This family of concrete artist and designers’ studios by Chinese office AZL Architects is located amongst the marshes of the Xixi National Wetland Park in Hangzhou, China (+ slideshow).
Conceived by Zhang Lei of AZL architects as a small village community, the Xixi Artist Clubhouse is a cluster of five similar buildings with translucent walls and branch-like arms that stretch out towards one another.
Each building is designed to house artists- and designers-in-residence and contains a mixture of studios and living quarters within a Y-shaped central plan and two Y-shaped arms.
The two-storey central structures are constructed from concrete and feature glazed end walls. Each one contains double-height studio spaces and staircases that lead up to indoor balconies.
The single-storey arms have a steel-framed structure and are clad with translucent polycarbonate panels to bring light into kitchens, bedrooms and smaller studios.
A pathway winds through the site to connect the buildings and a series of small lampposts help residents find their way around after dark.
Here’s a little more information from AZL Architects:
Xixi Artist Clubhouse / AZL architects
Located in Xixi wetlands in west of central Hangzhou, the Xixi Artist Clubhouse is organized as a village structure with five building units, 800 m2 each as studio for artists & designers in Hangzhou. Each cluster relies on three Y-shaped volumes, one in six by six and two in three by three meters square frameless openings, creating panoramas view of surrounding wetland landscape in different directions. Contrast to cubic outside geometric volume of building, twisting fiberglass installation redefines internal spaces. Walls, floors, and ceilings are integrated in continues surface, refers to different program.
Site plan
The six meter tall structure is in concrete, while two smaller sections in steel structure introduce translucent white PC panels as cladding to diffuse direct sunlight. During dark night, one could see a group of beautiful lanterns floating on the water of wild wetland horizon.
Two commercial buildings in Winnipeg have been converted into an apartment block with mirrored balconies that stick out like open drawers.
Constructed at the start of the twentieth century, the Hample and Avenue Buildings occupy a prominent position on Portage Avenue. They once housed shops and offices but had stood empty since the 1990s.
The renovation by 5468796 Architecture involved upgrading the ground floor of both buildings for commercial use and adapting the upper floors to accommodate 75 rental apartments. At just three storeys, the Hample Building was half as tall as the Avenue Building, so the architects also added extra storeys to bring the two buildings into line.
Steel balconies cantilever through existing window openings for 20 of the apartments. Each one is clad in mirrored aluminium and has a see-through gridded base.
“A series of formally simple moves dramatically transform the original facades, shifting public perception of the buildings from eyesores to a unified urban landmark,” say the architects.
At ground floor level, a mirrored canopy gives shelter to two different entrances. Stretching across the facade of both buildings, the volume is intended to unite the two structures.
The first entrance leads though the glazed shopfront facade into the large ground floor unit, which is currently occupied by a charity organisation.
The second entrance is dedicated to residents, who are led through a V-shaped recess into a stairwell at the centre of the building.
The Avenue on Portage revives two historic commercial buildings from the turn of the century located one block west of Winnipeg’s most famous corner, Portage and Main. Once major retail destinations in the city, the Avenue and Hample Buildings experienced a slow decline, becoming blights to the street and downtown. In 2010 the client purchased the site to develop the derelict properties into 75 rental apartments and 22,500 square feet of commercial space.
A series of formally simple moves dramatically transform the original facades, shifting public perception of the buildings from eyesores to a unified urban landmark. Hovering above the sidewalk, steel balconies cantilever from existing window openings and provide outdoor access for apartment dwellers. Clad in mirror-finish aluminium, the balconies become camouflaged against their surroundings, reflecting at turns the sky, the façade and the street below.
While the balconies push residents out beyond the façade, the main floor pulls pedestrians in, softening the boundary between the public streetscape and the private interiors. Inside, apartments sized between 430 and 1020 s.f. fill the upper four floors of the Avenue, as well as a new, three-storey addition to the Hample.
In order to address the deep building footprint and provide windows for interior units, two existing light wells are carried down through all residential floors, while a third is extended into the new addition.
The main floor is occupied by Manitoba Start, a non-profit organisation that provides services for new immigrants in Winnipeg. At street level a wall of glass folds back into the building to create a deep, V shaped entrance that broadens the width of the sidewalk.
Overhead, a faceted, mirror-finish canopy angles outward 13 feet from the face of the Hample before returning to meet the edge of the Avenue, unifying the two facades. Together, these elements draw the city into the building’s expression, making it an active participant in the life of the street.
Of all the reasons why I could never be a construction worker—not strong enough, can’t consistently wake up at 5am, don’t know how to catcall—preeminent among them is my deathly fear of heights. It was terrifying to watch this video of construction workers hoisting the spire onto One World Trade Center (someone slapped a GoPro camera onto the thing). The crazy part is that at the end, you get to see a handful of guys jimmying the massive thing into place with what look like crowbars.
Warning: This video isn’t edited at all, it’s a continuous nine-minute shot of them hoisting the spire from the roof to the top of its supporting structure. Part of me wishes they’d fast-forwarded the video, though if they had I would’ve peed my pants or thrown up (probably both).
Dutch firm OMA’s proposal to place a hotel on top of the Miami Beach Convention Center is going head-to-head with Danish firm BIG’s plan for the site (+ slideshow + movie).
Both Rem Koolhaas’ firm and rivals BIG are presenting their proposals to the Miami Beach City Commission today.
“The convention centre site is a total aberration in the urban fabric of the city,” says Dan Tishman, chairman of Tishman, in the movie (above). “It just doesn’t live up to the standards of Miami.”
The team’s vision includes building an 800-room hotel on top of the existing convention centre, which is the location for the annual Art Basel – Miami Beach and Design Miami trade fairs.
The convention centre would also be expanded and reorganised, rotating it 90 degrees and placing its main entrance to the south, where it would face a row of new and old buildings, including the renovated Jackie Gleason Theater.
To the north would be a network of shaded green spaces and a large grassy hill covering a loading area for trucks and a parking garage.
Here’s some more information from South Beach ACE:
Sitting on 52 acres within the vibrant and unique community that is Miami Beach, an outdated convention centre acts as an urban blockade – inactive when conventions are not in town, disruptive to adjoining neighborhoods and inhibiting connections to Lincoln Road and surrounding communities. Our masterplan resolves each of these issues through a series of ingenious yet simple moves:
» We conceptually rotate the convention center, reorienting the site to allow for east-west neighbourhood connectivity and a southerly orientation for both convention centre and hotel guests
» We concentrate the density at the centre of the site and make the revamped convention centre and its meeting and ballroom space contiguous with the hotel – a feature that meeting planners love
» We reimagine the area’s existing assets: the Jackie Gleason Theater, the Carl Fisher Clubhouse, City Hall, the 17th Street Garage and 17th Street itself are all maintained and transformed to better engage their surroundings while keeping the character of Miami Beach
» We fill the rest of the site with public amenities and programmed uses appropriate to activate the space 7 days a week, 365 days a year
In short, our plan upgrades the convention centre into a best-in-class facility and weaves the entire convention centre site into the fabric of Miami Beach. It will feel both new and like it was always there.
A large public square is at the heart of Danish firm BIG’s proposed overhaul of Miami Beach Convention Center, home to the annual Art Basel/Miami and Design Miami trade fairs (+ slideshow + movie).
Bjarke Ingels’ firm will present its proposal to the Miami Beach City Commission today, where it will go head-to-head with a rival design by Dutch firm OMA.
Miami Beach Convention Center is currently “a dead black hole of asphalt in the heart of one the most beautiful and lively cities in America,” the team explain. “Our mission is to bring Miami Beach back to the Convention Center.”
The proposal is centred around the creation of a public square, with paths, plazas, gardens and parks connecting the convention centre with the surrounding buildings.
The convention centre itself would be given a green roof, which would function as an event space and a location for annually commissioned artwork.
The Jackie Gleason Theater would be renovated and its street level lobbies, restaurants and cafe made publicly accessible, while a new museum for Latin American culture would be built alongside it. The proposal also includes a hotel and several blocks of apartments.
BIG together with West 8, Fentress, JPA and developers Portman CMC proposes Miami Beach Square as the centerpiece of their 52 acre Convention Center.
Miami Beach is a unique city in so many ways. It is one of the youngest cities in America – and perhaps right now one of the most vibrant and dynamic. Its streetscape is characterised by a lively walkable urban fabric with a friendly human scaled environment under the cool shade of tropical trees and art deco canopies – except at the convention center. It is a dead black hole of asphalt in the heart of one the most beautiful and lively cities in America.
Our mission is to bring Miami Beach back to the Convention Center – and to imagine an architecture and an urban space unique to the climate and culture of Miami Beach.
We propose to roll out an urban fabric of paths and plazas, parks and gardens that forms an archipelago of urban oases throughout the site. At the heart of it we introduce a central square to become the pivoting point of the entire neighbourhood, becoming the front door to the convention centre and the convention hotel, a front lawn to the revitalised Jackie Gleason Theater, a town square for the city hall, an outdoor arena for the Latin American Cultural Museum, and the red carpet for the big botanical ball room.
“We have devised a strategy that combines urban planning and landscape design to create a neighborhood characterised by human scale, pedestrian connections, shaded spaces with public oriented programmes lining the streets and squares. A neighbourhood that, depending on the season, the weekday, or even the time of day can be perceived as a lively downtown neighbourhood or an inviting public park.” Bjarke Ingels, creative director, BIG
The square creates a series of intuitive connections across the site – a diagonal that connects the Soundscape to the Botanical Gardens and Holocaust Memorial. A north-south connection joins the Collins Canal to Lincoln Road and naturally channels the flow of convention visitors to the liveliness of Lincoln Road. A green network of public spaces that stitches together all of the adjacent neighbourhoods – formerly separated by the convention centre – into a complete and coherent community for both visitors and residents. All public programmes old and new come together on the square. All great cities have a great square – this will be Miami Beach Square.
“Rather than scattering all the programme across the 52 acre site we have decided to concentrate it around the center piece of our public realm – Miami Beach Square bringing focus to the renovated Jackie Gleason Theater, the entrance of the convention center and for the first time ever creating a worthy civic presence to Miami Beach City Hall.” Jamie Maslyn Larsen, West 8, Creator of Soundscape Park
Diagram of green roof and surrounding parks and paths
By popular demand we have found a way to preserve and enhance the architecture and programming of the Jackie Gleason Theater. By making it all public at the street level – opening up lobbies, restaurants and cafes on all sides – we make the Gleason a lively centerpiece in this new neighborhood. Towards the Square we propose to extend the fly tower with a performing arts centre with various spaces for rehearsal and offering a visual connection to the public. Adjacent to the Jackie Gleason Theater sits the new Latin American Cultural Museum consisting of a base of public programmes opening up on the square. The building form creates a covered shaded event space on the square blurring the transition between inside and outside.
Today the Miami Beach City Hall is almost like a leftover wedged between random neighbours surrounded by traffic. Our proposal places it right in the middle of the town square with ample space for public expression and at the heart of communal life. The Miami Beach City Hall and Botanical Ballroom bookend the Square making it a natural extension of the civic activities of city hall. To the north the botanical ballroom opens up allowing for beautiful views of the botanical gardens and the memorial. The Ballroom has an entrance to the south and to the north allowing for seamless connectivity to the convention centre – under the shade and shelter of the canopies.
Rather than being the hermetic monoprogrammatic box that the Miami Beach Convention Center is today – a single programme at the size of an urban block – we propose to consider the Convention Center an actual urban block complete with different programmes, grown together to form a continuous architecture. A gradual transition from public to private, cultural to civic, conference to residential turns a stroll around the block into an experience of continuous variation. Along the entire west adjacent to the various gardens and the new square – the main entrances to the Convention Center and Conference Center occupy the ground. The hotel lobby spans the entire south elevation in continuation of the Convention Center lobby. The hotel façade as pulled back, forming a cascade of terraces for the south facing hotel rooms – decreasing the perceived height seen from the Gleason.
The roof of the Convention Center is framed by a green roof drawing the outline of the urban block – framing the hotel gardens and the roof parking interspersed with shade giving landscapes. As a reoccurring annual event we propose to sponsor an art foundation that will deliver a roof art piece to cover the remaining roof surface turning it into a giant ever-changing canvas seen from the air as well as the roof terrace of the hotel. An ever changing giant canvas that will annually challenge contemporary artists with an architectural scale canvas – seen from the roofs and penthouses of adjacent buildings, from aeroplanes and Google Earth.
“Realising that a challenge that seemed to be driven by two incompatible agendas was actually the opportunity to create a convention centre district that is not only for convention-goers but, more importantly, for residents.” Jack Portman, Portman Holdings and JPA
Focus sur « The White Chapel Hong Kong » qui est un projet réalisé par Danny Cheng Interiors présent et situé sur la Hong Kong’s Discovery Bay. Avec une structure en forme de A entourée d’un étang circulaire, cet impressionnant lieu religieux est à découvrir en détails et images dans la suite de l’article.
Habitant à Hong-Kong depuis près d’une décennie, Javin Lau a voulu rendre un hommage avec cette vidéo appelée « Hong Kong is Home ». Sur la musique Waking Up de M83, cette vidéo en time-lapse s’inspire du film Oblivion, lui rappelant à quel point nous sommes si petit par rapport à ce qui nous entoure.
The latest building to feature an indoor slide is this South Korean house by Seoul studio Moon Hoon, where a wooden slide is slotted into a combined staircase and bookshelf (+ slideshow).
Named Panorama House, the three-storey residence is home to a family of six in North Chungcheong Province. The clients had asked Moon Hoon to include various spaces where their four children could play, so the architects designed a house where different floors belong to different residents.
The ground floor is dedicated to the children and includes the wooden staircase and slide. Open treads create bleacher-style seating areas for a home cinema, but they also double-up as bookshelves for a small study area tucked underneath.
“The key was coming up with a multi-functional space,” say the architects. “The multi-use stair and slide space brings much active energy to the house. Not only children, but also grown-ups love the slide staircase.”
Two twin bedrooms are located behind the study, plus the youngest children can also use the large second-floor attic as a playroom.
Family rooms are all located on the middle floor and lead out to two separate terraces. Underfloor heating was added to each of the spaces to encourage residents to sit on the floor, rather than on furniture.
A bedroom suite is separated at one end of this floor and features an en suite bathroom and dressing room.
The facade of Panorama House is divided into a basalt-clad base and a white-rendered upper. To accentuate the subtle zigzag of the plan, the architects added angled sections to create the illusion of three cubes in perpective.
Photography is by Huh Juneul, apart from where otherwise indicated.
Here’s a project description from Moon Hoon:
Panorama House
The Client
They have four kids, and that is a big family by contempory standards. They are both teachers in their late thirties. The first and the most important thing they wanted in their new home was a place where their kids could play, read and study. They wanted lower floors for the kids and upper for themselves. They already tried it out with another architect, but it did not satisfy them, that’s when they said that they found about me, who appeared to be more playful and more creative.
Photograph by Huh Juneul
The Site
Irregular and sloped site boasted a great view. It is situated in a nice newly built surburb. The view reminded me of a scene from a movie, LA surburbs at night. Instantly, a name for the house came up – Panorama House – which they nodded with some ambience.
Photograph by Huh Juneul
The Design
The basic request of upper and lower spatial organization and the shape of the site prompted a long and thin house with a fluctuating facade, which would allow for a more differentiated view. The key was coming up with a multi-functional space which is a large staircase, bookshelves, casual reading space, home cinema, slide and many more.
The client was very pleased with the design, and the initial design was accepted and finalised almost instantly, only with minor adjustments. The kitchen and dining space is another important space where family gathers to bond. The TV was pushed away to a smaller living room. The attic has the best view is possible and it is used as a play room for younger kids.
The multi-use stair and slide space brings much active energy to the house. Not only children, but also grown-ups love the slide staircase. It is an action-filled, playful house for all ages.
The fluctuating facade is accentuated by mirrored bottom and top angles. It can bring about some illusion when looked at with some concentration. The various sized windows provide different outlooks. Korean houses are floor heated, which is quite unique and brings users to the floors more than to furniture such as sofa and chairs. So many windows are placed quite low, considering the long living habit. There is no high-legged dining table for the family, only a portable foldable short-legged table. The space kept empty until any specific function arises.
Photograph by Huh Juneul
Architect: Moon Hoon Design Team: Lee Ju Hee, Kim Dong Won, Park Sang Eun Client: Moon Sung Gwang Total Site Area: 570.50 sqm Total Floor Area: 209.14 sqm Construction: reinforced concrete and wood frame
This holiday home in upstate New York by US firm Gluck+ features an elevated living room that hovers nine metres above the ground (+ slideshow).
As the weekend retreat for Thomas Gluck – one of the firm’s principals – and his family, Tower House was designed as a four-storey tower with a “treetop aerie”, affording mountain views across the nearby Catskill Park.
The house is glazed on every side. In some places Gluck+ has fitted dark green panels behind to camouflage the walls with the surrounding woodland, while other areas remain transparent, revealing a bright yellow staircase that zigzags up behind the southern elevation.
Taut vertical cables form the balustrade for this staircase and are interspersed with small lights, intended to look like fireflies after dark.
One of the main aims of the design was to minimise the impact on the landscape. The architects achieved this by lifting the large living areas off the ground and stacking bedrooms and bathrooms on the three floors beneath, creating a base footprint of just 40 square metres.
This arrangement also allows all of the wet rooms to be arranged in an insulated central core. When the house isn’t is use, this core isolates the heating systems, helping to reduce energy consumption.
The three bedrooms are positioned on the north side of the house, where they can benefit from the most consistent daylight, and contain yellow furniture to match the colour of the staircase.
The living room above is divided up into four different zones by the arrangement of furniture and features a 12-metre-long window seat that spans the entire space. There’s also a secluded roof terrace on the next level up.
New York-based Gluck+ was known until recently as Peter Gluck and Partners. The firm is now run by Peter, his son Thomas, and three other principals.
Photography is by Paul Warchol, apart from where otherwise stated.
Photograph by Gluck+
Here’s a project description from the architects:
Tower House
This small vacation house is designed as a stairway to the treetops. Keeping the footprint to a minimum so as not to disturb the wooded site, each of the first three floors has only one small bedroom and bath, each a tiny private suite. The top floor, which contains the living spaces, spreads out from the tower like the surrounding forest canopy, providing views of the lake and mountains in the distance. An outdoor roof terrace deck above extends the living space above the treetops, offering a stunning lookout to the long view. The glass-enclosed stair also highlights the procession from forest floor to treetop aerie, while the dark green, back-painted glass exterior camouflages the house by reflecting the surrounding woods, de-materialising its form. At dusk, mini lights dotting the cable rail of the stair mimic local fireflies sparkling in the woods as day turns to dark.
As a vacation home, the Tower House is used during a few weekends in the winter and most weekends in the summer. The design imperative was to develop a sustainable, energy efficient solution with minimal operating costs and maintenance for a house occupied part-time. The stacked north-facing bedrooms take advantage of light and views with floor to ceiling glass. In order to optimise energy savings for heating and cooling in this part-time residence, a two part sustainable strategy was employed to reduce the heating footprint of the house in the winter and to avoid the need for air conditioning in the summer.
While the house is heated conventionally, by compressing and stacking all of the wet zones of the house into an insulated central core, much of the house can be “turned off” in the winter when not in use. When not in use, only 700 square feet of the 2,545 square foot house is heated. By closing the building down to only the insulated core, there is a 49% reduction in energy use. In the summertime, the house feels comfortable without air conditioning. Cool air is drawn in and through the house using the stack effect. South-facing glass throughout the stairwell creates a solar chimney and as the heated air rises, it is exhausted out the top, drawing in fresh air through the house from the cooler north side.
Architecture and Construction: GLUCK+ (Peter L. Gluck, Thomas Gluck, David Hecht, Marisa Kolodny, A.B. Moburg-Davis) Structural Engineer: Robert Silman Associates P.C. Mechanical Engineer: Rosini Engineering P.C. Façade: Bill Young Environmental Engineer: IBC Engineering Lighting: Lux Populi
Coup de coeur pour le design de « Thorncrown Chapel », une chapelle située à Eureka Springs dans l’Arkansas. Pensée en 1980 par E. Fay Jones, ancien apprenti de l’architecte Frank Lloyd Wright, cette structure alliant acier et verre se marie parfaitement avec son environnement. Plus d’images dans la suite.
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