Browsing: OBRA

Architects: OBRA Architects
Location: Southampton, New York, USA
Principals in Charge:Pablo Castro, Jennifer Lee
Project team:Selin Semaan, Akira Gunji, Luis Costa, Shin Kook Kang, Satoshi Kiyono, Kaon Ko, Bronwyn Kotzen, Fabiana Meacham, Elizabeth Snow, Elina Almuhametova, Chiara Filios, Doreen Lam
Structural Engineering:Robert Silman Associates
Lighting consultant:Peiheng Tsai Lighting Design
Project Area: 1,231 sqm
Project year: 2008
Photographs: OBRA Architects

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Our friends from OBRA Architects shared with us their project Red+Housing, an emergency housing prototype commissioned as part of CROSSING: Emergency Dialogues for Architecture to acknowledge the anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake, exhibition held at the National Art Museum of China. More images and architect’s description after the break. read more »

This villa is located in plot #16 of the ORDOS project.

Architects: OBRA Architects
Location: Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China
Principals in Charge: Pablo Castro, Jennifer Lee
Project team: Shin Kook Kang, Atsushi Koizumi, Sara Kim, Patricia Bohrer, Ricardo Escutia, Soojeong Jo, Jiyoung Kim, Mingkyu Kim, Yixin Liu, Doreen Lam, Alvaro Mayoral, Selin Semaan, Paula Zapolski
Structural/Mechanical Engineering: ARUP NY / Mahadev Raman, Brian Markham, Rajesh Shah
Design year: 2008
Construction year: 2009-2010
Curator: Ai Weiwei, Beijing, China
Client: Jiang Yuan Water Engineering Ltd, Inner Mongolia, China
Constructed Area: 1,000 sqm aprox

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Last year there was an interesting exhibition on the ORDOS villas by 13 NY Architects, 13:100. During that time the Architectural League conducted short interviews with some architects asking them some interesting things about the ORDOS 100 project.

• What was your initial reaction to the invitation? Did you ever consider not accepting the commission?
• How aware were you of Ai Weiwei’s work when you accepted the commission? To what extent do you think we need to see the Ordos 100 project in the context of his work thus far?
• Describe how you dealt with designing a private residence for an abstract client.
• To what extent were you designing with Chinese construction technique and standards in mind? How is this reflected in your design?
• Describe what is architecturally at stake in your project. What were you after architecturally?
• How do you feel about your participation in the project now that the design phase is over?
• What do you think of the site plan and the cumulative effect of the one hundred architectural interventions?
• Can you imagine an equivalent development being built on the United States?
• Describe how you think the sheer size of Ordos impacts the role and position of the architect.
• Describe your dream commission.

See the answers by Pablo Castro from OBRA Architects. You can also see their villa on our following post.