Hasta La Ideas

This concrete staircase into the air by Lisbon architecture studio Ateliermob functions as a riverside amphitheatre on the banks of the Tagus in central Portugal (+ slideshow).

Positioned on the northern shore of the river near the village of Rio de Moinhos, the structure is built on the site of an old fishing boat dock that had fallen out of use due to regular flooding.

Ateliermob‘s brief was to create a public installation on the site. To withstand the changing water levels, the intervention needed a solid structure that would resist decay even if submerged for a few days a year.

The chunky concrete bleachers rise up in a northerly direction, facing a stage that cantilevers out across the riverbank. A telescope is mounted at the very top, while rectangular concrete benches and tables provide a picnic area on one side.

“The new element wipes out the boundary between land and water, projecting itself on the river, and on a flat terrain it erupts in the air as a reference in the landscape,” say the architects.

The Rio de Moinhos Open-Air Theatre is the latest in a series of riverside installations designed by Ateliermob for the banks of the Tagus since 2007.

Other amphitheatres on Dezeen include a summer theatre in Estonia and a stage set in Sicily designed by OMA.

Photography is by Zoraima de Figueiredo.

Read on for more details from Ateliermob:

Rio de Moinhos Open Air Theatre

Following an international competition for the banks of the Tagus River in four counties in central Portugal where ateliermob got the first prize, they were asked to design three projects in the municipality of Abrantes.

Located on the right bank of the Tagus River, near the village of Rio de Moinhos, the Cais das Barcas served as a fishing boat dock and transported people and goods between the two banks. Over the years, that space lost its essence, both due to the nearly non-existent maintenance as the constant flooding of the Tagus (the height of the pier is +18.00 m, and the 1979 flood overflowed the river, which rose to 31.00 m).

Following a study of the dynamics of the local population, which can be characterised as having intense activity in recreational and popular associations, and it was understood that an outdoor space that could serve as an informal area for groups and communities and that could withstand submersion for a few days of the year. The new element wipes out the boundary between land and water, projecting itself on the river, and on a flat terrain it erupts in the air as a reference in the landscape.

The project seeks to recreate a place that spring-starts from the renovation of the pier, adding new collective reference meanings and uses. A new space for the local people that acts as a gathering place for the community or as an idyllic meeting place. The entire area around the auditorium, parallel to the existing dock, is redrawn maintaining its natural character, yet providing it with urban furniture – benches and tables for a more effective use by the population. Rio de Moinhos has experienced a difficult relationship with the river, noticeable its urban morphology – from times of flooding to times of drought. Every year, during the rainy season, this structure may become partially submerse.

The proposed structure seeks to reclassify the area, creating a new meeting space for the local community. When no events are taking place, this amphitheatre will be ideal to contemplate the river, the landscape and from its highest point, Rio de Moinhos.

Project: Rio de Moinhos Open Air Theatre
Place: Rio de Moinhos, Abrantes, Portugal
Promoter: Câmara Municipal de Abrantes (city council)
Construction: Construforte – Sociedade de construções e Empreitadas, Lda
Architecture: ateliermob – Andreia Salavessa and Tiago Mota Saraiva with Vera João, João Torres, Ana Luísa Cunha, Zofia Józefowicz and Sophia Walk (competition: Carolina Condeço, Nuno Ferreira)
Structures: Betar Estudos – José Pedro Venâncio and Maria do Carmo Vieira
Lights: João Pedro Osório

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by Ateliermob appeared first on Dezeen.

Prayer rooms with walls of red concrete lead out to a staggered sequence of graveyards at this Islamic cemetery in western Austria by local studio Bernardo Bader Architects (+ slideshow).

Located within the Alpine countryside, the cemetery serves the eight-percent Muslim population in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and comprises a simple rectilinear building with five burial enclosures.

Bernardo Bader Architects used red-tinted concrete for the construction of the building and its surrounding walls. The surfaces remain exposed both inside and outside the complex, revealing the rectangular imprints of wooden formwork.

A long rectangular window stretches across the facade, screened by a latticed oak framework that displays one of the traditional patterns of Islamic mashrabiya screens.

The building accommodates both prayer rooms and assembly halls. The largest room opens out to a private courtyard and features lighting fixtures set into circular ceiling recesses.

The five rectangular graveyards are lined up at the back of the building. Each one contains several trees, benches and small patches of grass.

Completed in 2011, the Islamic Cemetery is one of 20 projects on the shortlist for the Aga Khan Award 2013. Five or six finalists will be revealed later this year and will compete to win the $1 million prize.

Other architect-designed cemeteries completed in recent years include a seaside graveyard in Italy and a pair of wooden pavilions in Belgium. See more stories about cemeteries, funeral chapels and memorials.

Here’s a short project description from the Aga Khan Award organisers:

The cemetery serves Vorarlberg, the industrialised westernmost state of Austria, where over eight percent of the population is Muslim. It finds inspiration in the primordial garden, and is delineated by roseate concrete walls in an alpine setting, and consists of five staggered, rectangular grave-site enclosures, and a structure housing assembly and prayer rooms.

The principal materials used were exposed reinforced concrete for the walls and oak wood for the ornamentation of the entrance facade and the interior of the prayer space. The visitor is greeted by and must pass through the congregation space with its wooden latticework in geometric Islamic patterns. The space includes ablution rooms and assembly rooms in a subdued palette that give onto a courtyard. The prayer room on the far side of the courtyard reprises the lattice-work theme with Kufic calligraphy in metal mesh on the ‘qibla’ wall.

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Bernardo Bader Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Barcelona studio Hidalgo Hartmann Arquitectura has completed a concrete house with a triangular profile in the rural outskirts of Girona, Spain (+ slideshow).

Casa Montfullà is located on a hillside overlooking the plains, but the house’s plot itself is approximately level, so Hidalgo Hartmann Arquitectura added sloping walls to create a building that appears to grow out of the ground.

“We placed a silent, hermetic volume that emerges from the site and adopts the original profile of the hill, like a fortress that visually dominates the landscape,” explain the architects.

Laid out in three horizontal bands, the building contains both a two-storey house and a terrace behind its triangular concrete walls.

A two-storey entrance area at one end accommodates bedrooms, bathrooms and a parking garage, while the middle section is a double-height living and dining room with a glazed elevation offering a view towards the fields.

During warmer months residents can slide open the glass to make use of the split-level terrace and swimming pool at the far end of the structure.

Hidalgo Hartmann Arquitectura is led by architect Jordi Hidalgo Tané and interior designer Daniela Hartmann. Other concrete buildings by the pair include a centre for rescued turtles, dolphins and birds and a house with four wings and an underground entrance.

Other recently completed Spanish residences include a social housing block on the Canary Islands and a stark concrete house with richly stained timber shutters. See more architecture in Spain.

Photography is by Jordi Hidalgo Tané.

Here’s a project description from Hidalgo Hartmann Arquitectura:

Casa Montfullà

We find ourselves on a horizontal ground, a corner plot raised on two large slopes like a vantage point from which to enjoy superb views towards the agricultural plain that stretches at his feet until reaching Salt and the city of Girona.

It is thus an exceptional setting that claims for an intervention that recognizes the attributes of the site and put them in value.

We placed a silent, hermetic volume that emerges from the site and adopts the original profile of the hill, like a fortress that visually dominates the landscape.

The volume encloses itself from the outside and is protected from the mediocre constructions that surround it by using the broken geometry of two thick walls. These walls comprise a continuous space from the inside out that creates in form of a terrace, a world of its own, which turns our attention to the distance.

The section shows the continuity of its spaces from the outdoor space to the studio on the top floor across the living room and the courtyard that separates and unites at the same time. The use of concrete for the construction of the house gives the object weight, mass and texture which is needed to provide coherence to the idea.

Location: Montfullà. Girona
Year: 2007-2012
Surface: 340 sqm

Authors of the project: Hidalgo Hartmann. Jordi Hidalgo Tané, arquitecto, Daniela Hartmann, interiorista.
Technical Architect: Rafel Serra Torrent.

Collaborators: Ana Roque, arquitecto, Rafel Serra Torrent, arquitecto técnico, Julia Fernandez Roldán, arquitecto.
Promoters: Carme Ferrer i Xavier Puig.

Construction:
Estructures Olot S.L (company structures)
LI-BRA S.L (general construction company)
Fusteria Serra (wood carpentry)
Plantalech (aluminium carpentry)
Electrica Masaló (company facilities)

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Hidalgo Hartmann Arquitectura appeared first on Dezeen.

Diagonally stepped floors and ceilings divide triangular zones inside this pair of studio apartments in Tokyo by Kiyonobu Nakagame Architect & Associates (+ slideshow).

Located in the Motoazabu area of the city, the apartment block has a rectilinear concrete structure that at a glance could be mistaken for an office building or car park.

“What we aimed to do with this structure was to create something that would blend with its surroundings and maintain absolute simplicity,” explains architect Kiyonobu Nakagame.

Four diagonal supports raise the structure off the ground and create a sheltered car park on the lowest floor, while stairs climb the side of the building to lead into apartments on the first and second storeys.

Both residences have similar layouts, with kitchen worktops lining one wall and glazed bathrooms on the opposite side.

The diagonal step in the floor runs through the centre of each apartment, separating the kitchen and dining zones from the bedroom and study areas, while the staggered ceilings cut across them in the opposite direction.

Other concrete apartment blocks we’ve featured from Japan include a building with boxy balconies in Kyoto and one with indoor balconies in Tokyo. See more architecture in Japan.

Photography is by Shigeo Ogawa.

Here are a few words from Kiyonobu Nakagame:

Motoazabu Apartment sYms

Once known as a high-class residential area, Motoazabu is developing into more of a modern diversified metropolitan region resultant of the economic boom.

The neighborhood consists of skyscrapers like the famous Roppongi Hills development alongside smaller just as unique small developments. But within the chaotic big city life of this area you can still find tranquil quietness.

Above: concept diagram

What we aimed to do with this structure was to create something that would blend with its surroundings and maintain absolute simplicity. The true character of the building can be found on the inside. A structure consisting of four corner columns with a footprint of 6.8m x 7.8m comprising one room.

Above: ground floor plan

The design concept takes in a diagonal line of 450mm in room level difference which lends itself to create four distinct living areas all within a single space. The two different elevations of the floor combined with the two different ceiling heights lends itself to create four distinct living areas all within a single space.

Above: first floor plan

The office and living area take up the stage with views of the city and the bedroom space surrounded by post beams provides openness and a sense of privacy to modern city life in one room.

Design: 2011.01-2011.09
Construction period: 2011.10-2012.06

Above: section A

Structure: Reinforced Concrete
Number of floors: 3

Above: section B

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Kiyonobu Nakagame Architect & Associates appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese architect Jo Nagasaka has stripped an office in south-west Tokyo back to the concrete to create a fashion boutique that looks more like an abandoned warehouse for Japanese brand EEL (+ slideshow).

Nagasaka, of Schemata Architecture Office, explains that he associates garments with uncomfortable warmth, so wanted to design a cool interior that counteracts this feeling. “I wanted to make the background as calm as possible,” he explains.

Rather than adding new elements to the space, most of the renovation involved peeling away unnecessary layers and sanding down rough surfaces.

“Our construction process was mostly subtraction,” he says. “We intend to leave this space somewhat incomplete and when clothes are set in place it will be complete.”

The architects removed the carpet of the old office and sanded down the exposed floor to create a smooth surface. They also pulled down a suspended ceiling to reveal lighting fixtures, electric cables and ventilation pipes.

Bookshelves and large boxes made from lauan plywood are scattered around the room as display areas for folded garments and accessories. Other hang from welded stainless-steel racks or from cables strung across the ceiling.

A wall of concrete blocks separates the shop floor from storage areas at the back, while a glass partition creates a small meeting room to one side.

Jo Nagasaka launched Schemata Architecture Office in 1998 and has since worked on a number of shop interiors, as well as residential projects, office interiors and furniture design. Past projects include Paco, a house contained in a three metre cube, and the Tokyo flagship for fashion brand Takeo Kikuchi. See more design by Schemata Architecture Office on Dezeen.

Photography is by Takumi Ota.

Here’s a project description from Jo Nagasaka:

EEL Nakameguro

Creating a sense of ‘incompleteness’ was the key to our design. In my mind clothes are associated with warmth of human body, sometimes that feeling gets too intense and uncomfortably hot. This is why I wanted to make the background as calm as possible.

We intend to leave this space somewhat incomplete and when clothes are set in place it will be complete. So our construction process was mostly ‘subtraction’, that is, dismantling, peeling, and scraping unnecessary layers, except for a few ‘additional’ elements.

The site was formerly used as office space. For the floor, we peeled off the existing carpet and sanded exposed mortar undercoat thoroughly to make it perfectly horizontal and ‘super-flat’.

As a result we created unique random mosaic pattern. In some places aggregates are revealed, and in other places finer particles cover up the surface.

We also removed all the finishing materials – paint, baseboard, insulation etc. – from walls and ceiling, and hidden surface of concrete that is unfinished and not ready for public viewing is now exposed. By reversing the construction process, a state of ‘incompleteness’ reappears.

Display fixtures are also constructed halfway and left at a state of ‘incompleteness’. Stainless steel mirror and frame are welded for assembly and we left the weld joint unpolished, so it creates interesting patterns on the surface.

Hanging racks are made of anti-corrosive coated steel pipes. Surface coating is removed at joints then they are welded together. And we erase burnt traces of welding but leave steel surface unpainted.

Wooden boxes, used as display base, are made of lauan wood. It is a kind wood usually used for underlay, but we leave it unpainted. These unfinished elements reinforce our design concept of ‘incompleteness’.

Other elements are added to this space: glass partition wall, fitting room, concrete block masonry wall separating shop and back room, and a thick steel tension cable that is used to hang clothes, lighting fixtures and electrical wiring for lighting. When the final design element clothes are displayed, the space is complete.

Title: EEL Nakameguro
Architects: Jo Nagasaka／Schemata Architects
Address: Higashiyama Meguro, Tokyo
Usage: Apparel shop

Construction: TANK
Floor area: 123m²
Structure: RC
Completion: 02/2013

Above: floor plan – click for larger image

Above: ceiling plan – click for larger image

Above: section A-A’ – click for larger image

Above: section B-B’ – click for larger image

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Schemata Architecture Office appeared first on Dezeen.