Hasta La Ideas

Architecture firm Kokaistudios have completed a new building housing the faculty of law at Peking University in Beijing.

The top part of the building overhangs the bottom structure on all sides, with a rhythm of rectangular apertures covering its facade.

The building is clad in local stone.

See all our stories on buildings for education in our Dezeen archive.

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Photographs are by Charlie Xia.

The following information is from the architects:

PKU UNIVERSITY OF LAW

BALANCE ARCHITECTURE WITH LIGHT

A challenging project for the most prestigious University in China in the heart of its historical campus.

In 2009 a prestigious American Foundation and Beijing University invited Kokaistudios to design the building for the new faculty of law located in a prestigious location within the historical campus of China leading University.

This particular site, where the pagoda symbol of the university is standing, required considerable effort in terms of design in order to find architectural answers that could satisfy and meld in a harmonious way the heritage elements. The beautiful natural environment and the new contemporary building.

This prestigious project, completed in October 2010, is considered the milestone of a new era for Beijing University, and a symbol for better and more environmentally sustainable standard of living for the future University Community and for architectural buildings within that community.

This project has been conceived on a rigid volumetric shape imposed by the strict regulation protecting the historical site and at the same time by the necessity to fulfill all the functional requirements of the new faculty. The rigorous style requested to be accepted by the large number of heritage commissions have been interpretated in creative way by Kokaistudios by proposing an elegant use of few materials, concrete plasters and local stones with capabilities to transmit day light and a clever use of skylights, sinking gardens in order to increase the use of natural light and thermal efficiency of the building.

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Kokaistudios transformed the facades to become light filters and diffusing soft daylight light all over the interiors. The entire system of internal spaces has been designed by our team so to upgrade the standards of working, living, and studying of the future professors and students, using sustainable materials and creating aggregation facilities and spaces that could satisfy the flexible demands of the faculty in the future.

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Architects: Kokaistudios
Location: Beijing, China
Team: Andrea Destefanis, Filippo Gabbiani, Li Wei, Fang Wei Yi, Liu Wen Wen, Yu Feng
Local
Architect: BIAD
Structure: BIAD
Mechanics & Electricity: BIAD
Project Area: 10,000 sqm

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Jiangsu Art Museum by KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten	Clapham Manor Primary School by dRMM	Pearl Academy of Fashion by Morphogenesis

An interesting “local makes good” story from Springfield, Illinois’ local paper, the State Journal-Register, about Meaghan Lloyd, Frank Gehry‘s long-time right hand. As the paper tells it, after having had Gehry as a visiting professor at Yale, she struck up a friendship with the famous architect and wound up getting him to hire her on and bring her out to work in his Los Angeles headquarters (pre-move). Shortly thereafter, she would be named his chief of staff, where she’s overseen the business, clients and press. She’s extra complimentary of Gehry, of course, given that she’s being interviewed about her boss, but it’s still an interesting, inside look at how his shop is run and getting to know one of the unsung heroes behind one of the biggest names in the business.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Singaporean bags in Amsterdam, architectural shoes in NYC, food as news in Pittsburgh and more in our 2010 retail review

Our round-up presents brick-and-mortar stores that took advantage of space and place to give customer experiences that went beyond just shopping and eating.

Melrose Market

Seattle’s Melrose Market opened in Capitol Hill boasting 21,000-square-feet of space as home to almost a dozen retailers including Sitka & Spruce, Rain Shadow Meats, Calf and Kid and Still Liquor. With a focus on locally sourced, independent and organic goods, the beautiful building that once produced auto parts now attracts a clientele looking for a more updated version of Pike’s Place.

Property Of

The owners of Singaporean bag label Property Of championed their coffee shop roots when conceiving the plans for their flagship store on one of the busiest streets in Amsterdam. Rather than launch a traditional boutique, they instead opened a cafe serving up Seattle’s Stumptown Coffee with a shop stocking their goods alongside an array of specialty magazines and books.

Dark Shop

United Nude’s Manhattan store Dark Shop is reminiscent of a nightclub, with its dark interior and striking LED wall lighting up the shoes on display. The future-tech interior was designed by creative director Rem D. Koolhaas, and is perfectly aligned with the brand’s vision of architecturally-inspired footwear.

Conflict Kitchen

An art installation with a retail side, Conflict Kitchen is a project in Pittsburgh that aims to educate the public through food. Calling attention to countries the United States is currently in conflict with, its current incarnation is Bolani Pazi, which serves Afghani turnovers. All food is wrapped in paper printed with information and facts about that country, such as its traditional customs and the U.S.’ involvement.

Converse SoHo

Converse adapted its extensive history as a brand into its second store, located in NYC’s SoHo neighborhood. With the world’s biggest selection of Converse shoes, there’s a pick-up window that’s particularly useful for those who already know what they want and a wall featuring an American flag installation made from its iconic Chuck Taylors. Things here are as straightforward as the m.o. that its legions of fans have helped shaped—be unique and yourself. To that end, the decoration is subtle enough without the need to drum up false hype.

French photographer Julien Lanoo has sent us some images of this extension to a house in Paris by French studio Bang Architectes.

Called Heliotrope Raising, the project involved topping an existing house with this glazed wooden-framed structure.

Situated on a narrow plot of land, the original house was too small in size and overlooked by neighbouring buildings, meaning a limited amount of light entered the space.

The architects have extended the house vertically, adding two extra floors and creating a new living space at the very top, which is bathed in natural light.

Photographs are copyright Julien Lanoo.

See all our stories on residential extensions in our Dezeen archive.

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Here’s some more information from the architects:

HELIOTROPE RAISING

Initially, there is a modest little house, totalizing an area of 60 m² on two levels, situated in a backyard plot, in a very narrow area of the 20th district of Paris. Enclosed and humid because of the presence of an underground aqueduct, the house is plunged into darkness as the buildings nearby and especially a 20m high wall cover any chance of light.

Beyond the obvious need to increase the family’s living space, there is also a true a desire to gain light and visual clearance.

The search for light is what guides the design of the project until the genesis of an “heliotropist” architecture. It is therefore necessary to gain height over the old construction up to the maximum volume of capacity, limits of urban regulations, and budget. Naturally, the center of gravity of the new dwelling, that is to say the living rooms, finds its place on the top floor.

The access to the site through a 90cm wide corridor and the structural weakness of the existing building makes us opt for a lightweight wooden structure wich can easily be manipulated. On the wide length of the house, side yard, the existing walls are so fragile that, as a precaution, large “stilts” in glulam will span them.

On the newly created floors, on all open sides, the skeleton of the wood frame wall will be exhibited. Structural elements will be displayed every 80 cm, combined with a filling of a full height volume of glass for maximum natural light.

Structural glued laminated Douglas, extended and narrowed asymmetrically draws a regular vertical grid which acts as a sunshade and opposes a kind of three-dimensional filter to vis-à-vis. This principle applied consistently unifies the created volume and gives it a clear expression, despite its modest size, in a dominant and diverse site. Finally, this technique removes the problem of façade composition on such a small volume.

Internally, the house is organized around a central space occupied by the staircase beneath a canopy angle (regulation impact of a prospect of a neighboring building). The hopper, in decreasing width, lets the light descend from the canopy to the DRC. A small south-facing terrace on the 3rd floor benefits directly from the sun and the view over the colorful roofs of the neighborhood. In the new part of the house, partitioning is voluntarily minimized. The facades are left free to all partitions or doors; we flow along to enter the bathroom or walking closet.

Program: adding levels and renovating a house for a couple and two children
Location: rue de la Mare, Paris 20ème
Total net floor area: 170 m²
Creates net floor area: 98 m²
Total cost: 270 K € (all taxes included)
Client: Private
Project manager: Bang Architects (Nicolas and Nicolas Gaudard Hugoo)
Start of study: February 2009
Delivery: October 2010

Construction system:

• structural and facade: glued laminated douglas (untreated)
• floors and roof: pine wood panels (OSB)
• external wall: wooden frame wall + larch cladding
• insulation: 12 cm wood wool
• window frames: aluminum thermal break with double-glazing 6/16/6, argon, low emissivity
• covering: self-protected tar

Environmental approach:

• compact volume
• thermal insulation quality: wood wool on 12 cm
• no thermal bridges through “all wood”
• structural elements acting as shading in summer
• Low emissivity glass
• window frames with thermal bridges break
• natural light from all parts (except toilets) to reduce energy consumption
• healthy materials: wood, linoleum, wood wool, etc..

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Vol House by Estudio BaBO	Origami by Architects Collective	51A Gloucester Crescent by John Glew

Japanese studio Apollo Architects & Associates have completed a house in Tokyo, Japan, featuring a white rendered volume sitting on top of a concrete base and no exterior windows.

Called Shift, the house has been built around a central courtyard where glazed walls provide views into all of the interior spaces on both floors.

On the ground floor, the living room and kitchen are located on either side of the courtyard.

There are three bedrooms on the first floor, each with their own balcony and little garden.

Also on this floor is a yoga room, bathroom and workroom, all of which have views of the internal courtyard.

Photographs are by Masao Nishikawa.

More residential architecture on Dezeen »

The information that follows is from the architects:

SHIFT

Surrounding the site in the outskirts of Tokyo is lush green and a slow-paced environment. The building was commissioned by a family composed of the husband who manages an insurance company, the wife who works as a patternmaker and their two children. It was planned as a SOHO, with a space for the yoga classes run by the wife added to the house.

The distinguishing exterior consists of a wooden volume covered with a luminescent wall sitting on top of a base made of exposed concrete engrained with the texture of Japanese cedar. In sharp contrast to the exterior that is closed to the outside world, an inner courtyard pierces the center of the structure.

With a hollow center, the house is easy walk around and allows for the presence of family members to be felt from anywhere. The symbolic tree in the courtyard plays a central role in sustaining the equilibrium of the architecture.

On the ground floor, the living room and dining kitchen face each other across the courtyard while a sculptural staircase is positioned across the courtyard from the entrance. The staircase is symbolic in its presence and gives expansiveness to the spaces together with the courtyard.

On the first floor, the multi-purpose room is used for yoga classes and for other activities, while small gardens are positioned around bedrooms providing light and openings.

Incorporating an open-air garden within it, the house makes it possible to fully enjoy the Japanese four seasons. The contrast between the external and the internal will help to keep a fresh mind in everyday life.

Credit Information
Architecture : Satoshi Kurosaki/APOLLO Architects & Associates

Project Outline
Location : Tokyo
Date of Completion : April 2010
Principal Use : Private House
Structure : RC/1F,Wooden/2F
Site Area: 257.54m2

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Total Floor Area : 180.20m2 (99.37m2/1F, 80.83m2/2F)
Design Period : March 2009 – July 2009
Construction Period : October 2009 – April 2010
Structural Engineer : Kenta Masaki
Mechanical Engineer :-

Material Information
Exterior Finish : Exposed concrete/1F, photocatalytic paint/2F
Floor : Flooring
Wall : photocatalytic paint
Ceiling : cloth

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