Hasta La Ideas

London and Tbilisi firm Architects of Invention has completed a public services building on stilts for a city that doesn’t exist yet in Georgia.

Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili launched plans at the end of 2011 to construct the city of Lazika on a stretch of marshy land at the edge of the Black Sea. Based on the Chinese concept of an instant city, Lazika is set to become Georgia’s second-largest city after Tbilisi within ten years, as long as development goes ahead as planned.

Architects of Invention was tasked with designing one of the first buildings of the new city: a public services office and town hall where city officials can work on the design and planning of more architecture and infrastructure.

The form of the building comprises three steel and glass volumes propped up on narrow columns, which were inspired by regional houses that are traditionally raised above the damp earth to improve ventilation and keep the structure dry.

“Lazika Municipality is a rectilinear experiment in the vertical displacement of solid mass,” said Architects of Invention founder Niko Japaridze. “This is a series of floating objects, which should set the stage for this new city on the marshlands. The local architecture was historically stilt-supported so there is natural precedent here.”

The architect explains that the building does in fact sit at sea-level, so the design is also an appropriate response to the hazards of flooding. “The client needed to be aware of the risks associated with anticipated global warming and subsequent sea level rises which could be in excess of one metre during the next century,” he said.

The public service hall occupies a rectilinear glass volume near the base of the building, while a curved glass wedding hall is positioned in the middle and offices are located in a perforated-steel box that sails overhead.

Outdoor staircases lead up to the first two departments from the ground and a red glass elevator connects both of these levels with the offices above.

“The ambition of this project was to make a building as a sculpture made out of one material,” Japaridze told Dezeen. “Instead of carving void-space from a cube, we have done the reverse. It is a void with volumes inserted and each volume has a fragile connection to the others, via the void.”

“When you navigate the building, the voids are felt more than the solid forms. It can be daunting at times,” he added.

The building was completed in September and was constructed in just 168 days.

The Lazika Municipality is the latest in a string of infrastructure projects underway in Georgia.

In the last year Studio Fuksas has completed a public services hall in Tbilisi and J. Mayer H. has constructed a civic centre and a police station in Mestia, as well as a series of roadside service stations.

See more stories about Georgia »

Photography is by Nakanimamasakhlisi Photo Lab.

Here’s a project description from Architects of Invention:

Lazika Municipality, Georgia, September 2012

The young UK-Georgia-based practice Architects of Invention has completed a new municipality building for a city which is yet to come into being – Lazika. This marine, economic and commercial centre was intended to be one of the largest cities in Georgia. Currently, Lazika’s future hangs in the balance, as the new government decides its course of action.

Architects of Invention, alongside engineers Engenuiti, designed a steel-structured building as a part of the development of a new city on the Black Sea coast. The brief was to create a Public Service Hall, a Wedding Hall and Municipal Offices. Work on the project began at the end of January, 2012, and the building was completed in mid-September, 2012. The building was constructed in 168 days with a progressive drafting schedule. The architects explain that the building is a juxtaposition between a building and a sculpture. It is not divided into floors but is comprised of volumes – each volume of the building can function separately from the other.

The Site

Lazika is a newly founded city on the Black Sea coast, located on previously uninhabited coastal wetlands. Lazika is located one mile to the south of the sea resort Anaklia and 3 miles south of Georgia’s border with Abkhazia. The name ‘Lazika’ refers to the Graeco-Roman name for the region.

The city’s existence was announced in December, 2011 by President Saakashvili, and established upon the completion of the Lazika municipality building in September 2012. The city remains in limbo with only one building, the municipality building, having been constructed. Currently, Lazika’s future hangs in the balance, as the new government decides its course of action.

Elevated Plinths

The three volumes of this structure are all detached from the ground at different levels. Each of these three shapes are devoted to different functions. Each of these three volumes operates self-sufficiently and has its own entrance from the street but they are also inter-connected.

The volume on the ground level is designated as the main Public Services Hall, with easy access at street level. The second volume is dedicated for use as a wedding ceremony hall with direct access to a large terrace. The third volume floats 20m above the ground and contains office spaces. Only pillars and circulation points touch the ground.

The perforated steel-sheet-cladding finishing of the facade of the top volume bring 50% transparency and lend a solid quality to the volume at the same time. The steel frame structure is integrated throughout all parts of the design and this frame is exposed to emphasise the building’s technology and spirit of innovation. The top volume have the dimensions of 35mx35m, and its downward projection describes the contours of the building – which is a parallelogram containing positive and negative space.

Above: public service hall floor plan – click for larger image

Above: wedding centre floor plan – click for larger image

Above: offices floor plan – click for larger image

Above: section 1 – click for larger image

Above: section 2 – click for larger image

Above: section 3 – click for larger image

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Danish studio BIG has designed an observation tower shaped like a honey dipper for Phoenix, Arizona.

Rising above the downtown city rooftops, the spiralling structure is conceived as a tourist attraction that will contain a continuous series of exhibition spaces, shops and restaurants.

BIG has nicknamed the structure “The Pin” and the designs show a reinforced concrete tower with three glass elevators to transport visitors from the base of a narrow stalk to the summit of the sphere.

Just like the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the ArcelorMittal Orbit at London’s Olympic Park, visitors will be encouraged to take an elevator to the top then gradually work their way down whilst looking out across the city and nearby mountains.

“Like the monsoons, the haboobs and the mountains of the surrounding Arizonian landscape, the Pin becomes a point of reference and a mechanism to set the landscape in motion through the movement of the spectator,” commented BIG founder Bjarke Ingels. “The motion at the Pin is turned inside-out, allowing visitors to contemplate the surrounding city and landscape of Phoenix.”

To create the spherical shape, the spiralling open-air pathway will be widest at its centre and will taper away at the start and end of the route.

“Like a heavenly body hovering above the city the Pin will allow visitors to descend from pole to pole in a dynamic three dimensional experience seemingly suspended in midair,” said Ingels.

Restaurants will be located at the base of the sphere, while a new public square surrounded by shops will be positioned at the ground-level entrance.

In the last week BIG also unveiled plans for two twisted apartment blocks in Miami.

See all our stories about BIG »

Here’s some more information from the architects:

BIG unveils Phoenix Observation Tower

BIG is commissioned by Novawest to design a 420 ft tall mixed-use observation tower to serve as a symbol for the city of Phoenix, Arizona.

Located in downtown Phoenix, the 70,000 sf Observation Tower shall add a significant structure to the Phoenix skyline from which to enjoy the city’s spectacular views of the surrounding mountain ranges and dramatic sunsets. Phoenix-based developer Novawest, commissioned the team to create a destination event to provide tourists and citizens of Phoenix alike the chance to enjoy the unique features of the Valley of the Sun.

Above: simple concept diagram

The future observation tower is conceived as a tall core of reinforced concrete with an open-air spiral sphere at its top, resembling a metaphorical pin firmly marking a location on a map. The spiraling sphere contains flexible exhibition, retail and recreational spaces which are accessed via three glass elevators that connect the base with the summit and offer panoramic views of the city and the tower’s programs as visitors ascend or descend.

Walking downwards from the top through a continuous spiral promenade, the visitors of the observation tower experience all of the building’s programs in a constant motion, while enjoying dynamic 360 degree views of the city of Phoenix and the Arizonian landscape.

Above: design concept

The spiral layout combines the different programmatic elements and the circulation into a continuous dynamic twirling space which is proportioned according to the movement of the visitors, producing a unique viewing experience of the surroundings. Instead of a constant width, the spiraling promenade starts from zero at the point of arrival, reaches its maximum width at the middle, and shrinks back to zero at the point of departure. Separation between the programmatic elements within the sphere happens not through physical vertical barrier-walls, but softly through the slope and the height difference to preserve a total continuity and create a flexible space for exhibitions and events.

Once the visitors reach the middle of the sphere, they can choose to either conclude their journey by taking the elevator back to the ground, or continue to the restaurant levels at the lower hemisphere. The motion resembles a journey through the center of a planet, and a travel from the north to the south pole.

The base of the tower will serve as a public plaza offering shade, water features and a small amount of retail together with a subterranean queuing area. The tower will serve as a working model of sustainable energy practices, incorporating a blend of solar and other technologies.

Above: accommodation diagram

Name: Phoenix Observation Tower
Type: Commission
Size: 70,000 square feet
Client: Novawest
Collaborators: MKA (structure), Atelier10 (sustainability), Gensler (local architect), TenEyck (landscape)
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Country: USA

Partner in Charge: Bjarke Ingels and Thomas Christoffersen
Project Leader: Iannis Kandyliaris
Team: Thomas Fagan, Aaron Hales, Ola Hariri, Dennis Harvey, Beat Schenk

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by BIG appeared first on Dezeen.

“Form Follows Function” is a tall order while renovating a space, where the outside form is already established—think of an attic space with a pitched roof, for example–and where you need to get it into the rectilinear form we humans like living in. But there are some great examples of intelligent design being used to solve this problem in the following Portland, Oregon, apartment space.

Undertaken by PATH Architecture along with Phloem Studio and Earthbound Industries, the latter two organizations being part of Portland’s Beam & Anchor outfit, this studio renovation in Portland’s Laurelhurst Park neighborhood sought to turn the second story of a garage into a liveable apartment. As you can see from the exterior shot below, they had to deal with quite the crazy pitched roof:

Getting inside the space, we can see what design and engineering solutions they’ve used to fill the triangular spaces where the ceiling meets the floor. First off, fill the least-useable space at the bottom of the triangle with the HVAC:

The remainder of that side of the room would be filled with built-ins:

The design of the built-in components take into account that you’ve got more legroom there than headroom. As one example, it means you can fit flat-file drawers whose seemingly shallow intrusion into the space belie a much greater depth. We also dig the drawer cubbies above it, which disappear into the wall.

(more…)

Sunken cruise ship the Costa Concordia would be transformed into a watery memorial garden in this competition-winning conceptual design by London architecture graduates Alexander Laing and Francesco Matteo Belfiore.

The cruise liner fatally struck a rock off the coast of Giglio Island, Italy, on 13 January, causing the deaths of 30 passengers and becoming the largest passenger ship in history to capsize. A year on, the ship is still in place awaiting a £250 million salvage operation.

The competition, organised by research platform ICSplat, asked architects and designers to come up with alternative proposals for the site, as part of a strategy to reassess how new landscapes can be developed amongst the remains of a traumatic event.

Architectural Association graduates Laing and Belfiore were awarded first place with their proposals, which suggest removing the 35 percent of the boat that rises above the water and adding plants inside the remaining compartments of the former rooms. “The fragment immersed becomes the container of new activities and crossings of the ship among paths, tanks of water and surfaces planted,” explain the designers.

Two floating pathways would lead out across the water to create a route for visitors from the coast of the island to the surface of the memorial.

Second place was given to Italian studio Vulmaro Zoffi with designs to generate an artificial reef as a habitat for marine species, while third prize was shared between Francesco Tonnarelli and Andrea Cippitelli of Italy and Architectural Association graduate Wynn Chandra.

The proposals come just over a year after two memorial fountains opened on the site of the former World Trade Centre. Watch a movie about the plans for the 9/11 site here.

See all our stories about memorials »

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and Francesco Matteo Belfiore appeared first on Dezeen.

Le photographe Fabrice Fouillet a réalisé une série de clichés très réussies appelée « Corpus Christis » dans laquelle il expose l’intérieur d’églises à l’architecture moderne qu’il a pu visiter au cours de ses voyages. Avec des architectures étonnantes et visuellement impressionnantes, le résultat est à découvrir dans la suite.

Dans le même esprit : NYC Panoramic Churches