The story of the Hastings Pier is an improbable one. Located in Hastings - a stone's throw away from the battlefield that defined English history - the pier was first opened to the promenading public in 1872. For decades the structure, an exuberant array of Victorian-era decoration, entertained seaside crowds but by the new millennium had fallen out of disrepair. In 2008 the pier was closed - a closure that became seemingly irreversible when, two years later, it burnt down.
When London practice dRMM won the competition to reimagine the structure, they took it as an opportunity to not just relive the glory days but work with the public to make a "pier for the people." Their careful efforts won them the 2017 Stirling Prize and marked a landmark moment in regenerative architecture. In his Stirling Prize citation for the project, RIBA President Ben Derbyshire described it as "...a masterpiece in regeneration and inspiration. The architects and local community have transformed a neglected wreck into a stunning, flexible new pier to delight and inspire visitors and local people alike."
The Hastings Pier today is a far cry from it's 19th century predecessor. Gone is the ornament, gone are the strings of lights, gone is the Moorish pavilion that used to cap the promenade. The pier now is an exercise in restraint and subtle detail, culminating in a wide open expanse at the top that has earned it the nickname "The Plank."
"You expect a pier to be covered in stuff, instead you have a free space and no buildings," says Alex de Rijke, cofounder of and the 'dR' behind dRRM. "The new pier is designed as an enormous, free, public platform over the sea - inspiring temporary installations and events across a variety of scales. This space offered more potential than an ‘iconic’ building on the end of the pier, and demonstrates the evolving role of the architect as an agent for change."
The flexibility of the new structure allows the pier to play host to a multitude of events, from traditional festival fare more serious gatherings. When not in official use, the pier is an awesome expanse of weathered timber, a fitting complement to the powerful view it affords.
Creating the open lookout point required the designers to relocate the traditional pier pavilion from the top of the structure to the center. The cross-laminated timber structure is clad in reclaimed decking and surrounded by reclaimed deck furniture (designed in an inventive collaboration by dRRM and Hastings & Bexhill Wood Recycling.)
For all the pier's initial success, it's not been without controversy. This past summer, plans were announced for the sale of the structure to the private owner - a sale that rankles given the public's unusually active role in the conception, design, and construction of the pier. Fate seems, yet again, uncertain.
But regardless of owner or future use, it will forever remain a milestone in architecture. It sets a notable standard for how architects can engage with not only their clients, but the future users of their projects. Compared to the local pride it has inspired, a Stirling citation is just icing on the cake.
Text description provided by the architects. The purpose of this project was to design two adjacent houses with a view towards the Aegean and the Kolymphithres Bay in the island of Paros (in the Cyclades). The plot extends on an east-west axis. The views are towards the north and it's intense north winds, which persist even during the summertime, and are known as "meltemia". These winds can be ravaging, but equally beneficiary during the hot summer days.
The houses are placed on an east - west axis on the eastern side of the plot so as to gain full perspective of the Aegean and the Kolymphithres Bay. An outdoor corridor defines their in-between space, while connecting the northern terraces and swimming pool area with the southern side of the dwellings, with it's carefully dispersed olive trees. The houses develop on either side of the corridor, which acts like an almost-mirror plane within the composition. Each house is defined by a seemingly un-interrupted whitewashed wall which follows a meander-like path. Lower profile stone walls lay tucked in-between these two white ribbons, creating an open dialogue between the indoors and the outdoors. The result is a game of "hide and seek" among the inhabitant, the indoor spaces, the inner yards, the spacious terraces, the sky, the sea, the sun and the shade. This strict yet sensitive composition of walls, reminiscent of the cycladic archetypical wall, makes a statement within the rolling Parian landscape. The openings on the walls as well as the pergolas are carefully placed so as to protect from the intense southern sun and northern winds, while at the same time seizing the benefits of the sun, the wind, and the views.
A serene closure is obtained through the landscape architecture: an artificial mound rich in native plants protects the eastern limit of the plot, and a series of trees defines the perimeter. Mulberry trees inhabit the inner yards.
In summary, the principles of the composition are as follows: a. the reinvention of the archetypical cycladic wall b. the creative dialogue with the environment, the cycladic light, the meltemia, the building materials. A dialogue that creates spaces that are protected yet open, united yet fragmented. A dialogue that gives room for an interchangement of enclosed and open space, introversion and extroversion, light and shadow, smooth and harsh texture, views of white, natural stone, different shades of blue and the hews of the surrounding landscape.
The embodiment of these principles creates a habitat with a strong identity and a unique footprint on the landscape. A habitat that acts as a remarkable viewing machine and offers a generous and diverse living experience.
Founded in 1995 by architects Kazuyo Sejima (born 29 October 1956) and Ryue Nishizawa (born 7 February 1966), SANAA is world-renowned for its white, light buildings grounded in the architects’ Japanese cultural origins. Despite the white exteriors, their architecture is far from modernist; the constant incorporation of ambiguity and doubt in SANAA’s buildings is refreshing and playful, taking the reflective properties of glass and brightness of white to a new level.
Courtesy of SANAA
Before founding SANAA, Sejima graduated with a Masters Degree in architecture from Japan Women’s University in 1981, going on to work at Toyo Ito and Associates before establishing Kazuyo Sejima and Associates in 1987. Sejima was subsequently named the Japan Institute of Architects’ Young Architect of the Year in 1992. Nishizawa was hired to work at Kazyuo Sejima and Associates after graduating from Yokohama National University in 1990, and together they founded SANAA in 1995. Two years later, Nishizawa founded Ryue Nishizawa and Associates, and as such the architects describe SANAA as being made up of three firms, coming together to discuss and critique ideas.
The two architects were the second to win the Pritzker Prize as a duo, in 2010. Capturing what SANAA's architecture represents, the Pritzker jury stated that "they explore like few others the phenomenal properties of space, lightness, transparency and materiality to create a subtle synthesis." Sejima has also commented on the firm’s consistent use of the color white as a method to avoid a hierarchy in their architecture, bringing light everywhere instead of being intensified in certain spaces. Their democratic diffusion and circulation of light also reflects on their aim to create feelings of continuity and community in public spaces, evident in Grace Farms, which won the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize for 2014/2015.
This layered translucence and unclear boundaries between spaces can be seen in many of their famous works, including the Louvre-Lens Museum, completed in 2012; the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, completed in 2007; and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan. These public areas also demonstrate SANAA’s ability to construct spaces that people can enjoy together, while still taking part in individual programs.
Check out more completed works by SANAA as well as the individual firms of Sejima and Nishizawa in the thumbnails below, as well as more coverage on the firm after those:
Text description provided by the architects. Qubica Lomas is conceived as a high quality and efficient office space targeted for small high-level companies, which due to internal growth or the desire of upgrading their own infrastructure are migrating their headquarters from the surrounding antique residences.
The building is located at the intersection of Volcan, Montes Urales and Arboleda streets, along one of the most valued corporate locations in Mexico City. Because of the previously described migration of office tenants, this neighborhood has been shifting its vocation. New buildings meant for office spaces are being built in lots where two or more houses previously existed. In fact, some of these houses were already being used as office spaces because their size wasn’t any more functional for residential use.
Localization
The main idea was to sculpt a black stone and glass block which references obsidian, so common in Mexican handcrafts. The cutouts are used to create private and semipublic terraces along the plot, these elements resemble the context’s scale and create a strong sculptural composition that defines the character and identity of the building.
Materials, sober and monochromatic, accentuate the formal assembly and highlight the existing and new vegetation which surrounds and merges into the project.
The ground floor and the courtyards that surround the property are meant to be as much permeable to enhance commercial interaction at pedestrian level. Terraces and green patios become extensions of the interior areas creating a dynamic relationship between the building and the city.
Typical floor plans are regular with a central core. Terraces in diverse sizes and orientations give tenants the possibility to enjoy delighting views, as well as varied outdoor environments.
Transversal Section
The top floor was conceived as a communal sky garden for the building’s tenants meant for different occupations, both leisure and semi-public events can take place in this space. Thus, in its entirety, Qubica Lomas is conceived as a building whose interior blends with the outside, with the intent to enhance quality of life for its occupants as well as the surrounding urban fabric.
Text description provided by the architects. The beauty of this project is the site itself, which overlooks the Portsea Lagoon and Wildlife Reserve. First Lessons House sits low amongst the existing myrtle and tea-trees, at the back corner of the site.
Like many architect’s first project’s, this one came through family. The owners wanted “a house that allows for as much outdoor space as possible, and opens up to the garden”. The challenge was to retain the native bush character of the landscape, while meeting the clients brief.
Site Plan
On a square block, the L-shaped house is carefully sited to take advantage of the northern sun, tree canopy shade, existing contours, prevailing winds and views to the lagoon. Charred blackbutt, concrete and corrugated iron were chosen as robust, earthy materials that are softened by the natural light and landscape.
To balance budget and brief, the entire roof and back of the house is made of standard timber frame and corrugated cladding. The costs were then focused on detail of the northern elevation and the view. Large sliding doors disappear behind walls to offer an uninterrupted view and seamless transition to the garden. On rainy days, the doors can be left open to allow the house to breathe, and the familiar sound of rain on a tin roof can be heard. Over these doors, high windows with charred timber battens filter the northern sun and highlight views to the treetops. In winter, the warm concrete floor is the favoured spot for the cat to lie in the dappled light.
The deck is an extension of the open plan living area, and the fireplace is the focal point of the indoor / outdoor living spaces. From Spring to Autumn, most dinners are outside between the Kitchen and BBQ. Cool nights are spent beside the comfort of the fire, watching the tea tree brush spark up the flames and listening to the calls of the nature reserve birds.
A shortcut through the garden is the best route to the Rumpus Room, which is located far from parents and at the end of the L-shaped plan. It frames views to the Lagoon, and its location encourages mischief and separation for the main living space. The sleeping zones are more basic - bed, robe and view to the garden.
The clients envisioned the house becoming a central meeting point to be shared and borrowed by family and friends. A place for retreat, for BBQs and celebrations of all sorts.
Elsewhere on the site, the garage houses surf boards, wetsuits, tools, gardening equipment and the band equipment, but no cars yet. The water tanks, services, clothesline and wood pile live behind the house to the south. Beyond the carport is an outdoor shower and bench seat, under the entry timber batten pergola. The blackbutt front door and battens are a warm contrast to the charred timber.
Text description provided by the architects. Le Temps Pâtisserie is a popular dessert shop in Fuzhou which has been operated for several years. “LE TEMPS” are French words, with the meaning of “time”. The shop owner chose this name because she hoped that both pleasure of enjoying desserts and profound memories could be permanently preserved in spite of passage of time.
Rebirth The shop is situated in an old plant within a creative industrial park which was repurposed from a factory zone. The old building features nostalgic charm, with mottled walls covered by green ivy leaves.
As described in Bible, “God said, Let there be light. And there was light.” Light is the prerequisite for us to perceive the world, which can also comfort our mind. The design team introduced full natural lights into the space and kept large area of the walls in white. In this way, daylight penetrates the windows, falls on the black bar counter and creates fascinating interactions of lights and shadows, thereby forming a unique environment completely different from the outside, making people calm and relaxed.
Through integrating new design elements into the old building, designers gave it a rebirth. Injected with vitality, the shop provides people with abundant and delightful experience.
Less is More The entire space features a palette of black, gray and white. Items used in the shop are exquisite and simple in design, such as furniture from HAY, and utensils of BELOINOX, CUTIPOL MOON, 1616 ARITA and STELTON EM77. The interior design presents a modern and minimalist style that is rarely seen in dessert shops.
The shop owner is particular about details. As she said, “Each kind of dessert has its own cooking rules. A tiny difference in ingredients may lead to different tastes. As for a dessert shop, the interior space serves essential function and plays a key role. Therefore, great importance should be attached to its design and details.”
However, she and designers agreed that dessert was the priority for the shop. So the space was designed in a minimalist style with white, gray and black as major hues, keeping a low profile to highlight desserts. In this way, the interior design doesn’t “steal the show”, but sets off desserts and embodies the brand concept.
For the spatial structure design, the design team also applied the concept of “Less is more”. There were some columns with uneven surface in the original space. After much deliberation, the team decided to dismantle these columns, thus creating a “clean” space without any superfluous structure.
Fun The main space consists of three “boxes”. The black one makes people feel calm, while the white one is refreshing. And the gray box (the seating area with a hue of gray), is of storytelling glamour. The three boxes with different colors are interpenetrated with each other, adding a sense of layering to the overall space. As people move in the space, they can enjoy diversified and interesting visual experience.
The long and relatively narrow hallway was designed with no decoration. Such “blank leaving” design leaves room for imagination. The large French window brings full natural lights into the space and enables customers to enjoy the outdoor view whether in the daytime or at night.
Sitting by the window, enjoying beautiful outside view as well as tasting yummy and delicate desserts, people can have a wonderful time in Le Temps Pâtisserie. A heaven of sweets makes the time spent here sweet.
Text description provided by the architects. The ‘Princess Precinct’ is a rare surviving example of terrace houses constructed in the 1860s in one of Brisbane’s oldest suburbs. the building is listed as local heritage with the Brisbane city council, which provided a significant design challenge on top of the client’s brief.
Petrie terrace itself is a major road in the suburb, so turning the residences into contemporary commercial tenancies seemed logical. All layers of the building had been peeled back to its original condition and a structurally glazed façade was added instead. Together with lifestyle graphics this minimalist façade provides privacy to the inside during the day but offers exposure in the evening when the lights are turned on.
The design joins all front yards to one communal space and includes benches and tables to encourage social interaction of the tenants and the local community which has resulted in a cross-pollination between all tenants including a gallery and the existing café next door.
Text description provided by the architects. This project is located above the development axis of the HeFei Financial Business Central, along the South Fei River. This is an ideal location, giving the project tremendous possibilities for future development. By reconstructing the mixed-use building, we hope to redefine the architecture and landscape, as well as interior design and user interaction, thus reflecting the essence of contemporary cosmopolitan lifestyle.
In the preliminary design phase of HeFei Smart Garden Library, rejuvenation of project peripherals in order to provide an ideal living space was the essential objective. Through rational layout, complex space optimization, the façade presented meets the modern populace’s need for communal space. From this foundation, we placed utmost attention to the project’s spatial design, and achieved maximum estate rejuvenation.
In the initial design of the library, starting from a cube, we created a curved interface as the main structure through reducing and overlapping of the cube using different construction techniques, ingeniously adapting to the surrounding environment, expressing its gentle and unique individuality simultaneously. We are building a floating island, but not a lonely island. The interweaving influence of the city square, the city main road and green landscape (on the library) will bring a different experience for the public.
From a distance, the colour, tone and volume changes with the angles, making the whole building intriguing and flexible. The city square extends out into the core library complex, attracting crowds to partake in activities. The facade facing the water body creates a soft floating cantilever-like reflection, while the façade facing the city highway impresses with it’s steady and spacious feel.
The confluence of black, grey and white accentuates the intense sense of sculpture impression, while the brown embellishments provide warmth. The interspersed glass and flow of water disperses any possible dullness. Water is light and attractive; glass connects the indoor and outdoor spaces, inviting both light and shade, space and time. Regardless of day or night, natural or manmade, the traversing light gives this sculptural building a sense of spatial transparency and dreamlike reality, akin to a floating island within the city.
This article was originally published on September 8,2014. To read the stories behind other celebrated architecture projects, visit our AD Classics section.
The next time you catch the scent of a Glade air freshener or evade pesky mosquitoes thanks to Off!, think of Frank Lloyd Wright. His 1950 building for the SC Johnson Research Tower at their headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin, was home to the invention of many of their landmark products.
A corporate commitment to innovation combined with Wright’s penchant for visionary design, yielded a pioneering yet challenged structure. An expansion of the company headquarters adjacent to the Wright-designed Administration Building from a decade earlier, the tower design expanded on the architect's visions for modern workspace and biomimetic structural systems. Floor slabs cantilever from a reinforced concrete “taproot” core, and bands of brick and crystalline glass tubes enclose laboratory spaces. Reverently maintained yet mostly unused by the SC Johnson company today, the tower can be considered either form pursued at the expense of function or a daring architectural accomplishment.
Ten years after the completion of the SC Johnson Administration building, construction began on the Research and Development Tower. The company required laboratories for their emerging research and development department. Despite trials during construction and maintenance of the Administration Building, third generation leader Herbert Fisk Johnson and Wright formed a close relationship, facilitating unprecedented design freedom for the architect. Johnson anticipated a building “in which beauty and function are so spectacularly combined, [that it] will prove an inspiration to the men and women who work in it.”
Preliminary perspective view in which tower tapers towards the base
For Wright, the Johnson Buildings represent a break from the Prairie style, infusing aesthetics from streamline modern into his materially rich and light driven vocabulary.
Connected to the Administration Building by a bridge, the Research Tower rises 153 feet above ground and bores 54 feet underground. The headquarters are located in Racine amidst wax and paint factories, movie houses, stores and homes. Because the urban site lacks the natural context Wright so valued, visual and physical connections to the context are minimal. The main entry for the tower is located near the carport, under the building. After taking a cylindrical elevator to the second level, a slender bridge sheathed in an arch of glass tubes leads the way across to laboratory spaces.
The compact, tightly-coiled vertical mass rises in contradistinction to the expansive horizontality of the administration building. Unlike the cavernous Great Workroom, the minimal floor plates and low floor-to-floor distance in the tower create a compressed space. The administration building, with its impenetrable brick, sequesters workers within a grand hypostyle hall. The ratio of solid to translucent inverts as the largely blank brick faces of the administration building give way to large crystalline bands in the tower.
Yet both buildings are cut off from the outside world and articulate the façade as independent wrappers of the structure. Although the predominantly glass walls admit ample light and serve as a glowing beacon at night, the tube construction distorts vision from inside and out. For building occupants, the exterior world amounts to indistinguishable shifting colors and masses.
First Level Plan
Second Level Plan
Third Level Plan
By leaving the first floor of the tower eroded, Wright reveals the singularity of the tower’s structural support. Second and third floor offices as well as a roof terrace hover on dendriform columns.
Core plan
A compact trunk-like core of conjoined tubes provides all building services to support lab spaces: restrooms, circulation, supply and return air, electricity, water, illuminating gas, compressed air, carbon dioxide or nitrogen, steam and direct and alternating electric current. The tower form minimized the length of utility distribution distances in comparison to a conventional low building.
In section, each slab attenuates towards the façade, reflecting the diminishing shear and moment forces of the cantilever while also echoing the shape of the dendriform column capitals. The building alternates between smaller circular floors and square floors with filleted edges that extend all the way to the enclosure.
The residual space becomes double height volume, connecting two floors. The slab edge turns up to form a brick clad reinforced concrete knee wall. These 4 feet, 11 ½ inch tall solid walls coordinate with the casework that rings the perimeter. Wright worked closely with scientists on the installation of furnishings within labs.
Because every other floor is a mezzanine set back from the exterior wall, Pyrex tubes span the height of two floors between brick spandrels. The resulting oversized scale further abstracts the reading from the exterior. When lighting conditions reveal the silhouette of the intermediate floor plate, the tower appears as a crystalline mechanic apparatus. The Pyrex tubes are held to aluminum stanchions with wire, and an inner plate of glass lines the exterior. Leaks caused by the failure of the neoprene gaskets between tubes were a persistent issue until a new sealant was developed.
The Research Tower received wide coverage and positive reviews both during design and after completion. Architecture as well as general interest and business publications featured the building, as did two MOMA exhibits during the 1950s.
However, building occupants gave a more mixed review. The vertical nature of the tower all but precluded casual interaction, and a slow elevator discouraged stopping in on all but the most immediate colleagues. In addition, the extremely low ceiling height adjacent to the core conflicted with equipment use. As the number of employees and heat producing equipment increased over the years, the building became difficult to heat and cool. The glass tube walls leaked but were “capable of creating a gorgeous visual effect.”
In 1982, SC Johnson opened another facility to house its expanding research department. The tower was all but abandoned due to safety concerns – evacuating in the event of an emergency would be difficult with only one tiny staircase. Yet the SC Johnson company has painstakingly maintained Wright’s vision and details. In 2013 the tower underwent renovations, replacing over 21,000 bricks and 5,800 Pyrex tubes. Three levels of the fifteen are currently in use as office and exhibit space. Because upgrades to meet building code would compromise Wright's design, the company has no plans to convert remaining floors into usable office space. Starting in May 2014, the tower was opened again to public tours.
The Research Tower, along with the Administration Building, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
For more information or to read about the nearby schedule a visit to the tower.
Sources
Lipman, Johnathan. Intro by Kenneth Frampton. Frank Lloyd Wright and the Johnson Wax buildings. New York: Rizzoli: 1986.
Siry, Josepth. “Frank Lloyd Wright's innovative approach to environmental control in his buildings for the S.C. Johnson Company.” Construction history: journal of the Construction History Group 28, no. 1 (2013):141-164
Text description provided by the architects. Situated in Bandung’s hillside area, the EH Residence is designed to be a weekend villa for a mother and her children. This 3-bedroom villa is completed with several gathering areas that are connected with one open balcony. Within the site, this villa is designed to be a node of activities that are secluded by the thick pine trees. The residence closed up its own from the main road and opens itself up through the row of glass, towards the descending parts of the hills and the view of the city, in the southern part of the site.
Bandung’s cool climate is balanced with the use of shingle wood on the roof, teak wood in the interior and Ironwood in the balcony area. Aside from thermal considerations, atmosphere selection was also chosen to provide the comfort and sense of warmth in the villa, where the family would gather and rest. Different floor levels reflected the degree of privacy needed. The ground floor of the residence has all the answer to service needs and bedrooms, completed with windows that overlook the view on the south.
While on the first floor has a semi-outdoor balcony, living area, dining area and reading lounge in the mezzanine. This row of areas is separated with a fireplace and sliding glass doors that would be opened daily and connected with a large, long balcony that stretches along the side of the residence. The composition of the mansard roof was developed through constructions and new architectural details, an approach to the locality of the context that is elaborated with new technological novelty. Not only creating a more voluminous space with the fractured form of the roof, but a skylight was also introduced to welcome the sun through the wooden ceiling.
Text description provided by the architects. Meow Restaurant is a cat-themed cafe that explores the fun of space. The café is transformed from a red-wall warehouse built in the 1990s. With the location of Butterfield & Swire’s Godowns & Wharf, which is popular among the citizens, the café is not only a place for fifty lovely cats, but also for cat lovers to have parties, enjoy meals and hold pet salon.
All the scales and designs of the project are related to cats. In response to the “forest” as the client referred to, by using an abstract design method, E Studio uses blocks and platform devices to connect different spaces instead of illustrating a real forest.
Model Diagram
The black block at the entrance indicates the tune inside. The pine wood buffer zone offers a space for shoes-changing and hands-washing.
The river, tree house and other natural features are expressed in a narrative way. Such like the terrace field in the middle of the first floor is designed in the cat’s shape. This terrace is used as seats, instead of the traditional ones, to increase the interactions between people and cats, and to hold public activities. The ups and downs of the terrace field satisfy the different behaviors of the customers and cats.
Basing on the habit of cats, which is enjoying the height, the designer insert a tree house on the upper level to build a platform where customers could enjoy a comprehensive view. The unique pitched ceiling could satisfy both of the customers’ and the cats’ behaviors. One could take a break or enjoy a coffee inside the tree house, or just sit and overlook what is happening downstairs and enjoy every minute with cats.
The original steel-structured second floor was transformed into a dining space. There, the form of the desk vividly illustrates the stream of the forest, and the stainless steel board on the wall imitate the water ripple. The second floor enables the customers to enjoy a more comfortable and free atmosphere, where different dinning spaces are organized, and the unique visual effect contributes to an unconventional experience with cats.
In the exploration and development of café, the Meow Restaurant designed by E Studio reveals a modern “Cat Forest” without using any of the real trees. By applying this unique and innovative design concept, the Meow Restaurant welcomes everyone to enjoy a wonderful time with cats.
Text description provided by the architects. A 2000 square meter green garden which is located in Zibadasht region of Karaj and a cottage is placed in the center of the garden. The client intended to destroy it and generate a new mansion in more expanded infrastructure. The main problem which was visible in the status quo was the lack of space appropriate to his requirements. Moreover, as he loves nature and was not satisfied with this interrupted relationship between an inside of the cottage and the garden area, asked a design which makes a more integrated relationship with the garden. In some way that when they are inside of the home, can observe what happens outside of the home concurrently and can make memories of changing seasons.
There were two weeping willow trees in front of the mansion which remind multitudinous memories. We decided despite making all changes according to their requirements, keep this part of landscape untouched to remain the sense of dependency in some parts of the design and connect them to their past. They asked to have a residential-recreational villa to live there with their two children and old parents. Besides, have enough space for celebration and weekend gatherings with family and friends. We had a nostalgic perspective on the issue. An Iranian family with gathering attitude and respect to traditions. Besides, the client’s desire was broadened new horizons more than project issues and looking for new possibilities on a global scale.
The concrete white surface with fluid motion among spaces and smooth lines, observes locating in global scope while the brick warm core with detailed bricking and human scale alongside attending to Iranian architecture qualities like sunken gardens, porches, apertures lightings, presence of nature and water and etc., is searching for connection with Iranian contemporary geography. Structure and architecture are completely interlace with each other and indeed the structure of the project is the same as the concept of the project. The concrete surface has designed in some way that whilst responding to architecture concepts, serves the structure and stability of the building.
The western, northern walls and the wall on a cantilever which is attached to the base by fillet shape are indeed the shear wall of the project and have a structural function and for restrained the earthquake in three directions. Even the shear wall on the cantilever which does not reach the foundation has structural properties and has connected the roof and first floor. The Structural System has consisted of two parts: First part Waffle Slabs (non-persistent U-boot frames Method) has been used to maintain the delicacy of form and respond to a number of Spans. The second part which we used, was sheared wall to avoid making structural frames in order to use thinner columns and asymmetrical columns. Also in the concrete cantilever part which has minimum 4.6 meter and maximum 6-meter length and 8-meter width, the pre-stressed cables have been used in both sides.
Text description provided by the architects. Each eye, a path. Emotional, timeless classicism, sculpted by hands and feelings. The space is conceived as a story told through materials that define atmospheres and sensations. As in a saga, the narration initiated with the milan boutique continues: the spirit is the same, the interpretation absorbs and shapes the genius loci.
The space, positioned slightly below street level, is delicate and welcoming, feminine yet strong. Doing more with less amplifies the emotional outcome of the project, curated by robert vattilana and giada forte. The narration starts from the sculptural staircase that functions as a threshold, a display, a seat and a support. A monolithic step made of pink onyx touches the floor, disclosing the storytelling. The space is permeated by the lyrical warmth of the imperfect human touch, which is always palpable in the treatments and finishes.
The feel of the hand–made gives everything presence and character. The balance of contrasting elements defines a harmony full of surprises, in which delicacy and assertiveness fade into one another.
Granite takes the leading role: on the floors, on the boiserie and in the furnishing elements. It is granite crossed with luminescent traces of quartz and with brass insertions, or laid in geometric patterns that warm up and morph the stone’s masculine solidity. Pink onyx is a feminine and precious presence that punctuates the spatial discourse: a small table, a part of the cash desk, the entrance step.
The harmony of lines and curves, of gray and pink, of white and metal is a defining character. A curved wall covered with gold leaf hides and contains the warehouse area; the welcoming dressing rooms are closed by frosted brass hinged doors. Sofas and vases add a homely touch; plants are a presence that further enriches the layering of textures. Mirror triptychs, white full–length linen curtains, chandeliers wrapped around columns add further nuance. A solitary and abstract figurative presence is an emotional sculpture by franco–israeli artist achiam: it depicts the sinuous silhouette of a seated woman.
Brass is the calligraphic signature that harmonizes the story. Akin to a light freehand sign drawn in space, it defines the display elements, the shape of the mirrors, the portholes and the silhouette of the dressing rooms, the suspended shelf of the display cabinet.
The juxtaposition of materials is a play of light and density: the transparent impalpability of the curtains, behind which lightboxes create lantern effects, alternates with the voluptuous density of the capitonné velvet of the dressing rooms, the serenity of the granite with the metallic warmth of the brass and the firm delicacy of onyx. Ancient stones collected during a journey, small jade stones and an afghan stone stalactite look molded by time. The leather seats – light–colored and perforated like old gloves, studded like an ashlar – are an assertively classic presence.
The space mixes tangible echoes, from a touch of bauhaus time to jean prouvé and carlo scarpa, transforming them into suggestions and hints. One feels like entering a dreamy non–place, in which the known and the familiar obey a non–prescriptive logic. The point of view becomes a point of departure.
Text description provided by the architects. Intimate, but not secretive. Private, in a way that invites to discover. A spatial and emotional extension of the tactile, atmospheric and dreamy values that define the unique spirit of the brand. An environment with a delicate yet affirmative character, feminine in its levity full of strength, which combines memory and present, travel and introspection in a story made of materials and elements assembled following the thread of intuition.
Just as the forte_forte collections erase the distance between the garment and the wearer, so the boutique blurs the line between public and private, between the selling space and the narrative environment. It welcomes and surrounds, halfway between discovery and dream, transmitting the warmth of the human touch, always palpable in the treatments and finishes, in the quest for sublime imperfection. The project, curated by robert vattilana and giada forte, is a harmony that comes from avoiding pre–established schemes. Furniture and solutions mingle in a liquid whole that incorporates signs, traces of travels, echoes of shares memories. The tone of the expression is light, deep and sincere.
The spatial story, rarefied and suspended, unveils behind the full–length white curtain that wraps the frontal window and part of the walls. The protagonists are the materials, harmonized in a multisensorial opus that stimulates sight as well as touch, and in which the italian–ness of the hand–made becomes an eulogy to imperfection. At the center is travertine marble, expressive rather than monumental, used in bas-relief, in open or closed grain, in crust or engraved with stripes, for walls, furnishing and, cut into large slabs dotted with colored mosaic glass, for the floor. The opaque serenity of the marble is brightened by the brass that, like a sign drawn freehand in space, lightly defines the elements of the display, with their organic profiles, the perimeter of the mirrors, the portholes and the silhouette of the comfortable changing rooms looking like compartments of a train. The chandelier at the entrance is brass, too. The journey takes a sensual turn as it merges with light: the transparent impalpability of the curtains, behind which lightboxes create lantern effects, alternates with the voluptuous density of the velvet, quilted with found buttons gathered along journeys and lining the walls of the dressing rooms. Pebbles create a mineral lace texture over the stairs. The dreamlike presence of the brass sculptural curtain on which the glass ampoules made by massimo lunardon capture the transience of thoughts and inspirations is mixed with the vegetal and domestic touch of the strelitzia plants that sprout from the travertine vase.
The architecture and the display of the products create a physical and metaphysical link between the space and the collections, letting the purity of the line and the poetic purity of the materials do all the talking. Private elements collected worldwide give the story a personal signature: a drawing of a woman by didier mahieu, a bitossi ceramic designed by aldo londi, a jar of glass test tubes bought in a market in los angeles, the plaster bust of a venus coming from a french foundry. Shells, corals and submarine elements underline the evanescent surreality of the atmosphere.
The use of light and shadow in architecture can have several nuances. The traditional Japanese culture stands out for working with spaces of dim light, kind of dull. On the other hand, modern architecture and minimalism work along with illuminating spaces through the use of white spaces and reflection of light as a recurring resource.
Even so, black, dark spaces and minimalism also converse in the same language that provides new possibilities for lighting design and use of new materials. We now present you a selection of the best contemporary interior spaces that use black as the protagonist element, generating introspective but dramatic environments at the same time.
Emily Allchurch, Grand Tour: In Search of Soane (after Gandy), 2012.
The engine of contemporary architectural production, and the basis of societies around the world, is economic growth. Global political orthodoxy declares GDP growth is always good; that more is more. Throughout the last two centuries increased economic growth brought with it many measures of prosperity, but for many decades now the limits to growth have been visible on the horizon. Social equity, health and wellbeing, quality of life, happiness and other non-monetary measures of success are faltering while resource extraction, greenhouse gas emissions, waste and toxicity, temperatures, sea levels, extreme weather, and many such indicators of climate breakdown make clear daily that the time of this worldview is running out.
The next Oslo Architecture Triennale will challenge the supremacy of economic growth and investigate the architecture of alternatives. The festival will explore the buildings, spaces and institutions of a new culture in which economic growth is no longer the basis of societies. The curators have launched this open call inviting architects, urban practitioners, activists, novelists, artists, researchers and citizens to explore the architecture of a new economy in which human and ecological flourishing matter most – the architecture of degrowth.
Institutions of sharing
During the ten-week programme of the Triennale, Oslo’s National Museum of Architecture will undergo a transformation from a gallery of architecture past and present to a library of architectural futures. For centuries, libraries have provided the spatial infrastructure for sharing knowledge, ideas, stories and entertainment freely and widely. As such, libraries play a central role in breaking free from the growth paradigm.
The Triennale library will comprise artefacts and installations exploring the architecture of degrowth from multiple perspectives. Drawings, models, materials, artefacts, devices and ideas will be collected and catalogued, and some made available to library members to borrow and use. The library will be a space to linger and learn, a repository of useful and beautiful objects exploring the architecture of a Degrowth economy to be critiqued, measured, studied and enjoyed.
This open call invites individuals and multi-disciplinary teams to propose exhibitive, performative and physical submissions that explore the architecture of degrowth in the context of the new library’s collections and facilities.
The deadline for submissions is Monday 19th November 1.00 PM Norway. Only digital applications will be accepted. Documents sent after the competition deadline will not be accepted as part of the application. Contributors may submit questions by email to opencall@oslotriennale.no until Monday 5th November. All questions and answers will be published on the website on Friday 9th November.
Download the information related to this competition here.
Title: OAT 2019 Open call: The Architecture of Degrowth
OMA will be breaking ground on their new design for Wilshire Boulevard Temple's expansion next month. The groundbreaking for the new Audrey Irmas Pavilion is scheduled for November 11. The $75-million project was designed by OMA partners Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas. The three-story expansion will include space for the temple congregation, surrounding neighborhood and supportive services.
Audrey Irmas Pavilion. Image Courtesy of OMA
The Temple's Audrey Irmas Pavilion will include a main event space, a smaller multi-purpose room, and a sunken garden designed by LA-based Mia Lehrer. The expansion features a sloping facade that angles away from the historic 1929 temple building. The facade features a series of openings that filter light and will guide visitors through the complex. Replacing a surface parking lot at the corner of Wilshire and Harvard Boulevards, the design was formed to reach out onto Wilshire Boulevard to formally create a new presence. The pavilion will be capped with a landscaped outdoor deck by Studio MLA.
Audrey Irmas Pavilion. Image Courtesy of OMA
Having won a competition for the pavilion's design in 2015, the OMA scheme represents the firm’s first commission from a religious institution and their first cultural building in California. Designed in collaboration with Gruen Associates, the project will interlock the main space, multi-purpose room and garden in a vertically stacked scheme to frame views. The Audrey Irmas Pavilion is scheduled for completion in 2020.
The RIBA's ‘Ten Characteristics of Places Where People Want to Live’ combines a series of case studies that illustrate components of contemporary community housing design. This study was completed to identify and analyze specific, successful elements of past projects that can be easily incorporated into future projects not only in England but also internationally.
The study hopes to demonstrate to its readers the relationship between design quality and the rate of supply in the delivery of much needed well-built affordable housing. Each building example illustrates how appealing and successful design can be easily replicated.
“The necessary context for successful place-making is often neglected, but only by addressing this can we improve both the quality of the homes we are building and the rate of supply. High-quality design is essential, but it must be founded upon the right leadership, the right funding and delivery models.” - Ben Derbyshire, RIBA President
Location often plays a primary role in the choice of a new-build home. A visually-appealing setting is alluring, but proximity to existing, enhanced or new local services such as schools, green open spaces, retail, and employment opportunities are also essential. The ‘right place’ is also a place with physical connectivity – an area that is connected to nearby social, cultural, and economic hubs.
The study describes the importance of the neighborhood, which incorporates a mix of uses and tenures around spaces for social interaction to promote community inclusion, cohesion, and resilience. A successful design establishes housing as part of a ‘complete place,’ which also offers mixed-use areas as well as places to shop, socialize, and relax. These shared amenities support an inclusive community life and allow people to take collective ownership of the spaces.
A neighborhood can create and foster a distinct visual identity that evolves from its immediate environmental, social, and historical context. These elements add to the creation of a "coherent, authentic and unique sense of place." The composition of new housing should respect and enhance the landscape’s character by complimenting existing buildings.
4. A Place to Live in Nature
Nature is a crucial part of a new neighborhood. New housing should sit in the existing natural context and enhance existing environmental features, habitats, and biodiversity. The inhabitants should have access to nature and green open spaces in the new community. There are a variety of accessible green spaces such as parks, village greens, garden squares, and shared gardens that encourage community interaction, horticulture, and active outdoor living.
Developments are built to encompass ‘townscape principles of hierarchy,’ taking into consideration the scale, composition, vistas, and elements of surprise, throughout the new settlement, each creating visual interest for the residents and visitors. Larger houses and apartment buildings are positioned to capture attention. Diversity in scale and design can contrast and compliment along streets, creating a dialogue with each other.
6. A Place With a Choice in Homes
via HTA
Most developments can be designed to be adaptable over time, responding to a community or an individual’s changing needs. The study highlights that "empowering communities to participate in the process of designing and building out their own homes has the potential to produce higher quality housing that responds to local needs and therefore increases build-out rates."
7. A Place With Unique and Lasting Appeal
via Proctor + Matthews Architects
"Inherently authentic, memorable and delightful, new housing has a locally-rooted character drawn from its surroundings, but also a strong identity of its own." These are not the standard residential housing types which result in ‘anywhere’ places; they take contextualization into great consideration, shaping their structural identities. A coherent sense of place allows for individuality. Individualized architectural elements include balconies, roof terraces, and projecting bays. Windows can be sized and arranged to create a pleasing balance of solid to void, just another contributor to the ‘personality’ of each home.
Inside, homes should be well proportioned and practically laid out, usually utilizing a free-flowing plan while also offering corners for retreat and privacy. Self-finishing can be done by individual occupants so that interiors can be easily customized and personalized to draw more deeply on what ‘home’ means to an individual occupant while maintaining the controlled variety of the streetscape.
9. A Sustainable Place for Future Generations
via HTA
"Environmentally sustainable places will not only play their part in a low-carbon future but will provide a legacy which coming generations will be proud of." In our own time, homes in healthy, clean, resource-efficient neighborhoods are more likely to attract potential owners. These housing schemes provide ideal locations for shared transport schemes that provide a viable alternative to car ownership. Innovative parking strategies, adaptable to a future reduction in car-use, can be integrated into the design.
Homes can have a positive impact on the wellbeing of the people by creating healthier, more comfortable and more spacious interior environments. Home design can optimize solar impact through window size as all living spaces receive sunlight, benefiting inhabitants physically and mentally as well as providing a source of heat. Ideal window placement can also provide good views while maintaining personal privacy.
Dublin is one of the world’s most beloved cities. The Irish capital welcomes over 5.6 million tourists every year from around the world, seeking out the city’s red brick rows, cobblestone streets, and lush green parklands.
Dublin has good reason for being on any architect’s travel list. Modest Georgian tenements, sensitively altered by local architects, stand alongside major civil and public works by some of the world’s most renowned international firms, while warm art nouveau and art deco cafes sit alongside the sleek, modern headquarters of the world’s largest tech firms.
What follows in an architectural guide to Dublin, written off the back of a recent visit to the Irish capital. Documented during the city’s annual Open House Dublin festival, the guide offers a blueprint for visitors and residents alike hoping to uncover the city’s diverse fabric. From what to know before you go, where to stay, where to eat, and what to do, the buildings and events mentioned here only scratch the surface of what Dublin has to offer.
Dublin is situated on Ireland’s east coast – a one hour flight from London, two to three hours from European cities, and eight hours from New York. The city, home to 1,170,000 people, is centered on where the River Liffey meets Dublin Bay and the Irish Sea. Debate on the city’s origin sways between Celtic-speaking people in the 7th century, and the Vikings in the 10th century.
Dublin’s climate is typical to Northwestern Europe, with cool summers and mild winters. The city can host four seasons in one day, so rainfall is a possibility at any time of the year. Temperatures range from 4 to 9 degrees Celsius in the depths of winter, and 14 to 20 degrees at the height of summer.
Ireland is overwhelmingly English-speaking, however the country’s historic Gaelic language is still firmly embedded in almost all aspects of Irish culture, from shopfronts to schools, music to politics. Common phrases include the greeting "Cead Mile Failte" (“One Hundred Thousand Welcomes”), the farewell and toasting “Slainte” (“Health”) and the word “craic” (“fun”) which when used in conversation, will endear you to any Dubliner!
Ireland’s premier airport was originally designed in 1937 by Desmond Fitzgerald and the Office of Public Works; a curvilinear symmetrical building praised as “the most elegant, graceful, and majestic example of the International Style in Ireland.”
One of the fastest-growing airports in Europe, a contemporary addition by Pascall+Watson was completed in 2010, inspired by the geometry of aircraft wings, and capable of handling up to 15 million annual passengers.
Busáras is Dublin’s most important bus terminal, connecting the capital with towns and cities across the island. Another example of the International Style, the terminal was designed by Michael Scott under the influence of Le Corbusier, and completed in 1952. Constructed of reinforced concrete, and clad in Portland stone adorned with mosaics by Patrick Scott, the building originally contained amenities such as a top floor restaurant, and a newsreel cinema.
Open House Dublin is Ireland’s largest architecture festival, occurring every October. Organized by the Irish Architecture Foundation, the festival seeks to “showcase outstanding architecture for everyone to experience,” joining sister events in cities across the world, including London, New York, and Sydney. The 2017 edition attracted over 30,000 building visits, while this year’s edition featured over 170 free building tours, talks, and events, including almost every building featured in this article.
While the architectural wonders of Dublin can be marveled all year round, the Open House festival offers visitors the opportunity to experience buildings with the guidance of architects from noted firms such as Grafton and Heneghan Peng, while also offering a platform for local architects and designers responsible for the city’s enduring architectural charm.
One of Ireland’s richest architectural sites, the campus of Trinity College Dublin offers a host of architectural styles, from the imposing neoclassical Old Library and its sleek contemporary Hub, to the Brutalist Berkeley Library, and the campus’ stately public squares.
The college was founded under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in 1592, modeled on the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The campus’ must-see attraction, the Old Library, was designed by Trinity graduate Thomas Burgh, and constructed between 1712 and 1732. Behind a façade of Corinthian pillars and underneath a neoclassical mansard roof, the ornate interior contains 200,000 volumes including Roman, Greek, Egyptian, and Celtic scripts.
The library is noted for housing the world-famous Book of Kells illuminated manuscript, the Brian Boru Harp, officially the symbol of Ireland, and an original copy of the 1916 Declaration, an important document in the ultimate formation of the Irish Free State. The library was also the inspiration for the Jedi Archives in the Star Wars prequel films.
Other notable campus buildings include the Brutalist-style Berkeley Library, regarded as one of Ireland’s finest modernist buildings. Designed by Paul Koralek, without setting foot in Ireland, the library was constructed of in-situ concrete and opened in 1967. One year later the Arts Building was opened, designed by Ahrends Burton Koralek, and featuring a sheltered campus entrance, a glazed, stepped façade, and deep plan internal courts.
For a more contemporary addition, check out the Trinity Long Room Hub, a slim rectangular building with a honeycomb granite surface and crisp deep window details, designed by Mccullough Mulvin Architects in 2010.
The city of Dublin owes its existence to the River Liffey, which historically supplied the city with water, food, transport, recreation, and protection. Today, 19 bridges span the river, the construction of each telling a story of its time. While the first bridge spanning the river was built in 1000AD, the oldest surviving today is Mellows Bridge, built in 1764 with three elliptical stone arches.
21st-century bridges include the Samuel Beckett Bridge and James Joyce Bridge, both designed by renowned architect Santiago Calatrava, which mark the two boundaries of the Liffey bridges series. The youngest bridge, the elegant, post-tension Rosia Hackett Bridge, is the only Liffey bridge to be named after a woman.
Dating back to 1870, and significantly altered by Henry J. Lyons in 1925, Bewley’s Grafton Street is one of Dublin’s most spectacular destinations for a morning or afternoon treat. An Italianate, renaissance interior adorned with mahogany paneling, marble tables, and velvet upholstery contrasts with an Art Deco neo-Egyptian façade designed by A.G.C. Millar.
A recent 1,000-day, €12million refurbishment from 2015 to 2017 by Meagher & Moloney O’Beirne and Paul Arnold included the addition of a 24-hour bakery in the basement. Famous patrons have included acclaimed writer James Joyce, the author of Ulysses.
A former church dating from the early 18th century, The Church Bar and Restaurant retains original features such as a Renatus Harris organ, and spectacular stained glass window. Reopened in 2005, the listed building now contains a restaurant, café, nightclub, and terrace barbeque area.
Famous Irish figures associated with the church include Guinness founder Arthur Guinness, who was married there in 1761, and Irish rebel leader Theobald Wolf Tone, baptized there two years later. Author Jonathan Swift attended services in the church, as did George Frederic Handel, who would use the organ to practice his masterpiece “Messiah.”
A long day of architreking should be rewarded by an evening in Temple Bar, Dublin’s cultural quarter. Situated on the south bank of the Liffey, the area is famous for its buzzing nightlife, hosted by the area’s Georgian brick rows and cobblestone streets.
Described as an “oasis of peace and quiet” among Dublin’s busy Georgian core, Number 31 consists of two distinct buildings: a classic Georgian townhouse with ornate stucco ceilings, and a modernist coach-house mews. The two buildings are linked via a central landscaped courtyard.
The interior features a sunken lounge with leather seating fronting onto an open fire, decorated in light colors and textures to capture the guesthouse’s peaceful, calm ethos.
Inspired by the elemental nature of the Irish landscape, with references to the limestone Burren National Park to the unique hexagonal stones of the Giant’s Causeway, the Marker’s clean lines open a dialogue with the angular theater. A plain, rhythmic façade is interrupted only by the cave-like entrance, an atmosphere continued inside the ground floor cocktail bar.
Designed by Irish architect Tom dePaor in 2016, this contemporary home is formed of interconnecting internal and external spaces hidden behind a 1930s terrace. Available for booking on Airbnb, the timber frame structure contains five floor-to-ceiling trusses are supported by vertical posts interspersing the space, offering an open network of rooms contrasting with the compact solidity of the existing building.
Open to the public since 1880, St. Stephen’s Green is one of the largest and most beloved green spaces in Central Dublin. The 22-acre park, still with its original Victorian layout, offers 3.5 kilometers of pathways along waterfalls, rock works, lakes, trees, and sculptures. During the summer months, the park hosts lunchtime concerts from a bandstand in the southern section.
The north-east corner of the park is marked by the Fusiliers’ Arch, a 10-meter-high monument to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who fought in the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902. The granite arch features inscriptions carried out in limestone along with a bronze adornment.
The Phoenix Park is the largest enclosed public park in any European capital city. Open 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, the 1,750-acre park has been open to the public since 1745. The park contains 350 plant species, centuries-old woodlands covering 30% of the land, 72 species of birds, and approximately 450 fallow deer.
The park is home to Dublin Zoo, hosting 700 animals and tropical birds. Founded in 1830, it is the third oldest zoo in the world. The park is also home to Áras an Uachtaráin, the residence of the Irish President, built in 1754.
Completed in 1803, the Grand Canal is one of a series of waterways connecting Dublin with the River Shannon, Ireland’s longest river. An 80-mile pathway along the canal bank is a local favorite for walking, idling, and cycling, and was the inspiration behind the poem “Grand Canal Walk” by Patrick Kavanagh.
The Grand Canal Square is a focal point of the Dublin Docklands regeneration project, a reclaimed industrial area now home to apartments, hotels, recreational areas, and the Libeskind-designed Grand Canal Square Theater.
The 18th-century neoclassical Custom House is situated on the north bank of the Liffey, designed by James Gandon and completed in 1791. Originally built for the collection of customs duties from shipping, the relocation of Dublin Port made the building obsolete.
During the Irish War of Independence in 1921, the building’s dome was destroyed along with a large amount of irreplaceable historical documents. Evidence of this is still visible today, with the rebuilt dome’s Ardbraccan limestone notably darker than the original building’s Portland stone.
Dublin Castle can be read as a “living building” which has been adapting for over 1000 years. The center of state ceremony for hundreds of years, the building has hosted Ireland’s presidency of the European Commission, state visits, and the inauguration of Irish presidents.
The complex fell into disrepair in 1941 following a fire, before being regenerated following extensive renovations by the Office of Public Works from 1986 to 1996, who now maintain the buildings.
Originally designed by Richard Castle, and built in 1745, Leinster House has been the seat of the Irish Parliament since 1922. Built in a Georgian style, the building has undergone regular renovations since Victorian times, with a notable extension built in the 1960s to house parliamentarian offices.
The design, following the plan of a Palladian country house with a double height hall and picture gallery, was influenced by the White House in Washington DC, in particular with a projecting bow on the north side.
Originally built in 1728 to house the Irish parliament, the Palladian-style Parliament House underwent significant works in 1785 with the addition of a prominent Portico by Hames Gandon. Made redundant following political change in 1800, the Bank of Ireland purchased the building in 1803 and used it as a head office until the 1970s.
Located beside the main entrance to Trinity College Dublin, Parliament House was the first purpose-built bicameral parliament house in the world, splitting legislators into two separate chambers. The principal entrance of the semi-circular scheme features curved walls adorned with Ionic columns.
The National Gallery of Ireland has recently been restored by the Office for Public Works, in collaboration with Heneghan Peng. Opened in June 2017, the scheme forms part of a four-stage masterplan by Heneghan Peng, seeking to address the original 19th-century building’s lack of natural light and level access.
The extensively renovated Dargan and Milltown Wings are for the first time capable of hosting paintings from Europe, previously impossible due to internal climatic conditions. A new central courtyard is shaped to allow diffuse light into the galleries, while forming visual connections between spaces to maintain visitor orientation.
The Mansion House was designed by Joshua Dawson in 1710, and has been the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin since 1715, hosting visiting dignitaries including Queen Victoria and Nelson Mandela. The “Round Room” is where the first free Irish Parliament met in 1919 to proclaim the Irish Declaration of Independence.
Designed by Studio Libeskind in 2010, the Grand Canal Square formed an important milestone for the redevelopment of the Dublin Docklands area. The 2000-seat theater is based on the concept of stages: the stage of the theater, the stage of the piazza, the stage of the multiple lever lobby above the piazza.
The form seeks to “build a powerful cultural presence expressed in dynamic volumes sculpted to project a fluid and transparent public dialogue” with the surrounding piazza, offices, and hotel.
Designed by Grafton Architects, the Department of Finance building on Merrion Row was completed in 2000. The limestone-clad scheme terminates a row of 18th century brick terraces on one side, and a historic cemetery on the other, resulting in an elegant, contemporary, yet sensitive addition.
The new building follows the features of a typical Georgian house with a sequence of entrances, and fenestration matching the parapet and rhythm of the adjacent buildings. The redevelopment also features the restoration of a 1912 stone and steel building linked to the new scheme, serving as dining and office space.
The 10-level, 12,000 square mater new wing of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland was designed by Henry J. Lyons, and opened in May 2017. Envisioned as “three buildings in one,” the library/surgery/auditorium building features the deepest basement in Ireland, housing a 600-seat auditorium and sports center.
The six levels above round feature a library spanning three floors, and Europe’s most advanced simulations suites. Polished terrazzo is common to circulation spaces, while exposed concrete in various finishes reveals the structural anatomy of the building.
Dating from the 1720s, 14 Henrietta Street is one of the most intact mid-18th-century houses in Dublin. Originally built as a townhouse for the elite, the building was split into tenements for the working class, housing 100 people by 1911.
Derelict since the 1970s, a renovation by Shaffrey Architects over 10 years has turned the building into the primary artifact of a new museum, with walls, floors, banisters, old gas pipes, fireplaces, and fragments of wallpaper all telling stories of Dublin’s industrialization.
Designed by Heneghan Peng in 2014, Airbnb’s European Operations Hub is one of several buildings in the docklands area dedicated to the world’s largest tech firms. Meeting rooms in the building are inspired by Airbnb listings around the world, channeled into individual pods dotted throughout an otherwise open-plan office.
The scheme also features a bench from the 2012 Pavilion of Ireland at the Venice Biennale, designed by Heneghan Peng. Constructed of 6 interlinked sections, 6 rotation-only fulcrums, and 5 pivots, the 12-meter-long bench can be adjusted by height at each section, creating dips and peaks for user interaction.
About the Author:Niall Patrick Walsh is the News Editor at ArchDaily, who recently visited Dublin on ArchDaily’s behalf to explore the city during the Open House Dublin architecture festival. He wishes to extend his sincere thanks to the Irish Architecture Foundation and Anna Fitzgerald for their warm hospitality and deep-rooted knowledge of the city.
Text description provided by the architects. Pavilion UGUNS is designed as a place for meditation and conversation. The character of the architecture refers to dynamics, fluidity and shading of fire. The wooden beam stacking is built by rotating each of the following elements at an angle of 2.5 degrees to the previous one, shaping 9 symbolic flames. The arrangement of the seats inside the pavilion is taken from the principle of the campfire, where sitting in a circle unifies people.
Pavilion UGUNS has been created as a result of cooperation between municipalities of Rugaji, Balvi, Vilaka, Baltinava and Karsava - project „Good Nature in Northern Latgale, Discover Nature Explorer in Yourself”. Five art installations / pavilions in five cities are made to bring attention of people to nature, to teach respect, understand and preserve it. Objects are gifts for Latvia in its centenary in 2018.
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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Hastings Pier / dRMM. Image © Laurian Ghinitiou
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.jpg?1477582137 "New Museum / SANAA. Image © Laurian Ghinitoiu")
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.jpg?1540776773 "© wikimedia user Michal Osmenda licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. ImageSt. Stephen's Green")
.jpg?1540772594 "© Ros Kavanagh. ImageGrand Canal Theater")
.jpg?1540772212 "7-9 Merrion Row. Image © Dennis Gilbert")
