© Ken'ichi Suzuki Architects: Mount Fuji Architects Studio Location: Shizuoka, Japan Site area: 988.58 sqm Building area: 232.77 sqm Total floor area: 380.44 sqm Project Year: 2009 Photographs: Ken’ichi Suzuki The site locates on mountainside of Izu-san, where Pacific Ocean can be looked down on the south. The untouched wilderness, covered with deciduous broad-leaved trees such as cherry trees and Japanese oaks, gives little level ground. But we saw faint glimmer of architectural possibility along the ridge. The architecture would be used as villa for weekends. © Ken'ichi Suzuki I didn’t want to just form the undulating landscape dotted with great trees as normal, nor design an elaborate architecture bowing down to the complex topography. What sprang to my mind is a blueprint for an architecture which is perfectly autonomous itself, at the same time seems to emerge as an underlying shape that the natural environment has been hiding. It’s abstraction of nature, to say. diagram © Ken'ichi Suzuki The architecture was realized by crossing two rectangular parallelepipeds at very right angles. The lower one contains private rooms and bathroom, and sticks half of the body out to existing narrow level ground. The upper one incorporates salon and kitchen, and lies astride the lower one and the mountain ridge. It almost seems like an off-centered cross pinned carefully on natural terrain. © Ken'ichi Suzuki One axis of the cross stretches toward the Pacific Ocean on south, and the other, the forest of Japanese oak and some white birch on west. The rooms in the lower structure and terrace on it enjoy broad vista of the sea and blue sky. And gentle shade of natural forest embraces the space in the upper one. Water-polished white marble (cami #120) was chosen as interior finishing material. It glows softly like Greece sculptures to blend blue light from the south and green light from the west gradationally, thus creates delicate continuous landscape of light which suggests the character and usage of the space. Exterior is also finished with white marble. The surface get smoother as it approaches to the southern/western end till it takes mirror gloss (cami #1000) at the ends. The southern end of white cross melts into the blue of sky and sea, and the eastern end to the green of forest. © Ken'ichi Suzuki Abstraction is nothing to conflict with nature here. Carved out of nature, it never stops being a part of nature itself, however highly abstracted. Never relativizes the nature with its foreignness, nor generate contradiction to settle for being “artificial nature” by giving up being abstract and mimicking the nature. The abstraction inspired by Mother Nature defines the nature itself, and still, stays natural. That’s what I wanted from this abstraction and architecture.
San Francisco’s newest transit hub will centralize all the transportation in the city by accomodating nine systems under one roof. Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects have designed a new terminal, a 1.3 mile extension of the Caltrain rail line, and the redevelopment of the surrounding area which will add 2,600 new homes, a 5.4 acre park roof and a retail street. And a loan of over $170 million given by the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act has given the project an extra push foward. Once completed in 2014, the terminal will include wind turbines, geothermal heating methods and a graywater recycling system. The hub will be a strong message that green technology can successfully be combined with modern transportation. “We are thrilled to be one of the first modern rail stations in the United States to achieve this historic milestone and look forward to continuing to make progress on the Transbay Project,” explained Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan, Executive Director of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA). More images and a video of the project after the break. Click here to view the embedded video. As seen on World Architecture News
By mdawaffe | Published:
January 31, 2010
© Toshiyuki Yano Architect: Kimihiko Okada / Office of Kimihiko Okada Location: Kujyukuri, Chiba, Japan Structural Engineer: Masaya Kamino (Force Dimension) Site Area: 261.93 sqm Constructed Area: 64.74 sqm Project Year: 2009 Photographs: Toshiyuki Yano A residence for an individual who retired from work to spend rest of his life enjoying his hobby. The house was requested to be built simple and with low construction fee, therefore, I decided to minimize the operations and materials to achieve the maximum effect. It is built on the peaceful village of the gently-sloping ground with a few residences and wood. The wall of the house starts as a site boundary. It draws a continuous spiral and ends as the partition of a central single room, gradually changing its height. floor plan © Toshiyuki Yano The spaces with different functions such as a field, a parking lot and a work place, the living room, and the bedroom are placed in spiral continuously and yet gently divided by the wall. The different experience created by the distance of each rooms and the wall enclosed by many-fold, give depth to the space and produce the rank of privacy. Though it is a small residence of about 65 square meters of total floor area, it is aimed to create an image of endlessly continuing space and depth, and also, to give the sense of security and gentle changes in environment, by being enclosed by several folds.
The ‘Concrete Geometries’ Research Cluster at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London is seeking submissions of work from the fields of art, architecture, sciences and humanities that explore the relationship between spatial form and social or aesthetic processes. For more information go to the competition’s official website .
Posted in architecture | Tagged architecture, australia, california, canada, chile, Competitions, denmark, france, italy, london, mexico, netherlands, usa |
By LydiaD | Published:
January 31, 2010
It may be a small feature, but when you think about it, it all really comes down to this – the drain. Four new decorative square shower drains by California Faucets put an elegant end to your shower, each with its own distinctive stylish pattern. Like an art feature underfoot, these forged-brass-finished drain covers are dubbed Mission, Waves, Deco Line and Deco Swirl, and are contemporary additions to the StyleDrain collection. A flush grill and no visible screws create a smooth and refined look and feel. And despite their enhancing appeal, these drains are easy to work with, and installing tile around these simple square covers couldn’t be simpler. The large-scale drains allow water to evacuate quickly and are capable of handling the flow from your favorite rain shower and waterfall fixtures. The StyleDrain drain covers come in Polished Chrome, special decorative finishes like Satin Nickel, and premium finishes like English Brass or Black Nickel. For more info visit California Faucets .
By LydiaD | Published:
January 31, 2010
Make the most of every sunny day by kicking back in the luxury of this exotic wood outdoor furniture set by Calanc. The new poolside and patio collection combines the luxurious look of exotic wood with contemporary, angular frames that give the set its distinctive edge. The stackable lounger, chair, table and parasol all boast the signature brushed-steel skeleton – an apt description when you check out the “spine” running up the back of the adjustable sun lounger and through the wood slats of the sunshade. This prominent feature really gives the collection its flavor. But what good is beauty without function? This stackable set of furniture is made using treated wood and durable stainless steel, so this outdoor furniture set can withstand the weather. To see the full collection visit Calanc .
Posted in architecture | Tagged calanc, calanc-barbecue, design-ideas, exotic-wood, ideas, kitchen, outdoor, patio-furniture, trendir-recent, ultra-modern, weather |
By LydiaD | Published:
January 31, 2010
Make the most of every sunny day by kicking back in the luxury of this exotic wood outdoor furniture set by Calanc. The new poolside and patio collection combines the luxurious look of exotic wood with contemporary, angular frames that give the set its distinctive edge. The stackable lounger, chair, table and parasol all boast the signature brushed-steel skeleton – an apt description when you check out the “spine” running up the back of the adjustable sun lounger and through the wood slats of the sunshade. This prominent feature really gives the collection its flavor. But what good is beauty without function? This stackable set of furniture is made using treated wood and durable stainless steel, so this outdoor furniture set can withstand the weather. To see the full collection visit Calanc .
Posted in architecture | Tagged calanc, calanc-barbecue, design-ideas, entries-exotic, exotic-wood, home-automation, house-designs, ideas, modern, modern-outdoors, outdoor, patio-furniture, rashid-kitchen, weather |
© Kris Vandamme Architects: BURO II Location: Oostend, Belgium Project Year: 2009 Photographs: Kris Vandamme © Kris Vandamme The 114 apartments at the Royal Racetrack are part of a larger development of the site surrounding the Racetrack, where Kinepolis and the Wellington golf clubhouse also created a multitude of activities. level 00 plan © Kris Vandamme Thanks to its column structure, the building allows for flexible use in the future. The maritime character can be seen in both the design and the use of materials with large glass surfaces, as well as the use of white concrete. Thanks to the continuous terraces, the sea is part of the experience of living in this building.
Posted in architecture | Tagged architecture, building, buro ii, california, canada, design, france, housing, netherlands, ordos-100, residential, selected, vandamme |
Architect: Jarmund / Vigsnæs AS Architects MNAL – Einar Jarmund, Håkon Vigsnæs, Alessandra Kosberg, Harald B. Lode Location: Kvitfjell, Norway Client: Gunnar Jenssen, Kvitfjell Vest AS Contractor: Tradisjonsbygg AS Project Area: 7,500 sqm Project Year: 2006 Photographs: Norsk Form , Espen Haakenstad, Nils Petter Dale, Jarmund / Vigsnæs as general section A slope in the Gudbrandsdalen valley generates narrow bodies following the contours of the land. Generous apartments are arranged 4 in each building, clad in large scale prefabricated wooden elements. The apartment types are tuned to the pleasant week-end life in the mountains. A second project; Nirvana 2 with 36 apartments, is situated uphill.
Posted in architecture | Tagged architecture, brazil, china, housing, mexico, norway, ordos-100, read-more-raquo, residential, selected, wood |
By sabine7 | Published:
January 30, 2010
We continue with more proposals for the Museum of Polish History Competition, this time with the proposal by k Onyk architecture ( more projects by the firm previously featured at AD ). One of the key feature’s of their proposal is to construct a parking structure over the Trasa Lazienkowska Highway that will serve as a “land bridge” that will unify the park as well as be a platform for observation of the Wilsa River below. More images and architect’s description after the break. Zamek Ujazdowski Zamek Ujazdowski captures key moments in the National History of Poland, having been the residence of Queen Bona in 1548 to its proposed use as the Residence for the President of the Polish Republic in 1926, to its near total destruction under the Communist government in 1954. As such Ujazdow Castle becomes the perfect symbolic structure for the Museum of Polish History (MPH). After study of the research report “Study on Historic and Landscape Conditions and Conservation Guidelines for the Investment Project “The Construction of the Museum of Polish History in Warsaw” presented to the competitors by Art. Arch. I Dr. Arch. Aleksander Chylak, Arch. Maciej Czeredys and Hist. Szt. Ewa Kalnoj-Ziajkowska, we are recommending that the new Museum of Polish History be located within the Zamek Ujazdowski. To accommodate the necessary additional program of this modern museum, two wings, one north, one south are to be added to the Ujazdow Castle. Drawing our inspiration from the urban plan for the castle of D. Merlini under the commission of King Stanislow August Poniatowski, these two wings, each two stories high (their height below the roof line of the Ujazdow Castle) would satisfy the additional programmatic needs of the new Museum of Polish History. We feel that this strategy reinforces the historic and symbolic significance of the Zamek Ujazdowski and the fact that the Castle currently houses a Art Museum allows for a less dramatic transition for the public. Trasa Lazienkowska The division of the previous continuous landscape of the Skarpa Warszawska by the construction in 1972 of the ring highway system, which included the Trasa Lazienkowska, created strong discontinuity of the park elements on the site. By reconnecting the Skarpa, not only will there be opportunity to create an enhanced “culturepark” for Warsaw, but this also reinforces the idea of a cultural zone that connects most of Warsaw’a major cultural institutions both north and south of the site, such as the new Museum to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Parliament Building. Our proposal creates a renewed continuous landscape over the Trasa Lazienkowska. Our proposal accommodates 372 automotive parking spaces in a “land-bridge” parking structure built over the Trasa Lazienkowska, which is accessed by the existing on and off ramp system at Aleje Ujazdowskie. Access to the new Museum of Polish History would be by a loop road connecting Johna Lennona and Jazdow Streets. Off loaded buses, once discharging their passengers at the museum on the Skarpa, can idle under the “flyover” of the Trasa Lazienkowska (Aleja Armii Ludowej) near the Wojska Polskiego Sports Stadium. A new system of vertical circulation (not unlike Subway Stations) connect parking to Park Jazdow, and Park Lazienkowska to Park Jazdow allowing renewed access to this new “culturepark” for all. culturepark By relocating the Center of Contemporary Art into a new kunsthalle constructed from the “land-bridge” Lazienkowska cover structure, which is sited to the west of the Ujazdow Castle on the former site of the Church of St. Michael the Archangel. Views into the gallery are possible from the highway, and a series of steps create a place to sit to enjoy contemporary open-air performance and connect to the new landscape that connects the Botanical Gardens to the Park Ujazdowski. to the north. Thus the entire landscape is animated and able to be populated with cultural affairs, both inside the museums and outside. To the east of the site, at the edge of the Skarpa, an overlook of the Lazienkowska Park is provided by the end of the parking “land-bridge” and an enclosed café/restaurant for use by visitors gives a panorama view of the Wilsa River beyond.
Posted in architecture | Tagged architecture, california, china, croatia, japan, konyk, konyk architecture, museums and libraries, netherlands, ordos-100, park, polish, skarpa, spain, ujazdow |
Working with the idea of “ creating a society that is based on quality not quantity, on cooperation and not competition,” CTRLZ architectures have rethought a new model for, not just a building, but rather for society. Due to the on-going “cultural revolution” we are experiencing, the way we approach solving the problems of the world have changed, and architecture along with it. Now, the architect must not merely respond to designing spaces, but to other factors, such as society, energy, the internet, and politics, as well. “We believe that architecture is not anymore about form and/or/…function, but that it is about relations. The development of network systems shows us that the power resides in links and connections.” More about the model and more images after the break. Their new decentralized mode of living emphasizes the interconnectivity of social spaces and a transparent model of energy and production to create a collaborative base. “This is to promote a transparent hyperlocalized society and culture, where inhabitants can develop a public consciousness about their life cost in term of product waste and energy consumption.” The raised housing units share a landscaped area as private and public spaces then branch off. The ground level lacks built construction and is, instead, left for the cows and cultivation. “From the bottom to the sky, the succession of relational function is (-1) commerce /// (0) landscape and food production /// (2) housing /// (3) social public places and /// (4) energy collect,” explained the architects. Follow CTRLZ on twitter .
Posted in architecture | Tagged architecture, brazil, canada, croatia, ctrlz architectures, development, france, mexico, ordos-100, read-more-raquo, spain, sustainability |
© Paul Czitrom Architects: FRENTE / Juan Pablo Maza + Jorge Yazpik Location: Mexico City, Mexico Project Team: Manuel Perez, Gabriela Morales, Arais Reyes, Verónica Espinosa Contractor: Grupo Modulo Constructed Area: 2,195 sqm Each Apartment Area: 51.5 sqm Design year: 2004 Construction year: 2008-2009 Photographs: Paul Czitrom floor plan © Paul Czitrom The Main Feature of this low-income apartment building, located in a corner of a popular neighborhood of Mexico City, is giving its inhabitants a sense of security from its hostile environment. © Paul Czitrom A Waving Surface is created by placing red bricks in an un-typical manner, taking advantage of Mexico’s low cost labor. The orthogonal concrete grid emphasizes the subtle movement of the surface projecting irregular shadows over the walls. © Paul Czitrom The L-formed Scheme of the plan solves the need of giving each one of the 29 apartments a view towards the street while creating an internal courtyard where all the entrances are arranged. Each Apartment with 51 sqm, contains: two bedrooms, living-dining room, kitchen, laundry and bathroom.
Posted in architecture | Tagged brick, california, canada, china, concrete, france, frente, mexico, netherlands, read-more-raquo, selected |
Architects: Lucio Morini Location: Ciudad de Córdoba, Argentina Project Team: Lucio Morini + GGMPU Arquitectos – Gramática/Morini/Pisani/Urtubey Project Manager: Arq. Iciar Lecuona Client: IECSA S.A. – Electroingeniería S.A.-U.T.E. Contractor: IECSA S.A. – Electroingeniería S.A.-U.T.E. Project Area: 950 sqm Project Year: 2006-2007 Photographs: Lucio Morini, Sosa Pinilla These studios belong to the Córdoba Province City of the Arts, a campus housing painting, sculpture, photography, and music schools. They are to be lent to invited artists for short periods of time, so that they can live and work in them and develop their work within a private realm, while sharing their life and work experience with the students. floor plans A continuous strip defining the edge of an interior plaza, it holds 10 studios -8 for painters and 2 for sculptors- with a nearly identical design. Each studio is a 2 story unit with a double height, glass-enclosed space facing either south (painters´ units) or north (sculptors´ units). A large lifting glass door allows the interior of the studio to merge with the plaza. The bedroom and toilet are located on the first floor, and the living, dining and cooking space on the second, which allows their expansion towards an open terrace. The building is shaped by a sequence of parallel planes, a U-glass plane towards the south, and a transparent glass façade facing north. The latter is covered by a system of folding, perforated-metal shutters which vary in transparency depending on the light conditions and position; producing variations in the façade pattern.
Posted in architecture | Tagged architecture, california, croatia, denmark, france, lucio morini, netherlands, ordos-100, public facilities, read-more-raquo, selected |
