Images courtesy of tense architecture network; photos by Filippo Poli This rural house rises gently out of the countryside near Athens. Designed by tense architecture network, a collaborative practice headed by Tilemachos Andrianopoulos and Kostas Mavros, the house works with its surrounding landscape to produce architecture that is linked to the ground but also maintains …Continue Reading
Archivo de la etiqueta: concrete
Beautiful Residence In Sikamino Grows Out Of A Greek Hillside
Images courtesy of tense architecture network; photos by Filippo Poli This rural house rises gently out of the countryside near Athens. Designed by tense architecture network, a collaborative practice headed by Tilemachos Andrianopoulos and Kostas Mavros, the house works with its surrounding landscape to produce architecture that is linked to the ground but also maintains …Continue Reading
DIY Project Of The Month: Build A Concrete Stool For $5
All photos: Homemade Modern
The world is filled with concrete. You’d have a terribly tough time estimating just how much of it spans the earth. You can find it everywhere, in nearly every application, finish, texture — on sidewalks, buildings, subway stations, and, yes, designer furniture. For distinguishing lovers of concrete, nothing would be better than to have a lovely bit of the stuff in your living room. But concrete coffee tables, chairs, and shelves can be quite expensive, leaving many of us to content ourselves with B-productions of modernist furniture from our studio days. (Love you for life, Z-chair!)
There is, of course, another option: make it yourself. Homemade Modern has a great new tutorial that shows you how to make a concrete stool for only $5. Yes, that’s cheaper than the lunch you’ll be having today. Click through for more!
Face it, you can never have too many stools. HMM’s design is easy and relatively quick to make, and you’ll only need a handful (or armful) of materials. Most important are the concrete mix, which you can find at any hardware store, and a plastic bucket. Mix the concrete with water, then shake and tap the sides to get rid of all bubbles. Insert three wooden pegs you cut down from a standard 48-inch dowel, then allow the concrete to cure for 20 hours.
The next day, the concrete should have set, and you should be able to remove the whole thing in one go. Next step: sand the stool top, then fit the end of the pegs with pipe caps. There are some optional steps that will make your new stool even better, but you should just check out Homemade Modern. NOW.
Mountaintop Overlook Soars Above The Competition
This project won the 2013 Architizer A+ Jury and Popular Choice Awards in BOTH the Government & Municipal Buildings AND Parks categories. See the full list of winners here.
Rising above misty Norwegian fjords, the Trollstigen National Tourist Route provides unprecedented access to a sublime Scandinavian landscape. The bold forms and robust materiality employed by Oslo-based Reiulf Ramstad Architects evoke rugged modernism with a cinematic flair. This exquisite project astounded our esteemed jurors and avid fans alike, sweeping both the Jury and Popular Choice Awards in two different categories to become the most highly decorated Architizer A+ winner! A masterwork of composition and material, the project’s true beauty lies in its restraint and technical execution, perched atop the world. Read more.
The Trollstigen plateau is a narrow slice of flat land wedged between two deep fjords in coastal Norway. While the breathtaking landscape is a national treasure, providing safe access for visitors is staggeringly complicated. The region’s inhospitable climate restricts safe visitation to the short summer season, when the near 20 feet of winter snowfall temporarily abates. Architect Christian Skram Fuglset explains that the seemingly insurmountable project was approached by “considering all the architecture of the place as built landscape, rather than conventional buildings.” Much of the intervention is exterior space, says Fuglset, ”conceived of as a thin thread that guides visitors from one stunning overlook to another.”
The extensive project is composed of a primary mountain lodge with restaurant and gallery and an extensive network of paths and viewing platforms. By methodically designing each component out of cast-in-place concrete and COR-TEN steel, the architects developed “a robust facility, dimensioned for durability with minimal maintenance and large static stresses.” But the elegant aesthetic transcends the strict functionally to achieve an architecture “characterized by clear and precise transition between the architecture and the natural landscape.” The resulting structure—which combines state-of-the-art engineering with a deep sense of place and stunning design—is a testament to the inspirational power of architecture.
Images courtesy Reiulf Ramstad Architects
This Primary School Is Also A Barrier Against Avalanches!
This project won the 2013 Architizer A+ Jury Award in the kindergartens, primary, & high schools category. See the full list of winners here.
Now here is a building that really considers its surroundings. Located in the foothills of the Swiss Alps, the town of Bovernier is highly prone to avalanches. In order to protect itself from one of these sudden natural disasters, administrators at the existing Bovenier Primary School commissioned Swiss architects Bonnard Woeffray to design an addition that would not only provide extra space, but would also act as sturdy protective armor. Read more.
The new extension houses a range of functions required by both the school and community: physical education, creative activities, kindergarten classrooms. Situated at the base of an incline, a new habitable wall extends off the main building, providing a buffer in the event that a wall of snow comes rushing down the hills. Articulated in both length and height to adhere closely to the site’s topography, the new major spaces emerge from the incline and are built to bear the thrust of the snow. The enlargement ‘plugs’ into the existing school via a covered walkway, which is reinforced by a series of ‘blades.’
Keeping with the theme of fortification, the entire addition is built out of concrete, which is both tough and unquestionably sleek and modern. A single metallic façade reflects the hillside, and gives the site distinction. Within the extension, playful cutouts in the concrete allow natural light to illuminate interior spaces.
With it extension to the Bovenier Primary School, Bonnard Woeffray exhibits its keen sensitivity to topography and site-specific conditions—and its strong eye for modern design. Plus, parents will rest easier knowing their kids are safe and sound while getting a superb education!
A Walkable, Drivable Sculpture
This project won the 2013 Architizer A+ Popular Choice Award in the parking structures category. See the full list of winners here.
It’s fitting that Salewa, a company specializing in mountaineering products, chose Bolzano, Italy, as the location for its headquarters. The city is set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Dolomites, a mountain range that is part of the northern Italian Alps. The headquarters buildings (designed by Park-Associati and Cino Zucchi and a finalist in the office building mid-rise 5-15 floors category) were designed to resemble rock crystals, so it’s no surprise that the parking area also reflects the mountainous setting.
Enlighten Your Light was envisioned by artist Margit Klammer, one half of the duo behind labers12 along with architect husband Wolfram H. Pardatscher. The surface parking lot is not your typical asphalt and white-lined affair. “As an artist, it is my desire to connect people with space, time, and nature, and therefore this concept contemplates the mountain from different angles,” explains Klammer. Read more!
Instead of those painted white lines, parking spaces are defined by green. Climbing and crawling plants sprout from gaps between concrete slabs as if growing from crevices in a rocky terrain. The design also includes pedestrian paths and a stainless steel-lined water feature Klammer calls the “stone of rains,” portions of which will eventually grow over with moss. A metal planter divides the parking area and is inscribed with the shortest poem by Giuseppe Ungaretti, “M’illumino d’immenso,” which translates to “I illuminate myself with immensity.”
Klammer’s artistic concept was informed by the question “What is our reason that leads us to climb the mountains?” Her answer: “Life is a journey to higher goals, by walking or driving, but if we aspire that, we have to know our skills and be aware of our responsibilities.” While the act of parking isn’t usually a poetic experience, Klammer argues, “isn’t it so that cars become a part of the whole, and when we want to reach other destinations we have to consider our limits also by driving?”
Bar & Restaurant “Concrete” en Kiev, Ucrania | Studio Yunakov
Interesante diseño, las soluciones originales de iluminación, la música de moda, exquisita gastronomía y excelente servicio hacen del restaurante ““CONCRETE”, uno de los lugares más de moda de Kiev. Diseñado por Yunakov, la barra representa una mezcla de diferentes texturas, formas y materiales que se utilizaron para resaltar la delimitación de los espacios interiores. Su color gris neutro permite que sea más fácil cambiar los muebles, para eliminar lo que se siente innecesario y provocar el espacio con nuevas interpretaciones cuando el público se aburre.
J. Mayer H’s Rest Stops In Georgia Are Out Of This World!
This project won the 2013 Architizer A+ Popular Choice Award in the bus and train station category. See the full list of winners here.
You’re driving on a vast open highway surrounded by nothingness after spending hours in your cramped car, and suddenly, you need a place to eat, use the john, and catch a catnap. You rush into a banal rest stop off the exit ramp, and the sterile interiors, smells of acrid industrial cleaners, and overhead fluorescent lights send you running back to the car. This may be your typical, unpleasant experience at a roadside rest area, unless you pull into this otherworldly Rest Stop in Gori, Georgia. Read more!
Designed by Berlin-based J. Mayer H‘s studio, this roadside respite looks as though it dropped in from outer space—and we mean that in a good way! Known for the incorporation of amorphous shapes, unconventional structures, and fresh materials, J. Mayer H’s designs often appear admirably bizarre and totally unlike anything you’ve seen before. The skeleton of the building is formed by connecting lines of chunky concrete blocks, which feature cantilevers that project outward in random directions from the main form. The concrete frames large, rounded glass curtain walls that fit within the concrete, and flood the interior spaces with natural light. These unusual rest stops are a refreshing break from the mass replicated structures dotting the sides of highways around the world. When viewed from up close, you might think you just drove into a portal to another dimension!
Commissioned by the Head of Roads Department of Georgia, this series of roadside stops sit net to a brand new highway connecting the country to the Republic of Azerbaijan. Our readers chose these sci-fi structures as the popular winner in the A+ Awards Bus & Train Station category, and the photos make us want to take a break there!
