Hasta La Ideas

Israeli architect Ranaan Stern has adapted a 15-square metre room inside an artist’s Tel Aviv apartment to create a studio with two desks, 36 drawers, modular storage compartments, pegboard display walls and even a folding bed (+ slideshow).

The unusual set up was designed to accommodate living and working spaces, as well as display areas for a collection of specific objects dating from the 1940s to the present day.

“The artist creates and collects different kinds of art pieces, most are 2D but also some small sculptures, books and old materials,” explained Ranaan Stern. “We needed different kinds of storage units, different sizes and different ways of keeping the new and old pieces.”

The apartment is located inside a concrete block from the 1950s and two of the room’s four walls are windows, so expanding the space was not an option.

The team spent four weeks measuring each object and organising them into four separate categories. These categories were then further divided into groups, dependent on how much a piece was needed for everyday use or for display.

“We also needed storage for materials and tools for the artist’s daily work. During measuring we gave each category a colour, which is exposed only when one opens a drawer or any other unit,” said Stern.

The result is a layout that would appear random to an outsider, but has a coherence that is instantly familiar to the artist.

“The smaller sections can be removed from the larger frame units and placed on the table during work.” Stern continued. “Removable sliding doors are actually pallets that pieces can be placed on for presentation or that can be used as modular easels.”

Most of the cells, cupboards and drawers have been constructed from lightweight birch and treated with a clear coating that emphasises the wood’s natural grain. Birch has also been used for the flooring.

“We also designed the storage by two rules: the easiest way to physically open and use, but always making sure everyday stuff and more needed pieces will be more accessible. Some pieces can be place on the pegboard which is also a painting stand for different sizes of boards,” added the architect.

The windows were fitted with blinds to help give the artist control over the atmosphere and natural light. The addition of a folding bed that can be neatly stored away allows the space to also be used as a guest room.

Photography is by Gidon Levin.

Here’s some more information about the project:

Artist’s Studio

In the artist’s central Tel Aviv apartment, architects Ranaan Stern and Shany Tal from Raanan Stern’s Studio designed a versatile 15 sqm studio workspace. The proportions of the room in the 60 year old concrete building allow the maximum amount of light to enter through the window. The window was carefully divided and blinds were hung with the aim of giving the artist control over the atmosphere and natural light.

The artist’s varied family and personal collection includes 2d pieces dating from the 1940’s to the present. For this purpose: every piece that will be stored was measured: they were organised and ordered according to groups, sizes and artistic connections. After the organisational and calculation stage, four separate proportions were discovered that receive expression as each section is opened. Every cell, cupboard or drawer was designed internally according to the required proportions, only when the drawer is opened the colourful mosaic of the storage section is revealed.

In addition, different sections were planned and built for displaying and storing work, tools and materials. The smaller sections can be removed from the larger frame units and placed on the table during work. Removable sliding doors are actually pallets that pieces can be placed on for presentation or that can be used as modular easels. All the hidden mechanisms of the units and drawers such as the sizes and divisions were fitted to the proportions of the artist. The order of the space allows minimum movement outside of the work area and table and maximum accessibility to works tools according to their importance in the studio.

The closets and units are made of white birch as well as the flooring which is covered in bright birch tiles. The wood was coated lightly in order to give a light and delicate feeling, but still retaining the slightly wizened look of natural wood in the work space. The Artist uses the space to host colleagues and behind the sliding doors there is also a folding bed for the dual functionality of the room.

The post Space-saving modular studio
for an artist by Raanan Stern appeared first on Dezeen.

Taking Brooklyn by storm is newcomer Brooklyn Sesame, whose debut product breaks down dense, crumbly blocks of sweet halva (Arabic for “dessert”) into a delicious spread for more versatile munching. Halva is a traditional food enjoyed…

Continue Reading…

Israeli studio SO Architecture added this auditorium and gallery to a hilltop war memorial in Nesher, Israel, and tilted it upwards so that it faces towards the sky (+ slideshow).

SO Architecture designed the concrete auditorium building as an extension to the existing structure, which commemorates Israeli soldiers that died in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War but previously was only used once a year on the country’s national memorial day.

The new building provides a community hall for events, film screenings and other activities, as well as an exhibition gallery charting the history of the site, which served as a guarding post during the war.

The exhibition space, called the Remembrance Gallery, is filled with photographs of fallen soldiers. These cover boxes installed along the walls, where victims’ families can store items that preserve the memories of their loved ones.

In the auditorium, rows of ascending timber bleachers provide seating, while a large window fills the space with light and offers a view out over nearby Haifa Bay.

Dark grey paint covers the exterior of the extension, uniting it with the existing memorial. A concrete plaque adorns the side of the old tower, and a golden Star of David is positioned at the top.

“The concrete relief was made in the 1950s by the artist Michael Kare as part of the transformation of the building from guarding post to a memorial,” added the architects.

Stepped landscaping and a viewing platform have been added to the south of the site, joining an existing limestone square and a children’s playground.

SO Architecture also designed the Yehiam Memorial Hall at Kibbutz Yehiam – another building that commemorates the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Photography is by Shai Epstein.

Here’s a project description from SO Architecture:

Nesher Memorial

Nesher Memorial was built on a basis of an historic preservation building that was used in the past as a guarding position. In ’48 war the position’s used as protection to the residents of Giv’at Nesher. The building is located in the heart of a quiet neighbourhood, on a hilltop, surrounded by a large square and a children’s playground.

Prior to the construction works, the building was neglected and was used in favour of the public only once a year – in the National Memorial Day, then it was open for a tour and impression of memorial pictures, as a part of the public ceremony for the memory of the fallen.

Nesher municipality asked SO Architecture office to expand the square surrounding the building so it will enable multiplayer events, and to redesign the building and add functions to it, so that it can serve the public throughout the year as a gathering space.

The main architectural idea was to add to the existing building an auditorium structure that could be used for different kinds of public activities such as lectures, film screenings, activities of youth groups, etc., along with preservation of the historical memory.

The auditorium

The auditorium reveals its insides geometry to the park and the city surrounding, by its inclined façade. This geometrical act has an additional meaning in creating a symbolic geometry that communicates with the memorial concept, and the function of the building as a monument.

A large window is located at the edge of the auditorium, facing north and thus brings a soft light into the auditorium and enables a breathtaking view at the landscape of Haifa bay. In a poetic allegory to reality, the window function as a bright ending to the inner space, and thus symbolises the balance between the bereavement pain and the light and hope in the living world.

The memory space

A box for each fallen, with its picture on it, is hanged on the wall of the memory area inside the building. Inside it, there is a room for storage of memorial personal belongings that the family and the municipality can put. In the space itself there is a place for seating and communion with the memory books and the memory of the fallen.

The centre of the memory space is lighted by long and narrow windows that were the shooting slits in the original guarding position, and by upper skylight windows from the original historic building. The memory space was designed in a modular manner, so that if necessary, it will be possible to add additional boxes without any difficulty.

Finishing materials

The original building contours regarding to the addition, are marked and highlighted through aluminium bars that were sediment in mortar and emphasise the contours of the old building regarding to the new addition.
The materials that we used in the building are simple.

The floor in the memory space is a concrete floor. The ceiling along the whole building is covered with oak planks, so that it creates a warm atmosphere. The auditorium area was also covered with wood, and sponge padded seats. An access to disabled was also arranged.

The square

The gatherings’ square on the front of the building, was designed on the basis of the existing square. The works in it included suitability and accessibility to the disabled, creating grandstand steps in the edges to enable a more comfortable viewing, and an addition of another viewing site at the southern end of the square. The finishing material of the square is a visible concrete that delimits the steps, and grey concrete blocks.

Architects: SO Architecture www.soarch.co.il
Planning team: Shachar Lulav , Oded Rosenkier , Alejandro Feinerman , Tomer Nahshon, Samer Hakim.
Site Area: 1100 Sqm
Building Area: 118 Sqm
Year: 2013

The post Nesher Memorial auditorium and gallery
by SO Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.

A black steel staircase links the six storeys of this townhouse in Tel Aviv by Israeli architect Pitsou Kedem (+ slideshow).

Pitsou Kedem designed the house for a family and added a private terrace and swimming pool on the rooftop.

“The owners wanted to create the experience of life in a private residence, but within the city,” said architect Pitsou Kedem. “The authentic urban skyline reveals Tel Aviv’s rooftops to those in the courtyard and thus realises the urban experience that the owners wanted to achieve.”

All but one of the house’s floors opens out onto a balcony or terrace.

A penthouse with sliding glass doors leads out to the roof deck and swimming pool, which are encased behind a clear glass balustrade.

The fourth floor contains a study, small living space and a spa. A combined kitchen and living room occupies the floor below and is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows.

The parents of the family have an entire floor to themselves, with an en-suite bathroom and extensive closet space, while two more bedrooms and bathrooms are located on the level below, and belong to the children.

A guest suite consisting of a bedroom, bathroom and living space can be found on the ground floor and opens out to a small enclosed terrace.

The black steel staircase ascends through the rear corner of the house, beside a grey silicate-block wall. Exposed timber floors and wooden panelling also feature throughout.

Tel Aviv Townhouse is the latest in a string of residential projects completed by Pitsou Kedem in the Israeli capital, following a renovated house with vaulted ceilings and stone walls and a house with double-height glass walls that slide back across its facade.

Photography is by Amit Geron.

Here’s a description from the architects:

Town House in Tel Aviv

A 270 square metre plot was used as the foundation for a Tel Aviv town house consisting of a basement and an additional 6 floors. The owners wanted to create the experience of life in a private residence but within the city.

The architect Pitsou Kedem designed an urban style courtyard on the roof and, as a result, reversed the usually, permanent, order of things. The authentic, urban skyline reveals to those in the courtyard, Tel Aviv’s rooftops and thus realises the urban experience that the owners wanted to achieve.

The architectural design was based on a cross section of the structure whilst creating a physical and visual relationship between all the floors. Each floor encompasses an area of some 100 square meters with every floor being used for a different purpose. This enables the house’s residents to create common meeting spaces alongside separated spaces that, together, maximise the usage off the space and maximise the privacy that day to day life in a home requires.

Thus, the design incorporates a separate floor for the parents living area which includes a large library, a floor devoted to children’s rooms, a common living floor and the upper floor for the pool. Wooden paneling is used around openings on the ground floor and is also used to disguise the entrance hall and a separate living unit.

The home’s internal stairwell is designed as a dramatic, vertical line. In contrast to the stairwell common in most apartment buildings which is usually designed to be hidden from view, in this design the stairwell is open and runs along a wall covered with grey silicate blocks.

Architects: Pitsou Kedem Architects
Design team: Pitsou Kedem, Hagar Tzvi, Hila Sela
Location: Tel Aviv
Size: 610 square metres
Plot size: 260 sqm
Total floor area: 450 sqm
Design & build : 2009-2012
Program: Single family house

The post Tel Aviv Townhouse
by Pitsou Kedem appeared first on Dezeen.

Israeli architect Pitsou Kedem has exposed vaulted ceilings and stone walls inside this renovated house in the ancient port of Jaffa, Tel Aviv (+ slideshow).

Pitsou Kedem restored the historical building, estimated to be hundreds of years old, by stripping back the interior to reveal walls of broken clay and shells, vaulted ceilings and large internal archways.

Small pockets are hollowed from the walls at various heights and are used to create storage areas and a desk.

“The central idea was to combine the old and new whilst maintaining the qualities of each and to create new spaces that blend the styles together, even intensify them, because of the contrast and tension between the different periods,” said the studio.

A set of three pivoting glass doors frame the downstairs bedroom, while a new kitchen extension on the west side of the house features a long window with views over the Mediterranean ocean.

Tall windows also lead out from the living room next door to a small wooden balcony.

An iron staircase is set into the exposed concrete wall of the living room and is screened by a double-height balustrade of suspended wire cables. It ascends to a master bedroom on the mezzanine floor above.

Exposed concrete flooring throughout the house is covered with a mixture of patterned and textured rugs.

“The project succeeds in both honouring and preserving the historical and almost romantic values of the structure whilst creating a contemporary project, modern and suited to its period,” added the designers.

Pitsou Kedem has also recently completed a house with double-height glass doors, a renovated 1950s house with a stone mosaic wall and a family house with timber screens that fold back in different directions.

See more architecture by Pitsou Kedem »
See more architecture and interiors in Israel »

Photography is by Amit Geron.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

Jaffa House: contemporary minimalism and historical asceticism

The language of minimalism imbedded in a historic residence in Old Jaffa. The 180 square meter residential home is located in Old Jaffa. Its location is unique in that it is set above the harbour, facing west with all of its openings facing the majestic splendour of the Mediterranean Sea.

Whilst it is difficult to determine the buildings exact age, it is clear that it is hundreds of years old.

Over the years, it has undergone many changes and had many additions made that have damaged the original quality of the building and its spaces.

The central idea was to restore the structure’s original, characteristics, the stone walls, the segmented ceilings and the arches including the exposure of the original materials (a combination of pottery and beach sand).

The building has been cleaned of all of the extraneous elements, from newer wall coverings and has undergone a peeling process to expose its original state.

Surprisingly, modern, minimalistic construction styles remind us of and correspond with the ascetic style of the past, and this despite the vast time difference between them.

The central idea was to combine the old and the new whilst maintaining the qualities of each and to create new spaces that blend the styles together even intensify them because of the contrast and tension between the different periods.

The historical is expressed by preserving the textures and materials of the buildings outer shell and by respecting the building engineering accord.

The modern is expressed by the opening of spaces and by altering the internal flow to one more open and free and the creation of an urban home environment along with the use of stainless steel, iron and Korean in the various partitions, in the openings and in the furniture.

The project succeeds in both honouring and preserving the historical and almost romantic values of the structure whilst creating a contemporary project, modern and suited to its period.

Despite the time differences, the tensions and the dichotomy between the periods exist in a surprisingly balanced and harmonic space.

Design: Pitsou Kedem
Design team: Pitsou Kedem, Raz Melamed, Irene Goldberg
Project: 180 sqm house in the old city of Jaffa

The post Jaffa House by
Pitsou Kedem appeared first on Dezeen.