Architecture seeks the underground, searches for new territories under the skin of the earth. Bachelard woke up the right to the unconscious spatial exploration of the underground through the figure of the cellar. Virilio unveiled the potential of semi-buried architectures in his Bunker Archeology. Colomine brought up to light the hidden architectures and psychotic strategies of the American society during the Second World War in her book Domesticity at War.
This is a project that is a pure result of creativity within limits. Boulder, Colorado has some of the strictest building constraints of any municipality in the country. Zoning requirements included height limits, street bulk plane limits, setbacks, a public open space requirement and a requirement for a brick facade.
Switch Building is a 7 storey apartment and art gallery building at 109 Norfolk Street in the Lower East Side, New York City. The building consists of four floor-through apartments, a duplex penthouse, and a double height art gallery on the ground and cellar levels. nARCHITECTS provided full architectural services for the project, including all interior design.
RMI-LA is 2,200 SF of new medical offices in Los Angeles for the Retina Macula Institute in an existing office building. This project offers a new look for the renowned retinal specialist institute, and this was achieved under extreme time constraints to avoid interrupting operations.
Article source: Department of ARCHITECTURE Co., Ltd.
For Bangkok, or any other modern-day cosmopolitan cities, living conditions and spatial form continue to evolve. Bangkokians are now yearning for new possibilities of outdoor living space that can effectively answer to the tropical heat and its dense living condition where there is not much space for the outdoor. ‘The Commons’, a small retail development in the city center, is an attempt to create a new active outdoor space where people can comfortably enjoy it at anytime of the year.
Tetris House is derived from the transformation of very pragmatic parameters into a spatially engaging concept. Multiple programmatic demands (five self-contained units, parking spaces and other covered exterior areas) have initiated two volumes. L-shaped in plan and section, they are spatially interwoven to produce a range of dynamic interstitial spaces.
Snøhetta has won the competition to design the new Banque Libano Francaise (BLF) headquarters. Located in Beirut, the project marks Snøhetta’s first ever commission in Lebanon.
“We are delighted to enter into this creative partnership with the BLF. In a time of profound change and transformation, the BLF is an ideal partner for Snøhetta with our shared ideals of sustainability, community, and dialogue.”, says Snøhetta founding partner Kjetil T. Thorsen.
NAN is the remodel of a 11,450 SF warehouse into an office and production facility for the custom electronic parts manufacturer Arnold Electronics, Inc. The existing, prefabricated warehouse was converted into a high-tech office and manufacturing facility with the intent to create a graphic and architectural identity for the client.
The project VIL is an interior build-out in an existing warehouse for the Los Angeles headquarters of the content and production agency Conscious Minds. A main architectural feature is a continuous surface sheet forming an articulated ceiling and simultaneously folding around two conference spaces. The digital surface manipulation follows in part pragmatic stipulations but also creates a divided two-material sheet that appears to artificially tear at the seams to allow glimpses into the otherwise enclosed conference rooms.
In response to the Hungarian government’s noble mission to erect new buildings for six important cultural institutions that are to be located within the City Park in Budapest, this design concept focuses on the museums of architecture and photography. The concept encompasses all aspects of the design program so as to present the jury, and the Hungarian people, with architectural works of art in both structure and landscape, that distinguish both the Hungarian culture and the whole of Europe in a world-renown manner. The concept intends to present works of art housing works of art harmoniously, providing an intriguing dynamic that will draw all visitors to its environs in a manner that simultaneously embraces interaction, enriches cultural pride, and satisfies a desire for an experiential aesthetic that will be immeasurably fulfilling and long-lasting.