On Kallaxön in the very north of Sweden outside Luleå lies house Granholmen a small light green wooden summer cottage.
The area surrounding the house is characterized by an intense greenery with conifers covering the island's inner parts and deciduous trees at the waters edge. There is no distinctive tradition of the classic Swedish red houses in this part of the archipelago.
Instead the building, which is located just by the water, is painted with green calcimine to tie it to the immediate surroundings. It is a pale light green tone that is chosen to shine with the erected copper-green ceiling. Together they form a solid whole that becomes one with all the green shades on the tree-covered headland.
The house is located in the northern area of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in a private suburban neighborhood. The lot has a strong natural component, because of the geography of the place but specially, because it borders a navigable river that communicates with the Delta del Río de la Plata. In this way, we seek to colonize this landscape as an architectural object that not only captures it but also proposes different ways of relating to it (through patios, water mirrors, lucarnas, running windows or punctual windows).
Designing a church seems to us to be an ideal instrument in searching for a symbolic, mystical and expressive dimension. As History has taught us, the alliance between art and religion offers mankind unique, magical and exalting moments that enrich life, mind and soul.
The church, as a material construction and human representation of the Divine, plays a very important role in the development of sensibility. For believers and lay people, it is a living sign that conveys a transcendent meaning that makes us look beyond what we see, and take time to feel our lives at a deeper level.
The DaB House is conceived in a lot of limited dimensions on the outskirts of the city of Buenos Aires, in a green and open environment. The main challenge of the project was to generate an architectural tour that interacts with the materials and the light in contrast with the formal search of a very compact layout to optimize the square meters.
The program has been organized in two floors. On the ground floor the social areas are located, which have a direct relation with the garden, therefore they connect in a comprehensive and dynamic way by means of a wooden joint that acts as a nucleus assembling the space between both levels. On the upper floor, the private areas are located, which have a relation with the terrace-garden that acts as a viewpoint and as a space for contemplation of nature.
the fire station north is located in linz-urfahr. the operational building from the 1970s met in functional and thermal terms not the requirements and standards of modern fire stations. since the basic substance of the building was ok, a functional renovation and extension of the existing fire station was decided. the design combines clear and efficient functionality with an architectural language appropriate to the construction task.
the aim of the renovation was to give the building a completely new identity while retaining large parts of the supporting and façade structure. all existing windows were renewed, the poorly insulated pre-fabricated concrete elements were largely preserved and insulated. subsequently, the entire building was covered with a new metall facade. the slightly iridescent aluminum panels are partly perforated and openable – according to the use of the rooms behind.
The project is located in the Singapore Science Park in Xiasha district of Hangzhou, China with a standard floor area of 1200 sqm, which is the new office of LANDER electric gaming cultural company. This is the work of Architect LI Wenxi when he study as a Ph.D. candidate in Waseda University, Japan.
Question
The surface is long strip-shaped, how to create the space with four consecutive styles of waiting, communication, having rests and working but totally different atmosphere from the space with width of 25 meters and length of 50 meters becomes the first problem when beginning to design.
This house was designed for a site located on the slope of one of the hills of the Serra das Cabras, in Campinas, SP. An area marked by considerable inclines and the beautiful landscape consisting of forest originates at the confluence of a number of small waterways.
The residence is shaped in a simple pavillion of forty for seven meters, part resting on the ground and other aerial part. This pavilion intimate environments, more restricted access, are leased in part supported and guarded by an embankment constructed, providing every comfort and coziness necessary.
Architects: MMBB Architects (Marta Moreira and Milton Braga in conjunction with Carolina Bueno)
Project: Residence in Serra das Cabras
Location: Brazil
Software used: Autocad, SketchUp
Contributors: Adriano Bergemann, André R. Costa, Cecilia Góes, Gleuson Pinheiro Silva, Guilherme Pianca, Maria João Figueiredo, Martin Benavidez, Rafael Monteiro and Chansoo Beyon
Notes: This neighborhood home had been owned by one family for four generations. The new owners honored that past, exposing much of the framing and recycling what couldn’t be salvaged into the board form for the exterior concrete walls. A southern facing side yard created a new entry sequence and sun filled urban oasis.
At 17’-1” interior stud to interior stud, we had a saying at this Bernal Heights home: Every inch counts. We transformed a one-bedroom cottage into a three-bedroom home without expanding the building envelope. By paying attention to outdoor access and the vertical space as well as the floorplan, the home now lives larger than its 1253 sf.
Through the reconstruction and redesign of the aging premises there was a welcoming and functional café and restaurant created. In order to bring more daylight to the inside, the existing arched windows at the west and south facade were expanded to the floor. This way these facades create continuum of the arches on the north side of the building. The arches on the west side facing the street increase visibility between public space and bar, which has an inviting and exhilarant effect on the public life in the village. The generous windows with the basket-awning at the south side expand the restaurant area by a sunny garden, which is now accessible through wooden doors that are integrated in the arches.
Situated 40 km North of Bucharest, in a peaceful rural setting, the house serves as a week-end and vacation retreat for a family living and working in the capital. It tries to make the most of its privileged location – a mildly sloping site at the very edge of Poienarii Rali village, with a beautiful view towards Ialomita river and a forest – by means of a sensitive placement and orientation.
One of the most difficult objectives that we had to address was creating an architectural object that did not disturb the visual calmness of its context. This influenced our decisions regarding typology, volume, scale, materials and technology.