Hasta La Ideas

ECAL graduate Romain Lagrange has designed an indoor croquet set that’s crafted from timber, cork and leather.

Called Gates, the simplified version of the game includes two mallets, two balls, six arches and two stakes that double as holders for the balls when packed away.

Lagrange designed the set while studying on the MAS-Luxury course at the Ecole Cantonale d’art de Lausanne.

Projects by past graduates of the course include a stationery case for just four pencils and a musical box that incorporates swaying sticks of barley.

Here are some more details from Romain Lagrange:

Gates is an interior croquet game for adult players.

It’s composed of sycamore, maple, cork and leather. It was realised thanks to French and Swiss craftsmen.

The lines of this game, composed of too many parts, have been simplified from the original to make it compact and usable inside. There are two mallets, six gates and two stakes. The unit is portable due to the leather loop.

For the wink, Louis XIV, one of France’s kings, liked playing croquet but he couldn’t play during winter, therefore he forsook it. It disappeared from France to be played more in Scotland and the UK. That’s why I tried to answer to an old royal need.

New American classics from the Brooklyn-based menswear brand’s “Pompous Circumstance” collection

Going strong in its third year of production, Brooklyn-based fashion label Feltraiger makes what they call “New American Classic” menswear with a healthy sense of irreverence. With each collection the label takes on a different subculture—for Spring/Summer 2012 founder and creative director Daniel Feldman was inspired by the way high society spends their leisure time. The “Pompous Circumstance” collection offers a clean, well-trimmed look reminiscent of days spent quail hunting at the country home.

After a quick look at the line we were most intrigued by the label’s outerwear, which includes key pieces—a trim-fit, anorak-style pullover; a slim camouflage bomber and a lightweight classic hunting vest—blending classic and contemporary design. The vest in particular goes easily from the country to the city, with an urban-appropriate aesthetic and all the essential technical features a hunter may need, down to a detachable rear game pouch.

Run by Feldman, along with his brother Jon, Feltraiger—named for the family’s original Russian surname prior to emigration—is made entirely in America to ensure control of the highest standard of material and craftsmanship. For the time being Feltraiger is sold exclusively through their online shop; come Spring 2012 the duo will expand by opening a brick-and-mortar flagship in New York City.

Photography by Gregory Stefano

Construction has started on a new sports centre by architect Steven Holl for Columbia University in New York.

Staircases will climb the blue aluminium exterior of the five-storey Campbell Sports Centre, leading to balconies and terraces at each level.

The building will provide offices, classrooms and an auditorium to accompany the existing outdoor Baker Athletics Complex just beyond.

The sports centre is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2012, in time for the new term.

Some completed projects by Steven Holl include a wave-shaped museum of the sea and a horizontal skyscraper – see all the projects here.

Here’s some more text from Steven Holl Architects:

Steven Holl Architects’ Campbell Sports Center at Columbia University Starts Construction

New York, NY—The Campbell Sports Center at Columbia University celebrated its groundbreaking on October 15th. Designed by Steven Holl Architects, the Campbell Sports Center will form an inviting new gateway to the Baker Athletics Complex, the primary athletics facility for the University’s outdoor sports program.

Click above for larger image

Located on the corner of West 218th street and Broadway, the Sports Center aims at serving the mind, the body and the mind/body. The design concept “points on the ground, lines in space”—like field play diagrams used for football, soccer, baseball—develops from point foundations on the sloping site. Just as points and lines in diagrams yield the physical push and pull on the field, the building’s elevations push and pull in space. External stairs, which serve as “lines in space,” and terraces extend the field play onto and into the building and give views from the upper levels over the Baker Athletics Complex and Manhattan with the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings in the distance. At night the building is up-lit with glowing light on its Columbia-blue aluminum soffits.

Steven Holl states, “We are honored to collaborate with Dianne Murphy and Columbia Facilities in creating this new state of the art athletics facility. Its inviting architecture indicates the invigorating presence and future of intercollegiate Athletics at Columbia University.”

The Campbell Sports Center, a five-story, 48,000 square foot facility, will house strength and conditioning spaces, offices for varsity sports, an auditorium, a hospitality suite and student-athlete study rooms. The project, led by Steven Holl and senior partner Chris McVoy, is scheduled to open in fall 2012.

See also:

.

Knut Hamsun Centre by Steven Holl	Linked Hybrid by Steven Holl Architects	Sliced Porosity Block by Steven Holl Architects

V-shaped concrete columns illuminated by blue lights give a tennis centre in Beijing the appearance of a spaceship ready for launch.

Chinese architects Atelier 11 recently completed the circular Diamond Arena, which seats up to 15,000 spectators and will host international tennis matches.

The building features a retractable steel roof of two parts that can be opened from either east or west to both shelter and shade the court inside.

An observation deck occupies the sixth floor of the building and overlooks the neighbouring Olympic Park – see stories about Beijing Olympic buildings here.

We’ve published a few impressive sports stadiums from China recently – see our earlier stories about swimming arenas in Shanghai, a trio of stadiums in Shenzhen and a football and athletics arena also in Shenzhen.

Photography is by Zhang Guangyuan and Gao Qinglei.

Here’s some more information from Atelier 11:

Diamond Arena — China National Tennis Center by Atelier 11 Completed

With the grand opening of China Open 2011 on September 25 in Beijing, the China National Tennis Center designed by Beijing-based architectural practice Atelier 11 is officially completed and ready to welcome the top players from the world, including Robin Soderling, Li Na, and Caroline Wozniacki, and hundreds of thousands of tennis fans from China and abroad.

Following a coherent design approach, 16 sets of V-shaped columns are used to form the structure of the Center to support the grandstand and outdoor maintenance facilities and at the same time create a simplistic triangular motif for the overall design.

By extracting the visual elements out of the structure itself and eliminating unnecessary decorations, the architecture displays its grace and beauty with a pure balance between form, material, and construction. Built with concrete for the main body, the architecture is given a solid volume and magnificent perception value.

Called as Diamond Arena for its shape and important status in China’s sports field, the Center can seat 15,000 audiences with its state-of-art facilities.

A collapsible steel roof is designed to react on the weather change during the games. With a maximum opening of 60x70m towards the sky, it has the biggest opening scale in Asia and takes 12 minutes to perform an opening procedure.

Divided into 2 layers and 4 units, the roof can be opened in the direction of east and west, and then be stacked in the storage space built under the fixed part of the roof on both ends.

Using a material with good light perviousness for the roof, the Center will use natural daylight to provide the lighting required by the games during the daytime; so that the requirements both on energy-saving and management cost control can be satisfied.

Besides the regular seating rows spreading around the stadium, two floors of glass boxes are placed around the bottom part of the grandstand to seat important guests or be used for special group activities.

The boxes provide more exclusive seats for a better view within the limited space.

Another significant feature of the design is a circular observation deck on the 7th floor of the Center where the highest seats are located.

With an open space running around the whole building, the deck allows the audience to enjoy a 360° sightseeing to the Olympic Park next to the Center, which would be an exclusive attraction to the audience during the break of the games.

Click for larger image

The Center takes full advantage of the site to cope with the traffic issues in and outside the stadium.

Audience can enter the venue via the terrace on the second floor; while staff, VIPs and players can directly get into the Center from under the terrace.

So the possible conflict in the flow lines is reduced to its minimum and the comfort in the interior space can be achieved.

Outside the Center, the entry and exit channels for each group are carefully divided without interference, which guarantees a well-organized traffic flow inside the stadium even if with its maximum capacity.

Architects: Atelier 11, Beijing,
ChinaDesign Director: Xu Lei
Design Team: Ding Liqun, Gao Qinglei, Liu Heng, An Peng

Click for larger image

Construction Drawing: Xu Lei, An Peng, Gao Qinglei, Ding Liqun, Li Lei, Liu Heng, Zhu Yin, Jin Ding
Construction Period: 2009-2011

Click for larger image

Site Area: 170,020 sqm

Construction Area: 51,199 sqm
Client: Beijing Shi Ao Co., Ltd.

See also:

.

2012 London Olympic Stadium by Populous	Green Point Stadium by GMP Architekten	Dalian Football Stadium by UNStudio

Fir trusses create triangles that meet in the middle of the ceiling at a community hall in California designed by Siegel & Strain Architects.

A grid of tension cables supports the structural trusses, while slatted pine panels fill the spaces between them.

A central skylight runs along the length of the ceiling to provide natural light.

The 25 metre-long hall has large wooden doors resembling those of a barn.

The hall was completed by the architects in 2009, as were a library, youth centre and meeting rooms contained within the same building.

Other popular multi-purpose halls featured on Dezeen this year include one with an arched steel shell and another with a facade of shutters.

Photography is by David Wakely.

Here’s a more detailed description from the architects:

Yountville Community Center

For decades, the residents of Yountville, California, a rural town in Napa County, relied on a small 1920s-era community hall and a hodgepodge of rented spaces to host community events. The hall was in need of renovation, ill-equipped to support art classes and lacking in outdoor recreation spaces. In addition, the town had outgrown its library. In 1998, after surveying residents’ needs, the municipality embarked on a planning process for an expanded town center at the heart of town.

The Yountville Town Center opened in November 2009, weaving new and existing buildings and outdoor rooms into a place designed to enrich community life. Designed by Siegel & Strain Architects and located on a 2.5-acre site on Yountville’s main street, the town center consists of a new 10,000-square-foot community center, the renovated 4,800-square-foot community hall, and the addition of a sheriff’s substation to the adjacent post office. The new community center houses a branch library, multipurpose room, teen center, and meeting and program spaces. It opens onto a new town square framed by the existing community hall and the post office.

Building exteriors blend with the rural character, while inside the spaces are light and airy. The large multipurpose room, 80 feet by 50 feet, is day-lit along the roof’s spine by a ridge skylight, which has splayed walls that soften the light as it enters the room. A unique combination of Douglas fir trusses and cables enables the roof’s structural support system to have a minimal presence in the room and avoids blocking daylight from above. A large, covered porch of red cedar on two sides of the town square connects the community hall and community center, providing shade in the summer. Barn doors extend the multipurpose room onto the adjacent barbecue patio.

Targeted to achieve a LEED Platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council and to achieve energy savings of 44% over Title 24, the design integrates a range of green features. Walkways and bike paths connect the center to surrounding neighborhoods and main street activities. Exterior sunshades, a highly insulated building envelope, and “cool” standing seam metal roofs reduce energy use.

Energy-efficient mechanical systems are integrated with ground-source heat pumps for heating and cooling. A building integrated management system takes advantage of the temperate climate by opening skylights and windows on days with mild temperatures. Operable skylights, controlled by CO2 and rain sensors, and operable windows provide natural ventilation and balanced natural illumination.

Roof-mounted photovoltaic laminates on the new and existing buildings supply energy. Water-conserving plumbing fixtures, harvested rainwater, drip irrigation, subsurface irrigation, and drought-tolerant native plants further reduce water use. The existing parking lot was regraded to slope naturally so that rainwater could be harvested in a bioswale. Overall, site design reduces storm runoff by 40% over preconstruction conditions.
Building materials were selected to minimize life-cycle impacts and provide light and airy interiors free of formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds. Buildings feature durable, recycled content cement-fiber shingles and metal roofs. The new building’s red cedar cladding and Alaskan yellow cedar sunscreens and entrances are regionally harvested. Slatted wood ceilings are locally sourced white pine, and the existing community hall’s oak floor was reused. Over 75% of the wood is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Sustainability may not have been stated as part of the original vision, but the desire to incorporate green design grew over time as the project developed, championed by both civic leaders and the community. Now Yountville has a new “front porch,” bringing together residents of all ages while blending an agrarian vernacular with time-honored sustainable practices.

Architect: Siegel & Strain Architects
Location: Yountville, VA
Client: Town of Yountville
Date of occupancy: December 2009
Gross square footage: 20,000
Construction cost: $9.8M
Contractor: Swank Construction

Structural Engineer: Endres Ware Architects Engineers
Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing: Timmons Design Engineers
Civil Engineer: Coastland Civil Engineering
Landscape Architect: John Northmore Roberts & Associates
Lighting: Alice Prussin Lighting Design
Commissioning: Enovity Inc.
Specifications: Topflight Specs
Construction Manager: Pound Management

See also:

.

Milson Island Sports Hall by Allen Jack+Cottier	Sports Hall by Franz Architekten & Atelier Mauch	Community centre by MARP and Dévényi és Társa