This work is the result of a process that began in 2004 with the construction of a summer house in the forest of Mar Azul.
It was about intervening in an area of outstanding natural beauty, owner of a wild strong presence that gradually has been domesticated by the proliferation of constructions with a formal search between a bucolic character and picturesqueness which in no way refer to that environment nor to this present.
Facing the cathedral and following the outline of the former convent’s kitchen garden, we erect a strong stone wall box open to the sky. Its walls and floors entirely made of stone. The very same stone as the Cathedral. A real Hortus Conclusus. In the corner facing the cathedral, a massive stone measuring 250x150x50 cm, a veritable Cornerstone. And chiselled on that stone:
The design of the settlement layout is based on the recognition of landform. The project re-proposes latent settlement rules, yet consolidated, able to recover the structuring capacity of the layout and its landscape value.
Six buildings of 60 m long are arranged in the lot according to a north-south orientation with slightly changes in direction. A wall of dry stone delimits the project on the west side and marks the boundary between the industrial area and the new residential compound on the edge of the Tavola old village.
The narrow sloping and afforested site, south faced towards the Beukenlaan, is not that typical Flanders plot. In the past the neighbourhood seems to have been a residential recreation zone, where Belgians used to build their individual summer houses. When asked to build a new spacious residence on this particular site, AST77 was confronted with a bungalow and extension.
The house is designed taking into account the following aspects:
Adaptation of the volume to bothdividing walls. Regulations allow three floors, so the house is higher than others around. That is why the top floor is setback (allowing the sunlight to come into the house through a fanlight) and we decided the height of the building, adapting it to the house on the left, while the dividing wall on the right is a continuation of the façade to respond to the smaller height of the house on the right.
BELO HORIZONTE, BRAZIL: As soccer enthusiasm continues to sweep the globe, venerable stadiums are undergoing substantial upgrades to keep pace with 21st Century fan expectations. Renato Cipriano, Partner/GM, Walters-Storyk Design Group/ Brazil, reports the WSDG international team has completed work on the Mineirão Stadium renovation and remains actively involved with a second major stadium renovation project in Belo Horizonte, and a third in Rio de Janeiro.
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