Succulent House demands a systemic and structural reorganization of contemporary residential architecture. It explores possible solutions to water shortage issues and environmental consciousness by treating the water collection capacities of houses as integral part of the design, instead of reducing it to a foreign body- an artificial addition to our, otherwise unburdened everyday lives. The large plastic curtains expand as they’re filled with water, enabling the whole process to be seen from the interior. Besides becoming a renewable energy source, this mechanism creates a continuous experience of sustainable action that is etched into the subconscious. Read the rest of this entry »
Succulent House Collects Rainwater Through Use of Biomimicry / Murmur
Dalian Library and Media Centre: A Community Center for the City / 10 Design
The library conceived by 10 Design is intended to be a transformative environment that pulls visitors into a unique landscape. The building weaves into the ground creating a series of courtyards and topographic undulations- rooting itself, and then sweeping up into the air forming a bold urban landmark. The shifting of the mass creates spaces ranging from the intimate spaces for reflection in the courtyard to the dynamic and expansive views offered from the tower volume. The tower volume has a series of internal voids and terraced spaces to further enhance the variety of spatial conditions and to provide internal connectivity. A series of retail functions including cafes will help draw a larger audience to the library. A large media center that shares the central drop-off can be used after hours and function independently.
The mass responds and is shaped by views into the site and outward to the surrounding sea and mountains. A green hill over the media center forms an outdoor gathering space and amphitheater and will offer water views to the southern sea. A roof top café on the tower volume provides panoramic views of the mountains and sea. Read the rest of this entry »
Diamond Tile Pavilion / Apostrophy’s
Apostrophy’s is a multi-disciplinary design studio, working in the field of new media technologies, visual design, motion graphic, animation, game application, lighting programming design, etc. Their design strives towards empowering users to actively participate in the design. Their Diamond Tile Pavilion was part of the Bangkok Architect Fair in 2011.
Project description:
“In Bangkok Architect Fair 2011, Apostrophy’s favorable circumstances from our companion, Diamond Building Products Public Company, their product lines are ceramic, laminate, construction hardware and construction service in Thailand. Apostrophy’s role in this project is one of the “artist” for the “ Diamond Art – Diamond Lounge” concept in 2011. Read the rest of this entry »
Cervantes Theater / Ensamble Studio
The Cervantes Theater is a two-segment project that seems to draw both from European and Mexican heritage of critical regionalism. Standing next to the Soumaya Museum, the Theater appears to be even anachronistic, with its vocabulary of masses and voids competing with the self-indulgent exterior of its neighbor. Located in a former industrial zone of Mexico City, now planned for redevelopment, the building fits seamlessly into the surroundings. It cultivates the idea of architectural narratives, so obviously negated by the adjacent museum. Read the rest of this entry »
Avant-garde Music House in Vienna / Ketham Santosh Kumar
Historically Vienna is known for its operas and concerts for music lovers. Designing a concert hall in this place is challenging and inspiring.
Ketham Santosh Kumar challenge was to deign a concert hall not only as a single architectural building but also as experiencing spaces through urban transition, At same time the design is unique from other music halls, in terms of architectural esthetics, vocabulary and tectonics. The site is located at center of Vienna adjacent to MAK museum in stadtpark. Music house composed of main concert hall is in centre of park and archive bridge connects to MAK museum and other two small theatres are: one in lower level of stadtpark and another on university. And in addition to, it also accommodates a music archive along the bridge and other ancillary facilities. The double core sphere shell, melting species acts as structural system and thermal insulation to music house. Read the rest of this entry »
Gateway Skyscraper will Mark the entrance to the New Capital of the UAE / Snøhetta
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. Read the rest of this entry »
Architectural Membrane for New York when Sea Level Rises
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. Read the rest of this entry »
Innovative Residential Building in Vienna / Philipp Ohnesorge
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. Read the rest of this entry »
Urban Lounge / Patrick Vogel
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. Read the rest of this entry »
Snail Pavilion Designed with Ceramic Tiles / LA Design Group
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. Read the rest of this entry »