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Jürgen Mayer H.: The Latest Architecture and News

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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Arium: Weather + Architecture / Jürgen Mayer H. and Neeraj Bhatia

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I am very interested on the relation between architecture and weather. That’s why On Weathering: The Life of Buildings in Time by Moshen Mostafavi has a special place on my bookshelf.

That’s why enjoyed Arium so much.

Arium is the result of a studio led by Jürgen Mayer with Neeraj Bhatia at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto. The book moves between a series of analytical articles on the relationship between weather and architecture, ranging from tourism to shopping. These concepts are then tested by the studio over the Victory Soya Mills Silos, a massive concrete structure sitting silent along Toronto’s waterfront, the perfect lab for a weatherized intervention: the Ariums (Algarium, Fogarium, Thermarium, etc).

The balance between weather analysis and the studio projects make this book a good reference on the subject, and not just a mere compilation of student’s work.