Hasta La Ideas

Part of this wooden house in Japan by mA-style architects is lifted off the ground and curved like the hull of a boat (+ slideshow).

Glass screens on opposite sides of the living room separate the level floor surface from the curved outer edges, creating balconies that double up as sun loungers.

Positioned at the building’s centre, the room is sandwiched between a pair of narrow two-storey wings that contain the other rooms of the two-bedroom family home.

A kitchen and dining room are located in the east wing, where a ridged wooden ceiling arches up around the edges of the children’s bedroom above.

The master bedroom and bathroom occupy the two floors of the opposite wing, which is only just wide enough to fit a double bed inside.

Entrances to the house are positioned on both sides of this wing and lead in through a concealed porch.

This year mA-style architects also completed a metal-clad house with a smaller wooden house inside.

See more Japanese houses on Dezeen, including a residence with sunken rooms and curved balconies and a house shaped like an arrow.

See more projects in Japan »

Photography is by Kai Nakamura.

Here’s a few project details from mA-style architects:

Project name: Mascara House
Location: Shizuoka, Hamamatsu-City, Japan

Program: Single family house

Site Area: 232.02 sq m

Building Area: 82.46 sq m

Gross Floor Area: 111.44 sq m

Year: Completion: May 2011

Project by: mA-style architects

Principal Designers: Atsushi Kawamoto, Mayumi Kawamoto

Ground floor plan

First floor plan

Section – click above for larger image

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mA-style architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Dozens of square windows puncture the corrugated steel shell of this barn-like Buddhist meditation centre in a rural part of the Netherlands by Dutch architects Bureau SLA (+ slideshow).

The Buddhist organisation Metta Vihara asked the architects to create as much space as possible within the modest budget.

“What we wanted was an aesthetic that was beautiful but not too comfortable,” architect Peter van Assche told Dezeen. “The reason people go to the meditation centre is not to feel cosy – they want to go deeper, to sense something that is not too obvious. The feeling of the building should express this.”

The resulting building provides beds for 26 people in 13 bedrooms as well as a meditation hall, library and dining hall.

A mansard roof was chosen as a cost-effective way of providing extra living space while also borrowing from the vernacular architecture of Zeeland, which is near the Belgian border.

Three colours of corrugated steel have been used for the facades and roof, with red cedar beams marking the top and bottom edges of each steel sheet.

The square Velux windows have been fitted inside white wooden frames to disguise ugly joints with the steel.

The end walls are clad in wood salvaged from scaffolding left over by the builders.

At one end of the building is a large meditation room with glazed walls and corrugated steel shutters, which open out onto a view of the rural landscape.

Inside, bare limestone has been used for the load-bearing walls while the other walls are made from environmentally certified MDF.

Polished concrete has been used on all the floors with the exception of the meditation hall, which is covered with black bamboo.

The architects added: “The building has been warmly received by local residents, as evident in a conversation we heard between two passing cyclists: ‘This new cowshed looks really good, but why does it have so many windows?’”

We’ve featured two other Buddhist buildings on Dezeen – a house for a priest along the Shikoku pilgrimage route in Japan and a priest’s quarters in the Japanese Alps.

Site plan – click above for larger image

We previously published Bureau SLA’s National Glass Museum Holland in Leerdam, which saw two houses connected by four overlapping bridges wrapped in aluminium mesh.

Ground floor plan – click above for larger image

See all our stories from the Netherlands »
See all our stories about Bureau SLA »
See all our stories about places of worship »

First floor plan – click above for larger image

Photographs are by Jeroen Musch.

Here’s some further information from the architects:

The Buddhist Meditation Centre Metta Vihara is located in Hengstdijk – a small village near the Belgian border – in a remote area of the Netherlands. The inhabitants of Metta Vihara (defined as ‘community of loving kindness’ in the Pali language) are members of the Triratna Community, a Buddhist movement not aligned to one traditional school, but one that draws on the whole stream of Buddhist inspiration.

Long section – click above for larger image

The new accommodation provides 26 beds in 13 one- and two-person bedrooms, a meditation hall, library and dining hall. Form and materials used in the centre relate to the rural vernacular building, but used in a new and fresh way.

As the centre is financed mainly by gifts from community members and friends, one of the design briefs was to maximise the the space while minimising the cost. Our overall design concept was to design a building that, while beautiful, wasn’t overly comforting. This is in line with the philosophy that, while on retreat, one should feel relaxed but not necessarily ‘at home’. As a result, Metta Vihara has strong aesthetics that feature robust and raw materials.

Long section – click above for larger image

The overall form of the meditation centre is an interpretation of the so-called Mansard roof, also known as the French roof. Used throughout the area (mainly because of its low cost), the Mansard roof is found widely on houses and barns. The facade of the centre – along with the cladding of the roof – is made of corrugated steel, a material popular for its low cost, strength, and long life. Typically, the drawback of using corrugated steel is in the ungraceful way it joins with other materials, specifically at the corners and in the overlays. At Metta Vihara, however, it has been used ‘as is’: no joints and no connections. Western red cedar beams and white wood window frames mark the transitions from one steel sheet to the next, with the horizontal lines of the beams giving the building depth and profile. Three different colors of steel are used, and in three different wavelengths. Indeed at first sight, it is not at all clear what the scale of the building is: does it have five floors? Three? Two?

Cross section A

The same approach of using raw materials in this new way is also used in the design of the windows. The windows in the steel skin – in facade and roof – are standard Velux windows, which are technically superb and relatively inexpensive. As with the corrugated steel, however, there is often an aesthetic compromise in the joints with other materials. In the case of Metta Vihara, though, they are framed with white painted wood, giving them a distinctive look.

Cross section B

As a contrast to the more industrial looks of the steel, the short sides of the building and the terrace walls are cladded with wood, a robust but also warm material. For this, wood already available on site was used: the leftovers of the scaffolding wood used by the builders. The structure’s interior consists of unfinished building materials, albeit used in a considerate – even delicate – way.

Structural walls are bare unplastered lime stone. Floors are raw concrete, polished and uncovered, with the exception of the meditation hall, which features black bamboo flooring. Non-loadbearing walls are made of ecologically manufactured MDF sheets and are coated with transparent colours, in order that the structure of the material remains visible.

Cross section C

In the meditation hall, doors open to the outside, allowing open air meditation. When closed, these doors – made of perforated corrugated steel – serve to filter the sunlight. This gives the space an intimate atmosphere, providing optimal conditions for meditation. The building has been warmly received by local residents, as evident in a conversation we heard between two passing cyclists: “This new cowshed looks really good, but why does it have so many windows?” The Metta Vihara building is the first newly built meditation centre in the Netherlands.

Cross section D

Project: Buddhist Meditation Centre Metta Vihara
Start design: 2009
Start building: 9/2011
Opening: 6/2012
Gross Area: 465 m2
Building costs: ca. €650,000 ex. VAT
Design: bureau SLA
Client: Metta Vihara
Address: Hengstdijkse Kerkstraat 36, Hengstdijk, The Netherlands
Program: 13 bedrooms, meditation hall, library and dining hall
Contractor: Van Kerckhoven Bouw, Kloosterzande
Structural Engineer: Sineth Engineering, Schiphol
Sustainability: Sunraytec, Woerden
Project team: Peter van Assche, Hiske van der Meer, Gonçalo Moreira, Charlotte Vermaning, Justyna Osiecka

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by Bureau SLA appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese studio Schemata Architecture Office cast concrete in a fabric bag to give the counter of this confectionary kiosk in Tokyo the texture of a boiled sweet (+ slideshow).

Located within a department store, Papabubble at Tokyo Daimaru is the latest in a chain of handmade candy shops and architect Jo Nagasaka explained how he wanted customers to be able to watch the sweet-making process over the counter.

“We designed a large counter where they do all works such as melting sugar, making patterns, cutting, wrapping and selling,” he said.

The concrete counter folds around the kiosk and displays the rounded edges and creases of its fabric mould. “We made the concrete with an uncommon method, but it was not easy,” Nagasaka told Dezeen. “The concrete pressure is very heavy, but we found a hard enough textile finally.”

Glass panels create transparent screens around some of the preparation areas, while a wall of glazed black tiles provides a shopfront for displaying signage and hanging products.

We’ve previously featured another Papabubble sweet shop in Japan, where colourful liquids are displayed inside glass decanters.

Other projects by Schemata Architecture Office on Dezeen include a store for skincare brand Aesop, a food-photography studio and an office with a slide hidden behind a mirrored wall. See more stories about Schemata Architecture Office.

Here’s a project description from Schemata Architecture Office:

Papabubble Shop

We designed a shop for Papabubble, a world-famous brand of artistic hand-made candies based in Barcelona. This is their first shop to be opened at major department stores in Japan. It is located on B1F at Tokyo Daimaru Department Store, next to Tokyo Station, and we wanted to take advantage of this great location to promote Papabubble’s exquisite artistry and design skills and show their excellence over other similar brands.

Papabubble offers variety of delicious candies-but they not just enjoyable to taste, but also very delightful for the eyes. Their artistic patterns and colors are so impressive that we often wonder how they make such beautiful candies. So we decided to show customers the entire process of their candy making.

We designed a large counter where they do all works such as melting sugar, making patterns, cutting, wrapping and selling. We enveloped backyard area including structural column and storage, and wrapped around the 900 mm high counter with glass so that customers can look over the entire shop. The counter is made of concrete. Concrete is not always heavy, cold and hard-edged like we usually imagine. We used fabric mold to cast concrete, and expressed softness, plasticity and warmness of the material. By touching and looking at this counter we want customers to recognize the original nature of the material.

In the same way we want customers to fully enjoy the Papabubble magic by visually experiencing their intricate making process- and see how sugar magically turns into such beautiful candies.

Location: B1F, Tokyo Daimaru Department Store, Tokyo, Japan
Opening date: October 5, 2012

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by Schemata Architecture Office appeared first on Dezeen.

Hungarian studio Budapesti Műhely has restored the interior of one of Budapest’s oldest bathhouses by replacing the vaulted walls of the warm water hall and shower room, leaving the bubble-shaped backs exposed (+ slideshow).

The Rácz Thermal Bath was first constructed in the sixteenth century and extended 300 years later, when architect Miklós Ybl added the newer romantic-style bath halls and connecting shower corridor.

Parts of the building were destroyed in World War II and the architects decided not to rebuild the brick walls behind the new vaults, instead leaving them exposed so that visitors can see the curved structures lining the hallway.

“As a result of our method, the richly formed interiors have been renovated by the architectural tools of their times, but the halls have received frivolous shapes never seen before,” explained architect Tamás Dévény.

Other new walls have been created with transparent glass to maximise views through the building.

The architects noticed that round skylights are a motif that unites the different periodical styles of the rooms, so added more to the renovated spaces.

“Through these holes both the sunlight and the artificial light can reach the building’s lower levels and the different floors can cause strange light effects to the other floors above or under each other,” said Dévény.

Despite the contemporary additions, Dévény says they still used traditional building techniques. “There is no electrical light, no heating system or mechanical ventilation in the Turkish bath,” he said. “Also the water pressure in the Ybl Bathing Halls is at the same level as it was possible to make in 1865.”

Other baths we’ve featured include a Jewish bathhouse in Mexico and thermal baths in Switzerland.

Photography is by Tamas Bujnovszky.

Here’s some more information from writer Brigitta Bugya:

Renovation of the Rácz Thermal Bath
Location: Budapest, Hungary

Routed back to the 16th century, to the Ottoman times, when the central and southern territories of the medieval Hungarian Kingdom was ruled by the Turkish Empire for 150 years, the Rácz Thermal Bath is one of the oldest bathing building in Budapest. Heading towards completion, its renovation shows the original spatial appearance precisely how the different historical periods layered above each other and formed a complex arrangement through centuries. Led by the architectural firm Budapesti Műhely, the reconstruction paid attention not just to the building’s overall image, but also to the original technical inventions of the Bath.

Historical background

Situated at the foot of Gellért Hill, the Bath was founded probably during the ruling time of Sokollu Mustafa Pasha around 1560. The Turkish bath, the oldest part of the building, stayed fortunately unharmed when the long Turkish siege was over after the Battle of Buda (1686). As a result, the building’s ownership went for a while to the Austrian Kaiserlich Chamber and then in the 1860s to the Heinrich family. The wealthy family commissioned Miklós Ybl, a renowned architect of his time, to renovate (1864-65) and to extend the building with several new bathing parts (1869-70) in his romantic style. But before any extension could be made, the Heinrich family had to purchase the necessary ground floor areas in small plots one by one, since this part of Buda was a densely populated area at that time. This caused certain suddenness in the extension method and a highly complex spatial structure. Thus, the recent renovation had to solve not only the reconstruction of different styles, but also to harmonically unify the overlapping historical building parts with the new facilities.

The renovation

The building has been severely damaged during the World War II bombings and its condition became even worse due to the senselessly ordered demolitions of the 1960’s and to the decades of delay in the renovation process. Started finally in 2006, the work focused on the meticulous reconstruction of the original historical spaces and also of the Turkish era’s, the Baroque periods’ and the 19th century civic world’s bathing experience. Therefore, the architects renovated not only the original use of materials and the ornamental motifs with an extra care, but also the showering, lighting and heating techniques, the water’s pressure in accordance with the original customs of the different bathing halls. Thus the different historical times will become really sensible for the guests after the upcoming opening.

Contemporary architectural tools

White vaults in the newly built circulation spaces – Designed by Ybl, the Moresque Shower-hall and the connecting Warm Water Cupola-hall were completely destroyed by the above mentioned demolitions of the 1960s. Rebuilding these connecting parts, the architects’ intention was to maintain an unharmed historical experience in the building, meanwhile clearly expressing that these walls are not the original ones. Therefore, they decided upon building a 1:1 scale model according to the original plans and using a thin concrete shell structure (with a15 centimetres width) instead of the old brick walls with the variable thickness and straightened external surfaces as they were made in the 19th century’s building practice. Thus, the end result shows the interiors of the spaces in the same way as they used to look; meanwhile the exteriors got such vaulted shapes that have not existed before.

Transparency – The bath’s restored parts are joined by glass facades, corridors and internal spaces with glass walls. With this solution the several centuries old spaces received such an architectural frame that reveal as much as possible from the listed building’s historical values. Giving a harmonic overall appearance to the building the architects used a recurring motif throughout the whole building to connect the different historical periods’ styles in the complex spatial structure: a rounded skylight. Acting like a kind of reinterpretation of the Turkish bath’s opeion, the rounded, glassed skylights are organised in a regular raster and occur in some parts of the new building parts’ floor-space.

Project: Rácz Thermal Bath
Location: Hungary, 1013 Budapest, Hadnagy Street 8-10.

Leading architects: Tamás Dévényi, Csaba Valkai, Anikó Varga, Péter Kis
General design: Tamás Dévényi – Budapesti Műhely

Leading architects: Tamás Dévényi, Csaba Valkai, Anikó Varga, Péter Kis

Associate architects: Zoltán Bun, Gábor Balázsa, Orsolya Máté, Eszter Mihály, Donát Szakmári, Tamás Ükös, Viktor Vadász
Structural Engineering: András Szabó, Tamás Tamássy
Mechanical Engineering: Ervin Barta
Electrical Engineering: Ferenc Haasz, Gábor Somogyi
Landscape: Adrienne Szalkai
Public Utilities: Bálint Simon
Archaeologist: Adrienn Papp
Historical research: Ferenc Bor, György Bartos

Year designed: 2007

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by Budapesti Műhely appeared first on Dezeen.

Workspaces are gathered in islands of red, blue, orange or green throughout this office in Delft by Dutch interior architects i29.

Combiwerk Delft is a “social workplace” company that helps to reintegrate people with physical or mental difficulties into the workforce, so i29 tried to reflect this purpose in the design.

The designers found that the workers were very attached to their surroundings and routines, so they recruited another social workplace company to restore 250 different second-hand chairs so that each worker could choose their own.

Social involvement was the main theme, the designers explained. “We aimed for empowerment by creating a serious and distinguished interior,” they said. “Not a nondescript backwater building, but something sparkling, colourful and unique. We hope that this will contribute to a sense of pride in the users.”

The building’s grey exterior is continued through the walls, floors and ceilings of the interior and then broken up with islands of colour.

Each island has desks, chairs, shelves and cabinets in various tones of the same hue.

Other projects by i29 we’ve featured recently include a pop-up furniture shop where every item is painted grey and an advertising office where the walls, furniture and lights are covered in felt.

We’ve featured lots of other colourful workspaces, including an office for a Russian internet company with pixellated patterns on the walls and a Lego office that has a slide as well as stairs.

See all our stories about i29 »
See all our stories about offices »
See all our stories about interiors »

Photography is by i29 except where stated.

Here’s some extra information from the designers:

Social 01

Combiwerk Delft is a Social Workplace (SW) company and offers custom work to people who, due to a physical, psychological or mental limitation, are not able to find a regular job. Besides these limitations, the possibilities and talents are especially looked at. A lot has changed and the emphasis lately has been shifted more to reintegration into the regular work force. The job centre (career square) has become much more important with respect to workplaces. Training is offered and tests are done in the kitchen of the company restaurant, the cleaning service and the office. Assembling, sorting and packing are done at the workplaces. Green and environmental services are also an important branch of the social workplace.

The ambitious attitude of the company is striking. There is a strong, positive culture. The new construction was intended to clearly reflect this. Despite the limited resources and a clear wish for a sober approach, the building and decoration had to radiate quality. It had to convey attention and involvement, in order to stimulate a sense of pride in its users. An environment that supports that valuable work is being done here, with special people.

Secret garden

The building was designed by VMX Architects and has a total surface area of 8500 square metres. For the interior, which includes 4000 square metres of office space, a company restaurant, the career square, entrance ways and a lobby, i29 interior architects was consulted. The central space is a large atrium where the restaurant, the career square and the reception are situated. The building itself is a completely closed, grey monolithic shape. The same grey can also be found in the walls, floors and ceilings of the interior. When you come in, you are surprised by colourful islands, which are placed freely in the space and which only show themselves after you enter the premises. In an almost fairytale-like way, the building contains a secret garden full of colour and vitality, which is, of course, a wonderful reference to the contrast between external appearances and inner richness.

Colourful islands

People are often pigeon-holed or end up that way unintentionally. Such a ‘box’ is only a part of the story and often there are many nuances. This was the foundation for the design theme to i29. Everyone at Combiwerk is unique and special, nuanced and varied. We have translated this theme into the interior in an abstract way. The custom-designed furniture contains many ‘boxes’ where every user (so to speak) can tell his own story. In various colour nuances and variation possibilities, together with the carpets, they form colourful islands in an otherwise grey world. Most the users have a psychological or mental limitation, to a smaller or larger degree, and are therefore often very attached to their surroundings and routines (this was shown in interviews we conducted). We were going to create a completely new environment for people who generally are not fond of change. That is why an important point of departure in the design was that, in tandem with all the new things, old and authentic elements also had to return. This led us to the collection of over 250 different second-hand wooden chairs that were restored and re-used. Not only can everyone pick their favourite chair, they are also a nice analogy for the variety of the unique people occupying the space.

Above: photograph is by Ronald Tilleman

Social involvement

A social workplace must be social; that was the starting point for all the parties involved. Social involvement was therefore the main theme in the design and realisation on various levels. At the level of the design, we aimed for empowerment by creating a serious and distinguished interior. Not a nondescript backwater building, but something sparkling, colourful and unique. We hope that this will contribute to a sense of pride in the users. In terms of sustainability, where possible, we aimed for recycling and re-use. All the wooden chairs in the atrium were bought second-hand and restored by another SW-company, just like all the furniture for the 4000 m2 office space, including desks, chairs, cabinets and filing drawers. A new colourful top layer was applied to the re-used furniture so that they are as good as new and also fit beautifully into the colour spectrum in combination with the carpets.

Client: Combiwerk Delft
Size: 8500 m2
Interior architect: i29 l interior architects
Architect: VMX Architects

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by i29 appeared first on Dezeen.