STUDIO magazine just released their Issue #4: TRANSFORMATION which focuses on how the city is a place involved in a continuous Transformation where man is the main creator and user. Furthermore, this issue uses several architectural projects to demonstrate how the city withstands continuous changes in its form, generating new and different landscapes. Through various scales and facets of architecture, the magazine clearly presents to its readers, from basic to in depth analyses, this transformation process cities undergo. For more information, and to read the magazine, please visit here.

Architects: T38 studio + Pablo Casals-Aguirre
Location: Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Project Team: Alfonso Medina, Pablo Casals-Aguirre, Lucía Arroyo
Collaborators: Oscar González, Sara Díaz, Ana Darice Payan
Construction: Taller38
Area: 300 sqm
Proyect Year: 2011
Photographs: Pablo Casals-Aguirre, Alfredo Zertuche

Single family house in Tijuana, on a site where we are developing ten other single family infill houses on sites that range from 300 sq m to 450 sq m.

This is house is designed as an experimentation into weight. Juxtaposing the a solid black box, that is covered in volcanic stone native to Mexico on top of a lightweight white box that contains the public part of the house. The black box is the private part, perforated by vertical openings that are not percieved from outside, creating a set of terraces around the whole perimeter. The first floor has openings throughout as to blend the interior and exterior spaces. From the street, you enter through an axis that slices the site in two, having a view towards the city. On the right side there is a studio for the owner who is a psychologist and the main entrance to the house is towards the back of the site. The lower part of the house is an open floor plan that contains the living room, dining room and kitchen.

Connecting time and space with the ‘lucky cloud’, the Aedas designed Xuzhou Suning Plaza is interpreted as magical and delightful, bringing history to life in Xuzhou. Located in the ‘Imperial Emperor’s Town’ of China, the changing of forms inspires reverie and the oval buildings reflect the union of masculine and feminine qualities as well as power and gentleness. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The ring shaped design represents the formation of atmosphere. The hard and soft lines symbolize the co-existence of strength and elegance. The project, with a site area of 44,338 square meters, comprises a five-star hotel, Grade-A office and SOHO buildings as well as serviced apartments.

With construction commenced in 2012, the plaza is expected to be a keyhole to the future development of the city upon completion in 2016.

Architect: Aedas
Location: Xuzhou, China
Client: Xuzhou Suning Real Estate Co., Ltd.
Gross Floor Area: 486,550 square meters
Site Area: 44,338 square meters

Architects: MASS Design Group
Location: Kigali, Rwanda
Architect In Charge: MASS Design Group
Design Team: Michael Murphy, Alan Ricks, Sierra Bainbridge, Ebberly Strathairn, Branden Collins, Andrew Brose, Marika Shioiri-Clark, Ryan Leidner, Eric Mutabazi
Area: 900 sqm
Year: 2010
Photographs: Iwan Baan

Consultants: Ujenge Construction and Engineering, K. Dohrety
Landscape Design: Sierra Bainbridge

Background

In 2007, UK charity A Partner In Education (APIE), as part of its mission to boost education in Africa, committed to building a new school campus in the Kigali neighborhood of Kabeza to replace dilapidated existing facilities. MASS was brought onboard to select the new site, design the new educational facility, as well as assist in building the organizational structure to support the educational programs for the Kabeza neighborhood. The school opened in July of 2011 with H.E. President Paul Kagame inaugurating the project.

Contextual Design

The design of the building layout and circulation takes direct inspiration from the neighborhood and the region; due to the hilly landscape, people travel across switchbacks on terraced agricultural land — and the school’s traversing walkways and outdoor classrooms mirror this context. MASS created unique settings for learning with a mix of interior rooms, exterior teaching areas, and terraced play spaces for children. Local materials such as brick and papyrus reeds were used in the construction to cut down on transportation costs, limit the use of imported and often contextually inappropriate materials, and to spur the region’s economy by encouraging local markets. MASS collaborated with local craftsmen to incorporate local expertise in the process. The design employs natural ventilation strategies, and the verendeel trusses in the roof structure create clerestory lighting in order to reduce energy consumption.

Amenities

7 buildings with 9 classrooms, library, computer lab, kitchen, and administrative space, Mixed interior rooms and exterior teaching areas, Terraced play spaces

Architects: Aicher Ziviltechniker GmbH
Location: Dornbirn, Austria
Area: 4,500 sqm
Year: 2010
Photographs: Norman A. Müller, Courtesy of Aicher ZT GmbH

Within the next years a high-quality work and living space is originates for about 50 companies with approx. 500 employees on the area of the former “Post Garagen Areal” in Dornbirn. The Campus Dornbirn II was set up in the first construction phase 2008/2009 as the head building of a future business park.

Even the close connection to the “Fachhochschule Vorarlberg” is useful to generate a new scientific and research environment, were young entrepreneurs can set up their first business in a highly flexible business park.

The form of the monolithic building with his sharp edged facades produces a strong dynamic, which stands in a positive tradition of the booming and flexible architectural language of Dornbirn. The strong raster of the facade with his large windows provides an open view inside.

The ground floor of the building can be used as meeting and event space. With the design forum Vienna a corporation was developed for different exhibitions, which will be hosted several times a year.

As an update to our recent post about the ‘Richard Meier – Architecture and Design’ Retrospective Exhibition currently taking place until July 28 at the Fondazione Bisazza in Vicenza, Italy, the first images have been shared with us. The exhibit includes several iconic, current and recently completed projects by Richard Meier & Partners, in celebration of the company’s 50th anniversary. Also being unveiled at this exhibition is a site-specific installation for the Foundation’s permanent collection. For more information about the exhibition, please visit here. More images after the break.

Architects: James Carpenter Design Associates
Location: Jerusalem, Israel
Production Architect: A. Lerman Architects Ltd
Area: 8820.0 sqm
Year: 2010
Photographs: Tim Hursley, Courtesy of James Carpenter Design Associates, Reid Freeman

Structural Engineers: J. Kahan & Partners
Lighting Designer: Tillotson Design Associates
Graphics: Kasher Visual Communications
Landscape Design: West End Architects and Environmental Planners
Project Management: Nizan-Inbar
General Contractor: Danya Sebus

James Carpenter Design Associates led the reorganization, expansion and new construction of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, while Efrat-Kowalsky Architects was responsible for the renovation of the museum’s existing buildings. The expansion involves new construction (~95,000 sq. ft.), the reorganization of visitor circulation, Entrance Pavilions and a Gallery Entrance Pavilion improving visitor accessibility. The renovation of the existing museum galleries comprise of ~100,000 sq. ft. The particular quality of light in Jerusalem, a product of longitude and latitude, climate, geography and topography, is unique. We believe that integral to the experience of place, is the experience of light and, in view of its cultural history, the particularities of light in Jerusalem is evidently powerful. JCDA’s approach to the renovation and expansion of the Israel Museum was to merge our careful consideration of light in the landscape with a rigorous attention to the existing built environment. Initial visits to the museum established the need to re-connect the existing, and quite extraordinary, garden by Isamu Noguchi with Alfred Mansfeld’s regional interpretation of Modernist architecture. A guiding principal was to dissolve the barriers between the garden and the campus’ building interiors and to transform the problem for a museum of the intense light conditions of the Mediterranean, into an opportunity to integrate a sensory experience of light. Our design organizes and inserts light and light information into the new architecture. This light information specifically embodies the quality of light found within the campus landscape and is used to activate the Entrance Pavilions, the Gallery Entrance Pavilion and the major below ground passage connecting the two – the Route of Passage.

The experience of light is particularly powerful within thresholds, and JCDA’s strategies for light were deeply informed by the idea of separating the building envelopes into two components: enclosure and shade. These components support the experiential presentation of volumetric light and views while moderating the sun’s intensity. The relationships between these two components were also carefully modulated to create a sense of passage through the built architecture and across the campus. The shifts in the depth of facades are adjusted, even stretched to transform them into shaded exterior passages. The play of transparency and opacity responds to both north/south and east/west exposures and is sometimes interrupted to frame views of important elements in the landscape and campus. The spatial experience of the decentralized campus becomes simultaneously intuitive and sublime. Drawing from the encyclopedic nature of the institution’s collections, JCDA has created a journey through the museum’s public and interstitial spaces that progresses intuitively and creates a sense of discovery. Volumetric light is the organizing principal for this passage through the museum and articulates Mansfeld’s Mediterranean hilltop village ideal through selective transparency. JCDA has reinterpreted the sensuality of narrow alleys and sunken oases by creating a defined arrangement of spatial experiences animated by phenomenal light.

By carving out a vertical volume at the Gallery Entrance Pavilion, it was possible to create the Route of Passage below the existing Carter Promenade, which would lead visitors from the museum’s entrance complex to the Gallery Entrance Pavilion along a slightly inclined and comfortably conditioned space, and into the Gallery Entrance Pavilion’s lowest level. The original Carter Promenade was envisioned as a processional experience that would define the overall experience of the museum and the Route of Passage maintains the experiential sense of progression and arrival within the Museum’s heart. Despite being below the ground plane, the Route of Passage is a luminous and active experience. As in a sunken oasis, the passage is protected from the direct sun, but daylight filters into the space at intervals marking one’s passage along its length. The concept was to transpose a sense of depth within a luminous atmosphere. A sequence of narrow courtyards along the Carter Promenade above connect the promenade and Route of Passage. Plant walls above and plantings in the courtyards moderate the quality of light before it is captured by the slightly diffused glass of the passage. The dark surfaces of the terrazzo floor and cast ceramic wall panels reflect light generating subtle shades of grey, while the dramatically animated light captured by the acid-etched glass further gives a sense of repose and heightened observation preparing visitors for the experience of passage through the museum’s encyclopedic collections.

The water feature runs the length of the Carter Promenade. Cast glass with a prismatic profile creates enough turbulence to control the flow of water while directing kinetically animated light through the water feature and down into the slot between the Route of Passage’s diffused glass wall and the exterior retaining wall. The retaining wall is clad with matt white terracotta panels, reflecting light onto the diffused glass wall. The sound of the bubbling water also activates the tranquil spatial experience of the courtyards creating an aural connection between the below ground Route of Passage and the Noguchi Garden. The water feature follows the combination of steps and ramps of the Carter Promenade, resulting in sections of prismatic cast glass blocks and sections of cast glass steps that feature prismatic and clear areas to the casting. The water is controlled and activated by the cast glass profiles in both the stepped and level areas of cast glass. The water feature activates light as well as sound, marking the path from the museum entrance to the galleries both above ground and in the below ground Route of Passage.

The water feature follows the combination of steps and ramps of the Carter Promenade, resulting in sections of prismatic cast glass blocks and sections of cast glass steps that feature prismatic and clear areas to the casting. The water is controlled and activated by the cast glass profiles in both the stepped and level areas of cast glass. The water feature activates light as well as sound, marking the path from the museum entrance to the galleries both above ground and in the below ground Route of Passage. Starting from paper models and mock-ups to explore the idea of the louvers, research evolved to include daylighitng analysis and material production. The lamellas are produced from a custom extruded ceramic. Full scale mock-ups were fabricated to test and verify both the idea and the daylighting analysis.

JCDA sought to build upon the existing language, and reinforce it to improve the level of wayfinding and connection to the existing architecture, landscape and art embodied in the museum. With the experience of entering the museum, JCDA understood that not only was it important to revive the Carter Promenade, but it would be critical to extend it to the street and re-establish the unobstructed view from the street up the entire promenade. JCDA worked with the museum to remove the services (the ticketing, café and retail) previously at the center of the museum and locating them at the museum entrance. By using the method by which these new service buildings are articulated JCDA sought to create a powerful threshold experience. Above ground, the visitors’ needs for tickets/information, dining and shopping are articulated by three separate buildings, while below ground these three buildings consist of a single basement level for access, storage and support. By combining this now liberated space with an un-built module in this same area, it was possible to both expand gallery space and create the Gallery Entrance Pavilion in the heart of the existing complex. The Gallery Entrance Pavilion is the museum’s central organizing hub, allowing for the sequential exploration of the various museum departments. The sequence through which visitors are introduced to the various collections and temporary exhibitions is now clarified and choreographed, enriching the overall experience of each department.

Each of Mansfeld’s modular buildings consists of a solid concrete box covered by centrally supported hyperbolic paraboloid floating above it. Clearstory windows occupy the narrow space between box and roof. As a result, slivers of bright light occupy the relatively dark spaces. His work was focused on carving and linking the negative spaces created by his modular volumes. The spaces are self-contained and insulated from the wider campus. JCDA took a closely related, yet opposite approach by building all glass pavilions within tuned shading enclosures. The result is a sense of openness and connection with the campus. The museum’s idea for the renovation and expansion was to touch the museum’s existing architecture and landscape lightly and to preserve the museum’s architectural strengths. JCDA’s has interwoven the museum’s encyclopedic collections and its extraordinary campus, deploying light to articulate the visitors’ passage through the campus, heightening the experience and discovery of the ephemeral qualities of the Jerusalem’s light.

Tree planted in memory to Olympic architect | ITV
A large oak tree will be planted in memory of John Hopkins, who was responsible for the London 2012 parklands, transforming an urban corner of east London into an ecological park. The oak tree will be planted in heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, in the newly named Hopkins Field.

With Security, Trade Center Faces New Isolation | David W. Dunlap | NY Times
“…neighbors and planners worry that the trade center will once again feel cut off from its surroundings, a place where security credentials prevail, traffic is unwelcome and every step is scrutinized,”

Public gardens: A new model blossoms | Adrian Higgins | Washington Post
Brady is a Washington-based landscape architect who has spent much of the past five years working on the garden[New York Botanical Garden’s new native plant garden] with her colleagues at Oehme van Sweden Landscape Architects — OvS — alongside a team at the botanic garden.

Landscape Designer Margie Ruddick Brings a New Meaning to Green Design | Smithsonian.com
The Smithsonian interviews Margie Ruddick winner of the 2013 National Design Award

The ultimate roof garden | Francine Raymond | Telegraph
“The ultimate outdoor space: The Kensington Roof Gardens”

Human Scale at Hudson Yards | J. Michael Welton | Huffington Post
“More recently, NBW trumped entries by OLIN Partners and Sasaki in a competition for the design of 14 acres of grand parks and open spaces at Hudson Yards in Manhattan…”

CCNY Landscape Architecture thesis project wins Wayne Grace Prize | CCNY
“Chiara Di Palma, a 2012 graduate of the Spitzer School of Architecture’s Master of Landscape Architecture program, proposed a solution that would enable New York’s container ports to receive larger ships. At the same time, it would promote a healthier coastal ecology.”

It’s easy to go green, says local landscape architect Michael Felton | James Qualtrough |Isle News
“In recognition of Green Office Week, which runs from 13th to 17th May 2013, local landscape architect, Michael Felton, is encouraging island businesses to transform their offices into plant friendly, green environments.”

EVENT | Chelsea Garden Show 2013
The RHS 2013 Chelsea Garden Show opens this week celebrating 100 years.

IMAGE CREDIT: Flickr User |  The Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Wilkinson Eyre Architects has won an international competition to design “Sydney’s next masterpiece.” Selected over three other shortlisted firms – Renzo Piano, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill, and KPF – the London-based practice will now be responsible for the design of a $1.5 billion sculptural icon to host a six-star Crown Sydney resort on a 6000-square-meter site in the inner-city waterfront precinct of Barangaroo.

Subject to approval, the 235-meter-tall skyscraper will provide 350 guest rooms and suites, along with four restaurants, a cafe, an ultra-lounge, day spa, roof top pool and luxury retail facilities.

On winning the design competition, Chris Wilkinson, Founding Director, Wilkinson Eyre Architects stated: “Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and it is a great privilege to design such a significant building on the waterfront. My ambition is to create a sculptural form that will rise up on the skyline like an inhabited artwork, with differing levels of transparency, striking a clear new image against the sky.”

Paul Baker, Director, Wilkinson Eyre Architects added: “The architecture takes its inspiration from nature, composed of organic forms that provide an abstract, sculptural shape; it does not try to mimic any particular plant or flower but is derived from the specificity of the site and the client brief. Its curved geometry emanates from three forms which twist and rise together. The first form peels off, spreading outward to form the main hotel room accommodation, with the remaining two twisting together toward the sky.”

Reference: Crown Hotel, Wilkinson Eyre Architects

Foster + Partners has been selected to developed a proposal for a low energy, high-density residential community in Islington, London.  The site is a 1980s business park that is to be regenerated into a residential zone of two towers and a landscaped park.  The project will incorporate the arera’s planned high-rise buildings and is ultimately set to provide a new landmark for the city.

The two residential towers at 250 City Road will provide the area with 800 new units.  At 36- and 42-stories, the two towers are taller than the surrounding buildings, but are stepped down in such a way as to blend with the existing low-rise architecture.

The site is designed to create a comfortable and healthy environment that provides outdoor spaces, amenities, transportation connections and protection against wind and noise in the open spaces.  The site is interconnected with pedestrian routes, connections to adjacent streets and transportation links and shops and cafes to establish an urban quarter.

The buildings are designed with a combined heat and power plant that can be connected to the local grid, photovoltaic panels, green roofs, and rain water collection systems.