Ghent studio Open Y Office has extended a house in Belgium, adding a concrete structure that could also function as a standalone residence (+ slideshow).
Located in the town of Herent, the extension was designed by Open Y Office with stark concrete walls that contrast against the white-painted brick exterior of the old house, which is a converted post office.
“The inhabitants wanted an extension that was flexible enough to be transformed in time to a separate unit with its own bed and bathroom,” said the architects.
The volume of the building appears as two rectangular boxes stacked on top of one another, with the upper storey slightly overlapping the ground floor below.
An open-plan living area occupies the first floor and overlooks a garden with a new swimming pool.
A glass passageway leads through to the existing house, plus large timber-framed windows open the room out to a long and narrow balcony.
The ground floor below contains storage areas and a garage with timber panelled doors.
Concrete steps with a steel balustrade lead into the house via an entrance on the first floor.
This OYO story takes you to Herent, where the extension of a private residence captures its surroundings.
The inhabitants wanted an extension that was flexible enough to be transformed in time to a separate unit with its own bed and bathroom.
OYO emphasised the contrast between the new shape and the old volume, which used to be an post office. You can see the concrete floating above the garden.
From the point of view of the residents, the extension creates exciting views from the new living room. The two volumes are connected with a light wooden footbridge that functions as entrance but also clarifies the different volumes.
Architects: OYO – Open Y Office Location: Herent, Belgium Type: Single family house extension Area: House extension 110 m2 Year: 2010
London Design Festival 2013: British design brand Another Country has created a collection of bedroom furniture for London retailer Heal’s, based on the simplicity of Shaker-style interiors.
Another Country applied its signature pared-back styling to the range developed exclusively for Heal’s, which comprises a bed, bedside table, blanket chest and two chests of drawers.
The collection references Another Country’s earlier Series Two collection through its use of materials such as ash and brass, but the company’s owner Paul de Zwart said he added “playful details like ever-so-slightly oversized key escutcheons, as well as new materials like the linen headboard.”
Made from solid ash with a white oil finish, the furniture features simple, boxy forms and traditional joinery that enhance the sense of solidity and craftsmanship.
“We’ve also given a nod to Arts and Crafts style in the shape of little upright backs on the chests – a reminder of the rich furniture-making traditions of Heal’s,” de Zwart added.
A bed frame available in single, double and king sizes is the centrepiece of the collection, and features brushed brass feet and a headrest covered in natural linen.
The chests of drawers all employ traditional wooden runners and dovetail joints that attach the drawer fronts.
Brass handles are used on the chests of drawers and the bedside table, while the blanket chest and chests of drawers feature an oversized brass escutcheon and key.
Here’s some more information about the collection:
Another Country for Heal’s – bedroom range
Incorporating elements of their critically acclaimed Series Two collection, Another Country has designed an exquisite five-piece bedroom range for Heal’s comprising a bed, bedside table, blanket chest and two chests of drawers; one tall, one wide. The range, which is made from solid ash with a white oil finish, is on sale exclusively at Heal’s.
The Another Country for Heal’s range has clean-cut, angular lines that draw inspiration from the no-nonsense style of Shaker and Scandinavian furniture and the pale woods favoured in contemporary Belgian craft production. It also uses brass as an additional accent, providing decoration as well as structural support.
“The manufacturing techniques employed in the construction of these pieces are a celebration of the values of contemporary craft,” says Paul de Zwart, Another Country’s owner (and, in a previous incarnation, the founding publisher of Wallpaper* magazine). “We’ve included some references from our Series Two collection, such as the use of solid ash and brass, but for this range we’ve added playful details like ever-so-slightly oversized key escutcheons, as well as new materials like the linen headboard. We’ve also given a nod to Arts and Crafts style in the shape of little upright backs on the chests – a reminder of the rich furniture-making traditions of Heals.”
Founded in 2010, Another Country is a British-based company that makes contemporary craft furniture and accessories. The brand’s simple, functional, pared-back designs are manufactured in the UK and Portugal using FSC certified solid woods.
Bedside Table
This neat side table combines function with aesthetic appeal. Dovetail joints provide attractive craft detail whilst brushed brass hardware and feet give subtle material interest. All the drawers in the Sleep Series use traditional wooden runners for an authentic construction and the Bedside Table is no different. The single drawer unit sits on top of slender legs and a small upright on the table top is an attractive reworking of a practical traditional furniture detail.
Blanket Chest
This handsome piece of furniture is a fine storage solution with plenty of space for linens, clothes or toys. Traditionally placed at the bottom of a bed but, we think, useful employed anywhere in your bedroom. Like all pieces in our Sleep Series, the chest combined pale ash with brushed brass details to beautiful effect. We’ve made a feature of one further function – the chest is lockable with a charming brass lock and key.
Bed
At the heart of our Sleep Series is this generous, sturdy bed frame. The frame is constructed from pale ash with brushed brass feet and the generous headrest is covered in a soft natural linen, providing comfort and creating a clean silhouette. The bed frame is available in single, double and king sizes.
Tallboy
The first of our Sleep Series drawers is a slim, elegant Tallboy. This endlessly useful piece of furniture provides maximum storage with minimum fuss. The Tallboy uses traditional wooden runners for it’s five drawers and further authentic craft detailing comes in the way of beautiful dovetail joints on each drawer. A small upright on the top of the Tallboy is a pleasing take on a traditional detail and charming brass escutcheon and key is the only decorative embellishment in this paired back design – and a functional one at that.
Chest Of Drawers
The second of our Sleep Series drawers is a hearty chest of three drawers. The bottom drawer is extra large and the perfect storage solution for blankets and bigger items, the top drawer is lockable with a charming brass escutcheon and key. Pale ash and brushed bronze detailing are the signature of this paired back collection and have been employed here to full effect. Similarly, authentic craft detailing comes in the way of beautiful dovetail joints and an Arts and Crafts inspired upright on the drawers’ top.
London Design Festival 2013:Mexican designer Liliana Ovalle is presenting a series of clay vessels based on the geological phenomenon of sinkholes as part of a group show at Gallery Libby Sellers in London.
Ovalle based the irregular shapes of the vessels on the idea of sinkholes forming below ground, creating voids that the ground suddenly disappears into.
“The black vessels stand as a representation of the geological phenomena of sinkholes, a portrayal of those voids that emerge abruptly from the ground, dissolving their surroundings into an irretrievable space,” said Ovalle.
Individually made oak frames that represent a cross section of the ground support the vessels, whose open ends interrupt the flat surfaces on top of the frames.
To produce the clay pieces, Ovalle worked with Colectivo 1050º, a group of artists, designers and makers in Oaxaca, Mexico, that supports artisanal skills currently facing the threat of extinction.
“By making reference to different process of extinction, the Sinkhole project aims to reflect and extend the permanence of what seems to be inevitably falling into a void,” explained Ovalle.
The vases are shaped by hand using tools such as corn cobs and pieces of leather and the blackened finish is achieved by exposing the fired clay to an open flame.
The project is being exhibited as part of a group show called Grandmateria III at Gallery Libby Sellers during the London Design Festival, and will continue to be shown until 5 October 2013.
Foam models were documented and sent to the ceramists in Tlapazola, Oaxaca.
The Sinkhole project is the result of a collaboration between Liliana Ovalle and Colectivo 1050º.
The black vessels stand as a representation of the geological phenomena of sinkholes, a portrayal of those voids that emerge abruptly from the ground, dissolving their surroundings into an irretrievable space.
Bi-dimensional drawings were translated with the aid of measured wooden sticks.
Each vessel is suspended in a wooden frame, alluding to a cross section of the ground that reveals the hidden topographies.
Alberta and Dorotea mold the the vessels using the ¨cone” tecnique. The clay is molded on plates balanced on rocks and then spun by hand.
The clay shapes, based in local archetypes for utilitarian pottery, are crafted by ceramists from Tlapazola, Oaxaca using ancestral techniques and skills that are struggling to find a place in the contemporary global landscape.
Once the pieces were dried and fired for a first time, a second “open” fire was made to blacken out the vessels.
By making reference to different process of extinction, the Sinkhole project aims to reflect and extend the permanence of what seems to be inevitably falling into a void.
The tones and gradients of each vessel were controlled by exposing them directly to the flame or the burning ashes. The “blackening” process lasts approximately one hour.
Sinkhole Vessels will be showcased at the exhibition Grandmateria III, at Gallery Libby Sellers, during the London Design Festival.
Final fitting of the ceramic pieces into the oak frames.
Artificial grass blankets one wall of this renovated house in Switzerland by local studio Dubail Begert Architectes (+ slideshow).
Architects Sylvain Dubail and David Begert were tasked with improving the thermal efficiency of the two-storey 1970s house in Saignelégier, north-west Switzerland.
After adding extra insulation, they installed a new facade intended to reference the surrounding ground surfaces.
The rear wall is covered with artificial turf to match the garden lawn, while corrugated fibre-cement panels clad three walls and the roof as a nod to the grey tarmac of the road.
The architects compare the appearance to agricultural structures. “The house refuses the romantic and nostalgic ode to the bygone campaign and scoops out its inspirations contrariwise from the contemporary farm sheds,” they said.
Interior spaces are kept simple, with clean white walls and floors, wooden furniture and ceilings, plus a few details picked out in green.
Here’s some more text from Dubail Begert Architectes:
Transformation residential house Saignelégier
Located in a residential area, this house built in 1974 is isolated outside to answer contemporary thermal requirements.
The facades plays on the theme of the mimicry with the materials of the floors of the outdoor spaces: place of access in bitumen and grassy garden. The three facades road side and the roof are coated with plates of fibre-cement corrugated anthracites (eternit), the facade garden side is coated with artificial turf.
The surface of outside spaces is extended so at the farthest and tends to remove the home in its stereotypic context of a neighbourhood of houses, delaying so in doubt the icon of sacrosanct single-family home.
In the middle of a quarter of villas of the years 70-80, composed in the majority of houses drawing inspiration from the traditional farm of the Swiss Jura mountains, the house refuses the romantic and nostalgic ode to the bygone campaign and scoops out its inspirations contrariwise from the contemporary farm sheds, to remind of the past close to a residential quarter and ask the question of the rurban sprawl and the maintenance of environmental heritage.
Indoors, reality plays wood between the white and according to the level of privacy of areas.
Mathias Hahn‘s new Louche glassware collection features an opaque white water bottle with a grey stopper, a tall mint-green glass beaker and a small transparent beaker with a green lid.
Hahn said that this experimental glassware range aimed to expose opaline or opaque glass qualities to a younger and contemporary audience.
The glassware has different grades of opacity that are created by hand-blowing opaline glass into changing wall thicknesses. “By using a subtle set of monochrome colours, the often very decorative use of opaque glass is transferred into refined and plain objects,” explained Hahn.
“The louche [name] describes a very similar visual condition, when spirits such as absinthe or pastis turn from clear to cloudy when adding water,” Hahn said.
Mathias Hahn started his own design studio in 2006 and is one of the founding members of design collective OKAYstudio. The Louche glassware will be on display until 22 September as part of OKAYstudio’s Loose Thread exhibition at Ben Sherman’s Modular Blanc exhibition space in London at 108 Commercial Street, London, E1 6LZ.
Monolithic limestone totems and cast bronze pedestals punctuate the interior of this Milanese fashion boutique by architect Claudio Silvestrin (+ slideshow).
Claudio Silvestrin combined natural materials including leather and different types of stone to give the interior of the Giada store in Milan’s Montenapoleone fashion district a luxurious feel.
Regimented rows of roughly-hewn limestone columns create a textural backdrop to the clothes, which are hung on geometric metal rails.
The changing rooms feature walls and floors made from leather with handles given an antique bronze finish.
Blocks of cast bronze with differing dimensions provide pedestals for the products, a display island, a screen for the cash desk and a bench in the VIP room.
Rectilinear white leather armchairs continue the geometric theme.
A water feature runs along one of the walls, which are made from porphyry stone with a water-jet finish.
Dezeen promotion: an exhibition of digital technology in architecture opened last week, as the inaugural event at The Turbulences extension to the FRAC Centre in Orléans, France.
Bloom by Bloom Games. Main image: Bloomberg Pavilion by Akihisa Hirata, 2011
ArchiLab was first started in 1999 to explore how digital technology is redefining the way architects and other creatives design.
ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion by ICD/ITKE University of Stuttgart and Prof.Achim Menges, 2011
This edition presents projects by over 40 architects, designers and artists who all use biotechnology, robotics, nanotechnology, and simulation in their work.
Grotto by Michael Hansmeyer and Benjamin Dillenburger, 2012
The “world’s first 3D-printed room” by architects Michael Hansmeyer and Benjamin Dillenburger has been installed in the gallery.
Xuberance Taiwan tower by Steven Ma, 2010
Designs by Beijing architecture studio Mad and fashion designer Iris van Herpen are also on display.
Seltanica lights by Cmmnwlth, 2011
The exhibition runs until 2 February 2014. For further details visit the Frac Centre website.
More information from the museum follows:
The Turbulences – Frac Centre
Inaugural Event: 9th ArchiLab, Naturalizing Architecture, 14 September 2013 – 2 February 2014.
In 1999, the first ArchiLab edition – an international laboratory of architecture – explored the revolution brought about by the emergence of digital technologies and focused on redefining the arena of architecture.
Going well beyond the boundaries of their discipline, architects are now developing a praxis at the crossroads of computer sciences, engineering, and biology.
META-Folly for the Metropolitan Landscape by ecoLogicStudio, 2012
Today digital simulation tools, borrowed from the sciences, are opening up unprecedented areas of investigation, allowing for the exploration of evolutionary principles peculiar to the living world.
Thanks to advanced mathematical mastery, architecture is now being enacted at the level of matter and tends towards a comprehensive re-creation of the organic, made possible by science.
Over and above a so-called “sustainable” approach, it is the change in the very concept of nature which is being questioned here, inseparable as it now is from technical and technological production.
It is these challenges, somewhere between architecture and science, that this new ArchiLab exhibition is keen to illustrate by way of an international show presenting the projects of some 40 architects, designers and artists, from a new generation of creative people at the forefront in terms of biotechnology, robotics, nanotechnology, and simulation.
Federico Díaz, Perry Hall, Casey Reas, Marius Watz.
International Symposium
Architecture and Sciences: A New Naturalness – Scène Nationale, Orléans, Thursday 24 October 2013, 9.30am-6.30pm
In partnership with Réseau des maisons de l’architecture and Maison de l’Architecture du Centre. The problematics of ArchiLab 2013 will be broached at an international symposium which will bring together ten exhibited architects. Thanks to the new digital technologies, the same processes of “naturalization” are at work in architecture and design, as well as in the scientific disciplines.
The Nature(s) of the Artefact – Domaine national de Chambord (Chambord Castle), Friday 25 October 2013, 9.30am-5.30pm (fully booked).
Under the scientific supervision of Frédéric Migayrou. This interdisciplinary conference will encompass human sciences and fundamental sciences. Art and architectural historians and scientists (biologists, geneticists, specialists in living world simulation systems) will question the sources of the Renaissance and Mannerism by linking them with the present-day field of digital technologies, marked by the simulation of living world growth phenomena.
Inside the exhibition
The Turbulences – Frac Centre, 88 rue du Colombier, 45000 Orléans, France. Tel. +33 (0)2 38 62 52 00
News: architectural historian Joseph Rykwert has been named as the recipient of this year’s Royal Gold Medal for architecture.
Architects David Chipperfield, Frank Gehry and Renzo Piano supported the nomination for Rykwert, who has taught at many architecture schools around the world from Princeton and Harvard to Institut d’Urbanisme in Paris and the University of Sydney. His books include the seminal The Idea of a Town, published in 1963, as well as The Necessity of Artifice and The Seduction of Place.
The Royal Gold Medal is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to an architect or individual who has made a significant contribution to the profession. Other theoreticians to receive the accolade include Nikolaus Pevsner and Colin Rowe.
Commenting on his selection, Rykwert said: “If we all had our desserts’, the poet asked, ‘who would scape a whipping?’ Certainly not I. So I can’t think of a Gold Medal as my dessert. It is a wonderful gift which my colleagues have made me and adds weight and authority to my words to which they could never otherwise pretend.”
He added: “What makes the gift doubly precious is that it does not come from my fellow-scriveners, but from architects and builders – and suggests that what I have written has engaged their attention and been of use, even though I have never sought to be impartial but have taken sides, sometimes combatively.”
Rykwert will receive the award in a ceremony at the RIBA headquarters in London on 25 February 2014.
Joseph Rykwert to receive the 2014 Royal Gold Medal for architecture
The celebrated architectural critic, historian and writer Joseph Rykwert has been named today (Wednesday 18 September) as the recipient of the 2014 RIBA Royal Gold Medal, one of the world’s most prestigious architecture awards.
Given in recognition of a lifetime’s work, the Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Her Majesty the Queen and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence “either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture”.
Joseph Rykwert is a world-leading authority on the history of art and architecture; his groundbreaking ideas and work have had a major impact on the thinking of architects and designers since the 1960s and continue to do so to this day.
His seminal book The Idea of a Town (1963) remains the pivotal text on understanding why and how cities were and can be formed. He has written numerous influential works of architectural criticism and history, published over a sixty-year period and translated into several languages. The most significant of these are On Adam’s House in Paradise (1972), The First Moderns (1980), The Necessity of Artifice (1982), The Dancing Column: On Order in Architecture (1996), and The Seduction of Place (2002); all have changed the way modern architects and planners think about cities and buildings, and how historians view the architectural roots of the modern era.
Rykwert’s works have influenced generations of architects with many either having been taught by him directly or taught in a school where his influence has had a profound effect on a department’s teaching. Distinguished architects David Chipperfield, Frank Gehry and Renzo Piano are amongst the previous Royal Gold Medallists who have personally supported Joseph’s nomination.
Joseph Rykwert said about his selection for the Royal Gold Medal:
“If we all had our desserts’, the poet asked, ‘who would scape a whipping?’ Certainly not I. So I can’t think of a Gold Medal as my dessert. It is a wonderful gift which my colleagues have made me and adds weight and authority to my words to which they could never otherwise pretend.
“What makes the gift doubly precious is that it does not come from my fellow-scriveners, but from architects and builders – and suggests that what I have written has engaged their attention and been of use, even though I have never sought to be impartial but have taken sides, sometimes combatively. So I feel both elated and enormously grateful.”
RIBA President Stephen Hodder said today,
“The recognition of Joseph with this prestigious award is long overdue; that it has gone to a man whose writings have provided inspiration to so many who practice in the heart of our cities, gives me particular personal pleasure. Joseph’s writing and teaching are rare in that he can deliver the most profound thinking on architecture in an accessible way. All our lives are the richer for it.”
Born in Warsaw in 1926, Joseph Rykwert is a naturalized British citizen. He has held a number of university teaching posts in Britain and the United States. He is currently Paul Philippe Cret Professor of Architecture Emeritus and was Professor of Art History at the University of Pennsylvania.
Joseph Rykwert has lectured or taught at most of the world’s major schools of architecture and has held visiting appointments at Princeton, the Cooper Union, New York, Harvard Graduate School of Design, the University of Sydney, Louvain, the Institut d’Urbanisme, Paris, the Central European University and others. He has held fellowships at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts, Washington and the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities.
In 1984, he was appointed Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He holds honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Cordoba, Argentina, the University of Bath, Toronto and Trieste and Rome, and is a member of the Italian Accademia di San Luca and the Polish Academy. In 2000, he was awarded the Bruno Zevi prize in architectural history by the Biennale of Venice and in 2009 the Gold Medal Bellas Artes, Madrid. He has been president of the international council of architectural critics (CICA) since 1996.
He joins previous theorists and largely non-practitioners to have been honoured with the Royal Gold Medal including Colin Rowe (1995), Sir John Summerson (1976) and Sir Nikolaus Pevsner (1967).
Joseph Rykwert will be presented with the 2014 Royal Gold Medal at a special event at the RIBA at 66 Portland Place, London W1 on the 25 February 2014.
News: these exclusive images reveal the first in a chain of boutiques that Zaha Hadid is designing for American shoe designer Stuart Weitzman.
Opening tomorrow, the first store is located on Via Sant’Andrea in Milan and features a monochrome interior where curved forms will integrate modular shelving systems with seating areas for customers.
Zaha Hadid will also design five further interiors for the Stuart Weitzman brand, with stores in Hong Kong, Rome and New York planned for 2014.
A new concept will be developed for each location, but Hadid says they will all feel like part of the same family. “The design is divided into invariant and adaptive elements to establish unique relationships within each worldwide location, yet also enable every store to be recognised as a Stuart Weitzman space,” she explained.
“This is a major new initiative that will help achieve the next phase of growth and raise brand recognition worldwide,” added Weitzman. “I know that the marriage of Zaha Hadid’s incredible architecture and my collection will create a one-of-a-kind retail experience.”
Stuart Weitzman debuts innovative retail initiative with Zaha Hadid in Milan
Five additional Zaha Hadid-designed retail stores planned
Stuart Weitzman will debut an innovative retail concept designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid with the opening of an international flagship store on the iconic Via Sant’Andrea in Milan, Italy. The 3,000-square-foot boutique will be unveiled in mid-September during an exclusive Milan Fashion Week event hosted by designer Stuart Weitzman and the iconic Kate Moss, who stars in the brand’s fall campaign.
The six-window storefront located at Via Sant’Andrea, 10/A was chosen as the debut location for the new retail concept because of its reputation as one of the world’s premiere shopping destinations. Additional flagship stores designed by Zaha Hadid Architects are planned over the next few years and will be strategically located around the globe. 2014 openings are slated for Hong Kong, Rome and New York.
As Stuart Weitzman is at the forefront of style and design, the selection of Zaha Hadid to develop these retail concept stores reinforces his vision and commitment to breaking new ground. The MAXXI: National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome, Italy and the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympic Games demonstrate the spatial sensibility of her work. Further seminal buildings such as the Rosenthal Centre for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati and the Guangzhou Opera House in China have also been hailed as architecture that transforms our idea of the future with innovative concepts and bold, visionary forms.
The Milan flagship is fluid and playful. A dialogue of geometry and materiality creates an enchanting rhythm of folds and recesses further shaped by functional and ergonomic considerations. Modular display units showcase shoes and also provide seating, while a seamless integration of diverse forms invites our curiosity. The juxtaposition of these distinct elements of the design defines the different areas of the store. Rooted in a palette of subtle monochromatic shades, Hadid created an interior landscape of discovery centred on two separate zones to enhance the relationship between the customer and the collection.
Experimentation with materials and construction technologies further define the unique space. The curved modular seating and freestanding display elements have been constructed from fibreglass dipped in rose gold – a technique similar to that used in boat manufacturing. Also, the glass-reinforced concrete (GRC) of the store’s walls and ceiling expresses solidity whilst at the same time the delicate precision of complex curvatures focus on special areas for display.
The opening of the Milan flagship boutique also marks the 100th Stuart Weitzman global retail store. This collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects is a major component of the strategic global retail expansion of the Stuart Weitzman brand within the luxury sector. International growth includes an emphasis in Asia, especially Mainland China over next three years with additional stores planned for Korea, Taiwan, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, India and Philippines.
Orolog is both a watch and a new brand co-created by artist and designer Jaime Hayon and his business partner Ian Lowe. The OC1 series, the brand’s first collection, comes in five colourways, and each colour is available in a limited edition run of 999 timepieces.
The OC1 series adheres to a clean and minimal aesthetic and combines classical elements with modern details.
Each watch is made in Switzerland and features Ronda quartz chronograph movement and a distinctive quilted dial face with printed numerals. The leather strap is sourced from a Hermès leather atelier; the French manufacturer has been producing quality leather goods since 1837.
Hayon, who is based in Valencia in Spain, is one of the most prolific and versatile designers on the international scene. His work includes everything from shoes and glassware to furniture and interiors. See all our stories about Hayon.
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