Hasta La Ideas Taller 6A Archives

Jan 16

Asia dominates skyscraper construction with three quarters of 2013’s tallest buildings

Posted in: CTBUH

News: a record-breaking 53 skyscrapers over 200 metres high were completed in Asia in 2013, accounting for three-quarters of the year’s tallest new buildings, according to the latest industry report.

The annual review from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat reveals that 74 percent of worldwide skyscraper completions in 2013 were in Asian countries – a 19 percent increase on 2012 – and that the region now contains 45 percent of the tallest buildings in the world.

2013 in skyscrapers — Tall buildings by region, function and structural method – click for larger image

China accounts for the majority of this total, with 37 skyscrapers of over 200 metres spread across 22 different cities, including the lesser-known locations of Hefei and Xiamen that before this year had never contained buildings of this scale.

South Korea also plays a large role in the statistics with nine 200-metre-plus buildings completed in the last year, eight of which are located within a single complex in the growing city of Goyang.

The overall findings of the report were that worldwide skyscraper construction is back on the rise, in spite of a stall in 2012 that saw the total number of tall buildings fail to increase for the first time in six years, and that 2013 was the second-most successful year ever for skyscraper construction with a total of 73 buildings over 200 metres.

“By all appearances, the small increase in the total number of tall-building completions from 2012 into 2013 is indicative of a return to the prevalent trend of increasing completions each year over the past decade,” it reads.

“From 2000 to 2013, the total number of 200-metre-plus buildings in existence increased from 261 to 830 – an astounding 318 percent. From this point of view, we can more confidently estimate that the slight slowdown of 2012 – which recorded 69 completions after 2011’s record 81 – was a ‘blip’, and that 2013 was more representative of the general upward trend.”

The tallest building of the year was the 355-metre JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai Tower 2 completed in Dubai, the city that now also houses the world’s tallest twisted skyscraper, the 307-metre Cayan Tower.

Only one of the 73 buildings over 200 metres was located in north America, while four were in Europe, including Renzo Piano’s The Shard in London and the Mercury City tower in Moscow. None were recorded in Australia, Canada or Saudi Arabia, although construction did begin on the proposed 1000-metre Kingdom Tower in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.

Main image of Shenzhen is courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Asia dominates skyscraper construction with
three quarters of 2013’s tallest buildings appeared first on Dezeen.

Jan 16

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of a Portuguese civil war battle

Posted in: Gonçalo Byrne, red buildings, slideshows

A pointed arch punctures the red concrete facade of this Portuguese visitor attraction designed by Lisbon architect Gonçalo Byrne to present the history of a fourteenth century battle between Portuguese and Castilian forces (+ slideshow).

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of the Battle of Atoleiros

The Centro de Interpretação da Batalha de Atoleiros was designed to host an exhibition dedicated to the story of the Battle of Atoleiros, the first clash of an eight-year period of Portuguese civil war that started when King Ferdinand I died without any male heirs.

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of the Battle of Atoleiros

Unable to situate the building on the historic battlefield, Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos created the centre in the nearby town of Fronteira, eastern Portugal, on a site overlooking a park.

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of the Battle of Atoleiros

The exterior walls are made from blocks of pigmented concrete and have a coarse surface intended to be reminiscent of the uneven construction of medieval buildings.

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of the Battle of Atoleiros

“The body of the building recalls the tactility of the traditional medieval construction, presenting rough textured surfaces very close to the primal textures achieved by human hand,” said the design team.

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of the Battle of Atoleiros

Slabs of schist, a fine-grained rock, are slotted between the layers of concrete to support the structure and give additional texture to the facade.

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of the Battle of Atoleiros

The pointed arch cuts right across the building to create a pair of glazed entrances beneath the shelter of the concrete. This glazing also wraps around the rear of the building to create a row of windows.

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of the Battle of Atoleiros

A curving wooden bench is positioned behind the windows, creating a seating area at the end of the exhibition trail where visitors are expected to look out across the park and recreate battle scenes with their imagination.

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of the Battle of Atoleiros

Photography is by Fernando Guerra.

Here’s a project description from Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos:

Centre for Interpretation of the Battle of Atoleiros

Object

The Centre for Interpretation of the Battle of Atoleiros, in Fronteira, is a cultural equipment intended to raise social awareness on the several perspectives over the battle occurred on April 6th 1384, and its importance in the context of the dynastic disputes between the kingdoms of Portugal and Castela, by the end of the XIVth Century.

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of the Battle of Atoleiros

Given the impossibility on plotting the Interpretation Centre on-site, in the battlefield area, the City Council approved its plot in the town core, on a location with high visibility and inserted in an urban park system that simulates and evokes the old battlefield. During the visit to the Interpretation Centre, visitors will experience different visual perspectives of the battlefield, but also about the history, through its protagonists and authors, led by the hand of the painter Martins Barata.

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of the Battle of Atoleiros

A large bench, at the end of the exhibition circuit, presents urban park in all its dimensions, rehearsing another exhibition discourse, this made of vegetables and inert elements, a sculptural dimension that simulates the plains and the imagination refers to the Battle of Atoleiros.

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of the Battle of Atoleiros

Materials

The body of the building recalls the tactility of the traditional medieval construction, presenting rough textured surfaces, achieved by the use of pigmented concrete with raw and irregular expression, very close to the primal textures achieved by human hand. This texture is enhanced by interposing lines of schist slabs in the horizontal joints of the building.

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of the Battle of Atoleiros

As a whole, the building generates a gravitational presence; almost an earth sculpture dyed in its own tonalities, evoking time in the spontaneous patina patterns, resembling a stained vertical battlefield, between a small and a larger body, like the two armies in conflict.

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of the Battle of Atoleiros

Structure

The combined use of concrete walls and a structure formed by a concrete column/beam/slab system, allowed maximal area exploitation and the display of generous exhibition areas.

Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne tells the story of the Battle of Atoleiros — Site plan – click for larger image

Through the completion of consoles the structure had acquired more complexity, allowing lateral glazing and motivating an open relationship between inner and outside areas, between exhibition and urban park.

Environment

Portuguese southern landscape has a golden/reddish tone. The reddish wash of the building tries to emulate those colours and patterns, therefore reinforcing a sense of belonging.

Colour and textures are also enhanced by the usage of the same pitch used on the urban park paving system, serving as an essential framework for the Interpretation Centre, yet reinterpreting the battlefield original landscape.

The post Red concrete visitor centre by Gonçalo Byrne
tells the story of a Portuguese civil war battle appeared first on Dezeen.

Jan 16

Beijing art gallery by Penda features topsy-turvy archways

Posted in: Cultural buildings, penda, slideshows

A sequence of arches creates topsy-turvy openings and curvy doorways through the spaces of this art gallery in Beijing by design collective Penda (+ slideshow).