Architect: Valerio Olgiati
Location: Scharans, Switzerland
Collaborators: Nathan Ghiringhelli (project manager office Olgiati), Nikolai Müller, Mario Beeli
Client: Linard Bardill, musician + poet
Structural Engineer: Patrick Gartmann, partner of Conzett, Bronzini, Gartmann AG, Chur
Project Area: 285 sqm
Project Year: 2006-2007
Photographs: Courtesy of Valerio Olgiati

The Atelierhouse Bardill replaces an old barn in the protected centre of the village Scharans. The building permission was granted by the local authorities only under the condition that the new building would have exactly the same volume as the old barn. Read the rest of this entry »

Architect: BIG
Location: Shanghai, China
Creative Director: Bjarke Ingels
Partner-in-Charge: Finn Norkjaer
Team: Tobias Hjortdahl, Jan Magasanik, Claus Tversted, Henrick Poulsen, Niels Lund Petersen, Kamil Szoltysek, Sonja Reisinger, Anders Ulsted, Jan Borgstrom, Pauline Lavie, Teis Draiby, Daniel Sundlin, Line Gericke, Armen Menendian, Karsten Hammer Hansen, Martin W. Mortensen, Kenneth Sorensen, Jesper Larsen, Anders Tverste
Size: 3.000m2

BIG celebrates the grand opening of the Danish Expo Pavilion 2010. The Danish pavilion at EXPO 2010 will give visitors the opportunity to try some of the best aspects of Danish city life themselves. Through interaction, the visitors are able to actually experience some of Copenhagen’s best attractions – the city bike, the harbor bath, playground settings, a picnic on the roof garden and the opportunity to see the authentic H.C Andersen’s Little Mermaid.

“When we visited the World Exhibition in Zaragoza, we were stunned by the artificial content. State propaganda in paper maché. The Danish Expo pavilion 2010 is the real deal, and not just endless talking. You can ride the city bike, take a swim in the harbor bath, and see the real Little Mermaid”, Founder of BIG, Bjarke Ingels. Read the rest of this entry »

Architect: MacGabhann Architects
Team Credits: Tarla MacGabhann, Antoin MacGabhann, Niels Merschbrock & Barry Maguire
Completed: 2006-2007
Awards: Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland, Public Choice Award
Best house 2008 Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland, Irish Architecture Awards 2008
Photographic Credits: Dennis Gilbert

Standing vigilant over a northern Fjord in Ireland, the Tuath na Mara Residence, by MacGabhann Architectsappears solid as a rock. Zinc clad for resilience, the low slung house blends seamlessly into the heather-covered rocky landscape, its own seams, echoing the strata of surrounding rocks. Contrasting a well hunkered core, the roof line warps and twists upwards like wonderful grey weathered seaweed, revealing the surrounding views to the living areas. Read the rest of this entry »

Architect: Studio di Architettura Marco Castelletti
Project location: Como Italy
Interior design: Studio di Architettura Marco Castelletti
Landscape design: Studio di Architettura Marco Castelletti
Structural design: Ingeneer. Vittorio Montanini
HVAC design: Ingeneer. Vittorio Montanini
Lighting design: Zumtobel
Site Area: 3000 sq/mt
Built up area: 200 sq/mt
Budget: 750.000,00 euro

A near vertical site in Como, with stunning views, let Marco Castelletti nod to local Italian architecture of the thirties, whilst bringing his clients a modernist house, proportioned and segmented with precision. The project’s main idea gave the name to the building: casa del masso.” Marco Castelletti. The house, set on a steep slope above the street, can be clearly seen across the lake. The building stands by the side of the client’s old house designed by engineer Luciano Trolli in 1955, and it takes advantage of a little tract of flat land, as does the original residence. The house is linked to the street by a long flight of steps which wind along the slope and down to the house, which is organised over two floors. Read the rest of this entry »

Architects: Audrius Ambrasas Architects
Location: Konstitucijos Ave. 20, Vilnius, Lithuania
Design team: Audrius Ambrasas, Vilma Adomonytė, Tomas Eidukevičius, Donatas Malinauskas
Client: UAB “Swedbank valda”
Construction: Idea Constructiva
Engineering: COWI Baltic
Project manager: Saulius Mikaliūnas
Total area (above-ground): 23,000 sqm
Total area (underground): 19,000 sqm
Project Year: 2007-2009
Photographs:

Audrius Ambrasas Architects

The site for the Banks building was treated as an integral part of the newly formed center on the right riverbank of Neris, which is being developed on the axis of the old Ukmerges street. At that point meet the Konstitucijos Avenue and the pedestrian street. As a result, this pedestrian street becomes the main axis of the buildings composition, which consists of three main parts. Read the rest of this entry »

Architect: Clinton Murray
Project team: Polly Harbison (Project Architect), Tanja Klocker, Jeff Umansky
Location: Bundeena, New South Wales
Builder: Bellavarde Constructions
Structural Engineer: O’Hearn Consulting
Landscape Architect: 360 degrees
Photographer: Simon Kenny

Huge boulders throughout the cliff side, would have made slapping a wooden prefab house on the top of the plot the easiest option. Choosing instead to hide the house well down the plot near the breaking shoreline, posed challenges, yet rewarded both the architect and owners with stunning results. It also appeased the planning officials and nearby residents.

“The linear site is divided midway by a massive rock face, defining two distinct levels. The natural, sheltered enclave at the base of the rock face is where we believed the building belonged.” Tucked into the hillside, the copper clad roof has set out to weather itself in the ocean green shade of the bay beyond, further minimising the impact of the building for neighbours above. Read the rest of this entry »

Architect. On Office – Joao Vieira Costa, Leon Rost, Ricardo Guedes, Francesco Moncada
Collaborator: Tudor Vlasceanu
Location: Oslo, Norway
Program: 500 m2 (residential)
Client: Hecht
Status: Cancelled

On Office (Joao Vieira Costa, Leon Rost, Ricardo Guedes, Francesco Moncada) designed a housing project located right outside Oslo.  Since the existing neighborhood presents the same architectural atmosphere, where nature and landscape dominate the land between houses, for this project, the architects wanted to preserve that natural and built relationship. Read the rest of this entry »

Short film about the recent opening of the New Museum of Contemporary Art. The principal architect, Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA is interviewed as well as Lisa Phillips, director of the museum, Lisa Roulmell, Museum Deputy Director & COO and Lisa Hoptmann, Senior Curator. The video highlights the activist history of the museum and the design of the new building and the opening exhibit, Unmonumental. Produced by Howard Silver for Bloomberg MUSE. Edited by Seth Karten, DP Scott Sinkler

MVRDV shared with us their design of The Water Cube, a pavilion for the World Expo 2012 in Yeosu, Korea. The theme of the Expo is “The Living Ocean and Coast”. You can see more proposals for the thematic pavilion by Ginseng Chicken, PTA, and Nicoletti Associati.

Read the rest of this entry »

Architect, Interior architect: DHV Architecten
Client: TNO Finance & Real Estate
Completion: 2009
Floor area/size: 9300 m2
Location: Delft, The Netherlands

The Van Leeuwenhoek Laboratory, which houses advanced research facilities, is the nerve centre of activities in the field of nano technology in the Netherlands. The main users, TNO and Delft University of Technology, use the building for research, education and development. Read the rest of this entry »