Hasta La Ideas

News: Richard Branson has today revealed new architectural designs from Virgin, including a New York skyscraper shaped like a bunch of balloons, a Sydney tower with the form of a space shuttle and a moon hotel that looks like tubular bells.

The projects come under the banner Virgin Buildings, a new strand of Branson’s empire aimed at “capturing iconic Virgin moments in a new generation of ultra-green skyscrapers”. The series also includes a plane-shaped building for London and a Cape Town structure resembling a kite.

“We’ve been lucky at Virgin to have done some pretty extraordinary things, whether its the music business, trains, planes or even spaceships, but I think this project perhaps caps them all,” said Branson.

According to Branson, each building will feature huge rainwater-harvesting facilities, living walls that can be used for growing food and moving walls that can adapt to suit different rooms and functions.

Describing the plane-shaped London tower, he explained: “This building is going to be the best looking building in the city but it also has the best unique features.”

“One of the very unique features about this building is that it can turn or the floor can turn in order to face the sun, to either generate energy from the sun or to heat a particular floor or heat the whole building.”

Not content with launching the project in every continent, Branson also wants to take the technology to the moon and open a space hotel.

“We’re looking at being the first company in the world to have a building on the moon, and we thought, if we’re going to do it lets try and pay for it by making it a hotel, and of course a pretty good-looking hotel,” he said.

Professor and television personality Brian Cox has applauded the ingenuity of the project. “The physics of creating rotating buildings in dense metropolises should not be underestimated, and efforts to source more of our primary energy from the sun –and put sustainable hotels on the moon – should be applauded.”

Asked about the timing of the announcement a Virgin representative told Dezeen “there are no coincidences at Virgin”.

The announcement follows the news earlier today that two companies have proposed bread-shaped skyscrapers for the City of London.

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skyscraper and moon hotel appeared first on Dezeen.

Plans have been revealed this morning for a series of loaf-shaped skyscrapers to accompany the Cheesegrater, Can of Ham, Toast Rack and Gherkin buildings in central London.

Property developer British Land has released proposals for a 240-metre tower featuring a photovoltaic crust, nicknamed “The Slice of Bread”, while bread company Warburtons has revealed a pair of twin towers, known as “The Loaf”, to sandwich Norman Foster’s Gherkin.

The plans are likely to fuel reports that London’s skyline is beginning to resemble “the Ploughman’s Lunch”.

British Land’s proposal previously went stale when it was halted in 2012, but chief executive Chris Grigg says things are back on track. “Obviously we are still in the proofing stage, but we think this would be an excellent site for the building, sandwiched between our own Cheesegrater and the Gherkin and in very close proximity to the proposed Toast Rack at 40 Leadenhall Street.”

“London real estate is on a roll and we’re pleased to be looking at an even bigger slice of the action when it comes to premium buildings in London,” he said.

Architectural consultants M. Brioche & Rye added: “This is just what London has been kneading – a beautiful building rising up as a glowing tribute to the City. The design is aspirational, yet recognising its location between the Gherkin and Cheesegrater, carefully develops the interplay between the vegetable and functional.”

The announcement comes exactly one year after Dowling Jones and Stone unveiled its design for a floating motorway to be constructed on the River Thames.

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unveiled on first day of April appeared first on Dezeen.

Paris studio Yoonseux Architectes added wooden surfaces and red floors to this school classroom building in the French city of Livry Gargan, to echo the autumnal tones of neighbouring trees (+ slideshow).

Built to accommodate the expanding number of pupils attending J. Jaurès Primary School, Yoonseux Architectes‘ extension occupies a site between two of the school’s existing buildings.

It provides a sheltered courtyard and three classrooms, linked together by a long corridor that faces the playground from the front of the building.

A wall running along the back of the site provides a backdrop for the carefully positioned trees, which can be seen from inside each of the classrooms.

“We conceived of the project as an ‘open edge’, not as a ‘wall to divide’,” said the architects. “To ensure this idea we made a garden along the boundary. All of the new classes orient toward this garden.”

Large windows along the back wall of the classrooms frame views of the trees, while knotted timber boards clad the walls to enhance the connection between the interior and the garden.

“[With] this choice of material it is our intention to extend the garden to be inside the building,” said the architects. “Visible from the classrooms, its architectural treatment identifies the garden as a value-adding landscape element extending up to the sky.”

The underside of the roof covering the courtyard and the wall adjacent to the building’s entrance are also covered in wood to create a warm and welcoming space for children to play.

Just two concrete columns support the 15-metre span of the roof, offering minimal disruption to the space underneath.

Horizontal metal bars separate the courtyard from the garden and allow sunlight to filter through, creating a pattern of light and shadow on the ground.

The corridor that extends past the classrooms features a translucent glass wall that permits partial views of the playground.

In this space, the use of wood continues on the doors and their surrounds, as well as low storage units and simple wooden coat pegs that are fixed to the wall in two staggered rows.

Photography is by Fabrice Dunou.

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to match autumnal tree leaves appeared first on Dezeen.

Pointed doorways and openings throughout this house in Kyoto, Japan, were designed by Alts Design Office to mimic the building’s gabled profile (+ slideshow).

Named Hazukashi House, the two-storey family residence was designed by local firm Alts Design Office to provide a family home. It is fronted by a white-rendered facade with a shallow-pitched roof.

Due to its narrow width, the building appears disproportionally tall. The architects chose to emphasise this characteristic by creating doorways, windows and shelving units that all share similar proportions.

The house centres around a double-height dining room, which is visually connected to every other room. The walls are lined with timber panels and a wooden staircase folds around one corner.

“This is the space which connects the family’s bonds and also achieves dynamic functions,” explained architects Sumiou Mizumoto and Yoshitaka Kuga.

“It captures the light and diverse wind, while taking advantage of the antique material the client demanded,” they added.

A mezzanine corridor overlooks the space from a storey above, linking children’s rooms at the back with a master bedroom and study at the front. This is flanked by a square grid of bookshelves.

On the ground floor, a living room is situated at the front and residents have to step up to it from the dining room.

A kitchen positioned on the opposite side is divided into two sections by a built-in worktop, so a parent preparing dinner can keep an eye on children sitting at a counter beyond.

Light bulbs hang low from the ceiling on cables to direct light onto surfaces. Others are fixed to the walls and angled in different directions.

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Hazukashi House by Alts Design Office appeared first on Dezeen.

News: as the UK government today unveiled its first independent architecture report, project leader Terry Farrell admitted to Dezeen that public expectations for healthcare buildings “are low” and that architects don’t have enough influence to change the status quo (+ interview).

Farrell said that the design quality of the majority of buildings in the UK needs to catch up with the “high standard” of its libraries and museums, but that expectations need to be raised to prevent “messing up our high streets and our hospitals”.

“We really tried to start more of a dialogue, a campaign for built environment and architecture, to have expectations raised so that the culture of what is around us – our streets, our houses, our buildings – is raised,” the British architect told Dezeen.

He also claimed that architects can’t do the job themselves. “Architects do quite well but they’re just a drop in the ocean. They don’t affect things very much,” he said.

Launched today, The Farrell Review makes a list of recommendations into how the quality of UK architecture can be improved. “We’re not looking at starting again, like say China is,” said Farrell. “We’re really looking at how we add to and take care of what we’ve got, because we’re messing up our high streets and our hospitals.”

Farrell’s proposals include introducing reviews to reassess existing buildings and streets, and creating “urban rooms”, where people can discuss planning proposals. The architect believes this will encourage locals to become more involved in the quality of their neighbourhoods.

“I think there’s a huge amount of interest,” he said. “I just think there are many people not literate enough to articulate their feelings on the subject and therefore they’re missed out on the debate.”

The review also recommends establishing an international architecture event in the UK to rival the Venice Biennale and the World Architecture Festival, which Farrell says would be funded by local initiatives and sponsorship.

“It’s not one of these things where the government does it for us, we have to do it for ourselves,” he said.

The Farrell Review is available for download via a dedicated website. It was conducted over a 12-month period and includes a total of 60 recommendations, compiled with help from industry figures including designer Thomas Heatherwick, author Alain de Botton and architect Alison Brooks.

Here’s a full transcript of the interview with Terry Farrell:

Amy Frearson: In response to the review coming out today, tell me what the next steps are and what you hope to achieve.

Terry Farrell: Well like all good reviews, it’s really what happens next that’s important. It’s going out in an election year, so we have deliberately aimed it broadly for independent review; that is it’s not leaning to one party or another and we have funded it ourselves to keep it independent. We really tried to start more of a dialogue, a campaign for built environment and architecture, to have expectations raised so that the culture of what is around us – our streets, our houses, our buildings – is raised.

Amy Frearson: Do you mean expectations of the general public or architects specifically?

Terry Farrell: The general public is not the right word. The informed as well as the general public, but I don’t just mean architects. Architects do quite well but they’re just a drop in the ocean. They don’t affect things very much. I think the standard of architecture has gone up and up over recent decades. Architectural education and standards of design are always going up. People expect flats to be modern and well designed but not so, say, nice housing, hospitals, many schools and certainly not high streets.

The standard has gone up because the consumer, or the general public, or whatever you like to call them, their expectations are raised and I would like to think we have started a leadership campaign for that to happen.

Amy Frearson: So at the moment expectation is much higher for some kinds of architecture than others? And expectations of healthcare buildings are currently very low?

Terry Farrell: I would say for 90 per cent that expectations are low. I think we do very good libraries, or certain public buildings like theatres and landmarks. Landmark projects we do well and certainly internationally, our firms do exceptionally well, doing grand buildings and opera houses and what have you. But I think this country is purely well built up. Eighty per cent of our buildings will still be with us, the ones that are here now, will still be with us in 2050. We’re not looking at starting again like say China is, so we’re really looking at how we add to what we’ve got and how we take care of what we’ve got and we’re messing up our high streets and our hospitals. Some of them are really quite well designed, but they’ve been added to and extended and messed about. They’re all alike here, same with mass housing estates and our high streets and so on.

Amy Frearson: Do you think the government is doing enough at the moment to raise those expectations?

Terry Farrell: I think it’s not government. I think it’s city government and towns and the expectations of planning committees. We aimed a lot of our energies at say education of children, of adults, of planning committees and the idea of urban rooms, where you can go to some place in your town or city where you can see a model of your place and you can see the changes that are opposed, but you can also see the shapes of the place as it exists and you can also see its history.

Amy Frearson: Do you think actions like the urban rooms will get people who currently don’t care about the quality of their day-to-day environment to take notice?

Terry Farrell: I think it’s about understanding what is there now, how it got there and what else is proposed. It’s not so much that there’s apathy, I think there’s a huge amount of interest. We see it time and again, that nimby-ism where planning committees debate about a new road or a new railway line. I just think there are many people not literate enough to articulate their feelings on the subject and therefore they’re missed out of the debate.

Amy Frearson: Do you think these proposals will help to counteract nimby attitudes?

Terry Farrell: Nimbyism is a natural thing. But today, flooding is making people think there ought to be a plan, the housing shortage is making people think there ought to be a plan, climate change is, and so on. So I think people have the interest but don’t quite know how to direct it.

Amy Frearson: So now that you’ve published the report, how do you think you’re going to be able to get some of these recommendations to actually happen?

Terry Farrell: There are many different recommendations because we approached it in a holistic way. We would like, for example, schools of architecture and landscape and engineering and so on to have a common foundation course. For the whole year, like you do with art school, you’re rubbing shoulders with video people and graphic designers. So that in the built environment, you have a common foundation year, because these things are interrelated.

Amy Frearson: Do you have any idea of how that will be received? Do you think that there is a desire for that to be the case?

Terry Farrell: Yes there is. I think that one of the big issues about the whole thing is articulating it and advocating it and connecting it all up and that’s what we will do. We have opened a website, we have opened our logs with so many other parties and we hope that the review is a catalyst for a lot of energy that is already there.

Amy Frearson: If you could pick any one action to come forward from the review and definitely take place, what would it be?

Terry Farrell: Well certainly urban rooms, school education and foundation year. But I also think we do a lot of very successful things in this country, particularly overseas. We are extraordinary, particularly in London, an extraordinary centre of design excellence on the bigger scale and I think there should be a London festival of all architecture to celebrate and highlight and debate the best in the world.

Amy Frearson: What sort of shape would you imagine that taking?

Terry Farrell: I think it could be a little bit of a mix of the World Festival of Architecture, with a bit of the Venice Biennale and MIPIM thrown in.

Amy Frearson: Do you have any idea of how that would be funded?

Terry Farrell: Well I believe in cities and towns themselves deciding and raising funds, but I also very strongly believe in the volunteering and sponsorship because it’s not one of these things where the government does it for us; we have to do it for ourselves.

Amy Frearson: How do you feel thinking about other big city ideas, such as Norman Foster’s proposal for a cycling highway raised above the city?

Terry Farrell: Well there are lots of ideas for cycling and we need to learn from other places. There is a real need to get a pedestrian and cycling culture much more accepted and that’s not easy because our roads are not planned for cycling. We are a very big metropolis, not a small town like Amsterdam or Copenhagen. But the culture is changing and through our political leaders like Boris Johnson and so on, we have been looking at the best of what’s on elsewhere. We can learn from that. The bike hire scheme began in Paris, Copenhagen and Amsterdam had a lot more cycling. What can we learn from these places.

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says Terry Farrell appeared first on Dezeen.