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| 10:08 Fri 09 May 2008 |
Tag: Architecture
These items have all been tagged with the tag "Architecture", You can see other tags in the Tag Cloud| House in Tenerife, Canary Islands |
| 2008-05-05 16:38:10 |
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We do our best to seek out exceptional design from all corners of the globe, and on Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands off the north west coast of Africa, we found an extraordinary architectural example in timber, glass and concrete. The House in Tenerife was built into the cliffs nearly 1000 ft. above a black sand beach. The entrance to the house leads to the upper tier of the double-height living room. And descending the concrete staircase, the minimalist interior becomes second nature against the surrounding backdrop – where the blues of the sky and the sea appear vertically in formation. Before long, the sensory experiences from the natural world envelope the built form, and the house’s relevance in its surroundings are revealed. The layout places living areas of the home on the shorter end of the L-shaped form, while both bedrooms and bathrooms sit along the longer side. Both living and sleeping spaces open out to a wooden deck and pool that spills into nature. The heaviness of the concrete double-story living room allows glass panels to sit effortlessly on the deck. The room’s only furniture, le Corbuiser’s chaise and Mies’ Barcelona chair face out, away from a small fireplace that meets a wall of two-storey shelving. The sleeping spaces both open to the deck and pool as well. Each has its own bathroom – and from the master, the owners can sleep and bathe in the same space looking out at the same view, as the sink and the concrete tub sit at the foot of the bed. The house even contains a basement where a home gym looks through a glass wall into the side of the pool. We couldn’t really think of anything else we would want from a home on a Spanish island – except great wine storage, we’d be doing plenty of entertaining. By Andrew J Wiener. Pics by Roland Halbe |
| Casey Brown Architecture – James-Robertson House |
| 2008-04-16 16:37:22 |
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The design brief for the James-Robertson House set upon a steep slope at Great Mackerel Beach overlooking the bay was to provide the owners with a permanent residence that separates living, sleeping and guest spaces in three pavilion-like glass, steel and copper structures. The Sydney-based team of Casey Brown Architecture abides by principles of lying built form atop of the natural environment, and their house perched above the blue waters of the bay is no exception to the practice. For the James-Robertson House, the architects, who also live on the hillside, employed their local knowledge of climate and topography in the relationship between the natural and the tectonic. After crossing the bay by ferry, visitors and the very few local residents arrive at Great Mackerel Beach via a pier that jets out from the shore. The homes on the hillside sit at the edge of the Ku-ring-gai National Park – a vast expansive protected area just north of Sydney – and no road access means no cars at all – the dream of many urbanists worldwide. The structure of the house is comprised of three double-storey pavilions that are anchored down into the rock formations yet seem to hang off the steep hill. The climate-sensitive design allows the vast open areas to capture sea breezes from the South Pacific Ocean just out beyond the Bay. Sunlight is effortlessly filtered through folding hoods, mechanical blinds and eaves and long overhangs. The entire steel structure was painted black, which helps the house fade into its natural environment. Along with the structural materials, the architects placed a copper roof above and used local timber and stone. The two pavilions below house a guest room and bathroom on the lower level, while the main kitchen, dining and living areas are accessed via an exterior stone stairway. The upper pavilion sits 165 feet above the lower, and can only be accessed by riding aboard a very steep inclinator. The pavilion contains the laundry area below, and the master bedroom and bathroom were placed on the highest point for the most expansive views of the surrounding landscape. By Andrew J Wiener |
| Zaha Hadid Wins Design Comp For Guggenheim Hermitage Museum |
| 2008-04-10 17:14:11 |
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Zaha Hadid’s silvery building resembling a sub-surface ferry or a space ship is the winning entry in the competition for the design of the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in the ancient city of Vilnius, capital and the largest city of the Republic of Lithuania. Although Vilnius is one of Europe's smallest capitals, it has a long, strong and culturally rich history, beautifully reflected in its well-preserved Old Town with cathedrals dating back to the 12th century. The Pritzker prize-winning architect Hadid’s futuristic building will be an arts centre and a museum, housing selected collections of both the New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the St. Petersburg- based State Hermitage Museum. The jury selected Hadid’s (Zaha Hadid Architects) design over those of equally famous architects Daniel Libeskind (Studio Daniel Libeskind) and Massimiliano Fuksas (Studio Fuksas). A feasibility study, commissioned by the recently established Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center in Vilnius, is expected to be completed by mid-June 2008. Depending on its outcome, the museum could open as early as in 2011. By Tuija Seipell |
| World's Coolest Houses - Architects/Photographers, submit your designs |
| 2008-03-27 16:15:09 |
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We are on a hunt for supremely cool houses, from beach homes, country homes and city pads to holiday houses and ski retreats, we want to know where the coolest houses are for our upcoming book. We are looking for the most unique houses from Sao Paulo to Sydney. Slightly cool, standard-issue luxury won’t do it. The houses we want must think like Zaha Hadid who said “I like architecture to have someraw, vital, earthy quality.” So, if you are an architect of such a house, please submit your project for consideration or if you a aphotographer who has photographed such a house, please get in touch - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
| The Mill |
| 2008-03-07 15:34:41 |
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People have paddled since time immemorial although the gear today is much different from what it was in ancient times. Soon we will also see a new type of rest and overnight shelter specifically for canoeists that will take advantage of the water as a power source yet retain a pristine and timeless peacefulness. Finnish architect and artist Sami Rintala, together with architecture student Janne Saario, has created The Mill, a modern wilderness hut that will be located in the Halikko river in south western Finland, near the town of Salo, mid-way between Helsinki and Turku. The wooden shelter even includes fireplaces and sleeping platforms and the waterwheel in the middle of the stream produces the energy for use in the shelter. To be completed in the fall of 2008, The Mill is part of Halikonlahti Green Art Trilogy, which in turn is part of an ongoing multi-year "Cross-artistic and Scientific Environmental Event" The 39-year-old Rintala has created experimental and environmentally sustainable installations and experimental buildings all over the world, form the Scandinavian countries to Cuba, Canada, Japan and Korea. By Tuija Seipell |
| Onigiri House - Oita, Japan |
| 2008-02-25 16:03:48 |
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Architecture and adaptation go hand in hand - many of the types and styles of buildings created in the past will not translate into our current design discourse. Only when architects acknowledges the world around us is changing, becoming more complex, can they successfully create functional space. Japan's NKS architects design buildings that re-frame space - adapt to changes in their surroundings. The small wooden Onigiri House in the countryside of southern Japan was built for an older couple in attempt to keep costs down while maximizing space. The house's main structure forms a triangular tube-shape and is made from thick cedar boards, traditionally used for ship scaffolding. Windows are spaced along the top where the boards lean together as well as in intervals along the base of the house. Additional glass doors within a glass frame fill the end of the tube. An obvious connection to nature is essential to most Japanese architects - and here the placement of windows and doors allows light and wind to penetrate the entire space. By Andrew J Wiener More of NKS work below |
| Phooey Architects - Children's Activity Center (Melbourne) |
| 2008-02-11 16:46:22 |
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We’ve told you before about some of the creative uses for abandoned shipping containers – and we wouldn’t keep bringing it up if we didn’t think that design recycling is still essential. Also, we have never before found a project where the principles underlying sustainability have been so successfully achieved. Phooey Architects completed work on Skinners Playground, a backyard for children living in public housing in South Melbourne, Australia – and a low cost, environmentally sound, and socially responsible solution. Setting design aside for a second, we need to acknowledge that the architects created a place to find a community support network; a place for children to learn and grow; a place that provides a place to escape; and a place where families know children are safe. The result is similar to the Danish concept of allowing children within a community to build their own play space. Although the children in South Melbourne did not actually build this playground, they will take an active role in how the activity center will develop and grow. Beginning with the desire to produce zero waste from conception to completion, Phooey architects staggered, sliced and arranged four unpainted shipping containers on the site of the playground. Any additional material including windows, decking, carpet tiles and joinery had to be durable, recycled, reclaimed, reused, plantation or salvaged from demolition. Even parts that were cut off or unassembled from the containers were used to make a staircase with a balustrade, overhangs providing external shading, and various decorative features. Through the successful stacking of the shipping containers, a variety of indoor and outdoor, intimate and public spaces are created. Areas are provided for study, art, dance, play and general hang out. Every interior space has visual and physical connections to its surroundings by opening up onto sandpits, play spaces and even a pond and reed bed that receives much of the roof’s runoff rainwater. The containers are fully sealed and insulated allowing continued use through Melbourne’s temperate winter months. And in the summer, cool ocean breezes help prevent overactive children from overheating. By Andrew J Wiener. |
| A Home With The Coolest Outdoor Home Theater |
| 2008-02-06 14:41:46 |
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We have found a candidate for the winner in the Coolest Home Theater category. Just short of being a drive-in, this outdoor home theatre surpasses the stinky basement family “media room” by close to a light year. Glass walls, clean lines, uninterrupted space, uncluttered rooms, expensive detailing — the hallmarks of a modern, upscale classic are all present in this stylish residence. Why anyone in possession of such an amazing home with such breathtaking views, would want to watch movies at home, is beyond us, but let’s just say that we wouldn’t mind being invited to a screening or two. The terraces, patios and the 65-foot infinity pool and spa will keep cinematically uninterested guests entertained as well. And we’ll all stay at the separate guest house, of course. But we must admit we are still lacking an invite to the 5,800-square-foot Skyline residence overlooking Hollywood and downtown LA. The visit is up to the owner of the home, architect Hagy Belzberg, a Harvard graduate (1991) who interned in Frank Gehry’s office. The opulent home was designed by the entire team of his Santa Monica-based, 13-member Belzberg Architects that the now 43-year-old Hagy Belzberg founded in 1997. By Tuija Seipell |
| Moving On Up - The New Attic |
| 2008-01-29 19:50:15 |
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A house attic does not evoke images of style and chic design. Rather, we find ourselves thinking of dark, cobweb-infested, damp and dreary crawl spaces. We think of attics as leftover space under the roof where we abandon unwanted stuff – outdated clothing, old books, grandma’s hat boxes, grandpa’s hunting gear, coin collections and bags of seashells from that long-ago beach vacation. But space in our urban areas is at a premium and there is not a square foot to waste. Architects and designers are now starting to see the potential of this extra space, and offer solutions that meet the needs of the most demanding style freaks. Sunlight, additional rooms, extra bathrooms — it is all possible in the attic. Starchitects around the world have made dramatic rooflines trendy, so we can all give up on our visions of the embarrassing drywalled and pine-paneled disasters that attics tended to morph into, every time we tried to make them livable. Within very few square feet, designers are finding space for sleeping, cooking and eating, and using the sloping rooflines to create impressive skylight windows. We can all see the delightful benefits of maximizing the amount of livable and useable space – even if it meant clearing away the precious collections of bric-a-brac we’ve spent generations accumulating. Ample sunlight penetrating the attic apartment means than even nocturnal arachnids have been sent packing. By Andrew J Weiner and Tuija Seipell We're looking for more attic renovations, if you spot one, send This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
| Middle East Center at St Antony’s College, Oxford - Zaha Hadid |
| 2008-01-28 20:29:14 |
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The office of Zaha Hadid, the sometimes controversial and always bold Baghdad-born, London-based architect, has revealed design plans for a striking new building in the most traditional and affluent of places, Oxford. The new composite-glass structure, to be named the Softbridge Building, is an extension to the Middle East Center at St Antony’s College. It will link the 66 and 68 Woodstock Road buildings, one a Victorian mock Tudor and the other Edwardian. The new, concave, shiny structure looks like a modern sculpture that fell from the sky and wedged itself between the two sleepy oldies. The exuberant and dynamic Softbridge appears to have known that, against all odds, the old buildings will not buckle, the mature trees will not die and the limited space into which the newcomer must settle, will be just enough. The Softbridge will house a lecture theater and the library, taking pressure off the old, bursting-at-the-seams facilities. Other goals are to provide a better research environment for students and to connect the academic and public functions of the institute. The above-ground floors house the reception and exhibition areas, the main archive reading room, library storage and the main library. The lecture theater and additional storage will be located in the basement. The outspoken Hadid continues to produce bold design work, characterized by rounded shapes and unconventional approaches, in spite of the widely publicized controversies surrounding some of her buildings in Britain, including the Olympic Aquatic Centre. In an Oxford Times article, Hadid was quoted as saying, “As a woman, I’m expected to want everything to be nice and to be nice myself. A very English thing. I don’t design nice buildings. I don’t like them. I like architecture to have some raw, vital, earthy quality.” By Tuija Seipell |
