Off a state highway along a “false” river, an oxbow lake made by the Mississippi, lies a narrow site which slopes to the water, shaded by a 100-year-old cypress tree. Descending the slope, a long skinny camp lies ready for summer weekends and fishing.
In Louisiana, where the natural environment is volatile, wet, hot, humid, and extremely fragile, most buildings seek to resist these extreme conditions. Contrary to the conventional approach, GATOR House encourages interaction with Louisiana’s natural environment. Primarily, it creates human comfort in the seemingly uncomfortable and privileges social interaction in generous outdoor social living spaces. More porch than interior room, almost all occupancy happens under roof or in the shade of the tree. This includes living, dining, cooking, celebrating, and bathing. Using natural ventilation, fans, and deep shade, heat, humidity, and insects are controlled to establish human comfort outdoors. Secondly, it is raised above grade to protect from flooding and is made from materiality that does not rot, resists insects, can get wet, and be wiped down when it gets dirty.
“La Ganadera” is a commercial building for a local association of livestock farmers in the city of San Francisco del Rincón, Guanajuato. The architectural program attends the following needs: meeting area, offices, drug store, warehouse, kitchen and terrace.
The emplacement is given in the corner of a main street that seeks an immediate visual answer, through a dynamic composition and the acknowledgement of a solid material composition.
Creation reflects our inner selves. Some consider it as a mirror; it can get very personal to create and to design. Thus, if we want to create groundbreaking designs, it is us that need to have a breakthrough. If we want to reveal the intrinsic quality of beauty, we need the constructs of beauty. In this process, self-reflection and self-doubt are involved, and deconstruction is inevitable.
This UA cinema in Shanghai celebrates deconstructivism, a postmodern architectural movement that has started since the 1980s. Deconstructivism is about moving away from the shackle of traditions, questioning pre-existing rules, challenging pre-dominating frameworks. It is a movement about freedom and oppression. The deconstructivist philosophy originated from the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, who had influenced some architects during the start of the movement. His approach can be seen in some architectural designs, where there is an absence of harmony, continuity and symmetry in the lines and forms. This design is an attempt to participate in the movement, by creating non-rectilinear shapes that visually appear with unpredictability and controlled chaos. By disassembling space, perhaps a new meaning can be given to the usage of space.
The project is conceived as two blocks, where one rest upon the other. Both with different characteristics and treatments. The lower one is treated as (one big portico / a big space structured by one single portico) that contains the social spaces, all linked and well integrated, thanks to the use of sliding glass panels, to the exterior. While the upper one has, facing the outside, a series of archeries that reveals the partition of the spaces it contains, as well as the private condition of the same. Even so, without losing the direct relationship with the outside world.
An increasing number of old houses in rural area are being renovated to resort hotels targeting for city dwellers recently in China. This project is located in Baisha Village, Yunnan Province, where is an idyllic rural area with Naxi traditional houses. The masonry façade of the old houses is made by stacking local Wuhua-stones, and people can take a view of the majestic Jade Dragon Snow Mountain nearby. We were requested to reuse the four existing houses and the main gate, also build new buildings in irregular shaped extended site around them.
Bean Buro was tasked to design a new retail showroom office in Wong Chuk Hang in the Southside of Hong Kong Island for the fabric company Cetec to showcase high quality fabrics from their own as well as partnering brands. The main front of house customer space should store and display a large amount of products, to support the viewing of fabric samples for inspiration, with variety of seating areas for customers to work, inspect samples and carry out discussions with supporting staff. The project should also accommodate the employees to work in the same unit with a pantry, a meeting room, and the possibility of transforming the unit for large events.
A crown jewel of the Jack Daniel Distillery grounds, the house (one of the first buildings seen by visitors approaching Lynchburg) was originally commissioned by Lem Motlow, second in a line of proprietors who have consistently delivered the best Tennessee whiskeys available.
With a keen sensitivity to the history of this 1930’s Georgian home and its role at the distillery, the reconstruction maintains the residential scale and character of Lem’s original creation. This was accomplished through careful reinvention of the interior to bring together local Jack Daniel’s hosts and enthusiasts from near and far in an environment that immerses guests in the unique form of hospitality that the brand is so well known for.
Located in the cosmopolitan district of Batel, in downtown Curitiba, Orna Café was idealized by sister bloggers looking forward to diversify their industry. As they decided to open a coffee shop, they gathered sponsors and supply partners, which were a limiting factor that influenced in the construction of the final architectural environment proposal. Finally, the partner architects from Moca Arquitetura, Ana Sikorski and Kátia Azevedo, conceived a design based on elements found in Curitiba’s acknowledged architecture, combined with a contemporary footprint.
Traditionally, in South India the word Darshini refers to a place that runs on the concept of ‘payfirst, eatlater’ Udupi style restaurants, which are similar to the fast food chains seen in the West. It was primarily intended to serve the rush hour crowd, and the dishes served were breakfast or snack items that require minimal fuss- both for the chef and the customer. A darshini set-up in Bangalore brings to mind steel tables jam-packed with customers standing around steaming plates of idli-vada, sipping a filter coffee and looking out onto the street which might just be inches away. Our clients approached us with a simple brief – “a darshini on the site along the highway in Hoskote”
Due to increased amount of work and the lack of adequate office design studio Alterno INC decided to build its own headquarters – an architectural office dedicated to the development of projects and products. Office is located in central zone of the city of Niš, Serbia.
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