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Somatic Collaborative: The Latest Architecture and News

Chicago Architecture Biennial Announces 2019 Early Highlight Contributors

The third Chicago Architecture Biennial will occur from September 19, 2019, to January 5, 2020, and yesterday the first group of contributors to the 2019 edition and publication was announced. This year’s theme, “...and other such stories,” will bring together a multi-faceted and international exploration of architecture and the built environment. Newly commissioned projects for the Biennial will highlight issues including public housing, social justice, and the appropriation and preservation of the natural environment.

19 Emerging Firms Design Prototype Houses for Living Among Nature

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As the boundary that separates work and leisure in the 21st Century continues to be blurred by technology, architects Christoph Hesse and Neeraj Bhatia sought out to uncover a tranquil solution. The pair are co-curating an upcoming exhibition at the Kulturbahnhof Kassel in Germany as part of Experimenta Urbana in a show called “Ways of Life,” which opens July 5th.

This international initiative seeks to discover “a new nomaticism.” A gathering of 19 emerging architecture offices each presents a dwelling encompassed in nature. These buildings are often equal parts project and manifesto. The show’s overarching theme is the delicate balance of naturally induced relaxation and programmatically encouraged productivity. Each firm must additionally consider constraints that include limited square footage, integration of rapidly advancing information technology, and a strictly sustainable design.

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Somatic Collaborative Releases Design for "Neapolitan Ice Cream" Inspired Project in Brazil

Somatic Collaborative has unveiled its design for Neapolitan Housing and Co-working Complex, a new urban block typology located in Gravatai, Brazil, that contrasts the traditional landscape of repetitive housing types that dominate the urban peripheries of Latin American cities. Like a Neapolitan ice cream, the project’s buildings will be layered, housing a variety of residential units and co-working space.

In a drastic shift from typical low-rise residential enclaves, gates, and walled compounds, the project will create high-density urban blocks “that engage the street as a source of urban life” through porous borders that encourage new city centralities. A semi-porous perimeter block with retail and commercial space will allow the project to better interact with its surroundings while designating the distinction between public, semipublic, and private space through the buildings’ masses. 

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Floresta Apartment Complex / Somatic Collaborative

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Courtesy of Somatic Collaborative

The Floresta apartment complex, designed by Somatic Collaborative, is a 16 unit residential complex that occupies a residual site on the northeastern edge of the city of Quito, Ecuador, overlooking the Guapulo valley. More images and project description after the break.

Plaza Républica / Somatic Collaborative

Plaza Républica / Somatic Collaborative - Image 4 of 4
Courtesy of Somatic Collaborative

Plaza Républica, a project by Somatic Collaborative, proposes to transform a derelict urban surface into a new cultural landscape that provides the city with a new high quality fine grain open space, complimentary to the adjacent Alameda Park; a new urban piece that can act as a catalyzer for future urban transformations in the Alameda district. More images and brief project description after the break.