Hasta La Ideas

London studio Levitate have reinstated access to a sixteenth-century English castle by repairing stonework and slotting a continuous oak walkway into the ruined shell.

Built on a cliff edge in Dorset, Sandsfoot Castle is under constant attack from coastal erosion and as a result had been unsafe for visitors since the 1930s. Levitate was commissioned to carry out a conservation project so the castle could be reopened to the public.

Levitate designed a lightweight walkway that slots into the internal space of the ruin. It traces the ruined walls, touching the fabric of the castle in as few places as possible.

“It is versatile; providing a backdrop to performances, concerts, re-enactments and a meeting place,” the architects told Dezeen.

The walkway is installed at what used to be ground level, providing a gallery-like space that allows visitors to occupy the castle as it had been historically.

“Setting the walkway at this level makes it possible to step off the new surface and into the deep window reveals, allowing the castle to be better appreciated,” added the architects.

On the coastal side, the walkway juts out into a doorway to create a balcony with views across the harbour.

The walkway is constructed of oak boards that sit on top of a galvanised steel frame. These materials were chosen for their low maintenance and ability to withstand the harsh coastal environment.

A continuous oiled-oak handrail runs around the inside of the walkway, designed as a place to lean.

Sandsfoot Castle is one of 24 projects shortlisted for the AJ Small Projects 2014. The winner will be announced next month.

Here’s a project description from Levitate:

Sandsfoot Castle

Sandsfoot Castle was built by Henry VIII between 1539 and 1541 to work with Portland Castle to protect the waters of the Portland Roads against the threat of foreign invasion. Standing on the cliff edge the castle has been under attack from coastal erosion since it was built. Most of the ashlar stone has been lost to local building projects and thieves. The castle has been closed to the public since the 1930s.

The project was part funded by the HLF with Weymouth & Portland Borough Council providing match funding, and consisted of conservation treatment to the castle stonework and the insertion of a new lightweight walkway to open the castle up to the public once more. The work was completed on time and on budget, opening in the summer of 2012 to be enjoyed as part of the Olympic events being held in the town, the location of the sailing and windsurfing events.

Addressing the historic problems of cliff erosion and stone theft, the stone conservation work was carried out in lime mortars, with small scale reinforcement and supporting interventions to conserve the castle as found. Soft cappings were installed on the wall tops as an alternative to the existing cement cappings.

The new walkway allows public access to the castle and encourages local ownership of the site. It was designed to be a lightweight element sitting elegantly within the ruined castle at the level of the former floor. It touches the castle fabric in as few places as possible. Peeping out through a doorway on the seaward side it allows a view of Portland Harbour that the castle was built to protect, and its sister castle, Portland. The continuous timber handrail provides a comfortable place to lean and is supported by two continuous rows of balusters.

Galvanised steel was chosen as a robust and economic material for both the structure of the walkway and to form barriers to accessing the interior of the castle walls. It is accompanied by sawn oak boards and an oiled oak handrail. The simple palette complements the rough castle walls in a functional but pleasingly tactile way.

Interpretation panels telling the history of the castle were also prepared by Levitate.

Project name: Sandsfoot Castle
Location: Weymouth, Somerset
Client: The Friends of Sandsfoot Castle and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council
Conservation Architect and Architect: Levitate
Structural Engineer: Paul Carpenter Associates
Contractor: Sally Strachey Historic Conservation (castle conservation) Bridmet (walkway and balustrades)
Value: £165,000
Date of Completion: June 2012 Shortlisted for the 2013 Galvanizers Awards and the 2014 AJ Small projects Award

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inserted into ruined castle appeared first on Dezeen.

A slender steel awning shades artists from the sun on the rooftop of this creative arts space that French-Brazilian studio Triptyque created for drinks brand Red Bull in a São Paulo warehouse (+ slideshow).

Situated on Bandeira Square in the bustling downtown of Brazil’s biggest city, The Cultural Centre of the Red Bull Station is a five-storey space renovated by Triptyque for the creation of art, music and culture.

Formerly owned by the São Paulo Tramway, Light and Power Company, the 1920s building was once responsible for distributing electricity across the city’s tram network. Triptyque was tasked with restoring the listed facade while creating an interior that combined a music studio, ateliers for artists, an art gallery and a roof terrace.

The architects added a black steel staircase down one side of the building, linking its five levels and providing an easy flow of visitor circulation up, down, in and around the building.

Accompanying the stairs is a steel beam which supports the metal awning known as Leaf. This structure provides a covered terrace, which functions as an exhibition space showcasing the history of the city.

The concave design of this canopy also allows the collection of rainwater, which can be used to cool the building.

Visitors enter on the ground floor, where the main gallery is located. Here, a blend of concrete mixes with panels of distressed, stippled paintwork; the result of years of repainting by the previous tenants.

Next to the main gallery is a self-contained music studio. The heavyweight concrete module was inserted into the heart of the building as a free-standing structure, and will house Red Bull’s Bass Camp – an immersive programme for would-be music professionals. There’s also a small cafe selling drinks and food.

Above the ground floor is a mezzanine level containing offices that look down on to the lobby space below, while the basement has been adapted to create a secondary exhibition space and music rehearsal rooms.

“The building was completely renovated respecting the architectural heritage concepts,” explained the team. “A contemporary intervention was carried out in order to adapt the building to its new role as a cultural hub.”

The exposed concrete and old paintwork continues on the upper levels, where six workshops were created for artistic residencies. Around each of the individual workshops, another exhibition space called the Gallery of Transition will temporarily host projects.

“The essence of the historic building has been preserved, and the beauty of its elements has been strengthened,” said the designers.

This isn’t the first time Red Bull has worked with architects to create spaces for artists. In 2012, Spanish studio Langarita-Navarro Arquitectos filled a Madrid warehouse with makeshift huts and a wilderness of plants to provide a nomadic music academy for the drinks brand.

Triptyque is a French-Brazilian architecture office created in 2000 by Grégory Bousquet, Carolina Bueno, Guillaume Sibaud and Olivier Raffaelli. Past projects include the Leitão 653 creative studios, which feature a chequerboard facade made from glass blocks.

Photography is by Pedro Kok.

Here’s a project description from Triptyque:

The Cultural Centre of the Red Bull Station: an island of culture in downtown Sao Paulo

The city of São Paulo is one of the places in the world where urbanity is the most powerful and intense. An area where the beauty of the streets and buildings was forgotten for many years. Through the renovation of a 20 years building, formerly occupied by the electricity company Light , the new architectural project Triptyque, the Cultural Centre of the Red Bull Station, appears as an important player in the rehabilitation centre.

Based on the Bandeira square , the new cultural centre hangs together auditory and visual arts through the production and dissemination of new forms of artistic expression.

The building was completely renovated respecting the architectural heritage concepts. A contemporary intervention was carried out in order to adapt the building to its new role as a cultural hub. The essence of the historic building has been preserved, and the beauty of its elements has been strengthened.

An architectural element was created to accompany visitors throughout their visit, from the stairs to the five floors of the Red Bull Station and numerous spaces. On the roof of the station, flaps a fleet metal called “sheet” that covers the terrace.

On one side of the ground floor is located the main gallery, a space that houses exhibitions of all forms of visual arts , performances and concerts. On the other side, is located a volume of concrete, carefully polished and sculpted that receives a music studio.

The basement has been converted into an exhibition space and music rehearsal rooms. Upstairs, six workshops were created for artistic residencies that will change each quarter. Around individual workshops, the “Gallery of transition” temporarily host projects in their creative process.

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Red Bull arts centre by Triptyque appeared first on Dezeen.

A continuous ribbon of steel forms two legs of this simple table by French designer Eric Jourdan.

Two of the four legs supporting Eric Jourdan‘s Gilda table are created from one strip of thin steel, connecting them along the ground.

The other two legs are angled outward slightly to help the table balance. All the base elements are coated with epoxy resin.

“Gilda is a simple and basic table, with a very assertive character,” said Jourdan. “A tricky exercise, since basics have no room for a glut of features.”

Made from ash or lacquered okoumé wood, the circular top has a slight lip around its bottom edge.

“After having constructed the table around a modern base, I sought to tackle the table top – to be more precise, its border – in a virtually traditional way with an outline that readily reflects the world of traditional cabinet making,” Jourdan said.

The table is produced by young French brand Super-ette. Photographs are by Felipe Ribon.

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Eric Jourdan’s Gilda table appeared first on Dezeen.

News: British curator Beatrice Galilee has been appointed to a newly created role as curator of architecture and design at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Beatrice Galilee, who was chief curator of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale last summer, will take up one of two new positions at The Metropolitan Museum in the department of modern and contemporary art, as part of an expansion that will see the institute move into the Marcel Breuer-designed museum building on Madison Avenue currently occupied by The Whitney.

“Beatrice Galilee will join the staff of our department of modern and contemporary art as it expands to embrace a more global program and mandate,” said museum director Thomas P. Campbell. “She brings to the position her strong international experience in the presentation and study of architecture and design-related work.”

Department chairman Sheena Wagstaff added: “This is a new position at the Museum, and a timely appointment that will enhance a vital area of scholarship as we build the collection and plan our programming for the Breuer project. We are thrilled to welcome a curator with a reputation for her innovative approach as well as a comprehensive knowledge of the field.”

Starting later this spring, Galilee’s position is entitled Daniel Brodsky Associate Curator of Architecture and Design after the museum’s chairman, while a second position dedicated to Latin American Art will be named after Brodsky’s wife and art historian Estrellita B. Brodsky.

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Competition: Dezeen and publishers Phaidon have teamed up to give one reader the chance to win a monograph of work by Modernist architect Mies van der Rohe.

Mies by Detlef Mertins is a comprehensive guide to the architecture and design of German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, one of the most influential architects of the twentieth century.

Mies’ pioneering architecture is explored and dissected in the text by Mertins, who sadly passed away before the book’s release.

The writing is accompanied by over 700 images including drawings, plans and sections, plus archive and contemporary photographs.

Comparisons are drawn between the architect’s iconic houses such as the Farnsworth House in the USA and the Tugendhat House in the Czech Republic, along with the furniture designed for each residence.

It also includes towers such as the Seagram Building in New York and 880 Lake Shore Drive apartment buildings in Chicago, as well as his New National Gallery in Berlin.

Published by Phaidon, the book will retail for £100 when released on 7 April.

Competition closes 31 March 2014. One winner will be selected at random and notified by email. Winners’ names will be published in a future edition of our Dezeen Mail newsletter and at the top of this page. Dezeen competitions are international and entries are accepted from readers in any country.

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monograph to be won appeared first on Dezeen.