Mound, hearth, enclosure, roof, and column. The way we see it, Gottfried Semper and scholars already figured out what makes honest tectonic form. We're looking for the element that satisfies our primitive urge to value architecture that's good.

January 4th 2012

2 notes

Maggie’s Centre Aberdeen
by: Snøhetta
in: Aberdeen, Scotland

Maggie’s Centres, drop-in Cancer support centres in Great Britain founded by and named for cancer victim Maggie Keswick Jencks, are designed to provide help for people facing cancer while contributing to the architecture in the region.  Jencks believed that buildings have the ability to uplift people, and the network of seven facilities all aim to evoke a sense of warmth and comfort.  Snøhetta’s proposed structure, which sits in a grass field, will have a hard exterior concrete shell and soft timber interior finishes. The transition between roof and enclosure is seamless, and nearly touches the site allowing for a secluded courtyard connectivity to the surrounding landscape.  While the proposal is still in review by town council, we can only hope that at the very least, such a centre will inspire others to design thoughtful methods to treat the patient and not just the disease.

Posted at 2:16pm and tagged with: Snøhetta, architecture, design, scotland, maggie's centre, aberdeen, roof, enclosure, landscape, design, cancer,.

Maggie’s Centre Aberdeenby: Snøhettain: Aberdeen, ScotlandMaggie’s Centres, drop-in Cancer support centres in Great Britain founded by and named for cancer victim Maggie Keswick Jencks, are designed to provide help for people facing cancer while contributing to the architecture in the region.  Jencks believed that buildings have the ability to uplift people, and the network of seven facilities all aim to evoke a sense of warmth and comfort.  Snøhetta’s proposed structure, which sits in a grass field, will have a hard exterior concrete shell and soft timber interior finishes. The transition between roof and enclosure is seamless, and nearly touches the site allowing for a secluded courtyard connectivity to the surrounding landscape.  While the proposal is still in review by town council, we can only hope that at the very least, such a centre will inspire others to design thoughtful methods to treat the patient and not just the disease.

March 19th 2011

2 notes

ice hockey rink
by: BIG
in: Umeå, Sweden


Posted at 9:33am and tagged with: Umeå, Sweden, roof, BIG, landscape, sustainable, green, architecture, design,.

ice hockey rinkby: BIGin: Umeå, Sweden

October 24th 2010

7 notes

patio
by: Thom Faulder 
in: san francisco, california

“I wanted someone to barf when they look at it.”

Not really a statement that most designers strive for, let alone utter, but you’ve got to hand it to client Jeff Dauber and architect Thom Faulder, this patio almost makes you want to loose your lunch in a memorized, why couldn’t I think of that, kind of way.  The concept of pattern is pushed to the extreme, calling upon tricks of the eye that date back to the Renaissance.  However, rather than traditional painted or drawn methods of forced perspective, plywood tiles were designed, manufactured, and hand installed on the small patio to create a vortex centered around an existing maple.  Ultimately, what could have been a banal plane for gathering became an unique piece of art for the house.

While fascinating, projects like this do present a problem with the desire for hyper-customized design.  The patio can really only be viewed in its intended state in a few spots, and even then only at the the eye level of the client.   To create something similar for a mass audience would be a challenge, if not almost impossible… But in the case of vomit enducing architecture? That’s probably not such a bad thing. 

Posted at 10:35am and tagged with: mound, residential, landscape, united states,.

patioby: Thom Faulder in: san francisco, california “I wanted someone to barf when they look at it.” Not really a statement that most designers strive for, let alone utter, but you’ve got to hand it to client Jeff Dauber and architect Thom Faulder, this patio almost makes you want to loose your lunch in a memorized, why couldn’t I think of that, kind of way.  The concept of pattern is pushed to the extreme, calling upon tricks of the eye that date back to the Renaissance.  However, rather than traditional painted or drawn methods of forced perspective, plywood tiles were designed, manufactured, and hand installed on the small patio to create a vortex centered around an existing maple.  Ultimately, what could have been a banal plane for gathering became an unique piece of art for the house. While fascinating, projects like this do present a problem with the desire for hyper-customized design.  The patio can really only be viewed in its intended state in a few spots, and even then only at the the eye level of the client.   To create something similar for a mass audience would be a challenge, if not almost impossible… But in the case of vomit enducing architecture? That’s probably not such a bad thing.