Richard Bentley rend hommage au travail de l’ingénieur André Waterkeyn qui conçoit Atomium en 1958 pour l’Exposition Universelle de Bruxelles. Représentant un atome grossi 165 milliards de fois, il est autorisé à filmer à la structure de 102 mètres de haut. Un résultat prodigieux réalisé en 5 nuits et deux jours.
This house by architect Marlene Uldschmidt has been built into the side of a hill in Portugal and features a vertical light well that links its upper and lower floors (+ slideshow).
Located in the fishing village of Ferragudo, the split-level building was designed by Portuguese studio Marlene Uldschmidt Architects with layers of internal and external glass partitions that allow natural light through each of the rooms.
Interior and exterior staircases link the different levels of the sloping site, leading down from a staggered rear terrace to the two main floors of the house, and then further down to the entrance at street level.
“The difficult topography of the site meant that our concept would need to allow for the design of the internal space to strengthen the visual connection with the rest of the village and beyond,” said architect Marlene Uldschmidt.
Built on a narrow rectangular site, the glass, stone and wooden house is squeezed between a pair of neighbouring buildings on the hillside street.
“The challenge was to create a facade which would be a physical barrier between the public and private areas whilst enhancing the visual connection with the village and the river,” added the architect.
A small wooden door at street level leads into a long entrance hall on the ground floor, then through to the spacious master bedroom and the only two bathrooms in the house.
A flight of white stairs appears to grow out from the surface of one of the walls, leading to first-floor kitchen, dining and living room spaces.
The upstairs kitchen and dining area opens out to the rear terrace, which steps up to various gardens and patios.
A rectangular swimming pool, wooden sun deck and a private solarium complete this garden.
Other Portuguese houses featured on Dezeen include a weekend retreat created from farm buildings and animal pens, a house with its rooftop extended into the hillside and a home with a long stone wall and a folding timber facade.
See more Portuguese houses »
See more houses »
Photography is by Fernando Guerra.
Here’s a project description from the architects:
Living Behind the Wall
Our studio were excited to take on such an interesting project in the Fishing Village of Ferragudo, Portugal.
The historic centre of Ferragudo is an extremely sensitive area to work in and we believed that our intervention should be balanced harmonious and above all integrate with the surrounding architecture and history.
The studio decided to explore the concept of “LIVING BEHIND THE WALL” ! connection.
The challenge was to create a facade which would be a physical barrier between the public and private areas whilst enhancing the visual connection with the village and the river levels.
The difficult topography of the site meant that our concept would need to allow for the design of the internal space to strengthen their visual connection with the rest of the village and beyond.
The concept we chose was to use the changes of level within the site in order to achieve this goal.
Another challenge of this concept was to create a light and airy feeling within the building.
We created a vertical well of light that links all levels to achieve this.
In order to balance the simple white walls natural materials of wood and stone in earthy tones were chosen.
Author: ultramarino |marlene uldschmidt architects; Marlene Uldschmidt, Arq.a
Collaborating: Maurícia Bento, Arq.a
Location: Ferragudo, Algarve, Portugal
Area: 230 m2
Year: 2010-2013
Structure: Protecna Engineering Team
Carpentry: equipa quatro
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Uldschmidt Architects appeared first on Dezeen.
Frank Bohbot sublime les endroits qu’il capture. Avec une attention particulière pour les couleurs et les lignes architecturales des piscines qu’il photographie, il en fait des situations uniques dotées d’une charge émotionnelle particulière. Un travail superbe à découvrir en images dans la suite de l’article.
News: the “death-ray” effect created by sunlight reflected off the glazed facade of Rafael Viñoly’s Walkie Talkie skyscraper in London were predicted over a year ago by a professional CGI artist, it emerged today as developers rush to install protective screens.
The artist, who goes by the forum username Bobdobbs, anticipated that the curvaceous facade of the 37-storey tower at 20 Fenchurch Street could at certain times of the year create light reflections up to 600% brighter that its surroundings buildings, using a simple 3D mock-up of the volume.
“A clear hot late September/October day may throw up some very interesting lighting effects,” he wrote on a thread at website SkyscraperCity. “I’m fairly confident that the difference, from measurement, is about 600% brighter! I know where I wouldn’t want to stand!”
Comparing the project to nearby skyscraper The Shard, which is reported to have dazzled train drivers, Bobdobbs added: “The Shard’s death ray will be nothing compared to this.”
The news emerges as developers Land Securities and Canary Wharf take emergency action to prevent more damage being caused by intense glare from the nicknamed “Walkie Scorchie”, which is said to have melted vehicles, cracked pavement tiles and even started a small fire.
“Following approval from the City of London, we will be erecting a temporary scaffold screen at street level on Eastcheap within the next 24 hours,” said a spokesperson. “This solution should minimise the impact on the local area over the next two to three weeks, after which time the phenomenon is expected to have disappeared.”
They added: “We are also continuing to evaluate longer-term solutions to ensure this issue does not recur in future.”
Philip Oldfield, a tall buildings expert from the University of Nottingham, has suggested that amendments to Rafael Viñoly’s initial concept could be to blame. “It seems the original design included small horizontal balconies on the south facade rather than the continuous glass facade as built now,” he told The Independent. “This would have surely mitigated any significant glare like we are seeing at the moment.”
Other preventative measures that could be taken include adding small fins to the exterior or applying a special coating that reduces the impact of the reflections.
This isn’t the first time that a building by the Uruguayan architect has prompted complaints about glare. In 2010, guests at the Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas complained of scorched hair and melted drinks glasses. The hotel has since used anti-reflective film, oversized plants and rows of umbrellas to fix the problem.
The unfinished skyscraper is not set to open until next year and will feature an elevated garden and observation deck that will be open to the public.
See more architecture by Rafael Viñoly »
See more skyscraper news »
Photograph of the Walkie Talkie is courtesy of Shutterstock.
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effect a year ago appeared first on Dezeen.
This timber-clad house in Auckland by New Zealand studio Glamuzina Paterson Architects zigzags across its site to outline gardens on both its east and west sides (+ slideshow).
Glamuzina Paterson Architects named the residence S House in reference to its angular plan, which was designed to offer an alternative to a typical plot house with rectangular front and back yards.
“The house becomes the active space between the gardens, and affords the occupants multiple views and sectional level changes as they move through the site,” explain the architects.
The house accommodates a couple and their three children, so the two gardens were designed to suit the parents’ different tastes. “The front garden is predominantly native and rugged; the rear garden, exotic and sculpted with a long dark pool,” said the architects.
Residents enter the house through a porch at one of the corners, arriving at an informal corridor that meanders through the house.
At the rear of the building, this corridor opens up to a split-level kitchen, dining room and living area, while outside the childrens’ bedrooms it swells out to create a playroom.
Stained cedar cladding clads the exterior walls and is arranged in both horizontal and vertical stripes. The angled roof is covered with corrugated metal.
Glamuzina Paterson Architects also recently completed a brick courtyard house at the foot of a mountain.
Other interesting houses from New Zealand include a guesthouse with walls of Corten steel and a residence that can be towed off the beach.
See more architecture from New Zealand »
See more houses »
Photography is by Patrick Reynolds.
Here’s some more information from Glamuzina Paterson Architects:
S_House
The parti of S_House divides the long thin lot into two gardens, challenging the conventional diagram of the front and back yard of the typical suburban house. The house becomes the active space between the gardens, and affords the occupants multiple views and sectional level changes as they move through the site.
The house was designed for a family of five, with the clients wanting a house that responded to the contours of the land with a sense of connection to the garden and pool. The 1920s stables to the rear of the site was to be restored.
The site is located in the Auckland suburb of Mount Eden. It is a 15m wide x 72m long rectangle that slopes from the street towards the middle of the site then slopes downwards towards the rear boundary. The front yard setback was 10m due to an existing use right.
S_House differs from the standard villa that has a compact form and central circulation. The elongated plan allows more surface connection with the landscape and sun penetration for a south facing section. This site wrapping creates east and west gardens that reflect the differing tastes of the parents. The front garden is predominantly native and rugged, the rear garden exotic and sculpted with a long dark pool.
The activities of the house, cooking, eating, relaxing and play take place across a singular spine corridor which expands and contracts spatially as the house mediates the site. The corners are broken open to form the entry and provide a series of connections with the gardens. The kids play area and bedrooms occur at one of the turning points – a ‘knuckle’ in the plan. The ‘kids’ space opens to both courtyards, providing connection between the two ‘parent’ gardens.
The cladding is stained cedar with a corrugated iron roof that is a continuous series of hips and valleys. The internal palette of the house is black and white with a black oxide concrete floor and built in furniture. Excavated basalt was used in garden retaining and planting plan. The intention with the street elevation was to create a landscape that is quite austere and outward-looking, with Ribbonwood and Kowhai trees that will grow to a substantial height and leave the architecture sitting in a forest.
As Robin Evan commented: “Ordinary things contain the deepest mystery.” The S_House reflects these values.
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Paterson Architects appeared first on Dezeen.
This small wooden hut is a combined guest house and sculpture studio perching on the edge of Lake George in upstate New York (+ slideshow).
American architect Jeffery Poss worked with Chicago-based WORKUS Studio to design the two-storey Polygon Studio in the surrounding woodland of an existing house.
The studio is built at a vantage point overlooking the lake. A tiny wooden balcony juts out from a top-floor loft to offer a view through the trees and down a flight of steps towards the water’s edge.
The ground floor features a spacious area for sculpture work with shelving for equipment on one wall and large sliding glass doors opposite. The guest room occupies a mezzanine that juts out overhead.
“The interior result is a series of very distinct yet interconnected spaces,” architect Jeffery Poss said.
Vertical panels of locally-milled red cedar line the interior walls to create a cosy interior that references ski lodges and saunas.
The building has a zig-zagging profile formed by a pair of gables, also clad in cedar panels. The remaining exterior walls and roof are covered in galvanised steel siding.
A small square window offers a glimpsed view through one of the walls, while sliding glass doors face out onto the lake and provide the main source of natural light.
Comparing the project to the rustic local style, the architect added: “The exterior cladding references Adirondack rural vernacular and helps emphasise the spatial conception.”
Jeffery Poss previously designed a tea house with a roof that funnels water onto on adjacent pond.
Other studios in the woods to feature on Dezeen include a writer’s hideaway, also in upstate New York, and a wooden treehouse housing an artists’ studio in Scotland. See more studios »
Here’s a project description from the architects:
Polygon Studio
The owners of a steep lakefront residential property wanted a small studio that could serve for making sculpture and accommodating guests.
The form of the building reflects these two functions. The sculpture studio on the ground floor has both a large vertical light-filled space, as well as a lower service zone tucked under the loft.
The guest loft above forms its own gabled volume and pronounced deck. The result is a series of very distinct yet interconnected spaces.
The studio is located at the highest point of the property, along an access road that forms the western boundary. The guest space is at the pinnacle of the site, 130 steps up from the water’s edge.
This vista allows elevated tree-filtered views of Lake George. The exterior cladding references Adirondack rural vernacular and helps emphasise the spatial conception.
Galvanised steel siding wraps the gables and north end. Locally milled red cedar covers the polygonal east and west sides.
The cedar is reintroduced on the interior to create a warm and aromatic environment.
The post Polygon Studio by Jeffery Poss
and WORKUS Studio appeared first on Dezeen.
L’artiste français Fesson Ludovic s’approprie des éléments naturels et les réintègre à l’environnement dont ils sont issus, faisant d’eux des sculptures à la fois magnifiques et complexes. Reflets et ombres deviennent part intégrante de son oeuvre. Un travail incroyable à découvrir en images.
The Pod, designé par Formwerkz Architectz, est le tout nouvel hôtel capsule de Singapour. Les cabines empilées les unes sur les autres, caractéristique première des hôtels capsules, sont plus spacieuses et offre un peu plus d’intimité. Un très bel hôtel, magnifiquement réalisé, à découvrir en images.
The setting for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio will be a lagoon-side peninsula with 15 sports venues dotted along a network of snaking pathways, as detailed in this new set of visuals by masterplanners AECOM (+ slideshow).
Located on a flat triangular site in the city’s Barra da Tijuca district, the main Olympic park will centre itself around a trio of existing stadiums leftover from the 2007 Pan-American Games, which were constructed over a Formula One racetrack from the 1970s.
AECOM plans to transform the peninsula into a tropical landscape that reflects the mountains and valleys of the Brazilian coastline, including gently sloping hills and curving pathways. Venues will be lined up on either side of a black-and-white striped central axis, winding like a river from the site entrance to the waterfront.
Seven new stadiums will be constructed on the site. London studio AndArchitects is collaborating with Rio office Lopes, Santos & Ferreira Gomes on the handball arena, which will be dismantled after the games and used to build four new schools.
UK firm 3DReid is teaming up with Rio studio BLAC Architects to renovate the existing Velodrome, while the Maria Lenk Aquatic Centre will be reused for swimming and diving events, and the HSBC Stadium will host gymnastics.
A waterfront lawn will allow up to 12,000 spectators to watch the action on big screens and an AECOM-designed broadcast centre will accommodate around 20,000 international journalists.
AECOM won the bid to masterplan the site in 2011 as part of a team that includes London-based Wilkinson Eyre Architects and Rio studio DG Architecture.
“This is such a high profile and complex project for AECOM, which brings many exciting opportunities and challenges,” commented the firm’s Jason Prior. “We are drawing on our experience from being masterplanners of the London Olympics to take the design of the Rio venues and park even further, which will hopefully be reflected in the end result in 2016.”
Alongside Barra da Tijuca, events for the games will also take place at Copacabana, Maracanã and Deodoro, where the National Shooting Centre is already in place.
Follow our coverage of Rio 2016 »
See more architecture in Brazil »
Here’s some more information from AECOM:
A carnival of sport
In 2011, AECOM won Brazil’fs first international architecture competition to design the masterplan for Rio’s 2016 Olympic Park, making it the first company to design the parks for two consecutive Olympic and Paralympic Games Parks – London in 2012 and Rio in 2016.
In Rio, AECOM has taken on an even larger role than it had on the 2012 Games, with responsibility for the preliminary design of the seven sporting venues as well as the detailed design of the International Broadcast Centre. This is in addition to the architectural, masterplanning, landscaping, engineering, cost consultancy, project management, sustainability and transportation strategy design services that it also provided in London.
Set in one of the most beautiful areas on Earth, AECOM’s masterplan takes its inspiration from the dramatic natural setting of Rio. Located on a former Formula 1 race track in Barra da Tijuca, the main Olympic park sits on a triangular space with water on either side. During Games time, at the southern peninsula of the site there will be an entertainment area for around 12,000 people to watch the events on big screens.
The park’s design draws from the Atlantica Forrest that surrounds Rio de Janeiro. This context provides the conceptual inspiration and influences the architecture and landscape design as will the Brazilian culture and strong design heritage. The masterplan sets out to respect and reinforce the balance between native ecology, the city and its people while delivering the platform for sporting excellence.
Every Olympics needs to reflect the character and ambitions of the host city and this is where the differences between the two parks are most pronounced. While London was about demonstrating how a short global event can lead to the long term regeneration of one of the most neglected and deprived areas of the city, Rio is about celebrating Brazil’s emergence as a world power as well as making sure there is a strong legacy plan in place.
Throughout the development of the Rio masterplan, you can see how AECOM has been applying the lessons learnt from working on London 2012. This includes working with the wide range of stakeholders and local communities, and the utilisation of its knowledge of the requirements for running such a huge event, from crowd management and traffic strategies, to meeting the needs of athletes, visitors and the extended Olympic management and support system.
The vision for the future is not just to create a global stage for the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2016, but also, in the longer term, to create a new legacy district with new homes, jobs and places for leisure activities with a new central park and a thriving beautiful waterfront. It is also set to become a global centre of sporting excellence, with a Legacy Olympic Training Centre utilising the Games’ permanent sporting venues.
After the Games, the site will evolve into a compact urban environment built around a network of streets and open spaces, which encourages a diverse mix of living, working and recreational uses. AECOM has taken reference from the grid, linearity, axis and contrasting organic forms which permeates Rio’s unique urban environment to propose a responsive flexible framework that resonates with and echoes the specific local characteristics of Barra and Rio. The masterplan provides an opportunity to enhance environmental quality and bring Costa’s original concept into the 21st century as an example of new urbanism for a new era.
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by AECOM appeared first on Dezeen.
by Gavin Lucas Brutalist concrete architecture from the 1960s and 1970s might not be to everyone’s taste, but for Manchester-based design studio Dorothy, such buildings are the objects of no small amount of affection—as a new series of illustrated prints attests.
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