Cool Modern Architecture

[amor de cosmos]

Guesthouse at Seedri street / JVR Arhitektuuribüroo
Architects: JVR Arhitektuuribüroo
Location: Pärnu, Estonia
Architect in charge: Kalle Vellevoog
Collaborator: Margus Tamm
Construction Year: 2005-2007
Constructed area: 4,565 sqm
Photographs: JVR Arhitektuuribüroo

http://www.archdaily.com/12004/guest...tektuuriburoo/

[amor de cosmos]

Guesthouse at Seedri street 2/2

[amor de cosmos]

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics / Saucier + Perrotte architectes
Architects: Saucier + Perrotte architectes
Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Principal in Charge: Gilles Saucier
Project Architect: André Perrotte
Project team: Trevor Davies, Andrew Butler, Dominique Dumais, Eric Majer, Pierre-Alexandre Rhéaume, Anna Bendix, Sudhir Suri, Christian Hébert, Laurence LeBeux, Quinlan Osborne, Jean-Louis Léger, Samantha Schneider, Nathalie Cloutier, Christine Levine, Jean-François Lagacé, Sergio Morales, Guillaume Sasseville, Maxime Gagné, Audrey Archambault
Civil Engineer: Stantec Consulting Ltd.
Structural Engineer: Blackwell Engineering Ltd.
Mechanical & Electrical engineer: Crossey Engineering Ltd.
Contractor: Eastern Construction
Landscape: Saucier + Perrotte architectes
Acoustics: Acoustics Engineering Ltd.
Constructed Area: 6,000 sqm
Design year: 2004-2006
Photographs: Marc Cramer

http://www.archdaily.com/12293/perim...e-architectes/

[amor de cosmos]

Perimeter Inst cont'd

[amor de cosmos]

Perimeter Inst cont'd

[honte]

^ Damn that thing is good. I hadn't seen so many photos of it before. It's just breathtaking.

[amor de cosmos]

Singapore Civic and Culture Center, Singapore, Singapore
Ground broken for Singapore's new icon
Singapore is three months closer to the realisation of a remarkable landmark on the island. Aedas have designed this spectacular 54,000 sq m Singapore Civic & Cultural Center as an expression of the rich and varied activities within. Its angular, multi-faceted design creates a variety of perspectives, changing the form dramatically depending on the viewpoint.

Inside too the dynamic design serves to create a new visual experience and blurs the boundaries between the public and private realms, between the civic and cultural spaces. 24,000 sq m of retail space on the lower floors connects to the civic and cultural zones visually and spacially via a 40m high 'grand foyer'.

The focus of the cultural zone is a 5,000 seat auditorium providing the largest venue of its kind in Singapore. The remainder of the 30,000 sq m of civic and cultural space is comprised of function spaces, administration, foyers, circulation areas and artist and technical support areas.

The spectacle of the Center is most truly presented from the south elevation which, being completely open to the outside, shows the inner workings and layers as a section visible from the exterior.

The project broke ground in October and is currently making good progress towards its projected completion date in 2011 when Singapore will find its new civic and cultural signature.

Niki May Young
News Editor

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com...pload_id=10967

[muppet]

mondo cool^

A new tower for Tokyo, with moveable helipad, the Coccoon Tower by Kenzo Tange

Originally Posted by japanese001

A white iron frame is an earthquake-proof construction.





Opening and shutting type heliport



It is made with the diagonal iron frame.



Aluminum curtain wall

It is carried with the trestle. For strong wind.

[vanman]

The Perimeter Inst is such a beautiful building without trying to hard. That abomination of a civic center from Singapore tries way, way too hard.

[amor de cosmos]

more of that building in Tokyo

Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower, Tokyo, Japan
Recently completed Cocoon Tower makes education design as easy as A-B-C
Standing in Tokyo's distinctive high-rise district of Nishi-Shinjuku, Tange Associates' Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower stands as a symbol of innovation and exception in educational design. It is no wonder this awesome construction was recently awarded as Skyscraper of the Year by Emporis.

The 50 level building contains 3 different schools: Tokyo Mode Gakuen (fashion), HAL Tokyo (IT and digital contents) and Shuto Iko (medical treatments and care). Tange Associates advise: "The building’s innovative shape and cutting edge façade embodies our unique “Cocoon” concept. Embraced within this incubating form, students are inspired to create, grow and transform."

The vertical campus, which completed in October, can hold 10,000 students and incorporates a 3-storey high atrium to substitute as a 'schoolyard', called the 'Student Lounge' and multi-use corridors where communication can flourish.

The tower floor plan is simple. Three rectangular classroom areas rotate 120 degrees around the inner core. From the 1st floor to the 50th floor, these rectangular classroom areas are arranged in a curvilinear form. The inner core consists of an elevator, staircase and shaft. The Student Lounge is located between the classrooms and face three directions, east, southwest and northwest. Greenery planted at lower levels brings nature and softness to the design and its elliptical form swathed in an aluminium curtain wall creates a form pleasing to the eye from every level whilst minimising the building's footprint.

Tange Associates hope that the building will help to inspire a transformation in the area: "Some of the buildings in the immediate area surrounding Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower have become old and absolete. However this area is very important to connect Shinjuku Station and the Shinjuku CBD. Our aim is to use the building to revitalize and reenergize this area and to create a gateway between the Station and the CBD."

Niki May Young
News Editor

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com...pload_id=10970

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ Again I see nothing progressive or intelligent about that design, its just another example of "look at the cool shape we can build this building in" not of any deeper level of thought. Plus it resembles a vagina...

[Tom Servo]

i know everything.

[Aleks]

The Coccoon Tower is amazing! Great example too. The retractable helipad is a great example of progressive architecture. And I used to think the white stripes were all aesthetic but after giving it a thought, it makes sense to reinforce the structure while creating some eye-candy.

[Nowhereman1280]

Originally Posted by AdrianXSands

i know everything.

Is that supposed to be some sort of jab at me?

You don't to be in architecture school to understand the philosophy of architecture and design. When I see something that is clearly sculptural, I'm going to call it out as bullshit because I don't believe the shapes of buildings should be purely sculptural like that. Its merely looking cool for the sake of looking cool, has nothing to do with reason or functionality.

BTW, I realize that parts of that design are determined by the structure, but the point is, building the structure like that in the first place is entirely pointless. I have a hard time believing that the structure there is any more efficient than a box or circle or any other basic geometric shape. Also I don't see that building making radical use of any sort of new materials in an efficient innovative way. So, Mr know it all, tell me how it is Progressive in any way other than "ooo look at me I can be a weird shape"...

Ultimately 99.8% of the buildings on this thread are going to be ignored by history because they are simply weird for the sake of being weird. This is just like Romantic and Second Empire art in the 19th century, it is an artistic dead end. The random shapes we are building today are just as superfluous as the random cherubs and mythic themes of romanticism and second empire. There is nowhere for this thread of design to go because it has no philosophical underpinnings. Its all fluff. What I am looking for is the next Réalisme to this Romanticism. When are we going to see the next impressionism or the next modernism in design? This stuff sure isn't headed anywhere its devoid of higher thought. Its not like these crappy firms are obsessed with shape like Monet was obsessed with light and are just trying to experiment with the subtleties of form.

So tell me Adrian, what philosophical motive is behind the form of this building?

[honte]

^ I agree with most of what you have said. The above building that you are referring to strikes me much more as an essay in romantic notions of structural strength than in actual structural refinement. Will it stand up? Certainly, they wouldn't have built it otherwise. Did the architects put their engineers through the wringer to end up with that contrived notion of earthquake bracing? I'd say so.

Herzog and de Meuron (as much as I love those guys) have in some ways done a disservice to the architecture world with their Olympic stadium. While tremendously beautiful and compelling, it should be been labeled as Mannerist from the get-go and there should have been no pretense about structural necessity. Now we have a lot of copycat structures materializing and falling into the trap of pseudo structuralism and outright deception. It's disturbing.

[Tom Servo]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

Is that supposed to be some sort of jab at me?

what? dude, chill out... how does that seem in any way directed at you? i was being hilarious.

[muppet]

btw instantly rejecting a building just by its 'wow-shape' doesn't mean it's bland and facadist in its interior or design or function. Many of these 'wow' buildings are designed by top architects and firms btw - for example Cocoon Towers' architect, Kenzo Tange is a Pritzker prizewinner.

[honte]

^ A few points here, not trying to start an argument or to weigh in any further on this particular building:

1) Tange died in early 2005 (not sure if he participated in the design of this building).
2) Good architects make mistakes too.

[amor de cosmos]

Split & Rotate by Nicos Kalogirou
January 26th, 2009

Split & Rotate, a holiday home designed by architect Nicos Kalogirou, has been nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award 2009.

Located at the foot of East Vermion mountain inNaoussa Greece, the single-family house consists of two volumes linked by a glass passageway.

The main residence has a metal structure and is clad in shipping plywood.

The second volume consists of a children’s pavilion with louvred facades.

Nicos Kalogirou is a professor and president of the school of architecture at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

The following text is from the architect:

–

Split & Rotate: vacation house in Greece

The house is located on the foot of East Vermion mountain, in a landscape characterised by natural prominences charged also with historic memories. The archaeological site of the School of Aristotle is situated nearby, along with the city of Naoussa, known for its revolutionary past, and being one of the earliest centres of industrial development and urban modernisation in the broader area of Macedonia. Responding to the spirit of the place, the general layout is austere, with clear geometric elements, industrial aesthetics and dynamic yet controllable tension.

The general layout results from the split in two unequal parts; the main residence and the children’s pavilion – that are bridged with a transparent, glass passage way. The composition results from the simultaneous rotation of the volumes on two axes according to the topography and the views, thus ensuring, a dialectic composition of the entirety, with clear, relatively independently functioning yet connected parts.

The main, elongated, inclined, U-sectioned volume is rotated following the natural slope, while its slit openings and the semi-open spaces at both ends frame remarkable views of the plain of Central Macedonia and Mount Vermion. From a functional point of view, the linear arrangement of successive levels ensures unified spaces with the living room located at the lower level overlooking the main view and the higher level reserved for the private areas of the parents.

The smaller prismatic volume is also U-sectioned, rotated though by 90 ο, thus creating the children’s ‘pavilion’, open at three of its sides. The maintenance of the horizontality through its cantilevered parts, especially towards the side of the down slope, combined with a perimetric pixeled louvers filter gives the impression of lightness and hovering.

The realisation of the project was not easy. An initially larger version of concrete and wooden elements had to be abandoned due to cost and high demands in the construction. An eventual cancellation of the project led to alternative, and probably more inventive material decisions and construction solutions, revealing an unexpected flexibility of the initial concept to a series of transformations.

The unusually light, for Greek construction standards, metal framed structure and its external covering with shipping plywood, was chosen for its low cost and high speed of realisation. Actually the ‘Split and Rotate’ house constitutes a reversible, pre-fab structure made of rough industrial materials that are left in their natural textures, echoing the particular industrial past of the city of Naoussa.

Avoiding any evident morphological influence, the conscious references to the local building tradition are indirect. They can be traced in the typological level, regarding the narrow-faced urban houses with interior spaces arranged in a succession, the semi-open living spaces and the light structures of the upper levels with a transparency controllable by means of perforated filters that facilitate climatic adaptation.

The vacation house in Naoussa is the result of a small series of compositional studies of splitting, graduating and rotating clear geometric prisms, adjustment to the topography and environmental adaptation to the natural and cultural landscape of the place.

Architect: Nicos Kalogirou
Collaborators: Telis & Prodromos Vassiliadis, Artemis Kalogirou, Evangelos Kotsioris
Photos: Nicos Kalogirou
Location: Naoussa, Imathia Greece
Floor area: 143 sq.m.
Budget: €155,000

http://www.dezeen.com/2009/01/26/spl...cos-kalogirou/

[Nowhereman1280]

Originally Posted by muppet

btw instantly rejecting a building just by its 'wow-shape' doesn't mean it's bland and facadist in its interior or design or function. Many of these 'wow' buildings are designed by top architects and firms btw - for example Cocoon Towers' architect, Kenzo Tange is a Pritzker prizewinner.

If a buildings interior is good, but the outside is shallow and philosophically weak, then should it be posted in a thread about "Great Buildings"? I would expect a great building to have both an excellent interior design as well as an excellent exterior design.