blog wunderlust : 30th April 2012

[In an industrial age] the house is the last of the handcrafted objects

Eugene Weston

IKEA Remakes Sustainable Versions Of Classic Pieces | Iron Chef Designer Challenge | Shigeru Ban’s Christchurch Cardboard Cathedral Gets the Green Light for Construction | A Prefab, Short on the Fab | Iraq aims to revive Baghdad's 'lost' Le Corbusier building | World-Architects e-magazine | 2012 New Zealand Architecture Awards | 10 Supercool SoCal Modern LEGO Houses | Classic Coastal Garden Style | Architects Designing Jamaica's Future | Architects Designing Jamaica's Future |

last word: Renzo Piano’s Nasher Sculpture Center gets a rude new neighbor

Competition ::: Tapestry of Our Culture

Digicel are inviting submissions from artists, designers & architects for original pieces of artwork to be used as tapestries in the main lobby of their new global headquarters in downtown Kingston, Jamaica. The competition entitled Tapestry of Our Culture will be judged by Digicel Chairman, Denis O’Brien, and Group CEO, Mr. Colm Delves, assisted by de Blacam and Meagher Architects.

All entries are to be anonymous. The entries are to be submitted with the completed entry form in a separate sealed envelope marked: “Digicel Tapestry Competition 2012”

New Work ::: MedaTeca

The new library of Meda’s township designed by Alterstudio Partners, is a modern cultural hub entirely devoted to culture, information and spare time. The 1,900m² MedaTeca is a contemporary facility whose design, materials, façades colours convey the public image of the building. The library connected with 30 other libraries providing 40,000 volumes, dvd, free wi-fi and internet access, an automated loan system, newspapers and an entire floor dedicated to kids and teenagers. The bright open spaces provide views between floors.

blog wunderlust : 23rd April 2012

In Rome there are streets and squares. People gather in the squares and move in the streets. We don't do that we build suburbs

Michael Graves

Inside the new-look King's Cross station [video] | Technology and design: making the world around us | Under the Hood | Artists Create Iconic Skyscrapers from LEGO | Bus-top gardens | Killing Modernism with Fuzzy Math, Bad Information and False Choices | Architect Maya Lin: what's missing | Architecture in Baghdad | Making WET: The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing | An overview of completed and under-construction projects in Christchurch


last word: And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, Again - Lessons in the Art of Pillow-Fort Construction

House of the Week 139: House in Mallorca

photography by José Hevia

Herreros architects transformed an existing vernacular structure - a refuge for shepherds in the Spanish countryside of Mallorca, into a 130m² vacation home. The design sits on the original footprint and the facade of the shorter elevations replicate the innocence original stone construction. The other facades and interior take a decidedly contemporary aesthetic with a palette of industrial materials.

Exposed

A short film commissioned for the Richard Rogers + Architects exhibition.

Exposed from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners on Vimeo.

On the Boards: Våler Church

The competition entry by Madrid-based practice OOIIO Architecture for a church in Våler, Norway to replace the original 17th-century one that was destroyed by fire. The rooftop of the low-lying timber structure doubles as a public venue providing views to the surrounding landscape - an urban gesture that makes the church accessible and useful even those who don’t attend religious services.
via

On the Boards : Ethiopian Airlines Headquarters

Söhne & Partner and local architects BET were awarded first place in an international design competition for the new headquarters for Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa. The design of the facility is laid out similar to typical Ethiopian village with the bright open lobby serving as the central space to to commune and talk about business. The landscape is an integral part of the interiors flowing through giving the feeling of being in nature.

House of the Week 138: Mt Martha House

Mt Martha modern house was designed by Australia’s Graham Jones Design. The modern house is finished in local timber and stone on the facade and the interiors. Indoors feature tall ceilings and expansive windows

Mansilla Tuñon

Schematic model of the Visigoth Museum of Art designed by architects Mansilla Tuñon

New Work ::: Nike Football Soweto

The 1300m² Nike Football training facility in Soweto, South Africa was designed by Canadian architects RUF project with locally based architectural practice MMAa and in conjunction with Nike Global Football Brand Design. The facade of the building is clad in a local sandstone with the elevation facing the field features a local timber lattice screen with a sans serif super-graphic of the townships name. The facility consists of a clubhouse, player lounge, education facility, offices, viewing deck, sports training gym, catering area, scrimmage training fields, as well as two full-sized football pitches on the 5.4Ha site.

Images ©Julian Abrams

blog wunderlust : 16th April 2012

A building can be designed to satisfy 'by the month' with the regularity of a provider. Or it can give satisfaction 'by the moment,' with the thrill of a lover

Richard Neutra

Greg Knobloch designs a prison for urban environments | 5 Simple ways to travel like an Architect | New Ferrari Museum Looks Like The Hood Of A Hot Car | earth "lego" blocks | A flexible city of strangers | Walk the green carpet | World’s First ‘Lickable’ Elevator | grow your own furniture | The Truth About “House Hunters” | The Architect and the Urn | Is There Zambian Architecture? | How buildings could come to life [video]

last word: Syracuse University Library Prepares to Launch Marcel Breuer Digital Archive

Swiss Pavilion

Another film by Franco di Capua architect productions, this one on the Swiss Pavilion by Le Corbusier. The building represents a synthesis of Le Corbusier's experimental visions, having been adapted and extended by the architect over a number of years from 1924 to 1957

Dutch Profiles: Mecanoo

Dutch Profiles features Francine Houben director of the Netherlands based architecture offices, Mecanoo. Her playful designs are equally technically provocative, humane and firmly rooted in their context. Foremost in their buildings - no matter the size or context, is the emphatic commitment the practice places on beauty and the human scale.

Dutch Profiles: Maxwan

Dutch Profiles interviews Rients Dijkstra one of the founding members of Maxwan architects + urbanists. The company has a diverse portfolio from home interiors to large live-work facilities and urban master plans. The company refuses to specialize or have a recognizable style aiming instead to absorb the ideas of all involved with the design reflecting an integrated and creative approach.

On the Boards : Lifeboard Station

Paul Raff Studio has won a competition for the new Lifeguard Stands for the City of Toronto, Canada. The design is both pragmatic and humanistic and marries technical requirements for storage, signage, public safety, durability and cost. The design aims to be iconic as a beacon to patrons of the beach with the material, texture, colour and proportion.

On the Boards : Strand East

Swedish homeware retailer IKEA has released images of its planned community in London called Strand East. The 11Ha mixed-use urban development of rental apartments and commercial spaces was designed by Arc-ML a car-free development serviced by buses. Construction to start in 2013. Via

House of the Week 137: Kappe Residence

The 370m² residence was designed by architect Ray Kappe in 1967 for himself and his family in the rustic canyon of Pacific Palisades, LA. The house is cut into the steep hillside with cantilevered decks reaching into the environment much like a traditional tree house. Supported by a number of 30" thick timber beams from six concrete towers, the house appears at times floats about the rocky terrain. In 1996 it was named a historic & cultural monument in Los Angeles.

blog wunderlust : 9th April 2012

The Manifesto for a New Urbanism That Came Before 'New Urbanism' | Good architecture was their MISSION | Google saves energy by cooling its buildings with ice | Paul Goldberger Moves To Vanity Fair, Eulogies For Architecture Criticism Not Far Behind | City Of Fog | Bridge Made Of 3-D Pixels Can Take On Countless Configurations | Lessons on Zoning from Miami | Royal Flush: How Roger Thomas redesigned Vegas |

software : Tekla Offers BIMsight 1.4 for Free

last word: Congress for New Urbanism promotes New Urbanism with twelve pictures of not-New Urbanism

The blog wunderlust is a weekly round up summarizing the architectural highlights, news and web links, that don't otherwise fit the format of this blog. If you have any to share feel free to drop me an email

Maison du Brésil

Maison du Brésil at the Cité Universitaire complex in Paris was designed by Le Corbusier for Brazilian students and researchers, in 1959. The initial design was produced by the great Brazilian architect Lucio Costa who latter asked Le Corbusier to help develop the project, but the project was so profoundly changed subsequently that it is accredited to the Franco-Swiss master.

This must be the Place

Allan is the caretaker and resident at the Albert Kahn designed Packard factory. Despite years of neglect and decay he finds beauty and comfort enough to call it home.

HILL from thismustbetheplace on Vimeo.

THIS MUST BE THE PLACE is a series of short films that explore the idea of home; what makes them, how they represent us, why we need them.

On the Boards : Orphanage and Children’s Centre

The US Building Council and international architectural practice HOK have partnered together to design an orphanage and children’s centre in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The design uses biomimicry referencing the Kapok tree, native to Haiti, both in the branch-like external structural system and the cooling aspect of the second skin. Post via

Images courtesy of HOK

House of the Week 136: Palms Residence

Images by David Lena

Located on a narrow, urban lot in Venice, California, this private residence was designed by Marmol Radziner. The home closes itself from the exterior with a series of screening techniques, including landscaping, fencing, and cedar louvered panels. The interior opens up with a small courtyard space incorporating covered decks giving the structure a sense of privacy. The millwork is finished in custom walnut, floors in the more public areas feature concrete, with the more personal spaces on the first floor in sustainably harvested hickory.

Sponsored link: whirlpool refrigerators

New Work: A-Frame

Jamaican-born designer Sean Knibb has converted a defunct IHOP restaurant in Culver City, LA into a unpretentious, yet trendy Korean-fusion restaurant. The design exposes the Douglas fir ceiling and covers the walls in white pine with unmasked knots, revealing the form of the A-frame. Colour blocks of yellow and red are used on the doors and columns as well to highlight aspects of the design. The interior spills out to a concrete patio and garden featuring low-maintenance plants and with ornamental grass.

 

Photography by Sarah Lonsdale for Remodelista and via A-Frame