Tag Archives: architect

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Architectural Spaces For Living And Working On Art

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Outpost by Olson Kundig Architects, Idaho

Architecture and art production have been inextricably linked since primitive humans began to paint in their caves. Artists need large, functional work areas that don’t encumber or restrict their creative endeavors—particularly when they’re creating, sleeping, and living in one space.

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01-390 House by Philippe SAMYN and PARTNERS, architects & engineers, Brussels, Belgium

The prominent minimalist and land artist Walter de Maria’s studio in Manhattan has just hit the market—asking price: $25 million. A former power company substation, it has many of the attributes artists desire in their live/work situations: large ceilings ranging between 13 to 25 feet; a vast open floor plan that can fit monumental sculptures or paintings; large windows that flood the space with natural light. A bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom, while modest, gave De Maria an area of respite from his daily artistic undertakings.

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Hendee-Borg House by William O’Brien Jr. LLC, United States

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Illuminated Architecture

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Chanel HK LED Concept Design by 2×4, Inc., Hong Kong

As daylight fades and nighttime begins to envelop the city, the built environment transforms into a hulking monochromatic whole. This dance of night and day has inspired poets and artists for centuries, and—with the advent of technology—has motivated architects and designers to experiment with incorporating lighting systems into the facades of their buildings.

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Rising Moon by Daydreamers Design, Hong Kong

One way they do this is through LEDs. Developed in the 1960s, LEDs (short for light-emitting diodes) function as a semiconductor light source. Essentially electrons are passed through a device and allowed to recombine at certain points, which releases energy from photons. This effect is called electroluminescence, and it produces different color lights depending on the energy of the photon. The color and duration of light can be controlled by the bandwidth of energy sent through the device, giving LEDs one of their hallmark attributes: the ability to be modified easily.

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The SOL Dome by Loop.pH, Michigan City, Indiana

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The Honeycombed Architecture Of Buildings That Take Inspiration From The Bees

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Image via.

Architects often look to the natural world for inspiration. Sometimes this can result in a project that plays with scale of natural phenomenon, such as Beijing’s Water Cube, which was based on the shape of water bubbles. Other times it can be a more abstract appropriation, as in the case of Bjarke Ingels’s new apartment complex design in the Bahamas, “The Honeycomb.”

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The Honeycomb by BIG, Bahamas, Nassau. Image via.

The design of the project did not call on the geometry of the honeycomb for structural integrity. Instead, the hexagon pattern supplied a motif for the facade, adding some visual interest—and character—to the building’s typical rectangular form. Each apartment also has an ample balcony that includes a pool, providing the inhabitants with a semi-private outdoor area from which to enjoy the view of the ocean and tropical weather.

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Architectural Projects That Have You Walking On Glass

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Jellyfish House by Wiel Arets Architects, Marbella, Spain

Integrating glass into structural flooring lends an air of drama and tension to architectural projects. From a young age, our interactions with the material are often fraught with danger. Everyone has broken something made of glass, confronting its physical properties, and hazards, head on. Glass is brittle, and when it shatters, it produces a multitude of sharp tiny pieces that are impossible to clean. Clear and nearly invisible, the shards inflict pain and suffering to various degrees.

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PENTHOUSE PPDG by HERNANDEZ SILVA ARCHITECTS, Guadalajara, Mexico

It is clarity and invisibility that make glass the perfect material for many situations, especially for uses that are not load bearing, like a window or façade. It gets trickier, though, when it’s incorporated into something you want to walk or stand on. Regardless of its physical limitations, architects love to play with glass in their designs. The 17 architects below chose to use it as flooring.

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Row House in Goeblange by Metaform atelier d’architecture, Goeblange, Luxembourg

 

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Nothing Better Than Manifestly Magnificent Cantilevers

cantilever Villa Amanzi by Original Vision, Phuket, Thailand

Ever filled out an online survey that asks the question which super power you would rather have, flying or invisibility? For architects this question probably seems silly, for employing the cantilever in their designs does both those things. It gives buildings volumes that appear to be levitating, walls that disappear, and (bonus!) views that extend to the horizon. cantilever1

Balancing Barn by MVRDV, Thorington, Great Britain (via future-predictor) cantilever3

Statoil Regional and International Offices by a-lab, Bærum, Norway

The physics of the cantilever are pretty simple: One end is anchored and the opposite juts dramatically into space. The structure of the building no longer has to rely on the exterior walls for support; it can essentially disappear. Continue reading here. cantilever2

Caterpillar House by Sebastián Irarrázaval, Santiago de Chile

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More Than Just A Brick In The Wall

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House on Mount Anville by Aughey O’Flaherty Architects, Dublin

Building with brick is similar to walking. Placing one foot in front of the other eventually leads somewhere, just as putting one brick on top of the other ultimately leads to a built structure.

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Beyond the Screen by Office for Beyond Boundaries Architecture, Seoul, Korea

Architects and builders have used brick as a building material for thousands of years. The modular simplicity and relative cost effectiveness are still appealing in contemporary architecture. Curved walls and sun shades, or brise soleil, are made possible with clever applications.

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Lorong M Telok Kurau House by A D LAB Pte Ltd, Singapore

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Beautiful Factories That Combine Architecture And Engineering

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FRABA Sp. z o.o. by BeL, Slubice, Poland

The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, and the resulting technological innovations, changed architecture forever by producing materials that made construction more efficient, sturdier, and more adaptable. We also saw a change in the construction of the factory itself; pressures for productivity led administration to adhere to “scientific management” practices, placing an emphasis on work flow and environments.

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KOP Warehouses by URA, Puurs, Belgium

This new philosophy on workspace led to the disappearance of cramped, dimly lit interiors and prompted a focus on standardization. Modern factories ushered in open floor plans and a combination of steel, concrete, and glass to allow natural light onto the work floor. These changes in industrial architecture had an effect on residential architecture as well: modernist architects such as Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, and Buckminster Fuller were influenced by this new factory typology, and the idea of a home as a “machine for living” became an important concept.

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VW AutoTürme by HENN, Wolfsburg, Germany

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Buildings Of The Social Housing Paradigm

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Housing for the Fishermen of Tyre by Hashim Sarkis Studios, Abbasiyeh, Lebanon

Publicly subsidized housing provides shelter for some of the most vulnerable members of society, giving them a chance at security. Overarching problems such as inequality and poverty aren’t directly addressed, but having suitable, comfortable living spaces adds “bandwidth” to people’s cognitive abilities, allowing them energy to pursue night classes or pay bills on time.

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Les Arcades du Lac by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura, Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines, France

Social housing also plays a large role in the general population’s imagination. The narrative of Jay Z—growing up in the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn and rising to the level of celebrity, CEO, and part owner/cheerleader of the Barclay Center—is the 21st century’s answer to Horatio Alger. His “escape” from public housing is the triumph of the story, the buildings of Marcy a physical representation of what was holding him back from reaching his full potential.

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Alegria by Agence Bernard Buhler, Bayonne, France

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Architectural Spaces For Jumpstarting Joy And Child’s Play

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Outdoors Indoors by BE-FUN Design, Shinagawa, Japan

Having the freedom and space for play is an important element of childhood development. During play, children explore and learn about themselves and their world and the first inklings of autonomy are reinforced. Considering that even simple objects such as an empty cardboard box can yield endless possibilities and hours of fun, imagine what can happen when architects design secure, stimulating spaces specifically for children.

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Eva’s Bed by h2o architectes, Paris, France

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Tepoztlán Lounge by Cadaval & Solà-Morales, Tepoztlán, Mexico

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The Rustic Refinement Of Renovated Barns

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La Concha by MOOARC, Guernsey

The advent of agriculture heralded the development of an architecture devoted to the activities of farming; structures to safely store animals, tools, and crops were needed for seasonal cultivation to be successful. These constructions are what became know as barns, and for thousands of years, their typology has stayed essentially the same.

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Redevelopment of a Barn in Soglio, Ruinelli Associati Architetti, Soglio, Switzerland

In America, barns were brought over by many European settlers, including English, Dutch, and German, but the architecture of each group varied only slightly. In the early days of agriculture, the factor with the largest influence over barn style and structure was actually the surrounding geography and climate.

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Villa Nannestad by Askim/Lantto Arkitekter AS, Oslo, Norway