Hasta La Ideas

Although it premiered earlier this month at the Toronto Film Festival, Gary Hustwit‘s latest documentary, this time about city planning and entitled Urbanized, is just starting to kick off its worldwide tour, meaning it’s apt to become the subject of nearly every design-based conversation for the next few months, like with Helvetica and Objectified were before it. Starting in New York last week with a screening as part of the Urban Design Week, Hustwit is personally taking the film around to cities around the US (and one stop in London), out until early November. If you happen to live near a major metropolis, and can get tickets quickly enough (thus far every screening has sold out), you should be able to catch it. In the interim, you should start seeing a bevy of reviews from both bloggers and traditional media outlets. The LA Times‘ resident architecture critic, Christopher Hawthorne, just filed his review, saying that it’s “a sharp, good-looking documentary” and that it “ranks among the smartest recent analyses of mass global urbanization and its discontents,” though he’s a bit miffed that the film doesn’t even include a second about Los Angeles, something the critic finds a glaring omission. Though we wouldn’t be surprised at all if this happens in any number of cities, given that there are only a finite amount Hustwit could cover (“What about Cleveland?!” we’re imagining the Plain Dealer‘s critic is, albeit perhaps wrongly in comparison to LA, already thinking). Here’s the trailer:

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Renzo Piano Building Workshop has completed a monastery built into the side of a hill at the site of Le Corbusier’s chapel of Notre-Dame du Haut in Ronchamp.

The monastery comprises twelve concrete living units for the resident community of Poor Clare nuns, plus communal areas, an oratory and a visitor’s lodge.

The living units are set into the hillside in small clusters and have their own individual winter gardens.

Piano has collaborated with landscape designer Michel Corajoud to ensure the buildings blend seamlessly with the surrounding environment and do not detract from Le Corbusier’s chapel.

The gatehouse is embedded in the slope of the hill and features a ticket office, shop, bioclimatic garden, meeting room and archive housed behind a glazed façade.

A palette of concrete, zinc and wood has been applied to the interior spaces to create a contemplative environment and link the buildings to their surroundings.

Photography is by Michel Denancé.

Here is some more information from the architects:

Renzo Piano Building Workshop

The Project

The scope of the project is to create a peaceful environment, whose quiet and discreet beauty highlights and complements the chapel, while at the same time enhancing existing facilities for visitors’ reception. Immersed in the lush vegetation of the Bourlemont hill, the monastery is a place “of silence, prayer, peace and joy”, where everything contributes to spiritual contemplation.

The project includes three main items: the gatehouse, the nunnery, and the landscape.

The Gatehouse

In order to enhance the existing visitors’ facilities, the original gatehouse has been replaced with a new more functional building that houses a ticket office, corner shop, bioclimatic garden and a meeting room, along with administrative spaces. Part of the building is also dedicated to the research and conservation of the archives.

Cut into the slope of the hill the new gatehouse merges within the surrounding landscape. It features a large glazed façade that opens to the visitors arrival area and parking.

The Monastery

The monastery is composed of twelve domestic units for the sisters with spaces for common living (refectory and workshops), an oratory for religious pilgrims, and a lodge to host visitors in search of quiet and spiritual rest.

The rooms are small independent concrete units that are set into the hillside (2,70m x 2,70m). They are positioned in clusters that gently slope down the west side of the hill offering a cleared view of the valley thereby establishing a relationship with the community.  Simple and spare, they are each given an individual winter garden, a space entirely dedicated to contemplation.

The oratory is conceived as part of the monastery. Positioned off the chapel’s site, it is embedded into the slope of the hill, creating a harmonious space with the chapel and the site. The oratory aims at being a place of communion open to pilgrims of all communities.

The building palette for the complex is simple: concrete, zinc, and wood to create an environment propitious to meditation.

The following photos, sketches and plans are all copyright Renzo Piano Building Workshop.

The environment

Nature also plays a fundamental role in the project, highlighting the sacred and remote aspect of the site.

Preservation of the existing vegetation and forestation of the slopes helps create a sense of unity and sacredness throughout the design.

The project has been conceived taking into consideration all environmental procedures possible to reduce energy consumption.

The Chapel at Ronchamp

The Chapel of Notre-Dame du Haut (Our Lady of the Height) overlooks the small town of Ronchamp from the hill of Bourlémont. It was built by one of the twentieth century’s most famous architects, Le Corbusier.

Marian pilgrimage place centuries, it opens to the four horizons as a space ‘of silence, of prayer, of peace; of inward joy’ in the words of the architect Le Corbusier.

Site history

Since the middle ages, the 8th of September, day of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, the Chapel welcomes pilgrims ; the chapel belonged to the Church as property of the parish of Ronchamp. During the French Revolution in 1789 it was sold as a property of the state to a merchant.

A few years later, about forty families and Ronchamp‟s priest decided to buy the edifice back in order to restore it to its initial function: a chapel dedicated to the cult of the Virgin Mary, and also a pilgrimage site to which the local people were still very attached.

Thus, an almost unique and exceptional, the Chapel became private property, although of all of these families. Today, the heirs form the Association based on the law 1901, with regard to ownership of the site, the buildings and the image of the Chapel, in accordance with Le Corbusier’s written will.

The construction of Le Corbusier

During the liberation of Ronchamp in October 1944, the edifice was partially destroyed by artillery. The Besançon-based Diocesian Commission for Sacred Art („Commission diocésaine d‟Art Sacré‟ – „CDAS‟) it proposes to Le Corbusier’s reconstruction; Le Corbusier hesitate then affected by the site (its landscape, its human history and the fervor of its inhabitants) it undertakes to rebuild a building with the stones of the old chapel and a cloak of white-washed reinforced-concrete. “Notre-Dame du Haut” out of the ground in 1955.

“Ronchamp Tomorrow” project

Launched at the fiftieth anniversary of the Chapel in 2005, a refection on the future of the site has identified the need to support more visitors to the site.

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Silence, peace found again and getting back to nature are at the heart of the “Ronchamp Tomorrow” project. Three complementary construction sites have been launched with the Renzo Piano Building Workshop together with the landscape designer Michel Corajoud, to allow visitors to the chapel of Notre-Dame du Haut, both pilgrims and lovers of architecture, to find on the site the serenity they need to take in to the fullest the work of Le Corbusier.

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The Chapel’s Gatehouse

As a replacement to the current reception building: Renzo Piano will build a new Gatehouse for visitors that is more balanced, spacious, open to culture, architecture and the sacred. It will also be the new headquarters of AONDH.

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The convent for the Community of Poor Clares

This will consist of small living and work units for a community of a dozen international Poor Clares on the backside of the site; an oratory, and a place to stay, a spiritual retreat, will be open to all. Renzo Piano will bring the ensemble to life in a discrete way.

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The landscape

The hill has been taken care of for more than 50 years but the trees today need to be treated, some replanted; the landscape architect Michel Corajoud plans replanting, remodelling some of the landscape spaces and a landscaped parking area, employing the standards of sustainable development and in the respect the environment.

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Hamborn Abbey Extension by Astoc	Martin Luther Church by Coop Himmelb(l)au	Chapel of the Assumption Interior by John Doe

A recessed balcony carves a rectangular hole in the facade of a writer’s house in north Hollywood.

Narrow batons of red cedar clad the two-storey house, which was designed by American architects Casey Hughes.

This untreated wood is expected to patinate to a soft grey colour.

A translucent bathroom encased in acid-etched glass sits adjacent to the sheltered balcony and leads into an open-plan first floor living room.

On the ground floor are a kitchen, a bedroom, a second living room and a second bathroom.

Walls inside the house are lined with sheets of plywood.

We recently featured another Hollywood house on Dezeen, which overlooks the famous sign – see our earlier story here and see more stories about projects in California here.

Photography is by Nicole Katz.

The following description is from Casey Hughes Architects:

The writer’s studio was designed for a woman who lives alone. A primary intention was to create a building that would provide enclosure and security while remaining open to the exterior.

This condition was achieved in part through carving an atrium into the north façade which fills the studio with indirect light while providing privacy from the neighbors.

The treatment of the exterior further emphasizes this paradox through the use of a redwood screen that forms a rough protective layer around the building while imbuing it with lightness and transparency.

Sun Screen

The exterior of the building is clad in 2” by 2” redwood slats that screen the skin of the building. A 4” gap between the screen and the buildings exterior creates a transparency and play of shadows that enlivens the façade, and softens the buildings mass.
The effect of the light coming through the screen is similar to the light filtering through the trees behind the studio, creating an intimate relationship between the building and it’s surroundings.

Wood

The redwood of the screen has been left untreated. This was designed both to reduce maintenance, and to allow it to patina to a silvery gray that will soften the appearance of the exterior, further connecting it to its natural surroundings. The interior walls of the building are clad in 2’ by 8’ sheets of Maple plywood, treated with a mixture of beeswax and linseed oil, to create a natural durable surface. The plywood walls were designed to add warmth to the interior, causing the light entering the building to cast a tranquil glow. The subtle grain of the plywood paneling contrasts beautifully with the white ceiling and stair wall, giving them a crisp and clean appearance.

Light

Most of the windows are placed on the front façade of the building, capturing the soft northern light. A panoramic window wraps the corner of the front façade, echoing the horizontality of the neighborhood. The window was designed to frame a cluster of iconic giant palms, which make the view undeniably Southern California. Standing at these windows, the viewer has a sense that they are in a control tower, surveying the landscape.

A balcony, enclosed in glass, was excavated from the north side of the building to act as a light-well, filling the space with light, but also maintaining privacy from the neighbors to the east. This balcony is covered by a redwood pergola, which further softens the light and creates pleasing shadows that track the sun’s movement.

4 square skylights, arranged in a row above the stairwell, bring light filtered by the trees at the rear of the site into the studio’s south side, and deep into the first floor.

Climate Control

A long vertical window on the rear façade of the studio, designed to frame the trunks of the trees behind the studio, also catches the cool breeze coming off the creek that runs along the rear of the property. Cool air is drawn through the studio and exits the larger windows in the front, making air conditioning unnecessary on all but the hottest days, where the exterior temperature can reach in excess of 100 degrees.

The redwood screen on the exterior of the studio was designed to not only shade the building from the sun, but to allow air to flow between the screen and the building’s skin which helps it maintain an even interior temperature throughout the day.

Lantern

The powder room on the east side of the balcony is enclosed on two sides with translucent acid etched glass. The room is fitted with lights in a reveal along the back wall that make the powder room glow like a lantern at night, filling the spaces beyond with a soft defused light.

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Minimumhouse by Scheidt Kasprusch Architekten	V12K0102 by Pasel Kuenzel Architects	D House by Panorama

Japanese architect Masato Sekiya has slotted one timber structure inside another to construct a law firm in Nara.

The building is named Mono Struct Office, as it was built using cyprus planks of a single standard size.

Individual planks clad parts of the exterior, while groups of two or three are bolted together to provide a structural frame.

Plaster covers the walls of the outer shell, which houses office workstations.

The exposed timber inner structure is set at an opposing angle and encloses a kitchen, a storage room and a conference room.

Horizontal slit windows puncturing the walls of this room provide glimpsed views out to the adjacent road.

A few projects by Masato Sekiya have been featured on Dezeen, including another building held together by bolts – see that story here, and see all of the stories about Sekiya here.

Photography is by Akira Kita.

Here’s some more information from Sekiya:

A Mono Struct Office

Planet Creations original concept of monostruct uses a single size of wood plank for all of the wooden construction — doubling or tripling for strength, and bolting joints with metal parts.

This office for a legal scrivener is made of two monostructures combined, clasping one into the other.

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One is a box-like structure of horizontal mono-structs, shortened here and there to form an irregular mozaic of space.

The outside monostructure is regularly spaced for simplicity.

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Hair Very by Maker	Wood Block House by Tadashi Yoshimura Architects	Tree House by Mount Fuji Architects Studio

Dutch architects UNStudio have designed a concrete observation tower to cantilever into the sky above a nature reserve in the Netherlands.

The 25 metre-high tower will be primarily constructed from a high-performance concrete that the studio has been researching alongside engineers ABT, developer BAM Utiliteitsbouw and concrete manufacturer Haitsma Beton.

This dense concrete strengthened by steel fibres will enable the impressive cantilever, while embedded steel members will provide additional stability.

Visitors will climb 134 steps to reach the highest of the tower’s three viewing platforms, which will be positioned five metres above the surrounding forest canopy.

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A steel mesh parapet will create a balustrade for the staircase and platforms.

We’ve featured a few observation decks and lookout towers on Dezeen – see more here, including a tower with shipping containers on top.

Other projects by UNStudio on Dezeen include a pavilion in New York’s Battery Park and an installation in an abandoned fort – see all the projects here.

Here’s a project description from UNStudio:

UNStudio’s design for an Observation Tower for ‘De Onlanden’ presented to Natuurmonumenten

On September 22nd the design for an observation tower for the nature reserve ‘De Onlanden’, situated to the South-West of the City of Groningen, was presented to Natuurmonumenten (the Dutch Society for the Preservation of Natural Heritage) during the mini-symposium ‘Experience Nature with innovative concrete’ in Peize. The observation tower is the result of a study into the optimal application of Ultra High Performance Concrete by a case study team comprising of UNStudio, ABT, BAM Utiliteitsbouw en Haitsma Beton. Natuurmonumenten received the design as a gift from the case study team.

Case Study Observation Tower Ultra High performance Concrete

The design for the observation tower is the result of a case study which aimed to apply the characteristics of Ultra High Performance Concrete in a functional, operative design. The case study team consisted of designers, engineers and builders who together sought a solution through which architecture and construction could reinforce one another. According to Ben van Berkel, “The observation tower afforded our Inventive Materials Research Platform the opportunity to investigate the properties of Ultra High Performance Concrete and to truly test out the full potential of this new material in a real structure.” Ultra High performance Concrete differs from normal concrete as it has a very high density, contains steel fibres and has an extremely fine grain structure. These properties facilitate the application of large compressive stresses in structures of narrow dimensions. UNStudio’s Inventive Materials Platform is one of four in-house research platforms and aims to investigate custom-made material applications and to facilitate inspired and imaginative collaborations with other experts and with manufacturers in the construction industry.

The Observation Tower

The 25 metre high observation tower will be realised on the forested boundary of ‘De Onlanden’ nature reserve on the outskirts of Groningen. Once built, the tower will extend 5 metres above the trees and will offer views over the 3,000 hectares of natural landscape which form the largest water storage area in the Netherlands.

The design for the observation tower guides visitors in a fluid ascent up the 134 steps to the highest viewing point. Visitors are lead via the first set of steps to the lower viewing platform which stands at a height of 10 metres. Following this, the second set of steps provides a turn in direction, allowing for an alternative view of the surrounding forested pastures. These steps lead visitors through the tree tops to the second viewing platform which stands at a height of 20 metres and offers views over the nature reserve around the city of Groningen. The highest viewing platform, at a height of 24 metres, is reached via the final set of steps and offers visitors a wide open vista of ‘De Onlanden’ nature reserve.

By means of changes in direction in the structure of the observation tower, visitors can experience views of the surrounding natural landscape from different perspectives, whereby the height of each viewing platform offers a different experience of the vistas over the surrounding landscape. From the highest viewing platform views are afforded of the Groningen skyline, which includes the Education Executive Agency & Tax office building which was also designed by UNStudio.

Ben van Berkel: “The Netherlands enjoys a rich and textured natural landscape, but unfortunately the Dutch topography is not very varied; we don’t have mountain ranges, or many hilly areas from which to enjoy a panoramic overview of our natural surroundings. The viewing tower for ‘De Onlanden’ was designed to provide the opportunity to create a new awareness and different perspectives of the landscape we move through, but may otherwise never experience in all its scope.”

The fine lines and the form of the tower bring to mind the silhouette of a deer. UNStudio’s design has therefore been given the (provisional) name ‘Het Hoge Hert’ (The Tall Stag).

The observation Tower is a hybrid construction, consisting of a combination of steel and Ultra High Performance Concrete. Steel is employed where the tensile stresses are foremost, whereas Ultra High Performance Concrete manifests excellent performance properties where the compressive stresses are highest. The parapet around the stairs and platforms is constructed from stainless steel mesh, enabling the combination of both maximum transparency and necessary safety levels.
Ben van Berkel: “The strength of Ultra High Performance Concrete is conceptually expressed in the cantilever of the structure, which combines UHPC with steel to enable a substantial protraction in the form of the viewing tower.”

Client: Natuurmonumenten
Location: Outskirts of Drenthe (near City of Groningen, Eelde and Peize)
Height: 25 m
No. of steps: 134
Programme: Observation Tower
Status: design

UNStudio: Ben van Berkel with Arjan Dingsté and Marianthi Tatari, Marc Hoppermann, Kristoph Nowak, Tomas Mokry, Dorus Faber

Case Study partners: UNStudio, ABT, Haitsma Beton, BAM Utiliteitsbouw

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Sky is the Limit by Didier Faustino	Observation Tower by terrain:loenhart&mayr	Floating Observatories by upgrade.studio