ATHENS – INNSBRUCK SUMMER 2014

X|A Summer Workshops : RECEIVING APPLICATIONS NOW : workshop@xatelier.com

For more information http://www.xatelier.com/workshop

Participation cost is 550 euros for each workshop

X|A ATHENS Workshop I: 30th of June -11th of July 2014 @ Benaki Museum in Athens, Greece

X|A ATHENS Workshop II: 14th of July – 25th of July 2014 @ Benaki Museum in Athens, Greece

X|A INNSBRUCK Workshop III: 28th of July – 7th of August 2014 @ University of Innsbruck, Austria

X|Atelier is organizing three international intensive workshops of Advanced Architectural Design. The X|A Summer Workshops 2014 are led by X|A principals Erick Carcamo (SCI-ARC, UPenn) and Nefeli Chatzimina (USC, NTUA), both Allumni Graduates of Columbia University in New York City.

X|A Athens Workshops I&II are organized under the auspices of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture and the Athens School of Fine Arts. Selected Participants will attend the computation design workshops, academic lectures, final reviews and exhibition at Benaki Museum of Athens from 30th of June -11th of July 2014 or from the 14th -25th of July 2014. Daily meetings will take place from 10am to 6pm at the Benaki Museum of Pireos 138 in Athens.

X|A Innsbruck Workshop III is hosted by the University of Innsbruck. Selected Participants will attend the computation design workshops, academic lectures, final reviews and exhibition at the University of Innsbruck from the 28th of July – 7th of August. Daily meetings will take place from 10am to 6pm at the University of Innsbruck.

As part of an ongoing academic research, X|A workshops introduce participants into contemporary discussions of formal exploration in Architecture and Art. Through technical attainment of design and digital production the X|A Workshops give the opportunity to students of Architecture and Art, Professional Architects, Designers and Artists to challenge new design territories. Our goal is to explore innovative, potential architectural expressions of the current discourse around Form through computational tools (Autodesk MAYA). We will focus on technique elaboration, material intelligence, formal logic efficiencies and precision assemblies as an ultimate condition of design. The workshop will develop and investigate the notion of proficient geometric variations at a level of complexity, so that questions towards geometrical effectiveness, accuracy and performance can begin to be understood in a contemporary setting. The workshop is a discourse based in the use of multi-layered techniques and production processes that allow for control over intelligent geometries, calibration of parts, and behavioral taxonomies, normalizing an innovative held of predictability.

X|Atelier was founded in 2007 by Erick Cárcamo and Nefeli Chatzimina ::X|A:: is an architectural practice based in the use of multi-layered experimental techniques and production processes networked in Europe, US and Latin America. Both hold a Master’s of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University and have graduated from SCI_Arc and N.T.U.Athens respectively. Their teaching expertise extends to Sci-Arc, University of Southern California, Columbia University, Yale SOA, UPenn, Pratt Institute, University of Kentucky, Die Angewandte, N.T.U.Athens and LTH in Sweden. X|A’s work has been internationally published and exhibited at galleries in New York, Los Angeles, London, Lexington and Barcelona. Their working experience is held in offices of Bernard Tschumi Architects in New York, CoopHimmelb(l)au in Vienna, Asymptote NYC and Xefirotarch LA.

More information here.

Pinup 2014 invites students and young professionals to submit a collection of their studio, 3d printed or un-built work comprised of up to three digital images. By submitting your work, we invite you to share your voice with the collective intelligence of a community of visual thinkers. The competition is free to all entrants.

The proliferation of device culture, social networking, and cloud technology are changing the way we create, and connect on a daily basis. For design, this means that technology is not only transforming the process of production, but also the processes through which we share, critique, and organize ourselves around the work we do. The competition is first, and foremost an experiment in distributed intelligence. By leveraging the “wisdom of crowds” every entrant can see and understand how his or her work is experienced by others. It has been predicted that in 2020, there will be 50 billion mobile internet connections worldwide, the equivalent of seven devices per person. Thus, this competition is not simply about the existence of technology, but rather why and how we harness it as designers.

The Competition poses the following questions: What are the aspirations by which we evaluate design today? In an increasingly networked culture, what makes a project capable of cutting through the virtual noise, and starting a new conversation? How do evolving forms of media affect the way in which your message reaches its destination? What is your message?

The competition challenges you to confront the world with your work. By sending it out into the field you will test yourself and your projects. You are the designer, the curator and the critic.

Pinup 2014 was assembled by designers, professors and students as a means to publically promote the research, exploration and investigation currently happening in academia and amongst today’s emerging talent. The competition is supported by ArchDaily, Shapeways, the AIAS, IIDA, ADC, AIGA and is hosted by The Morpholio Project. The guest jury includes participants from FastCompany, ArchDaily, Design Milk, Interior Design Magazine, Core77 and Columbia GSAPP. We look forward to your participation and recognition.

More information here.

At a spectacular groundbreaking ceremony and party hosted by developer Ornate Spaces in Mumbai, the 3XN designed residential and mixed use project ‘Grove Towers’ was unveiled.

3XN’s design team was invited for the event which unveiled the 77.000 m2 project inspired by the Indian nature and Mumbai’s mangroves. Just as clusters of mangrove stalks seemingly braid together at the base, the two towers in this mixed use development converge at the lower retail floors, rising up to provide amenity spaces on the podium; and grow into the sky as a cluster of slender trees providing some of Mumbai’s most thoughtfully laid out residential accommodation. Each unit features views in at least two directions, many of which look out towards the mangroves to the North, and Indian Ocean to the West.

Kim Herforth Nielsen, Principal and Creative Director for 3XN, says: ‘With this design for Grove Towers, we wanted to create something special for Mumbaikars and Ornate Spaces. Each time I visit, I am overwhelmed at how much I see the strength of community in all aspects of Indian life. I want this to be a vertical community that brings people together, and becomes a setting for growth and life.’

In addition the project is an example of integrating GXN, 3XN’s Innovation Unit in the design process. Their involvement in the design for the façade significantly reduces direct solar gain, maximizes natural ventilation and aims for LEED Gold certification. With over 2500 m2 of vertical gardens, the building lowers CO2 in Mumbai’s humid and congested environment, cleaning the air around it. Read the rest of this entry »

Foster and Partners’ headquarters tower for Citic Bank has a prominent location in Hangzhou, on a main axis through a new central business district being constructed next to the Qian Jiang River. The site is also adjacent to one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks – the distinctive golden sphere of the Intercontinental Hotel. The challenge for its design therefore, has been to create a new building that harmonizes with its surroundings, yet has its own integrity and presence and provides an iconic headquarters for the Bank. The design draws inspiration from the elements of traditional Chinese culture – using the symbol of wealth, dignity and stability.

The tower has a striking geometric form – the diagonally-braced façade is pulled inwards to form a symmetrical V-shape across the south-facing elevation. Wrapped in a bronze-colored diagrid lattice, the floor plates widen as the building rises, expanding to provide panoramic views of the river and the surrounding public plaza. The design maximizes the available area within a compact rectilinear footprint, while respecting views of neighboring structures. The tower will provide the highest quality office space – tailored to the current needs of the Bank, but with the flexibility to anticipate future working patterns and demands.

A-frame canopy stretches 72 meters across the ground, in order to create a dramatic entrance experience. This leads to the heart of a diamond-shaped central atrium, which rises up through the full height of the 20-storey tower and helps to encourage natural ventilation during the mid-seasons. Sky-gardens line the perimeter of the upper floors and a generous winter garden with a mezzanine level accommodates VIP club and meeting spaces at the top of the building. The tower is naturally ventilated for part of the year, grey water will be recycled and local materials utilized where possible to reduce embodied energy. Read the rest of this entry »

The architectural vision for the Mandarin Oriental high-rise by Urban Office Architecture explored the idea of a complete merging of architecture, city, the river and the surrounding urban landscape. The base concept of a morphing floor plan allows the building structure to enjoy a “dancing” form. The floor plates change at all levels, therefore accommodating variety of programmatic requirements as well as making a unique environment for each occupant.

The building responds to the surrounding both at larger – metropolitan and local scale. The three sided lower floor plates address both mixed-use program and the converging urban forces. A base plinth allows users to interact with the building while bridging between the structure height and the human scale, acting as urban catalyst. It allows citizens and tenants to meet, mingle and enjoy dining, shopping and various cultural events.

The complexities of the programmatic needs are met by highly functional, but ever morphing floor plates. The building features a two-sided and three-sided organization plan around the central core, both for the office and hotel levels. This enables tenant to organize their spaces with great flexibility while taking advantage of the most natural daylight. As the building rises vertically into a rectangular floor plate, the opportunity of full floor suites is emphasized together with maximum access to daylight on all sides.

The tower is designed so that maximum use of the floor plates is achieved. Going from three sided to a two sided to a single layout four public spaces organize distribution of program vertically, allowing for interaction and sharing of these areas by variety of users. Read the rest of this entry »

MAD’s Beijing Chaoyang Park Plaza breaks ground. It is a realization of the concept “Shanshui City” and the project pushes the boundary of the urbanization process by creating a dialogue between artificial scenery and natural landscapes. The Plaza development is located in the central business district of Beijing and due to its proximity to the park it will highly impact the skyline of this metropolis.

A pair of asymmetrical towers creates a dramatic skyline in front of the park. Ridges and valleys define the shape of the exterior glass facade, as if the natural forces of erosion wore down the tower into a few thin lines. Flowing down the facade, the lines emphasize the smoothness of the towers and its verticality. The internal ventilation and filtration system of the ridges draw a natural breeze indoors, which not only improves the interior space but also creates an energy efficient system.

Landscape elements are injected into the interiors of the towers to augment the feeling of nature within an urban framework. The two towers are connected by a tall courtyard lobby with a ceiling height of up to 17 meters. The site and sounds of flowing water make the entire lobby feel like a natural scene from a mountain valley. At the top of the towers, multi-level terraces shaped by the curving forms of the towers are public gardens where people can gaze out over the entire city and look down at the valley scene created by the lower buildings on the site.

Located to the South of the towers, four office buildings are shaped like river stones that have been eroded over a long period. Smooth, round, and each with its own features, they are delicately arranged to allow each other space while also forming an organic whole. Adjacent to the office buildings are two multi-level residential buildings in the Southwest area of the compound. These buildings continue the ‘mid-air courtyard concept, and provide all who live here with the freedom of wandering through a mountain forest.

The project was awarded the “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)”Gold certificate. By exploring the symbiotic relationship between modern urban architecture and natural environment, Chaoyang Park Plaza revives the harmonious co-existence between urban life and nature. Read the rest of this entry »

“The City Rises” is Urban Office Architecture proposal for Parramatta’s architectural competition. They proposed a set of “Siamese pair” of towers, which would represent diversity rising out of unity. The unique form performs better and more efficiently from the heat loss-gain point of view as less dispersion is generated. It also reacts better to structural and lateral forces. However its ultimate advantage is that of offering unique interior opportunities for the office requirements. In particular, as the building rises offices take advantage of the relationship with the vertical public spaces, allowing for an innovative and pleasant working environment.

From urban point of view, the building is envisioned as an extension of the public spaces. Its outermost layer is composed by a vertical circulation which allows pedestrian to climb to the building top via an enclosed glass circulation system – glass boxes. While rising, the visitor will stop at suspended publicly programmed “floating rooms” – black boxes. At a distance the building is seen as both one and two separate buildings, but most importantly as an asset to the public realm rather than a form isolated from the field.

Located on the northern exposure, the black and glass boxes become both an effective filter for the entire building, collecting, harvesting and re-circulating water, light, and energy. The sinuous building shape is ideal against winds and sun glare. The building skin is made of several layers of glass with an inner photosensitive film who is able to adjust to the amount of solar impact and become more or less transparent. Read the rest of this entry »

The site of Huangdu Art Center by MAD Architects illuminates controversial issue in urban sprawl. Positioned in close proximity to the heart of old Beijing, and close to historically significant architecture such as the Forbidden City and opposite the National Art Museum of China, the site straddles this divide -small scale hutongs – remain at the sites western edge, yet the east is bounded by a modern axis of major city routes, commercial malls and hotels.

In MAD Architects they quote Lao She who states that the beauty of old Beijing exists in the empty space between architecture, where trees grow and birds live.  As such, the buildings themselves do not have to show any special shape in order to be unique.

Old Beijing is built of a tight network of closely woven districts of communal courtyard housing blocks. The basic typology of these districts is one-storey buildings which form distinct geometric patterns repeated at high density. This historic urban fabric is increasingly under threat and it is now forced to retreat for the larger, monumental modern architecture of contemporary Beijing.

MAD proposes to create a building established on many small hutong-scalar pieces that collectively achieve the overall volume. Huangdu is designed by layering different courtyard vertically, resulting in multifaceted, semi-solid volumes, which maintains the spatial relationships and hollow cores of the courtyards. Huangdu is an urban instrument signifying Beijing’s aspirations to be a forward looking city yet always respects its roots and its past. MAD’s proposal extends the city fabric from small to large, negotiating the two scales at work here on site, and provide a means to reconcile two worlds of Beijing today. Read the rest of this entry »

UNStudio has been chosen to remodel and renovate Hanwha’s headquarters building – the facade, the interior of the common spaces, lobbies, meeting levels, auditorium and executive areas, along with the redesign of the landscaping. Several important variables were required to be incorporated into the redesign, most essentially the surroundings, nature and the environment. Their concept for the project resulted in the design of a responsive facade which prioritizes and integrates groups of key parameters: program – exterior and interior, indoor climate and environmental considerations.

The existing façade contains horizontal bands of opaque paneling and single layers of dark glass. In the remodeling this is replaced by clear insulated glass and aluminum framing to accentuate views and daylight. The geometry of the framing is further defined by the sun and orientation factors to ensure user comfort inside and reduced energy consumption.

The basis for the facade expression is largely formed by the program. By varying the placement of the facade panels a variety of program-related openings are created. The North facade opens to enable day lighting within the building but becomes more opaque on the South façade, where the sun would otherwise have too much impact on the heat load of the building. Openings within the facade are further related to the views: opening up where views are possible but becoming more compact on the side adjacent to the nearby buildings. Direct solar impact on the building is reduced by shading which is provided by angling the glazing away from direct sunlight, while the upper portion of the South facade is angled to receive direct sunlight. The facade is animated by individual LED pixels, with dynamic lighting reflecting different parts of the building and highlighting areas of activity within. Read the rest of this entry »

800m Tower for China by MAD Architects questions what the future skyscraper should be. Unlike the traditional skyscraper that embodies its greatness in height and monumental form, the 800m Tower declares its significance in the unique way in which it relates to the city around it. The institutional framework of the traditional skyscraper is limited – it is defined by a simple, linear structure and mediocre duplication in business districts across the globe. At a time when the height record for such buildings is almost instantly replaced, the building’s landmark status quickly wanes as taller versions rise around it. As such, it becomes increasingly necessary for a building to create and realize a higher level of complexity in its expression of modern city relationships.

The two towers are connected with a cable car at the top, allowing all people from the city to make the journey around it and through it, echoing the dynamism and movement of the city. The previous conception of form and style establish landmark appears outdated by contrast.

The 800m Tower will not act as an office machine. On contrary, it will become a living admixture. Space for commerce, service and entertainment are elevated to the same level as the office and hotel functions, forming a solid city element that makes the sister towers and its users part of the metropolitan life.

Exciting and dynamic, the 800m tower will house office spaces and a hotel, on a 310,840sqm area. Read the rest of this entry »