Passive House Consultants’ Training Program will take place at Parsons The New School for Design from July 6 till July 17. The program is designed as a series of three, three-day sessions. These sessions are meant for those architects and building system designers who want to learn how to successfully implement Passive House design principles in residential, commercial, and retrofit scenarios.

The Program is an overview of:
•Principles of Passive House Design - Heat Transfer, Airtightness, Super-insulation, Ventilation and Moisture Control
•Instruction in the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP), our powerful and precise energy modeling software
•Mechanical Systems
•Construction Examples
•Materials Selection
•Quality Assurance

You can register for phases I, II and/or III here.
The Roundtable Discussion: Passive House in the US will take place at Kellen Auditorium, 66 Fifth Av., New York, NY, this July 14 from 6:30pm-8:30pm. It’s open to public, but please RSVP to sce@newschool.edu.

The Tulane City Center houses the Tulane University School of Architecture’s urban research and outreach programs. So far this year, the students at the Tulane School of Architecture have built three projects, a Green Pavillion (a sustainable exhibition on rainwater re-use, a Farmer’s Market in Hollygrove, and a LEED certified (soon to be) house in Central City. All of these projects are located in New Orleans.

You can find more on the Tulane City Center here. Images and description of the three projects, after the break. read more »

Architects: Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
Client: Congregation Beth Sholom
Project team: Stanley Saitowitz, Neil Kaye, Markus Bischoff, John Winder, Derrick Chan
Structural Engineering: Forell/Elsesser Engineers Inc.
Mechanical Engineering: Rumsey Engineers Inc.
Landscaping: Blasen Landscape Architecture
General Contractor: Overaa Construction
Constructed Area: 2,694 sqm
Budget: US $11,933,000
Project year: 2008
Photographs: Rien van Rijthoven & Bruce Damonte

read more »

X‐Initiative presents the premiere of Pool Noodle Rooftop by Jeffrey Inaba’s Los Angeles‐based practice, INABA. The rooftop space, which will be used for film screenings and special events, will be open to the public daily during selected visiting hours throughout the summer. Four separate seating areas cluster around a ‘X’ shaped carpet that covers the entire rooftop surface.

The furniture, which is also X‐shaped in plan, has been constructed from pool noodles - the long and cylindrical, foam water flotation toys. The pool noodles have been cut and bunched vertically into chaise lounge and ottoman units of varying heights that accommodate up to 150 people. When viewed from above, the arrangement of buoyant seating material spells out the word, ‘bububluooopppp’ - the sound of something either rising or sinking.

read more »

The Big Dig is the most expensive highway project in the history of the US. The project included rerouting the Central Artery into a tunnel under the heart of Boston, requiring a tremendous engineering work due to underlaying metro lines and pipes and utility lines that would have to be replaced or moved. Tunnel workers encountered many unexpected geological and archaeological barriers, ranging from glacial debris to foundations of buried houses and a number of sunken ships lying within the reclaimed land.

The Big Dig House by Single Speed Design reutilizes materials from the Big Dig. In that aspect, it´s a remarkable example of recycling in architecture. Project description by the architects after the break.

Architects: Single Speed Design
Location： Lexington, MA, USA
Programme： Private House
Completion year： 2008
Site Area： 1,784 sqm
Constructed Area： 353 sqm
Photographs: Single Speed Design

read more »

Architects: Architekton
Location: Phoenix, AZ, USA
Collaborators: EDAW Inc. (landscape designers for the park)
Engineering: Rudow + Berry Structural Engineers
Contractor: Foresite Inc.
Project year: 2009
Photography: Matt Winquist, John Kane, Eric Vollmer

read more »

Spaceport America, the first spaceport ever began construction last Friday in New Mexico. The spaceport, designed by Foster + Partners and URS Corporation will host commercial operations by private space travel companies, like Virgin Galactic.

The 110,000-plus square foot facility will use cost-effective, energy-efficient green building practices and will be built to be LEED-certified. From earth-tubes that will pre-condition the air to reduce HVAC costs by 50-70% to solar thermal panels on the roof for hot water to the embedded in-floor loop system, Spaceport America is both unique and iconic in terms of visual and environmental design.

Seen at Gizmodo. More images after the break. read more »

Dutch photographer Iwan Baan shared with us this great photographs he took for Domus Magazine’s June edition. This building is a part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in NYC and it was created thanks to the donoations of Alice Tully, a chamber music benefactor and patron of the arts. This is the first major renovation since the Juilliard School building, designed by Pietro Belluschi, opened in 1969.

More images after the break, and you can check the complete photoset over here.
read more »

UNStudio's Pavilion

Zaha Hadid's Pavilion

We introduced the Burnham Plan Pavilions designed by Zaha Hadid and UNStudio a few months ago, and now, both are almost ready to be opened to the public.  Continuing Millenium Park’s tradition of displaying dynamic public art, the pavilions emphasize bettering the future, which echo the ideals of the 1909 Burnham Plan.  Although opening day was June 19th, only UNStudio’s pavilion was complete, as Hadid’s pavilion will require a few more weeks until it will be opened to the public due to its geometric complexities.

More about each pavilion after the break. read more »

“Learn by doing” sounds like something very obvious when it comes to education in most fields, and specially in architecture schools.

I have taught at schools that embrace it in different ways, either by doing a collective small project during the semester, or building a complete project over the development of the final graduate project. This last method was inspired by the work of the good ol’ Rural Studio.

For those of you that don´t know what Rural Studio is, Wikipedia describes it as:

The Rural Studio is a design-build architecture studio run by Auburn University which aims to teach students about the social responsibilities of the profession of architecture while also providing safe, well-constructed and inspirational homes and buildings for poor communities in rural west Alabama, part of the so-called “Black Belt“.

The studio was founded in 1993 by architects Samuel Mockbee and D. K. Ruth. Each year the program builds five or so projects - a house by the second-year students, three thesis projects by groups of 3-5 fifth year students and one or more outreach studio projects. The Rural Studio has built more than 80 houses and civic projects in Hale, Perry and Marengo counties.

And so, it´s not only building for educational purposes, but also to engage future architects with their community, establishing a true link between the needs of the society and the profession. The importance of Rural Studio has been recognized at Into the Open: Positioning Practice, the official US exhibition at the past Venice Biennale.

Future architect Joey Fante shared with us his project for 20K (team: Ryan Stephenson, Joey Fante, Kait Caldwell, Aimee O’Carroll), the Loft House, part of the 2007/2008 thesis class at Rural Studio. The idea is to design a build a house for  $10,000 in materials and $10,000 in proposed labor cost.

Project description after the break:

read more »

Architects: Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects
Location: Mazama, Washington, USA
Lead Architect: Tom Kundig, FAIA
Date of Completion: 2008
Size: 440 sf/per hut (200 sf interior space, 240 sf exterior deck)
Photographs: Chad Kirkpatrick & /Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects

read more »

Architects: Yazdani Studio
Location: La Jolla, California, USA
Client: University of California, San Diego
Project Team: Mehrdad Yazdani, Design Principal; Craig Hamilton, AIA, LEED AP, Project Principal; Ron Benson, Project Manager; Mark Piaia, AIA, Project Architect; John Chan, Designer, Yan Krymsky, Designer, Manson Fung, Designer, Tommy Yuen, Designer; Jim Peshl, QA/QC, Jack Poulin, IIDA Interior FFE; Hong Gip, Lily Chiu, AIA, LEED AP, Lauren Coles, Frank Maldonado, Mi Sun Lim.
Structural engineer: Englekirk and Sabol
Mechanical Engineer : IBE Consulting Engineers
Electrical engineer: Coffman
Landscape Architect: Pamela Burton & Company
Civil Engineers: Hirsh & Company
Cost Estimators: Cumming LLC
Lighting designer: Lighting Design Alliance
Acoustician: Newson Brown Acoustics, LLC
General contractor: M.A. Mortensen Company
Total floor area: 172,000sf new construction, 66,000sf renovated, 238,000 total sf.
Budget: US $53,000,000
Cost/sq. ft: $223
Photographer: Timothy Hursley

read more »

The Los Angeles based Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects (LOHA) and Bruce Mau Design (BMD) have just been awarded the Big Blue Bus Architectural and Branding Package by the city of Santa Monica.  For over the past eighty years, the agency has provided organized and helpful services to all in the city.  The new project will provide the two internationally recognized firms with the opportunity to redevelop the agency by exploring how public transportation has the potential to cultivate, enrich and connect the community.

Further information after the break. read more »

Architects: LOHA Architects
Location: West Hollywood, California, USA
Principal in Charge: Lorcan O’Herlihy
Project Team: Pierre De Angelis (PD), Sabrina Schmidt-Wetekam, Alex Morassut
Client: Whitecap Development, LLC
Project year: 2008
Constructed Area: 2,230 sqm
Program: 8 apartments
Photographs: Tate Lown

read more »

Architects: Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects
Location: Central Idaho, USA
Principal in Charge: Tom Kundig
Year: 2007
Photographs: Tim Bies/Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects

read more »

Architects: CHA:COL / Chinmaya+Apurva Collaborative
Location: Westwood, California, USA
Constructed Area: 232 sqm
Photographs: Benny Chan of Fotoworks

read more »

Our friends from XTEN Architecture just sent us one of their latest projects. The Saphire Gallery is a residential gallery addition to a private residente in Los Angeles, California. It is designed to display a private collection of contemporary art while also providing for a home office with views to the sorrounding hills.

More images and architect’s description, after the break. read more »

II Phase image

Architects: Yazdani Studio
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Project Team: Yazdani Studio of Cannon Design - team includes: Mehrdad Yazdani, Design Principal; Scott F. Reed, AIA, LEED AP, Project Principal; Paul Gonzales, Project Manager; John Gormley, Project Manager (conceptual design); Hansol Park, AIA, Senior Designer; Jessica Yi, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP Project Architect; Philip Ra; Senior Designer (Phase II only); Jeremy Whitener, Project Designer; Jack Poulin, IIDA, Interior FFE; Mimi Lam, LEED AP, Designer; Josh Moratto, Designer; Sepideh Nabavi, Designer
Structural engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
MEP (conceptual): IBE Consulting Engineers
Electrical engineer: IBE Consulting Engineers
General contractor/ Construction Manager: Matt Construction
Lighting designer: Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design
Mechanical, Engineer: ACCO Engineered Systems
Electrical, Engineer: ESSCO
Acoustician: Veneklasen Associates
Audiovisual: Electrosonic Systems
Exhibit Designer: Houghton Kneale Design and Yazdani Studio of Cannon Design
Fire/Life/Safety: Rolf Jensen Associates
Photographs: Benny Chan of Fotoworks

read more »

Architects: LOHA Architects
Location: West Hollywood, California, USA
Principal in Charge: Lorcan O’Herlihy
Project Team: Kevin Southerland, Tracy Smith, Franka Diehnelt
Contractor: Archetype, Inc.
Client: Habitat Group Los Angeles, LLC
Project year: 2006
Photographs: Lawrence Anderson

read more »

Architecture and design firm Group 41 Inc. is proud to unveil the H House, a modern architectural residence whose design is informed by the crisp language of modernism and shaped by the principals of sustainability. In a city like San Francisco where a moratorium on demolition limits most construction projects to being creative renditions of a renovation, a new, ground-up construction is a rarity. Rectilinear and angular, the H House is architect/developer Joel Karr’s first ground-up development property and represents a welcomed opportunity to express Group 41’s own distinctive brand of modernist design.

Photographs by Ken Gutmaker & Eric Rorer

read more »