Centro de Tecnificación Deportiva

A pure geometrical yet very beautiful integration into the landscape.

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Dubbed the Ring, the center provides research and training facilities for water and mountain sports. To minimize its impact on the natural setting, Sánchez García concentrated its programmatic elements (classrooms, workshops, documentation and information centers, guest rooms, cafeteria) in a narrow structure 656 feet in diameter, then finished it in a reflective steel skin. He elevated the building on steel columns, minimizing foundation work, and built it in six months using prefabricated industrial elements. The perfect geometric form is marked at irregular intervals by access porches, while a running track occupies the roof. (to find out more)

José María Sánchez García

The circular organisation ensures distances and autonomy between individual programs. Also offered to these spaces are their very own, unique connections to the landscape.

While raised above ground, the building is kept very close to the uneven contours, creating very intimate relationships between architectural space and the natural landscape.

text: http://archrecord.construction.com/Features/designvanguard/2009/09JoseMaria/slide_1.asp

images: http://www.jmsg.es/index.html

afterrabbit

Cheers, to SANAA

I've been busy (and lazy) but I can't stop myself from making this entry, right now.

"SANAA has today been announced the 2010 Pritzker Laureate"

Yes, I can repeat this line many times, calmly.

And I love them, especially Sejima.

Even though I have weird, probably repulsive feelings seeing my heroes walking up to the thrones, I'm genuinely happy for them.

It's probably me not yet ready for this change..

Anyhow, I don't want to start knowing them as the Pritzker Laureates.

Nishizawa-san will always be Nishizawa-san.

Sejima-obachan will always be Sejima-obachan.

They are not architects who stand above and look down on the commoners.

They're like kind neighbours across the street, showing me the beauty of ordinary, all the time.

I will always love them.

西沢さんと妹島おばちゃんがずっと大好き

And the First-Love of a Lifetime - 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Arts Kanazawa

一生のハツコイ　「金沢21世紀現代美術館」

afterrabbit

Kuala Lumpur Railway Station & The Railway Administartion Building

Replaced but not forgotten- Kuala Lumpur Railway Station

The emergence of the spanking new KL Sentral, quietly marked the end of a glorious era for the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station as a central transportation hub. However, this station continues to charm locals and tourists alike with its illustrious history and grandiose style.

Architect: Arthur Benison Hubback
The outer classical facade gives no hint of its inner steel structure.Completed in 1910, the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station was an epitome of British colonization and opulence.

Hubback styled the facade to the Neo- Moorish or Mughal fashion. A style which enjoyed popularity in the late- 19th Century and early century colonial India. A purely Western invention,

The structure however was fairly advance, using steel frames and trusses. This method of construction was fast, easy to assemble and save cost. Hubback made use of the fact that sunlight was abundant in Malaya by inserting skylights in the roof to provide ample natural lighting to the platforms below.

In 1986, refurbishment works on the extended platform, which served as a link between the old station and the adjacent Dayabumi Complex, took a more modernist approach. Large concrete pillars were constructed as supports to a space frames system roof. Today the marked contrast of styles between the two parts of this station can be liken to our nation's history. The old vernacular Western front alludes to our colonial past, while the new foreshadows a dawn of a new nation.







The use of skylights to introduce natural lighting.


The roof of the added platform uses space frames.


Column detailing

The Railway Administration Building




Pantheon detailing


Column detailing


Corbel arch

ling

Vanishing Point

Vanishing Point from Bonsajo on Vimeo.

Something nice for loosing up your nerves.

Am fond of its co-existence of 3-dimensional dynamism and 2-dimensional clarity. Everything is dancing happily right at you face (is that what HD means?), in sync with an equally cheerful and energetic music piece.

afterrabbit

Floating gardens by Anne Holtrop

floating gardens / Spa Wellness Amsterdam

If architecture is a landscape full of non-coherent but co-existing elements. A landscape where different uses, social relations, spatial organizations and political viewpoints can co-exist simultaneously. If this situation is being emphasized, rather than straighten out, new possibilities can emerge that would otherwise never be found.

The floating gardens design relates with that intention: building on water, architecture and landscape, private & public use and many more aspects.

A visitor will walk from room to room and experience a sequence of baths, panoramic saunas, chill and relax areas. From the interior, the frame the constructed landscape and give access to outdoor terraces and pools. From thereon paths continue over the hills and through the valleys connecting different spaces.

The persons who walk here, will see a combination of water, vegetation and architecture, which gratifies the human desire for a world that is visible and tangible. Architecture constructs a landscape, a landscape is inhabited. Interior and exterior, landscape and architecture are one.
(to find out more..)

Personally, i would really love to see this project to be realised in Amsterdam. A seamingly ideal project that blends the architecture and landscape so well that human experience will be really intriguing, the idea of combining a floating garden and spa is real awesome too.

images and passage from:
http://www.dezeen.com/2010/02/20/floating-gardens-by-anne-holtrop/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dezeen+%28Dezeenfeed%29

posted by midori mizu

EPFL Rolex Learning Center by SANAA

Its finally completed.. enjoy!

midori mizu

Taylor's Lakeside Campus

Currently in mid- construction phase, you'll see students & workers on site.


Bird's eye view. Everything looks very "green" from here, yeah including the water. The water filter system isn't up yet.


Isn't it lovely to sit on this piazza, munching away your sandwich & indulging in some people watching?


Imagine lying on the green turfs reading your book, doodling or updating your journal.


I'm happy to report that there is quite a strong breeze blowing in this direction (yes, towards us! in between the 2 blocks!)


Skylights. Ample natural lighting during the day.


The stairs. Not sure if they intend to do anything with it or leave it as it is.


A weird view & end of a route.




One of the studios. Foldable partitions & exposed services are a favorite.


Roll out the exercise mats people!


Auditorium.


An over-crowded student car park.

ling

Prefabs for Haiti

According to the Miami Herald, architect Andrés Duany has created a temporary house -- referred to as the "core-house" -- that can be made of a strong, composite material and flat pack shipped to Haiti. The prefab houses sleep eight, if arranged with the bunk beds, and can expand with additional core units. Duany believes they could be built affordably in order to provide a temporary shelter from the elements and rain. (to find out more..)

image & passage from: http://www.jetsongreen.com/2010/01/strong-flat-pack-prefabs-for-haiti.html

midori mizu

The 3rd & The 7th / architecture (temporarily) for architects

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

p/s: Watch in Full Screen mode.

* How good of the creator for sharing with us the original mp4 torrent, it's worth a spot in your CG collection. I'm downloading it as I think I'll never want to attempt on anything similar..hmm..

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I'm not much of a fan of architectural animations but this one is unmistakably the best realistic architectural CG I've seen yet in my life.

How brilliant can it be? Well... so realistic that I'd rather believe they're the real things in there, up until the point where water orbs and books start to do their anti-gravitational magic.

Having said that I'm treating it as the real thing, I should then mention what I think is the downside of it, or rather how it brings up what I think is my own shortcoming as an architecture student.

The video depicts a world with perpetual absence of human, except the lonely photographer who hardly make his appearance anyway. The symmetry, precision, smoothness and cleanliness of the architectural works are also of exceptional level.

I'm by no means criticising this CG video itself, but to reflect on the everlasting inner-struggle of many students, architects and designers. Isn't this the kind of egoism or (selfish) self-satisfaction we sometimes seek to realise? The strong yearn for a perfect, literally untarnished building, monument or sculpture - that we're so restrained from putting in a human figure, fearing the muddy footsteps he leaves - is just what invades our mind once in a very short while.

At such moment, we're not thinking of designing for people, but for our own accomplishments.

We're neither artists, nor builders; we stand in an ambiguous zone between the two and that's why we can always keep wondering, 'people or ourselves?', 'service or masturbation?'.

Anyhow, there's no point for a strict conclusion for this 'issue' as to picking either sides. We love seeing other people enjoying our architecture and services; we also love giving self-appraisals that always boost our passion and confidence. Striking that personal balance will do.

afterrabbit

Copenhagen Wheel

I don't like cars, honestly; I love flexible and pleasurable bicycles, especially one fitted with something as cool as this Copenhagen Wheel developed by the MIT.

My most likely impossible wish for the coming new year is the extinction of cars, people get around by taking monorails or cycling and that's it.

Happy New Year

afterrabbit

Villa Vals - SeARCH + CMA

via SeARCH

Shouldn’t it be possible to conceal a house in an Alpine slope while still exploiting the wonderful views and allowing light to enter the building?

Surprised that it was permissible to construct a pair of dwellings so close to the world famous thermal bath of Vals, the client seized the opportunity to develop the site, without disturbing the bath’s expansive views. The introduction of a central patio into the steep incline creates a large façade with considerable potential for window openings. The viewing angle from the building is slightly inclined, giving an even more dramatic view of the strikingly beautiful mountains on the opposite side of the narrow valley. (to find out more..)

Lovely! A courtyard created by subtraction of mass that also feels like an additional balcony or deck. Rarely a space feels so private and public at the same time. Perhaps all these issues don't matter anymore when you're talking about being embraced by the spectacular sceneries in an Alpine valley.

Underground bunkers are typically nerve wrecking thanks to extreme strength and claustrophobic solidity of the walls. Villa Vals is a bunker punctured all over; ample warm daylight and cool Alpine breeze floods through cracks and openings into every corner of the rooms. After all this could had been the kind of scenario soldiers at war would emotionally wish for.

Not just quality, the rich variety of spatial experiences is also evident from the pictures, which is the nicest thing to me. Underground architectures in such setting, like Villa Vals and Zumthor's Thermal Vals (a stones throw away), not only enable people to fully enjoy the breath-taking views, but also accentuate the existence and experience of what we often don't feel yet always present before our eyes - the incredibly gigantic rock mass of the mountains. It's always better to look below the surface.

project by: SeARCH + Christian Müller Architects

location: Vals, Switzerland

texts from: http://www.search.nl/

images from: http://www.iwan.com/photo_SeARCH_Villa_Vals.php

afterrabbit

Design for Life

Design for Life from design on Vimeo.

As far as we are concerned, the X factor has come to the end with Joe being crowned as the winner. If you are wondering what you should look up next, this is definitely it! A Designer's life show consisting 12 selected candidates from hundred over entries and the ultimate winner will be granted for a placement in the famous designer Philippe Starck's firm at Paris for 6 months. Better don't miss out!

midori mizu

slender and (but) heavy

This is perhaps a tiny, trivial part of an inspiring conversation we had during our first visit to Kevin Mark Low’s house (the Lightwell House) for project documentation. I was lifting a very slender, traditional looking rattan chair when its disproportional weight surprised me. He then asked: “Why do you think is it so heavy?” I thought (too much) it was a ‘design’ question when the answer was as simple as ‘the reinforcement within is of pre-stressed steel’ I knew, alright.

So I realized.. the weight was not an intention, but a compromise.

I’ve since noticed several chair designs which seem deceivingly thin and light, ie. the very recent chord-chair by nendo in collaboration with maruni, paper chair by Junya Ishigami, and of course the aforementioned rattan chair by Kevin.

chord-chair (for it's members slender like cable chords), by nendo x maruni.

paper chair (for obvious reason, and even with sketches on the white surface), by Junya Ishigami.

By means of concealment by light materials on surface, or by immaterial whiteness of paint finish, all hide under the disguise of the preconception “thinness equals weightlessness”

I personally do like all these chairs, they’re extremely comfortable to look at, and perhaps to sit onto, but I guess there’ll be that faint feeling of disappointment while lifting them.

Websites state their dimensions clearly, but never the weights.

If visual is a realm in which we’d succeeded, how much more time until we conquer mass and thus, weight? Then we can sculpt a thin, slender and paper-weight chair that 'Is what it seems to be'.

I’m looking forward to nano technology; just don’t lose the human touches.

images from: http://jpdesign.org/?p=184 http://www.maruni.com/cord-chair/en/

afterrabbit

carpets . nanimarquina

Nanimarquina, led by Nani Marquina, is a rug/carpet designer and manufacturer based in Barcelona.

Coming across her works, I recalled what Adolf Loos once said,

"The architect's general task is to provide a warm and liveable space. Carpets are warm and liveable. He decides for this reason to spread out one carpet on the floor and to hang up four of them to form the four walls."

- Adolf Loos, The Principle of Cladding.

'liveable space' from a sensual perspective.

Indeed, for any of us who loves simplistic, minimalist interiors, carpet is one of the major things that never fail to enliven a space. Carpets lend -visual and physical - softness and warmth to the otherwise hard and cold atmosphere often exist in minimal, functional spaces to name a few. Imagine how it'd probably make a difference if every prison cells are provided with one warm coloured, woolly carpet. I might like to nap on the floor more often if there's one fine rug in the room.

Well, nanimarquina has a fairly pleasant website, very browsing friendly. Features wide selections of rug designs from classic to contemporary, plus a few other textile products as likeable.

You will be able to find your cup of tea.

One of my favourite images showing how carpet helps humanizing space:

House A, by Ryue Nishizawa, Tokyo. (not carpet from nanimarquina, I think)

images from: http://www.sempre.jp/brand/nanima/ http://design-mind.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html http://www.architonic.com/pmsht/rangoli-nanimarquina/1046945 http://www.ryuenishizawa.com/

images edited by afterrabbit.

afterrabbit

3D_20th Competition

International Student Competition

A FRESH LOOK AT 20TH CENTURY ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE

Digital surveying and representation based on Panoramic Imaging and Image-Based-Modeling

The International Union of Architects announces the launch of an international competition that will invite architecture students from around the world to create imagemodels of examples of significant architectural creativity realised during the 20th century.

This competition is an opportunity for the architects of tomorrow to enrich the web index www.archi.fr/UIA with their own expression of an architectural realisation from the last century, using today's design tools.

The image models to be designed for this competition need to be based on digital photographs created using Autodesk® ImageModeler® and Autodesk® Stitcher® Unlimited software.

This software will be made available by Autodesk® to the competitors for use free of charge for the duration of the competition.

All phases of the competition will be conducted on-line.

Students are free to choose the structure they wish to represent, from a major landmark to an unknown building, with the condition that it was built between 1901 and 2000.

Entries can be architectural descriptions based on panoramic images and/or 3D models of the structure in its current state.

Students may also work in groups, on different elements or structures in an architectural or urban complex.

Competitors should register on-line through the competition website from October 19, 2009 until March 26, 2010.

Submissions may be transmitted on-line from April 5, to April 26, 2010.

The full competition regulations are available at the competiton web site.

www.archi.fr/3D_20th

texts from: http://www.3d20th.archi.fr/presentation.php

image from: http://www.3d20th.archi.fr/

posted by afterrabbit

a review on [small images] - junya ishigami

[small images] is perhaps the latest book by Junya Ishigami compiling most of his works to date. In the book, paragraphs and images are arranged in a continuous, ambiguous manner. Projects, be it architecture, furniture or installations, are bridged softly and smoothly throughout the whole book. So it feels like it’s about just one project. I think it’s alright to put it this way; Ishigami’s works are a series of separate, yet connected investigations toward a single quest for a concept, a kind of blurriness and ambiguity in space, structure, viewpoints and etc.

It occurs to me very intriguing for how Ishigami is able to produce architectural works of unprecedented quality by deliberately pushing limits of the common constructional dimensions: sizes of glass apertures or walls, thickness and density of columns, and so on. By redefining the scales of these commonly seen elements and details of architecture, it became apparently such an ease to alter altogether human perceptions of interior-exterior, and relationships between man, building and the surrounding. Compared to some architects’ excessive reliance on new devices, new forms, I can’t help but to feel that what’s ordinarily existing holds much more potentiality in impacting on our viewpoints toward (new) architecture.

A change in the common sense is a blow to our mind stronger than an introduction of the new and unfamiliar. From vague urban visions to bolts and nuts, he conceives sophisticated yet refreshingly simple ideas at the extreme ends and avoiding everything in-between that we’re so used to as the sole ‘reality’. His proposals revealed aspects of the environment we’ve not chosen to see, yet so naively natural and delightful that we seem to have emotionally dreamed of.

From the usually extreme transparency in his works, I’d think that Ishigami ultimately isn’t much interested in the resultant enclosures (what we normally see as ‘buildings’) than in designing the intangible relationships between human and his surroundings. It isn’t an issue whether interior or exterior, for he tries to merge the two to a degree never seen before. As long as an area is sufficiently conditioned for living into, it’s alright for it to feel the same as sitting under the sun and rain.

Despite I personally find it an addictive read; it could be a tedious effort for you have to read the whole book to understand whatever big messages it conveys and possibilities it eventually opens up to. But it’s enough fun to just flipping through the pages of gorgeous pictures. After all, they’re nice to look at and it’s easy to get from them the niche and atmosphere of Junya Ishigami’s architecture: a fresh new air.

images from: http://www.amazon.com/Junya-Ishigami-Small-Images/dp/4872751507 & http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WuR6cVmYZgQ/SXhCxS22kqI/AAAAAAAAABw/oLeW3S7Tcz4/s1600-h/Yunia.jpg & http://jargonetcetera.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html

posted by afterrabbit

Vanishing Stairs and a "vanishing" public space

Vanishing Stairs is an installation created by New Zealand sculptor, Neil Dawson in 1997. This suspended sculpture hovers above the public piazza at Megan Avenue, formerly known as Megan Phileo Promenade.

Dawson believes that public art should not be hidden. Hence the massive size. However, being surrounded by tall buildings at all 4 corners eliminates all possibility of the public getting a view of this sculpture.



Nevertheless, "vanishing stairs" inspires awe as the stairs appears like out of nowhere floating in the air. The use of wire gives a transparent feel and from certain angles the "stairs" seem to like have vanished into thin air.

It is most unfortunate that the public space below is quite devoid of human activity. Instead of adding water features (which were not there previously), they should have worked towards creating a space where office workers can rest or interact during lunch breaks.



I believe we need to look more into creating lively and functional public spaces. Some may dismiss piazza's as a western fad. But then how about hawker squares?

The urban jungle would be a much more livable place if there are more public spaces.

posted by ling

Archostumes

p/s: Marcel Breuer, Frank Lloyd Wright, and SANAA must be so proud!

Designer Halloween Costumes

image from:
http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archieves/5134

posted by midori mizu

Plans to rebuild damaged CCTV building under way

BEIJING — The chief architect for the landmark new headquarters for China's powerful state broadcaster said the part of the complex that burned in a massive fire earlier this year can be repaired and does not need to be torn down.

Architect Ole Scheeren said that initial inspections show that the high-rise's steel structure largely withstood the fire and that preparations were under way to repair the China Central Television building.

"The preliminary findings are that the building can be repaired," he told The Associated Press in an interview late Wednesday. "It's still intact and safe. There will mainly be a repair effort but not a complete rebuilding."
(to find out more..)

image and passage from:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gHWcnzeJdaGBtQ-YQw3koOETvoQAD9BKIE880

posted by midori mizu