Hasta La Ideas

Japanese architect Kengo Kuma conceived this primary school in north-west Tokyo as the modern equivalent of a traditional Japanese schoolhouse with timber-clad walls (+ slideshow).

The Teikyo University Elementary School comprises a row of twelve connected classroom buildings that Kengo Kuma and Associates also compares to a row of terraced houses.

Like many of Kuma’s buildings, the three-storey school is clad with cedar on every elevation. “We used cedar for the material of the exterior, as an attempt to recover a wooden schoolhouse in the midst of the big city,” says the studio.

Conventional timber siding was chosen for some surfaces, then combined with “yamato-bari” wooden panelling and vertical “renji” louvres to give variation to each of the facades.

The asymmetric pitched roof is made from steel, which breaks down to a skeletal framework in the courtyard between two of the blocks. The slope of the roof is visible on every floor inside the school, due to a tiered flooring arrangement and several double-height spaces.

Most classrooms are arranged along the southern side of the building, which is lined with glazing on all three floors. A first-floor balcony also stretches across this elevation, allowing a double-height recess below the eaves.

A central axis runs longways through the school to connect each set of classrooms. Group study zones are accommodated within this area, while communal activity rooms such as the library, canteen and media centre are lined up along the northern side.

The school is one of several projects completed by Kengo Kuma and Associates in recent months. Others include an experimental house in Hokkaidō and a timber-clad visitor centre in Tokyo. See more architecture by Kengo Kuma on Dezeen.

Photography is by Edmund Sumner.

Here’s a project description from Kengo Kuma and Associates:

Teikyo University Elementary School

We aimed at a wooden schoolhouse of our age. The building consists of a big roofing and materiality of wood for interior and exterior.

By changing its length and height of eave, roof can create multiformity to respond to its environment and different programs. In this building, we designed a big roof to run through the entire building, differentiating expressions on each side – a relaxed face toward south where abundant green of Tama hill expands – and subtle appearance to the north facing public housing standing in lines.

We also changed its form accordingly to the volume of each classroom. As the result, it has grown to a building that looks like 12 different-sectioned terraced houses being arranged in a row.

Composition of the space emphasises the atmosphere of the terraced (1-storey) house created by the roof. While the structure is 3-storey, the atrium connects the sections of the special room and the open space on 2nd and 3rd floors, so that you can feel the slope of the roof on every floor. Further, in the center of the building situates the Media Center that skips three stories as a measure to avoid segregation within the building.

We used cedar for the material of the exterior, as an attempt to recover a wooden schoolhouse in the midst of the big city. We also applied three different lining method for the wall, according to the location and function of the parts in the building – siding work, louvers and Yamato-bari (wood panels arranged with its side slightly layered onto the next one – forming as a whole regular unevenness) so that the building can hold various expressions. Cedar is treated in heat to secure durability.

We also utilised the plasticity of trees. We set up a huge wall of a recycled material made from chips of straw, rush and poplar, which can work as a notice board. As there is more freedom in the design of interior for schools, we managed to achieve this environmentally-friendly plan that can enhance the warmth of natural materials.

Big roofing is also good for environment for efficient building facilities. Using the wide roof toward the south, we installed there a device to gather heat. In this solar system, the air warmed under the roof circulates and vents from under the floor during winter. The roof also gathers rainwater. The water flows through the vertical drainpipe to the water conduit in the south, and it nurtures a biotope in front of the science room.

The post Teikyo University Elementary School
by Kengo Kuma and Associates appeared first on Dezeen.

A wooden wall with the silhouette of three little buildings lines the edge of this house extension in Melbourne by Australian architecture studio BLOXAS (+ slideshow).

Profile House is located within the industrial district of Brunswick East, so BLOXAS designed a new facade that would reference the surrounding brick and corrugated iron warehouses, as well as the timber-clad exterior of the original building.

The front entrance to the house remains in its previous location on the northern elevation, while the new rough-sawn ash facade grows out of a boundary fence on the western perimeter and stretches out along the length of the site.

The extension doubles the size of the single-storey house. The architects retained three front rooms and one small bathroom, then increased the size of the kitchen and dining room and added a new children’s playroom, living room and en suite bedroom beyond.

The zigzagging profile of the building gives angled ceilings to each of the new spaces and brings daylight in through high-level windows and rooflights.

“The defining character of each internal space is the high undulating ceilings,” says BLOXAS director Anthony Clarke. “These, assisted by a central wharf-decking courtyard and smaller lightwell to the west, allow natural light to penetrate throughout the entire plan.”

The long narrow lightwell sits behind the western elevation, while the split-level courtyard is tucked into a recess on the east side of the building so that both the dining room and living room can open out to it.

Most of the new rooms feature bamboo flooring, apart from the living room that has a polished concrete ground surface.

Clarke established BLOXAS, short for Black Line One X Architecture Studio, in 2009 and the studio is based in Fitzroy North, Victoria. See more Australian architecture on Dezeen.

Photography is by Peter Bennetts.

Here’s a project description from BLOXAS:

Profile House

The Profile House offers an evocative tribute to the defined industrial typology of Brunswick East, in Melbourne’s inner north. Simple planning creates clean, elegant and sculptural internal living spaces.

Seeking an addition to their typically dark Californian Bungalow, the clients emphasised the sustainable performance of their future home. Accordingly, they described a space with a feeling of openness, lightness, and visual continuity, connecting their home and landscape.

These values were reinforced by their professions, one specialising in environmental site characterisation and remediation, and the other practicing alternative medicine.

Located in a semi-industrial zone, the site offers visual proximity to the area’s brick and corrugated iron warehouses. Some warehouses and factories are still operational, whilst many lie dormant and in disrepair, ripe for either their imminent demise or redevelopment into multi-storey apartment blocks.

A strong internal vertical profile extrudes to form the western elevation. Clad with rough-sawn overlapping Victorian Ash timber, this distinct contour continues along the western boundary as the defining architectural expression of the Profile House, whilst delivering on the brief of a secure building.

The defining character of each internal space is the high undulating ceilings, these, assisted by a central wharf-decking courtyard and smaller light-well to the west, allow natural light to penetrate throughout the entire plan.

In addition to the retention of three front rooms and central bathroom, the plan now features a re-worked kitchen and dining area, an informal children’s area, and new living space. A new main bedroom, ensuite and private garden are also incorporated. The overall design strengthens family engagement and visual communication, reinforcing the relationships between space and activity.

In addition to dependable design strategies such as careful plan orientation and cross ventilation, solar hot water and water harvesting systems were also included, as well as the use of north facing thermal mass in the main living space. Natural material choices and finishes of low embodied energy including: un-seasoned, un-milled Victorian ash timber, and bamboo flooring through-out the addition adhered to the client’s environmental stipulations.

A refreshing change from housing that simply maximises developer returns, neighbours have responded appreciatively to the low scale design, whilst maintaining the area’s built integrity. In a subtle move the project further softens the corner, with the use of the timber in the boundary wall, juxtaposing against the materials of the factories.

This compact, economical and highly livable outcome was a result of inclusive dialogue between all consultants, the builder, architect and in particular the client.

Architect: Black Line One X Architecture Studio.
Location: Brunswick East, Melbourne, Australia.
Builder: Genjusho
Project year: 2012
Areas: Site = 371sq.m, Existing house area = 87sq.m, Additional area = 83sq.m
Furniture: ‘Earl Pinto’ and Ross Gardam

The post Profile House
by BLOXAS appeared first on Dezeen.

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Raphaël Charles vuol farci riflettere sul concetto di tempo rappresentato da questa crepa che lentamente si modifica all’interno del ceppo di legno. Pezzo unico. Solido.