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News: Dutch firm OMA has won a competition to design a pair of skyscrapers in Stockholm, Sweden, with a proposal featuring staggered facades.

The buildings in the city’s Hagastaden district will contain apartments, with a bar and exhibition space occupying the upper floors of one tower, and public facilities including a health club, library and shops on the ground floors.

Projecting living spaces cascade down the exterior of the buildings, creating a series of sheltered balconies.

“The informal appearance of the towers will express domesticity, perhaps even humanism,” explains OMA partner Reinier de Graaf.

OMA will work with developer Oscar Properties to construct the 100-metre towers, which will be the third tallest twin skyscrapers in Sweden.

Images are copyright OMA unless stated otherwise. Top image is copyright OMA – bloomimages.

Last week, a design by OMA for a bridge incorporating space for events and a pedestrian boulevard made the final two of a competition in Bordeaux, while Swedish architects Belatchew Arkitekter have proposed covering a skyscraper in Stockholm in plastic bristles that would generate electricity through wind power.

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Here’s some more information from OMA:

OMA has won the design competition for Tors Torn in Stockholm. The project, led by OMA Partner Reinier de Graaf and OMA Associate Alex de Jong, and designed as the third tallest twin skyscrapers in Sweden, was selected from entries by four competing practices.

With each of the towers a crescendo composition of different heights, the mixed-use project is an interpretation of existing urban guidelines which call for a gateway to the new Hagastaden area of Stockholm. OMA’s design proposes the introduction of a “rough skin” formed through a striking, alternating pattern of protruding living spaces and introverted outdoor spaces.

Reinier de Graaf commented: “We are delighted to have won the competition and – together with Oscar Properties – to build the Tors Torn residential towers. The 100 meter high towers define the new neighborhood Hagastaden as an integral part of the growing city center of Stockholm. The informal appearance of the towers will express domesticity, perhaps even humanism.”

OMA’s design challenges the expected uniformity and homogenous facade treatment that is often assigned to tower structures. Instead, it extends the skin to expose the individuality of the separate living units in the two blocks – a true vertical, urban agglomeration.

In addition to private residential apartments, Tors Torn will also contain a diverse public program for the wider community of Hagastaden, an ongoing urban development project aiming to extend the downtown area of Stockholm. A bar and exhibition space will occupy the upper floors of one tower, with the ground floors of both towers accommodating a health club, library, children’s center and retail areas.

The project is scheduled to break ground in 2015.

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skyscrapers in Stockholm appeared first on Dezeen.

News: Burj Khalifa architect Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) has added another skyscraper to the Dubai skyline with the completion of the twisted Cayan Tower.

The 307-metre skyscraper, previously known as the Infinity Tower, contains 495 apartments within a towering helical form that rotates 90 degrees from base to peak. “The lower portion of the tower is oriented toward the exciting waterfront promenade of Dubai Marina, while the upper floors are rotated to face the Gulf,” explains SOM‘s design director Ross Wimer.

The twisted profile aims to reduce powerful wind forces on the tower by dispersing them around the exterior, while the perforated metal skin is designed to screen the interior from harsh desert sunlight.

This is the third skyscraper completed by SOM in the emirate city, following the 828-metre Burj Khalifa and the 235-metre Rolex Tower.

“Cayan Tower adds to SOM’s significant impact on Dubai’s twenty-first century skyline,” comments SOM partner George Efstathiou. “It takes its place with our finest designs, including the nearby Rolex Tower and Burj Khalifa.”

SOM is one of the largest architecture firms in the world. Recent projects include a vision for the future of New York’s Pennsylvania Station and plans for Singapore’s tallest tower.

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Photography is by Tim Griffith/SOM.

Here’s a press release from SOM:

SOM’s Cayan (formerly Infinity) Tower opens

The Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM)-designed Cayan (formerly Infinity) Tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was inaugurated by its developer, Saudi Arabia-based Cayan Investment & Development, earlier this week. The dramatically rising helix of the 75-storey building provides a distinctive landmark on the city’s skyline. The 1,010-feet (307-metres) tall reinforced concrete structure rotates a hexagonal floor plate around a circular core – with the top offset 90 degrees from the base. The shift maximises views for each of the 495 apartments.

Deep concrete exterior columns clad in a metal skin with perforated screens help shield the building’s interior from the intense desert sun. The tower’s innovative shape required equally innovative engineering. The corner and interior columns twist as they ascend, but most of the perimeter columns have an identical shape and tilted relationship to the floor plate. They are simply shifted, a bit more than a single degree, from floor to floor – resulting in a standardised construction method typical to most concrete structures. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems are located in the core or within a zone between the central circulation corridor and the residential units, allowing straight vertical paths for these systems as the relationship between the apartments served varies between floors. The shape of the tower is not only aesthetically unique but it serves a structural function as well. Its twisted shape greatly reduces wind forces on the tower and “confuses the wind” in a way that wind forces cannot organise themselves.

Cayan Group President and Chairman Ahmed M Al Hatti notes Cayan Tower is the highest twisted tower in the entire world.

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in Dubai appeared first on Dezeen.

This twelfth century watchtower overlooking the Umbrian countryside was reconstructed into a holiday retreat by architect Christopher Chong (+ slideshow).

Chong and his partner Seonaid Mackenzie bought the Torre di Moravola in a ruined state, missing a roof and some walls, and spent six years making the structure safe then liveable.

“Establishing the structural stability of the tower, whilst removing all the debris that had accumulated from collapsed walls and roofs, was pretty dangerous as one never knew for sure if there would be a wall collapse,” Chong and Mackenzie told Dezeen.

Originally constructed to oversee the feuding neighbouring communes of Montone and Umbertide in central Italy, it has been resurrected to house seven suites of various sizes with shared entertainment and outdoor spaces.

“The benefits of the structure were that it had many historical features and as it emerged, as we slowly removed the trees and bushes surrounding it, a great aspect,” they recounted.

Steel and concrete elements were inserted to help stabilise the building and contrast with the stonework.

“Whilst building, the fact that no wall was straight or perpendicular meant that continual assesment and remeasurement of the structure was required,” they said.

Guests arrive at the medieval tower from a long gravel drive which culminates in a circular piazza to the north of the property.

Steps hugging the side of the stone wall lead up to communal living spaces, which can also be accessed from a metal staircase with translucent glass treads that doglegs up an atrium with concrete elements.

Entrances on the lower ground floor provide routes to dining and kitchen areas. Atria either side of the central tower allow daylight to filter into the public areas and draw cool air from the lower passages up through the roof.

A double-height space occupies the top of the tower, providing a living area for the main suite plus a library on the steel mezzanine, which was introduced to brace the structure.

Balconies scattered around the building provide vistas over the tiled roofs and to the surrounding hills and valleys.

Outside, a reflecting pool with a hidden fire pit is surrounded by sunken seating on the west terrace, while an al-fresco dining area is located to the east.

Located up a slope to the north and aligned to the same axis as the tower, a 25-metre infinity pool offers 360-degree views across the countryside.

Chong and Mackenzie also restored a smaller building on the site for themselves, adding a slatted timber storey on top of original stonework. Plans to convert more run-down outbuildings into accommodation and spa facilities are pending planning permission.

Other renovation projects we’ve featured include a crumbling stable converted into a holiday home in western Spain and an Italian house that utilises a rebuilt stone wall.

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Read on for more information:

Torre di Moravola is a medieval watchtower situated along the ridge of a mountain overlooking the Carpini valley, Umbria, Italy. It has been restored with a modernistic design approach to the interiors, auxiliary buildings and pool areas to create a contemporary retreat.

Outbuildings, gardens, terraces and a 25-metre infinity pool have been aligned on an axis with the tower to maximise the 360 degree views over secluded valleys, unchanged since medieval times, and giving the sensation of being completely removed from the modern world.

Four external terraces surround the tower: on the east side a large formal dining terrace with classic Umbrian views. To the south an open viewing pavilion forms an inner courtyard with herb gardens. The West terrace has a stone reflecting pool with sunken seating areas and overlooks the olive groves. A large piazza and point of arrival for cars is on the North. The property has six hectares of land with oak forests and fields containing olives and fruit trees. Solar panels provide energy for hot water and heating. Rainwater is collected for irrigation.

Within the tower the character of the public and private areas are one where the best historical aspects have been preserved and contrasted with contemporary design and materials, heightening the sense of Moravola’s history and resulting in a synthesis of the ancient exterior with sleek pared down modernity.

Public areas are arranged on two levels and act as a pivot from the centre of the tower, easily accessible from all seven suites. Two interlinked reception rooms are on the first floor and the kitchen and dining areas on the ground floor have ready access to the terraces for dining.

There are a total of seven suites arranged off the central axis that runs through the tower linking the gardens terraces and pools. All suites have direct private access to the outside terraces and also to the internal spaces within the tower, this gives a sense of separation and privacy.

The main tower suite is at the highest point of the original tower; the sitting room is a double height space with watch-gallery and stone fireplace. The bedroom has magnificent views over the Carpini valley. A changing room leads to a private roof top terrace and stone bathroom with massage area.

Four of the suites have been designed as individual towers: bathrooms with heated sunken stone baths, massage and changing areas are on the lower level with floating steel stairs leading to the bedrooms above, each with wonderful views over the valleys. The character of the interiors is one of highly refined comfort and pared down purity, these are cool contemporary tower suites.

The West suite is on one level with a sitting area overlooking the West terrace, it has a large bathroom with stone bath and shower and two basins. The West room is on one level on the ground floor it has a vaulted bathroom with an arched wall made of translucent alabaster.

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by Christopher Chong appeared first on Dezeen.

Fifteen conical bamboo columns support the roof of this waterside cafe designed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects at a hotel in central Vietnam (+ slideshow).

Referencing the shapes of typical Vietnamese fishing baskets, the top-heavy bamboo structures form a grid between the tables of the open-air dining room, which functions as the restaurant and banqueting hall for the Kontum Indochine Hotel.

Vo Trong Nghia Architects designed the restaurant without any walls, allowing uninterrupted views across the surrounding shallow pools of water, and beyond that towards the neighbouring river and distant mountains.

The roof of the structure is clad with bamboo but also contains layers of thatch and fibre-reinforced plastic. In some places the plastic panels are exposed, allowing natural light to permeate the canopy.

There’s no air conditioning, but the architects explain that the surrounding waters and the shade of the overhanging roof help to keep the space cool, even in the hottest seasons.

“By providing shadow under the bamboo roof and maximising the cool air flow across the water surface of the lake, the open-air indoor space successfully operates without using air conditioning,” they say.

All of the fixings for the columns are made from bamboo rather than steel and were constructed using traditional techniques, such as smoke-drying and the use of bamboo nails.

“The challenge of the project is to respect the nature of bamboo as a material and to create a distinctive space unique to bamboo,” say the architects. “The bamboo columns create an inner lining, giving the impression of being in a bamboo forest.”

Bridges cross the water to provide access to the cafe from three sides, plus a concrete and stone kitchen is positioned at the back.

Vietnamese firm Vo Trong Nghia Architects has constructed various buildings using bamboo, including prototypes for modular homes and a domed bar at the centre of a lake.

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Photography is by Hiroyuki Oki.

Read on for a project description from Vo Trong Nghia Architects:

Kontum Indochine Café

Kontum Indochine Cafe is designed as a part of a hotel complex along Dakbla River in Kontum City, Middle Vietnam. Adjacent to Dakbla Bridge, a gateway to Kontum City, the cafeteria serves as a breakfast, dinner and tea venue for hotel guests. It also functions as a semi-outdoor banquet hall for wedding ceremonies.

Located on a corner plot, the cafe is composed of two major elements: a main building with a big horizontal roof made of bamboo structure and an annex kitchen made of concrete frames and stones.

The main building has a rectangular plan surrounded by a shallow artificial lake. All elevations are open to the air: the south facade faces the main street along Dakbla River, the east to the service street, the west to a restaurant and banquet building belonging to the hotel complex and the north to the annex kitchen which serves the cafe. By providing shadow under the bamboo roof and maximising the cool air flow across the water surface of the lake, the open-air indoor space successfully operates without using air conditioning even in a tropical climate. The roof is covered by fibre-reinforced plastic panels and thatch. The translucent synthetic panels are partly exposed in the ceiling to provide natural light in the deep centre of the space under the roof.

The roof of the main building is supported by a pure bamboo structure composed of 15 inverse-cone-shaped units. The form of these columns was inspired by a traditional Vietnamese basket for fishing which gradually narrows from the top toward the base. This open structure maximises the wind flow into the building during the summer, while resisting harsh storms during the windy season. From the cafe, hotel guests can enjoy a great panoramic view of the mountains and Dakbla River framed by the bamboo arches. The bamboo columns create an inner lining, giving the impression of being in a bamboo forest and show the continuity to the mountains as seen from the cafe.

The challenge of the project is to respect the nature of bamboo as a material and to create a distinctive space unique to bamboo.

The material characteristics of bamboo are different from that of timber or steel. If the details and construction methods of timber or steel structures are applied to bamboo structures, the advantages of bamboo may be impaired. For instance, using steel joints kill the cost benefit of bamboo structures. Steel pin joint generates too much local loads which is not appropriate for bamboo, which tends to be subject to buckling.

In this context, we use traditional treatment methods (soaking in mud and smoking out) for the treatment of bamboo, and we use low-tech joint details (ratten-tying and bamboo nails), which is suitable for bamboo structures. The columns at Kontum City are prefabricated before their erection to achieve the appropriate quality and accuracy.

Status: built in Jan 2013
Program: cafeteria
Location: Kontum, Vietnam
GFA: 551 sqm

Architect Firm: Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Principal architects: Vo Trong Nghia
Contractor: Wind and Water House JSC, Truong Long JSC

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Vo Trong Nghia Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Swedish designers Glimpt worked with Peruvian artisans to produce the hand-carved wooden bases for these coffee tables (+ slideshow).

Mattias Rask and Tor Palm of Glimpt travelled to the village of Yungay in Peru to research the techniques used by woodworkers at a workshop run by voluntary organisation, Artesanos Don Bosco.

They designed a range of contemporary tables that make use of the facilities provided to artisans, who are taught furniture-making skills to encourage them to stay and work locally, rather than moving to the cities.

The bases are made from local timber, including a hard white wood called Lengha, and a type of cedar. The wood is turned on a lathe before the faceted decoration is chiselled by hand and painted.

Explaining how the project came about, Rask told Dezeen: “We sent an email to a Swedish guy in Lima and asked him about crafts organisations in Peru; he basically said that Artesanos Don Bosco are the best artisans in Peru, so we sent them an email!”

Prehistoric Aliens will continue to be produced in Yungay and was presented by Italian furniture brand Cappellini as part of its Cappellini NEXT collection in Milan earlier this year.

Glimpt collaborates with artisans around the world and previously created a range of stools made from seagrass in Vietnam, and ceramic lights painted to look like strawberries produced by craftsmen in South Africa.

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Still life photography is by Daniel Thrue.

Here’s some more information from the designers:

Glimpt of Peru – Prehistoric Aliens

We spent the autumn of 2012 in Peru working and learning from the Crafts Cooperative, Artesanos Don Bosco, a continuation of our work with craftsmen and women from different countries.

Before our trip we had not fully appreciated how extensive this organisation was. Artesanos Don Bosco is part of a large Italian voluntary organisation called Operazione Mato Grosso. This organisation was founded in the 1960s by Father Hugo, a Catholic missionary priest who saw there was a need to help poor farmers in the Andes. Now, some fifty years later, Operazione Mato Grosso has roughly 2000 Italian volunteers and employs about twice as many Peruvians.

The work involves educating and training people in the remote villages in the Andes, and then creating employment opportunities for them there. The idea is to encourage people to stay and work in these isolated areas rather than move to a very uncertain future in Lima, something that many Peruvians otherwise are tempted to do.

Operazione Mato Grosso promotes the virtues of a simple, unhurried life, living and working in cooperation with one another. They have started schools, orphanages, hospitals and even power stations that provide electric power in the mountains. All this is free of charge for the poor.

One part of this organisation, called Artesanos Don Bosco, provides craftsmanship training. After five years training with ADB most of the artisans then work in the organisation’s cooperative. The courses they give are mainly related to different ways of working with wood. This includes furniture making, decorations, carving pictures and the construction of housing. They also teach stone masonry, how to make glass, different ways of working with textiles and even metal work.

We decided we wanted to help them develop a more modern series of furniture. After having visited several villages and different cooperatives in the Andes we finally settled on Yungay as the village where we would set to work. In Yungay there was a little cooperative that worked with furniture making. During our visits we were impressed by their very high standards of craftsmanship and above all by the skill of the people who carved pictures in wood.

So day after day of soup followed by fried guinea-pigs and washed down with Inca Cola finally lead to the production of a series of coffee tables called Prehistoric Aliens. Our main difficulty was not a shortage of good ideas but rather the language barrier. Neither of us spoke any Spanish but we were faced with a situation where this was the only possible language for communication.

The first few weeks we had been helped by our American friend Nick, but after a while we had to manage by ourselves. After keen language practice on the computer every evening, and getting a lot of hands on experience every day in the workshops, we finally managed to make some Spanish sounding words and were rewarded with the nicknames Gordo and Chato (Chubby and Shorty) by our fellow workers.

Marcial, Barosso, Aristares and Messias taught us alot and we hope we have taught them something as well. It has been a good experience living and working with them. Hopefully our collaboration will provide them with more work so that they can keep on developing their skills and supporting their families, as well as contributing to the great work of Artesanos Don Bosco and Operazione Mato Grosso.

The name, Prehistoric Aliens, was inspired by Peru’s fantastic cultural heritage which often seems very mystical and ancient to our western eyes.

The small coffee tables are almost like small spaceships that have just landed, with their leader, The Robot.

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by Glimpt appeared first on Dezeen.