General Νight View © sparch Sakellaridou/ Papanikolaou Architects & Ch. Marathovouniotis

The concept

The goal is to transform the site into a hospitality experience, the feeling of space and program into the art of experience, the actions into a viable and flexible development program.

The raw material_the limit, the diffusion, the center

The border: The listed buildings demarcate the central outdoor space with their shape, they accumulate the cultural activities, touristic infrastructure, hospitality, relaxation and entertainment programs (Interactive Museum, Agri-tourism, Baths, Accommodation). The enhancement of uses with reversible constructions of (container) type in a discreet relationship with the listed buildings reinforces the concept of limit and functions as a transitional element from and to the central area (Central Square), into the diffusion area (Natural Element).

The diffusion: The outdoor space that surrounds the existing building complex is designed as a “productive scenery”, acquires discrete interfering and takes an equal part in the interactive experience of the Farm (Experimental and Educational Crops, Artist Guesthouses, Track Networks, Shaded Paths)

The center: the role of the central outdoor area, the melting pot of two worlds, the old and the new, as well as of various functions is strengthened. Its size that acquires public space characteristics, is transformed into a Central Square in the Farm, while a flexible use to the viability of the Complex is sited under the ground (Multiple Use Center). The new building mass is partly concealed, while the shape of the Square, a flowing installation of water and glass, makes the Farm an urban space. Read the rest of this entry »

Designed by Aedas, the project occupies one of the best locations in Dubai Marina, facing the Arabian Gulf on one side and the Dubai Marina on the other. It consists of three residential towers standing above a cluster of podium loft units with retail facilities at lower levels. The towers range from 43 to 56 storeys, offering spacious, modern apartments and duplex penthouses. They are tied together by a seven-storey podium that houses waterfront villas and boutique retail units. Each building has its own tropical pool deck, gym and facilities.

The client’s vision for the development was to provide spectacular views of the Marina for each apartment with well planned orientation and spatial layouts. Architecturally the development ‘grows’ from the ground. Aedas designed a solid base of stepped retails and villas with concrete and textured paint finishes, while the apartment towers above have a glass façade with a lightweight and transparent feel. The towers look clean and elegant in daytime, shaded with mesh fins that reflect the adjacent water, and transform into a lit sculpture at night, creating an iconic architecture on the most prominent site in Dubai Marina. Read the rest of this entry »

The Gobi desert has a dry prevailing Westerly wind, which choreographs a shifting landscape, reforming dunes and redefining ecological terrains. The Gobi’s extreme climate and latitude contribute to the nature of the wind currents.

One of the biggest problems of the Gobi is desertification and the accelerated rate at which the desert sands and loess expand, the Gobi Desert resulting in an increasing number of dust storms claims 3,600 km2 of grassland every year.

The expansion of the Gobi is attributed mostly to deforestation, overgrazing, and depletion of water resources as well as the prevailing westerly winds The most recent plan involves the planting of the Green Wall of China, a huge ring of newly planted forests; helping stabilize the soil, retain moisture, and act as a buffer against further desertification.

The solar cluster project acts as an underground seed vault, the rotating cluster of photovoltaic solar cells and holographic filters glass panels act as a heliostat reflecting light underground aiding germination and protection against the harsh environment, sand turbines harness the kinetic movement/renewable energy of shifting sands to produce electricity for a sustainable building. This underground shaft acts as an inverted greenhouse, which can also produce food.

The solar panels are arranged in a pattern, which rotate changing angle as necessary for maximum efficient output, sand turbines are framed within the tower which disperses seeds into the environment to slow down the desertification of the Gobi Desert. The sand piles also retain the desert temperatures for longer and can be used as a type of energy storage as they take longer to cool. The second stage of research focuses on solar updraft towers, which use sand as an insulation technique.

Design by: Margot Krasojevic

The Yongqing international clothing city, designed by the team of WVA Architects, aims to create a whole industry chain model equipped with high-quality human resource and multi-functional service, perfect infrastructure, and convenient traffic system, thus further promote the regional clothing Industry.

The project is situated in the middle of Langfang city, which is located at the centre of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (biggest urbanized region in Northern China), and also belongs to the heart of Circum-Bohai Sea Economic Zone. This perfect location offers a great flow of people and goods, thus support the development of the city and additionally acts a “radiation” effect to the north-south axis.

The city is arranged as a leaf, consists of one transversal and three lengthwise leaf veins. Financial core area run transversely through the city, connecting the JT and TL Highway; shopping and Expo districts established along the JT Highway set a landmark that attracts clients and expands brand influence; While the logistic harbor and enterprise headquarter install along the south-north axis, forest park is closely aligned with residential, improving the urban livability. Each part weaves a sustainable “green leaf city”.

Architects: WVA
Location: yongqing, Hebei, China
Client: the city of Yongqing
Project Year: 2014
Photographs: Courtesy of WVA Read the rest of this entry »

In the ongoing discussions concerning the renovation of American cities and new developments for both business and culture, the current proposal by MA2 is an intervention in the reshaping of Houston, Texas’ downtown area. The proposal is an instigation for an iconic set of towers that encourages and amplifies Houston’s international businesses and ongoing urban development. Part of the scheme is more than just an iconic set of towers but a development of modern residential and commercial towers, along with a state-of-the-art luxury shopping mall located at Houston’s downtown center, across the sports stadium.

The idea is to modernize the current cityscape and promote a stronger urban presence with high-end living/working environments and luxury shopping. Its purpose for modernization is to encourage a more dynamic living and working environment, and promote current business while attracting new business to be part of the new revitalized city center. Houston, Texas has many robust economic sectors and a high living standard, but with a new iconic node within Houston’s landscape, it can help strengthen its development and potential future. Read the rest of this entry »

Hyperlocalization of Architecture

The Fort Collins Museum of Art is proud to host the official book release of [ours] Hyperlocalization of Architecture: Contemporary Sustainable Archetypes, written by local author Andrew Michler. The book release event will be held at the Fort Collins Museum of Art on Friday, September 25,^, 2015 from 6:00-9:00pm. The evening will include a short film, slideshows, book signing, and Michler will be reading from select chapters. Libations for the evening will be provided courtesy Odell Brewery. Michler is requesting RSVPs through the event’s Eventbright page.  [ours] Hyperlocalization of Architecture: Contemporary Sustainable Archetypes will also be available for purchase in the Fort Collins Museum of Art gift shop.

[ours] Hyperlocalization of Architecture: Contemporary Sustainable Archetypes by Andrew Michler journeys to seven regions around the world for a firsthand account of powerful movements in contemporary sustainable architecture. The book explores the possibilities and promise of deep sustainable building design through the lens of some of the most provocative projects and esteemed architects of our time. Michler explores and documents the work first hand, and with extensive commentaries from the architects readers gain a unique insight into how these buildings function in the context of their culture, environment, and utility. The book is published by eVolo Press, research is supported by the Institute for the Built Environment at CSU.

Andrew Michler has lived off-grid for two decades in the Colorado Rocky Mountains and is a LEED AP BD+C and Passive House Consultant. He has written extensively on sustainable architecture in print and for leading design blogs. With an extensive background in sustainable design and construction, he pioneered a net zero energy and foam free Passive House informed by the local foothills and as a personal investigation into the potential of hyperlocal design. His house is one of the most energy efficient buildings in the Americas.

The mission of the Fort Collins Museum of Art is to engage our community in cultural experiences that promote an awareness and appreciation of the visual arts. To offer our audiences the highest-quality art experiences, the Fort Collins Museum of Art presents a diverse series of exhibitions, community events, publications, and educational programs for children and adults. The Fort Collins Museum of Art seeks to enrich the cultural life of the region and advance community understanding of the power of the visual arts to foster life-long learning, social interaction, and personal inquiry.

The museum is located 201 South College Ave., in the middle of Old Town Fort Collins.

WVA alias WEAVA was awarded the Third Prize on the Zhuhai Doumen Observation Tower competition in July 2014.

Located at the confluence of two rivers of Zhuhai, China, WVA’s scheme for the Observation tower takes the advantage of being a point of junction, of connection between different neighborhoods of the area, but at the same time, being a destination point, where people, locals as well as tourists will participate in the dynamic of the urban environment.

A peak of gathering sceneries as a concept for the Observation tower, is thought as a three-dimensional flow where the metaphor of the three roads, three bodies of the river will be shaped into a mountain that refers to the Jianfeng Mount across the river, on the other side of the waterfront. Three bodies will converge into a central vertical element to form the tower, and among these two will be bridges that connect a smaller island designated as part of the park and the other one linking the other side the near neighborhood.

A system of vertical potted landscape creates a unique experience of Chinese traditional pagoda behind a parametrically patterned façade of an abstract Mountain and Water themed perforated metal screen.

At the top of the Observation Tower, WVA’s scheme proposes a platform that offers a 180° panoramic view of the surrounding and at the back of the platform a facetted mirror which can reflects the environment but also the sunlight like a diamond in a fragmented way. Read the rest of this entry »

Coral Regeneration Platform Section

Coral Frontiers is a proposal designed by Rosa Rogina at the Royal College of Art in London for a new infrastructure for coral regeneration on the Island of Diego Garcia. It is also a geo-political intervention into a unique entanglement of military, human rights, and environmental stakes. The project explores how could an architectural proposal result in a shift in the balance of power that has crystallised in this remote island, and support the resettlement of the exiled community of its native inhabitants, the Chagossians. Diego Garcia is a coral atoll and British territory in the Indian Ocean that from 1966 operates as the biggest US military base outside the States. For this spatial anomaly to happen, one whole nation had to be brutally ‘swept and sanitised’ and lost one of their fundamental human rights – the right of abode in their homeland. Still today, 40 years after their forced displacement, the majority of the 5000 Chagossians in exile are actively campaigning for their right to return.

Today is a crucial time to examine the island. By the end of 2016, the 50 year-long UK lease of Diego Garcia will expire. This project explores a speculative scenario in which, due to pressure by the international community and human rights institutions, the Chagossian return to their homeland is one of the conditions for the US lease of the island to be extended. In order to avoid reproducing, through architecture, the colonial schema that first led to their forced displacement, the project doesn’t impose a design solution for the resettled community. Instead, this project is a proposal for their first means of survival – the infrastructure that may sustain their resettlement. Just like it uses the fragility of the coral as both a weaponry and a line of defense, this project attempts to turn vulnerability into a force, and to challenge the defeatist assumptions that a small exiled community would always has to bend to the will of powerful governments. Read the rest of this entry »

On July 22nd and 23rd 2015, in the city Beijing, China, Hua Yan Group, the promoter of the MOLEWA International Competition along with the President of UIA, officials from UNESCO, China’s business leaders and minister-level officials from the Chinese Government, held an award ceremony to socialize and recognize the competition results. The event also featured round tables to discuss next steps for the projects´ and masterplan refinement and construction.

TEAM730 led by José Muñoz Villers and Carlos Marín were awarded Silver Medal for Plot 7: Shopping Street, in the architects´ words: the International Competition for MOLEWA offers a fresh opportunity to re-invent and re-imagine the future of urbanism and architecture not only through the celebration of open public spaces and the overall pedestrian environment, but also, through different approaches to propose sustainable typologies in architecture to respond successfully to contemporary and future generations to come.

Architecture should enable us to design experiences and possibilities for things to happen; architecture should suggest rather than impose. The design philosophy is based on key components to respond successfully to the project´s highest performance:

WEST SIDE BOULEVARD OR THE CONTEMPORARY PEDESTRIAN STREET
By introducing the WEST SIDE BOULEVARD – a 126-meter long street which contracts and expands to create small, intimate plazas and pocket parks, the project successfully addresses not only to the client’s demands on creating a shopping street, but also to the tremendous opportunity to re-invent the contemporary pedestrian street.  The WEST SIDE BOULEVARD links both ends of the parcel, operating as an urban component to connect with different plots and programs (Museum District and Shopping COMPLEX), by doing so this inner pedestrian street propels the flow of people, program and activity needed to activate the entire site. The pedestrian street serves as a meeting place, both spontaneous and planned, due to series of intimate plazas, pocket gardens and parks that appear along the way, it also provides multiple standpoints to observe the high-end retail stores, gallery spaces, and enjoy the flowers, handmade goods or Italian gelato kiosks.  The architecture that is strategically placed along the boulevard generates a vertical impression with a deep perspective, inviting the visitor to come, experience and stay.  The WEST SIDE BOULEVARD helps to create “a sense of place”; it offers a comfortable place to sit and gather while creating a unique image for the neighborhood.  It promotes sustainability through minimizing heat islands and responding to climatic demands; and is capable of being maintained without excessive costs. 
The WEST SIDE BOULEVARD also performs as the epicenter for culture, fashion, art and entertainment.  Proposed as a multi-event pedestrian street, it is easily transformed from a busy commercial street with coffee shops, gelato and flower kiosks, into a vibrant fashion show to introduce new season clothing for the high-end retail stores, or a summer concert from a local orchestra.  In order to offer the best climate conditions for this year-round events, the shopping street is protected by a series of thin columns supporting hanging roofs to cast shadows and protect from rain, without blocking views from and to the site and the surroundings.

ARCHITECTURE THAT ENABLES OPPORTUNITES
A collection of vitrines ranging from one floor to three stories; enclosed or entirely open; formal and informal; transparent or opaque; with art terraces or verandas; from 25 to 1000 square meters, the project attempts to suggest rather than impose architectures with a wide range of flexibility in future and potential tenants.  The buildings are able to work as an stand-alone high-end retail store for a world-class couture brand, or to be rented to a AAA office space on one floor and a gallery space on the other; the scale of the buildings responds successfully in reassuring that natural light and ventilation (if needed) is achieved, that main and service entrances are placed where needed, but above all, that each vitrine has full 4-façade exposure. The scheme presents 8,717m2 of built area, but is fully flexible and able to increase by 20% in leasable area without losing its distinctive character, lightness and porosity.

ROOFSCAPE
A distinctive roofscape is introduced as a key component to engage an active dialogue with the Chinese culture, the subtropical climate, and as a signature of the architectural program and activities of the site.  The project presents a series of light suspended structures supported by thin columns to increase a comfort zone for outdoors activities to take place.  The distinctive geometry and lightness is referred to a contemporary re-interpretation of the Chinese traditional architecture of pagodas, such structures respond successfully to the subtropical conditions of the site while providing an open but protective roof.  The roofscape is also intended to function as the ultimate unifying architectural element not only for the inhabitable architecture, but also for the informal network of pedestrian streets.

PROPOSED PROGRAM AND ACTIVITIES
The program proposed for the project is based on the client request for high-end retail and luxury.  High-end goods as well as luxury services are placed strategically across the site to activate a perfect mix between shopping, business and pleasure. Access to these tailored services is achieved not only from the West End Boulevard, but through a series of perpendicular streets that links the architecture to the surroundings.High-End Stores: primarily located on corners or street intersections for highest visibility.  The project includes 5 opportunities for luxury retail, each store could be turn into a magnificent temple of the brand, design for “slow shopping” and designed with a welcome environment. Based on extensive research in regard of high-end retail stores, the architecture is presented as a vitrine for the brands to personalize and organize it according to their requirements while maintaining the brand´s identity. The stores are to function not only for sales, but also for brand communication, store experience and identity.  The high-end stores proposed for the project are of the size of “regular stores” that range from 400 to 1000 square meters.  It has been considered that each store could contain: women´s universe: women shoes, leather goods, accessories; men´s universe: shoes, leather goods; luggage and accessories.  They might also have small VIP lounge and Back of the House areas for stock, office manager space, manager assistance area, area for service entrance and security, toilet and kitchenette. Art Galleries: contemporary art galleries not only form part of the West End Boulevard, but they are also an inevitable and inseparable part of luxury universe. Luxury and art are very powerful and very closely linked sociological markers. Luxury product corresponds to a deep and relatively personal and spontaneous desire, while art, meaning skill or craft, is a product of a body of knowledge and spirit. Chinese Luxury Silk store: the most emblematic passion on the West End Boulevard is dedicated to a Chinese Luxury Silk store. Through its location it is proudly evoking the history of Silk Road that used to be a connection between China, Europe and the rest of the world. Today, it is a meeting point between China and Europe; it is a connection, a shared beauty, a shared luxury and desire. Italian gelato and coffee shops: the most unpredictable, subtle and indirect way of bringing a piece of European spirit is definitely through deeply integrated street life and enjoyment, but also through small pleasures, sweet delicacies and cup of coffee. These small nucleuses formed by coffee and ice-cream shops, create a gathering point, a peaceful and intimate shelter or a vivid atmosphere full of human whispering and laughter. Handmade craft: a product is luxury when it is handmade, tailored for few. Luxury means exclusiveness. Something truly unique, thus craftsmanship is undoubtedly an integrative part of this luxury universe.  It gives it humble human touch. Finally, this new form of development that integrates luxury shopping + art + hedonism + spa + sweet delicacies + flower and silk crafts, represents a democratization of luxury: “exclusively for everybody”. It is creating a new life style.

STREET DESIGN
The proposal reinforces the idea that streets should not only serve as transportation routes, but be also front yards and public squares for the city, the city streets should be vibrant again.  Since streets in general represent 25% of the city´s land area, the design and conditions of these public spaces has an important impact on the city´s environmental health and quality of life of the residents.  The proposal design streets as public spaces that beyond moving people and goods, they comprise and extensive network of public open spaces to facilitate social, cultural, civic and economic interaction.

TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE TYPOLOGY
The scheme features two main components with distinctive  purposes: on the one hand, a series of 22 boxes to respond to the maximum variety and diversity of potential tenants, the box-like structures present proportions that become them suitable not only for the suggested use (commercial), but also for future and unpredictable new programs (housing, hospitality).  On the other hand, a suspended roofscape is deployed strategically across the site creating not only a controlled micro-climate, but also a unique image for the neighborhood, the roofscape generates a vertical impression with deep perspective, inviting the visitor to come, experience and stay.

OPERATIONAL STRATEGY
In the same fashion that goods and services are delivered in typical shopping streets in Europe, the proposed scheme takes advantage of the inner pedestrian street (West End Boulevard) to be used, in days and hours previously chosen, as a service street where small vans or trucks have specific parking spots nearby stores, kiosks and offices.  The project also features vehicle entrance and exit on the north facade and has assigned a specific area for service parking and freight elevators at the parking floor.

Competition: International Competiton for MOLEWA, Plot 7: Shopping Street
Client: Hua Yan Cultural Investment Company, Ltd.• Project Manager: Creativersal International, Ltd.• Competition organizers: UIA.
Location: Huayan Township / City of Ruichang, China.
Architecture: TEAM730 TALLER DE ESTUDIOS Y ANÁLISIS METROPOLITANOS
Design Directors: José Muñoz Villers + Carlos Marín
Design team: Djurdja Milutinovic, Claudio Nieto Rojas
Plot size: 10,000m2.
Program: 8,717m2 of mix-use and 10,000m2 of parking space.
Project year: 2015
Model: Fernando Kido Kerse
Visualization: CG Verón, lab07
Photographs: Marcos Betanzos Read the rest of this entry »

“Clouds are the most evocative, poetic aspect of nature.” Gavin Pretor-Pinney

The city of Atlanta has long been considered a horizontal landscape of autonomous neighborhoods distributed over a large metropolitan area. The central core of the city is experienced by many via Interstate 75/85 (Atlanta Connector).

The bridge enhancement program can effectively communicate to a very broad audience the arrival of Downtown as a diverse and vital urban distinct.

The idea of Skyscape designed by Ricardo Zurita Architecture and Planning, sprang from the awareness that of primary importance was the need to redefine the existing relation of the large irregular geometries of the bridge to its surrounding context. Skyscape “smoothes out” the uneven edges creating a three-dimensional “facade” on the bridge for both those on the bridge and those below on the freeway.

Skyscape is a complex geometry designed using a computer-assisted parametric process. The development of geometrically complex structures is iterative, from analysis to modeling, computation and modifications, seamless between design and construction. Technical feasibility and costs are the most important influencing constraints that can be studied via the parametric process. The derivation of forms is the result of surface triangulation (based on a 3D Delaunay algorithm) that optimizes the quantity of material used and minimizes structure.

Skyscape is a “kit of parts” consisting of three self-framing structures comprised of a steel-tube supporting frame with roll-formed panels and steel attachments.

The Cloud can be a delightful and unexpected gift to the visitor to the Park as well as to the busy motorist who momentarily will find beauty and perspective by just looking up. Read the rest of this entry »