Kelly Minner
InBetween House / Koji Tsutsui Architect & Associates
Designed by Koji Tsutsui Architect & Associates the InBetween House is a collection of small mountain cottages situated amongst Japanese larch trees in a mountainous region outside of Tokyo. A retreat from their busy work in the city, the clients wanted a house that could seamlessly blend into the natural surrounding, topography and local culture.
Architects: Koji Tsutsui Architect & Associates
Location: Karuizawa, Nagano, Japan
Project Team: Koji Tsutsui, Satoshi Ohkami
Structural Engineers: ANARCHItects(CG), Hirotsugu Tsuboi
General Contractor: Sasazawa Construction, Inc.
Project Area: 178.43 sqm
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Iwan Baan
San Francisco 2011 AIA Design Awards Winners
The San Francisco chapter of the American Institute of Architects, announced the winners of the 2011 AIA San Francisco Design Awards program.
At the gala, winners were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the built environment in the categories of Energy + Sustainability, Excellence in Architecture, Historic Preservation and Innovation in Rehabilitation, Integrated Practice, Special Achievement, Unbuilt Design, and Urban Design in the Bay Area. Each of these award categories was divided into three subcategories-Honor, Merit, and Citation.
All the winners, after the break.
Foster + Partners’ CITIC Bank Headquarters Tower Breaks Ground
Construction is underway for the sustainable landmark CITIC Bank headquarters tower. Foster + Partners design for the 100 meter high skyscraper in Hangzhou, China intends to establish and iconic presence for the Bank in a prominent location within the new central business district situated adjacent to the Qian Jiang River.
Resonating with elements of traditional Chinese culture, the tower’s form draws inspiration from the shape of the ancient ‘dou’ or ‘ding’ vessel, a traditional symbol of wealth, dignity and stability. The facade of the diagonally-braced structure pulls inwards near the base to form a symmetrical V-shape across the south-facing elevation. Wrapped in a diagrid lattice, the floor plates widen as the tower rises expanding to provide panoramic views of the river and the surrounding public plaza.
Winners of ‘Allied Works Architecture Brad Cloepfil: Occupation’
Last Tuesday we told you we were giving away three copies of Allied Works Architecture Brad Cloepfil: Occupation. Now, thanks to Allied Works Architecture, three happy reigstered users will enjoy this great new book.
And the winners are … Nick Gee, Timothy Dickerson, and Gregory Horen. Congratulations, and remember you can register right here and enjoy the benefits!
Wadi Resort / Oppenheim Architecture + Design
In a global competition for a new luxury destination in Wadi Rum, Jordan Oppenheim Architecture + Design‘s winning proposal, Wadi Resort, provided an ecological sensitive design solution. Slated for completion in 2014 the project is comprised of 47 desert lodges setting forth a future primitive experience. The design set out to reinterpret the way society deals with surrounding nature by taking full advantage of the mystical valley where desert sand meets desert stone.
Ghost 13 Ideas in Things
‘Ghost 13 Ideas in Things’ will be a three-day International Architecture Conference from June 14th- 17th, 2011. Held at architect Brian MacKay-Lyons farm in Nova Scotia, the theme ‘Ideas in Things’ will address the discipline of architecture as a whole and offer a critique of the current separation of the academy and practice, or the mind and the hand. Keynote Speakers for the conference are Kenneth Frampton and Juhani Pallasmaa. Additional speakers include Deborah Berke, Marlon Blackwell, Wendell Burnette, Ted Flato, Andrew Freear, Vincent James, Rick Joy, Francis Kere, Richard Kroeker, Tod Kundig, Brian MacKay-Lyons, Patricia Patkau, Dan Rockhill, Brigitte Shim, and Peter Stutchbury. A book and a film will document the Conference and participation is limited to 200 registrants.
Additional information about the conference following the break.
New Furniture Designs for Sawaya & Moroni / Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, Dominique Perrault
Revealed earlier this month in Milan, Sawaya & Moroni‘s New Collection 2011 includes pieces from high profile architects Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid, and Dominique Perrault. William Sawaya and Paolo Moroni, founding partners of Sawaya & Moroni, focus the production of their furniture on contemporary designs intertwined with differing cultural backgrounds, resulting in unique pieces and a selective group of architects and artists.
Ben van Berkel of UNStudio also presented new furniture this month in Milan.
More about the chairs after the break.
Taliesin East Celebrates its 100th Anniversary
Two thousand eleven marks the 100th anniversary year of Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s personal home and “laboratory” in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Taliesin represents more than just great design—it exemplifies Wright’s philosophy that the true sense of organic architecture is the integrated oneness of the land, the building and spirit of life.
A Centennial Celebration is planned for April 28th at the Milwaukee Art Museum, with keynote remarks by Robert Campbell, Pulitzer Prize winning architectural critic. Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic Architecture for the 21st, an exhibit sponsored by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, runs through May 15th. More information can be found at the Taliesin Preservation, Inc. (TPI).
Whitney Museum Groundbreaking Celebration
On May 24th the Whitney Museum of American Art will break ground on a 200,000 sqf facility, designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano. Located in the Meatpacking District adjacent to the southern entrance to the High Line, the building will provide the Whitney with essential new space for its collection, exhibitions, and education and performing arts programs in one of New York’s most vibrant neighborhoods.
To celebrate this historic moment for the Museum, from May 19 to 27 they will host a series of events, programs, performances, and public art initiatives. A special Community Day on Saturday May 21st will feature a variety of activities free and open to the public.
The invitation only ground breaking event begins at 11 am (doors open at 10:30 am) and will include appearances by Adam D. Weinberg, the Whitney’s Alice Pratt Brown Director, architect Renzo Piano, as well as the Whitney’s Board of Trustees and city officials, friends, artists, and other supporters.
Special performances by Elizabeth Streb and the STREB Extreme Action Company and So Percussion. The Whitney Museum of American Art’s new building is anticipated to open in 2015. More information can be found here.
RAD Workshop: Archibots
The University of Toronto’s Responsive Architecture at Daniels (RAD) will showcase robots that build architecture May 27th thru 30th. The RAD Workshop: Archibots will investigate the potential for robots to build (or destroy) environments.
Beginning by developing a taxonomy of existing robots, this collaborative design workshop will result in interdisciplinary teams experimenting with robots that can build and design environments. Each robot’s capabilities and limitations will determine the structures they can build and vice versa. This workshop will equally challenge approaches in both robotics and architecture. Every team will be part architect, engineer and robot.
Vancouver Convention Centre West / LMN + DA with MCM
Situated on Vancouver’s waterfront with spectacular views of mountains, ocean, and parks, the Vancouver Convention Centre West is designed to bring together the natural ecology, vibrant local culture, and built environment, accentuating their interrelationships through the architecture. Opened in April 2009, the Convention Centre West expansion facility triples the total square footage and functional capacity as well as completes the development of the public realm on the waterfront.
Seattle-based LMN, in collaboration with Vancouver-based Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership and DA Architects & Planners, designed the Vancouver Convention Centre West as a compelling vision of what a civic building can be—a celebration of people and place and a model of sustainability. The project achieved LEED® Canada Platinum certification, the first convention center to gain such recognition in the world, and recently received a COTE 2011 Top Ten Green Project Award.
Architects: LMN, DA Architects & Planners, Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership (MCM)
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Project Owner: BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo)
Project Area: 1.2 million sqf
Project Year: 2009
Renderings and Drawings: LMN, LMN/Studio
Photographs: Nic Lehoux
Urban Design Forum to Discuss Seattle’s Civic Square Development
This coming Monday, April 25th the Urban Design Forum presents the opportunity to hear discussion about the stalled Civic Square development and other “interim use” sites in downtown Seattle. Sean Canady from GGLO, Robert Smith from Foster + Partners and City of Seattle representatives will be present. The Seattle Civic Square project, which completes the final phase of a ten-year civic masterplan, provides a vital new focus for Seattle’s civic life, reinvigorating the south downtown area for the whole city’s benefit.
The Urban Design Committee Forum serves the AIA Seattle membership and the community by bringing forward critical issues facing Puget Sound neighborhoods and cities, in order to inform, engage, and support advocacy by AIA Seattle Members and others who share concern for the quality of the built environment. More information about the upcoming event can be found here.
The Skyscraper as Citizen: Reflections on the Public Life of Private Buildings
The John Hancock Tower Boston, designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects, will receive the AIA 2011 Twenty-five Year Award at the annual convention next month. To mark the occasion, Henry N. Cobb, FAIA, Founding Partner of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects, will discuss the history of the project and its influence on subsequent tall buildings designed by his firm. Organized by the Center for Architecture the discussion will be this coming Monday, April 25th and is free to AIA members.
An exhibition featuring photographs of the John Hancock Tower by Peter Vanderwarker and Robert Damora will be on display at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners from April 26 through May 6. More details of both events can be found here.
Heliotrope Architects win National AIA Housing Award
Heliotrope Architects’ North Beach Residence, a new home located on Orcas Island’s North shore, has received a 2011 AIA National Housing Award. Featured previously on ArchDaily, the North Beach Residence is situated among the trees directly between the beach and the meadow, with walls of glass opening out to both. While actual shelter is provided, the experience is of nearly complete openness to the environment, with a minimized structure meant to disappear from view.
The jury commented that, “Its sensitivity to the site is paramount: its orientation, the lightness with which it sits on the site, the compact nature of project, and its artful reference to vernacular typologies.”
The AIA’s Housing Awards Program was established to recognize the best in housing design and promote the importance of good housing as a necessity of life, a sanctuary for the human spirit and a valuable national resource.
Struggling Cities, Exhibit of Japanese Urban Projects in the 1960s
The internationally touring exhibit ‘Struggling Cities’ focuses on the proposals of urbanization by Japanese architects in the 1960s including:
- Kenzo Tange’s “A Plan for Tokyo-1960;”
- the Metabolist schemes of Kiyonori Kikutake, Kisho Kurokawa, Masato Ohtaka, Fumihiko Maki, and Noboru Kawazoe; and
- Arata Isozaki’s “Cities in the Air”
Currently on display the exhibit runs through Friday, April 29th (excluding Sundays) from 10am to 4pm at MulvannyG2. ‘Struggling Cities’ was also featured at the Shanghai Expo in 2010 and at the Japan Cultural Institute in Cologne, Germany.
Further details can be found here.
The Japan Foundation Exhibit is co-sponsored by Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle and Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival Committee, King County 4Culture, City of Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs.
In collaboration with University of Washington College of Built Environments, American Institute of Architects Seattle, Hamilton International School – Future Cities, MulvannyG2, Japan-America Society of the State of Washington, Seattle Center, Nippon Express, and Yuri Kinoshita.
Living Future 11
The fifth annual unconference, ‘Living Future 11′ is the forum for leading minds in the green building movement seeking solutions to the most daunting global issues of our time. The education program will focus on ”Our Children’s Cities: Visualizing a Restorative Civilization” and the out-of-the-ordinary learning and networking formats will provide innovative design strategies, cutting-edge technical information, and the inspiration needed to achieve significant progress toward a truly living future.
The Cascadia Green Building Council is hosting the conference April 27th – 29th, 2011 at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia. Focused on providing proven, practical, ambitious and visionary strategies that address whole earth impacts, a diverse collection of inspiring keynote and plenary speakers include: Majoria Carter, Jason McLennan, Sarah Harmer, and Margaret Wheatley.
More information for Living Futre 11 here.
Interview with Frank Gehry
At 82 Frank Gehry shows no sign of slowing down. Working on 20 projects at any given time, the Pritzker Prize winning architect’s latest completed work New York by Gehry had its formal opening just last month. In this interview Gehry shares how he was inspired by ice hokey, that Gian Lorenzo Bernini is one of his greatest influences, and what he has always wanted to design.
More following the break.
Video: Rolex Learning Center / SANAA
This short video by architectural photographer Pedro Kok, features the Rolex Learning Center at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland. Designed by SANAA, the building features impressive concrete lines that create a fluidity between the interior spaces.
Update: Ex-Container Project / Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects
Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects are continuing to move forward assisting those who have been displaced following the Japan earthquake and tsunami. The Ex-Container Project, which we featured just last week, is one affordable design solution offering easy transport and installation without compromising quality.
Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects are providing daily updates, via their Twitter account, about the reconstruction progress in the disaster areas.
Further details about the project and how you can offer support can be found here.
Netherlands Architecture Institute Spring Lecture Series
The Netherlands Architecture Institute recently shared their spring lecture series with us. The program will focus its events around one of its key themes, Time, and its interrelationship with architecture.
The program will included lectures, debates, and film screenings, beginning next Tuesday, April 26th with a lecture by Martha Rosler discussing Culture Class: Art, Creativity, Urbanism. On Thursday, April 28th Kas Oosterhuis and Tomasz Jaskiewicz will participate in an architects talk discussing Forward to Basics (In)Formed Complexity.
