Style of Design

Architect: Sancho-Madridejos Architecture Office
Location: Almadén, Ciudad Real, Spain
Principals: Sol Madridejos & Juan Carlos Sancho
Assistant – Technical Architect: Martin Pozuelo
Project Leader: Luis Renedo
Collaborators: Luis Renedo, Juan A. Garrido, Emilio Gómez Ramos, Patricia Planell, Marta Toral, Andrey García, Javier Moreno
Project year: 1996-2001
Photographs: Hisao Suzuki

The idea of situating and relating a series of objects in the landscape- Dwelling, Chapel, Hunting pavilion and Guard´s residence- gave the project a dual significance: in addition to the close relationship between landscape, objects and itinerary -between space and objects-, each item had to provide a different response with different emphasis, from the most symbolic to the most silent or private. The unifying thread was to be the concept of the fold: the fold as a hidden generator of different spaces.

The Chapel is developed around the study and manipulation of a focally tensed “box-fold”.

It is set at the top of a slight rights, making it the reference point in the landscape seen from the property entrance 2 Km away at a low point, as well as in different visions from the entire itinerary.

The Chapel has a naked design and lacks artificial lighting. The exterior-interior spatial relationship determines its focus, its meaning. Only a cross and an image at the focal point underscore the symbolic aspects of the project.

The proposed fold in the box, the corbusian “boîte”, gives rise to a single material: golden concrete that captures all the nuances demanded of the volume, from the trapped direct light that bursts in like an additional plane in the spatial composition, to the transmission of the unstable, coloured smell of dawn. Light thus takes on the role of a second material in the Chapel – a material that contrasts with the concrete – fragile, changing, mobile, unstable; dominating or vanishing.

The fractional ownership super-yacht company, YachtPlus, launches its first yacht – The Ocean Emerald – in La Spezia, Italy on April 25 in the presence of Norman Foster.

This contemporary 41 metre yacht has been designed with a strong emphasis on space and light and has five suites for up to 12 guests, who will be looked after by a permanent, highly trained crew of seven. The internal planning of the yacht offers total flexibility to respond to the diverse requirements of the owners and their guests and keen attention has been paid to design and detail ranging from the internal (2,790sqft) and external (2,495sqft) areas to cutlery, crockery, fabrics and crew uniforms. All furnishings and fittings are provided by the Italian manufacturer Cassina and kitchen and galley equipment by Schiffini.

Ocean Emerald will be the first of four identical Foster + Partners designed super-yachts to be launched by the company over the next two years. The second yacht, Ocean Pearl will enter service in the autumn 2009 and the third, Ocean Sapphire in the early part of 2010. The fourth yacht, as yet unnamed, is scheduled to launch in the latter part of 2010.

More information here. More images, after the break.

Architects: Vaillo + Irigaray / Antonio Vaillo + Juan Luis Irigaray
Location: Navarra, Spain
Project manager: Daniel Galar Irurre, architect
Rigger: Pacho Jiménez
Structure: Tadeo Errea- LANDABE
Engineer: Luis Miguel Navarro
Lighting: Anton Aman – ALS LIGHTING
Facades: VITROCSA
Client: Restaurante Marisol
Project year: 2007
Photographs: Vaillo + Irigaray

The organizational scheme is due to similar patterns of micro-structures, more in line with geometric patterns of liquid and / or aerosols that Cartesian structures. In establishing a working geometry using “soft” and a unified treatment space “airy”.

The new space is conceived as a continuation of the existing fence, wrapping it all, but hidden: expressing their new identity, not as constructed element, but as a re-forested. A new plant species grown in the surrounding area … the new scalar similarity between elements of “plant” makes the proposal a new understanding of the link with the existing connection.

This species builds a base of recycled plastic tubes of different colors similar to reeds, organizing a braided flexible and deformable organic capability to adapt to any situation and geometry.

Architects: SchappacherWhite Ltd. & Gregory Cranford – Brennan Beer Gorman Architects
Location: New London, Connecticut, USA
Principal: Steve Schappacher
Design/Restoration Architect: Gregory Cranford
Interiors: SchappacherWhite Ltd.
Construction: Mixed Structure
Project Year: 2005
Photographs: SchappacherWhite Ltd.

Hugging the shores of the Long Island Sound, Ulrich Franzen’s ‘Castle House’ typifies the school of East Coast modernism established by the generation of post-Bauhaus architects at work in the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s when personal expression and dramatic effects were no longer illicit.  This house was built on a historic rock outcropping adjacent to an eighteenth century landmark lighthouse facing the sea.  This modern classic, almost a fallen victim to total demolition, has undergone a complete renovation and expansion by SchappacherWhite Ltd. and Brennan Beer Gorman/Architects (BBG), that honors Franzen’s original design intent while satisfying the needs of a 21st century family.

Ulrich Franzen’s vision for the house, which was completed in 1964, represents the forefront of early 1960’s residential design.  The home’s signature element is its dramatic free floating glass living room pavilion with cantilevered paraboloid vaults and flanking service wings.  The pavilion’s cypress butterfly ceiling has been restored and all new furnishings selected for the home, including a 14′ custom designed Nakashima dining table.

To remedy a flaw in the original design that sought to direct views away from the water, the architects introduced two new sets of 9′ tall sliding glass panels into the central building, replacing solid walls.  The new windows now provide stunning vistas across the landscaped pool area and onto the Sound beyond from both the master bedroom and kitchen/family room.  The bedroom wing was extended to accommodate the size of the client’s family and a staircase added to a lower level playroom.

The existing kitchen has been expanded and includes a family dining area, creating a fluid and open plan that matches the new owner’s lifestyle.  Original details were carefully studied and retained in the Modern spirit of the new kitchen, which features the reuse of the original material palette of birdseye maple casework, white lacquer cabinets and luminous white marble countertops.

Originally the waterside site was treated as a rough rocky outcropping.  New landscape design has softened the house’s setting, offering a reconceived approach to the water, as well as the public and private sides of the home.  Since the lot is semi-surround by water and limited in size, it was determined that a variety of places to occupy and sit should be provided for.  For example, the reconstructed circular dining platform hung above the waters is just a short distance from the renovated kitchen, but offers a unique and removed experience.

It was not an easy exercise matching the rigor of the existing scheme. The more it was studied, the more the architects became enthralled with the intricate and complex geometries of the details.  Every line in the house was considered, every detail obsessed over, so that the spirit of the house, even in the areas completely redesigned, remain true to the original.

Franzen’s houses have an important place in our country’s architectural history.  Your readers are attuned to the significance of homes such as this and would surely be interested to see how contemporary residents are preserving a piece of history while living very much in the present.

Amsterdam City Council recently held ‘The Silo Competition’ which involved the adaptive and reuse design for two former sewage treatment silos in the city’s Zeeburg district.

For the competition NL Architects proposed silos dedicated to climbing, sports and culture. In their design the existing structures were extended to the maximum height to benefit from the views.

The cultural silo consists of two theaters with dressing rooms and rehearsal spaces, spaces for workshops, exhibition spaces, music studios and a space for hair design. A bridge connects the silos at the height of the original roof level and office spaces will be positioned on top. The top level will be dedicated to a restaurant with 360 views and a roof terrace.

Seen at designboom. More images after the break.

Architect: NdC Arquitectura – Nicolás del Campo
Location: Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Site Area: 1,500 sqm
Constructed Area: 70 sqm
Project Year: 2008
Photographs: Nicolás del Campo

Situated in Pilar – Buenos Aires, surrounded by a natural area that composes the landscape of the house; it sits on a central position of a 1500m2 site generating multiple gardens towards where the house looks at. Casa Viguet is an intentional and minimum single room house where uses hybridize and link with the exterior.

Considering functions, execution, aesthetics and timing premolded concrete elements where chosen to solve the construction of the house. The skin serves as security wall and as light and air vain creating light and shade, transparency and opacity following the time of day and seasons.

The house defines itself as a contemplation instrument, expressing need as joy of use, interpreting daily life as magical, improvising and composing with the existent an idyllic bond as a medium of finding comfort in the living.

Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta has won the Mies van der Rohe architecture award for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo (previously featured on AD), the Mies van der Rohe Foundation announced Wednesday in Barcelona.

The price worth 60,000 euros (78,000 dollars) is awarded every two years by the European Union and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation in Barcelona for works completed over the previous two years.

Seen at TopNews. You can see the other finalists here.

Architects: x Architekten
Location: Oberösterreich, Austria
Client: Voestalpine Stahl Service Center
Construction: Steel Construction
Constructed Area: 7,750 sqm
Project Year: 2004-2008
Photographs: Paul Ott

The building functions as an interface between road, rail and waterway transport. The delivery and outgoing goods sections embody the dynamism and efficiency of the company voestalpine SSC.

Architecturally, the financial success of the enterprise is symbolised by the wide open access gates. The projecting roof structure intensifies this statement and directs attention towards the qualities inherent in the company’s signature material – steel.

In the heterogeneous environment of the industrial zone with its company signs and logos, the building epitomises functionality and credibility. The concept reflects the market-economy demand for “corporate architecture”.

Architecture photographer Leonardo Finotti shared with us a photoset on a recent Bernardes Jacobsen project, an art gallery on a container structure.

The arrangement of the containers create a covered ventilated exterior. On the inside, untreated interiors contrast with the video installations.

Earlier this year, we featured the Taipei Performing Arts Center proposal of Morphosis, NL Architects, and Abalos+Sentkiewicz, in a competition that was finally won by OMA.

Today, we show you Francois Blanciak Architect’s proposal. As a cultural reference to a taiwanese aboriginal construction technique using slabstone heaps, the project similarly piles up 4 slabstones (3 containing theaters, 1containing administrative spaces) in a cairn-like structure. In order to emphasize the public nature of the building, it is elevated on top of a wide upper plaza, upon a plinth that liberates the movement of pedestrians on the ground level.

Seen at designboom. More images after the break.