The proposal for a New MASP in São Paulo, a project made by Oscar Abrahamsson at Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is suggesting a new home for Museu de Arte de São Paulo in Brazil. It is an exploration in explicit shape, décor and adornment and new ideas of the urban ground in creating a museum that lowers the threshold between culture and life in the street.

The modern project and the universal cities it produced, utopian in their nature, has imposed an alienating effect upon us. The result of modernism is cities where we don’t feel like home. The New MASP is trying to find ways of re-introducing this sense of belonging into the city by creating new models of urban life, while dwelling within the context of urban fragmentation in the megapolis of São Paulo.

Two simple triangular shapes constitute the building volume – forming new, elevated, grounds – habitable sloped planes that are displacing the urban ground onto the top of the building. Massive, opaque and black, the figure of the building merges in its muteness with the ground. No apertures are present to confuse the simple volumes. Natural light still pours in through the massive skylights established by the “color dips” on the top of each of the triangular shapes. The “color dips”, glazed but highly reflective, are introducing new datums that are further shifting the perception of the ground through acting as fake horizons. Read the rest of this entry »

museum entrance plaza

The animal rights activism art-based education facility, Museum of Compassion designed by ANX/Aaron Neubert Architects will be located in Louisville, Kentucky. An interstitial space that is bounded by park amenities such as tennis courts, hiking trails, nature preserve on the north; single family residential development on the east and west; and a zoo on the south side serves as the project site.

The architecture consists of a rectangular steel frame pavilion within a park setting – altered by five pro¬grammatic impressions. These impressions consist of the Lobby, the Conference Room, the Art Studio, the Visiting Gallery, and the Administration Offices each engaging the exterior landscape, as well as altering the contiguous space of the exhibition hall. The perimeter spaces are clad in reclaimed local wood, while the exhibition hall provides an immersive and ephemeral experience through the deployment of envelop¬ing translucent roof monitors. The perforated steel exterior cladding evokes local industrial archetypes, yet presents a soft and translucent object resting on the landscape.

museum entrance

axonometric

ground plan

longitudinal section

cross section

interior

studios

Our design for the 2016 Arch Triumph Energy Pavilion creates a dynamic focal point to the gardens and showcases energy-generation achieved through piezoelectricity, which converts pressure into an electric charge. The structure is shaped to echo the outline of the Museum Gardens site. The points of the diamond shape are oriented toward the main entrances to the park, and the diagonal divisioning of the panels draws visitors in and around the structure, which is configured as a torus. The curving panelized wall angles up to reveal an interior space lined in brightly colored metal panels. Visitors are encouraged to touch the pavilion to generate pressure-generated energy. Pushing on the panels of the structure and plucking the metal chords along the perimeter compresses sensors that will send electric currents that light up areas of the pavilion. The panels are clipped onto a structure of plywood ribs with polycarbonate struts. Apertures in the thick wall of the pavilion are lined with sheet metal to reflect light and color. Lights embedded in the apertures and in the edge of the projecting overhang will glow when the pavilion is touched, attracting the attention of passers-by especially on overcast days. Read the rest of this entry »

The new Aviation and Science Museum is located in Yeşilköy district, south-west of Istanbul in the same area where Ataturk International Airport is located and where the old aviation museum reside. An area where no horizontal boundaries could be found, only vertical boundaries (strict ones posed by air-traffic control from the nearby airport) and an ill-defined site that expands in all directions. There is no urban texture to be considered nor to be mentioned other than the mechanically and monumentally-scaled structures of the nearby airport and aviation museum.

Not only does the museum function as a showroom for airplanes, but also acts as an educational institution to conduct research, lectures, seminars and a place for people with similar interest in aviation science to meet.

Thus, the new Aviation and Science Museum aims to be the missing linkage between the opposing entities of the problem (the nearby mechanically-scaled airport, the museum itself, the airplanes and artifacts displayed inside and the human visitor). Therefore, the question of how to create a new structure that deals with big scales externally and with smaller human scale and airplane scale internally, respecting each scale on its own in a smooth transition, was raised.

In order to address that question on a boundless site, ordinary design process (a top-down one nor bottom-up) wouldn’t be fit. Instead, a mix of both ways that meets in-between was to be considered.

Starting both from the smallest scale, investigating the relationship between the subject and the object. The subject being the human visitor, and the object being the artifact ranging from a miniature model of an airplane to a full-size transportation and cargo aircraft, and also at the same time, starting from the master-planning of the site, considering the relationships between the historical watchtower, existing hangars (that date back to the first days of Turkish aviation history), the aviation monument and the paths flowing between.

After considering the main axis of circulation that connects the entrance between the historical structures and the aviation monument, this axis was set to expand in cross directions of the site. As a result, expanding the used space of the site, and setting up future plans for expansion.

The relation between the subject and the object was mapped in a catalogue that explains the different states of this relation and the resulting differences in the perception of the artifacts, whether the changes happen in the distance between the object and the subject or the viewing angle between them. The aim was to perceive the artifacts form as many views and distances as possible.

The result of the previous study was 4 different prototypes of viewing platforms combining the most of the cases in the catalogue. While placing the prototypes of the platform on the axis of the site, previously mentioned to expand in 4 directions, and keeping in-mind the future expansion plans, a modular unit was created. This modular unit could be easily arranged to create one continuous slab that flows from one scale to another (and from one level to another) in a smooth transition of spaces.

Each modular unit when combined with another creates outdoor spaces (protected from wind since it’s walled with the arrangement of units). With the expansion of the museum in the future, every time a new unit be added, a new outdoor “wind-free pocket” will emerge.

The end result of combining the modular units on an axis driven from the site’s existing condition was a continuous flow of spaces between levels that connects the historical watchtower and hangars with the aviation museum; connecting the visitor with the artifacts in many aspects, and connects the scales that the new shell structure deals with.

Project Designer: Anas Mahli

Institute: Bahcesehir University

Awards: Archiprix Turkey 2015 1st Place Award for the best graduation project in Turkey Read the rest of this entry »

The design of the new Viewpoint on the Pulpit Rock in Norway, is an attempt to combine art with architecture. Based on the famous painting “The Persistence of Memory” by Salvador Dali, fly Architecture wanted to take the surrealistic melting clocks as a template for the design of the new observation deck. A part of the rock is carved out to give the impression of a giant eye. In this cavity, a grandstand is provided with stairs and around it an aluminum/glass structure is stretched. This glass roof with the underlying grandstand, invites visitors to linger both in sunny and rainy weather.

In addition, the glass has a special coating. It allows the usage of augmented reality technology. With this technology reality and virtuality is reconciled. Thus, numerous opportunities arise. e.g. it is now possible provide the viewer additional information on the region, the climate just by looking at the sky. Additionally, small events such as movie-nights can be held on the platform.The layout of the new observation deck offers the visitor an unique experience of space and beyond that a distinctive perception from a distance. Read the rest of this entry »

eVolo Magazine is pleased to announce the winners of the 2015 VMODERN Furniture Design Competition. The award recognizes innovative design and creates a forum for the discussion and development of the discipline. What is the future of furniture design?

eVolo Magazine received 233 entries from 34 different countries. The Jury selected 3 winners and 20 honorable mentions.

The first place was awarded to I-Ting Tsai, Xixi Zheng, Yiru Yun, and Somdatta Majumdar from the United Kingdom for the design of Fabric Chair. This project is an investigation on the use of fabric as a structural material in furniture design. A special resin was developed to harden fabric placed on a rigid mold. The resin hardens the fabric to become structural while retaining its softness in specific locations.

Studio La Cube from Spain received the second place for their project Simmis Chair. This simple and elegant design is a study on symmetry and proportions. The goal was to create a dialogue between visual lightness and the strength and heaviness of wood and steel.

The third place was awarded to Open Source Workshop from Italy and the United States for the design of Helix, a diffuse furniture system that generates a continuous interior space by adapting simultaneously to any vertical and horizontal surface while defining an immersive spatial atmosphere.

The honorable mentions include materials explorations, the use of digital design and manufacturing processes as well as studies in ergonomics and experiential possibilities.

The members of the Jury are: Ammar Eloueini [principal Ammar Eloueini Digit-all Studio], Joel Escalona [principal Joel Escalona Studio, NONO], Mitchell Joachim [principal Terraform ONE], Po Shun Leong [principal Po Shun Leong Design], and Alexander Lervik [principal Lervik Design AB].

First Place - Fabric Chair

Second Place - Simmis Chair

Third Place - Helix Furniture System

RMJM Istanbul has been shortlisted in a global competition to design the iconic 95m high Airport Traffic Control (ATC) Tower of Istanbul New Airport, due to open in 2018. Inspired by authentic symbols of Turkey, the competition saw applications from many renowned international design brands, including RMJM Istanbul.

Sotiris Tsoulos, Managing Partner at RMJM Istanbul and his team were inspired by the seagulls of Istanbul and Turkey’s ancient pottery and textile industries. Sortiris says of their design for a building they regard as the absolute symbol of aviation industry, of traveling, of welcoming and of wishing good bye, “spirit of flying, body of moulding and skin of expression are the three architectural metaphors that create this ‘container and protector of life’. It was clear to us that this project had to be unique; this is the flag that will be raised to symbolise the new, vibrant, global Turkey. As witnesses to this amazing transformation we aspire that this building be far more than an ATC Tower. Rather, we are designing a new symbol for this country, the pinnacle of our new landmark airport and providing that vital “Welcome to Turkey” moment.”

Seagulls and the fluidity of the flying are expressed through the aerodynamic form of the structure that barely touches the ground, and which has a neck providing 360 visibility. The main body of the structure is more moulded than sculpted as a reminder of Turkey’s great pottery tradition, whilst the final element of RMJM Istanbul’s design is the detail of a loom in the form of a delicate horizontal layers of ‘woven skin’ around the building.

“We are developing a unique project inspired by local architecture. That is why we have organised this competition, hoping that the Airport Traffic Control Tower design will symbolically contribute a great deal to Istanbul New Airport, as well as becoming an important icon for the whole of Istanbul. We asked contestants to see inspiration from icons of Turkey. Currently we are evaluating the submitted proposals and will announce the results soon”, said Yusuf Akçayoğlu, CEO of İGA.

In Lloyd Alter’s preface in the book [ours] Hyperlocalization of Architecture he quotes Christopher Alexander, “When you building a thing you cannot merely build that thing in isolation, but must repair the world around it, and within it. So that the larger world at that one place becomes more whole.”

So begins the short film featuring author Andrew Michler who sits down with the journalist of the Dot Earth Blog Andrew Revkin at the New York Time Building, to discuss the concept and projects of hyperlocal architecture. The unscripted discussion explores how contemporary architecture responds to, and transforms, place and synthesize the needs of both people and climate. The conversation explores regions in the book exemplifying innovative design principles, ranging from the tiny homes of Tokyo, to the eclectic and kinetic architecture of Australia.

Revkin asks why the regional chapter titles are based on verbs such as harvests, condenses, plays, and maintains. Micher explains “I didn’t want to start out focusing on the object of architecture, which is where I think we struggle now with understanding what buildings are. They are essentially ideas in the end, ideas which have taken form and shape, and we use them and see them as a solid thing. But when we create them they are not so solid, they are very much about process.”

The film is produced in by LOCAL, a multimedia platform exploring sustainability at the community level.

Watch the film here.

The sales gallery of Aedas-designed mixed-use project is set to open its door next month. As part of the larger Shanghai Greenland Qingpu Xujing District project, it has a pedestrian bridge linking to the Qingpu Xujing Conference and Exhibition Centre nearby and is therefore designed to be inviting with a strong visual impact.

Same to other buildings of the development, the sales gallery is in leaf shaped in response to the ‘clover leaf’ concept of the conference and exhibition centre. Designed by Project Design Directors Wai Tang and Keith Griffiths, the whole development consists of a five-star hotel, a shopping centre and a sales gallery, which are coherently organised to direct circulation to offer premium supporting facilities to one of the world’s largest conference centres and the larger Hongqiao central business district. The hotel and shopping centre will work together to form a very welcoming entrance to the whole development. Read the rest of this entry »

This project, supported by numerous donors for The City of Tempe as a memorial for Mary O’Connor; is an investigation into the usage of parametric design processes, methods of digital fabrication and material adaptation. The goal was to create a generative and flexible retrofit strategy for the City’s existing transit shelters; a strategy that can be utilized to create an infinite number of designs each specific to its context and environment.

The transit shelter stands as an example of the power of collaborative efforts and the integration of traditional design methodology with new and emerging design and fabrication technologies. The Mary O’Connor Memorial Transit Shelter is neither a simple expression of material tectonics nor a legible response to contextual forces. As in mathematics, it is a system which generates performative solutions in a fully optimized manner. Its form is not reducible; it can only be associated to a complex set of design and fabrication parameters. Efficiency and simplification define the project as much as the formal, structural and material intelligence. Read the rest of this entry »