© Kazunori Fujimoto

• Architects: Kazunori Fujimoto Architect & Associates
• Location: Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
• Team: Kazunori Fujimoto (principal-in-charge), François Nahory
• Area: 92.69 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Kazunori Fujimoto

• Structural Engineer: Nishi Structural Consultants
• Construction Team: Nakahara Kensetsu Co.,Ltd.
• Site Area: 316.95 m2

© Kazunori Fujimoto

Located on a small peninsula, the project site faces directly the beautiful scenery of the Seto Inland Sea.

© Kazunori Fujimoto

Axonometric

© Kazunori Fujimoto

The most interesting challenge for this project was to create a comfortable inside silence combined with a new openness atmosphere. 

© Kazunori Fujimoto

In this plan I set two squares intersecting each other and thought about the good balanced interaction between the wall structure and the openings.

Floor Plans

The moving line inside the house becomes fluid thanks to the use of skipping floors and short stairs that connect the living area with the sleeping rooms. The use of a polish concrete finish for the living room and the kitchen floor became important in order to give an additional value to the external light.

© Kazunori Fujimoto

The first floor is slightly buried and its ceiling was set lower rather than the living room in order to achieve a more private and cozy feeling.

© Kazunori Fujimoto

Here resides a very special concrete spiral staircase. The thickness of the supporting slab becomes invisible to its outer and inner end and it was designed in order to avoid any necessity of a central pillar. In this way from its central axe only a perfect straight line appears.

© Kazunori Fujimoto

http://ift.tt/2giBGaR

© Arch-Exist Photography

• Architects: Sutherland Hussey Harris
• Location: Chengdu, Sichuan, China
• Area: 65000.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Arch-Exist Photography , Courtesy of SHH

• Collaborative Executive Architects: Pansolution International
• Design Institute: CAPDI (China Aviation Planning and Design Institute) – covers also structural engineering and mechanical & electrical.
• Interior Design: Beijing Truebond Building Decoration Engineering Co

© Arch-Exist Photography

From the architect. In 2007 Sutherland Hussey Harris, in collaboration with Beijing based Pan­solution, won first prize in the international competition for the design of the new City Museum for Chengdu in Sichuan, China.

Courtesy of SHH

Tian-Fu Square was recently established in the historic core as a new central focus of Chengdu. The Existing Science museum forms the entire Northern edge with a giant statue of Chairman Mao saluting the main North South city axis, and on the East side a new concert hall is planned.

Ground Floor

The New Chengdu Museum sits on the West side of the square and maximises its profile to present a façade of commensurate scale and proportion to embrace and address the huge scale of this new square and establishes a strong formal relationship to it by forming a simple enclosing rectilinear profile. The building further enjoys and celebrates  this relationship to this monumental public space  by extending an internal promenade of public foyers and circulation behind the entirety of the veiled façade addressing Tian-Fu Square.

© Arch-Exist Photography

The long narrow site is exploited using all the public areas to maximise a dramatic relationship with the new square, the remaining façades consequently enclose the largely hermetic exhibition halls, these are represented as a giant crafted artefact in the city cloaked in a precious skin of copper alloy rigorously profiled to play with light, shade and texture whilst accommodating all the technical requirements for ventilation grilles. Aside from the east face this skin is ‘lifted’ to reveal glazing at street level, allowing a more human scaled intimacy and a relationship to the interior.

© Arch-Exist Photography

© Arch-Exist Photography

The form envelopes a new undercover outdoor public  space – a monu­mental gateway through the building, offering a large outdoor public space where people can gather, cultural events can take place, even the local street market extends through to the square. This gateway within the building also creates an important connection between the C16th Huang Cheng Mosque, the most significant in South West China, and the main square. The main entrances to the museum, theatre and museum offices all connect with this route through the building.

© Arch-Exist Photography

The Museum requirements extend to over 65,000m² of development and in­cludes exhibition space for Natural History, History and Folk, and an 800 seat Chinese Shadow Play Theatre as well as a 1000m² Temporary Exhibition space. A huge challenge within the project was to be able to provide the museum with their requested 30m clear span exhibition halls whilst assuring the structure is capable of withstanding an earthquake measuring up to 8 on the Richter scale. In addition to this the city’s subway network runs under the Northern half of the building, resulting in the above ground section of the building cantilevering over the tunnels.

Long Section

A rigid diagrid steel lattice forms the structural shell enclosing the enormous interior volumes of large climatically controlled halls, The building further extends 24m into the ground to accommodate the conservation stores, theatre and plant rooms and is structurally isolated from the effects of any earthquake via a protective box structure into which the whole construction sits. 

© Arch-Exist Photography

Unusually for China, Sutherland Hussey Harris with Pansoloution design, Beijing, were retained beyond the conceptual design phase and contracted to deliver the detailed and production information stages for all the public areas of the building, the detailed design of the skin and its integration with the structure and the landscape  and subsequently all site supervision related to this work.

© Arch-Exist Photography

http://ift.tt/2fncopv

© Takumi Ota

• Architects: Yusuke Seki
• Location: Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Takumi Ota

• Art Direction & Design: Yusuke Seki
• Client: Bake

© Takumi Ota

The confectionary company BAKE traces its origins to the famed dairy farming tradition of Hokkaido.This project is the newest bakery storefront, tasked with the production and sales of the brand’s signature item — a freshly baked cheese tart– in a Kyoto shopping district. 

© Takumi Ota

The layers of Japanese history remain deepest and most wholly intact here. The culture that is local to Kyoto has always attracted many, but in recent years, at times, the number of guests on its streets swells to nearly double the resident population. By nature of this influx, the tradition that appeals to so many has itself modulated, incorporating patterns of behavior that are more accepting in international terms.

© Takumi Ota

Experimentation with this context, deforming and re-conceptualizing ‘Local’ until global in scope, inspired the selection of building materials. A correlating push for an expansion in local’s mode of communication demanded that they be both relational and rich in potential.

Floor Plans

Cheese tarts, freshly baked in the open kitchen at the back of the store, are soon lined up and displayed on a counter constructed of Lego.  This architectural fabric serves as the shared language of communication between those whose spoken language may differ.  Its appeal is universal, intuitive, and its attraction felt by nearly every generation. It evokes a sense of intimacy, creating a moment that connects people to this space.

© Takumi Ota

© Takumi Ota

© Takumi Ota

At the same time, the walls of the retail area employ “Shitaji-Mado”, a lattice framework technique traditionally used in the construction of Japanese teahouses. The exact specifications of the grid are strictly governed by each locality’s respective guild of artisans, with no two being exactly the same. Left partially exposed, these walls allow customers to interact with a new iteration of tradition, while simultaneously encouraging an interaction the older exterior wall cladding. The store is thereby given a firm sense of place, reverberating with a reverence for the region.

© Takumi Ota

Through this project, Seki has uncovered a new significance by reflecting on and tapping into the potential intrinsic to the locality itself.

© Takumi Ota

http://ift.tt/2gztupb

Call for Submission: Place and Displacement – A Marketplace in Refugee Settlements

Challenge
We challenge the innovative minds around the globe to design a marketplace with an operational plan for a vulnerable population (adolescents, single mothers, children, people with trauma, etc) in one of the refugee settlements below. The marketplace should be able to run for long-term, i.e. 3-5 years, and benefit as many people as possible. The overall budget limit for both construction and operation of the entire marketplace is $100,000.

Opportunity
In light of the current surge of refugees in the international arena, refugee livelihoods in transitional settlements have become a crucial topic in contemporary geopolitical relations.

Most inhabitants in refugee settlements rely on humanitarian aid and cannot fully exercise their agency and skillsets. A marketplace can become an embodiment of dignity and resilience that respects refugee inhabitants’ autonomy, creativity and capability. Through trading activities, refugee inhabitants can connect with the world and a future beyond transient settlements.

As more policy makers, social workers and architects engage in the discourse surrounding refugee livelihoods, we are proposing a competition to formulate an interdisciplinary architecture and public administration proposal for a marketplace in refugee settlements. The finalist teams will come to New York City to attend a workshop and present at a symposium, in order to:

1. Foster collaboration between the field of architecture and public administration through this social innovation competition;
2. Engage with refugee inhabitants of these settlements through direct or indirect communication, research and experiential learning;
3. Work towards implementing the winning proposal by networking with policy makers, architects, academics, NGOs and refugees, and aiming to attract resources to turn ideas into action.

Jury
11 Architects + 8 United Nations Representatives and Directors + 7 Scholars + 5 NGO Leaders

Prize
Total Prize: $30,000

1 Overall Winning Team $3,000
One overall winning team will be selected at the final symposium and rewarded an additional $3,000.

3 Winning Teams $7,000 Per Team
Each winning team will be awarded a cash prize of $3,000, and round trip flight tickets and accommodation in New York City worth $4,000 per team (maximum 2 people per team). Winning teams will participate in an immersive 24-hour workshop, and present their proposals at a symposium to policy makers, architects, academics, NGOs, and philanthropists.

6 Honorable Mentions $1,000 Per Team

*All awarded proposals will be presented to a group of related humanitarian organizations and philanthropies with credits to participants.

To view the jury, download competition brief and register for competition: http://ift.tt/2gjmqdb

Download the information related to this competition here.

• Title: Call for Submission: Place and Displacement – A Marketplace in Refugee Settlements
• Type: Competition Announcement (Ideas)
• Website: http://ift.tt/2gjmqdb
• Organizers: IDeA International Development in Action
• Registration Deadline: 01/02/2017 00:00
• Submission Deadline: 01/02/2017 23:00
• Venue: Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya; Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan; Berlin, Germany
• Price: $30 Earlybirds Registration; $50 Regular Registration; $70 Late Registration

http://ift.tt/2gjnHB1

© James Steinkamp Photography

• Architects: Goettsch Partners
• Location: Schaumburg, IL, United States
• Area: 783800.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: James Steinkamp Photography

• Developer/Design Build: Clayco
• Interior Design & Workplace Strategy: CannonDesign
• Structural Engineer: WSP/Halvorson and Partners
• Landscape Architect: Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects
• Civil Engineer: V3 Companies
• Client: Zurich North America
• Client Representative: JLL

© James Steinkamp Photography

© James Steinkamp Photography

From the architect. The new Zurich North America Headquarters is designed to reflect the company’s global reach and world-class stature. The formal architectural resolution strives to represent both strength and stability, which are core values of the Zurich business model. Composed of three primary “bars” that are offset and stacked, the arrangement creates unique spaces for collaboration, opens views of the surrounding landscape, optimizes solar orientation for amenities, and provides programmatic flexibility not found in typical center-core office buildings. The top “bar” of the complex soars 11 stories and cantilevers toward downtown Chicago, providing visual identity along the interstate while projecting the strength and future focus of the company.

© James Steinkamp Photography

Level 1

© James Steinkamp Photography

Render

© James Steinkamp Photography

Certified LEED Platinum, the 783,800-square-foot complex reinforces Zurich’s commitment to environmental stewardship. A network of horizontal sunshades clads the perimeter of the complex, with the sunshades varying in depth depending on orientation, while floor-to-ceiling glass offers extensive natural light for the shallow office plates. A soaring three-story double wall faces south toward the multi-level plazas, showcasing an architecture that responds to the changing Chicago climate. In the end, a timeless material palette married to a bold, clear form creates a unique identity for the Zurich headquarters that embodies the core values of the company. 

© James Steinkamp Photography

http://ift.tt/2g0FSey

Gensler’s Shanghai Tower has won the 2015 Emporis Skyscraper Award. Selected from over 300 buildings of over 100 meters in height completed in 2015, the Emporis jury was impressed by the Shanghai Tower’s “elegant spiraling cylindrical shape,” and the “extraordinary energy efficiency” provided, in part, by the building’s double-skin facade.

Currently the world’s second tallest building at 632 meters, the Shanghai Tower becomes the second Chinese building to win the Emporis award, after Zaha Hadid Architects’ Wangjing SOHO took the prize last year. In addition to Gensler’s first-place project, Emporis also recognized 9 runners-up including Rafael Viñoly Architects‘ 432 Park Avenue, Arquitectonica’s Icon Bay in Miami, and the Evolution Tower in Moscow by Kettle Collective and RMJM Edinburgh. Read on to see all ten awarded projects.

1. Shanghai Tower (Shanghai, China, 632 meters) / Gensler Architects, 2Define Architecture

Shanghai Tower / Gensler Architects, 2Define Architecture. Image © Connie Zhou

2. Evolution Tower (Moscow, Russia, 246 meters) / Kettle Collective, RMJM Edinburgh

Evolution Tower / Kettle Collective, RMJM Edinburgh. Image © Igor Butyrskii

3. Il Dritto (Milan, Italy 210 meters) / Arata Isozaki & Andrea Maffei Associati

Il Dritto / Arata Isozaki & Andrea Maffei Associati. Image © Boris Kauffer

4. Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Central Plaza (Nanchang, China 303 meters) / Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Central Plaza / Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. Image © Lv Hengzhong

5. Abode318 (Melbourne, Australia 187 meters) / Elenberg Fraser, Disegno Australia

Abode318 / Elenberg Fraser, Disegno Australia. Image © Wang-Hsin Pei

6. Icon Bay (Miami, USA 139 meters) / Arquitectonica

Icon Bay / Arquitectonica. Image © Robin Hill

7. D1 Tower (Dubai, United Arab Emirates 284 meters) / Holfords & Associates

D1 Tower / Holfords & Associates. Image © Alan Millin

8. 432 Park Avenue (New York City, USA 426 meters) / Rafael Viñoly Architects, Schuman, Lichtenstein, Claman & Efron

432 Park Avenue / Rafael Viñoly Architects, Schuman, Lichtenstein, Claman & Efron. Image © Royce Douglas

9. Citygate Tower (Vienna, Austria 110 meters) / Querkraft Architekten

Citygate Tower / Querkraft Architekten. Image © Lukas Dostal

10. ÏCE II (Toronto, Canada 234 meters) / architectsAlliance

ÏCE II / architectsAlliance. Image © Edvard Mahnic

http://ift.tt/2gHCqd5

© Lasse Fløde

• Architects: Snøhetta
• Location: Oslo, Norway
• Area: 20.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Lasse Fløde

© Lasse Fløde

From the architect. For the high-end shoemaker Faust, Snøhetta has created a complete visual identity and the brand’s very first signature store. With a truly interdisciplinary approach, Snøhetta presents a coherent design including retail design, web design, signage, and brand design for everything from business cards to shoe boxes, as well as a customized typeface bringing all the elements together.

© Lasse Fløde

Coming from a family of shoemakers, Faust founder Álvaro Miranda started up his Oslo-based bespoke boutique earlier this year. The store offers both tailor-made shoes as well as handcrafted ready-made shoes. Customers are invited into the mysterious world of Faust to be part of the long-established craft of shoemaking – from the measuring of the feet and carving of the last, to the final sculpting and sewing of the shoes. The art of shoemaking has remained practically unchanged for centuries, and Faust aims to continue the cordwainer’s tradition with a contemporary approach while honoring their time-tested methods. The artisanship is central in the design concept, striving to create a personalized experience and a customized result.

© Lasse Fløde

Render

© Lasse Fløde

The interior design and visual identity both have a strong link to shoemaking as a craft, with focus on tactility, quality, and elegance. Another important reference for the design is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s legend of Faust from Renaissance times – a legend which has been the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical works through the ages. The interior elements of the design, including the vaulted shapes, carved patterns, and the material palette, as well as the brand’s reconceived typography and color scheme, reference this historical period in which Goethe first penned the manuscript.

© Lasse Fløde

Located in Oslo’s Barcode-area, the 20 square meter space consists of ve custom concrete niches with massive carved wooden doors. The ve niches and their vaulted shapes each have their own specific programmatic purpose; the designer’s personal cabinet with tools and materials, a place for sitting, a display niche, and two storage niches. With large-scaled oiled oak doors with a milled and brushed finish, the design of the cabinetry reflects the handmade details and the tactility of the products being displayed and sold in the shop. The niches reference a historic, almost religious architectural language, giving homage to the thoughtful and quality driven trade of shoemaking. The concrete niches with their weight and massiveness possess a surreal scale in an otherwise small space, while disappearing into the darkness of the charcoal colored walls.

© Lasse Fløde

http://ift.tt/2gHHrT1

Courtesy of Webb Yates Engineers

Helical staircases are often designed to be show-stoppers, focal points of architectural spaces that are intended to impress. But even compared to its eye-catching peers, this staircase developed by Webb Yates Engineers is unusually audacious. Developed for a residential design by RAL Architects in Formby, UK, each step of the two-story, 4.6-meter diameter helical staircase is composed of an individual block of stone, giving an impression of weightlessness as the structure circles its way up through the building’s atrium towards the glazed roof above. For their efforts, Webb Yates recently won the Award for Small Projects at the Institution of Structural Engineers’ 2016 Structural Awards, whose judges said that they were “amazed by the grace and audacity” of the design. Read on to find out how Webb Yates achieved this feat of engineering.

Courtesy of Webb Yates Engineers

The key to achieving the design was two 12.9-millimeter steel cables running through the center of the stairs. After all the stone steps were in place, these cables were post-tensioned to a load of 150 kilonewtons. However, while this may sound like a simple answer, the truth is anything but: “Straight post-tensioned stone stairs are a common design with the structural analysis being similar to that of post-tensioned concrete beams or slabs, a construction method which is well documented and codified,” explains Webb Yates in a press release.

Courtesy of Webb Yates Engineers

“To post-tension a stone stair to sweep through 320 degrees is a much more complicated problem and requires full 3D modeling and analysis of the stone as well as a complete understanding of the structural principles at work. It was realized early on that the stresses the stone was subjected to were too complicated to analyse with simple 1D or 2D finite element models so a full 3D model was constructed using Rhino and Grasshopper scripting to generate the complex shape of each tread and the mortar joints between. The stair works in both bending and torsion simultaneously and the joints are prone to cracking or slipping if the frictional resistance is not high enough. In addition to this, the strength of the material used is direction-dependant so the exact direction and nature of each stress the treads are subjected to is very important.”

Courtesy of Webb Yates Engineers

To decrease the vertical load on the stairs—and simultaneously to make the stairs appear more slender and graceful—the steps were profiled to be more slender at the edges, with a thicker “spine” running up the center. This decreased the weight of the stairs (to a mere 150 kilograms per step) and directed most of the load through the central spine, where the post-tensioning cables are located.

Courtesy of Webb Yates Engineers

In order to ensure the success of the design, Webb Yates even constructed a model at 70% of full size running through a 180-degree turn, which was then tested to destruction. As they put it in their press release, “in order to push the engineering design as far as we could, we needed to test the stone to its limits.”

Courtesy of Webb Yates Engineers

Once the design was set, The Stonemasonry Company cut the stairs from 2D CAD templates in 4 weeks. On-site installation of the stairs took 8 weeks, including the construction and removal of the temporary blockwork wall that held the stone in place until post-tensioning.

Courtesy of Webb Yates Engineers

For Webb Yates, constructing the stairs in solid stone was more than just an exercise in pushing engineering to its limits, however. Had the structure been created in steel or concrete, they argue, the embodied energy of the staircase would be much higher, making stone the environmentally friendly option. And, while it may have been possible to construct the staircase in another material and clad it in stone, this would have required much higher stone-cutting costs and much more time on site, making a solid stone design the economical option too.

http://ift.tt/2gHDSvS

© Matt Clayton

• Architects: Scenario Architecture
• Location: 50 Alconbury Rd, London E5 8RH, United Kingdom
• Lead Architect: Maya Carni
• Area: 202.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Matt Clayton

• Clients: Maya Carni, Ran Ankory
• Structural Engineer: Solid Geometry
• Cdm Oordinator: Jackson Cole
• Party Wall: PMSS
• Contractor: ABI Contractors

© Matt Clayton

This house was a chance to be our own clients. It was purchased with the intention of completely renovating, extending and adapting it to the scenarios of our own family life. It presented us with the opportunity to ‘practice what we preach’ to its fullest expression and create the scenario house. 

© Matt Clayton

The main design challenge was finding a way of connecting the front part of the house, which originally had two separate Victorian reception rooms with the basement level, a full floor height below, both physically and visually, in order to create a sense of single and connected open living and kitchen spaces.    

© Matt Clayton

Creating a split-level open double reception, connected to the kitchen and garden floor by an angled glazed roof extension and a ‘floating’ library feature leading up to the bedroom floors, solved this challenge. 

© Matt Clayton

Plan 0

© Matt Clayton

Considerable thought was given to developing our brief both for current and future scenarios and conscious effort was made to use every available space the house had to offer. This included using spaces under the stairs, in the eves, in hallways and limited height areas. 

© Matt Clayton

One such space was the relatively low ceiling height area resulted by the lowering of part of the reception above. This presented an opportunity for a fun and practical kids area. A storage unit under the stairs complete with a pull out table and bench invites the kids to spend time playing, doing their homework and artwork ina designated but connected part of the home. 

© Matt Clayton

Our children took a central part in developing both the brief and the design of their own bedroom. Resulting in a climbing wall leading to a ‘secret space’ at the eves of the single pitch original house extension. And what better way to come  back down than use the fireman pole!

© Matt Clayton

http://ift.tt/2fZRsGF

Courtesy of COBE

The City of Frederiksberg, along with Real-dania By and Byg Foundation have selected a team led by Danish architects COBE to develop the “House of Food Culture.” The project will be constructed on top of the new metro stations in Copenhagen‘s new Metro City Ring. The House of Food Culture and its townhouses will be built in brick, imitating the neighbouring facade lines and keeping with the style of the historic surroundings.

The House of Food Culture is to be built on top of the entrance to the forthcoming metro station that will host a daily flow of 10,000 people, while focusing on making it the focal point for urban life and a central meeting place. 

Courtesy of COBE

With the expected completion for 2019, the project will hold a prominent location in Frederiksberg Allé, one of the most significant avenues in Copenhagen holding a large number of cultural and recreational activities including theatres, museums and a zoo.

On the ground floor, visitors will be presented with an array of culinary experiences including food stalls, workshops and educational facilities, while 30 new housing units will be built on top in an L-shape, filling in the corner of Frederiksberg Allé and the adjacent road. 

Courtesy of COBE

“The building is going to complete the vacant plot on the historic avenue of Frederiksberg Allé and adapt to its unique cultural heritage,” says Dan Stubbergaard, Founder and Creative Director of COBE. “Besides becoming a new infrastructural node for public transport, the House of Food Culture will also be a focal point in the district. Located on top of the coming metro station, it will be a gate to Frederiksberg Allé, and the nearby theatres, museums and recreational offers, generating life and activity, and reinforcing its position as an attractive, prominent destination in the capital.”

With views through the treetops, the 30 different housing units will accommodate families, students and singles with distribution around many common areas, creating the perfect conditions for social settings. 

Courtesy of COBE

“With both a distinguished and modern architecture, the House of Food Culture is an example of how many different considerations can bring a project to a higher level,” said Jacob Eiskjær Olesen, Director of the project’s investor NRE Denmark. “That requires close collaboration from the very first idea to the finished project.”

Courtesy of COBE

• Architects: COBE
• Location: Frederiksberg Allé, Denmark
• Developer And Investor: Union Holding and NRE Denmark A/S
• Engineer: Arne Elkjær
• Landscape Architect: COBE
• Area: 3500.0 m2
• Project Year: 2019
• Photographs: Courtesy of COBE

News via: COBE

http://ift.tt/2fZx5tc