Hasta La Ideas

This Berlin townhouse by architecture office XTH-Berlin features doors that open like drawbridges, sloping floors that function as slides and nets that cover holes in the floors (+ slideshow).

XTH-Berlin inserted staggered floors throughout the building’s 12-metre height to accommodate various living spaces, with bedrooms housed in slanted concrete volumes at the first and third levels featuring flaps that can be used to slide from one level to the next.

The house’s entrance contains wardrobes, a bathroom and a spare room that can be hidden by drawing a full-height curtain, while a gap in the ceiling provides a view of the zigzagging levels that ascend to the top of the house.

Two concrete-walled bedrooms situated above the ground floor feature sloping wooden flaps that can be raised to connect these rooms with a platform where the piano sits.

A gap in this platform level allows light and views between the storeys and is covered in netting to create a safe play area.

A staircase leads past the two bedrooms to a living room containing a bathroom that can be cordoned off using a curtain.

The third bedroom is connected to this living area by a gently sloping wooden bridge, while another flight of stairs leads to a reading platform.

A final set of stairs continues to the top floor kitchen and dining room, which opens onto a large terrace.

This open-plan level features a skylight that adds to the natural light entering the space through the full-height glazing.

A minimal palette of materials is used throughout the interior, including concrete, pinewood flooring, steel railings and laminated spruce used for dividing walls, stairs and doors.

The house is located beside a park marking the site of the former Berlin Wall. Entrances on either side of the property lead to a multipurpose space for storing bikes, clothes and shoes.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

Townhouse B14

The house is all about space and light.

Developed by the section it has a continuous space stretching out over the total height (12 mts), length and width of the building: from entrance hall and playing area to a music level to a living room with an open bath to a reading area to the kitchen with terrace.

This open space is zoned by two concrete elements ‘hung’ between the firewalls. They contain the private (bed) rooms. Due to their slants views are possible through the entire house.

Only few materials determine the interior space: fair faced concrete for the solids, plaster for the firewalls, glued-laminated spruce for dividing walls, stairs and doors, and pinewood planks for the floors, besides steel for the railings, glass for the facades and fringes for filtering views and light. Interiors like the shelves and trunks are designed by us.

According to the site along the former wall – the no-man’s land between East and West – now the Berlin Wall Memorial, the house has a severe outside contrasting the coloured balcony houses opposite in the former West.

The house is built on a trapezoid lot of land of 118 m2 with a small garden in the southeast towards a residential path and the wide side of the house to the northwest facing the plain of the Berlin Wall Memorial which is mainly a park. It’s part of a settlement of 16 townhouses, the two neighbouring houses are by XTH-berlin as well.

The nearly all-over glazed facades are structured by steel girders, which span from one dividing wall to the other and take over the cross bracing. Two lines of fringy draperies in front of the ground and second floor provide screen and cover the window frames.

Technically we use a heat pump (pipes going 80 mts into the ground) with panel heating and rainwater tanks in the garden for use in the toilets.

You enter the house from both sides: From the north beneath the concrete solid in an area with wardrobe, bathroom and the building services room. From the south directly in the living space which opens to the very top of the building. This is the level to put the bikes, do handicrafts, play kicker, a spare room and a storage room can be separated by a curtain.

The stairway leading up crosses the first concrete element with two sleeping rooms inside. Few steps up you reach the music area, a gallery with a horizontal net as a fall protection.

The two sleeping rooms can be opened to this area by the use of 2,5m x 1,5m big elevating flaps (which besides to slide and play are used to ventilate the sleeping rooms to the quiet side of the house). Further up you are on top of the first concrete element: Here you find the classic living space with sofa and oven, but also a bathroom included, to partition by curtain.

Via a bridge you enter the second concrete element, containing another sleeping room. The sloped wall is becoming a huge pillow.

Continuing your way up you come to an intermediate level, which is mostly used as a reading area, looking back down you view the small garden on the back side of the house and the memorial park in front.

Another stairway and you reach the highest level on top of the second concrete element: kitchen and dining area, opening to a terrace. A huge roof light (through which the stack-effect ventilates the to a maximum glazed house) lets the midday sun shine deep down on the lower levels.

Client: private
Completion: 2012
Area: approx. 230m2

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in Townhouse B14 by XTH-Berlin appeared first on Dezeen.

The shingle-clad upper storeys of this house on the outskirts of the Austrian city of Linz by Vienna practice Destilat are rotated to create a cantilevered overhang above the entrance (+ slideshow).

Destilat was asked to convert the existing property on a hillside in the Bachlberg suburb of Linz into a property accommodating three self-contained apartments.

The original house was gutted and rebuilt from the level of the existing concrete pedestal, with the storeys above rotated slightly to shelter the entrance and make the most of views towards the Alps.

Grey shingles covering the upper storeys give the exterior of the building a monolithic appearance, while the gabled profile typical of Alpine properties is interrupted by a scattered arrangement of windows.

At the front of the house a variety of outdoor spaces are created by openings in the facade.

A gap in the pitched roof provides a small balcony outside the dining space of the penthouse, while the first floor features a terrace framed by a long aperture.

Each of the storeys above the basement garage contains an apartment with its own sleeping, eating and living spaces, with the top floor also incorporating a mezzanine area housing a gallery and guest bedroom.

The ground floor apartment occupies an area previously used as an indoor pool and provides multiple points of access directly into the surrounding garden.

The penthouse apartment features an open plan living space with a fireplace that projects from one wall to provide some separation from the dining and kitchen area.

A black concrete base and rough plaster hood add to the monolithic and sculptural look of this central feature.

The massive ceiling height and pitched roof are accentuated by pendant lights suspended above the dining table.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

House B.A.B.E.

B.A.B.E. stands for exclusive living at Bachlberg.

The former domicile of a family of entrepreneurs from Linz is located near the top of Bachlberg, in very quiet area near the woods, overlooking the provincial capital of
Linz, with a panoramic view of the distant Alpine foothills.

In cooperation with W. Wimmer, this run-down object with its spacious garden was converted into a modern apartment house with three living units. The original structure was gutted completely and extended by an additional floor with insulated timber framing.

Starting at the socle storey, the entire structure was slightly turned to optimise its viewing angles.

Covered entirely with grey shingles made of asbestos cement (Eternit), the building has a very monolithic and sculptural character due to its seemingly random distribution of apertures for windows, loggias and terraces.

The apartments of this house have very diverse characters and usable floor areas ranging from 140 to 200 sq m.

The former indoor pool area on the ground floor was converted to an apartment with direct access to the property’s garden.

However, the crown jewel of this building is the penthouse with its open living, kitchen and dining area and up to 6.5 meter high, open pitched roof and a gallery. A massive open fireplace is the almost archaic centre due to its reduced design as well as its concrete base and rough plasterwork.

Besides the impressive main room, which includes a gallery, the entrance area as well as the bathrooms were individually designed to meet the client’s requirements.

The post House B.A.B.E. by Destilat is
twisted to shelter the entrance appeared first on Dezeen.

This shell-like concrete structure with triangular slices is an auditorium designed by Luxembourg studio Valentiny HVP Architects for an annual music festival in the Brazilian town of Trancoso (+ slideshow).

Nearly complete, the Teatro Mozarteum Brasileiro will provide a performance venue for the Música em Trancoso, a week-long music festival that takes place every March in the popular beach town on Brazil’s Bahia coast.

The festival was founded by architect François Valentiny of Valentiny HVP Architects, with partners Sabine Lovatelli, Reinold Geiger and Carlos Eduardo Bittencourt. Now in its third year, the event will have its own permanent auditorium capable of hosting indoor and outdoor audiences.

Two large triangular openings in the curved concrete facade provide entrances for the two separate seating areas. These are positioned alongside one other and can accommodate up to 1100 people each.

A neighbouring structure, known as the facilities building, houses ancillary spaces, including rehearsal rooms, meeting areas and a bar.

The triangular windows of this building are decorated with engraved bronze panels, created by Brazilian artist Maria Bonomi.

“The engravings refer to both the local nature with its impressive cliffs and the birth of the Brazilian nation,” said the studio.

Photography is by Jean de Matteis and Valentiny HVP Architects.

Here’s a project description from Valentiny HVP Architects:

Música in Trancoso Festival

The Música em Trancoso 2014 Festival, to be held March 15th through March 22nd, the third grand event that celebrates arts, promotes education and transforms music as a tool for social integration, announces this year’s wide range of activities.

After two years of meticulous planning, the first Música em Trancoso Festival was held in March 2012. It was the result of the dream of four friends, music lovers and social activists who wanted to create an event to bring together young musicians and established artists while at the same time promoting the natural beauty of the Trancoso region and stimulating economic and social development.

The Festival’s critical and popular success was immediate and can be measured by the outstanding performances of more than 200 musicians before 10,000 spectators.

Every year for eight days in a series of free concerts and accompanying musical events between Carnival and Easter, the village of Trancoso welcomes performers and soloists of international recognition in classical music as well as the greatest names in Brazilian popular music.

Its founders are Sabine Lovatelli, president of Mozarteum Brasileiro, one of the most acclaimed associations devoted to the diffusion of classical music in Brazil; Reinold Geiger, president of the L’Occitane group; Carlos Eduardo Bittencourt, entrepreneur from Trancoso, Bahia; and the Luxembourgish architect François Valentiny, internationally known for designing theatres and cultural venues.

Música em Trancoso has three interrelated activities, which take place throughout the event:
– Performances at the Teatro Mozarteum Brasileiro.
– Masterclasses in the “Facilities” building, adjoining the theatre
– Music Initiation Classes for children and teens from public schools in the Trancoso and Arraial d’Ajuda region

The Mozarteum Brasileiro Theatre

From the bold design by architect François Valentiny, the Mozarteum Brasileiro Theatre has two different overlapped audiences, one indoor and one outdoor, each with 1,100 seats.

Design as well as acoustics of the theatre, are in charge of Valentiny architects, Luxemburg, known for their designs of cultural venues including the Concert Hall Saarbrücken (Germany), the House of Mozart – Kleines Festspielhaus Salzburg (Austria) and the Luxemburg Pavilion Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

In the future, the theatre will house various cultural and socio-educational activities, becoming a permanent centre of cultural production.

The Mozarteum Brasileiro Theatre also includes an annex, “The Facilities” building, with eight rehearsal rooms, spacious bar and meeting rooms. With a design which contrasts curves with triangular openings, totally integrated with the natural environment of Trancoso, the building brings imposing panels, etched in bronze, from the renowned Brazilian artist Maria Bonomi. The engravings refer to both the local nature with its impressive cliffs and the birth of the Brazilian nation.

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built for Brazil’s Música em Trancoso festival appeared first on Dezeen.

Our next interactive slideshow features the most recent products by Danish design brand Hay, including furniture by French designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

Hay‘s current selection of furniture, tableware and home accessories has been arranged as it might be found in the home and photographed against pink and blue backdrops.

“Our wish was to present the furniture in very simple set-up without losing any atmosphere,” the company’s founder Rolf Hay told Dezeen, “focusing on the furniture and products in the best possible way, and letting the coloured walls define the room and giving it the atmosphere.”

These items are set up to showcase individual products rather than link them together as a coherent range. “We don’t really consider it as a collection,” said Hay. “It’s very important for us that the products are independent.”

The products include the wooden Copenhague furniture designed by the Bouroullecs for the remodelled Faculty of Humanities at Københavns Universitet in Copenhagen.

The moulded plywood chairs comprise seat and back sections that form a crease where they join the A-shaped legs, which allow the chairs to stack.

Stools and tables are also designed with same double-leaf surfaces and angled legs.

Tables and desks in the Copenhague collection are also available with flat tops, either in veneer or coated with linoleum.

Among other furniture pieces in the range is a moulded polyurethane chair supported on wooden legs by Danish designer Hee Welling.

There’s also the blocky modular Mags sofa constructed from sprung upholstered foam, with high armrests and deep seats. This can be decorated with patchwork cushions covered in fabric by Danish textile company Kvadrat.

Hay’s accessories include a coat hanger formed from twisted steel wire and candle holders bent from steel or copper rods.

Notebooks, a desk tidy, a tape roll and a concertinaed cardboard folder for storing loose paper are all part of a stationery range.

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homeware from Danish brand Hay appeared first on Dezeen.

Perched on a clifftop along the Chilean shoreline, this idyllic residence by architecture studio L2C forms part of a self-sustaining community that produces its own energy and water, and deals with its own waste (+ slideshow).

L2C’s Nicolás Lipthay built the single-storey family residence in Tunquén, a 90-minute drive from Santiago, where an assortment of wooden cabins and concrete houses are dotted across a vast landscape 50 metres above sea level.

“Big and small, all [houses] share the tranquil and simple lifestyle that characterises this unique getaway location,” said Lipthay. “The disconnection from mainstream civilisation makes Tunquen an eco-friendly self-sustainable community.”

Tunquen House is situated on the edge of the coastline, so its plan is arranged to offer wide-stretching views of the Pacific Ocean from most rooms but also to ensure courtyard spaces are protected from the strong prevailing winds.

“The climatic conditions of the area, dominated by a powerful south wind, conditioned the design,” said the architect.

Concrete walls surround the building and are rendered white both inside and out, while the roof is supported by a series of visible wooden joists that have been painted white to match.

A combined living room, dining area and kitchen forms the centre of the plan. Glazed walls run along two sides of the space to open it out to a sea-facing terrace on one side and an entrance courtyard on the other.

The master bedroom sits beside the living room and features a private bathroom and a walk-in dressing room.

Childrens’ rooms and guest bedrooms are positioned on the opposite side of the building and lead out to a second courtyard.

A separate outbuilding sits off to one side, accommodating solar panels, water tanks, sewage treatment and recycling facilities.

Photography is by Nicolás Saieh.

Here’s a project description from Nicolás Lipthay Allen:

Tunquen House

Quiet, peaceful and with astonishing views of the Pacific Ocean, lies Tunquén, a group of a few hundred houses scattered over hills, cliffs and shore, overlooking the rugged Chilean coast, only an hour and a half away from the capital city Santiago.

An enormous fair sanded beach – as well as beautiful small secluded ones – a protected wetland and the proximity to quaint fishing villages and the coastal town of Algarrobo, make Tunquén an ideal spot.

A variety of architectural styles are found in this area, ranging from charming wooden cabins to grand sophisticated concrete houses. Big and small, all share the tranquil and simple lifestyle that characterises this unique getaway location. The disconnection from mainstream civilisation makes Tunquen an eco-friendly self-sustainable community. All of the houses count with solar power, water tanks and individual sewage treatment systems, and recycling is an important concern of the neighbours.

Tunquen House, located 160 km from the city of Santiago, is on the first line of the waterfront on a cliff over 50 meters above sea level. The house sits on the oceanfront in a contemplative and respectful manner, as a frame for nature and the environment. It is defined as a single volume of white concrete which is divided into three areas.

The main area houses the living room, dining and kitchen, leaving at one end the master bedroom and its services, and at the other the bedrooms for children and guests. This way, the house can set two scales of use, the first is when the owners are at the house by themselves, and the second is when they are there with the kids or guests.

The climatic conditions of the area, dominated by a powerful south wind, conditioned the design. Attached to the living area is a courtyard that has multiple functions, the most important is to be outside sheltered from the wind, in connection with the view and the interior of the house. This same courtyard provides the access, an outdoor dining area and garden.

The structure of the house is made up of a “bracket” of reinforced concrete which along with the fireplace and the walls of the exterior courtyards shape the projected volume, the roof is based on beams and wood, giving texture and greater height to the spaces.

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above the Chilean coastline appeared first on Dezeen.