Photos: Studio Gang Architects.
If architects were superhumans they would surely have a cape something like the “marble curtain” designed by the Chicago based firm Studio Gang Architects.
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Photos: Debora Berke Partners.
Debora Berke is a New York City based architect who has just been awarded the University of California, Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, Berkeley-Rupp Architecture Professorship and prize. It is the first time the prize has been awarded.
By way of celebration I thought to dig deep into her practice archive for an insight into the her work. For this introduction I have choose the Museum Hotel, in Louisville, USA. It is a complete renovation of four contiguous historic buildings to create a ninety room hotel with gallery, destination restaurant and topped off with the usual collection of public spaces and facilities one would expect from a quality hotel. Read more
Photos: Matthew Snyder.
Martha’s Vinyard needs no introduction as a beautiful stretch of Atlantic coast where well heeled Americans go to play. It cannot last however!
Parts of the coast that are continually being pummelled by the weather and the ocean, are vanishing fast. When Peter Rose and his client discovered this about the East House bluff, there was a lot of discomfort, but also a storm of inspiration.
East House is conceived as a series of concrete boxes that can be picked-up and moved inland, complete with internal finishes and green roof, should that become necessary. Between the boxes are interstitial circulation spaces that are enclosed with easily rebuilt timber framing. Aside from guiding people through the building, the roofs of those spaces also harvest rainwater to be used for irrigation. Read more
Images: Asymptote Architecture.
The power and popularity of the high-rise building shows no sign of abating. Due to be completed this year, the 550m Solomon Tower in South Korea’s World Business Center in Busan (WBCB) will be one of the tallest buildings Asia. Read more
Photos: Cass Calder Smith
If you have ever been short of inspiration, a tonic might be found by working in the Middlebrook Studios, California. High in the hills they overlook the Pacific ocean to create a serene getaway in which a creative mind can thrive in splendid isolation.
Intended for writers on the Djerassi Resident Artists Programme, there were designed by Cass Calder Smith as four separate studios grouped into a collection by a steel canopy carrying a bank of PV cells. From within each studio there there is a sense of isolation as the neighbouring studios cannot be seen. The writer, the view, and their imagination for company. Read more
