Hasta La Ideas

This cabin covered in hand-painted patterns by Hackney architects Studio Weave provides a colourful art studio, bird-watching hide and rain shelter in a woodland park in Kent, England (+ slideshow).

Above: photograph is by Bryony Henderson

Named Ecology of Colour, the two-storey building has a gabled timber structure with walls and windows that hinge open on three different sides.

An indoor space is contained within the cantilevered first floor, designed to accommodate different activities. Birdwatchers hide behind the shutters during quiet periods to spy on the wildlife, while at other times dying workshops will take place to promote the use of natural dyes found in native planting.

A sheltered outdoor area is positioned directly beneath at ground floor level, providing additional workshop space for messy activities or protecting visitors to the park in wet weather.

Studio Weave collaborated with graphic designers Nous Vous to design the cabin’s colourful facade. The gridded pattern, entitled Joy, covers 144 timber cladding panels and was painted by local residents using organic paints.

“The pattern was a very intuitive response to a grid and it was this spontaneity with regard to form and colour that I hoped would bring across a sense of joy,” says Will Edmonds from Nous Vous.

Esme Fieldhouse from Studio Weave added: “The wood will be left to weather. The colours will stay bright for two to four years and then gradually fade as the timber silvers, allowing the building to age gracefully as it nestles into its surroundings.”

The architects have also teamed up with a horticulturist, who is installing a garden around the building that will yield natural dyes.

Studio Weave was founded by architects Je Ahn and Maria Smith. The studio’s past projects include Paleys upon Pilers, a timber-framed structure that marked a route to the Olympic Park, and the Lullaby Factory, a network of listening pipes at a children’s hospital.

Dezeen interviewed Ahn and Smith at our Designed in Hackney Day last summer. Watch the movie or see all our stories about Studio Weave.

Above: photograph by Benedict Johnson

Photography is by Jim Stephenson, apart from where otherwise stated.

Here’s some more information by the architects:

Multi-award winning, art and architecture practice Studio Weave celebrate the possibilities offered by natural dyes through the creation of The Ecology of Colour – a beautiful timber, hand-painted building located on the Ecology Island in Dartford’s Central Park.

The Ecology of Colour is the third Artlands public realm commission for North Kent and responds to the charming site known as Ecology Island, a magical, wild, wooded peninsula hidden at the very heart of Dartford’s Central Park and is dedicated to the study of the natural environment within an urban context.

In response to this unique context, Studio Weave have designed a small versatile building with a semi-outdoor space at ground level and an enclosed area on the first floor with shutters of various sizes to allow for hidden bird watching. As well as a bird hide and art studio the building will be used as an outdoor classroom, a dyeing workshop and simply as a rain shelter within the Ecology Island.

The building unashamedly celebrates colour and Studio Weave have collaborated with designers Nous Vous who have created a bold, cohesive graphic visual language for the exterior of the structure. Prior to its installation, a team of local residents and artists worked together in a painting workshop to produce each of the 144 panels, which form the external cladding.

In tandem with the design of The Ecology of Colour, Studio Weave have worked in collaboration with a horticulturalist to design a garden that will yield natural dyes. The planting scheme, which will be installed next spring, predominantly includes traditional plants native to the south of England such as Golden Rod which produces a magnificent yellow, Alder known for its vibrant red and Bugloss whose roots produce a mesmerizing blue.

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by Studio Weave appeared first on Dezeen.

Architecture firm Haworth Tompkins has installed a bright red auditorium amongst the brutalist concrete of London’s National Theatre (+ slideshow).

Haworth Tompkins designed The Shed as a monolithic red box, entirely clad with rough-sawn timber boards. This material references the board-formed concrete of Denys Lasdun’s celebrated 1970s National Theatre and was intended by the architects to appear as its opposite.

Four towering chimneys rise up from the corners, helping to draw air through the structure using a stack-effect system of natural ventilation. These chimneys were also planned as a reference to the architecture of the theatre and they mimic the angular geometry of its riverside facade.

A temporary foyer is created beneath the existing balconies and leads straight through into the 225-seat auditorium.

Reclaimed chairs provide all of the seating inside the building, while recycled materials were used for all of the cladding and surfaces.

“This collaboration has been a wonderful opportunity to explore the ways in which temporary public buildings can alter our perceptions of places and organisations,” said practice director Steve Tompkins. “We hope The Shed will be seen as a playful but thoughtful building, both challenging and complementary to the permanent cultural architecture.”

Above: photograph is by Philipe Ville

The auditorium will remain in place for a year, temporarily replacing the Cottesloe Theatre room while it undergoes a renovation.

Pop-up theatres and cinemas have become increasingly popular in London over the last few years. In 2011 a team of volunteers built a cinema under a motorway flyover, while a theatre for an audience of six travelled around Clerkenwell during last year’s design week in the district.

Above: photograph is by Philipe Ville

Other temporary theatres created recently include one made from scaffolding and plastic pond liner in southern England and one in Estonia made from straw bales. See more theatres on Dezeen.

See more architecture by Haworth Tompkins, including the new home for print-making and photography at the Royal College of Art.

Photography is by Hélène Binet, apart from where otherwise stated.

Above: photograph is by Philipe Ville

Here’s some extra information from the architects:

Haworth Tompkins creates temporary venue at the National Theatre ‘The Shed’

Haworth Tompkins announces the completion of The Shed, a temporary venue for the National Theatre on London’s South Bank. The Shed will give the NT a third auditorium while the Cottesloe is closed for a year during the NT Future redevelopment, also designed by Haworth Tompkins.

The artistic programme for The Shed, recently announced by the Director of the National Theatre, Nicholas Hytner, pushes creative boundaries, giving the NT the opportunity to explore new ways of making theatre. In the same way, The Shed has been a test bed for experiment by the architectural design team. Conceived by Haworth Tompkins and regular collaborators Charcoalblue, it was then designed and built in little more than a year, a collaborative process between the building designers, the National Theatre, and theatre-makers who will work in the space, in a way that more closely resembled a theatre show than a conventional construction project.

Above: photograph is by Philipe Ville

Its temporary nature, building on Haworth Tompkins’ earlier temporary projects like the Almeida Theatre at Gainsborough Studios and King’s Cross, permits a structure that can be seen less as a building than as an event or arts installation – a vibrant intervention on London’s South Bank that will entrance, and sometimes bewilder, passers-by for a period of twelve months.

Above: photograph is by Philipe Ville

The Shed occupies Theatre Square, at the front of the National Theatre, beside the river. Its simple form houses a 225-seat auditorium made of raw steel and plywood, while the rough-sawn timber cladding refers to the National Theatre’s iconic board-marked concrete, and the modelling of the auditorium and its corner towers complement the bold geometries of the NT itself. A temporary foyer has been carved out from the space beneath the NT’s external terraces and provides easy connection to the existing foyers. The Shed’s brilliant red colour covering the entire mass of a form without doors or windows, announces its arrival boldly against the concrete bulk of the NT, giving it a startling and enigmatic presence.

Above: photograph is by Philipe Ville

The Shed also represents another step in Haworth Tompkins’ ongoing project to research sustainable ways of making theatres. Built of materials that can be 100% recycled and fitted out with re-used seating, The Shed is naturally ventilated, with the four towers that draw air through the building providing its distinctive form.

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by Haworth Tompkins appeared first on Dezeen.

by Sabine Zetteler Never one to shy away from making a bold statement, ceramics artist Barnaby Barford’s new exhibition “The Seven Deadly Sins”—currently showing at London’s David Gill Gallery—addresses biblical maladies in a tellingly ironic form of ornate mirrors. In interpreting the Catholic church’s long-condemned weaknesses and literally reflecting…

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London studio David Mikhail Architects has renovated a nineteenth-century house in London and added a glazed kitchen and dining room at the rear (+ slideshow).

Recent additions and extra staircases were removed to make room for the new rear extension: a larch-framed glass box that stretches along the rear elevation to create an open-plan kitchen and dining room at the lowest ground floor level. This room is double-height on one side to accommodate a staircase and mezzanine library.

As well as using Siberian larch, the architects specified pale brickwork for both interior and exterior walls. Doors and windows are framed by chunky timber surrounds, while balustrades are made from bronze.

“These materials were all chosen to provide texture and scale and to achieve a domestic intimacy, which can so easily be lost with the tendency towards abstract planes and surfaces,” David Mikhail told Dezeen. “They also need to mediate between both the feel and the construction of the new and the older parts of the house, the inside and the outside.”

Other additions include a pivoting wall, which links the study with a billiard room, and a new landscaped garden comprising tiered patios and built-up planting areas.

The house was first constructed in the 1830s at three times the width of most London terraces, resulting in a later conversion into three separate residences. David Mikhail Architects’ job was to restore the original logic of the building so that it could again be used as a single family home.

The architects tracked down early photographs of the building and consulted other architects that had worked on the property in the 1980s to piece together plans of the original design and layout.

In front of the library is the original grand staircase, which winds up between the upper ground floor and first floor of the house. Previously there were no corridors beside this stair, but now residents can walk around it to reach the new rooms beyond.

One of these corridors leads through to a study in the north-east corner of the building. The architects extended this space to add an extra metre in length, creating a top-lit window seat beneath a large skylight. This extension also increased the size of a living room underneath.

“Our philosophy was to give the building back its dignity as a single house, and to be mindful of the likely original plan form,” David Mikhail told Dezeen. “But to combine original features with modern details is a question of both philosophy and detail; it needs an absorption in both to work.”

David Mikhail launched his studio in 1992. Other residential projects in London by the practice include a set of houses with triangular skylights and an extension that is just one metre wide.

See more residential extensions on Dezeen, including a barrel-vaulted addition to a farmhouse.

Photography is by Tim Crocker.

Here’s some more information from David Mikhail Architects:

East London House

Introduction

The East London House is the principle house of a picturesque development built in the 1830s and Grade 2 Listed. At 16m, it is the width of three typical London houses. The original house had been subdivided into three units, with an uneasy relationship to the garden. A glass conservatory to the rear gave the only rear access via an internal spiral staircase. These multiple alterations over time changed what was once a grand home into a jumble of dark, disconnected rooms, with no meaningful access to the large garden.

Client brief

This was to re-establish the elegance of the original, whilst removing the feeling of their being separate dwellings. At the same time, to inject a fresh, modern feel, maximising natural light and harnessing the potential of a large rear garden. The clients have children and other family members often stay. They had several ideas about how the house could function, but guidance was sought on how to connect the various levels and to make sense of the warren of rooms and staircases.

Spatial Strategies

Spatial remodelling has focused on the rear, the basement and the attic. The garden has also been designed by David Mikhail Architects (with planting by Jane Brockbank) and is the other major addition to the building. Much of the remainder of the work was about meticulously restoring the original, with recent works such as staircases and extensions removed. Upper ground and first floors were refurbished to respect the original. For example, one wall has been rebuilt on the upper ground floor to concord with the original plan form, making resultantly smaller, but more usable rooms. (Study/Billiards rooms). The basement and rear garden were excavated to give level access and a sense of openness to the landscape while the gentle terracing of the garden avoids the sense of being underground. The garden forms two spaces, a formal walled garden with water features and raised beds, and beyond it a rougher area for play, with garden sheds and turf.

Upon entering the house the original sweeping staircase is now presented in its original form, with the entrance hallway fully restored. Originally there were no views through beyond the stair, and no real connection to the garden, but now the stair hall is a prelude to the main event. Moving forward either side of the stair, you pass through the rear wall of the main house into a naturally lit double-height library with views to the garden and a bronze staircase down to the dining area. We were keen that this journey from the old to the new was explicitly experienced. The extension itself is a modern open-plan kitchen and dining space giving full views of the garden, with the junction between old and new highlighted through the use of linear flat roof lights.

Planning constraints

Although many original-styled features were present, some were later additions. Unfortunately, many records had been lost. We tracked down the local architects that had worked on the terrace in the 1980s and also used images from the Metropolitan Archive. We were able to use their records to form an understanding of where original details lay, and presented this knowledge to planners in the form of a room-by-room analysis. The extension was designed to clearly differentiate the new from the old, making our own works legible in the future. Even so, the design challenge of such a strategy is to do so in a way that resonates with the scale and sensibility of the original.

Materials and construction

The rear-half of the basement and rear garden was excavated and underpinned to increase head height and accessibility. The extension is a predominately timber and steel structure. Where two-storey, steel gives way to posts and beams of laminated Larch, forming a timber portal frame. The engineering required to achieve such a thin library floor was challenging.

All the timber used in the project is a white-oiled Siberian Larch, including the bespoke sliding doors designed by the architects, the floors the joinery and the external cladding. A white brick with light-grey lime mortar is used inside and out. Metalwork and ironmongery is bronze. A specialist precision metalwork company, where joints are glued rather than welded, constructed the fine bronze stair.

Above: basement floor plan – click for larger image

Above: ground floor plan – click for larger image

Above: first floor plan – click for larger image

Above: second floor plan – click for larger image

Above: third floor plan – click for larger image

Above: cross-section – click for larger image

Above: rear elevation – click for larger image

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David Mikhail Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

London’s Battersea Power Station is transformed into a museum of architecture and surrounded by a giant roller coaster in these competition-winning proposals by French studio Atelier Zündel Cristea (+ slideshow).

The conceptual plans were awarded first prize in the international competition coordinated by ArchTriumph, which invited applicants to suggest how the crumbling brick landmark could be used as an exhibition centre dedicated to architecture.

“Our aim was to imagine a new cathedral to architecture, a building that will challenge its sister structure, the Tate Modern, for international acclaim,” said Atelier Zündel Cristea, explaining how they looked to Herzog & de Meuron’s renovation of the Bankside Power Station for inspiration.

A curved scaffolding structure would weave in and around the building, creating a network of pathways between the exhibition spaces and providing the tracks for the roller coaster running along on top.

“We conceived of a double-faceted project,” said the architects. “On one hand, a calm and contemplative interior, dedicated to the collection’s display; on the other, an exterior opening upon the surrounding landscape and providing breathtaking views.

Designed by architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, Battersea Power Station was constructed in the 1930s and spent over 50 years generating electricity for London. Over the years since its decommissioning, the building and its surrounds have invited dozens of development proposals and the site is currently earmarked for a mixed-use complex of apartments, shops, offices and a theatre.

Past proposals for Battersea Power Station include Rafael Viñoly’s plans for a 300-metre tower and an “Eco-Dome” and Terry Farrell’s idea to convert the building into a park. There was also an offer to convert it into a football stadium. Read more about Battersea Power Station.

Another extreme proposal for an iconic building released recently was a plan to extend the Guggenheim Museum in New York by continuing the spiral upwards.

Here’s a detailed description from Atelier Zündel Cristea:

Battersea Power Station London

The Site

London stands on the River Thames, its primary geographical feature, a navigable river which traverses the city from the southwest to the east. The city is home to numerous museums, galleries, libraries, sporting events and such cultural institutions as the British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, British Library, Wimbledon, as well as over 40 major theatres.

The Battersea Power Station, which was built between 1930 and 1955, is situated a few miles south of Marble Arch on the south bank of the Thames, facing the borough of Chelsea. The decommissioned station is one of the best known landmarks in London and an excellent example of Victorian architecture. It is also the largest brick building in Europe, notable for its original Art Deco interiors and decor.

The area surrounding the site is characterised by a mix of residential, commercial, and industrial uses, with the presence of warehouses as well as rail infrastructure. Battersea Park, situated on the banks of the Thames towards the west, is an important element in the makeup of the neighbourhood. Like the power station, Battersea Park has its own fascinating history, from the Fun Fair which began as the Pleasure Gardens of the 1951 Festival of Britain, to the new century’s Millennium Arena.

A Temple of Power

The Battersea Power Station was built, due to the proximity of the cooling presence of water, on a 61,000m² plot of land situated on the south banks. From its inception, the station was very popular. It symbolised progress, industry, and a new type of power: the Power of the People.

The structure is made of a steel frame with brick cladding, similar to the skyscrapers built in the United States around the same time. The building’s large dimensions measure 160 metres by 170 metres, with the roof of the boiler house extending to over 50 metres high. The four chimneys are made of concrete and reach a height of 103 metres.

After being in operation for 40 years, the two wings have both ceased generating electricity, A station in 1975, B station in 1983. Over its seventy year history, the station has taken on iconic status, having been represented in many forms of popular culture, from films to music videos to video games.

A New Site for Architectural Pleasures

Our project envisions the regeneration of the Battersea site within a new park combining leisure and architecture, in creating a popular spot welcoming to all, dedicated to the pleasures of mind and body, replete with unique experiences. A space for learning, relaxation, and discussion; an architectural and cultural village in the heart of the city.

A museum of architecture, based on the Parisian Cité de l’Architecture model, will through a series of galleries present a panorama of architecture and cultural heritage from the Middle Ages to today. A highly varied collection of materials will illustrate the major changes that have taken place in international and British architecture throughout the centuries. Abbeys, cathedrals, historic city mansions display the wealth of their sculpted and painted decor, as well as the complexity of their structures. Train stations and skyscrapers attest to the technological and formal innovations of the modern era. Public and residential buildings bear witness to the changes in society and lifestyles.

The originality of the collections stems as much from the monumental scales of the displayed volumes as from the remarkable variety of supporting materials: stained glass, scale models, drawings, books, films, and prototypes… The discovery of which invites visitors on an architectural journey through time and space.

We tried to keep in mind the principal reasons for why people would visit the new Battersea Museum of Architecture: the opportunity to see and experience architecture while learning about it as a profession and discussing it with others; people watching and mingling amongst fellow visitors; exploring the architectural setting of the power station; revisiting familiar works of art and architecture. Our aim was to imagine a new Cathedral to Architecture, a building that will challenge its sister structure, the Tate Modern, for international acclaim, and establish a new visual reference point for the city.

A Playground for the Mind and for the Body

The development of culture is one of the highest possible human ideals. Therefore, in every museum it is not the exhibition of works that has meaning, but the presence of visitors and their wandering through and exposure to displays of works that stimulate meaning.

We have introduced the foreign element of a rail into the space of the power station, which will function above all in animating the empty space. It will offer visitors entering the structure a primary pathway, allowing them to take in the essential layout of the building with a minimum of effort. With the pathway determined by the presence of the rail, the simple fact of moving through the exterior and interior spaces of the station begins to make sense.

In its spatial ambition, our project encourages play and fun, categories largely devalued in the traditional world of art. Conceived in this way, cultural spaces are liable to attract new types of visitors. Our project puts the power station on centre stage, the structure itself enhancing the site through its impressive scale, its architecture, and its unique brick material. Our created pathway links together a number of spaces for discovery: the square in front of the museum, clearings, footpaths outside and above and inside, footpaths traversing courtyards and exhibition rooms.

The angles and perspectives created by the rail’s pathway, through the movement within and outside of the structure, place visitors in a position where they can perceive simultaneously the container and its contents, the work and nature. They come to participate in several simultaneous experiences: enjoying the displayed works, being moved by the beauty of the structure and the city: river, park, buildings.

The project has the strength of evoking the dimension and scale of man in the contemporary era, putting into question our relationship to the structure. It is not only a matter of showing, but also of suggesting post-industrial poetry. We conceived of a double-facetted project: on one hand, a calm and contemplative interior, dedicated to the collection’s display; on the other, an exterior opening upon the surrounding landscape, providing breathtaking views.

Museums are NOT FUN! Museums are FUN!

Can we design a museum in which new design ideas are explored, architectural experimentation is encouraged, and the profession challenged, while attracting large numbers of visitors? Alongside certain serious and important topics, the element of fun in museums is important!

For some people, “fun” is a loaded word. Some people would consider words like enjoyable, pleasant, worthwhile and so on, better terms of evaluation for the experience of visiting a museum. For a certain proportion of regular museum goers, “fun” is simply not a word they would consider using in describing the museum experience, implying as it might for them dumbing down, simplification, or out of place hands-on activities, commotion and even noise. Unsurprisingly, almost all of these respondents are over the age of 50. When it comes to younger respondents however, “fun” is a word often used to describe the museum experience, and in very positive terms. But the use of the word “fun” in describing the museum experience should no longer be limited to a particular generational or social category.

We believe that museums can make learning “fun”, therefore museums can be “fun”. As young adult architects with children, we often seek out experiences that combine fun and culture. Museums can provide artistically qualitative but fun activities for the entire family. And this is a trend we are delighted to see taking shape, the positive connotation of “fun” for many people with regard to museum going. Generally, museums are indeed fun, and we hope that increasing numbers of people come to view them as such, regardless of age.

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Power Station by Atelier Zündel Cristea appeared first on Dezeen.