Under the current economic pressure, cities are no longer able to develop the way they used to, especially in the regeneration of unused industrial areas, which have become increasingly in demand due to lack of housing and infrastructure. Although nearby, they represent disconnected areas from the city centers. Considering that city expansion and large regeneration schemes remain as unrealized masterplans due to shortage of public funds and lack of incentive to private initiatives, its now a challenge to devise schemes which could trigger progressive regeneration in harmony with existing urban structures. From an environmental perspective, large amounts of infrastructure and many buildings, which could have been adopted and reused, have been destroyed. The destruction of heritage and memory, the environmental cost of willful demolition and the scale, speed of erection and brutality of the new are most of the time too much for communities to absorb. Therefore, revitalizing bits of the city that need repair, that need healing is becoming increasingly important.

The main feature of the proposal by Evgeni Leonov Architects is minimization of the A/V ratio of the building. Minimal external surface means minimal heat losses. Egg shape is used as inspiration to this project. As known, the egg is one of the most energy-efficient forms of nature. To make A/V ratio minimal, we blocked houses together, linked walls, chose effective dimensions, delete corners, using egg shape in section, and adopted form to site. The result is twice reduced A/V ratio (0,39). Read the rest of this entry »

Norwegian Architecture firm Tyin Tegnestue has designed what it dubs a ‘Once and Future Boathouse:’ a hybrid structure that utilizes both ancient wooden elements from an existing boathouse with contemporary methodology, simple design, and construction of fully articulated dock doors. Though boathouses have a long history in Norway, their contemporary usage has changed from that of lore. Boathouses, in the modern, integrated European economy, have been morphed into hybrid spaces, taking on the utilitarian functions of storage- as per tradition- while simultaneously becoming prized for their contemporary leisure and cultural functions. The boathouse in question was built in the mid-1800s and had deteriorated to such a deplorable state as to merit demolition. This structure, with its sensitive site location- on the northwest coast, amid the trees, and just tip-toeing into the water-, simple design, and honest use of local materials, inspired the newer construction’s formal and material expression. Read the rest of this entry »

Breakfast New York City is an interactive installation in Midtown Manhattan that both mimics and responds to interactive movement. Located that the intersection of 32nd Street and 6th Avenue, this installation is a revival of an antique sign technology that utilizes over 40,000 metallic spinning dots on a computerized surface to broadcast messages, including scrolling text and images. Because of its analog technology, the mechanism that is analogous to digital pixels, actually mimics the movement and rotation of pistons on a mechanical engine. The dots are either black or white, depending on which side is exposed, creating a binary that, when taken in aggregate and seen from afar, render images and text. This literal movement, however, from black to white, is done so through mechanical means, creating various clicks, like those made on a typewriter. Read the rest of this entry »

Highstack and Lowstack, a cabinet and chair, respectively were designed by Bratislava-based ALLT, as complementary pieces, both derived from the concept of stacking unfinished wood planks between wooden spacers in order to facilitate air movement and drying. Unfinished wood is most malleable and best-suited to manufacturing processes when containing a relatively low moisture content. Freshly-sawed wood, often set out to dry either in open air or in artificially-heated kilns, can take weeks and months to dry out, as it contains high levels of water and sap. To facilitate this drying process, the roughly processed dimensional lumber that leaves a mill is stacked in layers, separated and elevated by thin, wooden shims. Air and heat pass through the resulting cavernous spaces, carrying away water through evaporative cooling. This industrial process has been applied to the formal expression of Highstack and Lowstack, and, when combined with a randomized technique regarding the size and texture of individual components, lends a dramatic aspect to these pieces of furniture.  Read the rest of this entry »

A building dedicated to the art and experience of film-making, Amsterdam’s EYE Film Institute is an attempt to bring social activity to the movie-going experience. The structure, located on the banks of Amsterdam’s lj River, across from the Centraal train station, contributes to the city’s burgeoning waterfront cultural scene. The facade’s geometric formations, simultaneously chaotically-faceted and predictably-tessellated, are made from pressed aluminum tiles providing a compelling visual carpet of aesthetic expression. The building, designed by Austria’s Delugan Meissl Associated Architects and dubbed ‘The Oyster’ by locals, houses the EYE Film Institute’s film archives, which enjoy a healthy rotation both on the theatre’s silver screen, as well as along the interior walls, where they are projected and displayed for the viewer’s enjoyment. A social component is added when viewers are allowed to pause frames, compelling one to study the details of each still.  Read the rest of this entry »

The Sipopo Congress Center was designed for the city of Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea. Due to the high amount of solar radiation, this two-storey building features a semi-transparent metal envelope that protects the interior, yet provides and optimal amount of natural lighting. The lacy texture of the mesh grants a shady interior during the day, while providing an appearance of transparency at night.  Istanbul-based Tabanlioglu Architects have designed the building favoring natural materials like timber, natural stone and glass, with particular attention to locally available sources. Read the rest of this entry »

The Antwerp’s New Law Courts, designed by Stirk Harbour + Partners, was conceived both as a gateway to the city and as a link across the motorway between the city centre and the Schelde River. It aims to reconnect the urban tissue, broken by a massive motorway interchange that cuts off the boulevard that leads into the city. It houses eight distinct civil and criminal courts and includes 36 courtrooms plus offices, chambers for judges and lawyers, library and cafeteria, with a great public hall linking six radiating wings of accommodation. This space is capped by a striking roof structure, crystalline in form, linking the paraboloid roofs that cover the courtrooms. Read the rest of this entry »

The part-residential, part-office tower in Singapore was designed by UN Studio. In line with their consistent preocupation with responsive cladding systems, the ’V on Shenton’ tower has a facade that comprises several varying textures that depend on program and Singapore’s climatic conditions. Soft-edged and with a highly detailed envelope, the building communicates with the existing architecture of Singapore’s Central Business District, where the proposed building site is located. Read the rest of this entry »

The Vortex Chandelier is in line with the series of furniture pieces, which is also a collaboration of designers Zaha Hadid, Patrik Schumacher and Sawaya & Moroni. The Chandelier’s Opaque surface etches two transparent acrylic light spirals and a recessed LED light strip provides animated and programmable light sensations. Its complex curvilinearity follows a double helix connecting its beginning to its end and therefore forming an endless ribbon of light. In plan the object resembles a star with its protrusions pointing outwards from the center, emphasizing an imaginary centrifugal force. Read the rest of this entry »

The Constructive Geometry Pavilion is an investigation of dome structures through use of computational design processes. Designed and constructed by the students of the Faculty of Architecture, University of Porto, the structure is made of corrugated cardboard. It is a demonstration of using computational design tools to conceive and materialize geometrically adaptive design solutions, by exploring mass-customization logics and intensive collective collaboration.

The honeycomb structure with the inside covered by perforated panels has a total of 185 hexagon cells and 185 panels, organized in 21 parts for prefabrication. Each part was assigned to a group of 2 students, who became responsible for the digital flattening fabrication of the individual pieces, and their assembly. Given that it was not possible to use digital fabrication equipment, an alternative method was deployed – the contours were plotted and then cut by hand in the corrugated cardboard panels. This process took two days and a half to be completed.

The pavilion was a preview for a definitive installation which will be constructed in September, during the official opening of the 2012/13 academic year. Aligned with similar initiatives taking place in some other international schools, the Constructive Geometry Pavilion reinforces the position FAUP at the forefront of the teaching and research on digital technologies in architecture in Portugal.