Hasta La Ideas

Photographer Montse Zamorano has sent us his photographs of Álvaro Siza’s recently-completed auditorium for the Universidad del País Vasco in Bilbao.

Called Paraninfo de la Universidad del País Vasco, the L-shaped upper storeys create a terrace at first-floor level.

The inside faces of the L are clad in grey tiles, while the remaining facades are clad in white marble.

The project sits opposite the Nueva Biblioteca de la Universidad de Deusto by architect Rafael Moneo, opened in 2007, with the two five-storey buildings forming a gateway to the Abandoibarra area of the city.

Photographs are copyright Montse Zamorano.

Here’s some more information from the architects (in Spanish):

El Edificio BBK Paraninfo se sitúa en la antigua zona portuaria de la ría de Bilbao, transformada hoy gracias a un ambicioso proyecto de ciudad y en la que se han sucedido actuaciones de gran relevancia.

Destacan obras como el Museo Guggenheim de Frank Gehry, la Biblioteca de Deusto de Rafael Moneo, la Torre Hiberdrola de César Pelli…

El planeamiento preveía dos edificios de cinco plantas, al inicio de la calle Ramón Rubial (de gran desnivel), para configurar una especie de puerta al interior del sector.

De un lado la Biblioteca de la Universidad de Deusto, volumen rotundo y autónomo (en parte construido cuando se produce el encargo), y del otro el Paraninfo.

En la parte trasera, al Suroeste, surge el imponente volumen de la torre con una altura de coronación de 176.30 metros.
La edificación en Planta Baja ocupa toda la parcela, mientras que en las plantas superiores son dos brazos en “L” al Sur y Oeste, configurando un gran vacío con la Biblioteca y la ría.

Ese vacío genera, en Planta Primera, una terraza de 1162.5m2 ajardinada en su mayor parte.

Es en la cara interior de esta “L” donde se desarrollan las circulaciones con ventanas corridas proporcionando vistas a la ría y al verde de la ladera Norte.

En Planta Baja, centrado, se encuentra el auditorio principal (Paraninfo) con servicios anexos, una tienda y el gran vestíbulo-distribuidor acristalado, muy permeable con el paseo de la ría y el movimiento que en ella se produce.

En cambio, en los pisos superiores la relación es más controlada, con ventanas y antepecho.

En Planta Primera, la conexión de las salas de museo con la terraza es a través de la zona de circulación.

La Planta Segunda con salas de diferentes tamaños de apoyo al auditorio principal y una sala para los fondos de museo.
En la Planta Tercera se alberga la Sala de Consejo para las reuniones del máximo órgano de gobierno de la universidad, despacho del Rector y anexos y otros despachos.

La Planta Cuarta con despachos en el ala Oeste e instalaciones y patio de ventilación en el ala Sur.

La Planta Quinta (en el ala Norte) con instalaciones y un patio de ventilación.

El edificio tiene una volumetría rotunda que se intensifica tanto por el material, todo recubierto de Mármol Macael, como por los recortes de huecos bien delimitados y estratégicamente colocados.

Sólo en el interior de la “L” es de un material diferente, con azulejo de fabricación semiartesanal que con su textura multiplica los matices y reflejos:

“Se abren a la ría y al verde de la ladera a Norte tres cuerpos en constante vibración.

La materia de cada uno de ellos envía a los otros y al paisaje renovados reflejos: titanio del Guggenheim, vidrio de la Biblioteca, azulejo del Paraninfo.”

FECHA: 2005 – 2010

Arquitecto Proyectista:
Álvaro Siza Vieira Arquitecto

Ejecutivo:
Ramón Losada

Arquitectos coordinadores de proyecto:
Miguel Nery (Proyecto Básico)
Antonio Mota (Proyecto de Ejecución y obra, estructura)
José Manuel Pelegrín Santacruz (obra, estructura y acabados)

Arquitectos colaboradores:
Abajo Castrillo, Begoña de Alves Teixeira, Patricia Abreu, Luis Bataller Alberola, Lola Campello, Gonçalo D ́Agostino, Matteo María Ferreira Krüguer, Duarte Nuno Gutiérrez Peinado, Daniel Ruiz Rubio, Eduardo Javier Silva, José Pedro Santiago

Proyectos Técnicos:
IIngeniero de Estructuras: Jorge Silva y Raquel Dias (GOP)
Ingeniera de Aguas y Saneamiento: Raquel Fernandes (GOP)
Ingeniero de Instalaciones Eléctricas y Seguridad: Alexandre Martins (GPIC)
Ingeniero de Instalaciones Mecánicas: Raul Bessa (GET)
Ingeniero de Acústica: Octavio Inácio
Arquitecto Técnico: Arturo Gastaminza
Ingeniero telecomunicaciones: Älvaro Ubierna
Coordinación Seguridad y Salud: CERTUM S.A.
Estructuras: Egia Ingenieros s.c.p
Gestión de proyecto y construcción: IDOM

Constructor:
UTE Paraninfo (Cimentaciones Rodio/ Kronsa)
Construcciones y Promociones Balzola S.A
Elecnor
Prosegur

Cliente:
BBK, Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa
Cedido a UPV (Universidad del País Vasco)

Localización:
Bilbao , Avda. Abandoibarra no 3

See also:

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Mimesis Museum by Álvaro Siza	Duccio Malagamba photographs Álvaro Siza works	Bilbao culture and leisure sentre by Philippe Starck

Dutch practice HVDN architecten have completed this wood and aluminium-clad building to temporarily house a school in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Called Het 4e Gymnasium, the modular building has a square plan constructed around an internal courtyard and features a wooden façade, interrupted by coloured aluminium panels.

The courtyard is the heart of the school providing an easy circulation route between classrooms.

The modular construction method means it can be altered or moved to another location easily.

A permanent school is due for construction within the next five to ten years.

See more buildings for education in our Dezeen archive »

Photographs are by John Lewis Marshall.

The information that follows is from the architects:

het 4e gymnasium, amsterdam
education building houthavens

location

Until recently the area where the school is build was an open, undefined space with scattered placed industrial buildings. Meanwhile, due to problems with the development-zoning plan, the area is temporarily in use. By now it has changed into a lively spot, a “place to be” for the city with several restaurants, artist studios and student housing.

In 2007, it has been decided that the 4th Gymnasium will get a place in this new area that is called the Houthavens. However, it will take some years before the permanent school is built. Until that time, the coming five to ten years, an interim building will be used. To give the building the same qualities as the new housing estate, it is built in a modular system, in order to make it is possible to use it afterwards on several other places in Amsterdam.

courtyard

To create an enclosed inner space in this open area, the program is situated around a court. The sport facilities with a gym and fitness are situated behind the education building. Besides the court, the 4th Gymnasium has an open schoolyard, a sport field and it can use the present beach. This way all the qualities of the Houthavens are very well used. The 4200 m2 building is besides the profession rooms provided with modern supplies, such as a media centre, an auditory and a large auditorium.

The court is the heart of the school. Both in the courtyard and in the circulation space, which is situated adjacent to the court, movement will take place during daytime. In the inner courtyard seats are made which makes the court an perfect sheltered spot for students to meet. The hallways around the court are used to go from one classroom to another. Much attention has been given to the charisma of this circulation space. This space is made very transparent and provided with bay-windows with study spots and sitting areas where students and professors can study or work quietly.

character

The facade has two effects that intensify the character of the building. The plinth is made of flat, coloured aluminium panels and continuously follows through into the facade of the courtyard; the plinth as a foretoken of the colour explosion in the court. The wooden facade has been developed more spatially and in depth and gives the building plasticity. This expressive modular built facade is hard to distinguish from a traditional facade because of a number of innovations, which prevents the monotonous picture of piled up units.

By choosing a relative deep outside facade, it was possible to bring on relief. Under the frame, the facade withdraws 20 cm through which the image of two piled up arcades is created. Also the seams between the modules are hidden; the wooden front parts are built from narrow planks, which are placed vertically and on small distance from each other.

Through the number of artificial seams that arises, the real seams become invisible. At the plinth and the facade of the courtyard, the seams are hidden behind the rhythmic placed coloured aluminium boards of different widths. These creative solutions give the school a permanent and nevertheless dynamic charisma: the solution as the strength of the design.

movable

4e the gymnasium shows that modular building has gone through a large development the past couple of years. It is no longer a synonym to uniformity. The school has both on technically and aesthetic area qualities and a level of finishing which is similar to permanent traditional construction. At the same time the building is very flexible in several aspects. It is movable and can be used where is necessary the coming years. And because of the modular construction it can change easily with changing of the user’s wishes as a result of which the life span of the building is extended.

project information

Design: HVDN architecten
address: gevleweg, amsterdam
design team: albert herder, arie van der neut, stijn de jongh
project team: albert herder, pascal bemelmans, nils van ipenburg, jan-pieter penders

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architectural engineering: jean-marc saurer
cliënt: stadsdeel westerpark amsterdam, esprit-scholengroep, gemeente amsterdam dmo
contractor: ursum bouwgroep bv, Wognum
design-completion: 2008
building costs: € 4.500.000,

See also:

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Educational Centre by Alejandro Muñoz Miranda	West Buckland School by Rundell Associates	Les Lauréades by Lanoire & Courrian

This mountainside house by G2 Estudio in Argentine Patagonia is wrapped in a stone and wood facade.

Called Ribbon House, the single-family home is criss-crossed internally by diagonal columns and windows.

Overlapping planes form canopies and terraces.

More residential architecture on Dezeen »

Here’s a bit of text from the architects:

Ribbon House

The juxtaposition of the different volumes between the public and private spaces of the house, the social and family life, gives place to a dynamic walk-through while the users visit the different instances of the house.

This way we can appreciate an up-down experience, connecting all the corners in the house.

The morphology and materials used, were thought to achieve that the strong transform in fragil, the solid in ethereal, the supported in support, the dynamic in static, and vice versa.

So the house is a search between the balance, juxtaposition, ribbon, viewing-point, vital tour, and hug.

Country: Argentina
City: San Carlos de Bariloche, Arelauquen G&CC

Surface: 320 m2
Program: One-family housing

Architects: G2 ESTUDIO

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See also:

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VitraHaus by Herzog & de Meuron	Casa Orquidea by Andrés Remy Architects	More architecture on Dezeen

Paul Goldberger doesn’t think much of it, some of its hotels are trying to set its own guests on fire, and Norman Foster can’t catch a break with his seemingly-cursed contribution to it. Add to those woes some fairly poor financials and it’s just par for the course at Las Vegas’ massive, starchitect-littered, still less than a year-old CityCenter development. Now some more dire news as the Las Vegas Sun files this report on something Goldberger and other architecture critics touched on in their reviews of the multi-billion dollar mixed-used plot of glitz and glitter: that pedestrians seem to not to want to go near the place. As you can imagine, for something that’s basically just a gigantic mall you can sleep in and gamble at, this isn’t how its owners were hoping things would play out. The problem, the Sun says, is a combination of a number of things: a lack of clear signage, an imposing exterior, an uninviting entrance, too far a distance from the main thoroughfare of The Strip, etc. The paper offers the words of a number of city planning critics, including that the entrance “has all the pleasantness of an airport terminal.” The owners of CityCenter have vowed to fix the problem, adding new paths and landscaping, and mentioning that it always takes time to iron out all the details. Meanwhile, the Sun throws in more than a few examples of similar developments who even some ironing weren’t enough to fix the outcome of their ultimate demise.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The brand new Art of the Americas Wing at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston threw open its glass doors last weekend. We were excited to attend opening day on Saturday and stepped into the new 121,307-square-foot “giant jewelry box” addition, and took in all that Foster + Partners had to offer. The glass-enclosed Shapiro Family Courtyard was designed as a focal gathering point for visitors to meet, relax, and bathe in natural light. Composed of double- and triple-glazed glass supported by a steel frame, the space is also lined with twenty 6-by-4-foot MDF light-diffusing panels that are installed in the facade. Arranged chronologically on four floors, the galleries lead visitors to travel through time as they rise vertically.

While the courtyard was absolutely teeming on Community Opening Day with Bostonian families and eager museum-trotters, the lingering question is: will the Courtyard space be a vivacious or uninhabited connecting space between the new wing to the rest of the museum? Unlike their famous canopied Kogod Courtyard at the Smithsonian in DC, Foster + Partners designed the MFA’s to be freestanding with open-air landcapes on either side, in order to comply with Boston’s seismic codes. The ‘floating’ staircase serves as an elegant passageway to the galleries, and also provides delicately articulated landings from which to view the entire space at three different levels. It houses a new Ken Oringer restaurant as well, which takes on a very dominant role in the center and will create themed menus to go with different art exhibitions. The tables and chairs may keep the space from looking empty when crowds are thin, but could take away from the open space necessary for the serendipitous acts of resting and gathering.

Nonetheless, the MFA is transforming the way it embraces contemporary art and modern design, and it is blazing a trail that would behoove the rest of Boston to follow.

More photos after the jump.

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