Jan Stanbury

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation / LMS Architects

title="© Tim Griffith "
alt="© Tim Griffith "
height="125" width="125">

title="© Tim Griffith "
alt="© Tim Griffith "
height="125" width="125">

title="© Tim Griffith "
alt="© Tim Griffith "
height="125" width="125">

title="© Tim Griffith "
alt="© Tim Griffith "
height="125" width="125">

Architects: Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects

Location: United States, Space Sciences Laboratory at University of California, 7 Gauss Way, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

Area: 24000.0 ft2

Project Year: 2015

Photographs: Tim Griffith

Construction Manager: The KSD Group Inc.

Structural Engineer: Forell / Elsesser Engineers Inc.

Civil Engineer: BKF Engineers

Landscape Architect: Cliff Lowe Associates

Mep Design Engineer: Integral Group

Waterproofing: Simpson Gumpertz Hager

Acoustical Engineering: Charles Salter Associates

General Contractor: Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction

Client: UC Berkeley College of Engineering

From the architect. The Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation is devoted to introducing design innovation at the center of university life, preparing students to address some of society's most pressing challenges. The project is a team-based, project-centric educational space and a compelling symbol to the region of the University's commitment to sustainable innovation.

Built and operated by the UC Berkeley College of Engineering, the Jacobs Institute fosters interdisciplinary engagement across the University, welcoming undergraduate students from other departments, inventors, tinkerers and over thirty student clubs to an environment of creativity, collaboration and innovation.

The tiny corner site, formerly a volleyball court, lies at the northern edge of campus within a diverse context. Two 4-story engineering buildings border the site on the west and south while an existing two-level basement underlies nearly a third of the site. A variety of residential buildings line the street to the north.

The compact building makes efficient use of its tight urban site, cantilevering over the existing basement while retaining a south-facing solar court. Large, flexible design studios are bordered by project rooms, instructor's offices and fabrication equipment rooms with a variety of rapid prototyping tools. Transparency and overlooks reveal the hum of creative activity within. The south wall opens to the sun for optimal daylighting and passive solar benefit, connecting to the adjacent Wozniak Terrace and the campus beyond.

At the exterior, the building presents a new threshold to the UC campus – a “beacon of innovation” that communicates the values of the Institute and the University. Glassy stairs project outward, glowing after dark to welcome visitors from the campus to the south. A cantilevered photovoltaic array ascends to the north, expressing the ecological values of the Institute to the University and the public. The array provides 58% of the building's energy, reducing total building energy by 90%.

Zaha Hadid-Designed Statuettes for BRIT Awards 2017 Unveiled

The designs of the Zaha Hadid-created statuettes to be handed out at this year's BRIT Awards have been unveiled. One of Hadid's final commissions before her death this March, the design consists of a family of 5 interrelated trophies take the form of abstracted female figures representing diversity. One of those family members, meant to represent Britannia, the female personification of Great Britain, will be awarded to musicians for their victories in the BRIT Awards ceremony this February.

Following Hadid's passing, the project was carried out by Zaha Hadid Design Director Maha Kutay and the BRIT Awards' Niamh Byrne, who set to follow through on the late architect's' vision.

“Zaha was truly excited to be doing this,” remarked Kutay at the concept unveiling last month. “Her vision was, being an architect, to focus our efforts more on the 3D element, as the statue had previously been used as a canvas for artists to paint on for the last few years. Our design expresses Zaha's unwavering belief in progress and optimism for the future and a break from the norm. The biggest challenge was to create something different within certain guidelines, yet achieving a result recognisable to the public. You have to respect the existing to create something new.”

"We are delighted with the finished statues,” said Brit Awards chairman Jason Iley. "Like Zaha, they are innovative and original and have gone well beyond our expectations to create something special that will progress the award into the future."

Previous designers of BRIT Awards statuettes have included artists Artists Damien Hirst and Sir Peter Blake.

News via BRIT Awards, BBC.

Zaha Hadid-Designed Statuettes to be Presented at BRIT Awards 2017

Hall Cafe / República Portátil

title="© Gino Zavala"
alt="© Gino Zavala"
height="125" width="125">

title="© Gino Zavala"
alt="© Gino Zavala"
height="125" width="125">

title="© Gino Zavala"
alt="© Gino Zavala"
height="125" width="125">

title="© Gino Zavala"
alt="© Gino Zavala"
height="125" width="125">

Architects: República Portátil

Location: Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile

Design And Construction: República Portátil

Area: 120.0 m2

Photographs: Gino Zavala

Collaborators: Camilo Aravena, María Francisca Aruta, Gerardo Neira, German Aravena, Carlos Martín Quinteros , María Teresa Castro, Melissa Moscoso, Betzabé Morales, Mirko Smith, Ismael Sandoval, Valentina Leiva, Diego Gajardo, Heriberto Vera, Mariana Rodríguez, Gabriel burgos, Oscar Rivera y Francisco Marín.

Field Registration: Franco Van der Mollen

Materials: Pino Radiata MSD, terminación en base a OSMO Polix-Oil incoloro y OSMO Wood Protector.

Hall Cafeteria
The School of Architecture of the University of Biobio, located in Concepción, was founded in 1969. This School is a community of approximately 500 people and its infrastructure has workshops exclusively to work in, and a double height central space for meetings known as "Hall del Pilar" (hall of the column). This space is a witness of assembly's, parties, expositions and has always been the heart of the school. In the year 2006 the building was remodeled and due to the changes the cafeteria hall lost its character, turning into an ambiguous space that ended up disappearing in 2015 leaving a unoccupied place that left the heart of the school empty of its activities.

In the beginning of the year 2016, the need to rethink the available space of the cafeteria was urgent. For this a new work alliance was created between the School of Architecture, the workers of the University of Biobio (Afunab) and the students. This joint effort came to give life to a space with no program, adding the proposal from the architects that wanted to give back to the school that special meeting and discussion area, in a context of productive creativity.

The proposal searches to generate a containing element for the cafeteria space, a configurant , that at the same time holds the activities that occur in the "Hall del Pilar". This new element separates with out isolating, respecting the relationship between both spaces. With two openings, it distributes the accesses and organizes the paths that the Hall used to have as a space to go through, giving this place neutrality that could gather teachers and students of the School of Architecture UBB.

Scaffolds for the memories
A scaffold is before everything a structure, self-supporting and a grid based skeleton that is used to help the construction of another structure. The new cafeteria considers wood scaffolds, its prime functions is to take distance from the Hall del Pilar. This scaffold is formed by a number of small boxes of 50x50x50 cm, it is a separator but also an empty space available to be filled of objects and productions. This space was thought to establish a diffused and transparent limit, a great vertical showcase that allows to expose memories and what has been done. So this way the architecture hallway can be filled with small meaningful objects that add up to the day to day life.

Three places to be
In the interior, the cafeteria unites three ways of interaction. The first is the social table, made by two camping tables for 20 people, with a little ceiling to share with someone that sits in front or on the side. The size of the surface of the table is 56 cm wide and allows to create bonds and direct dialog, but at the same time gives the enough freedom to not feel invaded by a close neighbor.

The bar, is a furniture that creates a space for people to enter from the exterior of the cafeteria. Its allowed to be used standing up or to be sited on 4 tall stools of 70cm. The thin table top lets its users reunite and have coffee for a few moments or sitting down, in a frame full of shelves of the bar, getting a general panoramic view of the "Hall of Architecture".

The embedded bench of 4m long covers the whole back wall, there are two shelves that have a small angle and act like a back support being able to receive users as if it was a couch in a home. The furniture keeps underneath it, benches and chairs that allow the flexible use of the space according to the needs of the encounter. In some moments circles are created for meetings surrounding the bench and the other tables are staked to form working surfaces, installing portable computers on top of them. This furniture creates one of the most dynamic spaces inside of the cafeteria, allowing students, teachers and the public in general to adjust to their own criteria the disposition of the furniture that the proposal gives.

Nonresidential Construction Spending Gains Momentum

Nonresidential construction spending totaled $699.7 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis in October, a 0.3 percent decrease from September's significantly upwardly revised total.

DOE Announces New Better Buildings Zero Energy Districts Accelerator

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National League of Cities have announced the launch of the Better Buildings Zero Energy Districts Accelerator to move the building market toward adopting sustainable practices to help achieve zero energy use in buildings.

MVRDV Designs Y-Shaped House with Rooftop Pool in Taiwan

MVRDV, working with co-architects KAI Architects, has designed a new Y-shaped residence in Northeast Tainan, Taiwan. Known appropriately as Y House, the 330 square meter (3,552 square foot) villa will become a standout addition to a new residential development aimed at becoming a weekend retreat for city workers.

title="© MVRDV"
alt="© MVRDV"
height="125" width="125">

title="© MVRDV"
alt="© MVRDV"
height="125" width="125">

title="© MVRDV"
alt="© MVRDV"
height="125" width="125">

title="© MVRDV"
alt="© MVRDV"
height="125" width="125">

A 40-minute drive from Tainan City and the sea, the villa has been designed as a futuristic space for escaping the city. The house's distinctive Y-shaped form is the result of several design decisions. To give its residents unobstructed views over the surrounding landscape, the trunk of the structure rises to several levels above the height of its neighboring buildings. At the top of the trunk, the form expands to give priority to the communal spaces of the house, the living and dining rooms. In turn, this split creates a cradle for a unique rooftop pool and sundeck.

Additionally, by lifting the main spaces of the house into the sky, the building can maintain a minimal footprint, allowing it to be set into a pool of water surrounded by a garden. A series of stepping-stone pathways, positioned according to the principles of Feng Shui, lead homeowners to the front door, giving a tranquil quality to the procession from vehicle to home.

Inside, a garden tea room on the ground level provides space for entertaining guests. The next level is designated for sleeping quarters, including two children's rooms, a master bedroom and guest bedroom. In the upper portion of the Y, the living space is hovered over the open kitchen, where it meets the sloping walls to become seating and integrated bookshelf. Stairs and a lift provide access throughout these levels of the house, before an additional stairway leads to the solarium, changing rooms and up to the rooftop pool.

An assortment of large, circular windows puncture the building's concrete shell throughout, providing an abundance of light into the interiors without disrupting the overall Y-shape. The punctures continue up onto the roof and within the rooftop pool, letting dappled light shine down into the living spaces.

“How to make a house that literally rises above the 'sea' of houses? How to create a view towards the sea over the other houses?” says MVRDV co-founder Winy Maas. “By making the program downstairs as narrow as possible, a large garden is created and situating the majority on the top floors a view is created. And in the heart of the elevated house, the rooms diverge/move apart to give space for a valley to swim in with a view towards the sea…”

Y House will be MVRDV's second project for realization in Tainan, following their competition-winning scheme to transform the T-Axis in downtown Tainan into an urban lagoon.

News via MVRDV.

Architects: MVRDV

Location: Tainan, East District, Tainan City, Taiwan

Design Team: Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries, Wenchian Shi, Hui-Hsin Liao, Ángel Sánchez Navarro, Diana Bibisheva, Antonio Luca Coco, Costanza Cuccato and Jaime Domínguez Bálgom and Matteo Artico

Co Architects: KAI Architects Tainan, Taiwan

Client: Wonders Information Co. Ltd

Structural Engineers: Envision Engineering Consultants, Taipei/Tainan, Taiwan

Area: 330.0 m2

Project Year: 0

Photographs: MVRDV

icehotel 365: world's first permanent ice hotel opens north of the arctic circle

in addition to 20 suites for overnight stays, the scheme also includes an ice bar and art gallery, open throughout the year.

The post icehotel 365: world's first permanent ice hotel opens north of the arctic circle appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.