Hasta La Ideas

News: a 24 metre tall viewing tower that looks like a helter skelter and a student housing development in Oxford have been included in a shortlist for the ugliest building completed in the UK in the last 12 months.

Building Design magazine has unveiled the shortlist for its Carbuncle Cup 2013 award today.

Other projects running for the title of worst designed building include a sports centre in Wales – known to locals as ‘the dumpster’ – and an 25-storey residential tower in east London that one nominator described as a “hideous monstrosity blighting the skyline off Bethnal Green Road”.

The Castle Mill housing development that has been built near a beauty spot in Oxford was the most nominated project in the history of the Carbuncle Cup.

“A deeply unimaginative and impoverished design which would lower the spirits whatever its setting, but on the edge of one of central England’s most important and ancient landscapes, it is an outrage,” said one nominator.

The six buildings competing for the title are:

» Castle Mill housing, Port Meadow, Oxford, by Frankham Consultancy Group
» Port Meadow, 465 Caledonian Road, London, by Stephen George and Partners
» Avant Garde, 34-42 Bethnal Green Road, London, by Stock Woolstencroft
» Redcar Beacon aka the Vertical Pier, Redcar, by Smeeden Foreman Architects
» Porth Eirias Watersports Centre, Colwyn Bay, Wales, by K2 Architects
» Premier Inn, Lambeth, London, by Hamiltons

The winner will be selected by a jury that includes Building Design magazine executive editor Ellis Woodman and critics Owen Hatherley and Gillian Darley.

The winner will be announced on 30 August 2013.

Last year, the Carbuncle Cup shortlist included the ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture at the Olympic Park and the Titanic Belfast museum. Grimshaw architects’ steel and glass cocoon containing the historic Cutty Sark tea clipper was named the ugliest new building for 2012. See all our coverage of the Carbuncle Cup »

The release of this list coincides with the recent announcement of the shortlist for the 2013 RIBA Stirling Prize, awarded to the best building by a British-registered architect.

Photographs are from anonymous nominators. The top image is of the Redcar Beacon by Smeeden Foreman Architects.

Here’s the announcement from Building Design magazine:

Carbuncle Cup 2013 shortlist revealed

The six buildings that are one step closer to winning architecture’s wooden spoon…

Launched eight years ago, The Carbuncle Cup was designed as a humorous counterpart to the prestigious Stirling Prize. Since then it has become a regular – if controversial – fixture in the architectural calendar.

Even in times of economic turmoil, when few major projects are being built, hundreds of architectural travesties are allowed to pass through our planning system on a weekly basis. Few of these are ever truly exposed for the awfulness they represent – lazy design, compromised planning departments and cynical development.

After years of starchitect boom, this year Carbuncle Cup has returned to its roots, seeking out some of the worst everyday projects from across the country.

Our shortlist was whittled down from public nominations submitted to BD via email. Public comments on Bdonline supporting or against each nomination were considered during the shortlisting.

A final winner will be selected by a jury including BD executive editor Ellis Woodman and critics Owen Hatherley and Gillian Darley. The winner will be announced on August 30.

The Carbuncle Cup Shortlist 2013:

1. Castle Mill housing, Port Meadow, Oxford, by Frankham Consultancy Group

The Castle Mill housing development in Oxford is the most nominated project in the history of Carbuncle Cup. Since BD first named the development as one of this year’s nominees, the controversy surrounding the development has escalated further and it is now at the centre of a judicial review bid.

2. Port Meadow, 465 Caledonian Road, London, by Stephen George & Partners

Also in the student housing category is this rather excellent example of facadism which can be spotted on London’s Caledonian Road.

3. Avant Garde, 34-42 Bethnal Green Road, London, by Stock Woolstencroft

Sticking with residential monstrosities: this grossly over-scaled development in East London was bad enough before they gave it such an inappropriate name.

4. Redcar Beacon aka the Vertical Pier, Redcar, by Smeeden Foreman Architects

Redcar’s ‘beacon’; shape making gone horribly, horribly wrong.

5. Porth Eirias Watersports Centre, Colwyn Bay, Wales, by K2 Architects

Porth Eirias sports centre had so much potential before multiple revisions and cost cutting led to the Creation of this, known not-so-affectionally as ‘the dumpster’ by locals.

6. Premier Inn, Lambeth, London, by Hamiltons

The Premier Inn in Lambeth is a travesty in more ways than one – we shudder at its lumpen form and mourn the building demolished to make way for it.

The post Carbuncle Cup 2013
shortlist revealed appeared first on Dezeen.

This squishy light by German product designer Simon Frambach can be used as a warm, glowing pillow.

Simon Frambach‘s balloon-shaped Soft Lamp gives off a soft light and slight warmth, creating an illuminated cushion.

As well as providing a headrest, the lamp can be squeezed into gaps or trapped between objects where needed. It’s made from foamed polyurethane and shaped using rotation milling.

The low-energy bulb within is protected by a cage so it doesn’t smash when the lamp is squashed. A red cord leads out the back to a power source.

We’ve featured a few products designed for sleeping, including headgear that creates the perfect conditions for a nap and a wearable cocoon of quilts and blankets for people to take their bed wherever they go.

Our archive of lamp designs includes copper-spun pendant lamps with chunky handles and scaled-up versions of a classic light bulb.

See more lamp designs »
See more design for sleeping »

The designer sent us the following information:

Soft Light

A soft and flexible occasional light that interacts with its surroundings in a unique way by Simon Frambach.

Soft Light is a soft and flexible light made of foamed polyurethane. Its curvy fluent shape that resembles a calabash pumpkin provokes an organic and familiar appearance for a thoroughly synthetic and industrialised material.

Soft Light can be placed in unused spaces like cavities in furniture and other places as an object that fills a void in one’s living environment. Its warm and tangible surface invites to touching and literally feeling light. The result is a light which is extremely flexible in use without having a technical characteristic.

The light shade has been crafted from a massive block of polyurethane foam on a simple self-constructed device for rotational milling. The device allows for a precise production of a desired shape. An energy saving light bulb, protected by a cage, illuminates the porous foam from the inside.

The post Soft Light by
Simon Frambach appeared first on Dezeen.

German design graduate Tobias Nitsche has developed a chair with a seat and back moulded from lightweight 3D plywood.

The moulded parts are made from thin plywood veneer that can be shaped when heated into tight curves to stiffen the material so additional bracing is not required.

“More deformation means more stability in a chair with less material,” explains Tobias Nitsche, who designed the chair during his studies at ECAL in Lausanne.

Working with veneer specialists at German company, Danzer, he was able to explore forms that achieve the necessary rigidity without cracking the wood.

Four CNC-milled wooden blocks join the legs to the seat and the back is attached using wooden dowels so only one material is required to produce the chair.

“For me the challange was to find a language that translates the characteristics of the material into an object that is light, stable and visualises comfort,” says Nietsche.

The result is a chair suited to use in bars, restaurants or other venues where furniture is frequently moved around and stacked.

Earlier this week we featured the rerelease of Arne Jacobsen’s classic plywood Tongue chair, while Berlin’s Eric and Johnny Design Studio showed a plywood chair with a structure inspired by I-beams at this year’s imm Cologne.

See more chairs »
See more plywood »

Here’s a short description from the designer:

Boss is a plywood chair that combines traditional woodworking techniques with the use of 3d plywood.

I worked in cooperation with the German company Danzer who is producing the material. Using their technology gives the chance to construct a plywood chair with a more radical curvature.

The thin plywood parts are stiffened by their three dimensional moulding. Four rods complete the construction.

Like that I designed a chair that is made only from wood and is at the same time light and stable. It’s visual language has never been seen in wood before.

The post Boss Chair by
Tobias Nitsche appeared first on Dezeen.

Terracotta tiles resembling brickwork cover parts of this house extension in Dublin by Irish practice GKMP Architects (+ slideshow).

GKMP Architects removed the rear wall of the 1950s semi-detached house at ground level so the kitchen and dining area could be extended into the garden.

The extension was constructed from blockwork before white render and the decorative tiles were added.

The faceted shape of the new structure results in a series of angular interior spaces, while lower walls separate a patio from the garden.

“The angled walls create deep thresholds between inside and outside and make niches for benches,” the architects said.

A layer of sedum covers the roof of the new addition, making it appear to blend in with the garden beyond when viewed from the upper floor.

Other recent residential extensions on Dezeen include a faceted slatted wooden structure that seems to be scaling the back of an apartment in Italy and an addition to an Arts and Crafts-style house in England with glass walls that open out onto the surrounding woodland. See more house extensions »

We previously published a beauty salon in Japan with an interior covered in tiles arranged in a traditional English bricklaying pattern and a seaside art gallery in England by HAT Projects clad in shimmering black glazed tiles. See more tiles »

Photography is by Alice Clancy.

The architects sent us this project description:

House Extension at Silchester Park, Glenageary

The project involves the refurbishment and extension of a 1950s semi-detached house in Glenageary, Dublin, Ireland.

The ground floor rear wall is removed to open the house to the south-facing garden. A series of cranked and faceted walls are made that enclose a new dining area and associated external terraces. The angled walls create deep thresholds between inside and outside and make niches for benches. They are made from blockwork and are faced in render and terracotta tiles.

The timber roof of the extension is covered in sedum to have a visual connection with the garden when viewed from the upper floor. A rooflight is made at the point of connection between the new and the existing to pull light into the plan.

About the practice:

GKMP Architects is a practice that designs high quality modern architecture. We place a strong emphasis on the careful and inventive use of materials, the qualities of light and the relationship between the building and its context. We consider these issues to be more important than working in a particular style and hope that each project will be a creative interpretation of the client, site, brief and budget.

Grace Keeley and Michael Pike graduated from UCD in 1998 and established GKMP Architects in Barcelona in 2003 before relocating to Dublin in 2004. The practice has designed a number of high quality housing and public space projects. We have received a number of awards including First Prize in the recent Docomomo Central Bank Competition. Our work has been published internationally and has also been included in a number of exhibitions, including the ‘Rebuilding the Republic: New Irish Architecture 2000-10 Exhibition’ in Leuven, Belgium in May 2011.

Architects: GKMP Architects
Contractor: Sheerin Construction
Engineer: Downes Associates
Lighting Consultant: Wink Lighting

The post House Extension in Dublin
by GKMP Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

This timber and concrete beach house in Victoria by Australian firm Wolveridge Architects conceals all its windows behind louvred shutters and has courtyards tucked into its sides (+ slideshow).

Torquay House was designed by Wolveridge Architects to protect its inhabitants from the extreme weather conditions of its seaside location, creating indoor and outdoor spaces that are screened from powerful winds.

“In coastal conditions buildings must be robust and defy the elements, yet create protective spaces, both internal and external, which allow the occupants to feel safe and comfortable,” said the architects.

The volume of the building is divided into three connected blocks. The first and second have two storeys and feature windowless concrete sides, while the third is a single-storey volume clad entirely with timber.

The small courtyards are slotted into the recesses between blocks and are overlooked by most of the house’s windows, which are generally directed to face north and south.

“It is the private spaces created in between that allow natural ventilation and light, intimate outlooks, and privacy for the occupants – a place to call home,” said the team.

One of the courtyards contains the entrance to the house, while another is dedicated to barbecues.

A combined living and dining room occupies the single-storey rear block and opens out to a swimming pool beyond.

Three bedrooms are located on the upper floor and each have their own private bathroom.

Other Australian residences completed recently include a periscope-shaped extension and a sand dune-shaped house. See more houses in Australia »

Photography is by Derek Swalwell.

Read on for a description from Wolveridge Architects:

Torquay House

This project attempts to challenge our traditional notions of how buildings can exist both in a coastal environment and in this case also the context of an emerging built form and character. In coastal conditions, buildings must be robust and defy the elements, yet create protective spaces, both internal and external which for us allow the occupants to feel safe, comfortable, privacy and enjoyment of good times.

Whether the occupants are full-time residents or weekenders, the beach house is a place to look forward to arriving, whether in the heat of the summer or the winter’s cold.

With excellent views to the north and south and a conscious motivation to avoid the east/west outlooks, this project evolved as a series of interconnected and robustly finished containers. Each prescribed to a rigid set of rules and the relationship and spaces between containers becoming essential to the program and to the life of the building.

The robust mass of the buildings is intended to be offset by the expression of finely considered detail and proportion. It is the private spaces created in between that allow natural ventilation and light, intimate outlooks, and privacy for the occupants, a place to call home.

Project Name: Torquay House
Date of construction completion: 19/04/2012
Building Type: Residential – House

Architect: Wolveridge Architects
Practice Team: Jerry Wolveridge, Sina Petzold, Tjeerd van der Vliet, Courtney Gibbs
Builder and Construction Manager: John Walker Master Builders
Structural/Civil Engineer: Don Moore & Associates
Landscape Consultant: Heather Vincent Landscapes
Cost Consultant: VPL Builders Services
Building Surveyor: Nepean Building Permits

The post Torquay House by
Wolveridge Architects appeared first on Dezeen.