David Basulto
Roof House / Tezuka Architects
Principal use: Residence
Building site: Hatano-shi, Kanagawa, Japan
Site area: 298.59m2
Building area: 107.65m2
Total floor area: 96.89m2
Number of stories: 1F
Structure: Wood
Architects: Tezuka Architects - Takaharu+Yui Tezuka, Masahiro Ikeda, Daisuke Sanada
Architectural and Structural desing: Tezuka Architects + MASAHIRO IKEDA co., ltd
Lighting design: Masahide Kakudate (Masahide Kakudate Lighting Architect & Associates, Inc.)
Construction: Isoda
Design period: 2000.3-2000.8
Construction period: 2000.9-2001.3
Photography: Katsuhisa Kida / FOTOTECA
House to catch the forest / Tezuka Architects
Principal use: Weekend House
Building site: Chino-shi, Nagano, Japan
Site area: 1054.10m2
Building area: 80.74m2
Total floor area: 80.74m2
Structure: Wood
Architects: Tezuka Architects -Takaharu+Yui Tezuka, Masahiro Ikeda, Makoto Takei, Ryuya Maio
Architectural and Structural desing: Tezuka Architects + MASAHIRO IKEDA co., ltd
Lighting design: Masahide Kakudate (Masahide Kakudate Lighting Architect & Associates, Inc.)
Construction: Kitano Kensetsu
Design period: 2003.4-2003.9
Construction period: 2003.10-2004.4
Photography: Katsuhisa Kida / FOTOTECA
Koolhaas’ anti-blob: the Prada Transformer
I just saw the video for the new OMA project for PRADA, the Transformer. This pavilion currently being assembled in Seoul, Korea allows different configuration for different uses (cinema, exhibition, art , fashion show) - related to a new mix of disciplines, between art, fashion and architecture.
Then, the question on how to mix these different uses under one pavilion become the architectural trigger for this new “object” (I rather use that word, as i think “building” is obsolet for it).
These different configurations result by rotating this object -the transformer- with a crane, and each face of this object is a plane with a given shape, specific for each use but also being used as a helper for other uses (ie: the cinema projector).
If you take a look at each of these shapes, they are all common to us: a circle, a cross, a rectangle and an hexagon… which results on a very recognizable object that Koolhaas calls the anti-blob, and I think that´s where Rem scores another one.
Anyway, i highly recommend you to watch the videos at the Prada Transformer website: Koolhaas explaining the transformer, time lapse of the construction and the transformer being rotated with cranes.
Channel pavilion (blob, by Zaha) versus Prada pavilion (anti-blob, by OMA)?
Renderings and diagrams after the break.
Unemployed Architects
photo via Seattle PI
A few days ago I was googling “unemployed architect” to see what are they up to after being laid off during current crisis, and found 2 good examples.
The first one was the blog Unemployed Architect, ran by a women from Boston (who i´m pretty sure reads ArchDaily because of some of her video posts) who got laid off recently. On her blog she writes about how she spends her days, her new free time, waking up at 11AM, rediscovering the city, hanging out at Starbucks… but that took my attention was that she was applying to grad schools, as a way to evade the crisis. I recently spoke with some young architects with a very active practice, and both partners were considering pursuing another masters degree, using the crisis as an excuse to slow down in the practice and focus on studies.
This reminded me that during the previous crisis, there were very good architects teaching at my school, now i see why.
But there was another news that took my attention. John Morefield (27), an architect from Seattle, had a very good idea after being laid off twice in a year: he setup a booth at a local fair, answering home remodeling questions for 5¢. On the first day he earned 35¢. But that wasn´t his real earn, but the 7 conversations he started, with 7 potential clients he meet.
This way he started to build a network, also pairing these new clients with contractors he recommended. This resulted in Architecture 5¢, an office were “no project is too small for big ideas”.
A very good use of something that every architect goes by, when friends or relatives ask questions on remodeling, used as a way to overturn the crisis.
Sliding House by dRMM in action
Sometimes photos aren´t enough to describe a project. Wallpaper* featured a cool video showing how the Sliding House works. By british architects dRMM:
The brief was simple: to build a house to retire to in order to grow food, entertain and enjoy the East Anglia landscape. The outcome was as unconventional as they come. A structure that has the ability to vary or connect the overall building’s composition and character according to season, weather or simply a desire to delight. Wallpaper* took a trip to the site to capture the physical phenomenon in the only medium that serves it justice – film.
Director: Dan Lowe Producer Mags Milan
Camera: Dan Lowe, Oly Durey, Jamie Durand Editor: Matt Dollings Music courtesy of: Talvihorros Productions company: Partizan/Darkroom Special thanks to: Jordan McGarry, Lauren Hedges, Ross & Sally Russell, Alex De Rijke
Floating Roof House / Tezuka Architects
A very delicate work by Tezuka Architects.
The house is located at the bottom of a hill. The floating roof allows the slope to continue through the internal space.
Principal use: Residence
Building site: Okayama, Japan
Site area: 1035.92m2
Building area: 288.64m2
Total floor area: 342.70m2
Number of stories: 1F
Structure: Reinforced Concret + Steel
Architects: Tezuka Architects – Takaharu+Yui Tezuka, Masahiro Ikeda, Chie Nabeshima, Hiroshi Tomikawa
Architectural and Structural desing: Tezuka Architects + MASAHIRO IKEDA co., ltd
Lighting design: Masahide Kakudate (Masahide Kakudate Lighting Architect & Associates, Inc.)
Construction: Kajima Corporation, Hiroshima
Design period: 2004.4-2004.12
Construction period: 2005.1-2005.8
Photography: Katsuhisa Kida / FOTOTECA
Headquarters of the RBGO, Ribera del Duero / Estudio Barozzi Veiga
A very interesting project from Estudio Barozzi Veiga, a practice featured on our AD Futures series.
Headquarters of the Ruling Board for Guarantee of Origin, “Ribera del Duero”
Location: Roa, Spain
Years: 2006 – 2009
Competition: first prize
Status: under construction
The objective of this competition was to remodel an existing building and to extend it to accommodate the headquarter of the ruling board for guarantee of origin “Ribera del Duero”.
AD Futures #5: Estudio Barozzi Veiga
Dresden Museum of Contemporary Art – Estudio Barozzi Veiga, 2007
For our 5th installment of the AD Futures series, I have choosen Estudio Barozzi Veiga (EBV). The studio was formed in 2004 by Fabrizio Barozzi (Trento, Italy, 1976) and Alberto Veiga (Santiago, Spain, 1973). The preactice is based in Spain, but with project all over Europe (and a villa in China).
Why did I choose them? It wasn´t because of ORDOS 100, but actually for all the recent competitions they have won, on which you can see an excellence in design. Every one of this projects features a different approach in terms of design, showing a constant experimentation and search for innovation inside the practice.
Some of these awarded projects are currently ongoing (ROA Headquarters at Ribera del Duero, Aguilas Concert Hall and the Szczecin Philharmonic Hall), so we are close to see built projects from this practice.
Now onto some of these projects:
AD Futures #4: SPARC
HiDrone - 1st Prize Awarded London Architecture Gallery International Competition 2008
SPARC is a team of international architects at the MIT based in Boston, MA, with a multidisciplinary background at the MIT´s Media Lab. This has resulted on a continuous research on smart/responsive environments applied to the world of architecture, design, urbanism and landscape architecture.
This new relation between technologies and built spaces has opened a wide array of possibilities, that we are just starting to see. And that´s why I choose this practice for this week´s AD Futures.
Spaladium Center / 3LHD architects
Location: Lora, Split, Croatia
Architects: 3LHD Architects
Team: Sasa Begovic, Marko Dabrovic, Silvije Novak, Tatjana Grozdanic Beg Matija Crnoovic, Irena Mazer, Drajen Pejkovic – IGH, Matija Crnogorac, Ivana Krneta, Zarko Perisin, Maja Ivanovski, Martina Ruzic, Gorana Barbabic, Darina Matosic Maticevic, Janja Novakovic, Filip Dubrovski
Program: public, business, leisure, sport, transportation, retail
Footprint: 25.567m2
Area: 136.000m2
Volume: 748.450m3
Client: Sportski grap TPN d.o.o.
Competition: 2007
Construction: 2008
Harmon Hotel in Las Vegas by Foster and Partners gets cut (and not due to the crisis)
A few weeks ago I went to Las Vegas, and was surprised by the amount of on-going projects in the middle of the crisis. One of those projects was The Harmon Hotel, Spa & Residences at the CityCenter’s gateway to the Las Vegas Strip designed by Foster and Partners, a project that “will push the boundaries of the hospitality industry to new limits with a design strategy that combines a sleek, modern exterior with a highly luxurious interior” according to the architects.
And we just saw the news that the project got “cut”, but in a literal way. It wasn´t because of the economical crisis, but actually due to construction flaws: 15 floors of wrongly installed rebar. This forced the developer to cut down the height -removing the condos portion of the building- resulting on a 28 stories tall building, instead of 49 as planned.
But what´s funny is how the project was -at least on the exterior look, because engineers must been working extra hours redoing shafts, elevators, etc- just scaled down.
In related news (cuts), back in October Foster said recession will not force him to cut jobs, and now his office is going to layoff 300-400 employees.
Seen at: Adaptation or Disaster? – LV Sun
Dorobanti Tower, Bucharest / Zaha Hadid Architects
Dorobanti tower, a new project by Zaha Hadid Architects in Bucharest moves away from the works we have been seen lately, with a very expressive structure. The 200m tall iconic tower will be located in the heart of the capital city of Romania, at junction of Calea Dorobanti and St. Mihail Eminescu, with over 100,000 sqm for mixed-use development which include a 5-star hotel (with restaurants and convention centre), luxury apartments and retail space at street level.
The chamfered diamond like structure tapers from the centre towards the top and the bottom. The meandering structural mesh expresses the change of programs across the tower.
A good move by Zaha in my opinion.
More on the structure, from Zaha Hadid Architects:
New Park Station / Felix Heidgen, Thomas Nagy
The partnership of AIA Newark and Suburban and the Young Architects Forum invited international designers to find innovative, visionary and compelling proposals for container constructed multi-family mixed-use project. The idea was to reuse the thousand of unwanted shipping containers clogging ports -and the land around them- as the primary unit of an urban multi-family mixed use project. The competition was called Live The Box.
The selected site is adjacent to a major train station and walking distance to the downtown major cultural centers of Newark, New Jersey. Standard height shipping containers 8′-6″ exterior height, in either 20′-0″ or 40′-0″ nominal lengths were the units to be used as the main building block of the structure.
This competition was won by Felix Heidgen and Thomas Nagy, associates at RMJM in Princeton, with their entry NewPark Station described here:
House of Ruins (Drupas) / NRJA
I like how this house uses an existing structure to hide, in both landscape and against the strong winds, creating a new habitable interior. This house by NRJA (this weeks AD Futures pick) won the Gran Prix for the Latvian Architecture Prize (2005), the Best Technology Award at the Interior Digest Magazine (outstanding implementation of a project using contemporary construction, constructive and electronic technologies, 2006) and was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award (2007).
Location: Saka, Latvia
Architects: NRJA (Uldis Luksevics, Martins Osans)
Client: Una and Andris Vitolins
General Constructor: RBS Skals
Object: private house
Size: 200 sqm2
Year: 2002
In Progress: Z Towers / NRJA
This project by young Latvian architects NRJA (previously featured on AD) is currently under construction. The complex, in Riga, Latvia, includes 2 towers (29 and 30 stories each), connected by a floor bridge. It also includes a 4-stories podium. Completion is expected durin 1st quarter 2010.
Architect´s description, more renderings and construction photos after the break. You can also watch the construction site via webcam.
AD Futures #3: NRJA / No Rules, Just Architecture
This week on AD Futures, NRJA:
I found this practice thanks to the recommendation of one of our readers who sent me this video. After watching it, I had a good feeling about next generations.
Fresh ideas, a young team (average age is 25)… actually building those ideas! That´s NRJA (No Rules Just Architecture) a practive based in Riga, Latvia, founded by Uldis Luksevics in 2005. As a young office they have a very strong statement, that can be seen (or felt?) on their projects. They feel passionate for what they do, while being professional and always trying to go beyond than is allowed or required – hence “No Rules Just Architecture”.
But I think their statement describes it better:
The Yorkshire Diamond / Various Architects
Our friends at Various Architects, authors of the innovative Mobile Performance Venue, just shared with us a new inflatable project, currently running up for the Yorkshire Renaissance Pavilion competition. From a total of 87 submissions, the jury selected 5 projects and then narrowed down to 3 finalists. Final results aren´t announced yet – we´ll keep you posted on that.
Their project, named “The Yorkshire Diamond“, has a very particular structure with inflatable tubes forming a diamond-lattice structure, forming a box with an excavated interior, which allows for different configurations.
The architect´s description:
Construction process of the The Cathedral of Christ the Light / SOM
The construction process of the The Cathedral of Christ the Light by SOM (featured earlier on AD), clearly shows the impressive structure that supports the building and its skin.
You can see more at this gallery, courtesy of SOM:
OMA´s Milstein Hall in Danger, and so is the AAP Program at Cornell
As the Milstein Hall at Cornell (designed by OMA, project lead by partner Shohei Shigematsu) was getting the finals approval´s by the City of Ithaca, a strong opposition coming from non-architectural faculty members (arguing a provocative and setting-discording design, high budget, and that the planned project has standard LEED rating instead of Gold) is not only putting the project in danger, but also their architectural program at the AAP.
Their B.Arch (ranked #1 during 2008 in the US for architectural programs) and their MArch (ranked #6) could see an end, as their accreditation depends on their facilities: The NAAB has warned us for over a decade, and have explicitly stated that the last accreditation we got is the FINAL one they will grant without compliant facilities. They have just denied us an accreditation review for our new M.Arch 1 program this spring because of delays to the final approval process. When they return next year, they plan to review both the M1 and B.Arch programs — if we don’t have a building in process at that point, the B.Arch will LOSE its accreditation, and the M1 will be denied the same.
The above statement was taken from an email circulating the Cornell community, posted at Archinect. Read the complete e-mail after the break:
UPDATE: The original author of the letter just added the original version on the comments.
AD Interviews: Joshua Prince-Ramus / REX
We are back with our series of interviews. This time we had the chance to ask our usual set of questions to Joshua Prince-Ramus, founder of REX – Architecture PC. Previously, Prince-Ramus was the founding partner of OMA NY, where he was Partner in Charge of the Guggenheim-Hermitage Museum in Las Vegas and the Seattle Central Library.
As of now, he has been developing one of the most interesting mix-use projects I have ever seen: The Museum Plaza in Luisville, Kentucky. He has also two ongoing projects, the Vakko headquarters in Turkey and the Wyly Theatre in Dallas.
This has been one of the most interesting interviews we have ever had. Joshua talked a lot on his approach to design and how to collaborate on a project.
But enough talk, just watch the interview – sorry for the audio, we are working to improve our interviews in the future.
After the break, some images of his practice.
Vakko Headquarters and Power Media Center / REX
This building reuses an existing structure to receive a new program, through the addition of a new complex core, that doesn´t end up like a parasite, rather than a whole.
The glass skin shows an innovative work, that results in a very light skin.
Architect´s description:
