Inspired by the landscape of Bretagne, the Saint-Malo Mediatheque is designed in the form of three rocks placed on a granite plaza. The library and the cinema of Saint-Malo are meant to perform as a new cultural catalyst, activating the adjacent city area. Approached from the city, the first “rock” to meet the visitors is the library, followed by the film center. With the third-the entertainment center, the entire assemblage dominates the plaza, creating a vibrant atmosphere of cultural activity.

The three blocks are covered with mineral envelopes that visually resemble the material of the inner city. Their high energy performance and insolation features rely on the use of thermal inertia of the structures inside the buildings. The seemingly random positions of the “rocks” enable the interior  to open up and raise the ground level, achieving an optimal level of natural ventilation. The buildings are multi-sided and not specifically oriented. The Serero Architects specifically sought to avoid creating a disparity between the service and the main facade. Read the rest of this entry »

The Europan_X project by Baptiste Marconnet explores the ways of extending the urban fabric beyond the coastline. It is conceived as a assemblage of intertwining bands. The middle band is part of the project which allows the connection between the other two elements. The car and tramway paths overlap, creating a unified passageway, linked to the existing rail network to create a connection with the rest of the city.

The bands are enveloped with double skin layers which shelter the faux balconies, and enable optimal insulation levels of the lower parts of the building. The skin itself is cellular in structure, supporting the floor slabs. The structural and load-bearing features of the skin enable the formation of large common spaces within the building’s volume. Read the rest of this entry »

Liquid Building is designed by Mohsen Marizad, as part of the Emergent Territories Course at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia. The three essential elements were considered during the design development of the project: parameters and contextual restrictions pertaining to Barcelona building standard, parameters introduced by the program itself and zero emissions and sustainability as an ultimate design goal. Read the rest of this entry »

UP is a multilayered investigative study of an urban tower condition, operated under the logic of the hexagon. The final structure is created through a process of developmental delineation studies, translating the two-dimensional diagram into an accentuated folded landscape. This folding landscape is achieved using an articulated folding system that is structurally economic, thereby increasing useable floor area and overcoming traditional tectonic and structural hierarchies. The dips and dives of the multi-level open public space allow for various public and community programs, while the geometries continually develop spaces of openness and privacy humanizing the scale of the project. The manner in which the public space and tower folds intertwine, poetically mimics the rolling landscape of the seaside, while integrating natural greenery into the urban spectrum.

Positioned within the folding structure, an integrated piping system processes, collects, and recycles the rainwater and grey water within the building, and reuses it for heating and non-potent water use. This discreet sustainable and self-generating system allows the building to maintain itself without a secondary water supplier. The use of Bio-glass as a material and the form of the window curvature is designed in a dualistic approach to maximize the thermal absorbance of sun light and to balance the performance between reflectivity and materiality. In effect, it neutralizes the heat in the summer and maximizes the warmth during wintertime. Read the rest of this entry »

The Attractor is an Interactive Youth Center designed by Belgrade-based Exe Studio. Its conceptual origins are related to the need for diversification of activities within the city core. By using computational design techniques and achieving various degrees of structural and visual porosity, the project explores ways of contextualizing the contemporary design in an environment dominated by historical buildings. Read the rest of this entry »

A proposal by Budi Pradono Architects for the Stockholm Public Library is based on a suspended slab set upon two large transparent pilotis. The simple conceptual form provides multiple benefits, anticipating a complex program to accomplish the difficult task for a contemporary library as both public venue and research retreat.

The library’s two collection floors are elevated to provide a more welcoming street front with a large plaza forming at the base of the building. The transparent columns contain various public spaces to engage group activities such as studios, an auditorium, restaurant, news room and reading areas as well as a office. The open view shed protected by the large mass above provides an open and compelling space to socialize in, acting as a communications hub for the city. Read the rest of this entry »

Hong Kong’s urban furniture contains multiple functional objects. Each of them belongs to a different set of formal expression or is part of a different style.

While variation is obvious in the style mix of Hong Kong’s public furniture, there is a lack of uniformity in the formal expression that could foster a unique Hong Kong identity. This design proposal by Rocker-Lange Architects for a contemporary city bench seeks to understand the concept of street furniture as a holistic design problem. Instead of offering only one single static design, this scheme suggests multiple varying solutions that meet specific fitness criteria.

The project “Urban Adapter” is based on a digital parametric model. At its core the model utilizes explicit site information and programmatic data to react and interact with its environment. That way the model’s DNA structure is capable of producing a variety of unique furniture results. Read the rest of this entry »

In China, the number of young bachelors is drastically raising because of the skyrocketing housing prices and women are unwilling to marry men without a property. As a result, young graduates spend most of their time working hard but remain single until they can afford a property. In order to cater for this trend, developers start launching smaller housing units to the market. This project designed by Kellen Qiaolun Huang from Cornell University aims at exploring different ways of how these bachelor housing units can be designed other than just being smaller.

Home activities can be divided into two categories: private activities (sleeping, bathing, etc.) and public activities (cooking, eating, reading, relaxing, etc.). Researching and remapping the topological relationship between these two categories are the keys to this project. An X-shaped pattern is generated as result: a private space is being placed in the center with four quarters of public spaces in the corners. The pattern may seem meaningless to individuals until all units are aggregated to form a large interconnecting social network. This network becomes the prototype of X-House. Read the rest of this entry »

“Waste Landscape” by French art studio Le Centquatre is a 600 square meters artificial undulating landscape covered by an armor of 60,000 unsold or collected CDs, which have been sorted and hand-sewn.

It is well known that CDs are condemned to gradually disappear from our daily life, and to later participate in the construction of immense open-air, floating or buried toxic waste reception centers. Made of petroleum, this reflecting slick of CDs forms a still sea of metallic dunes: the monumental scale of the art work reveals the precious aspect of a small daily object. The project joins a global, innovative and committed approach, from its means of production until the end of its “life”. “WasteLandscape” will be displayed in locations coherent with the stakes of the project: the role of art in society, the sensitization to environmental problems through culture, the alternative mode of production and the valuation of district associative work and professional rehabilitation. Read the rest of this entry »

The masterplan for Marina South by Wilkinson Eyre Architects forms part of Singapore’s new Gardens by the Bay development and will draw from the distinctive flora of the region to create a new destination in the city. It has been designed as a series of distinct ecosystems which will enable the gardens to function with maximum environmental efficiency, and to showcase those world habitats most at risk from climate change. The garden at Marina South will be home to some of the site’s most spectacular structures, including two cooled conservatories which will be among the largest climate-controlled glasshouses in the world. The cool-dry conservatory will explore issues related to plants and people, whilst the cool-moist conservatory will focus on plants and the planet. Read the rest of this entry »