Hasta La Ideas

Beijing studio Atelier TeamMinus has completed a visitor centre for an ancient Buddhist memorial in Tibet, which features stone walls, a central courtyard and 11 rooftop observation decks (+ slideshow).

Located in the Chinese province of Yushu, the Jianamani Visitor Centre accompanies the Jianamani cairn – a historic mound of inscribed stones amassed by pilgrims over the last three centuries.

Atelier TeamMinus was commissioned to design the building in 2010, shortly after an earthquake hit the region. As well as providing an information source for tourists, it functions as a community centre for the local residents who worked hard to repair the damage caused by the natural disaster.

The architects used traditional Tibetan architecture as a guide when generating the plan of the building. They created a square building with a central courtyard, then surrounded it with observation towers that offer views of various historical landmarks nearby.

Stone was used for the walls, resonating with the inscribed stones that make up the Jianamani memorial.

“The stone masonry is done by local masons, using the same kind of local rock from which Mani stones are carved,” explained the architects.

The rooftop decks were constructed from timber, some of which was sourced from earthquake debris.

Inside, the building is laid out over two floors and accommodates a post office, a clinic, public toilets and a small research archive.

The project was presented at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore earlier this month. It was shortlisted for an award in the display category but lost out to a whirlpool-shaped museum in Copenhagen.

Read on for a project description from Atelier TeamMinus:

Jianamani Visitor Centre

Yushu is a highly regarded religious centre to Tibetans. Its significance comes mainly from Jianamani, the world’s largest Tibetan Buddhist cairn. With a history of over 3 centuries, Jianamani currently bears over 250 million pieces of Mani stones, and is still growing with new pieces added daily by pilgrims.

In Yushu, more than 40% of the populations live on the carving of Mani stones. To the Yushu community, nothing compares to Jianamani. After the 2010 earthquake, Yushu-ers immediately set off to repair Jianamani, long before they started repairing their own houses.

The Jianamani Visitor Centre serves both visitors and the local community. To visitors and pilgrims, it provides information about Jianamani and its history complemented by viewing the surrounding historical sites. To local Yushu-ers, it provides a post office, a clinic, public toilets and a small research archive.

The Jianamani Visitor Centre consists of a square building with a courtyard in the centre, and 11 observation decks surrounding it. The central square volume features the typical Tibetan layout. Of the 11 observation decks, 2 point to Jianamani, 9 point to historic/religious sites related to Jianamani, including: Leciga, Genixibawangxiou, Cuochike, Dongna Zhunatalang Taiqinleng, Zhaqu River Valley, Lazanglongba, Rusongongbu, Naigu River Beach, and Kuanyin Rebirth Site.

The Jianamani Visitor Centre is mainly built with the local construction techniques. The stone masonry is done by local masons, using the same kind of local rock from which Mani stones are carved. The railings around the roof terrace and the observation decks are made of wood, with some parts recycled from earthquake debris.

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by Atelier TeamMinus appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen and MINI World Tour: in this movie Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto discusses his philosophy of designing structures that are “in between” opposing concepts such as nature and architecture, and says the approach could work just as well on a skyscraper as a small private house.

“Nature and architecture are fundamental themes [of my work],” says Fujimoto, speaking to Dezeen after giving his keynote speech at this year’s World Architecture Festival.

“I like to find something in between. Not only nature and architecture but also inside and outside. Every kind of definition has an in-between space. Especially if the definitions are two opposites, then the in-between space is more rich.”

Fujimoto gives his recently completed Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London as an example of his philosophy, in which he used a series of geometric lattices to create a cloud-like structure.

“In various meanings it is in between things,” he says of the project. “It’s made by a grid, but the shape is very soft and complex. The experience is half nature and half super-artificial.”

Fujimoto then goes on to discuss Final Wooden House in Japan, in which chunky timber beams form the walls, floors and roof of the house, as well as the furniture and stairs inside.

“It’s a beautiful integration of the architectural elements in various different levels,” says Fujimoto. “The wooden blocks could be the floor or the furniture or the walls, so in that house every definition is melding together.”

Finally, Fujimoto discusses House NA in Tokyo, which consists of several staggered platforms and hardly has any walls.

“It is not like a house but more like a soft territory, something beyond a house,” he says. “The client is a young couple and they are really enjoying their life in that house.”

Fujimoto believes his approach can be scaled up to larger projects

“The concept of creating something in-between is not only for the smaller scale,” he says. “I think it could be developed more, for example [up to] skyscraper scale.”

“The high-rise building and landscaping are opposite, but maybe it could be a nice challenge to find something between skyscrapers and landscaping. I like to expand my way of thinking to explore pioneering or hidden places in the architectural field.”

We drove around Singapore in our MINI Cooper S Paceman. The music in the movie is a track called Itsu by Man Oeuvre.

You can listen to more music by Man Oeuvre on Dezeen Music Project and watch more of our Dezeen and MINI World Tour movies here.

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has an in-between space” – Sou Fujimoto appeared first on Dezeen.

Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld designed this apartment block in São Paulo as 62 “houses with yards”, which are stacked on top of one another like the blocks of a Jenga game (+ slideshow).

The 360º Building, which was presented at the World Architecture Festival earlier this month, is a 20-storey tower block located at the peak of a ridge between the neighbourhoods of Alto de Pinheiros and Alto da Lapa in the west of the city.

Isay Weinfeld wanted to avoid the typical São Paulo typology of compact apartments with little or no outside space. “We have strived to introduce 360º Building as an alternative to the vertical multi-family housing model, which, in its commonest form, merely stacks up apartment units,” said the studio.

Rather than adding small balconies, the architect gave each home its own terrace. These spaces are all tucked between apartments, offering shelter from the elements and a degree of privacy.

Apartment sizes vary from 130 to 250 square-metres in area, and there are between two and four homes on each floor.

These specifications provide a total of six different floor types, which alternate to create a volume reminiscent of Jenga – a children’s game where wooden blocks are removed from a tower and placed back on top.

The base of the building is set into the hillside. Residents enter via a suspended walkway at first-floor level, bridging a swimming pool that runs around the perimeter.

Communal lounge areas and laundry facilities are located on the ground floor, while three floors of parking are housed in the basement.

The project was shortlisted in the housing award category at the World Architecture Festival, but lost out to an apartment block inside a former YMCA building in Los Angeles. One year earlier, Weinfeld’s Fazenda Boa Vista Golf Clubhouse topped the sports category.

Photography is by Fernando Guerra.

Here’s more information from Isay Weinfeld:

360º Building

360º Building will be erected in São Paulo, the largest city in Brazil, where currently over 10 million people live spread over 1,525 km2. In this setting, unfortunately the “norm” is to live not at one’s best, but crammed and confined, and to commute long distances everyday between home, work and other commitments, by car, bus, or subway. The time left for leisure is scarce, and few are the options to enjoy activities in the open air.

Mindful of the urban reality in São Paulo, of the market and of the client brief, we have strived to introduce 360º Building as an alternative to the vertical multi-family housing “model”, which, in its commonest form, merely stacks up apartment units – ordinary, compact and closed onto themselves.

360º Building, rising on top of the ridge separating the districts of Alto de Pinheiros and Alto da Lapa – a geographic location that will offer privileged sights of the surrounding area and the city -, will feature 62 elevated “homes with yards”: real yards, not balconies, designed as genuine living spaces, wide, airy and bright. It will present 7 types of apartments – either 130, 170 or 250 m2 – combined in sets of 2, 3 or 4 units per floor, in 6 different arrangements.

Leaving the street and past the reception, a suspended walkway will lead to the building’s lobby, surrounded on all sides by a reflective pool. Down one floor, on the ground level, entertaining areas and other facilities – gym, lounge, party room and laundry – will be located, as also the janitor’s living quarters. Further down, there will be 3 parking levels, and, on the lowermost level, employees quarters, storage and engine rooms, in addition to a sauna and an outdoor swimming pool. The land, a steep downwards slope, allowed the lower levels to be semi-subterranean, always keeping 2 sides open to the light and to ventilation.

The building projects to all sides showing no distinction between main and secondary façades.

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Isay Weinfeld appeared first on Dezeen.

Movie: in this exclusive interview Australian architect Richard Francis-Jones explains the importance of local materials at Auckland Art Gallery, which was crowned World Building of the Year at World Architecture Festival in Singapore earlier this month.

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki in New Zealand, which was designed by Australian architecture studio Frances-Jones Morehen Thorp together with New Zealand studio Archimedia, is an extension and refurbishment of an existing gallery.

“It’s a turn-of-the-century building, it kind of embodies a colonial attitude to a European settlement,” says Francis-Jones of the original gallery.

“This new project gave us an opportunity to rethink that, to recast it in current values, to create a bi-cultural gallery that can have a much more holistic relationship to New Zealand society.”

The extension provides the gallery with a new entrance, atrium and gallery space, areas that are covered by large wooden canopies made from the indigenous kauri tree.

Francis-Jones says that it was very important for the design team to create a building that related to its local surroundings.

“One of the great challenges we face as architects in this age is that our materials and our systems are sourced from all over the world,” he says. “But we were seeking to make a building that was really embedded in this place, in this culture.”

He continues: “To create these canopies we wanted to use a material that was very precious and meaningful to New Zealand, so we used natural kauri. It’s got to be one of the most beautiful timbers you’ve ever seen in your life and it’s a timber of great significance and meaning to Maori culture.”

“But, of course, it’s a protected species, so we had to source it from fallen kauri or recycled kauri. We had to use it very sparingly.”

The large glass walls of the building are designed to allow clear views outside to the surrounding landscape.

“The building, in a sense, creates a connection between the natural landscape and the city,” says Francis-Jones.

“Our effort was to strive to make a building that was transparent in a way, to create a building that was more open, inclusive and connected with the landscape. It is a more open interpretation of New Zealand’s future.”

World Architecture Festival 2013 took place at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore from 2-4 October. Next year’s World Architecture Festival will take place at the same venue from 1-3 October 2014. Award entries are open from February to June 2014.

See our earlier story about Auckland Art Gallery »
See all our coverage of World Architecture 2013 »

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embedded in New Zealand culture” appeared first on Dezeen.

World Architecture Festival 2013: this year’s award for the best landscape project at the World Architecture Festival has gone to a botanical garden at a former quarry in Australia.

Situated in a former sand quarry in Cranbourne, outside Melbourne, The Australian Garden was designed by landscape studio Taylor Cullity Lethlean and plant expert Paul Thompson.

The garden is laid out as a journey through Australian fauna, from the desert to the coast, set among buildings and beside artificial lakes.

The garden showcases 170,000 plants across 1700 species, and is used by both researchers and the public.

“This garden brilliantly summarises the great variety of Australian flora as well as the large part of the country which is arid desert,” said the panel of judges. “Like a botanic garden, it is a collection of difference, but with a strong unifying set of journeys through the various landscapes.

“This landscape stood out with its originality and strong evocation of Australian identity without having to use any signs or words – just the beautiful flora of Australia’s countryside.”

Last year the World Landscape of the Year title was given to a riverside park in Singapore.

World Building of the Year 2013 was awarded to the Auckland Art Gallery and World Interior of the Year 2013 was presented to a tiled apartment in Barcelona.

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World Landscape of the Year 2013 appeared first on Dezeen.