Johan Voordouw is a member of the research network Horhizon, a London based collaborative that conducts research through design. This project seeks to establish urban communities through the re-interpretation of existing urban typologies.

Like many mid-sized cities across Western Europe the loss of manufacturing has resulted in continual economic decline. Leicester is but one of the many examples of cities in the United Kingdom that has increasingly suffered from the loss of industry and the inability to attract service industries due to its close proximity to larger centres such as London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

This project seeks to build a vertically integrated community with a common purpose away from a service led economy and assert a new, small-scale industrial complex intimately linked to housing and retail. The community is a re-interpretation of traditional typologies such as the scale of the Victorian terraced house, the layout of the urban mansion block and the programme of the traditional market village. Bounding the site are urban vectors such as a High Street, and pedestrian pathways along the canal network.

This community will simultaneously densify the city while retaining all the facets for a viable community as a place to work, live and play. Read the rest of this entry »

Kubota & Bachmann Architects unveiled their masterplan for Niderfeld, Dietikon Switzerland. In order to improve the district’s performance, the future identity of Niderfeld shall be developed gradually and reflect the district’s diversity. Wherever required by the districts’ identity, leading principles shall govern the arrangement, the volumetry as well as the formation. This regards the housing, the landscape and public space. Concerning the urban development and architecture, conditions shall be set that motivate the residents to lead a sustainable lifestyle. The objective to allow Niderfeld a multiple identity is achieved by the interaction of different development scenarios. To honor those identities, a multidimensional public space surrounds the buildings. By promoting a differentiated social as well as urban development, those measures will ensure Niderfelds’ success. Not every accumulation of buildings constitutes a city in itself. To create a harmonious overall concept contributing to the districts’ identity, every building has to be understood as part of an urban master plan. Thus, the development process takes account of the existing buildings and integrates it in the big picture.

The typological diversity of the concept and the gradual development facilitate the integration of existing structures (i.e. the Grabacher building). The development may respect individual needs of real estate owners and start from out different places. Through the intended ecological efforts, Niderfeld meets future environmental standards. The concept incorporates possible changes of sociological and demographical nature and adaptation is possible in the course of time. The multi-story car parks might be converted given that they are built above ground. Buildings and their façades might be produced out of wood. So instead of emitting carbon, it will be sequestrated in the building material. Roofs shall either serve as vegetation surface or be equipped with solar panels. Read the rest of this entry »

Designed by Jakob + MacFarlane as a part of an urban planning project to replenish the docks of lyon, the five-storey orthogonal cube plays off the fluid movement of the river saône, exploring the effects of subtraction and voids on the quality and generation of space.  Built on a regular framework of 29 x 33 m, the structure stands autonomously on the site, a wharf with a predominantly industrial background. The most noticeable element of the design – its bright orange shade – is an abstraction of lead paint, an industrial color often used for harbor zones. The external skin is a light facade, punctured with a pixilated pattern that resembles trailing droplets, a reference to the adjacent river’s flow. This porous envelope allows sightlines and natural daylighting while establishing a distinct identity for the building.

The structural regularity of the cube is broken on the north-west corner which faces the river. Conic in form, the large, diagonally-running void generates new space: a large atrium is created which is circumscribed by a series of outdoor corridors that connect the office platforms together. The facade is pulled into the depth of the volume, resulting in a shift in interior/exterior relations, as well as facilitating light and views. Another volumetric subtraction on the entry and roof level establish direct relations between the building, its users, and the site.

Featuring a double-height layout, the ground floor accommodates a design showroom. The display concept, which was also created by jacob + macfarlane architects, was developed as an extrapolation of the ‘orange cube’s architectural language. taking the treatment of the facade, a three-dimensional volume was generated for an L-shaped wall that wraps around the space. Sixty ‘alvéoles’ are used to display furniture pieces, while the unit as a whole define the circulation of the floor.

Images ©Nicolas Borel

19,259 articles submit a project subscribe via email RSS facebook twitter view articles in brief in full today yesterday most popular this week this month all time

jakob + macfarlane

BIG + TNT Nuuk + Ramboll Nuuk + Arkitekti is the winning team to design the new National Gallery of Greenland in the country’s capital Nuuk, among invited proposals totaling 6 Nordic architects.

Located on a steep slope overlooking the most beautiful of Greenland’s fjords, the 3000 m2 National Gallery will serve as a cultural and architectural icon for the people of Greenland. The new museum will combine historical and contemporary art of the country in one dynamic institution The winning proposal was selected by a unanimous museum board among 6 proposals, including Norwegian Snøhetta, Finnish Heikkinen‐Komonen, Islandic Studio Granda and Greenlandic Tegnestuen Nuuk.

“The Board has a clear vision: to work for the establishment of an internationally oriented highly professional institution that communicates the continuous project of documenting and developing the Greenlandic national identity through art and culture. Our dream is a national gallery where historic and contemporary art meets circumpolar pieces, Nordic and world art in general. Our dream is an institution that stimulates our curiosity, awake our excitement with its thought‐provoking design and where we all feel at home. Selecting a prominent architect as BIG, I am sure that our chances of realizing that dream are good”, Tuusi Josef Motzfeldt, Greenland’s National Gallery of Art.

As a projection of a geometrically perfect circle on to the steep slope, the new gallery is conceived as a courtyard building that combines a pure geometrical layout with a sensitive adaption to the landscape. The three‐dimensional imprint of the landscape creates a protective ring around the museum’s focal point, the sculpture garden where visitors, personnel, exhibition merge with culture and nature, inside and outside. Read the rest of this entry »

The brief called for the design of two prototype Villas for a new Golf and Spa Resort in Croatia overlooking the old town of Dubrovnik. The total development comprises 400 villas, two 5* hotels, luxury apartments, retail facilities, a spa and an 18 hole golf course including a golf resort club house. A recently developed master plan determines the perimeter and size of the parcels, which range from 12,000m2 to 20,000m2. The site of the prototype villas is located at the edge of the plateau with picturesque views. The prototype villas shall define the overall architectural design of the resort.

The area of development is located north of Dubrovnik, a Unesco World Heritage Site. The land comprises 430 hectare and is located on a high plateau approximately 300m to 400m above sea level, north of the old town of Dubrovnik. At the southern edge of the project site, the terrain slopes steeply towards the sea. The terrain also slightly slopes from west to east. The elevated level of the site allows for magnificent views in all directions. Towards south the owner will enjoy sea views and views of the old town of Dubrovnik. In north direction one can enjoy picturesque mountain and landscape views. Zaha Hadid Architects architectural proposal is a distinct and unique structure with a strong sense of identity and character. It has a highly expressive, sculptural quality, infused with a sense of light and space. Light and views are the driving forces of the house. The design is inspired by the Croatian karst topography. Read the rest of this entry »

Rather than taking the “true” or literal approach to materials, this project designed by Dave Bantz and Michael Gross attempts to adopt techniques mastered by artists and apply them at an architectural scale. Material in art is used as a representational device for effects and a gateway to sensation. The”Artificial Matters” studio, run by SCI-arc professor Elena Manferdini, aims to provoke new sensations through texture, geometry, coloration, and finish. The studio began by 3D scanning literal materials (in this case a sliced peach) and modifying the raw data to produce a synthetic material with the potential to create new sensations. Read the rest of this entry »

AetherSCS.02 - Alan Tansey

Studio Mode/modeLab is pleased to announce the fourth installment of the coLab workshop series: Interactive Parametrics – a two-day processing workshop (with an optional third day) focusing on dynamic sketches and prototyping. The workshop will be held in New York City during the weekend of February 19, 2011.

The paradigm of scripting within ubiquitous modeling platforms such as Rhino or Maya allows users to generate complex form by accessing an underlying geometry engine and performing iterative functions. This paradigm is typically based on run-once execution, making it unsuitable for designing interactive or time-based behaviors. By implementing workflows that utilize Processing to create real-time software sketches, we can design dynamic systems that can act as standalone tools for parametric design, input mechanisms to feed other platforms, or processors of existing or sensor-based data sets. Read the rest of this entry »

West 57th, designed by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, introduces an entirely new residential typology to New York City that will add an inviting twist to the Manhattan Skyline.

Durst Fetner Residential (DFR) today announced the design of West 57, a 600-unit 80/20 residential building on West 57th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. The building is designed by renowned Danish Architect firm BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and is their in¬augural North American project. The building’s program consists of over 600 residential units of different scales situated on a podium with a cultural and commercial program. The building will strive for LEED Gold Certification.

“It’s extraordinarily exciting to build a building whose architecture will attract visitors from around the globe,” said, Hal Fetner, CEO of Durst Fetner Residential. “BIG’s design is innovative, evocative and unique and the building’s beauty is matched only by its efficient and functional design that preserves existing view corridors while maximizing the new building’s access to natural light and views of the Hudson River. West 57th will establish a new standard for architectural excellence and its creative design, sustainable-construc¬tion and operations, breathtaking views and distinctive amenities will make it New York’s most sought after residential address.” Read the rest of this entry »

Erick Kristanto received a honorable mention in the international competition to design a Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art sponsored by suckerPUNCH.

Bubble Art Display is a way of presenting comic and cartoon art into an architectural building as a public display that attracts people with the intention of promote the art itself. The concept originates from a series of bubble quotes used in comics, which, in this design, is used to display the programs of the Museum. The dynamic and playful interior space, created by the bubble quotes shapes, generates an engaging, fun visitor’s experience, which allows them to observe different activities happening at the same time. Moreover, these bubble quotes are connected by a vertical helix ramp at the center of the building. And to make the experience even more amusing, slides are provided as a shortcut from one space to another. With the unique figure that carries a mission to display as well as promote comic and cartoon art, this museum will be the new icon for lower east side area of Manhattan.

Designed by Meridian 105 Architecture, ‘Weave Housing’ is a design proposal for an urban mixed use complex in Denver CO, with 160 apartment units, retail and parking. Inspired by a children’s potholder loom, the facade texture supports multiple interior apartment arrangements with units occupying one or two bays in width, and one or two levels in height, allowing for flexibility and plan variety. By weaving occupiable volumes across the facade, private balconies and overhangs are created, establishing zones of natural shading and meeting the desired passive energy strategy. The long dimension of each apartment unit is stretched parallel to the corridors, taking advantage of natural light and views while minimizing the depth light is asked to penetrate the space. Read the rest of this entry »