Hasta La Ideas

Faceted rock-like walls line a towering atrium inside a museum of natural history that opened this week in Salt Lake City.

Above: photograph is by Stuart Ruckman

Designed by Todd Schliemann of New York studio Ennead Architects, the Natural History Museum of Utah is arranged on a series of stepped plates that climb a hillside.

Above: photograph is by Stuart Ruckman

Shimmering copper panels wrap the upper floors of the five-storey building, above a base of concrete and glazing.

The 18-metre-high atrium divides the building into two halves, separating exhibition areas in the south from research laboratories and offices to the north.

Bridges cross the atrium to connect galleries with research laboratories on the second and third floors.

Above: photograph is by Stuart Ruckman

Local firm GSBS Architects collaborated with Ennead Architects to deliver the building.

Above: photograph is by Stuart Ruckman

We recently published another museum with an impressive atrium – see our earlier story about an art museum in Israel.

Photography is by Jeff Goldberg/Esto, apart from where otherwise stated.

Here’s some more text from Ennead Architects:

Natural History Museum of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah 2011

The design for the new Natural History Museum of Utah embodies the Museum‟s mission to illuminate the natural world through scientific inquiry, educational outreach, mutual cultural experience and human engagement of the present, past and future of the region and the world. Positioned literally and figuratively at the threshold of nature and culture, the building is a trailhead to the region and a trailhead to science. Utah‟s singular landscape and the ways in which humans have engaged its varied character over time are the touchstone for an architecture that expresses the State’s cultural and natural contexts.

Together with the interpretive exhibit program and landscape design, the architecture is intended to create an inspirational visitor experience and sponsor curiosity and inquiry. The building provides much-needed space to preserve, study and interpret the Museum‟s extraordinary collection of artifacts, and its exhibits explore and articulate natural history and the delicate balance of life on earth. The building houses advanced research facilities, supporting both undergraduate and graduate education at the University of Utah.

Above: photograph is by Ben Lowry

In the foothills of the Wasatch Range, the 17-acre site occupies a prominent place at the edge of the City and the University of Utah campus. Located on the high “bench” that marks the shoreline of the prehistoric pluvial Lake Bonneville that covered much of the Great Basin, the site offers breathtaking views of the Great Salt Lake, the Oquirrhs mountain range, Kennecott copper mines, Mount Olympus and Salt Lake City.

Above: photograph is by Ben Lowry

An extensive expedition across Utah in the summer of 2005 initiated the design process. This journey, whose goal was to investigate Utah‟s identity as the starting point for the development of a unique and context-based architectural design in the service of science and discovery, featured visits to cherished natural sites and discussions with the State‟s people. The influence of Utah‟s cultural landscape, the specific impact of the site and environmental imperatives and the influence of the Museum‟s institutional mission became the basis for the creation of a definitive architectural identity.

The building is conceived as an abstract extension and transformation of the land: its formal and material qualities derive from the region’s natural landscape of rock, soil, minerals and vegetation. Further reinforcing the essential continuity of nature and human experience is the landscape design strategy, which, in blurring the distinction between natural vegetation and topography and intentional interventions, places humans at the nexus of environmental stewardship.

Click above for larger image

The Museum rests on a series of terraces that step up the hill and lay along the contours of the site with minimal disruption to the adjacent natural landscape; its powerful jagged profile references the mountains beyond. Intended to play a seminal role in enhancing the public‟s understanding of the earth‟s resources and systems as well as be a model for responsible and environmentally sensitive development, the Museum is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification.

Click above for larger image

A voluminous central public space – the Canyon – divides the building programmatically into an empirical (north) wing and an interpretive (south) wing and provides access to both. Spaces in the north wing support formal scientific exploration and an objective understanding of our world; these include research laboratories, conservation labs, collection storage and administration.

Click above for larger image

The south wing houses exhibits, whose narratives interpret the Museum‟s extraordinary collections and guide the public through an exploration of the delicate balance of life on earth and its natural history. In the Canyon, bridges and vertical circulation organize the visitor sequence; views south across the basin expand the museumgoer experience; shafts of sunlight penetrate the apex, suffusing the space with natural light; and a grand vertical scale uplifts and inspires.

Click above for larger image

The material quality of the building‟s exterior roots it in the landscape by recalling Utah‟s geological and mineralogical history and expressing the design as natural form. At its base, board-formed concrete makes the transition from the earth to the manmade. Copper panels constitute the skin of the building, extending from the building‟s volume at angles that reference the geophysical processes that created the metal.

Click above for larger image

Accent panels of copper-zinc alloy enhance the subtle variegation of the copper‟s natural patina. The standing seam copper façade is articulated in horizontal bands of various heights to emulate geological stratification on the building skin.

Click above for larger image

Design Team
Design Architect: Ennead Architects
Design Partner: Todd Schliemann FAIA
Management Partner: Don Weinreich AIA, LEED AP

Click above for larger image

Project Designers: Thomas Wong AIA, Alex O‟Briant AIA
Project Architects: John Majewski AIA, Megan Miller AIA, LEED AP
Interiors: Charmian Place, Katharine Huber AIA

Click above for larger image

Project Team: Joshua Frankel AIA, Aileen Iverson, Kyo-Young Jin, Apichat Leungchaikul, Thomas Newman, Jarrett Pelletier AIA
Architect of Record: GSBS Architects
Principal-in-Charge: David Brems FAIA, LEED AP
Project Manager: John Branson AIA, LEED AP

Click above for larger image

Project Architect: Valerie Nagasawa AIA
Interiors: Stephanie DeMott IIDA, Stacy Butcher LEED AP, Beccah Hardman
Project Team: Clio Miller AIA, LEED AP, Jesse Allen AIA, LEED AP, Bill Cordray AIA, Jennifer Still AIA, Eduardo De Roda, Felissia Ludwig, Cathy Davison, Todd Kelsey, Seth Robertson, Robert Bowman AIA

Climbers in the Alps can now spend their nights sleeping in a tube that cantilevers over the edge of a mountain.

Top: photograph by Francesco Mattuzzi

Named New Refuge Gervasutti, the survival unit was designed by Italian architects LEAPfactory, who specialise in modular accommodation for extreme environments.

The tube was prefabricated off-site and airlifted to the site by helicopters.

Above: photograph by Marco Destefanis

A red pattern decorates the structure’s exterior to make it visible to climbers and mountaineers, who will often be approaching from a distance.

Above: photograph by Michelangelo Filippi

Bunk beds and storage closets occupy the back of the pod, whilst a living room with integrated kitchen and dining table are located inside the cantilever.

Above: photograph by Michelangelo Filippi

A large window gives guests a wide view of the landscape outside and an integrated computer provides detailed information about the weather and climate.

Another survival bunker we’ve featured protects its inhabitants from attack rather than the weather – see that mobile, indestructible dwelling here.

Photography is by Gughi Fassino, apart from where otherwise stated.

Above: Photograph by Marco Destefanis

Here’s a more detailed explanation from LEAPfactory:

“New Refuge Gervasutti” by LEAPfactory

This, the first alpine refuge of the latest generation, it provides the optimal combination of comfort, safety and respect for the environment. It was installed in mid October 2011 in Courmayeur (IT) on the Freboudze glacier, in front of the spectacular East face of the Grandes Jorasses of the Mont Blanc Range. It is now ready for use by mountaineers and climbers.

The Gervasutti refuge was commissioned by CAI Torino, the Italian Alpine Club. Under the guidance of SUCAI the subsection of CAI Torino and the Ski Mountaineering School, the project was realised thanks to the works team coordinated by the LEAPfactory project managers Luca Gentilcore and Stefano Testa.

Above: Photograph by Michelangelo Filippi

The refuge represents the pinnacle of achievement of LEAPfactory, (the acronym means Living, Ecological, Alpine Pod) an Italian Company that designs, creates and produces modular structures which have minimal impact on the environment.

The realisation of the refuge is a great achievement, in that the materials used are of a high standard and use sophisticated technology capable of handling the problems of extreme temperatures and the difficulties of installation, given the altitude and the position in the midst of a glacier.

Each module is entirely prefabricated, from the outer protective shell to the interior fittings. All the modules were transported by helicopter thanks to their light weight and assembled on site in just a few hours.

The modules’ particular design means that they can be planned and constructed based on the specific requirements and can be customised depending on the location where they are to be positioned, in order to make them in keeping with the surrounding environment.

The modular structure is an ideal way to solve the specific requirements of any particular location and it allows for future expansion and the replacement of damaged parts over the life of the module.

The living area is lit in the daytime by a big panoramic window facing towards the valley and it contains a kitchen, a table and seating. The sleeping area is equipped with bunk beds and spaces for the storage of gear.

The comfortable wooden interior finish recalls a traditional mountain hut and is intended to make a stay in the LEAP module, a pleasing and relaxing experience.

Its integrated monitoring station provides instant information on the interior comfort and the out-door weather conditions and processes data which can be distributed via the Web. The total electrical requirements are provided by the photovoltaic panels integrated in the outer shell.

The exterior colours, easily recognisable at a distance, are an important reference point for mountaineers. The outer textural design is inspired by the shaved straight stitch of mountain pullovers to evoke warmth and comfort.

LEAP is a project that proposes a change in lifestyle as great as that promised by the Radical Architectural Utopias. In the sixties, the Archigram collective designed robotic self-moving “Walking Cities”. On more practical grounds they tried to produce “Living Pods” (such as the Cushicle or the Sutaloon), self-sufficient capsules for survival in hostile situations, these became also an inspiration for those aspiring to a non traditional lifestyle.

Also in development at LEAPfactory is a project studying disposal of human waste and other refuse, a problem which remains one of the greatest challenges for those who frequent the mountains and other places to be protected. The LEAP objective is focused on resolving those problems through the development of a module dedicated to the elimination of refuse for sensitive locations, like the high mountains and all such places, where it is difficult to dispose of it.

Credits

Architects: Luca Gentilcore / Gandolfi & Gentilcore, Stefano Testa / Cliostraat
Design Team: Edoardo Boero, Marilena Cambuli, Massimo Teghille

Structural engineering: Luca Olivari / Olivari Composite Engineering, Andrea Bruzzone
Electrical engineering: EDF-ENR spa, Carlo Sasso, Andrea Sasso, Giampaolo Pittatore, Enrico Pons
Brand Design: Massimo Teghille & Undesign
Other consultants: Alberto Morino (geologia), Federico Valfrè di Bonzo (nivologia e valanghe)

Owner: Italian Alpine Club CAI Turin
Promoted to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the SUCAI Ski Mountaineering School

Cost: 250.000,00 € (Total budget)
Design phase: sept. 2009 – dec 2010
Construction phase: may 2011 – oct 20100
Realization: Poligamma, Biella (composite materials), GVM Arreda, Torino (interiors), Plat Andrea, Aosta (on site works)

Nuova Capanna Gervasutti numbers:
30 square metres of usable space
6 contact points with the ground
2500 kg total weight
12 bed spaces
2.5 Kwh of solar energy produced
2 day to install unit

The pitched roof atop this Paris house won’t keep out the rain – it’s actually a pergola for growing fruit over a roof terrace.

French architects Djuric Tardio designed the two-storey house, which is constructed entirely from Finnish larch.

As well as the terrace on the roof, there is also a decked dining area at ground level and a projecting first-floor balcony.

Mobile kitchen furniture can be wheeled outdoors on sunny days, while in winter the house is warmed by a fireplace just inside.

Walls inside the house slide open so that rooms can flexibly accommodate different day-to-day activities.

The whole house is raised on a plinth above the ground to prevent flooding.

If you’re a fan of timber houses, check out one out in the woods in Sweden and another perched on rocky terrain in Australia.

Photography is by Clément Guillaume.

Here’s some more text from Djuric Tardio Architectes:

Eco-Sustainable House
Antony, Paris, France

The new project has been realised in a neighbourhood, Antony, that is an example of the belief that architecture, whether heterogeneous and homogeneous, is shaped by outdated zoning regulations. The delays in securing permits, along with conditions of the urban situation and our desire to continue and refine our own research on wood constructions, led us to propose a type of construction system. This type is still not released in urban areas and rather reserved for detached houses in less dense sites. The urban rules and the site context, which is very typical, have suggested the template, which has proved a real asset to the project.

Up there, the shape of the roof/pergola, which looks like an unfinished roof, has a specific function. On the one hand, it takes the archetype of the context, inserting the project in its environment without disrupting the urban rhythm, on the other hand, it won’t accommodate a closed roof that would become a catch-all attic or a wasted space.

So we have inserted inhabitants in it, and have left it open by transforming it into a vegetable terrace, intimate and sunny. The choice of plants proposed by the landscape designer, grasses and vines on the pergola offering fruits (kiwis, squashes, grapes), will enable the owners to enjoy a vegetable garden, a suspended garden.

The program was for a blended family, calling for a flexible, modular design and design process. The answer was to instill two areas, separated but and overlapping. With very few adjustments, these two areas could become one larger, combined space.

The walls of the skylight illuminating the ground floor can be optionally removed, tomorrow perhaps working as railings and returning visual link between the two floors. The staircase is positioned in the central frame of servant areas, with the entry today common to both access. Tomorrow it might be possible to open this frame in onto the day spaces.

Giant sliding walls on each floor divide into two day spaces in order to currently organize a new partition of the areas and create an office/library on the ground floor area and a cinema on the first floor, and tomorrow, to partition the space according to use. A sideboard on wheels slips between the kitchen and the terrace on the ground floor, moving the dining area outside on sunny days.

The layout has been designed to focus on flexibility and adaptation of the everyday living spaces, seasons (in summer, the space continues outside and is more open and more spacious, while in winter, it is gathered around the fireplace) and on long-term projects. This layout researches the adaption of the lifestyle of the owners.

Eco-Sustainable Construction System

Completely built in wood panels placed on a pedestal (the ground here is very bad), the house is completely prefabricated in a workshop and delivered to the site to be finally assembled in just two weeks. This is a building system in Finnish wood panels that come from sustainably managed cooperatives of small private forest owners.

The pre-cut panels, supplemented by wood fiber insulation and non-treated siding, arrived at the site almost finished, reducing pollution to a minimum (the site being located in a dense suburb).

The façades, in wood panels too, were mounted along the floor. With a very efficient exterior insulation system which completely allows the elimination of thermal bridges, wood construction has the advantage to make the building very powerful. The under-floor gas-fired heating with low temperature becomes almost superfluous.

The double-glazed + argon windows of the patios and the South façades, deliberately oversized, capture the sun in winter and are sheltered by a canopy and a pergola in summer. This allows together with their performance and surface, an easy control of the solar gain and air flow as needed, without necessitating an intensive use of air conditioning or heating.

The main facade on the street, lodging the rooms in the North, is a composition of large glazed openings and single opening shutters designed in stainless steel mirror with no glazing. The reflections of the vegetation and the movement of these shutters in stainless steel mirrors make the façade changing. The ventilation of the rooms is regulated by the openings of the shutters, and the penetration of light through the windows.

The recovery of rainwater can water the garden and planters allow homeowners to cultivate aromatic plants and garden without water over-consumption.

When Frank Gehry‘s Abu Dhabi Guggenheim was put on hold toward the end of October, it wasn’t for some obvious reason like in the spring, when the project was under fire for labor conditions. Instead, it was a bit more mysterious and sudden. One day things seemed to be moving along swimmingly and the next, its building contracts were recalled and everything just stopped. Now some additional information has come out that helps clear up the picture a bit. The Art Newspaper has filed this fascinating report on how the Guggenheim development wound up being affected by financial factors, with Abu Dhabi having to pick up a healthy dose of the slack from those other emirates who haven’t been faring as well once the bottom fell out of the economy (Dubai, anyone?). Add to that concerns over keeping its citizens happy as the rest of the area seems to be joining in on sweeping “Arab Spring” changes in leadership, and spending hundreds of millions to build a museum winds up seeming like the sort of thing that can be put on the backburner for awhile. However, given that the sorts of trials and tribulations encompassed in financial crises and surrounded by civil instability, how temporary that backburner will wind up being is anyone’s guess. It certainly seems as though, based on this report, Frank Gehry won’t be seeing his Guggenheim finished anytime soon.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The jagged glass edges of this restaurant by Norwegian studio Reiulf Ramstad Architects point up towards a sheer cliff face.

Named the Troll Wall Restaurant, the building is located at the foot of the tallest vertical rock face in Europe, in Norway’s Romsdal Valley.

Full-height glazing gives diners a view of the landscape, behind a criss-crossing pattern of structural beams.

Charred timber clads the elevations at the rear of the building, where additional rooms provide a local service and information centre.

Reiulf Ramstad Architects also completed a timber-clad nursery in Oslo this year – see our earlier story here.

Photography is by the architects.

Here’s some more text from Reiulf Ramstad Architects:

Trollwall Restaurant

It’s a new cursor at the foot of the Troll Wall; The architecture of the new visitors`center next to E139 is an outcome of the sites` close connection to the impressive mountain wall, Europe’s tallest vertical, overhanging rock face in The Romsdal Valley.

The Romsdal valley has some of the tallest, sheerest cliffs in Europe and is a popular place for BASE jumping including “birdmen” jumping off cliffs in Wingsuits!

This location allows for an exciting setting for the new service- and information center.

RRAs proposal is carefully planned in relation to the Troll Wall.

At the same time it is building a character and identity which in itself will be an attraction in the region.

The building has a simple, though flexible plan, with a characteristic roof that has its character from the majestetic surrounding landscape.

Geometry of the roof is also generated from the view to the mountains from the restaurant inside the building.

These simple ways of design gives the building its character and identity that makes the Service center an eye-catcher and an architectural attraction in the region.

Reiulf Ramstad Architects: Reiulf Ramstad, Sunniva Neuenkirchen Rosenberg and Espen Surnevik
Location: Trollveggen, Møre og Romsdal, Norway

Program: New restaurant and service building
Client: Private

Size: 700m2
Commission type: 1st price, Invited competition (2009)

Status: Under construction
Year: Completed summer 2011