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One of our favorite Fancy Food Show finds, Bourbon Barrel Foods harnesses the flavors in bourbon barrels to infuse salts, sugar and spices as well as their barrel-aged soy sauce, sorghum, Worcestershire and Kentuckyaki. Now Bourbon Barrel Foods has begun selling the wood that they use to smoked their…

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Questo weekend si poga.

Architect Renzo Piano has replaced the auditorium destroyed during the 2009 earthquake in L’Aquila, Italy, with a flat-pack building comprising three wooden cubes.

Located in the grounds of the city’s medieval castle, the new Auditorium Aquila contains a 238-seat concert hall that opened its doors to the public at the end of last year.

Renzo Piano Building Workshop designed the building with an entirely timber construction. The wooden components were pre-cut and delivered to the site as a flat-pack, before being screwed and nailed together.

The auditorium is located in the largest of the three cubes, which is tilted forwards to create a tiered bank of seating inside. Acoustic panels are fixed to the walls and ceiling to help sound resonate through the room.

The two smaller cubes are positioned either side of the hall. One functions as a foyer, with a refreshments area, cloakroom and ticket desk, while the other contains dressing rooms and a “green room” for performing musicians.

Glazed corridors connect the three cubes and glazed stairwells run up the exterior walls.

The larch panels create horizontal stripes across the exterior of the building and are painted in an assortment of colours. The architects also planted 90 new trees nearby to offset the wood used for the construction.

A public square in front of the structure can be used for outdoor events and performances, when big screens can be hung across the facade.

2012 was a busy year for Italian architect Renzo Piano. Other projects to complete include London skyscraper The Shard and the Astrup Fearnley art museum in Oslo’s harbour.

See more architecture by Renzo Piano, including an interview with Piano from before work started on The Shard.

Photography is by Marco Caselli Nirmal.

Here’s some information from Renzo Piano Building Workshop:

A Stradivarius in Parco del Castello

Three wooden cubes

The auditorium is formed of three wooden cubes that look as though they have somewhat haphazardly tumbled down and come to rest leaning against one another. The central, biggest cube, corresponding to the auditorium itself, seems to be tilting forward, as though about to topple over in an allusion to its instability. There is actually a specific reason for the slant: one of the two lower sides is sloped at the same angle as the stepped seating inside. The cubes may look abstract, but they conceal the presence of a real building. They are ‘non-forms’, or, rather, pure forms, that contrast with the 16th-century fort’s taut, compact mass as inconspicuously as possible.

All three cubes are made entirely of wood, a material that makes no pretension of being anything but ephemeral but is actually eternal. The choice is dictated by the building’s acoustic function, which is to sound like a musical instrument, but also by the context: the timber structures are actually highly earthquake resistant, and the wood’s materiality ‘naturally’ contrasts with the castle’s stone. What’s more, wood is a renewable and therefore ecologically sustainable material: that is why 90 trees were planted near the Auditorium; eventually they will be able replenish to the timber used to build the cube.

The Auditorium can be thought of as a huge Stradivarius laid out in the park. The meticulous, intelligent building technique recalls the craftsmanship of master lute-makers and of building well. It is pleasant to think that larch from Val di Fiemme, in the Trentino, where the most highly-valued wood used by Cremona’s 17th-century master lute-makers, Stradivarius being the most famous, traditionally came from, was used to build it.

The building technology, and the use of cutting-edge earthquake-proof construction techniques in L’Aquila, is an example of building well that can also be used for the old town’s reconstruction.

Above: site plan

The facades’ architectonic slope

The cubes’ outer sides will be clad in larch tiles around 25 centimetres wide and four centimetres thick. The tiles are protected with special treatments aiming to guarantee correct aging due to homogenous oxidation processes. The 16 sides of the cubes that can be seen — two corresponding to the bases supporting the two service buildings — are not all equal but vary depending on various, alternating architectonic criteria that give the structure a light, lively, and vibrant look.
Various colours also provide visual interest.

The sides feature a series of ‘accidents’ that add variety to their wooden surfaces’ homogeneity and geometry. The ‘accidents’ include the staircase spaces contained in glazed volumes superimposed on the wooden surfaces, the blood-red surfaces corresponding to the vertical or horizontal connecting spaces, the fire escape attached to the facades where necessary, and the air-conditioning ducts, which, in the back wall of the foyer, emerge from the façade, treated with a cement finish here. On some occasions, when special musical events take place, big screens can be temporarily hung on the facades, in particular that of the Auditorium and foyer, for the projection of films and images.

Above: long section – click for larger image

The auditorium and the service volumes

The building is broken up into three separate but interconnected volumes: the central volume, which contains the actual auditorium, and the two service volumes: the public service areas, which contain the foyer, located on the town side, and the performers’ service areas, which contain the dressing rooms, located on the castle side.

The auditorium’s volume is a cube with 18.5-meter sides. Considering that part of the cube is located below ground level, the rear corner is 18.5 meters high above the ground and the front corner 9.2 meters high. The foyer is an 11-meter cube whose above-ground height is 10.9 meters. The dressing rooms are contained in a nine-meter cube with an above-ground height of 8.5 meters.

The auditorium is reached through the foyer, which contains a refreshment area, cloakroom and ticket desk. The foyer’s volume contains the public lavatories and spaces equipped for various uses on the first floor, the air-conditioning system’s technical rooms on the second floor and the power plant with direct access from outside stairs on the underground floor.

The public takes an elevated walkway, rising around one meter above ground, to reach the auditorium from the foyer. It will be glazed on the north side and protected with opaque surfaces on the south side and roof.

Above: long section through auditorium

The 238-seat auditorium has a stage that can hold around 40 musicians. Two stepped seating areas facing each other accommodate the audience; the larger has 190 seats in front of the orchestra, the smaller, 48 seats behind it: the seats’ angle ensures the best possible listening and viewing conditions. The walls’ raw wood surfaces are hung with a series of acoustic panels orientated towards the audience to reflect sound inside the auditorium. The panels, also made of wood but with a high-quality finish, ‘soar’ in space, in some cases superimposed on the vertical walls, but always remaining detached from them, in other cases floating in space, hanging from above. Two approximately two-meter-high acoustic walls flanking the stage reflect sound towards the orchestra, ensuring the best possible listening conditions. The musicians’ dressing rooms are on the side opposite the foyer and give access to the autonomous, independent room. This access, which crosses an elevated walkway similar to the one in the foyer, being directly connected with the exterior, is for the musical instruments, including large pieces such as pianos, harps, percussion instruments, etc. A ‘green area’ where the artists will be able to rest and meet one another is planned on the dressing-room volume’s ground floor; two small spaces intended for the house manager and control booth are also planned. The conductor’s and lead artists’ (soloists or singers) dressing rooms, equipped with bath and a small waiting area outside, are located on the first floor. The orchestra musicians’ dressing room and lavatories are on the second floor. The dressing room is modular: it can be subdivided into variously-sized spaces for men and women depending on the number of each in the guest orchestras.

The service volumes’ various floors are interconnected by lifts whose size allows various kinds of users to take them.

Access for means for the transport of instruments, for the provision of catering services and for the facilities’ maintenance cross the outdoor area in front of the auditorium.

Above: cross section through auditorium

The piazza in front of the concert hall

The three volumes face each other in a large outside area conceived of as a natural link between the building and park but also as an area structured to extend the auditorium’s functions outdoors in summer. The space in front of the foyer is fitted out to extend the foyer bar’s catering activities, creating a pole of attraction that will surely be a nice place for a break. The area facing the auditorium’s volume can be fitted with seating to accommodate around 500 people who will be able to attend open-air performances or follow concert activities on a big screen in summer. The outdoor area is laid out along axes springing from the sides of the Auditorium’s three volumes, which intersect, generating patterns of dimensions and geometry.

Above: concept section 

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Renzo Piano Building Workshop appeared first on Dezeen.

Product news: the circular sections of this console by French designer Philippine Lemaire for Ligne Roset can be curled round to make a dining table.

Philippine Lemaire incorporated metal ball joints underneath each sawn-oak circular top so the sections can be realigned.

Segments cut out of three of the four tops allow them to fit together and rotate around each other easily.

Each suface balances on two solid oak legs, which branch from a single stem coated in grey laquer at the joint.

The console was displayed at imm cologne last month, where a paperclip-like lamp and an asymmetric desk were also on show.

Other products launched by Ligne Roset this year include a footstool nipped-in with lengths of cord and a glass table with three circular tops.

See more products from Ligne Roset »
See all our stories about table design »
See all our coverage of Cologne 2013 »

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for Ligne Roset appeared first on Dezeen.

This rural residence outside Melbourne by architects Studio Four features a blackened timber exterior and terraces that step down a hill (+ slideshow).

Ridge Road Residence is located in the grounds of a golf course on Mornington Peninsula and sits beside a tea tree on a gently sloping site.

Studio Four rejected the raised podium approach adopted by other houses in the area and instead planned a building that staggers down on a series of split levels. The terraces sit at the lowest levels, surrounded by long grasses that protect them from the prevailing winds.

An open-plan living and dining room opens out to one of the terraces, which is framed by a cube of timber columns and joists.

Inside this room, a double-height window stretches across the end wall to frame a view of the nearby tea tree.

“We sought to create a quality of space that provides a sense of sanctuary, enclosure and comfort,” say the architects. “Emphasis was placed upon capturing the varying qualities of light, the scale and proportions of space, and providing a tangible connection with the building’s surrounds, both in topography and landscape.”

The kitchen runs along the rear of the living room, against a wall of matte black panels that conceal utility rooms. An ensuite bedroom is located just beyond and is raised up to become the uppermost level.

Blackened timber clads the entire exterior, while each window has dark-tinted glass intended to reflect the surrounding landscape. “By using pared-back forms and detailing and a restrained palette of materials the emphasis becomes not on the insular and what has been ‘designed in’, but what nature has provided,” add the architects.

All windows are full height to maximise daylight into the house, while concrete floors and thick block walls help to hold in the heat.

Other black houses we’ve featured recently include a weekend house in Chiba and a writer’s hideaway in upstate New York. See all our stories about black houses.

See more houses in Australia, including an isolated hilltop house with a dramatic cantilever.

Here’s a more detailed project description from Studio Four:

Site Context

It is difficult to gain more than a glimpse of the dwelling through the surrounding vegetation. Where the house is visible, it blends within the landscape, the black timber cladding and dark reflective glass selected to help dematerialise the building form from its natural surrounds.

The front elevation comprises solely of blackened timber walls, punctured only to signify the entry. From the street the scale of the house is deceptively modest, the second, lower level is non apparent. The building form sits low, within the existing native grasses, promoting opportunities to connect intimately with the landscape.

Conceptual Framework

The site for this new house is located within the Moonah Links golf course, on the Mornington Peninsula. A simple brief and program requirements, teamed with a dramatic site characterised by a steep slope and a single tea tree, enabled the design to become an exploration into enclosing the basic rituals of domestic life within restrained building forms, whilst at the same time exposing the building’s program to varying levels of interaction with the surrounding landscape, both immediate and beyond.

In stark contrast to the surrounding houses, which attempt to cancel out the sloping topography by creating a podium level at which the outdoor areas sit exposed high above ground level, the design for this house adopted a gentler strategy, with the building form spilling down the slope to terminate in a series of terraced decks. These low lying decks provide privacy from the golf course below, whilst the surrounding native landscape shelters the outdoor areas from harsh prevailing winds.

Varying levels of interaction and connection with the landscape, both real and perceived, drove all aspects of the design, from the channelled views of the horizon upon entry, through to the double height picture window that captures the full proportion of the tea tree, and the direct and intimate connection provided by the low level decks.

Program Resolution

We sought to create a quality of space that provides a sense of sanctuary, enclosure and comfort. Emphasis was placed upon capturing the varying qualities of light, the scale and proportions of space, and providing a tangible connection with the building’s surrounds, both in topography and landscape. Through the building’s design, the client is able to experience many aspects of the surrounding landscape, whether it be a direct or perceived experience, whilst at the same time maintaining a high level of privacy from the golf course below.

The form of the building was also driven by the desire to separate the public and private zones of the residence. The kitchen, dining and living spaces are combined to create a single, fluid area, delineated only by a gentle level change and a fireplace / storage element. These elements provide the level of intimacy required by the client whilst also allowing the advantages provided by open planning.

The panelised matte black wall to the kitchen conceals a powder room, laundry and butler’s pantry, providing the high level of functionality required, while maintaining the calm qualities of the open plan space.

Cost / Value Outcome

Our challenge was to demonstrate that a custom architectural solution could achieve our client’s budget whilst responding directly to the essence of the site and its location. The house demonstrates that we could not only capture the sense of place, but we could also deliver a competitive cost effective solution. By using pared back forms and detailing and a restrained palette of materials the emphasis becomes not on the insular and what has been ‘designed in’, but what nature has provided and drawing this readily available ‘genius loci’ inside for all to experience.

Sustainability Statement

The design for this house stems from an exploration into the absence of what is not necessary, in both building form and detail, which is at the core of sustainable design.

Renewable timber was selected as the primary building material. Used both internally and externally, its natural aesthetic properties are complemented by the low energy levels required in its production, which significantly reduce the environmental impact of the building.

The design located the eastern end of the lower level below the natural ground line, with concrete slab flooring and block work walls providing a high thermal mass, to balance the large expanses of glazing to the north and west. The upper level is cantilevered, with the timber construction incorporating high levels of insulation throughout.

With views to the golf course to the west, all windows and glazed doors were double glazed with high performance glass, enabling a strong connection to the landscape without compromising the integrity of the building fabric. The existing tea tree became a critical element to the locations of windows, providing sun shading to the internal living areas. Access to daylight was maximised, with all windows full height, and predominantly openable to maximise natural ventilation throughout.

These core sustainable design principles were teamed with underground water storage, water saving fixtures, low voc paints and materials, to complete the sustainable approach. Following completion of the house, the site is being re-vegetated with native species endemic to the local area.

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by Studio Four appeared first on Dezeen.