Coup de cœur pour Motoi Yamamoto, un artiste japonais qui a inventé des labyrinthes construit uniquement à base de sel. Un travail de titan pour un rendu d’une beauté incroyable, actuellement exposé comme une installation au Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art à Charleston. Plus d’images à découvrir dans la suite.
Different views of a courtyard were framed by this temporary installation in Montpellier, France, by Dutch architecture office Paul Scales and French architecture and design studio Atelier Kit (+ slideshow).
Reframe was constructed in the Rotterdam workshop of Paul Scales and rebuilt in Montpellier with the help of Atelier Kit for the Festival of Living Architecture in June.
The theme of the festival this year was ‘surprise’, so the architects came up with a simple cube design that gradually reveals multiple framed viewpoints.
The installation was built from 45 opal-coloured polycarbonate sheets, a type of plastic often used for outdoor roofing and glazing, and 16 steel plumbing pipes.
The project was made possible by a grant from Stimuleringsfonds voor Architectuur.
See all our stories about installations »
Above photograph is by Pierre Berthelomeau
Photographs are by Paul Kozlowski, except where otherwise stated.
Here’s some more information about the installation:
Reframe was created by Paul Scales and Atelier Kit for the 7th ‘Festival of Living Architecture’ in Montpellier, France. The festival is comprised of an architectural walking tour through the historic city centre where heritage sites are opened up to modern architecture. This year’s theme was ‘surprise’.
Reframe explores the theme of surprise through the creation of an object that reframes the relation of the visitor to the space, the historic architecture and the other visitors.
What first appears to be a simple modern cube is gradually discovered to be a more complex structure, through which architectural details, elements and facades are continuously revealed, reframed and reflected.
Visitors experience a shift from the position of observer to observed, from control to controlled and willingly or not, become engaged in a game of surprise and being surprised.
Not only a beautiful and interesting way to contrast modern and historic architecture, it also turned out to be very popular with the local kids who discovered that it was also a great object to play in.
Paul Scales constructed Reframe in their Rotterdam Werkshop and together with Atelier Kit rebuilt it in Montpellier for the festival in June 2012. It is now being stored at the Paul Scales Studio and is available for rent or sale.
The project was constructed from 45 sheets of opal-coloured 16 mm multi-wall polycarbonate and 16 steel plumbing pipes.
Above photograph is by Pierre Berthelomeau
The post Reframe by Paul Scales
and Atelier Kit appeared first on Dezeen.
Erginoglu & Çalışlar Architecture’s proposal for a swimming pool under an inverted dome at a primary school in Istanbul has been shortlisted for an award at this year’s World Architecture Festival, which will take place in Singapore from 3-5 October (+ slideshow).
The architects proposed to partially embed the swimming pool in a grassy mound, with a reflective roof structure bulging down to meet it.
The grassy roof would blend in with the surrounding landscape while the upper dome’s mirrored underside would reflect the greenery.
Three pools were proposed for inside the dome, while a star-shaped outdoor pool would also be placed alongside the main building.
The pool was intended to provide a striking entrance to the campus of Koç Primary School, which is run by the Vehbi Koç Foundatıon.
The swimming pool has been shortlisted for WAF’s World Building of the Year Award but it will not now be built due to the school’s budget constraints.
Here’s some more text from the architects:
Considerably distant from the city centre, the Koç School sprawled across its property without a master plan over time and thus was faced with the consequences of this expansion. Envisaged as the focal point of the campus, the pool building is designed as a pacesetter for the quality of future buildings and thus strives to contribute towards the architectural development of the campus.
Click above for larger image
As the first building to be perceived from the new entrance axis of the campus, the building also neighbors the existing outdoor sports areas. In order not to compete with the surrounding buildings in terms of height, the pool building is partly embedded in the ground and is connected to the landscape on all four sides with a green, sloped roof. While the inverted dome attached to the dome structure offers a green tribune area to the outdoor sports areas, it is simultaneously perceived as an art object that strengthens the landscape with its reflective exterior.
Click above for larger image
The design is distinct from the neighboring buildings particularly due to its strong expression. It has been conceived as the first building/object to be perceived upon entering the campus through the new junction at the school’s highway entrance, thus bringing an added value to the overall appearance of the campus.
Project Title: Vehbi Koç Foundatıon Koç Primary School Campus Indoor Swimming Pool
Client: Vehbi Koç Vakfı
Designers: Ecarch with IND [Inter.National.Design] Hasan Çalışlar, Kerem Erginoğlu, Arman Akdoğan, Felix Madrazo, Alvaro Novas, Hans Larsson, Bas van der Horst, Pablo Roquero, Antonio Goya, Miguel Martins
Status: Competition Project / Unbuilt
Location: Tuzla / İstanbul / Turkey
Project Date: 2011
The post Koç Primary School swimming pool by
Erginoglu & Çalışlar Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.
The denser cities become the more pressing the issue of mobility is, and it’s one that designers are particularly well-suited to address. We’ve seen some really innovative mobility design solutions this year—everything from mass transit concepts to a mobile kitchen product—but we didn’t anticipate that the next big mobile idea would come from the hospitality industry, yet that’s precisely the market the Austrian architecture and design office, WG3, is targeting with Hypercubus, a mobile hotel room.
Hypercubus is a small, modular dwelling ideally suited for short term stays (i.e. vacations). However, because each unit can be equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, sleeping and living area, WG3 is using the units to spearhead a new concept in tourism. It doesn’t have a catchy name yet, but it’s something along the lines of a single unit apartment with on demand maid and concierge services.
The units can be transported with relative ease. Once one is assembled in a factory, it’s strapped to the bed of a truck (Hypercubus is designed to comply with highway regulations) and shipped to a location, where it’s anchored to a concrete base. A staircase is added for access and voila – it’s ready to move in. Okay, it’s slightly more complicated that that. WG3 is still working out the kinks to make the units self-sufficient, but if Winnebago can do it, it shouldn’t be a problem.
The unit designs are modular and highly customizable. Each Hypercubus is essentially a blank slate for hoteliers to design according to their needs and aesthetics. The one pictured here, located in Styria, Austria, has some serious W Hotel-esque lighting aspirations. Another bonus for hoteliers is the ability to keep as many Hypercubuses (or is it Hypercubi?) as the tourist season demands. When it’s summer, ship in a few extra and when wintertime rolls around you can send a few back. Moreover, the project has the potential to give travelers access to exceptionally livable accommodations in areas they might otherwise have to pitch a tent in or drive to from a hotel located miles away. So far the Styria location is the only place to stay in a Hypercubus, but we look forward to seeing more of these ship out around the world.
We’ve been sent an update from Jardin de la Connaissance, the garden of decaying books in Quebec which we featured back in 2010: the books are now sprouting enormous orange mushrooms, and this year the designers introduced moss.
The garden was designed by Berlin landscape architect Thilo Folkerts of 100 Landschaftsarchitektur and Canadian artist Rodney LaTourelle.
Books were piled up to create walls, rooms and seats which are slowly rotting to become part of the forest.
Mushrooms are being cultivated on the books to speed up their decay and now moss has been applied with a wet mixture they call ‘moss graffiti’.
The installation was originally designed for the International Festival des Jardins de Metis two years ago – see earlier photos of its decay here.
See all our stories about gardens »
Here’s some information from the architect and artist behind the project:
The Jardin de la Connaissance was established in June 2010. Since then, the garden has been interacting with the forest. The book structures have decayed in the natural setting, but have also provided various micro-environments for a range of local creatures.
Seedlings and insects have activated the walls, carpets and benches. Mushrooms – those cultivated and those who have come by themselves – have made the garden their home. Many of the originally bright colours of the books have faded. Culture is fading back into nature.
For the third season of the Jardin de la Connaissance, the authors want to extend the garden’s transformation by applying a technique originating in recent urban culture, following a renewed sense of being active in the open spaces of the city. Sampled moss from the forest is applied onto the walls as a paint mixture, a so-called ‘moss graffiti’. While the success of actual growth is somewhat open – as with all good experiments – the cover of moss material will aesthetically expedite the slow disappearance of the garden back into the forest.
Thilo Folkerts, Rodney LaTourelle, 2012
The post Jardin de la Connaissance by Rodney LaTourelle
and 100 Landschaftsarchitektur – update appeared first on Dezeen.
Austrian architects Atelier Thomas Pucher built a glass box and courtyard onto this house in Graz to bring the family’s living space outdoors (+ slideshow).
Two steel beams mark out the concrete roof structure, which can be accessed from the first floor of the house and used as a terrace.
The glass box provides a new living area, which is screened on one side by an internal brick wall.
Outside, a concrete floor wraps around the glass box and leads to the square courtyard, which wraps around a walnut tree.
At the far end, a rough stone wall provides shelter to the courtyard.
See all our stories about residential extensions »
Photographs are by Lukas Schaller.
Here’s some more information from the architects:
The initial assignment for the Villa SK was to rebuild with a rather limited budget an existing single family house and adjust it to the needs of its future inhabitants. Instead of redeveloping the old structure, the decision was made to add a contrasting annexe that would extend the living area of the house into the garden.
This choice allowed us to keep intact the main structure of the existing construction and reserve it for private functions, such as bathrooms and rooms for the children. On the other hand, the most public function of the house – the living room – is now surrounded by nature and becomes the central element of the house.
The first floor of the existing house is a more reserved area for the owners and the roof of the annexe serves as an exterior terrace.
The extension volume consists of three materials — large glass panes, rough brick and red coloured concrete. The concrete structure that forms the roof is composed by two major beams, which extent almost to the limit of the plot.
Although supported by thin metal elements, the roof structure appears to hover over the rough stone wall, creating a clear but delicate contrast between these elements and materials. In this gesture, the building embraces the existing walnut tree, forming a calm and reserved courtyard.
The wide glass panes provide an intimate connection from the interior space with the outside scene, from spring’s lush greenery to winter’s bright snow. In this way, nature and architecture are interwoven to create a welcoming and harmonious backdrop for family life.
The post Villa SK by
Atelier Thomas Pucher appeared first on Dezeen.
You know Google Maps and the spiffy 360-degree navigation of Street View, but what if you want to get a closer look at Antarctica or dive into Australia’s Shark Bay? For that, you’ll want to consult the search giant’s new World Wonders Project, a cultural digitization platform created in collaboration with organizations such as UNESCO, the World Monuments Fund, and CyArk. The World Wonders website features an index of 130 places (and counting), ranging from Stonehenge and Rome’s Temple of Hercules to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In addition to panoramic views of the cultural sites, there are photographs, 3-D models, and videos.
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Dezeen Wire: the British coalition government’s new stimulus package to encourage house building includes complex plans to lower the proportion of affordable housing that private developers must include in large projects, reports CNBC via the Financial Times.
At present, the rules typically force builders to set aside 20 to 45 per cent of new builds as affordable homes, but it is likely that local authorities will now be allowed relax those requirements.
The government may also offer to underwrite bonds issued by housing associations in order to reduce their borrowing costs and encourage them to build.
The plan has been drawn up by Oliver Letwin, the prime minister’s head of policy, along with housing minister Grant Shapps and chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander.
The post British government to reduce affordable housing
quotas as part of stimulus package appeared first on Dezeen.
Nike Camp Victory est un lieu éphémère réalisé par Skylab Architecture pour la marque Nike sur un terrain de sport. Ce pavillon conçu pendant les Jeux Olympiques 2012 est une exposition temporaire à l’université d’Hayward Field dans l’Oregon. Un rendu architectural de qualité à découvrir dans la suite.
Steps built into the kitchen counter lead up to a suspended staircase in this Melbourne house by Australian architects Edwards Moore.
The open-plan living area on the ground floor is dominated by the angular red kitchen island.
Five steps in one side of it link up with the staircase, which hangs down from the first floor and is encased in yellow walls.
Upstairs, extensive storage is provided by a corridor of wooden wardrobes painted yellow and black.
The master bedroom and ensuite bathroom can be screened off with a sliding door.
A bath made from eucalyptus wood provides an unusual focal point in the bedroom.
A sink and shower room are concealed in the area behind the bath.
Other Melbourne projects by Edwards Moore we’ve featured on Dezeen include an art studio in a car park and an apartment fitted with chipboard furniture.
See all our stories about Edwards Moore »
See all our stories about Australian houses »
See our new Pinterest board of staircases »
Photographs are by Fraser Marsden.
Here’s some more text from the architects:
The renovation of an existing suburban house into a new home for our most colourful clients to date. A playful and vibrant insertion of elements within the newly created open plan space creates a seamless connection between levels, and a gentle transition between the functions for living.
Click above for larger image
The use of carefully sited geometries created the path of travel and necessary separations without the need for doors or corridors. Each element is made from a striking material and colour palette, intended to support the development of the occupants’ ongoing stylistic expression.
Click above for larger image
Downstairs, the new open plan living area is defined by the oversized Marblo island bench and suspended staircase.
Click above for larger image
Upstairs, the wardrobes create a generous entrance to the master bedroom, the black satin stained blackbutt wood lining contrasting with the vivid yellow lining of the stairs, which seamlessly wraps up the wall to become the enclosure for the wardrobe.
Once in the master bedroom the custom made blackbutt wood bath becomes the focus of the room around which the en-suite is arranged. Various levels of privacy ensure the space remains expansive yet modest.
The post Queen Street House
by Edwards Moore appeared first on Dezeen.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
