Ray Eames (December 15, 1912-August 1988) is best known for her personal and artistic collaboration with Charles Eames, and together, their innovative designs shaped the course of modernism. Although Charles often gave the firm its public face (particularly in the male-oriented world of mid-century design), the two designers are almost always discussed as a couple and every project that their office pursued was in fact a team effort. When asked about any particular piece of furniture, for example, Ray always maintained that she contributed to the details of the design in a “million ways” and considered the overall form of each project in a critical fashion, emphasizing the collaborative nature of not just their partnership, but their entire office.
Nicknamed Ray-Ray by her family, Bernice Alexandra Kaiser was born in Sacramento, California. Her artistic talent was recognizable from a young age, so after high school Ray left California to study in New York City with German Abstract Expressionist Hans Hofmann. She then went on to study at the Art Academy in Cranbrook, Michigan, where Charles Eames was one of her teachers. Charles divorced his first wife and married Ray in 1941, and the two moved to Southern California where they opened their famous design firm.
Their firm worked on a diverse array of projects, with designs for exhibitions, furniture, houses, monuments, and toys. Together they developed manufacturing processes to take advantage of new materials and technology, aiming to produce high quality everyday objects at a reasonable cost. Many of their furniture designs are considered contemporary classics, particularly the Eames Lounge & Shell Chairs, while the Eames House is a seminal work of architectural modernism. Together they also produced over 80 experimental films that showcased many of their philosophies on design.
In the early years of their collaboration, Ray spent much of her time painting and designing textiles and title illustrations for “Art and Architecture” journal, but she shifted her focus after 1947 to concentrate on expanding the work of their design studio. They initially supplied the American Navy with leg splints and stretchers during World War II, and following the war they took what they had learned about molded plywood and applied it to their groundbreaking furniture designs. Their furniture made of cast aluminum, fiberglass-reinforced plastic, wire mesh, and molded plywood was distributed by Herman Miller and brought their studio international acclaim. As early as 1945 the couple became successful enough to design and build the Eames House, the work they are most known for in the architectural realm.
By the 1970s Ray’s role in their design studio had become increasingly public, with feminist art critics drawing particular attention to her contributions to the design duo. Her specific role in many of their projects can be difficult to determine, but the “Time-Life chair” is often attributed specifically to her. She is also lauded for her obsessive attention to details as well as her holistic approach to furniture design. After Charles’ sudden death in 1978, their office was closed and Ray dedicated all of her time to organizing and archiving their lifetime body of work in addition to collaborating on numerous books about their design studio. Interestingly enough, Ray passed away on the same day as Charles exactly ten years later, but the significance of Eames Design lives on to this day.
Project Team: Ian Lim, Emanuele Rattazzi, Robert Kalocay
Builder: Spyker/Taylor Constructions
From the architect. A new-build house replacing two very narrow 2-storey weather-board cottages on the same lot but in a very derelict state. After much discussion with Heritage it was felt that it would not be possible to restore them to anything other than museum status as they could not be brought up to current BCA standards. It was also felt that they were not of that much interest and very little original fabric existed. A fairly unique opportunity presented itself to insert a contemporary building into a heritage conservation area – allowing for a future reading of this particular period of Sydney’s development.
The Client’s brief was clear – they did not want a white box minimalist house. Nor did they want a house that dictated the style under which they should live. Visiting the Client for the first time to take the project brief, we observed that they had a very eclectic and interesting collection of artworks, designer furniture, industrial junk and ‘found-objects’. This diversity combined with the brief that the style not dominate, seemed to lend itself to a more quirky and complex form (both internally and externally). From here the project became about creating a child friendly house that had character and a story to tell. The house has already been dubbed The Ark by the locals.
This project presented an opportunity to re-visit the Sydney terraced house typology, which in recent years has been going through extensive re-assessment, as all terrace-houses are turned on their heads to connect the living area (previously a formal room at the front of a terrace) with the rear yard – the new focal point. The kitchen has now become the central, less formal hub of the contemporary house.
To improve the quality of space (height) the entire building was dug marginally below pavement level to allow for more generous headroom within all levels. Advantage was taken of the (council-owned) pocket park which had the benefit of mature planting and is a much used facility in the community. Whilst the design clearly benefits from the pocket park on one side; the design could work equally well without the side windows.
The rumpus/play space in this house; in what would have been the attic in a traditional terrace remains connected to the rest of the house by being a mezzanine/loft configuration.
Architecturally, the form came directly from combining both the context of the surrounding 2/3/4 storey buildings and the numerical planning controls determined by Council – as well as book-ending the urban block and addressing the park.
As the diagram above seeks to demonstrate – once the numerical planning parameters were established they were then manipulated to respond to the context a mixture of 2, 3 and 4 storey neighbours) – thus deriving a form which was then articulated / sculpted by windows/fenestration that further erode the building “block”.
The (Grey Box) timber cladding to the exterior was a direct homage to the derelict weatherboard cottage that previously sat on the site and the house makes reference to both the original and new building lines that create the streetscape.
Colour and materiality were used to articulate the client’s brief to separate the living space (passive – entertainment) from the kitchen/dining (active – entertaining). At the same time there was a desire to link the two spaces indicate the journey that could be made either through to the rear of the house or upstairs.
Internally the programmatic intent was to avoid a white box and ensure that the ground floor did not feel like a ‘tube’ of living spaces. To achieve this, the living room and dining/kitchen area were separated by a joinery form that wrapped around the staircase, housing kitchen, under stair W.C./laundry and TV/Stereos.
What do you see when you look up? As part of the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) #ILookUp campaign, this video seeks to elevate the public’s awareness of the impact and importance of the design profession by asking everyone to “look up.” It is the AIA’s goal to spark a two-way conversation on the value of architects and architecture. Please watch the video above and share your thoughts on social media using the #ILookUp.
From the architect. Sited in one of the quieter pockets in the heart of Chennai, with close linkage to major arterial roads that run through the city, this corner plot enjoys the position of being one of the first prominent residential buildings on entering the neighbourhood, garnering attention while being passed by.
“Sharing and integrity defines a community, but valuing the presence of every individual within fulfils a community living”.
The intent emphasizes the need to create a small diverse community within the building.The building’s 17,000 square feet floor area facilitates 11 exclusive apartments, five of which are spacious 3-Bedroom Duplexes; six are compact 3-Bedroom units, with the density limitations determined by the lot’s size and location.
Each dwelling incepts a sense of place to its own resident varying by size, volume, orientation and position within the building. These versatile dwellings fused together to sustain the integrity, conceiving a pure mass to perceive the community in totality, was the challenge at hand.
The versatile nature of each dwelling being embraced on the form evolution by consciously intervening the pure geometry. Marginally twisting the alternative floor masses across the street axis strengthens the perception of distinct edges to demonstrate prominence of every dwelling, the building uses the opportunity to create a powerful visual statement, capitalizing on the views from the junction.
A strong visual anchor, a defined exposed concrete mass seeded to the ground on one quadrant of the building strengthen the integrity as an efficiently weaved vertical transition gracefully intertwine every dwelling within. It creates a rich visual landmark from the intersection, by holding the diverse masses together, engaging with the ground plane and vanishing towards the sky.
To heighten the sense of identity, another layer of material contrast, a louvered mass plugged into the volume along the marginally twisted axis, creating a dramatic spatial demarcation along the exterior, where the light and shade creating dynamic special experience internally, varying in every unit. The double-height living volumes in the duplexes take advantage of these louvered staggering masses that create changing patterns on the wall surfaces, through the day.
The consciously created voids allow each unit to enjoy the views out onto two sides of the building, allowing for well-ventilated and amply lit homes. The angular floor plates create recesses and cantilevers in the floors above and below, giving rise to shaded belts along the threshold of the building, climatically responding to the context.
Residential buildings tend to focus more on the living spaces, leaving little thought for opportunities for community interaction. Here, entrances to all units face each other and semi-private entry courts have been created, that are bathed in light from the adjacent light wells, serving as luxurious foyers for chance interaction between neighbours and others.
By placing the building raised above the ground, the volume provides a relief from the immediate context and wrapped with void, allows direct access to the habitats and parking, creating an external perception which allows the mass to float and define a strong skyline against the universal backdrop.
Architects: FAAB Architektura
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Architect In Charge: Adam Białobrzeski, Adam Figurski, Maria Messina
Area: 260.0 sqm
Year: 2014
Photographs: Bartłomiej Senkowski
Construction: KBii
General Contractor: Doraco Construction Corporation
Sanitary: Sinap
Electrical: Bema-projekt
From the architect. The vertical garden, covering front and side elevations, is a tool which allows to integrate the building with its green context. The FNP headquarters has become an element of the landscape in a very common sense. The green face of the building blurs the boundaries between architecture & nature.
The architecture of the building is created by a collision of textures. The leafy vertical garden, softening the building edges, is contrasted with the smoothness of surfaces finished with light grey concrete panels. The green wall, naturally three-dimensional, is enriching the elevation with its depth. This three-dimensional effect is constantly changing over time. Due to the natural vegetation of the plants and the cycles of the year the face of the building will also be constantly changing.
The vertical garden, taking into account its geographic location, is treated as experimental. During the course of its exploitation, the bio-diversity of the wall may change due to the seeds brought by birds or wind. The designed vegetation optimum should be reached in 2016.
Function
An existing, multifamily housing building has been converted into an office building to house the new headquarters of the Foundation of Polish Science. The FNP headquarters consists of one underground level and four above ground levels. The parking lot, technical rooms and archives were placed below ground at level minus 1. The ground level is composed of reception area, conference rooms, multifunctional spaces and offices. Office spaces have also been placed on the above ground levels.
Historical Background
The building is located in Wierzbno, a part of the Mokotów district which is one of Warsaw’s central neighborhoods. The district was converted from farmland into town in the 1930’s. It stands among the dispersed residential villas nestled into the green. Originally built as low-rise housing in 1933, it suffered serious mutilation by air bombing during WWII. Due to the bombing it lost most of the front façade and parts of the ceilings on all levels. What remained was destroyed by fire. After the war, due to its dilapidated condition, the building was initially condemned to be destroyed. However, due to the significant destruction of the city (72% of residential buildings in Warsaw were lost as a result of the war) the demolition decision was revoked and the building was to be restored. Restoration works were carried out in a poor technical manner due to the lack of availability of quality materials. The building’s original appearance was not restored.
The building is under the protection of the Warsaw Preservation Office, regarding massing of the building and the layout of windows. The proportion of the attic wall mass to the rest of the front elevation is also the subject of interest of the Preservation Office. The terms of conditions for construction, issued by the municipal office, did not allow the enlargement of the building footprint. These same conditions also dictated the coordination of the new design solution with the existing character of the building, especially regarding to the rhythm and symmetry of the elevations.
Structural Assessment
„…cracked walls will fall by its own weight.” “…the street front of the building destroyed with the (air) bomb, the rest of the building, roof and the 2nd level burnt down”.Inspector J.Maliszewski, 17.08.1945, regarding the present FNP Headquarters building on 20/22 Krasickiego St.
The building structure demanded an extensive scope of stabilization and reinforcement including the foundations, ceilings and bearing walls. All the external wall reparations, carried out just after the WWII needed to be revamped. All of the building corners were reinforced from the outside – with the special system of steel clasps – to the full wall height. The original prefabricated terrazzo runs needed to be strengthened with the steel elements.
Affiliation with Town
The removal of the existing fence in the building front yard helped to enlarge the public space of the street and incorporate the backyard garden with the surroundings. The FNP building is the only example alongside the 900m long Krasickiego Street of a building plot that is not separated with a physical barrier (fence) from the fabric of the town. The perforation through the ground floor, beginning with the main entrance and ending with the backyard garden, establishes an additional visual link between the street and garden view.
Energy
The building is equipped with devices having low energy consumption. The electrical systems have been enriched with elements that manage usage of electrical power in real time. These solutions have lowered the building’s electrical demand and its impact on the municipal network in a substantial way.
Pro-Ecological Identity
The green wall is one of the elements which creates the pro-ecological identity of the building. It helps to improve the energy balance and creates a beneficial microclimate inside the building. The vertical garden, applied onto the front and side elevations, gives 260 m2 of green surface area to the elevations. It is the only one, external garden in Poland and in this part of Europe.
Within the vertical garden 20 different species of plants have been included. Some of them are to create a green background all year, while others will bloom during the warmer seasons. The plants with the decorative red fruits will add a color accent also during the winter seasons. Since the placement of the plants was consulted with the architects, the manifestation of a geometric pattern should reveal itself at the end of the third year of the vegetation cycle – by September 2016.
The plants are supplied with water and necessary nutrients by a special irrigation system supported with a set of sensors located onto the surface of the panels. Based on the information collected the wall is automatically irrigated and fertilized. This process is controlled in real time and can be steered on-line.
A unique mat – made of a material structure similar to that of mineral wool – is the base for the modules of the green wall. In this case, the mat is the supplement of the soil responsible for giving the plants the appropriate support. It also protects the roots of the plants from exposure to the changing and harsh weather conditions, which is essential in the climatic region in which the green wall has been installed. The lightweight modules are mounted to the steel substructure which makes the maintenance of the vertical garden system a relatively easy task. The plants ale placed in the specially designed pockets which helps to exchange them if necessary.
The green wall modules had to be mounted with precision to achieve the desired holistic pattern. Each of the modules was marked with the exact position of its location on the wall.
The substructure also needed to be built with special attention. Mainly, the slope of the wall needed to secure that the proper flow of the water will be sustained. Too large of a deviation could cause some plants to not receive any water at all while others could get an overabundance.
The vertical garden, taking into account its geographic location, is treated as experimental. During the course of its exploitation, the bio-diversity of the wall may change due to the seeds brought by birds or wind. The designed optimum of the vegetation of the wall should be reached in 2016.
Rainwater Management
The biologically active surface, supporting the retention of the rain water, covers almost 67% of the given site. Together with the vertical garden, the green area covers 82% of the surface of the given site. The rain water collected from the roof and pavements is directed into the underground retention basin. The rain water is then used to water the green elevation. This solution helps to reduce to an absolute minimum the amount of the grey water dumped into the municipal rain network.
JA96 takes a retrospective look at the architecture of 2014. 83 projects were chosen to present the best of Japanese architecture, including works by Kazuyo Sejima, Kengo Kuma, Toyo Ito, Tadao Ando and Shigeru Ban.
The issue also features a roundtable conversation between Tomohiko Yamanashi, Satoru Ito and Akihito Aoi about the current architectural design and decision-making.
Contents
Feature Conversation: What is Architecture Classified by? Present Architectural Design and Decision Making / Tomohiko Yamanashi (Architect)×Satoru Ito (Architect)×Akihito Aoi (Architectural Historian)
83 projects
Essay: Now, via the process after 3.11 / Hiroshi Naito (Architect)
11 Joshu Tomioka Station / Makoto Takei＋Chie Nabeshima/TNA
13 Omiyamae Gymnasium / Jun Aoki and Associates
15 ECOLABO Tsurugashima / Kazumi Kudo + Ryuji Fujimura/Toyo University Social Design Studio + Ryuji Fujimura Architects
16 Abeno Harukas / Takenaka Corporation＋Pelliclarke Pelli Architects
18 Toranomon Hills / Nihon Sekkei
20 Yoshida Printing Tokyo HQ / Kazuyo Sejima & Associates
22 Apple Store, Omotesando / Bohlin Cywinski Jackson＋Jun Mitsui & Associates Architects
24 The Heisei Chishinkan Wing, Kyoto National Museum / Taniguchi and Associates
25 GranRoof / Nikken Sekkei/JR EAST Design Corporation, JAHN(design architect）
26 Shimouma Apartment / KUS＋team Timberize
27 Marmaray Project BC1 Railway Bosphorus Tube Crossing, Tunnels and Stations / Taisei Corporation JV
28 Nihonbashi Dia Building / Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei, Takenaka Corporation
29 4 World Trade Center / Maki and Associates with collaborators
30 National Taiwan University, New Collage of Social Sciences / Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects, Fel & Cheng Associates, A+B Design Group
31 Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University / Nikken Sekkei – Kornberg Associates – Kuniken Joint Venture, Nikken Sekkei – Kuniken Joint Venture
32 The Otemachi Tower / Taisei Design Planners Architects & Engineers, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
33 Besanḉon Art Culture Center / Kengo Kuma and Associates
34 Shonan Harbor Yacht House / Helm + ondesign
35 Sonei-ji Cemetery Pavilion “Muyuju-rin” / Kazuyo Sejima & Associates
36 Kitasato University Hospital / Nikken Sekkei
37 The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto / Nikken Sekkei
38 Gate Square / Norihiko Dan and Associates, Ishimoto Architectural &Engineerinig Firm, The Facilities Department, Ueno/Fujii Architects & Associates ＋Takeshi Ueno
39 Tsuruga Multipurpose Center Orupark / Chiba Manabu Architects, JR West Japan Consultants Company
40 Daibiru Honkan / Nikken Sekkei
41 Miaoli Hakka Cultural Park / Takenaka Corporation＋Ricky Liu&Associates
42 Saitama Cancer Center / Yamashita Sekkei, Toda Corporation Architectural Design Dept
43 Aspen Art Museum / Shigeru Ban Architects Tokyo, Shigeru Ban Architects America
44 Daitobunka University Higashi-Matsuyama Campus M-Commons / Nihon Sekkei
45 Kyoto Apartments（Nishinoyama House）/ Kazuyo Sejima & Associates
46 The Yomiuri Shimbun Building / Nikken Sekkei
47 Akita Museum of Art / Tadao Ando Architect & Associates
48 Yamate Street House / Taichi Mitsuya & Associates＋Unemori Architects
49 Toho Gakuen School of Music / Nikken Sekkei
50 Setonaikai National Park / MIYAJIMA MISEN Observatory Sambuichi Architects
51 AU dormitory 1st phase / Ikko Kobayashi＋Fumi Kashimura/Terrain Architects, Plantek Consultants
52 Ribbon Chapel / Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP
53 Sayama Forest Chapel / Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP
54 Owariookunitamajinja Naoiden / Osamu Kiuchi Architect & Associates
55 Shinjyuku Ruriko-in Byakurenge-do / Kiyoshi Sey Takeyama + Amorphe
56 Terasaki House / Office of Ryue Nishizawa
57 ”GALLERY MàRoù”, Nagaoka Institute of Design / Hideyuki Yamashita＋Norihiro Ejiri
58 Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum / Takenaka Corporation
59 Kuma Technical High School Administrative Building / Workstation＋Mode Frontier＋Hagimine JV
60 Kyobashi Child Institution / Shimizu Corporation
61 House-Dangozaka / Kazuyo Sejima&Associates
62 SHIIKI HALL, Kyushu University / Hiroshi Naito/Naito Architects & Associates
63 JFE Steel West Japan Works, Fukuyama General Administration Office /Yamashita Sekkei・Takenaka Corporation
64 Shinsho-ji Temple Sho-do / Terunobu Fujimori + Nobumichi Ohshima (Ohshima Atelier)
65 WKB / Kenichiro Niizeki/Niizeki Studio＋Shuji Tada
66 SunnyHills at Minami-Aoyama / Kengo Kuma and Associates
67 Boundary Window / Shingo Masuda＋Katsuhisa Otsubo
68 Villa Sengokuhara / Shigeru Ban Architects
69 Church of Eaves-Higashiyahata Christ Church / Takaharu Tezuka＋Yui Tezuka/Tezuka architect
70 egota house B / Atelier and I, Kazunari Sakamoto Architectural Laboratory
71 Kanaya Kindergarten / Ishijima Architects＋Go Komatsu Architects
72 Sumita Town Office / Maeda Corporation・Hasegawa Corporation・Nakai Architects＋Modern Aechitecture Institute
73 Share Flat Babakkawa / Toshiaki Ishida Architect & Associates + Tano Design Lab.
74 Wall Behavior / Miya Akiko・Studio 2A
75 Hajimari Art Center / Moo Architect Workshop
76 Riku Cafe Permanent Construction / Naruse Inokuma Architects
77 Solar Town FUCHU / Masamitsu Nozawa Building Workshop
78 Tagawa Child Center “MaiMai” / Takao Shiotsuka Atelier
79 Hayama Studio Project / Takematsu Yukiharu + E.P.A
80 Dragon Court Village / Junya Inagaki＋Satoshi Sano＋Takuo Nagai＋Eisuke Hori/EUREKA
81 ONOMICHI U2 / Makoto Tanijiri＋Ai Yoshida/SUPPOSE DESIGN OFFICE
82 House in Chofu / Koji Aoki Architects
83 Share Place Higashikanagawa 99 / ReBITA, REWRITE Development
84 Bluewave Techonologies (BWT) Asutopia Factory / Kazuhiro Kojima+Kazuko Akamatsu/CAt
85 Keio University Hall of Residence Hiyoshi 12 /Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei
86 Salon of Kazo / Masahiro Harada＋Mao／MOUNT FUJI ARCHITECTS STUDIO
87 Interior Park, Nursery Room, Parenting Support Center in Amyu Atsugi 8F / junya . ishigami + associates
88 Chiba University Inohana Memorial Hall Renovation / Maki and Associates
89 Light Sheds / FT Architects
90 Home-for-all for Tsukihama in Miyatojima / Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA
91 FDM House / Mio Tsuneyama/mnm
92 Gururin / DesignBuildFUKUOKA
93 Fukushigakudan Community Care Yoshikawa / Konno＋Nippon Institute of Technology Chie Konno Labo
94 Mono:Factory Showroom in Shinagawa / Hiroyuki Yoshioka / iroirotoridori
95 Le MISTRAL /JP Architects
99 Engawa Office / Satoru Ito＋Issei Suma＋Kosuke Bando
102 Apartments with a Small Restaurant28 / Naka Architect’s Studio
104 Mitazono Wakaba Kindergarten / Kenya Ishihara/Chiba Institute of Technology＋Ishimori Architects
106 House in Shinmeichou4 / Moku-Chin Kikaku
Design Team: Matti Sanaksenaho: Head Designer, Jaana Hellinen: Project Architect, Pirjo Sanaksenaho, Maria Isotupa, Aleksi Räihä
Construction Engineering: Oskari Laukkanen
Hvac Engineering: Esko Helin
Electrical Engineering: Jarmo Nenonen
From the architect. Villa Musu is located on a beautiful lake shore lot with a pine tree forest surrounding the house. The design is shaped into a soft, organic plan that naturally flows into the landscape.
The commission included a one family house with an entry porch, a Finnish sauna and an atelier. The indoor spaces as well as an outdoor terrace are covered by a bean shaped roof.
The house is completely wooden aside from concrete foundations. Load-bearing walls are constructed as timber frames, and the visible wooden roof structure was inspired by the veins of a tree leaf. Facades are made of black painted timber of different width and thickness. This way the villa blends in into the forest landscape.
Energy consumption of Villa Musu is reduced through extensive insulation in roof structure as well as the orientation of glazing. North and east elevations are massive walls, whereas south and west elevations bathe in natural light and benefit from natural passive heating with plenty of glazing.
During warm summer months the overheating of rooms is prevented with projecting eaves.
The European Commission and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe have selected 420 projects to compete for the 2015 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award. The nominations span 36 countries, with the most nominated projects coming from Spain. Twenty-seven percent of the shortlisted projects are housing related, while 24% are cultural facilities, 11% are education-related and the remaining 33% are sport, commercial, governmental, transport and urban projects.
Established in 1987 by the European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe – Barcelona, the 60.000€ Mies Van der Rohe award is one of the most prestigious and important awards for European architecture. The prize is awarded biennially to works that have been completed in the past two years. Previous winners have included the Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre in Reykjavik, designed by the Danish architectural firm Henning Larsen in collaboration with the Islandic practice Batteríið and the artist Olafur Elíasson, and the Neues Museum in Berlin, designed by David Chipperfield Architects and Julian Harrap.
An Emerging Architect prize for professionals beginning their career as well as the Young Talent Architecture Prize (YTAP) for the best European master’s projects from 2014 will also be awarded. In addition, this year for the first time the jury will include a client who has supported high quality architecture and commissioned projects to European architects. The jury will select the shortlisted projects by the end of January 2015.
Read on after the break for the members of the jury, the full list of all 420 nominated projects and ArchDaily’s exclusive Mies van der Rohe Award infographic.
Jury Members:
Practicing Architects
Cino Zucchi, Chair of the Jury, Principle, Cino Zucchi Architetti, Milan
Margarita Jover, Principle, aldayjover architecture and landscape, Charlottesville and Barcelona
Bauhaus Masters’ Houses / Bruno Fioretti Marquez Architekten (Dessau, Germany)
One Man Sauna – Idleness In Bochum / modulorbeat (Bochum, Germany)
Gleisdreieck Park / Atelier Loidl (Berlin, Germany)
Bikini Berlin / Hild und K Berlin Planungs GmbH & Co. KG (Berlin, Germany)
Joseph Pschorr House / Kuehn Malvezzi (München, Germany)
House 36 / MBA/S Matthias Bauer Associates (Stuttgart, Germany)
Frankie&johnny Dormitories / Holzer Kobler Architekturen Berlin GmbH (Berlin, Germany)
Motorway Church In Wilnsdorf / schneider+schumacher (Wilnsdorf, Germany)
New Civic Centre In Wettstetten / Bembé Dellinger Architects (Wettstetten, Germany)
B10 / Werner Sobek Group GmbH (Stuttgart, Germany)
Footbridge Bleichwiese / schlaich bergermann und partner (Backnang, Germany)
Concert Hall In Blaibach / Peter Haimerl Architektur (Blaibach, Germany)
New Ministry Building / Staab Architekten (Stuttgart, Germany)
Hospitalhof In Stuttgart / Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei (Stuttgart, Germany)
Zk/u Center For Art And Urbanistics / KUNSTrePUBLIK (Berlin, Germany)
Coop-housing-project At The River Spree, Mixed Use + Low Cost + High Standard / fatkoehl architekten, BAR Architekten, Carpaneto Architekten Berlin, Die Zusammenarbeiter – Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH (Berlin, Germany)
Werkhaus Schütze / Thomas Kröger Architekt (Gerswalde, Germany)
Elementary School At Arnulf Park / Hess Talhof Kusmierz Architekten (München, Germany)
R50 Cohousing / HEIDE & VON BECKERATH, ifau und Jesko Fezer (Berlin, Germany)
Sound Villa Multi-functional Community Space / Delta Architectural Office (Veszprém, Hungary)
Visegrád Town Centre Development, Health Centre And Munltifunctional Event Hall Extension / A+ Architects’ Studio (Visegrád, Hungary)
Esterházy Palace In Fertod, Reconstruction Of The Marionette Theatre, Orangerie And Watertower / M Architects Ltd. (Fertőd, Hungary)
New Visitor Entrance Of The Benedictine Archabbey Of Pannonhalma / CZITA Architects (Pannonhalma, Hungary)
Metro Stations Of Fovam And St. Gellert / sporaarchitects Ltd., PALATIUM Stúdió Ltd. ( Budapest, Hungary)
Kemenes Volcanopark Visitor Center / Földes Architects (Celldömölk, Hungary)
Stations Of Underground Line M4, Budapest / VPI Építész Ltd., Gelesz és Lenzsér Ltd., Budapesti Mühely Ltd., PALATIUM Stúdió Ltd., sporaarchitects Ltd., Puhl és Dajka Építész Iroda Ltd.
Philarmonic Hall Szczecin / Studio A4 sp. z o.o. -collaborator, Barozzi / Veiga (Szczecin, Poland)
Silesian Museum / Riegler Riewe Architekten ZT-Ges.m.b.H (Katowice, Poland)
Museum Of The History Of Polish Jews / Architects Lahdelma & Mahlamäki (Warszawa, Poland)
Market In Mszana Dolna / eM4.Pracownia Architektury.Brataniec (Mszana Dolna, Poland)
Centre For The Documentation Of The Art Of Tadeusz Kantor / IQ2 Konsorcjum / WIZJA SP. z o.o., IQ2 Konsorcjum / nsMoonStudio SP. z o.o. (Krakow, Poland)
The Malopolska Garden Of Arts / Ingarden & Ewý Architects (Krakow, Poland)
The Seat Of The National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra In Katowice (nospr) / Konior Studio Tomasz Konior (Katowice, Poland)
Ichot – Gate Of Poznan / AD ARTIS ARCHITECTS (Poznan, Poland)
Living-garden House In Izbica / KWK Promes (Izbica, Poland)
Sluzewski Culture Centre / 307kilo, WWAA (Warszawa, Poland)
The Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre / Renato Rizzi (Gdansk, Poland)
Cultural And Educational Center And Rosary Garden At The St. Hyacinth Church In Bytom / Medusa Group (Bytom, Poland)
Flyspot – Aerodynamic Tunnel In Mory Nearby Warsaw / Biuro Projektów Lewicki Latak (Warszawa, Poland)
Lublin Science And Technology Park / Stelmach i Partnerzy Biuro Architektoniczne Sp. z o. o. (Lublin, Poland)
Remodeling Of The Recreational Area At The Paprocany Lake / RS+ Robert Skitek (Tychy, Poland)
The Krzysztof Penderecki European Music Centre / DDJM Architects (Zakliczyn, Poland)
Living-garden House In Katowice / KWK Promes (Katowice, Poland)
PORTUGAL
Data Center Portugal Telecom / JLCG arquitectos (Covilhã, Portugal)
The Assisted Pedestrian Path From Pombaline Downtown To S. Jorge’s Castle / FALCÃO DE CAMPOS ARQUITECTO, LDA (Lisboa, Portugal)
Lima De Freitas School Modernization In Setúbal / Ricardo Carvalho + Joana Vilhena Arquitectos (Setúbal, Portugal)
Arquipélago – Contemporary Arts Centre / João Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto, lda, Menos é Mais Arquitectos Associados, Lda. (Ribeira Grande, Azores, Portugal)
óbidos Technological Park / Central Building / Jorge Mealha Arquitecto (Óbidos, Portugal)
Multipurpose Pavilion In Viana Do Castelo / Souto Moura – Arquitectos, S.A. (Viana do Castelo, Portugal)
Ilhavo Maritime Museum Extension / ARX Portugal Arquitectos (Ilhavo, Portugal)
The Olive Tree And The Olive Oil Museum Of Mirandela / Manuel Graça Dias + Egas José Vieira, Arquitectos, Contemporânea, ld (Mirandela, Portugal)
White Wolf Hotel / AND-RÉ (Peñafiel, Portugal)
Alves De Sousa Wine Celler / Belém Lima Arquitectos
Recovery And Expansion Of The Machado De Castro Museum / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos, Lda (Coimbra, Portugal)
Bouça Das Cardosas Houses / Atelier da Bouça (Paredes de Coura, Portugal)
E/c House / SAMI-arquitectos (São Roque do Pico, Portugal)
Torre De Palma Wine Hotel / João Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto, lda (Monforte, Portalegre, Portugal)
Bank Of Portugal Head Office Refurbishment / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos, Lda (Lisboa, Portugal)
High Performance Rowing Center / spacialAR-TE (VILA NOVA DE FOZ CÔA, Portugal)
Patio House / PROMONTORIO (GRÂNDOLA, Portugal)
House In Time / Aires Mateus & Associados (Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal)
Cultural Center In Castelo Branco / MAP Architectes (Castelo Branco, Portugal)
ROMANIA
‘urban Spaces’ / Dogarilor Apartment Building / ADN Birou de Arhitectura (Bucharest, Romania)
Mincu House – Headquarters Of The Chamber Of Romanian Architects / Prodid (Bucharest, Romania)
Residencial And Commercial Building / Efekat uau d.o.o. (Belgrade, Serbia)
Regional Center Of Industrial Heritage Senjski Rudnik / Timotijevic-Petrovic (Despotovac, Serbia)
Residential Building In Vasa Stajića Street / Kuzmanov and Partners (Novi Sad, Serbia)
Maxima Complex, Block 11a At Gp-3 / Balans-studio doo (Belgrade, Serbia)
House C And House D, Cultural And Tourist Complex Of The Terra Panonica Company / Studio AUTORI (Mokrin, Serbia)
Combined Childrens Institution / Kindergarten / tesla – Science For Life / DVA: Studio (Belgrade, Serbia)
SLOVAKIA
Prefab House In Rimavska Sobota / GutGut (Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia)
Kulturpark Kosice / zerozero (Kosice, Slovakia)
Spots – Conversion Of Former Transformation Stations / Architektonické túdio Atrium (Koice, Slovakia)
Old Power Plant Piestany / ADOM . M STUDIO (design factory) (Piestany, Slovakia)
SLOVENIA
Ptuj Performance Center Dominican Monastery Ptuj / ENOTA (Ptuj, Slovenia)
Air Traffic Control Centre Atcc / SADAR+VUGA (Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Refurbishment Of The Ljubljanica Riverside Zones / Urbi d.o.o.; BB Arhitekti d.o.o.; Dans Arhitekti; Atelje Vozlic; Trije arhitekti d.o.o; Janez Kozelj, City architect, coordinator; ATELIERarhitekti; Arhitektura doo (Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Compact Karst House / dekleva gregoric arhitekti (Vrhovlje, Slovenia)
In an article for The Guardian, Maryam Omidi explores Moscow’s Door19, a place where “Damien Hirst and David LaChapelle artworks adorn the raw concrete walls,” “flair bartenders serve up gem-coloured cocktails,” and “a rotation of Michelin-starred chefs flown in from around the world curate new menus each week.” It is indicative, she argues, of what Kuba Snopek (a lecturer at the Strelka Institute) describes as “hipster Stalinism” – a surge of redevelopment in certain parts of Moscow that cater to the ‘oligarchs’, wealthy creatives and Muscovite ‘hipsters’. At Door19, for example, apartments sell for between $15,000 and $20,000 per square metre.
Urbanism has also benefited from fast-paced renewal with the successful regeneration of Gorky Park, a project overseen by Culture Minster Sergey Kapkov. It has itself instigated a number of other projects to rejuvenate public space in the city, but these have often coincided with civil political tensions.
General Contractor: SETE
Museography: Lydia Elhadad
From the architect. Two pavilions have been entirely rebuilt. Technical analyses established that it would be better to rebuild the pavilions entirely than simply to refurbish them. The 58 Tour Eiffel restaurant gains entirely new facades to maintain consistency with the refurbished first floor.
The Eiffel Pavilion contains a meeting and conference room entirely redesigned and rebuilt to provide one of the most attractive events spaces in Paris.
A number of pavilion configurations are possible: 200 guests seated or 300 standing, making the space perfect for conferences, receptions and cocktail parties in a unique setting.
The Ferrié Pavilion features a shop and restaurant on its lower level, and relaxation and viewing areas on its upper level.
Inside the Ferrié Pavilion, the restaurant and shop spaces have been entirely redesigned and refitted for greater visitor comfort and convenience. Rest and relaxation spaces have been created, and the views over Paris have been maximised by the introduction of more extensive glazing and the connection of spaces.
On the upper level of the Ferrié Pavilion, an immersive multimedia show using 7 projectors and 3 screens takes visitors deep into the three worlds of the Eiffel Tower: extraordinary contemporary architecture at the heart of the City of Light.
A museography pathway through the history of the Eiffel Tower
The cultural pathway takes visitors around the first floor in the open air via a series of kiosks, showcases, information screens, touch screens, digital albums and bookstalls structured around two key themes: the work of Gustave Eiffel and the Tower as a symbol of a modernising world.
It presents the Eiffel Tower to visitors as an art icon. Information on the life and work of Gustave Eiffel is presented in French and English, accompanied by his family album, the history of the Tower’s construction and subsequent evolution, and photographs of those who work every day to keep the legend alive.
The Ferrié Pavilion features reproductions of items from the Eiffel Tower collection presented in updated surroundings.
Throughout its eight-century-long history, Chartres Cathedral has been consistently cited as one of the world’s greatest religious spaces, charming countless architects thanks to its dramatic interior combining brooding stone vaults and delicate stained glass windows. But this legacy is severely threatened, argues Martin Filler for the New York Review of Books, by a “foolhardy” restoration in its zeal for recapturing the past “makes authentic artifacts look fake.”
Despite minimal evidence of the cathedral’s original interior color scheme, and despite the fact that this color scheme has been forgotten for well over five hundred years, the French Ministry of Culture’s Monuments Historiques division is pressing ahead with a scheme to paint the interior white, with trompe l’oeil marbling and gilded detailing, in an effect that Filler compares to “some funeral parlor in Little Italy.” He writes:
“Whereas the old, age-darkened masonry heightened the intense colors of the windows, the new paint subverts them. As Adrien Goetz wrote in Le Figaro last month (in one of the very few critical accounts of the overhaul in France), the new effect is like “watching a film in a movie theater where they haven’t turned off the lights.””
Colorful lights dance across translucent panels, illuminating the backdrop of Toronto’s glowing downtown high-rises. In their three-dimensional interactive installation entitled AMAZE, design and research laboratory UNSTABLE has created a multisensory experience like no other. Complex branching passageways challenge visitors to find their own path through the ever-changing structure, as if wandering through a vivid psychedelic dream. Becoming an integral part of the installation, visitors are met with dynamic shadows of the crowd and the urban landscape beyond before finding their way out of the maze.
Using a standard scaffolding system with layers of translucent fabric, AMAZE is quick to build, versatile, secure, and affordable. Covering 300 square meters, the digital imaging component of AMAZE was derived from the concept of “scaffoldage,” featuring a linear grid-like pattern over which other media is projected. The texture becomes a dynamic element whose transformation is dictated by the pre-defined patterns of a computer algorithm. This digital lightshow is then projected onto the layers of translucent fabric, creating an exaggerated sense of disorientation within the space of the maze.
The concept of a maze was chosen to allow for the possibility of multiple visitor experiences depending on the chosen path for navigation. The layout was carefully considered to allow for the optimal movement of people, while at the same time provoking a sense of confusion and disorientation. Because of the structure’s translucent fabric, visitors are able to constantly maintain a visual connection with the city beyond while walking through the maze. This transforms the journey into a playful experience that is inevitably connected to the urban context.
Sited in a large outdoor parking area in downtown Toronto, AMAZE was presented as part of the exhibition entitled “The Possibility of Everything” curated by Dominique Fontaine for the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche festival, which premiered on October 4th, 2014.
UNSTABLE is a multidisciplinary design and research laboratory that explores the social and political aspects of architecture in relation to the urban context. Currently operating from Iceland, UNSTABLE was founded in New York by Marcos Zotes (Madrid, 1977), a Reykjavik-based architect and visual artist with output ranging from buildings to interactive installations and public interventions.
Structural: SNC Lavalin Inc., Ove Arup
Mechanical: CBCL Limited, Ove Arup
Electrical: CBCL Limited, Ove Arup
Civil: SNC Lavalin Inc.
Landscape Architect : Gordon Ratcliffe Landscape Architect
Interior: Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects , Fowler Bauld & Mitchell
Public Consultation: Myrgan Inc.
Sustainability: Targeting LEED Gold certification
Acoustics: Swallow Acoustic Consultants Ltd.
Building Code: RJ Bartlett Engineering Ltd.
Curtain Wall: BVDA Façade Engineering Ltd.
Wind & Snow Environmental: Theakston Environmental Consulting Engineers
Theatre Design: Theatre Consulting Group Ltd.
Third Party Commissioning: FC O’Neill Scriven & Assoc. Ltd.
Project Manager : Halifax Regional Municipality
Construction Manager : EllisDon Corporation
Construction Budget: € 33 million excl. VAT
From the architect. As the new Halifax Central Library opens to the public on 13 December 2014, the citizens of Halifax, Canada, have been given a civic landmark which has already received international recognition. The contract to design the 15,000 m2 library was won in an international competition in 2010 by the Danish schmidt hammer lassen architects and local firm Fowler Bauld & Mitchell. Sited on a prominent location in the heart of Halifax, the library stands as a cultural hub accessible to everyone and as a result of what can be achieved through co-creation.
The new Halifax Central Library has an open, welcoming design which reflects the city’s diverse population and heritage. The building is a catalyst for the regeneration of the downtown area and the product of an extensive co-creation process involving monthly public consultations and workshops with various focus groups.
The exterior of the library appears as four rectangular shapes placed on top of one another and horizontally twisted to relate to the two diagonal directions that are dominant in the otherwise orthogonal grid of the city.
“Halifax is a city whose maritime heritage calls for attention when designing a new public building. Therefore, the historical axis between the Halifax Citadel and the Halifax Harbour, crossing right through the library site, is reflected in the orientation of the fifth floor of the building containing the Halifax Living Room hereby providing not only a unique view but also an understanding of the city’s historical heritage,” explains Founding Partner Morten Schmidt of schmidt hammer lassen architects.
The interior of the library reflects the diversity of the exterior with stairs and bridges in the atrium connecting the five storeys. The light-filled atrium gives an overview of the wide range of facilities the library offers, including a 300-seat performance space, two cafés, gaming stations, music studios, dedicated space for adult literacy classes, a First Nations reading circle, and boardrooms for local entrepreneurs. The entire second floor is dedicated to children and young adults with areas designed for each age group, ranging from toddlers to teens.
“The new Halifax Central Library is a modern, hybrid library. It combines the best of a traditional library with new and innovative programmes and facilities,” explains Partner Chris Hardie from schmidt hammer lassen architects. “By designing a library that is adaptable we embrace multiple functions to ensure that the library will meet the needs of the Halifax community into the future. People should see this building not only as a library but as a free public space in the heart of the city.”
On the topic of modern libraries, Morten Schmidt adds: “Modern libraries are one of the most important platforms for exchanging knowledge. As opposed to information found on the internet, the knowledge that arises through collaboration and exchange between people in a library is of particular significance. The new Halifax Central Library is a cultural hub, a vital centre for learning and a civic landmark for the entire community.”
Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects has an extensive track-record of designing libraries; the most renowned of these may be the extension to the Royal Library in Copenhagen, Denmark and the RIBA Award-winning University of Aberdeen New Library in Scotland. Earlier this year, the first library designed by the architectural practice in Canada was opened in Edmonton. In 2015 DOKK1, the new public library in Aarhus, Denmark, will be completed; it will be the largest of its kind in Scandinavia.
On a recent trip abroad, architect and urban planner José Castillo was struck by a conversation with Mexico’s tourism attaché in Asia. Mexican tourism, the attaché remarked, has changed; it was the ancient pyramids and sandy beaches of the country that once drew visitors to it. Today however, architecture and design—and food—prevail.
The issue of food may be of little wonder. Mexican cuisine has indeed become more popular than ever in both the high and low ends of the culinary spectrum, and food in general is not only what one eats for dinner but also a hobby and an obsessive conversation topic. Yet for local design to come to the same level of acclaim and reputation is, at any rate, quite astonishing. It may be, though, that food and architecture are not so far apart. These are both highly creative and productive professions, as well as ones with a rich history, a theory, and many layers of tradition.
The capital of Mexico is the country’s mecca for both of these contemporary attractions. It is a chaotic metropolis with over 21 million inhabitants living in high density within a volcanic valley. “In Mexico City, everything comes in large amounts”, says Castillo who, together with a design team led by him, Gabriella Gomez-Mont, and Carlos Gershenson, was recently chosen as the 2014 winner of the Audi Urban Initiative award—a lucrative prize of 100,000 Euros awarded biannually by the German car company to an innovative urban project. The team’s proposal, titled “An Operating System for the City”, reacted to complex mobility questions in Mexico City by combining original crowd-sourced traffic data with a physical and spatial understanding. “For a commuter,” Castillo explains, “it may take 90 minutes to travel between two relatively proximate places. There is always a schizophrenic sense of simultaneous pleasure and frustration here: we love it and hate it. But these challenges, however problematic, call for us architects to think of resolutions.”
Challenges for architects and planners are abundant here. Beside its enormous size and continuous process of sprawling, its traffic, and its financial and political difficulties, law and order have a different interpretation when translated to the local dialect. Crossing border control in the city’s airport—an architectural mess soon to be replaced by a shiny new one designed by Norman Foster in collaboration with FR-EE (the practice of architect Fernando Romero)—a long drive through the notoriously known Periferico highway reaches the heart of the city. Urban palaces of faded colonial glory combine intimately with Aztec temples, modernist remains, and sparkling new buildings. A strong sense of appetite for updated architecture is felt almost everywhere here, and a rare and exciting energy to act, change, move, and create.
Generally speaking, the spotlight of the architectural field has a tendency to shift over geographies and focus, for a while, on a particular place. In the nineties, for example, Holland was the go-to place for provocative contemporary architecture, with the likes of OMA and MVRDV. Switzerland shined later with Herzog and de Meuron and other practices, followed by Japan’s post-bubble scene with SANAA, Atelier Bow Wow, Kengo Kuma, Toyo Ito, and later Junya Ishigami. While China and the Arab Emirates make waves in the design world, they both fail to create a strong local character and focus more on importing global brands.
Mexico, however, is a different case. It nourishes architectural education and innovation within, and attracts international firms at the same time. “Me-Mo”, short for Mexican-Moment, is a term invented by local architects. When did this city, until recently famous for its corruption, violence, and drug trafficking, become the world’s leader in contemporary design?
Jose Castillo and his firm, Arquitectura 911sc, are relatively young members of a large group of Mexican architects that have been gaining increasing international acclaim in the last decade. Most of these designers, like Tatiana Bilbao, Fernando Romero, Alberto Kalach, Enrique Norten, Isaac Broid, Michel Rojkind, and Mauricio Rocha, successfully established practices with a strong aesthetic language and a defined character. Some of them have also extended their reach, and opened branches of their practices in different countries. There are few other places in the world today, however, with such a long list of dominant designers.
“I believe there is rather a special sense of generosity in Mexico, sort of like a Latin family”, says Wonne Ickx, one of four founding partners of the Mexico City based architecture office ‘Productora’. “For example,” Ickx continues, “in 2008, Tatiana Bilbao was invited to participate in the international project ‘Ordos 100’ in China.” The project, curated by artist Ai Wei Wei and architects Herzog and de Meuron, commissioned 100 international architects to design 100 villas for a new residential development. Bilbao did not keep the cards to herself, but chose to connect the project’s leaders to nine other Mexican offices, with Productora included.
Later on, Ickx and his office continued to collaborate with different local firms. A current project on their boards, for instance, is a winning competition entry for a new cultural auditorium in Cuernavaca, Morelos, on which they worked with Isaac Broid. The project’s triangular shape echoes that of the Aztec Teopanzolco Pyramid, situated right across from it. The clean-cut form of the project is characteristic of Productora’s work, which Ickx calls “objective” – referring to both neutrality and formal objectification.
Frida Escobedo, a 34-year-old architect who established her own practice for architecture and public art projects in Mexico City, reaffirms the communal notion of the local scene. “I don’t really think there is a clear hierarchical age division between architects here. There are mutual preoccupations that connect us, an approach towards architecture and its relation to public space, and to the aging of materials and ideas”, she says. After studying at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Escobedo went back to continue her practice in Mexico, which she finds fertile as a ground for young architects to actually get their designs executed. She, too, had a chance to collaborate with numerous other firms, while also completing a large number of ambitious individual projects and exhibitions. Her recently completed Hotel Boca Chica (Acapulco) and La Tallera Siqueiros museum (Cuernavaca, Morelos), displayed exceptional material sensibility and historical understanding, and established her as a prominent young voice in her country and abroad.
Decades have passed since Mexico last received architectural recognition prior to this current wave. Luis Barragan, the country’s most influential modern architect, was honored with a Pritzker Prize in 1980, years after the completion of his master works. Barragan, whose own house is a museum today and a pilgrimage site for many architects internationally, was the only Mexican to receive the Pritzker, ever. After traveling all over Europe and briefly meeting Le Corbusier in France, Barragan practiced in Mexico City from 1936 until his death in 1988. He developed a language that became synonymous with Mexican Modernism, and is regarded as an unparalleled genius that connected modern and archaic, universal and local, saturated colors and exposed materials, art and architecture.
Yet Barragan, too, liked to collaborate. Perhaps less with architects and more with artists, he learned about light manipulation and mixing color pigments, eventually coming to the specific effects that his sculptural spaces achieve – spaces so unique they can only be fully understood in person. Despite his singular recognition in his generation, modernism in Mexico spanned far beyond Barragan. This was a prosperous period for local architecture, with phenomenal designers like Mario Pani, Juan O’Gorman, Felix Candela, Pedro Ramirez Vazquez, Agustin Hernandez, Ricardo Legorreta, Mathias Goeritz, and more.
Many modernist buildings stayed in tact and are worth visiting, in order to perceive the city’s complicated past beyond the extraordinary houses of Barragan. The UNAM (Autonomous University of Mexico) campus includes various impressive projects and is a good example of large-scale axial planning, in which the ornamented central library by Juan O’Gorman is a highlight. Other notable examples include ‘Parroquia de la Medalla Milagrosa’ church and ‘Los Manantiales’ restaurant (Felix Candela), ‘Torres de Satélite’ sculpture (Luis Barragán, Jesús Reyes Ferreira, and Mathias Goeritz), the National Museum of Anthropology (Pedro Ramirez Vazquez), ‘Torre Insignia’ (Mario Pani), Hotel Camino Real (Ricardo Legorreta), and the Diego Rivera studio house (O’Gorman) – for its architecture, if the art alone wasn’t enough. Dozens more projects, from Mies van der Rohe’s Bacardi office building to the remains of the 1968 Olympic-Games stadiums and facilities, could go into this list as well.
“Mexico is one of the only countries to have had a successful 20th century revolution”, says Diane E. Davis, a professor of urban planning and design at Harvard University who has written extensively on Mexico City, including the book ‘Urban Leviathan: Mexico City in the Twentieth Century’ (1994). “The political shift in Mexico City, in any case, was fairly recent”, she continues. “People could elect their own mayor only since the nineties, while before that this was an appointment made by the country’s president. New people came into power, with ideas and will to do things in a new and different way. Today, there are many architects and creative professionals in governance positions. I think one of the exciting things about Mexico City is that it tries to move forward to a more modern future, to insert itself into the global-city branding game, but it is doing so in great attention to its culture and its history, and in innovative ways.”
Walking along the northern edge of the fashionable Polanco neighborhood, an unusual vista opens up: situated across from each other, two relatively new museum buildings show off stark architectural contradiction. On the one side, there is the virtuosic Soumaya Museum designed by Fernando Romero – a digital-looking organic shape cladded by aluminum tiles; on the other, the more traditional but nonetheless bold Jumex Museum, designed by British architect David Chipperfield. An interesting relationship exists between the two structures, which seem to enjoy and defy each other’s presence simultaneously. As two private art museums, funded by two different and extremely wealthy patrons, the museums symbolize the extreme economic gaps that exist in Mexico, and underline many problematic aspects of spatial and cultural dominance. And yet, they also stand for Mexico City’s mutual appreciation and support of both local and international designers, as well as its openness toward new and daring architecture.
Mexico City is a phenomenon in both the local and the international level. An increasing number of architects have moved here to practice in the last few years. Some explain it with the lack of work in other Spanish-speaking countries. Others come because of love for the city and its lifestyle, and acknowledge the ambitious opportunities that this architectural scene provides. Christoph Zeller and Ingrid Moye, for example, are a young architect-couple that are splitting their practice between Mexico City and Berlin. “Ingrid is Mexican”, Zeller explains, “and we met while working together at SANAA and at Herzog and de Meuron. When we decided to open our own practice, we thought Mexico City would be a good base. We felt there is more room here for experimentation – in theory and practice. In Europe, and especially in Berlin, there is a lot of critical reconstruction. The historical context is dominating and new projects are cautious with a heavy responsibility of repairing. Here, there are other problems of course. The city is out of control, but it is also free. It welcomes an international direction like ours, and also maintains a strong cultural identity.” Zeller and Moye have designed numerous galleries and other cultural spaces in Mexico City, and are currently collaborating with Fernando Romero on a future design gallery called ‘Archivo’.
“Mexico City could be quite violent, but in architecture it is certainly going through a transformation”, says Emmanuel Picault, who runs a practice with his partner Ludwig Godefroy. The two are both originally from Normandy, and only met after moving to Mexico City separately. ‘M. N. Roy’, a nightclub they designed together, is one of the more surprising and impressive interior spaces. Cladded almost completely by wooden strips, the club resembles a dark tribal temple with a pyramid shape. “We like to call it ‘Neo-Pre-Hispanic’. We’re proud to use local materials, vernacular techniques, and to draw from the architectural history of this place”, adds Godefroy. After their success with M. N. Roy, the two designed a series of restaurants and private projects in Mexico City and in Paris.
Beside his job as an architect, Picault owns a Mexican furniture gallery in the city, called ‘Chic by Accident’. Among other designers, he sells pieces by Luis Barragan. “This is a constantly surprising and inspiring place”, he says. “If you live here, it is not only because it’s cheap, but because you love it and feel a strong link to this city.”
Daniel Rauchwerger is an architect and writer based in Cambridge, MA. He contributes regularly to various publications, including Haaretz Newspaper, Harvard Design Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and Architizer.
Structural Engineer: AG&E Structural Engenuity
Mep Engineer: Blum Consulting Engineers
General Contractor: Herman Darden
From the architect. The site is directly across the street from White Rock Park and is on one of the highest elevations in the City of Dallas, it is approximately 100’ above the surface of White Rock Lake, which is only about 1,000 feet away to the southwest.
A primary goal for this house was to design & build a modern residence that has a unique character, responds to its specific location/orientation and employs the construction technologies that are readily available, but not often used in current residential construction.
With the site both highly elevated, and with its long axis aligned directly with the City street grid to the Southwest, the house was oriented to take advantage of the outstanding views across the lake, over the trees and to the City.
Primary living areas were elevated to take advantage of the views and to separate them from the street traffic activity below.
Extensive use of overhangs and porches shield windows from direct sunlight, (reducing energy costs) while still capturing natural light and not obstructing the beautiful views.
The roof deck above serves as a solar screen to the insulated single-ply membrane roof below, which reduces energy costs and extends the life of the roof itself.
The house is intended to express those things from which it is built, with concrete floors, exposed steel structure, pre-manufactured steel modules, masonry and glass as primary elements.
Statsbygg has shortlisted six teams to develop proposals for a new government quarter in Oslo. Selected from 24 submissions, the chosen teams will now have until March 2015 to prepare their ideas. The unconventional competition, which requires the inclusion of students from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, will not culminate with a single winner. Rather, ideas from all the shortlisted proposals will be extracted and used in an eventual masterplan.
From the architect. The refurbishment project – House 1957- began acknowledging the values of the existing house, build in reinforced masonry, that had a right relationship between rooms, orientation and location, all determined by the immediacy of San Cristobal Hill in Santiago. These pre-existing conditions provide a range of perceptual and formal definitions, allowing configure the project´s premises that can be summarized in two main aspects:
1. Zoning:the existing program orderwas maintained, butalteringtheir relationships, reorganizing and redesigningsomeothers tocreatedifferent spacesinformalterms.
Thus, a common area was define for all members of the family, which aims to have full spatial integration, without further boundaries than those established by different areas (living, dining, kitchen and patio-pool). At the same time, two distinct areas for each age-segments of the family were configured; bedrooms, game-room and garden for children at ground level; and main-bedroom, studio and roof-terrace for parents on the second floor.
2. Spatiality: A range of distinctive elements with capacity of altering the space from the existing geometry and improve light penetration -given its location on the southern slopes of the hill- were designed . The aim was to capture the surrounding landscape but diluting neighbors walls to generate perspectives and built a visual tension with the context.
The position of these elements – skylights- was decide in orden to give formal clarity to each space. Also, connector elements stair and bridge acquired a formal singularity to strengthen its identity.
The outcome is a rational box with the all necessary openings, which are located in each room, from floor to ceiling. This order is interfered by skylights, which seek to be a necessary counterpoint to caracterize the space where are situated. In this way, a relation emerge that stress inside and outside, proposing a dialogue with the domestic condition, inherent to the projetc.
Architect Steven Bingler and architectural journalist Martin C. Pedersen fear that architecture is loosing its credibility. In their recent op-ed on the New York Times, the pair claims that our profession’s biggest challenge is regaining public trust by reconnecting architecture with its users. Referencing his mother’s aversion to a student-built affordable housing project that he considered a “bold statement of design,” Bingler believes the key to salvaging the profession is for architects to stop dismissing and start listening to the general public’s take on architecture.
“The question is, at what point does architecture’s potential to improve human life become lost because of its inability to connect with actual humans?” Read the complete article, here.
From the architect. The apartment is located at a Botti Rubinʼs building.
With brutalist architecture, the construction is a typical example of the paulista architectural school production from mid 1960ʼs.
The main concepts of the intervention in this 300 sqm residence were: the wide use of raw concrete, restituting this essential element of the architecture of the building; and the spatial rearrangement in order to make use of the
open floor space from the original project.
Thus, new exposed concrete pieces, like partition, tabletops and sinks, were inserted and the previous concrete of the slabs and beams, which have been coated, were recovered. In addition, by reconfiguring the partition walls, a fluid circulation was created, which allowed to define clearly the bedrooms volume, the kitchen box and the social area open space.
The raw concrete box, in which the kitchen is located, was placed in the middle of the open living room and can be closed by translucent glass doors.
The bedrooms configure a nucleus, finished with colorful lacquer panels, granting luminosity and color to the whole ambient.
A monolithic floor finishing was adopted in order to amplify the sensation of a continuous space, the limits of which were defined by using sliding doors that can be transparent or shaded depending on the function of each area.
As preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics escalate, so do concerns regarding the preservation of the city’s heritage; and more specifically, according to Tomas Maier, Japan’s modernist architecture. The Bottega Venneta creative director recently embarked on an “urgent visit” to Japan in an effort to evaluate the city’s risk of loosing its modernist icons. With special consideration for the overlooked and threatened Hotel Okura, Maier believes that this Yoshiro Taniguchi-designed landmark is just one of many structures at risk of falling to “progress.”
Watch the video above and learn more about how you can help preserve the Hotel Okura, here.
