Jan 11
Jan 11
News: Zaha Hadid’s planned extension to a centre for studying Middle-Eastern culture at the University of Oxford is set to begin construction later this month (+ slideshow).
Zaha Hadid Architects designed the addition in 2006 for St Antony’s College, one of the seven graduate colleges that comprises the UK’s oldest university. A series of planning and funding issues had delayed construction but the ground breaking is now scheduled for 30 January.
The extension will provide a new library and archive for the Middle East Centre, the college’s facility for the study of humanities and social sciences in the Arab World. Built using stainless steel and glass, the structure will bridge the gap between the centre and a neighbouring college building and will appear from the street as a reflective tunnel suspended in space.
A staircase will wind up between the two storeys of the building to link a large ground floor reading room with a first floor archive dating back to the start of the nineteenth century, as well as a lecture theatre in the basement.
The project forms part of a wider masterplan for St. Antony’s College proposed by architects ADP. Meanwhile, British architect Alison Brooks is currently working on a scheme for a new quadrangle at the university’s Exeter College.
Zaha Hadid has also been in the news recently over a building she designed in China, which has been pirated by a rival developer.
See all our stories about Zaha Hadid »
Here’s a project description from Zaha Hadid Architects:
Middle East Centre, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford
The Middle East Centre of St. Antony’s College is the University of Oxford’s centre for interdisciplinary study of the Modern Middle East. The centre was founded in 1957 and it is focused on research on humanities and social sciences with a wide reference to the Arab World and its geographic adjacencies. The Centre’s research core is a specialised library and substantial paper and photographic archive covering material from 1800’s onwards. At present, the Middle East Centre’s Library and Administration facilities are housed in the former Rectory of the Church of SS. Philip and James at 68 Woodstock Road. The archive is housed in the basement of the neighbouring property at 66 Woodstock Road, sharing the building with other facilities and rooms of the college. The Middle East Centre also had 3 workrooms in the same property. To tie in with the St. Antony’s College future plans the Middle East Centre is planning a new Library and Archive to meet the current use for research and academic activities. Construction for the Zaha Hadid Architects designed scheme, situated in the garden plot between 68 and 66-64 Woodstock Road, is due to commence in January 2013. The new building will comply with the College’s vision for growth and add formal coherence to the existing quad, and tie in with the ambitious ADP’s masterplan for St. Antony’s college.
Above: ground floor plan – click above for larger image
Architect’s statement
Our approach is to define a series of plateaus and territories where different academic and research affiliations can be apparent from the character of the interior space. Form is driven by a series of tension points spread on a synthetic landscape that blends built and natural elements. The new structure deforms and adapts to this new abstract environment, revealing paths and flows, whilst containing the more introvert aspects of the programme brief. The new bridging form allows for programme connection at different levels, gradating space in relation to the public/ private dichotomy. The intention is to create a suspended structure that allows for the more public aspects of the brief to infiltrate the building and spill into the college’s curtiledge facing the Hilda Bess building. This is a flexible territory where space is layered through contrasting use of built elements and materials.
Above: first floor plan – click above for larger image
The main bridging shell is linked to this open area by a central staircase that lead the user to the centre’s main academic components, the new library and the new archive. The contrast in scale and depth is highlighted by a concave/convex nature of the main reading spaces, where the limited variation of use is complemented by material difference in relation to the public plateau. By lifting the connection between 68 and 66 Woodstock Road, it allows for a more diverse and complex articulation between the interior and exterior and well as the programme brief elements themselves, opening up new public spaces and reconnecting the Middle East Centre with the south boundary of the College through a new organized quad link. By defining the main bridge in terms its flow and dynamism, we allow for the existing structure to be read as separate elements, complementing their current detached character.
Above: long section one – click above for larger image
The building does not aim to impose; but instead the floating nature of the ‘bridge’ is emphasised via the chosen cladding material. The main building body will be clad with stainless steel, which has a light and ephemeral appearance, because the existing context of listed buildings and trees are mirrored in its surface; as are the ever changing light conditions and seasonal changes.
Above: long section two – click above for larger image
The impression of a floating link is further supported through the use of frameless glazing to the base of the stainless steel clad main body. Located here on the ground floor of the Softbridge building is the foyer, which doubles up as a multipurpose space for exhibitions or small events. The expanse of frameless glass towards the landscaped area in front of Woodstock Road encourages to linger, rest and reflect.
Above: long section three – click above for larger image
Viewed from the South where also the entrance is located the building opens itself up towards the internal courtyard, where a new landscaped level connection is being created as the access route between the new Gateway building and the Softbridge building.
The post Zaha Hadid’s Oxford college project
to start on site appeared first on Dezeen.
Jan 10
The Art of Making, Red Dress
Posted in: UncategorizedThis is short video shows the making of a red dress – from ideation to the finished product…(Read…)
Jan 10
AirPano’s Amazing Aerial Panoramas
Posted in: Uncategorized
Rotated to fit; see full-size image here, via AirPano.com
The Internet is abuzz over a photograph of New York’s Central Park, for which Sergey Semonov received first prize in the amateur category of the Epson International Photographic Pano Awards. It turns out that he’s been honing his craft with group of fellow photo enthusiasts for several years now: AirPano is a noncommercial enterprise that hopes to share the wonders of the world (literally, at times) through the art of high resolution aerial panoramas. The eight team members—who have backgrounds in everything from civil engineering to medical cybernetics—travel the world, shooting major cities, landmarks and other sites of interest, usually from a helicopter (but, as they note, “at times we use light jets, dirigibles, hot air balloons and radio-controlled helicopters”).
Full screen or nothin’:
Right-click to see other views
The AirPano website features “over 700 panoramas showing over 120 amazing locations of all continents including Antarctic and the North Pole”; panoramas from some 50 other locations are in the works. The large-ish files take a while to load—I’ve only had time to enjoy just a few of them so far—so let’s just say it’s a good way to kill time if it’s a slow day at work. If you’re short on bandwidth, you can peruse their gallery of intensely lush stills. The Escher-esque shot below was several years in the making.
Source: AirPano.com
Another pano after the jump—they have sound on autoplay so heads up:
Jan 10
Good Night Lamp: Lighting the way home for distant friends and family
Posted in: Kickstarter, lightingdesign, socialnetwork 
Spotted this week at the CES trade show in Las Vegas, Good Night Lamp is a project that aims to bring people together through a neighborhood of networked lamps. The concept is simple: each large lamp is paired with a smaller one, which can be given to friends and…
Continue Reading…
Jan 10
Folks, something strange about this exhibition: All these speakers everywhere and I’ve only heard “Gangnam Style” once. It came blaring from a booth labeled Exelway, and I expected to see some big-ass speakers, but was surprised to see the sound coming out of these two impossibly thin bars (marked in the photo with hot pink tape):
No word on how the technology works, but even the bass was pretty decent, and the system is sub-woofer free. Another thing I appreciated is that they didn’t beat their heads against the wall coming up with a name: The product is apparently called the Slim Speaker.
Meanwhile, a Chinese company called In2uit has moved in an adjacent direction, going thin and flat. Their Audio Art series of speakers are wireless and just about paper thin:
Jan 10
Plywerk: Simplicity and ingenuity power Portland’s digital photography framers
Posted in: framing, photographs 
These days, everyone seems to have a DSLR and a point-and-shoot, or at least a camera embedded in the smartphone in their pocket. What most of us don’t have are a C-type printer, glossy paper and mounting materials—not to mention the skill, know-how and motivation to get our Instagram…
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Jan 10
Giraffe Childcare Centre by Hondelatte Laporte Architectes
Posted in: Hondelatte Laporte Architectes, public and leisure, slideshowsA gigantic yellow giraffe pokes its heads out from the roof of this nursery and childcare centre in Paris by French studio Hondelatte Laporte Architectes (+ slideshow).
The larger-than-life statue appears to act as a supporting column, as its body pushes up through a cantilevered upper storey so that only legs, a long neck and a head can be spotted by passers-by.
“The idea is to animate the urban landscape by using a child’s imagination,” explains Hondelatte Laporte Architectes.
The aptly named Giraffe Childcare Centre accommodates a 60-bed childcare facility and a nursery for up to 20 children, in addition to playgrounds on each of its three levels.
As well as the giraffe, the playgrounds feature a white bear and a parade of huge ladybirds, all constructed from concrete. “Through their affable form, the lively animal sculptures invite us to live our dreams,” say the architects.
The centre is located beside Jean Nouvel’s Horizons offices, in the riverside Boulogne-Billancourt district in the south-west of the city.
The entrance is positioned at the end of the building so that visitors have to walk through the giraffe’s legs on their way inside.
The architects used corrugated metal cladding for the whole exterior, creating a series of bright white elevations.
Animal sculptures are a recurring feature in designs for children and we’ve previously featured a restaurant with a model elephant inside.
Giraffe fans may also enjoy a house with a front door tall enough to let one of the animals, or the giraffe enclosure at Rotterdam Zoo.
Photography is by Philippe Ruault.
Here’s some project details from the architects:
The Giraffe childcare centre is located in the C1 block of the Seguin Rives de Seine district in Boulogne-Billancourt, a suburban area of Paris. The program houses a 60 bed childcare centre and 20 bed day nursery. The building has been awarded the green “zéro Energie Effinergie” label. This public building is located next to Jean Nouvel’s “Horizons” tower, at the junction between the “Vieux pont de Sèvres” neighbourhood, built in the 70s, and the new area called “le Trapèze”. The high density of this area gives it a rugged skyline. To be integrated into this particular urban landscape, the building is composed of three tiers. Each of the south-facing playgrounds is in continuity with the interior spaces and is identified by a unique concrete animal sculpture. Viewed from the surrounding towers, the regular sequence of terraces offers a real “fifth facade” to the neighbourhood.
The facades of the building are made out of white corrugated iron that provides a minimal background to the wild animal sculptures. The idea is to animate the urban landscape by using a child’s imagination. The wild animals appropriate the space; a giraffe appears to be peacefully eating the leaves of the trees from the neighbouring park, a polar bear tries to clamber up the steps, while a family of ladybirds climbs the façade in an attempt to reach the interior patio.
Architecture turns into storytelling. The building changes its identity and becomes a landscape in its own right, a metaphor for the urban jungle. The animals and the trees link the building to nature and motion. The giraffe has become a banner for the nursery since it is visible in the surrounding area from all angles. We walk through its legs to enter the building. Through their affable form, the lively animal sculptures invite us to live our dreams. These playful and dreamlike sculptures introduce a little bit of fantasy into the routine life of the town in order to inspire our lives with a bit of poetry.
Project name: Giraffe childcare centre
Architect(s): Hondelatte Laporte Architectes
Project manager: Virginie Davo
Project team: Charlotte Fagart (architect)
Engineering: Studetech
HEQ Engineering: GCB Gestion Conseil Bâtiment
Client: SAEM Val de Seine Aménagement
Program: 60 bed childcare centre and 20 bed day nursery.
Lieu/Location: Boulogne-Billancourt (92) – France
Competition: January 2009
Delivery: 2012
Area: 1450 sq m
Cost: 3 744 000€ HT
Construction companies): SPIE SCGPM (general contractor), AAB (animals sculpture)
Above: site plan – click above for larger image
Above: ground floor plan – click above for larger image
Above: first floor plan – click above for larger image
Above: second floor plan – click above for larger image
Above: roof plan – click above for larger image
Above: side elevation – click above for larger image
Above: front elevation – click above for larger image
Above: side elevation – click above for larger image
Above: rear elevation – click above for larger image
Above: long sectional elevation – click above for larger image
Above: cross sectional elevation – click above for larger image
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Hondelatte Laporte Architectes appeared first on Dezeen.
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