Award-winning firm Snøhetta has been commissioned by the Ras Al Khaimah investment Authority and RAKEEN to undertake the architectural design for the Gateway project in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. Situated in the desert 150 km to the east of Dubai this landmark project will mark the gateway to the emirate and form the entrance to the new planned capital city of Ras Al Khaimah. The urban master plan for the city is currently being under taken by the Netherlands based architectural practice OMA. The Gateway project is situated at the entrance to the city and will form a landmark for the city entrance.

The architectural expression for our proposal is inspired by the surrounding desert and mountain landscape. This concept provides for an infinite variety of naturally shaded, intimate and protected spaces, around which the multiple uses associated with the development are woven. The undulating architectural landscape is resolved in a dramatic landmark tower marking the main gateway plaza. This 200 m high tower will be the setting for a 5 star plus hotel affording panoramic views across the emirate, to the gulf and mountains beyond.

The programme calls for a mixed-use development comprising a conference centre, exhibition centre, hotels and retail space. In total it is expected to be 270 000m2 of build area. In addition there will be substantial areas of associated garden and landscape. Externally the building will be clad in ceramic panels, this will be developed together with Ras Al Khaimah ceramics, one of the world leading producers of ceramic products.

To confront with the sea level rising of New York, Tingwei Xu and Xie Zhang from the University of Pennsylvania designed an idea for protecting certain areas against water by wearing a “membrane’. Deriving from the intelligent components, we created a surface system that can reveal a continually changing expression. The transforming surface can combine the multiple functions such as waterproof, lighting and agricultural planting. Rather than a traditional hierarchy design thinking, each component on the surface has equal essentiality. It is a irreducible integrity.

As the surface serves as a waterproof for the buildings, in turn, the building provides structure support to the surface. To blur the boundary, the surface seamlessly dissolves the old and rigid layer system of the buildings. Thus, the space between the old building and the new surface is totally fluid. Then, all sufaces form a new lattice system on the site. Finally, the system simultaneously evolves into an unprecedented ecological area in New York.

This is an innovative residential building designed by Philipp Ohnesorge in Vienna. The plot is situated between the 16th, the 17th and the 8th district in Vienna, next to one of the main traffic axis, the Guertel. It is in proximity to the city center with its historical buildings and attractions. The situation today is that the whole plot is empty and leaves a hole in the urban fabric. The block is not closed, the empty gap is now used for parking and is a waste of precious space within the city context. It has an outstanding value and must be reactivated.

The first measure to be taken is the widening of the inner courtyard by slicing the existing buildings, to create a spacious yard that allows public use and increases daylight exposure to the apartments.

By expanding the given roof shape and twisting it around the center until reaching the maximum allowed building height, we created a volume that extends the given geometry and context with maximized usage of allowed building height. A gap between existing and new building mass allows access to the inner courtyard that also provides the entrances to the apartments.

On the first two floors a public square will be created that invites the public to different activities such as eating, shopping, etc. It stimulates the exchange and communication between the residents and will give the area a more personal feel. The apartments are accessible through connecting hallways that are located on the northern facade. By this circulation method we provide maximum space for the apartments with a maximized exploitation to daylight. All apartments are duplex with partly double height rooms that create spacious, light flooded living spaces.

The surrounding buildings are in average not higher than six stories, only on this plot a maximum building height of 41 meters is allowed. This provides the upper apartments with an extraordinary view over whole Vienna and even farther.

The project aims to be landmark for new impulses to urban development in Vienna. The mostly historical urban fabric of the city leaves little space for new urban developments in large scale. By creating intelligent designed buildings on important acupuncture points within the urban fabric we believe that discussions about new possibilities for redensifying the city can be triggered.

The Urban Lounge designed by Patrick Vogel from the Wismar University is a small urban furniture project for the Hafencity Hamburg. The concept is to generate a modern interpretation of a conventional bench or city lounge in the heart of a new city quarter. The lounge is made out of a traditional vertical lamella facade system that transforms into an aesthetic, contemporary communication and chillout spot, directly next to the Elbe riverside.

The general form is created by an optical illusion, made out of individual CNC-bended steel slats, covering the existing concrete facade. Target of the project was to use existing urban spaces, to upgrade the image of a location and to face the existing concrete facades, combined with a specific benefit. The whole system is covering different buildings and transforms continuously.

The Snail Pavilion is a competition entry for the Ceramic Tiles of Italy trade show pavilion. The purpose of the pavilion is for the trade association to represent its member companies’ products at a series of shows over a three-year term. Instead of selecting just a few sample products to feature, the scheme uses hundreds of tiles from Ceramic Tiles of Italy member companies to create giant “creatures” that bristle with the range and depth of Italian ceramic products. In this way the pavilion is more like a library with tiles stacked on shelves than it is a surface against which tiles are set in a rigid grout bed. Visitors can literally occupy the entire history and product catalog of the member companies. An innovative stacking system uses a simple assembly method to produce the appearance of feathers or scales – arraying tiles in a variety of sizes and colors into complex, visual seductive plumage, bristles, and whorls. The tiles are organized into loose color groupings that anticipate different sizes and tones, so the system can accommodate a broad diversity of sample products.

The creatures organize the pavilion into a diagonal shortcut path that funnels visitors to a pinch point where the tiles stick out and invite tactile exploration. Open figures in plan make the creatures occupiable for food service staging and VIP dining. To encourage the sense of adventure while patrons browse the pavilion, unfolded maps of each creature will be provided to point out the locations of tiles that member companies would like to feature. Browsing floor coverings becomes a safari!

Size: 3,000 square feet
Project Team:
 Andrew Holder,
Claus Benjamin Freyinger, Yilip Kang, and
Noah Rubin
Materials: Ceramic Tile, MDF

Prickly Pear is an installation proposal for the work of Nicola Formichetti designed by Barker Freeman Design Office that proposes an immersive sensory environment with changing color tones that can correspond to changing music, body movement, or merchandise within the space. Our concept was to insert an enveloping volume of stretchy translucent netting that would capture and reflect the shifting light spectrum emitted from the system of custom LED fixtures. The lighting could be programmed on a pre-set script or it could be set to respond to environmental changes.

These fixtures are coupled to steel tension rods that attach to grommets in the fabric and to surface-mounted hooks fastened to the walls and ceiling of the existing space. More steel rods would be breakformed into u-shaped forms that would connect to the grommets inside the space to form hanging surfaces for merchandising.

Changing rooms are formed of smaller fabric pods that attach to the main volume through adjustable portals made from fabric gaskets. These spaces would have their lighting that can be programmed separately to indicate vacancy.

The form is inspired by the fruit of the prickly pear cactus, a plant that has its origins in the west but that has grown to become a staple of Mediterranean regions as well. The prickly pear is a source of inspiration and sustenance and celebrated in a wide range of cultures and in this way is a symbol of the global cross-pollination which inspires Nicola Formichetti, whose Italian-Japanese heritage has been a source of inspiration.

Project Team: Alexandra Barker, AIA LEED AP, Principal
Adrien Allred, Phuong Nguyen, Adam Jakubowski, Bridget Rice

After graduating from MA Industrial Design at Central Saint Martins, Chinese designer Zhang Zhoujie founded his own laboratory where he today explores furniture concepts based on traditional Chinese fine art. One of his most elaborate projects is the Triangulation Series which investigates the relationship between computer technologies and Wu Wei, one of the principles of Taoism. It means “lack of intervention”.

The Triangulation Project is based on the interaction of faceted triangular surfaces. These objects are created through a process of evolution, establishing families of objects with common predecessors. By creating different typologies based on the initial geometry, the laboratory offers a possibility of creating personalized chair designs by taking key measurements from the customer. The device which performs the actual measuring is in the form of hundreds of sensors embedded into a measuring apparatus. Gathered data can be directly imported into the digital model.

The fabrication process begins with turning the digital output of the 3d model into a 2d layout of individual triangles which creates data for the laser cutting phase.  The shapes are then cut-out of the base material (stainless steel or titanium). After receiving the material a precise set of angle guides are produces for each of the different contact angles present on the chair. These are then used to bend the individual metal elements into the correct alignment based on an angle map, also created from the 2d layout.

The bending process is carried out by hand. Once its complete, the contact points are fixed in place, using a special treatment on the underside of the chair. The individual segments are mated with their adjoining parts before being fixed in place. Once the upper and lower halves of the chair have been fabricated, they are strengthened with 3 layers of glass fiber, applied to the underside of both parts. The combination of 6 layers of glass fiber produces the strength and rigidity necessary for the chair to be used as an everyday object. The final step is adding a layer of high density foam, which is sandwiched between the upper and lower halves of the chair, giving it solidity and toughness.

The Triangulation Series was showcased last month at the International Furniture Fair in Cologne.

It often happens that the small-scale, programmatically simple design tasks tap into the basics of the practice and remind of what is the initial creative act in designing – Asking Questions. To most with formal architectural education, designing trade show pavilions presents starting challenges that help solidify their understanding of space. By returning to questions, small competitions act as a bloodletting treatment for the current global discourse. These also take on a didactic role for architecture beginners, reminding them of the complexity of the design process that can be revisited, but certainly not avoided by relying solely on the abstract art of mathematics.

The winning proposal for the Ceramics of Italy Competition is a recognizable, functional and versatile space, achieved by using the design elements organically and making them part of a clear, cohesive architectural thought. The project marries archetypal spatial preoccupations with modern technologies and computational design.

The 3,000 square feet rectangular trade show pavilion comprises a café, information and reception desks and storage spaces. Lifted at the opposite corners are two seating areas, reminiscent of Italian piazzas. These are progressively transformed into information and reception desks. Layering of the platform into gradual steps allowed the architects at e+i Studio to extensively showcase the Italian tile palette through variations in color. The gridshell wood structure supporting tile mounds creates service areas below, leaving the space between the slopes for gatherings and dining.

Piazza Ceramica can be recreated in many different configurations. The structure, manufactured with CNC and water jet technologies, consists in producing one module and its mirror counterpart, which can be combined and reused in multiple assemblies.

The proposal for Sofia’s new Metropolitan Station 20 on line one was designed by Zeybekoglu Nayman Associates. The design strategy seeks to take advantage of the intense relationship between Obikolna Street and the future station. Organized along a glass spine that covers the space below ground level, the station is meant to capture as much natural light as possible.

Architects state:” The sun penetrates down through sculptural skylights illuminating the entire station in a warm glow. The use of daylight as an architectural element assists orientation for passengers and provides a sense of security.   It allows for the atmosphere of the station to be transformed by the color of the sky.  Underground the station is efficient, easy to read and comprehend through its organized masses.  The descent down to the metro is designed as an elegant, modern addition to the street life above. Public access areas on B1 contain places to sit, shop, and dine. Open to all, this level has direct access to both sides of Obikolna Street through a new pedestrian underpass.  Ticketed areas on B2 including the platforms are separated by a series of turnstiles that lead to zones of vertical transportation.

This design demonstrates a spatial coherence between the two worlds above and below.  Gracefully shaped glass geometries define a modern sculptural addition to the outdoor-indoor environment. During the day the outside is brought into the station and at the night the glowing illumination from within becomes part of the street scene.”

Cheap, dull, unattractive and unpleasant spaces – that’s the reputation of school ‘relocatables’. They’re the decades old, utilitarian solution to changing school demographics, remote community needs and disasters such as fires, floods and cyclones.

But a new plan by the Laboratory For Visionary Architecture [LAVA] turns these unpleasant spaces into smart buildings, the design an education in itself. In sustainability, social interaction, nature and adaptive technology. Chris Bosse, Asia Pacific director of LAVA says: ‘we wanted to turn this idea upside down and create spaces that are sustainable, practical, cost-effective whilst fun and exciting to be in’.

The sustainable design includes a modular façade system that is manually operable, flexible for light and shade, enclosed space or open space, bringing the outside in or the inside out. Using eco-materials it is low cost, low carbon, with off-site prefabrication allowing responsive assembly, with small lightweight, easily transportable modular elements. This cellular ‘space for learning’ strengthens the connection between mankind, nature and technology. ‘Three-axis’ geometry allows the interlocking of each module to form large groups with smaller learning clusters. This results in the building itself learning how to adapt to future methods of learning and future modes of operation.

The future classroom adapts to multiple sites, unusual configurations and different climates and topographies through a simple telescopic system of posts integrating the classroom into the landscape. The concept received a commendation in the Australian Future Proofing School competition to future proof relocatable learning spaces. The aim of the ideas competition was to produce effective spaces for 21st century learning that are sustainable, integrate with the landscape and connect with the school environment, suitable for prefabrication and mass customization.