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Today's archidose #558

John Hill — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:05:45 PST

Here are some photos one of my favorite buildings I've never seen in person, the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre in New Caledonia by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, 1998. Photographs are by Ximo Michavila.

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Europan 11 Proposal: ‘Diversity Recharged’ / AMK+ Studio

Alison Furuto — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 07:00:12 PST

street view 01

The first prize proposal in the Europan 11 competition in Hungary, Szeged by AMK+ Studio is before a functional transformation and with the cooperation of the city and the site owner, the integration of the site into the urban tissue is the main goal. Their design suggests a kind of framing building line – an ‘intelligent wall’ – which is formed by many aspects. These aspects manage all the mutual reactions between the mainly residential environment and the rehabilited industrial – new ‘city center’ – block. A ‘bridge’ connects the place formally, in scale, by material use and with functionality. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Courtesy of AMK+ Studio

We’ve seen many mentionable solutions for rehabilitation of unfunctional industrial buildings that have lost their original functions. Attaching new functional buildings to their close environment basically determine the new character of the place. Because their industrial origin these types of constructions and their environment – with different designation – have no connection, essentially no question about it. As the place is rehabilitated and gets back to life we can take the question about the method and the mode. The intervention depends on the actual context, that can be: to merge, to insulate and situations on a range between them.

street view 02

In the current situation the block of abandoned gasworks stands as an ‘island’ in a mostly residential texture. The emblematic chimney, octogonal torso-like concrete columns of a cooling tower , the monumental spaces of halls, scattered lovely details – all with their externals, material use and scales call the feeling in us that we’ve arrived at a totally different world at a ‘fable’.

Courtesy of AMK+ Studio

By the characteristic differences and discovered values at the actual state, principles of our intervention are the following:

1. The feeling of the inside world is so strong that merging it with the local environmental elements would affect value loss. We have to keep and redefine this feeling in a way that does not mean isolation. Defining border lines between two different functional texture is not equal with a seclusion – it is just a behavior.

art gallery

2. The buildings of gasworks has a quality of variegation which excels from the probably featureless solid environment. This unique outlook allows the place to rise in a key-position, in a central role.
3. It’s important now to define a connection that is lost because of the past industrial use. The place of action-reaction between different functions and the method of mutual respond have to be found.

art zone

4. Basics have to be so nature, clear and readable for everyone that take place in the area according to scale, and fulfill it with their impact.
5. The border lines of the action zone has to be defined as it must not be a barrage but a significant add-on to the place that frames the new central function.

ideology

The design method is an effect-dependent inverse, reductive design, and the buildings are formed by the following aspects:

1. Public pedestrian traffic, walkways system, commercial shops and pavilions, city life on ground floor.
2. Undisturbed outlook zones, comfort rate and street section scale for neighbours.
3. Main city nodes added up to more significant design elements.

site plan

New functions for the ‘wall’ are commercial, offices, residential floors. These make a bridge to old buildings with cultural and educational role. Because of the existing high values of the industrial buildings the challenge is not to utilize them but to find the basics and situations where these values hopefully revive.

site overview

Within the site three central plazas have been created:

1. Event zone (great programs, concerts, local ‘city days’ like ‘Szeged Days’, ‘Beer Festival’, ‘Wines festival’, ‘Fish soup festival’, ‘Grill festival’, etc. )
2. City life zone – open space for everyday life (terraces, small concerts, sales…)
3. Arts street (functions connected to education, cultural outdoor programs)

elevation

In locating these zones, tree’s plantation has a huge effect. Rasterized tree placing give the huge inside square scale and make it usable and understandable. A one-level underground garage would be constructed under the new buildings and event zone on Kossuth Avenue’s side.

Europan 11 Proposal: 'Diversity Recharged' / AMK+ Studio originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 29 Jan 2012.

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AD Review: From the Archives

Kelly Minner — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:08:10 PDT

Among the ArchDaily archives for this week are BIG’s impressive 8 House, a haystack house in the netherlands, the tortoise shell inspired pavilion in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, a rammed earth winery in Australia, and a nature center in Bangladesh. Follow the break to read highlights of the archives and links to their original project features.

Living on the Edge by Arjen Reas © Kees Hageman

Living on the Edge

The mix of two very different but recognizable materials in the Dutch landscape results in both a modern and traditional structure. The house made of haystacks combines the fine texture of the hay with the smooth white plaster surfaces to result in a house that fuses together traditional ideals with a contemporary house design. Surprisingly the compactness of the haystacks gives optimal protection against the elements.

8 House by BIG © Jens Lindhe

8 House
The bowtie-shaped mixed-use building features three different types of residential housing and 10,000 sqm of retail and offices. Allowing people to bike from the street up to its 10th level penthouses alongside terraced gardens, 8 House stacks all ingredients of a lively urban neighborhood into horizontal layers of typologies. The continuous promenade and cycling path create a three-dimensional urban neighborhood where suburban life merges with the energy of a city, where business and housing co-exist.

Nishorgo Oirabot Nature Interpretation Centre by Vitti Sthapati Brindo Ltd, Ehsan Khan © Aga Khan Award for Architecture / BKS Inan

Nishorgo Oirabot Nature Interpretation Centre

The nature centre in Bangladesh is sensitively placed within the landscape: the reinforced concrete platforms of the ‘pavilion shelter’ float above the ground on structural walls; the concrete slabs are pierced by tree trunks where necessary, reflecting the project’s aim to create as little impact on the environment as possible. The visitor walks up the layers of platforms to a raised level to observe the surroundings, an exhibition area is enveloped in a compositional arrangement of openings framed by wooden lattices, and there is a space for viewing films with walls of exposed, burnt clay brick.

Port Phillip Estate Winery by Wood/Marsh © Earl Carter

Port Phillip Estate Winery

The main entry of the winery punctures the heavy Western orientated rammed earth wall to reveal a striking vista across the coastal vineyard and coastal landscape beyond. Contained between the walls and overarching timber-lined ceiling, a large restaurant and cellar door takes full advantage of this view.

Port Phillip Estate Winery carves into an undulating site overlooking picturesque vineyards, Westernport bay and Bass Strait. Sited just below a ridge, the building unfurls across site, spiralling out of the ground and slowly rising to form a 100m long wall with one opening. This abstract, sculptural form conceals much of the mass and various program within the building, presenting a bold and simple gesture to the public.

Bouldin Residence by Alter Studio © Paul Bardagjy Photography

Bouldin Residence

The design of this house in Texas presents an aesthetic that engages serendipity in many guises, where board-formed concrete, rough recycled wood flooring, and vertical cedar siding is posed against abstract detailing allowing sunlight and shadow from every direction.

Lincoln Park Zoo South Pond by Studio Gang Architects Courtesy of Studio Gang Architects

Lincoln Park Zoo South Pond

Inspired by the tortoise shell, the laminated structure consists of prefabricated, bent-wood members and a series of interconnected fiberglass pods that give global curvature to the surface.

Tower House by Andersson Wise Architects © Art Gray

Tower House

The original stone cabin is now juxtaposed with a vertical tower of wood, rising up out of the forest and into the bright Texas sky. The Tower draws you up to see the lake, barely visible at ground level through the thicket of trees.

AD Review: From the Archives originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 26 Oct 2011.

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House in Praia Verde / Nelson Resende Arquitecto

Megan Jett — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 22:00:31 PDT

Architects: Nelson Resende Arquitecto
Location: Algarve, Portugal
Collaborators: Ricardo Serra Leite, Architect
Project Year: 2009
Project Area: 371 sqm
Photographs: FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

Construction: Valente & Valente, Limitada, General builder
Electrical Infrastructures: Filipe Pinho, Electrical Engineer
Infrastructures: Rui Pais, Engineer
Structures: Telmo Duarte, Civil Engineer
Exterior Design: Nelson Resende, Architect

The construction field, with 1690 sqm, is located in a area with very positive conditions in order to develop a quality solution, not only paisagistique as architectonic one. The surroundings are mainly occupied by isolated houses, with great wooded areas, predominantly pine trees that protect and apparently increase distance between constructions, offering a less modified environment, with the sea and the beach in a small distance too. The purpose was to design a house that would be used as a vacations destiny, by a family that enjoys a lot the beach and the summer.

Situation

The need to create a common area in the house that could serve many different and polyvalent utilizations, and at the same time the need to empower the three bedrooms, giving them a private character, have worked to develop an idea of house that was the result of the soma between distinct parts, which from a central moment, could solve the horizontal and vertical distribution.

Sections

In that way, the proposal is the result of the coupling of a series of volumes, in direct relation with that central distribution area, that in the ground floor allows permeability and union between different zonings (this are public programs like the living rooms, dinner room, kitchen, studio, etc.) but in the first floor, because there are only private areas, they avoid the referred permeability and are designed with absolute autonomy between them.

Floor Plan

At the same time, the need to adapt the house to a hot clime, influences the search for other concepts, like the will that the house would result in a complex volumetry, with the several volumes in different positions, conferring a less unitary treatment of the building, exploiting the design of shadows, getting smaller the windows to the exterior and using region materials. The developed house, solves a common space opened for the exterior, with a strong connection between them, that by the way that is getting less social, more private, gains protection mechanisms.

Text provided by Nelson Resende Arquitecto

House in Praia Verde / Nelson Resende Arquitecto originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 27 Oct 2011.

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Half Dose #96: Milstein Hall

John Hill — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 19:34:52 PDT

In 2001 a superstar jury comprised of James Polshek (chair), Kenneth Frampton, Toshiko Mori, Carmé Piños, Terence Riley, and Heinz Tesar unanimously chose Steven Holl Architects for the design of the Cornell College of Architecture, Art and Planning's (AAP) Milstein Hall, which was set to replace Rand Hall on the Ithaca, New York campus. Holl beat finalists Morphosis, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, and Peter Zumthor with a seven-story cube-shaped building primarily clad in glass to highlight the views of Fall Creek Gorge.

Yet the following year Holl and Cornell parted ways when they could not "[come] to an agreement on the program, budget and design of the project." This situation also stemmed from the fact the independent jury was not familiar with the Cornell campus and in response a group of alumni formed the Cornell Alumni Committee for an Intelligent Solution to a New Architecture School Building, criticizing the scheme for its location and design. In late 2002 the AAP selected Barkow Leibinger Architects to design Milstein Hall; they produced a design but were dropped by Cornell in 2005 for reasons unclear.

[Exterior View from University Avenue | Copyright Cornell University]

Into this context of uncertainty came OMA and Rem Koolhaas, who actually attended Cornell in the early 1970s, a fact that appeared to appease concerned alumni. In 2006 OMA unveiled a design for the AAP building, which retains Rand Hall, links to it and nearby Sibling Hall, and cantilevers over University Avenue towards the Foundry. Five years later Milstein Hall, which is located on the northern edge of the Arts Quad overlooking the previously mentioned gorge, opened.

[Arts Quad site plan from Cornell Master Plan (north is up) | building labels by archidose]

[Terminus (north is down) | Copyright OMA]

OMA's design clearly departs from Holl's competition winner in the way it preserves the existing Rand Hall and in being lower than both Rand and Sibley. (To Holl's credit, the plan from the 1990s when Milstein donated money for the building was to demolish Rand Hall.) Barkow Leibinger articulated a long building that would have extended from Rand in front of Sibley along University Avenue. Counter to this plan, OMA chose to create an outdoor room by cantilevering over the street, a gesture that had its own headaches (in a long process full of them) but actually came to realization. While Koolhaas probably didn't position his design relative to the approaches of his client's previous architects, his tactic of knitting the building within its immediate context looks very successful. It is a contemporary insertion to be sure, but one that defers itself in a number of ways to the older buildings; an idiosyncratic means of preservation. In this sense it reminds me of the McCormick Tribune Campus Center at IIT, where Koolhaas wanted to envelope an old Mies building, but staunch preservationists insisted on his plan keeping distance from the existing.

[View under the Dome | Copyright Cornell University]

The 47,000-sf (4,365sm) Milstein Hall contains studios, exhibition and jury spaces, and a 253-seat auditorium for AAP. The majority is the contiguous studio space that is found on the second floor, which links the existing buildings and cantilevers over the street. Below is the auditorium and the "dome space," which is used as a gallery and as a crit space. As can be seen in the diagrammatic section below, part of the dome enclosure doubles as the seating slope for the auditorium. The glass box above and dome below are two forms that try to reconcile, but the former appears to squash the latter. I especially like how the dome space is visible from the street in an eye-shaped aperture (above, from inside).

[Section | Copyright OMA]

Milstein Hall is the latest of a number of buildings for schools of architecture in U.S. universities. Below is a sampling of other high-profile projects that share certain qualities, namely a contemporary approach that serves as a model for students, as something that they learn from in their day-to-day activities at school. This approach basically contends that generic buildings for architectural curriculum are not as valuable -- or appropriate even -- for the unique education that architecture students receive. This approach also runs the risk of dating the new buildings and providing contexts that focus on form and statement over space and function. Regardless, it's an interesting building type that deserves more attention than I can give here.

Top to bottom, left to right:

- Aronoff Center at University of Cincinnati by Eisenman Architects, 1996
- College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota by Steven Holl Architects, 2002
- Knowlton School of Architecture at Ohio State University by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, 2004
- Higgins Hall at Pratt Institute by Steven Holl Architects, 2005
- Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University by Maki and Associates, 2006
- Spitzker School of Architecture at CCNY by Rafael Viñoly Architects, 2009

1st Pricing Announces Cloud-Integrated BIM Add-on for ArchiCAD 15

(author unknown) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 02:04:38 PDT

1st Pricing Announces Cloud-Integrated BIM Add-on for ArchiCAD 15

BUDAPEST, October 18, 2011 -- 1st Pricing, a Southern California-based eCommerce and Technology Company, has announced the release of an add-on that links their revolutionary Cloud-Integrated Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology to GRAPHISOFT’s® ArchiCAD®. This is the first technology to seamlessly integrate BIM into the design process - one that automatically creates a detailed bill of materials with pricing and an online shopping cart pulling precise specifications from various Cloud sources – called “5e” by the Company. 1st Pricing has created a standardized platform that integrates to other CAD programs and eCommerce portals with supplier or distributor prices. This allows the purchase of “specified” materials online. The technology can also deliver Green ratings, LEED data and Energy Efficiency information.

“The 1st Pricing add-on allows architects and designers to access real-world, commercially available products in their designs. The add-on relies on a patented communication module that automatically accesses external databases for product detail - from availability to line item pricing to performance ratings – even “Green” ratings,” said Douglas Lopez, Founder of 1st Pricing. “You can also access design details and elements without opening the CAD program – it is all available online for everyone involved in the building process,” he continued1st Pricing provides precise detail to all downstream consumers of the information and provides the decision-maker detailed information in order for them to make better, more informed decisions. With the click of a button, the 1st Pricing technology accesses multiple external databases through an internet remote server. Additionally, it can provide “Green” information, Energy ratings, RFID or provide comparison pricing of multiple brands to fill out a detailed bill of materials with all related content on demand making for easy fulfillment. Changes and updates are made within seconds. “It can even populate LEED forms,” Lopez said.

“We are pleased to be involved with this revolutionary service,” said Miklos Szovenyi-Lux, VP of Product Management. “Furthering the growth of BIM is at the core of what we do,” he continued.

About 1st Pricing

1st Pricing is part of California Distribution Center (CDC), a building material distribution company focusing on fenestration products. CDC also operates 1st Windows.com - the only site on the Internet that offers instant, real-time, dynamic pricing and purchase of both replacement and new construction windows. The website, which also offers doors, skylights and acrylic glass block windows, has been online since April, 2000. The add-on can be downloaded for free at www.1stpricing.com.

The site allows anyone, homeowner, do-it-yourselfer, architect or contractor, to get buy-it-now pricing for made-to-order windows. Not only does the site offer pricing for a specific brand, it can offer on-demand pricing for up to six brands, simultaneously, with the click of a mouse. When the order is fulfilled, the manufacturer delivers the product directly to the jobsite.

About GRAPHISOFT

GRAPHISOFT® ignited the BIM revolution with ArchiCAD®, the industry first BIM software for architects. GRAPHISOFT continues to lead the industry with innovative solutions such as the revolutionary GRAPHISOFT BIM Server™, the world’s first real-time BIM collaboration environment, and the GRAPHISOFT EcoDesigner™, the world's first fully integrated building energy modeling application. GRAPHISOFT’s innovative solutions have fundamentally changed the way architects around the world design and collaborate. GRAPHISOFT® has been part of the Nemetschek Group, since its acquisition in 2007.

Continuous

mad architect — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:15:00 PDT

Continuity and acceleration are two mathematical concepts that relate the dancing body to space. This film unpacks the sensation of acceleration embedded in limits taken in the act of determining the continuous nature of movement.

Continuous from adriene hughes on Vimeo.

Today's archidose #529

John Hill — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:36:20 PDT

Here are some photos of Ken Iwata Mother and Child Museum in Imabari City, Ehime, Japan by Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects. Photographs are by Ken Lee 2010.

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LiDAR: Urban Caves Movie

Smithee — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 07:02:56 PDT

The Nottingham Caves Survey is in the process of recording all of Nottingham’s 450+ sandstone caves. The movie below is in stunning detail based purely on a LiDAR scan capturing 500,000 survey points per second:

Head over to http://nottinghamcavessurvey.org.uk/ for more movies.

Thanks go to Keith Challis of the Second Site, Landscape, Heritage and Visualisation blog for sending this in.

The Green Cathedral

John Hill — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:30:00 PDT

After being intrigued by Klaa5's photos of De Realiteit Experimental Housing in Almere, Netherlands, and then finding more information, including an aerial, at Architecture Guide Nederland, I went Google sightseeing to find the small cluster of houses. But before I could find it I "flew" over this somewhat more intriguing solid/void representation of a church in trees:

[Aerial of the Green Cathedral | Google Maps source]

De Groene Kathedraal (The Green Cathedral), at the bottom of the aerial, is a full-size copy of Reims Cathedral by artist Marinus Boezem that replaces stone and glass with poplar trees and sky. About 20 years after it was started the artwork was "completed" in 1996, yet it is expected to reach its full height in 2015. The duplicate footprint to the north is a clearing in beech trees that follows the original by about a decade, so it is not as tall as the first.

[Reims Cathedral floor plan | image source]

The trees follow the columns and buttresses of the plan. Stone strips laid in the glass (faintly visible in the aerial) further mimic the groin vaults, inverting the church so that ground becomes roof.

[L: Reims Cathedral; R: Green Cathedral | image sources: left and right]

While I like land art in general, I'm not usually inclined toward art that mimics in this regard. But the simplification of the space to one repeated element and the opening of the sky above, not to mention the metaphor of a natural cathedral, make this an appealing artwork. In being open to the sky the Green Cathedral reminds me of San Galgano Abbey in Italy and Tinturn Abbey in Wales, two Gothic ruins sans roofs. I'd love to visit Almere to sense the space of the artwork (I haven't been to Reims yet either, for that matter), but for now the above photo will have to do.

Lake Residence / Architekton

Oscar Lopez — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 03:30:34 PDT

Architect: Architekton
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Project Year: 2008
Contractor: 180 Degrees
Structural Engineer: Brickey Design Associates
Mechanical Engineer: Applied Engineering
Electrical Engineer: ASF Consulting
Lighting Design: Darryl Gregg
Landscape Architect: Debra Burnette
Photography: Bill Timmerman, Architekton, CameraWerks

The 21st century ecologically sensitive Lake residence designed by Architekton is sympathetic to its 20th Century neighbors and is a mix of reverence and daring. The 3,500 sf home was specifically designed for a family of four (and two beagles and a cat) on an 8,200 sf lot in the first lake community in Arizona. The new home was built on the last vacant lot in the 30-year-old Lakes Neighborhood in Tempe Arizona. The site was chosen for its’ views, north-south orientation, quality of schools and close proximity the family’s places of work. The goal was to create a livable, sustainable contemporary home, which could evolve over the family’s lifetime.

A modest budget and small site led to a very efficient stacked rectangular plan that negotiated the site’s 16’ differential between the street and lake. A hyper-programmed masonry “container” defines a courtyard at street level and slips through the house and dramatically cantilevers towards the lake. The resulting design yields a private low-scaled presence from the street side and a dramatic composition to the neighborhood lake, which becomes the actual “front yard.”

When weather inspires, the home’s main living space’s north and south large sliding glass walls open for true indoor/outdoor human comfort and enjoyment of the inherent evaporative cooling from the adjacent lake and pool. From the street, the signature element is the sliding translucent garage door that illuminates the driveway at night and garage within during the day.

Site Plan & First Level Plan

The desire for as much exterior yard on a relatively small lot (approximately 65’ x 125’) led to an efficient stacking of two levels with a footprint of approximately 25’ x 55’. The exception to the stacking is a ground face c.m.u. clad “container” which is a tandem four car garage on the south which slips through the envelope becoming kitchen, utility room and master bath and dramatically cantilevers to the north as the master bedroom. Other “containers” clad in various materials such as bamboo and translucent glass, house bedrooms, bathrooms and utility functions. Juxtaposed to the programmed “containers” are flexible spaces that can adapt over time or for special events.

Unifying the composition is a wrapping envelope that emerges from the ground and ends as an indirect light fixture illuminating the great room and entry. This wrapper is opaque on the east and west and provides a deep roof overhang on the south. The form is three feet thick which allows for structure, storage and utilities.

The Lake Residence takes advantage of the north-south orientation with a protective “wrapper” that is opaque on the east and west elevations and provides deep solar shading on the south. When weather allows, the home’s main living space incorporates large sliding glass walls on both the north and south sides allowing for true indoor-outdoor living and taking advantage of the inherent evaporative cooling from the adjacent lake to the north and pool on the south. Landscaping is strategically placed to provide shade, block views and create additional cooling through transpiration adjacent to the house. Daylight is optimized throughout the house to minimize the need of electric lighting.

Flexibility was integrated into the house layout and construction to eliminate the need for external expansion. The spaces were constructed with clear spans and utility cores similar to traditional loft spaces, allowing for reconfiguration as needed over time. Minimizing corridors, and using a series of concealed sliding doors that create privacy or circulation depending on family needs, optimize space.

Lake Residence / Architekton originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 06 Sep 2011.

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AD Classics: De La Warr Pavilion / Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff

Jules Gianakos — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 17:00:19 PDT

photo by Alan Stanton - http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanstanton/

The persistence of design in the midst of even the severest persecution is one of the most remarkable aspects of classic mid-century European Architecture. Even under forceful Nazi discrimination during their rise to power between world wars, Erich Mendelsohn was able to design the De La Warr Pavilion with Serge Chermayeff during his exodus to Britain before both ultimately fled to the United States.

Mendelsohn’s insistence upon the plasticity of concrete and welded steel frame construction was unprecedented in Britain at the time of his arrival. Being on the forefront of Architects who were fleeing to Britain in avoidance of Hitler’s ever-expanding Third Reich in mainland Europe, Mendelsohn saw a great response (both positive and negative) from his newly acquired British peers and colleagues concerning his revolutionary designs. While much of his work was considered more expressionistic than modernistic, his understanding and passion for new materials and construction techniques made him an integral part in spearheading the modernist movement throughout the world.

photo by vince2012 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/vince2012/

The influence of Erich Mendelsohn was felt in the United States before he ever actually set foot there. California modernist hero Richard Neutra had worked as Mendelsohn’s assistant in Germany from 1921 to 1922 before coming to America; once in the states, Neutra worked with Mendelsohn’s hero, Frank Lloyd Wright. Neutra’s employ under Mendelsohn was also during the time that his most famous project, The Einstein Tower, was completed. By 1930, Mendelsohn had one of the most successful Architectural practices in Germany.

photo by choctaw_ridge - http://www.flickr.com/photos/choctaw_ridge/

When Hitler was named chancellor in 1933, modern architectural commissions in Germany were all but non-existent. Mixed with more open Jewish persecution, Mendelsohn knew he had to leave the country. England became the perfect new home for him, as Chermayeff was already an admirer of Mendelsohn’s and needed his experience and expertise in his practice. Mendelsohn’s reputation would have probably eclipsed any other partner, but Serge Chermayeff was already upheld as a leading Architect of his time in England. Together the two were able to assimilate into the British elite and find acclaim among their commissions.

photo by Antony J Shepherd - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajshepherd/

One of Mendelsohn and Chermayeff’s first projects together was winning the competition for the De La Warr Pavilion, which would have been a significant step for any architect at that time, and gave Mendelsohn the perfect opportunity to boast his modernist ideals. Herbrand Sackville, the 9th Earl De La Warr, was the patron and namesake for the project. Sackville was a refreshing mixture of centuries old aristocracy with relationships to leading intellectuals of his day. His sympathies toward his fellow man led him to convince the council at Bexhill (of which he was mayor at the time) to develop a public building that would include an entertainment hall, restaurant, and lounge.

photo by Stephen Fulljames - http://www.flickr.com/photos/emptyjames/

The De La Warr Pavilion saw degradation during World War II through its military occupation and attacks from German bombers, and any resulting renovation efforts were inconsistent with its original aesthetic intentions. It was not until 1986 that the building was appropriately protected by the British government against any improper renovation. since 2005, the building has been fully restored and open to the public as an arts centre, becoming a destination point for Architecture lovers the world over.

photo by Alan Stanton - http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanstanton/

Architect: Erich Mendelsohn, Serge Chermayeff
Location: Sussex, England
Project Year: 1935
References: De La Warr Pavilion, A Field Guide to Landmarks of Modern Architecture in Europe, Wikipedia
Photographs: choctaw_ridge, Flickr, Stephen Fulljames, Handolio, killsurfcity, Antony J Shepherd, Alan Stanton, Super tourist, vince2012, Brian Whittle, Wikimedia, John Winfield

AD Classics: De La Warr Pavilion / Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 05 Sep 2011.

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Memetika és marketingkutatás – első rész

karafiath — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 03:56:47 PDT

Mérő László, ELTE Pszichológiai Intézet, Karafiáth Balázs, PTE BTK Nyelvtudományi Doktori Iskola Kommunikáció PhD Program

Az egyetemes darwinizmus abból indul ki, hogy többféle, egymástól egészen különböző fajta darwini evolúció létezik, amelyek egymással párhuzamosan zajlanak, mindegyik a maga darwini szabályai szerint. Így például a gondolatok evolúciója is alkothat egy tisztán darwini folyamatot, amely már nem a biológiai lények, hanem a gondolatok túléléséről szól. A különféle “élőlények” (a biológiai lények, illetve valamiféle “gondolat-lények”, amelyek szintén születnek, élnek, meghalnak az emberi agyakban) egészen másfajta erőforrásokért versenyeznek. A biológiai evolúció résztvevői olyasfajta szűkös erőforrásokért versenyeznek, mint a táplálék vagy a terület, a gondolatok evolúciójának résztvevői pedig olyasfajtákért, mint a figyelem vagy az utánozás. Eközben ezek az evolúciós folyamatok kölcsönösen megváltoztatják a verseny feltételeit egymás számára.

Az evolúciós pszichológia paradigmáját a biológus E. O. Wilson ezzel az analógiával világította meg: “A gének pórázon tartják a kultúrát. Bár a póráz nagyon hosszú, elkerülhetetlen, hogy az értékek az emberi génparkra gyakorolt hatásuk alapján körvonalazódjanak.” (Wilson 1978, 167. o.) A pszichológus Susan Blackmore így állítja szembe Wilson analógiájával az egyetemes darwinizmus világképét: “A póráz mindkét végén egy-egy kutya ugat –, és mindegyik őrülten rohan, hogy saját önző másolódását szolgálja.” (Blackmore 2001, 66. o.) Az evolúciós pszichológia paradigmájában a gén a gazdi és a gondolatok a kutya, míg az egyetemes darwinizmus paradigmájában gazdi nincs, és mindegyik evolúció csakis a maga szempontjai szerint alakítja a különböző fajta biológiai lényeket, illetve “gondolat-lényeket”.

A két paradigma vitája napjainkban is zajlik, és ezt a vitát jelen tanulmányunk sem fogja eldönteni. Az evolúciós pszichológia paradigmája alapján dolgozó kutatók megmutatták, milyen erős és elegáns tudományos eredmények születhetnek abból, ha valaki e paradigma szerint szemléli a világot, tervez kísérleteket és értelmezi azok eredményeit. Ebben a tanulmányban nem a vita eldöntése a célunk, és nem is egy egységesítő elmélet kidoglozása, hanem annak bemutatása, hogy az egyetemes darwinizmus szemléletmódja miképpen bizonyult alkalmazhatónak a marketingkutatás területén.

Immár több mint harminc sikeres memetikai marketingkutatási projekt bizonyítja, hogy a Darwin’s Marketing Evolution által kifejlesztett technológia alkalmazásával fontos kérdésekre olyan válaszok kaphatók, amelyek a hagyományos marketingkutatási eszközök segítségével nem kaphatók meg. Ezek segítették megrendelőinket hatékony marketing stratégiák kidolgozásában, működőképes üzenetek tervezésében, kreatív anyagok memetikai auditálásában. Kutatási eredményeink alapján sok esetben komplex memetikai gépezet volt tervezhető, amelyet azután folyamatosan lehetett adaptálni az állandóan változó környezethez, mivel az eredmények alkalmazásával a terjeszteni kívánt mémek evolúciósan sikeres „gondolat-lényekbe”, üzenetekbe voltak beépíthetők.

A kutatási projektek megrendelői között szerepelnek: Abbott Hungary, CIB Bank, E.ON Hungary, GSK Hungary, Hitelgarancia, Infopark, K&H Bank, L’Oréal Hungary, Magyar Posta, Magyar Telekom, MKB Bank, MOL, OTP Bank, SAP Hungary, T-Mobile, T-Online, közülük többen 2-4 projekttel is.

A kutatások megrendelői ragaszkodtak ahhoz, hogy az általuk finanszírozott kutatás eredményeiből csakis ők profitálhatnak, és nem járultak hozzá az eredmények publikálásához. Referenciaként használhatjuk ezeket a cégeket, de az eredményeket még néhány évig nem mutathatjuk be. Például ilyen referencia-nyilatkozatot kaptuk: „A Magyar Telekom, mint élenjáró infokommunikációs vállalat használta/használja az úttörőnek mondható memetikai kutatást a magyar piacon szintén élenjáró és egyedi T-Home Tv szolgáltatás marketingkommunikációs tevékenységeinek kialakítása során.” Erre magánemberként, illetve cégként büszkék vagyunk, de megértjük, ha a tudományos eredmények iránt érdeklődő olvasót ez nem elégíti ki. Arra is büszkék vagyunk, hogy kutatási eredményeink általános marketing stratégiákban és konkrét reklámokban is megjelentek, sőt például egy banknál a fiókvezetők Balanced ScoreCard-jának (Kaplan, Norton, 2004) kritériumai között is szerepeltek. Ez azt mutatja, hogy memetikai kutatásaink eredményeit a bank vezető munkatársai teljesítményének értékeléséhez közvetlenül felhasználták – de ez a tény is túl általános ahhoz, hogy a memetika alkalmazási lehetőségei iránt érdeklődő olvasó igényeit kielégítse.

Mindez alól kivétel egy olyan projekt, amely innovációs járulékból lett finanszírozva, és így fő tudományos eredményeit nemcsak módunkban áll, hanem törvényes kötelességünk is publikálni. Így jelen tanulmányunkban e projekt eredményeivel illusztráljuk az általunk kifejlesztett memetikai elvű marketingkutatási technológia segítségével kapható gyakorlati eredményeket.

/Cikk következő része itt./

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Előadásom a HMC Meetupon mémekről, márkákról és egókról

“Vásárlóid a márkád mémjei miatt jönnek, de a közösség miatt maradnak.”

Rádióműsor a mémekről, Hegyi Györggyel és Magyar Kornéliával.

El Bruc Residencial / David Oliva + Elisenda Planas

Christopher Henry — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 09:30:28 PDT

Architects: David Oliva + Elisenda Planas
Location: El Bruc Residencial, El Bruc, Barcelona, Spain
Engineering: LAVOLA, S.L.
Structure: CRAE,S.L.
Client: Ajuntament El Bruc / Diputació de Barcelona
Budget: 186.300€
Project Area: 95.75 sqm
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: David Oliva + Elisenda Planas

El Bruc Residential, is located just outside the old town centre of El Bruc. It is a new public building for single-family housing development, with a social and cultural use, which consists in a multi-use room for the neighbors, a little bar and a toilet. The architects were asked to design a neighborhood meeting point, a place for popular parties and celebrations, and other activities such as conferences and courses. It is planned for a capacity of 20-30 people simultaneously and located next to a public playground and a small sports court for the community.

elevation

The program areas are distributed in just one floor. A covered entrance porch, communicates directly with the multipurpose room. At the opposite end of the entrance, there are other complementary services (small bar, toilet, storage and cleaning room).

The hardness of the concrete contrasts with the pines’ apparent fragility. It is a very honest and plain building, a wysiwyg building. Due to the small size of the building, it provides an image of unity and compactness of the material. The façade is the structure, the structure defines the material and the security grille provides an integral texture to the façade. The geometry clearly defines people and light entrance volumes. The result is an integral, durable and engaging building.

It has given most importance to energy efficiency, such as thermic and acoustic insulations, water saving systems and rainwater recovery for garden irrigation.

El Bruc Residencial / David Oliva + Elisenda Planas originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 05 Sep 2011.

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In Progress: Phoenix International Media Center / BIAD UFo

Megan Jett — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 08:00:41 PDT

Courtesy of BIAD UFo

Architects: BIAD UFo
Location: Beijing, China
Client: Phoenix Satellite Television
Project Year: 2009-2012
Project Area: 64973 sqm
Photographs: Courtesy of BIAD UFo

Phoenix International Media Center locates in the southwest corner of Chaoyang Park; the site area is 1.8 hectares. The total floor area of the building is 65,000m2 with a height of 55m. Apart from the media office, the broadcasting studios and the production offices, the building provides abundant of open spaces for the public to get interactive experiences, which expresses the unique operation concept of Phoenix Media. The logic of the design concept is to create an ecological environment shell embraces the Individual functional spaces as a building-in-building concept. The two independent office towers under the shell generate many shared public spaces. In the east and west parts of the shared spaces, there are continuous steps, landscape platforms, sky ramps and crossing escalators which fill the building of energetic and dynamic spaces. Furthermore, the building’s sculptural shape originates from the “Mobius Strip”. The sculptural shape provides the building a harmony relationship with the irregular direction of the existing streets, the sitting corner of the site, and the Chaoyang Park.

First Floor Plan

The continuous integrity and the smooth surface of the building express the topological corporate culture of the Phoenix Media. The elevation difference between the southern and northern internal spaces are able to provide quality of sunlight, ventilation and landscape view to the office towers, meanwhile avoiding glare and noises for the broadcasting room. In addition, the elevation difference also avoids blocking the sunshine to the residential building at the northern direction.

Courtesy of BIAD UFo

In addition, energy-saving and low-carbon concepts are also applied in the building design. Instead of setting drain pipe on the smooth surface, the rainwater will be collected by dropping naturally along the structural ribs into the collection tank which locates at the bottom of the building. After being filtered, the rain water will be recycled to water the artistic waterscape and irrigation for landscape. Other than the aesthetic value of the architectural shape, during Beijing’s windy winter time, the smooth surface and round shape also mitigate the severe street wind effects from high-rise buildings. Meanwhile, the shell also provides a climate buffer space for the functional spaces as an “Green Coat”.

Courtesy of BIAD UFo

The double layer exterior of the building can improve the comfort in the functional areas, and reduce the consumption of energy. Digital technology is applied to tailor the physical space of the exterior shell and the inside volume precisely in order to ensure the exact matches between seams. The cone-shaped shared space, which is 30 meters high, generates the chimney effect, which provides natural air ventilation to save energy during transitional seasons.

Section

In Progress: Phoenix International Media Center / BIAD UFo originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 05 Sep 2011.

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285 Montevideo / Vazio S/A

Christopher Henry — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 06:00:27 PDT

Courtesy of Vazio S/A

Architect: Vazio S/A
Location: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Project Team: Carlos M Teixeira (Principal Architect); Leonardo Rodrigues, Ligia Milagres
Project Area: 480 sqm
Project Year: 2008
Photographs: Courtesy of Vazio S/A: Leonardo Finnoti, Eduardo Eckenfels, Carlos M Teixeira

: Courtesy of Vazio S/A

All the rooms (living rooms and bedrooms) face the morning sun and are protected by metal grilles that work as sun shades and elements to provide privacy vis-à-vis the close neighbors. Kitchen and toilets face the (hot) west side, yet a building block 6m away protect them from the west considerably.

section

285 Montevideo is a cobblestone as a consequence of the envelope determined by the strict local Building Regulations. An apartment has a larger plan (5th floor), with the cantilever toward the only side of the volume not bounded by the Building Regulations (the backyard). In section, the project explores the maximum height allowed by the Regulations and generates differentiated ceiling heights, with three-step stairs inside the rooms resembling the internal spaces of a house; and a 3m cantilever accentuating the 5th floor’s differences (larger windows, larger ceiling height, larger bedroom, balcony, etc).

Courtesy of Vazio S/A

The façade has planting boxes with white drainage pipes; the grilles sunshades also working as support for the fountainbushes’ (Russelia equisetiformis) growth.

Courtesy of Vazio S/A

The plan is very conventional and designed for a traditional family, an important fact in a city rather closed to new ideas, such as Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

model

plan

section

Courtesy of Vazio S/A

285 Montevideo / Vazio S/A originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 05 Sep 2011.

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Godoy House / Hernandez Silva Arquitectos

Christopher Henry — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 09:30:37 PDT

Architect: Hernandez Silva Arquitectos
Location: Japopan, Jalisco, Mexico
Project Team: Arq. Jorge Luis Hernandez Silva, Arq. Francisco Guiterrez P., Arq. Diana Quiroz Chavez, Arq. Belen Aldapa Orozco
Project Year: 2007
Photographs: Carlos Diaz Corona

The house is located in a private neighborhood outside the city, the land is flat and located in a corner, with neighbors to the south and east side, the west contains a large line of trees that separates the house from the street and takes a turn into the north where both entrances lie: one pedestrian and another one for cars, there are two bodies floating, the one on the left is a large box covered in gray stone that levitates over the street opening a gap where the cars are stored, the second body is transparent and light, larger and higher, which shows the pedestrian entrance, it is a volume of windows to the north and west sheltered by a white steel lattice, obeying the relationship with the sun, as this orientation is extremely hard in the city.

sketch

The transparent volume at the entrances expands by the side of the trees, the lattice covers its front face and is secured to a vertical wall at the back, which eventually blocks the heat from the west, in the back, two walls rise and bend horizontally to create a great flying ceiling of 36ft. (11mts.) over the garden and pool, supporting a second floor where the master bedroom is located so that it gets a complete open view to the garden which is surrounded by woodland.

sketch

The entrance platform is elevated because the house has a semi-basement, thereby it allows to generate different uneven levels opening the flow in several directions, the inside is completely open, with almost all the walls in the same direction, this is quite evident from the courtyard entrance, which is a well it double height gap, where the main circulations converge, one vertical and the other a translucent glass bridge connecting the two ends on the first floor.

The house structure is steel, it was built during a situation where this material was at a low price, allowing to build an almost floating house. The house opens with a long and folding window system in the background, integrating the garden into the interior, making social spaces in a fully integrated large terrace with a garden and pool, this allows to live the cool and privileged Guadalajara’s weather, the dining room looks out above the terrace and communicates above the garden with the kitchen and studio, the two stairs set off from the basement to the second floor, one leads to the services and the other weaves the social and private spaces of the house.

The roofs are flat on the front but slightly declined on the back due to construction regulations covered with coated yellow ceramic, the walls are mostly smooth, floors are marble and wood, the carpentry is all in dark colors, using white steel on many elements of the house.

Godoy House / Hernandez Silva Arquitectos originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 04 Sep 2011.

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Temple Sinai / Mark Horton / Architecture with Michael Harris Architecture

Christopher Henry — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 06:00:51 PDT

Architect: Mark Horton / Architecture with Michael Harris Architecture
Location: Oakland, California, USA
Photographs: Ethan Kaplan Photography

Temple Sinai, the oldest and largest East Bay Jewish synagogue, has grown around their 1918 landmarked sanctuary with new buildings in a way that has disassociated all of their different activities. The Temple’s new building program included a new chapel, classrooms, a preschool, administrative offices, and a library, but most importantly the temple wanted a new design to organize these disparate elements into a place where their congregants could feel a greater sense of community where people could meet each other in casual spaces for spontaneous conversation.

A circulation spine, which runs the length of the building and joins all programmatic elements, has a wall of mosaic stone tile of the same length and material as one of Judaism’s most sacred sites, the Western Wall in Jerusalem. This is the space where all parts of the temple community meet and to which are attached three jewel-like building objects wrapped in green-tinted zinc cladding: the chapel, the community living room, and the library.

axonometric

Other architectural details and spaces draw heavily on Jewish history and tradition as well; the chapel inspired by the tallit, or prayer shawl, enfolds worshippers in wood slat walls and ceiling (forming a continuous band) recalling the wooden shuls, the pre-war synagogues of eastern Europe. By day one can look through the text of the v’ahafta, a prayer central to Jewish practice, on the high band of windows to see sky; by night the prayer’s white letters stand out against the dark. Along the stone mosaic wall are weathered copper plaques with quotes from Jewish scholars and poets.

plan

Temple Sinai is very much a part of the larger community around it, and to that end they wanted openness where views into the buildings and out to the City of Oakland were maintained. This sense of community goes further with the Jewish concept of tikkun olam, “repairing the world,” and to this end LEED certification was an important goal.

Temple Sinai was a collaborative effort between the offices of Michael Harris and Mark Horton, under the MH2 moniker. While running independent offices, Michael Harris and Mark Horton have shared space, ideas about architecture, and support for over 20 years. Throughout this time period, the two principals, as well as their offices, have relied on one another to exchange ideas, solicit critiques and feedback on projects, and support each other’s endeavors; while the offices are distinct and separate firms, they share the common goal of creating great architecture for their clients.

While good architecture can be the product of a singular vision, a collaboration of ideas and approaches, as was the case with Temple Sinai, can produce great results. Michael Harris and Mark Horton’s complementary approaches to the design process resulted in a whole which was greater than the sum of its parts for Temple Sinai. In this case the client was the beneficiary of two principals, and two architectural firms, who contributed a much broader spectrum of ideas, capabilities, and design sensibilities to the project than would have occurred if only one were involved.

Michael Harris and Mark Horton have worked together in the past, most notably on the Good Samaritan Family Resource Center and Housing project, and the two firms look forward to the opportunity to work together again.

Temple Sinai / Mark Horton / Architecture with Michael Harris Architecture originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 03 Sep 2011.

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Today's archidose #527

John Hill — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 08:57:39 PDT

Here are a few photos of Habitacle #2 in Meudon, France by André Bloc, 1964. Photographs are by Sipane.

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House of the Week 124: Brown Residence

mad architect — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:59:09 PDT

Architects Lake Flato completed the Brown residence a modest home located on a golf community, in Scottsdale, Arizona. The considerate design celebrates views to the desert and the mountains in the distance whilst shunning neighbouring residences. Though fairly inconspicuous in scale to the exterior, the design makes use of the sloping site allowing generous the spaces inside. The architects oeuvre of articulated details are manifested in swivel doors and windows welcoming the light and air of the environment into the home.