Architecture

Product news: these lamps by Nendo are made by pressing a glass tube to create a narrow gap that clamps the light source in place. The glass tubes by Nendo for Lasvit look as if they have been pinched, and the simple fold in the material means that no additional structure is required to support the light fitting. A suspension version hangs from the pinched section, while the light source of the floor lamp balances in the fold. Each Press Lamp is unique, as the glass pieces are blown individually by artisans at Czech firm Lasvit's atelier. Photography is by Yoneo Kawabe. In Milan earlier this year and Japanese studio Nendo launched a series of glass vases with surface resembling patchwork quilts and teamed up with Italian designer Luca Nichetto to create a range of products including a scaly carpet and a knitted room divider. See more lamp design » See more design by Nendo » See more products designed for Lasvit » Here's a short description from Lasvit: Press Lamps, created by Nendo for Lasvit in 2012 are pure and minimalistic and are all hand-blown by Lasvit’s glass masters. Each piece is uniquely formed, and represents a brand new and unusual technique in hand-blown glass. Cylindrical swing lamps and free-standing lamps twisted at the light bulb’s entrance. The Press Lamp design is available in two types: a pendant lamp and a floor lamp. In this design, glass tubes are pressed as though they have been pinched, and the light source is fitted into the narrowed space that results. Unusual in the fact that it does not rely on a metal form, the compression of the glass produces a soft, organic form and imbues each lamp with a singular appearance. The post Press Lamp by Nendo for Lasvit appeared first on Dezeen.

Architects: Agence Bernard Bühler Location: Bayonne, France Architect In Charge: Agence Bernard Bühler Consulting Engineers : Bet Cazeaux, Therm’eco, Argeo Area: 169 sqm Year: 2013 Photographs: Courtesy of Agence Bernard Bühler The site is on the periphery of the city of Bayonne. On one side, we have small collective housings (R 4 maximum), and on the other side agricultural land. - In the basement, parking for 45 seats allocated to housing. It fills the entire plot. - Ground floor, three commercial premises open onto a small square  - Access to housing is through the north side through a corridor dressed with vertical blades glazed red. All apartments are south-facing. Each housing is extended by a balcony on the south side. The buildings are very simple in their form and are animated by colored elements such as screens or blades glazed colored red. Alegria / Agence Bernard Bühler originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 18 Jun 2013.send to Twitter | Share on Facebook | What do you think about this?

Architects: OOS AG Location: Feldis/Veulden (GR), Switzerland Architects: Andreas Derrer, Manuel Schudel Design Team: Christoph Kellenberger, Severin Boser, Lukas Bosshard Area: 222.0 sqm Photographs: Wehrli Müllere Construction Management: Christian Bühlmann Wood Engineering: Pius Schuler AG für Holzbauplanung Civil Engineering: Andreas Gudenrath Breathtaking views of the surrounding mountain ranges and valleys, and dramatically steep hills characterize the site located in Feldis (Switzerland), 1500 meters above sea level. The subtle manipulation of a simple timber structure nestled along the contour lines of the hill, anchors it solidly in its rocky surrounding in a manner akin to a solitary rock outcrop displaced after a rock fall. The seemingly monolithic holiday home appears once narrow and light, then wide and heavy, assuming a different aspect depending on the perspective from which it is viewed. Opening and closing the generously proportioned venetian blinds directly effects the external expression of the house. The simple internal organization can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly, the planning allows each room to serve the other, in an open hierarchy where both the kitchen and the storage units therein become part of this continuum. The second interpretation is an open, living unit on three levels, a space that flows uninterrupted from the entrance over the cascade of steps to the living areas. A negative space, directly behind the outer layer of the skin, wedged as it were between, under and over the more intimate sleeping quarters structures the dynamic and the static spatial zones of the living sculpture. The elegant tuning and stretching of the structure allows the rooms internally to take full advantage of the spectacular alpine panorama. These rooms, varying in size, and geometry are designed to maximize spatial experience, each window framing a precise picture of the surrounding landscape. The occupants actively change the building’s external expression through the opening and shutting of the generously proportioned window shutters. The environmental demands particular to the site, and the building process both determined the choice of timber as building material The choice of timber framing guaranteed the desired flexibility in planning and construction, whilst structurally, the characteristics of timber framing are complemented by the advantages of massive construction. The need for a simple, sporadically occupied holiday home meant the acoustic insulation could be minimised. Considerable reductions in the thicknesses of internal cladding materials not only simplified the construction but also led to considerable spatial gains internally. The cantilevered roof above the terrace consciously stretches the construction system to its limit, the former being made possible by the full integration of the glazing element into the construction. The desired effect of a simple holiday home characterised by spatial variability is further strengthened by the rawness of the timber cladding. Leaving the construction unclad, lends the interior its archaic direct character, that can be more specifically expressed in the choice of furnishing. Time should be able to leave its mark on the building. The continuous transformation due to the process of natural weathering is registered both inside on the venetian blinds, and outside on the exterior skin, and the steel plates deployed instead of the traditional concrete retaining wall. The eventual transformation of the building through time reflects a natural process aiding as it does the full integration of the house into its natural surrounding. Haus Schudel / OOS AG originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 17 Jun 2013.send to Twitter | Share on Facebook | What do you think about this?

For HSB Stockholm’s architectural competition 2023, three teams of architects have produced innovative proposals for private residences of the future at three different locations in the centre of Stockholm. Berg | C.F. Møller’s proposed design is a 34-storey skyscraper made of wood. Berg | C.F. Møller Architects are working in partnership with architects Dinell Johansson and consultants Tyréns on their entry. The team has chosen to build upwards, and has designed a 34-storey residential building, which will be seen for miles. The building will be built over a wooden construction with a concrete core, and it is intended to give the people of Stockholm a new and characteristic beacon and meeting place in their city. Back to basics Wood is one of nature’s most innovative building materials: the production has no waste products and it binds CO2. Wood has low weight, but is a very strong load-bearing structure compared to its lightness.Wood is also more fire resistant than both steel and concrete. This is due to 15% of wood mass being water, which will evaporate before the wood actually burns. In addition, logs get charred which protects the core.Wood secures a good indoor climate, perfect acoustics, helps regulating the inside temperature and can be exposed without being covered with plaster or other costly materials.In Berg | C.F. Møller’s wooden skyscraper, the pillars and beams are made of solid wood. Inside the apartments, all the walls, ceilings and window frames are made of wood as well and will be visible from the exterior through the large windows. Sustainable Social and environmental sustainability is integrated into the project. Each apartment will have an energy-saving, glass-covered veranda, while the building itself will be powered by solar panels on the roof. At street level there is a café and childcare facility. In a new community centre, local people will be able to enjoy the benefits of a market square, fitness centre and bicycle storage room. A communal winter garden will provide residents with an opportunity to have allotment gardens.All three design proposals are available on HSB Stockholm’s Facebook page. Here you can vote for your favourite and thus play your part in determining how private homes in Stockholm will look in the future. About the competition HSB Stockholm – Sweden’s largest building society – is 100 years old in 2023. At that time an ultra-modern residential high-rise building will be completed in Stockholm city. Three architectural teams are now preparing the competitive proposals for the spectacular house that will be placed at one of three different sites in Stockholm. To see ArchDaily’s latest coverage of skyscrapers using wood, check out The Timber Tower Research Project and  Michael Green presents ‘The Case for Tall Wood Buildings’. Architects: Berg | C.F. Møller Architects Location: Stockholm, Sweden Collaborating Architects: DinellJohansson Urban Planning Consultants: Tyréns Year: 2013 Photographs: Courtesy of Berg | C.F. Møller Architects Wooden Skyscraper / Berg | C.F. Møller Architects originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 17 Jun 2013.send to Twitter | Share on Facebook | What do you think about this?

Architects: Ori Glazer + Nili Gal Mester Location: Tzedek, Tel Aviv, Israel Architect In Charge: Ori Glazer, Nili Gal Mester Photographs: Yael Engelhart The Naomi Givon House, located in the oldest neighborhood in Tel Aviv, is a good example of a middle class residential house typical of the period in which it was built – wide open oriental spaces.  Each floor is planed as a large central hall surrounded by several smaller rooms The building was originally built in stages starting from approximately 1890 for the ground floor while the first floor dates from 1905 to 1912 and is separated by a staircase. As a separate apartment The house was empty for years . While  working on the renovation plans , the  architects carefully documented the building and the typical architectural details. In 2006, after a particularly rainy night, the building collapsed. Immediately afterwards, Despite the potential for designing more levels within the volume of the restored building, larger floor area in a new building plan , the owner decided to keep the original volume,  and the refurbishment kept the two main floors with especially high ceilings and the construction plan was put together adhering to careful conservation of the external façade of the building. The ground floor and basement level were redesigned as open spaces for art collections while the top floor into a large open space for residential use. The upper and lower levels were planned according to a free internal division – as many open spaces thus preserving as much visibility as possible both with respect to the exterior and interior. The open space also preserves the continuity of the exterior openings transforming the external façade into an internal façade. The windows and external doors create a dialogue with contemporary design language for both the residential spaces and the art collections. The uniqueness of the building is the subtle combination of contemporary taste with the carefully restored historic experience. The Naomi Givon House / Ori Glazer + Nili Gal Mester originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 17 Jun 2013.send to Twitter | Share on Facebook | What do you think about this?

Architects: Piotr Musialowski, Lukasz Przybylowicz Location: Kazimierz Dolny, Poland Area: 220 sqm Photographs: Maciej Gasienica Giewont The concept of a free-standing public toilet building has been selected during one of the editions of the architectural competition organized annually by the leading Polish producer and distributor of bathroom fittings – Sanitec Ko?o Ltd. The theme of the first editions was to design the interior of a studio bathroom in residential and public buildings. Since 2006, the contestants have had the task of performing a conceptual design of a public toilet building in highly frequented locations with respect to local conditions and guidelines. Locations are always associated with places of scenic and tourist potential. In 007, the task of the competition was to design a free-standing public toilet building in Kazimierz Dolny in the Vistula River. To make the concept fit the architecture of historical buildings of the city as well as to meet the requirements of modern technology and functionality was the main criterion at the project assessment. Public restroom was to be built nearby a small pumping station on a fenced plot belonging to water utilities. The major difficulty of the task was to match the architecture of the very building which is the public restroom with the full of detail, small-town architecture of Kazimierz Dolny. Due to the multi-purpose profile of the building, it was designed as a group of three smaller objects. The entire property was surrounded by a fence, inspired by the traditional wooden fences. From the north side, it was transformed into the wooden rail shelter to integrate all elements of the new building. As a result, the pumping station area has been divided into two parts: the communal and closed to pedestrians. The pavement cubes located under the fence are finished with plaster. The entrance doors to rooms are plaster color painted. All this makes them homogeneous and devoid of unnecessary detail. It also highlights the delicate play of light and shadow created by the wooden rail shelter. The roof was covered with patinated graphite sheet made of titanium and zinc. Windows are located directly in the roof which makes them illuminate the rooms not depriving them of the necessary privacy at the same time. According to our assumption, the interiors are to be bright, clean, durable, and despite its small size, giving the impression of space.Due to its stylistic diversity from traditional environment of Kazimierz Dolny, the building may need some time to adapt to the place. Yet, we hope our concept will meet the residents’ acceptance and will soon be recognized as an integral part of Kazimierz Dolny. Public Toilets / Piotr Musialowski + Lukasz Przybylowicz originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 17 Jun 2013.send to Twitter | Share on Facebook | What do you think about this?

Architects: htmn Location: Akishima-shi, Tokyo Architect In Charge: Hiroaki Takada, Nakahata Masayuki Structure Design: Ryo Kuwako, Kuwako Area: 3,980 sqm Year: 2012 Photographs: Daici Ano, Courtesy of htmn Overview of the site Many buildings stand side by side in the shopping district near the train station. There were many partitioned tenement-houses in this area, but currently rebuilding has been proceeding. There is a platform of the conventional lines on the north side of the site. And there is a municipal road that is parallel to the line on the south side of the site. This is a narrow site is surrounded by buildings which was built to site boundary close, on the east and west side. We designed the building in this narrow site. Behavior of the architecture The floor area of the building is small, and so we came up with various ideas to make it more spacious than actual area. The closed space, it is necessary to actively open to the outside in order to obtain an extension. We have planned to go through the line of sight towards the upward in a positive manner, because the north and south direction has a void on the upper side. The activities inside the building are opened to the road on the south side, and it will be integrated with the landscape of the region. By placing the terrace on the third and fourth floors, we have planned to get a sense of openness while blocking gently to the line of sight from the station platform on the north side. You can view the sky through the building, which means we have contributed to the reduction of the oppressive feeling of the volume against the surroundings. Intertwined extension The second floor (office room A) and the third floor (office room C) has been connected by an atrium, and the same applies to the second floor (office room B) and the fourth floor (office room D). Each of these rooms is related with a suitable distance. The office portion has been composed of two volumes that led to the gradual multi-layer floor. The two volumes have been intertwined. By contiguous space and segmented space, you can perceive that the multiple locations are scattered while staying in one place. We have planned for multiple line of flow to pass between the volume, outside the corridor on the second floor and middle of a spiral staircase. The room and the room, the volume and the volume, the line of flow and the line of flow, by these has been intertwined intricately, the space attains expanse over the actual area. Adjustable The rental office must be able to use to adjustable in response to a variety of applications.The portion of the office can be rented together or divided into two. Even if the case, the volume provides a expressive spaces because it is composed of layers floor. Sustainability We plan to make Piping efficient, by integrating plumbing into the second floor. The client requested to maximize the first floor and floor area ratio. And the outer wall has been forced to close at hand the site boundary. Because buildings has built to site boundary close, on the east and west side, the maintenance of the outer wall is difficult after completion. Then the outer wall has adopted a weatherproof building material. And a part of the outer walls were set-backed for maintenance. Everybody Finds Somebody Someplace / htmn originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 17 Jun 2013.send to Twitter | Share on Facebook | What do you think about this?

According to the AIA, The American Institute of Architects, the American housing market is at its strongest growth level since 2005. As the once struggling residential market continues to improve, the size of homes is also growing in both high-end and custom homes as well as in additions to existing homes. Data from the AIA’s first-quarter 2013 Home Design Trends Survey reveals that preferences for accessible spaces in homes – such as open-space layouts and single-floor design – is also on the rise. To see the survey’s findings and to learn more about today’s housing market, read on. Thanks to improving consumer confidence in the American housing market, business conditions at residential architecture firms are at their strongest growth levels since the economic downturn. These findings are from the AIA Home Design Trends Survey for only the first quarter of 2013, which focuses specifically on overall home layout and the use of interior and exterior space. AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA explains that the organization has seen, over the past few years, “an increased interest in seamlessly blending indoor and outdoor spaces and building in more informal spaces into homes. Because lot sizes don’t show any signs of increasing, it’s clear that homeowners want to maximize their current square footage to its highest potential, as opposed to increasing it.” Scroll through the following graphics to help explain the situation and read Baker’s full survey here. News via the AIA Improving Residential Market Leads to Larger Homes and an Increase in Property Enhancements originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 17 Jun 2013.send to Twitter | Share on Facebook | What do you think about this?

Welcome to the 17th and final live jury broadcast for the 2013 Core77 Design Awards! We're on the line with Eddie Opara here in New York City, who is pleased to announce the winners for the Visual Communication category. Thanks again to all of our esteemed jurors and, of course, the honorees and entrants—we couldn't have done it without you! » Watch the Visual Communication category jury announcement above or at Core77DesignAwards.com.(more...)

Architects: assemblageSTUDIO Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Area: 12,000 sqft Year: 2011 Photographs: Bill Timmerman Landscape Architect: E Group Interiors: Cleo Design General Contractor: Darrell Fellhauer Structural Engineer: Lochsa Engineering Electrical Engineering: RHR The project is located in the master planned development of Summerlin, along the western edge of Las Vegas at the base of Red Rock. The community’s design requirements call for “design individuality, horizontally and sensitivity to the desert hillside environment.” J2 recognizes the owners and developers combined appreciation of the desert environment through our choice of materials, environmental orientations, daylighting, landscaping and use of renewable energy sources. Our client desired a home that engaged the outdoors within their living spaces. Expanded views into the adjacent golf course and foothills provide a connection between indoors and out. Each public space; great room, dining room, library, and casita is provided a view into the distant landscape as well as intimacy with the courtyard and pool. The basement bar and game room area connects to the outside through a courtyard which admits daylight into the space. The home provides a large percent of its own power consumption through Kyocera Multicrystal Photovoltaic Modules placed on the wing canopy. The canopy has been designed to eliminate direct sunlight from entering into the residence during the hottest seasons while allowing maximum visibility to the south. Rammed earth construction creates a thermal mass to mitigate the extreme fluctuations in day and nighttime temperatures. J2 Residence / assemblageSTUDIO originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 17 Jun 2013.send to Twitter | Share on Facebook | What do you think about this?