Hasta La Ideas

This small faceted house by Japanese studios D.I.G Architects and Nawakenji-m is embedded in a steep slope overlooking the city of Nagoya (+ slideshow).

The architects excavated into the hill to level the site and created a large living room on the sunken floor.

The front door leads onto a upper deck suspended across the breadth of the house, where metal stairs lead down to the level below.

There are no windows on the street-facing elevations, but a glazed wall spans the back of the house and slides open onto a terrace with more faceted walls.

Photography is by Tomohiro Sakashita.

Here’s some more information from D.I.G Architects:

K House

A small house located on a steep slanting slope. The client simply wanted a life with a blessing of nature nearby and the beautiful townscape in distant.

Left only with a very narrow flat part which is barely enough for a car, the site was steeply sloped down, almost like a cliff.

We first had an idea to excavate the ground to generate a living space. Corresponding the nature form, heterogeneous and flexible space would retrieve the enchantment of the site.

Not a house constructed on a cliff, but a habitat generated by the nature form of the cliff. A habitat like a pit or a shed later discovered in the terrains of landscape.

So we dig the earth to make the “floor”. Then a “sail” was set on that dent.

Site plan

The structural image of the generation of this “sail” is that the closed and self-contained systems, like a polyhedron or a sphere, came down to the site and was spread up through anchoring to the earth.

Upper floor plan – click above for larger image

Now we’ve got a certain volume on a steeply slanting surface wrapped with a pitted earth and the sail-like tent on top. Then we put a flat and straight deck bridging the vacant space.

Lower floor plan – click above for larger image

There’s no function assigned for this deck for the moment. But you might have moments in the life surrounded and protected by the earth that you need a place detached from the ground.

Section – click above for larger image

There’s no partition dividing space, but level differences by a deck and a pit that generate characteristics for the empty space. The uses are not regulated except the bathroom.

North elevation

You think how to use while in use, through the direct feeling to your body.

East elevation

Design: Akinori Yoshimura + Maki Yoshimura/D.I.G Architects, Nawa Kenji/Nawakenji-m
Complete: December 2011

South elevation

Collaborator: (structural design) Nawa Kenji/Nawakenji-m
Area: total 89.4m2

West elevation

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and Nawakenji-m appeared first on Dezeen.

Wooden louvres mask the facade of this apartment block in South Korea by local studio Smart Architecture.

Made from Japanese cedar, the screens wrap the south and east elevations of the four-storey building, which contains an office on the ground floor and seven apartments above.

Hinged shutters fold out from the wooden cladding to reveal windows in the walls behind.

Two of the apartments have balconies that are also concealed behind the louvres.

Residents enter on the east side of the building, where a concrete staircase flanked by vertical wires leads to the front door of each apartment.

See more stories about housing »

Photography is by Jung-sik, Mun.

Here’s some more text from Smart Architecture:

Louver Haus is the multi-household building which was built for lease profit. It is located in high density housing areas in Sangdong, Su Seong-gu, Daegu (metropolis in Korea). Suseong Pond which is one of the large-scale open spaces in Daegu, is near the south of site, and also Dae-duck mountain standing over this area.

This building consists of 7 households. 6 households face south, and one household overlooking north is designed the open plan of duplex type.

The whole building’s external facing is finished using outside heat-insulation wall methed, and the finishing of walls adjacent to the road is red cryptomeria horizontal louvers.

Particularly, louver windows can open and shut. So, energy-saving effect, sunshine control and privacy protection are possible. And, the ways to use louver windows create multiple facade variation.

A vertical wire handrail and skylight mingled, which set the scene for special atmosphere.

Project title: Louver Haus
Architects: Smart Architecture (Gun-cheol, Kim, Sung-hoon, Heo)
Location: 389-10, Sang-dong, Susung-gu, Daegu, South Korea
Project area: 400 sqm
Project year: 2012

Site plan – click above for larger image

Ground floor plan – click above for larger image

First floor plan – click above for larger image

Second  floor plan – click above for larger image

Third floor plan – click above for larger image

Section – click above for larger image

South elevation – click above for larger image

East elevation – click above for larger image

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Smart Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.

Thai architects Architectkidd built an outdoor shower room behind wooden screens on the balcony of this renovated apartment in Bangkok (+ slideshow).

The perforated screens around the shower were made by a local carpenter who used material scavenged from demolished buildings.

Exposed concrete lines the rear walls of the shower room, as well as walls, floors and ceilings elsewhere in the apartment.

Rooms are laid out to maximise ventilation from windows on the east and south sides, which offer views out over the Bangkok skyline.

The chunky wood of the kitchen counter is echoed by a solid wood bench beneath one of the windows.

Another project by Architectkidd on Dezeen features a white aluminium facade with circular perforations.

Photographs are by Luke Yeung and Sirisak Pituck.

Here’s some further information from the architects:

Bangkok Flat | Architectkidd

An outdoor shower is combined with a balcony and living room in this renovation of an old high-rise building in Bangkok. The design makes use of as many existing attributes and found conditions as possible. The building’s location, while in the middle of the city, is away from main roads and adjacent to one of Bangkok’s largest waterways, or ‘klongs’. The apartment itself is located at one corner of the high-rise.

In Bangkok, prevailing winds originate from the south-west direction, and as a result, the layout was arranged to maximise openings to the east and south sides to allow for cross ventilation. As a result, upon entering the apartment, one faces an uninterrupted view of the Bangkok skyline.

Materials and finishes were selected as spare and contemporary interpretations of Thai living. In particular, inspiration was found during visits to local workshops of craftmen and carpenters. These workshops usually consist of not only their ‘working’ areas, but also combined eating and sleeping areas within a limited space.

The idea of combining several functions within a compact space resulted in the design of the outdoor shower area. Working closely with a local carpenter who used wood scavenged from demolished buildings and structures, perforated wooden screens were designed using reclaimed hard wood timber. When not used as a shower, these wooden screens can be closed to enlarge the outdoor balcony space.

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Architectkidd appeared first on Dezeen.

This house overlooking the sea in southern Spain by MVN Architects comprises white rectilinear volumes on a base of travertine marble (+ slideshow).

Completed in 2007, AA house is positioned on a hillside above the coastal city of Almería.

Glass doors slide open to connect the living and dining room with a terrace and swimming pool, where residents can watch the sun rise over the Mediterranean Sea.

Bedrooms line the southern facade, alongside a sauna and an artists’ studio.

Other houses we’ve recently featured in Spain include one with a transparent glass facade.

See more Spanish houses on Dezeen »

Here’s some more information from MVN Architects:

The AA Home project arose from the need to build a site able to create a meaningful place. “So the house does not destroy this sense of peace that I had the first time I looked at the horizon from this hill, and to protect it” they asked us.

All the work was focused on developing project strategies that would enable to open the heart towards the horizon. Rest in light, pick up the nuances of the sunrise and sunset. Be part of a privileged viewpoint, where the inhabitants were permanently welcome.

And so was sought to ensure that the limit of the house was the horizon, a boundary that does not want to confine, but permanent opening.

A house seeking shelter and protection, quiet at last. And so it calls at all times to the heart without forcing any door, without opening them, without crossing thresholds, to experience the peace of the horizon made of sea, of wind, of rock, the horizon made architecture for many years.

Program of Needs and Previous Conditionings

The site is located in Almeria, municipality of Mojacar, in the surrounding area of Cerro del Albar. It is a rugged topography, with steep and open distant horizon over the sea. On the site there exists a small platform, which will be used as base for the building. The project had to answer two questions raised by the client: One, offer a solution that would allow feeling the horizon as part of the house. Two, develop a housing program for a marriage with two children, according to the following needs: garage and kitchen; lounge dining room and office-library; main room, rooms for the children and guests; and a small sauna, workshop of sculpture and painting, and court-warehouse for drying and storage of parts.

Setting Up Strategy

The housing places on an existing platform oriented to the east, toward the Mediterranean Sea, in an area with a steep slope. Given the rugged terrain, the general organization of the project has been defined by the need to adapt in a rational way to the topography, avoiding dismantle that might be excessive and so minimize the impact that the building could suppose to the environment. The location of the home taking advantage of the small natural platform, minimizes earth moving and get a perfect adaptation of the architecture to the field. In lower levels, other platforms continue structuring the plot, creating zones of fruit-bearing trees and garden. Some of these platforms use existing stone walls in the plot, remains of ancient terraced plantations, thus recovering the character that had long ago the area. In this sense, the project maintains a constant relation with the environment, promoting the transition of scales and protecting the landscape value of the area.

Opening Strategy

The housing is organized into three bands that are displaced longitudinally: The services band, partially buried, anchoring the house on the slope. It organises the uncovered parking, court of service, pantry and kitchen, the latter with a small terrace. The central band receives the main elements of the house. On having been delayed with respect to the other two, it sets up a large patio where is proposed the access, protected behind the fold of the walls. Once inside, a small patio glass distributes the routes, introducing a diffuse light sifted by vegetation. The main double-height space articulates the relationship between the light and the horizon. Dining and living room establish a strong link with the sea, opening fully on a first platform that starts the dialog with the environment. This space is bounded by the dressing room and the main bedroom, which configure a cantilevered body over the visual flight of the landscape, again toward the coast line. The third band is the closure of the housing and its main facade. It includes rooms for the children, the guest room, the sauna, and the space for sculpture and painting, with a courtyard protected from the wind. A somewhat lower terrace provides an open space at noon, resolving the encounter with the ground.

Floor plan – click above for larger image

Constructive Strategy

The whole set is proposed as structural system of reinforced concrete, with Thermo-clay closure and solution of ecological flat roof supported by slab Filtron base. It is projected to finished with white monolayer mortar (with contribution of 10% of ochre) according to the architecture built in the area of influence of the Cerro del Albar. The pavement is solved with travertine marble, extending this finish to the outside to run ground platforms linked to the use of housing.

Section 1 – click above for larger image

In wet rooms and kitchen it is used compound of quartz and resins type Silestone to run tiled pavements. The interior woodwork is white pre-lacquered MDF. The external joinery is composed of triple aluminium clad: the outer element is a sliding structure of adjustable slats; intermediate carpentry, a Climalit glass enclosure; and the inner element, a sliding mesh anti-insect. At the opening of the lounge toward the horizon, there are provided two spaces where fully collect the woodwork. On the outdoor spaces, surfaces that do not constitute open platforms to the horizon have been finished off with crushed aggregate of rocks from the area. The earth retaining runs through wall of riprap, selecting rocks of the area that will allow the integration of the project on the environment.

Section 2  – click above for larger image

Situation: Era del Albar, Mojacar, Almeria. Spain
Date of project: 2004-2006
Date of work: 2006-2007
Architects: Daniel H Nadal, Diego Varela, Emilio Medina
Technical Architect: Maria Isabel García Mellado
Promoter / owner: Private
Construction company: AJCC Constructions

Section 3 – click above for larger image

Total budget: 400,000 Euros
Constructed area: 285 m2
Cost material execution: 1,140 €/m2
Financing; Private

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MVN Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Architect Peter Zumthor presents a series of his models in an old post office beside the Austrian gallery Kunsthaus Bregenz that he designed in the 1990s.

A variety of clay, wood and metal models are displayed upon shelves specially created for the show by Zumthor.

The exhibition includes many pieces that have been in storage at the gallery for nearly five years, since the architect’s previous exhibition there in 2007.

The exhibition runs until 28 October and another Zumthor exhibition entitled Architecture and Landscape is planned for 2013.

We filmed an interview with Zumthor last year at the opening of the 2011 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion – watch it here.

See all our stories about Peter Zumthor »

Here’s some more explanation from the Kunsthaus Bregenz:

KUB Collection Showcase Architectural Models by Peter Zumthor

In presenting Peter Zumthor’s architectural models the Kunsthaus Bregenz is opening a part of its hitherto little-known collection to a broader public. Few are aware that even before the opening of the Kunsthaus in 1997 purchase of works by contemporary Austrian artists as well as works at the crossroad of art and architecture by international artists had already begun. Significant donations by Donald Judd, Per Kirkeby, and others to accompany exhibitions and publications with the KUB have further extended the collection. Moreover, in the past three years there has been a policy of purchasing works from the big solo exhibitions or of artists donating them to the institution as a form of return service.

One of the largest groups of works in the collection consists of architectural models by Peter Zumthor. Some of these exhibits have been in storage at the KUB since the architect’s solo exhibition in 2007. Further models have been or are still being added to the collection as permanent loans.

As of June 2012 a selection of these models by Peter Zumthor will be on show in the 200 square-meter space on the first floor of the Post Office building directly adjacent to the Kunsthaus Bregenz. The curatorial conception and design of this showcase has been developed in close consultation with Peter Zumthor by Thomas Durisch. Realized buildings as well as projects that remained in the design stage will be on show. In its variety the exhibition demonstrates the outstanding role that working with models and original materials such as wood, metal, or clay play in Peter Zumthor’s studio.

In addition to the majority of exhibits, which are presented on a system of display shelves specially designed for the purpose by the architect, three specimen projects will be individually displayed. These three projects, all involving cultural spaces in the broadest sense of the word, are of recent date. All three buildings serve in different ways as gathering places for the presentation of cultural products such as handicrafts and music or (Redevelopment of De Meelfabriek, Leiden) revitalize an industrial heritage. Two of the projects (Werkraumhaus, Andelsbuch, and New Town Gate, Isny) are also notable for their geographical closeness to Bregenz.

Following the current presentation an exhibition of models by Peter Zumthor in the KUB Collection Showcase titled Architecture and Landscape is planned for 2013.

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by Peter Zumthor appeared first on Dezeen.