Gehry presents new proposal for site opposite his Walt Disney Concert Hall

News: architect Frank Gehry has submitted new plans for a hotel and apartment complex to be located across the road from his Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

Frank Gehry’s original plans for the three-acre site on Grand Avenue were declined in 2006, but the architect is once again working alongside real estate developer Related Companies on a new vision that would see a pair of towers constructed opposite one of his most iconic buildings.

According to the LA Times, the complex will comprise a stacked arrangement of shops and restaurants arranged around a U-shaped plaza. The two towers will be positioned on either side, with the first housing a 300-room hotel and the second containing apartments for both rental and sale.

Grand Avenue complex by Frank Gehry and Related Companies

Landscaped terraces would cascade down the side of the complex, offering residents and guests a view towards the famous concert hall. There’s also an option to add an auditorium that could be used as both a performance space and a nightclub.

Proposals were submitted to planning officials on Monday. If approved, construction could begin in 2015 and be complete by 2018.

Gehry is also reported to be looking at the design of the Grand Avenue streetscape and could propose new paving and street lighting between the concert hall and the site. He recently complained about plans for a new subway line nearby, claiming it would ruin performances.

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Louisiana State Museum

Trahan Architects a imaginé à Natchitoches en Louisiane ce bâtiment surprenant Louisiana State Museum and Sports Hall of Fame. Permettant de combiner 2 univers différents entre l’aspect interne et externe, cette structure impressionnante relie le passé au futur, et ainsi rendre hommage à cet État des USA.

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‘Lucid Stead,’ Phillip K. Smith III’s Suh-Weet Mirrored Desert Cabin

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With dual degrees from RISD in both Fine Arts and Architecture, Phillip K. Smith has a good grasp of both expression and structure. Along with technical acumen in lighting design, these skills served him well for his “Lucid Stead” project, whereby he transformed a 70-year-old Joshua Tree homestead from weatherbeaten shack to web-friendly spectacle.

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By replacing every other siding board and all of the building’s apertures with mirrored glass, Smith has created a brilliantly striking structure that blends into the desert without disappearing or denying its true roots. (For you fans of ’80s X-Men comics, it looks like something the character Forge would have built.)

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And “Lucid Stead” fits in with the desert in more ways than one. Deserts offer more contrast that your average environment, what with blazing hot days and freezing cold nights. And as the sun goes down on Smith’s structure, so too does the building shift into something entirely different: A semi-transparent structure where LEDs within reveal cracks and seams, allowing one to glimpse the cross-bracing within.

(more…)

De Rotterdam represents “a new ambition in architecture” says Rem Koolhaas

Rem Koolhaas

At the launch of his giant De Rotterdam building last week, architect Rem Koolhaas discussed his home city and his latest contribution to it. “This building is not the same from any angle,” he said. “We consider that not so much an innovation but a new ambition in architecture” (+ transcript).

Described by OMA as a vertical city, the 150-metre building combines a hotel, offices and apartments within a grouping of glazed towers. It is positioned on the south bank of the Maas river in Rotterdam – a district that Koolhaas says became a “ghost town” after harbour activities moved away from the city centre in the 1980s and 90s.

“The reason that the De Rotterdam building is where it is, is simply because it became important for the city to project the next phase of its existence and to undo the ghost town,” he told journalists during a tour of OMA’s Rotterdam office. “This is not simply architectural ambition, but part of the ambition of the city.”

De Rotterdam by OMA

The building is made up of shifted volumes that share a single plinth, though Koolhaas said the original brief was for two separate structures. “We thought this degree of separation would lead to a very fragmented urban condition, so our idea was to have a base that combines these two operations,” he explained.

“As you move to different parts of the city, the building suggests a new identity or different identities,” he added. “I think it’s boring if a single building is the same from every angle.”

The architect revealed that the financial crisis of 2008 helped the building to be realised, following a series of funding issues and programme changes.

“The irony is that because of the last crisis, the building prices came down and it actually became possible to work with German contractors for the first time in the Netherlands,” he explained. “So the first crisis almost killed the project but the second crisis revived it.”

De Rotterdam by OMA

Koolhaas also discussed the post-war history of Rotterdam and his ideas about “Bigness” that informed the De Rotterdam project.

“There are ways – like how the Surrealists were able to combine an umbrella and a sewing machine in the same picture – that architecture can experiment with contrasts,” he said. “Rotterdam is a city where experimentation is very legitimate because it was entirely destroyed [during the war], so the whole idea of context is very relative here.”

See more images of the project in our earlier story or watch a video interview we filmed with Koolhaas during the launch.

Below is an edited transcript of what Koolhaas had to say about the project and the city:


“The main thing to understand about Rotterdam is that it was a city that was destroyed in the beginning of the war, therefore it is a very interesting city. The city was almost completely gone and only a few buildings were left. Of course it had to be rebuilt, which is why it is a very interesting subject for architects to work on. It is no coincidence that the vast majority of architects in the Netherlands live here.

“Although of course, we are not the first wave of architects, we are more like the seventh wave of architects that are operating here. The first wave was a very heroic group of architects, hardcore modernists who basically built slabs everywhere. By the 1960s, the city was back on its feet and had a very structured centre. The centre was mostly slabs, with some department buildings and some connected shopping tissue. When I was a child, Rotterdam was a kind of global example, so there were many excursions from developing countries to see what the future would look like.

“During the 1970s, people got nervous about modernity and wanted something more interesting. Everything became very small and humanistic, and nostalgia started to play a big role. That period came and went, and at that point all the harbour activity that was here started to withdraw and increasingly moved to the sea.

“By the 80s and 90s the city was no longer facing a busy harbour, but empty warehouses; it became a kind of ghost town. So the reason that the De Rotterdam building is where it is, is simply because it became important for the city to project the next phase of its existence and to undo the ghost town.

De Rotterdam by OMA

“A plan was launched in the late 80s to shift the south [of the city] to the other side of the river and it has been developed over time. It’s quite complicated in terms of scale and preparing the ground, but for the first time, there is a kind of critical mass there to justify this notion that the city could have this south side.

“So this is not simply architectural ambition, but part of the ambition of the city. I personally think it is very important that ambitions are not changed every four years, not just when political regimes change or when fashions change. To maintain a degree of consistency in urbanism is important.

“I can tell you a strange anecdote. In the late 70s in Amsterdam there was a kind of notorious project that was based on hexagons, the so-called Bijlmermeer [a housing development in Amsterdam]. In the late 90s, people started to criticise the inhumane conditions there. Then an Isreali 747 crashed into one of the slabs and then slowly but surely, people started to take it down and replace it with regular housing. Now we have a situation that regular housing is becoming unpopular, and that for preservation and cultural heritage some of these kinds of structures are being resurrected. It really shows the cycle of discredit. Credit is so fast that if you follow it, you simply cannot make a city any more.

OMA completes De Rotterdam "vertical city" complex

“So what we did with De Rotterdam, we started in the late 90s. It’s a building for developers, as by the late 90s the public sector simply didn’t have the money to realise this kind of vision, so they were collaborating with the private sector.

“We originally started with two sites and on both sites there was supposed to be a tower. When we started, we thought this degree of separation would lead to a very fragmented urban condition, so our idea was to have a base that combines these two operations.

“It was always clear that there would be housing, offices and a hotel, and all the facilities, but it was never quite clear in what proportion each element would be. We were thinking that flexibility was important for the project. In the end, what we did was develop a system where each of these elements could be shifted and could be changed and replaced with any of the other elements. So in a way its a diagram that shows, more or less, infinite flexibility in terms of programme.

“The building will always be perceived according to a single route or a single journey because – and this is the beautiful thing – it is on the other side of the river. The only way to get there is a single bridge. This means the way the building is perceived is predictable and therefore the design itself can explore that. So from far away it seems like a single mass, but as you get closer you realise its transparent and if you come closer again it becomes an oblique shape.

“The overall effect we tried to achieve was that as you move to different parts of the city, the building also suggests a new identity or different identities. I think it’s boring if a single building is the same from every angle. That is almost inevitable for skyscrapers. But this building is not the same from any angle, and perhaps this is the case even more with CCTV [the China Central Television Headquarters in Beijing]. We consider that not so much an innovation, but really a new ambition in architecture. It reaches every part of the city in a new way, with this changeable identity.

OMA completes De Rotterdam building

“In 1994 I wrote a piece called Bigness that explored the way in which architecture, beyond a certain scale, begins to respond to and is defined by different rules. In that essay, which really was addressed to Europeans, I suggested that contextualism was an important feature in debate. The interpretation of contextualism was that if you do a building in an environment with other buildings, the correct way is to do a building that is similar to the other buildings. Similar in scale and, if possible, similar in terms of expression.

“I was actually thinking that this was a very limiting way of thinking about it and that there is also another approach, which is to contrast. There are ways – like how the Surrealists were able to combine an umbrella and a sewing machine in the same picture – that architecture can experiment with those contrasts.

“Now Rotterdam is a city where that kind of experimentation is very legitimate because it was entirely destroyed, so the whole idea of context is very relative here. The city from the beginning was an experimental condition where you could experiment with those kind of things. This also explains why this building is cut into parts. The height relates to the taller elements, but the cut allows it to also relate to the lower elements. So the elements accommodates these two scales.

OMA completes De Rotterdam building

“We started [working on the project] in 1998, but in 2001 there was 9/11 and that created a downward spiral. Then there was [the recession of] 2008, so we barely had moments when we were sure that it would happen. But the irony is that because of the last crisis, the building prices came down and it actually became possible to work with German contractors for the first time in the Netherlands. So the first crisis almost killed the project but the second crisis revived it.

“Initially there was much more articulation. You could see housing, you could see hotels, but then almost all architecture had articulation so we decided that we were confident in the sculpture of the building, simply by treating it as an object rather than a building. In reality, that is what it is like; it is not part of the world of architecture.

“Journalists think that architects today can be wilful or playful but the pressure we work under is really extreme. I’m not complaining about it, but the idea that we can do what we want is deeply misplaced in whatever country or environment.”

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Robot tractors to farm crops on sloping roof of Milan expo pavilion

News: robotic tractors will create patterns across a field of crops on the roof of this pavilion that Italian architect Carlo Ratti has designed for the World Expo 2015 in Milan.

Working alongside engineering firm RecchiEngineering, Carlo Ratti Associati has designed the pavilion for agricultural brand New Holland, which plans to present an exhibition dedicated to sustainable farming at the international exhibition opening next spring.

Earth Screening by Carlo Ratti

Two self-driving tractors will be positioned on the gently sloping roof of the building, intended to demonstrate the growing role that robotics plays in agriculture.

“The idea of Earth Screening is not just about self-driving tractors that can draw patterns on the roof of the building,” said Ratti. “It is about how we can sense and respond to the conditions of the soil to a degree that was impossible before. This points to a future where an agricultural field could be considered as a giant base for ‘agricultural printing’, with major advantages foreseen in terms of plant biodiversity and resource preservation.”

Earth Screening by Carlo Ratti

Responding to the exhibition theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”, the zero-emissions tractors will be powered entirely by electricity generated onsite.

“In the same way as self-driving cars are expected to revolutionise urban mobility, advanced robotic technologies are reshaping agriculture, with a new wave of innovations helping us to better respond to local terrain conditions,” added the architect.

Earth Screening by Carlo Ratti
Diagrammatic section

The interior spaces of the pavilion will present an exhibition of other agricultural equipment using large digital displays.

“While the roof uses real moving tractors, inside the pavilion we tried to reproduce the working conditions of other key pieces of agricultural equipment – from tractors to combine harvesters – in a physical and digital way,” said Walter Nicolino, an architect at Carlo Ratti Associati.

The pavilion will remain in place for the duration of the expo, which takes place between May and October, before being dismantled and reconstructed in a new location.

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of Milan expo pavilion
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Nook’s Barcelona apartment refurb removes walls but leaves original tiled floors intact

Spanish architects Nook have renovated a small apartment in Barcelona‘s gothic quarter, leaving decorative floor tiles in place to reveal the original layout of the flat (+ slideshow).

Roc 3 apartment in Barcelona by Nook

Called Roc3, the conversion is the third that Nook Architects have carried out in the same building, following Casa Roc and Twin House.

Roc 3 apartment in Barcelona by Nook

“We have followed the same conceptual thread in all three projects, highlighting the original envelope,” the architects told Dezeen. “We have retained all original floors as much as possible, and they have been left exactly in the original place, so you can read the old distribution of the apartment.”

Roc 3 apartment in Barcelona by Nook

It has become fashionable to retain old tiles in Barcelona apartment conversions; see more projects that use this technique in our slideshow.

Roc 3 apartment in Barcelona by Nook

Nook removed some of the original internal partitions to optimise space, creating a combined living room and kitchen on the street side of the apartment, and a bedroom and bathroom on the courtyard side.

Roc 3 apartment in Barcelona by Nook

“We thought it correct to once again incorporate the washbasin in the bedroom to make a better use of natural light and to enlarge the sensation of open space,” the architects said.

Roc 3 apartment in Barcelona by Nook

The bathroom of the one-bedroom apartment has a second door into the entrance hall, meaning that guests sleeping over in the lounge can access it without disturbing the owner.

Roc 3 apartment in Barcelona by Nook

Nook used a more industrial palette of materials than in the previous two conversions, in order to save money and create longer-lasting fixtures.

Roc 3 apartment in Barcelona by Nook

A row of suspended steel storage boxes backed with chicken wire separates the bedroom from the bathroom. The waist-high partition is made of white-painted clay bricks.

Roc 3 apartment in Barcelona by Nook

Much of the furniture was sourced from a local second-hand store while the dining table is topped with an old door. Walls are left unpainted in places, revealing layers of faded plaster and old tile adhesive.

Roc 3 apartment in Barcelona by Nook

“In all three projects, we have used modular furniture for the kitchen and the bath, concrete floors, ceramic tiles and translucent polycarbonate for interior doors,” the architects said. “The other furniture, door frames and accessories have been made in steel, not like in the other two first projects which were made of wood. The idea is to use neutral materials which can last and get older in a good way.”

Photography is by Nieve.

Here’s some text from the architects:


ROC3 | apartment in Barcelona, third intervention | nookarchitects

With ROC3 we reached the end of a cycle, the renovation of three, very similar, but different apartments on a single building in Barcelona’s gothic quarter.

We were recently advised that in times of economic crisis, as architects, we had to look for a formula to obtain products with scalability to optimise our resources. We understood that a product with scalability was the repetition of valid solutions from one project to the other, a difficult approach within the refurbishment industry. In the midst of that search for a common denominator the opportunity to rehabilitate ROC3 arrived- another diamond in the rough on the very same building where we had done two previous interventions: CASA ROC and TWIN HOUSE.

Floor plan before renovation of Roc Cubed apartment conversion in Barcelona by Nook
Floor plan before renovation – click for larger image

We approached the project thinking that we could apply the same parameters as in TWIN HOUSE due to the fact that it was a very similar apartment in terms of dimensions, orientation and pre-set requirements.

This meant placing the daytime space towards the Street, the bedroom towards the interior courtyard, and placing the kitchen and bathroom against the median Wall in the form of a humid strip. What seemed obvious, however, was not possible due to the fact that the sanitary drainpipe changed its position on this apartment from the one in TWIN HOUSE, so we had to look for a new solution for placing the bathroom.

Floor plan after renovation of Roc Cubed apartment conversion in Barcelona by Nook
Floor plan after renovation – click for larger image

We thought it correct to once again incorporate the washbasin in the bedroom to make a better use of natural light and to enlarge the sensation of open space. This time we separated it from the rest of the room with a low Wall and suspended iron cubes that allow storage from both sides. These same cubes were also used to create night tables and extra storage space for recipe books and utensils in the kitchen.

The shower and water closet have independent entries, but can be closed using a single sliding door, a solution first use don CASA ROC. The water closet can also be accessed from the main entry through a second door, which gives the option of guests using this space without having to enter the bedroom. This way, boundaries were set between one space and the other without creating a visual barrier.

Long section of Roc Cubed apartment conversion in Barcelona by Nook
Long section – click for larger image

The building’s structure and closings are very irregular, so we introduced lineal elements that counterpoint these irregularities and set order within the space. Amongst these elements are a close hanger that integrates lighting (borrowed from TWIN HOUSE) and connects itself with the support of the suspended cubes and the sliding door’s guide. Wood was used to set limits on the pavement which regulates the traces of the previously existing partition walls. This was also synthetised on the living room lamp.

ROC3 was about applying new ideas to new challenges, but maintaining the spirit behind CASA ROC and TWIN HOUSE in which we searched for the original spirit of the building and subtly intervened to achieve today’s levels of comfort while harmonising with the building’s history.

Roc Cubed apartment conversion in Barcelona by Nook
Section – click for larger image

Architects: Nook Architects
Location: Barcelona, España
Year:  2013
Furniture: Casa Jornet, Sillas-Muebles

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but leaves original tiled floors intact
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Studio Fuksas completes Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport

Thousands of hexagonal skylights bring natural light into this new terminal that Italian architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas have completed at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport in China (+ slideshow).

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

Terminal 3 more than doubles the capacity of the existing airport, which is located 32 kilometres north-west of Shenzhen’s city centre. It is set to open later this week and will facilitate up to 45 million passengers per year.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

Studio Fuksas looked at the shapes of various living creatures when planning the layout of the complex. “The concept of the plan for Terminal 3 of Shenzen Bao’an international airport evokes the image of a manta ray, a fish that breathes and changes its own shape, undergoes variations, [and] turns into a bird to celebrate the emotion and fantasy of a flight,” said the architects.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

A curving roof canopy constructed from steel and glass wraps around the airport, accommodating spans of up to 80 metres. Hexagonal skylights perforate the surface of this roof, allowing natural light to filter through the entire terminal.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

This pattern, which the architects describe as a honeycomb, is reflected in the polished tile floor, as well as on the stainless steel check-in desks and gates designed especially for the airport by Studio Fuksas.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

“The interiors have a sober profile and a stainless steel finish that reflects and multiplies the honeycomb motif of the internal skin,” said the architects.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

The concourse is divided across three levels, allowing separate floors for arrivals, departures and servicing, and voids in the floor-plates create a series of double- and triple-height spaces.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

Cylindrical white columns are positioned at intervals to support the arching roof and sit alongside air-conditioning vents designed to look like chunky trees.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

This is the first airport by Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas, whose previous projects include the Lycée Georges Frêche school for hotel management in France and Foligno Church in Italy. The architects are now working on two further extensions to the airport, which will complete in 2025 and 2035.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

Read on for more information from the design team:


Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, Terminal 3

The highly anticipated new terminal at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, Guangdong, China, will be operational from the 28 November, 2013.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

The first airport by acclaimed architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas it is set to become an iconic landmark that will boost the economic development of Shenzhen – one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

Won by international competition, it has undergone a remarkably rapid process of design and construction, completing within 3 years.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

The client, Shenzhen Airport (Group) Co., is so pleased with the striking design that it is taking the unusual step of trying to copyright it.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

The terminal – the largest single public building to be built to date in Shenzhen – encompasses 63 contact gates, with a further 15 remote gates and significant retail space. It will increase the capacity of the airport by 58%, allowing the airport to handle up to 45 million passengers per year.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

The sculptural 500,000 sq.m. / 5,381,955 sq.ft (approx) terminal, evokes the image of a manta ray and features a striking internal and external double ‘skin’ honeycomb motif that wraps the structure. At 1.5 km long, with roof spans of up to 80m, honeycomb shaped metal and glass panels punctuate the façade of the terminal allowing natural light to filter through. On the interior, the terminal is characterised by distinctive white conical supporting columns that rise to touch the roof at a cathedral-like scale.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

The focal point of the design is the concourse located at the intersection of the building. Consisting of three levels – departure, arrivals and services – they vertically connect to create full height voids, allowing natural light to filter from the highest level down to the lowest.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

Studio Fuksas has created an interior, as striking and elegant as the exterior. The spatial concept is one of fluidity and combines two different ideas: the idea of movement and the idea of pause. Carefully considering the human experience of such environments, Studio Fuksas focused on processing times, walking distances, ease of orientation, crowding, and availability of desired amenities.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

Stand-out features of the interior design include stylised white ‘trees’ that serve as air conditioning vents, and check-in ‘islands’, gates and passport-check areas with a stainless steel finish that beautifully reflect the honeycomb patterns from above.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

The honeycomb motif translates through into many aspects of the interior and at different scales – from the larger retail boxes to smaller 3D imprints in the wall cover.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

The Studio Fuksas designed Terminal 3 is of critical importance to the future of Shenzhen as a booming business and tourist destination, and will bring benefits to the region as a whole.

Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport by Studio Fuksas

Studio Fuksas are engaged on two further phases of the airport extension, scheduled to complete in 2025 and 2035 respectively.

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Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport
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KLEMET

Environmental theater scene in Hemnes, Norway for a play about the dramatic life of a powerful shaman Klemet turning the whole valley into a shaman dr..

Vaulted brick pavilion in Barcelona by Map13

Spanish architecture collective Map13 combined a traditional Spanish construction technique with digital design tools to create this vaulted brick pavilion in a Barcelona courtyard (+ slideshow).

Bricktopia by map13

Named Bricktopia, the structure was designed by Map13 using a Catalan vault – a method where plain bricks are laid lengthways across gently curved forms to create a series of smooth low arches.

Bricktopia by map13

“Unlike the construction that can be seen these days, this project aims to restore the expertise and imagination of the building hands,” explained the architects.

Bricktopia by map13

The structure was conceived using three-dimensional modelling software program Rhino and a plugin called Rhinovault. This enabled the architects to test the geometries of the structure and adapt it so that only compression stresses act on the vault.

Bricktopia by map13

This approach is based on a prototype developed by researchers Philippe Block, Matthias Rippman and Lara Davis at the Technical University of Zurich.

Bricktopia by map13
Photography by eme3

“This research collects the material tradition and the constructive knowledge of tile vaulting and combines them with contemporary computational tools,” said the designers.

Bricktopia by map13
Photography by eme3

The structure was built by architecture students and volunteers, who used criss-crossing metal rods and pieces of cardboard to outline the basic frame.

Bricktopia by map13

The completed structure comprised four vaulted spaces with curved openings that form doors and windows.

Bricktopia by map13

Bricktopia was constructed as part of the Eme3 International Festival of Architecture, which took place in June, and was used to host a programme of summer events including talks, activities and film projections.

Bricktopia by map13

Photography is by Manuel de Lózar and Paula López Barba, unless otherwise stated.

Here is some more information from the architects:


Bricktopia, Contemporary Crafts Festival EME3

Bricktopia, by the architects of the international collective Map13, is the winning project in the “Build-it” category at the International Festival of Architecture Eme3 held from the 27th to 30th of June in Barcelona. It can be visited during this summer at one of the courtyards of the former factory Fabra i Coats, in the district of Sant Andreu.

Bricktopia by map13

This intervention configures a new square where different activities can be performed, both under the building and around it. It includes bathing public spaces and sundecks, a bar and a stage for enjoying the summer 2013.

Bricktopia by map13

It is a vaulted structure made of brick using a traditional construction technique called tile-vault (or “Catalan vault”). It has been designed with new digital tools to optimise the structure through geometry. The proposal is the result of the academic research currently carried out by Marta Domènech Rodríguez, David López López and Mariana Palumbo Fernández, co-founders of the group Map13, with the help of different Professors from different fields and various schools of architecture.

Bricktopia by map13

This construction takes as a reference the prototype built by Philippe Block, Matthias Rippman and Lara Davis at the Technical University of Zurich, with which they demonstrated the reliability of “RhinoVault”, a plug-in for Rhinoceros, used to design the pavilion.

Bricktopia by map13

As “Bricktopia” is a pilot project which makes this traditional technique work to its limits, its implementation has required the expansion of the team, which has been enlarged with Paula López Barba and Josep Brazo Ramírez. The construction has also required the effort of Eme3 festival that gives support to young talented people to carry out their projects, the sponsorship of the companies that contributed with workforce and materials and the help of volunteers and students of architecture.

Bricktopia by map13

This research collects the material tradition and the constructive knowledge of tile vaulting and combines them with contemporary computational tools. This project, developed in the enclosed area of a nineteenth-century factory made of brick, uses the same material raising a new topography in the old courtyard. However, it is opposed to the industrial construction offering a concave and protected space that links the origins of all cultures.

Bricktopia by map13

The vaulted pavilion sets out the contemporary validity of this traditional system, native of Catalonia and widely used in various parts of the world for centuries. It is economical, sustainable, with formal and functional versatility and nowadays it is also offering the possibility of being built in developing countries for roofs, stairs, drainage systems, etc.

Bricktopia by map13

Unlike the construction that can be seen these days, this project aims to restore the expertise and imagination of the building hands. “Bricktopia” has been built by excellent builders who have made an unprecedented craftsmanship. The challenge that requires good layout in tile vault construction, specially with a complex shape like this one, suggests the work as an opposite to the mechanical work.

Bricktopia by map13
Site plan – click for larger image
Bricktopia by map13
Plan – click for larger image
Bricktopia by map13
Concpet drawings – click for larger images
Bricktopia by map13
Section and perspective

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by Map13
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Rusty steel tower over Roman ruins by Marte.Marte Architects

This rusty metal tower was designed by Austrian studio Marte.Marte Architects to help tourists locate excavated Roman ruins on the outskirts of a town in western Austria (+ slideshow).

Rusty steel tower by Marte.Marte Architects frames Roman ruins in Austria

Stefan Marte of Marte.Marte Architects created the structure between the remains of two Roman villas at the location of an ancient traffic intersection in Brederis. Few traces of the original buildings remain, so the new installation provides the only landmark above ground level.

Rusty steel tower by Marte.Marte Architects frames Roman ruins in Austria

“The tower-like sculpture is designed to make the excavation site visible for miles around,” Marte told Dezeen.

Rusty steel tower by Marte.Marte Architects frames Roman ruins in Austria

Primarily constructed from Corten steel, the ten-metre tower has a glazed lower section that exposes a hollow centre, allowing visitors to look down to the underground remains.

Rusty steel tower by Marte.Marte Architects frames Roman ruins in Austria

“The tower acts like a magnifying glass, offering an insight into history,” said the architect, whose previous projects include a holiday home with roughly hewn concrete walls and a twisted concrete bridge.

Rusty steel tower by Marte.Marte Architects frames Roman ruins in Austria

A platform extends from one side of the structure to create a standing area, while an adjacent wall displays replicas of Roman objects. Both were also constructed from pre-weathered steel that has been riveted together.

Rusty steel tower by Marte.Marte Architects frames Roman ruins in Austria

“Corten steel was chosen for its naturalness and purity, making it the ideal material for an expressive landmark in the vast, open landscape,” added Marte.

Rusty steel tower by Marte.Marte Architects frames Roman ruins in Austria

“The texture of the stainless steel rivets is reminiscent of the intricacy of Roman chain armour.”

Rusty steel tower by Marte.Marte Architects frames Roman ruins in Austria

Stones unearthed during the archeological dig were used to build low walls above the ancient foundations of the two villas, revealing the original locations of walls.

Rusty steel tower by Marte.Marte Architects frames Roman ruins in Austria

Photography is by Marc Lins.

Here’s a short project description from Marte.Marte Architects:


Roman Villa, Feldkirch 2008

The excavations at the roman villa in Brederis offer important insights on Roman settlement history in the Feldkirch area.

Rusty steel tower by Marte.Marte Architects frames Roman ruins in Austria

A walk-in sculpture was planted between the remnants of the foundations of two different house types. The disc-like tower and the space creating wall fragments along a trapezoid-shaped plateau stage the location in front of the collection of findings.

Rusty steel tower by Marte.Marte Architects frames Roman ruins in Austria

The use of Corten steel throughout permeates the site with an historic aura and underscores the sculpted effect of the free form that helps make the excavation site a landmark.

Floor plan of Rusty steel tower by Marte.Marte Architects frames Roman ruins in Austria
Floor plan – click for larger image

Client: City of Rankweil
Location: 6830 Rankweil-Brederis

Rusty steel tower by Marte.Marte Architects frames Roman ruins in Austria
Section – click for larger image

Architecture: Marte.Marte Architekten ZT GmbH, Weiler
Arch.DI Bernhard Marte
Arch.DI Stefan Marte
Exhibition area: 42m2

Elevations of Rusty steel tower by Marte.Marte Architects frames Roman ruins in Austria
Elevations – click for larger image

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