VitraHaus

Over the past few years Vitra has aquired a wide-ranging Home Collection. The quantity and variety of objects by many different designers led to the idea of building a showroom to present the items to the public. Herzog & de Meuron designe the VitraHaus to display the Vitra Home Collection. The building also has some additional space to be used as an exhibition venue for selected parts of the collection or even as an extension of the Vitra Museum itself. A shop, a cafe linked to the outside and conference rooms complete the program.

from CoolBoom by Sylvia

Azteca Multimodal Transfer Station / CC Arquitectos

The Transfer Terminal link the various mass transit such as Metro, articulated buses, buses, minibuses and taxis provide a service so efficient interconnect users in an environment of security and convenience by offering various additional services such as parking, banks, convenience services and baths among others.

from Plataforma Arquitectura by Giuliano Pastorelli

Rennes Metropole Museum / Guinea Potin

French architectural photographer Stéphane Chalmeau shared with us the Rennes Metropole Museum by french architects Guinée et Potin. The project is the result of a competition held in 2006 for an Eco Museum, and it includes exhibition spaces, reception and administrative offices, wrapped in a wooden skin.

Photo: © Stéphane Chalmeau
from Arch Daily by Nico Saieh

House S

Located in Mechelen, Belgium, dmvA Architecten realized an addition that needed a subtle yet practical solution that allowed not only the spatial requirements requested to accommodate the family, but also an experience full of comfort, well being and connectivity.

Due to the light problem on the ground floor, a central void was created, cutting three floors, so light could enter the house via a huge dormer window. In order to lose space, the void was filled in with glass floors. This light-shaft organizes and connects all different living-functions. By means of the glass floors, a spatial transparency is created through which all spaces are connected.

from CoolBoom by Sylvia

SAMOO Wins Competition for Flagship Korean Cultural Center in New York City

SAMOO Architecture PC, the New York studio of SAMOO Architects and Engineers based in Seoul, Korea, announced today that it has won an international competition for the design of The New York Korea Center, a new home for the Korean Cultural Service in New York. The eight-story, 33,000 square foot facility will offer spaces for exhibitions, performances, lectures, and administration. Korea House will be located on East 32nd Street, extending the vibrancy of Manhattan’s Korea Town to the Murray Hill neighborhood.

from Bustler.net News by Vanilla Hustler

Aloni / decaARCHITECTURE

The design of the house is a dual response to the particular topography of the site and to the rural domestication techniques that in the past shaped the raw ‘Cycladic island’ landscape. In the past, dry-rubble stone walls domesticated the land for agricultural purposes and were the most prominent man-made interventions in the landscape. The walls retained earth and transformed a steep topography into a series of arable plateaus. Today, the Cycladic islands are being reshaped by a very different force: the demand for holiday homes. The design uses the precedent of earth-retaining stone walls to create an artificial landscape that is both rural and domestic in use.

from Arch Daily by Nico Saieh

Youth House in Rivas Vaciamadrid / MI5 Architects

Signs of identity
The project started with the need to cover a historical claim of youth teams in the old town of Rivas-Vaciamadrid. To this end there is a rectangular plot within a space for a future park to build a new plant envelope and height. From these dimensions volumetric begins a process of participation from which to establish agreed strategies of appropriation and construction of any signs of collective identity from the lexicon of youth culture.

Photo: © Miguel de Guzman
from Plataforma Arquitectura by David Basulto

cannon design: richmond olympic oval

the vancouver 2010 olympics are fast approaching, but many of the event venues are already completed, including the richmond olympic oval by cannon design. the six-acre building sits on the fraser river near vancouver and demonstrates the sustainability standards for the games. the building received a silver LEED certification, thanks in part to its clever use of locally sourced wood that was affected by the mountain pine beetle infestation. the design features three levels and seating for up to 8,000 spectators. the roof is the venue’s most striking feature, with a wave formation that is one of the world’s largest clearspan wooden structures. the building also collects rainwater for re-use throughout. the venue was completed in 2008 and will continue to bee used as a multi-purpose sport facility once the vancouver games are completed.

from Designboom - Weblog

Kalmar Museum of Art / Tham & Videgård Architects

Though the completion of this project is dated back to last year, I am reminded by reading publication of Architectural Records that Tham & Videgård Arkitekter has been announcing Design Vangard 2009. Thus, I would like to feature their project here which it is Kalmar Museum of Art. The followings are their statement;

Photo©Åke E’son Lindman
from architecture buzz!! by Tanakorn Koomrampai

Kindergarten Barbapapà / ccd studio

The project of Kindergarten “Barbapapà” was designed to a notice competition for project financing, in 2006, proposed by Vignola’s municipality. The program consisted in the space for 60 children divided in four classroom. The area is located on the border of urban development, on the hill up the city, not so much far to the historical centre.

Photo: © Fabio Mantovani
from Arch Daily by Nico Saieh

Facade Kiefer Technic Showroom

The Kiefer Technic Showroom is a work carried out in 2007 by the Austrian office Giselbrecht + Partner ZT GmbH, office extensive experience in project development, dating from the 50s. Despite its impressive length this document the use of technology, specifically the design of an automated control system that covers the curved facade.

from Plataforma Arquitectura by Giuliano Pastorelli