This conceptual design for a family home by postgraduate architecture student Gonzalo Vaíllo Martínez features a fluid structural frame, a skeletal staircase and a skin incorporating blinds that open and close like gills (+ movie).
Starting with the standard functional spaces required by a single family residence, Vaíllo Martínez based the form of the house on scientific advances in fields such as microcellular systems and biogenetics.
“Everyone has in mind what the standards of a normal house are today,” Vaíllo Martínez told Dezeen. “They are the principles established in Modernism, where spaces were separated by function and the aim was how to relate these spaces to one other and the surroundings.”
“This project is based on this distribution of the program in a very simple but strict way,” he continued. “The house is an exercise in blending a much more complex, multiple and emotive architectural language with a common single family house program.”
Designed as a modular system that can be adapted to any site, this version of the house was developed for a sloping plot at 2217 Neutra Place in California, which is located between two houses designed by Modernist architect Richard Neutra. Vaíllo Martínez feels these houses represent the outmoded typologies of twentieth century architecture.
“When the system is moved into a real location it evolves and mutates according to the constraints defined by the surroundings,” he explained. “It can be placed anywhere and the specific conditions of each location will modify the house in one way or another.”
The house comprises three interconnected units, with an entrance leading to pods containing various services which are partially submerged in the hillside and connected to the main living areas below by a fluid staircase.
A third unit housing the bedrooms and a terrace is detached from the main structure and raised above the ground at the bottom of the site.
Using 3D computer modelling processes that enable surfaces to expand, contract and respond to different parameters, the shape of the house was animated and deformed to match the topography of the site.
The fluid skeleton is intended to be constructed from structural concrete, with the complex facade panels and tangled supporting framework produced using 3D printing processes.
Organic louvred panels incorporated into the building’s skin open and close like gills, while other openings stretch and widen to adjust the amount of light entering the interior.
Vaíllo Martínez suggested that, although the building may appear unrealistic, it could be constructed today using contemporary technologies and manufacturing methods.
“We have more than enough technology not only to design projects such as this one, but also to materialise them,” he claimed. “This is not science fiction or something possible in the near future, it is possible today if we push the boundaries of the resources we have now. Budget is another issue.”
Here’s some more information from Vaíllo Martínez:
2217NPL House, Gonzalo Vaíllo Martínez
Located in the outskirts of Los Angeles, the starting point of the design is based on the standards of a single family house. The exuberance of the form is the tool that develops an aesthetic able to corrupt the original principles and establish a negotiation with the contemporary way of life in a day-by-day house.
The project is thought as a continuous mixture of conventional elements that create an emotional empathy with something that is familiar for everyone (social memory), combined with external contaminations that brings new behaviors and perceptions of the spaces.
The house is divided into three units. The first one is a half-underground piece, which contains the main entrance and the services of the house. The public areas are located in the second one (on the ground) and in the last one appears the private rooms, which detach from the ground. In this way, the three units are positioned in the same height and it is the relationship with the sloped topography that defines each piece structurally.
The aggressive exterior made out of the combination of a wire-linework, mobile facade panels and metallic surfaces, creates a contrast with the soft and continuous interiors.
This skateboarding ramp floating over the clear waters of Lake Tahoe was put together in just four days by design-and-build team Jerry Blohm and Jeff King for Californian skater Bob Burnquist (+ slideshow).
Brazilian-born Bob Burnquist was part of a group of California residents invited by non-profit organisation Visit California to “make their dreams possible” and “think big”. He came with the idea of skating over water.
“Dreaming big man, that’s what I do every day, I just try to dream as big as I can and then go make it happen,” he says in a video about the project.
Miami art director Jerry Blohm came up with a design for a wooden structure featuring one half pipe, one quarter pipe and one 45-degree ramp.
He also developed a concept for attaching weighted riggers in case the ramp oscillated too much in the water.
Once complete, the wood was stained with different colours to create horizontal stripes. The ramp was then towed out onto the waters of Lake Tahoe, which straddles the border between California and Nevada.
“It took about four hours to get it there going about four knots,” said Blohm, describing the installation.
“We had a host of folks coming up to the ramp on the way out to see what it was exactly. When they got close most could not believe it,” he said. “It looks like it is fake, floating with no supports.”
Footage of Burnquist using his skateboard on the ramp was included as part of a 24-hour stream of footage that Visit California aired on YouTube earlier this year.
Amongst the bustling 24-hour shopping district of South Korea‘s capital city, Zaha Hadid has completed a 38,000-square-metre cultural complex with a twinkling aluminium facade (+ movie).
Inaugurated on Friday, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) by Zaha Hadid Architects provides Seoul with a hub for art, design and technology, plus a landscaped park that serves as a much-needed green oasis, and a public plaza linking the two.
The building features a shapely facade made up of 45,000 aluminium panels of varying sizes and curvatures. This was achieved using advanced 3-dimensional digital construction services, making DDP the first public building in Korea to utilise the technology.
Described by the designers as “a field of pixilation and perforation patterns”, the backlit facade is speckled with minute perforations that allow the building to transform from a solid entity by day into an animated light show by night.
“The design integrates the park and plaza seamlessly as one, blurring the boundary between architecture and nature in a continuous, fluid landscape,” said Zaha Hadid Architects in a statement.
The complex is made up of eight storeys, of which four sit above ground level and four are set below the plaza. Facilities include exhibition galleries, convention and seminar rooms, a design museum, and a library and education centre.
Voids puncturing the surface of the park offer a look down into the spaces below, and also allow daylight to permeate the building.
The building opened on 21 March to mark the start of Korean Fashion Week, but is also hosting five art and design exhibitions, alongside a collection of Korean art from the Kansong Art Museum.
Here’s the project description from Zaha Hadid Architects:
Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)
The DDP has been designed as a cultural hub at the centre of Dongdaemun, a historic district of Seoul that is now renowned for its 24-hour shopping and cafes. DDP is a place for people of all ages; a catalyst for the instigation and exchange of ideas and for new technologies and media to be explored. The variety of public spaces within DDP include Exhibition Halls, Convention Halls, Design Museum, Library, Lab and Archives, Children’s Education Centre, Media Centre, Seminar Rooms and Sky Lounge; enabling DDP to present the widest diversity of exhibitions and events that feed the cultural vitality of the city.
The DDP is an architectural landscape that revolves around the ancient city wall and cultural artefacts discovered during archaeological excavations preceding DDP’s construction. These historic features form the central element of DDP’s composition; linking the park, plaza and city together.
The design is the very specific result of how the context, local culture, programmatic requirements and innovative engineering come together – allowing the architecture, city and landscape to combine in both form and spatial experience – creating a whole new civic space for the city.
The DDP Park is a place for leisure, relaxation and refuge – a new green oasis within the busy urban surroundings of Dongdaemun. The design integrates the park and plaza seamlessly as one, blurring the boundary between architecture and nature in a continuous, fluid landscape. Voids in the park’s surface give visitors glimpses into the innovative world of design below, making the DDP an important link between the city’s contemporary culture, emerging nature and history.
The 30,000 square metre park reinterprets the spatial concepts of traditional Korean garden design: layering, horizontality, blurring the relationship between the interior and the exterior – with no single feature dominating the perspective. This approach is further informed by historic local painting traditions that depict grand visions of the ever-changing aspects of nature.
DDP encourages many contributions and innovations to feed into each other; engaging the community and allowing talents and ideas to flourish. In combination with the city’s exciting public cultural programs, DDP is an investment in the education and inspiration of future generations.
DDP’s design and construction sets many new standards of innovation. DDP is the first public project in Korea to implement advanced 3-dimensional digital construction services that ensure the highest quality and cost controls. These include 3-dimensional Building Information Modelling (BIM) for construction management and engineering coordination, enabling the design process to adapt with the evolving client brief and integrate all engineering requirements.
These innovations have enabled the team building DDP to control the construction with much greater precision than conventional processes and improve efficiencies. Implementing such construction technologies make DDP one of Korea’s most innovative and technological advanced constructions to date.
DDP opens to the public on 21 March 2014 by hosting Korean Fashion Week. DDP will also host five separate design and art exhibitions featuring works by modern designers as well as the prized collection of traditional Korean art of the Kansong Art Museum.
An angular metal-clad canopy now projects over a public square at the entrance to Rotterdam Centraal station, which reopened last week following an extensive remodelling by a team including Dutch firm Benthem Crouwel Architects (+ slideshow).
A project team called Team CS, comprising Benthem Crouwel Architects, MVSA Architects and landscape firm West 8, was tasked with redeveloping the existing station built in 1957, which was struggling to meet the demands of a modern transportation hub.
The architects expanded the main station complex and updated the surrounding public spaces to improve the building’s integration with its urban context.
“The new station is not only larger, brighter and more orderly than the former, but also has an international feel; it beautifully complements both the efficiency of the hi-speed stop and Rotterdam city’s bold ambitions for urban development and renewal,” said the architects in a statement.
A modest entrance on the north side of the station reflects the character of its historic surroundings and the smaller number of passengers who use it, while the shiny canopy above the main entrance signals the station’s presence to those approaching from the city.
“The roof of the hall, fully clad with stainless steel, gives rise to the building’s iconic character and points to the heart of the city,” said the architects.
The underside of the projecting structure is partly clad in wood and envelops a glazed wall that opens up to a bright forecourt with an angular wooden ceiling.
“The wood finish on the inside of the hall, combined with the structural wooden beams of the platform roof creates a warm and welcoming ambience, inviting visitors to linger,” the architects added.
Stone floor slabs with a reddish hue continue from the esplanade into the station’s forecourt, helping to enhance the connection between the external and internal spaces.
Parking for 750 cars and 5200 bicycles is hidden away underneath the esplanade. Meanwhile, services for buses, taxis and trams, have been relocated to free up space for pedestrians.
The roof above the platforms is made from glass so passengers arrive into an airy space filled with natural daylight. Light also reaches the lower levels through large voids containing staircases and escalators.
Solar panels partly covering the roof have a high level of transparency to prevent them reducing the amount of light entering the station.
A narrow horizontal LED screen in the main hall was donated by the Port of Rotterdam and displays imagery relating to the city’s heritage as an important port.
Photography is by Jannes Linders, apart from where otherwise stated.
Here’s some more information from the project team:
Rotterdam Centraal
Rotterdam Centraal Station is one of the most important transport hubs in The Netherlands. With 110,000 passengers a day the public transport terminal has as many travellers as Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. In addition to the European network of the High Speed Train (HST), Rotterdam Centraal is also connected to the light rail system, RandstadRail. With the advent of both the HST and RandstadRail the number of daily travellers at Rotterdam Centraal is expected to increase to approximately 323,000 by 2025.
Rotterdam HST is the first stop in the Netherlands when travelling from the south and is strategically positioned in the middle of Europe, with Schiphol only twenty minutes and Paris a mere two and a half hours away. Hence the new station is not only larger, brighter and more orderly than the former, but also has an international feel; it beautifully complements both the efficiency of the Hispeed stop and the Rotterdam city’s bold ambitions for urban development and renewal. The station matches in all respects the practicality, capacity, comfort and allure, of the central stations of Madrid, Paris, London and Brussels.
Integration in urban environment
One of the fundamental challenges of Rotterdam Centraal station was the difference in the urban character of the north and south side of the station. The entrance on the north side has a modest design, appropriate to the character of the neighbourhood Provenierswijk and the smaller number of passengers. The entrance gradually connects to the city. In the Provenierswijk the character of the 19th-century Dutch provincial town is strengthened. Large architectural extensions are avoided on this side of the station, the presence of green is ameliorated and the station is transparent.
In contrast, the grand entrance on the city side is clearly the gateway to the high-rise urban centre. Here the station derives its new international, metropolitan identity from the hall made of glass and wood. The roof of the hall, fully clad with stainless steel, gives rise to building’s iconic character and points to the heart of the city.
Now Rotterdam Centraal has the appropriate structure and dimensions for the urban landscape; it is in balance with the heights that characterise the metropolis and simultaneously reflects the human scale. The city of Rotterdam is drawn to the new station via the compaction of the small-scale urban texture surrounding the public transport terminal. The entire railway zone becomes one with the city. This finer urban texture with new sight lines and a mixture of living and working will dramatically improve the quality of life and the environment of the station area.
The esplanade in front of the station is a continuous public space. To achieve this simplicity a parking garage for 750 cars and a bicycle shed for 5,200 bicycles are located under the square. The tram station is moved to the east side of the station, so the platforms broaden the square. Bus, tram, taxi and the area for short-term parking are integrated into the existing urban fabric and do not constitute barriers. The red stone of the station floor continues into the forecourt, merging the station with the city. Pedestrian and cycling routes are pleasant and safe and arriving travellers now have dignified entrance to the city, free from traffic.
Incorporation of natural light, the warmth of the sun’s rays and a modern look are important elements in the design. The platform roof on the Proveniersside is transparent. When the train drives into the station, there is an almost tangible feeling of being enshrouded in the station building. Upon entering in the bright high hall through the centre side, the traveler gets an overview of the entire complex and a view to the trains that are waiting invitingly along the platforms.
The wood finish on the inside of the hall, combined with the structural wooden beams of the platform roof creates a warm and welcoming ambience, inviting visitors to linger. The largely transparent roof structure which covers all the tracks over a length of 250 meters, flood the platforms with light. The glass plates of the roof vary the level of light transmittance by utilising different solar cells patterns, which produce an ever-changing and fascinating play of shadows on the platforms.
The routing through the station is logical; travellers are guided by a direct view of the trains and by the daylight that penetrates to the traveler’s passage via the voids that extend through the transparent roof platform and down to the stairs. Because of its transparency the widened traveler’s passage, lined with commercial functions, forms a natural part of the station. Escalators, lifts and stairs lead up to the new platforms, which feature inviting and comfortable platform furniture. On the west side of the station there is a footbridge over the tracks for travellers in transit. This footbridge also functions as an escape route in the event of an emergency.
The passenger terminal is a national and international hub that connects train, tram, bus and subway. The public transport terminal is designed for passenger comfort, which is visible in the different zones of the station. It includes commercial spaces, a lounge, restaurants, offices, parking for cars and bicycles. In the spacious concourse the passenger service functions are conveniently arranged. There is travel information, an information point, the Dutch Railways (NS) travellers shop, ticket vending machines and commercial functions. The grand café and the NS-lounge offer spectacular views across the hall and the adjacent tracks. Waiting areas in the hall and the passage are linked to the passenger flows, with areas both for browsing and quick shopping.
The new Rotterdam Centraal Station is a pleasant, open and transparent public transport terminal which functions as an iconic meeting point. Interwoven into the urban network, the station connects the diverse characters of the city and marks the beginning of Rotterdam’s cultural axis. This modern and efficient building offers travellers to and from the port city all the amenities and comfort they could want or need in the present and the future.
Windows with 130,000 solar cells cover 10,000 m2 of the total roof area of 28,000 m2. This is the largest application of solar energy in a station roof in The Netherlands and is also one of the largest rooftop solar projects in Europe. The solar cells are placed on the parts of the roof that get the most sun, taking into account the high buildings around Rotterdam Centraal. The glass panels vary in light transmittance by using different patterns in the solar cells. Where the roof has the greatest efficiency in terms of sunlight, the cell density is the highest. The solar cells that are integrated in the roof have a high degree of transparency, so there is ample light. The solar cells represent an 8% reduction in the station’s CO2 emissions. The cells are expected to generate 320 megawatt per annum, which is enough energy for 100 households.
The former station was designed by Sybold of Ravesteyn in 1957. However, this post-war building was no longer suitable for the current passenger numbers and complexity of the transport hub. In order to maintain the connection with the past after the demolition of the building, several characteristic elements from the former station can be found in the new Rotterdam Centraal. The Speculaasjes, two typical granite sculptures are placed above the access to the bike tunnel. The beginning of the esplanade is defined by two flagpoles, which were also part of the former station. Moreover, the letters ROTTERDAM CENTRAAL and the station clock are proudly displayed on the current façade as a tribute to the past.
In the main hall of the station a LED screen of 40 x 4.5 meters has been installed. To emphasise the importance of the port and to strengthen the bond between the city and the port, the Port of Rotterdam donated the LED screen to the City of Rotterdam. By showing elements of the port on this LED screen, the Port of Rotterdam wants to give the thousands of travellers who arrive daily in Rotterdam the feeling that they have entered a port city, even though the port has slowly disappeared from the cityscape, due to seawards development. Now travellers can enjoy views of Europe’s largest port at all hours and times of the day.
Team CS is a cooperation between Benthem Crouwel Architects, MVSA Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten and West 8. This unique combination of designers came to existence in 2003, when the competition for the new Rotterdam Centraal was issued.
Client: Gemeente Rotterdam and ProRail Architect Team CS: a cooperation between Benthem Crouwel Architects, MVSA Meyer en van Schooten Architecten and West 8 Gross floor area: 46,000 m² Gross floor area urban design: 50,000 m² Location: Stationsplein 1, 3013 AJ Rotterdam, The Netherlands Lead architects: Jan Benthem, Marcel Blom, Adriaan Geuze, Jeroen van Schooten Project team: Arman Akdogan, Anja Blechen, Freek Boerwinkel, Amir Farokhian, Joost Koningen, Joost van Noort, Falk Schneeman, Daphne Schuit, Matthijs Smit (†), Andrew Tang, Wouter Thijssen, Joost Vos Structural engineer: Arcadis and Gemeentewerken Rotterdam Mechanical services: Arcadis and Gemeentewerken Rotterdam Building physics: Arcadis and Gemeentewerken Rotterdam Contractor: Bouwcombinatie TBI Rotterdam Centraal (BTRC), Iemants NV (zuidhal)
The facades of well-known buildings in Paris, New York and Brisbane have been reduced to a series of patterned surfaces and silhouettes in this series of images by French photographer Alexander Jacques (+ slideshow).
Tour Ariane in Paris
Jacques’ Architectural Pattern series captures the exteriors of buildings without any surrounding context, transforming them into abstract surfaces that the author says can offer new perspectives on what many perceive as ordinary.
Tour Espace 2000 in Paris
“We spend all day walking past these buildings without raising our heads to glance at them,” explained Jacques. “They are part of our daily lives, but we do not pay attention to them or we just think they’re plain ugly.”
Tour Mirabeau in Paris
The collection of 25 images is documented on Jacques’s website and includes buildings by celebrated architects and firms such as Renzo Piano, SOM, Johann Otto von Spreckelsen and Kisho Kurokawa.
World Trade Centre in New York
The photographer came up with the idea during a visit to New York, after taking a picture of a brick building in Soho. “When I returned to NYC for the second time, at the end of my studies, I had a higher sensitivity to graphics.”
FBI Building in New York
“I was more interested in the buildings than the rest of New York folklore. I saw lines and patterns everywhere. It was amazing. I spent whole days looking to the sky,” he explained.
1221 Avenue of the Americas in New York
Other images from this city include a close-up of the Mc-Graw Hill Building at the Rockefeller Centre, which looks more like a piece of woven fabric than an office building.
Two World Financial Centre in New York
“Sometimes I am surprised how a facade that I see with my eyes can make a picture. First we forget that it is a building, then the lines and perspective transform everything. In the end we only see the pattern,” said Jacques.
Arche de le Défense in Paris
In Paris, Johann Otto von Spreckelsen’s Grande Arche becomes a series of gold and blue diamond-shaped boxes, while the pod-like rooms of the Tour Novotel are transformed into a series of neatly arranged poppies, broken up by lines of silver.
Tour Novotel in Paris
The gentle flowing lines of Jean-Paul Viguier‘s Coeur Defense, Europe’s biggest building by floor space, are shown as squares and rectangles changing from shades of royal and sky blue, to white and teal.
Cœur Défense in Paris
Jacques hopes to continue the series by visiting more cities, including Hong Kong, Shanghai and Dubai. Prints of the photographs are available to buy via the website.
Irish studio GKMP Architects added glazed white tiles to the angular walls of this extension to a semi-detached house in Dublin to help direct sunlight into the interior (+ slideshow).
GKMP Architects designed the Greenlea Road extension for the home of a family of five, who wanted a large, bright living area that improves the connection between the house and the garden.
“The old layout included a dining room and garage extension to the west of the ground floor, which cut evening light to the interior and enclosed the kitchen within the plan, blocking light and access to the garden,” architect Michael Pike told Dezeen.
The existing extension built in the 1990s was demolished to make room for the new addition, which contains an open-plan kitchen, dining and living area filled with light from the windows and a central skylight.
The shape of the walls and the shiny surfaces of the glazed tiles surrounding the doors and windows help funnel daylight into the extension.
“The tiles were used for the texture they bring to a facade and for their ability to bounce light into the interior to brighten the terrace and garden spaces,” explained Pike.
GKMP Architects used terracotta tiles that resemble brickwork to clad another extension in Dublin. Tiles are well-suited for use as a practical and decorative exterior finish said Michael Pike.
“Ceramic tiles are a very traditional material however they are not widely used externally in Ireland,” Pike pointed out. “We use the tiles as a cladding to bring texture and warmth to a facade and also to highlight or draw attention to certain details.”
Door and window frames made from iroko wood stand out against the white ceramic tiles, but also contrast with green tiles that surround some of the windows and cover a low planter that extends towards the garden.
A skylight lined with plywood introduces more light into the interior, while a polished concrete floor used throughout the ground floor helps to reflect it around the space.
The kitchen features a cast concrete countertop that complements the floor and contrasts with the natural surfaces of the birch plywood benches and cabinetry. There is also a store room, utility room and shower room that continues around the corner of the house.
Read on for some information from GKMP Architects:
32 Greenlea Road
This project involves the demolition of a 1990s extension and shed to the rear of a semi-detached suburban house in Dublin, Ireland and the construction of a new single storey extension to the side and rear extending to 31sq.m. A new plywood kitchen and dining space open out to receive west light and connect to the back garden.
White glazed tiles bring texture to the facade and bounce light into the interior and onto the new polished concrete floor, whilst the cast concrete countertop then continues the language of the floor into the new plywood kitchen.
New windows are made from Iroko timber and green ceramic tiles are used to highlight certain window openings. The green tile is also used to draw attention and add scale to the washed concrete terrace. A large planter, clad also in green, seeks to bring the garden right up to the dining room window. Inside, a large, plywood-lined skylight marks the transition between old and new construction and serves to bring light into the centre of the living space.
Layers of sand that resemble a mountainous landscape will gradually move and change shape for the duration of this installation by Mexican architect Frida Escobedo for skincare brand Aesop‘s New Yorkpop-up shop.
The installation at The Invisible Dog Art Center in Brooklyn was created by Escobedo to reflect its temporal setting and the idea of natural ornamentation espoused by Modernist architectural theorist Adolf Loos.
“Inspired by this principle, this installation for Aesop reflects the passing of time in the way of an inverse sedimentation,” explained Escobedo in a statement displayed alongside the work.
A simple wooden structure, which also references the minimal aesthetic favoured by Modernist architects, supports and frames the glass panels containing black and white sand. The sand has been poured into gaps between the glass sheets, creating striated patterns that look like the peaks and valleys of a mountain range.
The sand will gradually sift through and out the bottom of the glass panel, causing the patterns to evolve over the five month period of the pop-up shop’s residency.
“Installed in springtime in New York, it also recalls melting snow, Les Eaux de Mars, a change of season, optimism and expectation,” Escobedo explained.
Aesops’s products surround the space containing the artwork, which also features a freestanding vintage sink that echoes the raw, industrial backdrop of the gallery space.
Aesop is honoured to partner with The Invisible Dog Art Center in Brooklyn to present a temporary installation designed by architect Frida Escobedo. Launched on March 13, the innovative retail space will operate until the end of July.
While its main business is skin, hair and body care, Aesop has long nurtured a passionate interest in all forms of creative expression, and is well known for collaborations with individual practitioners and organizations alike. The endeavor sees the brand join with a New York exemplar of community-focused cultural engagement and one of the foremost proponents of Latin American Modernism.
The installation’s centerpiece is a timber-framed glass enclosure containing meticulously segmented layers of sand that will shift over the next five months. Escobedo speaks of this feature having dual interpretations. In a materiality and form, it reference Modernism’s shift away from ornamentation. And in keeping with one of Escoebdo’s central concerns, it reflects temporality of its setting. The design is also influenced by Aesop’s distinctive aesthetic, which the architect sees as aligned with the Japanese principle of shibusa or ‘sophisticated austerity’.
Aesop selected the location because of its deep ties with the neighborhood and by the creative space and support network it provides for artists. The Invisible Dog manages to combine residency studios for artists, venues for exhibits and performances, and community engagement. Established in 2009 and nestled between Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Boreum Hill, this interdisciplinary space is an exemplar of self-sustained, community-focused cultural engagement; and an acclaimed hub for experimentation and collaboration among artists.
Aesop was founded in Melbourne in 1987 and today offers its superlative formulations in signature stores and counters around the world and online. As the company evolves, meticulously considered design remains paramount to the creative of each space.
Bamboo poles were used to clad the facade and surrounding walls of this house in the Philippines by Swiss-Filipino studio Atelier Sacha Cotture (+ slideshow).
The family home in the city of Parañaque is located in a residential neighbourhood and was designed by the Philippines office of Atelier Sacha Cotture. It wraps a central courtyard to restrict views of the interior from adjacent properties.
“The courtyard solution has been chosen for its qualities of efficiency and privacy,” said the architects. “This typology was widely used during the Spanish colonial era here in the Philippines.”
The street-facing facade presents a uniform surface of vertical bamboo poles that incorporates doors to the garage and the house’s main entrance.
Explaining the choice of bamboo, the architects said: “It is a low cost and sustainable material that grows intensively locally. This material has been historically used in the country for the fabrication of handicrafts, native architecture and utilitarian objects.”
The material was treated to protect it from mould and pests, before being stained and varnished to enrich its natural tone and increase its resilience.
The bamboo-covered doorway leads from the street into a dark corridor clad in a type of local granite called Araal, which is also used to cover chunky supporting columns at the ground floor level of the house.
The corridor is illuminated by a shimmering chandelier suspended from the ceiling and opens onto an uncovered courtyard with a lawn at its centre.
A wood-decked pathway crosses a narrow pond to lead into a foyer. It continues through to the main living spaces, which feature sliding glass doors framed in locally grown mahogany.
These ground floor areas, including the dining room, living room and kitchen, overlook the courtyard and the pond that runs along its back edge.
An outdoor dining area is sheltered beneath a walkway that connects the study on the first floor with a garden on the garage roof.
The first floor can be reached by a staircase made from wooden treads that cantilever from the wall of the living room. A family room and two bedrooms are also contained on the first floor, with another staircase featuring a vertical bamboo screen ascending to the top storey.
The master bedroom on the top floor has a wall made from a mosaic of coconut bark tiles and sliding doors which lead onto a terrace that wraps around the corner and houses a separate salon.
Photography is by Luca Tettoni.
Here’s a project description from the architects:
House in Parañaque
Location
The house is located in the residential subdivision of Better Living in Paranaque City, Metro Manila. The area features a low density neighbourhood of houses and low rise buildings.
The program is a 465sqm family house on a 360sqm lot. The entrance foyer, garage and service area face the access road while dining, living room and kitchen overlook the private courtyard. The first floor hosts a family room and a private quarter with two bedrooms along with a guest-office room with access to a roof garden. The master bedroom occupies the second floor with its own salon, changing room and bathroom.
Planning
The house has 250sqm of landscaped courtyard, accessible roof garden and terrace.The courtyard solution has been chosen for its qualities of efficiency and privacy. This typology has been widely used during Spanish colonial era here in the Philippines.
Bamboo is the chosen material for this project. It is a low cost and sustainable material that grows intensively locally. This material has been historically used in the country for the fabrication of handicrafts, native architecture and utilitarian objects.The bamboo poles are treated against moulds and pests then stained and varnished. They are protected by ledges that also prevent the direct sunlight from penetrating into the house, while on the top floor the layers of bamboos are doubled.
The courtyard is bordered by a pond running all its length with a vertical water feature facing the living and dining room. Small shells and crushed Adobe stone are incrusted into the render. At night, the wall lighted up from the pond.
The base of the main house and the entrance foyer is clad with Araal, local granite. All windows, cabinets and beds have been designed and fabricated with Mahogany wood, also available locally.
Stones for the bathrooms and living room come from the nearby island of Romblon. There is also a wall featured made of coconut bark in the master bedroom. Capiz is used for most of the lamps.
A grid of chunky timber beams criss-crosses a void between the ground and first floors to allow light to circulate in this Studio Aula-designed house in Shiojiri, Japan (+ slideshow).
The client asked local firm Studio Aula to design a house in a typical urban neighbourhood that integrates traditional Japanese elements and makes the most of the existing garden.
A narrow plot informed the elongated footprint of the building, which also incorporates a ground-floor bedroom that projects out in front to accommodate the client’s elderly mother.
This bedroom helps to shield a secluded garden containing an old pine tree, as well as a series of stepping stones that create a pathway to the front door.
The entrance sits on a raised concrete plinth, which also supports a small wooden deck sheltered beneath a balcony and the house’s eaves.
A sliding door with vertical slits allows light and breezes to enter the interior and leads to a long corridor lined on one side with built-in storage.
The corridor continues from the entrance past the living area to a covered porch and parking space at the back of the property.
As the rear of the property faces a road, the architects built a storage space with a wall of slatted timber that references traditional Japanese screens and restricts views from the street.
“We created a multipurpose entrance to the north and the south garden that functions as a corridor and a storage space but also becomes a public space to connect inside with outside and to greet visitors,” the architects explained.
On the other side of the corridor is the open-plan living, kitchen and dining area, which can be screened off from the hallway by sliding across a door fitted with translucent panels.
The solid wooden beams form a geometric grid above this space, supporting bedrooms on the first floor.
Light enters this floor through windows and glazed balcony doors. It permeates the central void and the slatted balustrades and floors surrounding it.
Floors and ceilings throughout the house are made from wood that complements the structural beams and columns and provides a warm contrast to the grey tiles of the entrance corridor and the white walls.
Barber and Osgerby‘s architecture arm has designed two pop-up shops for the launch of Seek No Further, a new label from sportswear manufacturer Fruit of the Loom (+ slideshow).
Berlin store. Photograph by Ragnar Schmuck
Universal Design Studio has transformed a small gallery space on Redchurch Street in London and another space in Berlin’s Mitte district.
Berlin store. Photograph by Ragnar Schmuck
In London, the studio was faced with an unusual long and narrow 21 square metre space. An illusion of double depth was created with a mirrored back wall.
Berlin store. Photograph by Ragnar Schmuck
A single 6.5-metre-long rail suspended from the ceiling showcases the Seek No Further capsule collection created by Dorothée Loermann, former creative director of womenswear for Parisian fashion label Surface to Air.
Berlin store. Installation by Sarah Illenberger. Photograph by Ragnar Schmuck
In Berlin, the original 60-square-metre gallery space has been retained as a raw backdrop for a series of geometric shapes and plinths, some coated in soft pink silicone or royal blue flock as well as display blocks of yellow cast glass wax. These objects can be rearranged to transform the space for various events that will take place in the store.
Berlin store. Photograph by Ragnar Schmuck
“The brief from Dorothée Loermann was to create an effortless and fun environment with a particular focus on a tactile experience,” said Alexey Kostikov, senior designer at Universal Design Studio.
Berlin store. Photograph by Ragnar Schmuck
“Dorothée challenged us to put together an unconventional material palette using the materials that are not typically associated with retail interiors. We approached a small local mould-making workshop and went through a series of experiments with various materials and techniques. The design development evolved around those experiments.”
Berlin store. Photograph by Ragnar Schmuck
Both of the pop up stores will be open for four months.
London store. Photograph by Michael Bodiam
Here’s some information from the designers:
The Stores – Berlin and London
The capsule collection will be available at the Seek No Further pop-up stores in London and Berlin from March 2014.
London store. Window installation by Gary Card. Photograph by Michael Bodiam
Universal Design Studio has transformed a gallery space in London’s Shoreditch and Berlin’s Mitte district into two pop-up stores for the launch of Seek No Further. With an emphasis on the process of making and reflecting the brand’s innovative approach to materiality and detail, the stores’ key message is simplicity.
London store. Photograph by Michael Bodiam
Collaborating with artisans and art technicians, Universal have experimented with unconventional materials like glass wax, flock coating, cast concrete and silicone to create the handcrafted sculptural display pieces. In London, the capsule collection is displayed on a single 6,5m long rail suspended from the ceiling, set against the raw concrete wall.The long and narrow space of the gallery is further emphasised by the mirror-clad back wall, creating an illusion of double-depth.
London store. Photograph by Michael Bodiam
In Berlin, set within the raw shell of the gallery, solid, bold geometric shapes form a varied landscape. In both stores, an understated monochrome palette is juxtaposed with royal blue flock coating, translucent yellow display blocks of cast glass wax and sculptural objects coated in soft pink silicone.
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