This project is based on the adaptation of a number of buildings in the historic centre of Torres Vedras so as to accommodate an innovative arts centre dedicated to music, performance, new media and the visual arts. The ambitions of the young institution, as well as the willingness to integrate and rehabilitate the urban ensemble – including a small housing scheme complete with its own street – determined that the Transforma headquarters should play on the ambiguity between public and private. While a cafeteria in the lower floor potentially expands onto the adjacent plaza through the main entrance, a newly minted urban pathway extends the existing alley to connect different levels of the city. Offering diverse spatial experiences, including the possibility of public passage, this path gives access to the multipurpose, kidney shaped auditorium that constitutes the central core of the arts organization. In general, public facades are minimally transformed, while new internal “organs” push against the old walls as a set of volumes and capsules linked to new functions and uses. Different colours are used to characterize these capsules as a basic process to claim their presence and exceptional character.
Located in the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen, MAD Architects’ design for the Xinhee Design Center is currently under construction. The design center is for the international fashion group, Xinhee, and its six subsidiary brands. It has a site area of 15,000 square meters with building area of 61,000 square meters. “We envision it as a building with skin-and-bones,” reveals MAD founding principal Ma Yansong, “the correspondence of clothing and architecture is they both explore the relationship between the interior and the exterior.”
Xinhee Design Center has the central atrium space at its core; from there, six long spanning structures extend out to different directions, and become a star-shaped layout which formalizes a solid “bone” structure frame. A mix of office spaces and green gardens compose each of the organically-formed arms. A translucent and sun-shading envelope of PTFE hangs slightly off the vertical garden, and provides ventilation during the hot season. At the same time, it lightens the building to be elegant and floating, just likes a piece of delicate thin, soft, skin covering the “bone” structure of the building body. Ma Yansong elaborates, “It’s interesting for a building with such an intrinsically logical structure to look floating and free.”
Located in the city centre of Tours (France) the project consists in transforming the interiors of a typical post- World War II flat. The rather unpretentious and small flat has been revamped in order to maximise the sensation of space and give it more soul.
Context:
The flat’s surface equals 65 m2 and the external structure has been kept untouched. The existing building was built with basic materials, hence the medium quality. The heating / water and electricity conduits are visible. Since it was built, the flat has not been redesigned or transformed: the flat is partitioned, as it is usually the case for flats from this period.
Situated on a bank of the Chao Phraya River in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, The Wine Ayutthaya is a new leisure place for wine drinkers. The building was constructed to become a new tourist attraction in hopes of stimulating the economy of local communities surrounding this world heritage site, which was the capital city of Thailand 400 years ago. The building is a product of architectural creativity and environmental context molded into a magnet for tourists.
“Bilateral house is characterized by its two unique façades. The main façade is heritage while the rear is distinctly modern. At first glance, each side appears to be different, however upon a closer look you begin to understand how they are related,” says Gianpiero Pugliese, Principal of Audax.
The homeowners of Bilateral House are a married couple with three girls. They purchased a lot with a 116-year-old Period Revival home in a mature picturesque neighbourhood in the city. As avid collectors of contemporary art and vintage furniture, they wanted to build a modern gallery-inspired home with high ceilings to display their collections artfully. However shortly after purchasing their property, the house was designated as Heritage and could not be demolished.
The main aspects of this design project were to keep the look simple and casual, with a modern and high class touch and with emphasis on the reception desk.
CHALLENGE
Masader Arabian decided to open a branch in Egypt and therefore purchased a floor of an apartment building. The Project Director, Mohammed Moktader was looking for an architectural company that would remodel and convert the apartment into an office. The two room apartment would have to be converted to an office with a reception, exhibition and waiting room, General Manager’s room, meeting room and rooms for the employees. The client was looking for a modern yet subtle look.
Design studio IWT converts two rural barns into a glass house and wooden cave for Wim Hof in the east of the Netherlands. The Iceman (www.innerfire.nl) focus on the integration of extreme human physical endurance with psychological performance through a.o. breathing exercises, cold water exposure and meditation training for both international private clients and professional athletes.
London-based practice Architects of Invention (AI) has submitted a design proposal for 500 residential units in Birmingham’s Digbeth area.
The practice was approached by Chinese private equity fund PGC- Capital whose The Jewel Court, 77 one-two bed luxury apartments, is already on site in Birmingham.
Article source: David Macias – Arquitectura & Urbanismo
Facing the majesty of an old native tree, as a pre-existence on the land to be built, this was the perfect excuse to generate the design of the house. In the middle of the lot and with the natural traces of the passage of time, this natural element was the great actor in the middle of a difficult but important decision, to rescue it and recover its splendor. Decision that led to the architectural design to revolve around it, taking advantage of its virtue as a generator of shadow, helping the home to provide self-regulation and climatic comfort on warm days. The shade, an important aspect for a recreational house in warm weather, was generated by eaves in front, looking for the perfect orientation to minimize the direct impacts of the sun. However, the shadows generated by the same architectural design through its eaves were sufficient for the control of the private areas, reason why and thinking in the best implantation for the house it was decided to isolate the architectural volume towards one of the boundaries, Respecting in a natural way the land adjacent to the tree keeping its roots intact. This decision allowed to generate a center of activity where the main actor becomes the tree and the shadow that it projects, allowing to design a large perimeter terrace, outdoor spaces and recreation that take life under the old native tree.
FCB Chicago, the largest agency within the Foote, Cone & Belding global network, recently relocated to the iconic John Hancock Center. The new office’s modern and comfortable design clearly expresses the spirit, culture and direction of this advertising/marketing powerhouse.
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