House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

Translucent windows create a glowing frame around the facade of this Tokyo townhouse when the lights are turned on inside.

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

Designed by Japanese studio Yoritaka Hayashi Architects, House in Nakameguro has four storeys but is the same height as surrounding three storey residences.

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

Plywood lines the interior walls of the two middle floors, which include a first-floor living room and kitchen plus two second-floor bedrooms.

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

Built-in plywood furniture is arranged around the edges of rooms on these floors to create flexible open spaces.

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

A white porcelain-tiled bathroom is located on the top floor and leads out onto a rooftop balcony.

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

Our readers all seem to love houses in Japan – see more of them here.

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

Photography is by Takumi Ota.

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

Here’s some more explanation from Yoritaka Hayashi:


House in Nakameguro / Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

This is a small house standing in a small site in centre of the city.

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

Most newly-built houses around the site are being converted to three storey buildings.

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

Planning four storeys with the same volume of three storey buildings allows different perspective which enables this house to have an open interior space.

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

As a consequence, this building has a annular openings which appears as an abstract and continuous ribbon of light in the interior space. This ribbon erases the edge of the interior space, and makes the outline of the space obscure.

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

Thus the space has a stretch from the inside to outside.

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

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Besides, the furniture arranged on the facade side is opposite to the usual arrangement and is treated as an extension of the building, giving the space suitable scale and enabling us to use the space effectively.

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

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Year: December of 2010
Collaborators: Akira Suzuki / ASA (Structural Engineer) , Takasou Takahashi / SESSE-Design (Façade Consultant)

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

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Area: Meguro, Tokyo, Japan
Site area: 40.01 m2

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

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Building area: 32.17 m2
Total floor area: 99.80 m2
Structure: steel frame

House in Nakameguro by Yoritaka Hayashi Architects

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Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind

Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind

Architect Daniel Libeskind has completed a family of curved towers beside a bay in Singapore.

Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind

Alternating between 24 and 41 storeys-high, the six glazed residential towers feature rooftop gardens and are connected to one another by elevated bridges.

Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind

The Reflections at Keppel Bay development also includes a series of aluminium-clad apartment blocks that accompany the high-rise buildings to create over a thousand new residences in total.

Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind

You can see more projects by Daniel Libeskind here, including a war museum that sparked a fiery debate amongst our readers.

Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind

Photography is © Courtesy of Keppel Bay Pte Ltd – a Keppel Land Company.

Here’s a longer description from Studio Daniel Libeskind:


Keppel Harbor, Reflections at Keppel Bay

Prominently situated at the entrance to Sin­gapore’s historic Keppel Harbor, Reflections at Keppel Bay is a two-million-square-foot residential development comprised of 6 high-rise towers ranging from 24 and 41 stories and 11 low-rise villa apart­ment blocks of 6–8 floors– a total of 1,129 units.

Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind

The series of high-rise undulating towers is the focal point of this project. These sleek curving forms of alternating heights create graceful openings and gaps between the structures allowing all to have commanding views of the waterfront, Sentosa, the golf course and Mount Faber.

Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind

The Libeskind design for Reflections at Keppel Bay skillfully tackles the challenge faced by architects working in contexts such as Singapore: the high-density construction needed to recoup the exorbitant cost of real estate. To address this issue, rather than equally distributing the density across the site with similar building types, the design is composed of two distinct typologies of housing; the lower Villa blocks along the water front and the high-rise towers which over look them set just behind.

Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind

The artful composition of ever shifting building orientations, along with the differing building typologies, creates an airy, light-filled grouping of short and tall structures. These ever shifting forms create an experience where each level feels unique as it is not in alignment with either the floor above or below.

Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind

No two alike residences are experienced next to one another or seen from the same perspective; the result of this design is a fundamental shift in living in a high-rise where individuality and difference is not sacrificed.

Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind

A recipient of the BCA Green Mark Gold Award  from Singapore’s building and construction authority, the form, construction and materials of the buildings are unprecedented for Singapore and particularly for a residential development.

Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind

The double curvatures of the high-rise towers are unique in the world for structure and construction; they are clad with a fully unitized and insulated curtain wall which is among the first for residential developments in the region.

Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind

The low-rise villas along the water front are clad in anodized aluminum that creates a luminous surface and provides additional insulation. The six towers are crowned with lush sky gardens on sloping rooflines and linked by sky bridges, providing pockets of open spaces and platforms and unobstructed 360-degree views, the kind of green, open space, rarely found in high-rise buildings.

Reflections at Keppel Bay by Daniel Libeskind

Daniel Libeskind’s first residential project in Asia, and his largest completed residential project to date, Reflections is a creative in­terplay of changing planes and reflections.  It defies the inherent nature of high-density residential developments with its innovative approach to design– creating a new land mark for the greater Singapore.

Zaha Hadid to design headquarters for Central Bank of Iraq


Dezeen Wire:
architect Zaha Hadid is to design new headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq in Baghdad.

Hadid, who was born in Iraq, signed an agreement at a ceremony held at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

See more projects by Zaha Hadid here, including the aquatics centre for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Here’s some more information from Zaha Hadid Architects:


Zaha Hadid Architects and Central Bank of Iraq sign agreement for new headquarters

Zaha Hadid joined H.E. Dr Sinan Al-Shabibi, Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) at a ceremony to sign the agreement between the CBI and Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) for the design stages of the new CBI Headquarters building. The ceremony was hosted at the Victoria & Albert Museum by H.E. Dr Muhielddin Hussein Abdullah, Charges d’Affaires of the Iraqi Embassy.

ZHA have already completed the client’s Brief Development and will immediately commence the design process for the new CBI Headquarters to be built on the shores of the Tigris River in Baghdad. ZHA will lead the international team of specialist consultants including: Adams Kara Taylor, Max Fordham, Newtecnic, DEGW, Gross Max, Davis Langdon, Arup, Warringtonfire, Winton Nightingale and A2 Project Managers.

Dr Sinan Al-Shabibi said: “The new building shall be a symbol of the Bank’s role in the economic development of Iraq and a reflection of the determination to rebuild the country.”

Zaha Hadid said: “I am deeply touched that I have been asked to design the new headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq. I was born in Iraq and I still feel very close to it. I feel very privileged to be working in Iraq on a design of such national importance.”

The Architecture League honors eight new Emerging Voices, part 2

oylerwu.pngOyler Wu Collaborative outdoor pavilion in Taipei

Each year the Architecture League honors a group of up-and-coming North American architecture firms as Emerging Voices, an award that recognizes “a distinct design voice” and “the potential to influence the disciplines of architecture, landscape design and urbanism.” This year the panel selected eight firms: INABA, 5468796 architecture, SCAPE Landscape Architecture, Studio NMinusOne, Oyler Wu Collaborative, SsD, Arquitectura 911sc, and Atelier TAG.

Each firm will present their work as part of a lecture series hosted by the Architecture League beginning on March 2nd at Cooper Union. Tickets go on sale this week, but if you’d like to know a little bit more about each firm before attending, here’s a rundown of the second half of the bunch. Be sure to check out yesterday’s post with the first four.

Oyler Wu Collaborative
Location: Los Angeles
Mission Statement: Oyler Wu’s website is light on text and heavy on images and video, which makes sense for architects who seem to be less interested in the conceptual side and more focused on materials and building processes. In this video you can watch a hand-made woven net transform into a large, steel-frame pavilion.
Major Projects: Installations for Sci-Arc, various outdoor pavilions and a jutting, steel housing complex in Taipei.

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Henry Urbach Named Director of Philip Johnson’s Glass House

Philip Johnson‘s Glass House will soon have a new leader manning the transparent and modern ship. Today, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced that Henry Urbach will be taking over as director of the historic architectural landmark in New Canaan, Connecticut. Urbach most recently served as curator of architecture and design at SFMOMA, having taken leave from the position last spring to work independently, which included research work at the Glass House itself. Previously, he’d also run a popular gallery in New York for nearly a decade, the eponymous Henry Urbach Architecture. It is currently planned that he will take on the roll at the Glass House on April 2, replacing its current interim director, Rena Zurofsky, who had this to say about his selection:

I met Henry last spring and was struck by his energy and enthusiasm for the site. He seems to me ideal to lead the dedicated Glass House team into even more innovative and exciting programmatic terrain, and to push restoration programs on track. I congratulate Henry, and also Estevan Rael-Galvez, Vice President of Sites at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, on his astute choice.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco Architects

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

Portuguese architects Comoco have added a weathered steel cafe and a wooden gazebo on the hill of a castle in the town of Pombal.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

The two new structures accompany a set of repaved pathways, as well as a new castle entrance and reconfigured parking area.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

The two-storey cafe is clad in Corten steel and features large windows that overlook the surrounding town.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

Located near the bottom of the hill, the rectangular timber pavilion is constructed from evenly spaced wooden slats.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

This isn’t the first castle project we’ve featured by Comoco Architects – read about a visitors centre with walkways built through and around a castle here.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

Photography is by Fernando Guerra.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

Here’s a more detailed description from Comoco Architects:


Reorganization of Pombal Castle’s Hill. Pathways and Facilities
Comoco Arquitectos Luís Miguel Correia, Nelson Mota, Susana Constantino

Previous State

Throughout the last decades, Pombal Castle and its surrounding area have been doomed to seclusion from the core of the city at its feet.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

For the ordinary city user, the Castle was only a background for the everyday, a mere identity reference that resonated with the history of the city more than with an actual experience of it. “Rua do Castelo”, a street defining the South and West perimeter where the hill meets the city, embodied the boundary that defined those two realms.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

From that street, some connections with the walled precinct were possible. They were, however, just a vague memory of previous uses, and their conservation decayed progressively, hampering public use.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

The area’s vegetation – nowadays uncritically cherished by the population – is, paradoxically, the result of the abandon to witch this area was devoted throughout most of the 20th century.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

Aim of the Intervention

The project for the reorganization of Pombal Castle’s hill was launched by the city’s municipality with the goal of promoting the re-centralization of that area. The basic brief of the commission encouraged a design that would help fostering the use of that historic area by both residents and tourists.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

A more elaborated programme was developed collaboratively by municipality’s politicians and technicians, together with the design team and enriched by the feedback delivered by the population at the proposal’s preliminary stage.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

The basic premise was that the project should improve the connections between the urban areas at the bottom of the hill, the hill itself and the walled precinct.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

The articulation with the Castle, the hallmark of the city, should be tackled in order to preserve its importance for the population’s shared identity.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

To increase the area’s attractiveness some facilities should be created to answer needs such as car parking, comfortable and safe pathways, resting and contemplation areas and a cafeteria. Archaeological and preservation works should also be central to bring about and highlight the area’s history.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

Description of the Intervention

The basic character of the intervention is an attempt to deliver an approach were the new designed elements should be clearly defined against the background of both the natural and the built pre-existing elements, without challenging the latters’ character, tough. The project defined three areas, each of which with a different approach.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

In the first area, the south and west slopes of the hill, the approach was focused in the idea of flow. This idea was thus developed creating and highlighting connections between the urban areas at the bottom of the Castle’s hill, pathways along the slopes and gazebos to provide shelter and foster diverse experiences in the contact with the landscape. The materials used were prominently plastered walls, stone and grit pavements, and wooden structures.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

In the second area, in the surroundings of the cemetery, the approach was concerned with the idea of a topographical design of the infrastructure. Both the parking area and the adjacent facilities were designed as topographical elements, concrete walls supporting the transition between sharp differences of levels.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

Finally, the third area, surrounding the walled precinct, aims to enhance the Castle as the main built element of the area. The west access to the Castle was redesigned, including the platform at its bottom.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

The surrounding area of Santa Maria’s Church was also redesigned to provide a public space that could foster its appropriation as a privileged stage for performances and other cultural activities. The material that is thoroughly used in this area is limestone, the same used in the main landmarks, the Castle and the Church’s ruins.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

To work as a connector between these areas, a cafeteria was designed, proving thus an additional element to attract visitors to the area. To highlight its singular role in the overall intervention, the cafeteria was built using a metallic structure and finished with corten steel panels both on its façades and roofs.

Pombal Castle Hill by Comoco

It embodies, thus, the design’s strategy of affirming the new against the pre-existing preserving, however, the identity of the place. With this project we aimed at creating a delicate balance between nature and artefact.

Amazon Science Centre by Marks Barfield Architects

Amazon Science Centre by Marks Barfield Architects

British architects Marks Barfield have designed a research centre for the Amazon Jungle with a bulging bamboo observation tower and over six miles of treetop bridges.

Amazon Science Centre by Marks Barfield Architects

The centre would allow both researchers and tourists to survey the rainforest canopy from above.

Amazon Science Centre by Marks Barfield Architects

Local bamboo would be used to construct the tower, which is designed as a series of off-centre circular decks that are linked by a spiralling central staircase.

Amazon Science Centre by Marks Barfield Architects

Single-storey bamboo pavilions on the forest floor would house computer workstations.

Amazon Science Centre by Marks Barfield Architects

This isn’t the first treetop walkway the architects have designed – see their elevated walkway in London’s Kew Gardens here.

Here’s a description of the project from Marks Barfield Architects:


Pioneering science centre in the heart of the Amazon

A pioneering science centre in the heart of the Amazon with more than six miles of walkways and an observation tower above the rainforest canopy is being planned by the Amazon Charitable Trust, a British charity.

The $10m (£6.4m) project in Roraima, a remote province of northeast Brazil, is being designed by Marks Barfield Architects who created the London Eye and designed the treetop walkway in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.

The centre, in the village of Xixuau, will bring together scientists from the Brazilian Amazon Research Institute and the Royal Botanic Gardens, universities and other organisations, and is also intended to provide jobs for Brazilian tribes and attract eco-tourists.

The site is intended to appeal equally to serious research scientists and to visitors. The walkway, high above the jungle floor, will be used by researchers to study the canopy and by tourists to experience spectacular views.

Robert Pasley-Tyler, managing partner of the Amazon Charitable Trust, said: “This will be the first scientific research centre to be built in the jungle proper. It will employ the local river tribe, giving them a way of making a living without destroying the forest, and also boost awareness around the world.”

David Marks, of Marks Barfield Architects, said that the design and construction of the centre would pose extraordinary challenges because of the delicate ecosystem and its remote location.

“You have to be very careful about what you bring in to avoid damaging the eco-system. Because it is so remote it also has to be self-sufficient.” he said.

Marks added that much of the centre could be constructed from bamboo grown on the site. The centre would take two years to construct.

The Amazon Charitable Trust is waiting to discover if funding for the centre will be granted by the Amazon Fund, which is backed by donations from Norway.

Members of the Amazon Charitable Trust’s board include Bianca Jagger and John Hemming.

The Architecture League honors eight new Emerging Voices, part 1

5468796arch.png5468796 architecture’s Bond Tower

Each year the Architecture League honors a group of up-and-coming North American architecture firms as Emerging Voices, an award that recognizes “a distinct design voice” and “the potential to influence the disciplines of architecture, landscape design and urbanism.” This year the panel selected eight firms: INABA, 5468796 architecture, SCAPE Landscape Architecture, Studio NMinusOne, Oyler Wu Collaborative, SsD, Arquitectura 911sc, and Atelier TAG.

To commemorate the achievement, each firm will present their work as part of a lecture series hosted by the Architecture League beginning on March 2nd at Cooper Union, in an auditorium designed by past Emerging Voice winner, Morphosis. Tickets go on sale this week, but if you’d like to know a little bit more about each firm before attending, here’s a rundown of the first half of the bunch. Stay tuned for part 2.

INABA.pngINABA’s New Museum installation

INABA
Location: Los Angeles
Mission Statement: Inaba takes an analytical approach to form-making and building and an analysis-based approach for its urban planning and development projects. They also create “artifacts,” or installations and art objects.
Major Projects: Said “artifacts” have been exhibited by The Walker Art Center, The Whitney, New Museum and the Storefront for Art and Architecture. They’ve been published in The Financial Times, FRAME, Domus, Art Review, Artforum, The New York Times, Archinect and BLDGBLOG.

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Timayui Kindergarten by el Equipo de Mazzanti

Timayui Kindergarten by el Equipo de Mazzanti

The monochrome, mosaic-clad classrooms at this preschool in Santa Marta, Colombia, are grouped into modular clusters around triangular courtyards.

Timayui Kindergarten by el Equipo de Mazzanti

Local architects el Equipo de Mazzanti designed the Timayui Kindergarten as an open-source project, hoping the format will be repeated in other communities.

Timayui Kindergarten by el Equipo de Mazzanti

The three concrete blocks that comprise each module contain bathrooms, two classrooms and a flexible open room, which surround each central courtyard like the petals of a flower.

Timayui Kindergarten by el Equipo de Mazzanti

The clusters are orientated to maximise natural ventilation and daylight, while each individual block features a tapered asymmetric roof.

Timayui Kindergarten by el Equipo de Mazzanti

Other unusual kindergartens we’ve featured include one with a curving concrete orifice and another with pyramidal chimneystake a look at them all here.

Timayui Kindergarten by el Equipo de Mazzanti

Here’s a longer description from el Equipo de Mazzanti:


PRE SCHOOL FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD IN TIMAYUI,
SANTA MARTA, COLOMBIA.

1 – PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS AND PRECONDITIONS

This project is part of the political concerns of the municipality of Santa Marta and the Carulla Foundation to improve the educational and nutritional conditions of the communities displaced by violence, and settled on the outside perimeter of the city. It is meant to develop infrastructure to improve the conditions of early childhood and low-income neighbourhoods to the most vulnerable population between ages of 0 to 5 years old. These areas are characterised by violence and lack of public infrastructure.

This project encourages and develops children, and supplies a balanced and dignified diet to help improve psychomotor conditions of children for their later developments.

Timayui Kindergarten by el Equipo de Mazzanti

2 – THE PRESCHOOL AS A MECHANISM OF SOCIAL INCLUSION

The challenge as architects in a context like Colombia is to develop projects that can generate social inclusion. The problem lies not only in designing and constructing buildings in deteriorated areas, but to activate new forms of use, ownership and pride in the communities.
The value of architecture lies not only in itself but on what it produces. To define these arguments it is necessary to extend our gaze beyond the architecture itself. Architecture cannot only relate to itself, but widening our gaze and finding new ways to operate, to resist and be better equipped to meet the current conditions. Therefore it is necessary to transfer knowledge from other professions as dissimilar as they are, because they are likely to enable us to find more efficient and logical ways to infer in reality, issues and concerns that nurture our labor as architects and to do acting architecture. (Defined by what they do and not by their essence.)

We define some strategies used in the project that are part of the objectives of our workshop that allow us to build architecture in deteriorated areas to act and also to be used in multiple ways by their inhabitants, but especially, by allowing them to become an element of pride and transformation in the communities where they are inserted.

Architecture is action. We aim to develop the performative capacities of architecture rather than its representational abilities or visual qualities. This is why we are interested in an architecture defined by what it does and not by its substance (“Architecture is not an end in itself” Cedric Price). We would induce action, effects, events, environments, allowing us to develop ways of patterns or material organisations that act directly to induce and to build social actions with the users, an Architecture capable of inducing new behaviours and relationships among the inhabitants of these abandoned and deteriorated areas.

Open Architecture. This interest has not lead us to find open architectures capable of changing and adapting to new social and cultural challenges. We are interested in organisational systems made of parts or modules as an intelligent organisational mechanism, which is not closed or finished. Their adaptive capacity allows them to grow or adapt to diverse situations, thus allowing us to develop various models based on the same rules of organisation that can be repeated in different places of the city, making more economical and sustainable projects.

Multiply use. The Indeterminacy as a design strategy allows us to think that our Architecture is capable of multiplying the uses for which it was originally intended to (not as effectiveness, but as a pledge of new relationships). The disposition and configuration of the buildings cannot leave places not defined functionally, this means that communities can own and multiply the initial use.

Meaningful architecture. We seek to transfer conditions of the consolidated city to the periphery and deteriorated areas in which we operate. Public buildings in these zones must be identified by the communities as state presence and assistance elements of social transformation This is why we seek to develop meaningful architecture, with provisions to involve the inhabitants of the area so that they feel part of an equal society, allowing high levels of ownership and pride in the communities where our buildings are inserted.

We seek and we believe that the buildings designed in the office can become forms of social inclusion to help improve the quality factors of life and economic competitive in deteriorated poverty areas in Colombia, aiming to promote social welfare and to build a more equal and sustainable society as the ultimate goal of Architecture.

Timayui Kindergarten by el Equipo de Mazzanti

3 – JUSTIFICATION OF THE URBAN INTEGRATION OF THE PROPOSAL

The building is conceived as a visible structure, a landmark building, representing a symbol of the neighbourhood, as a primary element of the area, which by its form is different from the context that surrounds it, with no context and urban planning this will become an agglutinating element of pride for the community.

The image of the building refers to the geography of the region, rather than an object. We intend to develop an architectural landscape building that is related to the geography and topography, where it is inserted. We find rules of organisation to develop projects that promote a “new natural contract” by reformulating the relationship between figure and background, an approach in search of alternatives capable of promoting that “new natural contract” in tune with a landscape and a natural order.

The modules are implemented as a field of three-petalled flowers that are chained and distributed, allowing maximum use of the lot area designed for the preschool, an open project, with yards that are connected with the interior-exterior in a smooth way.

Timayui Kindergarten by el Equipo de Mazzanti

Click above for larger image

4 – JUSTIFICATION OF ADOPTED OR ORGANISATIONAL SOLUTIONS, ADAPTIVE MODULES AND SYSTEMS

The System

Our project is developing a functional strategy, and environmental space based on a modular system or repeated patterns that can be connected in various ways, allowing it to adapt to various urban educational, topographical or geometric situations.

This system builds indoor games, garden spaces and generates various educational situations: concentrated classes, outdoor covered areas, concentration of the school in a large open courtyard, scattering in various playgrounds linked to areas and to native ecosystem education, through the planting and care of endemic areas.

More than a finished and closed architecture we propose the development of an open and adaptive system, consisting of modules with the form of a flower, that can be adapted to diverse situations, whether topographical, urban or programmatic, which generate buildings able to grow, change, and adapted according to particular or temporary circumstance, a strategy that allows changes, accidents and interchangeabilities, thought a method rather than a permanent form and that only exists in virtue of its ability to change.

Two preschools are being built with this model in the areas of La Paz and Bureche on the periphery of the city of Santa Marta.

The Model

We propose the development of a flower-shaped module (each with three arms composed by a program, and a central courtyard), which can rotate at the connection ends, to make the best position on the lot in relation with the other modules, forming the chain system.

The spatial configuration starts off understanding the educational philosophy of Loris Malaguzzi, which led to the idea of creating an element that suggests 3 related centralities, and which cause a range of situations and experiences among children, teachers and families.

On the other hand, in pragmatic terms there is a need to generate steady growth for the future participation of more children towards the center, a modular system used (based on the 3 Centralities) in which modules could be added depending on the needs and possibilities of distribution. As mentioned before, this system is adaptable to different locations and diverse areas and lot locations, configuring through the addition and repetition of a module type that covers the requirements of the architectural program and in terms of space it continues the teaching method of the Center, generating meeting spaces for free entertainment involving learning.

The module type is characterized by a flexible and neutral space that allows the development of multiple activities inside, and it s also closely related to the nearest external environment [indoor and outdoor yard] thus allowing a very close relationship among all children and teachers.

ADAPTATION POSSIBILITIES OF THE MODULE

Following the morphology of the lot a chain system is created consisting of a module type that covers the requirements of the architectural program, and in terms of space, and it continues the teaching method of the Center, generating meeting spaces for the free entertainment that involves learning.

The module type is characterised for being a flexible and neutral space that allows the development of multiple activities inside, and it is also closely related to the nearest external environment [indoor and outdoor yard] allowing a very close relationship among all children and teachers. Each typical module contains bathrooms, two preschool classrooms and a sensory room which is open and connects through the yard in order to develop an educational continent identifiable by the children. The module can be adapted to other uses as a dining room and a kitchen.

The connection settings, acts like break-covered areas, education, and games, and the yards may be used for classes or recreational activities outdoors.

Timayui Kindergarten by el Equipo de Mazzanti

Click above for larger image

5 – GENERAL CONSTRUCTION FEATURES OF THE BUILDING

The buildings have a bearing wall system in concrete, easily implemented and of rapid construction. These walls act as support membranes removing the columns and beams of a traditional supporting system, allowing overhangs of 4 meters at the end of the classroom. These walls are covered with ceramic elements (Venetian mosaics) which contributes to the maintenance and cleaning of the building.

The building system allows the construction of 1,450 m2 in seven months, typifying or modulating the panels to be reused in other models.

Sustainable Architecture

The project aims to sustainability on several ways to improve the urban context of the population producing conscience for the future and present generations, trying to create a social and an ethical change that would cover a development model for the surrounding population.

The project has buildable and habitable conditions such as heat-regulated system through the high thermal efficiency facade retaining wall system with natural ventilation, which prevents the use of air conditioning reducing energy consumption, not only in the Kindergarten normal maintenance, but also the wall construction system reduces energy consumption on site, the materials used minimize the amount of waste from the work by lowering the environmental impact. The orientation of the building is south-north, its architectural configuration allows natural ventilation and natural lighting. The project includes areas with floral decoration, gardens for urban agriculture to contribute and to improve environmental quality and economic landscape of the urban environment and population.

It optimizes the use of water by using saving devices, recycling rain and waste water for use in bathrooms, and crops. Should it be additional water, it can benefit the surrounding community. Waste recycling is done from the source so it could be delivered to the collection system by lowering the cost of this service, and at the same time generating revenue to be used in the garden, in the case of the sale of recyclable materials. The waste produced in the kitchen is used to generate compost used later to crop areas. The project is socially committed not only to be a garden to support social welfare in early childhood, but also to support agriculture through urban families by promoting the use of natural resources with an economic purpose and remuneration for personal use.

“Agriculture and urban productivity”
“The project” Urban Agriculture”, contributes to provide food and nutrition, environmental sustainability, social construction, consolidation of integral processes of participation, involvement and ownership of the territory”, a way to overcome poverty and exclusion that affects a large percentage of the population … … .. ”

The project implements agriculture and productivity as a thematic complement to the development of educational activities, it is intended, as expressed above, to give the community and the individuals the opportunity to be productive, for their own benefit. The agricultural project is a productive instrument based on social cohesion, ownership of the territory, decrease in violence and alimentary support.

Timayui Kindergarten by el Equipo de Mazzanti

Click above for larger image

6 – THE SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE AS PLACE OF FORMATION

Architecture is capable of generating actions and learning situations and we believe the school space is in itself a learning mechanism, as we are able to teach a child in early childhood the use of materials of what is soft vs. hard, open vs. closed, hot vs. cold, and the use of many other options.

The model seeks to evaluate each school place as a place of formation. this not only takes place inside the classrooms but also in the empty spaces of the circulations and the yards as variable places capable of assuming changes in activities, outer space events. A place for games, dreams and roles.

This search presupposes the research to create learning environments (thematisations) rather than Architecture. The goal is to evolve from an abstract organisation system to an environmental system with relations.(educational continent), in which the objects are not only working for disposal, but they are created through interaction. System environments, (a machine of perspective) betting on a sequence of linear, thematic and changing routes versus the distribution spaces which are not able to enhance the appearance of indeterminate spaces for multitude events. Therefore spaces were proposed with the following characteristics of formation:

The school space as part of the hidden curriculum – the school environment as a teaching tool. Themed spaces – the speech corner, dolls´ room, etc.. the school space as a place of coexistence and relations. The sub space yards for the school community to meet. The school as aesthetic space. The image as a guide to the world – trees, animal tracks – etc. The academic Space as the territory for the meaning .- Reference to areas of the city, squares-authority – my space, subspace, etc.

Camelot at Cockfosters by Råk-Arkitektur

Camelot at Cockfosters by Råk-Arkitektur

Swedish studio Råk-Arkitektur have won a competition to design a cultural centre for a north London site believed to have once been the legendary realm of King Arthur.

Camelot at Cockfosters by Råk-Arkitektur

The proposals comprise a 36-metre-high mirrored and faceted building, intended to resemble the stone that the king is said to have pulled a sword from in the 5th Century.

Camelot at Cockfosters by Råk-Arkitektur

Evidence that the site could be the historical location for Camelot includes archeological findings of thick stone walls, a huge drawbridge and a subterranean dungeon.

Camelot at Cockfosters by Råk-Arkitektur

A skylight will be positioned atop the structure, which will form a pointed glass shard on the ceiling inside.

Camelot at Cockfosters by Råk-Arkitektur

By night, lighting directed through this hole will create a bright line across the sky above Trent Park.

Camelot at Cockfosters by Råk-Arkitektur

It is hoped that the centre will serve as a meeting place for different faiths, as well as a venue for theatre or music.

Camelot at Cockfosters by Råk-Arkitektur

The competition was organised by the Organization for Mythological Protection and Promotion, who are working to deliver the project.

Here’s some more text from Råk-Arkitektur:


With Trent Park being once the home of King Arthur and Camelot we drew inspiration for this project from the story of him drawing the sword Excalibur from a stone.

The 36 meter high stone shaped structure will have a surface that reflects its woodland environment, creating a less imposing structure whilst rendering the inside with an impressive airy void.

A 7m glass structure in the shape of a swords tip will let in light from outside and during the night a light will beam from the hole, illuminating the night sky, becoming a beacon for Trent park.

With the sites rich historical and mythological past we suggest that the future for Trent Park and this site will hold a multi faith meeting place and cultural centre. With London being known for its religious diversity we want this place to act as a spiritual sanctuary were people of all faiths and beliefs are welcomed alike. The building will also be able to host events such as theatre, opera and other cultural happenings.