La estación de metro King Abdullah de Distrito Financiero (KAFD) será un punto clave en la nueva red de metro de Riad para la Línea 1, así como la estación de la Línea 4 y Línea 6. El proyecto cuenta con seis plataformas divididas en cuatro pisos y dos niveles subterráneos de estacionamiento. El diseño ubica a la estación en el centro de una red de caminos, puentes colgantes y líneas de metro, todas previstas en el plan maestro KAFD.

Se mapearon diagramas de conectividad y tráfico para definir las rutas peatonales dentro del edificio, optimizar la circulación interna y evitar la congestión. Esto genera un “enrejado” tridimensional definido por una secuencia de ondas senoidales (generadas a partir de la repetición y la variación de la frecuencia de los flujos de tráfico diario de la estación).

Original Text in English
The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Metro Station will serve as a key interchange on the new Riyadh Metro network for Line 1, as well as the terminus of Line 4 (for passengers to the airport) and Line 6. The  local monorail can also be accessed from the station via a skybridge. With six platforms over four public floors and two levels of underground car parking, the KAFD Metro Station will be integrated within the urban context of the financial district, responding to the functional requirements of a multimodal transport centre and the district’s future vision. The project extends beyond the simple station typology to emphasize the building’s importance as a dynamic, multi-functional public space; not only an intermediate place perceived through quick transitions, but also a dramatic public space for the city.

The design places the station at the centre of a network of pathways, skybridges and metro lines envisaged by the KAFD master plan. Connectivity diagrams and traffic across the site have been mapped and structured to clearly delineate the pedestrian routes within the building, optimize internal circulation and avoid congestion. The resulting configuration is a threedimensional lattice defined by a sequence of opposing sine-waves (generated from the repetition and frequency variation of station’s daily traffic flows) which act as the spine for the building’s circulation. These sine-waves are extended to the station’s envelope and strictly affiliated to its internal layout, translating the architectural concept to the exterior.

La casa está diseñada para permitir vistas hacia ya través de ella, lo que da una sensación de expansión territorial hacia el interior. Una terraza extendida y cubierta al sur ofrece espacios que extienden esta coreografía experimental y ocupan el espacio exterior.

El lenguaje arquitectónico del exterior, un cobertizo de acero galvanizado monolítico, tiene su referencia en la cultura vernácula agrícola local. Esto garantiza una coherencia visual con el paisaje y con el medio al construir la casa con materiales del lugar y/o disponibles localmente. La madera utilizada para los revestimientos, las cubiertas y el interior, por ejemplo, se extrae de un bosque próximo a la casa, y el acero galvanizado proviene de una empresa local especializada en la fabricación de techos para establos y otras construcciones agrícolas. Reciclado aperos de labranza de acero fueron reutilizados en lámparas y otros muebles y las rejilla de acero son una adaptación de los usos agrícolas para formar las barandas de protección en el paseo al oeste y en el espacio interior tipo loft. El rico diálogo con los artesanos de la zona aseguró que la casa tenga sus raíces en las prácticas de construcción locales y en el contexto de la comunidad, incorporando recursos innovadores y de conservación de la energía.

Original text in English

The 25-acre site is in constant flux due to seasonal shifts tied to weather, cultivation and occupation. The house sits lightly on the land while registering and amplifying specific conditions of this vast productive landscape: it frames expansive views of the shifting crop quilts adjacent to the house and acts as a datum to an existing topographic shift on the site. The house is calibrated to allow views into and through the house, which gives a sense of spatial expansion to the interior. An extended south deck and west deck walk offer threshold spaces that extend this experiential choreography while also mediating between enclosure and exposure and extending seasonal exterior occupation of the site.

The house is off-grid and a variety of sustainable measures reduce both operational and embodied energy. Siting and orientation facilitate passive heating and cooling to temper the vast seasonal temperature swings in Ontario. The generous south deck overhang blocks summer sun while allowing winter sun to heat the concrete thermal mass floor. Evenly distributed operable windows generate summer cross-ventilation and facilitate stack effect heat purging. Triple-glazed windows, a highly insulated envelope detailed to reduce thermal bridging, and high efficiency appliances ensure energy consumption is minimized.

The house offers back to the cultural landscape in which it sits. The architectural language of the exterior, a monolithic galvanized steel shed, is informed by the local agricultural vernacular. This ensures visual coherence within the landscape and means that the house could be built with locally available and sourced materials. Wood used for siding, decking, and interior counters, for example, was harvested from a forest within view of the house, and the galvanised steel came from a local company that specializes in roofing for barns and other agricultural buildings. Recycled steel farming implements were re-appropriated into light fixtures, counter bases and other furnishings, and steel grating was adapted from agricultural uses to form the guardrails on the west deck walk and the interior loft space. The rich dialogue with local craftsman ensured that the house is rooted in the building practices and conventions of context while also offering the community exposure to innovative resource and energy-conserving construction practices.

The interior of the 83 m2 house is composed of a core floating within a shed shell. There are no conventional rooms or hallways; inhabitable spaces flow into one another, making the compact space feel expansive. The shallow end of the shed contains an intimate east facing sleeping area, while the west end of the house contains a double-height living space. In between and within the core are the bathroom, storage areas, kitchen, and stairs to a floating loft space that overlooks the double-height living space. Services are contained within a small footprint within the core to minimize pipe and wire runs and to allow balanced continuous views to the surrounding natural environment. The house was detailed with a deliberately reductive palette and in such a way as to reduce material redundancy where possible. The concrete floor, for example, serves as a structural element, a heat source (through radiant in-floor heating), as thermal mass for passive solar gain in winter and passive cooling in summer, and as final floor finish.

Generous threshold spaces including a continuous 15m long covered south deck and 15m long west deck walk extend living into the site without disturbing farming activities, and abundant windows and carefully calibrated views into and through the central core ensure that, despite its limited footprint, the house is visually expansive. The experience of moving into, within and through the house, along with careful siting and generous threshold spaces, allow the house to act as a place of slow seasonal observation.

Original text in English

This Project is a renovation for a SPA, Kaatsu and beauty salon located in the center of Nagoya, Japan. We insert the space to provide drinks being always aware of health and beauty, such as fruit and organic vegetables. We have created counter of 4.2m length in the limited entrance’s space, have secured the minimum flow line for increasing the number of customers standing, have created facade / petit architecture composed with curved surface, while repeating unevenness, so that the counter arranged obliquely may be made to fit the ergonomics of human body.

The counter slides through the wall, while the spiral runs along a smooth curved surface reaching to the ceiling. The form of the curved surface was changed and it computed so that the needed function might be absorbed, always having in mind the ease of use. The new design follows the logic of the building`s façade volume, and therefore the city terms and conditions, and changing it, by repeatedly studying new variations using parametric design, we came across with the final form for the included functions.

People can find their own heights, and therefore their own unique place, given by the new form, allowing them to, in time, feel comfortable in their body and mind. The service side of the counter also creates a space in which multiple people can work at the same time thanks to the easy-to-use form of various heights by work-unit. The form is gently wrapped and it stays on visitors` minds. The new design will become the opportunity to allow a reform of consciousness with a new feeling, for people who seek both physically and mentally changes.

Proponemos crear un tejido urbano de caminos y plazas, parques y jardines que formen un archipiélago de oasis urbanos en todo el sitio. En el corazón del mismo se introduce una plaza que se convertirá en el punto central de todo el barrio. “Hemos desarrollado una estrategia que combina la planificación urbana y el diseño del paisaje para crear un barrio que se caracterice por la escala humana, las conexiones peatonales, con espacios sombreados y programas públicos que bordeen las calles y las plazas. Un barrio que, dependiendo de la temporada, del día de la semana, o incluso de la hora del día, pueda ser percibido como un animado centro o como un acogedor parque público”, dice Bjarke Ingels, Director Creativo de BIG.

La plaza crea una serie de conexiones intuitivas a través del sitio. Una diagonal conecta el paisaje con los Jardines Botánicos y el Museo del Holocausto. La conexión norte-sur une el Canal Collins con la vivacidad de Lincoln Road. Una red verde de espacios públicos cose todos los barrios adyacentes -anteriormente separados por el centro de convenciones- y completa el tejido urbano tanto para los visitantes como para sus residentes. Todos los programas públicos -los viejos y los nuevos- se unen en la plaza. Todas las grandes ciudades tienen una gran plaza – esta será Miami Beach Square.

“Al darnos cuenta de que el reto parecía estar impulsado por dos agendas incompatibles, vimos que en realidad esta era una oportunidad para crear un centro de convenciones que no sólo fuera para los asistentes a las convenciones sino, más importante, para los residentes de Miami Beach“, dice Jack Portman, Portman de JPA.

Original Text in English

Miami Beach is a unique city in so many ways. It is one of the youngest cities in America – and perhaps right now one of the most vibrant and dynamic. Its streetscape is characterized by a lively walkable urban fabric with a friendly human scaled environment under the cool shade of tropical trees and art deco canopies – except at the convention center. It is a dead black hole of asphalt in the heart of one the most beautiful and lively cities in America. Our mission is to bring Miami Beach back to the Convention Center – and to imagine an architecture and an urban space unique to the climate and culture of Miami Beach.

We propose to roll out an urban fabric of paths and plazas, parks and gardens that forms an archipelago of urban oases throughout the site. At the heart of it – we introduce a central square to become the pivoting point of the entire neighborhood. Becoming the front door to the convention center, and the convention hotel, a front lawn to the revitalized Jackie Gleason Theatre, a town square for the city hall, an outdoor arena for the Latin American Cultural Museum, and the red carpet for the big botanical ball room.

“We have devised a strategy that combines urban planning and landscape design to create a neighborhood characterized by human scale, pedestrian connections, shaded spaces with public oriented programs lining the streets and squares. A neighborhood that, depending on the season, the weekday, or even the time of day can be perceived as a lively downtown neighborhood or an inviting public park.” Bjarke Ingels, Creative Director BIG

The square creates a series of intuitive connections across the site – a diagonal that connects the Soundscape to the Botanical Gardens and Holocaust Memorial. A north-south connection joins the Collins Canal to Lincoln Road and naturally channels the flow of convention visitors to the liveliness of Lincoln Road. A green network of public spaces that stitches together all of the adjacent neighborhoods – formerly separated by the convention center – into a complete and coherent community – for both visitors and residents. All public programs – old and new come together on the square. All great cities have a great square – this will be Miami Beach Square.

“Rather than scattering all the program across the 52 acre site we have decided to concentrate it around the center piece of our public realm – Miami Beach Square bringing focus to the renovated Jackie Gleason Theater, the entrance of the convention center and for the first time ever creating a worthy civic presence to Miami Beach City Hall.” Jamie Maslyn Larsen, West 8, Creator of Soundscape Park.

By popular demand we have found a way to preserve and enhance the architecture and programming of the Jackie Gleason Theatre. By making it all public at the street level – opening up lobbies, restaurants and cafes on all sides – we make the Gleason a lively centerpiece in this new neighborhood. Towards the Square we propose to extend the fly tower with a performing arts center with various spaces for rehearsal and offering a visual connection to the public. Adjacent to the Jackie Gleason Theater sits the new Latin American Cultural Museum consisting of a base of public programs opening up on the square. The building form creates a covered shaded event space on the square blurring the transition between inside and outside.

Today the Miami Beach City Hall is almost like a left over wedged between random neighbors surrounded by traffic. Our proposal places it rightly in the middle of the town square with amble space for public expression and at the heart of communal life. The Miami Beach City Hall and Botanical Ballroom book end the Square making it a natural extension of the civic activities of city hall. To the north the botanical ballroom opens up allowing for beautiful views of the botanical gardens and the memorial. The Ballroom has an entrance to the south and to the north allowing for seamless connectivity to the convention center – under the shade and shelter of the canopies.

Rather than being the hermetic mono programmatic box that the Miami Beach Convention Center is today – a single program at the size of an urban block- we propose to consider the Convention Center an actual urban block complete with different programs – grown together to form a continuous architecture. A gradual transition from public to private – and from cultural to civic – conference to residential turns a stroll around the block into an experience of continuous variation. Along the entire west adjacent to the various gardens and the new square – the main entrances to the convention Center and Conference Center occupies the ground. The hotel lobby spans the entire south elevation in continuation of the Convention Center lobby. The Hotel façade as pulled back forming a cascade of terraces for the south facing hotel rooms – decreasing the perceived height seen from the Gleason.

The Roof of the Convention Center is framed by a green roof drawing the outline of the urban block – framing the hotel gardens and the roof parking interspersed with shade giving landscapes. As a reoccurring annual event we propose to sponsor an art foundation that will deliver a roof art piece to cover the remaining roof surface turning it into a giant ever changing canvas seen from the air as well as the roof terrace of the hotel. An ever changing giant canvas that will annually challenge contemporary artists with an architectural scale canvas – seen from the roofs and penthouses of adjacent buildings, from airplanes and google earth.

“Realizing that a challenge that seemed to be driven by two incompatible agendas was actually the opportunity – to create a convention center district that is not only for convention-goers but, more importantly, for residents.” Jack Portman, Portman Holdings and JPA.

Las principales características del proyecto son:
• 368 nuevas habitaciones para pacientes privados (un total de 600 camas) con ventanas de pared a pared para optimizar el ingreso de luz natural y las amplias vistas.
• Salas de diagnóstico y tratamiento (17 quirófanos, 11 salas de intervención – radiología guiada por imagen, cinco salas de resonancias magnéticas, cuatro de tomografías y un MRI intervencional).
• Nuevo centro de traumatología en el primer nivel que triplica el tamaño de la actual sala de urgencias.
• Estacionamiento para 1000 automóviles.
• Cinco jardines para pacientes y visitantes, con senderos peatonales y una sala de meditación.
• Estructura antisísmica para la protección de los ocupantes y de las instalaciones ante terremotos y catástrofes naturales.

En el tercer nivel del nuevo hospital de siete pisos se instala un único jardín elevado, una combinación de cubiertas ajardinadas y equipamientos públicos que incluyen un restaurante, un centro de conferencias y centros de bienestar. Elevado sobre el nivel de los techos de los edificios circundantes, el jardín elevado goza de amplias vistas al campus y a las colinas, y sirve como lugar de curación y relajación para los pacientes y sus familiares.

Para garantizar la flexibilidad del nuevo hospital y adaptarse a la tecnología médica en continua y rápida evolución y a los futuros programas, se utilizó un módulo universal de 120 x 120, óptimo para una amplia gama de funciones del hospital. Dispuesto como un tablero de ajedrez, el plan modular integra el nuevo hospital con una variedad de espacios públicos abiertos: un atrio acristalado, una plaza en la planta baja y jardines en el techo. Este enfoque permite también la futura expansión y una organización horizontal que complementa el marco de poca altura del campus de la Universidad de Stanford y su Centro Médico.

Original Text in English

Rafael Viñoly Architects announces the official “Groundbreaking” of The New Stanford Hospital, as part of the Stanford University Medical Center: Project Renewal. Wednesday May 1, University and medical center leadership gathered at an in an exclusive event to mark this milestone in the project’s construction and design, scheduled for completion in 2017. The new hospital will be open for patient care in early 2018.

Stanford Hospital & Clinics, requiring a new, state-of-the-art facility, selected Rafael Viñoly Architects for its unique approach to health-care design. Rather than creating the typical base-and-tower hospital building, the firm proposed a modular plan that can be easily adapted for a variety of uses, thus allowing both for incremental expansion of the hospital building and a horizontal development strategy that complements the low-rise campus context of Stanford University and its Medical Center.

“This project represents an unprecedented endeavor in the hospital’s successful 50-year history of healing humanity. By reinterpreting and updating the Stanford campus and the original hospital through a modular plan, it is poised to adapt to evolving medical technology while continuing to provide advanced care and treatment – in a healing environment unique to Stanford – to patients from surrounding communities and beyond.” – Rafael Viñoly

Project Highlights include:
• 368 new private patient bedrooms (for total of 600 beds on site) with wall-to-wall windows for natural light and expansive views.
• State-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment rooms (17 operating rooms, 11 interventional/radiology image-guided rooms, five MRIs, four CTs, and one interventional MRI)
• New Level 1 Trauma Center triple the size of the current Emergency Department
• New 1,000-car parking structure
• Five gardens for patients and visitors, walking trails and a meditation room
• Seismically isolated building structure for protection of occupants and facility from catastrophic earthquakes.

Created on the third floor of the new seven-story hospital is the unique Garden Level, a combination of roof gardens and non-clinical public amenities including a restaurant, conference center, and wellness center. Elevated at the roof level of the surrounding campus buildings, Garden Level enjoys views of the campus and foothills, and serves as a place of healing and respite for patients and family.

To ensure the new hospital’s flexibility to adapt to the rapidly evolving medical technology and future program, a universal module measuring 120 x 120 feet -optimal configuration and dimensions for a wide range of hospital functions- is used as the basic building block of the new hospital. Arranged in a checkerboard pattern, the modular plan integrates the new hospital with a variety of open public spaces: a glass-covered atrium, landscaped drop-off plaza, and roof gardens. This approach also allows for incremental future expansion and a horizontal organization that complements the low-rise campus context of the Stanford University and its Medical Center.

Los museos, como experiencia social colectiva y expresión cultural, representan nuevas formas para entender al mundo. No solo contienen conocimientos, preservan la información y transmiten ideas, sino que además estimulan la curiosidad, sensibilizan y crean oportunidades para el intercambio. Como instrumentos de educación y cambio social, los museos tienen el potencial para dar forma a nuestra comprensión de nosotros mismos y del mundo en que vivimos.

A medida que nuestro medio ambiente se enfrenta a retos cada vez más importantes, una mayor comprensión de la interdependencia de los sistemas naturales se torna cada vez más esencial para nuestra supervivencia y para la evolución del mundo. Los museos dedicados a la naturaleza y a la ciencia juegan un papel clave en la expansión de nuestra comprensión de estos complejos sistemas.

El Museo Perot busca alcanzar los más altos estándares de sostenibilidad posibles para un edificio de este tipo. El diseño de alto rendimiento y la incorporación de las más avanzadas tecnologías harán que el nuevo edificio minimice su impacto sobre el medio ambiente. Sus instalaciones crean un entorno inmersivo e interactivo que involucra activamente a los visitantes. Rechazando la idea de la arquitectura de museo como un fondo neutro para los objetos expuestos, el nuevo edificio en sí se convierte en una herramienta activa para la enseñanza de las ciencias. Mediante la integración de la arquitectura, la naturaleza y la tecnología, el edificio muestra los principios científicos y estimula la curiosidad por nuestro entorno natural.

La experiencia inmersiva de la naturaleza dentro de la ciudad comienza con el acercamiento de los visitantes al museo, que lo conducen a través de dos ecologías propias de Texas: un bosque de grandes árboles nativos y una terraza del desierto natural. La terraza desciende suavemente hasta conectar con el emblemático techo de piedras del museo. La masa total del edificio se concibe como un gran cubo que flota sobre el zócalo paisajístico del sitio. La ondulante tipología de la cubierta, compuesta de rocas y pastos resistentes a la sequía, refleja la geología indígena de Dallas y muestra un sistema vivo que evolucionará naturalmente con el paso del tiempo.

La intersección de estas dos ecologías define la plaza principal de entrada, un lugar de encuentro que es a la vez un área de eventos y un espacio público al aire libre para la ciudad. Desde la plaza, la cubierta ajardinada se levanta para atraer a los visitantes a través de un espacio comprimido hacia el vestíbulo de entrada más amplio. La topografía del techo ondulado del vestíbulo refleja el dinamismo de la superficie del paisaje exterior, borrando la distinción entre interior y exterior, y la conexión de lo natural con lo artificial.

Al pasar el espacio comprimido de la entrada, la mirada del visitante se enfoca hacia arriba a través del volumen abierto del atrio con su cielo iluminado, el espacio de circulación principal del edificio que alberga las escaleras, las escaleras mecánicas y los ascensores. Los visitantes llegan desde allí a una alta terraza acristalada con vistas a la ciudad de Dallas. Desde este balcón abierto, los visitantes bajan en un recorrido en espiral a través de las galerías. Esta dinámica procesión espacial crea una experiencia visceral que involucra a los visitantes y establece una conexión inmediata con el medio ambiente inmersivo arquitectónico y natural del museo.

El camino desciende desde la planta superior a través de las galerías del museo entrando y saliendo del atrio principal de circulación del edificio, conectando alternativamente al visitante con el mundo interior del museo y con la vida exterior de la ciudad. El visitante se convierte en parte de la arquitectura. El museo es, por lo tanto, un edificio fundamentalmente público – un edificio que se abre y pertenece activamente a la ciudad. En última instancia, el público es tan esencial para el museo como el museo lo es para la ciudad.

Original Text in English

The new Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Victory Park will create a distinct identity for the Museum, enhance the institution’s prominence in Dallas and enrich the city’s evolving cultural fabric.

Museums, armatures for collective societal experience and cultural expression, present new ways of interpreting the world. They contain knowledge, preserve information and transmit ideas; they stimulate curiosity, raise awareness and create opportunities for exchange. As instruments of education and social change, museums have the potential to shape our understanding of ourselves and the world in which we live.

As our global environment faces ever more critical challenges, a broader understanding of the interdependence of natural systems is becoming more essential to our survival and evolution. Museums dedicated to nature and science play a key role in expanding our understanding of these complex systems.

The new Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Victory Park will create a distinct identity for the Museum, enhance the institution’s prominence in Dallas and enrich the city’s evolving cultural fabric. Designed to engage a broad audience, invigorate young minds, and inspire wonder and curiosity in the daily lives of its visitors, the Museum will cultivate a memorable experience that will persist in the minds of its visitors and that will ultimately broaden individuals’ and society’s understanding of nature and science.

The Museum will strive to achieve the highest standards of sustainability possible for a building of its type. High performance design and incorporation of state of the art technologies will yield a new building that will minimize its impact on the environment.

This world class facility will inspire awareness of science through an immersive and interactive environment that actively engages visitors. Rejecting the notion of museum architecture as neutral background for exhibits, the new building itself becomes an active tool for science education. By integrating architecture, nature, and technology, the building demonstrates scientific principles and stimulates curiosity in our natural surroundings.

The immersive experience of nature within the city begins with the visitor’s approach to the museum, which leads through two native Texas ecologies: a forest of large native canopy trees and a terrace of native desert xeriscaping. The xeriscaped terrace gently slopes up to connect with the museum’s iconic stone roof. The overall building mass is conceived as a large cube floating over the site’s landscaped plinth. An acre of undulating roofscape comprised of rock and native drought-resistant grasses reflects Dallas’s indigenous geology and demonstrates a living system that will evolve naturally over time.

The intersection of these two ecologies defines the main entry plaza, a gathering and event area for visitors and an outdoor public space for the city of Dallas. From the plaza, the landscaped roof lifts up to draw visitors through a compressed space into the more expansive entry lobby. The topography of the lobby’s undulating ceiling reflects the dynamism of the exterior landscape surface, blurring the distinction between inside and outside, and connecting the natural with the manmade.

Moving from the compressed space of the entry, a visitor’s gaze is drawn upward through the soaring open volume of the sky-lit atrium, the building’s primary light-filled circulation space, which houses the building’s stairs, escalators and elevators. From the ground floor, a series of escalators bring patrons though the atrium to the uppermost level of the museum. Patrons arrive at a fully glazed balcony high above the city, with a bird’s eye view of downtown Dallas. From this sky balcony, visitors proceed downward in a clockwise spiral path through the galleries. This dynamic spatial procession creates a visceral experience that engages visitors and establishes an immediate connection to the immersive architectural and natural environment of the museum.

The path descending from the top floor through the museum’s galleries weaves in and out of the building’s main circulation atrium, alternately connecting the visitor with the internal world of the museum and with the external life of the city beyond. The visitor becomes part of the architecture, as the eastern facing corner of the building opens up towards downtown Dallas to reveal the activity within. The museum, is thus, a fundamentally public building – a building that opens up, belongs to and activates the city; ultimately, the public is as integral to the museum as the museum is to the city.

Situado entre dos edificios más altos, el espacio es largo y delgado – 2,6 m de ancho, 7,8 m de profundidad y 3,9 m de altura máxima. El objetivo al trabajar con estas proporciones fue ofrecer un espacio acogedor e íntimo para la comunicación con los clientes.

Las ventanas de una pared lateral, que aparecieron al demoler el interior del antiguo almacén, fueron la clave del diseño. En la pared opuesta, montamos un espejo para mejorar la perspectiva y la luz. La ventana situada en la parte delantera de la tienda, que tiene vidrio marrón para representar los envases tradicionales de Esopo, se incorpora en los estantes. De esta manera, la ventana se amplía y los estantes son considerados como un marco.

Con el fin de limitar la variedad de los materiales utilizados, los estantes están acabados en acero ennegrecido, que es también la base para las puertas de depósito integradas en las paredes de mortero o espejo.

La puerta de entrada y el signo de la fachada son de vidrio marrón y vidrio corrugado, colocados como un patchwork – su color y apariencia transparente evocan la imagen de la marca Esopo. La señal luminosa en la pared y una selección de plantas crean una atmósfera de aire libre. A medida que se avanza hacia el interior, los sutiles cambios de textura desde el suelo de madera antigua hasta las áreas con alfombra marcan la transición desde la concurrida calle hacia la quietud de la tienda.

Original Text in English

For Australian skin care brand Aesop, we planned the interior and exterior of the new store on Meiji Street in Shibuya. The store is located on the first floor of a three-storey building situated between two taller buildings; the space is long and slender – 2.6m in width, 7.8m in depth and 3.9m in maximum height. We aimed to work with these proportions to provide a welcoming and intimate space for communication with customers.

The windows on one side wall, which appeared after demolishing of the former store’s interior, were the key for the design. On the wall opposite, we mounted a mirror to enhance scenery, extensity and light. The window located at the front of the store below has brown glass to represent Aesop’s traditional containers, and is incorporated in the shelves. In this way, the window is extended and the shelves are considered as a frame.

In order to limit the variety of the materials used, the shelves and counter are finished in blackened steel, which is also the basis for storage doors assimilated into the mortar wall or mirror wall; the basin that is Aesop’s feature is set near the entrance to effect a good view from the passage.

The door of the entrance and the facade sign are created from glass. The latter is composed of brown glass and corrugated glass, like patchwork – its colour and transparent appearance evoking Aesop’s brand image. A luminous sign on the wall and a selection of plants lend an outdoor atmosphere. As you move further into the interior, the floor texture changes from old wood to sisal carpet, subtly emphasising the transition from the busy street to the quietude of the store.

El proyecto se llevará a cabo a lo largo de más de una década. Sin embargo, ya se han iniciado una serie de otros proyectos en Presqu’ile, como la nueva Biblioteca Multimedia (OMA) y un Tribunal Superior Regional (BE Hauvette y Pierre Champenois).

En este proyecto, MVRDV colaboró con el arquitecto Diagram, los planificadores urbanos Pro Developpement, el arquitecto del paisaje Territoires, la consultora de ingeniería y sostenibilidad IOSIS y el consultor de estrategia urbana Philippe Cabane.

Original Text in English

SPLA, the public development agency for the transformation of the Presqu’ile de Caen, has chosen MVRDV out of 3 competitors to transform the 600ha area consisting of former industry and ports. The MVRDV plan envisions the future of Caen Presqu’ile as a collection of gardens surrounded by intensified urban area. It envisions Caen as attractive city with a connection to the sea whilst interventions improve landscape, environment, mobility and connections. The project is planned to last ten years or longer.

MVRDV extended the scope by widening the transformation area beyond the geographic boundaries of the peninsula and sketching a vision also for the adjacent areas. The resulting plan titled ‘La Grande Mosaique’ is strongly based on the existing structures and foresees in realistic, careful and friendly urbanism. A large number of small yet well coordinated interventions results in a gigantic mosaic which creates new qualities on an urban scale. Projects proposed are: Transformation of former factories into a collection of gardens, a highly connected mobility plan based largely on ‘soft’ traffic, a number of new pedestrian bridges, a re-reconstruction of the city centre which was rebuilt after the Second World War in a rush and an improved connection to the sea. This ambition, titled ‘Caen la Mer’ is symbolic for the plan which is defined by the small scale interventions that result in a large scale structure vision.

Caen Presqu’ile starts near the historical centre of Caen and follows the valley of the Orne which connects the city to the sea, not far from the D-day beaches. The MVRDV plan for the 550 ha brown fields is a structure vision extending over the city of Caen and the towns of Mondeville and Hérouville Saint Clair. The transformation carries the ambition to fundamentally enhance attractiveness of Greater Caen. The project will take over a decade yet a number of projects for the Presqu’ile has already been started, such as the new multimedia Library (OMA) and a regional High Court (BE Hauvette and Pierre Champenois).

“We have unanimously chosen the most impressive plan” said Philippe Duron, mayor of Caen, who said that the jury liked the “fresh view” on urbanism. MVRDV collaborated with co-architect Diagram, Pro Developpement urban programmers, landscape architect Territoires, sustainability and engineering consultant IOSIS and urban strategist Philippe Cabane. The MVRDV team won the competition from François Leclerq with JDS and Djamel Klouche with AUC/SLETH.

Sincere Property, MVRDV y Aedas han iniciado la construcción de un Distrito de Negocios en el aeropuerto para vuelos domésticos de Hongqiao, en Shanghai. El sitio de 4.5 ha se encuentra cerca de la estación de tren del aeropuerto, en la esquina de Shenhai Express Way y Shenbin Road. Los 110.000 m2 de oficinas se dividen en un total de diez torres de cinco a nueve pisos para empresas de diferentes tamaños distribuidas en la parcela sur. En la parcela norte, los remates de las cuatro torres se fusionarán en un solo edificio, formando un punto de referencia en forma de flor de cuatro plantas, en voladizo por encima del suelo.

Los 47.000 m2 destinados a espacios comerciales se encuentra una parte en la planta baja y otra en la plaza hundida al abrigo del tráfico vehicular. Dos cubos de cristal marcan los accesos al centro comercial diseñado por Aedas y forman parte del itinerario peatonal del barrio, que serpentea a través del sitio. En ambas parcelas, la gran plaza hundida cuenta con amplias escaleras que pueden ser utilizadas como asientos, lo que permite que se celebraren allí eventos culturales. La planta baja del edificio de la flor se reserva para el programa cultural de 1.790 m2. Debajo del centro comercial se ubica el estacionamiento de 55.000 m2.

La fachada se ha minimizado mediante la introducción de esquinas redondas que, junto con la continua fachada de piedra con una transparencia del 50,5%, logra un eficiente consumo de energía. La fachada presenta una rejilla sutil con una delicada referencia a los bosques de bambú. El sombreado del edificio en flor resulta en una fachada con aberturas más pequeñas en las plantas superiores para lograr un más eficiente consumo de energía. Las escotillas ocultas al lado de las ventanas permiten la ventilación natural.

El Hongqiao CDB alcanzará el nivel tres estrellas, el más alto ranking del ‘Green Building Label’ de China. Las características de construcción sostenible que se utilizarán incluyen aislamientos de alto rendimiento, formas de construcción optimizada, espacios de sombra, ventilación natural, recogida de aguas pluviales, pavimentos permeables, paradas de transporte público y una reducción del efecto isla de calor urbano. Las nueve torres de oficinas contarán con techos verdes con especies de plantas locales. Además, el edificio flor ofrecerá un jardín panorámico con una pista de jogging continua.

Original Text in English

Sincere Property, MVRDV and Aedas have started construction on a Central Business District at Shanghai’s mostly domestic airport Hongqiao. The 4.5ha site is located near Hongqiao Airport train station at the corner of Shenhai Express Way and Shenbin Road. The plan comprises ten office towers, an underground shopping centre, cultural program, parking and a sunken plaza which will bring a more intimate form of urban life into an area currently dominated by large boulevards and urban expressway’s. The project’s completion is planned for 2015.

Just weeks after winning the competition, construction has already started on this urban masterplan for an office and retail centre near the fourth busiest airport in mainland China. The 4.5ha site is divided into a small northern plot of 8,409 m2 and a larger southern plot. The team won the competition with highly energy-efficient architecture combined with an intimate urban plan which allows for pedestrian-friendly spaces.

The 110,000m2 offices are divided into ten towers in total: nine office towers on the southern plot ranging from five to nine floors, facilitating rental to different sized companies. The towers are flexibly designed to contain one or more companies. On the northern plot, the tops of four towers will merge into one building, forming a flower shaped landmark of four floors, cantilevered high above the ground.

The 47,000m2 retail space will be located partly on the ground floor and partly along a sunken plaza sheltered from vehicle traffic. Two glass cubes mark the entrances to the shopping centre and are part of the neighbourhood’s pedestrian route, which meanders through the site. The shopping centre is designed by Aedas. On both plots a spacious sunken plaza features wide stairs that can be used as seating, allowing cultural events to be hosted on the site.

Facade area has been minimized by introducing round cornered towers which, together with the continuous 50,5% transparency stone façade, leads to an efficient energy consumption. The façade presents a subtle shifted grid with a delicate bamboo forest reference. The self shading shape of the flower building has lead to a façade with smaller openings on the upper floors for efficient energy consumption. Hidden hatches next to the windows allow for natural ventilation.

The ground floor of the flower building is reserved for 1.790 m2 of cultural program. A 55.000m2 parking garage is located underneath the shopping centre. The Hongqiao CBD will reach three stars, the highest ranking of the Chinese ‘Green Building Label’. Sustainable building features that will be used include high performance insulation, optimised building forms, shaded spaces, natural ventilation, rainwater collection, permeable road surfaces, links to public transport and a reduction in the urban heat island effect. Nine office towers will feature green roofs growing local plant species and the flower building will offer a sky garden with a continuous jogging path.

MVRDV was selected from a competition with 3 competitors to design the business park. The shopping centre is designed by Aedas. Completion is planned for 2015. In 2003 MVRDV realised the successful Unterföhring. Park Village office campus near Munich in which urban intimacy was introduced into a large, business park environment.

“El notable número de respuestas de alta calidad para los adAPT NYC RFP valida la idea de que el desarrollo de micro-unidad de vivienda es a la vez física y financieramente viable en la ciudad de Nueva York”, dijo el comisionado Mathew M. Wambua.

My Micro NY será el primer edificio de apartamentos de micro-unidad de Nueva York construido en un terreno municipal y el primer edificio de unidades múltiples de Manhattan desarrollado con construcción modular. El proyecto se centra en la calidad y habitabilidad a través de características que destacan el uso del espacio, la luz y el aire, como son los 9 y 10 pies de altura de piso a techo y sus balcones. Las 55 micro-unidades, de entre 250 y 370 pies cuadrados, resultan accesibles para familias de ingresos bajos y medianos sin ningún tipo de subsidio directo de la ciudad o de financiamiento, en parte debido al diseño modular que acorta significativamente los tiempos de la construcción.

El concurso NYC ADAPT fue creado como parte del plan Nuevo Mercado de la Vivienda del alcalde Bloomberg con el objetivo de introducir opciones adicionales en el mercado inmobiliario de la ciudad de Nueva York para atender a la creciente población que demanda hogares para una o dos personas. Los códigos de vivienda de la ciudad se han mantenido sin modificaciones, aún con una población cambiante, y en la actualidad no permiten construir un edificio entero de micro-unidades. Estas regulaciones de zonificación se modificarán en el sitio Kips Bay para que el proyecto piloto My Micro NY se pueda desarrollar.

Original Text in English

nARCHITECTS’ design for My Micro NY, in collaboration with Monadnock Development and the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation, is the winning proposal in the adAPT NYC competition sponsored by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD). Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and HPD Commissioner Mathew M. Wambua announced at a press conference in January 2013 that the My Micro NY development team has been chosen through a competitive Request for Proposals, which received the largest response to date for an HPD housing project.

“The remarkable number of high-quality responses to the adAPT NYC RFP validates the position that developing micro-unit living is both financially and physically feasible in the New York City landscape,” said Commissioner Wambua. “Monadnock, nARCHITECTS, and the Actors Fund HDC came through with an inventive and striking interpretation of the micro-unit concept.”

My Micro NY will be New York City’s first micro-unit apartment building on a City-owned site and the first multi-unit Manhattan building developed using modular construction. The project focuses on quality and livability through features that highlight the use of space, light, and air, such as 9′-10″ floor-to-ceiling heights and juliet balconies. By incorporating setbacks as a governing design logic, My Micro NY could in principle be adapted to many sites, at a range of heights and floor area ratios, and at nearly any location in a block. The 55 micro-units, ranging from 250 to 370 square feet, achieve affordability for low- and middle-income households without any direct City subsidy or financing, in part through its use of modular design to significantly shorten project schedule.

The adAPT NYC competition was created as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s New Housing Marketplace Plan to introduce additional choices within New York City’s housing market to accommodate the city’s growing population of one- and two-person households. The City’s housing codes have not kept up with its changing population, and currently do not allow an entire building of micro-units. Mayor Bloomberg will waive certain zoning regulations at the Kips Bay site to allow the My Micro NY pilot project to be developed.