Times Square celebrates Valentine’s Day
With Valentines Day barely a week away, the Times Square Alliance is eschewing flowers and candy yet again. Instead, they’re sending New Yorkers a giant designer valentine for the second year in a row, as Moorhead & Moorhead will stage an installation adjacent the TKTS Booth beginning today.
Check last’s year installation by Gage Clemenceau Architects. Which one do you like the most?
Seen at The Architect’s Newspaper Blog.
Rosa Muerta / Robert Stone
After visiting his website, I got in touch with Robert Stone and exchanged a few emails… He is a reader of ArchDaily and was very excited to share his work with the readers, and I was also very excited about it after learning more about him and what is behind Rosa Muerta and other projects he has been working on in the California desert.
Robert was born and raised in Palm Springs, Ca. in a decent copy of a Craig Ellwood house and across the street from a real Schindler house. After his masters degree at UC Berkeley, Robert spent over a decade in a studio in Los Angeles making experimental social-sculpture projects that were exhibited internationally. I mention this because it’s a clear influence on Rosa Muerta and Acido Dorado, two projects that came out of Robert’s passion for art, his architectural background, and his D.I.Y. punk roots:
Instead of looking for a client, Robert went solo to the desert to build vacation houses for rent, turning into an entrepreneur with Pretty Vacant Properties and probing that independent D.I.Y. architecture is possible.
It is basically the American punk D.I.Y. approach that has engendered all contemporary independent music and film since the 1970′s. . . now finally applied to architecture.
The passion Robert puts on his work is really inspiring, specially for young architects that debate between working at some else’s practice or kick start their own firm/business.
I hope to bring you more about Robert’s work in the near future. In the meanwhile, more about Rosa Muerta after the break:
Media-TIC / Enric Ruiz Geli
The 22@ is an experimental district in Barcelona, Spain, with a mayor energetic load (District Climate), where the new values of the companies are intangible: they are not based in having natural resources of water, soil, gas, they don’t have real-estate values, retransmission rights (media Pro), they have patents (Indra), they have intelligence, programming and interaction (like the Reactable of Sergi Jorda from the Pompeu), a district, the way Artur Serra from I2CAT and the people form the 22@ say, an urban Lab.
Is here where Spanish architect Enric Ruiz Geli designed this innovative building with a net-like steel structure, avoiding pillars on the ground floor, introducing the public spaces to the building.
Check the photos Iwan Baan took for Abitare and some drawings after the break.
Ordos Hotel / EXH Design
Our friends at EXH Design shared their design of a hotel in Ordos, which is scheduled to be completed within a few months, with us. Taking inspiration from the yurt, the circular tent-like dwelling of Mongolian peoples, the team transformed the traditional scheme to meet the demands of modern life. The design “makes an accommodation experience in Ordos different from anywhere else and arouses a local cultural interest,” explained the architects.
More about the hotel and more images after the break.
Bridge in Vienna / SOLID architecture
Architects: SOLID architecture
Location: Vienna, Austria
Project Team: Christine Horner, Christoph Hinterreitner
Structural Engineering: RWTplus ZT GmbH
Client: Österreichische Lotterien GmbH
Competition Year: 2008
Completion Year: 2009
Photographs: Günter Kresser
AD Recommends: Best of the Weekend
At ArchDaily we know weekends are for you to rest, enjoy your time, and relax. However, we keep working and featuring the best projects we have, so we are afraid you may have missed some really great stuff. Fortunately for you, starting today, every Monday we’ll feature the very best of our weekends. Check the other two after the break.
Charred Cedar House / naf architect & design
The site is located in a district where many traditional sake breweries preserve good old Japanese street with plaster and charred cedar walls. In winter, during sake brewing season, a cloud of steam comes out from red brick chimneys of the breweries and the scent of sake wafts in the air. “Charred Cedar House” stands in such neighborhood (read more…)
Software and Biotechnology Plants / Coll-Barreu Arquitectos
Architects: Coll-Barreu Arquitectos – Juan Coll-Barreu & Daniel Gutiérrez Zarza
Location: Derio, Spain
Structure: Mintegia y Bilbao
Mechanical & Electrical: Indotec
Client: Parque Tecnológico S.A.
Constructed area: 15,584.63 sqm
Budget: 15,840,071.43 €
Project year: 2005-2006
Construction year: 2005-2009
Photographs: Aleix Bagué
Naturum Laponia / Tham & Videgård Hansson Arkitekter
Naturum Laponia, a visitors center in Laponia, Sweden, was a competition entry designed by Tham & Videgård Hansson Arkitekter last year. A naturum is a visitor centre with activities and exhibitions, located in connection with several of Sweden’s national parks and nature reserves.
More images and architect’s description after the break.
School of Music, Arts & Crafts / Contemporânea
Architects: Contemporânea / Manuel Graça Dias + Egas José Vieira
Location: Chaves, Portugal
Coordination: Luís Torgal, Architect
Collaborators: Duarte Correia, Amílcar Duarte, Mihai Varzan, Sara Baptista, Marta Quinaz, Sofia Sanches, Sara Rodrigues, Architects
Client: Câmara Municipal de Chaves (Chaves City Council)
Models: José António Aires Pereira
Project Year: 2004-2008
Photography: FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
UAX Bernartice / Kamil Mrva Architects
Architects: Kamil Mrva Architects
Location: Bernartice nad Odrou 131, Czech Republic
Client: uax®
Project Team: Kamil Mrva, Bohuslav Kunat, Jaroslav Holub, Martin Jeřábek
Main contractors: Fykony s.r.o., Alfest Lučina, Elektro Holub
Project Year: 2005
Construction Year: 2006–2007
Built-up space of the extension : 78 sqm
Photographs: Studio Toast
Charred Cedar House / naf architect & design
Architects: Tetsuya Nakazono / naf architect & design
Location: Hiroshima, Japan
Engineer: Kenji Nawa / NAWAKENJI-M
Program: Single family residence
Site area: 172.55 sqm
Building area: 61.38 sqm
Total floor area: 114.50 sqm
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: Noriyuki Yano / Nacasa & Partners
“Eurovisions”, an exhibition by Fantastic Norway
The exhibition ”Eurovisions”, designed by Fantastic Norway, features the winners of Europan 10. It recently opened at the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture in Oslo.
“Eurovisions” consists of a vast number of hovering cityscape profiles, portraying the three current Europan sites. Together the silhouettes create a vast graphical landscape, creating a pseudo-3D or “two-and-a-half-dimensional” effect as you walking through it. This technique was widely used in early Disney movies (as well as in classic theatre scenography) to create the sensation of depth and movement through 2 dimensional drawings.
Runner up – and winner projects were exposed at the back of these silhouettes. In addition to this the exhibition features an educational area where information, facts and models of the Europan cities are exposed. Projected onto the walls, fake TV-news clips (set in a not to distant future) reports a variety of stories portraying possible futures for the cities at hand.
More images after the break.
Sontatel Headquarters / EXP Architects + Archi-art + ANMA
EXP Architects + Archi-art + ANMA collaborated to design the headquarters for Sonatel in Dakar. The long building is comprised of several layers and wrapped in a geometric skin. The building’s main entrance is slightly elevated making the massive form seemingly float over those who enter and colored volumes mark different activities which complement the main offices. The large masses of office areas are distributed around a center circulation hub and clad with vertical fins to shade the sun. As one moves through the building, the offices vary in style as the three levels contain double heights. The large roof provides open views of the sea for all workers to enjoy.
More images after the break.
Sports Centre Zuidrand / UR Architects
UR Architects were awarded first prize for their design of a sports center in Antwerp. The center, which is intended for non-competition sports, is aligned with the existing sports hall along the main street of the new master plan development. The building attempts “to communicate” on all sides as the sports hall, dance hall and rental depot are positioned on the edge, interconnected by a T-shaped service area. This extroverted model opens the building to the community and the architecture reflects the modernism of the surrounding buildings. The roof is designed as a fifth facade to relate to the nearby housing blocks of Renaat Braem while the facades of the halls are made of multi-layered polycarbonate. Partly translucent, partly transparent, this material combines the dynamic spectacle of changing light and shade, with diffuse daylight admission and a high insulation value, resulting in a low energy building.
More images of the sports center after the break.
AW10 Fashion Show / Aquili Alberg
Neil Barrett, presenting his Autumn-Winter 2010 collection on Sunday, January 17th, chose to collaborate for the first time with AquiliAlberg, a Milan-based architectural and design studio. The designer chose two of AquiliAlberg’s sculptural installations as a background for his latest fashion show.
Inter|Section / Campos Leckie Studio
Canadian Architects Campos Leckie Studio shared with us this recent installation for an Exhibition for the 2010 Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver.
Spontaneous Architecture Challenge: Rebuild Haiti
GOOD has teamed up with PRE and Studio X to inspire designers through the monthly Spontaneous Architecture competition. This month, they want you to come up with creative solutions to help Haiti in its rebuilding efforts.
Submissions are due February 15, and the entry fee is $5. Fifty percent of the entry fees will go to the winner, and the other half will be donated to the Haitian relief effort. For more details, go to the competition’s official website.
Penthouse sur Loire / Avignon et Clouet
Stéphane Chalmeau shared with us this great Penthouse refurbishment made by french architects Avignon et Clouet in Nantes, France, giving great sunlight to the interiors using glass divisions instead of solid walls and including an indoor pool with an amazing view to the city.
Take a look at the complete photoset after the break.
MON Factory/House / EASTERN Design Office
Architects: EASTERN Design Office + HOJO Structure Research Institute
Location: Kyoto, Japan
Client: Morita MON factory
Site Area: 236.90 sqm
Total Floor Area: 259.78 sqm
Project Year: 2007
Photographs: Koichi Torimura
AD Round Up: Lake Houses Part II
Some really amazing lake houses from Norway, Switzerland, England and New Zealand for today’s Round Up. Check the first part of this selection right here. And have a look at the other four after the break!
House in Scaiano / Wespi de Meuron
This house for vacations is located at the border of a small historical village, which is still quite good preserved. There is a beautiful view over the lake and towards the mountains. It’s only possible to reach the house by foot. There isn’t a street leading close to the site, what made the construction more difficult (read more…)
AD Recommends: Best of the Week
Every week we have so many good posts that we don’t want you to miss anything. That’s why starting today, every Friday, we’ll have a look at the most interesting projects or interviews of the week for you to see. The other four after the break.
Fujitsobo / Archivision
This beauty parlor stands in the Omote-sando area of Tokyo, which represents one of the trend setting centers for this metropolis. The building has three roof openings which pours light into the interior and, which, by slit-like openings in the floor is led into the floors below, reaching the ground floor, which in turn can be seen from the street level through its large glass windows (read more…)
