Hasta La Ideas

This house outside Warsaw by Polish architect Robert Konieczny transforms from a villa by day to a fortress by night.

Called Safe House, the residence shuts down to a safe central core with a drawbridge, a shutter that drops down to cover an entire facade and massive wall panels that block out all the windows.

The thick courtyard walls slide back into the house.

The drawbridge leads to the roof of an adjacent building that houses a swimming pool.

Photography is by Aleksander Rutkowski.

More stories about projects in Poland on Dezeen »

Here is some more information from Robert Konieczny:

Safe House

Location

The house is situated in a small village at the outskirts of Warsaw. The surroundings are dominated with usual “polish cubes” from the sixties and old wooden barns.

Idea

The clients’ top priority was to gain the feeling of maximum security in their future house, which determined the building’s outlook and performance. The house took the form of a cuboid in which parts of the exterior walls are movable.

When the house opens up to the garden, eastern and western side walls move towards the exterior fence creating a courtyard.

After crossing the gate one has to wait in this safety zone before being let inside the house. In the same time, there is no risk of children escaping to the street area in an uncontrolled way while playing in the garden.

Movable elements interfering with the site layout

The innovation of this idea consists in the interference of the movable walls with the urban structure of the plot. Consequently, when the house is closed (at night for example) the safe zone is limited to the house’s outline.

In the daytime, as a result of the walls opening, it extends to the garden surrounding the house.

New type of building

The sliding walls are not dependent on the form of the building.

That is why this patent can be applied to both modern and traditional, single- and multi – storeyed houses covered with roofs of different geometry.

This universal solution we came up with gives a new type of building where not the form but the way of functioning is the most important. The name: “safe house” gains a new meaning now.

Mechanic…

Accomplishment of this idea required the use of technically complex solutions.

The most significant are the sliding walls (both 2,2 m high, 22 and 15 m long), which allow to interfere with the urban structure and determine the safe zone of the plot.

They are not the only mobile elements of the building.

Apart from these, there are large shutters (all 2,8 m high, with a width ranging up to 3,5 m, opening up to 180 degrees) and a drawbridge leading to the roof terrace above the swimming pool.

The southern elevation is closed by an enormous roll-down gate of 14 and 6 m manufactured by a company normally supplying shipyards and air companies.

It is made with white anodized aluminum which makes it possible to function as a movie projection screen.

All the movable elements are based on built-in electronic engines, that guarantee safe operation.

The whole building is a concrete monolith, while it’s mobile parts – for the sake of considerable size – are light steel trusses filled with mineral wool.

As a result, the building is perfectly insulated when closed.

The whole house as well as the mobile elements are clad with cement-bonded particleboards – Cetris and waterproof alder plywood fixed to a steel construction and painted with dark wood stain, which resembles the wood widely found on the surrounding houses and barns, and makes it fit well into the rural landscape.

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… to Organic

Once the house opens, it’s bright and spacious interior merges extensively with the garden.

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Wide glazings behind the movable walls let the building acquire energy during the day (winter) or prevent the sun’s heat from going into the house (summer).

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At night, when the house is closed, the thick outer layer helps the building to accumulate the gained energy.

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Such a solution together with the hybrid heat system (most of the energy is gained from renewable sources – heat pump and solar systems supported with gas heating) and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery makes the house become an intelligent passive building.

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Every day the house acts in a similar way – it wakes up every morning to close up after the dusk. This routine reminds of the processes occurring in nature – the house resembles a plant in its day and night cycle.

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architect: Robert Konieczny
collaboration: Marcin Jojko, Łukasz Zadrzyński
interior design: Magdalena Radałowicz-Zadrzyńska
site area: 2500 m2
usable floor area: 567m2
volume: 1719m3
design: 2004-2005
construction: 2005-2009

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See also:

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Torreagüera Vivienda Atresada by Xpiral	Potasze House by Neostudio Architekci	House in Fukuyama by Suppose Design Office

A hotel chain tailors their new spot to the world’s “live music capital”

Even Austin’s airport food—local famed BBQ and Tex-Mex rather than soggy tuna sandwiches—touts the city’s pro-small business attitude. So when the chain known for hipping up the mid-range hotel experience came to town, they had to step up their game to make it in a place known as much for its nocturnal winged residents (there’s even a bat hotline) as for its indie music scene.

The new W Hotel Austin’s design features cater to the cultural phenomenon that put the city on the map with a collection of over 8,000 vinyl records and an extensive four-room bar. Eschewing an ordinary hotel lobby, guests enter in the Living Room, which doles out the hits over a vintage McIntosh sound system. Separate spaces (the Tequila Bar, Records Room, Secret Bar and Screen Porch) reflect the vibrant surrounding streets.

Beyond the mark it makes for urban nightlife, the W Austin has also become a new landmark in city’s skyline. Rising above the generally even horizon line, the primarily glass tower stands just above the heavy, low-lying City Hall building in contrast to nearby architecture.

“The last thing Austin needs is another beige building,” says Heather Plimmer, half of the local team behind the hotel’s design. Plimmer, along with architect Arthur Andersson, are responsible for the design of five components of the block—on the aptly named Willie Nelson Boulevard—a development which in addition to the hotel includes office and retail space, condos and some of the best acoustics the city has to offer at Austin City Limits.

The color doesn’t just define the W visually but elegantly takes the effects of harsh Texas weather into consideration, particularly evident in the way the designers dealt with the intensity of the sun. Anything bright or white can be blinding and the average brown building blends in with the surrounding landscape. “I think that came from a tradition of the Spanish adobe, and all that kind of stuff,” says Andersson. “It’s really bizarre to try and translate that into 500-ft tall structures.” Opting instead for a dark gray palette that takes on the color of the sky, the LEED-certified structure also reflects the clouds at night.

Andersson also used a Swiss Pearl material to serve as a ventilated façade over the exterior of the building. An air space runs through the entire outer exterior, creating shadows to help cool the building while large windows catch the breezes coming over from Lady Bird Lake.

Unlike some other conspicuous glass buildings downtown, the W appears both graceful and understated. “I think it has its own kind of presence,” says Andersson. “It’s like this sort of little, calm poem.” The Zen balance shows up in the hotel’s wabi-sabi style interiors too, with exposed concrete support beams.

Overall the feeling of staying at the hotel is not unlike a sense of being at home, as the designers took cues from typical residential decor. But the cozy feeling most clearly comes through in the breaking up of space in the hotel’s rooms, which creates an entry moment. Creating the illusion of a larger space, a burlap-covered tower separates the sleeping chamber from the rest of the hotel room. “What happens when you walk into a typical hotel room,” says Andersson, “you look at some crappy piece of furniture, and a side of a TV. We flipped it.” The burlap-covered tower is reminiscent of a Barnett Newman canvas; the minimalist painter’s work was a major source of inspiration for the designers.

Austin’s strong musical story plays a role too, making a literal nod with original signed Scott Newton photos in each room, as well as vanity mirrors encircled with guitar strap patterns. “We grabbed onto kind of the Bohemian lifestyle, of the laid back rock and roll feel,” says Plimmer. “We really wanted it to be an oasis. The colors in there are really calm, with the exception of the red pop of the chaise.”

This summer one more obvious addition to the lyrical architecture—a statue of the man himself, Willie Nelson, at the entrance to the neighboring Austin City Limits, will make its debut, keeping Austin weird in more ways than one. Make reservations online with prices varying depending on rooms and availability but rack rates starting around $300 per night.

Our third story about Mexican pilgrimage La Ruta del Peregrino features this linear stone pier by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.

The pavilion, named The Sanctuary, angles up from the landscape to create a platform overlooking the Jalisco mountains.

The structure is stepped in profile to create a length of seating for resting pilgrims.

La Ruta del Peregrino is a 117km-long pilgrimage, along which each new structure provides a shelter and landmark.

Ai Weiwei is still missing after being detained by authorities at Beijing airport on 3 April.

Photography is by Iwan Baan – see more images of this project on his website.

See more stories about La Ruta del Peregrino on Dezeen »

Here is some more information about the wider project:

Ruta del Peregrino
Jalisco, Mexico

Ruta del Peregrino is a religious phenomenon centred and moved by the adoration to the virgin of talpa.

La Ruta del Peregrino (Pilgrim’s Route) stretches out on a distance of 117 kilometers.

Approximately two million people participate each year in this religious phenomenon coming from different states of México to walk through the mountain range of Jalisco, starting in the town of Ameca, ascending to el Cerro del Obispo at an altitude of 2000 meters above sea level, crossing the peak of Espinazo del Diablo to descend to it’s final destination in the town of Talpa de Allende to meet with the Virgin of Talpa as an act of devotion, faith and gratitude.

This religious voyage has taken place since the 17th century, for the pilgrims the act of faith is carried to penitence, the conditions of the route are harsh. This sacrifice carried with austerity is an essential part of the promise or offering that become the ritual of purification.

This project aims to provide the historical route with better conditions for the pilgrims as well as to maximize the social and economical profit for this area by taking advantage of this massive event. Based on a systematic vision the project becomes a sustainable site with different layers of meaning.

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As we focus on the whole, the master plan consists of an ecological corridor with infrastructure and iconic architectural pieces that add to the religious ritual and also aim to appeal to a broader audience and allow the Route to have a flow of visitor beyond the religious.

This book focuses on the iconic narrative given to the Route with 7 pieces that strongly relate both to the extraordinary landscape and to the religious ritual, becoming the imaginary landmarks of a deeply rutted phenomenon.
 Each landmark by a different designer, a group of individual dialogues with specific sites and intentions that add up, to weave a single story.

Credits and Data

Project title: Sanctuary
Location: Estanzuela
State: Built
Architects: Fake Design
Team: Ai Weiwei, Andy Lee, André Murer

Title of whole project: Route of Pilgrim
Client: Secretaría de Turismo de Jalisco
Program: Masterplan of Route of Pilgrim
Location: From Ameca to Talpa de Allende, Jalisco, Mexico

Curatorial team: Tatiana Bilbao and Derek Dellekamp
Masterplan and project coordination: Rozana Montiel and Derek Dellekamp
Investigation team: Adiranne Montemayor, Carlos Zimbron
Invited architects and designers: Ai Weiwei / Fake Design (China), Luis Aldrete
(Mexico), Tatiana Bilbao (Mexico), Christ & Gantenbein AG Architekten (Switzerland), Dellekamp Arquitectos (Mexico), Elemental (Chile), Godoylab (Mexico), HHF architects (Switzerland), Periférica (Mexico), Taller TOA (Mexico)

Basic services- various- Godoylab
Environmental strategy- TOA|Taller de Operaciones Ambientales

See also:

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Sanctuary Circle by Dellekamp and Periférica	Lookout Point by HHF Architects	Jübergtower Hemer Landmark

Le studio d’architecture de Koichi Takada a conçu ce “Tree Restaurant” à Sydney. Reprenant le principe de la nature, le studio a dessiné un immense arbre stylisée en bois afin de former des arcs et des courbes très agréables à l’oeil. Plus de visuels de ce restaurant dans la suite.

Previously on Fubiz

• Tree Hotel
• La Cabane Perchée
• NYbillboard

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Photographer Manuel Alvarez Diestro has sent us these photographs documenting growing high-rise cities in Asia.

Above and top: Busan, South Korea

The Natural series illustrates high-rise buildings situated on city peripheries in China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan.

Above: Busan, South Korea

Each photograph depicts the contrasts between the large scale urban developments and the surrounding landscapes.

Above: Busan, South Korea

More photography stories on Dezeen »

Above: Busan, South Korea

Below is some more text explanation from the photographer:

As a visual artist using photography as medium to challenge our appreciation of cities could not resist to the possibility of documenting my perspective of the Asian Metropolis nowadays.

Above: Hiroshima, Japan

In the peripheries of Bejing, Busan, Hiroshima, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Fukuoka, Seoul or Chongqing I discovered the multiple relations of the growing mega city and its surroundings. Somehow, I witnessed the confrontation between nature and the imposing satellite towns.

Above: Hong Kong

In these dehumanized landscapes I pretended to unveil the beauty that unfolds in the city limits of Asia’s new towns.

Above: Hong Kong

At the end, as I did with other photographic works I wished to portray the current changes in the world’s metropolis.

Above: Hong Kong

I truly believe that cities transform with the passage of time same as human beings.

Above: Hong Kong

The more aware we are of these changes and the fragil environments that they generate the more we will be capable of understanding ourselves.

Above: Hong Kong

While living in Cairo, Egypt I decided to travel to those Asian cities with a large amount of city developments and potentially vertical.

Above: Chongqing, China

My eyes were too accommodated in the horizontal new towns in the desert.

Above: Chongqing, China

I needed to challenge myself and search for new towns with a heavy concentration of structures in the city outskirts.

Above: Chongqing, China

At a first stage I selected Chongqing, Beijing, and Hong Kong. In a second trip I have traveled to South Korea, followed by Japan and later Thailand, and Malaysia. Previously I photographed other cities such as Manila, Macau, or Taipei.

Above: Chongqing, China

All the images were captured in an unplanned way and under the effects of the jet lag. I normally walked for hours in the margins where the metropolis meets the wilderness.

Above: Chongqing, China

Once in Hong Kong I even walked from the airport to the city and experienced the suburbs at a first hand. My strategy was to take any form of public transportation which would take me to the last station. From there, I got lost with the camera in purpose with no map or GPS. For the coming days I would cover the rest of the stations until I covered the city perimeter.

Above: Chongqing, China

This series of photographs that I entitled “Natural” are a product of pure enjoyment and unpredictable visual challenge.

Above: Chongqing, China

See also:

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Heygate Abstracted by Simon Kennedy	Shophouses 4 x 8 m by Peter Nitsch	Burj Khalifa by SOM