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Nowhereman1280

Jan 9, 2009 7:48 PM

Another Beauty by David Hovey:

Biltmore Towers
Scottsdale, AZ

All pictures from optimaweb.com. Optimaweb.com is the website for David Hovey's development company, Optima. David Hovey is my hero because not only is he a kick ass modernist architect, but he is an extremely successful developer as well. This building is one of this class of buildings he builds that manage to mix suburbia and density seamlessly as a tower that seems to just be completely linked to the natural environment around it. Skokie, IL is graced by another tower like this called Optima Old Orchard which I will post at a later date.

http://www.optimaweb.com/gallery/obt_art/images/1.jpg

View from one of the various roof gardens:
http://www.optimaweb.com/gallery/obt_art/images/2.jpg

Look at that sexy texture and attention to detail:
http://www.optimaweb.com/gallery/obt_art/images/6.jpg

http://www.optimaweb.com/gallery/obt_art/images/7.jpg

Under Construction:
http://ltsdrafting.com/html/images/p...tmore%20lg.jpg
ltsdrafting.com

Nowhereman1280

Jan 9, 2009 7:59 PM

Here's another David Hovey, one of my favorite designs with one of my least favorite names:

Optima Camel View Village
Pheonix AZ

All following photos from Optimaweb.com

http://scottsdale-condos.optimaweb.c...t/images/1.jpg

http://scottsdale-condos.optimaweb.c...t/images/2.jpg

http://scottsdale-condos.optimaweb.c...t/images/3.jpg

http://scottsdale-condos.optimaweb.c...t/images/4.jpg

http://scottsdale-condos.optimaweb.c...t/images/5.jpg

http://scottsdale-condos.optimaweb.c...t/images/6.jpg

Yes, those are green roof terraces with native vegitation! Closeup:
http://scottsdale-condos.optimaweb.c...t/images/7.jpg

http://scottsdale-condos.optimaweb.c...t/images/8.jpg

http://scottsdale-condos.optimaweb.c...t/images/9.jpg

Interior:
http://scottsdale-condos.optimaweb.c...t/images/2.jpg

http://scottsdale-condos.optimaweb.c...t/images/5.jpg

http://scottsdale-condos.optimaweb.c...t/images/4.jpg

What I love about this building is that it is so extensively gardened (is that the right word for the central use of plant life in the design?) that its like living in a garden. This I see as a continuation of FLW's attempts to blend architecture with its natural environment and Mies' attempts to blur the line between interior space and exterior space.

Overview, what it looks like from the street, this is a large complex with a dynamic shape that its impossible to show in one photograph:

http://206.173.89.213/scottsdalecity...20530PM992.JPG
scottsdalecitylife.com

amor de cosmos

Jan 9, 2009 10:31 PM

Quote:

House of Sweden / Wingardh
Architects: Wingårdh Arkitektkontor
Location: Washington DC, USA
Principal Architects: Gert Wingårdh & Tomas Hansen
Architects in Charge: Gunilla Murnieks
Competition Team: Gert Wingårdh, Thomas Hansen, Ulrika Davidsson, Fredrik Gullberg, Pål Ericsson, Jacob Sahlqvist, Jacek Zalecki, Petter Leyman, Ola Frödell, Henrik Schulz, Tobias Fasth, Robert Hendberg
Building Team: Gert Wingårdh, Thomas Hansen, Gunilla Murnieks, Susanna Ringnér, Birgitta Stenvaller, Andreas Henriksson, Gustav Appell, Markus Furby, Björn Nilsson, Therese Ahlström, Taito Lampinen, Robert Hendberg, Daniel Frickeus, Fredrik Gullberg, Sven Nestgaard, Sara Helder, Pål Ericsson, Maria Olausson, Fredrik Prytz, Anna Palm, Hanna Samuelson, Alexandra Pripp
Construction Year: 2004-2006
Project Managment: National Property Board Sweden
Structural Engineering: Flygfältsbyrån AB
Lighting: Ljusarkitektur P & Ö AB
Constructed Area: 8,157 sqm
Photographs: Wingardh

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...useofswe04.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...useofswe05.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...useofswe01.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...useofswe02.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...useofswe03.jpg

Ch.G, Ch.G

Jan 10, 2009 3:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by muppet (Post 4012141)

I think therein lies the dichotomy of architecture. What most of us experience of a building is the walking by it, or as it is viewed from its exterior. Normally the interiors are off limits - especially the kind of elitist modernist villas, islanded in impractical minimalism and exclusive grounds, that seem to embody that luxury of unattainability (save for the heavily staged coffee books and parties we are invited/ allowed to peer in upon) - while simultaneously blaring out ideals on democracy and openness. It seems their sole function is to teach us what to aspire to, whilst knowingly burning the ladder behind them (in reality how many of us will even have the opportunity let alone the money to apply open plan minimalism, giant windows and majestic vistas into our lives?).

Similarly the huge corporate skyscrapers, landmarks for miles, to millions, competing with each other for visibility whilst denying entry to all but its workers in security heavy interiors only they will know, with the best rooms and spaces reserved for the rooftop elite that are senior management, committee rooms and company dining. I think in cases as these, we can be forgiven for judging the building by its form, not it's function - especially when we are denied all knowledge of its workings.

Thus it's all very well in an ideal world judging a book by its contents, but when it's contents are more often than not closed to you, one is left with the cover to play with as a norm. This is why I think so many of us are easily wowed and won over by the shape and exterior of the building - that's as far as our experience of the building can and will go, and by far the majority of what we experience of a landmark is it's exterior (for example you may see a concert at the Sydney opera House once a year, but view the structure every day for decades).

Personally I'd be guilty of the base reaction of not particularly caring how a building functions for it's residents - I'm sure I would if I was one of them, or if I worked there. For example (again), the Sydney Opera House looks great for me and improves my experience of the city, but it's interior is problematic, dated and nothing like the architect's vision (altho' that is being amended). Similarly the Taj Mahal, what is an ornate and exquisite - but ultimately empty- tomb.

Of course you have to draw the line with large housing projects - they may look great but it's alot harder to ignore the misery of thousands inside. Similarly a genuinely public building such as a rail or underground station, university campus etc. that will be used daily by thousands if not millions.

Screed against capitalism and the wealthy aside (aren't the modest, urban Japanese houses equally "guilty" of a lack of "denying entry," too?), you raise a good point: the experience of the passerby is an important component. But isn't this an even greater indictment of architecture that disrespects its context and those experiencers? And, anyway, it is only a component of a building's function; we judge on the whole, lest we reduce architecture to carefully staged photographs.

(Also, for every "elitist" villa posted here there is a public, cultural institution. My initial post was in response to the Zaha-gasm of museums and courts and pools.)

muppet

Jan 10, 2009 4:06 PM

Blanca Bullring and Auditorium, Spain by Manuel Perez Romero

http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/i...50/blanca1.jpg

muppet

Jan 10, 2009 4:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ch.G, Ch.G (Post 4016439)

my point was how I was raising my hand as guilty of judging the book by its cover, due to circumstance (more often than not I'm not allowed to open the book).
Yes, every house is exclusive to its owners, even in Japan, but the kind of neo-moderne we're seeing nowadays is exclusive by dint of design rather than circumstance - the average joes doesn't have the money for minimalist lifestyle, huge windows and views. Its not that he can't go inside, but rather that he can't afford to build it for himself.

This is how architecture fundamentally can be more exclusive than inclusive, having its ideals of openness and democracy on one hand, whilst constructing a strong 'coffee-book' vein of impractical and unreachable goals with the other. If it is to be admired for its results, then at least they shouldnt try to throw a hypothesis on us, of abstract ideas of inclusiveness and that smacks of blatant marketing. Rather sell it for what it is - luxury showcasing of 'perfection' and design, -not liveability, not accessability, not functionalism, and not democracy. It's no wonder these places cost the earth to build and are enjoyed by the richest.

The ones that are open to the public often prove unworkable, and definitely out of context with its ideals (not to mention alot cheaper pound for pound). Check out the multiple award winning 'Idea Store' (read: library) that 'regenerated' a deprived area of London by David Adjaye 2006 (I used to live near there). The interior no longer looks sleek and minimalist, rather it is messy and decidedly cheap looking as a result, with harrassed looking staff cleaning up and putting away endlessly, especially the lower floor that resembles a shredded DVD mart. Its one thing designing a sleek palace of 'functionalism', its another looking at the reality of tatty books, stacks of CDs on sale and buckets of DVDs. Not to mention screaming children filling the shelves, alcoves and floor.

The huge plate windows (heavily fingerprinted) prove boiling in summer and freezing in winter, by night they turn into vast sheets of depressingly black views of nothingness. The ground breaking, 'inclusive' idea to have part of the building overshadow the street, and the entrance escalators come straight off the pavements outside (in order to 'perforate the street / building division') has proved unworkable. The escalators have been switched off, the doors closed and a security guard posted at them due to stalkers and thieves. Even then it still continues to win awards for its humanitarian ideals, just a shame the reality for those working and using the place inside is very different.

In short what looks good on paper, and in photos is not what works in reality. If I were to judge this building favourably, it would be on its superficial standing rather than its workings.

http://www.architecture.com/Images/R...as_530x419.jpg http://www.architecture.com/Images/R...re_530x406.jpg http://www.popcitymedia.com/gallerie...a_store_DA.jpg

Nice idea, but imagine the place dog eared and despondent, the few people in it looking as tired as the strip lighting. Needless to say the local community has shunned this place, much preferring the supermarket behind, and leaving the cafe for the few middle class pioneers.

http://www.whitemercury.com/articles...es/david_3.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/28/65...68f22f.jpg?v=0

Compare that to Peckham Library by Will Alsopp, 1999, much in the same vein much more successful. Also a deprived area of London (I also used to live in), the building is decidedly not 'functionale' but idiosyncratic:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._library_1.jpg http://www.miragebookmark.ch/images/peckham-library.jpg

Inside works much better - pods for privacy, interviews and workshops - and the background space for humanity's messing. When I lived here I would visit this place for books, computers, DVDs, local information and workshops, from stone carving to careers advice. The place was a favourite for schoolkids in after class community sessions.

http://en.structurae.de/files/photos...7/pecklib0.jpg

http://www.cilip.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres...0/peckham2.jpg http://www.cowleytimberwork.co.uk/Fi...y/peckham4.jpg

http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2007/06/1...0616_d0840.jpg

muppet

Jan 10, 2009 5:06 PM

David Adjaye, architect of the Idea Store also designed this, the 'Dirty House', about a mile away:

It is about as exclusive as it gets, and he does it far better with this as an ideal.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/72/17...657f2e7ff7.jpg

The street level windows are blackened and reflective, the sumptuous interiors and roof are all hidden away

http://threesixtyrecords.files.wordp...enale400_0.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/207/4...30c33f.jpg?v=0

In short the exterior is nothing but a disguise - a villa hiding in a run down alleyway. I walked past this place many times before looking at it properly:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2416/...c51abf.jpg?v=0

amor de cosmos

Jan 13, 2009 12:20 AM

Quote:

The Duncan House, Fife, United Kingdom
Gareth Hoskins Architects design responds to residents’ quest for light and space in East Scotland
The Duncan House, situated in Fife, Scotland, is a new private house set within a listed walled garden. The project combines the clients’ aspirations for a ‘glass house’ together with a response to the formal geometry of the enclosing walls, paths and borders of what was the original fruit garden of the adjacent country house.

The plan of the house is defined by two thick, white rendered masonry walls that contrast with the grey whinstone of the existing garden walls. These walls emphasise connections between old and new, inside and outside. Daylight is maximized by almost half of the external walls being glass, and to fulfill the clients’ request for a frameless appearance, the units are butt-joined and detailed to allow for movement of the cantilevered roof. The walls are thick in plan in order to conceal cupboards, wardrobes, service runs, window seats and fireplaces, so that the main spaces are clean and uncluttered, with their main focus on the garden.

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com...pload_id=10919

http://static.worldarchitecturenews....0house3big.jpg

http://static.worldarchitecturenews....0house4big.jpg

http://static.worldarchitecturenews....0house5big.jpg

http://static.worldarchitecturenews....0house6big.jpg

http://static.worldarchitecturenews....0house7big.jpg

TANGELD_SLC

Jan 13, 2009 2:42 AM

I love this one :tup: :notacrook:

Kotaro Ide creates residential retreat in Karuizawa, Japan
http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com...pload_id=10901

Quote:

Situated within a dense thickness of trees the Shell House by Kotaro Ide of Artechnic unravels itself displaying its contrasting underbelly to the private audience of its owners. Brazen yet shy, the house’s open form hidden within the trees presents an honest display of relevance to its situation. The curved forms synonymous with the outer shell of a snail or sea-faring crustacean stand on a plinth of wood creating the illusion that the form floats above the forest bed.

Glazed at ends and with roof lights, an airy interior space is created with which to enjoy the surroundings in comfort and explore the curving concrete intricacies of an otherwise simplistic design. Unobtrusive landscaping ensures the structure can breath in the space whilst maintaining a rural aesthetic.

http://static.worldarchitecturenews....shell2main.jpg

http://static.worldarchitecturenews...._shell8big.jpg

http://static.worldarchitecturenews...._shell3big.jpg

http://static.worldarchitecturenews...._shell7big.jpg

http://static.worldarchitecturenews...._shell4big.jpg

http://static.worldarchitecturenews...._shell6big.jpg

muppet

Jan 13, 2009 3:25 AM

:drool:

Comrade

Jan 13, 2009 3:42 AM

This is going up in Salt Lake (not sure if already posted):

http://www.citycenterlofts.net/images/home-building.jpg

It's made out of crates.

LMich

Jan 13, 2009 4:54 AM

That one going up in Salt Lake City has jogged my memory. A developer is looking to resuse shipping containers as housing just outside downtown Detroit. The name of the project is Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks, and it's proposed to include 17-condo units that'll start at over $100,000 per unit:

Quote:

Developer Leslie Horn told the Free Press: "It's been done in Europe and, to a limited extent, in this country. But no one has looked at organizing the process on a larger scale incorporating a range of recycled materials and efficiencies that could save a homeowner as much as 60% annually in energy costs," she said.

Horn and Flum said they would use special insulating paint inside and out, high-efficiency water heaters and other energy-saving methods. But by far, the most environmentally friendly aspect of the project is the use of discarded shipping containers.

http://thepowerofgreenhousing.com/bl...inish-web.jpeg
ThePowerOfGreenHousing.com

http://www.thepowerofgreenhousing.co..._rendering.gif
ThePowerOfGreenHousing.com

amor de cosmos

Jan 13, 2009 9:38 PM

Quote:

TDA House / Cadaval & Solà-Morales
Architect: Eduardo Cadaval & Clara Solà-Morales
Location: Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico
Collaborator: Eugenio Eraña Lagos
Structures: Ricardo Camacho de la Fuente
Construction Managment: Marcial Burgos & Hugo López Solano
Constructed Area: 350 sqm
Project Year: 2005-2006
Photograhs: Santiago Garcés / Cadaval & Solà-Morales

http://www.archdaily.com/11437/tda-h...-sola-morales/

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...001-lowres.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...arces-copy.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...004-lowres.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...ago-garces.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...005-lowres.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...007-lowres.jpg

amor de cosmos

Jan 13, 2009 9:41 PM

TDA House cont'd

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...008-lowres.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...ago-garces.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...010-lowres.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...012-lowres.jpg http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...570143_axo.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...uerto20002.jpg

amor de cosmos

Jan 13, 2009 10:01 PM

Quote:

Tour Signal by Jean Nouvel
June 8th, 2008

The winner is Ateliers Jean Nouvel.

The team has chosen to locate its project at the Porte Ouest to open up the La Défense neighbourhood to Puteaux.

This project’s ambition is to create a strong hub at the heart of the Greater Paris region, creating a significant draw at the same time as establishing a relationship between the project and its natural and built-up environment, embodying the various temporal considerations which strengthen the links between a project and its environs.

The project comprises 71 storeys, forming a mixed-use building which brings together apartments, hotels, offices and retail premises in the lower section.

It is made up of four blocks piled one on top of the other with atriums forming huge windows, each facing in alternate directions. These perspectives reveal floor levels which form balconies within each of the atriums.

Team: Nouvel - Medea – Layet
ana Desarollos Immob iliarios
Site: Port e Ouest
Height: 301 m

Surface area: 140,000 sqm consisting of:
Offices : 50,000 sqm
Residential: 33,000 sqm
Hotel: 39,000 sqm
Public facilities : 8,000 sqm
Retail, restaurants: 10,000 sqm

Tour Signal, a high-quality environmental and emotional project

As the CNIT or the Grande Arche have marked the history of the business district in their time, the Tour Signal, France’s first ever mixed tower, will become the symbol for the regeneration of La Défense. It will reflect the daring architectural approach and exemplary environmental practices that characterise the fresh impetus given by the EPAD for the regeneration of La Défense.

Sustainable development, a key issue for the plan to regenerate La Défense La Défense, a very energy-hungry district (over 150,000 employees and 20,000 inhabitants) that is constantly being worked on must put new operating and construction methods in place in order to minimise impacts on the environment. In this way, the EPAD, driven by its Chief Executive Officer, is committed to making sustainable development one of the priorities for the plan to regenerate La Défense, and is looking to make it an example and a model in this area.

The EPAD would like the commitments made and actions carried out for La Défense to be applied in general, representing a new international standard. In addition, the EPAD has successfully rallied together some 600 stakeholders responsible for business districts, architects, academics, entrepreneurs and members of international organisations, thanks to the organisation of the first global summit of business districts for sustainable development and the creation of the international network of business districts for sustainable development.

Approaching this new phase in its history in this way, La Défense is openly committing to the path of sustainable development.

Tour Signal: symbolising the environmental commitment…
The French President indicated, in his closing speech for the Grenelle de l’Environnement roundtable process on Thursday October 25, 2007, that “priority must be given to reducing energy consumption by buildings”. This concern is shared by the EPAD, which has asked the teams bidding for the development of the Tour Signal to apply innovative solutions, including a strong focus on renewable energy.

Their projects must also comply with the requirements for the three key sustainable development levels – economic, social (quality of life and well-being) and environmental – with the consistency and balance between these aspects within the proposed architectural concept representing key factors for the choice of the winning project.
etc etc etc

honte

Jan 13, 2009 10:23 PM

^ I love Nouvel, but that doesn't make any sense to me. I'll have to wait until it's finished, I guess (will they build it?).

RLS_rls

Jan 13, 2009 11:13 PM

Wow Amor that TDA house is painfully uncomfortable looking. That's about the most ghastly thing in this whole thread.

Tom Servo

Jan 14, 2009 3:35 AM

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...001-lowres.jpg

i just jizzed in my pants.

Jibba

Jan 14, 2009 3:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amor de cosmos (Post 4022621)

http://www.archdaily.com/11437/tda-h...-sola-morales/

Read about this one a while ago in Architectural Record (perhaps Metropolis, I can't recall precisely at the moment); incredible home design.

muppet

Jan 14, 2009 4:17 AM

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/...arces-copy.jpg

This reminds me alot of the modernist houses in Malaysia, where I was born. As the country's on the equator the houses are completely open to the elements - it was the 1970s, before the spread of aircon. What you would have was a decorative metal screen at the front you could pull across the entire ground floor

Most of these middle class villas have been pomo'd up during the 1990s into unrecogniseable pastiche. Thanks to aircon sloping roof tiles replaced flat roofs, windows and solid walls replaced the open fronts, and the balconies were often eaten up by extensions incorporating them into enlargened interiors.

converted modernist housing

http://blog.miragestudio7.com/wp-con...ric_column.jpg http://www.newpropertysale.com/wp-co...e-c_type-d.jpg

http://myproperty.com.my/prop/imgs/proj/proj_1.jpg http://property666.com/images/JOHOR%...%20CLEOME3.gif

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4AT8Blk1CM0/Ry...jH0/071005.jpg

balconies lost into internalising extensions

http://www.4321.co.il/property/photo...ssSNV33924.JPG http://www.propnet.com.my/pix/3303.jpg

open air and screens replaced by sealed windows for the aircon

http://www.johnnyjet.com/image/Pictu...ndsTeaRoom.JPG

survivors (extremely rare):

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/2487/penanglw3.jpg
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/p...jpg/1/w455.png

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/171/4...be8ac9.jpg?v=0

open windows - no glass

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/351/gunkup2.jpg
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/g...jpg/1/w720.png

...although, as across the world the modernist revival still manifests itself into the luxury villas - note the return of the open front/ screens, but the complete artificiality

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...FL._SS500_.jpg http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5116830N8HL.jpg

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/3517/johorix8.jpg
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/j...jpg/1/w800.png http://www.4321.co.il/property/photographs/Lush2.jpg

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