre (KTTC) was established in 2014 as a central part of the Sir Arthur Fleming college in Peterborough, Ontario. Designed by architects Perkins + Will, the $42 million project used innovative design to leverage campus and community interest in the skilled trades and training programs.

© Scott Norsworthy

Aligned with the main north-south axis of the campus, the building is conceived as a new gateway, inviting pedestrian movement from the student residences and Sport and Wellness Centre (also designed by Shore Tilbe Perkins+Will in 2002) to the north. The guiding vision behind the project is the idea of exploring new pathways to learning and the conviction that ‘learning can happen anywhere’. A state-of-the-art facility, Fleming College integrates theoretical learning with applied practice in a manner that emphasizes visibility and inter-disciplinary inclusiveness.

© Tom Arban

© Scott Norsworthy

The 87, 000 sq. ft. multi-level learning center is illuminated by natural light, exposed structural components and open spaces, creating ideal grounds for learning and collaboration – proponents that Perkins + Will find integral to noble design. A series of flexible spaces, including a large ‘learning factory’ allow each trade to work collaboratively within one large floor space. Within this space an innovative 4 storey teaching ‘cube’ provides a flexible framework for electrical and plumbing installations and a more direct simulation of actual site conditions. Serving this space, are a series of dedicated workshops, SMART classrooms, and interactive student and office spaces that support a wide range of services and programs; all supported with wireless access, flexible integrated services and reconfigurable layouts. Fostering the visibility of students working in the bustling commons area below, the facility emulates a real-world construction site and promotes the cross-pollination of ideas, while simultaneously providing the technological tools needed for the traditional teaching above.

Exploded Axonometric

The KTTC also incorporates aesthetic details that appeal to students of varying demographics, who may wish to get involved in the trades, effectively shattering the gendered divide that is often seen in the skilled trade sector. Targeting a Gold LEED certification, the KTTC building challenges the perceptions of what skilled trade training facilities look like and serves as first-hand inspiration for the students enrolled.

© Scott Norsworthy

The building engages its setting by partially burying its lower floor along the east side and carving out a large sunken courtyard along this face connected to the lower workshop zone. Along the opposite side of the building facing the woodlot, the lower floor aligns with the existing grade enabling unobstructed access into the main project spaces.

Section

Section

A cladding of black cement board, natural concrete, cedar, Corten steel and generous glazing, reinforces this connection to the site creating a combination of rich natural tones and patinated surfaces that blend seamlessly with the natural surroundings

© Scott Norsworthy

Product Description. Using wood accenting at the front entrance allows the facility to merge with the existing landscape in a way that is natural and uplifting. The rich cedar introduces neutral tones which are continued through the facility, providing an unobtrusive, yet eye-catching design.

© Tom Arban

http://ift.tt/2gDd63K

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

• Architects: Alberto Campo Baeza, Gilberto L. Rodríguez
• Location: Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: Javier Callejas Sevilla

• Collaborators Architects: Alejandro Cervilla García, Ignacio Aguirre López, María Pérez de Camino Díez, Pamela Díaz de León, David Alatorre, Viviana Ortíz, Mauricio Bárcenas, Katia Radilla, Guillermo Durán, Elena Jiménez Sánchez, Tommaso Campiotti, Imanol Iparraguirre Barbero
• Construction Company: Sorteo TEC
• Client: Sorteos TEC – Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

From the architect. For a Spanish architect, to build a house in Mexico is a privilege. To build a house in Monterrey is a gift. To build the TEC lottery house in Monterrey is amazing. And, logically, I did my utmost to ensure that this house would be the most beautiful in the world. That is my stated intent with every new project that falls into my hands.

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

And of course, if Barragán is always present in all my architecture, he is even more in this case, which is why I decided that not only would my house be flooded with light, but that it would be the golden light of Barragán.

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

With this in mind, after creating a diagonal space resulting from concatenating two spaces of double height, I decided to gild the high vertical wall on which all the southern light would fall and fill it with this much-coveted golden hue.

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

Accordingly this light-filled house would be literally flooded with golden light, and thus become a veritable DOMUS AUREA.

Ground Floor

Sketch

1st Floor

In functional terms, the house is divided into three planes. On the ground floor the most public areas. Continuity to the garden will be through verandas and shaded areas. On the upper floor, the bedrooms and living area overlooking the lower floor. At the higher rooftop level, the more private areas will be located, including the swimming-pool.

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

We dream of a white house, serene, full of light, a golden light, where its inhabitants will be happy.

© Javier Callejas Sevilla

http://ift.tt/2fIJ69Z

Courtesy of Unknown

Building a highway in a city is often thought of as a solution to traffic congestion. However, the induced demand theory has shown that when drivers have more routes, they choose to continue using this medium instead of using public transport or a bicycle, and as a result, congestion doesn’t decrease.

As a result, some cities have chosen to remove spaces designated for cars and turn what was once a highway into urban parks and less congested streets. 

Here we have six examples, some have already been completed, while a few are still under construction. To the surprise of some, most of the projects are in the US, which reflects that American designers are looking into further studying European transport policies. 

Harbor Drive, Portland – USA

Courtesy of Unknown

One of the first highways in the US to be eliminated to make way for a park was Portland, Oregon’s Harbor Drive built on the shore of the Willamette River. In 1974 the transformation work began that gave rise to Tom McCall Park. 

Courtesy of Unknown

The Hawthorne Bridge, which was originally part of the freeway, became a bridge for cyclists and pedestrians, connecting First Avenue with the park. 

Cheonggyecheon, Seoul – South Korea

Courtesy of Unknown

The Cheonggyecheon elevated highway in Seoul was built on a canal of the same name. In order to deal with environmental pollution and the noise generated by the more than 160,000 vehicles using the highway daily, Mayor Lee Myung Bak launched a plan to demolish it and build a park instead. 

Courtesy of Unknown

The selected proposal was designed by Kee Yeon Hwang, who wanted to clean up the canal and return it to its role as a meeting place. In addition, the recovery of this public space has reduced noise levels and temperature in the surrounding area. 

Pier Freeway, San Francisco

Courtesy of Unknown

In the early 1980s in San Francisco, a plan began to demolish the California 480 highway with the idea of building a park instead. However, it wasn’t until 1991 that the two-story motorway was demolished – after being damaged by the 1989 earthquake. Studies concluded that rebuilding the freeway was much more expensive than making a park. 

Courtesy of Unknown

Today the place has one of the best views of San Francisco Bay and has many miles of pedestrian and bicycle paths. 

Madrid Río, Madrid 

Courtesy of Unknown

In the year 2000, the Madrid Río project was started, which sought to restore the banks of the Manzares River. A difficult task thanks to the stretches of the M-30 highway that crossed it. 

As there were several historic structures involved, like the Puente de Segovia, the oldest bridge in the city, the Ermita Virgen del Puerto and Puente del Rey, the project carried out the restoration while maintaining these aspects of the city’s history in the middle of the park. In addition, the Puerta del Rey, a building dating back to the reign of José Bonaparte, was able to return to its original location, since it had been displaced during the construction of the motorway. 

Courtesy of Unknown

The park opened in 2011, offering citizens spaces for sports, walks, and opportunities to learn about the city’s history. In this instance, the motorway was not completely demolished, but traffic was diverted by underground tunnels. 

Park East Freeway, Milwaukee 

Courtesy of Unknown

In the 1960s, a project in the works would see the downtown area surrounded by the Park East Freeway. However, nearby residents began to oppose it, arguing that the project would cause too much noise. For this reason, the highway was never completed and certain parts were demolished between 1999 and 2002 for the development of the Park East Corridor project which, when finished, will allow free access from the city center to the river. 

© trevor.patt, via Flickr

In total, the new park is 60 hectares, 24 of which were allocated to new buildings to revitalize the area. So far, the northern part of the park is the one that shows the greatest advances through the remodeling of the main avenues that connect with downtown. 

Alaskan Way, Seattle 

Courtesy of Unknown

In 2001 an earthquake damaged the overpass of the Alaska Freeway in Seattle. Initially, the plan was to rebuild it, however, it was later decided to make a four lane underground tunnel so that on the surface the areas along Elliot Bay join with the rest of the city through a new pedestrian space. The inauguration of the park is scheduled for next year. 

Courtesy of Unknown

http://ift.tt/2fOXdG0

© <a href='http://ift.tt/2fUZ1R2; Rob Whitworth </a>

Fairy chimneys, also known as hoodoos or tent rocks, are spooky looking spires of rock that range from the height of an average person to over 40 meters. While recently on assignment creating one of his time-lapse videos for Turkish Airlines, photographer and filmmaker Rob Whitworth captured the fairy chimneys found in the Cappadocia region of Turkey in all their eerie charm.

© <a href='http://ift.tt/2fUZ1R2; Rob Whitworth </a>

Simply put, fairy chimneys are formed when thick layers of soft rock are covered by a thin layer of hard rock, with the soft rock continuing to erode through cracks in the layer of hard rock. As the cracks deepen, the fairy chimneys come to be shaped into their pillar-like silhouettes.

© <a href='http://ift.tt/2fUZ1R2; Rob Whitworth </a>

While this geological process happens all over the world—fairy chimneys can be found in Taiwan, the US, New Zealand and Jordan—it is only in Cappadocia where they have been transformed into houses and churches through a sort of human-rock collaboration.

© <a href='http://ift.tt/2fUZ1R2; Rob Whitworth </a>

The magical-looking result of this human-rock partnership was many millennia in the making. The first Cappadocian volcanic rocks were formed millions of years ago, followed by further centuries of natural forces that eroded the rock into their distinctive forms. The human touch to the Cappadocian fairy chimneys took less time than Mother Nature’s, and began out of necessity when early Christians during the Roman period sought refuge within the rocks. On the run from persecution in Rome, upon reaching Cappadocia (the town of Goreme in particular), they discovered the malleability of the rocks and began to carve into them. A system of manmade caves was created throughout the fairy chimneys, which became homes, churches and stables.

© <a href='http://ift.tt/2fUZ1R2; Rob Whitworth </a>

Today, the fairy chimneys serve as a refuge for tourists rather than those fleeing empire-wide persecution, but remain uncannily unique. Some of the chimney caves have been converted into museums and hotels, letting people truly explore a built environment that owes its creation to volcanoes, wind and rain as much as ancient human intervention.

© <a href='http://ift.tt/2fUZ1R2; Rob Whitworth </a>

http://ift.tt/2fOSkwg

Antsy Plum / Coppin Dockray. Image © Katie Lock

Last week, RIBA announced the first two homes shortlisted for this year’s House of the Year Award: Antsy Plum by Coppin Dockray and Outhouse by Loyn & Co Architects. Antsy Plum is a 1960s modernist house located in Antsy, Wiltshire, renovated to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent; Outhouse, located in Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, is a partly subterranean concrete structure on a sloped site. 

Outhouse / Loyn & Co Architects. Image © Charles Hosea

Since 2001, the RIBA House of the Year Award has recognized the best new house designed by a UK architect annually and is sponsored by Hiscox Home Insurance and Paint and Paper Library. RIBA plans to name seven houses in total to its shortlist and name the 2016 House of the Year on December 15.

News via: Royal Institute of British Architects

http://ift.tt/2fUQnSD

Courtesy of Sam Jacob Studio

The inaugural show at the new London Design Museum, Fear and Love, presents a collection of “reactions to a complex world.” Featuring eleven specially-commissioned installations designed by the likes of OMA/AMO, Hussein Chalayan, Andrés Jaque and Metahaven, the spatial context which frames them is the work of Sam Jacob Studio.

© Max Creasy

According to the architect, the design “plays on the ambiguity at the heart of the exhibition, creating a curving ‘soft baroque’ plan.” A single 190 meter-long curtain winds its way through the gallery to create “a variety of opposing spatial sensations […] with a controlled consistency.”

It forms rooms, loose enclosures and alcoves that shift between open and closed, inside and outside, small and large, dark and light.

“Materially, the design uses a simple palette of curtains to create a visual language that is not easily placed. A dark grey translucent PVC gives a futuristic and industrial feel, while its sharp and sinuous folds suggest a sense of luxury. This is contrasted with a Kvadrat felt curtain that gives sensations of warmth and texture. The combination of these materials creates rich and varying effects of translucency and enclosure.”

© Max Creasy

“At the entrance to the gallery a striking neon and two way mirror totem advertises the exhibition to the foyer of the museum while acting as an atmospheric introduction. The totem appears at first as a blank mirrored box, then as the neon sequence lights up, appears as a deep infinity reflection.”

Signage and communication was developed with graphic designers OK-RM. Fear and Love runs from 24th November 2016 to 23rd April 2017.

Courtesy of Sam Jacob Studio

http://ift.tt/2gLx5Oj